My P.I.C. Informed Me That I Am Slacking

So this blog entry is dedicated to her :-)

We have had a busy busy week this week. My husband is officially out of the Air Force and is waiting to get his discharge paperwork so he can start his new job. In the meantime, he is unemployed for the first time in almost 16 yrs and loving it. Since he will be working 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week for 3 months at a time, I think he deserves the break. I have taken a step back from doing my parties until he starts his new job just to spend more time with him since it will be 3 months apart and only 1 month together again.

We had family photos taken on Sunday up at Red Rock Canyon and I LOVE them!! I was very pleased that I can really see my weight loss from last year's pictures as well. It was me, my husband, our son and my mom doing pictures and we had so much fun! Here are some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure. My photographer is fabulous and I love her! :-)











Hope you all have a great and happy weekend!!

All Better!!

I went into my doctor this morning and I feel SO much better. The PA took out the 1cc that she added last month and it was instant relief...so yes, I was too tight. She said that my band placement is perfect so I won't need many fills, but if I do we will only do .5cc at a time. It is so awesome to be able to drink water without pain! I stepped on the scale and they were impressed to see a 9 lb loss in 3 weeks (WITH jeans on), and then I reminded them that I haven't been able to eat for the past week and a half. LOL

Thank you to all who offered suggestions and words of comfort. I'm happy with my 2cc for now and looking forward to eating & drinking without pain again.

Am I Stuck, Or Am I Just Full??

Seriously. I have NO idea!! Since I feel like I get stuck almost every time I eat, I am now wondering if I am actually just full...like I am supposed to be. But silly me, I LOVE food and want to keep eating it if it tastes good so then I overdo it and am miserable for 1-2 hrs (like last night with the Popeye's chicken. Sonofa...).

So that got me thinking. This morning I ate an egg over medium. However, when I started feeling like I was stuck I noticed that I was 2/3 done with the egg. I threw the rest of it out. I came to work and was feeling rather uncomfortable. Not stuck, just uncomfortable. I went downstairs to get some hot cocoa (because I am trying the "warm liquids in the morning to loosen the band" trick) and I was only able to consume about 8 oz of it in an hour. I got some chicken tortilla soup for lunch and ate 5 bites of broth only and felt "stuck." I can't get stuck on broth. It is a liquid, it is supposed to go right through. Now it has been nearly 30 min since I had my broth and I am feeling better, but again, I am uncomfortable. Do you swell up after you have a stuck episode? To the point that water doesn't want to go down?

I need help from other bandsters. Have you experienced similar? Do I need to get my butt into my doctor? Golly I am whiny the past week...and I really hate that. Bleh.

Waiting for input from others. Have a happy hump day!

I Think I Figured It Out

I posted last week about wondering if I was too tight. Well, I think I figured it out all on my own. I don't think it is the band....I think it is me. I realized that I am eating too big of bites too fast. Before with little to know restriction I was eating almost like I was pre-band. I didn't have to take little bites, but I chewed well. This weekend I discovered that I am not taking small enough bites and definitely not chewing enough. When I eat a bite of something that is about the size of the top of my pinky finger, I am good. Anything bigger, it gets stuck. I guess I have just been winging it until this latest fill and now I really need to buckle down and focus on what I am doing when I eat. I am also satisfied with a much smaller amount and if I push it, I feel like I get stuck...but is it that or is it just that I am trying to cram too much food into my stoma? I think it is the latter.

I am concentrating on my eating now. I am going to spend the next week and a half focusing on meal time and see how often I have an issue. I have an appt with my doctor on the 29th and will see how that all works out and discuss my options with them at that time.

16 Weeks...49 Pounds (With Pictures!)

This morning I woke up feeling good....really good. I had to pick out a smaller comparison outfit because the other is so big (VERY exciting). Now, I do look a little lumpier than normal and look like I have more rolls, but that is because I have a regular bra on (rather than a sports bra) and again, my pants are a size smaller, but I don't care. I saw such a crazy difference myself just getting dressed so, of course, I was excited with the pictures. I am almost at my halfway mark and I was only 4 lbs away from my 10% goal, so I am pleased. I will be completely honest, I was shocked by the number on the scale this week. I know I am eating less, but we went to Texas de Brazil for my son's birthday and I figured the lack of water and excess amount of salt from there would still be lingering in my system. I am officially down 49 lbs since the start of my journey. That averages to a little over 3 lbs a week which is right on track. Lets hope that next month shows a much bigger drop since I can go back to the gym now! 6 weeks away is too long when you hav over 100 lbs to lose! Thanks for reading, and here are my 16 week pictures (12 weeks below in light gray)

Too Tight?

I've been a bad blogger. I was super busy at work last week and then sick over the weekend, so I slacked.

I think I am going to give my doctor's office a call. Since my last fill I get stuck. A LOT. I think I may be too tight. I can understand some things giving me problems, but certain others are concerning. My biggest worry came just now. About 1.5 hrs ago I ate some cheese and 1/4 slice of turkey. Turkey got stuck. After about 10 min if finally went down...or so I thought. I just took a drink of water and it immediately came back up. Water!! Any bandster followers have similar issues before? It is hard to believe that 3cc's is too much for me, but it just may be.

I know it is Tuesday and goals are supposed to be done on Monday, but I suck.
Water- Water is a big one. I have been really bad on water because we have been traveling a lot and then I got sick. When I sit at my desk at work I don't have trouble getting all the water in, but I haven't done well the past 2 days even.

Gym time- I have decided to wait on going back to the gym for another week. That will be 6 weeks now that I haven't worked out. I am looking forward to getting back to the gym but not looking forward to starting all over again. Oh well, it happens. My husband is taking a job overseas soon so I will be getting lots of gym time in while he is gone. I seem to exercise when he leaves (I was in great shape his last deployment...lost 20 lbs!) because it keeps me busy and exhausts me at the same time. Helps me to sleep better.

Protein- I am not getting my 90 grams in every day. Need to be more diligent about that task.

Weight- I wanted to be down another 10% by Thursday, which is my son's birthday. 222 was my goal weight. This morning I was 229.7. I don't think 7.7 lbs is coming off in the next 2 days. Oh well. We'll see how close I get. Then it will be time to set the next 10% goal!

I hope you have a great week!

I Have My Mom's Hands

Not literally.

However, I discovered today something I haven't seen in quite some time. As I was filling up my water bottle this morning I noticed these things on the tops of my hands. Yup, my veins. I mean they were popping out today! I don't recall ever having had that in my life. I say I have my mom's hands because she has "veiny" hands, as does my grandma (her mom). I guess I have always had that layer of fat over my hands and never noticed them. But bring em' on! My wedding ring also spins. It is glorious! It hasn't done that since we first got married.

Speaking of married. I can't believe that I forgot to blog about my closet cleaning adventure. Just for shits and giggles (and because it has been in a ball on the top shelf of my closet for almost 4 yrs) I tried on my wedding dress. My husband and I will be married for 4 yrs in Nov. Now, on my wedding day I had my lovely little body shaper thing on and my dress fit perfectly. Well guess who wiggled her shrinking behind into her wedding dress that hasn't fit in 3 1/2 yrs WITHOUT any sort of support wear and zipped it up? Yup, it happened! I was elated!! I walked all around the house in my wedding dress for about 30 minutes. My husband and son thought I had completely lost it. Now I get to do my "Trash the Dress" photo session I have been dreaming of doing! That is my gift to myself when I hit 220...so in 9 lbs. That is what I weighed when we got married.

I am loving all of the little changes to my body that I am discovering. It's kinda fun :-)

Makin' a List

I have enough foods that I can't eat now that I am making a list...and of course I am going to share it with you :-)

My husband and I took a trip this weekend and I learned a lot about my latest fill. It sucks!! Actually it is also doing its job, but I am learning the hard way. I need to take smaller bites and remember to chew, chew, chew, chew, chew and chew some more. Keep thinking in my head "applesauce consistency."

So here is my list of what I cannot eat:

Bread (of any and all shapes and forms. Can't do it)
Pasta (again all shapes and sizes)
Rice
French Fries (which is good and sad at the same time...but being stuck and driving 85mph on I-40 is NOT a situation you want to be in)
Potatoes
Chicken Mc.Nuggets (oh yeah....that was a BAD one. I forgot those are like rubber.)
Scrambled Eggs (this one is truly heartbreaking)
Meat that is too dry (I slightly overcooked my salmon on Sun and it took a lot of work to get it down)
Tortilla chips

The last 6 I learned over the weekend. And let me tell you, when you get stuck any appetite you had before is long gone. I actually lost a pound over the weekend. I had 3 stuck episodes and just stuck to liquids after that.

Last night we came home and I had a terrible headache. Before I headed out to make some deliveries I took my normal pain reliever and IT got stuck! I'm pretty sure it was sideways in there because I felt it. That called for pulling over and getting it out. My 2nd PB since surgery. I thought my husband was going to puke in the passenger seat. For a tough guy he can't handle certain things ;-)

The eggs I was really worried about, because I love eggs. However, at breakfast yesterday I had an egg over-medium and that went down fine, so I guess scrambled eggs and omelets are out now. The meat problem seems to be sporadic, but I have found that ground beef is fine in whatever form it is in (nachos, burger, etc) so I just eat that. It made for interesting nachos for my hubby to eat as I picked the meat & cheese off it them. I had to laugh at our checks when we ate out. Our check was never over $15 for the 2 of us because I just eat off of his place. Nice!! Who knew surgery would make me such a cheap date :-)

College Football Season Is Here

'Nuff said. Go Hawks!!