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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Lovely Rita National Kidney Foundation Fundraiser

http://sites.google.com/site/twirlygirlfundraiser/

As some of you have heard (many, many times, I'm sure!), Sunday, April 18th, the Twirly Girls studio is hosting a fundraiser for Rita's National Kidney Foundation walk (her walk is May 8th in San Francisco).  Ladies, now is your chance to try out pole dancing (or a dance class).  Gentlemen, there will be a dance recital (with a raffle and silent auction of some pretty cool prizes) in the evening and you will be allowed into our normally very private world!  In the meantime, ladies, if you are interested in signing up for the day classes, here's the schedule!  Keep in mind that all of the money goes to the National Kidney Foundation!

10 AM - Core-licious with Marilyn
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

11:30 AM - Ooohhh La La Chair/Burlesque Dance with Marilyn
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

1 PM - Lovely Rita Pole Routine with Bel
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

2:30 PM - GoGo Dance with Kat
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

3:30 -6 PM - Silent Auction

5-6 PM - Twirly Girls Dance recital!  (Ladies, your men are welcome at this event!)

Class sizes will be limited, so please contact Bel if you are interested in signing up. 
http://www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com/calendar.html
(510) 828-3447

I will put together a list of the raffle prizes soon.  If you're interested, I can sell you tickets (they're extremely reasonably priced and we have some AWESOME prizes).  Raffle ticket prices are as follows:  3 for $5...8 for $10...20 for $20!

If you can't make a class, or you'd like to donate to the cause, please visit my other blog entry (see below).  There is a link for Rita's page there and you can donate directly to the NKF.

http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-twirly-girls-support-national.html

Monday, March 22, 2010

It was quite the Twirly weekend!

So, this weekend, I basically should have spent the night at the Twirly Girls studio.  I was there every day and had the BEST time!

Friday night, the gorgeous Kat taught a sensual workshop at Twirly GirlsCheck out the photos here.  We had a really great group.  Of course, you feel slightly silly rubbing up on your girlfriends and learning how to give a lap dance.  But we still had a lot of fun and it's always a treat to watch Kat dance!  The workshop ended around 9:30 p.m., but a lot of the girls stuck around to chat and we all ended up performing pole routines for each other.  I think I left around 12:30 a.m., but Bel and Rita were still going strong!

Saturday morning, I got up at 7 a.m. for a 5k at Mt. Diablo (or, in case Annie is reading, I got up for a little-more-than-three-mile walk/jog).  I always like the Brazen Racing events.  They're usually well put together and everyone is very supportive and nice.  This was my third 5k with Brazen.  The first one I did took me about an hour (but there was a VERY big hill toward the end).  The second one was extremely muddy and took about an hour and 15 minutes.  This 5k had some rolling hills and streams but wasn't too difficult.  I did it in 50 minutes!  I was pretty proud of myself.  Thanks to my mom and Robert for walk/jogging it with me.  There is another 5k scheduled in Tilden Park next month and another in June somewhere in Pinole.  I have some photos up on flickr.  Once Brazen puts their photos up, I'll add more. 

I went straight from the 5k to Twirly Girls.  It was the regularly scheduled Saturday morning class.  I ended up making Rita and I about 30 minutes late (didn't realize I'd be taking a bus from the parking lot to the race start and then back again).  Once I got there, I was a little tired and probably didn't put in as much effort as I should have.  But, as usual, it was a fun class.

After class, a group of us headed over to Pierre Silber in Santa Clara to try on shoes and costumes.  They were really great to us.  I put on a costume and twirled a little on their newly-installed pole.  Pierre took some photos and gave me a write-up on their blog

Sunday morning was the BIG DAY.  Rita and I had set up a Twirly Girls party.  We didn't really have a reason in mind, but the date ended up coinciding (somewhat) with my new-birthday.

We started the day by going to Bare Escentuals in Walnut Creek for a girlfriends party.  They did our makeup.  I want to thank Gaby for doing an amazing job on mine!  I loved it!!  

We had an awesome group of girls at the party.  I had asked Andrew and Misti of Liquidpulp Photography to come and photograph the event.  I was nervous about how the girls would react to (A) pole dancing and (B) having a guy there photographing it.  But it went perfectly.  Everyone dug into the costumes, shoes, wigs and other fun things.  We spent the first hour acting silly and taking photos.

Then I performed my solo to Darling Nikki (the Foo Fighter's version of the Prince song).  (3/23/2010:  The video is now up...check the end of this blog (before the photos).  I won't bother critiquing myself...I know what I need to work on for the Kidney Foundation recital though!)  I was SO nervous.  I think I was fine up until the moment I put on my costume and then I KNEW I had to actually do this in front of new Twirly Girls!  I have to say that even though I missed some things I wanted to do and felt like my timing was off, having the other girls cat-calling and yelling and clapping for me really made me feel good and helped me feel like I still did a good job.  I will also link to some of Andrew's photos once they are up!

After my performance, we had a little bit of a Taster class, then Andrea did her beautiful performance (LOVED that it brought Misti to tears).  Bel also gave us a little taste of her abilities.  Then it was more silliness until it was time to go home.  All in all, it was a really fun party and I was glad that everyone (especially the shy girls) had a good time.

So after abusing myself all weekend, I have an appointment with Keith at Tri-Valley Bodyworks tonight to put me back together.  Although, that man is going to put himself out of a job, because he fixed so many of my problems in that first visit, I am still almost virtually pain free! 








Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy New-Birthday to ME!

Today, I am six years new!  At this time, six years ago, I was knocked out on an operating table.  I'd been in surgery about two hours by now.  I had my gastric bypass surgery on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2004!  Surgery was at UCSF at 8 AM.  I had to be there at 6 AM.  I think we had to get up at 3 AM to get there on time.  It was quite a morning.

My friend, Vanessa, took me to surgery.  When we arrived, they took us upstairs in a big elevator with another lady and her husband (I found out later Kandy was also having surgery and we became friends when we met at our follow up appointment a few weeks later).  Per the instructions given to me pre-surgery, I was assigned a "comfortable gurney" and given a stupid hat to wear.  I got into my hospital gown and sat on the gurney with Vanessa, where we giggled about my stupid outfit and ugly socks.  I was so nervous and so excited.  But, as I like to say, I have the easy job...I get to sleep!

And sleep I did.  FOR HOURS.  They ran into complications and my surgery went longer than expected.  Most people say when they have the early surgery, they are somewhat awake by about 2-3 PM.  Vanessa didn't even get a status on me until 5 PM.  I don't really remember waking up until 7 or 8 PM.  It was a rough day.  I woke up to the worst pain I've ever felt in my life and body spasms.  My mom and sister came to visit but I was in and out of consciousness so I barely remember it. Vanessa just reminded that when they finally let her see me, I said, "they cut me."  haha!  That's all I was worried about.  I don't even remember that anymore!  Foggy brain!

And even with all of that pain, I wouldn't change my decision to have surgery for the world.  Despite my continued battle of the bulge, I am still over 125 pounds lighter than when I started.  My weight changes every single day.  Last Friday, I was up to 227 pounds, two days ago, down to 224, yesterday up to 226, today back to 227.  I still know that cardio is what I need to be doing. 

But today, I celebrate the 6th anniversary of my surgery -- my new-birthday as I like to call it (it's great timing since it's about six months from my real birthday...who doesn't need a mid-year celebration to keep the spirits up!).  Two years ago, I got a tattoo of a four leaf clover to memorialize my day.  Yes, I know...THREE leaf clovers actually symbolize St. Patty's Day, but I was hoping to give myself a little extra luck.  :-)

Have a safe and fun St. Patrick's Day!  And happy new-birthday to me!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Rule Number 1: Cardio



So I never reported in last week about my weigh-in.  I usually weigh myself on Friday mornings (you know, before the weekend pigout-fest).  I weighed in two weeks ago at 224.0 pounds.  I was excited because I had lost over 4 pounds in that week.  So last week rolled around.  I did an unofficial weigh in on Thursday and I weighed 223.6.  It wasn't much but it was a loss so I was excited.  Well, the next morning came and I was up to 224.8!!  Overnight!!  I was so pissed!  

This week, I've been monitoring my weight daily but today was my official "weigh day."  I'm up to 227.4!  Now, according to the calendar (and my grumpy mood lately), this is my PMS week, and therefore the week I would normally gain some water weight...usually between 3 and 8 pounds.  But STILL.  I don't want to gain, I want to LOSE!

I know what my problem is.  I need to do more cardio.  I already know that's what my problem is, so why don't I DO IT?!  Well, because it's boring.  I'm definitely getting toned from Twirly Girls (and please don't tell me I'm gaining because muscle weighs more than fat...I'm not THAT muscular!!), but I need to get my heart rate up and keep it there for awhile.  I definitely get out of breath and sweat during pole class, but I also stop and chat and take pictures, so I don't keep it up there long enough.  

I can sit around and make all the excuses in the world.  I commute three plus hours a day roundtrip, work a full-time job, need to fit in family/friends, etc., I have yoga, I have Twirly Girls, I have this, that or the other.  I mean, I really DO have those excuses.  I generally get up at 5:30 or 6 AM, try to get in a workout at home (working out too hard at night makes me not sleep so I HAVE to knock it out in the morning), shower, drive to work, work all day, drive home (or wherever I'm going next), blah blah blah.  Every day.  More often than not, I don't get home until 9 or 10 PM.  Just in time to go to bed and do it all over again.  This is also why I can't re-join the 5 AM crowd.  I only live 10 miles from the gym but with stoplights, it takes almost 30 minutes to get there.  So, I'd have to get up at the asscrack of dawn to go to the gym.  And it's not worth the gas to drive all the way home again to get ready for work, so I either have to work out for two and a half hours and then shower at the gym.  Or just sit there for a couple of hours talking to myself.  It's really a no-win situation right now.   Plus, in order for me to get up at 4 AM, I have to be in bed at 8 PM.  I only get home that early about one night a week.  Anyway, regardless of all of my "excuses," I still NEED to work out.  I just need to make sure my workouts are efficient. 


I need to get my chubby ass out there and SWEAT.  There's a funny line I cross between 200 pounds and 225 pounds.  At 200, I just look big.  Not fat.  Not skinny.  Just tall.  At 225, I've crossed the line to fat.  I have that chub going on that I don't want or need.


So this week, I recommit myself to doing cardio (I have a 5k tomorrow morning to start the week off right!).  No, I don't see myself getting up at 4 AM to drive all the way to Bally to rejoin the 5 AM crowd (although I miss you guys because you kept it interesting and fun!).  I also don't want to bother driving to the gym every day to workout alone at 6 or 7 AM (plus, I still hate showering there before work).  

However, I will plan on going to the gym most Tuesdays mornings to do the stairs (in case I feel crazy enough to try Half Dome again this year).  And I have a bike here at the house and can go jogging.  If I do that every morning, and then do my recently-devised toning routine, I know I can drop this weight.  I'm very frustrated.  I don't want to be fat anymore.  



Thursday, March 11, 2010

Creepy Tree

I moved to Clayton, California in October of 2009.  It's pretty far out there, nestled in the foothills of Mt. Diablo.  It takes about 20-30 extra minutes to get ANYWHERE.  But it's beautiful.  Every day when I leave the house, I pass the Seeno property.  It's this gigantic house perched on top of a hill.  And it's surrounded by trees and animals (llamas, emus, rams...).  On one side of the hill, there is a lone tree, which I dubbed Creepy Tree.  I started taking a picture of him every day and posting them on Facebook.  I was (and still am) amazed at how many people loved Creepy Tree too!!

Now, my friend Bat, takes issue with me calling him Creepy Tree.  Bat (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY, BAT!!) loves Mother Earth and believes that everything which comes from her is beautiful and sacred.  So he believes that Creepy Tree is actually a "she" and should be called the Wise Tree (or the Grandmother Tree).  I like where Bat is coming from but I love the name Creepy Tree.  So I sometimes call him Creepy Tree aka The Old, Wise Tree, but mostly he is CREEPY TREE!  Oh yeah, and the "he" stuck too.  Sorry, Bat!

Anyway, I now take photos of Creepy Tree daily.  He speaks to me -- kinda.  It just puts me in a good mood to take my daily photo and think about what Creepy Tree might want to say to his fans on Facebook that day.  I try to put forth positive messages, to start each day on the right foot.  I love hearing that people look forward to the photos of him every day.  We are looking into possibly making a calendar of Creepy Tree's photos.  I've had some people ask for higher quality images (most of these photos are taken with my iPhone through my windshield), so they can put them up in their houses.

Creepy Tree lives behind an electrified fence with a very wealthy family.  The Seeno family has developed a large part of the East Bay.  I know there are rumors that they are actually mobsters (compounded by the fact that the FBI apparently raided some of their offices recently -- you should have seen the firestorm of comments on Claycord.com!).  I know some people are also unhappy that their construction included ruining a stream or river.  I don't know their actual history and have no personal issues with them.  I just appreciate that they have this beautiful tree and haven't had their security question me about why I pass their home every day taking photos.  haha!

So today I pay homage to my favorite new friend, Creepy Tree.  Thank you for helping me start each day with a smile on my face!

[Also, you can join Creepy Tree on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/creepytree]

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Pick your poison

I realize I started this blog to talk about Twirly Girls and the fun I am having with pole fitness, and it has somehow turned into a blog about gastric bypass and weight loss.  But I figure they kind of go hand in hand, since I'm using Twirly Girls to get into shape and be healthy.  I appreciate everyone humoring me by reading my blog.  It has been very therapeutic.  

Most overweight people got there because they like to eat.  Maybe they don't like to call it food addiction, but for me, that's how it was.  I am food-obsessed.  And the more I thought (and still think) about food (i.e., planning out EVERYTHING via Weight Watchers, etc.), the more I wanted to EAT.  I happily joke that Weight Watchers made me fat.   Gastric bypass doesn't fix that problem.  In fact, it almost makes it worse because you WANT to eat but you can't.  So, after weight loss surgery, a lot of patients trade one addiction for another.  The one thing about food (as opposed to cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc.) is that you CANNOT completely abstain!  You have to eat to live!!!  (As Weight Watchers likes to say:  Eat to live, don't live to eat!)

Addiction transfer after gastric bypass appears to be pretty common.  I've dealt with it myself.  I mean, not that I needed a reason to go shopping BEFORE surgery, but afterward, it was REQUIRED.  I was losing enough weight to drop a clothing size every single month.  Therefore, every other month, I literally had to replace my entire wardrobe.  That wasn't my fault.  I HAD to shop!  I picked my poison.  It was shopping!!  It's not healthy.  My credit cards paid the price (ha!).  Well, actually I paid the price since I have to pay those credit cards off.  I racked up a lot of debt.  The more weight I lost, the better I felt about myself and the more I wanted to go out and get cute clothes for my smaller frame.  It was easy to justify to myself.  I DESERVED these new clothes.  I was working hard to lose weight (no, I wasn't...it was just happening) and I couldn't go to work in clothes that were three sizes too big!  When you want something, it's easy to justify it to yourself.  It's also funny to me that I turned to shopping in good times AND bad.  If I was depressed, I eased the pain with shopping too.  Shopping was my new friend since Food had turned its back on me.

Some people take other routes.  Alcohol is another popular addiction. It gives you a similar rush to shopping with the added downside of calories you absolutely do not need.  I went through a short period of drinking more than I did before surgery.  I got drunk fast and it just made me feel good.  But I recognized it becoming an issue and hit the brakes.  Now I drink occasionally -- probably once a month or less.  I still love shopping, however. 

You know something is wrong when you have to hide it from the ones you love.  Hiding credit card receipts or acting like that new shirt was just some old thing you pulled out of the back of the closet.  Drinking alone or lying about how much you drink.  All hints that you have a problem. 

I absolutely advocate therapy after gastric bypass.  Not just a support group.  One-on-one, intense therapy to figure out WHY you need to self-medicate.  Whether it's food, shopping, alcohol, sex, drugs, or anything else, sometimes "everything in moderation" cannot apply! 

Until next time, put down that credit card and keep twirling!!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Our Twirly Girls support the National Kidney Foundation

Our very own Rita Pearson is a three-time kidney transplant recipient.  You'd never know she was "sick" by the way she lives her life.  Wife, mother, friend, knower-of-all-cool-techie-stuff.  She currently has THREE kidneys in her body, although I understand, only one is working properly.  She doesn't really like to talk about it, but I understand she wasn't supposed to live past 20.  Definitely wasn't supposed to have kids (hello!!!!! to her 13-year-old daughter, Kate).  I tell you this not to get sympathy for Rita, but to show you that she's a fighter and a survivor. 

Rita is participating in a 5k Kidney Walk to support the National Kidney Foundation on Saturday, May 8, 2010 in San Francisco.  Check out her page to donate

In order to support Rita, Twirly Girls is putting on a day of twirling to support healthy kidneys!  On Sunday, April 18th, the studio is going to offer several classes throughout the day (the schedule is still being finalized), with all of the proceeds going to support Rita's cause.  At the end of the day, some of the girls from the studio will be putting on a "dance recital" of sorts.  It will be a demonstration of the different levels and abilities of some of the dancers from the studio.  Please keep in mind that we are a POLE FITNESS studio, not a strip club.  Men will be welcome to attend our performance, but we will not be accepting dollars in our g-strings (not that most of us probably wear one -- or maybe I should just speak for myself).  Anyway, we will happily take your dollars, but they will 100% support the cause, and those dollars will have to be respectfully placed in a fish bowl or something.  :-)  We also ask those who would like to attend to keep in mind that most of us are beginners, and are nervous about putting ourselves out there.  So be nice. 

Attendance at the recital will be limited to about 30 people.  If you are interested in attending, please let me know.  We have not set a time, but I imagine it will take place somewhere between 4 PM and 6 PM on Sunday, April 18th.  Also, we are going to have a silent auction.  If you have a business you would like to promote and can donate an item or service, please let me know as well.  (My e-mail address is tazzie2010@yahoo.com if you'd like to get in touch.) 

We have also been throwing around the idea of making shirts to support the cause.  (Bel's boyfriend, Doug is working on a design, but I was thinking something along the lines of: "Have Kidney, Will Twirl" or "iTwirl for Healthy Kidneys").  If you'd like to buy a shirt to support the cause, let me know that as well! 

I want to thank Bel at Twirly Girls Pole Fitness for graciously offering to give up 100% of the proceeds from the entire day on April 18th to Rita's cause.  So many times you hear about benefits where they give up 100% of the "profit."  Funny how much money they can eat up with their own fees and costs.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.  And please mark Sunday, April 18th on your calendar!  Its going to be an awesome day!!

 

 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Fat people have feelings too

The weight loss industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry.  Yet, Americans are fatter than ever (not that you'd know by the bikini-clad twits on reality TV shows -- my theory is that every single skinny person on earth must have been on TV by now because supposedly the fatties have taken over the world!).  (Side note:  And if the "big ones" HAVE taken over the world, WHY does the fashion industry still cater to the size 0?!  If bigger people are over-running the earth, their dollars should count for something and designers should be falling all over themselves to create cute clothes for us!)

I remember having an argument with someone on Facebook about what "average" sized means.  He was on a dating site and a girl called herself "average."  She ended up being a size 12.  He felt that she shouldn't have been over a size 8.  He compared it to a guy adding a couple of inches to his height on his profile.  They are not even close to the same issue.  Height is something you can actually measure.  Asking someone to choose:  Slender, Athletic, Average, or "More to Love" is completely subjective, and, therefore, open to interpretation.  My argument was that a girl who wanted to call herself "average" instead of "more to love" had every right to do so (a size 12 IS the American "average" size now).  A guy adding two inches to his height was just a tool, because if all six feet of me -- er, 5 feet, 11-3/4 inches -- showed up for a date, I'm going to notice that you're 5'10" and not 6' -- especially since I'll probably be in four inch heels.  

It's amazing to me how accepted it has become to be prejudiced against fat people.  (Article by a high school senior regarding fat prejudice.)  I started thinking about this subject recently when director, Kevin Smith, was given a hard time on a Southwest flight because he was too big for one seat.  I have now been on both sides of this coin, so I thought I should talk about it.  (Here's a listing of websites regarding fat prejudice and fat acceptance.)

I remember when I had to fly at my biggest, I was so embarrassed to ask for a seat belt extender (but I had no choice).  My dad moved from California to Texas, so I was "forced" to travel to see him.  I tried to only fly with family members so I wasn't infringing on a stranger's space.  One time I had to fly alone and I was so stressed out.  I was sitting next to another bigger lady so we were "fighting" for space.  It stressed me out so badly that I passed out twice during the flight.  My blood sugar was so low and the stress basically put me over the top.  I woke up sweaty and scared (I was out for literally seconds...not a big deal, just scary).  I was traveling alone and I didn't want to tell the flight attendant because I was terrified they'd land the plane and kick me off.  I asked for orange juice and just did some yoga breathing to get myself through.  I believe that was the last time I traveled while I was that overweight. 

I had gastric bypass within a year or so of my dad moving.  My first trip out to see him was probably a couple of months after surgery.  I had already lost enough weight to avoid asking for the seat belt extender.  Of course, all of my weight was gone within the first year.  It was so nice to FIT in the seat.  I mean, I'm still a big, tall, broad-shouldered girl, so it's not like airplane seats are COMFORTABLE but they're not as uncomfortable as they used to be for me.  

So, now I'm on the other side.  And how do I feel?  I can't lie.  When I have to sit next to a bigger person who is infringing on my space, I get a little irritated.  How is it that I've forgotten where I've come from??  I KNOW how it feels.  Knowing you're taking up someone else's space and feeling bad because there's nothing you can do at that moment (which is why I usually tried to take up my family's space because, what else is their purpose in life, other than to make my fat ass feel more comfortable??).  Yet, I still have that split second thought of: GET OUT OF MY SPACE. I try to be aware of my irritation and keep it under control.  I was there once and I would have been mortified if someone had been mean to me about it. 

I actually enjoy traveling more now and am relieved to BE on the other side of that coin.  A lot of that really was a mind trip...not real at all.  I definitely haven't stressed myself into a blackout incident since losing weight.

It's funny how our brains work. They say it takes about a year for your brain to catch up to your weight loss.  For example, if you see a space that your body will now physically fit through, your brain may tell you that you won't and you'll walk around it (think crowded bar situation).  And people very clearly treat you differently after you lose weight.  I remember going to a 7-Eleven with a friend after I'd lost weight.  A man tripped over himself to run to the door and open it for me.  And let it slam in my friend's face.  We joked about it (not like she was overweight or anything, and clearly I can't say that he did that ONLY because I was skinny, but situations like that happened to me over and over after I lost weight), but it kind of hurt her feelings!  No one tripped over themselves to open doors for me when I was fat.

I had a really hard time trusting people after I lost weight.  I ended up getting into a relationship a couple of months after I had surgery (bad move, by the way; the majority of relationships break up after extreme weight loss -- higher confidence on the part of the person losing weight; jealousy on the part of the partner), but when people (men especially) would give me attention, I would catch myself wondering if they would have been so attentive before I lost weight.   It became a huge issue in my life.  Every person I met, I would ask myself:  Would this person have wanted to know me when I was FAT?  

It's a valid question/concern but you also can't spend your entire life second guessing everyone and everything.  But it was a complete mind trip.  It was sometimes easy to pick out the people who treated me differently after weight loss.  I'm not stupid, boys....if you called me once every few months before surgery and now you're calling me daily or weekly, I KNOW why you're calling.  But I do love the whole:  Hey, I liked you when you were big!  Uh, yeah, right....  But you clearly like me more now.  

Anyway, I don't believe that it is acceptable to be prejudiced against fat people.  Whether you believe people are overweight because they have a disease or because they are just piggies who eat themselves to death -- they're still people and you should have some respect for their feelings.  I realize that, in this day and age, people have a general disconnect and it seems so easy to be mean to strangers.  I don't want to be that kind of person, so I am making it my daily goal to be a good and decent person to everyone I meet -- fat or not.  :-)

Until next time, keep twirling!



Monday, March 1, 2010

Weighing in on the debate - Pole dancing in the Olympics

Lately, pole dancing in the 2012 Summer Olympics has been a hot topic.  Of course, my friends know that I am ALL about pole fitness, so everyone has been asking my opinion.  I've been busy with work so, although I have glanced at some articles and blogs, I really haven't paid a lot of attention to them -- just quick glances through.  Nor have I had the chance to think about my actual opinion on the subject (any time someone sends me a link on Facebook, my response has basically been: "HELL YEAH, PUT POLE DANCING IN THE OLYMPICS!").  

Tonight, Rita sent me a link to a blog asking for people IN the pole industry to weigh in on the subject.  So, here goes!

When the posts about a petition to get pole dancing in the Olympics first started flying around Facebook, I (superficially) supported it wholeheartedly (see over-exaggerated response above).  Of course I believe that the athleticism required to be a pole dancer is so much greater than some of the sports I just saw in the Winter Olympics (hellooooooo, what the hell is CURLING and does it require ANY athletic skill?!).  Why wouldn't I support pole dancing in the Olympics?!  I do love the "what's the difference" photo comparing vertical pole to the uneven bars.  

However, the more I think about it, the more I don't really care.  It's not that I don't care about pole dancing.  It's just that I don't care about the Olympics.  In my 33 years, I can't say I've EVER sat down to watch the Olympics (other than short recaps on the news each morning).  I didn't watch the Winter Olympics, which I believe ended yesterday.  And I probably won't watch the Summer Olympics in two years.  (I don't have a problem with the Olympics -- I just don't get into "events" on TV.  I don't watch shows like the Oscars either, if that makes everyone feel better.)  

I do remember scanning one of the blogs...and someone mentioned something about standardizing the names of the twirls.  No thanks.  That's the artistic beauty of pole dance.  I want people to be able to express themselves through their dance without someone telling them what they have to call their moves.  So, while I would love to see pole dancing and pole fitness become more accepted, I don't want it to become so trendy that associations need to come in and make a bunch of rules, which would take all of the fun out of it.  

So, if it's important enough for others to want it in the Olympics, then I passively support their bid.  However, I am not passionate enough about it to rally the troops for this cause.  I enjoy being in my own space, with my friends and my twirls.  I don't need the Olympics to make it legitimate for me. 

THIS IS NOT BRAIN SURGERY

I borrowed that catchy little title from an out-of-print book about gastric bypass.  I never got to read it but I don't need to.  I already know it's true.  I have mentioned before that my biggest beef with the "gastric bypass industry" is that one-on-one personal therapy isn't absolutely required after surgery.  Overweight people generally ate for an emotional reason.  So, they need to deal with their issues.  Otherwise, gastric bypass will not work for them in the long run.

There is a myth out there that you cannot gain your weight back after surgery.  This is completely untrue.  You have to work at it, but it's very possible and it seems to be happening more and more. 

There are no simple steps to deal with weight gain after gastric bypass.  Losing weight after gastric bypass is hard (I mean, losing weight after weight gain after gastric bypass...you get the point).  Part of what keeps me successful (er, mostly successful) is sticking close to my roots and not forgetting that I am a gastric bypass patient.  I try to keep going to my support group meetings.  I also try to eat better more often than not.  Of course, people will see me put things in my mouth that I shouldn't.  That's a choice I make, though, to keep myself sane.  Everything in moderation!  Maybe every time you see me, I'm eating cake.  But do you only see me every six months?  I don't eat cake every day, so don't judge me.  Also, as I stated before, exercise is key and the number one way for me to keep my weight off or lose weight.  I know I cannot do it very easily with diet alone.  

It is very easy for people to sit back and judge.  Of course, I've heard that gastric bypass is the "easy way out."  Easy, huh?  Really.  Of course it is.  There's nothing easy like having your guts sliced open and rearranged, being able to barely eat jello and 1/4 cup of soup for months, throwing up if you eat even a drop too much, feeling dizzy and light headed or blacking out, losing your hair, enjoying dumping syndrome if you eat too much sugar, possibly getting ulcers from lack of stomach acid...  Yeah, that sounds easy (and FUN).  Sign me up!

When I was going through the process to get approved for gastric bypass, I went to support groups and had to talk to a dietitian and psychologist.  I remember hearing a statistic that only 1 in 20 people can successfully lose 100 plus pounds and keep it off.  Who knows why.  Maybe it's easy to fall back into old habits.  Maybe your body physically won't let you and you don't have the will power to stick through the plateaus.  But that was the selling point of gastric bypass:  THIS will be the tool that helps you keep the weight off this time!!  (Hello, I've tried all the other tools, including phen fen when it was on the market.) 

Gastric bypass surgery has actually been around for awhile.  There are many types of weight loss surgeries, but I had (and focus on) the roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery (See: Link about the surgery, issues that can arise and death statistics).  Although it has become popular in the last 6-8 years for weight loss, I understand the surgery itself has been around for many years -- primarily to remove parts of the stomach due to cancer.  I also understand that, when this surgery was first suggested as a weight loss tool, it was meant for those in the 500-600 pound range (a catch-22 since, at that weight, their hearts could not always survive the anesthesia).  Some form of bariatric/weight loss surgery has been around for many, many years though.  In the last 10 years, though, it has become more popular for the "regular" fat person in the 300-400 pound range.  I remember when I had the surgery, you most definitely had to be 100 plus pounds overweight.  But lately, when I see people coming into support groups, I'm thinking they are new patients, a month or two post-op, and it turns out they're waiting for their surgery date.  It looks like insurance companies are loosening the standards to allow more patients to get surgery.

I'm sure the insurance companies are thinking they're going to save money in the long run by not having to pay for sleep apnea machines, blood pressure medication and insulin shots (etc.) for all the fatties they're making skinny.  But they're just handing this surgery out like candy and then releasing people on the street with almost no supervision.  They are refusing to pay for plastic surgeries even though I had a friend who was actually throwing out her shoulder from her "bat wings" flying around.  The domino effect.  The insurance companies are thinking they are taking care of one problem, but they're only creating another one.  And they all cost money to fix.  If people are gaining their weight back on top of it all...what a waste.  

Clearly, there are many ways to judge your good health.  Getting on the scale isn't the only one.  You should take measurements of your body to see if you might be losing inches even if pounds aren't coming off on the scale.  What's your BMI? How's your blood pressure and cholesterol?  You should have a good idea of your overall health rather than relying on one "good" reading.  When I was still overweight, I thought I had good health because I had somewhat low blood sugar.  However, I found out later that sometimes low blood sugar in overweight people is just the lead up to having full blown diabetes later.  However, your weight DOES count at least a little bit.  I knew someone who weighed almost 400 pounds.  He too felt that since he didn't have any health problems, he was healthy.  But bodies just aren't made to weigh that much and, eventually, the health problems will catch you.

After years of battling my weight, I clearly did decide that gastric bypass surgery was for me.  Some people like to do that "last supper" before gastric bypass.  Go out and shove your face full of as much food as you can tolerate.  I didn't do that.  Some programs will try to dissuade such behavior by telling you that if you show up on the date of surgery with even an ounce of weight gain from your pre-op appointment, they'll send you home.  My program didn't threaten that, but I still didn't want to do that to myself.  In fact, at my pre-op appointment (which was like three weeks before surgery), I hadn't actually hit the goal set by my doctor.  My doctor kind of guilted me and said, well I'll suggest that we still go through with surgery even though you didn't hit your goal.  Ouch.  I worked my butt off to lose that last little bit of weight and actually weighed less than I "needed to" on surgery day.  I was a little disappointed that they never weighed me on surgery day, so they didn't even know!

My journey was an eventful one, for sure.  My surgeon attempted to do the surgery laparoscopically.  Fail.  The intestine they had chosen to connect to my new pouch was too short, so they had to open me.  My surgery took hours longer than it should have (leaving my poor friend in the waiting room with no idea of what was going on).  Apparently one of my nurses cut herself with a scalpel and they had to call my mom for permission to do an HIV test.  

I still remember waking up after surgery.  I was SO groggy (they probably over-medicated me since they had to keep me asleep longer than they expected).  I was bent over a table and the nurses were attempting to put an epidural in my back for pain.  It was the most intense pain I had ever felt in my life.  The neck of my hospital gown had opened and I could see my stomach.  I was totally out of it but I KNEW I should not be looking down my gut at the train track of staples.  I kept asking what had happened (hello, it's HOURS past when you said I'd wake up and I look like I have been stabbed to death by Michael Myers!!!).  The nurse just kept saying, you had surgery, honey.  OH I KNOW!!  WHY DO I HAVE THESE STAPLES?!  I didn't find out about the complication until the next day.  It's funny how the brain functions when you've been under with anesthesia.  It's like I can comprehend things but I can't get my mouth to work right.  Then, on top of the regular pain, I assume from being sliced open, I'd get these very intense body spasms.  That first night was not a good one.  

Normally after gastric bypass, they want you up and walking within a few hours of waking up.  Not me.  I couldn't even keep my eyes open long enough to sit up, much less stand.  I was assigned a one-on-one nurse who literally sat on the edge of my bed for the entire night.  One thing I've learned about myself when I've had surgery is that I obsessively ask what time it is.  I'm sure that nurse wanted to punch me when I asked him every 30 minutes what time it was, but he sure didn't show it.

I lost weight pretty quickly.  By the time I went back to work in two months, I was already down 55 pounds.  And I continued to lose quickly.  Then I started having issues.  Blacking out mostly.  So they thought maybe I had orthostatic hypotension.  Basically, your blood pressure changes drastically when you stand up, which causes you to black out.  Or maybe vasovagal syndrome.  The doctor explained that one like this:  It's like your heart is a half-empty water bottle and if you squeeze it, you just get a fine mist instead of a steady stream of water (maybe because I'm tall and my heart has to work harder to pump blood to all parts??).  Anyway, all I know is that if I stand still too long, I pass out -- doesn't matter if my knees are locked or not.  I can feel it coming on, so I told my doctors I didn't want any medication.  If I started to feel tight in the chest, I knew it was coming and I'd sit down, no matter where I am.  That was a fun one.  I was waiting in line at a concert in San Francisco and -- *POW* -- I hit the ground.  Hard.  Three times.  No bueno.  Now that I recognize the signs, I just sit, no matter how nice my clothes are or how dirty the ground is. 

I also have a funny side effect.  It's not well known although I've heard other people complain of it.  I get a runny nose if I eat too much.  Who really knows why it happens but I take it as a hint to stop friggin' eating. 

Another side effect is how alcohol affects you.  I remember the first time I had a drink after surgery.  It was like a sonic boom to my system.  Your stomach has very little acid after surgery, so drinking is dangerous (possible ulcers -- same reason we shouldn't drink coffee/caffeine).  After surgery, you get drunk SO fast (although it goes away fast too).  I understand that it happens because your stomach is smaller and it gets to your intestines still in it's pure form.  But at least now I'm a cheap date and, even though I wasn't much of a drinker before surgery, I can nurse one drink all night and be fine. 

Anyway, the point of that meandering story was that gastric bypass is not the easy way out.  And it's definitely not brain surgery.  It's just another tool in my belt to help me.  Even though I do deal with some side effects, I also appreciate the opportunity I've been given to be thinner and healthier.  I plan to continue down the right path by losing my excess weight (again).  I am writing my own story and the ending fully depends on me.  This story WILL have a happy ending.