Island Bandit

Sponsor my Ride for Hope!

2012-01-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

I've been bad. No. I've been worse than that. Not a single blog entry since early November. And I honestly haven't been good about keeping up with reading others's blogs. But I can explain. What had happened was..... forget it... the technological excuse that I was using has now been resolved and I'm gonna do better. I promise.

Far too much business been going on for me to even attempt to catch up.

In a nutshell, band was emptied completely then re-filled early December because, as I pointed out to my surgeon (if i were the poster child for discipline and self-restraint I wouldn't have needed a band in the first place). Was doing well and then BAM! for the past 2 weeks Betsy's been tight and irritated. I've backed off food and am trying soup only to hopefully get things to settle down without needing an unfill.

I'm right now at about 148 and feel good here. Wear small and extra small tops and mostly size 6 with some size 4 pants. Can see myself going a bit smaller if I can get back into hardcore exercise but it's not a goal nor is it necessary.

I FINALLY had an MRI on my hip and pelvis after months of rest and physio-therapy failed to improve things. Saw my doc this morning and the good news is: I don't have cancer, nerve damage or arthritis. The bad news is my MRI came back NORMAL! So he was going to come down to the hospital this afternoon and look over it with the radiologist to see if they can find anything by taking various closer looks, but the long and short of it is I still have no resolution.

Work is going well. Keeping me busy, but I'm loving working in a healthcare environment.

sylvia my fur baby is doing well in case you were wondering.

It doesn't look like I'm going to make it to BooBs this year :( -- Earlier in September some girlfriends and I are going to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia as our epic 40th bday trip and I'll be away for almost 3 weeks. I can't really swing another long weekend away (and getting to and from Chicago from here takes about a day of traveling each way because of stupid flight times). Also, just found out that the Triathlon I competed in on a relay last year is the 30th September and i'd promised myself that so long as I can get this hip thing sorted I'll do the whole thing. Worst case I'll swim or bike or both and just get me a runner!

Speaking of biking.... I've registered for the Ride for Hope in April. It's an awesome event that takes place on the island of Eleuthera. The course is 100 miles, but riders can do anywhere from 10 up... they have turnaround points throughout the course. My friend and I are aiming for 51-75, but if training between now and then is consistent and goes well, I might try for a Century. I'm including the link to my Ride for Hope page here so you can check out the event details -- money raised goes towards some very worthwhile cancer-related charities here in The Bahamas. You can also follow along on my training and other random updates. And if you can and feel so inclined, you can sponsor my ride. Everyone who signs up promises to raise at least $250 and I'd LOVE to raise much more. The very lovely (as demonstrated in her recent gorgeous photo shoot) Beth Ann over at Beth Ann's Never-ending Quest for SOMETHING was the first to sponsor me. THANKS LADY!

My Ride for Hope Page

Cheerios my lovelies

hmmmmmmmm......

2011-11-04T21:10:00.000-04:00

So I had the unfill last night taking me down to 3cc in my 10cc band.

Here's what's odd.

I have not had insatiable hunger pangs as I've had in the past with the unfills.

My capacity has not increased significantly as it has in the past with the unfills.

Eating does not hurt as it has for the past few weeks or so which is WONDERFUL!

This evening I was down to 140.2 on the scale.

That's 142lbs lost overnight. Ha Ha... can't believe I wrote that I weighed 242lbs yesterday. Old habits die hard.

Was at the physiotherapist again today and I had noticed that for the first time in a while my 'hip' wasn't hurting today. She could feel a significant difference in the muscles while doing the myofacial release and she did some strength testing and i was able to push back in ways I hadn't been able to do when I first saw her.

PROGRESS! She says if i'm like that on Monday then she'll proceed to strengthening exercises. YAY YAY YAY! Am cautiously optimistic that I'm on the road to recovery.

And, she suggested that I consider adding some yoga to my overall exercise mix. She says I don't have awful posture, but definitely improper posture which I shouldn't have considering I am strong. She said it has to to with not being aware of my body because of the rapid weight loss... that my brain hasn't caught up with my new body. There's some technical term she used to describe it and for the life of me I can't remember so I will make a note to get her to write it down when I go on Monday. I want to do some research on it and share it with you too!

And then there were THREE

2011-11-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

THREE cc's left in my 10cc band, that is.

Even though Betsy has definitely eased up on me this week, I pb'd on my campbells potato soup yesterday and decided I needed to go ahead with the unfill.

Dr D and I chatted about it and we're both concerned that with the teensy tiny amounts I'm able to eat that I won't be able to halt the weight loss and at 242lbs this morning and my size 6 suit pants looking like clown pants, I've cried enough.

Who EVER would have imagined that *I* would be asking for help to STOP losing weight?!?!?! lololol gotta love it.

Anyway, I had 5cc in - he'd already reduced it a wee bit since the last complete unfill a month or two ago and decided to try me at 3cc. He said he'll see me in a month to see how Betsy and I are managing.

This evening I know I should be on just liquids but I had a slice of deli ham and it was indeed a pleasure NOT TO FEEL STUCK. Also had a small ice cream cone for medicinal purposes.

Will let you know how things go throughout the weekend. My biggest concern will be managing the hunger pangs. SOOOOOOO.... hard when it's been so long since you've truly experienced them. But I can do it. I know I can.

Oh.... got home this evening and my new bike was waiting for me at the security booth. I walked back there and rode her home. I'm in love! I've called her Pearl since her official colour is 'pearly white'.

Will set her up tomorrow night in the stationary stand unless I can manage to get home early enough to go for a spin.

Betsy has ears

2011-11-01T22:34:00.000-04:00

I've never read it in any official medical literature, but I am CONVINCED that lapbands - or maybe just Betsy - have ears.
For TWO weeks I've struggled to eat just about anything and most of what did go down ended up coming back up. MISERABLE.
So yesterday morning I called and made an appointment for a slight unfill with Dr D.
For lunch today I had some fish and potato salad. Not a huge amount, but for the first time in a long time I didn't just feel stuck.
This evening I had a whole mini babybel cheese round and it all went down and stayed down.
How does Betsy always loosen up or tighten up when I make that call??? I bumped into Dr D outside the hospital this evening and had a quick chat with him about it and he said I should just wait and see what happens and if I'm still getting food down, no need for the unfill.
I've said it before and i'll say it again - Betsy is a fickle little bitch!

On another note, I went for a bike ride this morning with a friend on a loaner bike. She was on a racer. I was not. I worked 10x as hard as she did and still felt I was forcing her to slow down. I've decided I like biking and living in the area I do now it's a great option.

So today i went to the local bike store and invested in one. Not cheap, but an investment in me and my health. I also bought this fantastic stationary trainer thing that essentially allows me to turn my bike into a stationary one... I figure with the hours I'm working and time about to change, available daylight hours are going to be hard to come by so this nifty contraption eliminates that excuse!

Apparently you CAN be too thin.....

2011-10-31T22:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been absent. Was in Schaumburg Illinois all last week and busy, busy, busy with the conference.

So anyway. Today I was back in therapy for my torn ab wall muscle (or so we think). And the therapist stops in the middle of her deeep myofacial massage in my belly area and says 'what is that'? I'm like.... uh..... i dunno......
turns out not everyone has a super strong pulse in their abdomen (who knew?) and coupled with the mystery pain that could be displaced groin pain..... she needed to alert my doctor because that pulse could have been an abdominal aortic aneurysm..... WTF?!?!?!

She calls the doc who says I should get an abdominal ultrasound.... they got me in today a) because I work at the hospital and b) the coordinator said whenever they hear the words aneurysm, deep vein thrombosis and the like, they make a point to get you in...... aye aye aye....

the ultrasound tech and the attending doctor were extremely thorough and could feel the pulse through the ultrasound instrument..... turns out my aorta is perfectly fine and although it's pulsing super strong, there's no dilation and so nothing to worry about. just need to watch it in case it gets stronger. they checked ALL my organs and said I'm ideal to scan because everything shows up so nicely because I have so little fat.

the doctor... a new one from the philippines who is tiny herself admitted that she too has a strong abdominal pulse and that mine is showing so strong because I'm so thin and only have a thin layer of fat and tissue covering the aorta.

Who woulda thunk it?!?!?! So MUCH relief that there's not a huge medical problem and glad the physiotherapist reacted the way she did because I'd rather have that then the alternative.

And now that I've given you my Halloween scare, I leave you with a few pics from Saturday night's Halloween dress up. I was Hoochie the Clown. - so much fun shopping for a costume when you're this size!!!!!

I had to add black leggings.... there was NO way I was traipsing around
with my derriere hanging out of the leotard and tutu!

Just noticing my breast bone is now as prominent as my collar bones....
need to get a bit of an unfill so I can stop this weight loss.... who
ever would have thought *I* would be saying that!!?!?!

I have Abs. I have proof.

2011-10-19T20:45:00.000-04:00

Not sure if I've blogged about this, but some of you know I was suffering from a weird hip pain even when we were in Chicago. It's been about 2 months since it first came on. A month ago I broke down and went to an osteo and he said it looked like trochanteric bursitis. He prescribed rest and Arcoxia (more on that in a bit).
I rested. And I rested. Then after 2 weeks I went back to boot camp and ended up being in excruciating pain for a day and a half. Since then, the pain seems to be progressing to the point where even just daily walking about hurts.

So I decided to go ahead and get the cortisone shot which is the next step in treatment if rest and meds don't work.

Well that doc is off island until October 31st so I managed to weasel my way into another, figuring I'd sweet talk him into giving me the shot and I'd be on my merry way.

He didn't think it was the bursitis.... the spot I'm now definitely feeling the pain in is too high up. He thought it might be the muscles around the hip flexor being too tight and sent me to a physiotherapist for an evaluation and pilates style stretching.

I met with her today and after a lot of pushing, poking, pulling and prodding, determined that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my hips. amazing flexibility and range of motion and the ball is gliding effortlessly in the socket.

Her diagnosis - a torn abdominal wall muscle of all things!!!!!!!!

But makes sense when I told her I feel pain when I sneeze and when I do push ups or burpees.

She says we've been doing all the right treatments, just in the wrong place!!!!

So the orders are more rest (no running, no pushups, nothing, basically, that engages my lower abdominals). Ice 1 or 2x a day and ultrasound while in an extreme ab stretch position involving a stability ball.

I cracked up when she said it was abs, because I always swear at bootcamp that 'i ain't gat no abs'. well, she said, 'clearly you do, because you've torn one!

She seems to think I'll be ok to run the half marathon in February, it will just be a matter of whether or not I can actually train for it.... because as we all know, I am NOT a RUNNER!!!

On the matter of arcoxia.... it's a pain killer and anti-inflammatory. She asked how that was going down.... I said it's been iffy because my stomach has been very irritated of late..... she seems to think the arcoxia could be the culprit because she says it tends to be very abrasive on the stomach..... She gave me some excellent advice that I pass on to all of you..... she said whenever another doctor prescribes anything, I should consult with my lapband surgeon before even getting the prescription filled because he may want to change it or prescribe something I can take along with it to ease the irritation..... she said other docs prescribe assuming a normal physiology, but I no longer have that. Mine has been compromised.

Word to the wise.

Deep Thoughts

2011-10-10T19:38:00.000-04:00

I still have more Chicago photos and memories to post, but as I said, I'm dragging them out so that every so often you all get a pleasant surprise and a chance to reminisce.

I do have a more serious topic I promised myself I'd blog about following Chicago.

****disclaimer -- this is NOT intended as a judgment of ANYONE. Just my personal thoughts on a topic that interested me.

If you've read my blog from the start, you know that before my surgery, I told very few people about my decision to have surgical intervention. I had done my research. I was satisfied that this was the right choice for me. I didn't want to deal with negative comments from people who didn't really know what they were talking about at that point.

The night of my surgery, I outed myself on Facebook.

I've not once had a negative comment from a friend, family member or a stranger about my decision. I am on a local lapband commercial and in advertisements and strangers stop me to congratulate me and ask questions, but never to judge me.

I guess that's why I was fascinated to learn that so many of the wonderful women I spent time with this weekend are in the closet about their decision to get a lapband.

I realise that there are a million different reasons for telling or not telling. I was just surprised to realise that it seemed I was in the minority.

I am so free about my life and my experience that I guess it would seem to me like a helluva heavy burden to carry around such a big secret.

Also, I get SUCH a high out of talking to morbidly obese women about the surgery and my life with the lapband. Every time I do, I feel like maybe, just maybe, I've helped to make a little difference in their lives.

It really hit home on the weekend when I got a message on FB from a primary school classmate. He is now considering getting lapband and reached out to me for my thoughts and answers to those burning questions. I gave him my blog url and am hoping he's reading mine and finding many others.

I guess if anyone's in the closet because they're afraid of what other people will think or say, I think you might just be surprised. People have told me they're proud. They think I'm brave. They now consider me a role model. But not once have they said something cruel.

BOOBS part 2 of however many it takes....

2011-10-08T20:04:00.000-04:00

Here's part 2. I was holding out in part because I wanted to keep the reminiscing going and going and going and give you lovelies something to brighten up your weekend.
Also because I can't access blogs from the office and every day forgot to bring my laptop home!
Had a great day Friday shopping and sightseeing along Miracle Mile with Angela, Fluffy and Stacey - was introduced to the incredible Charming Charlies accessory store by the Dallas contingent.
I *think* this was the day I inhaled a molten chocolate cake at Grand Luxe.... the days and desserts are now all a blur.
It may also have been the day I bought the pink argyle socks that represent my (foolish?) decision to join Angela and Fluffy in the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February!!!!
I'll let the rest of the evening be told as they usually are best - in pictures!

I love this photo of Angela and Stacey being tourists as I was being paparazzi

It was like my heros were transformed into 3D
The lovely Karin and Angela

At Pizzeria Uno on Friday night with Karin and Angela

Can't believe how close Stephanie and I live. Well kinda.

My roomie for the weekend Stacey

I love that Joey scored Boobs wine for all of us. Apparently
Angela felt the same way!

The Friday night meet n greet was WILD. so many
absolutely incredible women
all with incredible stories to share

In the way background, I think it's Stephanie playing paparazzi.
Then in middle, Angela chats with Dawnya and the anonymous Fluffy.
Such a shame I can't show her face because she's Beauyooooooteeeeeful!
And up front we have Krystal on the left and Read

Angie and Barb, Thelma and Louise

Add caption

More beautiful ladies. Jenn and Amanda

The weekend planners scored amazing stuff for goodie bags
and even had a dreyload of prizes. I won a filtered water
bottle. More on that in a later post

Stephanie, Draz, Joey and Linda
part of the planners extraordinaire team

Barb models her basket from Stephanie's company
http://www.joyful-gift-baskets.com/

Oh to be able to read Krystal's mind right about now.
Ronnie (in purple dress), Stacey and Angela

Draz lends an air of drama to the evening

Two band rockstars - in real life. in the same picture!
Nicole and the absolutely delightful in person
as she is in her blog Catherine

Jen and Angie

Barb gets a "special" gift. You figure it out yet Barb>

Stephanie was on top of things with all the housekeeping
notes and updates

Nicole, Jacquie and Linda

LapBandGal (another band ROCKSTAR) and Betthan (has
to be said with Dawnya's accent btw)
taking pics of Maria and Jen

Itty bitty Lapband Gal and Betthan who
rocked outfit after outfit all weekend

Stephanie, me, Catherine, Nicole and Joey -
can you believe even ONE of us EVER had the words
morbidly obese written on a medical chart?!?!?

Tina, Catherine and Justine who flew in all the way
from England for BooBs 2.0!

Nicole and Joey

Joey: Gimme more lip
Nicole puckers up
Joey: Less lip
All taking place at the very packed karaoke bar

Angie, Stephanie, Sandy and Grace

So we left the karaoke bar because it was HEAVING
with people and a small group of us went to a very
bizarre nightclub to dance to 'bad 80's music' (hey, that was Maria's
sales pitch!) Angela, Barb and I left and were just steps away
from the hotel when Maria called Angela to let us know
Barb had picked up her handbag! Turns out Barb owns the same
bag! Did I mention it was FREEZING and our feet hurt?!?!

Angela gets us all sorted out and we ended
up hanging out in the hotel lobby
with Barb until the others made it back.

Betsy's pissed at me

2011-10-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

Well if you dined with or near me last weekend in Chicago, you may have noticed I managed to leave Betsy my band at home. I wasn't out of control eating by a long shot, but definitely found myself able to eat much more than I usually can.
Including copious amounts of crack.... I mean garrett's Chicago mix!
I managed to come home just 1.5 lbs up. Normally a 5 day vacation in a food capital like chit an would guarantee a 10 lb gain!!
Well apparently Betsy wasn't happy about being let out and the bitch lives for pay back..... I've had a couple of pb episodes including the lunch I went out for upon arrival home.
I've barely been able to eat..... Not hungry and have that sense it's gonna come back up anyway!
Today my new dear colleague brought me a lindt choc bar that his wife brought back from Switzerland. And my almost sis in law brought me homemade coconut tartlets and an empanadas. Havent touched the chocolate, had a lick and bite of a tart and for dinner had the empanadas.....
Weight is about 1/2 lb off my lowest ever!

This band is a fickle lil bitch

A very special BOOBS pic. And they're NOT Barb's....

2011-10-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

First of all, let me say that the glow stick lick and stuff in bra was perhaps one of the funniest moments of the entire weekend.
Second of all. I was NOT going to post this. I kept this one out of the mass photo blog last night and emailed it to Brandi for her own personal viewing pleasure and trip down memory (and Oh My God What Was I THINKING?!?) lane. And she emailed back saying 'oh my oh my, post away! lol! but thanks so much for checking first! '

I think 'Just a Wallflower' may just be THE most
misleading blog name EVER! Love ya girl!

Where to begin - BooBs part 1 of however many it takes to tell the story!

2011-10-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

I had such an incredible time in Chicago that I'm not even sure where to begin!

Started out with four roomies and due to an unfortunate set of events, there ended up being just two of us and I must say, I hope you all took some time to get to know Stacey - she's lovely and SUCH an easy going roommate. AND she let me FORCE her into buying UGGS.... not because she NEEDED them, but because she WANTED them! Yay!!!!

Spent lots of free time with two spectacular ladies from Texas -- Fluffy and Angela are as amazing as I knew they'd be and then some. Honestly, at some point in the weekend as we were sharing yet another laugh and planning our outfits for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in late February (sweet Jesus how did I get myself into THIS one?!?!) it dawned on me that I'd only met these lovely women a couple days earlier, yet it felt in so many ways, that i'd known them (and loved them) forever!

I was the only one to get in Wednesday night so Thursday morning I ventured out to a RUNNING store and was fitted for shoes. Then did a bit more shopping before freshening up for the initial meet n greet.... Ended up running into the organisers in the hallway and helped lug all the stuff Lynne had driven up with. That truck bed was JAM packed with all sorts of goodness.

After meeting the first batch of lovely ladies, a crew of us headed out for a pizza (chicken wings for me) dinner. Thanks again Stephanie. I think you may just be one of the most generous women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing!

And then it was off to the Drag Show (I want ~~her~~ His body!!!!!) Loads of laughs even if most of the girls guys looked like they really wanted to be anywhere but on that stage!

I found myself falling asleep during the show but am sooooooo glad my fear of missing out on a single moment (you can sleep when ya dead) made me turn right instead of left and took me to the karaoke bar. First of all..... Angela can BELT! Well she could before she lost her voice and left it somewhere in Chicago. And Dawnya, Joey and Brandi had me in freakin hysterics! One of these days I'll learn to cut loose and just get up there and sing or dance like nobody's listening or watching even though I know perfectly well they are!
And Brandi - I know i solemnly promised to cut you off if you started dancing, but then how in the world would I have gotten to see the splits routine?!?!?!

And now for some pictures before I close this post.... to be continued

Donna, Jacquie and Kristin get acquainted

Krystal, Justine and Gilly. Justine was soooooo jet lagged and tired. Can't believe she came all the way over from the motherland!

Love, Love, Love this woman. Keeps it real every moment of every day. Mwwwwaaaah Dawnya

Waiting in the hotel lobby to go to the drag show

picking the RIGHT song!

Barb. And the girls.

Joey stepped up to help her get through the enotional ditty

Looks and SOUNDS like she was born with a mic in her hand!

I KNOW I'll get flack for this one, but she YELLED at me as I was taking it :)

Dawnya was feelin someone up throughout the weekend. Joey was the ~~victim~~ lucky girl this time!

At which point I was SUPPOSED to threaten the bartender with sudden death if he served her any more adult beverages..... oooops!

I hate how Blogspot always gets at least one pic out of order!

Ok - bedtime. More to come. I promise!!!!

Big BOOBS thank you

2011-10-03T23:35:00.000-04:00

It's 11:32pm. I've been up since 3:30am Chicago time. I got not nearly enough sleep this weekend. I just stayed up hours past my designated night night time reading blog posts and looking at pics.
Which leads me to.... I feel really guilty that I got to enjoy everyone else's posts and pics and didn't put my own up yet. I will. I PROMISE (you know, like i promised i'll do the Disney Princess half freakin marathon with Angela and Fluffy).
But I wanted to come on and express a special thanks to our lovely planners. Your selflessness in giving so freely of your time and resources to plan a vacation for 55 women is incredible. The weekend exceded any expectations I had on every level. So thank you. thank you. thank you!

In Chi-Town

2011-09-28T21:56:00.001-04:00

I landed on time here in Chi-Town. Was a solid half hour ride from the airport to the hotel, but the car service was fantastic. Great idea ladies!!!!
Got checked in, dumped my stuff and headed to the sushi restaurant right downstairs. Now am just finishing up a few things before hitting the sack. Got some stuff I want to knock out before everyone else arrives!
Oh.... and I brought my swim stuff thinking I might get some swimming in since there is a heated pool. I'd push off, stroke once and be at the other end! but i can see my bikini coming in handy with the hot tub......
see many of you tomorrow!

I'm an athlete.... oh and BOOBS bound!

2011-09-27T20:34:00.001-04:00

What a week and a half it's been.
Started the new job and am LOVING it. I'm so busy I don't know what end's up, but i THRIVE in that kind of situation!
On Sunday 11 of my fellow bootcampers and I participated in a sprint triathlon. We put together 4 relay teams and it was an INCREDIBLE experience. I haven't swum competitively in about 20 years.... but on Sunday morning I donned my racer speedo, swim cap and goggles and actually was the first of our four women out of the water. In fact, my time of 15:20 for the 750m swim help up really well against the entire field.
Sunday was one of the most fun days I've ever had. In addition to the 12 of us participating, all five of our trainers came out to support. One is a chiropractor and he brought his table and was adjusting and massaging us before the event.
We also had a few of the other bootcampers out there to cheer us on. We were a heck of a presence out there and it was amazing to be part of something so positive!

The weather was AWFUL all day Saturday and early Sunday, but cleared in time for the event to start. A rainbow formed, but the end was wayyyyy beyond the course buoys!

That's me. I actually look like a freakin athlete! I don't know how my chest got so puffed up or where i got the massive arms, but wow..... i didn't feel uncomfortable RUNNING out of the water, through the sand, up hill to the bike transition area!

This is erin. She lost a leg 7 years ago to bone cancer and is one of the most inspiring women I've ever met! She is in boot camp and she was one of the bikers on one of our 4 teams!

I beat Heather by just 9 seconds! we pushed each other the whole way!

My team came second among our bootcamp teams and third in the women's relays. Considering Nadia (right) was up until Friday night supposed to be the RUNNER on another team and was a great sport to offer to BIKE on my team when my original biker got sick, we did awesome. Bianca (middle) is a HELLUVA runner.

My flight is at 1:45 tomorrow and I haven't even started to think about what I'm packing - haven't had a moment to think about it!!!! I'm not going into the office tomorrow, but have work to do so I guess I'd better get my butt off of here and start getting sorted.
To all those who are also Chicago-bound --- I think I'm first in town so I'll get the city ready for the BOOBS. To those who aren't able to join us, you'll be missed!

Not long now smurfs!

2011-09-21T16:49:00.002-04:00

I have a feeeling BOOBS is gonna be here faster than i ever imagined now that I've started the new job and and hitting the floor running!

Had two days of orientation. Parts very interesting. others not so much. Every key department speaker who addressed us commented that they were excited to hear the new marketing person (me) was onboard as they have lots for me to do! Join the line peoples. Join the line!!!!

I ducked out of the final session this afternoon a bit early to go meet with the president fo the hospital to go over a few critical needs things. Tomorrow I'm gonna be on the go from 8am till God knows when as I have a 6pm meeting to attend!!!! It's all good. I'm excited about the challenges!

OK...... well I typed all that last night and that was as far as I got.

It's almost 5 on Wednesday and it's been a very full, but exciting day. Going to be juggling LOTS of balls, but have a good team to work with so that's great to know.

Have located a file that might/should help me at this meeting so going to sit back and do some reading before that happens!

Goodness.... this time next week I'll be on a plane, getting ready to soon land in Chi-Town!!!!!!

I WILL post tomorrow as it's my BANDIVERSARY! HOLY CRAPOLA it's been a year since Betsy and I became one! What a long, GREAT trip it's been.

And, just confirmed today that I'm going to Chicago again on October 24 for a week for work. Unfortunately the conference is about a half hour drive outside of downtown Chicago.... WHY do they do that? WHY? Went to a conference in Austin last year and we were at this lovely golf resort out in the middle of no where. great for deer spotting in the surrounding woods, but not for anything else. I guess this is where the grown up in me interjects that i'm going there for work and don't need any distractions..... blah blah blah

Playing Catch Up

2011-09-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Where does the time fly?

Can you believe this time in two weeks so many of us will be together in Chicago! Holy smokes!!!!!
I am so excited and can't wait to meet my roomies for the weekend - Stacey and Paige. And there are SOOOOOOO many other BOOBS rock stars I'm gonna be looking out for.

I get in the Wednesday evening @6 and have booked a town car from Midway. If anyone else is getting in @that time, you're welcome to get a ride.

So after my last post, I ended up spending TWO WHOLE WEEKS with a completely empty band!!!! It was good to have internal relief, but even though I didn't eat as much as 'normal people' and did try to eat pretty well, I packed on 8lbs! Actually earlier this week I was up 11lbs but thank goodness Bootcamp started again and the exercise helped. Even my surgeon commented on how quickly I gain weight!!! Ah well.
He put me back up to 5cc - just a smidge shy of where I was and I can feel such a difference. While it was nice to have a bit of a break from the restrictions the band places on me, I am relieved to be back in a good place!

What else.

Bootcamp. Started again Tuesday and we have another awesome group of newbies and so many incredible women from cycles one and two came back. It really is like a big, extended family. So much positive energy.... it's incredible.

I've also signed up to be the swimmer on a sprint triathlon relay team next sunday (25th). Yup.... Haven't swum competitively in oh, I dunno, 10-15 years, but yours truly coerced Nakera (bike) and Bianca (swim) - two lovely bootcampers - to be on my team. Well that has now multiplied and we officially registered FOUR teams from G-Fit including one with an amazing lady Erin Brown who lost a leg to bone cancer 7 years ago and uses a prosthetic. She'll be biking for one of our teams.

Of course I got this idea, signed up and then thought hmmmmmm.... should probably get in the water since I haven't swum in decades.... Dad and I went to a pool Wednesday morning and swam solid for half an hour. It felt really good! So there's hope. I cancelled the Medivac ambulance I was going to have on standby! lol

Speaking of ambulances.... well not really..... needed a transition.....
tomorrow is my last day on the job at the newspaper and radio station. On Monday I start my new job as Director of Marketing at Doctors Hospital. Am really excited about the change. I have orientation for two days then I'm in my department Wednesday. The following Wednesday I head to Chicago to meet the BOOBS.... hey... these things happen... adn they preferred to get me in for a week to get started than have me wait until the following week when I get home!

Ok... I am going swimming with Dad again at 6:30 tomorrow morning and am still tired from not getting to bed early enough last night when I had 4am wake up for Boot Camp!

Laters!

shards of glass?! and running on empty

2011-09-01T22:03:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Betsy has been tight tight tight for a while now... essentially i've eaten or kept down no food for going on 2 weeks. i was holding out, doing liquids only, in hopes that things would settle down. i'd been at a really good place with restriction (haven't touched my band since JANUARY) and didn't want to get into that guessing game again of where the sweet spot might be.

But I'm headed to Florida on Saturday and my biggest fear is being away and getting so tight that I can't get liquids down.

SO this morning I ate two peanut m&m's out of a bag in the office.... Usually slider foods.... wanted to see how my system would handle solids.

WELL...... I could swear I picked up a handful of shards of glass and tried to ingest that instead. Those little buggers tore up my innards. All day I was in miserable pain. Hours and hours later, I was driving my dog home from her 'salon' and had one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding a cup as I upchucked the rest of those two m&m's and the water I'd been drinking.

I'd called and asked this morning if I could get in for an unfill.... and my surgeon heard my tales of woe and decided not to take out a little bit, but to COMPLETELY unfill Betsy.

Yeah I'm scared. But I have 10 days of no band to help me..... hope I don't do too much damage. Really excited to be able to eat something tomorrow!!!!

A whole new low

2011-09-01T08:14:00.000-04:00

I've been bouncing around between 155 and 159 for sooooo long that I pretty much figured this was where my body had decided I should be.

And then it jumped back on the weight loss train. I guess a super tight band that's barely letting anything through coupled with 2x a day bootcamp sessions mwf for this final week of cycle 2 will do that.

Weighed in officially yesterday afternoon at 149.2lbs. That's UNDER my revised goal weight of 150 so I'm here! But I don't quite feel done yet. Anyone else who's gotten to their actual goal weight decided to keep going rather than hop into maintenance? I think part of it has to do with the stupid BMI scale. I am still technically overweight and I desperately want to be normal. Only a few more pounds to get me there.
But how ridiculous that I can be overweight when i'm sporting small tops and size 4/6 pants??????? Ugh!

Ok.... I'm determined to post frequently until we get to BOOBS.... which I can't believe is now THIS MONTH!

BOOBS 2011 Fun Facts!

2011-08-31T20:59:00.000-04:00

How did you pick your blog name? I'm from The Bahamas and very much an island girl. Just felt fitting.
When did you start blogging? At the exact time I learned about lapband and starting researching and discovered this wonderful family of bloggers - June 2010.
Theme of blog (weight loss, family, circus clowns, sci-fi, erotica, fly fishing, doll collecting, star wars, etc) Pretty much sticks to weight loss and my journey with the band.
Did you go to BOOBs 2010? No - it was 3 days after my surgery!
When were you banded? September 22, 2011
How much have you lost? 113lbs!!!!! 45 were during our intense, mandatory 3-month nutrition and fitness programme.
What are you most looking forward to at BOOBs? Just having fun and really putting names, faces and stories together. And making lifelong friends. I hope!
What/who do you hope to find/see/accomplish at BOOBs 2011? See #7
Children? Pets? A four-legged, furry child named Sylvia. She's a part chow/shephard/collie/potcake mix.
Who is your roomie? Stacey and Paige
What day do you arrive? Wednesday
What airport/flight/time? 6pm on AirTran
What events are you signed up for? Drag Show and Second City
Hobbies? BootCamp, photography, shopping for clothes!
Career? Journalist, but right before BOOBS will be starting a new job in marketin
Single? Married? In a relationship? Single in a relationship
Your birthday month? January
What do you want other BOOBs to know about you? that i'm still struggling with really understanding my new little body -- I KNOW I'm this size, but still don't really feel it some days.

survived the blow job

2011-08-25T18:17:00.000-04:00

shouldn't be making light when some people suffered extensive damage and loss to homes, but i've just finished up (kind of) a shift that started at about 5am yesterday and included a 2-hour 2:30-4:30am nap on a very hard floor. (noticed then that i've lost all my padding!)
We were again spared here in Nassau. Had tropical storm force conditions from yesterday evening straight through to now.... Work was hard - we were experiencing the storm, chasing the storm (reporting on the southern islands) and staying ahead of the storm (looking at how northern islands were prepping)... but we got so many really nice comments from people who were counting on our updates and that made it easier and worth doing. Plus we have a great skeleton crew that stayed the course and got the job done.
Irene sped up so we were able to get out this evening rather than spend a second night there thank goodness. I came to my parents' house because I knew all the roads were relatively clear to get here and hadn't heard whether i'd have major obstacles trying to get out to my house. and the friends who were taking care of the house and sylvia had planned on 2 nights anyway - win win again :)
Betsy the Band DOES NOT LIKE hurricanes. In addition to being tight because of all this stress, exhaustion and the lower barometric pressure, my period decided it would be a good time to come yesterday! I've pb'd (sometimes poltergeist style) pretty much everything i tried to eat the past 3 days..... ugh.... this afternoon i managed to get down and keep down the cheese mixture from a sandwich triangle..... that's it. had all kinds of food to ride out the storm and managed to eat none of it!

Anyway, I'm still having to update the website but need a shower desperately. and then i think bed will be coming soon.

thanks so much for all the kind messages. I really appreciate them. And to whoever is next on Irene's hit list - ALL THE BEST!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

Hi ladies

I've been bad again and need a good old spanking when some of us meet up at BooBs in a few weeks (can you believe that?!?!?!?!)

Am super busy right now as Hurricane Irene is making her approach. Thanks to those who have sent messages of well wishes... they're really appreciated. We here in Nassau are pretty much as prepared as we can be. My house is ready - just waiting on Dad to come up and clamp down the last of the shutters (i can't figure them out for the life of me!)

I'm actually headed into work for the next couple of days (weather probably won't be good enough for us to venture home until Friday morning I'm thinking....). I have some friends who are in a rental house in a low-lying area staying here and dog and house sitting while I work. It's a win win - I have peace of mind knowing Sylvia is taken care of and they have a safe house with a generator... because we are CONFIDENT the power will be going off!

Right now the weather here in Nassau is GORGEOUS... The calm before the storm is always amazing. Bright. sunny skies, cool constant breeze. Very deeptive. If you're watching the news and hear that the bahamas is getting battered, that could be confusing.... it's a lot of islands spread out over hundreds and hundreds of miles so although Inagua, Mayaguana and Acklins are getting hammered, we're still waiting.

Looks like Irene will pass to the east of us which is a blessing - we really don't need a direct hit... but we're still in for a rough ride I imagine.

My band is messing with me something firerce. I think i'm stressed and anxious about the storm so it's tightened up and I'm wondering if it will tighten even more if the atmospheric pressure drops as the storm passes?

I've got all sorts of food options to take in to the radio station for the next couple of days so hopefully things will go down and allow me to eat and nourish myself.

If anyone else is in this storm's path (although they don't seem to have any clue yet where on the east coast it will end up) be safe and do all you can. As they say, prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

Love n Hugs

Jessica

catchin up.... bad blogger

2011-07-24T22:05:00.000-04:00

I've been terribly delinquent and for that, I apologise. No good reason... just life getting in the way of blogging! So to try and catch up, BULLET points post!

Bootcamp ended a week ago. But I'm signed up for the next cycle which starts Tuesday at 5am. Lots of the women who did this one are coming back so they're going to create two sessions.... one for us and one for newbies.
Those of us who completed the first cycle now have brown shirts. Five of us also got special tan shirts because we're the ones who the trainers feel gave it our all and truly committed! Wow!
I lost 2lbs and at least an inch all over since starting this extreme exercise, but my body is so much tighter and more toned than ever before. I still have lots of work, but it's getting there.
Have been thinking about having a consult with a plastic surgeon. i have NO interest in having surgery, but would like his honest opinion on whether my arms, inner thighs and lower tummy can be 'fixed' with exercise and diet. I guess i just want to be able to set realistic expectations for myself.
Here's a link to an article I wrote on the whole experience for my newspaper. The trainers' phones were RINGING off the hook for days with people wanting in the next cycle!
Tried on a pair of size medium linen shorts yesterday and was swimming in them. even the size smalls were a bit looser than looked right!
I went to Florida last weekend for a much needed wardrobe shopping excursion. Pants comfortably in a size 6, tops ALL size small. Very daunting trying to build an entire wardrobe from scratch!!!
Of course I get home, proud that I now have clothes that fit me, only to be told that at least 2 of the size 6 pairs of pants are too loose and I should have gone down a size. WTH!
Jeans shopping is OF THE DEVIL regardless of your size. I FINALLY found a pair that I liked and that fit well (I think) and left it at that for the time being!!!!
went to a baby shower yesterday and since i couldn't volunteer to be the 'baby' in the blindfolded feed the baby game, i did volunteer to be the baby in the dress the baby relay.... pre lapband would NEVER have volunteered to be front and centre like that. Oh... and I won a prize because I was able to identify the most melted chocolate bars in diapers...... nice one!
spent the afternoon with friends and their kids at the pool in my neighbourhood. rockin a bikini and not in the least bit self conscious!
going to spend some serious time this weekend catching up on blogs and reading all the lovely intros Draz has been doing for Boobs.... can't believe how quickly that's approaching. can't wait!!!!!!!!

Make up your FREAKIN' MIND!

2011-06-28T13:15:00.000-04:00

So....... I was supposed to get a wee fill last Thursday afternoon, but my doc had an emergency crop up and I was rescheduled until yesterday morning.
I've put on about 5lbs since starting boot camp and have been struggling with hunger. The weight doesnt bother me so much because i'm definitely getting leaner and stronger.
Good lord was this weekend rough though with the hunger thing. Sunday morning even my dbf, who usually hates my band when it's really tight and eating is uncomfortable, said 'you really need a fill. i can't remember seeing you be able to eat like this!'
We were at a breakfast beach party and I scarfed down a whole bowl of stew conch and yellow grits and even nibbled on some johnny cake. I then sat in the ocean picking at boiled garlic crab legs.
When I got home that evening a neighbour called out of the blue and invited me over for turkey tacos.... i ate two... then a sliver of dense, rich chocolate cake. oh and a scoop of ice cream.
Admittedly, it was a lot of food for me, but not by pre-band or normal people standards. Still. I couldn't wait for Monday morning's fill appointment.
Then, I was around the corner from my surgeon's office when I got the call saying they had to reschedule for Thursday afternoon. ARGHHHHHHH!!!! I jokingly (kinda sorta) told the patient advocate who called to tell my surgeon that if i'd put on 10lbs by the time I got to see him it was his fault.
WELL......
Betsy must have been listening all this time because after I got that call, the fickle band bitch clamped down.
Yesterday I barely ate a few forkfuls of tuna and grits all day. I nibbled on some sausage (i know, not the best option) when i was making some jalapeno dip last night and that came back up... so dinner was not even an option....
This morning I brought in some left over stew conch and although I'm hungry and feeling a bit weak, I just have this sense that nothing's gonna go down even though it's already 1:15pm.
What the HELL!
Soooooo.... I'm just going to see how today and tomorrow pan out and determine if I do actually need this fill after all.

66 steps and olympic competition!

2011-06-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

More boot camp stories for you :)

But before that, I've been toying with the idea of a wee fill because I'm finding that since starting boot camp i'm hungrier and more often than before, but I'm really trying to manage it on my own by following the rules and limiting my ice cream consumption..... (not doing the best job there).
Well yesterday i was craving sushi so a friend and i went for lunch..... let's just say i had one of those 'i love sushi but sushi don't love me' kinds of lunches! It went down better for dinner.

this morning we were at the Queen's Staircase - 66 steps carved out of limestone once upon a time by slaves. It's a popular tourist destination by day, torture chamber for locals by early morning and night!

Here is the staircase from the ground. There's no longer a functioning waterfall along the left side. that would have been nice and zen like at 5 this morning!

Here's what it looks like from the top.

We worked in our small teams this morning. On my team is a former Olympian!!!! While she's not in Olympic (swimming) shape, she's fit. She's good. pushes the rest of us to do more. We have a great team..... and our weakest link has ability and is willing to be pushed so we'll do well.

Today we were up and down those bloody steps countless times, then jogged over to another station where it was non-stop jumping jacks, jump squats, hops, mountain climbers, shuffles, etc etc.....all lower body. all non stop!

We did this cycle a few times, always jogging from one station to the next. And then we had to meet up at the top of the stairs and line up in our teams and sprint only the lord knows what distance up a slight incline. twice.

when i got home i realised for the first time:

a) just how many stairs there are to get into my house

b) just how fast my little dog likes to go on our morning walks!

i just keep thinking bikini. bikini. bikini.

my spare tire (pics)

2011-06-21T11:54:00.000-04:00

So the other day our boot camp leaders instructed us to go to a local garage to pick out a used tire. we'll be using this for the first time at boot camp tomorrow. i call it 'bring your own torture device'. Monday morning they also advised that 'prettiest tire' wins a prize.
My friend and I had already gotten some spray paint and just didn't have time this weekend to decorate, so she, another boot camper we've gotten friendly with, her friend and I met up at my place last night and turned my car port into spray paint central.

Saki gets hers started. We each had to coat our tire first with a solid colour in the spray paint that said it would adhere to rubber. She did aqua, I did pink and Leah did yellow

Nicholas managed to spray paint his hand lavender

Leah is a real trooper - she's washing her tire AND one for her friend Tessa who couldn't make it

Thank goodness I had the foresight to pick up extra drop cloths to cover my car port

the real trooper was Tura who came to help Leah. She's not even in boot camp

Leah gets creative

This one is mine - pink, black and silver

the paint finally came off my hands and arms when i was scrubbing dishes this morning!!!

You look Stunning!

2011-06-12T11:42:00.000-04:00

That was the best of many amazing compliments I received on the new haircut.

Yup. One year to the day after I first walked into Dr D's office for my initial consult for lap band surgery, I continued with the incredible transformation with a haircut. Here's the photo diary depicting where I started and where I ended up!

I've been pulling my hair up in a ponytail most of the time - a sure sign it was time for a change

Ponytail from another angle -- in the salon waiting. A bit nervous for sure!

This is what it looked like out with no styling.

No turning back now!

There was more that I couldn't capture in this shot!!!

the adorable cap - the colour had been done, but now it was time for strategically placed highlights

the finished product. And yes.... I took hoop earrings with me so I didn't walk out looking like a boy!

snapped this one last night before heading out

Boot Camp cancelled

2011-06-10T11:55:00.000-04:00

We've been praying for rain for months on our little rock in the middle of the ocean. It's finally come.

Last night one of the bootcamp leaders sent out a message telling us that if we get up at 4am and it's raining, stay home. If not, be there for 5am sharp. Well 2 things.
1. if i am going to wake up at 4am, I might as well go exercise.
2. i live 1/2 hour drive from bootcamp so chances are it could have been pouring at my house and dry at the site and i'd be paying heavily come monday.

So I got up and it was bone dry at my house. 2 minutes away it was pouring. just drizzling at Fort Charlotte where boot camp is, but getting heavier. 23 of us showed up so I'm not the only fool.

The trainers were concerned about injuries because the ground was really wet and slippery so we headed to the Queen's Staircase (66 steps cut by slaves out of limestone). More sheltered there, but the floor and steps were really slippery because of fallen poinciana tree flowers.

Most are going to try for a 6pm workout, but my friend and I can't because we're joining another friend for dinner to start discussing our 40th bday trip to vietnam next year.

So 5 of us joined 2 trainers at a gym they go to. Wasn't quite bootcamp, but I got a decent workout in.

Oh... and my massage at the vocational college last night was really good. they'd just finished their course on sports massage so it was perfect for what my aching muscles needed. I told the instructor afterwards that my massage was better than many i've actually paid for.

apparantly I have a lap band

2011-06-09T14:27:00.002-04:00

You wouldn't think it the way I just scarfed down some of that bbq chicken breast. I was hungry. ravenous. so i scarfed. only ate about 1/3 of the meat on it. and with a nice chunk of it still in my hand i realised that yes, i was indeed stuck. because, you see, i have this lap band thing.
somehow i forgot about betsy so she made a raging appearance.
into the bathroom.
let's just say bbq chicken is quite nasty coming back up.

Boot Camp diary day 2

2011-06-08T10:34:00.000-04:00

Figure i'll post about boot camp for a while.

So I managed to drag myself out of bed at 4:15 this morning and get to boot camp on time. I was actually the first one there. On the way I had to get gas and inadvertently pulled into the ONLY self-serve gas station on the island.... I know my American friends will get a kick out of the fact that we don't pump our own gas here normally.

Some ladies straggled in after 5am and got extra work to do.... I ain't gonna be late. No way. Not after seeing that.

Boot camp was hard enough as it is. There was a new trainer today in addition to Charles and Dwight. Carlos (aka Satan) was tough. As we were finishing up a 60-second round of burpees, he'd be showing us how to do what was coming next. SO. THERE. WAS. NO. BREAK.

We did all sorts of exercises and most of us were still sore from Monday evening's fitness evaluations. I love how they start off each session with a 5 minute run. Don't they realise that a 5 minute run could BE MY ROUTINE?!?!

Joke is.... after we were done with our hour-long torture session and had stretched.... Dwight mentions that through one of the other trainers (who we haven't yet met) he had 12 free massages at the local vocational training college for tomorrow evening. So first 12 ladies to give him TWO MORE FULL LAPS around the field got them. I did it. I finished about 6th. I don't know where that extra energy came from.

It dawned on me as I was doing this final jog that a year ago, when I weighed 262.5lbs and was in abysmal shape, I could barely power walk 2x around that field.... and that was all I was trying to do.... and here I was polishing off a crazy intense hour long workout with JOGGING two laps.

Wow. We've come a LONG way baby!

I survived (edited to add pics)

2011-06-06T21:10:00.001-04:00

this evening was the first G-fit Boot Camp session - fitness evaluations. Basically we did some warm ups and then a 5 minute run, sit ups, push ups (i knocked out 10 boy ones before switching to girlie ones for the rest of the time!), burpees (hate those), squats, suicides and then another 5 minute run. Good grief! I power walked the last minute and a half or so of that second run.... my legs were like jello!

It was so much fun.... they pushed but weren't in our faces drills sargent-style. today was an opportunity for the trainers to see what they're dealing with.

G-fit is just for Girls. There were 20 of us for this first session and we are all ages and fitness levels. Probably only one standout so far... but clearly she's a runner. I have told myself that whatever they ask of me, I will give them.

This is for me. And my bikinis! lol

We had lots of laughs and even though most of us just met when we pulled up to the Fort this afternoon, there was so much support and cheering each other on. I can see it getting really fun when they break us into teams after the second week.

Wednesday morning we meet at Fort Charlotte at 5am. Pray for me people. Pray for me!

Sometime after the second week we'll be going out to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base to use their official obstacle course. Good. Lord.
~~Will try to get some pics for Wednesday's blog.~~ One of the guys running the boot camp just posted some pics from yesterday on our FB group so I grabbed them for my blog

We were about to start the final 5-minute run... and my group of 5 had JUST completed our suicides. My legs were floppy. Hence the ugly face.

We were getting ready to start our squats here and I think this is the point I was telling drill sargent Dwigh that I needed hands in front for balance or some such crap! lol

what have i done?!?

2011-06-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

I just signed up for a six week boot camp.

11 months and 2 weeks after i waddled into my first appointment to look into getting lap band surgery, I am going to boot camp. Wow.

A former colleague and a friend's hubby are running it. They. are. going. to. kick. my. ass.

I think i'm in denial though because I'm honestly more worried about the wake up time than about anything they could possibly do to me.

This evening was sign up and a weight/body fat, measurement session. monday evening is fitness evaluation. They don't need to evaluate me.... i can tell them they have lots of work to do.

but starting Wednesday, every M, W, F for 2 weeks we meet at 5am... at a location roughly a half hour drive from my house. which means i'll be getting up @4am. WTF?!?!

After week 2 we move to 4x a week but they have 5am or 6pm sessions. I have a feeling I'll be making the switch!!! you know... for gas saving reasons.... because I could change after work and drive to the location which is actually on my way home.

I've been inspired to do this by Catherine of Chronicles from Band Land. She rocked boot camp and I intend to do the same.

tight bands and hair cuts... opinions please

2011-05-31T09:25:00.000-04:00

As is usually the case when Betsy the Band self adjusts, I have no clue what caused it. Late last week I began to notice that I couldn't eat as much as I had been. Then over the weekend, she clamped down. Lots of PB episodes and not a heck of a lot of food going in. But liquids are ok and I'm managing sufficient nutrients so I'm going to ride this train as long as I can.... I need that scale to start moving again.

I'm thinking about cutting my hair off. I've had short hair in the past and liked it, but now that my face is much more angular, I think I can pull off a really short cut..... I've fallen into the rut of pulling it up into a pony tail or clip and am BORED with it. Not sure I'm loving the blonde hair either. I spent some time last night having a look through some websites and pulling together styles that I like. They're vastly different, so clearly I haven't narrowed this down. I think I'll pop in to my hair dresser and give her the print out and ask her to start thinking about what would suit me best and be easiest to manage..... Any thoughts on the styles I've selected? The top row, at least, is pretty much in the order that I think I like them

Vote for Sally PLEASE!

2011-05-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

I nominated Sally from Sally's Journey with Lapband Surgery for an amazing blog makeover by the incredibly talented Jen of Just Foolin Blog Designs. Our nomination is #10.
Of course LOTS of deserving, awesome bloggers were nominated. But I just want my friends to vote for #10.

This is what I said in my nomination:

Nominee #10: Sally's Journey With Lap Band Surgery

Nominated by: Island Bandit

"Although I absolutely smile everytime i see her bright red toenails in the sand at the top of her blog, I'd like to nominate Sally. At the end of last year she had to have her band removed and she's gained a lot of weight back. she has been an absentee blogger and she's just revealed in a post that the reason for this is she feels like a failure for re-gaining the weight. I want her to know she's NOT a FAILURE! She is hoping now to be approved (by insurance... her doc is ready to go) for gastric. In my mind she's not a failure because she's not giving up!"

Email Jen at justfoolinblogdesigns@gmail.com and put the number 10 in the subject line. If you follow her blog you get 2 points. Whoever gets the most votes wins a new blog design and I'm sure Sally could use it.
Why are you still here? Go email!

bikini days (edited to include a comparison pic)

2011-05-23T20:32:00.001-04:00

Well yesterday at the Atlantis waterpark with my nephews was so much fun! They had an incredible time and were so well behaved. We all did the innertube rapids multiple times and one of them turned out to be a bit of a daredevil so guess who had to go on the challenge slide with him! It was great.... only my bikini top buckle snapped on the way down so I ended up having to tie it off for the rest of the day.

The best part of the whole experience was that I spent the whole day, in front of all those people, in a bikini. No wrap. No cover up. Just me. in a bikini!

I don't have a full body shot, but here's one I snapped of myself.

Completely forgot I'd intended to include a comparison pic. So here goes.... one of me from last summer. Definitely not even imagining a bikini was in my near (or even distant) future!

the worst stuck episodes are..... (and lots of pics)

2011-05-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

....the ones where I KNEW BETTER!

I KNEW cracked conch was NOT going to be something I could chew into smithereens. I KNEW this. And STILL, I gave into temptation and ordered a cracked conch snack. And THEN.... I proceeded to eat it in the CAR. Good lord this was one bad idea immediately followed by another.

I ended up having to pull over onto a side street and spit a bit.... luckily it went down without a pb episode. And my pup Sylvia appreciated the snack she got when I made it home and let her have a few pieces before I chucked it in the garbage.

Got a new dress today... I don't think it photographs all that well, but I fell in love with it in this resort boutique and had to have it. Chuckled when i saw it was a one-size fits all dress. Finally those things fit ME!

I also got a little black summer/beach dress coverup thing. I tried on the medium and it looked pretty good. But in the back of my mind were all the comments telling me the white top in the last post was too big. So I trotted over and grabbed a SMALL. And that's the one I bought! Madness!!!

Tomorrow I'm taking my two nephews to Atlantis for the day. The resort has an amazing set up of pools and slides. Hoping the boys are tall enough to go on the big ones, but if not, i'm sure they'll manage to have a blast.... I plan on parking my bikini-clad derriere on a deck chair somewhere with my kindle and chilling.... who knows.... i may do a ride or three as well. Just picture me at one of the following:

and i end with some pics that make you laugh. Sylvia has developed a real taste for ice cream. see for yourself.

Going to BOOBS? Need a roomie?

2011-05-20T14:09:00.000-04:00

Are you going to Boobs or thinking of going to Boobs and still looking for a roommate? Or have a double and willing to add a third? Ronnie at http://bandumentary.blogspot.com
is looking for someone to share a room with in Chicago. If you are looking too, hit her up!!!!!!
I'm already rooming with three others otherwise I'd squeeze her in for sure.

Things I learned when I plugged in the Wii

2011-05-20T12:09:00.000-04:00

So i finally got my lovely nice big new flat screen tv (gift from my dbf). And i FINALLY plugged in my Wii and unwrapped the new exercise programmes I got a month or so ago.

And I learned a couple of things.

1. It's best that I give Zumba a try in the privacy of my living room. Good lord I am uncoordinated. But I managed to make it through a few beginner routines and had fun while moving my butt.
2. Moved onto my new EA Active 2 programme and learned that doing floor exercises with Sylvia (my dog) in the room is not possible. As soon as I got on the floor, she was on top of me thinking we were playing some kind of fun new game!
3. Sylvia is a licker. Big time. But she took it to a whole other level when i had finished my routine and was sweating up a storm. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven!

I did take pics along the way, but somehow they disappeared when I synced my i-touch this morning :(

the pic i promised.... and body image

2011-05-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

It's not a great shot and of course although I had my camera with me at the party it never occurred to me to take it out and get a nicer picture taken!!!!

That's a medium top and size 6 pants. Still in shock over that.

Now here's the tough part... something I know so many of you grapple with. When Will my mind catch up with my body?

I'm intelligent to know that having lost 105.8lbs and going from a 20 to a 6 that I'm ALOT smaller than I used to be. But I roll my eyes when people call me slim or skinny. BECAUSE I DON'T SEE IT.

I was chatting with a good friend the other day about this whole journey. she's one of the few who knew well in advance of surgery that I was doing this and has been 150% supportive. I was commenting on the fact that post last un-fill I'm finally back on track with my eating and the scale is moving (albeit slowly) in the right direction.

She was surprised when I told her I weighed 157.... she thinks I look more like 130-something. I told her I wanted to get to 140-something and so have about 7lbs to go..... but said that at least I don't look 'skinny'..... she thinks I do.....

When will I see myself the way others do? I look at the photo above and yes, I love how I look, but I don't see skinny. I see healthy. I'm not mortified anymore because I'm not obese but I don't go 'wow!'

How do i get to that point? will I ever?

it's official

2011-05-14T14:17:00.000-04:00

I am a size 6!!!

sick and tired of trying to cobble together an outfit from the handful of clothes in my closet, I bit the bullet today and went shopping for an outfit to wear to my dad's g'day party tonight.

I was amused that there were lots of things in 14's and 16's and size large, but I was only able to find an 8 in one pair of white pedal pushers and a 6 in another. I tried on the six and they fit. perfect fit. wooooo hooooo. will take a pic when have them on with the white with black detail tunic I got to go with them and post for all to see.

cheerios

Who IS this person?!?

2011-05-05T20:34:00.000-04:00

Tonight, instead of going on a cinco de mayo pub crawl, i headed to my nutritionist/trainer for a torture session and then came home where I was supposed to meet a friend for W1D2 of C25K. She couldn't make it and my legs were a bit sore so instead I took miss Sylvia for a long walk... we even ventured into some bushes for extra adventure!
When I got done with that I trimmed the excess length off my brand spankin new jumprope and did a few minutes.

Who IS this person?

Then, I hopped onto the couch and laptop and picked up with my sometime ago forsaken research into next year's 40th bday adventure.... Two girlfriends and I had talked some time back about going on an epic adventure. We'd talked extensively about where to go... and Vietnam seemed to hit the top of the pile.
I've got to touch base with them to see if they're still up for it.... and get researching and booking.... trouble is, next year is an election year here. We don't have fixed election dates like you have in the US so all we know is the election will have to be held before sometime in May. Two of us work in management in the media and one is married to a politician so elections will have to come first.

Anyway... I started looking at various tours with some companies whose travel philosohies and styles I know and like... and found myself strangely drawn to active adventure trips - hike, bike and kayak Vietnam... and cycle Vietnam.... these would only be possibilities if for some reason I end up doing this epic adventure on my own.... but hiking? biking? kayaking?

Again I ask... who IS this person?!

weighed in this morning and was up to 157.5 i knew i'd be up, but the weight has come down a bit from last week and I still have some restriction when I eat solid proteins so as long as I continue to do what I know i'm supposed to do I am confident my weight will start heading down again. the 153 i hit a month or so ago pre-unfill was brought about by dehydration and starvation so i'm not concerned. we checked the files at the nutritionist's office and i'm down a pound since the last time she weighed me so all's well.

all's well so long as I promise myself to never ever buy easter candy again.... it's all gone... and no... i didn't toss it out or share....

self-imposed starvation

2011-05-04T13:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a while. I guess life just got in the way.

So about this title. One thing I've found since my slight unfill a few weeks ago is that the hungry switch got turned back on and I'm constantly thinking about food and the next meal. Being tight is so lovely in that it takes all that away, but of course, leads me into other problems.

I've been indulging this hunger. A lot. And not necessarily with the best things. And as a result my bowels are all messed up and i've put on a few pounds. Nothing to be alarmed about, but I know why and I know I need to arrest this development.

So this morning I decided that I needed to remind myself what true hunger really feels like. Not the little 'oh it's about that time of day when i should eat and so i'll eat' hunger. But the tummy rumbling, gurgling feed me feed me feed me hunger.

I had to get up at 4:40 this morning and head into work for 5:30 am. I was the first kind of hunger really early on, but I know that food is not my friend first thing so I had a coffee... and that got the bowels going into overdrive.... thank goodness. i was really bloated.

so anyway, morning work kept on and i decided not to feed the hunger and before you know it' it was noon and i was ravenous... that second kind of hunger.

I really needed to remember what that felt like as it's been such a long time.

Of course once I filed that feeling away, I headed out for some sushi..... and was so hungry (and have lost my knife) that I started scarfing it down. Three pieces down and i'm feeling a little bit stuck. Hoping it works its way down because I DON'T wanna have that come back up. ewwwwwwwwwwww.

sliders today... but a good reason

2011-04-20T13:37:00.000-04:00

or at least *I* think it's a good reason.

I have had a mild toothache all week so made an appt to see a dentist this morning. within two minutes of probing my mouth, she utters the words 'ROOT CANAL'. Now for a confirmed dental-phobe like me, those are possibly the worst words someone can say to me, other, perhaps than 'EXTRACTION.'
So since the tooth was super sensitive and we're headed into a 4-day holiday weekend here (yay) I decided to just let her go ahead and get started. No sense in putting it off until next week and having pain and anxiety to deal with.
The real fun part is she also noticed a small cavity in a similar spot (between back teeth) on the other side and said I need to get that taken care of before it too turns into a root canal situation.... oh joy. next thursday I have part two of the root canal and the filling on the other side. am i lucky or WHAT!?!
Am torn now between hoping the numbness wears off in time for radio news in another hour and hoping it doesn't wear off at all because I know it's gonna hurt and all i got is antibiotics.... not a drop of pain meds.
the reason for the title of this post - i had potato chips for lunch. i can't chew so sliders it is

Hungry and full.

2011-04-19T15:34:00.000-04:00

So since my slight unfill last Monday afternoon (just over a week ago) I've remembered what it's like to be hungry. It's wild how that happens. A few ccs out of my band (and by a few I mean .25 of a cc) and all of a sudden I feel hunger pangs again. I'm really only feeling them when I should, so that's ok. I'm managing that just fine.
What I am having trouble with is recognising again when I'm full. Or rather, satisfied. Am going to pull out the 1/4 and 1/2 cup measures and use those to portion out my food just in case. I'm generally pretty good about not going back for more once I've finished what's in front of me.
I've had to make a really concerted effort to avoid crap food. Sliders. chips. chocolate (easter candy is OF THE DEVIL). It wasn't a problem when I was too tight because I could only eat a wee bit before being too full. Now that's not so much the case. I'm able to scarf that crap down like nobody's business. And so, after yesterday's consumption of three single-serve bags of chips, a handful of malted easter eggs, 1/2 cup egg salad and about 1/4 cup of leftover fish and 1/4 cup leftover peas n rice, I made a truce. I am not going to bring in any crap to work and if I want some later on, I can only have it when I've eaten my real food. Read: my protein!
So today I have had:
1 cup of skim milk with a package of Milo stirred in
1/2 cup egg salad
1/2 cup of curried chicken and rice
Lots more water than I have been drinking in a long time

For dinner I'll probably have some more of the leftover (from Friday night) fish and peas n rice.

I feel much better today than I did yesterday when I loaded up on crap so that's a real good thing.

I know I can do this without the band being too tight. I want to do this without the band being too tight. Just have to get back into the swing of things and remember how to eat properly after having so much help from the band for so long.

Wish me luck my lovelies.

Oh... and my new walking/running buddy (had to get new partner since I moved to another part of the island) and I are starting the couch to 5k programme tonight.

Wish me lots of luck!

The athlete in me...

2011-04-15T15:51:00.000-04:00

...is trying to emerge. At least that what my trainer and nutritionist says. I ran a mile and a half at a nice steady pace yesterday and then she threw me on the bike for 20 minutes and then there was more ~~torture~~ training. She's convinced that I have athlete written all over me. I'm not convinced of that at all! But it did feel good to get through a mile and a half. I just want to be able to run a 5k. Not so much because I want to be a runner, but because I want to say I did it and prove to myself that I can do it.

Oh... and now ALL of my size 8 pants all of a sudden are baggy. Good thing Mom is headed to Florida next weekend and will pick up a few pairs of size 6's. Holy crap that's insane!!!!!!!!

Down and up on the scale

2011-04-14T11:09:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday i was 157.4. Monday, my dehydrated and under-nourished body weighed in at 153.8. Today I was 155.4. I'll take that in a heartbeat!!!!!!

I can eat.... and sleep

2011-04-13T23:08:00.000-04:00

That little .25cc apparently makes all the difference in the world. On Monday Dr D took me from 6cc to 5.75cc. I ate soups only until Tuesday night and was intrigued to experience actual hunger around lunchtime yesterday. I'd kind of forgotten what that sensation felt like.
Last night I was craving sushi and since I was in the area of my fave sushi joint ordered up a roll for takeout. I was hungry again so scarfed down a piece in the car. Stupid. It got stuck. Thought for most of the drive that I was going to have to pull over and let it back out, but it eventually went down. Thank God. One of these days I'll learn!
I had two pieces last night, three for lunch today and two plus a scoop of ice cream for dinner. Food is definitely going down better, but I'm also having to prevent myself from indulging in the novelty of wanting to and being able to eat all of a sudden. I said I wanted to start doing more of the heavy lifting and rely on the band to be there in case I fall off track and just have to remind myself of what that entails.
More good news. not a BIT of acid reflux since the unfill. I have slept really well since Monday. Ahhhhh.
Been doing well on the exercise front. Had a session with my nutritionist/trainer last night and since I was feeling human for the first time in weeks she worked me hard. It felt good!
Tonight a friend who lives near where I just moved to went for a walk/run. Glad to have quickly found an exercise buddy.
I also went online and ordered some new workout pants - all of mine -- even the supposedly tight capris - are falling off. I also ordered the new EA Active for my wii and the zumba for the wii. I figure I really need to step things up and do more than my walks and two gym sessions each week if i want to whip this body into TRUE bikini shape.

relief.... again

2011-04-11T17:44:00.000-04:00

So I got my unfill. It's so wonderful to have a doc who truly listens to each patient and will adjust your band when you feel it's necessary... of course he asks all sorts of questions and doesn't just give in to whims and fancies!

He took me down to 5.75cc from 6cc and instantly I was able to drink the glass of water on offer. In fact I'm quite certain I've drunk more water this afternoon than I have in the past 3-4 days. that feels good!!!!

I had to weigh in again since it was an official visit.. and good lord.... I was down to 153.4lbs.... I was 157.4 at Thursday's official weigh in. I guess that's what not eating and drinking combined with some lovely pb and sliming episodes will do to you! I won't log that because I'm not expecting that low to hold through till Thursday's weigh in now that I can eat and drink.

Everyone please say a little prayer that this unfill has also resolved the acid reflux issue so I can get a good night's sleep tonight for the first time in a week or so. that would be oh so nice.

I think when my folks head over to florida for easter I need to ask them to get me some size 6 pants... i realised today that the relatively new size 8s have already gotten a bit baggy. Madness!!!!

Oh.... and I think my surgeon will be quite happy to see me settle in at 150lbs.... I think he's concerned that I might be losing too much. We'll see. I think if only because I've NEVER AS AN ADULT been there, I'd like to be able to live my life saying i weigh 140-something.

vanity is a bitch. isn't it!

unfill tomorrow and a pic

2011-04-10T21:39:00.001-04:00

after a week of seriously disrupted sleep thanks to acid reflux and being really tired thanks to not being able to eat enough and achy thanks to not being able to drink enough, i'm headed in to Dr D's tomorrow for an unfill.

I'm currently at 6cc in my 10cc band. I am thinking of asking him to take me down to 5.8 tomorrow. We know 5.5 is too loose so somewhere in the midst of that is my sweet spot.

I'm pretty darned close to goal. 7lbs away right now. Been thinking I definitely need to find the right balance while I'm still in the losing phase because right now there's no way I could figure out a maintenance plan because I'm simply not eating enough.

I am ready to take on my of the heavy lifting and have my band there in the background if I let things get out of control.

Truth be told, I'm at a size and weight that I could be quite happy with if this is it. I don't think it is, and I'm still training and working with my nutritionist/trainer so i know we can work this out. I just need to be able to get in three meals a day even if they are just 1/4-1/2 cup.

Input is welcome as i'm aware this is no exact science!

Oh - last night I went out for dinner with a childhood friend. We haven't laid eyes on each other in 19 years, but have kept in touch more recently thanks to the phenomena that is Facebook. It was amazing how we just fell into place as if no time had passed! I share a pic from last night

Chiming in on Dr Oz

2011-04-08T12:54:00.000-04:00

Let me say first... i did not see his lapband episode the other day, but have a good idea of what was said from reading multiple blogs.

I found the outrage being expressed by fellow bandmates interesting because..... I am like these women in terms of the amount of food I can consume. I eat next to nothing and am satisfied. Satisfied meaning I'm not hungry. HOWEVER, I have determined that this is NOT a good place to be indefinitely and am thinking about getting in to see my surgeon next week to arrange a slight unfill. I am below my original goal weight... 7lbs from my new goal weight... i think at this stage of the game I can handle a bit more of the heavy lifting if that's necessary. I KNOW I'm not getting in sufficient nutrition and i have NO INTEREST in being skinny and malnourished.
So I don't think it's fair that so many are calling these women liars.... it's highly likely that this is all they eat. I just hope that they opt to get loosened up a wee bit so that they can consume more and get the protein and calories in.

Much of this post was written in response to a comment left by fluffy on her blog. Check it out as she also has published clips from the show so you know what we're all talking about.

Slime and Starbucks

2011-04-07T16:11:00.000-04:00

Ok.... so I just slimed all over the bathroom floor in a Starbucks. Ewwwwwww.... was sitting here working when all of a sudden i felt the steady fast flow of saliva building in my mouth... I tried to ignore it but soon realised I was about to blow. So I grabbed my laptop and bag and dashed for the bathroom. Up came some slime. Then another gusher and I didn't realise so much was coming and mis judged my position over the toilet. didn't realise just how difficult slime would be to mop up with those hard non-absorbant paper towels. did i say ewwwwwww.... already. it's turning out to be a sharing day so thought i'd share again!

The pits!

2011-04-07T08:28:00.002-04:00

I have arm pits. This is a recent development brought about by a 100+lb weight loss. I never really understood why they were called arm pits because mine were quite rounded out. Now, not so much. Just thought I'd share. Does this qualify as an NSV?

Ick 'itis and bikini pics

2011-04-05T21:11:00.001-04:00

Dean's Blue Hole

The beach at Dean's Blue Hole

Ok - so i got tired of fighting with Blogger over placement of these photos!!!!! First up are some shots of the beaches and blue holes and other stunning landscapes in Long Island, Bahamas!

Dean's Blue Hole

A view from up at Columbus Monument. No photoshop needed!

So before I get to the good stuff.... I've been fighting what I'd been told was tonsilitis for a few weeks. well when i didn't seem to be getting any resolution, I decided to try another Ear Nose Throat specialist. He was extremely thorough and told me I definitely have some issues and tonsilitis is not one of them! I've got sinusitis, otitis media, rhinitis and pharyngitis! I mean if you're gonna do it, do it all the way, right?!?!?
So I now have some answers and a small pharmacy.... pills, liquids, drops, gels... you name it. And tomorrow I have to get a CT scan of my sinus to rule out any polyps or any such fun stuff. At least I feel like I'm on the way to getting rid of this incessant pressure in the left side of my face and ear!

The trip to Long Island (Bahamas) was a blast! My girlfriends and I made the most of the brief getaway. We met all the characters on the island, saw all the beautiful sites and generally had fun. Of course I came home feeling like I need a vacation to recuperate from the mini vacay! I'm far too old to be out til 2am every night.

As promised, I have a couple of pics of me in my bikini and one in my beach wrap. Unfortunately I'm the photographer in the group so there's not a whole lot of me except when I demanded someone take the camera and snap a shot!!!!!

Here is day two with Michelle and Cherry. We're at the Columbus Monument overlooking beautiful blue waters

Added this pic because I just realised my legs are kinda skinny!


My friend Cherry and I. I look EXTRA pale next to her, but then this belly hasn't seen the sun in a lifetime!


This shot doesn't cut me at the best spot, but what the hell!


These pics were all taken at the beach next to Dean's Blue Hole. It's the deepest blue hole in the world!

down again and skinny massage

2011-03-31T10:51:00.000-04:00

Down another 2.2lbs this week to 158.6... this means.... my dearies... that I am just 6.6lbs away from my all time lowest as a teen or adult weight.... MADNESS!!!!!

Even though my new goal is 150, I've agreed with my nutritionist to just keep on doing what i've been doing and let my body find its new set point. that could be 155 or could be 145 or something else entirely. I'm happy with the size and weight I am now and am interested mainly in toning what's left, but will go wherever this journey is taking me.

I can't remember if I mentioned already, but I had a minor car accident Friday evening... Monday evening some whiplash set in.... serious shoulder and upper and lower back aches... So Tuesday morning I called and booked in for a deep tissue massage with a therapist who came highly recommended by a friend. I had the massage yesterday afternoon and man did she work me over. It HURT (as deep tissue massages do) but I needed it. Next week she's giving me a combo massage since i'm still tense even after all that. What I found fascinating though was as she was massaging me I think I felt thin for the first time!!! It was interesting to see how different this probing felt when there's not layers and layers of fat to cushion your muscles and bones!!!

One more day of work and tomorrow morning some friends and I are headed to the more remote island of Long Island

I have my two tankinis and my bikini packed (in June last year I never would have thought those words would come out of MY mouth!!!) as well as my trusty camera so will be posting upon my return!

Chicago bound

2011-03-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

I did it! I booked my flights just now. Heading in on Air Tran via Atlanta on the Wednesday... flights there all get in rather late (I get in at 6:10pm) and leave really early in the mornings so leaving on the Monday morning. i figure this way I have a day and a bit to get in some shopping and do some things that might not fit into the group thing..... and I didn't think my roommate would appreciate my being on a 6:30am flight on the Sunday morning!!!!!!

Colour me excited! Heather of www.heathersbandedjourney.blogspot.com are rooming together and are interested in finding a third and fourth if anyone's still looking for roommates for the weekend.

Soooooo..... if you're going to Boobs 2.0 and need roomies, let me or Heather know

Jessica

Check out my ticker

2011-03-24T11:06:00.000-04:00

You see that?!?! I have officially lost 101.6 pounds. HOLY CRAPOLA PEOPLE!!!!!! 101.6lbs in 9 months, one week and 2 days. I say it again. HOLY CRAPOLA!

I also have changed my ticker to reflect the revised goal weight of 150. As of this morning's weigh in I was .8 away from meeting the original goal of 160. I'm feeling good about the decision to go lower. We changed the goal when it was determined that I was 5' 4.5 and not 5' 5.5 as I'd thought when I started the process.

This feels good. No... this feels amazing!

Three girlfriends and I are off to Long Island April 1 for a long weekend getaway.... Of course I have no bathing suits so I splurged an treated myself last week... I bought a hot pink tankini with coordinating sheer beach coverup and a black and white bikini with boy short bottoms.... I figure I need coverage on either the top or the bottom... i had always said that even with the weight loss this body was not ready for a bikini... but when i tried on one-piece suits they just made me look short and squat!

In honour of my 100lb milestone I will post a pic of me before... and one of me in one of the new its of beach attire.... as soon as I get a photo taken, that is

I'm baaaack

2011-03-22T21:09:00.000-04:00

Hadn't planned on being away... certainly not for so long.... but I moved into my new house last week Friday and only this morning did I FINALLY get cable and internet hooked up. Ugh.... our cable company is lousy!

I've still not booked my tickets for BOOBS in Chicago because I haven't had internet.... but I am going. Just need to decide how many extra days I want to tack on. I figure if I'm going to go all the way there I might as well make my vacation out of it. The only time I went to Chicago it was February and so freakin cold I thought my eyeballs were going to freeze!!!!!

I didn't weigh in last week because I was so busy and tied up with moving. I took the whole week off and now feel I need a vacation to recuperate. I'm almost done with the moving in... a few more things to get sorted. Will be great when I get my countertops in place and then I can really use my kitchen... ah well.... all in time.

I'll wait until Thursday when I hit the official scales, but I have a feeling I've hit 100lbs gone!!! How incredible!!!!!!!! Still got lots of toning to do, but I can see where 160 wasn't the right goal weight for me. I guess I should change my ticker to reflect the new goal weight of 150.

My band relaxed about the time I moved in here.... it's weird.... and more importantly, it's WONDERFUL!!! The acid reflux is totally gone... I can eat more like 1/2 cup of food if I want,.... but I'm not starving. It's just nice after all this time (pretty much since I got my first fill at the end of October) to have food go down and not hurt or set me off on a burping and belching frenzy!!!!!

I'm off.... got lots of blogs to catch up on again!!! argh

Some more numbers

2011-03-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

I had my official weigh in this morning and down another 3lbs this week!!!! So i'm at 165 and 97lbs gone. Last night my nutritionist/trainer measured my body fat and i'm down to 34%. That was a relief as I had nightmares that I was loosing weight but not loosing fat and would end up super skinny and flabby!!!! I need to get down to no more than 25% body fat so still some work to go, but that will come with consistent exercise and toning.

At the gym last night I ran half a mile. I think I could have powered it out for longer, but my exercise pants are clearly too big and i kept having to hike them up!!!!

I'm moving into my new house tonight..... it's been a long time coming, but I'm so excited. I picked my dog Sylvia up from her foster home this morning and took her to the groomers... she was NOT impressed when I tried to get her up their stairs and slipped her collar so i spent 10 minutes trying to catch her and praying she wouldn't dart out into traffic!!! I can see she and i are in for some good times!!!!! lol She's never really been on a leash before so I have lots of training to do.

Have been watching the devastation in Japan. My god. A reminder that we are all such small and insignificant pawns in this game of life. Woke up to a message on Facebook from a college friend from Japan... She's ok... ended up having to walk home four hours from work with her 4-year old twins and says the aftershocks continue to freak her out... so scary.

And to everyone who sent lovely messages about Boobs 2.0 - I can't wait to meet you either!!!!

Boobs 2.0

2011-03-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

So to make up for my deplorable blogging record in January and February, here's a two-fer -- second post for the day :)

I missed out on Boobs 1.0 because it happened just days after I was banded.

I've decided I can't let Boobs 2.0 happen without me. I've looked at tickets (yikes) and have decided that I'm going to head on over to Chicago on the Wednesday and leave on the Sunday. Why so damned early, you ask? Well the flights to Chicago from Nassau all leave and get in late.... and I'd like a full day to do some shopping and exploring before things get going with all the organised festivities. I'm hoping there's not too much planned for the Sunday as the latest flight I can get out on is 9:40am..... i HATE when airlines don't work according to my needs and plans! lol

So..... who else is going or at least seriously considering it? Anyone looking for a roomie? I know most people don't get in before Thursday or Friday, but we can work that out no problem

Only time I've been to Chicago was a couple years back for a long weekend to visit a friend who was at school there. It was February. My eyeballs felt like they were going to freeze. All I could think was this would be a cool place to visit when the weather was reasonable... I think it will be quite reasonable in late September.

ahhhhhhh.... how do you spell relief?

2011-03-10T12:51:00.000-05:00

G-A-V-I-S-C-O-N. that's how.

Ever since my brief interlude at 6.2cc in my 10cc band where I was wayyyyyy too tight, I've experienced intermittent bouts of acid reflux. YUCK! Well after a week of being woken up by it, I had an unfill (back down to a seemingly happy point of 6cc) and my doc prescribed Gaviscon and another med for the heartburn and reflux.

Well problem is, they both come in big bottles. Way to cumbersome to carry around with me and i find I need the relief not just at night or after dinner when it does flare up.

My esophagus was burning all morning to the point where water was irritating it and so I headed over to the nearest pharmacy to see if I could find something. anything. to ease this pain up. Lo and behold they had these:

Oh my word they worked fast. Instant relief. And so portable. I think tomorrow I'm going to head back to the pharmacy to stock up so I can stash them in the house, my office desk, my car, my handbags, my parents' house, my dbf's place.....

As soon as I finish with lunch (and of course, wait at least 1/2 hour) I'm going to see how much water I can get in.... been feeling a wee bit dehydrated these past couple of days because of the burning sensation.

Thursday mornings are my official weigh in days, but I had a work committment this morning so will head to Dr D's office to hop on the scales tomorrow morning

Attention

2011-03-09T12:10:00.000-05:00

I'm learning how to deal with all the attention my weight loss and subsequent new figure is earning me.... I think many of you can relate that this is a tough hurdle to cross over.... as someone who has been overweight pretty much all of my life, I'm used to lurking in the shadows.... so now that I'm being inundated with kind and gracious comments, I'm learning to accept them with grace and know that they are meant with kindness.

Yesterday afternoon a good friend was sworn into the Senate. His wife is my best friend so I wasn't going to miss the ceremony and reception for nothing! I borrowed another dress from my colleague with the amazing closet... this one a simple black fitted size 10 Calvin Klein sheath dress. It was a bit loose in a few areas, but looked really sharp.

I got all kinds of lovely comments... including from my friend the senator who, when he, his wife, another girlfriend of ours and I sat down finally in a restaurant said "you know,,, you're really looking hot these days!" We teased him about making such a comment in front of his wife (who could care less and agreed wholeheartedly) and he said 'you need to know this.'

It is nice to get lots of comments, but I'm finding that it's ALL anyone has to say to me these days.... it's a bit strange, but like I said, I'm learning to accept the comments and then try to steer the conversation on to something else!!!

I have no photos yet.... completely forgot to get someone to snap a pic of me with my camera buried in my handbag!!!!! Will hopefully get a few that were taken by the event photogs and his brother who was snapping candids

The other thing I got lots of comments on is....my lapband commercial that just started running on our cable network 2 nights ago.... lots of people have seen it and sent rave reviews. If i can get my hands on a dvd i'll post it for you. Funny thing is, I've lost @20lbs since we shot the commercial at the beginning of the year :)

What a weekend!

2011-03-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

This was one of those weekends that make you feel you need a weekend to recuperate!

My brother flew in from another island first thing Saturday morning to re-do my floors.... back breaking work that he and my contractor spent the entire weekend doing.... meanwhile I had his 2 kids... and 3 nieces and nephews in addition! Managed to take 5 kids ranging in age from 4-13 to a big fair and didn't lose any :)

We all had a great time... I still giggle when I recall how the 4 & 5 year old girls literally SCREAMED and hauled their little butts across the fairgrounds when they spotted Dora off in the distance. I love that they still don't know it's not 'real'.

That night I ended up with all five of them sleeping over. Why was I so exhausted and them not?!?!? Ended up having to split up the little girls... melt downs all around.

Yesterday we had a bbq (christened my new lovely, huge bbq in grand style) over at the dual construction sites. Also invited a good friend and her family as her kids are the same age bracket as the crew I already had and all get a long. They had a blast riding bikes and scooters, swimming, playing tennis.... it was good times.

Most fun is this Friday, I'm moving in!!!!!!

A new blogging friend

2011-03-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

Hi friends

Just wanted to introduce you to a relatively new bandster and blogger.

Joy left a LOVELY comment on my last post so of course I rushed right over to check her blog out and follow it. Looks like she's deep in bandster hell and could use more support from those of us who've lived to tell.

http://roadtodescent.blogspot.com/

1/4 cup ain't no food!

2011-03-03T11:21:00.000-05:00

Hi all

It's been a while. A shamefully, scandalous long while.

But don't despair, my absence does not mean I've fallen off the wagon. Not in the least. To catch up, I'm going to revert to bullet points:

As of this morning I'm officially 168.2lbs
That means I've lost 94.2lbs since mid-June.... Holy Crap!
I'm 5.8lbs from 100 pounds gone... Holy Crap!
I'm 8.2lbs from my initial goal and 18.2lbs from my new goal.... Holy Crap!
I've had a number of fills and unfills to get to this point.... Am now sitting comfortably (most days) at 6cc in my 10cc band.
Was up to 6.2cc for about 2 weeks and that was too tight. EVERYTHING hurt going down.
I've finally come to terms with what 1/4 cup of food is and this has helped. It ain't no food, but it fills me up.
I'm still trying to get the right nutritional balance going.... this is hard folks!
Can't eat in the mornings (too tight) and so usually only get in 2 baby-sized meals a day...
Sooooooo..... need to add a protein shake in every day to increase my nutritional content.
Adding a protein shake will allow me to use my other two meals on foods other than protein.
I'm wearing size 8 pants now and some of them are getting too baggy.... This is mind boggling!
The other day I borrowed a HOT slinky black Calvin Klein dress from a colleague who used to (and still could) model.... It BLEW my mind to think that I'm now in a position to borrow her clothes...
I've been busy.... have started moving some things into my new house and will officially make the move on March 11 or 12. So exciting!
The weather has started to turn down here and I've realised I don't have a single bathing suit that fits.... and as much as I'd love to say I could, even at 168lbs and size 8, this is NOT a bikini bod!!!! Tankini shopping, here I come. Maybe by next summer I'll have toned to a point where a bikini will look great.
I've missed you guys and am going to spend some serious time catching up as best I can!
Although there are times I HATE my band (only because I want to be able to eat more than 1/4 cup of food), I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO... happy I got Betsy :)

And we're walking... We're walking

2011-01-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

That insurance ad makes me laugh for some stupid reason....

But what I mean is *I* am walking.

On Saturday at 6am I'm walking the 5k Bahamas Susan j nomen walk for the cure. It's taking place on paradise island and is an official part of marathon Bahamas weekend. The marathon and half marathon take place in Nassau on sunday.

5k is a bit longer than my usual almost daily power walks so I'm thinking the hardest part will be getting out of bed at 5am!!!

I'm excited and proud. 6 month ago I couldnt have imagined walking 5k. I'm hoping next year I'll be able to run it. Its one of my goals to run a 5k.

I picked up my race package today. Got my t-shirt, water bottle, scarf (was sad to open it and realize it wasn't a bandana!) and my official race number to wear.

Maybe next year all you runners will come down to paradise and join in!!!

slight gain and recommitting to the basics

2011-01-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

official weigh in today and i was at 184.6 so up .6.... of course i haven't had a poo in a couple days so that could be easily remedied with a night time cuppa smooth move tea.... however, i'm obviously not going down at the rate i want to be going.

Accountability time.

I have had a small cup of ice cream - about 1/2 - 3/4 cup on Sunday and 2 chocolate bars this week. I've also had a few small packs of cheetos.

Now I'm quite sure these indiscretions are not causing major weight gain, but they're certainly not the best choices and if i want to ever see 170-something on the scales I need to buckle down.

To all the super good bandsters out there... here's my disclaimer.... I DO NOT INTEND TO GIVE UP TREATS OR START FEELING GUILTY WHEN I DO INDULGE.... in my mind that kind of behaviour is akin to dieting and I HAVE GIVEN UP DIETS FOREVER.

That said, I intend to make good choices this week and monitor my consumption so that i can get a real indication of whether I NEED a fill or just WANT one so that BETSY ends up doing all the heavy lifting.

So starting today I'm going to keep track of what I'm eating, my satisfaction level afterwards and when I feel hungry again. I'm going to eat primarily protein and give the treats a rest until I gauge my true restriction level.

This morning I had a grande caramel macchiato with two packs of raw sugar.
For lunch I have leftover chicken, rice and veggies that I didn't eat last night because my tummy wasn't feeling up to it and I wasn't really hungry.

Shorter Still and getting further away from goal

2011-01-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

So yesterday afternoon I had a fitness evaluation. Same routine they did back in late June. Let's just say i'm a helluva lot more fit than I was back then. And smaller. And shorter.

Yup. Appears I've shrunk again. The wellness centre has a new scale and height measuring thingy and when i started this whole process, i thought i was 5'6" - thought that my entire adult life. they said nope, you're 5' 5 1/2". Then the doc who did my physical tried to tell me i was 5' 5 flat. I wasn't buying it. So yesterday, they told me i am in fact 5' 4 1/2"!!! What the hell?!?!?!

Sooooo... if this is indeed the case, that means I need to reassess my goal weight. 160 was the highest I could be at 5 5 1/2.... My nutritionist said in that case we'd knock 10lbs off and make it 150. So now I have 34 instead of 24lbs to lose. Aye Aye Aye.

So I'll keep on keepin on. Should get the report with all my numbers and comparisons tomorrow when i go back to the wellness centre.... will post for those who find that kind of thing interesting once i get it.

Ahhhh... sweet restriction

2011-01-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

Dr D gave me back .5cc of the 1cc he took out 2 weeks ago. I think he was a bit skeptical about my true need for one considering I lot 2.6lbs this week, but I assured him that I was doing all the work and not the band so he gave me a bit back.

And it worked. I definitely am not as tight as I was at 6cc, but tighter than I was at 5cc.... and this 5.5 is more comfortable than I was at 6 even before it got swollen and bothered.

So I feel I'm at a good place right now. And now that all the holiday madness is over and I'm no longer faced with tables and tables of appetizers and desserts, I am in good shape.

I brought in what was left in a container of my mom's super duper split pea soup for lunch, but on the way to work I noticed Shepard's Pie on the menu board for a local restaurant. I LOOOOOVVVVE and have been seriously crazing shepard's pie for ages so even though I brought lunch I decided to go get some to eat for dinner and over the weekend.

I only ate a wee bit of soup at about 10:30 so at 3 was cold and hungry so opened up the shepard's pie..... i am sooooooo disappointed. it's not shepard's pie at all. it's a huge chunk of spicy meatloaf and mashed potato with some cheese on it. blech.

Cover Girl - pics included and weigh in update

2011-01-06T08:39:00.001-05:00

Well not quite, but I'm one of the patients being featured in a local lapband commercial campaign!!

Yesterday we did the first part of the shoot and i think it went well. Helps that I have a background in television news and so am used to and comfortable being on camera. We have a couple more shots to get today and again on Tuesday and then the editor gets to do his magic.

Here's what he had to work with!

I got to go have my makeup professionally done for the shoot - there's no way I could apply makeup that would look right under the glare of television lights. This afternoon I have to get it done again before heading to my surgeon's office.

I already had an appt for a top up (re-fill) so they'll get the shots of me with him at the same time.

Not sure if I need to go back up to 6cc, but definitely need more. I am quite sure that if I allowed myself to, that i could eat way more than 1cup in a single sitting. in fact at some of the various parties and get togethers i've been to over the past 2 weeks i am quite sure that i have scarfed down more than a cup's worth of appetizers at a time.

I'm also feeling hungry a lot more and certainly sooner after i've eaten than i should.

So I know a fill is in order.... just not sure how much to go for. I guess we'll go up to 6cc and i will try drinking and see how that feels. 6cc worked fine for me for quite a while and it was only after a few pb episodes that it must have gotten irritated and tightened up that I had problems and had to have 1cc removed.

Will update on the fill situation later.

Oh... and since I've gotten the eating, exerising and weight thing under control already, my New Year's Resolution clearly needs to be blogging more consistently!

*******UPDATE********
went to weigh in this morning so that i could drink lots before my fill this afternoon and not see the water on the scale.... down 2.6lbs to 184. Christmas weight is gone baby!

New Year, New Me

2010-12-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

It's hard to imagine right now that this time last year I wasn't even close to getting my shit together. In fact, my blog timeline tells me that it's ONLY been 6 months, one week and one day since I started the journey. Six months ago that my Dad encouraged me to consider getting a lap band. Heck. Six months ago I only vaguely knew what a lap band was and was barely aware that I'd crossed well over the line of being eligible for weightloss surgery.

I'm about 26lbs from my initial goal. It amuses me that people are shocked to realise that I could possibly have 26 more lbs to go before I'm in a healthy weight range. I am determined to not obsess over a number on a scale and instead, once i get into a healthy range, will focus on how i look and feel. I'm 186.6 today and looking damned good in size 10 pants and medium tops. Not too shabby at just 5 5 1/2 inches tall.

Just over a week ago I had a slight unfill because Betsy had tightened her grip to the point where I couldn't keep liquids down. Next Thursday I'm scheduled for a top up. As much as i hated sometimes the forced chew chew chew and tiny bites, I've missed having that the past few days.

I'm starting 2011 as a MUCH healthier and happier me than I was a year ago and for that, I am so thankful.

Christmas and unfill damage

2010-12-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

so i was up 2.6lbs since last thursday. but i'm still rockin the size 10 pants so no biggie...

i certainly didn't consume 2.6lbs extra worth of food, but being away for the long holiday weekend, every meal was eaten out except christmas dinner and so there's lots of extra sodium n stuff. plus.... TMI warning.... I haven't pooped in DAYS...... usually coffee n benefiber get things flowing, but not this week. i'm sure there's 2.6lbs of poop waiting to be released.

ah well.... i am scheduled for a top up with my surgeon next thursday so will have to wade my way through what's turning out to be non-stop parties this weekend.... argh.... i can do this. i WILL do this. Just a heck of a lot easier when Betsy won't let a damned thing through the pipelines.

Ciao

She did it again

2010-12-29T12:28:00.000-05:00

She does it every single time. I'm talking about Betsy the Band. Everytime I begin to lament that perhaps I don't have enough restriction and need to get a fill (or i this case, a re-fill) she reminds me that she is indeed here and doing her job.
I grabbed a bag of potato chips on my way back to work just now and ate about 1/2 the bag. Until I realised I was stuck. Stuck enough that it wasn't going to go down and so into the bathroom I went and up came the chips. Barbeque if you were wondering. Ugh.
I did have a revelation that squatting at the toilet is strangely easier and more comfortable when wearing boots with heels. lol

Otherwise all's well. I brought in some soup for lunch. wondering if that's going to go down ok now that i've had a pb incident.

Still going to talk with Sam about getting a refill when I weigh in tomorrow morning. By my scales I'm up about a pound or a pound and a half.... not devastating by a long shot and compared to the damage i'd usually do over the holidays, it's pretty damned good. Still.... I'm hungry much sooner than i was before i had to have the unfill and i can definitely eat a lot more than i was able to..... we'll see.

Yes, Viriginia, There IS a Santa Claus

2010-12-24T18:31:00.000-05:00

Because that's the only way I can explain the fact that today I bought, and am wearing size 10 pants! I went into TJ Maxx this afternoon and picked up a few pairs of pants and jeans in both sizes 10 and 8. Once again, I didn't bother trying them on because I'm a size 12... right?!?!?!

When I got home i tried on one pair of the 10s - they fit, but are too snug for prime time. But... two pairs of jeans and a pair of black slacks fit and look great!!!!

Best Christmas present EVER :)

I also picked up a few more size medium tops and even scored one that my mom bought without trying on and when she got home decided she didn't like it. i tried it on and she said since it looked good on me she'd MUCH rather i have it than she have to go back to the store to return it.

On the band band front.... post fill, Betsy is still doing her job. I flew on an early morning flight today so didn't have breakfast. On the plane i opted for the tiny 170-cal pack of cashews... managed to eat about of them and had enough.

We didn't manage to get to eat lunch until about 1 and I ordered this lovely ahi tuna and avocado appetizer. I ate about a third of it plus about 5 pieces of edamame and realised I was satisfied. Burping now seems to be my body's signal to me to put down the fork.

I've been drinking a lot... I think my body's still trying to replenish what I lost earlier in the week when I was too tight. In any event, this feels good.

Merry Christmas eve my friends. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Relief

2010-12-23T08:37:00.001-05:00

***weigh in update - Lost another 2.6lbs this week for a grand total of 77.8 in 6months 1week and 1day since starting the journey. Holy shmokes. and my size 12 pants that i got two weeks ago are quite roomy. a few people told me yesterday that my pants are too big and it's time to get new ones!

***************************

Dr D is a rock star i tell you!

I called Sam and explained that Betsy had tightened her grip and wasn't letting go and she agreed that I couldn't keep going as I was (was worried for a second that she might think i was trying to get loosened up for Christmas). She got in touch with Dr D and I ended up meeting him inbetween cases at the hospital yesterday afternoon..
He took everything out to confirm that I still had 6cc and we put 5cc back in. I sat there for about 5 minutes drinking my water. I filled my big 24-oz tervis tumbler that morning and had only managed about 2 sips before the unfill and after i was loosened up a bit i was able to drink more than half of it right away. ahhhhhhh.... relief!

He gave me his cell phone and told me to call him anytime if there was a problem. Did I say already that he's a rock star?!?!

When I got home I had a half cup of Mom's pea soup and I chewed all the bits of potato beans ham and turkey really well and it all went down without the pains I've been having with eating of late. Relief.... I feel as if there's still some restriction because it was slow going.

Went to a staff party last night and drank lots more water and had about 4 or 5 chips with dip and 2 cookies and was good. I can tell that getting through the holidays there's going to be a lot more work on my part than on Betsy's but I'm up for the challenge.

Dr D says he wants to see me in about a month unless there are any problems. Since I HAVE to weigh in at his office every week we'll be monitoring my weight loss with 5cc and i'll closely monitor my consumption ability and hunger and see if we need to go up perhaps another 1/2cc to reach a sweet spot that's not to restrictive.

Am going for my official weigh in in about an hour and will update this post when I get back.

I'm headed to Florida in the morning to skip Christmas with my parents who leave this afternoon. Looking forward to a relaxed holiday weekend!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and Happy Saturday to those who don't :)

Scheduling an unfill

2010-12-22T08:23:00.000-05:00

I just slimed and pb'd on my vanilla latte. that settles it.

I've been miserably tight and sore for couple of days now. Anything I ate has hurt going down and not much has gone down before I felt stuck. Yesterday I was having a rough morning and water was a challenge. For some reason I decided I wanted McDonalds Chicken Nuggets for lunch. I've not had fast food of any sort for about 7-8 months so not sure where that came from. Anyway. I ate three of them very, very slowly and had a few french fries and was full beyond belief. On my way home I decided to eat two more (never mind that they were cold). When I got home I realised they weren't moving and I was sliming so into the bathroom and up they came. (I think that experience has put me off of Chicken nuggets for good). Last night I was struggling to get my cranberry juice down and after an entire evening of feeling horribly stuck and non-stop hica-burping, i started sliming and pb'd the cranberry juice.
So all I ate yesterday was three chicken nuggets and a few fries.
I've been getting headaches which I think are a result of dehydration.
This morning I had a sip of cold water and that didn't feel so great, so I headed to Starbucks for a latte.
As I said in my opening sentence, that didn't work out so well.
So at 9am I'm calling to see if Dr D can get me in today or tomorrow to take a wee bit out. I'm a bit nervous about opening things up, but I'm rational and know that this new level of tightness is NOT good for me at all.
I'm flying to Florida Friday morning for Christmas and even though it's a short flight and I didn't experience additional tightness as a result of flying a few weeks ago, I don't want to go over there and risk having major eating and drinking problems (as if it could get worse that pb'ing a freakin latte) while I'm away.

Sorry for all the moaning and groaning. Will leave you with a funny.

I made a personalised video for my 5-yo niece Isabel from Santa. We watched it last night and she loved it.

At the end, Santa says 'remember isabel, I'm counting on you.
Without skipping a beat she says 'and I'm counting on you, Santa.'

I thought we were all going to die of laughter!

Here's the link. If you have little ones, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes to do the video. It's free and it's priceless!

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home

Cool giveaway

2010-12-20T11:34:00.001-05:00

Do you know Eggface?

If you don't already follow her, you're missing out on some great meal ideas.

And.... now you're missing out on a chance to win one of her cool bento boxes.

Cheers!

edited - the link is above if you click on the word win -- but here it is again in case that doesn't work for everyone - http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2010/12/ho-ho-bento-holiday-giveaway.html

Weigh in Day

2010-12-16T10:59:00.001-05:00

Down another half pound this week..... a week when I was away Thursday through Monday! Love it!

Sometimes more is more

2010-12-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

I'm talking about clothing.

It's rather chilly down here this week (no comments from you northerners... it's cold... i swear). Anyway, I'm wearing a turtleneck, the denim blazer i'm wearing in my last post, a pair of fitted but not tight jeans and my new suede boots. I am fully covered from tip to toe and still, i've been getting compliments from men and women all day long. one guy just told me i walk nicely. i chuckled because all i keep thinking is dear god please don't let me fall down in these heels!!!

It's been a really nice day full of nsvs and i wanted to share that even when we get thinner we don't have to dress in a revealing way to look hot :)

Incredible Shrinking Woman and pic

2010-12-13T13:36:00.001-05:00

Holy cow.

I went shopping in Florida this weekend for the first time since starting my weight loss journey.

I bought a couple pairs of size 14 pants to get me through the holiday season and also bought a few pairs of size 12 pants because I found good deals on them. I didn't bother trying them on because I'm wearing 14's.

Well as i was packing last night I decided to try them on just to get an idea of how much longer before they fit. Lo and behold... I am a size frickin' 12! Three different pairs in three different styles, by three different designers in three different types of fabric. All size 12 and all FIT now!!!!

So instead of leaving them at the apartment in Florida until I'm back for Christmas in 2 weeks, I brought them home. In fact, I'm wearing one pair today!!!!

And on the top..... I was shocked to find that in most things I tried on, I'm a medium. wowzers. i'm the incredible shrinking woman.

So I guess when I head over in 2 weeks I'll have to start looking at 10's. To think that not too long ago I was bursting out of my size 20's.

It was SUCH a treat to go into dressing rooms and pick and choose whether I LIKED something and not just buy it because it actually fit and didn't look TOO hideous! I got some cool outfits and the only thing I couldn't find were long boots to fit over my still-monster calves!!!!

Eating wasn't bad over the weekend. Both friends I travelled with are two of my biggest supporters and were good about trying to find restaurants that would work for me. I was fine Thursday, Friday and Saturday and even though I didn't eat a lot.... it seemed it was more than usual and I began wondering if I'd soon need another fill. Well Sunday came and Betsy let me know in no uncertain terms that no fill is needed. We joined some girlfriends who live in S. Florida for a lovely brunch and I managed to eat the two poached eggs and a few little bits of lobster that came with my lobster eggs benedict..... and then we just had dinner. I had a few tortilla chips with amazing artichoke and spinach dip and got stuck like no one's business. It seemed to settle a while later and I managed a few sips of the soup part of my clam chowder and then a few bites of snow crab legs and mashed potatoes.... but nothing much.

Here's a pic of my friends and I at brunch. What I notice is that I look NORMAL!!! I look just like they do even if they are all a few sizes smaller... i don't look like the fat friend in the group!

Ok my lovelies - back to work!

another big week

2010-12-09T11:28:00.000-05:00

Down another 4lbs this week for a total loss so far of 74.8! Wow!

So glad I just sat tight during those weeks where I lost a single pound or nothing at all. Betsy is doing her job and i am doing mine.

It was about Monday night or Tuesday before I could eat properly after that stoooopid run-in with the dough. Now I'm back to normal, but still have tremendous restriction. One of these days I'll learn to take up only the food i can realistically expect to eat.... this morning i filled a container with rice and curried chicken and potatoes and even though it was nothing compared to what i'd have taken in for lunch pre-band.... it was wayyyyyyy too much food for me now.

i'm travelling for the first time since being filled to the brim later this afternoon. it's a short flight over to south florida so hoping the flight doesn't tighten me up any more.

i spent hours last night going through all my clothes and sorting out those that really don't fit any more. i have three pairs of pants that fit me now and none in the next size down so i'll be buying mainly 12's and 10's on this weekend getaway as well as a few things in my current size to get me through the holiday festivities.

it's going to be sooooooooooo weird not heading straight to Lane Bryant and Avenue on this trip!!! In fact, I'm really not sure where to go.... will figure it out quickly I'm sure.

Ciao ladies and have a fab weekend

battle of the band

2010-12-04T23:03:00.000-05:00

betsy is winning. I'm having a terrible band weekend and I have only myself to blame.

it all started Friday when I got some pea soup and dough for lunch. why I decided to try to see if the dough could go down is beside me. we don't have suet dumplings in our soups here.... no.... these are delicious, thick, gummy, can't be chewed for nothing discs of flour and water.
so as you can guess... I got stuck after a few bites.... very stuck. slime and pb stuck.
a half hour later, idiot me decides to try and force it down again. same results.
I was able to eat some curried chicken and rice that mom made for dinner..... verrrrrrrry slowly (I'm so hating eating cold food)
today i took my niece and nephew to the movies (tangled was fun!) and we had Wendy's for lunch. I had some of a cheese and bacon baked potato, and while it didn't get stuck, I could tell that betsy and my tummy are still mad at me for the whole dough episode..... dinner tonight was a super tender pot roast with steamed veggies and booked new potatoes... I got down a few bites and there was some slime action, but no pb and my insides have ben burning And sore (not relax-like burning though) ever since. I think tomorrow will be liquids only....

ugh and ouch

interesting lap band article

2010-12-03T15:42:00.001-05:00

My surgeon and I were talking about this yesterday... I hope the FDA does approve lap band for a lower BMI..... I had the same food and weight-related problems at 230lbs as I did at 262.5lbs when I was eligible based on the 40 BMI.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/business/02obese.html?ex=1306904400&en=ada841dec69fa0c0&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=BU-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M178-ROS-1210-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/fda-panel-lap-band-expansion/story?id=12296562

Seventy Sounds Sweet

2010-12-03T10:17:00.000-05:00

As of last night I'm officially down almost 71lbs. that's in 5 months, 2 weeks and 4 days. Wow.

I had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon yesterday evening and he's really happy with my weight loss progress. Even though it still feels slow to me, I'm just over 2lbs a week average since surgery and that's right where he wants me.

we agreed that there was no need for a fill. i have good restriction and am only hungry when i should be and satisfied with tiny portions. at least i know that when i feel it's time for a fill, i won't have to jump through any damned hoops to get one!

one thing i did tell him was that for the first time in my life i'm losing weight (even if it is slowly) without having to diet. I mean I am following the bandster rules of protein, small portions, chew chew chew, eat slowly, etc.... but i'm not denying myself anything and am really enjoying my food.
i've lost weight in the past, but it's always been through following diets that were really not sustainable for life... and the minute i eased up, the weight came back on. i know that this tool has broken that ugly cycle.

itty bitty portions... and poop

2010-11-29T09:15:00.001-05:00

This is my plate from Thanksgiving. When I was serving it up, I was chuckling because I knew my eyes (and the serving spoons) were bigger than my belly... but I was determined to take what I wanted and eat what I could. Now I realise why my friends were all laughing at me.... I thought I'd overdone it and there was really nothing on the plate to start with.... I ate a good amount by eating sloooooowly and chewing well.... but had to share the pic because it makes me laugh out loud!!!

on a completely different topic.... if you've read my blog from the start you know about my bowel issues. well they've gotten far worse post surgery and fill since now i really am eating mostly protein and not getting a lot of fibre in. this weekend i decided it was time for some more smooth move tea.... that stuff really does the job, but i need to find a solution that will work. i can (and certainly should) add more fruits and veggies in by juicing in the mornings... but i know that in juicing i'm stripping out much of the fibre that would help with this particular problem. anyone else suffer in this way? anyone have any ideas????

the best NSVs EVER!!!!

2010-11-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

At thanksgiving dinner with a group of friends last night one of the friends told me that tomorrow she has her first appt with a nutritionist and wellness centre (different one in our programme than the one i was assigned to). She said she's been so inspired by my progress that she just has to get on board. I'm not sure if she's a candidate for surgery, but the fact that she's taking control by making the necessary appointments is so fantastic. she said when she called to make the appt, the nutritionist asked if she didn't want to wait until january after the holiday season.... she said no 'jessica advised me to get in now so that i can get through the holidays in a sensible way and not end up with another 10-15lbs to lose in the new year!'

and just got a message from another friend who was there last night. she was banded 3 years ago and was unfilled when she got pregnant. well she's now cleared for a fill and after talking with me about it, she too has decided to go get one BEFORE christmas!

these nsv's outweigh all the compliments and being called 'skinny' that I got last night by far. i'm so happy that i was open about what i'm doing because in addition to it not being a burden of a secret for me, it's inspiring others to make similar changes in their lives!

thanksgiving dinner was great. we had wayyyyyyyy too much food. always happens when you do potluck. i had a little bit of only the things i really wanted to try or things i can't get any time.... i didn't come close to clearing my plate and took ages to eat.

strange thing happened though. I did the same with dessert. we had sooooooo many delicious looking homemade options and i took a tiny bit of a few of them to try. for some reason they all tasted really tinny and fake.... i didn't enjoy them so i stopped and tossed the plate. would never have done that in my past life!

I feel like last night i ate far more than i've been able to since getting my fill and there wasn't a single sensation of being stuck. at all. i realise that this could be because i've learned the hard way that i need to really chew, chew chew and take it sloooooooooooooooowwwwww. so not sure if i'm just learning how to eat and so able to get more in, or if i need a fill. i definitely need to start measuring all my food out so i can get a sense of how much is going in.

mornings are still rough though... it's 9:30 and i've eaten 1/4 banana and can't seem to get any more in!

ahhhhhh life with a band!

turkey for the rest of my life!

2010-11-24T07:22:00.000-05:00

had my first thanksgiving dinner last night. please note that we do not officially celebrate Thanksgiving here in The Bahamas but have a national tendency to adopt whatever traditions look good to us :)

it was at my service club's monthly dinner meeting. it's always buffet style, but i went prepared with tupperware containers anyway. i filled up my plate with mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, turkey and LOTS O gravy. ate a little bit of everything and was satisfied. i'd bought two dinner tickets because i'd invited a friend who never showed, so went back and got more turkey to supplement my starch and veggie leftovers and drowned that in LOTS O gravy and now have turkey to last the week.

Perhaps I should mention that a group of friends and I are doing Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night too and so it doesn't look like i'll be having a meal that doesn't include turkey for a while.

an old flame came online yesterday to tell me that i look awesome. he stopped by our bake stall over the weekend... said he almost didn't recognise me and that he had to tell his wife who i was! love those kinds of compliments.

another close friend told me that a pick of me from earlier this year popped up on the side of her facebook page the other day and she almost died. as she pointed out, when you see someone all the time, you don't realise how big they are. it's only now that i'm a size 14 that she realises how big i was when i was pushing out of a 20!

So so so so glad I got my life on track!!!!!

it's official

2010-11-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

i am a size 14 :)

after being told all weekend that my pants were simply too baggy, i braced myself and pulled on a pair of 100% cotton khakis that had no stretch and they fit nicely. even, dare i say, a wee bit loose! so today I pulled another pair of size 14's out of the back of the closet and lo and behold... they FIT! yeeeeeee ha. now only problem is i only have three pairs of 14s....

pretty pictures

2010-11-22T11:56:00.000-05:00

a friend just emailed out pics taken at his parents' house last night. and for the first time in a very long time, i didn't cringe when i saw pics of me. in fact, i like them so much i'll share them.

Even from the back.... starting to look like a normal size chick!

The Jollification was this weekend. I baked 5 pumpkin rolls and about 150+ cupcakes for our bake stall. All went. It was a long weekend. I feel broken up after baking for days, spending both saturday and sunday working the booth for most of the day and then being out friday, saturday and sunday nights!

this is one of those weekends when you bump into people you haven't seen in ages and so there were lots of people who haven't seen me since before i started losing the weight. one girl i saw said hi and then came right back to tell me she'd only said hi to be polite, but it wasn't till a few minutes later that she realised who i was! got lots of compliments and was told many times that the jeans i was wearing were too big. today i'm officially wearing a pair of size 14 pants :)

hope you all had a nice weekend and i know most of you have thanksgiving celebrations to prep for. hoping your bands get you through with no major problems!

194

2010-11-18T12:03:00.000-05:00

yes. 194. on the heavier scale! and on my home one too. That's 4lbs down since last week Friday. Things are moving. I did hop on the other crazy scale at the doc's office and it showed me at 189.4...... but i'm sticking with my 194.

all of a sudden i look years younger. or so people are telling me now all of a sudden. since i'm pushing 40 i'm all for that.

i'm rapidly growing out of clothes. officially have more pants in my 'to give away' pile than in my closet right now. this is a great problem to have, but i don't go to florida for another 3 weeks so hopefully i have enough to get me through then!

I'm really enjoying being back in the gym. shaundra kicks my butt and i love it!

ok. back to work. gonna be a few days before i get back on here for any length of time.... it's the big bake stall weekend and i've got tons more baking to do tonight and decorating cupcakes tomorrow night then working the stall on the weekend. fun times

Betsy knows best

2010-11-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

She KNEW i had no business eating a whole slice of pumpkin roll in order to determine if it tasted good enough to sell at a charity bakesale. so what did she do? rejected it and back up came most of it. along with lots n lots of slime. that was a good hour ago and i still feel as if another trip to the bathroom could be in order. one of these days i'll learn. maybe.

good thing is, yes, it tasted great so tomorrow i'm going to whip up as many as i can be bothered to do. they'll freeze well for next weekend's bake stall. thursday night i'll be up to my ears making rainbow cupcakes. friday night/saturday morning frosting them. both saturday and sunday i'll be there all day from about 8am working the stall. hoping we raise lots of money to fund our group's various charitable endeavours.

this morning i went to our second lapband support group meeting and once again enjoyed it. it's such a diverse group, but because we share something so fundamental to our lives, we enjoy getting to know each other and sharing stories - good and bad.

spending this evening trying to pick out paint colours for the new house. who knew there were so many colours in the world. yikes.... i'm feeling overwhelmed and wishing i could afford an interior designer to do this part!

Ciao for now

Riddle me this

2010-11-12T19:12:00.000-05:00

my weight has gone up but I didn't have a gain....

confused?

well if you recall at last week's official weigh in the scale I'd been using was freaking out so we kind of had to guesstimate. well this morning it was acting up again so I decided to give up on that scale and use the one that weighs higher, but seems to be more reliable.

so last week I was 194. this week, 198. but I was 199-point-something on that scale last week so I know I am down another pound.

it was nice to see that I was under 200 on All three scales in the office this morning.

even though the weight loss has been about a pound a week fro 2 weeks, all of a sudden people are noticing. this was a week of compliments! and ya know what, if it's going to be 1 lb a week, I'll take it gladly!

had my first training session since surgery this evening afterwork. it felt really good and I hadn't lost all my mojo as I'd feared! going mondayand wedneday next week too.

oh... and I got the courage to try on those 14's in the closet. they fit. they can be buttoned and zipped! I figure about 5 - 10 more lbs before I can say they officially fit!

Life and stuff

2010-11-09T21:11:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since i posted, but i've been so busy.

spent all my free time last week packing up all my worldly belongings for Saturday's moving day. best idea i think i've ever had was having my dad hire four of his warehouse guys to come and do the heavy lifting. they got the job done!

by sunday we're moved the rest of it to my parents' house where i am once again living until the new house is ready at the end of the year. i have all the stuff i need in my old bedroom in a tiny closet with a tiny dresser so now need to really sort through all my clothes again to see what no longer fits and clear it out.

on that note... discovered a pair of size 16 avenue black jeans in my closet today.... wore them to work, but really.... they're ready for the too big pile! though i just don't feel like i'm ready for 14's.... ah well.

my mom was away this weekend and i ended up eating out with dad quite a bit... he's thoroughly amused and fascinated by my new eating habits. saturday lunch time we went to the yacht club for lunch and both ended up having the stewed conch from the buffet. i had a small spoon of grits, a bit of hte conch and a piece of johnny cake. ended up eating maybe a third of what was in the bowl and two bites of the bread.... and was full. so i asked the waiter for a to-go container. he was so concerned that i really hadn't taken much from the buffet that he went and filled the container about halfway before brining it to me to put my leftovers in. let's just say i'm still eating stewed conch for breakfast.

i am eating tiny portions, not snacking and making really good choices. i'm getting in walking at least every other day. still the weight isn't falling off of me. i am surprised that it's so slow, but not bothered. i know i'm going to get there and stay there. i know i somehow need to up my water in take again. still not getting in enough and it doesn't help that it's cooled down a bit and is freezing in my office so i'm not as thirsty.

left work a half hour earlier today so i could make it home before dark and get a walk in. ended up taking my parents' 85lb boxer for a half hour walk. no. scratch that. he took me. it was great because i was forced to walk a lot faster than i would on my own. tomorrow night is maddy's turn. she's smaller, but not quite as good on a leash so should be interesting!

ok. i'm done rambling.

Jerk Chicken...

2010-11-04T18:39:00.001-04:00

...is not as nice when it's coming back up. just thought I'd share that with you.

Weekly weigh in

2010-11-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

And down another pound. At least we think I am.

The surgeon's office has a couple of scales. The two i typically hop on are about 5lbs off from one another. I use the weight on the lowest recording one. The highest showed me down about a pound (perhaps and a few ounces) from what I was on that one last week. But the other scale was acting all stoopid and giving different numbers (pounds apart) each time. So we figured that based on the higher recording scale and my home scale that i'm down about a pound.

funny how once upon a time i'd have been bothered by not having an exact record of my loss. this time i'm not sweating it. i do hop on my home scale daily, but that's just so i can be as on top of things as i can be. i know that if i suddenly see things going up that i need to take check and get back on track. i don't beat myself up over higher numbers and don't get out of control crazed and excited over lower ones.

it's nice not to be as crazy about weight and food and all these such matters. i'm just doing what i should be doing and letting the band and my efforts take their course.

am up to my eyeballs in packing tape and boxes this week. we're moving all my furniture and boxes into my parents' warehouse on saturday morning so i have got to get it done by then. so starting saturday night i'll be camping out at my parents' house until my new house is complete at the end of the year.

Next week... once all this madness is done, i intend to get back into the gym at my nutritionists' wellness centre. I miss the butt kicking and know that ramping up my exercise will get the weight loss going at a nice clip again

ewwwwwww..... YUCK

2010-11-01T09:13:00.000-04:00

So I've now had two stuck episodes. Not fun.

First was with some fish late last week. Had three small bites. thought i'd chewed well. stuck. i get the stuck feeling right in my throat... not in the middle of my chest as is the case with others. well it didn't come back on its own, but the minute i put some effort in, up came the well chewed fish... and lots of that icky slime i've only before heard about.
the second time was saturday morning while having breakfast in our little hotel restaurant with my dbf. we were in Harbour Island which is renowned for its bread. So stupid me has a bit. it was lightly toasted so i thought i'd be safe. not so. stuck. my dbf said i turned bright pink as i excused myself upstairs to the room and up it came.
not pretty.

other than that, betsy and i have been doing ok... me learning how she works and all.
we had a lovely weekend away and i must say, that no matter how much you read up on this whole banding thing, no one can truly prepare you for just how little you're going to be able to eat. it's amazing.
that said, i truly enjoyed every bit that i did eat. including the hazlenut and chocolate truffle for dessert saturday night. it's so nice to really take the guilt out of the occasional indulgence.
had a lot more juices than i usually have while i was away this weekend so it's back to water water water... don't need those empty calories all the time!

Lost and Gained... and Onederland

2010-10-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

What I've lost:

That's since June 15 when i started this journey.

Since being banded September 22 I've lost 20.2lbs

Since my first 6cc Big Girl Fill last Thursday evening I've lost 7.6lbs

That put me firmly in Onederland ladies!!!!!

Unbelieveable. that means i've had a loss rate of @3.4lbs a week.

What I've gained:

Confidence
A big smile
Bigger eyes
a smaller wardrobe
energy
a whole new relationship with food
some incredible legs
the ability to cross those legs
collarbones
emerging hip bones
the realisation that i don't have to cram myself against the wall when passing someone in a hallway or a stairwell so that they can fit
had to move my steering wheel down to a more ergonomically comfortable height because i don't need lots of room for my thighs
extra room in theatre and airplane seats
i can dash up and down the stairs without feeling like

a) i'll pass out
b) i'll fall down
c) i'll have to stop because my knee hurts

These are just a few of the many benefits i've seen since starting this journey.

Just wanted to share :)

She sure showed me!

2010-10-27T18:00:00.000-04:00

I'm talking about Betsy the Band. She showed me who's boss. Who's in charge. Who's driving this train.

Last night i went to a dinner meeting where they had vegetarian chili. it was very watered down and not a heck of a lot of beans in it. i only ate about 1/4 of a small cup of it and even though i wasn't particularly hungry, when i came home i nibbled on and finished a clif bar because i knew i needed more protein and calories.

since it went down rather smoothly, i thought maybe Betsy and my stomach had finally gotten acquainted and loosened their choke hold on me.

Not so.

this morning i ate a mini babybel light on the way to work. no problem. then i started in on my chobani greek yogurt. once again, took me about an hour to finish. sigh.

about an hour (11:45ish) later i drove to the foodstore to buy some fish and sweet potatoes from the deli for my lunch. i got back and thought hmmmm.... i really should try to eat some of this before my next slew of meetings. note.... i was not in the least bit hungry.

i managed about 3 small bites and that was it. Betsy said HELL to the NO missy!!!!!

So I closed up the container and put it aside.

I had a coffee from starbucks since I needed to go there for a job. I'm all of a sudden becoming a coffee drinker since the band. weird.

It's now 6pm and I'm home and just now feeling like tackling the fish and sweet potato again because I actually AM hungry. Have to get some in before I go walking in about 20 minutes.

This Betsy chick has gotten awfully bossy since her fill.

I officially weigh in at the surgeon's office tomorrow morning (part of his agreeing to do the surgery is that you agree to weigh in weekly).

ladies... I can SMELL onederland. And boy does it smell GOOD

Marathon Bahamas

2010-10-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

don't get excited folks.... i don't plan on running this in January.

Just thought since there were so many avid runners amongst us that i'd post a link to the second annual Marathon Bahamas. It's a Susan G Komen race as well as a Boston marathon qualifier. Pass it on to friends who are also marathon runners or wannabes. there's a 6-leg relay option as well as a half marathon.

http://www.marathonbahamas.com/

T-I-G-H-T!

2010-10-25T12:16:00.000-04:00

just when i thought either Betsy was loosening her grip on my innards.... or i was starting to get used to this sensation..... I had lunch.

Well.... let me re-phrase.... I tried to start lunch.

Breakfast was a mini Baby-bel light round and half a leftover clif bar. i nibbled at both and they generally went down ok.

An hour afterwards i started sipping my water in earnest. Managed to get through most of a 20fl oz bottle before deciding it was time to try lunch. Note. I wasn't in the least bit hungry, but i have to find a way to get my nutrition in.

so i grabbed my orange coloured baby spoon (i got a multi pack) and started in on my non fat chobani peach greek yogurt. managed about 3 little spoonfuls and it really feels like i'm force feeding it down.

i'm beginning to wonder if Dr D put the band around the bottom of my throat instead of the top of my stomach (ha ha) because since the fill it's felt like i have a huge lump in my throat.

So i stopped the force feeding and will try some more in a minute. i've got to get these 14 grams of protein in!

Thanks Christine who shared that when you get close to the sweet spot.... which i could be with an initial 6cc fill.... that your stomach is a bit swollen and you just have to ride with it to for a while see if you truly have restriction.

And they shall call her.... Betsy

2010-10-24T20:35:00.000-04:00

betsy the band, that is.

For years now i've called the gps in rental cars Betsy. No idea where the name came from, but it fits. I decided to also dub my band Betsy because she's the one who will keep me on track when I start to get lost.

Ok... so a re-cap of the first 3 days post BIG GIRL FILL.

Thursday night
I had the fill @ about 6pm and when some Ensure went down (albeit very slowly) I was cleared to go. All I had that night was sips of water, but I wasn't hungry so no problem

Friday
woke up with a gurgling tummy but wasn't hungry. Decided that even though our office protocol is full foods the day after a fill, I was too skeered to chance it so heated up a 1/4 cup of squash soup. I ate/drank it very slowly and although it was slloooooooow going down, there was no sense of it coming back up.
Lunch - just kept on sipping water and didn't bother with the greek yogurt i'd brought in.
Dinner - mom gave me some delish homemade lentil soup. Figured if I had troubles I could toss it in the blender, but it went down. Once again, I ate slowly and chewed it all to nothing.

Saturday
had an early morning facial so skipped breakfast other than a soft cheese triangle. For lunch I had a vanilla latte from Starbucks. Am not a coffee drinker but i thought warm beverage would loosen me up a bit. Can't remember what I had for lunch but dinner was a mini babybel light cheese round (50 calories, 3g fat and 6g protein) and a few verrrrrry well chewed small bites of a delish hamburger, sausage and jalapeno cheese dip i made for my dbf. the dip took a long time to move on through.
My dbf was fascinated with how little my nibbles of the cheese were and how long it lasted me.

Sunday
this morning I made a 2 egg scramble and 3 slices of turkey bacon. Managed to chew chew chew the bacon and had about 1/3 of the eggs.
Lunch was 1/4 cup very mayo-ey chicken salad and a babyel cheese round.
Dinner... even though really wasn't hungry (which is CRAZY) I had 1/4 cup of the lentil soup and another cheese round. Make that two cheese rounds. Needed to up the protein so decided to tempt fate with another and it went down.

I know i'm not yet getting in enough, but I feel fine and have lots of energy so gonna ride this train for now.

It's weird how slowly things go down, but I'm sure it'll loosen up a bit and also I'll get used to it. Today was a much better day than yesterday and Friday so already I'm seeing improvement.

I tried to take the liquid multivitamin my nutritionist got for me and almost threw up. Man that stuff is N-A-S-T-Y! I immediately blackberry messaged my dad who's in Florida for the weekend and asked him to go to CVS and get me some chewable and some gummy vitamins. I know they're no way near as good for me as the liquid nastiness, but I figure they'll be better for me than the nothing i'd be getting if that's my only option.

went for a nice long power walk this evening. need to get back to making it a regular event. going again tomorrow as well, but tuesday and thursday evenings i can't so maybe i'll force myself to get up and get it out of the way in the morning.

other than that not much going on. spent much of the weekend packing boxes. even though i see the packed up and labelled boxes piling up, it still doesn't feel like i'm accomplishing much more than making a huge mess!! I hate this.... and to think at some point in the next few months I'll be unpacking it all in the new house. exciting, but lotsa work!

Since the fill it looks like I'm down about 3lbs which is great considering I'd not really been losing in the past 2 weeks.

Ok my lovelies.... off to shower and hop in bed with my kindle

fast food?!?

2010-10-22T17:58:00.000-04:00

Stumbled upon this interesting article on why McDonalds burgers and fries never decompose or get moldy. Glad I gave this crap up a long time ago. I suggest anyone hungering for a big mac give this article a read and let me know if you really still want one!