Happy Holidays!
Lots has happened since my last journal. Things have been busy throughout the holidays, as they always are. Surprisingly, my surgery has not affected my enjoyment of the holidays- something I thought for sure would be different. I think it actually lets me enjoy them more- while everyone else is worrying and fretting about piling on holiday pounds, I feel free to indulge with a bite of this or a piece of that- without going overboard (because I can't!). Thanksgiving was wonderful- Thanasi and I went to RI to see the family and spend the day with them, and we had a great time. The best part was that I didn't feel so full that I would pop after I was done eating, like in past years. Seeing the family was great- they all commented on how good I looked, and for once I really felt like I could accept the compliment! I've lost in the neighborhood of 70 pounds since surgery, and I'm back into wearing size 18 jeans and XL shirts. My favorite thing recently was what happened when Thanasi and I went home for the weekend- I needed to meet my uncle to pick out my grandparents' Christmas tree, and our friends Karen and George were coming down on Sunday to go to LaSalette Shrine. While I was home, I made plans to go to church with my grandfather. Upon getting home late Friday night, I realized that I didn't have any nice "church" clothes to wear on Sunday. So I set out to Wal-Mart with Mom to pick something up. On their clearance rack there was a dress that I had admired for a few months now, but never bought because it only came in "normal" sizes... on a whim I picked it up (and some others) and brought it into the dressing room to try on- it FIT!!!!!!!! Not only that, it was even a little too big! I was amazed! :) It was an XL... and I also bought a nice, stretchy soft black long-sleeved t-shirt ot wear under it, also an XL- it's so wonderful to wear something without having to worry about sucking in my stomach all the time! I got several compliments from my family when I wore it on Sunday morning (which were nice, but, c'mon- they're my family! They HAVE to say nice things!) but I couldn't believe the amount of nice thigns people said to me when I went to school on Monday morning! One teacher who was just returning from a personal leave didn't recognize me at first! It's such a great feeling/
On the flip side, I'm certainly not superhuman- I've had my share of battles with the food that I'm not supposed to be eating, and before I reach for the candy canes or whatever else is sitting around the house, I try to think about WHY I am eating that at that particular moment- I don't mind letting myself indulge in something that I really want, but I don't want to mindlessly snack on things that I'm not really "hungry" for... I don't want to get in the habit of eating things just because they're there. And I'm finding, while I do all my baking and holiday cooking stuff, I'm not really as tempted to snag a taste of things every step of the way as I used to be.
Not a whole lot else to update... Thanasi and I will be heading home to RI for Christmas on the morning of Christmas Eve, and returning back to Portland the day after Christmas. I can't wait for Christmas- I used to hide from cameras- now I can't wait to jump in front of them! :)