The Tape Doesn't Lie

It's been an up and down kind of week - I thought I was making progress coming off of the painkillers, only to find myself in bed by mid afternoon doped up and trying not to whine too loudly. I've also struggled with getting non-protein shake food sources in as well - my stomach has been cramping at even the smallest inputs, so I've eased back into the liquid nutrition for a bit.

I did discover that taking my morning meds with a protein shake made them go down better than just trying to space them out with water - perhaps having something else in my stomach to digest helped prevent the cramping around them as they were breaking down.

I saw Libby on Thursday afternoon - she said she could already see some results in my face, and though I've lost nearly 50 pounds total on the program (15 post-op), my only real indications of loss have been that my wedding rings are spinning freely around my finger, and when I did put on my normal pair of jeans, that the back of the legs right under my butt were puffing out. But that certainly doesn't feel like 50 pounds of loss.

I had taken some measurements in mid-November, to help measure progress from a size perspective as well as a weight perspective. I'm rather shocked, because I don't see these changes, but apparently they are there - a tape measure doesn't lie when utilized properly:

Hips:	- 4 inches
Waist:	- 2.5 inches
Chest:	- 3 inches
Bicep:	no change (dang flabby underarms)
Thigh:	- 3.25 inches
Calf	- 2.5 inches

So lots of changes, though I still honestly just don't see it. I suppose when my incisions heal up a bit more and I feel safe trying on some pants that aren't knit/sweats, I may find myself in a size or two smaller that I'd outgrown before.
I think it's going to take a while before what my eyes see in the mirror catch up to reality - that should be an interesting journey.