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Week 40 – Hilo – 146 lbs – July 22, 2012

Aloha all from Hilo again this week, where hysteria is on the calendar…. And what is HYSTERIA? Well, it used to be defined this way:

“A medical disorder, marked by excitability, irritability, misbehavior and emotional extremes, occurring mainly in women.” Wikipedia describes it as: For at least two thousand years of European history until the late nineteenth century hysteria referred to a medical condition thought to be particular to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus.

The Death of a Medical Word!

Lucky for us, in 1952 (took them a while!) this diagnosis was reversed as women started becoming more independent and the theory that women were ‘excitable’ had nothing to do with a medical condition but everything to do with their overall dissatisfaction with the control they had over their lives and their own bodies. I can only imagine a lot of politicians (men) discussing this around the table back in the ’50s…. hmmmm, reminds me of something that happened just this past year; lots of men discussing the future of women’s bodies, without asking the opinion of well, women! I guess we’re still fighting the good fight.

 

Hysteria the movie. Check out the trailer here.

What does this have to do with Hilo and this week’s blog? There’s a new movie out called HYSTERIA starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett and Felicity Jones about this subject that is well worth seeing if it comes to a theater near you. It is a light, funny, romantic comedy set in London in the late 1800s, based (loosely) on the true story of the invention of the vibrator! More important, it is a strong message about women earning the right to speak their minds and take control over their lives. We saw it last year in Amsterdam at a film festival and were thrilled when it made it to little Hilo. Today, we’re taking a group of friends to see it. If you have a couple of extra minutes, please watch the trailer here: Hysteria the Movie.

I bring it up because one of the huge benefits of weight loss surgery is gaining a new respect for ourselves and our bodies and regaining our confidence of being strong women (with all due respect to the men who read this blog). If you are able to see this movie, I hope it will remind you of what women (and the men who supported them) had to go through to get where we are today in terms of rights over our lives and bodies, and now that we have those rights, we must always be diligent in keeping them!

Speaking of having control over our bodies…. there are some weeks where I feel no matter what I do, I have NO control. Once again, I am amazed at how little I eat, how hard I work out (and I have worked out extra hard this week) and the scale shows a one lb. gain. I’ve said it before and I will say it forever, I could never have lost my weight without the sleeve. When I see what it takes to manage my weight now, I know for me at least, it would have been impossible to do this without this surgery. I consistently eat about 1200-1400 calories a day, burn 400-500 calories a day and I still gained a lb, and when I do lose, it’s very slow. I think this last 7 lbs that I need to lose before I reach my goal is going to take a long time, and I really would like to lose it before my one-year anniversary (which is only 14 weeks away).

My favorite lunch!

The honest truth is that I really don’t enjoy the majority of my meals; the first few bites are OK but then things feel heavy in my stomach and throat. And sometimes I would like to have a nice plate of pasta with a piece of garlic bread. But I do have some favorites that go down easily: I usually have a salad every day for lunch and I love it, but a couple of times a week I have a corn thin (22 calories and delicious!) with avocado, cheese, turkey and sprouts with a little mayo. And a little cottage cheese on the side. It goes down well and no tummy ache after (sadly I do have a little tummy ache after most of my meals-hoping once it’s fully healed that will go away). For those of you just considering the sleeve: this is only a minor complaint; overall, I am thrilled with my new way of living and eating.

Enjoy life while you can; don’t wait.

That’s it from little Hilo, it’s been a relatively quiet week here. Our  nephew passed away earlier this month; he was planning to come to Hawaii on July 2 and sadly went into the hospital and died on July 4. We’ll bring his ashes and spread them out by the ocean in the photo to the right.

I leave you with this because I have read some posts from my VST friends that say “when I reach goal, I’m going to go to Hawaii, or do this or do that….” I say, do it as soon as you can, don’t wait to reach goal…. live and celebrate your life now. You never know if your chance will slip away. Have a great week everyone!

 

A HUI HOU,

QUEEN OF CROP

6 Responses
  • Carla
    July 22, 2012

    Hello my Sleeved Sister! I’m glad I found your blog. I’m 4 weeks out and I need the inspiration. I’m one of those you mention in this post. One of the ones who continually says, “When I reach my goal weight…” One of those things I want to do is travel the world (so it’s good to see it’s possible to do with a sleeved stomach). But also, the idea of waiting til goal is depressing. I’ve got abt 150 pounds yet to lose! Then what? Wait til after getting plastics? Then what?? Life is for living and I wanna get to it! Your blog is a nice reminder of that! 🙂

    • queenofcrop
      July 23, 2012

      Aloha! Thanks for the great comment and congratulations on your sleeve….you are in for a very exciting year with all the changes you will see….your body yes, but also your mind, your confidence, your energy level, your entire outlook on life! And yes, I was sleeved on Oct 25 and and Nov 22 started traveling for the next 3 months! It wasn’t always easy but I look back on that time as such an adventure! And remember, I had almost 100 lbs to lose. You will start losing so fast that you will just be excited every day to get out of bed! When I started on our year of travel I had 3 main goals: 1. TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT 2. TO GET BACK TO MY PREVIOUS NON-JUDGEMENTAL SELF 3. TO LOSE WEIGHT. And I managed to do all three of those. Living in the moment isn’t always easy, but it does help you realize that today is very, very important; probably the most important day of your life. So please don’t wait. Put yourself out there in all ways; go see a friend, invite friends over, re-connect with old friends, go to an art exhibit, go on a picnic, plan a bigger trip somewhere so you can have the fun of anticipating it! And DON’T buy too many clothes…..a mistake I made….I was so excited when I got into a size 12 and I think I got to where them for 15 minutes before they were too big! You will be there soon. Please keep me posted on what exciting things are happening in your life! A hui hou QofC

  • Joni
    July 22, 2012

    Great things to think about! Thanks for the reminders, and btw, congrats on spotlight in the forum’s newsletter!

    • queenofcrop
      July 23, 2012

      Hi Joni! Thanks for being such a loyal reader….I hope you know how much I appreciate your support!

  • Brenda
    July 23, 2012

    Congrats on being picked for member spotlight this week on the forum.
    Your blog is a huge help for so many.

    • queenofcrop
      July 23, 2012

      Thanks Brenda! I get so much inspiration from everyone else too….it’s a wonderful community!

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