The Scale Doesn't Lie

My first gain since pre-op.  Up one pound over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I knew it would happen someday, but it bothers me.  Looks like I won't hit my short term goal of a 75 pound loss by December 1st.  


Welcome home, Amy.  Where the fridge is nearly empty and the tempting food just simply isn't here.  Back in the boat, and start paddling like heck.  I guess I should be glad that it was *only* a pound, considering it was my first holiday being banded.  Still, it sucks.  


Okay, pity party over.  Let's lose some more weight and get healthier, ladies!!  Who's with me?

B12 Injections/Supplements?

I had my B12 level checked and it was fine, but I've heard that a lot of people supplement.  I've never been one to have a ton of energy, but haven't really noticed that I'm more perky after losing 70 pounds...thought I might try it.  
Any thoughts? 

Dear Scale: I Miss You!

Dear Bathroom Scale,
     I know that many people said not to use you every day, but I do.  Every morning, I have a nice trip to the potty and then I step on you to see how things are going.  Sometimes I glare at you, curse, whatever, but I didn't realize how much I would miss you when I was gone!  
     The last time we saw each other was last Wednesday morning.  I'm out of town now and won't be back until Monday, but it will be after weigh-in time, so I'll have to wait until Tuesday morning.  Scale, I'm not sure if you realize this, but we've never gone this long without seeing each other.  I miss you.  I would never use another scale, I'll always save myself for you.
X X O O
Sincerely, 
Amy

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm blogging via mobile, but just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Sure is different with the Lapband. Temptations everywhere. Hope everyone held it together today! :)

Freebie: Atkins Bars!!

I thought I'd share this with you guys - I found this on a freebie website a few weeks ago and just received it today in the mail.  You get 3 full size bars and some other info, including a carb counter book.  Not bad for free!  There were coupons, too!  

Click here to fill out the form to get the free bars mailed to you! :)

Another Goal Update :)

Current Weight: 245
Goal Weight: 241
Current BMI: 39.5
Goal BMI: 38.9
To be reached by:  December 1, 2011

Holy Protein!

I've never really been much of a granola bar person...but decided to try some from Trader Joe's.  I can't have Whey Protein Isolate (bad reaction), so Soy it is.  Each full bar has 20g of protein.  That's the highest Soy content in a bar that I've seen so far.


One bar is H U G E (I only eat half), but if I have a craving for sweet stuff or need an emergency dose of protein, these things are yummers!  They're $1.49/each at TJ's, but they're available lots of other places, too.  So far I've tried the Mint Chocolate and Peanut Butter flavors.  Did I mention YUM?

Goal Update

Current Weight: 246
Goal Weight: 241
Current BMI: 39.7
Goal BMI: 38.9
To be reached by:  December 1, 2011

My Next Short-Term Goal

Current Weight: 247
Goal Weight: 241
Current BMI: 39.9
Goal BMI: 38.9
To be reached by:  December 1, 2011


When I reach 241 lbs, I'll officially only be severely obese (rolling eyes).  Right now I'm morbidly obese.  Hey, it ain't much, but I'll take a change in title anytime.   Also, losing 6 pounds will have me at -75 pounds.  That's a nice round number, don't ya think?


I like this BMI Calculator the best.  Unlike a typical chart, there are eight levels of BMI.  Super fast and easy to do.  As a side note, my BMI was 52 before the pre-surgery diet of 1 week and 49 the day of surgery.  


I try not to get too wrapped up in numbers, but this time I couldn't resist.  What's your current short term goal?

I left my pants at work. . .

A bunch of teachers are doing a version of "The Biggest Loser" at work.  There's a personal trainer that runs the class every week for an hour.  About 45 minutes of exercises and 15 of nutrition.  The classes are $5 a week (8 wks total).  


After work, I changed into my sweat pants.  


After our workout, I was exhausted and headed straight to the car (45-60 minute drive home).  While I was driving, I realized that I LEFT MY PANTS AT SCHOOL!  They're the only pair that fit!!  I wash them every night (well, sometimes every second night, kind of depends).  So....tomorrow I have to wear sweatpants to school because my poor little pair of black Lane Bryant Houston slacks are there.  At 50 bucks a pop, I can only afford one pair at a time!  Weight loss is great, don't get me wrong, but the last pair of LB slacks only lasted 3 weeks before I had to get a smaller size.


They're in a pile on my desk.  I wonder what the custodian thought!?!?!

Meet Me on Monday

Meet Me on Monday!

1. Do your family/friends know about your blog?

Most of my close friends/family do know my blog address.  A few read on a regular basis, but some have probably never read it.  Everyone is busy, though, so that's understandable.

2. What is your favorite card game?

Uno.  What can I say?  I'm a elementary school teacher and Uno teaches number recognition and colors!  I think I have about 5 sets of Uno cards by now.  There are so many they're in a shoebox!

3. What do you wear to bed? 

If I'm in my own house, nada.  Nekkkkked is my preference.  Sometimes I wear jammies if it is super cold.  If I'm away from home, jammies always.  I love to sleep cold (can't stand being hot).

4. What is your favorite kind of French Fry? 

I grew up in the midwest and I love Steak n Shake fries.  I haven't had a fast food french fry since getting the band.  I made some in the oven once, but it didn't do much for me.  Life without fries.  I stress the "life" part.  On the track I was going, "life" wouldn't have been an option.

5. What is your usual bed time?

Totally depends.  On weeknights, it is between 830-10pm.  I'm an early riser (which I HATE), but my body wakes up at the same time every day - no matter what time I went to sleep the night before.  Annoying!  4:30am is a typical time for me to wake up.  Ick.  I usually spoon with the dog or sit in the hot tub for a while, or sometimes I fall back asleep.

% of excess weight

Ok, so it is a 3 day weekend, so there's going to be a lot of blogging.  Sorry. :)  I keep my mouth mostly quiet on weekdays but let it all out in these weekend blogs.


I'm looking through one of the library books and it says that typical bandster patients lose 40-50% of their excess weight.  So far I've lost 67/149 lbs.  That's 44.9%.


Ha.


Suck it.


I'm losing more than that. 


Just watch.

Unfill and something really cool....

Last night was the support group at TR.  I was talking about the fact that I'm no longer to eat any solids for breakfast, only a shake (I really dislike shakes, no matter the taste).  I was having difficulty eating at work - after the second bite, my chest was really tight.  I don't want to only eat mushy things---not cool.  Urping up slime is not my idea of healthy weight loss.  Our patient advocate suggested getting an unfill.  I woke up this morning and decided to go in to get some saline removed.  I wanted it to be snug, but felt like it was tight.  I love the fact that I don't have to pay for any appointments for a whole year.  No reason to be uncomfortable when a solution is so easy.


Here's the cool part.  We discussed how much saline I wanted removed and agreed on 1/4cc.  I watched the NP do the unfill.  She explained that she hits the port, then doesn't pull up on the syringe, she wants to see if the band pushes out some extra.  And voila - we watched as 1/4cc flowed up into the syringe.  She didn't pull the plunger (is that what it is called?!) at all.  So there was the answer - I had 1/4cc too much.  If I don't feel like I can eat "normal" food by Friday, I'll go back in and get another 1/4 removed, but chances are, this is my perfect amount.  I just thought I'd share that - I though it was really interesting.


On the way home, I picked up a few books at the library (diet and health related).  I'm currently reading, "Vitamin D for Dummies."  I'll post some reviews in a few days.


Happy Veteran's Day! 

Bandster Pros...I have questions!

Ok, I'll make this short and sweet!


1)  I have a cold and some drainage down the back of my throat.  Today I was sliming for a long time, I couldn't drink water, keep the papaya enzymes down, etc.  I had to keep a cup nearby and keep spitting up in it.  WTH?  Totally not normal.  Sorry for the details, but surely someone has had this happen?  Can a cold "plug" up the band?!   Is SAL pissed off at me or something?


2)  Has anyone taken Niacin (the prescription strength) to help lower cholesterol?  My last labs showed some improvements but still trying to figure out how to get the dang HDL up.  Just curious.


3)  What in the flying flamingo am I going to do about my pants?  The extra tummy skin makes me a 24, but my arse is a 22 and maybe a 20.  They fit around the waist but the butt is all saggy.  What do you guys do about the un-even-ness of weight loss?  So far I've lost in my face, boobs, and butt...but the belly is my issue and pants don't fit right!  HELP!!

Boring Update

Alrighty.  I promise more interesting info tomorrow...but for now...

Got a .5cc fill this morning before work.  Managed to follow the "liquids only" until the 4pm staff meeting with tortilla chips and nacho cheese.  DANG!  I only ate a few, but I just couldn't help it.  The world didn't collapse, but I know better than that.  Post fill instructions are a day of liquids and a day of mushies.  Tortilla chips are not liquids, Amy.  My fill was just in time...the other day I polished off an entire bag of microwave popcorn.  Uh....hello, Amy.....let's try a SERVING SIZE....and that isn't the whole bag!

No weight change this week.  Actually, I'm not surprised.  Halloween brought temptations (parties) and foods that I shouldn't have chosen, but the past is the past.  So are those cocktail weenies in croissants!  There were seriously 150 of them on a platter and they all called my name. I'm just happy to write "no change" for this week instead of "I gained for the first time."  I know that day will come....but just not today :P

Work Story:  of course (thanks to the puking episode), my coworkers know that I have a Lap Band.  Today my coworker was sitting next to me during a staff meeting.  She had chips with salsa and I had the evil chips and nacho cheese.  She looked over and said, "You don't like salsa?"  I told her that I just liked cheese more.  She said, "Doesn't salsa have fewer calories?"  Dear LORD.  I had to restrain myself.  I wanted to rip her head off.  I'm still so super sensitive about comments like that.

So....still 64 pounds down...and I'm okay with that.  Have a good weekend, all.  :)