Word for 2012

Since everyone's doing it, here's my word for 2012.

Devotion

de·vo·tion

   /dɪˈvoʊʃən/ Show Spelled[dih-voh-shuhn] Show IPA

noun

1.

profound dedication; consecration.

2.

earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.

3.

an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one's wealth and time to scientific advancement.

4.

Often, devotions. Ecclesiastical . religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship for special use.

---

Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English devocioun  (< Anglo-French ) < Late Latin dēvōtiōn-  (stem of dēvōtiō ), equivalent to Latin dēvōt ( us ) ( see devote) + -iōn- -ion

 

 

 

I chose this word because in order to achieve success in both my weight loss and my academics, I will need to be absolutely devoted to making sure I perform well with each. I must devote myself to logging food, exercise, getting enough water and protein, and doing what's right for me. Also, in my last two semesters of my undergraduate program, I must be devoted to my studies more than ever. Starting in the fall I will be student teaching and in order to get a job afterwards, I need to be devoted to bettering myself as an educator. So, there you have it. 2012 will certainly be a year of change, but I am determined to see success.

 

Happy New Year to all of you. May 2012 bring us all happiness, fulfillment, and smaller jeans!

 

Off to spend the night with my fellow and my pup.

xoxo

Week 21 and New Blogger Alert!

First and foremost, we've got a new blogger alert! Stop on by and say hello to Jennxaz over at Tales from an Arizona LapBander. She's going through her insurance company's requirements for approval right now and could use some BOOBs love :)

Now, on to other things. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I've enjoyed seeing the pictures you've all been posting and I'm sorry I've done the same. I'm just lousy at photo ops, as are the rest of my family members. However, I've got a picture of Ben and me from when we were down at his brother's for graduation. Hopefully it'll hold you over and I'll get some pics for New Year's.



 So, there's that. And, now on to the band front. I went for my appointment with the PA last week and she didn't give me a fill. Said she thinks I'm doing well and wants to see if I can keep up the progress. I feel ok about that. When I got there it was 2pm and that morning on my scale I weighed 223.something. Upon weighing on their scale (mind you they don't allow you to get naked at the office I go to and I had on soaking wet pants because I'm a whopping 5'2" and my pants were dragging through the puddles) my weight had changed to 228 lbs! I was so upset about this even though I knew it was because of my clothes and such. I didn't want them to think I wasn't doing well. the 228 would have only been a loss of 6ish pounds since my last visit in October. But, she was still happy with the loss. She always has me set a goal to achieve by the next visit I have with her and this time it's to be out of the 220's. I've kind of been plateaued for about 3 weeks or so, but this week brings something wonderful.

Remember how I said I was skipping week 20? Well, in writing, I did. But, I still weighed myself. And it was still 223.something. I just didn't want to post it because I was afraid of putting it into writing because it would make me feel more like a failure. But, today's weigh in has broken the plateau, which I'm really surprised and pleased about since it's the first weigh in after Christmas. I'll take it though. Today, the wonderful scale said 221.4 lbs! Oh I was ecstatic. Since I can't remember what my weight was last week, I'll have to go with week 19 for mathematical purposes. It's a 1.8 lb loss from week 19, 43 lbs since date of surgery, and 56.6 lbs from my highest back in summer 2010. I'm so happy about this loss.

I hope everyone's doing well and if anyone had a gain over Christmas, don't let it get you down. For a lot of us, this is our first Christmas with the band. It's easy to get back into our old habits, and I'm saying that from experience. Let me tell you, the day after Christmas, the scale was definitely up from 223.2. But, with the band comes a lifestyle change. Being amongst the younger of the banded bloggers, I only know how hard it is to change habits after 23 years' worth of Christmases. It's not easy; we can't expect things to change over night. It took us years to develop the habits that we have, and it's going to take time to change them. Be patient and persevere and I'll be there with you trying to tell myself to do the same. But, I don't always listen to myself and that's when it really helps to have all of your encouragement and support.

I'd like to congratulate those of you who did behave like good bandsters over the holidays and those who lost weight, too. I may have lost weight, but I attribute that to the exercise I got this week and certainly not to my food choices.

That about wraps it up for this entry, but stay tuned for my pick for my 2012 word of the year!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

xoxo

Skipping Week 20

I really haven't felt like blogging. I skipped weighing myself yesterday because I just didn't feel like it this week. There have been too many cookies consumed and I know that. TOM is here and in addition to constant salty/sweet cravings, I've been super emotional. So emotional, in fact, that this commercial for a local restaurant that I see every year at Christmastime actually made me cry yesterday. Ridiculous, I know. I just was so touched that the tree was helping the star. I think TOM is really getting me down, not to mention there's just not enough time to do all the things I have to. Still need to go out and get my dad's gift tomorrow. Just finished baking a batch of cookies for him and my brother. Now I'm laying on the couch, watching old episodes of Friends, waiting for laundry to dry. Yeah, all freaking 50 loads of it. Our washer is still broken, so after work today and after 3 hours spent driving about 7 miles to go to 2 stores (ridiculous traffic...3 hours?! Really, people? Did no one work today?) I went to the laundromat and ran out of money to dry the clothes. So, they're all clean, but I have to dry them all here. It's taking forever. I was hoping not to stay up too late as we've got a very busy weekend ahead of us. Tomorrow morning, Ben, Rocky, and I are having our Christmas morning together and opening presents, then off to mom's for our traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dinner. After that, we'll stop by my uncle's for a bit (hoping for some compliments from relatives I've not seen in a few months), then to Ben's parents' house to spend the night. We'll wake up there on Christmas morning, have brunch and exchange gifts, then off to daddy's house in the afternoon. So. Much. To. Do. Ugh.

Anyhow, I don't mean to be all complainy. I really just got on to say thanks to my new followers and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. So, thanks, new followers and if I'm not already following you, be sure to leave your URL in comment!

For everyone celebrating Christmas, I hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas.

For those celebrating Hanukkah, I hope you're enjoying the Festival of Lights.

For those celebrating Kwanzaa,  a joyous one to you.

And for everyone else, have a great weekend.

I've been reading a lot of posts lately about being off track and things of that nature, and I'm as guilty of that as anyone. So, my wish for the New Year is that we can all get back on track, do what we're supposed to, and continue to fight our battles and support each other while doing so. Again, happy holidays to everyone!

xoxo

Week 19

I have a final in an hour. I really should be studying for it. It's the last one of the semester and I feel so drained, so I figured I'll just do a quick update instead of studying. I have to guess at a lot of answers on this professor's tests anyhow.

So, weigh in this morning was 223.2, which is annoying because yesterday I was in the 222's. I didn't have a BM this morning, so that's probably why. Either way, it's a loss from last week. While I'm not losing as quickly as I'd like, I have to acknowledge that it's my fault. I've had a few too many cookies this week and I've not been to the gym for absolute lack of time. But, since today is my last final, I'll have some extra time to get some gym time in. I hope that'll help with the weight loss. I almost wrecked my day today, food-wise. I had to get to campus early for an end of semester evaluation from one of my professors. After that, I strolled over to the student union where they have delicious sandwiches and things. I thought to myself, "I have this extra money because my car inspection wasn't as much as I expected. I could spare a few dollars." But, I hopped on the computer before I made any decisions, saw Rachel's post about how she's lost over 50 pounds in less than 5 months, then I saw Lap Band Gal's Facebook picture of her standing with her Christmas tree, looking absolutely skinny and beautiful. These girls saved my day today. I would have eaten something awful if I hadn't had that feeling of wanting to succeed like they are. So, thank you ladies, for making me suck it up and eat my perfectly good string cheese and clementine.

Oh! I almost forgot! I've got 2 NSV's going on right now. I'm wearing a pair of size 20 pants that I haven't been able to wear in practically forever. They're smaller than my other size 20s, so that's exciting. They're a tiny bit squeezy, but they don't look bad. And, I went to my dad's house the other day to get one of my old prom dresses for my production of Romeo and Juliet. When I was there, he pulled out two other dresses, one that I wore for the Homecoming dance in 10th grade. It was a size 22 and it was huge! Like, I had a fist-full of excess fabric gathered up, kind of huge. Now, I know I weighed less than what I do now when I was in 10th grade, but I guess my body really is changing and the weight is being distributed differently. It's interesting. I was quite pleased with that. I also have a dress that I've never worn, which I'm not likely to wear. It's also a size 22, floor length gown, black with some pink sparkly bits all over it. If anyone's interested, I'll post a picture of it and do a give away. It'd be nice for someone to get use out of it. So, let me know if you'd like to see it.

I guess maybe I really should go look over my notes now. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :)

xoxo

Secret Santa!

Good day, bloggers. I know, after Ronnie and  Dawnya's vlog, I should be posting more, but come one...it's finals week. I just wanted to do a quick post to say thank you so much to my Secret Santa! Her gift was really thoughtful...something for my study desk/ future teacher desk :) I've misplaced my camera when cleaning for my Christmas party, but here's a picture from the internet of what she got me...
How cute is that? Love it. Very thoughtful, Secret Santa. Thank you very much :) I hope you have a spectacular holiday season.

As far as posting more, it's just not gonna happen right now. I've got my finals and things, plus we have to go back down to Ben's brother and s-i-l's house because his brother's graduation is this weekend. Got his master's degree, so we're heading down on Friday to celebrate. That's it for now.

Hope everyone's well

xoxo

Week 18

Well, bloggers, today I report to you my first gain. And truth be told, I'm not really all that sad about it. Last week, my weigh in was 223.8, down from 227 the previous week. I thought that was a terribly large loss, but I took it. I weigh every day and on Friday, I was 225.something and I've been in the 225's all week. Mind you, I didn't even eat bad on Thursday and I got enough water, so I was terribly confused about how I gained 2 lbs on Friday. Anyway, I've decided that the 223 was a fluke. Today, the scale says 224.0, which is a .2 gain from last week, but I'm ok with it. Although, it probably could have been less because last night (at 10:00 pm of all hours) I idiotically devoured three pieces of cheese pizza from my favorite local place. I feel awful about it. I've been dappling in the poor food choices since about Sunday, but last night just pushed it over the edge.

Today, it's back on track. I've got my protein bar for lunch and dinner will probably be tilapia and green beans. Speaking of tilapia, I made the most fabulous lunch yesterday and it was super easy, too. I just defrosted a 3.5 oz piece of fish, added about 1T I Can't Believe it's not Butter, a sprinkle of garlic powder, dill, salt, and pepper, wrapped that bad boy in foil and put him in the toaster oven for about 15 minutes. It was amazing. Probably do the same thing again today.

On another note, for my 4 month post, Lap Band Gal left a lovely comment saying how I'm rocking my band (thank you, ma'am!) and she wanted to know how the exercise is going. Honestly, at the moment, it's not going too great. I've been so busy with school and work, planning my Christmas party, getting the house ready (cleaned and decorated) for that, plus family obligations, that I literally have no extra time. So, my question to you ladies is, how do you do it? When you were starting out with exercise, how did you make sure you got it into your busy day? I was planning to go on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but it just seems like every time I try to do that, something (usually school related) comes up. Or there was last week when the damn drain died. But anyway, I'd appreciate any tips you have to give me. I know I've definitely been walking a lot more because I'm running all over campus to get crap done before finals week (next week!).

And speaking of school, I passed my Praxis II test!!! I'm so excited! In the state of Pennsylvania, the minimum passing score is 160 and I figured if I were to pass the test, it'd be with like a 162 or something. But, to my extreme surprise, I woke up Tuesday morning to find a score report saying 183. I was perplexed at first, thinking they had given me someone else's score by mistake (it was a really hard test!) but I've accepted the fact that I've passed. One more real semester of school, then a semester of student teaching and I'm done! Til I decide to start grad school that is.

I have no segue for this, but I'm getting pretty excited about Secret Santa that Shannon is organizing. I've gotten my Secret Santa part of her gift, just need to go out this weekend and pick up the other component. Just out of curiosity, are we supposed to reveal ourselves or remain secret forever and ever? Just wondering.

So, anyhow, I'm going to go return that jerk of a book The Odyssey and buy a bottle of water because I definitely left mine in my car at the park and ride. Oopsies.

Have a good day, all.

xoxo

4 Months

Hello Bloggers :)

Today marks 4 months of being banded. I don't have much time to update because I've got a bunch of school work to finish, but I had Ben take some comparison pictures and I just wanted to get them posted tonight. I don't see much of a difference, honestly. It makes me sad. But, Ben says he does, so hopefully you will, too.
Have a good day, all.

xoxo

10/14/11 236.5 lbs



12/4/11 223.8 lbs

























10/14/11 236.5 lbs



12/4/11 223.8 lbs

10/14/11 236.5 lbs

12/4/11 223.8 lbs

 

No Dr. Appt

The surgeon's office called and cancelled my appointment for today. I rescheduled (tentatively) for Dec. 13, but I might have a final exam that day, so it could change. After work, daddy came over and brought me some Christmas decorations that my grandma wanted to get rid of. I LOVE decorations of all kinds, I'll take anything. Currently, I have two boxes of fall/Halloween decorations sitting in the living room waiting to go out to the shed and switch out with the Christmas boxes. Decorations make me happy. Anyway, on his way here, daddy stopped at a plus size clothing consignment shop and picked up a sweater for me. Since I didn't have to worry about my appt, he asked me if I wanted to go check out this store, so I said sure. It's just a small boutique style place, but it was awesome! They had some really cute clothes there. I got another top for $5 and a pair of pants for $7. Sweet :) I know where I'm going to be getting my clothes when I shrink out of my current ones! Maybe I'll do a fashion show when Ben gets home and I'll have him take pictures. We'll see.

Have a good day, all :)

xoxo

Week 17

Hello bloggers :)

Hope everyone's doing well on this fine first day of December. Crazy, huh? The year just flew past. That being said, I'm 17 weeks post op today and as you well know, Thursdays are my weigh in day. Today, the scale said 223.8! A loss of 3.2 pounds since last week, 40.6 since surgery, and 54.2 since my high of 278. I am ecstatic right now, let me tell you. My BMI is down to 40.9! So close to just being regular obese instead of morbidly! Weird to get excited about that, but I'm sure you ladies know what I mean. I've been making sure to get my water every day (not gonna lie, I slacked off with that for a few days and it showed on the scale) and I'm really being a good girl and cutting out the bread/rice/pasta. I feel so good that the number keeps going down, and I really am starting to feel it more in my clothes (gonna need new underwear soon--saggy butt syndrome), but I wish I could physically see it in my body. That's sad.

Another sad thing is that I lost a follower today. That's never happened before. I mean, I'm sorry I don't post every day, or even close to every day, but my schedule just simply doesn't allow for it with taking 5 literature classes. So, for those of you following my journey, I really appreciate it. Your support means so much to me. Thank you.

On a happier note, Ben's mom is out of the hospital! She got out on Tuesday and she's doing well. Ben's dad's birthday was this week, so we're going to head up this weekend for a visit to celebrate. There will be cake. I don't care for cake, so I think I'll be ok, but if there's ice cream, I might just have a tiny bit of it. His dad's diabetic, so last time there was ice cream it was sugar free--hopefully it'll be the same this time.

Hmm...what else is going on? Oh! Thanksgiving day was an awful terrible horrible mess of a day. Literally. My plumbing in the kitchen decided to stop working, Ben spent the day using the plunger and pipe snake to no avail. Thank goodness my family didn't celebrate on Thanksgiving day, otherwise I'd cry, I think. I went to work that day and my mom was at my house, so she helped Ben after I left for work. Friday, we called a plumber and after trying to unclog the drain, he said he'd have to crawl under the house (we live in a trailer) and cut a piece of the pipe because they couldn't get it out through the drain. So, that was going to cost $200 dollars, so I called Ben and he said he wanted to try to take the DIY route. So glad he did because the next day, he crawled under the house, tapped on the pipe, and whatever was stuck in there dislodged :) No cutting or anything. He makes me happy.

Sunday, my family celebrated Thanksgiving at my brother's house. My sister-in-law doesn't particularly care to cook, so I do the cooking. I love it. Made a 23 lb turkey, sausage and cornbread stuffing (the only good thing I got out of my relationship with my ex was that recipe), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, crescent rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert. I definitely ate more than I should have. Felt like I was going to die a little bit afterward. But, I know for sure that I didn't eat as much as I would have pre-band, so I can be happy about that. And now I know for next time not to be an idiot because it really is painful.

On the band front, I go for another check-up tomorrow. I don't think I'll be getting a fill. I think I could take or leave one, really. I'll leave it up to what the NP thinks. I haven't had a PB or slimed or anything, so that kind of makes me nervous because I feel like I should have experienced this. I know it's better for me not to, but not having an experience like this makes me feel like I may have messed something up. I'm paranoid, I know. But, I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow. I'm going to take my computer with me for when I stop at my dad's house after the appt because I have to do my laundry there. Because our washing machine's broken. Sick of being a grown up.



Where's Peter Pan when you need him?


Hope everyone's having a good week. I'm off to go to class.

xoxo

Week 16

Week 16 weigh in day brings me to 227 on the nose! That's a 2.8 lb loss from last week, 37.4 lbs since surgery and 51 lbs from my highest ever back in summer of 2010. Now there's something to be thankful for!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

xoxo

Thanksgiving! and a NSV

It's officially Thanksgiving break and I plan to take full advantage of it. I'm going to use the time to catch up on all of your blogs, do some school work, hang out with my family. Because I work taking care of the elderly, my company can't close for holidays. I picked up a shift tomorrow and my family's going to have Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house on Sunday. I'll be cooking, he'll just be hosting. It works out, because both he and my sister-in-law are nurses, and my dad works for the airlines, so we all have jobs that don't close for holidays. I'm so excited to cook for everyone. Love feeding people.

I'm going to pick up my mom today and she's going to stay with us for a few days and help me get everything prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner and I think we might do some Christmas shopping, too. She's excited, I think. She always seems to think that she's going to get in our way and I have to keep reminding her that she's my mom and I've lived with her before. She definitely got in my way more when I was 15 and in the "My Mother's Ruining My Life" stage.

Speaking of moms, the visit with Ben's mom on Sunday went well. She's still going to be in the hospital for a few more days, but she seems to be doing alright. She was happy to see us. And you know something? I can't even tell you how happy I am that we don't have the type of mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship that is frequently portrayed in sitcoms. I genuinely like her and she likes me too and that makes me happy.

I'm in such a good mood today. I'm sorry I'm kind of bouncing around, but I just love the holidays and Thanksgiving is my favorite. I always reflect about the good things around this time, which is nice because in general, I'm a rather pessimistic person. I've actually been down on myself a lot lately because I feel like my weight loss isn't good enough. But, that makes a good segue to my NSV! Before surgery, I went to a thrift store and picked up a pair of size 20 jeans (they're a small size 20, I think) and at the time of purchase, there was a good six inches or so to button them. I tried them on again about 2 weeks ago and there was still a gap. Yesterday, I tried them on to see how much I had to go til they fit, and to my surprise, the suckers actually buttoned!!!! Not only did they button, but they feel good on. I'm so excited because I was seriously considering living in sweat pants forever. Lots of body issues lately. It's no good.

But, I've set a mini goal for myself, which is to be down to 220 by the end of the year. I think that's pretty reasonable and it'll definitely keep me accountable through the holiday season. One thing I'm definitely thankful for this year is the opportunity to have had this surgery, the support of family and friends, and the encouragement of this awesome blogging community.

I hope you all have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for this year?

xoxo

Week 15

I'm so terribly sorry for my two week absence. There's been a lot going on...get to that in a minute. I hope everyone's doing well though. I'm not going to lie, I haven't even had time to read your blogs, so I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Weigh in today was 229.8! Pretty excited to be out of the 230s. Hit a bit of a plateau there, but as long as I'm going in the downward direction, I'm happy.
The reason for my not posting last Friday like I said I would is because my friend Mary had her baby and Ben and I had to go welcome her to the world. So, between that, studying for my Praxis II test, and all my other school work, I haven't had time for much of anything.
I did notice that I'm up to 62 followers now. This is amazing! I'm so glad to have the support of all you wonderful people and if I'm not already following you, certainly leave me a comment with your URL.
So, I took my Praxis test on Saturday when we went down to visit Ben's brother and sister-in-law. We had a good time. Hopefully I passed--won't find out til December 6.
Ben's mom is in the hospital, so we've been a bit pre-occupied with that. It's just been a weird past couple of weeks.

On a happier note, Lolli nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award :)

Versatile: ver-sa-tile [vur-suh-tl] or, especially British, [vur-suh-tahyl]: capable of, or adapted for, turning easily from one to another various tasks, fields of endeavor, etc.: a versatile writer.

Word information source: www.dictionary.com

Here is how the award works:

1. You thank the person who presented you with the award.

2. You tell 7 things about yourself.

3. You award 15 other newly discovered bloggers.

Thanks so much, Lolli :) That made my day when I saw that (even though it was two weeks ago...sorry!)

As for seven things about me?

1. I'm a procrastinator and I'm usually late when going places. I'm working on it though and I'm getting better with it. A couple weeks ago my brother organized a family dinner at Outback Steakhouse and told everyone to be there at 5:15, but told me to be there at 5:00. Well, I get there early and wonder where the crap everyone is and when they finally get there, brother says "It's the Jackie Rule. Even people outside the family know about the Jackie Rule." Jerk.

2. I love my grandma very much. She's freaking sweet. I was born the day before her birthday, so she always called me her birthday present. She's the only grandparent I've ever known because the others passed away before I was born, so she's extra special to me.

3. I used to bowl on my high school bowling team. I really kind of miss bowling. A lot.

4. Since having had surgery, I'm very much enjoying spicy foods. I never really cared for them before, so it's a little strange, but I really like it.

5. I'm getting sick of doing observations for school. I've already done my 30 hour field experience class, but this semester I need to observe for 15 more hours. My last day of it is tomorrow. I think I'll need to do another 15 next semester. Lame.

6. I can't wait til my niece or nephew is born. I'm going to crochet so much stuff for it. And I'm going to snuggle it and love it and spoil it like crazy :)

7. I have a friend named Alicia Kozakiewicz. Almost 11 years ago, when we were 13, she was abducted and enslaved by an online predator. He took her across state lines and tortured and raped her. The FBI found her and now she's taking a stand against internet predators, pedophilia, and child trafficking. Click here to check out the Alicia Project's Facebook page. Her story is amazing.

Here are some people I'd like to nominate for this award. Don't know if I'll make it to 15, but I'll try.

1. Samantha at *My Weightloss Surgery Journey*

2. Lani at ...Watch This Space...

3. Robin at A Wine Girl's Way to Thin

4. Rachel at Fat Fish in a Skinny Sea (I just love feeding her fish!)

5. PurseQueen at From Fat to Fabulous...

7. Samantha at I'm with the Band

8. Kelly at Life of a Banded Army Wife

9. Melissa at My Journey to Band Land

10. CeCe at Banded for Boots

If I went any farther, I'd be getting into people who've already been awarded, which is unnecessary. So, sorry for not reaching the full 15, but hey, life goes on.

I'm going to wrap it up here for now. Another busy weekend ahead--Work thing for Ben tomorrow after observing, cleaning Saturday, and visiting Ben's mom Sunday.

Have a great weekend, all.

xoxo

Week 13

Weigh in: 230.5 :) loss of 1.6 from last week. Running late for school. Long post tomorrow for 3 month bandiversary!

xoxo

Week 12

Well, I had a fantastic week (food-wise) and it definitely showed on the scale this morning. Weigh in was 232.1. That's a loss of 2.4 lbs from last week and 32.3 since surgery!! Finally at 30 pounds down! So excited. I've been eating things I would probably consider weird if I'd not had surgery--meals consisting of random lean lunch meats, string cheese...actually, that's about it, aside from green beans the other day and protein shakes for breakfast. Oh well. It paid off :)
And thanks to Ronnie and Trisha for their comments on my last post. I can definitely get down with some fruit and nuts.
I've had some weird food/body related thoughts lately. About a week or so ago, I was being cranky and told Ben that everyone hates me and blah blah blah, then I thought about "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms." I don't know about everyone else, but I heard this from a young age. Granted, we don't actually see worms as "food", but does this perhaps teach us that it's okay to make food our friend? No, I'm not blaming this little tune for my out of control weight. That was my fault. Just something to think about.
Another thing I was thinking of today was umbrellas. It's been rainy here for the past couple days, and I just think it would be really nice to be able to fit my whole body under a standard sized umbrella. Does anyone else think about this kind of thing? I mean, it's really crappy to walk to class, sit down, and find out my butt's wet because it doesn't fit under the umbrella. Oh, the annoyances of being fat. Oh well, one of these days, it'll be different.
And speaking of walking to class, I'm off to be scholarly. Hope everyone has a great day!

xoxo

Suggestions?

So, I'm in need of some suggestions. I'm supposed to be having 1100-1200 calories and 60-80 grams of protein per day. My NP told me to cut out bread, pasta, and rice and just eat protein rich foods and veggies and sometimes fruits. I've been eating things like chicken, lean lunch meat, green beans, protein shakes, and for a snack, string cheese. My problem is that I'm getting enough protein from 3 meals and a string cheese, but everything's so low cal that I'm not getting enough calories. Today, for example, I had a protein shake w/ canned pumpkin added (203 cal, 35 protein), lunch was 4 oz canned chicken, 2 tbsp bbq sauce and 3/4 c green beans sauteed in 1 tsp olive oil (235cal, 21 protein), and dinner was 2 things of string cheese (160 cal, 12 protein) since I had class. That's a total  of 598 calories and 68 grams of protein. It's a problem, because I'm sustained on the meals that I ate. I don't want to eat more calories just for the sake of eating more calories, but I know that I have to do something so my body doesn't think it's starving. So, my question to you is, what tips do you have to add extra calories to food without adding bread, rice, or pasta? I also am not much of a condiment person...won't do mayo or sour cream. Any advice would be appreciated. Hope everyone had a great weekend, and here's to a good week ahead.

xoxo

Fill Number 2 and (Late) Week 11 Weigh In

So, like I said in the last post, I forgot to weigh myself Thursday morning because I was running crazy late for school. So, Friday, I went to the dentist, then went to the hospital for my second fill appointment. I had a different lady than last time. She was nicer, more laid back, and more informative, but she had a harder time finding my port. It kind of hurt when she was pushing on my belly, but I got by. Anyway, she weighed me and their scale (which is usually higher than my scale) said 234.5! I'm so excited to have lost 1 pound from last week. I would have preferred to lose 1.1 lbs because that would have gotten me to the magic 30 pound mark, but, that's okay. Good things come to those who wait. I'll just have to keep doing what I did last week and it'll work out for me. I'm pretty excited because I only have 14 more pounds to lose until I reach the weight I was at high school graduation and when I met Ben. I'm pretty well motivated right now, and that makes me quite happy :) Now I'm off to read all of your wonderful blogs. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

xoxo

Week 11

First, I just want to say thank you for everyone who commented on my last post. Your comments are always appreciated and, as I'm sure you all know, it's really nice to hear how well you're doing from other people.

This is supposed to be weigh in day, but, I had class this morning and was running late and forgot to weigh myself before I got in the shower. Stupid, I know. But, I go for my second fill tomorrow (yay!) so, I'll let you know what their scale says. Sorry I've been a bad blogger, but I've been reading (and commenting, when I can). I just don't have time for a lot right now. It's lame. So, on that note, going to go do some school work.
Hope everyone's doing well

xoxo

Week 10 and comparison pics!

Well, yesterday was weigh in day. I had a terribly undeserved loss of .2 lb. I'm not sure how it happened, but I'll take it and not have another weekend like that. I terribly overindulged myself. No more.

Today I did my first Zumba-related anything. I found full workout videos online for free, which is better for me than going to a class. To check these videos out, click here. It was interesting. I just did the basic work out, but I worked up a bit of a sweat. I also had Ben take comparison pics, as promised. So, here they are.

The first three are from the night before surgery, August 3, 2011. 264.4 lb.

These three are from today, October 14, 2011. 236.5 lb.

I'm in shock. I just looked at these pictures side by side for the first time and I can't believe it. This makes me feel amazing. If these pictures aren't motivation, I don't know what is. This is the only way I've been able to see a difference in my body. I'm so glad I took those before pictures. I wish I could report that my clothes are falling off me, but, I've stuffed myself into a lot of the same clothes for 5 years (when I went from 220s to 270s--gross, I know) so now I'm just starting to fit back into my clothes comfortably, which is also nice.

Thanks, ladies, for all your support. You've been great. I appreciate every single comment.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

xoxo



Oink.

Old McDonald had a farm, e i e i o.
And on that farm he had a...Cow? Pig? Oh wait, it's just Jackie.

Yeah, I've been the worst bandster ever. It started over the weekend. There was ice cream involved...twice. The first one was at Sonic. Did anyone else know how giant their hot fudge sundaes are? They're pretty huge. So, mom slept over on Friday and then Saturday after work, mom, Ben and I went back to mom's to wash her walls. Well, I came home from work and had something (healthy, but I forget what it was) to eat. So, we're merrily driving along when they decide they want to stop at Sonic. Okay, cool, I'll just get some ice cream because I really want some and I don't want to be deprived. So, I get this freaking HUGE hot fudge sundae. And if that wasn't bad enough, I got a corn dog, too. Don't even know why. But, there's been a lot of "I don't know why I'm eating this" going on the past few days. Sunday, we went to Costco and I was planning on having a meal of free samples but we went in the evening so I guess they were done. But, we were hungry, so we had something from their restaurant. I got a carne asada bake and ate half of it, along with half a churro. Monday, I went to DQ because I just had to have a pumpkin pie Blizzard. Little did I know that the mini size packed a whopping 370 calories. Stupid decision. I don't know why I waited until after I ate it to check the calorie content. Yesterday wasn't terrible, but today, I've eaten a chicken burrito, 7 ling ling pot stickers, and 2 (unmeasured) bowls of cereal. I'm not planning on eating for the rest of the day because I have a night class and I'm just going to take my protein shake with me and have that. But seriously, what is wrong with me? I feel like such an idiot for eating the way I have been. TOM just got here today and I could blame it on that, but I'd just be making excuses. Sigh. It's the first time I've seen TOM since May. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this, but since I got so fat, I don't get a period unless I'm on the pill, which I've been avoiding due to surgery, but started up again last month. I hope I get to a weight some day that my body will regulate itself. Oh, and I haven't been to the gym this week because it's midterms and I have so much homework to do. I really shouldn't even be writing this right now. I should  be typing my essay for Shakespeare class. It's kind of due tonight. Oh well. I feel really bad. We're for sure going to the gym tomorrow though. I can't miss another day of it. I guess I'll finish up that essay.
Hope everyone's having a great day.

xoxo

P.S. Almost forgot- My camera batteries finally came in the mail yesterday, so my camera's back in working order :)  going to have Ben take comparison pics tonight and I'll post them tomorrow with my weigh in.

Week 9

Week 9 weigh in and the results are...  236.7! YAY!! It's so nice to be sitting comfortably in the 230s. Hopefully by my next fill on the 21st, I'll be in the 220s. I'd be crazy happy if that were the case. I'm so excited because the little pink flower on my ticker is all the way off of the third purple flower on the measurement line thingie. By the time I finally found out how to get a ticker I'd lost enough weight to have the pink flower covering that third purple flower, so this is pretty exciting for me. And thanks everyone for the comments on my last post. It's great to have your support and encouragement.
I've got a busy weekend ahead of me. Work tomorrow, then lunch with my mom, then an editing project for my Shakespeare class and probably heading to the gym. Saturday, work, then going to my mom's with Ben to help her wash her walls. My good friend, Lauren, is buying the house next door to my mom's apartment complex and tomorrow's her moving day, so hopefully I'll see her. She's lost 40 pounds since April, au natural. So excited for her :)
Then, my other friend may or may not be having a Halloween party Saturday night. She's very pregnant and her doctor just told her last week that she might be 38 weeks along instead of 36, so, she's not sure whether or not she'll be having a party.
Sunday, it's going to be nice in Pittsburgh, so I'm going to get my tulip, hyacinth, and crocus bulbs in and plant my mums, weed the garden, and Ben's going to till the area for the future veggie patch. Hopefully I can get him to tackle the shed and find my fall/Halloween decorations so I can put them up, too.

That being said, I probably won't be posting again til next week, so I hope everyone has a great weekend!

xoxo

2 Months Out

I wish I had something totally epic to say, but I really don't. I can't believe how much weight is already gone forever from my poor little 5'2" body. Before I had the surgery, I'd read blogs that talked about the fear of putting on all the weight back on overnight and I just kind of brushed it off and thought it was a silly thought. But, for the ladies who've posted about that, I totally understand now. It's amazing what this surgery can do to the mind. That's something I'll have to work on.
I ordered a new battery for my camera, hopefully that'll be the solution and the camera itself isn't damaged. But, as soon as I get batteries for that or get my mom's camera working (cause she's totally awesome and doesn't understand technology so she gave it to me) I'll be posting 2 month pictures. Here are my measurements that I had Ben take a few days ago:

Bust: 49.5 (-.5)
Under Boobs: 40.5 (-3)
Waist: 53.5 (-4)
Place where I wear my pants: 52 (-4)
Hips: 54 (-1)

I didn't feel like doing the arms and legs, quite honestly, but those look like some pretty okay numbers to me. So far, I'm really pleased with my progress in numbers, but I'm having trouble seeing the changes in myself. I feel like I'm a little girl again and there's something exciting going on and I'm saying "I can't see, I can't see!" I don't think daddy can pick me up and put me on his shoulders to help, either. I'm really antsy about getting one of these cameras working because maybe in the comparison pics, I'll be able to notice a difference.
Well,  I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Hope everyone has a great day and thanks for everyone who's been posting about BOOBs. Looks like it was a blast.

Good night, all.

xoxo

Week 8

8 weeks out and I'm at 239.6 lbs. At 7 weeks and 6 days, I was 236.5 UGH!!! This fluctuation is so frustrating. I'm going to start upping the Benefiber and see if that works out.
I've been bad with posting, I know, but I've just had so much going on. I swear, all my professors this semester think I'm only taking their class and no other. Annoying.
Saturday, I went to the Penguins (Hockey) game with Ben and his parents. It was at 3:00 and I worked 9-1 that day, so I ate before work and I was pretty hungry by the time we got to the arena. So, I had nachos. With delicious gooey day-glow cheese. YUM. I didn't feel guilty about it at all and I'm okay with that. However, this week has been pretty weird in the hunger area. The past two days, I've not been hungry for breakfast, so I didn't eat.  But, when I have food available for lunch, I haven't been hungry for that either. Does this happen to anyone else? It seemed kind of odd.
OH!! I almost forgot--NSV's of the weekend: I fit back into a few of my old pairs of size 20 pants (sans camel toe! YAY!) and my mom had a get together on Saturday at which my brother told me that my "face looks less fat" which is definitely a compliment from him. We have that kind of relationship, so it's cool. I love my brother. And my niece or nephew is now the size of an apple :)
Other than that, not much new to report.

I hope everyone going to BOOBs has a spectacular (and safe) time and takes lots of pictures! Can't wait to hear all about it. Maybe I'll be able to go one of these years. School's got to be priority though and next fall I'll be student teaching, so, not gonna happen in the very near future. Maybe someday.

Have a great day, all!

xoxo

7 Weeks

Well, I guess it's been seven weeks already. That seems ridiculous. I honestly don't have much to say today, so we'll just get right down to business. In my last post, I said I hit a new weight decade, but apparently, that's a lie. Today's weigh in day and the results were 240.7 which is a 23.7 lb loss since surgery and 2.6 lb  loss since last week. I'm pretty disappointed about this because earlier this week I was at 238.something.  I thought I'd be sitting comfortably in the 230s, but no. I know I shouldn't be upset because it's still a loss. These stupid potty issues are not resolving themselves and I don't know what to do. I know that's the reason for the gain. I'm not doing anything wrong. It's frustrating. I really need to find time to go to the gym, too. I already have the membership, but with my school/work/homework schedule the way it is, it's hard to find time to do anything. Not to mention I need to get studying for my Praxis II exam which is in November. If I don't pass it, I can't student teach. Yeah, no pressure. Sigh. Oh well. It's got to be done.
Hope everyone's having a great week.

xoxo

My First Award and News on My Fill

First, the lovely Melissa nominated me for my very first blog award! I would totally nominate her back if that were acceptable, because I follow her blog religiously since she was banded exactly a week after I was.

 

Liebster means ‘beloved’ or 'favorite' in German and it’s an honor to receive this award. The Liebster Blog Award is designed to bring additional recognition to those bloggers with less than 200 followers. If you receive the award, you should link back to the blogger that nominated you and nominate five more blogs. Also, don’t forget to let them know that you nominated them! And the nominees are..........

CeCe- Even though she literally just was nominated by someone else, she's a great lady. She's always got something kind to say, so she deserves it :)

Brooke- She was just banded a few weeks ago and is doing great so far, even though she had to deal with some crazy kidney stones. Strong lady!

Kebs- She's not banded yet, and recently decided that she could possibly do RNY instead, but she's always got encouraging words and I'm enjoying following her journey so far.

Lucy- She's less than 2 weeks post op and doing great, so far. I'm enjoying getting to know her from her blog.

Kellie- She's 10 months post-op and I've read her blog since the beginning (before I decided to start a blog). I liked following her story from the beginning and she's doing so great. She's definitely an inspiration

So, there you have it ladies!

Now, on to other business...

I went for my first fill on Friday and it was so much easier than I expected. My NP was great and numbed me up real nice. Didn't even feel it. I now have 2 ccs in my 11 cc band and I've got to say, sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don't. Nothing disastrous has happened, it's just that sometimes I get full and sometimes I could eat a freaking cow. Or a whole box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Not that I've done that post-op. Pre-op, hells yes I did, and I totally miss it. But oh well. Life goes on...with less delicious, less neon yellow food. So, when I went in, I weighed 243.2 and my body fat is at 52% I'm pretty sure. Not too bad. It's not weigh in day til Thursday,  but, just between us, I've hit a new weight decade since Friday :)  super exciting!

Also, the insurance company called. Thanks everybody for commenting on my last post. I really needed it. You ladies and my dad were right...it's taken care of. Hopefully they submitted it correctly this time, but they said it'd be fixed by this week and I'll be getting a corrected explanation of benefits in the mail. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm starting to get pretty frustrated with my clothes, mainly jeans. I'm kind of falling out of my size 22 pants, but I'm not yet fitting into my 20s without the dreaded camel toe. Awful, I know. But, the 22s are SOOOO BIG in the leg area and they're still pretty much fitting my waist. It's obnoxious. I need the leg size of 20s and the waist size of 22s. I really hope my body catches up with itself soon. I am absolutely not above living in sweat pants til I can properly fit a pair of jeans. Guess that's a perk of being a college kid.

And on that note, better go get some homework done.

Hope everyone's doing well :)

xoxo

Procrastination

If it's called PROcrastination, it should be a good thing, right? Sure. Why not. My second of three classes was cancelled today. I commute from 20 miles away (it's all highway, so it only takes about 1/2 hour to get to campus, but, it's a toll road), so I'm not going home. I really ought to be using this down time to start on a paper that's due (rough draft) on Thursday. But, I'm kind of cranky and I kind of don't feel like it. I have some crap going on and I could really use some support and encouraging words from you ladies.

Here's what's going on. I'm 23, and a full time student, so, thankfully, I'm still on my dad's insurance policy. When I decided to have the surgery and we found out that the insurance company covered it, he said he would pay the deductible, a mere $250.00. So, that was all well and good, I had my surgery, the deductible was paid, and everything was taken care of...or so I thought. A couple weeks ago, my dad got an explanation of benefits saying that my surgery wasn't covered (even though I was told that it was) because I've exceeded the limit of bariatric surgeries...which is limited to once per lifetime. Yeah, I've never had any kind of surgery before, aside from having my wisdom teeth removed. So, I call the insurance company, and they have no idea what's going on. They can't explain it. I'm still waiting to hear back from them because the woman I talked to said that she had to contact their claims department to see if they could figure things out. Today, I get a call from my hospital's eligibility department. The conversation started with them questioning whether or not I even have health insurance. When the woman on the phone finally agrees with me that, in fact, I do, she states that my surgery was not covered and that I need to submit some kind of application (I don't really know what that was about. I stopped paying attention because I got flustered and upset). I told her I'd been in touch with my insurance company and they were sorting things out. She gave me a phone number that I could call if I wanted to do this application thing. I know this post is going to make me sound incompetent and possibly like a whiny bitch, but seriously, I don't understand how this could have gotten messed up so badly. How could they think I don't have insurance? How could the insurance company think I've had bariatric surgery before? How could I be told I'm approved and then, after the damn surgery, be told I'm not approved? Do they want the stupid band back? Because this crap is really upsetting me and I'm starting to wonder if it was even worth it. It's a freaking piece of rubber. If they want it, they can have it and I'll do this weight loss nonsense by myself. I don't care. I'll never be as hungry as I was on clear liquids, so that could be my means of controlling what goes into my mouth. I just don't understand why they would do the surgery if there was even a question about whether or not I was approved. My dad seems to think that there's no reason to worry. "We'll get it straightened out, and if we can't then an attorney will." Such the optimist. I've always been the worrier in my family. So much so that I used to make myself sick over stupid little things. But this isn't a stupid little thing. This is a giant amount of money that I just don't have access to. What if I really do have to pay out of pocket for it? I have school loans and a house loan to pay off. I'm not even done with school. I'll still have another 3 grand at least, added on to my debt. So, what if they really do want 30 grand from me? I can't take out another loan. If did, I'd feel guilty about marrying my boyfriend (no, we're not engaged yet, but we will be soon) because I wouldn't want to share that debt with him. I'm sorry for the crazy rant fest. I just feel pretty helpless. It's annoying.

Side note: I'm still having potty problems. Benefiber tablets don't seem to be working quite as well as I had hoped. Maybe I'll try Miralax? I know that's the reason for the stall on the scale. When I go for my fill on Friday, I don't want them to be upset with me for not losing any more weight. Sigh.

Oh, and side side note: finished The Taming of the Shrew, The Old Man and the Sea, and Old School. Have I said that this semester is awful? This is how I'm feeling right about now...

Now on to Romeo and Juliet, Animal Dreams, still working on The Odyssey, random text books, and crazy projects involving making up games for students and tests about Hemingway. Ugh. Hope this decision to become a teacher pays off.

I've successfully wasted my break and now it's time for my last class. Hope everyone has a great day <3

One Month Bandiversary

I really have 50 followers now?! That's awesome! Thanks to everyone who read and comments. I really appreciate it.

In other news, I had my one month bandiversary on the 4th. Sorry for not updating, but it was a very busy weekend. I know today's not my weigh in day, nor is it my bandiversary, but I weighed this morning and was down to 245.2. Of course the first time I got on the scale it said 244.2, so I got back on for confirmation, and it went up. But, I'll totally take it. No complaints here. Having a totally empty band, I'm quite proud of myself thus far. I would put up pictures, but, my water bottle exploded in my purse and messed something up on my camera. I'm not sure if it just killed the battery or if the whole camera is shot, but, I'll take pictures as soon as I can. Also, I'm going to have Ben do my measurements in a little while and I'll post those for comparison. Not expecting much in that area, but lots of people are saying they notice a difference, so, I guess we'll see.

Things are going good with school so far. I've been very well behaved with not going to the student center and getting a smoothie or delicious coffee based beverage. Had my yummy Costco protein shake for breakfast and a (nasty) Atkins protein bar for lunch.

Oh! Hey, totally side note: How does one go about putting a weight loss ticker on their page? I mean, I've gotten as far as actually finishing the ticker, but when it comes to copying/pasting, I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.

That's all for now. Gotta read more of The Taming of the Shrew. Oh, Shakespeare.

Have a great day, all!

4 Weeks Post-op

Well, here I am 4 weeks post op and the weight was at 246.7 this morning. I'm still having potty issues, so I attribute the lack of loss to that. I'm definitely not overeating. I promise. I'm sorry for not updating regularly. I wish  I could say I'll get better with it, but, I just finished week 1 of the fall semester and it's going to be awful. I'm taking 18 credits, and if that wasn't hard enough, 4 of my classes are literature based. The workload is ridiculous. I have to read something like 7 novels, part of the Bible, at least 3 Shakespearean plays (probably more), do at least 2 acting projects, and some field experience. There's more, but I don't remember what goes with what class.

As for the ladies who asked about the protein shake I so fell in love with (from Costco), it's called Premier Nutrition Protein. I would take a picture of it, but my watter bottle exploded in my purse, which is where my camera was. Pretty sure I broke it. Upset about that. But, here's the website for those delicious protein shakes. They're about $5.00 cheaper at Costco though, so if you can, get them there.

I hope everyone's doing well. While I haven't been updating, I have been reading. And now I'm off to read The Taming of the Shrew or The Odyssey or Old School or something. Sigh. Wish me luck with my semester. I'm going to need it in order to stay alive.

xoxo

New Blogger Alert and BYOC

Hello fellow bloggers! I found today that there's a new blogger in town. She goes by Kebs and you can check her out at From Fat to Fabulous: One Girl's WLS Journey. She's in the beginning stages of her journey and she had a pretty discouraging experience during her psych consultation, so she could really use some support!

Now, on to BYOC

BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy – 5 little questions you can copy and paste to your own blog in an effort to get to know your fellow bloggers better and to give your blogging brain a break.

Enjoy!

1. What is your blog theme and how did you pick your blog name?
My blog theme is my weight loss journey involving the Lap Band (and anything else I may feel like talking about). I chose my blog name because I really like alliteration and I wanted to sound fun and appealing.

2. Repeat question: I’m going to name a person not knowing anything about this person in your life or even if they exist and you need to try to describe them in five words/phrases.

Female neighbor two homes/doors down to the left

Town gossip
Always needs my boyfriend to fix something for her (think she has an old lady crush on him)
Has an adorable puppy
Can't remember my name for the life of her
Not good to talk to when I'm running late for work.

3. Which do you hate more? Spiders or snakes. Elliptical or treadmill. Hannah Montana or Lindsay Lohan.

I'm going with spiders, only because I've encountered far more spiders than snakes in my life. If poisonous snakes were prominent in my area, then I'd probably say those, but they're not, so, spiders it is.

Elliptical, without a doubt. Joined a gym a month ago and the first time I did the elliptical I felt like I was going to die. Sure, I burned a lot of calories, but I found out that if I put a treadmill up on a pretty steep incline, I can burn calories at roughly the same rate. I'd rather do the treadmill.

Lindsay Lohan. She was good when she did The Parent Trap, hell, she was even ok for Mean Girls, but now she's just yucky.


4. Completely selfish question…I need a dress for Chicago…keep in mind I live in Podunk so the options of physically going into a vast array of stores is VERY limited. (thank God for the internet) When you need something fancy/a dress – what is your go to store and why?

That depends on the occasion and how much I'm looking to spend. My cousin got  married a few months ago, and in all honesty, I bought my the skirt I wore for it at the thrift store. I have a friends getting married on the beach in NC next year and I've already started looking for a dress for that (which is stupid because I have no idea what size I'll be) and I've looked everywhere from Walmart, Target, and Kohl's, to Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, and Torrid. I also like Deb Shops. They have some nice things, but rarely have excellent sales (Hello?! Broke college student, here!)

5. Repeat question: How was your week in blog land and in real life?
Blog  land  is good. I'm amazingly up to 49 followers, which I'm having a hard time grasping. Thanks to everyone who reads! Also, our new friend Kebs found me, so that's exciting because we're the same age.

Real life was stressful as hell. Had issues with work, school, and the insurance company. Awesome! Luckily, things with work and school were taken care of. Still waiting to hear from my surgeon's administrative assistant about the crap with insurance. Got to spend some time with my grandma yesterday though, so that was pretty sweet.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend, all!

Back to the Grind

After spending my summer working and having surgery, I can't believe I start back to school on Monday. I think, in all my years of being a student, this is the first time I can honestly say I'm actually looking forward to going back to school. My schedule worked out perfectly with my work schedule (which last year was unthinkable). I bought a lunch box and an ice pack, some protein shakes from Costco (delicious) and a few protein bars to try out, since I'm going to be on campus 9-5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a good feeling about this semester.

On the band front, things are going ok. I'm down 2 lbs from the 248 I was last week at my follow up appt. I don't remember the exact weight from this morning, but it was 246.something, which I guess I'm happy with, especially since my band is empty. It sucks being hungry a lot of the time, but today I started on soft foods, so I'm allowed to have lunch meat, chicken, and cooked veggies now, which I'm quite excited about. There are a few recipes I'm excited to try as soon as I can eat real food. This week I'll probably make my healthy version of orange chicken. I've been craving Chinese food hardcore. Anyway, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I'm obsessed with the Food Network. Like, I was watching it in the hospital after I woke up. Crazy? Perhaps. But it makes me happy. So, I saw Anne Burrell make this recipe for spinach and ricotta gnocci. The recipe only has 1/4 cup of flour in it, so it's mostly protein. The fat free ricotta cheese that my local grocery store carries has 45 calories and 8 proteins per 1/4 cup serving, so I'm excited to try it out. Another thing I found while browsing the internet is called cloud bread. Has anyone ever tried this? It almost seems too good to be true. But I'll definitely be trying it out as soon as I'm on regular foods again. I have 2 weeks of soft foods, then I'll be on regular.

That's about all I've got going on right now. Have a great day, all!

Firsts

Today I had my first follow up appointment at the surgeon's office. I didn't actually get to see my surgeon. In fact, I have no idea who the woman was who did my appointment, but she seemed to be happy with my progress thus far. I asked her if I could start taking Benefiber (because the scale is up to 248!) and she said yes, so hopefully that'll get things moving with the weight loss. Thanks everyone who commented on that last post. So, I go for my first fill on September 16th, which I'm kind of excited about, but kind of nervous about as well. I'm not sure why I'm nervous. I think maybe because my band is completely empty right now (oh, and I found out I have an 11 cc band, btw) so I don't know what the restriction will feel like. I don't really know  how it's supposed to feel or what to expect. But, I guess that's what this whole journey is all about, right? Getting outside of my comfort zone. Anyway, not much else going on, so I'm going to go ahead and do my first BYOC!


It’s Friday so that means here in Draz Land it’s time for BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy!

We answer just a few questions to get to know each other better and to give our blog brains a break!

Copy to your own blog if you wish and ENJOY!

1. How much makeup do you wear daily, how long does it take you and are you loyal to certain brands?
Daily, I don't usually wear makeup. If I'm going out, I'll put on eye shadow (usually this pink sparkly stuff from Rimmel that my friend gave me), eye liner (whatever's cheap), mascara (also Rimmel, and given to me by another friend, but it's the BEST mascara ever), and lip gloss. So, I guess I subconsciously favor Rimmel products.

2. Repeat question: I’m going to pick a person not knowing your relationship with them (or even if there is one) and you try to describe this person in 5 words/short sentences.

Your oldest paternal aunt

Sweet
Loving
Pittsburgher turned Southern belle
Steelers Fan
Motherly

3. Tell me about your first real kiss and how old you were.

I was 12 and stupid. It was in a hallway after Sunday School (sorry, God!). The guy was a pretty big jerk, actually.

4. If I gave you $1000.00 and told you that you had to give it to a charity – which charity would you choose and why?
I have to agree with Ronnie on this one and say that I'd give to a charity to help fight hunger in the United States. I'm not going to get into politics or anything, because that's not what I'm here for, but I find it really sad how much our government seems to care about getting help to people in other countries, but not so much about the people in their own country.
5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in blog land and in real life.

I pretty much stayed out of blog land this week. I did some reading, but my mom was here all week, so I spent a lot of time with her.
Real life, Mom and I ran a lot of errands, I started getting ready for school to start, and took some time to relax before going back to school and work.



Hope everyone has a great weekend!