2 years banded!

2 years post op 60 pounds down.

An old before, my sister just found this picture of me and shared it with me...

what could make me think flowered pants were a good idea?

Howdy! First of all, I'm having technical difficulties today, I can't get a side by side thing going with my pics, blogger won't let me write above my pics, it's making me mad. But anyway, I am glad I got my band. I'ts been 2 years on Sunday since I was banded. Here are a few bullet points to summarize my time with the band:

• It really was a good decision for me, I'm glad that I took this step.
• I thought that I would be 100 pounds down in one year, that did not happen for me.
• My first year I lost 55 pounds, the second year, I bounced around a lot and lost a total of 5 pounds. Is it what I thought would happen? No, but I'm still happy that I did not gain back any weight in the second year.
• I am stubborn and it has been a real adjustment learning to make peace with my band and learning my limitations. Very challenging.
• I have a 10cc band and only have 2.5cc's in it. Most days I think I'm too tight even though my last adjustment was an unfill.
• When I see pictures like the ones above, I realize how far I've come and I'm really pleased. Other times, this is the new heavy for me and I have trouble concentrating on the positive and really just think about the fact that I have more to lose.
• My skin has held up pretty good. I'm 49, so I'm no spring chicken, but considering how much I have lost and gained over my lifetime, I think I don't look too scary.
• One of the best things to come out of getting banded is that I've met some of the most amazing women. I went to Chicago twice and really consider myself so lucky that this little piece of plastic brought so much to me!
• I no longer have to scoot my butt all the way over to adjust the seat in my car and I can fit in the patio tables at one of our favorite patio spots. The list of NSV's are long and 60 pounds, well that aint too shabby either.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me. I'm looking forward to getting to my goal weight, whatever that might be. I do know, that I'm not there yet, but I'm not that far off. I hope you all have a great day!

Big Hugs!

T

Spring has sprung!

As promised here are a few pics of the springtime splendor in my yard. John has the greenest thumb around and I love when everything is in bloom. So...enjoy!

So lovely! Now, thank you all for your comments and suggestions about my thyroid pill dilemma. Sandy, I read the article and have put a call into my doctor, but in the meantime, I made an executive decision and took it last night instead of this morning. All went well. And, Gilly, I know it seems crazy that I'm so tight in the morning. It's really bizarre, I only have 2.5 cc's in my 10 cc band. I wake up so tight in the mornings that if I drink water without thinking, I get stuck and sick, but by 10 in the morning, I'm usually loosened up quite a bit. My band is very fickle, hormonal fluctuations wreak havoc on my tightness. I would say on some days that I feel like I should get an unfill again, but then again, more than half of each month my restriction is just right. I have started logging my restriction to try getting a better idea of a pattern. It's frustrating some days, but if I'm careful, things really go okay. I really do want to take care of my band and don't want to be too tight.

This is such a great community of support and information. How cool is it that we don't have to wait until a monthly support group meeting to get input from others?

Happy Wednesday! I'm still alcohol free!

Big Hugs!

T

My Nemesis...

Yep, this little bitty pill is causing me so much trouble. It's my thyroid pill, that I have to take first thing in the morning, on and empty stomach. Okay, well first thing in the morning, I have trouble getting water down, but lately, I've been even more tight than usual in the morning. I have gotten stuck on this little pill 3 times in a week and thrown it up. But then, what do you do after that? I don't know if some of it may have gone down, I don't want to take another one. I wait for about 30 minutes before I give in and go throw up. It's frustrating and so...I'm more nervous than usual about taking the pill in the morning, which in turn leads to more tightness, you get the picture...it's frustrating. My doctor says to take the pill on an empty stomach and take it with plenty of water. Here is my compromise. I break the pill in half, take a tiny, tiny sip of water, I wait ten minutes, then take the other half, then wait ten more minutes, then drink a cup of warm water. If all that goes down, then I drink another cup of water and wait thirty minutes and have my coffee. It's really getting on my nerves. I take a few pills during the day, all of which are much bigger than that one, all of which don't present a problem for me. Oy!

My weekend went well, still no drinking. I have been having a delicious mocktail instead, I have sparkling water, lime and diet cranberry juice cocktail. It's refreshing and I have it in a fancy glass and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. Still, my weight is hanging at the same spot. I would like to see some downward trending, but no such luck, yet.

Friday my son had a track meet and placed 1st in the 300 Hurdles and 3rd in the 110 Hurdles, it was very exciting, he gets his athletic abilities from...Hell, I don't know where? His Dad is the least athletic man on the planet and I am good at watching sporting events and eating at the concession stand, does that count for anything?

I hope you all have a great week and for those of you still fighting the cold, it's HOT down South and it's only gonna get worse, but it's beautiful, tomorrow I'll post some pics of my Hubby's fabulous flowers and shrubs, all a bloom!

Big Hugs!
T

I'm over half way there!

I am 22 days into my no alcohol for Lent stint. I'm not joking when I say it hasn't been that bad at all! I'm pretty impressed with myself. I am looking forward to enjoying a glass of wine at Easter, and I'm pretty sure that after this much time, it won't take much to make me feel it, lol!


I'm surprised I haven't really lost any weight. I think my pants fit better, I don't have a muffin top with my smallest jeans. My weight is so frustrating, it fluctuates daily, this morning it was 206. I just really want to get below 205. I haven't dipped below that in a year at least! Although I'm happy with my weightloss and the fact that I haven't gained any weight in a year, it's frustrating, because this is not the place I want to stop. I don't know what I want my goal weight to be, but I'm certain it starts with a 1 instead of a 2. How hard should it be to lose 7 pounds? Evidently, pretty darn hard for me. I've cut out alcohol and thought, hey, I'm gonna lose 10 pounds...not. I know I need to exercise, that part of this sucks. I do log my food, and most days, I'm between 12 and 1400 calories. I need all of you BOOBS to form a circle, hold hands and chant, or something. I really want to lose 7 pounds. That's all I can think of right now and that's my immediate goal. I want to lose 7 pounds. After that, then I'll re-assess things.


Okay, happy Wednesday, now start chanting!


Big Hugs!


T

A Saturday of Girl Scout Cookies....

Leads to a Sunday of PB's which leads to a Monday of liquids and pain. I'm about to celebrate my 2nd anniversary with the band and I can tell you that there are somethings I know for sure. One thing I know for sure is that if I binge (well, a band version of a binge)...I will pay for it the next day in the form of supper tightness and PBing! I think this is why: if I binge...it's because my hormones are prompting me to and that shift in the hormonal balance always results in said tightness and PBing. So, yesterday, I puked so many times I lost count. My esophagus is sore, I'm sore between my shoulder blades, I have a sore throat and last night I kept dreaming about being strangled. So....what do you think I will learn from this? If the past is any indication of the future, not a whole lot! Damn, it sucks to be stupid.
On a different note, I had a good weekend with my boys and John and his daughter had a great weekend at the hunting camp bonding. I still have not had any alcohol, and I haven't missed it. My weight sadly still is hanging at the same spot, but I'm okay with that, I guess. I
I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week to come.
Big Hugs!
T

Monday...again!

Hey there! How was your weekend? I hope it was great. I had a good weekend, very productive. My boys were at their Dad's house, but my step-daughter was with us and we had a good weekend. I cleaned house, John worked in the yard, I tackled the infamous basket of mismatched socks, hosted a party and still did not drink any alcohol. Not too shabby! It hasn't even been hard for me to not drink, I'm finding that hard to believe, but it's true. Saturday night we had a party, we had lots of good food, everyone else had drinks and I had sparkling water with a dash of cranberry juice, it looked like a Cape Cod, it tasted good and I didn't miss drinking. I did pretty good food wise Saturday night, but on Sunday, I ate way too much. I don't know what drove that, other than the fact that there were some left over brownies and I indulged. Anyway, true to form, after a day of indulgence...my band slammed shut today, I'm tighter than tight, and have already PB'd 3 times today. When will I ever learn? Probably not anytime soon, since I'm about 2 years out and haven't caught on yet, lol! I'm ready for my boys to come home today, I miss them. I don't have to cook tonight, since I made the biggest pot of Jambalaya on Saturday, so they can have left overs tonight. I'm looking forward to watching the Voice....darn, I'm hooked. I hope you all have a great Monday and a great week ahead.


Big Hugs!


T