Wednesday, September 30, 2009

One month with Clarence

Today marks the one month anniversary of my band. My husband kindly named my band "Clarence" shortly after my surgery. I like the name...some how it fits. So at the one month point I feel good. I am not sure if my weight has changed at all but I will weigh myself on Friday. All in all, 4 weeks out and 1 week pre-op, I feel good about my 22 lb loss. I feel healthier and stronger now. I work out 5-6 days a week and am proud of the changes I have made. I am looking forward to my first fill which will happen October 20th.

I am still staying full for quite a while but I still have cravings and deal with the emotional side of eating. When I got dressed this morning my pants felt loose and I feel like I look better in my clothes. I am not technically in a smaller size yet but I can start wearing some things that weren't fitting pre-op. I am very happy with my band and the success Clarence and I have had together.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Water drama


So, I have a couple kinds of water drama these days. First of all... I woke up this morning and we had NO water. I had worked out the night before and quickly showered but didn't wash my hair. I wanted to work out before work (I work 12:30 pm- 9:00 pm on Tuesdays). So I came up with this plan to work out and it worse came to worst I would melt ice cubes and use whatever water I could find to wash my hair and "sponge bath" myself. Well, fortunately, the water was back on by 10 and I got a really good hour work out in.


On to my other water drama. I am supposed to be drinking 72 oz of water a day, so says my Doctor. So.. how the hell am I supposed to do that when it takes me so long to eat and I have to wait an hour before and after eating. I am working on a system.. but sipping and waiting is taking so long.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Monday morning, and a new week


Happy Monday morning all. First off, I had some of that Weight Control instant oatmeal this morning and it was so gross. I hate the texture of that stuff. I had instant oatmeal in the past and remembered not liking it but I thought I could suck it up. Wrong, I got through 1/3 of it and was too grossed out to continue. O well.... save me some calories! I had a fantastic Sunday yesterday. I kickboxed in the morning for about 45 minutes and later that evening we took the dog to the park and walked for an hour and a half. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it was so nice to be outside.


We also visited my husbands family yesterday and for the first time since my surgery....... I had pie. I had a tiny tiny piece of chocolate cream pie and O MY GOD. It tasted so good. I was satisfied with the little piece and was happy I was able to join in and have some and not feel deprived. I am technically not supposed to have that stuff yet but I wanted it so bad and I didn't want to not have it and resent my band.


I felt in control for once, what a great feeling!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Saturday it is.

In my pre-band days, a Saturday work day would surely lead to a nice dinner out. It might be a steak with a loaded baked potato followed by some sort of cheese cake. It could also be some kind of stuffed chicken with pasta followed by key lime pie. It could even be a really good burger with sweet potato fries and a big ol' waffle cone of blue moon. But no.. not tonight. Instead I will make something healthy and have no regrets. However, I do miss those days of carefree eating followed by a comfy sweet. This is why I see a therapist! :)

It is cold here, and rainy, and a perfect day to stay in bed. Sadly, I am at work until 6 today. I am drinking my peach tea and dreaming of smaller pants. It is almost lunch time and I am getting hungry.

Blah.... today kind of sucks.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Weigh In Day

Today is weigh in day. I jumped on the scale and was pleasantly greeted by a loss of 4.4 lbs!! I can't believe it. I am so pumped. This has been a great week. I hope I can keep the ball rolling. In total, in just a little over four weeks, I have lost 22.4 lbs. I am so so pleased.

In other news, I have the day off today. That means I must get in a really good work out. I have no excuses not to. I am planning on making some turkey chili for dinner tonight and I am looking forward to that. Yum-O. Maybe a movie tonight... maybe not. I have to work tomorrow so nothing too crazy.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Pizza, and other distractions


So, as part of my job as a teen services librarian I lead teen book discussions. I had one today at 4 o'clock. I always order pizza for the book group and did so today. It smelled amazing! It looked delightful. But... it didn't make me sad that I couldn't eat it. I am not sure if that was because I knew I had my own dinner, one that looked delicious, or that I just really didn't want it that bad. I successfully avoided it, even the left overs. I had a great time with the book group and left the discussion feeling good.


In other news, I saw my therapist today. I talked to him about my food issues I am currently dealing with, as well as stress from family, work, and friends. It felt so good to just vent. He also said he feels I am doing a really great job coping with my new way of eating.


Tomorrow I weigh in... hope I lost something!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wednesday, my first real food day


So, yesterday was a sad day. There was a murder suicide at my place of employment. It was a domestic dispute and it just happened to take place in our parking lot. It was very sad and traumatic for everyone involved. We ended up closing for the day but are back to the grind today. We do have councilors on site for anyone to talk to. Normally a day like this would have driven me to eat. However, yesterday that was not the case. In fact, almost the opposite happened. I realized how much more important other things are than food. I guess that was a success for me.


So, today is my first day on real food, sort of. I still can't eat grain products or raw fruits or veggies and red meat is out for 6 months. But I can have meat, fish, cooked veggies, and mushy fruits. I put some pork chops in the crock put this morning and excited to be able to eat with my husband again (he and I have been making our own dinners).


I have been exercising regularly and have been feelings really good. I still love my band and am looking forward to my first fill on October 20th.

Monday, September 21, 2009

A bad case of the Mondays

Today I am having some serious Monday issues. I didn't sleep well last night and was up by 5:30 am (I don't leave for work until 8 am). I decided to use my time wisely and walk a couple miles. It was nice to get a work out in but I am tired! I have already had much drama this morning, including a visit from a detective needing information on a police report I filed on some stolen materials. Mondays are always busy for me, I have 5 or 6 hours on the reference desk helping the public and then lots of loose ends from the weekend.

The weekend went by so fast. My poor husband was sick and still wasn't feeling good this morning. It was a pretty low key weekend, but I was starving the entire time. My lack of fill is finally starting to catch up to me but I am still carefully counting my calories and watching my portions. I can't wait to start soft food on Wednesday! I am going to make pork chops in the crock pot. It is going to feel so good to chew.

Happy Monday all!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Saturday, September 19th


I will just start with.... I AM STARVING TODAY! Not so sure what that is all about. Part of the issue may be that I have been home pretty much all day not really doing much. It may be because I am bored or maybe I am actually hungry today. My husband is out at a football game... which isn't my thing, so I stayed home. That was probably not such a good idea. However, I decided to use my time productively and walk 3 miles. That made some of the hunger go away, but that might be temporary.


Last night I had a work dinner and we went to Carrabas, an Italian place. I am currently on mushies. All my co-workers know about my Lapband so that is really not a big deal, but I didn't really want to have the waitress put some soup in a blender for me. I am not embarrassed to ask, I guess I just wanted to feel as normal as possible. So... I ordered the salmon with lemon butter. I am not sure how my surgeon would have felt about this, I am not supposed to start "chewing" until Wednesday. I figured what the hell... I am going to give it a try. So my salmon comes and it looks so good and smell amazing. So... I take a tiny tiny bite and chew it 40 times (I am counting in my head) and I swallow... and YUM. All was well. I figure as long as I chewed to the point of liquid it was probably the same as putting it in the blender. I only ate about 1/4 of the fish, but every bite was heaven. I have since gone back to mushies... but I must say, I enjoyed chewing again.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Weigh In Day


I weighed in today and was pleased to see that I dropped another 2lbs. I had snuck on the scale a couple times earlier this week and it just wasn't budging. I am now down 18lb and am looking forward to getting to that 20lb mark.


In other news, I am not sure that everyone knows what I do for a living. I am a Teen Services Librarian. I pretty much have one of the best jobs in the world. I do teen friendly programs, work at the teen reference desk, and purchase all the teen materials. Well, today and tomorrow we are celebrating International Talk Like A Pirate Day... so I am dressed a pirate. Most of the librarians are dressed as pirates today which adds a whole new twist to a work day. The best part about it is that we have a department dinner after work tonight so we will all be eating out dressed as pirates.


We are going to Carrabas and I have already looked at the menu and am planning on having minestrone. This will be an interesting experience as everyone will be eating bread and pasta. I plan on enjoying the conversation and my soup!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

2 weeks and 1 day down


My new Lapband lifestyle seems to be going well. I am not especially hungry, not really having any cravings (except when I see other people eating fast food), and over all feeling pretty great. I am eating mushies and I am enjoying the change from full liquids. My favorite food is fat free refried beans with low fat cheese and sour cream. I love Mexican food so that really seems like indulging to me. I have only been eating 3 times a day and I have a feeling that I should probably be eating less at one time and more often. I have little restriction since my band is empty so I don't fill up very fast but I do stay full for quite a while. I have been religious about waiting an hour to drink before and after eating. I think this is making an impact.


I feel like I am really dedicated to this and that my surgeon and nutritionist have set me up for success. So all in all... life is delightful. And since life is so delightful, I am adding this picture of me enjoying my day at work.


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

13 days post-op


Today I am 13 days post-op and feeling pretty great. I am healed up for the most part and pretty much back to normal. Tomorrow I start on pureed food and I can't wait to have some cheesy refried beans. I haven't lost any weight for the last week but I am okay with that. I understand I am healing and in the always popular "bandster hell".


I made an appointment with the therapist today. I really need to get back to dealing with all my food issues. Some days I have more issues than usual and I realize how deeply this is all rooted. I need to sort this all out to really excel at my new life.
I am dealing with some minor hunger issues, but nothing too serious yet. I stay full for 4+ hours and am eating somewhere between 1-1 1/2 cups of food. All and all... pretty happen with my situation.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A whole country ham


So, I have successfully made it through 10 days with my Lap Band. I am down 16lbs, which apparently is the weight of that whole country ham. I am feeling really good and am back to work today. I am yet to have any real eating issues and I get relatively full fast.


I did have some post surgery pain on my left said under my ribs but really not much else. From day 2 I was able to sleep on my stomach. I am just not a back or side sleeper so I quickly tested my limits.


I had my first post-op visit with Dr. Katz yesterday and all was great. He said I am doing fantastic. Speaking of Dr. Katz, I have to say, I love him. He is kind of quiet but is very sweet and caring. He really wants his patients to succeed.


I really don't have too much to add, other then, I am hanging tough. Today I will be eating my normal which is a slim fast low carb shake for breakfast, another slim fast for lunch with a half a cup of mashed potatoes, a half a cup of cottage cheese for dinner, and maybe a light yogurt if I am still hungry. I am trying to get in all my water, but that is tough.