Back in action

I was sick all last week and stayed home most of the time.

Can I get a 'Blah!' ?!

I've sat home for as long as I could stand and I am ready to jump back into the real world.

I have a big exam tonight that I haven't done lots of studying for, so I think I'll have to skip the gym today to brush up on my knowledge, then I'll pick my work out schedule back up on Tuesday.

My scale says I've dropped 6 pounds, but I am chalking that up to not feeling well. If it stays for another day or so, I figure it's a keeper!

I gotta take my Vitamins!

Heard back from the Doc/Nurse. I've been instructed to take:

• 2 gummy multi-vitamins, 4 times daily
• 750 mg liquid (blech!) Calcium Magnesium Citrate, 5 times daily
• 2,000 IU Vitamin D, twice daily
• 50,000 IU Vitamin D, 3 times a week
• 2 Chromagen Forte 150 (Iron), twice daily
• 1,000 mg B12 injections, twice weekly
• 30 g protein (in powder form), 3 times daily

I am supposed to do this for two months, have my labs done again and they will determine if I can continue taking at these levels, or if the doses need to be upped.

Is it just me, or does this sounds a little excessive!?! They all have to be spaced just so because some have to be taken with food, some without, some can't be taken at the same time as the others. And, this doesn't even include my normal daily prescriptions (the pill, etc.)!

I am all for being healthy, but this seems a little over the top to me. Are these the levels of supplements that your Doctors are encouraging you to take...or am I just 'lucky'?

No fill for you...err, I mean me.

My fill appointment was a complete and total waste of time...and money!

I was seen by a new (not so nice) nurse. Based on the tightness I have in the morning she wouldn't give me a fill. What!?! Bummer.

The results from my labs that I had taken on Monday hadn't arrived at their office, so I had no reason to even show up. The lab results were faxed over as I was walking out of my appointment, which I was still charged for.

She said she would 'review my labs after she gets back from lunch and then will call in any prescriptions I may need.'

Turns out my levels are super low on just about everything...except protein!

I have got to get my butt in gear and get back on all my supplements on a regular basis.

Dreaded Dr. appt

My fill appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I am super nervous.

I've been putting the visit off for some time because I am not in the shape/at the weight I wanted to be in when my Doc saw me next.

I really don't want to see his face when the number on the scale doesn't read too far from the number it was on my last visit.

I'll have to dress in something really slimming tomorrow. ☺

Hi, I am a major procrasinator

This was SO my workout yesterday!!! I've been working every day in my time between work and school, but yesterday was a school holiday so I kept going back and forth as to whether or not it should constitute a work out day as well.

Slacker, I know!

After putting it off for as long as I could, I finally gave in and went to the gym. It was pretty late and I was quite the tired, so I did only 20 minutes of cardio and spent about the same on weights and then I was out of there.

Yes, it could have been a more intense workout, but I am just concentrating on the fact that I showed up and put in a little effort. Right now, I get points for that...I won't be too hard on myself in the beginning. It's just important that I am developing a schedule for right now...I will concentrate on the details once I have the schedule down.

Take 3 or 4 big gulps...

This morning I had my 1 year post-op (a little late!) labs and upper GI swallow done in preparation for my check up/fill appointment this Friday

Now really, is there anything that tastes worse than that barium gunk they make you drink for the x-ray!?! I was seriously struggling to keep from gagging the stuff back up!

The radiologist said that my stoma was so small he was curious as to how I was able to handle solids. This surprised me! I scheduled a fill because I thought I was too loose.

Now I am unsure of if I want to keep my fill appointment or not. Normally I wouldn't cancel it, but my Doc charges $200 an appointment and I don't want to go if I have no reason to be seen. I'll marinate on it for a day or so before I decide...

So far, so good

I've stuck to working out at the gym all week long! I know that this doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it kind of is...I typically start strong and then begin to taper off until I quit working out all together. Not anymore though!

I just need to make sure that I keep up the momentum in the weeks to come...and I can't slack on the weekends! Weather permitting we'll probably take our dog on a couple of long walks with plenty of hills involved.

Progress Pics

I am super hesitant to post these pics because I am a big ol' baby that is worried about losing whatever anonymity I have here. But when it all comes down to it...what does it really matter?

• Picture 1 - Two weeks pre-surgery (7/08)
• Picture 2 - One year post surgery (7/09)
• Picture3 - Now (9/09)

I wanted to post some before, before shots...you know, pre weight gain, but I have to dig a little deeper for those.

I get a little bummed when I look at this...so much time has passed, but I am not seeing the results I was hoping for. My Doc says that I am losing at a good, steady pace, so I do have to take some comfort in that.

I still have a LONG way to go!

The start of a new habit...hopefully!

I did it. I hit the gym after work yesterday.

I spent some time on the treadmill in the cardio cinema. This is one of my favorite things about the gym I go to. They show movies...sometimes good, sometimes lame, but watching them always makes the time pass faster. They were showing Wild Hogs (eh) so I alternated between watching that and listening to the New Moon audio book on my iPod.

I really felt great after working out!

I've got my bag packed and ready to go after work again today. Since I have a little more time today I will add some weights to my cardio.

I know it's not a huge difference, but I was happy that I saw a .5 lb weight loss on the scale this morning. It was a great start to the day!

It's on!

My gym bag is all packed and ready for me to hit the gym right after work.

I've found that it's much easier for me to go straight to the gym after work versus going home first and then to the gym. Once I go home I find all sorts of reasons not to head back out to the gym.

I've got everything planned around this workout, so there are absolutely NO EXCUSES.

I have GOT to get into the habit of stopping at the gym at least three days a week. I have a little bit of time between work and school that needs to be filled with some type of physical activity and the gym is located right between the two.

Let's see how long I can keep it up...

I need a drink!

One of the hardest adjustments I have had to make since being banded is not drinking during meals. I suck at it. I just can't not drink!

I've finally come to terms with the fact that this behavior is a big reason why my weight loss is moving at the rate it is.

Slowly I've tried to phase out the drinking and I am glad to say that I didn't drink at all during my lunch today. I am dying to, but I am forcing myself to wait for an hour after eating to gulp any water.

I plan to keep at it and hope that it becomes easier and more natural as time passes.

Back to school

Tonight I head back to school. Ugh. I have quite the busy schedule. I work M-F 6:30-3:30 and then I go to night school M-Th from 5:00-10:00. This leaves little time for exercise and leads me to make some less than stellar choices when it comes to eating. You know...the whole convenient over healthy thing. Thus, my super slow weight loss progress.

I plan and plan and plan healthy ways to eat and exercise that fit into my school/work/barely there social life schedule, but plans don't always work out as hoped. I've decided that I need to make more realistic plans and have them be smaller plans that can be added to as progress allows.

To start out, I've decided on a healthy, filling dinner that I can eat before or during school. Wendy's chili. We're coming up on cold weather, so a warm, hearty chili seemed like a good idea. It's cheap ($1!), filling, full of protein and I actually like it. It's one of the healthier, smarter choices as far as fast food goes.

Anyone else have any great on-the-go (code: no refrigeration/microwave required) meals that work well for them? I figure that as much as I like this chili, I will get bored eating it every day!

Vegas success

Vegas was great!!

I didn't do wonderful, food-wise, but I didn't do too bad either. I had turkey bacon and egg whites for breakfast and mostly roast turkey, mashed potatoes and cocktail shrimp at the buffet.

Plus, we walked that strip so much that I know I must have burned off twice what I ate! I haven't weighed myself since I got home, but I am definitely curious as to what the number will be.

And the whole swimsuit unveiling wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be...phew! I felt good, not super self conscious. I did wear a little matching wrap so as not to flash my iffy bum and inner thighs!

Posting some 'before and now' shots soon...

V is for Vegas!

My boyfriend and I are heading to Vegas for a long weekend with some friends, three of my brothers and their wives. I am really excited, but there is one thing that I am still a little nervous about.

Buffets.

The guys are all gung-ho about the big buffets, but I won't be able to eat hardly anything at them.

I am paranoid that everyone will notice that I haven't eaten much and then start to question why. Plus, I don't want to drop $25 on a meal when I can only eat a few bites. Not the point though.

I am wondering if I should use that time to share with them the secret I've been keeping about being banded, or just blow them off?

I do like to enjoy the buffets as well, but am irked that I've let myself get into such a poor physical state that I had to have a medical intervention to keep me from partaking.

Enough whining...now I've got to psyche myself up into packing some bathing suits...scary, I know!! :)

Feel like I need a fill

I've known that I've needed a fill for quite some time, but I've been putting off getting it.

I haven't been losing at the rate I thought I should be and I was embarrassed to go back to my doctor without dropping some more weight. Absolutely silly, I know, but that's what has been holding me back.

I finally decided that I had to get over my ego or whatever and I called to make a fill appointment. My fill doctor services two hospitals, and the one that I go to, he is only there every other Friday. This means that I can't get in for a fill until October 9th!

Part of this makes me upset that I have to wait so long, and this isn't the set up they presented me with when in talks with whether or not to have my surgery through them, but on the other hand...it does give me some extra time to slim down so that I won't feel like such a loser (or not loser, actually!) when I go in.

Off to walk to the dog...uphill!

Gurgle, burp and rumble

In the morning my band is always very tight and makes eating or drinking a little bit of a challenge. Before my massage therapy appointment this morning I'd had a few sips of a smoothie and I guess it was just not sitting well with me.

All throughout the massage my belly and throat were making these loud, weird gurgling sounds and I had the burps. I could not stop, or hide it...I was absolutely mortified.

I'd explained the sounds to her and of course she told me not to be embarrassed and to relax and let my body do what it was going to do. That was the longest, tensest massage of my life! I couldn't get upright fast enough!

I am used to having these odd sounds escape my body, but it's usually at home in front of my boyfriend, in the privacy of my office, or lost in the noise of a restaurant...not in the incredible silence of a massage room. I know, I know...get over myself!

I am definitely not eating or drinking anything before my next appointment though!

Scared of salad

Early on in my 'band life' I had a couple of bad experiences with eating salad...or even a little lettuce, so I have steered clear of it ever since.

But lately I have come across quite a few bandsters who include salads in their every day eats. Anyone else have problems getting lettuce down?

Maybe it was just an early on fluke for me and I will give it another go??

My fault!

Yes, I am a genius. When I set up my blog I didn't enable comments. Way to go, I know.

All is good now though (or at least I hope it is)...comment away. :)

Vacation loss?!?

Yesterday I flew back from a long weekend visiting my family out of state. I was really curious to see what the scale read upon my return. I honestly had no idea which direction 'the number' would be moving.

My eating was sporadic, and not very healthy when it did happened, but I did also work out with my youngest brother a time or two, so I figure that evened it out a bit.

I was thrilled to see that my weight had dropped five pounds (YAY!!) from the past week!! It wasn't a fluke either...I weighed myself again today, just to make sure.

I also told two of my brothers about my band. I don't really think that either of them understand entirely what it is, but now they know why my eating habits have changed so much...which is good enough for now. I just hope that next time I see them, they will be seeing a smaller me...even if it is just a little bit smaller. :)

Bad Bander

I had such high hopes for my future when I got my band. I thought that within a matter of months I would be a whole new person. Then...reality set in. I knew that everyone said the band wasn't a fix-all, but I didn't really, really think I would have a problem with it.

Here I am, over a year later, and hardly made any progress. I am not exercising the way I should and I am certainly not following the band guidelines like I should. I've kept the existence of my band a secret from all but a few select people, so I don't have a lot of support set up, or a feel of anyone that I am accountable to but myself...and let's face it, I am way too easy on myself!

I hope that through documenting my experience through this blog I will be able to find a bit of a support group and also develop a tool to help me be accountable for my actions.

Join me on this journey, won't you!?! :)