They're Gone!!!!

The kids are back in school today!!!  Yahoo!!!  I am so excited to have some peace and quiet and cleanliness order returning to our household.  I wasn't home with them all summer, I was working; however they definitely love to call me about every little thing during the day.  My house stayed a constant mess, very tornado like.  The food disappeared FAST with the neighborhood kids all camping out on a daily basis.  We were the KOOL-AID house for sure.  I loved it, but I am glad it's over!  Now my food bill, and power bill can be cut in half (I hope!)

Anyway...on the weight loss front, things went well for me this morning.  I saw an all time low of 170 today when I stepping on the scale.  That was a pleasant surprise that crept up on me.  I was 172.5 yesterday so I wasn't expecting to be that low.  I am still pretty tight and have had to select my food carefully.  I'm sticking to a lot of fish this week.  Small portions but I know that it's high in protein.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

New Old Dress

I wore this dress to work today.  It's been in my clost for probably about 6 years.  It still had the store tags on it.  I probably bought it without trying it on, got it home and found out it just didn't look right on me (because I was 60 pounds heavier) and decided to hang on to it to try to lose weight.  I did this a lot.  I wasted a lot of money on clothes.  Nothing ever quite looked right.  I would be so upset trying on pants.  I would blame the different fits on the manufacturer.  It definitely wasn't me!!  LOL!

I stopped into Kohl's over the weekend and scoured their clearance racks for work pants.  I found a lot of nice pants (every size 12 I tried fit!) and even a few 10s that are very close to fitting (see....I'm still doing it!!!!)  Everything was priced right around $9 or so.  Nice Dockers.  SCORE!!

I got a fill

Well I got a tiny baby fill and a little bit of a lesson from the PA.  I went to my appointment with the mindset that I wanted a fill.  I haven't had one since June 3rd.  I lost 20 pounds since that time but have sat at the same weight for the last 4 weeks.  My fill in June made me TIGHT but I managed through and lost a nice amount of weight.  I thought that I would get another baby fill and lose a bit more weight and then loosen up before our cruise in October and then go in for another fill before the end of the year and a new deductible needs to be met again. 

I sat down in the room and stated my case. 
Me:  I had nice restriction in June and it lasted all the way through the middle to end of July. 
PA:  what changed? 
Me:  In June I couldn't even begin to think of eating a sandwich thin (bread).  Now I can.
PA:  why would you choose to eat it, even if you can?
Me:  Uh Oh!
PA:  Just because you have less restriction, you need to still make good food choices.  You have been at the same weight for 4 weeks because you are not using restrictions with your brain.....only with your band.  You need to change your behavior and stop relying on the band 100%
Me:  Wow!  That was an eye opener!

So I was allowed my baby fill and I definitely feel it.  I took a look back at the last 4 weeks and realized that I have not been a good bandster.  I once restricted myself to only wholesome foods and lately have been nibbling on candy and have added lemonaid to my diet and am drinking less water.  I need to get back to the basics.  I made this investment for my own good so I need to make the most of it.  I should not be taking it for granted!!  Lesson learned - let's see if I change my ways!

Someone left my freezer door open on Saturday (one of the kids) so yesterday I busied myself cooking the meats that thawed.  All of the fish I had in there needed to be cooked.  I have grilled salmon, shrimp, scallops, and orange roughy for all week.  This should be a nice start to changing my ways!

Happy Monday everyone!

To fill or not to fill

I have an appointment tomorrow.  I cancelled my last one in July and scheduled another 4 weeks out.  I haven't had a fill since June.  I was super, super tight for quite awhile on my last one and lost a good chunk of weight because of it.  I notice now that I am considerably looser.  I still hear gurgle, gurgle of food and drink goig through the band and I still can only eat a small amount. (Varies from day to day).  I can eat more than I could after my last fill.

I'm torn.  I would love to lose some more weight.  I am currently at a 175 stand still.  I've been here for around a month now.  I have a cruise scheduled for the 1st week in October.  I'm thinking I'd like to get a fill now and let it settle before then.

Picture Progress

Although weightloss has come to a stand still for me....I still think I have incredible progress.  I feel so much better.  In my pre-surgery picture I weigh around 227 and am a tight size 18. 

Here is my 6 month post surgery picture.  I weigh 175 and am in a size 12.  I receive a ton of compliments.  Seeing this picture does make me realize that horizontal stripes do no justice to any body!!!  (I'm never going to change...always so critical of myself!!!)

I know that I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel so good.  I really need to start working out.  I have a lot of skin sagging going on. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I did school shopping for my four kiddos.  The bank of mom is now BROKE!!!  We had fun, though. :-)

It's me -

You may not remember me, but I am still around.  Life has me busier than ever...and I love it!

I am currently sitting at 175.  I started my weight loss journey at 236.  I was 227 at surgery. That is a total of 61 pounds GONE!!  I have managed to slip into a size 12 and I feel fabulous!!!!  Everyone has noticed my weight loss and raves come my way on a daily basis.  I have fallen into a nice routine.  I skipped my last fill because I felt like getting another would make me way too tight.  It's almost been another 6 weeks (12 weeks since the last) and I still feel great.  Right now it's TOM so I feel a bit more restriction than normal. I was thinking I may get a baby fill on my next appointment but I am afraid of being too tight.

I love my band!  I do not regret my decision at all.  It was slow going for progress initially but all of a sudden it just took off like wild fire.  I would say the last two months have been the best.

I hope all is well with everyone.  I am going to dig back through the blogs and see what I have missed.  Sorry for my absense....just out enjoying life!

I'm back

Well - it's been awhile.  I never became that runner that I wanted to become...but I'm still living!  I was sick for about 8 weeks.  I thought I had bronchitis.  I never went to see the doctor but I did manage to kick it on my own.  Thank goodness!  Now everyone else at work is working through it too...SORRY!!!

Well I had a fill on Friday the 3rd of June.  A baby one.  That puts me at 5.5  The last time I went in I declined a fill because I felt ok.  About two weeks later I was kicking myself.  I told my hubby to say nothing that would jeopardize a fill this time.  I was going to get filled up!  I was in full on snacking mode and needed to kick it!  Well it worked.  Thank goodness it was only a baby fill because baby I am FULL!  I have never experienced fullness like this.  I can barely eat.  I am talking a couple of bites and I am DONE!  It's almost scary at times.  I am trying to make very, very good food choices right now.  I am thinking that it will loosen up over time and I will be ok.  I have managed to drop a few more pounds since my fill so that is a blessing.  5.5 pounds gone in a week.  I am going to ride this out as long as I can.

My kids have me so very busy lately.  Last Friday was my 41st birthday so we had friends over.  We had my hubby's fried chicken and strawberry margaritas.  My band would not allow the fried chicken - probably for the best.  I did partake in a few margaritas though!  Yummy

  My son's 12th birthday was Saturday.  We had a sleepover with 5 boys.  Air soft wars, pizza, and no sleep is not a good combination for 12 year old boys.  They loved it but I didn't sleep!!

 My older son has basketball tournaments every weekend all summer and we are volunteering at his football camp at the end of this week.  That will have us in Reno for 4 days.   My younger son will begin football next month.  My mom decided to get married in the middle of all of this chaos on July 1st.  Then we host an annual 4th of July party at our house that weekend with family and friends.

Summer - it's finally arrived in Northern California.....thank goodness but as busy as I am it's going to be gone very quickly!