Kathy S.

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One of things I've thought about a lot today is what my band has done for me. I think most bandsters question at one point or another whether we will be a failure with the band, and some of us lose very slowly. I know I certainly thought I would have lost my 115 pounds by now (24 months out). But the pounds are still falling off, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. In fact, I'm losing ounces instead of pounds! But the ounces add up eventually and turn into pounds.

This year, I dealt with the same 5 pounds for over 6 months, and it was VERY frustrating. What has helped me recently to start losing agin is Weight Watchers! I wouldn't have thought it, but it really has helped me make better food choices as I tracked how many points I used each day. I realize now that although I had cut my portion sizes dramtically as I got good restriction, I was still eating WAY too many calories through sweets. So I've been using fitday.com to track my calories and protein, but I'm also using WW to track points, and I'm doing pretty well.

I averaged losing 1 pound a week for my first year and 1/2 pound for the second year. I'm now 4 months into my third year and have begun to lose again. Overall, I've averaged just under 3 pounds a month, but those are pounds that are GONE. 75 pounds are GONE. Yes, I have 40 more pounds to lose, but I'll keep working at it and letting my band help me feel satisfied with smaller amounts. Maybe by the time I'm 4 years out, I'll be at my goal.

I longer have sleep apnea or high cholesterol. My back and knee pain is reduced. And I have lots more energy and stamina than I did. I can also wear regular-sized clothes (and am enjoying wearing things I had pushed into the back corners of my closets!). I also don't have to worry about malabsorption of my foods or re-direction of my innards (part of the reason I chose the band over bypass).

So I'm pretty happy with where I am right now. I want to weigh less and look and feel better. But I weight less and look and feel better than I did on my previous 15 or so birthdays. Life is good. I'm starting this 55th year looking toward a bright, healthy future.

Well, it's a new month, and I'm on a new track. Jason started Weight Watchers Online about 10 days ago (and has already lost more than 12 pounds), so I've decided to give it a serious go myself. I had signed up for a 9-week class at work and had tracked my points a couple of days but felt it was too much trouble. Well, now that Jason is doing it, I can easily figure points for any food, so I'm giving it a shot. I found one of my old monthly tracking Excel files and updated it for December. And I started yesterday seriously--honestly--tracking my points.

Oddly enough, I was at a new low this morning--172.6. So that gave me some encouragement and motivation. I really want to break into the 160s, and with this focus, I think I can do it in time for my 54th birthday a week from today. (At the latest, I should be in the 160s by my 28-month bandiversary on December 16.)

To show how focused I am, I went to a holiday open house at school today and didn't eat any of the goodies! I did have about 1/2 cup of punch, but I didn't even touch the hors d'oevres or the sweets. I was pretty darned pleased with myself for that.

I got weighed this afternoon at the Bariatric Center, and I was down 2 pounds from my weigh-in in October. Considering that Halloween and Thanksgiving were both during that time, I've done okay.

Well, I certainly don't recommend the day I've had. It's one I'd love to forget--although I doubt I ever will.

Overnight was the lowest temperature we've had yet this fall/winter--about 13 degrees, I think. So when I got up, I remembered that I hadn't yet lowered the storm windows and needed to do that. So I reached for the window next to my bed and yanked the window open. In doing so, I caught my finger between the sash and the trim. My nail bed immediately turned purple, and my finger began to throb. In great pain, I headed to the kitchen to put some ice on my finger. I stood next to the kitchen sink, putting ice on my finger, when I felt really light headed, so much so that I dropped to the floor on my hands and knees to keep from falling. I thought I had recovered, so I stood back up. My husband, watching me, thought I was about to throw up, so he backed away from me. Well, I wasn't about to throw up; I was getting ready to pass out. So down I went, flat on my face on the kitchen floor. Jason was scared silly and came to me, trying to make sure I was okay. When I came to, I had blood all over my face from hitting my nose and my mouth.

My upper lip had a huge hole on the inside (from a button on my tooth that holds my Invisalign aligner) and a split on the outside. I was bleeding into my mouth and onto my face, and of course, my nose was also bleeding. I knew my lip was too damaged to heal without stitches so we headed for the closest ER.

Sure enough, I needed 4 stitches in my lip. I also needed a neck x-ray to make sure nothing was damaged in my neck from hitting my face. And because my hurt finger had begun all of my other injuries, they also x-rayed it.

Thankfully, my neck is okay (albeit VERY sore and stiff), my finer is not broken (although it and my ring finger on the other hand are sore and stiff), and my left knee seems to be okay (although I may have re-injured it--it's the knee I fell on almost 3 years ago and tore the meniscus). And I didn't knock out any teeth or break my nose. However, my face is EXTREMELY sore. My nose, mouth, and chin hurt from where I hit them on the floor, and my lip is unbelievably sore.

Good grief. All of this developed from a split-second accident where I mashed my finger.

It's about 2 hours until November, and I'm looking toward a fresh start. I ate so much candy today that I'm ashamed of myself! But tomorrow is a new day--and a new month--so I'm looking ahead and pressing on toward some new goals for the new month.

I'm working toward 50 miles and 800 minutes of exercise for the month.

It's almost November, and I'm a little more than 26 months out from surgery. I'm down between 70 and 75 pounds in that time--not bad, but not where I want to be.

So, Thursday, we're starting a Weight Watchers at Work class, and I think that will help me stay focused. Knowing I'll get weighed every Thursday--and have to pay for it--will surely help me. I also look forward to a way of tracking my intake without worrying strictly about calories, which is all I really do with fitday.

I also have my Polar Heart Monitor back and have started using it again. It's good to be able to exercise and watch my exertion level.

So I plod on. I have 40-45 pounds left to lose, and I WILL lose it. Maybe I can set January 1, 2010 as my goal date (or my 55th birthday on December 9, 2009). I do better when I have some type of accountability, so I just need to find something that works for me--and stick with it!

I had a fill appointment on October 21 even though I knew I didn't need a fill. I just like to get weighed on the clinic scale and to track my progress with the office staff. So I met with Holly, and she agreed that I don't need a fill but that I need to switch up my exercise and I need to cut down on sweets. She also agreed that it might be valuable for me to have my BMR measured, so I made an appointment for that on November 13.

BTW, I was down 2.5 pounds on the clinic scale from my previous appointment.

I haven't exercised much since that appointment since my back has really been bothering me, but I walked 2.1 miles today. I also plan to walk or exercise every morning this week. The "Eating Season" is about to begin, and I'm going to be in trouble if I don't get back on track!! One thing that will help me is that we're starting a Weight Watchers at Work class this Thursday. Having a weekly weigh-in might help me stay focused.

Two of the challenges I've been taking part in on the Georgetown Hospital board have fallen apart. The two women who were supposed to set up the weekly challenges just stopped posting, and no one seems to know what's going in. So even though I had been doing so well with my tracking on fitday and with my walking and exercising, I've pretty much stopped everything. I really do need accountability!

So I'm back on track this morning. I hd my Polar heart monitor repaired last week and used it this morning to do 50 minutes of exercise and to walk 2.65 miles. And I'll use fitday to track my food today. I get weighed tomorrow.

Vacation is over, and I'm back into the final 8 weeks of the semester. I need to stay focused as the Eating Season approaches!

Since September 1, I've been walking toward a goal of 100 miles by October 27. That's 8 weeks of walking. I did great for the first 4 weeks, but last week I really slowed down. I'll have to really discipline myself if I want to reach my goal by the end of the challenge.

I originally posted the ticker on September 1, but I've copied and pasted it here to make it easier to follow for the next 2 weeks.

I accepted a challenge last week to work toward 1000 minutes of exercise during October. I'm off to a slow start, but at least I've started.

I didn't exercise nearly as much as usual last week, and I don't understand it. I had been working out in the mornings and getting to school around 9:00. But last week, I skipped most of my morning workouts and got to the office a little after 7:00. It was nice to get there so early because I was able to get SO much done. But I missed my workouts. Tomorrow morning, I'm getting on the treadmill and doing 3 miles.

Here's the challenge report for Week 2:
Monday: 12 points
Tuesday: 10 points
Wednesday: 8 points
Thursday: 8 points
Friday: 8 points
Saturday: 10 points
Sunday: 10 points
Total for Week 2: 66 points