058 This Really Is Working!

Last night was our annual #WinningSM Youth Christmas party. We had a blast! We had snacks (ok, Jimmy didn't have snacks but I did) and we played a gift exchange game. Jimmy also gave his annual gift to one lucky youth. BUT the best part of all of it for me is that tonight I got to hear Jimmy say "I look skinnier" for the first time tonight!

It's one thing to see the numbers go down and down on the scale, and don't get me wrong we feel great about the numbers going down. However, it is a whole other ball of wax to feel those changes and to see them when you look at yourself in a video, photos, or the mirror. That's what happened last night.

We got home from the Christmas party and Jimmy decided he wanted to watch the video of him giving his gift to Adri. After the second time of watching it, he turned to me and said, "Hey, I look skinnier! This is actually working!" I wanted to say "Duh!" but I resisted the temptation. I just smiled and let him continue to enjoy his moment of realization and the funny video.

Don't take our word for it though. I am including the video so you can see for yourself how great Jimmy is looking, and so you can get a good laugh at how funny teenagers are when something unexpected happens. I hope you enjoy!

036 My Favorite Things

Well, Friends, we are into the post-op now. I don't know if I will be updating quite as frequently as I have been but I will definitely attempt to be on here no less than once a week to let you know what is going on in our world. It's hard to know what all I should write about now so if you have questions feel free to message me because it may spark an idea for me and that would be much appreciated.

I did want to take this opportunity to talk about a few of my (Christiana's) favorite moments over the last few weeks. The pre-op liquid diet was really hard and stressful. Then we were straight into the surgery and now we are in post-op. I just wanted to take time to be thankful for the really good/funny moments that happened so that they won't be lost.

I decided the best way for me to share my favorite things with you was by posting pictures of them. So here they are, Christiana's favorite things:

We had really awesome support.
This is a conversation between Jimmy & Melissa
about the day that Melissa did the liquid diet w/ him.

This was Melissa's husband's response to their
conversation as posted on Facebook.

Jimmy was really sweet and wrote some supper nice
things about me so I felt that needed some recognition.

The kids from our church's daycare absolutely love Jimmy
and they got him some toys to help him get well soon.

013 The Wonderful World of Water

Water is literally all around us. It’s in the ground, the air, and our bodies. So what the big deal with water?

In June, Jimmy and I went to Youth Camp. If you don’t know or don’t remember, Jimmy is a youth minister. This was his first ever camp that he planned from the ground up and we were both really excited to see how it was going to turn out. I was personally really excited that the camp had a swimming pool because I hadn’t swam in probably 3+ years. The thing about camp in Missouri during June is that it is HOT and it is HUMID. You just can’t get away from it! So to escape the heat you have to make sure that you are drinking plenty of water, and why not take advantage of that nice cool pool I was just talking about. That’s when it hit me that water is really great for Jimmy and me in two distinct ways.

When it comes to losing weight—especially when you are severely over weight—there are two really great things about water!

#1 Drinking water helps you lose weight. It flushes out your body and keeps you hydrated. Hydration allows your body to function properly and to get rid of toxins and excess water. I know that it seems really backward that you get bloated and hold on to water weight when you aren’t drinking enough water every day but it is true! So it you are interested in shedding the pounds and keeping them off make sure that you are fueling your calorie burning engine (your body) with plenty of H2O!

#2 Water exercises/aerobics are a wonderful way to burn calories that is easy on your back, legs, and joints. When you exercise in water you have the natural resistance that comes with being partially submerged but you also have a buoyancy (lift/floating) that reduces the weight your joints are bearing during the exercise. That means that you can exercise more efficiently with less pain and probably for a longer period of time than if you were to exercise outside of the pool.

Yes, Jimmy and I saw great results from drinking water. We were able to stay hydrated. We didn’t get sick or overheated, and we lost extra weight. Still I have to say that we both enjoyed the benefits of the pool the most. Jimmy got in a few days for about 2.5 hours each time. He had a blast and the next day he told me that he could really feel the difference that exercising in the pool made versus the walking he normally. So it was a great experience all around—even if a dog did run off with one of Jimmy’s water shoes!

001 Getting to Know You

Jimmy making funny faces at a youth event.

Hi there! My name is Christiana. You may or may not know me, but if you are visiting this blog then there’s a pretty good chance that you are thinking about Weight Loss Surgery (WLS).

I’m not personally planning on going through WLS--even though I could stand to lose a few pounds--but my wonderful hubby is. My hubby’s name is Jimmy. Yep, that's him there on the left with the funny look on his face!

So you may be wondering why I am writing the blog if I’m not the one going through the WLS. Well the answer is two fold: First and foremost Jimmy and I are a team. We love and support each other no matter what and I am in this with him even though I am not having surgery. Secondly (and probably more importantly to this question), Jimmy doesn’t like writing/blogging very much so if you want the scoop then I guess you are stuck with me :) *sigh* But I will encourage him to get on here and post his thoughts in his own words but I can’t guarantee that it will happen or that it will happen often.

Anyway, I look forward to getting to know you and I hope we can be of some help and/or assistance to you. Feel free to post questions and comments you may have. We will do our best to answer from our own personal experiences (remember that we are NOT doctors and our advice should NOT be taken as the medical gospel) but we are happy to share. Please join Jimmy and I as we go through this life-changing experience.