Week 10

This has been a tough week for me. I have been really tight since my fill and found it hard to eat certain things. On the flip side, I have not been as hungry between meals and sometimes forgot to eat. The only problem with that is once I realize I am hungry I eat too fast and have problems. Darn if I do, darn if I don't. I am sure working more hours has not helped in that I am getting home later. Since I do taxes for a living this is something I will have to figure out. There will always be deadlines and overtime until I win the lottery. So this week has been one of learning.

With that being said, I did lose 1 pound for a total of 27. I have retired several shirts since they were just too big and looked ridiculous. I got to shop in my closet this week which was nice. My pants look awful and are way to big but I have not found the kind I like yet. I figure once fall clothes start being put out I should be able to find them. David noticed that my old hourglass shape is coming back which is cool. I know I will always have my birthing hips :) but am glad I don't look so much like a woman having twins!

This week has also been plagued by a non stop sinus headache. I need to figure what I can take and knock it out. I did hear back on my blood work my internist did. My cholesterol is down and other than being Vitamin D deficient everything looks good. She said that with continued weight loss, good eating habits and exercise I should be able to get it into more normal levels.
Gosh, I sound like an old person relating all my health problems!

I think that is enough rambling on my part.

Loree

Seriously...

Why does that time of the month for me land on my weekly weigh in day? It is very frustrating! I weighted myself on Tuesday and I was down 1 pound. Two days later, I am up 1.7 pounds.

So just for the next couple of days I will be frustrated and grumpy.

Until next Thursday...

Emily

Holy Macaroni

I lost 3 pounds this week for a total of 26 pounds. It still amazes me how this weight has been coming off. I never thought I would see the day when I weighed what I did this morning.

I managed to exercise twice this week. I still find it difficult on my knee even riding the bike. I just think that my knee is still having issues. I will continue to do what I can and not beat myself up about it. At some point, my knee will figure out that it really is okay to work as nature intended.

I have found that as the days pass my tightness has gotten better. I am still able to eat the portions I should so I am not worried about being too tight anymore. I would say that at this moment I am definitely in the green zone. They say as we lose weight the fat around our stomachs shrinks and that is the reason we go in for additional fills. It will be interesting to see how hungry I am when my next fill comes up.

Loree

What a Difference a Fill Makes

Finally, I am in the GREEN ZONE! Since my fill last week I have had to make a few changes to my eating habbits. I can not drink any water while I eat and I have to remember to eat slowly. Before this last fill eating slowly was not as big of an issue but since last week I had to learn the hard way that eating slow is critical. I lost 4.1 pounds this week for a total of 17.5.

Emily

Second Fill

Yesterday morning I went in for my second fill. She went aggressive and put 1cc in the band so I now have 5cc. Once again, just a little pinch and she was done. I did notice with this one that I feel tighter. I was able to get the cup of water down but struggled the rest of the day to slow down when drinking. On Sunday I could guzzle my water and with this fill I am back to sipping. I did worry we might have put too much in since I got sick twice yesterday but this morning I think it is just me not doing what I am supposed to. I figure it will get better once any swelling goes down.

The pros say you are too tight after a fill if you can't get any fluids down, you have heartburn, gastric reflux or cough when you lay down at night. With that in mind I figure I am okay. We will see once I start eating mushy food tomorrow. My online support group has lots of stories of people tying to ride out the tightness and eventually having to get a large unfill. I am not going to suffer that long and figure once I start solid food again if it is still giving me problems I will have them take a little out. I don't want to go backwards!

Loree

Pictures

So I am uploading a picture taken at David's graduation which was 5 days before surgery. The others are from today. Now, I know I look frightful but I had just gotten off the bike!!

Now, I have lost 23 pounds between these two pictures. To you, it may not look like a big difference but I can tell. I feel it in every step. I have a LOT to go but am really proud of what the band has helped me do so far. As you can probably guess, I have over a 100 pounds to lose. Seeing myself today in pictures has helped remind me that I need to stay the course. I need to keep working at it and one day I will look like the skinny person that resides in my head!

Loree

This Time Smooth Sailing

Today was my second fill. It went a lot smoother then last time. I still wonder if I should get a “dot” tattoo though. I was down, over 5 pounds for the month. For me that is good. This past month I have been all over the place. The nurse kept telling me that she was pleased, “we like to see a loss of 4-8 pounds a month, so you are doing really well”. To be honest I would have liked to have been down more.

I got another 1.00 cc this time so my total is 5.50cc now. My band is filled just over half! It only holds a total of 10 ccs. I am hoping that I will be able to feel the restriction. I am on liquids for today and tomorrow and then on to the “mushy” phase for the next two days, then back to my new normal.

Unlike, Loree, I did not go see Dr. B. I knew my incisions had healed fine and to be honest I did not have the time away from work to go. This is the same for my carpal tunnel surgery last week. Why waste time to have my doctor remove my stitches when I was capable?

Yesterday I had a first! I had my lunch and did not get a drink until I was leaving! That was HUGE for me, not drinking before, during or right after a meal.

My plan for pictures is to take one every eight weeks in the same clothes I was wearing on the morning of surgery and in the same poses. I will be taking my pictures today so I can see my “transformation”. I want to post my pictures that I took on the day of surgery so you can see where I really started. I am not sure if I am really ready to post those yet. You see I was wearing shorts and a sports bra and I took a front, side, back and side view… enough said.

My next fill appointment is August 7th. I will be curious what my weight loss will be three weeks and 1 day from today.

Emily

Week 8

So I am now 8 weeks post op. This past week has been busy with doctor appointments. I got the stitches out of my hand, saw my lapband surgeon and saw my internist for my physical.

I am pleased to report I lost 2 pounds this week. My lapband surgeon was very happy with how well my incisions have healed up. He said come back in a year unless you have any issues or problems. It was great to be down 23 pounds on his scale. His nurses were so excited and supportive. I hope to be able to go back in a year and wow them again!

My internist was thrilled I had lost some weight. She added a few tests to my bloodwork to check that I am getting enough B12 and some other things. I will admit I was worried about her reaction since I had heard she was not a big supporter of WLS (weight loss surgery). I have read on my online support group that we bandsters have changed lots of primary care physicans minds about WLS with our success. I hate that there is a stigma with it. But that is another post.

I exercised twice this past week. I know that I have got to get my butt in gear and make that a priority. It is important for all sorts of reasons beyond just losing weight. I will keep you posted on my progress on that front.

I am going to get my DH (darling husband) to take a picture of me tonight when I get home. I promise to post it tomorrow with a pre-surgery picture. Speaking of my DH, he has been so great in helping make sure I have the right foods. Thanks baby!

Monday I will be going for my second fill. I am ready for it since the hunger monster is rearing his ugly head. I have noticed I can eat more at one time and am having to make myself not indulge. I am so thankful for everyone's support and love.

Loree

Weekly Update

I have been on vacation in Louisiana for the past week and was pleased to see I lost a pound. My mom cooked every night so I ate fairly well (Thanks mom - you are the best). I did have some chocolate at the movie theater when we went to The Proposal. Oh and I had cake too. I must have done okay to lose a pound but know I need to get to exercising.

One thing I did discover is that french fries are NO good. No matter how crispy, no good. I will not do those again.

I had a NSV at the movie theater. When I sat down in the seat I did not have to squeeze my hips down the arm rests. That was pretty cool. I have not been comfortable in a movie theater seat in a long time. That made my night!!

Loree

Still Happy, I Think

So I got on the scale and did not gain or loose this week. I am still wearing those pants though!

Emily

Happy Girl this Morning

I thought I better get caught up on my updates since last week I did not post anything. I was too cranky to post. It was that time of the month for me and I was UP 2.3 pounds. I did not like that at all.

This morning I got on the scale and I was very pleased with what I saw. I "officially" weigh in on Thursdays so I won't count today, but I was happy.

As many of you know I was doing weight watchers last year from March until September. I lost +/- 30 pounds (I would have to find my chart to be exact). Well anyway, I remember where I was on the scale when I started to wear a smaller size. You see my dear friend, Kristina, kept telling me that my pants were too baggy. So I finally went and bought a smaller size. I remember the moment I was standing in the dressing room, hoping they would fit without me doing the zipper dance or having my top belly roll falling over (I have two belly rolls, one that is above my belly button and another below it). Much to my surprise they fit perfectly!

Fast forward to this morning. I got on the scale, very please with what I saw, and remembered this was the weight I was, when I bought the smaller size. The walk from my bathroom to my closet seemed to be a long one this morning. Do I dare try them on and see if I can squeeze into them, what if they are too tight, what if my top belly roll hangs over, and will I perform the zipper dance? All these questions went through my head in that short walk. Much to my surprise they fit perfectly again!

Hopefully this will be the last time I have to wear these pants, and this size again.

I am looking forward to my next fill on July 16th. I can tell you that the one thing that is definitely different after my first fill, is that I do get sick more. I still feel like my stomach is a bottomless pit. I do not feel much restriction. Hopefully the 2nd fill will help with that.

Until Thursday…

Emily

Birthday Cake

We had Ashleigh's birthday celebration at my mom's house yesterday. I had a few bites of Ashleigh's b-day cake. Then I decided to just have the part I really wanted which was the ice cream middle. The ice cream was good and gave me the taste I wanted.

I am finding that traveling and eating is not as difficult as I first thought. Eating out is not a problem and I don't feel bad about eating less than everyone else. I did want a taste of the rolls at the restaurant last night and so I had one bite. That was all I needed to get the taste. It will be interesting to see how my eating goes during the rest of the trip.

Loree

Six weeks since surgery update

I was completely surprised to see that I lost 2 pounds this week. Seriously, I am not kidding. I have been really hungry this week and not making the best choices so I expected maybe one pound. I am so excited about the two pounds because that brings my total to 20 pounds. That's right baby, 20 pounds in 6 weeks. Reaching this first milestone makes me so happy I had the surgery. Those first couple of weeks I was not sure if I had done the right thing but now I know that this was right for me!!

Loree