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. :)