I'm Getting OLD!

Totally forgot I blogged about thinning hair and cutting it short LOL oh well, more pics anyways :)

One of the first things they tell you is a side effect of weight loss surgery is hair loss. That has really been my only fear. Not dying, not being sick, but hair loss. Before surgery, I had long, thick, curly hair. In 35 years, I have never appreciated my hair-until now. It has thinned out some, most people cannot notice it, but I could. I hated how it felt, the clumps of hair every time I touched it, washing it, you name it. So, I decided to cut it. It has definitely helped make it less noticeable and feels so much better. I will prob keep it short for a while until the hair stops falling out, which I think stops around the year mark. So, while snapping pics of my new short 'do, I also took some "after" shots. So, here is what my new hair and 72lbs gone is looking like:





Hmmm...must do something about those arms!

To Eat or Not to Eat (or what do I eat) That is the Question!

Prior to me having GB surgery, most of my blogs were about food. What I was eating, what I was making, and so forth. I loved food, I still love food. I didn't know what to expect after surgery as to what my relationship with food would be like. Would I still be able to eat this or that ever again? Will I have to live on shakes? Yes, yes, and no. I can eat basically whatever I want, it's just now I make better choices for myself. GB is not magic...I now and for the rest of my life will have to watch what I eat. I know what I should eat and I do pretty well at eating right. I occasionaly treat myself. I never feel like I am denying myself anything. If I want something, I have it, but in a small portion and that takes care of my craving. When we go out to eat, I order everything, and finish nothing. Or sometimes I will split a meal with Mr. Sully. So, with all this, it brings new challenges: What are new, healthy ideas I can cook for breakfast, lunch and dinner and how can I modify existing recipes. Going forward, I will try to share some more of these ideas. Todays idea? LUNCH! I bring breakfast and lunch to work everyday, so here is what I have been doing.

Breakfast: I usually keep Quakers Weight Control instant oatmeal in my desk (variety pack) and eat that for breakfast. Occasionally I will bring a yogurt, or cottage cheese, or cereal (Special K) instead.

Lunch: Tuna, ham and cheese, turkey and cheese wrap. I bought a great lunchbox and is awsome in helping with portion sizing.



It is called a "laptop lunch". Basically, it's a bento box with perfectly sized containers. Use them all at once, or just some of them. Here is one of my favorite lunches that I have been bringing to work this week.




(from the top left) Falafel, cut up peppers and grape tomatoes, cantaloupe, and Sabra Hummus.

Falafel-I bought these premade at Costco, as I have no idea how to make them. LOVE THEM! I also bought a package of these mini sweet red, yellow, and orange peppers. Also from Costco, I purchased single servings of Sabra hummus (which is my new fav!)

So here is what I will bring with me to work tomorrow....



In addition to my falafel, veggies, fruit and hummus, I am bringing Special K with Yogurt, and water. Not pictured is my ice tea (unsweetened) that I bring every day (16oz). My water jug is 32 oz. My goal is to finish my ice tea and the water and that would give me 48oz before I got home from work. Going out somewhere with my sister in law for dinner tomorrow night, so we will see what that brings for food! Good night for now!

Mrs. Sully's new 'Do

Mrs.Sully got a new haircut. Major haircut, like my hairdresser asking me twelve thousand times if I'm sure I want to do this. Why so drastic you ask? Well, since I have breezed through this whole gastric bypass experience so well, there was bound to be at least one bump in the road. My bump in the road=hair loss. I knew to expect some. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I knew it could happen. I was told to start to expect it around months 2-3. Yea right. My head has been hemorrhaging hair like the BP oil well is hemorrhaging oil since day 5. I am very, very, very lucky to have started out with a full, thick head of hair. A head of hair I never really appreciated until now. What started out as nice and thick and full, is now thin, not so thick, and noticeable. Anytime my hands touch my hair, I got clumps. Listen, I'm a girl, I've had long hair, I know hair come out, and sticks in the tub, and all that good stuff. I'm not talking about that. I am talking every time you shampoo, condition, rinse, comb, blow dry, put hair up, take hair down, run hands through hair, clumps every single time. My hairline looks like it's receding. When I feel my hair, I can feel how thin it is. Regular claw clips I used to have to by the huge ones, because that is all that would hold my hair. Now, I can put all my hair up with one of the really small ones :(

Here is what my hair used to look like



I don't really have any pics that show exactly how thinned out my hair got. I rarely wore it down, and when I did, I would wear a headband so you could not see how thin it was. I decided to cut it, and start over. I'm hopeful my hair will eventually grow back! Here is how it looks now. Unfortunately, it was pouring when I left, so it doesn't look quite as good as it first did, but you get the idea!





Seriously, these are not great pics. My hairdresser is awesome, and these pics really don't show what a great job she did. What you can't see in the pics is how healthy and shiny my hair looks and feels, and how much more volume it has, it actually feels thick again! I will post more pics on a better hair day lol. So would I have the surgery again knowing exactly what would happen to my hair? Absolutely. I have lost 67 pounds in 4 months, and still losing. This is just my vent. I have been very lucky, I have had no issues, (knock on wood) and I can eat just about anything I want. Oh well, that's all for now.

Weekend in Maine

Last weekend, Mr.Sully and I were able to get away for the weekend! We left on Friday after work, and headed up to Ogunquit,Maine and stayed at the Juniper Hill Inn. I love it up there, perfect place to spend the weekend. There is lots of cute shops and restaurants, and I love going to Perkins Cove. Since we got there later in the evening on Friday, we were looking for a place for dinner. As it is not yet peak season, a lot of places still close early (in my opinion) at 9:00. This is what we found...



We LOVED this place! We hung out at the bar, and ordered, what else! Tinis-super dirty Belvedere for me, wine for Mr.Sully and Tapas-spanish meatballs, chicken wings, and this crostini with red pepper puree that I am still craving! Very fun atmosphere, and super friendly bartender. Oh and the food was SO GOOD! The weather for the weekend was not very cooperative. In fact, all of New England was under a tornado warning for the whole weekend, how crazy is that! At around 7:00 am I was woken up my a monstrous thunder storm. It was raining, so no pool or beach for us. At least not outdoors. The Juniper Hill Inn has a really nice indoor pool and hot tub, so we hung out there. There were a couple of families there when we first got there, then they left so it was just the hubby and I. Very relaxing. Nice to go for a swim, relax in the hot tub, and just hang out and read. I am currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love", will blog about that in another post when I finish, but love it so far. After spending some time at the pool, we headed back to the room to shower and change to go our for lunch. By now it was nice and sunny...where should be go? Back to Tapas and Tinis for happy hour! We got a pitcher of mojitos



I got a super berry flavor shot for my mojito and it was quite delicious!



We sat out on the porch and was able to people watch, one of my very favorite pastimes lol....Of course we had some more tapas as well, including the aforementioned crostini. Our friends came up on Saturday, and we went to Barnacle Billy's in Perkins Cove for dinner-lobster of course! After a lovely dinner there, we decided to go out for a couple more drinks...where would we go? Of course! Back to Tapas and Tinis!!! We had some more drinks there (no tapas) and just hung out. Hmmm....3 visits in 24 hours...I think we liked it! The next day we drove up to Kennebunkport and went to Alissons for lunch and then lots of shopping. We headed back to Ogunquit for of course, more shopping, and then to Wells to go to The Steakhouse for dinner. If you have not been to The Steakhouse in Wells, GO! It is sooooooooo good! I have been dying for a steak. I have not had a really really good steak since before surgery. Mr.Sully and I split a ribeye (my fav cut) and it was delish! Cooked perfectly, still nice and juicy, it was just what I wanted. And, the best part was, I was able to tolerate it! I was so afraid I would not be able to tolerate it, but I had no problems! We headed home after dinner. It was a fun weekend with good friends that went by way too fast, can't wait to do it again!

Mr.Sully and I at Alisson's



Fun Fact: Mr.Sully and I have been going to Alisson's for years and love it! When we were there last weekend, we found out they are going to be on "Food Wars" on the Travel Channel! I am trying to talk Mr.Sully into going up while they are filming. I believe it is 6/24 and 6/25. My dates may be a day off, but it is definately that Saturday and Sunday. If you're in that area, go check them out!