I love the confidence losing the weight has given me!
Today I did a really big presentation for my company. And I looked FABULOUS. At least more fabulous than 6 months ago. One of my goals is to be a speaker on digital technology. Well, I finally got to live the dream. For the event I bought new clothes (of course). To my surprise, I bought my first SMALL shirt! As seen above - all clothes are from New York and Company (my fave store). Blazer in size MEDIUM, white cami is SMALL and pants are Crosby Street SuperStretch Slim Leg pants in size 14. I also wore some cute pointy pumps from Nine West.
I love the confidence losing the weight has given me!
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Wow! 150 days post-surgery! I thought I would take some time to go over some things I can't do anymore since having Lap-Band surgery. Understanding the pros and cons of surgery are essential for anyone making a decision to have weight loss surgery.
1. Can't Buy Too Many Clothes I am constantly moving down in sizes. This causes conflict with my closet that has some great clothes I can no longer wear. When I do shop, I need to be careful not to buy too many new things, for fear I will not be able to wear them after a month. It is an expensive side-effect of weight loss. It seems I am constantly shopping for downsized garments. 2. Can't Shop at Lane Bryant Staying on the topic of clothes, pre-surgery, Lane Bryant was my store. Now, I do not fit in even their smallest sizes. I have had to branch out into other stores in the mall. And, there are so many! It requires extra time for my shopping because of the vast variety of options to look at and try on. 3. Can't Eat at Las Vegas Buffets I mean, what's the point? It's too expensive for what I eat. And if you are saying to yourself, "But, I love Las Vegas Buffets!". Ask yourself, "Do you? Do you really?" 4. Can't Over-Eat at Thanksgiving I will have a small plate of all the fixins. Then later, I will most likely be bored out of my mind while everyone naps from stuffing their face. 5. Can't Watch TV All Day Speaking of being bored, TV bores me. Pre-Band I would crave moving into couch potato mode on the weekend. Now, I have too much energy and get fidgety watching mindless TV. I'm sure there are a few other things I can't do, but these are the ones that have impacted my life the most. Happy 150 days to me! It is great to talk to others considering LapBand. I remember how much research I did in the early stages of my journey. I write this blog for two reasons: One, to be accountable for myself and to see how far I have come, and two, to help others understand the ups and downs of weight loss surgery with LapBand. I have been very lucky to have mostly great things to say! It's great when I hear that people read this blog and are inspired by it. I guess it's just another NSV for me! I keep forgetting to mention that for the past 2-3 weeks I have been able to wear all my old bracelets that were too tight prior to all my weight loss. Love it!
Can't seem to lose one friggin pound. One pound to 50 gone. One pound to a new bike. I am here at 188. Still!
I had been taking an old lower dose of Synthroid for the past week. Now, I am on my normal dose, so maybe that has something to do with it. I do have a nice NSV though - I can wear bracelets that used to be too small. And also, I bought two "L" size belts. No more XL belts for me. And honestly, I am close to owning an "M" belt. In January 2013, I weighed 245 lbs. I lost about ten pounds that year, so when I started my Lap-Band journey in February of 2014, I weighed 237. Back in 2013, my friends got really into recreational bike riding. I tried to join them in riding around the city. It was hard! I was always winded! I couldn't make it up the hills. I stopped riding with them. Friday: Casual 2 miles around the park Last week, Russ bought a new black Electra cruiser. On Friday, I got my old cruiser down from hanging on the garage wall and dusted it off. Russ checked the tires and oiled up the squeaky seat. We loaded the bikes in the truck and drove to the park. The park is really flat, so it was a nice bike ride. I felt really good, and it was fun! Today: 12.8 Miles for Breakfast The real challenge was today. We woke up early and decided to bike into our old town district for breakfast. I knew there were hills, and it was 5 miles out. But, since I have lots of energy, I mentally said, "You can do it!". We made it to Ruby's for breakfast with no problem! 5 miles through our streets. Once we ate, we also rode around old town for quite a while. We even stopped into our local cycle shop. I found a great new Electra cruiser bike in a sea foam green that I identified will be a "1/2 way point gift to myself". I'm 4 pounds away of being 1/2 way to goal. Once I hit it, this is mine! On the way back, we took the bike trail. This is where I had the most problems pre Lap-Band. There are steep dips under the streets as you take the trail. Going down is no problem "Wheeeeee!" but getting back up was always a challenge. Even though my bike has gears, I could never do it without getting off and walking the bike up.
But today, I did all of it with no problem!!! It felt great! Of course at about mile 10 of our whole trip, I started losing steam. But finally, we got back to our house and spent the rest of the day watching movies. It was a great NSV for me and I loved how much easier it was! I'm excited for summer. And to get my new bike! Well it's been 10 weeks post surgery. Here is a recap of my journey: Weight Loss: So far I have lost a total of 42 pounds. 16 of that was on the pre-surgery liquid diet. 26 is post-op which is a combination of liquid, mushies and regular food. I lost 15 pounds the first 5 weeks post surgery and 11 pounds the second 5 weeks post surgery. My weight loss has slowed down, but is still steadily headed in the right direction. Foods: I still have not gotten "stuck", but I really do listen to my Lap-Band. I pick proteins first like egg, meat, cheese and beans. My carbs might be corn tortilla chips or mashed potatoes. But, I eat no more than 1/2 a cup, and even that is risking feeling the ultimate "full" feeling. Energy: My energy is great. I am always ready for anything and do not want to just sit watching TV. Once my energy came back after surgery, it's been insane! NSVs: I have had SOOOO many! I am wearing size 14 in shorts. A Large in T-shirts. I get so many remarks on the weight loss from various people. I can walk faster, play longer and am looking forward to buying a new bathing suit! Incisions: I barely notice them. I can see them, but they don't give me any issue. They are smooth to the touch. My port area is not sore any more. I really don't feel it like I did in the past. Here's a look at them: Progress Photos: Okay, here it is from Week 5 to Week 10. I don't see a lot of difference, except in my butt! I do feel a lot different in my clothes, so it doesn't matter if it is not super obvious in these photos.
Happy Mother's Day! Today I am going out to breakfast with my son. But last night, I had an interesting dream.
Let me tell you that when I had previously yo-yo dieted, I would dream of eating food. I would eat cookies, cakes, ice cream, you name it. All in my dreams. I would wake up feeling guilty, but then realizing it was a dream, didn't feel too bad and went on with trying to diet. Well last night I had a food eating dream. I was at a breakfast buffet. Lots of pancakes, french toast, hashbrowns... all the yummy items. The funny thing about this dream is... I ate only one sunny side up egg. I was excited to find the egg options and happily took one egg. I think this proves that band-life is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. It really does fundamentally change the way I think about food. Even in my subconscious, I am choosing the right portions and the right foods. It's not a diet, I am just winning the battle over mental dependency on food! Today was date day with my boyfriend. Our schedules only allow us one full day off together, so we try to maximize our time. But instead of our usual working on the house day, we decided to go people watch at our local outdoor mall. We found parking and walked around the mall for a while. Then we went to Cafe Tu Tu Tango which is a really cool eclectic airy restaurant bar. The best thing is that the whole menu is "appetizer style". Russ and I were able to split the steak skewer appetizer and it was perfect for me! As we were chatting about friends, family and our life together, he mentions to me that I am walking a lot faster. He doesn't have to slow down for me as we are walking around. Wow! I said it's probably because I have a lot more energy, not to mention the weight loss. Definitely a great NSV! When your office building auto detailer says, "You've been losing weight. Like 40 pounds?", you know it's going to be a great day!
I am starting to shrink out of most of my clothes. As far as sizes go, I started my journey 40 pounds ago in the size 20 pants and XXL shirt range. I lost a good bit early on and was able to go shopping at 4 weeks post-surgery and bought size 16 to 18 pants and some XL shirts. I added these to my size 20s and XXLs. Now, I am 9 weeks post surgery and really needed to refresh my whole wardrobe. I'm talking undergarments, pants, shirts, the whole thing! First, I went to my favorite store, New York and Company. I bought size 16 pants. I love that their largest size is 18 and I don't have to buy the largest anymore. I got a lot of summer work shirts in cute colors in size XL and L depending on the cut. Then I went to Macy's. And It was a whole new world. Prior to being banded, I would shop in the Women's area of Macy's. At my store, the Women's area is segregated from the regular clothes and is on the 3rd floor next to childrens and housewares. I always felt like a second class citizen having to go all the way up there, and it made me sad and angry. But today... Today I shopped on the 2nd Floor. Where everyone else shops! And the selection is AMAZING! I must have tried on a million shorts and tops. I couldn't decide what to get. It's amazing how freeing it feels to be able to buy almost anything in the store. Macy's sizes runs a little larger so I got to buy size 14 shorts and some L shirts! When I got home, the real work began. I went through my whole closet and took out all clothes that I knew I would not want to wear again. Not only is the weather heating up, most are really too big. Even though I still like them, out went some very cute XXL sweaters. 3 large bags of clothes later, I hung up all my new treasures and marveled at the variety of fun colors I had chosen. So many more colors are available to me now. No longer do I need to choose black because it's slimming!
I know I will have to shop again in another month or so, but that's ok. I left the tags on all my new clothes, just in case I don't get to wearing them, I can exchange them for a smaller size! Woo Hoo! 40lbs down from when I started this journey almost eleven weeks ago! I've lost 16lbs pre-surgery and 24lbs post-surgery. I am happy to continue to make progress. This week I learned that even though food is so delicious, and I haven't gotten stuck so far (knock on wood), I still have to stay true to my portion sizes. Twice this week I went to bed extremely full. It's almost painful when I'm full. It feels like pressure at the top of my stomach. Last night we went to the Angels baseball game. And NSV: I wore a tank top!!! Rad! I decided I would not have a traditional hot-dog to eat. I have heard that having to chew the hot-dog so much makes them not as tasty as they were pre-band. So I opted for nachos. Even the small nachos was huge to me. I ate 4 chips with some cheese and that was enough. I didn't over eat. I didn't keep eating just because it was there and it was baseball. My goal was to not feel that uncomfortable pressure in my band. And it worked. Believe me, it was hard to be at a baseball game and not snack. But I did it. And I was happy to sleep well and wake up ready for breakfast. 49 Days of Lap-Band Glory
Since it is seven weeks post-surgery, and I have no scale to measure my weight right now...let's look at my other stats: 1. Energy: Doing really good in this department. I definitely have "spring fever". It's hard to sit still inside. I want to go on hikes or camping or gardening. 2. Incisions/Scars: These are fading nicely. Only the scars themselves are a light pink-ish color. I will post more incision photos at my 8-week post next Monday. 3. Sleeping: Love to sleep. Haven't had any big issues. Oh, one night my stomach woke me up at 3am making all sorts of weird noises. It was on a night when I probably ate too much food. 4. Food: I am totally into MEAT! I still only eat about 3/4 cup, but love STEAK!! I've also had some cooked broccoli, pizza (did not like the feeling after), cupcake, tortilla chips, shrimp, STEAK, sausage, bacon. Did I mention STEAK? I don't crave sweets, I crave MEAT! I haven't had a "stuck" episode. Thank God! I really try to chew chew chew! 5. Exercise: I did some Yoga, but mostly am walking the dogs and just getting outside. 6. NSV: Lot's of people telling me I look so much skinnier. I bought size 16 pants at my favorite store. Bought a Medium-but it's loose- sweater. Definitely can't shop at Lane Bryant any more for shirts. I have some of their smallest size (14) and they are too big! 7. Bonus NSV! I don't feel super fat in photos! Actually I feel like I have a chin these days! Today I turned 43. And instead of tuna and beans, I splurged on food. When I though about my birthday "dinner" I toyed with the idea of going out to a special restaurant. But, honestly, going out to eat is not as much fun as it once was. It is hard to go out, order something big and delicious and then only eat a small fraction of it. It makes me feel very wasteful. I decided an at-home BBQ would be better. I wanted my favorite foods. Bacon-wrapped steak and shrimp. Russ also may home-made mashed potatoes plus some rolls for the kids. I LOVED it! I ate 3 shrimps, and 4-5 bites of the most delicious bacon steak, and a couple of spoons of mashed potatoes. Believe me, I wanted to eat more it was so delicious. But my band was saying, "Nope, you've had enough". I could feel that I was full. It's a good thing, too. Prior to the band I would have eaten so much more. Not only because it tasted good, but because it was my birthday and I "deserved it". That's how I would have fallen off the diet wagon and yo-yo'd back up in weight. The lap-band is keeping me on track. I got so many well wishes on my birthday, plus a lot of "You are looking so good!" "So skinny" "How much have you lost?". Even Russ said, "It's really noticeable". This makes me so much more happy and content than eating more delicious bacon wrapped steak. Russ bought me cupcakes to celebrate my big day. You can see how much I ate in this picture: It was just enough to celebrate another year!
I haven't been able to shop at my favorite mall clothing store, New York and Company, for years. A couple of weeks ago, I was finally able to fit into a pair of size 18 pants (their largest size). That was a great moment! But, then after wearing them for one day, I realized they were too big! Over the weekend, I went back and got a size smaller: 16! Here is a pic of me this morning wearing my new pants! Woo Hoo! It's official! I've lost 15lbs since my surgery date 5 weeks ago. That's 3 pounds a week which is a really good track record. On top of that I have an NSV! I have to go back to the mall today. I have to buy a size smaller pants than the ones I bought just two weeks ago. I bought some very nice black pants for my trip to Boston. I was just happy they fit. I didn't realize they were actually too loose until I wore them on my trip. A good, yet expensive, problem to have. I was banded March 3, 2014. The weekend before my big day, I took some "before" photos. Here are some progress shots: My incisions are healing nicely, too. Remember day 15, I was still recovering from the allergic reaction to the dermabond. All I can say is that I think I am doing well. I am very happy with the Lap-Band! The hard work is paying off!
Guess where I am? I am 35,000 feet in the air flying from earthquake-ridden Southern California to cold and wet Boston, Mass. I was nervous to fly. It's my first time flying after being banded. I did not know what to expect. I have heard that the restriction can increase based on altitude. I took the advice of forum bloggers and will not attempt to eat on the plane. I have my water, which is going down fine. I just finished a Calcium Citrate chewable vitamin (looks like a Starburst). I ate it little by little, chewing it well. That went down fine. I don't feel anything weird with the band. In other words, I don't feel it being tight or strange. I can't feel it at all.
Perks of a Traveling with a Bandster a.k.a. The "Back-Up Eater" I am traveling with colleagues for a week. I am still only on mushies, so I have to be selective about what I eat. At our lay over in Phoenix, we were hungry. We went to a cafe that was serving breakfast platters. I asked if I could order just one scrambled egg. "Sure! Thanks for making it easy" the guy said. He disappeared to make my egg. He came back quickly handing me a closed take-out container saying, "Here you go!" As soon as I felt the heaviness of it, I knew this was way more than one egg. As I moved down the line to pay, I opened it. I swear there must have been 7 scrambled eggs in there! I turned to my friend, Mari, and said, "Um, you want to help me eat this?" She said "Yes!" It worked out because she couldn't make up her mind as to what she wanted. She bought a banana to go with it and I had my back-up eater. The best part is that the "egg" only cost $2.00! We sat down and I partitioned off 1/4 cup of egg for myself, leaving Mari a large plate of scrambled goodness. She was feeling bad at the seemingly unfair division of food, saying "Take more". I told her that I was really going to be full off of what I already took. It was really cool to be able to get cheap food and share it with her. 28 Days of Glory Since it is four weeks post-surgery, let's look at my stats: 1. Weight Loss: 29lbs including pre- and post surgery diets (6 weeks). Starting weight: 237lbs. Current weight: 208lbs. 2. Energy: Off the charts! Feeling really good and inspired. 3. Incisions/Scars: Still reddish around them, but healing well. No more rash that I had week 2. Not sore. 4. Sleeping: I have been sleeping on my stomach (my fave position) for 2-3 nights now 5. Food: Eating my protein mushies. Added on Premier Protein bar (like one or two bites at a time). Chewing, Chewing, Chewing. Feeling full for 3-4 hours after 1/4 cup. Still supplementing protein with a daily shake. 6. Exercise: I try for 30 min a day. Not doing 100% on that. Need to amp that up in the next 4 weeks. 7. NSV: Colleague told me I have a nice "glow" today. Friends are noticing weight loss. Went to one of my favorite stores, New York and Company, and bought size 18 pants. They are a bit loose, but 16 is still too tight. Still, I couldn't shop there a month ago! Love it! 8. Bonus NSV! This airplane seat is not as tight as I remember. Yay! - Kristi |
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