Snow, BBQs and Fitness

It's still snowing in NH. Tomorrow is April, and it's stilllll snowing. I cannot wait for the sun and the summer. Yesterday we had a cook out, and it was great! Great fun and great people. The food was good too. I had cook outs all spring/summer long last year, but I wasn't eating healthy at the time. This was my first full fledged cook out since my healthy eating/living journey, and it wasn't bad! The mac n cheese was a little off. I don't think I used enough cheese and butter and milk. Everything I used was low fat, but I just didn't use enough. I have plenty of time to fix this.

I'm still up those few lbs. I'm also still growing my muscles, so I'm not going to focus on the number, although it's always nice when it goes down. :) My pants are still getting bigger, so I'm shrinking, and that's a good thing.

I averaged 699 calories/day last week. I also still wonder if I'm not losing because I'm working out so much and not eating enough. I'm just not that hungry. I tried to consciously eat more on Saturday, and I ended up having 842 calories. Yesterday, I had a meal replacement bar for breakfast (100 calories), and then the food at the cook out, but I couldn't eat much. I'm getting full much faster now, which is strange because I had a fill 6 weeks ago. I heard it can take a few weeks for the fill to kick in, but this many? I'm going to have to check with the veterans.

I'm thinking of getting certified as a personal trainer, specializing in obesity and people who are considering or who have had weight loss surgery. I emailed the office manager at my surgeon's office this morning to see if insurances would cover the training sessions if meeting with a personal trainer before and after surgery was a requirement, just like meeting with the nutritionist and the therapist. If she thinks they would, that would be great, but that's a big if.

I used to work at Gold's Gym when I was younger, and I was not certified, but I worked under a certified personal trainer to train people who were new to working out. I learned a lot, and I remember a lot of it still. I think I can really help people, and I feel passionate about this. Unfortunately, I'm still overweight so I'm not sure if people would want to listen to me just yet. ;-) I may need to use a few of you as guinea pigs at the beginning. Thanks in advance!

Awesome, I'm gaining!

LOL

Okay, yesterday I was very good. I ate my dinner by 6, and that was the last thing I ate for the day. I only ate 660 calories yesterday. For the past few days, I'm averaging between 600-700 calories per day, and I'm lifting more weights than usual, and I'm gaining. I don't think I'm eating enough, especially considering the weights I'm lifting. I think my body is squirreling away the calories because of my workouts...just a thought.

I'm supposed to be at about 1000 calories per day. 1200 is fine as well, and 800 is fine, but 1000 should be the average, according to my MD. Today I'm going to plan to get in 1000 calories. It may not make a difference because I'm still going up on weights. I know this problem will resolve itself as soon as my body adjusts to the new lifting levels, and my new muscle begins to tear through my fat.

If I didn't have a fill scheduled for this Tuesday, I wouldn't care about the number on the scale, but I want my MD to know how much I've lost. As of today, I was up 5 lbs from my lowest! 3 lbs fluctuation can be water weight, but more than that is real pounds.

Today is going to be a busy day: we are doing a much needed thorough cleaning of the house, working out, going out to breakfast, paying bills, catching up on some work, grocery shopping, and having Tracey over later tonight. We are also having friends over for a cook out tomorrow, so we need to prepare for that as well. I should probably get crack-a-lackin'!

You want me to do what?

Okay - I tried one of the Belly Dancing DVDs that I bought:

Perfect Hips - For the absolute beginner

I was thinking I would qualify as the absolute beginner, but I forgot that I'm still fat, so I'm an absolute fat beginner, which is worse than an absolute beginner. My body is not designed to move the way this lady wants me to. LOL

In general, a lot of the moves were okay, but I have a major disconnect in my brain about moving my rib cage. I can't do it. For this one move, you have to do a hip bump with a glule squeeze to make it POP, and then it goes into this thing where you move your rib cage from side to side, without using your shoulders or anything. HUH? I just stood there trying to will my rib cage to move, but it wasn't happening. I need to learn more about this.

I had trouble with one of the stretches too. You are supposed to sit on the ground and fold your left leg in toward your right side, and fold your right leg in toward your left side, so that your right knee is directly above your left knee. I'm thankful I can sit Indian style on the floor - that's about as far as I go! My legs are still too meaty to arrange them in that manner. Oh well - I'll keep trying!

I ended up doing 30 minutes of the DVD. It's about an hour or so total in length, but I'm going to the gym tonight, and my legs and knees were getting sore, so I called it a day for the belly. I think it's going to be a good work out though!

Today is a new day

For breakfast, I had a half of a wrap with 1.5 oz of ground turkey. The plan was to eat the whole wrap with 3 oz of turkey, but I got too full half way through. For lunch, I had a cucumber, 1/2 a 6 inch whole grain pita with hummus. Yummus. (Sorry, I had to say that again. I find myself making my hummus sandwich, and I can't help from saying over and over in my head "There's a hummus among us." I am my father's daughter.)

I'm trying to figure out if I'm working out with D tonight or if I'm working out alone during the day. I hate the thought of working out on a Friday night. How boring is that? Especially because D doesn't get home until 7.

I would like to work out at 5, go to sushi with Steph, Carolyn and Darcy at 7, and then go to the movies. That plan works for me. I promised D that I'd go with her at night this week in exchange for her going with me in the AM next week. Me and my big mouth. I'm secretly hoping she'll decide she doesn't want to go tonight so that I can work out at 5, but that's evil of me.

If I work out with D at 7, I will have to eat before that because I refuse to eat late again, which means it won't be a fun sushi dinner, it will be some boring thing at the house. I guess I could have worse things to worry about. ;-)

Day Off

I took yesterday off from my blog. So sorry!

I had an off site, and after that I took Karen out to thank her for all of her hard work. By the time I got home, it was time for dinner and Lost and then I called it a day.

Yesterday I ate a GM fiber one bar for breakfast, 1.5 oz of chicken and 1.5 oz of steak with onions, green peppers and salad for lunch, and a grilled chicken salad for dinner. (693 Calories/57 grams of protein/13 grams of fiber/34 grams of fat)

I don't know why I've been eating around the 700 calorie mark for the past few days. It's not like it's making me lose weight! I was up a few lbs again this AM, but I know that's just because I ate dinner at 9 last night. That always happens, which is why I usually do all I can to eat earlier. Oh well!

I haven't lost any weight this week, which isn't surprising because I've been back to the gym after my week off with my sickness, and my body is still adjusting to the 10 lb loss I had last week. I would rather lose 5 lbs two weeks in a row than 10 one week and nothing the next. Seeing the numbers drop on the scale helps to motivate me.

I'm plenty motivated, but it motivates me even MORE. It's not like if I have a week like this one, I question my whole plan or get discouraged, but it's just fun seeing that number go down and down and down! I know myself, and I won't have a loss until Sunday or Monday. Tomorrow I will be down the lbs I'm up today, but no more than that. That's just how I roll.

A doozy of a day

Today is going to be a busy one. I'm working from home this AM because I have an MD appointment. They are checking my blood levels to see if I'm still severely anemic. I hope I'm not. I've been 90% good about taking my iron 2x/day, and I've been trying to east iron rich foods.

My schedule today:

6:00 - Up and working, weighed myself, no change on the scale
7:00 - Thyroid meds and 20 oz water, continue working
8:00 - 20 oz water (I should be eating breakfast...), continue working
9:00 - Breakfast (eggs, low fat cheese, veggies in whole grain wrap), shower, dress
9:30 - 20 oz water, back to work
10:00 - pack lunch of whole grain pita (1/2), hummus and cucumber, leave for MD appt
11:00 - MD appt
12:00 - drive to Boston
12:30 - eat lunch, catch up on emails/voicemails
1:00 - 5:00 - meetings, 40 oz water
5:00 - drive home to NH (banana snack)
6:30 - arrive in NH, try to catch up on work while eating dinner (leftovers of wholegrain pasta with grilled chicken, artichoke hearts and tomato sauce)
7:00 - Gym with D (upper body)
8:00 - Leave gym, get home, changed, out to meet Steph and Carolyn
10:00 - Home, go to bed, big day tomorrow

Today I will consume 777 calories, 64 grams of protein, 20 grams of fiber, 100 oz of water and 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables. I have a Fiber One bar with me if I need a mid day snack. 140 calories and 9 grams of fiber, which would bring my total to 917 calories, 29 grams of fiber, and 66 grams of protein.

No, I don't intend to bore you with my schedule every day, but I know how hard it can be to find the time to plan for healthy living, and it's something I work very hard to do, so perhaps my schedule can be of help, either as a healthy living plan or perhaps as a sleep aid.

;-)

As I mentioned above, I haven't lost any weight in the past few days. I'm not surprised after losing 10 lbs in a week! I was up a few lbs the past few days, but I think it was just water weight, or my body adjusting back to weight training. Either way, it's gone now and I'm back to my lowest.

Last night I was super hungry by the time I got home. I haven't been that hungry since before my last fill. I may need a fill after all!

Have a great day!

Support Group Review

Ali and I attended the support group at our hospital tonight. They have decided to separate the pre-op folks from the post-op group, which I was optimistic about. So many of the last meetings I went to covered the same pre-op questions, over and over, I just wasn't getting much from the meetings.

It was definitely interesting being with a strictly post op group (for the first part of the meeting), but I was surprised by some of the advice my MD gave. I'm a member of a few online groups, as I've mentioned before, and the members of those groups advocate such strict band-rule following. I have come to expect that from all bandsters, and that did not seem the case with my group.

I want to go on record saying that I love my MD, and I think he's the best WLS surgeon in the area. I would go to him 1000 times over, and recommend him completely. I think that he's too easy on us, though. I think his expectations of what overweight people are capable of are too low. Some of the post op bandsters need a good dose of tough love, and it seemed to me like they were a bit coddled.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. I'm not even at my six month point yet, so let's see how I am once I've lived with the band for two years. People in glass houses... but you know what I mean. He said that if you park in a far away parking space when you're going somewhere, that is exercise. I realize if he were speaking to a group of people who hadn't had surgery yet, or who had just had surgery, that may be all the exercise they can do, and it's better than nothing. Walking a few extra yards, however, is not going to suddenly make the number on the scale smaller.

The exercise we need to do is hard work! We need to sweat. We need to build our muscles, we need to stretch and play, and get our heart pumping. He mentioned a new study that showed exercise makes a tremendous difference in the success of the post op bandster. I'm not sure how this is news! To me, incorporating exercise is a must-have. It's not a nice extra. It's just as important as choosing healthy meals every day.

I've said from the beginning that in addition to meeting with the surgeon, the nutritionist and the psychologist for pre-op training and evaluation, each WLS candidate should meet with a personal trainer too. It is SO important, and vital to our success.

It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in a few months, and to see that many of them are shrinking. It's encouraging and motivating. I just hope moving forward, we can strive for excellence in our weight loss journeys. It will benefit us all.

A day in the life

Now that I'm 85% back to normal from my sickness, and I'm back to work, I thought I'd give you insight into an average (although I rarely have average days) day for me, in regards to the foods I eat, water I drink, exercise, etc....

I am still requiring more sleep because I'm still on the mend:

7:00 - Got up, showered, dressed, packed my gym clothes + iPod, took thyroid medicine
7:40 - Packed breakfast, snack and dinner (going out for lunch, and have support group tonight, so I needed to bring dinner)
7:45 - left for work
8:20 - arrived at work, drank 20 oz of water
9:00 - Ate Fiber One breakfast bar
9:30 - Took vitamins + iron
10:00 - drank another 20 oz of water
11:00 - 20 oz of water
12:00 - working lunch (Indian food! - chicken saag)
2:00 - banana
3:00 - 20 oz of water
4:30 - leave work
5:00 - Work out at gym (lower body + abs)
6:00 - eat dinner, get ready for Lap Band Support Group, take iron and calcium with D (again)
6:30 - 2 hr support group in Medford (bring water to drink during meeting)
8:30 - drive home to NH
9:30 - arrive home, do another 30 mins of work, perhaps a little homework as well
10:30 or 11:00 - bed

Today I will consume 919 calories, 24 grams of fiber, 20 grams of fat, and 43 grams of protein, which is on the low end for me. I'm usually between 60-90 grams of protein per day. I will also drink 100 oz of water.

Shake it like Shakira

I emailed one of my online groups asking for lower stomach exercise ideas, and one of their ideas was Belly Dancing! Oh my. I can't even imagine Belly Dancing, but they swear by it. I just ordered two Belly Dancing DVDs from Amazon, and they will be here on Wednesday. I will report back soon.

Breaking Bread

We had a lovely Easter dinner at Lanie and Billy's yesterday. They put out an amazing spread of carrot soup with sour cream and dill pesto, marinated grilled lamb, filet mignon, green bean casserole cooked with Chardonnay and Parmesan cheese, mixed greens with mandarin oranges, scalloped potatoes, spanakopita, and dinner rolls. Everything was fantastic, and we had such a nice day with them!

I don't really eat bread anymore, but I took a small bite of my dinner roll and gave the rest to Darcy. It was yummy.

Lately, I have been starting to wonder if I'm finally at the right amount of restriction with the band. Bread and potatoes are not really working for me anymore, I'm getting full faster, I have no problem limiting my daily intake to 1000 calories (as long as I make wise choices), I'm not really hungry between meals, and making the right food choices gets easier and easier.

I'm not sure what the benefit of another fill would be at this point, unless my MD would like me to try eating fewer than 1000 calories per day. If that's the case, than it makes sense. I'm going to keep my appointment, and see what he says. Also, it's in another week, and by then - maybe I'll be getting hungrier.

The other piece is that I've been averaging a 3.5+ lb loss since my last fill, and that's well above the range I'm supposed to be in. He may not want to give me a fill as a result of my weight loss alone. I certainly don't want to be too tight that I can't eat anything, although at the beginning of this journey, I would have thought that sounded like a neat idea.

I was up a few lbs today, but it's just probably water weight. I had more salt than normal yesterday, and I ate dinner at 8:30, so that always means I'll be up the next day. I'm sure it will be gone tomorrow. I haven't been to the gym since last Tuesday and I miss it!

D wants to start working out with me, so this week, she's going to come with me every night after work, and next week, she's going to come with me in the AM before work. That's our compromise. Tonight we will focus on upper body, and I want us to do the exercise ball video as well.

Do you feel Lucky?

Okay, so TJ says Diesel is out, and Lucky is in. Good, because Lucky's are way better and cheaper. TJ thinks I shouldn't waste my money ($88-$120) on a pair of Lucky jeans when I can get a pair of Calvin's or Levi's that are just as nice. He thinks I should spend most of my wardrobe money on work clothes.

I have to wear suits to work. Dressing for work is not fun, it's part of the job. I know I will eventually need to drop some coin on a nice work wardrobe, but that is not fun, and that's not what I'm talking about here.

I'm talking about escaping from Old Navy hell, and finally getting some nice clothes! I don't want to fill my closet with overpriced clothing, but I do want a few overpriced outfits, once I'm at goal!

I found this pair of Lucky's that I like:

Realistically, I won't be at goal for another year, so TJ's going to have to keep me posted on what the kids are wearing in the mean time. I'm not buying clothes I love until I'm much closer to goal.

Hummus?...Yummus!!

How I managed to forget to eat Hummus during this entire healthy eating journey is beyond me!

I was on the phone with my dear mother this afternoon, and she mentioned that my cousin Kara was going out for Hummus for lunch (we have very exciting conversations!) and it reminded me that I've been wanting to have more legumes in my diet, and this is the only source of them that I actually enjoy!

I told my Mom I'd call her right back, and I called the Darce who was at the store, and I had her pick up some whole grain pitas and some Joseph's Onion and Gahlic (not a typo - New England accent so D would know what I was referring to) Hummus. Right on.

For lunch today, I had a 1/2 of a 6 inch whole grain pita with hummus and cucumber slices with minced garlic, and it was fantastic! What a nice treat, and it was so filling! (150 calories, 3 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein - don't worry - I get plenty of protein - 4 g's of fiber)

Can we chat?

First of all, I'd like to THANK my Mom and Dad for sending me a nice check to congratulate me for my 100 lb loss to use for some new clothes. I've always wanted a pair of Diesel jeans...I have no idea if they are even in style... TJ? Little help, please?

Anyway, I went online to find Diesel jeans, and this abomination is what I found:

EW!

And what's worse than these uglier-than-the-80's-and/or-70's-originals-that-make-this-poor-man's-body-look-deformed you ask? THE PRICE!

These jeans are FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!!!

I really want to know who in the world is buying these jeans...especially for that money!

Okay, as you can see by my rant, I'm clearly over the hill now, but do you blame me?

I don't know where to begin, but thank you for joining me as I wake up to an age of fashion I do not understand. I have been trapped in Old Navy hell for about 15 years (a/k/a as long as the store has been open and making sizes bigger and bigger for me every year), and now that I can awake from my polo shirt/graphic t/oxford button down/carpenter jeans coma, I do not know where to go...but I am learning where I do NOT want to go.

Someone needs to sponsor me for "What not to wear," because I think I'm going to need professional help.*

*Author's note: I will seek and exact a painful revenge on anyone who actually sponsors me for that show. I was only kidding when I suggested it. JK! ;-) ...but seriously...don't do it... xo...LOL

No, Krissy is not my fat inner child

A few of you have asked me what I'm talking about when I say I'm losing Krissy. I understand my name is Kristen, so it's easy to think that Krissy could be a derivative of my own name, and part of me that I'm "losing," but no, dear skimmers, that is not the Krissy I am referring to. ;-)

Meet Krissy:

Krissy is my 115 lb neighbor, and this is a picture of her on her wedding day. Apparently, no one has taken a picture of her in the four years she has been married, so this is the most updated photo. The honeymoon is clearly over. (Just kidding K&B!!!)

As I mentioned in my post the day I lost 100 lbs, I had decided a while back that I didn't want to have a party to celebrate losing 100 lbs because that is boring. Instead, I want to have an I Lost Krissy party when I lose 115 lbs (Krissy's weight).

For those of you who caught this the first time around, I apologize for the repetition. For those of you who missed it, make like a tomato and ketchup! ;-)

10 more lbs until I'm at 115 lost!

I think I'll be losing Krissy sooner than I'd thought!

;-0)

Unless of course I just blew it by being too sure of myself!

As of today, I was down another 3 lbs to a total of 105. I've lost 10 lbs in the past week, which is unheard of for me. I know I didn't eat very much yesterday, and I've been drinking a ton of water, but still!

I'm not complaining!

I have a crazy theory, and here goes: I think that I have been working out so much, and building up so much muscle, that since I haven't worked out at all this week, the muscle I've built up is just burning through my fat, but if I'd been working out all week, I would continue to build more muscle which weighs more than fat, which temporarily slows down the weight loss...kind of...

I bought a pair of pants a few weeks ago that were much too tight at the time, but now they fit just fine! I didn't know that would happen so quickly!

It's time to try on all the suits in D's closet again! Hopefully they will now fit, because I am down to ZERO clothes that fit me for work currently. I have a few pairs of pants that are too loose, but don't quite fall off yet, but that's not ideal.

My fever finally broke. I'm going to take it easy and rest today, and take it easy this weekend as well, but I am hoping to be back to the gym tomorrow before these muscles turn to mush!

XO

Not sure how that happened...

...but I'm down another 2 lbs today. I sat on my butt all day yesterday, and I ate dinner at 8PM, right before I went to bed. I probably lost 2 lbs drinking over a gallon of water, trying to get rid of this pesky fever!

Last night, I hardly slept at all. I was sooo exhausted, but it didn't matter. I was feverish, nauseous, stuffed up, sinus irritation, sore throat...I sound like a nyquil commercial. I took nyquil to no avail.

I'm home from work again today...once again on my duff. I hope the weight doesn't creep up on me since I'm sedentary, but I also realize my priority right now should just be getting well.

XO

...13 lbs 'til I lose Krissy...

Feed a Cold

I have a nasty cold. I was thinking it was allergies originally, and while I think that's part of the nastiness that is my present cold, it's not all of it. Allergies don't give me a fever, and make me feel so weak that I have to sleep during the day.

For those of you who know me, I have to be exceedingly sick to nap, and I've been a'napping. I'm on day two of my fever. It's not constant - it seems to be off and on.

All day I felt more hungry than usual. I don't know if that's because in my life, I've been a sick eater, or if I'm truly extra hungry. It occurred to me today that illness is an eating trigger for me. I'm not an emotional eater, but if I'm sick, I give myself permission to give into any craving I have. After all, what if it's my body telling me something?

The last I checked, however, a pastrami and cheese sub lacks nutritional value that is going to help my cold, but I digress. (Note to reader: I'm not actually craving a pastrami and cheese sub. The thought of that greasiness is still repulsive to me.) I found myself passing the fresh loaf of Italian bread on our counter today, and thinking that I should have a piece with real butter. Yum. That would be comforting. If I were well, I wouldn't dream of even thinking of eating that.

A lot of bandsters, and other weight loss folks, can't keep trigger foods in the house because it's too much of a challenge for them. That is not usually my issue, though.

Www.newscientist.com published an article in 2002 regarding the "Feed a cold, starve a fever" theory. Here is an excerpt:

"Until now, most doctors and nutritionists have rejected the idea as a myth. But Dutch scientists have found that eating a meal boosts the type of immune response that destroys the viruses responsible for colds, while fasting stimulates the response that tackles the bacterial infections responsible for most fevers."

To read the entire article, please visit: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1777-feed-a-cold-starve-a-fever-may-be-right.html

So what if you have a cold and a fever? Maybe that's why I was so hungry earlier when my fever subsided, and why I'm not hungry at all now that my fever is back...or maybe it's all just psychosomatic! I'll probably never know.

Either way, I hope to get well soon. This is day 2 in a row where I've been to sick to work out. I think all the coughing is keeping my abs in shape though! Even though I'm very anemic, and that affects my energy level, I have had soooo much more energy since losing weight and working out that being this sick is very miserable for me. I feel like my old self...unable to get out of my own way.

I do treat sickness differently now that I'm more health conscious in general. I used to avoid vitamins, ignore the symptoms of illness until I was at the point where I was sick 2-3 times as long as I needed to be, and just overdose on nyquil at night to knock me out so I wouldn't be up constantly. Now I take my vitamins every day, get plenty of liquids, nap when I need to, etc, and I'm hoping the result will mean a quicker recovery.

We shall see.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Thank you so much for all of the support and well wishes! You guys are awesome!

Pictures

Okay, okay - here you go! :)

Here are a few pics from our vacation, as well as one from this past weekend (with the cowboy hat). I don't think there is a huge difference from my 5 month picture, even though I've lose 20 lbs since then...you tell me.

XO

Before (reminder): ...............................At 6ish mos:

Me and Karen in Scottsdale, AZ

KC in the Lazy River

The Darce on the waterslide

Me and The Darce in the Hot Tub

And one more from this weekend...

100 lbs!!!!!!

I did it!

As of today, I am officially down 100 lbs.

This is what 100 lbs looks like:

No, that is not going to be my celebratory dinner. LOL - Trust me, I wouldn't dream of having a fattening meal to celebrate this milestone. I've been focused on 100 for so long...I need a new goal! My reward for this achievement is getting my teeth whitened, and I think I'll get my hair done (herrr did) professionally as well. I think I'll get a few new pieces of clothing as well, especially because I never got myself a 75lb loss award, and I really need new clothes.

Actually, I do know what my next milestone is: I'm having an I lost Krissy party when I lose 115 lbs, or whatever it is that she weighs (she's supposed to check and let me know). Krissy is one of my neighbors, who is very thin, as you can well imagine since she weights roughly 115, and so as soon as I lose her, I'm going to throw an I lost Krissy party to celebrate the loss. I hope I don't truly lose her though because she's a nice kid and a lot of fun. :)

Lazy Day

I don't know if I'm coming down with something, but I felt wiped out yesterday, and I decided to just have a lazy day. I haven't had one of those in a loooong time, and I feel like it was a waste of time, but it felt good while I was doing it. :)

I think I'm sore from slumping in my chair all day long. Pathetic!

Anyway, I'm going to amp up on vitamins and take my Claritan in hopes of preventing whatever this is that I'm coming down with. Tonight I'm back to the gym, and then over to Jimmy's for Corned Beef!

I think I'm bloated from the corned beef I had for all three meals yesterday. (Ya think?!)

I was up one lb from the day before, but I'm sure it's water weight that will be gone tomorrow.

I am noticing that my band is getting a little tighter in the morning. I had a skinnless chicken thigh for breakfast today, and I had trouble getting it down. ...interesting...

That's all for now.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

KC

Inching closer

Today I was down a total of 97 lbs. I'm so close to 100, and I can't wait to get there! What an unbelievable change to go through in 6 months. I've lost 100 lbs before (when I didn't weigh as much), but it didn't last long. I know now that the weight I lose is weight I'm losing for life, and that makes a world of difference.

It's St. Patty's Day(ish), and I made a New England Boiled Dinner. It's fantastic. Corned beef is a weakness for me. I think I could eat a lot of it if I let myself. I didn't eat much yesterday, so today I'm extra hungry. I already had it for breakfast, and I'm going to have it for lunch and dinner too! LOL

I eat 3-4 oz of beef per serving, a few baby carrots, a 1/2 cup of potatoes, and a little cabbage, and it's 353 calories per plate. I eat 1000 calories per day, so 3 plates will work out just fine. :)

We were naughty yesterday, and we didn't go to the gym. Darcy wasn't feeling well, and I was going to go on my own, but the day got away from me. I still made it 5 times last week, which is my minimum, so I'm good!

I'm watching an intervention about a girl with bulemia. She is talking about how she has the uncontrolable urge to eat and how much it takes for her to get full. I feel like I had half the bulemia down before. I binged...I just never purged. They show the huge amount of food she eats, and I easily could have put that away before. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I kept it all down and packed on the lbs.

I don't think we look at overeating as an eating disorder, but it is, and it should be treated like one. Overweight people need to get the same kind of treatment and help that alchoholics and other people with eating disorders get. I think society is too sensitive to overweight people's feelings to take this approach, but I think it's something worth thinking about... It's truly a life or death matter. Morbid obesity starts at just 30 lbs overweight. That means that anyone with 30 or more lbs to lose is increasing their chances of morbidity dramatically due to their weight. Being overweight can ruin your life, or at best, drastically limit the way you live. Not everyone who is overweight has an eating disorder, but probably almost overone who is super obese, as I was, does. These people need help.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff:

I got nuthin...

...as far as a loss goes, that is. I'm still up a few lbs from when I came back from the trip. I ate very well, for the most part, but you just don't know how things are prepared. I didn't get enough water in either. Plus, the past two nights I've had dinner at 9 - which is a major no-no. That alone usually makes me to be up a few lbs.

I'm marinating chicken thighs today, and I'm going to have them for dinner with salad, green beans, and some type of whole grain. D doesn't usually get home from work until 7 or so on Fridays, so I'm going to eat without her.

I have a mountain of work to do, two weeks worth of homework, an hour (at least) to work out, and it's Friday night - aren't Friday's supposed to be fun? I'm thinking this one won't be, but that's okay.

Tomorrow we are going to Hampshire Hills, cleaning the house, running errands, and going to visit with friends for a St. Patrick's day meal at night. I will only eat a little corned beef! Sunday, we're going to visit a church in Nashua that we visited a few years ago. We liked it, but I don't remember why we never went back - I'm guessing because it wasn't close enough to home. Then we'll have lunch with my grandmother (I should let her know this!), and then to Hampshire Hills again!

I'm hoping next week won't be as crazy as this one has been.

KC

Getting tighter

I'm noticing more restriction from my band lately. It's not so much in me getting full, as much as it is things getting stuck or hard to swallow. I haven't had anything stuck like that meat from the very beginning, but I have felt a golf ball feeling in my throat lately, more and more.

I cannot eat fast. Period. There were several times this week when I needed to eat fast because I had to catch a plane, or I was out of time before a seminar was starting, but it doesn't work, and it's very painful. I need to remember this.

Today I had light tuna salad on a whole grain wrap for lunch. Normally, I have no problem with it, but today, for some reason, I had the golf ball feeling again. I probably didn't use enough low fat mayo with the tuna, so maybe that is why...

I still have no problem with pasta or moist meats, but untoasted bread is not so hot.

I'm baaack

Hello, dear readers, I apologize for not posting much while I was away. My time was very full running from the seminar to the pool during breaks/lunch/back to the seminars, handling work issues on the breaks, etc... I must have changed about 7 times each day. I would get up, put on work out clothes, work out, come back to the room, shower and dress for the seminar, go to the seminar, break for lunch, run to the room and change into a swim suit, go swim, run back, change for the seminar again, go back to the seminar, come back to the room when it was done, change to go swimming again, swim, back to the room, dress to go into town for dinner, go out, come back, into PJs, sleep, start all over again. LOL

Most people in the seminar just went outside in their work clothes to enjoy the sun during our longer breaks...not me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE swimming and playing in the sun, so I didn't want to miss a minute of it! I hope my boss isn't worried that I have been at a seminar, but I'm coming back with a tan! haha

AZ was great - the seminar was so-so, but I'm glad I got to visit Scottsdale. The town is so cute, the food is awesome, the resort was amazing, and I had so much fun in the lazy river and on the water slide.

In a million years, I never would have chosen to fly out to a seminar when I was heavier, and I missed out on so much! I'm still too big (by far) to be comfortable in the coach seats, but at least now I can put my tray down and buckle my seat belt! I can walk down the aisle forward, rather than sideways too...all my new tricks.

I can't wait to see what it's like when I'm smaller. I think it will still be cramped and annoying, but just even less so than it is now.

More soon.

XO

What's up!

Did you miss me?

Sorry that I haven't written. I'm at a seminar, and the computer costs 40 cents a minute to use, and I'm all set with that. LOL However, they set up a cyber cafe just for the members of the seminar to use, and so that's what I'm using right now.

The flight here was a bit of a nightmare, but we're here and it's awesome! I am jealous that my travel companions are sunning themselves by the pool while I'm inside having training, but it's just great to be here.

The weather is beautiful, the lazy river and waterslide are a blast, the resort is GORGEOUS. Yesterday we went into downtown Scottsdale, and had so much fun. It's an adorable little town.

I've been tracking my calories on fitday.com, and I'm staying within my 1000/day guideline. I've also been working out every day since I've been here. I went to the gym on my lunch break and it was extremely crowded. As it turns out, a bunch of professional golfers are here working with the trainer, and they were all getting trained together.

Dad - I'm so sorry - I have NO idea who they were, but I'd know if I looked through some pictures. I can say that none of them was Tiger Woods. That's about it.

I was thrilled to see that there is a scale in my room. Who'dathunkit?

I wasn't thrilled to see the weight. haha

It may just be different from my home scale, but I'm up like 3-4 lbs. I'll know more when I'm home on Wednesday.

XO to all!

Coming out of the closet

I am really at a loss of business attire at this point. I bought one pair of pants at Walmart to hold me over, and they were tight when I bought them (2 weeks ago), and they are close to getting loose. I have very few pants left in my rotation, and I am so hesitant to spend money on clothing that isn't going to fit for very long.

Yesterday, it occurred to me that Darcy may have some suits in her closet that may fit me! Apparently that is not quite the case, but we are close to that point. I would say I'm about 15 lbs away from fitting into a bunch of suits that she has, which is fantastic because that should hold me over another 30-40 lbs, and then I can worry about work clothing.

For some reason, even though she's 7 inches shorter than me, the length of the pants seem to be fine.

Sweet.

The slow climb to 100

Today I was one lb closer to my mega goal of 100 lbs, as I reached 94. TJ says I'll hit 100 by the time he's back from Brazil on March 18th, so now that's my goal. 6 lbs in two weeks. It's possible.

I have been terrible about working out this week - just when I was doing so well, I have a million and one excuses that I've written about on Phatbusters, but the point is, today is day 5 in the week, and I've already skipped two days of working out (by day 4). I only require that I work out 5 out of 7 days each week, and I'll do that for sure, but my preference is 6 days, and I've blown that.

I wonder if I could lose 6 lbs by Saturday. Probably not, huh?. It would be a nice trip to give myself as I fly to AZ! I'm 22 lbs lighter than I was when I flew about 6 weeks ago. That's a pretty cool thing!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but D and I got a new boat this weekend. By new, I mean an '87, but not a '64 as we had before. LOL I absolutely cannot WAIT until the water thaws and we can put her in! I have to come up with a name for her, and I'd like it to be something about my new lease on life... Any suggestions, dear readers?

I'm shopping for tubes and water skis, and I plan to spend my entire summer on the water. My Mom and Dad bought me a coat from LL Bean that was too small (although it would probably fit now), and my Mom was very eager for me to return it so it wasn't wasted (but it probably wouldn't have been since it would fit now - haha, but anyway!), so now I have a gift certificate to LL Bean, and I'm going to put that toward the price of a Kayak.

Imagine this work out: coming home after a stressful/annoying/worky/work day, and rather than changing into gross gym clothes and shuffling off to a smelly gym, jumping into a kayak, and exploring nature and the beauty outside while getting a great work out! Yes please! So that's going to be my next purchase.

Seriously, though, we need this snow and ice to leave - ASAP would be great.

KC

The Rules

I think I may gloss over the rules of the lap band because I was so prepared for them by the time I had the surgery, I didn't think anything of it. As I mentioned in a much earlier post, I heard that you couldn't drink liquids while eating once banded, five years before I even had the band, but I had already mastered that behavior by the first surgery consult. They add up, though, especially when coupled with medication that's not related to the band, so finding a balance can be tricky.

A few of the rules:

• Drink at *least* 64 oz water each day.
• Do not drink water for 30 minutes prior to having a meal, during the meal, or 60 minutes after the meal.
• Each meal should last at least 20-30 minutes.
• Drink a full glass of water with thyroid meds as soon as you wake up. Do not eat for an hour after taking the meds.
• Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up.
• Take iron pills directly after breakfast and dinner. Drink with water.
• Eat 3-4 small meals during the day, with two snacks.

I am a highly organized person, and I do a pretty good job of following these rules, as best as possbile since some of them are contradictory, but I cannot imagine how the average bandster possibly keeps track of when to eat vs when to drink. We should be drinking water all day long, yet, 5-6 times/day we're eating, so that's a 2 hr chunk of time when we should be drinking (AKA 10-12 hrs. The simple solution here is that we must not sleep. ;-)

It's not really that bad, but it does require planning, that's for sure. I have it down, but it's worth mentioning for you Pre-bandsters out there. If it were foolproof, everyone would do it and have great results.

To my fellow bloggers in distress

I have had the pleasure of reading several daily blogs from friends of mine who are also trying to get healthy and document that journey through their blogs. Two of them are going through a rough patch right now, and I'm hoping my blog today can motivate them, the way they have always been helpful in motiviating me.

Here are some inspirational quotes from your blogs, that have helped me thus far:

"The only person who can stop me is me--and I can take her!"

"Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits."

"WE ARE SOOOOOOO WORTH IT!!!!"

"Keep going! That's what I want to stress for anyone who is struggling. Keep going! Weight loss success takes behavior/lifestyle changes, eating less, and moving more. Stop dieting, start living."

"There are no activity points in beating yourself up." (WW Reference)

"Success is the result of good habits repeated day in and day out."

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it."

"Every morning prepare your mind for battle and know you CAN win because YOU are in charge of who wins the war."

My favorite: "Success is getting up one more time than you fall."

****The above quotes are Kittyism's. *****

*****Below are TJism's - a different kind of motivation ;-)****

"I anticipate some hard times ahead for me, but I do know I have to do this or I am going to die a painful death while I grasp for air."

"I am determined to succeed this time, and am focused on being as honest as I can be on this blog. I actually feel better and feel healthier while I am not smoking."

"While showering I thought about the fact that I could easily smoke one of these bad boys and nobody would be the wiser, and then put the patch on and continue on my journey of "living past the age of 42". I must tell you I am very proud of myself. "

"A comedian once said, Remember, smoking doesn't kill people. People who are trying to quit smoking kill people. This may be true. This morning a pushy woman cut me in line at Dunkin Donuts and I fantasized about reaching behind the counter for a dull plastic knife and repeatedly stabbing her. I think my shear exhaustion is the only thing that kept her alive." (Okay, that's not motivational, but it sure is funny.)

" I know I have to find the strength and resolve within myself to fight the good fight, and hope that this time, I have the right tools in place to help me with my success."

"Yesterday was my birthday, and I did think that a cigarette might be a secret little gift I give myself. Then I decided this year I would give myself the gift of non-smoking. It wasn't as fun, and if I had a gift receipt I might have returned it."

*************************
Dear friends - these are your words - words that have helped me, and hopefully words that will once again help you. I am here for you, and I wish you the best in your quest for health. You ARE worth it.

KC

Two in 3000

I just read on one of my Yahoo Groups that there has only been one women, out of 3000 women banded, who has ever lost 150 lbs in one year. There have been a number of men who have been able to, because their body's have so much more muscle mass to begin with, but only one woman, and she runs several miles each day.

It is ON.

I need to be #2. Actually, I need to beat this record. ;-) I would like to be the one woman who has ever lost 175 lbs in one year. That means, I need to lose 82 lbs in the next 6 months, or average a 3 lb loss every week for the next 6 months.

I'm pretty sure I won't have trouble hitting the 150, but 175 may be a stretch. We'll see soon enough. I know it's not a contest or a race - I'm just insanely competitive, and I can't help it. I will be happy with any weight loss, but I'm going to work toward this goal, because I just love having goals.

Time to go to the gym! :)

Meal Plan

I have been posting my weekly dinner plan on my Lowphat cooking blog, but I thought I would post one week here for your reading pleasure (LOL):

Monday - Chicken with artichoke hearts and tomatoes, over whole grain pasta in a light white wine sauce
Tuesday - Pork chops with whole grain cous cous and a side salad
Wednesday - Chicken thighs with whole grain orzo with lentils and teriyaki green beans
Thursday - Tuna salad wraps with fresh cucumbers
Friday - Sushi! (Salmon and Tuna)
Saturday - Flying to AZ!

Happy Anniversary To Me

Six months ago, I started this journey. I was down another lb today, so that was 93 lbs ago. I've averaged 15.5 lbs/month since the beginning. My first month, I was down 35, another month, it was more like 8, this month, I'm down about 12 lbs, so it fluctuates. The past two weeks I've averaged a 4 lb loss per week, but that may have been because I just had a fill...who knows. The average bandster loses about 4-6 lbs/month. It is a much slower weight loss than many other methods, and that's the point for many of us.

I may still be in the honeymoon phase, which is why I'm losing faster, or it may just be my metabolism. I know that there are people who try as hard as me without seeing the same results, and I feel fortunate. I also know that if I slow to a 4-6 lb/month loss, I will be perfectly fine with that...as long as the scale is steadily moving in the right direction... This isn't a race for me, and as I've said before, I'm glad I've had the time to slowly make changes in my diet.

When I first had the lap band, my nutritionist had me eating 1400-1600 calories per day. Five months later, that's what I ended up eating yesterday in an attempt to spike my metabolism. As my MD has slowly cut back my calories, I have been ready as I am learning healthy hints as I go, and my appetite continues to shrink.

The beginning of next September will be my one year anniversary of weight loss, and 11 months as a bandster. I would love to be down another 60-75 lbs by then, but we'll see. I'm 7 lbs away from the "century club" - the group that has lost at least 100 lbs. That will be a very nice milestone, and I plan to hit it at some point during this month.

Wish me luck!

KC

Thank you for the reminder, Alison!

I was down another lb yesterday (Saturday) for a total of 92, and I forgot to post it, so Alison reminded me! Today I was really bloated and up a bunch of weight, and I only ate 490 calories yesterday and I worked out for 2 hours, so I decided to try spiking my metabolism by eating way more calories than usual today. I ate things I normally don't eat, and I feel full and my stomach is bothering me. I ended up having a little over 1600 calories, which is about double what I've been averaging the past week, but certainly nothing crazy.

I will let you know if it works!

KC