TTT

1.  First and foremost, I officially have a teenager in my home. My daughter turns 13 today. 

2. Last week she took 9 of her girlfriends to a spa/salon and they all had either manis or pedis (she had both).  We had a treat/candy table set up

3. Then we went for Chicago pizza complete with TARDIS and bow tie cupcakes for my little Whovian. 

4. Weight loss. Last Friday I was up. My weight was 189.6. 

5. I had a surgical consultation this week.

6. I'm having surgery next week. More to follow in that.

7. We had VBS (vacation Bible school) this week. It was a success. My ASD son had his moments but all in all successful. 

8. I have to also go have my fluid removed (again) for this surgery. 

9. It's time for my abdominoplasty! Can you believe it?!?!!  Ugh. So needed. 

10. Here are some pics from my girl's day last week:

Edited to add: probably destroying this week's hard work with popcorn at the movies and froyo tonight for my girl's bday. Sigh. 

Still Learning Lessons

I had my surgery in May of 2012.  That means this month my band is 15 months old.  I am STILL learning. 

The biggest thing I am learning.....QUIT WEIGHING MYSELF!!!  I'll only get disappointed!!!  YIKES! 

Ok, so what did I tell you all, Fridays are my weigh in day, right?  So, what did I do?  That's right, weighed myself today.  Bad idea.  Some how I managed to gain some weight.  Back to 190.2....sigh.  Could be water...could be that s'more I had with the kids last night (even though I counted every last calorie and fat gram I ate!!). 

So, what am I learning?  Only weigh myself once a week.  It will be my weight for the week.  It is the lowest you are going to be.  Your weight ebbs and flows like the ocean.  It will go up and down all week.  You are being counterproductive to yourself by weighing yourself EVERY day and only hurting yourself (especially at this stage of my weight loss) by looking at the scale.

So, my new challenge.....only Fridays.  Unless I am at the doctors and well, then it's just plain unavoidable.

So, what are you still learning post-op?

Friday Weigh In

Last week's weight: 189.6 (on Thursday)

Today's weight: 188.6

Weekly Loss: -1 lb

Loss before surgery: -25 lbs

Loss since surgery: -102.4 lbs

Total loss: -127.4 lbs

I'll take it :)

TTT

Good morning everyone!!

1.  Well, I think I need to officially change my weigh in day from Thursday to Friday because my weigh in time is 9 am (I know random but it feels like my lowest time of the morning before I can't stand not having anything to eat anymore). And I'm going back to work the day after Labor Day and my only day off during the week will be Fridays. So, the change. 

2.  Today's weigh in. Well, a 0.2 lb gain. Considering my weekend and yesterday, this is not bad. I weighed myself earlier in the week and let's just say I really worked my butt off this week and its a shame because had this been a normal week I would have seen a great loss. But since tomorrow is now my official weigh in day, there's still hope?!?!!

3.  New coffee fave, butter toffee with a half of a chocolate protein shake (skim milk and half of a scoop of chocolate protein powder already mixed together and used as creamer). Oh, I also use Splenda (or whatever Kroger or Walmart brand I bought). It took me awhile to get used to using Splenda vs sugar but its worth the no calories. 

4. Band still a little tight until early evening but I'm not overly concerned. The evening I'm not tight at all. So, I definitely don't think I'm in an overfill situation. I just told my husband as these last 19 lbs or so (really 20 I guess :-/) come off I will likely need an adjustment because I'm guessing the band will loosen up much like a belt would. 

5. I mentioned I'm going back to work the day after Labor Day. This comes with a challenge for me besides the obvious mom back to work, kids back to school, etc. I've lost 10 lbs so far this summer, hoping it'll be at least 15 by summer's end. So, my dress clothes don't fit. And well, when you don't work, you don't make money. You see where I'm going. 

6. Speaking of money, I get to spend some next week on my girl!! She turns 13 (GASP!!) on the 22nd but we are having her party on the 16th. Well, the first party (she's spoiled and will be having a few) with her friends. It's a nail salon party where the young ladies get to pick a mani or pedi and then they are getting a make up lesson from an esthetician. During this there will be a dessert and snack table set up with a pink and zebra theme available to them. Lunch of pizza will be followed complete with TARDIS and red bow tie cupcakes.  I bought goodie bags. Do 13 year olds still get goodie bags? It'll have a mani set in there (cuticle pusher thingy, nail clippers, nail file, etc), a pedi toe separator, a bottle of nail polish and a roll of zebra print duct tape. 

7. Tried running this week twice. Didn't get too far. I'm not very fast. I hate running. My hubby says I'll get better. I'll believe it when I see it. Did I mention I hate running? I just can't find a workout I like. Oh and by the way, last night just proves my point, tummy tuck. TOTALLY NECESSARY. Just gonna leave it at that. 

8. I've lost, as of today, 126.2. That's a ridiculous amount of weight. Yea I know you are probably doing the math, sigh, but I'm getting there. 

9. Does anyone besides Chelle and I care there is a new Doctor?????? I think he might be kinda cool. He's much older than Matt Smith, but I'm thinking he might have something up his sleeve. 

10. Got my hair trimmed this week and my eyebrows waxed. Ahhhh. 

Oh. Here's a couple of pics. One of my sweet boy on Sunday after church and one of me at our small group picnic. 

TTT

Welcome to my Ten Thing Thursday Post :)

1. Well, my weigh in day has been on Thursdays. I did weigh myself this morning and really liked what I saw. 189.6. :) I'm coming along!!!!!!

2.  I have an appointment in approximately 3 weeks to begin a discussion and have an initial consultation with a plastic surgeon regarding skin removal surgery. I do want these surgeries cosmetically but based on the excess amount of skin I have, I imagine it's medically necessary as well. I do not plan on having anything done until I reach 170, even if she's willing to do it earlier. 

3. I've been thinking lately about all my tricks that have helped bring me the success I've had on this journey thus far and thought maybe I'd include them as the rest of my list. I know they may seem like old hat for some of you seasoned bandsters but for the newbies I hope they help!!

4. I always try to drink a bottle of water first thing in the morning. Before I eat something or drink a cup if coffee. In fact, I don't let myself have anything, most of the time until I've had that bottle of water.  Same thing before lunch. 

5. I've been pretty strict with myself on the 30 min before and 30 min after rule and drinking. 

6. Convenience foods. This was always a big downfall for me when I would "diet". It was a lot easier to grab a bag of chips than to cut celery or watermelon for a snack. So, I try to cut things up as soon as I get home from the grocery store. That way I have no excuses. 

7. I love ranch and dill dips for veggies. But the calorie and fat content isn't worth it. I do not like Greek yogurt. BUT, I found if you buy the plain (make sure it's plain and not vanilla - made that mistake once - um, gross) and mix in a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch either their ranch or dill dip into it, you get a low calorie, low fat, high protein snack!!!

8. Snacking. I'm notorious for snacking so I had to find alternatives. Pretzel crisps. Again, lower fat (actually I think they may almost be fat free), lower calorie and they give you the crunch you need. 94% fat free popcorn with Kernel Seasons flavoring. Laughing Cow cheese spread. And my go to often, light string cheese. Oh and my kids favorite I've had in the house since full liquids, sugar free fudgesicles. 

9. Going out to eat. Look at menus before you go and figure out what you are going to eat. If you have a game plan in mind, it's a lot easier than trying to figure out what's the healthiest/tastiest option. 

10. Know that if you aren't perfect it's ok but not to go back to old habits. You did a lot of hard to have this surgery. You want to loose weight and be healthy. So, don't sell yourself short. I've hit MANY, MANY plateaus in this journey I never thought I'd get out of. Really was stuck in the 220's forever!! But, if you push yourself and remind yourself you can so this, you can!!! 

Tight

Well I'm currently in my car. And I'm trying to use Siri to blog. And I don't know if this is going to work. I don't know if I'm going to make sense. Or if it's going to be spelled correctly. For sound grammatically correct. But we're going to give it a shot. I have been quite tight with my lap band early in the morning through mid afternoon. Not quite sure why.

Do you ever feel tight? And why is it? I've heard that seasons and allergies affect your lap band. I've also heard hormones can affect your lap band. But I'm not sure what is affecting my band currently. So here I am dealing with the tightness trying to listen to my band.  Even last night during dinner we were having roast from the crockpot. I made a roast and measured out 4 ounces of meat  I ate 3 ounces and had an ounce left over.  I was proud of myself for actually listening to my band for once and for the first time in a long time. I threw away the last ounce as I just simply was done. This is the first time this is happened since I've had my surgery in a long time. And I didn't want to over eat. 

So tell me are you tight? I don't think I'm tight. I think it's just a little tighter than normal. And I think I'm okay with that. It's helping me stay in check. And it's helping me not over eat  I seem to be in a good losing track right now. And that of course is making me happy.

EDITED:  I HAD to correct the content Siri had wrong. Although, I got a little chuckle at hoe horrible some of it was!!!

Sabotage or Know Thyself?

Ok so I had a little loss last week. Only .6 lbs. so, here I am. Trying to do the elliptical a few times a week and well over the last couple of days I've lost more. 

I weighed myself on Friday and I was 193.2. I weighed myself today (Sunday) and I'm at 191.6. Hmmmm, ok. 

I'll take it but I'm not quite sure how. I've been keeping track. Drinking my water. My choices weren't that great. 

Knowing this and knowing my weigh in day is now 5 days away I have not had good choices today. Already. 

So, what is it? Do I know I'm going to have to work harder this week or did I just self sabotage?

Working Out

I hate it. I mean I hate it. Everyone keeps telling me once you get into the routine you'll feel good. 

Don't think so. But, thus is life. If I want to continue to lose weight and be healthy, I need to work out. 

What to do?? I have a gym membership that is going unused. I have been trying to be more active with the kids and around the house and yard. 

Still probably quite not enough. So, I got my butt up on the elliptical last night. Not for very long, but I did. 

First thing this morning I did one basic routine. Did I meet the standard to reps it wanted? Um, no. But, I did stay on the whole time and managed to burn:

So, who knows. I'm awful when it comes to working out. But it's necessary. 

Sigh. 

TTT

Ten things Thursday. Are ya ready??

1. I know I've lost some weight this week. But I've jumped on the scale before my designated time. So, I don't want to tell you how much until then. So I will edit later to add the total loss!! Btw, FINALLY!!

EDITED TO ADD: my total loss is now at 122.2!!!!!

2. My hubby has been doing really well too. He's lost almost 30 lbs. He changed his diet a little, cut out pop and recently starting working out at his company's gym. I'm really proud of him. 

3. The kids and I have been out this week to meet friends to swim. They are so happy when they are swimming. And with friends. It's been a nice week. 

4. My husband is on day 11 of a 12 straight work period. In a very hot plant working 11 hours with about (roughly) a 45 min drive in but at least an hour drive home everyday. Bless his heart. 

5. I tell you what, I was getting super frustrated that I wasn't losing any weight, so it's nice to see a loss this week!!! But, I'm having issues with my hair. It's falling out BIG time. More than it ever has. I told my hubby it did when I was losing a lot maybe it was a sign I was on a losing streak again (he hid the scale - which I asked him to do - so I could only weigh myself once a week). Then I remembered I haven't been taking my bariatric vitamins because I ran out. I've been sharing vitamins with my son. So, who knows. I need to get my own this week end. 

6. My daughter's 13th birthday is coming up so we are in the process of beginning to make plans. 

7. I'm also in charge of planning a road rally the next day. 

8. I'm so enjoying my summer as a SAHM. 

9. Finally got my hubby to drink 1.5 protein shakes a day. I wasn't drinking my strawberry flavor I bought. So instead of throwing it out he volunteered to drink it. Which is cool in lots of ways. It's helping him eat way earlier than he was and getting way more protein :)

10. Because of previously mentioned protein shakes being consumed in our household, we now own 4 blender bottles. 

Here are a few pics :)

At the market where we buy our fruits and veggies, they had mini apples. 

Family game night!! Trouble!!! L beat us all. 

I get more pics of him sleeping....

Sorry I've been MIA

I've noticed when I'm not losing weight, I don't blog. Shame on me. I should be blogging my whole experience. Lately, it's a slow go!! But, about a week and a half ago I asked P to hide the scale from me. I'm too obsessed with watching it everyday!! So, he did and I waited a week before weighing myself (I did try to find it once ;). In that week, I found I lost two lbs. back down to 196.6. For a total loss of 119.4!!!! Wow. 

Now this weekend we went camping. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not that kind of a gal. But, I made the effort and I think I did pretty well. I slept in a tent. Went kayaking for the first time. We went in the lake a couple of times. Took a tour of the campgrounds we were staying at in the back of Papa's truck with the kids to look for a ton of wildlife!! I ate decently until I got home!! So, we shall see what the scale shall reflect this week!

So, here are a few pics from our weekend:

Here's L passed out almost immediately as we drove on our way because we were up late at the fireworks the night before. 

L and some playground fun at the campground. 

My hubby roasting marshmallows because he's awesome at it!!

L enjoying a s'more. 

P enjoying a s'more. 

We found this on a little side trip and L is standing in front!!

I'm not drinking a sweet tea...yikes!!! Good thing it's an every once in a while thing instead of an every day thing like it used to be!!!!!

Here is the face of a very frustrated ASD boy who's mom wouldn't let him play with one more electronic thing. It wasn't funny then, it is now. But at least I had my wits about me to get the pic!

And then I come to a place if mom guilt because I really don't have any great pics of my daughter to share. So, here's one from the day she came back from camp!!!

 

And one from the fireworks the other night!!