Is Twice a Week too Much? (Week 25)

Hey Bloggers. Hope everyone's doing well today.
I've been doing some thinking and I've realized that I've kind of been treating the weekends as if they don't count--not tracking food, eating anything I want, basically back to old behavior. So, I've concluded that what I need to do is be held accountable for my weekends, so I've decided to do two weigh ins per week. I'll be sticking with my regular Thursday weigh in (because my surgery was on a Thursday), but for added accountability, I'll be weighing in and posting on Mondays as well. I have this fear of letting you all down if I post a gain in weight, so I really feel like having the extra Monday weigh in will increase my fear, thus helping me to be more well behaved. In addition to the Monday posts, I am making a commitment to track my food every day for the next two months (just for starters). I'm not going to post that on here because frankly, I don't know how to do that with Excel, which is where I track. I just wanted to put that in writing in blog land because now I'm going to be accountable to 74 other people for that, too.

Anyhow, the scale this morning did not show my new low that I discussed in an earlier post. But, there was a loss of .4 pounds from last week, which is ok I guess. Today's number was 219.5. Glad to still be out of the 220s, but I really would like to be down a bit more. Hopefully by next week's appointment with the PA I'll be comfortably out of the 220s. Like, 216-217ish? That'd be nice. I'm kind of hoping for a fill when I go in for my appointment, but she didn't give me one last time and she only gave me .3cc the time before that. Sounds a bit like Ronnie's surgeon. But really, only 2.3 ccs in a 10 or 11 cc band? (sue me, I don't remember which. It's written down somewhere!) Hopefully I'll be able to get just a squirt more in there, and I think that would really be beneficial because I've been pretty hungry as of late. Enough about that though, I'll let you all know next Thursday how that turns out.

I just want to thank everyone so much for commenting on the progress pics. Your comments are so important to me and I love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone from the bottom of my heart!

Better be off to class now. Hope everyone has a great day. Oh! Guess who got a new (used) washer and dryer!!! Thank you, craigslist :)

xoxo

Comparison Pictures

It's not my bandiversary or anything. I just felt like taking comparison pictures today. So, here they are. The ones on the left are from the night before surgery, 8-3-11 at 264.4 lbs. The ones are the right are from today, 1-22-12 at roughly 219 lbs.

       I can hardly even believe it. Looking at this amazing difference makes it all seem worth it. I compared the new pictures from today with the ones I took on December 4th at 223.8 lbs. Even though it's only about a 5 pound difference from then to now, I can actually see it, and that makes me so unbelievably happy. If given the opportunity to do it all over again, I absolutely would. Oh, Rocky wanted to be in the pictures too :)

Have a good week, everyone!

xoxo

I'm Sorry, Bloggers

I don't know why I even bothered to post on Thursday; I had nothing nice to say so I shouldn't have said anything at all, right? Well, I'm in a much better mood today. Sorry for posting about my blah-ness. Why am I in a better mood today, you may ask? I'm not quite sure. The men-folk tried to fix the washer while they were here, but to no avail, so we're going to be looking on craigslist for a used one once Ben gets his tax return. I'm glad they tried though. School starts tomorrow and it's my last semester before student teaching. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm only taking 15 credits this semester as opposed to the 18 I've taken for the past 3 semesters, so I'm super excited about that. My schedule has some pretty large gaps in it which will allow me not only time to use my school's gym, but probably time for homework and perhaps even blogging. Good deal, if you ask me, except that I won't be able to work as much (I hate feeling like a financial burden on Ben and I can't wait to get a big girl job). Oh, and the blogging more might not kick in this week because my sister-in-law's baby shower is on Saturday, so I have stuff to do to get ready for that. Need to figure out how I'm going to do my nails (mild obsession with nail art going on) and Thursday I'm giving sis-in-law a manicure. Plus, I'm in charge of making the cake, so I'll be busy with that. I'm starting to get a bit nervous because this is my first cake for a big event. Pictures will definitely be posted.  Oh, speaking of pictures, I asked Ben to take some progress pics today, so I might be doing another post later on with those.

I suppose I can name two definite reasons for my improved mood. Reason #1: (and this is just between us, as it's not weigh in day til Thursday) but this morning I saw a new low :) Hopefully it sticks around, and I'm pretty sure it will because I seem to lose better when school's in. More organization and planning, I guess. More opportunities for exercise with walking around campus, too. Reason #2: Ben proposed! Well, sort of. He was talking in his sleep. So, I guess it doesn't actually count since it wasn't a conscious proposal, but it makes for a funny story. He started dozing on the couch and I was sitting next to him. The previous night, he was having nightmares about finding me dead in our house. So, when he was dozing on the couch, he said my name and I tapped him to try to wake him up because I didn't want to die for a third time. But, he didn't wake up. About 30 seconds later, he said "Will you marry me?" And he didn't even mumble it. He definitely just plain said it. I started to giggle and I guess that woke him up. I told him "Yes" and his eyes widened because he'd realized that he said it out loud. He said "NO! NO NO NO NO! That's not how that's supposed to happen!" It was pretty funny. Or maybe you had to be there. I don't know. But it's nice to know that it's on his mind so much that he's dreaming about it.

That's about all for now. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

xoxo

Week 24

I'm pretty miserable today. Spending the day at my brother's house doing laundry because our washer is still out of order and has been since before Thanksgiving. Just for a little extra awesomeness, TOM is here. I feel like I could eat the world, but I guess I won't. I'm just going to make this post short and sweet so I can go back to snuggling this blanket. Weigh in this morning was 219.9, which is a .2 lb gain from last week. I'm ok with that, since I'm still under 220. I just don't have much of a desire to care right now.

Hope everyone's doing well.

xoxo

Week 23 (And I Need Your Opinions)

Well, Miss Lani was right. Week 23 brought good numbers on the scale. I'm now officially out of the 220s! I know it's not by much but I'm so excited about it. It's a 1.7 pound loss since last week, which I'll happily take. 44.7 down since surgery. Less than 70 pounds to go til I reach my goal of 150 lbs. It's still terribly daunting, but it's nice to watch the number go down.

On the exercise front, I haven't been feeling much up for it lately. Having some sinus problems. I did, however, try to take Rocky for a jog around the neighborhood the other day and it turns out, he isn't very good at it. He bounces like Tigger. He was bouncing in front of me and I didn't want to trip over him, so we just ended up walking. I'll have to teach him how to jog properly.

But, speaking of exercise, my wonderful boyfriend and I are celebrating 5 years of being together next month and for our anniversary, he wants to get me a Wii and Wii Fit. So, my question to the ones who have experience with these products: Do you really get a good workout with the Wii Fit? What kinds of things do you do? If anyone has the Zumba for Wii, does that give a good workout? Any opinions on these products would be greatly appreciated.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

xoxo

Tag! I'm Feeling the Love

As it turns out, I've been tagged by 3 people! So, thanks for thinking of me Rockband Barbie, Donna from mdlapband, and Jen from jennxaz. It's nice to have so many people thinking about me :) Here we go...

The Rules:1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ Blah blah blah, you legiti­mately have to tag 11 peeps!

Random Things:

1. I love animals. If I could afford to help all the animals in the world, I would.
2. When I was 16, I worked at McDonald's for a little over a year. To this day, I've still never in my life eaten a Big Mac.
3. I used to bowl for my high school bowling team and I really miss it.
4. Interesting things have happened throughout history on my birthday. Like, the beginning of the American Revolution and the Oklahoma City Bombing.
5. I'm mildly obsessed with nail art.
6. I've never read a lot of the books that, as an English major, I feel like I should have.
7. I hate my feet. They're flat and misshapen and it's really hard to buy shoes that look good.
8. I want a hot fudge sundae.
9. My Christmas stuff is still up...I have absolutely no idea when it's going to come down.
10. If I have a banana before I go to bed, I get the most ridiculous dreams
11. I slept horribly last night and am quite tired.

Rockband Barbie's Questions

1. How often do you grocery shop? Usually about every 2 weeks, unless we run out of something.

2. Do you shower in the morning or at night? Morning, unless I go to the gym.

3. What is your favorite place to shop? Good question. It depends what it's for. Usually Fashion Bug.

4. What is you favorite spice? Garlic! You can never have too much garlic :) Lucky for me, Ben likes it, too.

5. What is the best date you have ever had? One time, toward the beginning of our relationship, Ben and I decided to be really spontaneous and drive 2 hours away to the place his family goes camping, just so he could show me the awesome view of the stars. It's the most spontaneous thing we've ever done and it was just so beautiful and I loved every minute of it.

6. Who is your celebrity crush? Currently, I guess it'll have to be Taylor Lautner. I hate myself a little bit for saying that, but he's just soooo pretty!

7. What is your favorite season? Autumn.

8. What movie always makes you cry? The Little Mermaid, Titanic, Stepmom...the list goes on and on. I love crying at movies.

9. Which side of the bed do you sleep on? If you're looking at it from the foot of the bed, I sleep on the left.

10. What is your favorite candy? Heath Bars

11. What was your first job? I worked as a prep cook in a little diner the summer after I turned 16. I loved that job.

 

Jen's Questions

1.  Paperback, nook, kindle or other? I have a Kindle, but I also have regular books.

2.  Favorite place to vacation? Topsail Beach, NC.

3.  Mommy or daddy's girl? A little of both.

4.  Tomboy or girlie girl? Again, a little of both.

5.  Did you play sports in school?  I played tennis for a year because all my friends were doing it. I wasn't very agile, so that didn't last long. I was on the varsity bowling team all 4 years.

6.  PC or MAC? PC

7.  Favorite band or singer of all time? I don't really know. I like a lot of different people.

8.  Favorite movie of all time? probably Now and Then

9.  When you go to Vegas...slots or tables? I'm bad at slots and never tried tables...i prefer to gamble in the form of bingo.

10.  Beer or wine or none? wine. although Ben brews his own beer, I just don't like it.

11.  Favorite reason to blog? Support from the blogging community.

 

Donna actually didn't ask any questions. So, none for that.

 

It looks like everyone's been tagged, so I'm not going to bother with that. But, again, thanks for the love.

And speaking of love, I'm up to 70 followers! Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. Your support means the world to me and I love you ladies. If I'm not already following you, leave me a comment so I can return the favor.

 

Happy Monday, everyone. Hope a good week is had by all.

 

xoxo

Week 22

For today's weigh in, the scale said the exact same thing as last week. At least it's not a gain. I don't have much to say today. Not feeling very well- cold or something coming on. But, today I ate at Panera and had their Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and it was delicious. You know, just in case anyone was wondering.

Off to watch Harry Potter and nurse a cup of hot tea.

xoxo

5 Months Already?

Well, it only took half the day, but eventually I realized that today's my 5 month bandiversary. I don't have pictures to post because Ben's not home to take them. The scale's been bouncing between 221 and 223 all week. I'm getting extremely frustrated by the number (much like Cece with her stupid-ass piece of plastic post from last week. While I'm not happy that the scale has been roughly the same for the past 4 weeks or so, I will say that I'm fitting comfortably into size 1X tops. I've given up wearing jeans for the time being because they're doing nothing but upset me (either they're too big or they're too small--no winning!) so I really can't tell you what pants size I am. But, I can tell you that on New Year's Eve, for the first time in years, I not only fit into, but totally rocked a size XL shirt! No, not a T-shirt either. A spandex blend super cute shirt that Lap Band Gal sent me during one of her awesome give aways. I took a picture with my phone, but I don't have a very good camera on it, so this picture is the best I can do.
****EDIT**** since the picture isn't working for some people, I changed my profile picture to be the picture I'm posting about here.
                               

This, my friends, is my torso. And, if you will notice, there are curves! Beautiful, womanly, not reminiscent of The Blob, real live curves! The kind that are actually supposed to be there :)  Now, even though it pains me that the scale hasn't been going down, this is my first genuine plateau since I plateaued after losing the initial bit of weight right after surgery from liquid diet. So, I suppose I ought to feel pretty good about this, and believe me, I feel amazing about this picture, but, it really is frustrating to be at the same place number wise. I've been scaring myself lately into thinking that I might be one of the ones to fail with the band. I know it's probably not the case, but that's how it feels sometimes. I know I just need to focus on good bandster behavior and exercise and in time, the number will keep going down.

Wow. When I started typing, I thought this entry was going to be short and not-so-sweet, but it turned out to be less negative than I anticipated. That's nice.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

xoxo