cbran

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I was getting pretty discouraged lately. I've been working some crazy hours and not getting to the gym much at all. So my weight loss is not as great as it was the first month or so. I went for my last fill appointment expecting to have gained, so imagine my surprise to find I had in fact LOST 5lbs in the last month. Not only that - but after talking to the dr. about how things are going, we pretty much agree that I'm at my sweet spot and just need to keep doing what I'm doing but getting back to the gym.

Even though the weight loss number is not where I would like it to be, I'm within striking distance of Onederland and people are stopping me to say I look fantastic and my face has especially changed - which is a great boost! I cut my hair, bought a few clothes that fit and started wearing makeup which actually makes a difference.

I started back going to the gym this morning and I'm making the commitment to stay on track. DH goes faithfully so I can too.

DH & I will be traveling to see our families soon. They haven't seen us since my surgery and everyone is telling me that they will just flip. DH is also much slimmer and looking good. Speaking of DH - in all our years of marriage, never has he complimented me more than he does these days. We actually have little love-fests telling each other how good the other looks. It's funny because neither of us are used to accepting compliments like that - crazy - but good!

My friend who had the surgery about a month after me is also doing fantastic and we keep each other motivated. The other day at work we sat and each crossed our legs and just laughed because we could actually do it!!! I love those NSV's and it's even better going through this with a friend.

I'm extremely happy I had this surgery. Even though I have a long way to go I am seeing differences, being treated differently (in a good way) by my husband and others, being able to venture out of the Women's department and just plain feeling better.

It's so nice to see progress in other places. I returned a skirt and thought I'd find a nice pair of slacks for work. Every size 20 I tried on was too big! It felt so good to be in something that didn't start with a "2". It made shopping positively fun - something I haven't experienced in years!

My blouses are 1x or XL. I can wear t-shirts that have been sitting in my drawer waiting to be worn.

I know those are clothes related NSV's but I guess the biggest one is that shopping was fun.

I am able to run on the treadmill now. I am building up on the time - but I was able to run intervals for a short time this weekend.

People at church stopped me to comment on the weight loss and ask how I did it. I told the truth... diet and exercise! Everyone doesn't need to know all my business! 

I still have a long way to go, but I am so enjoying this journey!

I am so glad I have my band! This is probably the first time in decades that I have not gained weight over the holidays. In fact, I joined a challenge on the DFWBandsters board to lose weight by New Year. I set a goal of 12lbs and made it! I am now 217lbs and feeling great. That's 35lbs! That's 46lbs from my all time highest weight. People at work are noticing and commenting which makes me feel just wonderful.

My clothes had gotten pretty baggy so I did a little shopping and found that having clothes that fit do make a difference. I bought the first pair of size 18 jeans I've had in years. I was wearing size 24 at my worst. My blouses have come down from 22/24 to 18/20. My shoes are even getting too big. That was a kind of unpleasant surprise because my favorite Sofft pumps keep falling off my feet while I'm walking! My bra size has gone down too, but I can still fill up the cup so I'm happy with that.

I am now jogging a bit on the treadmill - something I NEVER thought I'd ever be able to do. It's only for about a minute at a time, but that truly is an achievement for me. Especially since my knees had been so bad. But they feel pretty good these days.

I had my second fill over the holidays and I do feel more restriction, but I really need to find my cue for being full. I used to get a little hiccup, but now I just don't know until I'm really full. So I have to measure out my portions.

Having the band is working for me like nothing else has before. It stops me cold when I want to keep feeding myself, but I still have to be responsible enough to exercise and watch what kinds of things I put in my mouth. I've eaten a few things I shouldn't, but overall - it's much, much better than what I used to do!

My 2 month Bandiversary was actually a week ago, but it's been very hectic lately and I hadn't taken the time to sit down and write. Today I weighed in at 219.8 which is an awesome accomplishment for me. That's 32.2lbs down.

I am at the point where the treadmill and the food-watching are getting a bit boring. This is the point in the past where I would stop caring and start gaining weight again. But now that I have this wonderful tool, it gives me what I need to stop me from sliding back. I WILL be able to continue losing weight this time.

My next fill is Dec 29th which will allow me to sample some things over Christmas, but will stop me cold on New Years.

I caught a terrible winter cold which has left me sounding like a female Barry White, so I've been basically resting up and drinking plenty of fluids the last two days.

Speaking of fluids... my biggest issue has been with water retention. I've been trying real hard to watch my sodium intake, but it just doesn't seem to matter. I believe I need to up my water intake to flush the salt - so I'll try that. To be honest - I have a hard time getting in even 6 glasses of water (or tea or Crystal Light) a day. My challenge to myself is to commit to at least 8 glasses of water (or whatever) each day to see if that takes care of the problem.

I look at the photos I just posted and I know I have a long way to go, but I will get there. My clothes are a lot looser and except for one bra which used to be too tight - they are all too big in the cups. I simply have to go shopping for a decent bra if nothing else because it just looks BAD to have a lot of bunches and folds where I should be nice and full! People I work with (and don't know I had the surgery) are finally beginning to ask "are you losing weight?". Hurray!

My husband is still tracking with me and goes to the gym a LOT more than I do - which is terrific. The best thing is that he is beginning to tell me more that I look nice and that he catches himself checking me out! BIG NSV!! Can't wait to see what happens as I get closer to my goal.

 I'm still asking myself what possessed me to have my first fill the day before Thanksgiving, but I'm fine with it now. Everything went really quick. I had 4cc put into the band. I was told they usually do 3cc, but I'm glad he was a bit more aggressive. The only thing that hurt at all was having the local anesthetic injected. After that it was a breeze. Watching the barium going down on the fluoroscope was very interesting too.

I have to be on liquids for 5 days. 5 days...  I'm back on OptiFast and dropping lbs like crazy, but I'm SO HUNGRY! Instead of cooking for Thanksgiving, we went out to eat with our daughters and granddaughter - everyone who was in town. I ate the broth from a bowl of vegetable soup, but I was alright with watching everyone else chow down. We had a good time just talking and laughing.

So... now I guess I am really on my way with this fill. My next fill will be right after Christmas. I'm sure I'll need it BAD by then if today is any indication. 

Per the scales at the doctor's office, I've lost 20lbs. Tomorrow is my official weigh-in day at home - but today I hit 225lbs - that's 27lbs and I'm going into territory I haven't seen in probably over 10 years. I'm taking part in a challenge on a bandsters message board and have committed to losing 12lbs by New Year. 225 will put me at 5lbs so far. I'm hanging in there and determined to make this tool work hard for me.

 Wow! Has it really been 40 days? I know it's just a drop in the bucket compared to what's ahead, but I'm happy to have come this far and still losing weight and inches.

Today I am 227.2lbs. I have lost 24.8lbs so far and 9 inches based on the 6 points I track on the Realize My Success site. My clothes are feeling so much looser. My 22's that were either snug or just fitting are nice and loose now. I can wear clothes I couldn't fit a month ago. My thighs are not creating near as much smoke as before. They're even starting to work independently!

227lbs is the lowest weight I achieved doing Weight Watchers last year. Anything beyond this is territory I haven't seen in at least 10 years.

I still go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for 35 - 50 minutes depending on how busy they are. I'm sure this has everything to do with the reduction of the thighs.

My only trouble spots are a pulling/stitch I get in my lower right side when I carry anything moderately heavy (like carrying my laptop into work) or if I go too fast or too steep an incline on the treadmill. So I'm trying to scale back the intensity and be careful about carrying anything heavy.

The other trouble spot is water retention. I've had to take a diuretic a couple of times when my ankles swelled uncomfortably. I have a sit-down job, which doesn't help - but I'm trying to watch the sodium and exercise regularly - just not helping as much as I thought.

My first fill is this coming Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it even though it's the day before Thanksgiving. I'm finding that I can eat more than I could before and I am getting hungry more often.

I ate some brisket yesterday and guess I didn't chew it well enough because I had my first experience with getting something stuck. I absolutely feared throwing up - but this time it was a relief to get rid of that pain in my chest. I've learned my lesson. Small bites and chew chew chew to death!

 I've lost 20lbs so far. I'm not unhappy with that at all. I can tell that my face is getting slimmer and my clothes are getting looser. 

I attended a lapband support group meeting this week. I highly recommend them. I met others who had the same procedure and picked up some very good information.

This past weekend was spent out of town and I was a bit concerned about how I was going to handle the food. But I did ok, I think. Mostly I went for the soft foods, though I did have a bit of shrimp, fish and crab cake since we were near an ocean with fresh seafood (boy do I miss that!). I chewed, chewed, chewed and then chewed some more and didn't have a problem. I was usually able to eat a bit less than half of what was served and I would save the rest for later - which I usually wasn't able to finish either. I'll have to start ordering just appetizers or request half-orders.

I get hungry at times, but I'm hanging in there. My first fill isn't until December 3rd -  about 4 weeks from now. I had an appointment the day before Thanksgiving, but I didn't want to be on liquids that day. Even if I can't eat much, I'd like to be able to taste something! But on the other hand - four weeks is a long time. I may rethink that!

 I weighed in on Saturday and had only lost 1lb since surgery. That puts me at 237 on my bathroom scale.  I know I should have been out walking this week, but kept putting it off. Except for walking around the mall and through Wal-Mart with my husband, I've been bad, bad, bad with the exercise.

So, after sitting down to watch a movie and looking up and seeing that it was now dark outside and I wasn't going to make that walk today I had to take stock of what is holding me back and what can I do to overcome it.

I'm not against walking and I'm ok once I get started but its not my favorite thing to do. However, I do like riding my bike and I love to dance.  I mean, I can hardly wait for the next wedding, reunion or any other family gathering so can get my Electric Slide on! So tonight I did three rounds of the Cupid Shuffle, one Electric Slide and one Cha Cha Slide. Let me tell you... that was WORK! I was literally dripping with sweat  when I finished and I felt so good.

I don't think I'm supposed to bike ride just yet. But I can dance, dance, dance! My local rec center offers Zumba classes and I think that might be my ticket to success. I know I'll have to get walking, but I need to get started doing something!

I received a wonderful suggestion from kerniec to sign up for an organized walking event. This is great motivation to walk to train for the event. The Dallas Turkey Trot is coming up next month and I think that will be just the ticket.

Otherwise - moved up to cottage cheese today well blended with crushed pineapple. Yum! Yum!

 I've been remiss on posting and my mother reminded me today that I need to get busy on that!  The surgery went fine. They were running a bit behind so I got in later than expected. I remember being wheeled down the hallway and the door to OR opening and - that's it!. Next thing I know, I'm back in the room and waking up.

The anesthesia made me a bit sick to my stomach so it took me a bit longer to start getting my four little cups of water down. I got home at about 7:45PM. My son-in-law was waiting with my grandkids who were a joy to see. You can't help but smile with them around.

I'm feeling pretty good - just a bit sore around the incisions. But if it gets bad, I have my good friend Lortab around to take care of it. So far, I haven't needed it much at all and I try liquid Tylenol first. I pulled the tubing for the On-Q pump out this morning with no problem. No pain, bleeding or anything. I just put a little pressure on it to catch the little bit of meds leaking out and slapped a band-aid on it. No problem!

Since its been raining steadily for the last two days I haven't gone out for a walk, but I hope it slows up tomorrow. I'm getting out of the house tomorrow regardless. Hubby is taking care of that!

I'm struggling to get enough protein in since milk-based products do horrible things to me. But I'm managing so far. I'm terrified of throwing up so I've been very very careful about going slow. 

Friends and family have been wonderful about calling to check on me. I'm really very blessed.

Praying that making this decision is the one that I need to finally get this weight off for good. I couldn't resist stepping on the scales this morning and I was down 4lbs. We'll see what happens once the mushies start.

 Well - I'm down to less than 24 hours. I'm not nervous about the surgery so much as what comes after. Will I be one who constantly throws up? Will I stick with an exercise plan? Will I keep my hair???

My husband is still making this journey with me, albeit without the actual surgery. I can really tell a difference with him already. Myself, less so. The lbs are stubborn and are fighting me every step of the way! If I lost 10lbs in this last two weeks of Opti-fast and water I'll be very surprised.

I'm getting my laundry out of the way, cleaning up the house and just getting things situated beforehand. Tomorrow will be a major turning point in my life and I'm praying that God gives me strength and determination to take this opportunity and not squander it.

I truly believe that nothing happens by coincidence and God has it all under control. This is the gift of a second chance to get healthy and be ready for whatever He has in store for me.