Hi

Not on schedule.  Nope.  Not at all.

Ate crappy yesterday.

Really not feeling well today.  Not at all.  Sigh.

So, lap band lesson (what number am I on, like #10?), don't fall off the track too far....you'll get sick!  Duh.

So today I'm nursing myself back to health.  Still am not quite on my plan, but not eating the crap I ate yesterday.

Guess I was feeling sorry for myself.....bad pattern.  Lesson #11.......sigh.

Please don't feel the need to pity me and leave a comment......I'll be ok!!  I just need to get it together!!

Don't know if I really should blog or not today.....

.....if you need an uplifting, sweet, encouraging post, then I suggest clicking off of my post today, because it will not be ANY of those things.

I've decided that having a lap band is like being married.  Yep, I'm married to my lap band.  And I was so in the honeymoon stage there for a while.  Right now, we are definitely in the first year of marriage.  Ya know, where you are finally living together and are like, are you really like this for real???  Figuring each other out, likes and dislikes, etc. 

A couple of weeks ago when I was supposed to have a group therapy session at the clinic (remember, it ended up being a one-on-one), my psychologist asked me a question, would I do it again?  With no hesitation, I answered her, YES!  This weekend if she would have asked me, I would have thought a little longer.  My answer would still be yes.  But, man, we are DEFINITELY out of that honeymoon stage and are arguing right now.

I had a VERY unhappy weekend.  Without going into too much of a vent or complaining too much, I had a couple of stuck episodes, yes you read right a couple of them and a PB episode that followed my poor baby girl's birthday party.  Which I didn't get to enjoy as much as I would have liked because I felt like crap.

My hubby had to pull over on the side of the road so I could puke.  Fun.

I will say I did feel much better after, but still, who wants to puke?  Nobody does.

I'm losing weight like no other.  I think I've lost like 5 lbs. in the last week.  I'm down a total of 70 lbs. now.

And well, I know it's not my band's fault.  It's mine.  But, I can still be an irrational woman for a second, feel sorry for myself a second and sad for a second.  We all have those pity party moments and right now, I'm in one.

I told my husband yesterday, for the first time in a LONG time, I miss eating (food addict).  I couldn't even see my poor kid get her favorite present this season from her Nana and Papa (it was in their car because it was a large gift and we were at a restaurant) because I was too busy crying in the car because I was hurting and feeling sorry for myself. 

Will I get over it?  Absolutely!  Is it worth it?  Absolutely!  It's just a brief moment in time.  The difference between now and every other time I've tried to lose weight is that I have this little thing in me that WON'T let me give up!

Thank goodness..........

My Blog Buddies are So Smart :)

Yes, they are :)

Have you met adorkbly delish or Lapping the Band?

Well, both left comments for me on my last post about how maybe it's not that I maybe need an unfill, but that I ate too much and what I ate.

Guess what?  My NP said the EXACT same thing!!  So, after talking with her (and almost crying in the clinic), she had me go have lunch and call her an hour later.  If I was still feeling crappy, I was supposed to call her.  This weekend I'm supposed to eat normally, if I start feeling like crap, go to full liquids and call her on Monday.

But, I think she's right.  My portion sizes need to go WAY down.  Duh.  And I have not had any issues with any stuck foods at all (except potatoes...which were fine the other day, but the way....before the fill) except now that may not be the case anymore. 

I need to be eating only like a 1/4 cup and kielbasa, well, I guess it's pretty fiberous, so yeah, might be a stuck food.

I am concerned still about not getting enough calories or protein.  She said right now I just want you to focus on eating a well balanced meals and we will worry about the numbers later.  I think she knows I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing and I need to take it only one step at a time.  Get the portion thing down first, THEN worry about the numbers later.

I lost more weight.  I'm down 68.2. 

So, please be patient with me while I'm figuring this out.  I'm still new at this too :)

Feels like I'm starting all over again...........

Too good to be true....

Well, I need an unfill. Yep, there's too much in my band. I was sooooooo miserable at dinner tonight it wasn't even funny.

I got through lunch just fine. It took me a little longer to eat, but it's supposed to and I thought ok, this is good. I had 2 oz. of shrimp and 2 oz. of watermelon and a light string cheese. So all in all almost 5 oz. worth of food.

At dinner my family had hot dogs, I had a Hillshire Farm Turkey Polska Kielbasa. It has like 100 calories, 4.5g of fat and 10g of protein, pretty good. Tastes pretty good too. About halfway through I should have stopped eating. I should have known better, but did I listen to my band? Nope! Even took a few bites of the squash I had on the side.

Bad idea.  Because I spent the next hour to hour and a half miserable. Saying things like stupid band. Like its my band's fault. Sigh.

I also have had, what I'm guessing is one of my mini-migraines (haven't had one in a while), going on my 3rd day now.

Ok I'm done complaining. Sorry to vent. Carry on.

TTT

Here we go :)

1.  I think I'm going to end up having a love/hate relationship with the weeks I have fills on. On the love side, I've lost 2 lbs. since Monday. On the hate side, I've forgotten what REAL restriction felt like and let's just say dinner and my snack last night were no fun AND a good reminder that my band does exist.

2.  My girl's b-day was yesterday but we did NOTHING. Poor kid. Kinda stinks when your b-day is smack dab in the middle of the week. But, alas, this weekend shall be fun!!!!!!!

3.  Our church does a pinewood derby for all the kids kindergarten thru fifth grade. How fun is that??!? It's super techy too!! Lots of camera angles and tvs set up for the audience aka the parents to watch. Well, we didn't know this last year because it was our first year (we had been going to our previous church my ENTIRE life, so big change). Poor L. His little car sometimes didn't make it down the track. So, this year his dad is really helping him out. Last night started the build nights!!  I will keep you updated ;)

4.  Sigh. L's previous school forgot a portion on his IEP (individualized education plan) to include his AI (autism impairment) program - um, kinda a big deal and the whole reason he's going to that particular school. So, we had to get up early (well, early for the summer) for me to go and sign it. That way the school will get pay for services given to him.

5.  L goes next week to his meet and greet. There we have 2 classrooms and 2 teachers to meet (and greet :).  His gen ed teacher and his ASD (autism spectrum disorder) teacher. This school is pretty cool, it's like every other elementary, but they have a special ASD program right in the building. That way he can be in a general education first grade class with neurotypical kids (in a regular class with kids that don't particularly have special needs) and when he needs special attention or breaks he has a ASD sensitive room to go to with people who are specifically trained to help him!!!

6.  M registered for 7th grade this week. Her locker is in the exact same spot in a different hall. The second from the end. Which is good for my forgetful girl. I'm thankful to God for those little things. Now she won't get lost in a sea of lockers :). First term she all the regular classes, math, social studies, science, language arts, phys ed, home room but she also has life skills. Things like babysitting and cooking. It'll be good for her. Next term instead of life skills she'll have speech and drama :)

7.  My poor mom!! She had hand/wrist surgery last week she's still recovering from, now she's trying to pass her first kidney stone. I hear they're pretty painful. I saw a brief glimpse of her pain on Tuesday and I so know she was feeling pretty bad. I hope she gets through this quick.

8.  Figured out that it's just my strawberry protein shakes clumping up on me and a solution. Put it together, shake it up, put in fridge for a bit, shake again and then drink.

9.  I'm wearing a shirt today that was one of my smaller shirts when I started losing weight. I noticed today it's started to get big on me too.

10. I am not looking forward to putting together school supplies. I have M's list, but L's list I'm sure I won't be getting until next week. Also, we still have no bus info. Come on people, school will be here before you know it!!!

A Birthday Letter to My Girl

Dear M,

Twelve years ago today the Lord brought you into our lives.  Well, technically twelve years, forty weeks and four days earlier, but I digress.  We were so excited to find out two days before Christmas the previous year, that we were having a baby.  It made it even more special that we found out on Granny's birthday and she was the first person we told!  Even though she passed away just a week later, I know that it was special for your dad to be able to tell his Granny that he was going to be a Dad.

Well, time went by and you were due on August 18th, which was a Friday.  Your Dad was really hoping you weren't coming then because he had a softball tournament the next day.....sigh.  And well, you didn't.  By Monday I went to the doctor and he said, ok well enough's enough, let's have this baby and sent me to the hospital.   But, your Grammy and I are smart cookies and thought there was no way they would let me eat, so we stopped at Wendy's and had lunch before we grabbed our stuff from the house and headed to the hospital.

You took your dear sweet time getting here (who knew that would be an omen on how you would move in life dear girl ;).  They started inducing me at noon on Monday.  By 11 pm or so that night, still not too much was happening, so they broke my water.  In the middle of the night they were getting some concerns about you, so they kept a really good eye on your heart rate all night.

By the next morning things were still moving slow and they were threatening a c-section.  I think they shut off my epidural, but no one ever told me that.  They "said" it wore off, but I've never hear of such a thing, because within a half an hour I went from 4.5 to 9.

By 8:30 we were ready and well, it took a while.  At 10:30 on August 22, 2000 at BEAUTIFUL 8 lb. 14 oz. little red haired girl was born.  Family and friends were hanging out in the hall way.  I held onto your Dad for dear life.  His shirt was not the same all day....TRUTH!!!

That night when everyone was gone from visiting (boy, you had A TON of visitors) Daddy and I were just looking at you in your little crib thingy and saying look at how pretty she is.

Here we are 12 years later and I still think look at how pretty she is, but more than that, look at how pretty she is on the inside.  M, you are probably one of the kindest people in the world I know.  Not one of the kindest kids I know, kindest people I know.  You see someone who needs something and you just jump to help them.  You have a heart for people.  You are confident in yourself that you know what you want and it's ok that it's not the popular thing that what all the other kids are doing.  You hardly ever complain that your brother ends up with a bunch of attention because of his special needs.  You do chores and work around here without complaint.  You come home daily from school, go straight to your room and do your homework, without complaint.

Mom and Daddy are so proud of you M.  More and more everyday we see the young woman you are growing into.  If you continue to pray and read your Bible and allow God to speak to you and tell you His will for your life, you will continue to do great things in Him. 

We love you baby girl.  Booch, you are the best present I ever got.  Even though our personalities are polar opposites, Mama couldn't be more proud of a kid!!  I'm protective of you because I don't ever want to see that golden heart hurt.

We love you.  Happy 12th M!!!

Interesting visit today

I told you my NP ROCKED!!  She suggested last week that if my fill wasn't enough, that she could come in on her day off and do another one today.  So, that's just what we did. 

Except, it was the most interesting fill ever.  She said she's only done a fill like this one other time to one other patient. 

You see my insurance is pretty good.  Covered the ENTIRE surgery.  But, it's wonky where office visits are concerned and that's where my problem is, that money will start adding up, as my pre-op appointments already did.  The fills themselves are covered, but the office visit isn't.  And yeah, those start to add up.  So, since today was last day in the 90-day free global period after my surgery, she came in to do my fill and visit so that I could get it for free.  Isn't she the BEST??!!!

So, she came in with her cute army green Michael Kors t-shirt and her little man in tow (her son) to do my fill.  My kids where easily entertained by bringing handheld games with them (I don't like bringing them to my doctors appointments and for them to sit there and watch me have something done to me).

She found my port much easier today than last week and put the needle in, once she did that she sat me up and had me start drinking.  While I drank water she filled the band.  Once I got to the point where I "gurgled" backed up she backed off, had me take another drink, when it wouldn't go down she took some out and had me take another sip, it went down and I was done.

Homemade fluoroscopy :)  Again I say, isn't she the BEST??!!!

This morning when I got on the scale, I saw a new number.  I'm down another pound.  So a total of 65.  I have 6.5 cc's in my 11 cc band and was warned that I will have restriction again that I haven't felt in awhile!

Here is my new anxiety for today.....if I already have over half my band filled 3 months out and not quite half my weight gone yet (please don't do the math here since I don't really "share" my numbers yet), is it going to be a problem going forward???  I sure hope not.

I will say today is another full liquid day (woo hoo).  Actually, I don't think I mind today because I had some organic creamy broccoli soup from Kroger, which by the way, I wish I would have had before and after my surgery.....no straining involved!  And a little yogurt, so like a 1/2 cup of soup and 1/3 of a Yoplait and I'm pretty much done.  Wonder if I'll be able to get my water in today.....

Well, we go this afternoon to register our 7th grader and tomorrow is the BIG day, a 12 year old in the house.  Her mouth is still REALLY sore from her orthodontic appointment yesterday.  I've been trying to help her stay on top of the pain with Motrin and softer foods. 

Have a good day everyone!! 

Thought I had nothing to say....

Then I thought about it.

I'm getting frustrated. REALLY frustrated. I'm a scale addict, I've already admitted that to you. So, when I don't see slight movements I get frustrated. Now mind you I'm happy there have been no gain, but no loses either.

I "know" the average weight loss for a bandster is 1-2 lbs a week. My weight loss has been the following:

25 lbs in pre-op
39 in 13 weeks since surgery

So, I'm averaging 3 lbs a week weight loss, above the average.

Why am I so freaked out every little stall I see? I'm always thinking I'm going to be the fat girl for the rest of my life and that despite having the surgery and doing all this, it's going to be like everything else and still not work. Ever feel like that? It scares me.

I KNOW I have to pick up my game in the exercise dept. my problem is finding the time right now with our family situation. I know once school starts (and I'm not working again-maybe) I can go as soon as they walk out the door. No excuses.

I think one more thing that I am scared about is my band itself. I did a TON of research before I got this thing so I could understand what was going to happen. I feel like I understand well. I am thinking my understanding of restriction is what has me scared. Am I too tough?? I don't feel like I have enough restriction. So, tomorrow I'm getting my last fill for free. I don't want to be over filled, but I do want this band to do its job. But I need to do my job too. Can someone tell my butt to get to the gym more often??!!

Ten Thing Thursday (TTT)

1.  We've been hanging around the house the last few days watching way too much tv and playing way too much video games.  The first day was by choice the yesterday and today, well because my boy has a random fever for no reason.  Yesterday he would hardly eat.  Today he seems to have gotten his appetite back.

2.  Had my fill on Tuesday and my restriction level so far (been on full liquid and softs since) hasn't seem to change.  Guess today will tell me.

3.  By being on full liquids and softs I've lost some weight!!!  I'm down 64.2 total now.  I'll take it!!!

4.  I had a group psychology appointment on Monday night, except for the second time in a row, I'm the only one that has shown up.  My psychologist raved about how much she likes Silk Light Vanilla in her protein shakes because it gives it more of a shake consistency.  So, I went right after and picked some up.  Um, YUCK!!!!  Drank one protein shake with it and threw the rest of it down the drain.  YUCKY!!!!! 

5.  Made a ricotta bake from a blog I found online for my lunch yesterday.  It was pretty good.  Except I forgot to spray my bowl I baked it in with Pam, so now I'm going to have a hard time cleaning it up!!  Hate that!  And I would suggest 350 instead of 450, the mozzarella cheese got too cooked for my liking.  But yummy still.

6.  Making some plans today for my darling daughter's birthday.  Now that we know what my husband's schedule is going to be, it helps!

7.  Speaking of my daughter, she has an appointment tomorrow with our family doctor who has not seen me since before my surgery.  I wonder if he will notice.....  She is getting a vaccine tomorrow, bummer for her.

8.  My mom is having surgery right now, actually.  It is outpatient and she is only getting a local for it (YIKES!!!).  She has de Quervain's Disease.  Yeah, I didn't know exactly what it was either, until she told me.  Click the link to find out more.  :)

9.  I kinda got the tiniest bit anxious this morning when I was reminded that next year, I will have a teenager in the house.  How did THAT happen and where did my baby with the red hair go??

10.  Since I'm sharing baby pics and I need a #10, here's one of L too :)  (Please note:  the poor kid probably had food allergies the whole time and we didn't know, his eczema around his face we knew was bad but we didn't know why...poor kid)



So, what is this Chicago this about??

So, I'm reading a lot about this thing that happens in Chicago, but we don't really talk about it kinda thing......I'm a little lost and since I'm new to the band world and the blog world I thought I'd look to you all for some insight.  I realize it's a month away....so, what is it??????

By the way, worked out last night with some friends.  They were working the circuit when I got there and was almost done.  So, I just finished it out with them and then did 30 mins on the treadmill.  I was full liquids yesterday and today on softs (because of my fill yesterday).  Nice drop in weight today because of it all!! 

Down 63.....can I get whoop whoop!!??!?!?!

Comments on the Chicago thing are GREATLY appreciated as I am lost, lost, lost, lost......ok, bye!

Pros and Cons and Other Things

There are pros and cons to being a SAHM (stay-at-home mom).  I hardly EVER set my alarm during the summer.....it's pretty awesome!  And my kids, well, they sleep pretty well.  Cannot complain a lick about that.  We can pretty much go about our day doing whatever we like with nowhere we "have" to be most days.  I can make appointments without keeping work in mind, which means I don't have to fight to get that first or last appointment of the day (we all know how annoying that is). 

When you have a child with special needs, it becomes even more special to be a SAHM because there are so many things that a special needs kid requires.  I'm not even talking about the Autism here.  Just the food allergies.  Let's take for instance the epi-pen situation.  Remember this post where my son threw his epi-pens in the pool?  Well, need less to say, I really wanted to replace them (to be honest, we needed to replace them soon enough and get some for school anyway).  So, here's where being a SAHM helps.  It's a pain in the butt to have a kid with a food allergy.  Honest.  Not only do you deal with what they eat day to day or when you go somewhere constantly checking labels, asking waitresses (who are sometimes not helpful AT ALL), but you have to remember to always, ALWAYS bring epi-pens and benedryl everywhere you go.  So, when the "incident" happened we cleaned those suckers good and as soon as I could, I replaced them.  But, I just didn't replace them, no I replaced the ones at my parents, my in-laws, the school and the bus route.  That's right folks, I got a script for....10 epi-pens.  Sounds like a lot huh???  BUT......now when my kid goes to my parents, my in-laws, school or the bus, I don't have to take mine with me!!!  AND, the insurance paid for it all as 1 script!!  $12 for 10 epi-pens!!!  But, I had to go to the allergist to get paperwork for school signed, have the pharmacy fill them, then the pharmacy lost the package (how do you lose 5 packs of epi-pens?) and now I have to go through the school district security and safety to give the proper forms so that if his meds are needed that they can give them.  Whew!!!  If I was working, how would I get all this done??????

So, today as I reflected on that, I was very thankful that I'm home.  I've been both.  I've worked and I've been home.  Soon enough I may be working again.  I work a weird job that calls me in for temp projects here and there when they need me, so it works for our family.  Sometimes our bank account makes me sad that I stay home and then we have days like this and I'm thankful.  For our family, this works.  Not every family, but for ours, it does.

For those of you who juggle all this and work full/part time, I give you props!  You are super women in my book!!  Your kids are lucky to have moms like you!!!  Don't ever discount who you are and the kind of mom you are!!!  We moms are too hard on ourselves. 

Ok, on to band stuff.  I saw my very awesome NP today.  Got a teeny, tiny fill today.  0.5 cc.  So, I'm at 4.5 cc in my 11 cc band.  She wants to see me next week possibly if my restriction isn't good for the rest of the week.  Next Tuesday is my last day in the 90 day global period following my surgery and if I need one more fill (for free) she will come in on her day off to do it (I told you she was awesome).  On full liquids today and softs tomorrow.

Down a total of 61 in the office!  10.4 BMI points down since starting back in early March.

Oh and I have a new blog friend I'm very excited about!!!  JS is so funny and it took me a few nights of starting from the beginning, but I read her entire blog here!  Check her out if you haven't read it!!

Holding Steady......

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mine started off lovely!! My daughter had her middle school small group with her youth group on Friday night (it's 2 1/2 hours of hanging out with youth group members her age and leaders that love middle schoolers, they have Bible study, games and food! What's not to love??!?). Sooooo, I met other moms at a Panera near by so that we could hang out while we waited for the kids to be done.

Lap Band Lesson Number, hmmmm, what number shall I call this one #8: If you order, let's say a cookie from Panera because well let's face it, you've done awesome in counting calories/fat/protein and you had wiggle room for dessert today, and well, it's rather large. While eating it you get full, you stop eating (BIG moment...pat on your back), but then 20 minutes later you finish the cookie.......NOT A GOOD IDEA. I had a "little kid who ate too much sugar" belly ache all night. 

I'm also pretty good at not drinking 30 minutes before or after a meal.  I get weird looks at restaurants when I don't order anything to drink. I will occasionally have a sip if something is spicy. But, I will drink with a snack because I figure the point of a meal is to fill you up, thus the need not to push the food thru. It makes sense in my brain........

Also on Friday we had tons of rain, that came with two little leaks in our house.  Sigh. So, on Saturday P's dad came over to help get a good look at the roof and good news it'll probably need replacing at some point in the next few years but not like tomorrow. He put some tar on a couple places and off we went to dinner. 

Sunday we went to church and went over to friend's of our family, very, very good friends. They were having a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's walk they are going to be doing. A pulled pork BBQ. It was good. My parents and aunt and uncle bought a left over pork butt from them so we had again for dinner. I counted everything that went into my mouth yesterday (with exception of the BBQ sauce because it's homemade too). It was so good!!!  We drove L over to his new school so he could see where he will be going to 1st grade.  He likes they have a dragon on top of their door (apparently it's their mascot) and he got to play on the playground for a bit.  Then we hung out at home!! It was such a nice day out we opened windows and aired out the house!!!  Ahhhhhh.....

Today I am back to the dentist (again) for the next round to getting this tooth fixed. Now it's stage 2, crown/filling/cap....whatever.  And tonight I have my mandatory 3 month group session with the psychologist at the bariatric clinic. I forget which session this one is. Last time, I was the only person that showed up.

I have lost another 1.8 since my last post on Friday and I'm holding steady to that weight loss.  Down a total of 61.6.  That is from my highest at the clinic to now (includes my pre-op loss).  I think I started losing some weight at the beginning of March to show some good faith to the insurance company that I could do this, so I would say about 22 weeks now!!  Woo hoo!!

Happy Monday everyone!

I Didn't Do A Ten Thing Post Yesterday, So How About Today Instead?

1.  I don't know what the deal is, but it is really rainy and yucky here! Cool and thunder storming!!! It's August, it's not time yet!! We had 80 degree weather in March (which is VERY unusual temps for where we are) when my daughter went to 6th grade camp, so I'm thinking there might be something to this global warming thing after all.

2. P and I were neglectful aunt and uncle this summer and hadn't made it to our nephew's baseball games. So, when we heard last night was the last one, we high tailed it over to nephew E's game first. Sat in the rain.  Between the games, P decided to change clothes.  Oh, you mean to the pants and hoodie that I mentioned BEFORE we left the first time? After that we went to nephew I's game (both my nephew's names start with vowels). We came home to relieve the babysitter.  Normally, if it wasn't raining, I probably would've dragged the kids out, but I know L would have been miserable. I'm glad I know his limitations and he was happy at home with her. M is your typical tween, can I take my iPod, I'm bored, when are we leaving, you get the picture, so left her at home with the babysitter too! Nice little quiet, cold, wet afternoon giving some attention to the nephews.

3. Followed my diet better yesterday and..........woo hoo!!!!! Dropped 1.6 between yesterday and today.  Not sure why such a big drop, but I'll take it!!!  Just gotta keep up because I am loving when I see these lbs come off!

4.  Have my last "global period" appt next week.  My office doesn't charge for services within 90 days of your surgery. So, I am going in Tuesday. I'm guessing this time for a fill. I'm really feeling good about really understanding this band already and am getting hungrier at night and my portions can get bigger, so it's time. Right now I have 4 cc's in my 11 cc band.

5.  Slowly need to start purchasing clothes, but I kinda want to hold off too. I think I'm skipping one whole size, but 2 sizes down are still a bit snug. My friend gave me a whole bag of clothes a size smaller than that, so when I really get down, I will have some clothes there.

6.  Having problems with the patience thing and weight loss lately. I know in my head how well I've done. I'm .2 away from 60 lbs in like 21 weeks (since I started losing the weight back at the beginning of March, roughly). That's almost 3 lbs a week!! I just want to weight loss to continue this way, and I get nervous it won't. Ever feel like that?

7.  Started back to school shopping for my kids.  Old Navy had some deals on jeans for L. Can't go wrong with $10 a pair. M is when it gets expensive! She's decided that she wants the preppy look this year. We happened by the Polo outlet and got an amazing deal on jeans for her in there.  Best part of all, the length doesn't need to be altered!!!!!

8.  Have to make well kid visit appointment for M. Her birthday is coming up before school. She also has another orthodontist appointment where we are moving on to the next stage (hopefully, it's been a year already). I'm very thankful for really good dental insurance!!!!!!!!

9.  My best friend and her family is having a fundraiser this weekend to honor their grandmother.  This family is really important to me. She has Alzheimer's and they are raising money for awareness and research. Her dad makes awesome Southern pulled pork and BBQ sauce. Yum! So, guess what I'll be eating on Sunday????

10.  Trying to plan M's birthday and am exhausted just thinking about it. We are doing something a little more low key this year because last year we surprised her by picking up all of her friends and then showing up at the house with her friends to go on a secret agent day. We saw Spy Kids, had HUGE pizza and went to a cupcake bakery. We also had awesome themed goodie bags where everything in the bad was mystery flavored.

What's on your agenda for the day?

Disappointment

So, here I thought I'd finally get to that elusive 60 mark that I've been toying with all week today. Did it happen? Well, I'm sure you can guess that it didn't.

And I don't know why in the world I thought it would. In fact, I had a gain. SIGH. I know exactly all the things that went wrong yesterday. Nothing for breakfast, no veggies at all, no water (BIG no-no), protein count way too low, carb count way too high and snacked a little late last night.

So, what did I learn? A ton!!! Was it worth it? Heck no! I'm totally disappointed. Those stinkin' Special K Cracker Chips and McDonald's Sweet Tea (worst offender by far) was not worth it. Will I do it again? Probably. Because here's the thing, we are not perfect!!!! I'm hoping that this tool will constantly be a reminder to me of the way I ate before the surgery so that I never eat that way again. Is it ok to have a sweet tea every now and again? I think so. Everyday? No, definitely not.

So, I've started my day off right today. It's a very rainy day here. Dreary and cold in fact. I grabbed my blender bottle, 8 oz. of skim milk and one scoop of chocolate Body Fortress Whey Protein for my breakfast and shook it to death. On a totally unrelated subject, my protein shakes have been really lumpy lately, is that due to humidity?  So, I'm going to work my water in the best I can and eat my protein today. 

What's on your menu today?

People are so sweet.....

First off, you all, yeah you those of you who read this, are so sweet to stop by and read my random thoughts. Thanks!!!

I also love and appreciate the comments you leave for me. It encourages me greatly along this path of weight loss!

I've also been recently encountering very sweet people in my real life (vs. my virtual life) who have been calling me skinny and look at you losing all this weight, etc.  Very sweet.  I still have soooooo much more to go, but the nice thoughts are so very encouraging.

Now, I just need to get my butt to the gym more!!! I went on Sunday and today I walked the mall with my kids and mother-in-law. I will say, I am moving a whole lot more this summer than I did last summer, but I still know I need to be doing more. A couple of my girlfriends are planning on going to the gym at least one night a week, so that'll help me go that night, so I just need to push my butt out the door a couple more nights a week and I will feel better I'm sure. Less guilty.

I bought a new scale today. That and some back to school shopping for the kids.

I am anticipating a new low number tomorrow, I hope. I will let you know if it happens!!! We shall see!!!!

Night my friends!!!

Updated Pics (Even more so than the other day)

The other day when I dropped the pics onto the blog, I realize you really have no reference to where I started from.  So, this morning I asked my NP to email me the pic from my first appointment with them.  Then I cropped the pic we had taken on Saturday morning (my L is in included ;) to kinda give a before and after shot of where I am so far....

First Appointment



  Right Now

So, side by side, now that I am REALLY looking at it, I see some progress even better.  Whew.  Now, just gotta keep it up!!  It's WORKING!!!!!  Thank you lap band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the Problem with Not Blogging Everyday...

You end up with too much to say!!!!

We had an awesome weekend!  My hubby and I celebrated 15 years last week and because of that my awesome parents kept our kids Saturday during the day and night!! 

We had lunch together at a really tasty Mexican restaurant.  We split the food and I really tried to listen to my band so that I didn't over eat (I knew much more food was in the cards for the day!).  After that we headed into the city to visit the art museum.  It was Salvador Dali weekend.  So, if you had a mustache, you got in free!  We didn't know this going in, but my husband got in free, I didn't.  It was cute, a lot of girls had fake mustaches, or drawn in mustaches all over the museum.  We spent about an hour and a half walking around.  I really enjoyed seeing some of Matisse's work and was just trying to figure out what was going on in Picasso's brain from one decade to another.  After that, we headed over to the ballpark where we passed by an old neighbor of mine.  I grew up across the street from him.  He retired from his job and then became a cop in the city and has been for 10 years!  I just happen to walk past him as he was getting out of his police car.  We stood in line for a while waiting to get in and then walked around the park for a while.  It was so stinkin' hot.  I got an orange Icee.

Let me stop right here.  Ok, here's something no one tells you.  I'm going to tell you in case you don't know or if you are stopping by to research weight loss surgery.  My friend and I were talking the other day about Icees/Slurpees, etc. and she made mention that they have carbonation in them.  I thought she maybe just meant like the Coke/Pepsi/Mt. Dew ones.  Nope.  All of them do.  So, after 3/4 of the orange Icee I started feeling full and kinda slimy.  So, passed the drink over to hubby and just waited for it to pass.  So no more Icees/Slurpees for me.  Sigh. 

Ok, moving on.  I did have some popcorn while at the park and since we didn't have L with us we had a few cinnamon roasted almonds.  We shared a hot dog, because you have to have a hot dog at the park right???

What I haven't mentioned is the torrential downpour that happened during the game!!!!!!!!!  Oh my goodness!!  Did we get soaked!!  Just try moving 40,000 people out of their seats to a place where 40,000 people don't fit.  It was claustrophobic to say the least.  The rain passed, the tarp came off the field and the game started back up and we won!  Awesome fireworks after and we came home.  Stopped for a late night snack (yes, I told you this was way different than what I have been doing), couldn't wait to get into some dry clothes!  The carpi's I wore to the game are too big.  Add the fact in that they weighed a ton more because they are wet and they kept slipping down.  Fun times!

All in all, my portion sizes weren't bad, my choices weren't great, but the scale moved a bit up, but not too awfully much.

Speaking of scales, mine stinks.  I can get on and off of it 4 different times within 1 minute in the morning and it will tell me 4 different weights and it can range like 1-2 lbs.  So, I think it's time for a new scale.

Obviously my blog is looking a little different, I was having some issues this morning....long story.

How was your weekend????????

A few pics...

Just wanted to put a few updated pics of us up on the blog....

I Have So Much To Blog About

So much going on this week so let me get started.

On Saturday during our little snafu ridden getaway, we received a call that a good friend of our family, had passed away.  He was 72. This man has been a part of my life from the get-go. My parents attend the same church my mom grew up in and I had grown up in. His wife had been my Sunday school teacher, she also taught M. His daughters, who are now my friends, used to babysit me and my brother. This man was always happy. Always willing to help. He loved everyone. He and M had a special thing but I didn't know where it had come from. For years they did this. Then the other day my dad and I dropped off food at the house my mom had made for them. And this is what I was told. The wife had been going through some sight issues so he would come in to help her in her Sunday school class where my daughter was. If he didn't do something quite the way she would the wife would say something like am I going to have to fire you? So, my M picked up on this. Every time she saw him (even as recent as Father's Day) she would say, "You're fired."My husband was given the highest honor of being asked to be a pallbearer. They all love P.  the husband and P would talk about their favorite college and pro football teams. I never knew this but he was one of two men who he talked about privately about how much he admired their fathering skills at how patient they are with their kids. He will be GREATLY missed. But,I have hope that I will see him again because of the salvation of Jesus. Thank You Lord for taking away his pain.

My second thing that went on this week was my NP/nutritionist appt. I lost 9 lbs. in 3 weeks. They are ecstatic thrilled I know my calorie/fat/protein counts (why would you do all this and not know?). My nutritiontist said I just need to bump up my calories just a tiny bit! I'm close most days. I've lost already in 5 months what some banders lose in a year, so they are happy with the progress, called me a superstar. Hopefully, it keeps going!!

I went to Zumba for the first time this week. Ok, I have rhythm. Or at least I did I had a hard time keeping up!!! I was still the biggest gal in the room (intimidating). And I was doing fine sore-wise until I stood on my feet for two hours the next day then the Zumba soreness hit like a brick! I have been to the gym this week too!! The stupid scale, which I really need to only look at once a week, hasn't moved this week.  Sigh. But yeah for me exercising more! I'm taking the kids to a waterpark today so I'm sure I'll get my workout there!!!!

Last and most certainly not least, today is P and I's anniversary!! We have been married 15 years today!! I love this man and can't wait to see what the next 15 years hold for us!!!