I love my cup!

A couple of weeks ago my daughter and I went to a pottery painting place. We both painted a coffee cup...it was so much fun! I just got my cup back this weekend and I love it!! Now I want to go back and paint a bunch more stuff.

Oh, and today we started our running program. It was quite warm outside but we managed to make it through. We are doing the couch to 5k program...except I altered it a little to stretch it out longer than 9 weeks...and to take it a little slower to start off. So maybe we will actually keep with it and it wont be too hard.

Yummy!

I tried the salmon and eggs that I have seen on Cara's blog. It makes me hungry every time I see it so I thought I would try it and I was definitely not disappointed. YUMMY! Here is what mine looked like. Now if I only knew what a Weetbix was I might try that too! ; )

Yay! The scale didnt go up.

I was kinda nervous getting on the scale this morning...but I was happy to see that it didn't go up...but actually down 1.2 lbs. YAY!! It's not a huge amount but I will take it. Any loss is a good loss to me. Now I really need to work on being more consistent with my exercise. I have not been keeping up with that too well. But, we are supposed to start a running program this Sunday. We being myself, my husband, my 16 yr old son, my 22 yr old son & his girlfriend, my 20 yr old daughter and her boyfriend - and of course my 9 month old granddaughter will be there in her stroller - so the WHOLE family. It will be great that we are all doing it together! It is so much more enjoyable when you have others to exercise with and you know that they are counting on you to be there. Hopefully we can all stick with it and then maybe even run in an organized run like a 5k in a few months.

Man,that was difficult!!

Changing my blog is no easy task! I am very blog challenged and it seems like every little change I make there are 1o others that I need to make because of it. Even just changing the background would make components disappear, then I have to go back and add them back in. Now somehow I have lost my weightloss ticker. I mean I know where to find it, but I cant remember my password to get in and copy the code so now I have to go back and create another one...unless by some miracle the password comes back to me. So, this is the way it is going to stay for a while. No more changes, I think.

On a totally separate note. I ate pizza today! I didn't really set out to have that for lunch. I was going to have soup but they were out of the kind I wanted and so I decided I would just have pizza instead. It took me forever, chewing and chewing - but it didnt get stuck. I know, not the best choice but it is what it is. I cant believe it...I have actually made it all week without getting on the scale. I almost don't want to get on tomorrow just in case it is not good. I know I won't be able to stand it and I will end up getting on. I just hope I haven't gained. That would really be a bummer! Fingers crossed!!

Ordered my first kids's meal

I had a kids meal at a mexican food place today. I had my granddaughter with me so they didnt question the fact that I was ordering a kid's meal (even though she is only 9 months old). It was the perfect amount. Actually I didnt eat it all but it sure was good. Cheese puff, rice and refried beans...ok I didnt say it was good for you but it sure tasted good - and it was all mushies. I went to a baby shower after that and didnt eat cake! That is huge for me. I love cake!! Especially that type of cake - with buttercream icing. I did have one piece of candy - but that's it. So over all not too bad. Went to Olive Garden for dinner - we were on the run alot today :) I had the Tuscana soup and I ordered Manicotti - but I only ate 3 bites. I am liking that I can still eat the good stuff, and actually want a lot less of it. Ok, so I could make better choices and usually I do but for eating out twice today and going to a shower I think that I did pretty well. I am going to my parent's house tomorrow for Father's day. They still dont know I had surgery. I am going to tell them eventually just not quite yet. We are bringing lunch for the whole crowd. I figured that way I can control what we are eating and no one will be asking questions. I want to be totally healed, eating solid food and losing weight before I tell them. As a side note, I am thinking I have some amount of fill in my band. I know some surgeons put the band in empty and some put them in with a small amount of fill. I dont really recall which my surgeron does, but I really feel like I have some restriction. Could I be imagining that? I mean I know that there is still some swelling and that could be contributing to what I am feeling...but there are some things that I eat and it feels like they wont go down. I havent had the feeling like I just cant take one more bite so maybe it is not actually restriction yet. But anyway, I am eating less and I guess that is the whole point.

Back on the Mill

I got back on the treadmill today. I felt really bad that my doctor was chewing on me for not exercising! Not so bad that I got on the treadmill the moment I got home from my Dr visit - or even the next day - but enough to make me get off my butt and do it anyway. It actually felt pretty good getting on the mill again. Burned 400 calories, woo hoo! I am not one to "take it easy" on exercise so I really wanted to make sure I felt pretty good before I just jumped back on. It was actually even a little challenging which is good. I didn't really push it today - being my first day back to exercise but I will say I liked burning the calories! I just want to see some payoff for my efforts. One of the reasons I got the lap band was because I was working out way too hard to not be losing weight. So, I am hoping that now that I have this wonderful tool (I have not given my lapband a name - I guess I will have to come up with something really fabulous like some of the others have - maybe I should call it Renee since I wanted to name a child Renee since I was in high school but my husband didn't like the name so I never got to use it)...anyway I digress - hopefully this tool will make the number on the scale start going down. I know what you're thinking..aren't you supposed to be staying off the scale? Why yes, yes I am. I did get on this morning but only for my weekly weigh in so I could post it on my tracking spreadsheet - I am a little over zealous in that area. But I am not going to get back on until next Wednesday. Hopefully I can keep up the exercise habit. I would really like to get back to running, but I still have a long way to go before I can feel ready to tackle that.

2 week post op visit w/Dr.

I just got back from my 2 week post op visit with the Dr. I have lost 9 lbs so far - according to his scale. Which I guess is not too bad. He told me I really shouldn't be concerned with weight loss for the next 4 weeks, and that I shouldn't even get on the scale. Yeah, right! Doesn't he know I currently get on the scale at least 3 times a day - every day?! Ok, so that is not a great thing to do and I am really going to try to stay off them - only weighing once a week. I think that is a good compromise. He said that I shouldn't even be concerned if a I gain slightly over the next 4 weeks. Yikes, I really don't want to do that! That seems so counter productive. I know I may not be able to help it, but man I sure hope that doesn't happen. Dr also told me I had progressed too much with my food choices. My hubby was there and kinda outed me on a couple things!! I know he is just looking out for me, so I am not going to harass him to badly. The Dr. said I need to go back to NO meat - no matter how small the pieces - except for baked fish. Everything should be soft mushy consistency - fruits and vegetables, eggs and soft, well moistened cereals, baked fish, scrambled eggs... (anything that will squish through a fork) for 4 more weeks. He showed me a clump of chicken that he actually had to remove from a patient who had taken 2 really small bites and chewed it really well - and it got stuck. Ok, ok that was pretty convincing. Also, I didn't realize that I was supposed to be walking for 30 minutes every day. He really got on to me about that! He said that if I have a treadmill that I need to be walking at 3-4mph for 30 minutes EVERY day. Ok, my bad! I will get right on that. I really want to be successful and a good patient! I have to do a measured meal test before my first fill. He said if I didn't do it he would not do a fill. He really uses that to gage where you are at with your eating and how much fill you can handle. I will be glad when I get to that stage. I think it will feel more like a regular meal and maybe easier to control. On this soft liquid phase I feel like I am eating all the time and eating way too much. Overall, a good visit with the doctor and I definitely have some things to work on.

Uh Oh!

I have figured out that I can eat way more than I should. I have moved on to soft food and want lots of texture and flavor. I really want to chew. All those liquids really left me feeling like I wanted more. Not necessarily more to eat but just wanted to chew and wanted flavor. I tried a frozen dinner yesterday...not a good idea. It had small pieces of chicken, noodles and vegetables. The noodles were not working. I had two bites and felt like it was having a hard time going down so I abandoned that and made a protein shake. I feel like I have to find two ways to eat. One to get enough protein and one to get enough flavor and chewing...which really means I am probably eating too much. I haven't gained any weight but I don't really think it is coming off like it would be if I were just able to each one type of meal and be satisfied. Maybe that will come more when I am able to eat more variety of food and really concentrate on eating smaller portions. I am not going to stress about it too much just yet. I have my post-op follow-up with the doctor on Monday so I am curious to see what he as to say.

Weekend's over

I cant believe how quickly this weekend went by. Once I started feeling better it seemed like time just started flying by. I spent some time with my granddaugther this weekend which is always so much fun. She is a bundle of joy!! Here is a picture of her and I.

Back to work tomorrow...back to the real world...life as usual. I have been so hungry today and I am wanting something other than juice, broth and jello!! I have a confession, I actually licked some crackers today. What a weirdo, right? I was so desperate for flavor that I got one of the 100 calorie pack of crackers and licked all the flavor off them and spit them out. I guess that is better than eating them, but still kinda weird. I am really looking forward to having some thicker liquids - actually had a drinkable yogurt today - a couple days early. OMG was it good! Pina Colada flavor, yummy. Bring on the variety. Amazing what a difference a couple days make.

Whew, I think I am gonna make it!

I am feeling better this evening. I actually was able to drink a little more today and move around more. I think I am on the right track, things are looking up. I am anxious to see what the weekend will bring. I am hoping to be feeling like a brand new person by Monday!

2 days after surgery

I am feeling a little better today. I was actually able to sleep in the bed for a few hours last night and took a nap this afternoon. Still have lots of gas pain that I am fighting and cant seem to get much liquid down. I sure hope this is normal. I have had to force myself to have the liquid protein - yuck! I have resorted to mixing it with as little liquid as possible just so I can get it down. Really treating it more like medicine than nutrition. I found myself wanting food today, not because I was hungry and definitely not because I thought it would go down, but because I wanted it to make me feel better. I have had food as a friend for so long I cant help but want to go back to it for comfort. Luckily seeing how I am having a hard time getting juice down I certainly wont even be trying food for quite some time. Also, when I am in pain I cant help but think "what I have I done, why did I do this to myself"?? I know this will pass once I start feeling better and I will be very happy with my decision but honestly right now, it seems like a not so good road to have taken. I have read that people want you to remember how you felt about food right after the surgery so that you can get back to that same feeling later and really start dropping the pounds. I don't want to feel like this later! And if that is the overall goal, then it sucks!! I don't like having to force myself to drink and know that is going to cause discomfort and that I will have to get up and walk around after just a few sips because it hurts. I don't like feeling like I have to burp every time I stand up but yet I cant get anything to come up and it just hurts. I sure hope this get better, its got to right? People wouldn't keep doing this if it didn't get better, right? OK, I am going to stop whining now - I did actually say I was feeling better didn't I? :)

Day after surgery

I made it home yesterday by 11am. The surgery went fine, no problems and no hiatial hernias. Yay! Last night was a rough night. Lots of gas pain and not able to get comfortable enough to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time - even with pain meds. I basically am having to sleep sitting straight up...not easy for me since I am a stomach sleeper! I had mostly just ice chips and water yesterday, and a SF popsicle. Still not really feeling like drinking much - nothing sounds good and so far I had diluted apple juice this morning and it made me feel a little nauseous. I just really want to get rid of this gas pain. It has settled in my back right between my shoulder blades and is VERY uncomfortable. I have been walking around the house quite a bit just to get some relief and taking the gas-x strips. Hopefully today will be the last day of this pain. I know it lasts longer for some people, but man I am hoping that mine will be gone today or at least lessened so I can rest.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

I cant believe its actually going to happen. I am actually going to go through with this and it is all happening tomorrow. I have so many hopes and dreams that I am kinda of scared to hope and dream in fear that they will not come true. If you dont hope, you are not disappointed...but that is a very boring life. I want to believe that this is the thing that is really going to work. I have tried so many diets and exercise plans. I have lost weight many times before but it always comes back. I even got certified as a personal trainer. But I felt like such a fraud because I couldnt keep the weight off. I cant help but think, what will it be like....

- to put on a t-shirt and not have to stretch it out so that it doesnt cling to me
- to be able to grab something out of the closet and throw it on and know that it looks decent
- to plan to go to an event and not freak out at the last minute because I can find anything to wear because everything looks horrible on me
- to be able to eat a regular meal and be satisfied with the amount in front of me - especially being able to leave some of it behind
- to be able to buy clothes based on their "cuteness" not on their stretchability
- to be free from food fest nights where the eating is endless even to the point of pain
- to be able to turn over in the bed at night and not have my stomach get in the way

I am sure there are many more, but I will stop there for now. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the possibilities.