Snail's Pace

Some fun family pix from the Fourth weekend. My two daughters (ages 13 & 17). The 13 year old was in the parade (cheerleading). They were stunting in the rain which I thought was a bit scary! Then there is a pic of my oldest daughter and husband soggy by the end of the parade.

The scale is moving down, but at a snail's pace. I was at 190.2 this morning. My goal was at least 189.8 for my first fill and drs. appt. tomorrow.

I had the first comments yesterday from friends in regards to losing weight. It is funny how it happens all at once. Sometimes I think it makes a difference what you wear. I still have a tendency to wear baggy tops. When I get to 185 I will go thru my clothes and start sharing with the "Sisterhood."

I will post tomorrow after my fill. :) I'm a bit scared. I have enjoyed being able to pretty much eat anything I want without any problems. Most people seem to think the first fill makes little difference, so I'm hoping that is the case. I have a couple trips coming up and I want to keep any PB incidents at bay.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Happy Fourth

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I'm not dressed very patriotically, but I couldn't resist wearing these cargo pants that I have not worn in FOREVER! (Size 16). So far I've lost just a little over 20 lbs. I'm just 2 lbs. away from the 180's...hoping to get there before Weds. when I have my six week check up with my dr. and my first fill. Most of my weight is in my upper body & stomach. Where am I losing the most???... my legs and butt. Hopefully the rest of the body catches up. I'm like an upside down triangle.

So far in the Summer Melt Down Challenge I have lost 8 lbs. It seemed so slow, but when I look at the big picture that is 2 lbs. a week which is great. I can see why I had trouble before; it takes a lot of patience to lose weight. :)

I think the hardest part of the journey for me so far was the liquid phase; I just wanted to crunch on anything. Bandster Inferno has not been bad at all. If I'm hungry I eat a small something, so I have never really felt deprived.

Breakfast Options: Protein Drink or Cream of Wheat

Snack: Yogurt or Protein Drink

Lunch: Tuna with cottage cheese or Soup

Snack: Cheese stick

Dinner: Ground Beef (3-4 oz) crumbled, with cottage cheese

Snack: Sugar Free pudding with Lite Cool Whip

Weak spots so far...I need to drink a few sips with a meal. I can't go without liquids 100%.

Exercise starts next week and I'm looking forward to that (I think :)

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday to everyone!

Humor for the day: Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth. On the third day,the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

Obsessive, Complusive...CDO

Yes, you heard me right...I have CDO (I'm so OCD I have to put it in alphabetical order).

I told my family I wanted to get a second scale because my new one seemed a bit "bipolar." My teenage daughters told me I was getting obsessive and that if my dh went with me to buy a second scale, then he would be "enabling" me. (mind you I did buy a new scale a few weeks ago when my 7 year old scale broke). The children said they could picture the bathroom with dozens of scales and no place to walk. I was out of control.

My loving husband went with me to buy a second new scale. Now I can happily weigh myself on two different scales 300x a day. I'm CDO...and my name is Janice. :)

I thought my dh was pretty supportive about the whole scale thing until he gave me a quote, "A man who has one watch always knows the time, but a man who has two watches is never quite sure." Humph...I'm not going to take that personally. :)

Okay, I'm 5 weeks post-0p now and I can definitely feel the hunger. I can see where a fill will come in handy next week.

5 weeks post-op (and 10 days pre-op liquid diet), I have lost 19.8 lbs and 11.25" total.
Most came from:
3" from waist (this is good; I have a long way to go)
2" from thighs (hello, this is like the smallest part of my body)

1" from bust

3.5" from hips (I have the droopy butt/parachute pants that Queen Vickie mentioned)

I guess we don't get to choose where we lose it from, as long as we lose it.

Humor for the Day: Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them,'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.' 'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonnay.

I have had a crazy schedule this week...next time up for air is Friday. I'm still going to try and do 30 min of reading blogs a day. I have lots of catching up to do. Miss you guys!

Mental Changes

Often when someone loses weight they will be asked if their personality, etc. changed at all. I have noticed in my "almost" one month out that I feel a lot more confident. For about the past ten years I really did "let myself go" and was in a lot of denial. I quit weighing myself regularly, I know I had not used a measuring tape in a decade and I ran past mirrors. I just refused to look in the mirror when getting dressed, out of the shower, etc. Out of sight, out of mind. Now I'm at the other extreme. I look and analyze constantly. The good news is that I don't terribly hate what I see. I see lots of room for improvement but I'm very optimistic.

I do have to laugh on taking my measurements. Being 50 and having had 2 children...when I measure my breasts, the front is in one location and the back is a few inches higher. That wasn't such an issue over a decade ago when I last took my measurements.

Today was my mammogram day, which I had at a wonderful health & wellness facility nearby. They have a gorgeous fitness center on site, so I took the time to visit. Lots of fun classes including Zumba, Spin and something called "Sizzle & Chizzle". Meanwhile, when I go to my surgeon in July he is supposed to release me to exercise and then I have a two month free membership for myself and a guest at a facility a little over an hour away. I will probably use that for the rest of the summer. As a teacher I'm home and can justify making the drive a few times a week to get into the swing of exercise. Plus, I get 8 visits FREE with a personal trainer. After that two months is up, I will look into the local facility. I'm getting excited to exercise. That is a big improvement. Plus the local facility has a phenomenal spa!!!

A little humor for the week:

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed ina very Sexy nightie 'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anythingyou want.' So he tied her up and went golfing.

Thank You

Thank you Linda for your technical help!!! I truly owe you a margarita if you are going to Chicago.

My concern was that while I had 109 blogs I follow show up on my Dashboard, only 77 were showing up on my blog under "Blogs I Follow". I use the "Blogs I Follow" link to read blogs and let others know if I'm following them.

I went in under "Design" and "Add & Arrange Page elements...then clicked on "My Blog List" gadget. There may be a simpler way to do this, but I just removed all the old ones and then added all current blogs I follow. I guess if I do that every few days I should be current.

Sorry for all of the confusion. Truthfully, losing weight is easier than figuring out some aspects of technology. I got lots of mental exercise today. :)

Please make sure I'm following you by checking "My Blog List". Thank you...and I should be caught up reading everyone by the weekend!

Happy Hump Day!

Help

I need TECHNICAL help...actually probably need more than that, but we will start at the technical end.

I'm new to the blogging world and think I'm getting the hang of things, but every now and then I get stumped. For example, I keep signing up to FOLLOW new bloggers and they don't automatically pop up on my dashboard. I use my dashboard to stay on top of my blog reading.

I got to the mechanics of my site and I see where it says "add" and "manage" for my dashboard, but neither seems to be what I need to update/refresh blogs followed.

I'm such a dunce when it comes to this stuff, somehow or another I ended up following my own blog.

If anyone has the trick to "update/refresh" new blog followings on my Dashboard I will be forever grateful and buy you a margarita in Chicago! Hope this makes sense!!! :)

Thank you!!!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

First, let me preface this and say this is not my body. My body is still very round with the skin stretched out. :)

My 13 year old and I were running errands the other day and she pops up with the question, "What are you going to do with all of your extra skin when you lose weight?" What's up with that? She had to have heard that somewhere, because that is not a normal question for a kid that age to think of. On the TV show, Royal Pains, they had an episode last week where a character had previously had gastric bypass. The dr. said he figured it out because she was wearing long sleeves outside in July. The character commented that her loose skin had not caught up with her weight loss yet. So I guess it is good that TV shows are incorporating WLS as part of plots. :) That is where the 13 year old got this question.

I told her I did not plan to have too much excess skin and whatever I did end up with, would surely be better than the fat. Much of it is due to genetics (on my side), age (so not on my side), exercise (time will tell on this one) and drinking lots of water (not sure if that is true or not, but it sounded good).

A shout out to a new bandster to be... Sumer...she is getting banded in July
http://lifeisbeautiful-forever.blogspot.com/

I have some blog reading catching up to do the next two days. Been busy with my other job, but I promise to catch up. :) Love reading everyone's stories!!!