15 Weeks of Lap Band Love

 

 

Happy July 26th!  It has to be a holiday somewhere doesn't it?  Maybe I should just say Happy Day 105~ that's how long it's been since I got my lap band.  15 weeks!  

I really don't have too much of anything new to report this week.  My last fill is still doing it's thing.. I'm eating two meals a day, and for the past week the meals haven't been very big.  But I'm satisfied, and staying full until it's time for the next meal.  I still have no desire to graze or eat between meals, and I am so grateful for that.  Sometimes my band feels so tight that even liquid takes its sweet time going through, but that's never been an all day thing for me.  It's usually in the mornings and evenings, and I can still drink just fine, but the first few swallows remind me that my band is still there.  I feel hungriest at lunch because I don't normally eat breakfast anymore.  Firstly, I'm not hungry for a few hours after I wake up, and secondly, if I were to eat it wouldn't be much.. my band is tightest in the mornings, at least that's how it feels.  By 11 am I am super hungry though, and have found that I can eat lunch, but not a lot.  My lunches have been my smallest meal.  By dinner time (at least 6 hours later) I'm hungry again, but a small portion of food satisfies and fills me up!  

Do I dare hope that this will last?  Could I have found a sweet spot already?  I guess only time will tell.  I'm scheduled for another fill in August, but I'm truly hoping that I won't need it.  Weight loss at this point is slower. I'm dropping 3 to 4 pounds a week on average and that makes me very happy! Just enough to see a little loss every few days.. and as long as the numbers are going down I have a big smile on my face! Still no Pepsi or any other type of soda for me, but I have occasionally drank a wine cooler or beer with no difficulty or adverse reaction to the carbonation.  I technically could drink a soda now I guess, but I DON'T MISS IT anymore! Yay me!! 

Ya know, initially I was kind of dreading the holidays this year.  I was nervous about how much food I would want to eat, and how that would all play out since typically the holidays have been gorge fests for me.  I was thinking about it the other day though, and I'm not nervous about it at all.  I can't eat that much, regardless of how much is in front of me, and in my estimation that's exactly how this band is supposed to be working.   I'm actually very excited for the holidays this year for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I will be smaller!  I love cooking around the holidays, and much of that is traditional, and I'm so looking forward to that yet.  I still love cooking even though I don't have that desire to eat as much anymore.  Tonight we're having guests for dinner and I'm doing comfort food extraordinaire! Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and country gravy, cheesy creamed corn and salad.  Yep! I'm eating it too, and when I'm done I will still be under my allotted calories for the day!  It's really a great feeling to know that I can still enjoy the food I love the most sometimes, and I don't have to worry about sabotaging myself.  I don't know if this will hold out forever.. but while it lasts I'm loving it! 

See ya next week ~ and thanks for stopping by! 

 

Fills, losses, belts, and saying goodbye to tortillas

 

14 weeks today, and I finally had to break down this morning and realize that I may have eaten my last burrito ever.  BOOOO!  I gave it a good try this morning. I really did, but all three little bites that I took got stuck for a few minutes on the way down, and let me tell you... that's no way to eat a burrito!  DUH! I know, I know.. I'm a very slow learner sometimes.  Since the beginning of this journey I've had issues with tortillas, but after the first difficult swallow, I could usually get them down just fine.  My last fill took care of that in short order!  Ahh well. It's a good thing I guess. 

I'll be needing new jeans again shortly ~ YAY!  Okay.. needing them and buying them are two different things right now.  So I did the next best thing, which is something I haven't done in a very long time... I bought a belt!  I LOVE my new belt!  And the new belt will last longer than the new jeans would I suspect. My new belt makes me very happy! It looks cute, and it's not an accessory at this point.. it's a necessity! 

I'm posting a photo here instead of on the photo page of this blog.  I'm wearing normal clothes rather than the workout clothes that I wore for my "before pics" that are posted under the photos tab on this blog.  It's just a full body pic, so compare as you will, but I probably need to take some more side by side photos dressed in the same type of clothes for a true comparison one of these days. My son took this for me to commemorate 90 days down and half way there! 

I love my lapband.. I can't say it enough!  It's the absolute best thing I've ever done for ME!  I feel healthier, and look better than I have in more than 27 years.  I'm on my way!  Thanks for stopping by!

90 days and half way there!

Going from month to month I've officially been banded for 3 months now!  13 weeks if I count the weeks and just over 90 days! .  At any rate.. I'm in the game further than I'd been able to imagine from the beginning and according to my doctor today, I'm doing "phenomenally well" That's good stuff to hear!

I had my third fill today and it hurt.  After the second one feeling so much better I wasn't prepared for this one at all.  A very inexperienced PA got to do the fill today, and wow.. hopefully she gets a few more under her belt before he turns her loose on me again. (insert disgusted look here!)  But, the great news is I had lost weight, not as much as the last time I went in a month ago, but I was down 5 pounds this time.  I had a two week vacation in there with no fill before I left, so I was expecting to have gained.  I'll definitely take the 5 pound loss!   I got a 1cc fill today which puts me at 5cc total.  Maybe this will be the beginning of the sweet spot era!  I am hoping!  

I realized today that I am half way to my goal!  In three months time that is AMAZING stuff!  I feel extremely empowered and motivated right now.  I'm getting a little glimpse of my other butt!  It's definitely coming out of hiding a little more every day, and it feels fabulous!  Every single day I notice little changes that make me very happy.  I wasn't prepared for that.  I don't know why. It's definitely an added bonus to this journey.  I don't really know what I thought it would be like, but not knowing exactly what to expect, I didn't allow myself to get overly excited about how fast the weight would come off, or how the inches would melt away even faster.  I certainly haven't had a moment's disappointment since day one.  I am so grateful for that.  

As far as diet goes.. I'm only eating two meals a day most days now, and that's what my doctor wants.  I have very little desire to graze or snack between meals at all anymore which pleases me to no end.  I haven't drank a Pepsi or soda of any kind since the week before my surgery, and I barely miss that at all right now which is seriously amazing to me.  It's been 90 days.. and I had hoped that is all it would take to make me able to kick that habit completely, and I believe I have.  I know I drank at least 900 calories per day of just Pepsi before my lap band, and sometimes it was more! These days I drink a lot of water, a lot of unsweetened ice tea, and an occasional glass of lemonade. 

My meals each day are less than half the size of my pre lapband meals.  Again, I'm so amazed by that!  It makes me giggle when I think about it!  I have to admit, I pretty much eat whatever I want.  I don't disallow myself anything unless I've had "stuck" issues with it.  I haven't had any bread yet since my fill today, but I suspect it will deal me fits.  I'm okay with that, because the past month I've had to be pretty careful about bread and tortillas.  They are the most likely to get stuck for me.  I still eat cheesy things, I still have sour cream on some things, although not as much as I used to.  I just don't crave it like I did.  I never crave cake, cookies, brownies etc., but then I never really did before either.  I still eat pasta, potatoes and occasionally pizza, but my portions are child sized, and I get full on them really fast.  I eat a lot more salads these days and thankfully haven't had any "stuck" episodes due to those. My latest kick has been the Strawberry Fields salad kits from the produce section of the grocery store.  200 calories per serving, and there are only two servings in the bag.  BIG servings! One bag is at least three lunches for me.  The kit has dried sweet strawberries, slivered almonds, and this delicious strawberry vinaigrette that you pour over it.  Sometimes I kick in a little feta cheese and still my calorie count is low, and they are so yummy!!  

My "head hunger" is way less than it was in the first two months.  I'm much more able to be completely satisfied eating just when I'm actually hungry right now.  I think this is due in large part to the fact that I haven't deprived myself of eating many of the things I love to eat.  Allowing myself to have those things has let me feel more in control, and because I can only eat small portions I'm not getting the horrible damaging amounts of bad stuff that I used to get.  I don't know how this would work for everyone.. it just works really well for me. And I decided from the very first week after this surgery that I was going to find, and follow what worked the best for me, and I'm convinced that is why I've been as successful as I have so far.  When something has stopped working (like bread  and tortillas) I let it go and move on.  

I have an entire close full of clothes that need to GO!  My pile of too big clothes has been growing, and yesterday I realized that almost everything in that closet is too big.  Some of it is still wearable.. I'm okay with a few baggy things, but most of it just won't work for me.  Love that!  

I'm supposed to go back in a month to see where I am.. I have high hopes and a goal.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

12 weeks!

 

Tomorrow will be 12 weeks into my banded life and I still don't have a single regret to report! I've never been more sure of my decision, and it's been many years since I've felt healthier and better about who I am! 

I just spent 11 days on the best beach vacation ever!  A girl's trip to Gulf Shores, AL was just what the proverbial doctor ordered, and I'm home tanned, relaxed, and more than a  few inches smaller than I was when I left!! How's THAT for vacation? Perfect if you ask me.  I lost a whopping total of one pound while I was gone haha!  But towards the middle of last week I noticed that my bathing suit (which I spent a lot of time in) was fitting very strangely.  It felt too big in the stomach for starters, but then I noticed that the bra cups in it were all deformed looking.  I realized that the girls had shrunk! YEEE HAW!!  There's hope on the horizon my friends!

  I admit I was a little concerned about vacation eating, especially since I didn't get a fill before I left, but I had decided that I wasn't going to stress about it.  I ate very well..  I ate normal sized portions, and had no problems with wanting to snack between meals.  I drank at least one frozen alcoholic concoction every single day while I was on that beach.. along with lots of water and lemonade.  I felt a little restriction at times which was comforting, and let me know my band was doing its job, and had a couple of "stuck" episodes that were mild, and lasted only a few minutes.  I ate LOTS of steamed shrimp! Mmmmm!  I miss that yummy steamed shrimp.. the kind you can get on the Nebraska prairie just doesn't compare.  

One highlight of my trip that I must share ~~ I PARASAILED!!  Oh yeah! I stepped right outside of my comfort zone and flew high above the Gulf of Mexico!  I absolutely loved it and will do it again if I ever get the chance.  I felt like super woman when I was done, and I kind of still do!  

I was without a scale for the entire vacation, and that freaked me out a little..  I figured that I'd have gained a pound or two by the time I got home, even though it was pretty obvious that I'd left a few inches down in Alabama somewhere!  I was pretty happy when I stepped on that scale yesterday and realized that there was no gain, and I could still be friends with both the scale and the mirror!  

I'm happy to be home.. and while I didn't use a gym even once while I was gone, I did have the sand to walk in so I got a little added exercise I guess!  It's back to the gym for me this week!  I'm also looking forward to adding a daily fruit smoothie to my diet!  Hey~ it's my healthy version of a daily frozen concoction that will remind me of the beach as I delve back into reality! Thanks Aunt Jan for introducing me to the wonderful smoothie!   My other butt is getting closer.. I can feel it!  

I hope you all have had a safe and happy Independence Day if you're in the USA~ and mostly, that you spent it with the people you love! 

That's all for this week ~ thanks for stopping by!