Week 33

Very little movement on the scale this week, but at least it's movement in the right direction. 210.6, which is .1 lb down from last week. I'll take it. I was so nervous this morning because this is the first time since surgery that I didn't step on the scale at all between Thursday weigh ins. I don't think it's worth the anxiety not to weigh between weigh ins, at least for me, anyhow. Things are on the band front are kind of weird. I'd been eating badly, especially the day Michael was born, and I PB'd this week. Too fast eating a pork chop. Yuck. But, it's only my second time in nearly 8 months, so I guess that's not so bad.

This might be weird, but my parents still make Easter baskets for my brother and me. Obviously, this year I said no candy. I asked my dad for any combination of Benefiber, vitamins, and my yummy delicious Costco protein shakes. I was out of the shakes already, so he stopped by and brought me 4 cases of protein shakes. I'm a happy girl. That's a pricey Easter basket though.

I have to go finish up some school stuff, so I'll leave you with what I think is the most fabulous picture of my bitty baby nephew.

Have a good day, all!
xoxo

Go Steelers!  We love you, Hines!

It's A BOY!!!

That's right, my sister-in-law finally gave birth to a healthy 8 lb 12 oz baby boy! We welcomed him into the world yesterday afternoon. 10 fingers, 10 toes, and absolutely beautiful (though I might be a bit biased). Both mommy and baby are in the hospital doing great. Anna was induced on Sunday night, and she was in labor for hours before they decided that they had to do a c-section. Justin and Anna looked so happy to finally meet their son. Here's a picture of the happy family...

Introducing Michael John



Anna and Michael will be going home on Thursday. I'm so excited to watch this little guy grow up. He's going to be so loved and so happy.

The only downside to yesterday was spending literally all day (9:30-5:00) at the hospital...with donuts...and other naughty things. But, back on track today. And this is a really weird thing to say, but I kind of feel like donuts don't taste as good as they used to. Now I know for the future.

Hope everyone's having a fabulous day!

xoxo

Week 32

Sorry for the absence. It's spring break and I've been doing spring breaky things--like homework and cleaning the house and the sort. Anyway, yesterday was supposed to be weigh in day, but I accidentally sabotaged myself Wednesday night by eating tons of sodium (I made beef with broccoli for dinner and used regular soy sauce-stupid). So, yesterday's weight was 212.4, which I knew was due to such a high amount of sodium, so I figured I'd wait til today for a more accurate reading because earlier in the week I had seen 211.1. Today, the scale said 210.7, which is a .9 lb loss since last week. And pretty well on track for where I wanted to be at my fill appointment, which I actually ended up not going to. I feel really good at the fill level I'm at and I don't want to mess with a good thing. Hopefully I can still make it to Onederland by my birthday on April 19. I'm a tad nervous, but I've been doing well with food and water, just need to bump up the exercise and I think I'll be golden.

Goodness, I shouldn't wait so long between posts. I've got lots to talk about. Well, Saturday, I went and met the fabulous Chris. The ice broke quickly-we met at Sbux and just as we met up on the sidewalk, a gaggle of girl scouts came by, giant wagon of cookies in tow. We made our way off that sidewalk and into Sbux so fast. Anyhow, Chris is such a sweet woman! It was really great to get to meet her and have the reassurance that the people I talk to are in fact real. And we found out that we live about 10-15 minutes away from each other, so that's super awesome. Like she said, we'll definitely have to make plans to get together again and take some pictures. I felt bad for making her leave her house so soon after surgery, but I was glad she was able to. She let me interview her for my class, which was weird because I felt like I was prying, but she was great about it. I'd love to do it again, sans a notepad, Chris.

After that, I went out with a bunch of friends to celebrate my friend Mary's birthday. The plan was to go to Hard Rock and then to a bar, and I was ok with that because I knew what I was going to order and everything. But, plans change. We had a party of 15 or so and the wait was going to be about 45 minutes, so we headed over to Houlihans where there was a 15 minute wait. I ended up eating 3 very small pieces of BBQ chicken flatbread pizza and a couple french fries.



Birthday girl  is in the middle with the zebra shirt, I'm in the back with my very best friend Sam on my right.



It ended up being a really good time. I've never really been out like that before, like to a club type thing or whatever. I know, I'm terribly lame. Anyhow, after dinner we went over to the previously mentioned club type thing. It was very loud, but very much fun. I definitely had a little too much to drink, as they had kamikaze shots for $1.00. I never ever dance, but that night, I ended  up on the dance floor with my lady friends and it really was fabulous. Loved being out like that. I've decided that maybe it would be good for me to act my age every once in a while. We left there around 1:30 or so and we all ended up at a restaurant. I was having so much fun, I just didn't want to go home yet. Ben did. He was soooo tired, but he was such a good sport for chauffeuring me around like that. Anyway, I got some mozzarella sticks and we sat and talked for a couple hours. Keep in mind it was daylight savings that night, so Ben and I didn't get home until 4:00am. I never do that. The last time that happened was probably 5 years ago when I was 18. It was...refreshing? Sure, refreshing.

Then, Sunday, Ben and I went to the home and garden show and I had millions of free samples. I was super surprised to still be in the 211s on Tuesday (Monday I was up to 216, but I attribute that to TOM and sodium).

Overall, it's been a pretty ok week. I've been a bit emotional for no good reason, but surely I'll get over it.

This niece or nephew of mine is now officially late. My brother's holding out hopes for a St. Patrick's Day baby, which would be super sweet. If she doesn't go into labor by Sunday, she's going in to the hospital on Sunday night/Monday morning at midnight and they'll induce her. I hope it's before then though because I'm on campus for 12 hours on Monday and it would really suck to not be there when my first niece or nephew enters the world.

Well, I guess I'm off to go some more spring breaky stuff. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy and safe Saint Patrick's Day.

xoxo

Week 31

Glad to report that the scale is down 1.9 pounds from my last weigh in, for a new low of 211.6! Even more exciting since the last time I weighed in wasn't on my usual Thursday, it was on Sunday (for my 7 month bandiversary) a mere 5 days ago. Super happy about that, but I'm getting nervous about making my goal of 210 by Monday. See, Aunt Flo is in town and in addition to that, I'm going out to Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday night to celebrate my friend Mary's birthday. I've already decided no alcohol and I know I'm going to get their chicken lettuce wraps for dinner. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any full nutritional information for their menu so I have no idea how much protein or sodium is in it, but it's 676 calories for the full appetizer portion. Also on Saturday, I get to meet Chris, which I'm super excited about. She generously offered to let me interview her for my research class, so that's our excuse to finally get together.

It looks like it should be a good weekend. Sunday is the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, which Ben and I have been going to every year for the past 3. Always a good time. I just hope I don't go crazy with the free samples of food. I'll for sure have to keep myself in check. But I mean, it's 9 acres of walking around, so that's got to count for something. Plus, I'll be pushing my mom around in a wheel chair for that 9 acres, so that should help, too. No worries, nothing's wrong. She's just arthritic and her legs don't work as well as they used to.

Speaking of mommy, I made reservations to go to afternoon tea at a fancy restaurant with my mom as well as Ben's. I'm pretty excited about it. Who doesn't love tiny sandwiches and little bites of food? Should be awesome.

Baby update: Sis-in-law's blood pressure has been pretty good for the past couple days...luckily both she and my brother are nurses so they can easily monitor it at home. She went to the dr on Tuesday and was told that they won't be inducing and she can probably last another week. She has another appt on Monday, so it looks like this baby will be born during my spring break, so I'm super pleased about that.

My God, this post is so much more cheerful than I'm feeling right now. I wonder how that happens? Like, I'm in the worst mood ever and you wouldn't be able to tell from my writing. I don't know if it's Aunt Flo or the rain or what, but I just feel like curling up and being sad all day. Preferably with a heating pad, some tea, tons of chocolate and about twelve super sized orders of fries. But that would probably be a bad idea. I will say that I'm not going to class today. Wish I could call off of work, but we need the money and I'm not dying, so I should probably go. Plus, I don't want to upset any old people by having my company send a replacement. On that note, I'm going to go mope for 4 hours before I have to head out. Hope everyone's having a good week.

xoxo

7 Month Comparison Pictures

Hey bloggers. Lots going on lately and no time to catch you up on it. I had Ben take my comparison pictures today. It's my 7 month bandiversary and I'm at 213.5, which is 50.9 lbs down from surgery and 65.5 down from my highest ever. Without further ado, here's the photo evidence. I don't know why they won't line up properly. You get the gist of it.



 

8/3/11
264.4 lbs



3/4/12
213.5 lbs

 

 


















I'm honestly amazed at the one from the side. Truth be told, I don't even see this in the mirror yet. Thank God for cameras.

Anyway, in addition to all my school stuff, my niece or nephew will be born any day now, it looks like. Sis-in-law is having blood pressure issues. They may induce today or tomorrow. They're at the hospital right now...just waiting to hear from my brother.

Before I go, I was looking at my profile pic the other day and realized that there's such a crazy difference between this picture...

Summer 2010, my heaviest (~278)

...And this picture...

2-11-12
~213 lbs

Is this even the same person???

xoxo

Celebrating the Big 5-0 (Week 29)

You're right, I'm so not talking about my age! Finally, after 29 weeks banded, I am celebrating the wonderful SV of having lost 50 pounds. The scale this morning read...

213.6, people! That puts me at 50.8 lbs down from the date of surgery, 65.4 from my highest ever and a lovely 4.4 down from last week's weigh in! I'm super excited. I go for my next appointment in a little over two weeks and I definitely feel I can reach my goal of 210 by then. And since we're talking about goals, my birthday is the 19th of April and my goal is to be in Onederland by that date. That's something I haven't seen on the scale in just about twelve years, so I'm really hoping this will be the year that I'll celebrate that victory. 

In other, non-band-related news, Ben and I got to pick up our pottery from our anniversary extravaganza. I love my vase. Here's a picture of it with the flowers that Ben brought home for me on Valentine's Day :)

Love it!

Anyway, sorry I haven't been commenting much. I've been reading, I promise, it's just there's always something going on with school. It's been a rough semester, but so far, so good. Actually I've got to go take an online quiz now, so I'm going to end it here. Hope everyone's having a great week!

xoxo

Week 28 A Little Late

I'm sorry, friends, but I just really haven't felt like blogging. I've been worried to even start a post because I was concerned that it would turn into a big negative ball of yuck. I'm going to try to keep it on the positive side today, but I do have a few negatives that I'll share. 1. I've been feeling pretty sub-par. Something's been wrong with my eyes for about a month now and I've become extremely sensitive to light. It's so bad that sometimes even our living room lamp makes my eyes water. Going to the doctor next Friday to get that checked out. 2. I've gained and it's no wonder because I haven't tracked my food for about two weeks now. 3. School is obnoxious. Actually, speaking of school, would anyone be willing to help me out? I'm taking a research for writers class this semester and I have to choose a topic and interview 3 people about it and pretend like I'm going to write an article about it for publishing. I'm really not going to try to get anything published, we're just supposed to follow the steps that someone would take if they were trying to get published. Anyhow, the topic I chose was lap band surgery, so, if anyone wants to volunteer to be interviewed by me, I'd super appreciate it.

On to the positive now:
My 5 year anniversary/Valentine's celebration day on Saturday was awesome. Ben really outdid himself and while he didn't propose, we had a fabulous time. When I got home from work that day, he gave me 5 cards with various times on them. The first one I got to open immediately and it said that we'd spend the whole day reliving old memories and making new ones. Each card held a choice, so really the whole date was up to me. The first card was called "a day at the museum". He gave me the choice between the Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory Museum. I chose the latter of the two because we both have always wanted to go there due to its uniqueness and such good reviews. We got there and felt so ridiculously out of place. Here's what I mean...

The first exhibit was a bandster's worst nightmare.
A whole room FULL of bread!

It was crazy, I tell you!

It looks so good, too. But anyway, the rest of the museum was more peculiar than this room, believe it or not.
There was an overly clean room, which gave me terrible anxiety...

And there were these polka dot rooms, which were actually my favorite.

Not optimal for photography, but you get the idea.

Not prime for photos, though, but kind of neat in person.

Moving on, the next envelope was for dinner. I've been crazy for spicy/Mexican food ever since surgery (so weird-never cared for it pre-op), so he made reservations at an upscale Mexican restaurant, but he ended up calling to cancel because I liked the other option better. It was a small family owned restaurant called Carmi's in Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood. We were there once about a year ago and they had amaaaazing comfort food. Best mac and cheese ever. So, we went there and had a bit of a carb-fest. Their dinners come with two sides and soup or salad, and cornbread. Not bandster friendly, but mighty tasty. We both got the spare rib dinner which came with 2 ribs. I ate those, plus one side of mac and cheese, a cup of chicken and dumplings, and a few bites of cornbread. It was heavenly. Regrettable when I saw a gain of 3 lbs on Monday morning, but way tasty.

After dinner, the next envelope gave me the option to do go see a live show at a cafe in town or to go to the Carnegie Science Center to see a laser show (something we used to do all the time). I chose the latter and we got there way early, so we played around the science center before Laser Lady Gaga started. Once we got up to the planetarium to see the show, we found roughly 20 fourth graders already seated. I don't normally like children in large quantities but it was so funny to watch them dance and hear them sing. It was cute. The only good picture of us together was taken at the laser show...

It's not even all that good because my eyes are weird...Whatever.

Afterwards, we got in the car and he gave me the fourth card. This time, I had no choice. We went and painted pottery! I'd been saying for a few weeks that I wanted to do it, so we went to a little shop and did that. I picked a vase and he picked a cup. We actually get to go pick them up tomorrow because they needed to be glazed, so I'm pretty excited about that. Here's what we ended up with...

During

After

It was a really fun time. Then, for my final card, I had the choice between going to Eat n Park (local chain restaurant where we had our first date) or the Melting Pot. I can't turn down the Melting Pot! So, we ended up having both cheese and chocolate fondue (and I may have had a sangria). We told them we were celebrating our 5 year anniversary and they gave me a carnation and they provided some champagne for us to toast with. I've been very good about not having carbonation since being banded, but I tried a sip of the champagne. It wasn't sweet enough for my liking, so I let Ben have the rest. All in all, it was an amazing time and I really think he's going to have trouble trying to top this date when he proposes.

Also, I got my brother and sister-in-law a dog today. She's obsessed with pugs and for forever she's wanted one-specifically a black male. She wanted to get it before the baby came so she'd have time to train it, but she just couldn't find one in her price range. It just so happened that my friend at school has to move and it came up in casual conversation that she was looking to rehome her black male pug. Crazy, right? So, I went and got him today and he's at their house right now. Justin had to leave for work at 7 and Anna's working til 11:30, so she's just going to walk in and there'll be a surprise puppy. I hope she doesn't get scared when she walks in the house. He'll be a year old next month, so he and the baby can grow up together. I'm super excited about it. He's such a sweet dog, too.

Food-wise, I've been trying to get back on track since our date, but it's been hard. We have Ben's mom's birthday to celebrate this weekend and we're going to Applebee's. I already know I'm going to order the grilled chicken wonton tacos, so I won't go overboard. I'm sure there will be dessert--I'm going to make Ben share with me whether he wants to or not. Hopefully I'll be back down to a good weight next week.

Speaking of weight, Ben did get me the Wii console so I've been playing Wii fit-how come none of you told me how downright rude that thing can be? Jeez. I step on it and it says "ouch". I skip a day and it judges me for being "too busy" for it? My goodness, I just wasn't expecting that. Apparently I've got terrible balance, but my running skills are somewhat decent. I'm actually really enjoying it and I'm glad Ben got it for me for our anniversary. Good investment, I think.

I'm pretty sure I've rambled on loooong enough for tonight, so I'm just going to stop there. Sorry for being MIA for the last week. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Oh, and Happy belated Valentine's day. Love you all!!

xoxo