TL/DR: Comic Con was awesome. I rocked my cosplay with confidence. I am under 300 pounds and down about 27 pounds. I am awesome and life is good.
Denver Comic Con was great. We had a ton of fun. I was able to walk over 15,000 steps on Friday with only a couple of rest breaks, which made me very happy. Even better my feet weren't super swollen or sore! I don't know how many steps I got in on Saturday as my fitbit didn't work with my costume!
My costume was a success. The skirt was light and airy. I didn't really overheat too badly. Although the vendor area is hot no matter what because of the people. I bought a cheap fan to use the rest of the day. Best $5 spent! First thing Saturday morning was a photo shoot for anyone dressed as characters from Sailor Moon. I happened to run into a gal who was doing a Steampunk Sailor Moon! We nerded out over each other's costumes and had fun posing together. Her friend Amber kindly took pictures for me. My favorite is us showing off our butt bows.
Some other highlights:
- Running into friends and coworkers who I hoped to see, but didn't think I would given the crowds.
- Having a woman come running up to me dressed as one of the Dark Moon ladies (bad guys in one of the seasons of Sailor Moon) chattering at me excitedly. She had heard there was a badass Steampuk Sailor Jupiter around and she had to find me and get a picture.
- Seeing some of the folks from the Cheyenne Umbrella Corp again in Denver
- Having a professional photographer stop both Marshall and I to take our picture
- Seeing Marshall get a fair amount of attention for his costume too
The BIGGEST highlight of all though. A couple friends of ours run the Sci-Fi Speed Dating, and Serafina wanted me to stop by and get a picture with me before the end of the day. I was talking with her and another friend for a bit, when another friend of hers came up and wanted to take my picture. She thanked me and said she was sending it to her aunt. Her Aunt voices Sailor Neptune! It made the con for me. I was seriously walking on cloud 9 the rest of the afternoon. Hell I still am, who am I kidding?
We went to some great cosplay panels and got some fantastic ideas for costumes next year. There were so many great costumes. I was surprised at how many Drag Queens were at DCC. Some of them had really elaborate outfits, even for Drag Queens. There was one I saw dressed entirely in white with white fairy wings, and their makeup was incredible. It occurred to me later I should have gone up to her and asked for makeup tips. I really need to wear more makeup and practice with it.
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| Fantastic Saruman cosplay |
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| Looking for trouble |
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| The couple that cosplays together, stays together |
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| Steampunk Sailor Scouts! |
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| Showing off the butt bows |
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| Steampunked up! |
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| Marshall wanted me to do some poses. I'm *attempting* to do Jupiter's attack. I feel I look ridiculous and have resting bitch face. |
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| It's all in the Eye of the Beholder |
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| A superb Mary Poppins Cosplay! |
Before going to down to DCC I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Hendrick (my obesity doctor). I was really worried about staying on plan during the weekend. I told him the plans I had. We were going out for a belated birthday dinner for me. I was taking snacks with me so I wouldn't be tempted by food at the convention center. I was also taking a water bottle with me (a good idea no matter what!). He told me to stop and said to go and have fun. It was more important that I enjoy the weekend and make memories than worry constantly about food. It wouldn't help me any. I would be focused on where I could eat than being in the moment. It meant more than words can say that he said that. And you know what? It worked. It took an incredible load off of my shoulders.
I had some major food related victories over the entire weekend. We went to the Rein Haus in LoDo for dinner. It was 4 blocks from the hotel and we had a pleasant walk down there. It is a German restaurant that serves incredible homemade sausages. In fact the only thing they don't make in-house are the french fries. They even make their sauerkraut in house. I am normally not a big fan of kraut, but this stuff was amazing. The food was delicious. Marshall and I shared a sampler platter of their sausages. I don't remember what all was on there now, but there were 2 types of duck sausage. There was also a habanero sausage that was surprisingly good. Their house made brats were excellent. In the past I would have eaten as much as I could of everything. This time I tried a bit of each and went back for a bite or two of my favorites. Then I stopped. I set down my fork and was done. I wasn't full. I was just satisfied. It was an incredible moment.
Saturday after we had staggered back to our room and ordered dinner, Marshall was in the mood for something sweet. He was just going to go down to the lobby and buy a couple candy bars for us. I told him if I was going to go off my eating plan this weekend, I wanted to indulge. I wanted something awesome. Not just a snickers. So we walked down to the 16th Street Mall.
When I was last at the 16th Street Mall, it was nice. It was high class with high end shops and restaurants and tres chic. Now it seems run down, kinda creepy, and full of low end stores. Ross, Pay Less, and the like. It was disappointing to say the least. We ended up back at our hotel and going into the restaurant. We each had a drink and split some chocolate filled beignets topped with powdered sugar and a chocolate orange sauce. They were 3 mini beignets, and one would barely fill my palm. I ate one and a bit of a second. Then I stopped! I had my decadent sweet treat and stopped. It was an amazing weekend for me. It may be silly, but these are huge things for a person who has consistently overeaten most of her life.
The morning after we got home I stepped on the scale simply because I was curious, but I wasn't dreading it. I knew I had enjoyed the weekend thoroughly and felt no guilt at all about the foods I had enjoyed.
I lost 2.2 pounds!
Yes, a lot of that was due to a lot of walking. But I think focusing on the weekend, and not the food played a huge part in it. By giving myself permission to indulge and enjoy whatever I wanted took away the power food has over me. It was pretty incredible to me.
Since DCC I have had another follow up with Dr. Hendrick. I am down 19 pounds since starting with him and about 27 pounds from my highest weight. Also, a few weeks ago I weighed in under 300 pounds!!! I was so shocked on the day it happened. I was not expecting it at all.
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| The proof! |
I haven't said anything on here, or on my facebook page because I haven't wanted to jinx it. In fact I have only told a handful of people. I am finally starting to feel a tender delicate bit of hope blossoming that I just might be successful this time. The changes are good, but scary too.
I am feeling better. My skin is clearer. My hair is shinier and growing in thicker again. I am stronger and have more stamina. There's a lot happening with me. And while I haven't gotten under 297 yet, I know I will. I stopped strength training for a couple weeks and have started hitting it hard again. I always retain a bit of water for a few weeks and then I'll drop.You can see it in my weight report on MyFitnessPal.
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| September 2016 |
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| January 30, 2017 |
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| July 2017 |
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| August 8, 2017 |
Sorry for the super long update. I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures of everything.
