I am doing it!

So, I am blogging my weigh in a bit early this week for 2 reasons. First, I am sitting in at the Seattle airport right now waiting to get on my next flight to Ohio for my friends wedding, so I will be out of touch for the rest of the week. Second, because I couldn't wait to tell you the news.......

I am officially 30 lbs down!!!! Woohoo.

Starting weight: 291
Last week: 264
Today: 261

I was and still am not having any restriction yet, so I took it back to pre op status diet and watched my carb intake. I learned a few things about my body this week. I don't know if it's carbs in general or maybe gluten, but I feel better when I limit them. I feel more energetic and in control. It's a good feeling, so I am going to keep it up.
One more week till my first fill!

Oh.. And if anyone is still in Chicago, I have a layover there on Sunday night. Anybody else flying?

Weigh in day and a fill a comin'

Starting Weight - 291
Last Week - 265
This Week - 264
Ugh.. only 1 pound. This last week was so hard with choices and keeping track. I would hate to be stalled so soon into this process. Today, I am focusing on protein and water. So far so good.

The good news is that I called my doctor to schedule my first fill, so I will have it done on October 3rd. That should help.They said I could do it next Wednesday, but that night I am flying to Ohio for my friends wedding. The nurse said that would be a bad idea, in case I am having any difficulties, she wouldn't want me to go to the emergency room there. So I am waiting. She also cleared me for exercise again, so here I go!!!

Gotta get back into that routine. I plan to work out at Curves Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday for Zumba, and try the aqua Zumba class at the pool on Wednesday night. Did I tell you that I work at Curves as my second job? I have been there for 2 years, and although I love the circuit, I make every excuse not to exercise while I am there. Sometimes I am so busy that it is really impossible to get a good workout in, and it is hard to focus on me, when I still need to pay attention to the members. But hey, it's free, and it makes me show up there 4 times a week, so I should make it a higher priority... I can talk the talk, but now I need to show them that I can walk the walk. My boss just told me that she is paying my way to the Curves Convention in Las Vegas next month. I am sooooo excited to get out of Juneau. There is already new snow on the mountains. I need sunshine!!!! Plus it will really re-motivate me for the job. I love my ladies!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Weekend Realization and Rules

This weekend was a true test of strength for me. For some odd reason, I was hungry all the time!!! I noticed I could get more down, and I wasn't diligent in measuring out my food, but when I did measure it out, I was still hungry. :(  What happened??? I need to go back to basics, so I decided to post the rules as a reminder to myself.

1. Three small meals a day
2. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly
3. Stop eating as soon as you feel satisfied
4. Limit drinking during meals
5. Limit snacking
6. Eat only nutritious foods
7. Avoid fiberous foods
8. Drink 64oz+ water each day
9. Drink only low calorie drinks
10. Exercise

I was also reviewing "The Green Zone" tips from the Lap Band Website. After reading the "symptoms" of the yellow zone, I feel like I need a fill.

• I am hungry between meals
• I am eating more than I should
• I am losing, but was hoping for bigger numbers to start off with.

How do you know if you are in the "green zone"?

NSV ALERT!!!

6 week challenge at work. My goal was to lose 10 lbs, I lost 21. Am I cheating?

So the NSV-------- CAN YOU SEE IT???

I went from Morbidly Obese (Greater than 40 BMI) to just Obese (39.1). Making progress.

Weekly Weigh in

Starting Weight - 291
Last Week - 267
This Week - 265
A loss of 2 lbs. A loss is a loss and that makes 26 lbs down total. Aunt flow came, so I feel super bloated. I also can't wait till the doctor clears me for exercise. I am learning more and more on how to work my band, and I LOVE IT. I love being full with a little amount of food, and I look forward to weighing in. Weird!!!!

Still right on track for my Christmas goal.

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Learning to trust

Since starting on solid foods, I have to really think about my portion sizes. The weird thing is that I am finding I can get anything down. I have never had a too tight feeling (so I am looking forward to a fill), but I do notice it is faster when I get that full feeling. Love it already. But I am having to learn to trust my band to do what it is supposed to do. In the past, I would keep a lot of snacks on hand, eat somewhat larger meals, in an attempt to never be caught off guard hungry. I get tired, irritated, and usually a headache when I get hungry. Hence the reason I am FAT! I am really making an effort to pick out proteins, eat very small portioned meals, and trust that I will not be hungry too soon. Not as easy as I thought it would be.

But I am doing it!!!

And my band really does work!!!

I will usually have 1 hard boiled egg for breakfast because I get pretty rushed, and it lasts me till 11. Then I have my vanilla muscle milk protein shake mixed with some orange juice. After my lunch break(where I walk a mile and a half with my man) I will have something for lunch, like a homemade chicken and bean quesadilla, tuna avocado salad, or left over chicken spaghetti over spaghetti squash. Depends on the day, but on the days I work at my second job, I usually have a snack of cottage cheese around 4:15, then dinner is always changing. But the good thing is I feel great! I am really excited to rock this thing.

On a crazy side note. I had 3 people ask me in the last couple days if I had lost weight. None of those people knew about my band, and I can't believe people are noticing already. That's a bonus.

Weigh in day

Starting Weight - 291
Last Week - 274
This Week - 267

7 LBS THIS WEEK!!! Nice. It was kind of roller coasting up and down this last week, but then I think it was just my body getting used to going back to work, and letting go of more water weight. I felt really bloated the last couple of days. I am happy with how it has been going, I just hope it continues to downward spiral!

That's 24 pounds down this year. 9 pounds since surgery.

On a cool note, because I felt less bloated today, I tried on a pair of black pants for work that I haven't worn in over a year... They fit!
I was in a pretty tight size 22, and now my 20's are feeling good. Maybe this weekend I will pull out some old clothes and host a fashion show for myself.

I do have a goal... By Christmas, I want to be down 30 more lbs. That's 15 weeks away @ 2 lbs a week. I think that is do-able. I get to go home for Christmas, which means there will be shopping in actual malls. The last time I remember being near 230's, I was able to wear some things in size 16. That would be the best Christmas gift ever!

Back to work

Holy Moly.. my first day back to work was Tuesday, and I had to go to both jobs, so that is a 12 hour day. I felt great in the morning, almost as if I had never had surgery. 2 o'clock hit and WHAAAMMM... tired, achy shoulder, difficulty focusing. I figured it was because I would sometimes take a nap at that time of day while I was recovering, so maybe my body was just adjusting. I sucked it up, grabbed a half a cup of coffee, went to my second job (which luckily is not a desk job), and all was well again.
EXCEPT the shoulder pain. It is still happening. Even today. My boss knows that I got the band, and asked me how I was feeling.. I just said... uh.. would it be ok for me to take my bra off? She laughed. I didn't really take it off at work, but I sure wanted to. Up till today, I was still having issues breathing. But it seems fine now. I just got to find a way to get rid of the shoulder issue.
I did a 45 minute stretching video last night. Have any of you heard of the Slim in 6 videos? Yup.. fell for the infomercial and bought the set about 7 years ago. Lot of good that did me sitting on the shelf right? So I used the "Cool it off" video that is all stretching. Boy did that feel better.
I also feel really bloated and the weight seems to drop, then hang, drop, then hang again. I am not too worried about it since I am still healing, but I am hardly eating. I try, but I only make it to about 900 calories a day.
The band seems to be doing good. I have noticed that I can eat more and more each day, but for now, it still keeps me satisfied for a long time. You know, all the research, and all the prep, and all the ideology of what is is like to have a Lap Band, still doesn't fully prepare you for what really happens. Since each person is different. But the biggest thing I am learning (which I knew pre-band very well, but it just now clicked) is that ya, I can eat small portions and not feel hunger for hours, but I still need to make well balanced choices. The other day I was like.. you know.. I really want a piece of that fried chicken.. so I did...The band didn't stop me from eating it.. but it did keep me from eating the rest of my "healthy" choice food because I was too full to eat it. Which is good, but I just wasted that opportunity with crap. I need to post my doctor's post op meal instructions on my fridge so it is there in front of my face.

Was there anything that helped you in the beginning to train you to eat band right?

First post op dining out experience

I did it! I successfully managed a dining out experience. We had a farewell meal for one of our friends that we see almost every weekend when their ship is in town. We went to one of our favorite places, but I was nervous about going out. I can only have mushies right now. Luckily it was at the best breakfast joint in Juneau!
As we sat down, I was thinking about drinks... then I stopped. :) I don't need a drink. Then I looked at the menu. Now, here is the thing about Juneau... even breakfast can be expensive when you eat out. A simple omelet meal is well over $12 a plate. That is normal here, but I was thinking.. man.. I can't eat much and that is a lot of money.. but wait.. there is a sides section. I ordered 2 eggs and hashbrowns.
I took my time eating, put my fork down between bites (which didn't feel awkward like I thought, because the meal was full of conversation), and ate until I felt full then stopped.
There was a lot of food left on my plate. After a few moments of me not touching it anymore, our friend noticed and asked if breakfast had gotten the best of me. :) He doesn't know I just had this surgery. I felt kind of embarrassed with that comment, but I just brushed it off and handed my plate to my man. He wanted to finish it for me. And that was breakfast.

What I learned:
I am a cheap date - my meal was $4.
This band works already - I was full for 5 hours on a few bites of eggs and hashbrowns.
When eating out - there will always be an option, I just need to chose it.
I can't keep giving my man the leftovers, otherwise he will gain all the weight I lose. :)

I am not sure how I feel about comments made about me not eating a lot, especially when the people know how much I could have eaten before. I guess I will have to get used to that. It was sad to see our friend leave for the season, but that's what facebook is for. He shared with us his plans on proposing to his girlfriend, so I can't wait to see that happen.

Stay tuned for more.. I can't wait Friday's weigh in!!

What I've been up to while healing

Here you go RockBand Barbie!!!

So this was my recovery! :)

I am super glad that I was feeling well enough to be productive.

Oh and last night I went to a Slumber Party.  Have any of you girls gone to one? Holy shades of gray batman... I had such a great time with my girls. I picked me up some basic instinct and the 3 in 1 massage oil candle. Can't wait to get pampered :)