I'm back

Hello all.  I've been a busy little girl lately.  All kids in full football swing - two players, one cheerleader.  Just came back from a 7 day Caribbean cruise with my hubby.  It was fantastic!  Best of all - I lost 4 pounds!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!

Anyway - brief update and maybe pictures to follow after I find time to download cruise pictures.  I am currently weighing in at 160.    For me that is a grand total of 76 pounds.  I have managed to slip into a size 8 pant!  I am loving it.  I feel fabulous and still have so much restriction.  I cancelled my appointment for this week. 

Life is wonderful !  More to follow soon....

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!