Restriction Much

Forgot what good restriction felt like. And I'm REALLY hoping this restriction sticks around for a while!!!!!

So far today I've had a half a cup of egg substitute with a quarter cup of reduced fat shredded cheese, a cup of raspberry chocolate truffle coffee with a 1/3 cup skim milk and now I'm working a 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes with 1/4 cup of the same cheese with 1/4 cup of fat free plain Greek yogurt that had 2 packets of dry ranch seasoning mixed into it.

I'm restricted with these potatoes. Yeah :)

So I'm taking my dear ol' sweet time.

One thing I will say is man, my belly got really bruised from my fill yesterday. That I believe is the first time. Bummer :(

My husband told me as of May 1st he's going to stop drinking pop and start watching better what he's eating. Which I'm glad for him but I never wanted to pressure him. I know it never did me any good to have someone say to me you need to lose weight. It is also going to help me to not have his junk food in the house because quite frankly it tastes really good! But he told me not to bother him or to ask him about it because he doesn't want me to become "one of those people".

Happy Friday y'all!!!!

TTT

1. It was a fill day for me. I had my refill 2 weeks ago when she put 5 cc's back in from after my hysterectomy.

2. Today was only 1 cc but she said that was aggressive for her on a Thursday because she would not be able to unfill me over the weekend. I'm glad she realizes I know me and my band.

3. I like going to my clinic. They make me feel like a rock star bandster.

4. I laid out my big plan to my NP today thinking she'd shoot it down but I think it went well.

5. A couple of NSV's. First, my collar bones are starting to come out. Next, I was able to buy our baseball team's "girly" shirt and it fits. Lastly, I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while and received a bunch of nice comments.

6. Unfortunately the reason I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while is because two people from the church I grew up in passed away. They were both phenomenal examples of Christians, spouses and parents. Awesome people!!!!

7. My daughter made the honor roll again!!! Way to go M!!!

8. We are now officially the small group leaders of our group at church. We are also part of our kids church ministry team which is what we have always served in. So working with grown ups is brand new :)

9. I am looking forward to my next goal at about 7.5 lbs!!!!!

10. My biggest goal is about 37.5 lbs away!!! Here I come!!

Bonus - here are some pics of P and L putting out a blue light bulb for Autism Awareness and some other pics like mastery of chopsticks, us in our Doctor Who shirts and missing tooth :)

TTT

1. I am going back to work on Monday! With some restriction. I already work part time, so my doctor was comfortable with me working reduced hours Monday thru Wednesday and then playing Thursday by ear.

2. I had my band refilled today. My NP put 5 cc in my 11 cc band. Today I'm on full liquids and tomorrow I'm on softs.

3. I was surprised to see that I had a 3 lb loss today on their scale!! I have had no restriction whatsoever in my band (my nutritionist called it a bandcation). I basically told them I really just concentrated on healing, sleeping and not thinking about eating.

4. So what does this mean now? A total reboot for me and my best bud the lap band. We are going to back to the way things "use" to be like at the beginning. Making sure I keep track of my foods (haven't done this in quite some time), drinking my water and eating the right things!!

5. Below is a pic of the newest plan they are passing out at my clinic. They have me eating the 5-6 ounce plan for a couple of weeks and then I can move to the 7-8 ounce plan after my next visit.

6. I have one tiny hiccup with my hysterectomy which my doctor is keeping an eye on. I go back for follow up #3 in a month.

7. We got some awesome news regarding my son's school situation for next year which comes with pros and cons like everything. He will be in a room that is going to be awesome for him ASD wise!!!

8. Waiting for report cards to come out but I anticipate another honor roll for our girl. Do you know how well she's done his year?? Only grade not on the honor roll? A C+ in science because they did chemistry!!!

9. Today's fill kinda hurt. I'm not gonna lie. It had to go through a scar she said from another puncture. I'm thinking its the same spot she took the fluid from a month ago.

10. The rain has been hard and almost non stop here. Guess what that means? Yep, our roof is leaking. We have a bucket and garbage can in our kitchen to prove it. Two estimates in two days.

Ok peeps here's what's up!!

I'm in my I don't know, 4th week of medical leave. Man, a hysterectomy is no joke. Major surgery!! I guess so. I mean they are taking out some major organage!!! Like my made up word there? So, did I tell you what a nerd my hubby was right after my surgery? He took my daughter to her orthodontist appointment and had to drive past the hospital where I had my surgery at. He said, "I waved to your oven." Isn't he funny (please note the sarcasm in the text)?

So, what have I been up to? Nothing! Recovering. Trying to build my endurance back up and that's it.

Well, and trying to at least keep the scale in check to where it was before my surgery. So around 103.5 lbs lost. Right now as of today, I'm there. I kinda am ok with that. I'm a little bummed because I got down to like 107.5 during the beginning of my recovery but that was with the bowel prep and everything. So, I'm choosing to look at it like this, I have had absolutely no fill in my band for a month. Nothing, well a teeny bit to keep it inflated. Hit nothing to write home about. No restriction whatsoever. Not really. And I managed not to gain weight. My NP wanted me to follow the prep diet from before my surgery. Um yeah, that didn't happen. But, I managed to maintain. So, a win I think.

Now, onwards and upwards!! I have two doctors appointments tomorrow. One with my GYN to get my release and any other restrictions and one with my NP for my fill. I was at 7 cc in my 11 cc band. She said she thinks we will be lucky to get 5 cc in this time to start off with. I don't care as long as I can have good restriction. I'm ready to "reboot" and restart this weight loss.

So looking at the BMI calculator, instead of just the scale, I've lost almost 18 points on my BMI and I'm only 6.5 points away from moving away from obese to overweight!!!!! 38 more lbs!! Next goal!

Light It Up Blue

This post is to honor my boy, L. And to pronounce my faith to you all.

I honestly don't know where to begin. Well, April is Autism Awareness month. You will hear and/or see a lot of people talk or doing things to "Light It Up Blue". This is in awareness of the disability.

My son is autistic. Or my son has autism. Or my son is on the ASD spectrum. Depending on how you care to verbalize it. All of it says the same thing. We began to notice something wasn't quite right when L was approaching 2. Well, I did. Most of the people in my life kept telling me, he's fine, he's a boy, he'll catch up, etc. But, like with most things a mommy knows.

So, right before his second birthday we began the process of having him tested with early intervention. This is amazing in our state. If anyone has any doubts regarding their child, they will let you know. It's free and if something is "wrong" they can direct you to the next steps.

The testing showed L lacked language skills, fine and gross motor skills. Well, the tester got 2/3 right. He had the gross motor skills. So, we were directed to our local school district where they do their own set of testing. I remember how heart breaking this time was. It's really hard to admit to yourself that your child may have needs that you really don't want to say out loud.

At this time they put L in a category called "Early Childhood Development Delay". The rest of that school year we spent taking him to a speech therapy play group where we would go with him. He would spend two hours twice a week playing in a group setting and getting therapy and being taught by a special education teacher at the same time. It was a big year. His behavior changed dramatically!!!!

At the end of that year it was recommended that he return the following year to go to the three year old special ed preschool. It was four days a week, half day, for free. At the end of that year, we continued but did something amazing. During four year old preschool, he was doing so well he spent the majority of his day OUT of special ed and was in inclusion in general ed.

Towards the middle of four year old preschool it was decided to test L for autism. This is a big deal in our school district because once you make that distinction and that check mark, there's no going back. So you have to make sure. The school district gathers a committee of professionals of all types from across the district that does not know your child and brings them in to observe and test, so they can be as objective as possible.

I remember the day the findings finally came back. I knew the answer before I was told. The social worker at his school and I had a really good relationship and she said I wouldn't ever tell any parent this over the phone but I know you and I know you already know. Yes, we believe your son is on the spectrum.

I still cried. I still cry. It makes me sad that my son gets angry when confused or frustrated. Sometimes it makes me angry too. Sometimes I'm just plain sad.

Good things have happened along the way. L wasn't ready for kindergarten. He has a late birthday (November) so even if he didn't have the disability he would have likely still did junior kindergarten. His junior kindergarten teacher tells me he is the most talkative, articulate autistic child she's ever had. He has building blocks built in him we have to constantly work at. Meaning socially we see specks of him understanding social cues and making friends. And emotionally he lets us love on him and chooses to love on us in his time.

Now comes my faith. My God is a great big God. I could be angry and say why my boy. And I have. Trust me I have. But, if you can recall from my November blog regarding his birthday, my son shouldn't be alive or at the very least he should have cerebral palsy with the oxygen he lost. So, I choose to believe that God has something amazing in store for this little boy. He is teaching P and I something through our little man. And He is walking with us through every tough moment.

Autism is hard. If you don't know anything or anyone that deals with it, I encourage you to do so. Please feel free to push my blog out. I want people to understand that we live real lives. Autism effects real first grade boys and moms who have weight issues. Not just celebrities who claim their kids are cured by the foods they eat.