Day #425 *Screaming* I'M NO LONGER OBESE!!!

I'm SO excited! I've been at a sort of stall for the last two weeks, "only" losing one pound a week. I stopped weighing myself every day and have only been weighing a couple times a week. Today I was feeling "skinny", so I got on the scale and weighed 194! This is a HUGE milestone for me! I'm no longer obese! I just want to run around screaming this like a crazy person. This milestone also marks a halfway point for me. 56 pounds down and 54 pounds more to go! It feels so good to be this far in my journey. I feel like such a stronger person than I did at 250 pounds and i'm so grateful for this surgery.

My insurance denied my prescriptions for nexium and protonix, which were the two PPI's my surgeon called in for me that are available in powder form. I got some nexium capsules from my primary md and had been opening them up into applesauce, but let me tell you, that is DISGUSTING! I decided last Tuesday to try and swallow the nexium capsule for the first time and it worked! I didn't get stuck. I've tried taking much bigger capsules since and haven't had any trouble. I have also tried taking small pills and same thing, no trouble. I hate my chewable bariatric vitamins and haven't been very good about taking them. If I had a tablet available for me to swallow I would be much more compliant.

Anyway, back to the whole PPI issue, when I ran out of nexium I decided to try Prevacid over the counter and it is AAAAAAAmazing! With the nexium I would start feeling the heartburn again by mid morning if I would forget to take it as soon as I would wake up. With the Prevacid I haven't had this happen. My surgeon said I would probably have to take this for about three months. Prevacid is also really affordable, it's less than $25 for a 30 day supply.

So what am I eating these days? A lot of what I would eat before but in much smaller portions. I'm also trying to eat lower carb and I never drink soda. I'm not supposed to use a straw but i've used one two or three times without any trouble. My favorite lunch to pack is cucumber slices, black forest ham, honey smoked turkey, and sharp cheddar cheese. I've identified a few foods that i'm "bottomless" on, as in, I can eat and eat and never feel restriction. These foods freak me out and I try to avoid them.

Since our trip out of town last weekend i've been having really bad muscle spasms in my low back. It has made work really hard. Actually, it's made everything hard. I can't even put on my own undies without wincing in pain. I decided to dedicate yesterday to spoiling myself. I had lunch with a friend of mine, then got a pedicure. I committed to not biting my nails yesterday and got a manicure with the gel nail polish that has to be removed with acetone. I got a pale pink color that looks like my natural nail color. Once my nails grow past my fingertips I want to get really awesome nail colors like neon purple!

After my mani/pedi I got an over three hour massage. It was amazing. I'm really sore today, but in a good way. My back is still hurting me, and i'm thinking maybe I should get some imaging done just to make sure it's not something more serious. I've never had muscle spasms that last a week before. I've tried everything, advil, heating pad, rest, muscle relaxants, massage...nothing makes it go away :-(.