8 million years later..

Okay-so it hasn't been 8 million years.. but it feels like that ..it's just about 4 months short of being two years since i've posted on here..

I've kept up reading most of the lap band blogs that I follow and thought that was enough to keep me in the loop. But I miss posting.. I miss being excited about sharing my highs and lows of this lap band journey and I really miss the support of people that are going through the same thing that I am..

Just a few weeks till my two year Band-a-versary ..and I'm down a solid 30lbs ..YAY!! and I feel great that I've been able to say goodbye to those 30lbs and have never seen them since..

but- (isn't there always a but..) I was down to 177-175 last fall and slowly since that time..i've let 20lbs sneak back ..

I'm here to say that I want to say a firm goodbye to those 20lbs for good..just like those wonderful 1st set of 30lbs.. and be at a 50lbs weight loss..and then think about my goal weight after that..

I'm currently wearing a size 16 .. I have size 14 pants that I was able to comfortably wear about 10lbs ago-so I'm not worried about fitting back into them eventually..

I'm wearing a large/x-large shirt and my bra size is 38DD (gosh what I wouldn't give to just have a pair of perky C's) :0)

And I'm weighing in at 195 (as of this a.m) 3/23/2012

Short Term Goals to work on NOW!

-make appointment at my WLS Center ..and chat about how my band has been feeling

-do my long overdue blood work

&

-get my right amount of water in (60'ish oz)

-adding a protein drink in my daily routine here/there to get back on track..

I haven't been to the gym in about 4 months ..but before that I was on a great routine and feel like I can get back in to that soon.. I've started with walking 3-4 times a week around the neighborhood that I work in and that's been helpful for getting me motivated to get my buns back in the gym ..

I'll see you all around the bloggy world and it's okay if you have no idea who the heck I am and why this crazy lady is leaving you comments on your blogs ;)

Happy Friday everyone!

Protein Bars

Which is your fave?

I'm working 9pm-5am for 6 days in a row (Postpartum Doula work) and I need to keep something in my bag just in case I start starving around 2-3a.m .. :0)

I've only had Pure Protein Bar (cookie dough or something like that) ..and it wasn't horrible..but I'd love to try other ones out there..

I know I could post this on lap-band-talk-dot-com ..but thought I'd ask my bloggy ladies..

Thanks!!

Ouchie!!

Dear Leenah-


You have been a very quiet guest in my body for the past 2 1/2 months.. so I guess you thought it was time to make your presence known and make some noise!? That's great ..I'm really glad to hear from you but I have one small question..and my question is ..does the noise have to be so PAINFUL!?

-xoxo me


My 3rd fill was last Wednesday and I started to really "feel" the fill over the weekend .. that seems to be the norm for me.. to feel it start and kick in a few days afterwards..

Yesterday I had trouble with a hamburger patty (with cheese on top) and no bun.. cut it up in to tiny bites and after a bit of time it all went down.

Last night for dinner was grilled chicken and pasta ..took one breast of chicken with some BBQ sauce and one spoonful of pasta ..and had some trouble with the chicken (a little bit to much time on the grill) ..but took my time and got through that.. thanks to the BBQ sauce for making everything a bit smoother to get down.

Today I had lunch at Panera and had soup/salad.. which I finished exactly 1/2 of each .. thought I would have this brilliant idea of dunking my son's grilled cheese crust in the soup at the very end.

Ouchieyaahyahh that hurt! I had to get up from the table ..I walked to the bathroom ..did some deep breathing and felt better.

I feel like just having a protein shake for dinner.. to make sure I got enough protein in for the day and to just have something "easy" to "eat" :0)

Anyways.. my band has shown up ..which is great.. just need to start playing by the rules now.. I haven't really needed to before ..but it's time to start.

Yummy Snack

My husband is making yummy lemon/raspberry bars this afternoon ..and even thought i'll have a bite of it ..

I don't want to go crazy and thought I could make my own yummy dessert to have with little guilt..

-A box of 'Cheesecake' flavored pudding :0) Yum!!

-And then some crushed up Graham Crackers

-A sprinkle of fresh raspberries (I would have used more,..but he needs them for the bars!)

and a drizzle of chocolate syrup ..because it makes it just that much more yummy..


Happy Sunday!!

30!!

Oh hi there #30! I've been waiting for you for a longggg time now ..

225-194.2 = 30lbs!!

almost two months of being sooo close to 3-0 that I've said that I've lost 30lbs..but knowing in my heart that I was about 1-2lbs from actually hitting the 3-0 #..

Hitting this number means that i'm:

-safely out of the 200's
-closer to 190 than 200
-4lbs closer to the milestone of 190
-fitting in my clothes easier
-energy is up/mood is up
-feeling like this whole thing is possible..

Just 10lbs more and I'll have the weight of my son off my shoulders/back/knee's .. that's my next big goal .. 184!!

It's crazy to think I've been carrying "him" around with me all this time.. he's gosh-darn heavy and it's not a fun thing to carry him far distances.. like on vacation when he wanted me to carry him across some rocks (he didn't have shoes on) to our cabin.. I was struggling to get him that far .. so it really puts into comparison what I carry around everyday..


Here's a pic of what I was doing at the gym yesterday .. I just wanted to go and walk/jog ..and left in a puddle of sweat .. It was a good feeling to not struggle like I usually do after taking a few days off (vacation)..

i know it's super hard to read (took the pic while cooling down)

50.51 minutes

2.26 miles

417 calories

Off to make a protein shake and figure out what me and my dude-a-rama are doing today on this fun friday!

Yay Bonnie!!

It's about to be her big 'band' day!!!

I wish you lots of the *good drugs* to ease you through the day! ;) You'll be fine and we'll see you on the other side..

((hugs))

www.wishingandhopingandprayingforaband.blogspot.com

Keeping cool and other things..

relaxing in the "pool" with my sister in laws .. :0)

our little beach (my mother in law and our friend the duck we named rhonda)

sunset on the beach

my little dude,husband and brother in law..helping him with his 1st mini golf game!

and he won!! can you believe the luck!?? ;o) or small amount of cheating..

the way we made it through outlet shopping..a big ol'lollypop!

he's never had one like that and wasn't sure if he should just stare at it ..or eat it..

the set up on our beach..notice the dd cup..my inlaws/hubby are dd coffee addicts

febuary+june+july

could i have my boobs hanging out anymore in pic #3??

i know you secretly like it! ;)

So I'm back!! Back from Maine ..and back from the land of no wi-fi.. yikes..not sure how I could live in a world not connected to the world-wide-web at all times.

I have a million-buhzillion blogs to catch up on and i'm trying to slowly but I'll get there..

Band news: Went in for my 3rd fill yesterday and she gave me my 'Big girl' fill that I wanted at fill #2 but couldn't have before going away on vacation. I'm now up to a solid 5cc's in my 10cc band. My doc likes to give big fill in the 1st few visits because they're covered under insurance and hopes to have success without to many trips in to have an adjustment. I'm still on mushies ..but I think I feel a difference this time.. we'll see. I also think I have that whole "don't feel the fill till day 3' thing going on .. so I'll try and take it easy for the next few days.

I'm actually *down* after my week away on vacation which is a miracle ..that's when I know this band is kickin butt..when things like that happen! This week it's back to the gym and I'm going for the 2nd time this week in a few minutes.

Only a few more oz's till the big 3-0 .. :0)

Non-Band news: Vacation was awesome!! Loved having our own little beach right out our front door and I think my son went swimming more than 8 hours a day. I got to sit and soak up the sun and read trashy magazines while he was doing that ..so it was a win-win. We went mini golfing, outlet shopping, ice-cream eating, and lots and lots of hanging out.

I'm kinda stressed out.. I'm in between jobs and looking for something long term. I'm feeling thankful that I have a Postpartum doula job coming up next week..which will take care of me money-wise until the start of August.. so that's a bit of pressure off my shoulders. But I know that's not a big fix..just a quick one.. so the search is on..

And that's really it for now.. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I'm looking forward to reading all these blogs ..

Lata bloggy peeps..

A little bit of everything..

and even two bathing suit pics at the end.. :0)

6.18.2010 five years of marriage..and moving on to year #6 looks possible since chris sent me flowers that day..it wasn't looking so great when he told me he was going to a concert on our anniversary night..We're going to Boston on 8/18 and so I tell everyone we'll be celebrating our 5yr and 2month anniversary..

my nephew Keegan ..aka Mr. Happy! :0)


my boy..who thinks playing his nintendo is wayyyy cooler than smiling at my iphone camera..silly goose!!







are you ready for this..



..







....



..



.





doing the toe point..(Thanks Amy W.!!) and i had to do these out in my hallway because my bedroom looks like my clothes basket threw up all over my room..not pretty.




i used to think black bathing suits were for older ladies (like great-grandma old) but now that i'm just about there (30!!?!?!?!?) i'm kinda diggin the black..and it hides things that need to stay hidden..

okay, back to packing .. try not to come back here to look at my bathing suit pics to many times..the ultra-white of my skin might start to blind you..

:0)

Fill #2

Was easy-peasy .. just like the first..

Two interesting things though..

-I have 3.5cc's already .. I thought she only put in 3 last time ..

-She said that she could only give me .5cc's today ..(and I really shouldn't have had one at all) because I'm going out of state on Saturday a.m .. so I'm a little bummed that it wasn't a full strength fill.. but happy she gave me something.

I so need this fill.. and I'm hoping that it gives me a bit of restriction ..and if not.. it's back to the dr's on 7/7 at 9a.m for a big girl fill ;0)

I'm excited for Vacation to be right around the corner.. need to start packing, get my eyebrows done and my toes done before we leave..

This is the 3rd year of staying on Brandy Pond in Naples Maine.. a very pretty/relaxing/quiet time.. My little dude puts on his life-jacket right after breakfast and then spends the rest of the day in the water.. and I'm going to park my booty on the beach and watch him play!

The house we rent sleeps a whole bunch ..so we go with my inlaws(Chris's parents, 2 sisters and their significant others and now my brand new nephew) ..it's great to be with everyone without anything else to do except hangout for a whole week.

I'd really like to take an a.m walk since the house we're renting is on a really long dead-end street..I'll let you know how that works out ;0)

Hope everyone is good.. I'm off to make a protein shake for lunch..

And then jeans go to..Colleen! :o)

over at 'This Time I Mean It'

http://www.colls-thistimeimeanit.blogspot.com


yay for the sisterHOOD and yay for this bloggy community!!


((hugs))

In the hood ..the SisterHOOD!

who needs a few pairs of jeans in size 18?? anyone??

they aren't all that new or fancy ..but if you need to throw a pair of jeans on in a pinch..these will do!


i went out for drinks on Sunday with a girlfriend (who's inspired by my surgery and now looking into it for herself) and put on that pair of dark jeans.. I ended up wearing them because that's all I have ..but yowwza they were baggy in the butt! i love a bit of room in the waist/thighs ..but i love my booty to be hugged nice and tight!

so now i'm past that size and want to pass on my pieces of clothes to the sister-HOOD..

i'm able to go out to the post office tomorrow ..so give me a shout out if you want these (i know it's not really jean weather in the u.s ..but...maybe your planning ahead for the fall?) :0)

so hi there size 16!! oh heeey 16!! haven't seen you in about five years.. happy i saved 'one' pair of 16's from the skinner days of my life..

i love this tea!!

i don't know what it is about this stuff..but i'm lovin it! and at only a few calories.. it's an easy way to get almost 40oz of "water" in ..i know it's not really "water" but in my book it counts okay? :0)

in other news .. eight more days until fill #2 and i need it ..because..


i'm STARVING!!

and it's driving me nuts! like my stomach is rumbling already and I just had to slices of deli meat with a slice of cheddar cheese..

okay, so lets run down the list of not so good food choices ..

today:

1/2 slice of toast with cinnamon and sugar/butter ..which I made for my son and then he didn't want it .. so on the way to the garbage can it went in my mouth.

a slice of cheddar cheese and salami rolled up..did this twice ..

two cookies

a carnation instant breakfast

wheat-thins ..(at least they were the low-fat kind)


yikes.

must.stay.away from the kitchen!!

yesterday I had two cupcakes with frosting ..and a peanut butter cookie.. left over from a cookout we had at the house on Sunday..


I feel like I was so "good" in the few weeks after the swelling went down from surgery ..and didn't gain ..kept losing .. and not that i've started gaining out of control ..but I'm pushing my luck..



Last week I got 3cc's put in and I'm wondering what she'll suggest for my 2nd fill.. I'm leaving on vacation two days after that.. so I don't want a huge fill ..just incase it's a little much and would need to have some come out..

I'm feeling so ..bleh.. because I was losing (slowly ..but losing..) and I feel like I don't want to let myself down or others around me down.. I know that things will get better after I get to the 'sweet spot' ..but that seems like it's far and out of my reach right now..

Maybe fill #2 will put at least a little dent in the hunger..


Lata bloggy peeps!

This is yumm-o!

Had this the other day for lunch: except my meal was just one enchilada and it came with corn and black beans.. Oh mama was it good! Very soft and band-friendly..so if anyone is in need of a good quick lunch.. Just grab this! Has anyone tried anything else by 'Amy'?

(supplies for my 1st fill)

I was a little bit nervous this a.m .. as I drove out to my appointment I was trying to imagine what this would feel like. I've heard some people like to have the numbing shot and others just take the one injection.. decisions decisions! I opted for the one needle and was pleasantly surprised at how it didn't hurt!?

It felt like the pinch you get when you get your blood drawn .. I think the creepiest feeling was feeling it go through the port ..you could just tell it was going into something hard/plastic..crazy!

She filled my 10cc band with 3cc's and I was able to sit up and drink my little cup of water with no trouble.. I'm on protein shakes for the rest of the day and mushies for the whole day tomorrow.

The best news of the day.. I can go in every 2 weeks for a fill!? I think that's great.. let's get this whole restriction thing figured out asap! ..So my next fill is June 23rd.. right before we leave for a week vacation in Maine..

Went to the gym today (2nd time this week) and did a mile on the elliptical and then another mile on the treadmill .. 2 miles and 300+ calories gone.. plus a little stretching and ab work before I went home..

A very productive Wednesday..

Till later bloggy-peeps!

I'm starting to really like 'me' ..

well, .. i've always liked myself ..

but when i think about it .. could I have really liked myself for the past ten years.. as I watched myself gain the excess weight ..and not really do a whole lot about it.. i'm not sure..

what i do know .. is that i'm in a different place in my life this year and made a choice back in October 2009 to make year #30 my year .. the year i put myself first and thought about the lasting effects of my overall health and how it would eventually catch up to me ..and my little family..

i can't believe that it's been almost 6.5 weeks and i'm almost down 30lbs!? i know that was effort before surgery and 11lbs have been after surgery.. but really? 30lbs?!! if i had never started this whole thing and gone through the surgery.. i know i wouldn't be where i am right this second..

the most i've ever lost 'on my own' was about 20lbs back in high school ..doing weight watchers and then slowly gaining that back +80ish lbs.. yikes.

Recent NSV:

Going swimming at my friends house ..which means getting in a swimsuit in front of others!? and even though I didn't like the walk from the deck to the pool ..i did it..

My Mother-in-law (someone that see's me all the time) ..noticed my change and told me that I looked great! xoxo love her!

Going to a play-date with my little dude yesterday ..with two other moms and kids ..and I wasn't stressing about what to wear (how to hide my fat) to this little outing ..

happy weekend everyone!!

Oh Cigna..I love you!

We are not in the financial spot in our lives that we would be able to come up with 14,000$ for this surgery and for that ..I'm very thankful that I have the insurance that I do .. and that it covered this surgery 99.99% ..

Happy friday bloggy peeps!!

I'm still a loser..

which is a good thing! ..

1.2 lbs

I guess since I'm in the middle of that 'special time of the month' ..my body has decided to not hang on to excess water or anything crazy like that.. and my PMS-type cravings have gone down quite a bit already..

I decided to break out my tape measure the other day and was happy (and surprised) to see -7 inches have been lost on my body since the middle of March..It really should be a rule for all peeps out there in bloggy land to take their measurements before surgery.. it's a great NSV!!

On Tuesday night I went to the monthly support group that my hospital holds ..I went over to where I thought it was being held and then it ended up being a different building ..so I walked down the block with a women that just passed her year anniversary.. I love chatting with people that are farther ahead in this process.. (duh! that's why I blog and read others blogs) ..it's always a learning experience..When we were sitting around in the Post-Op group (after the bigger group meeting with pre/post op's mixed in) ..she said she was struggling with losing the weight and dealing with the compliments/attention and she wasn't sure if she was sabotaging herself to avoid those situations..

And after hearing her talk about that ..and reading other peeps blogs on this type of subject..I wonder how this might effect me ..and the peeps in my life.

I hope that everyone can keep up with growing energy .. I feel like I have this untapped reserve of energy deep underneath all my chub.. and with the 1st 25lbs I've lost.. I can see that it's right under the surface..and can only imagine what I'll feel like after a few more sets of 25lbs come off..

Till later my little bloggy peeps..

For the ladies out there..

Okay..so this is my first time going through ..that oh-so-special-time of the month-that makes ya feel so gosh darn great about being a woman! .. yeah.. something like that..

I'm head STARVING! I want sweet ..I want salty and I want to shove it real fast in my mouth!?

Oh good god I hope I can keep this under control this week ..without doing to much damage.. I don't think I really paid attention B.B (before band) or B.L (before Leenah) ..on what I was eating before this time of the month..

Well I'm paying attention and it's possibly the source of all the years of me gaining weight like a crazy fool..

I'm off to the gym before dinner .. this will be #2 this week .. I'm trying to wrap my head around the though of doing a Thanksgiving race that we hold in my town (Yes I do know that's months away) ..and maybe after building up enough endurance ..I'll be able to fast walk/jog/run?? ..

Happy Tuesday bloggy peeps!

it's ONEderful here..

in the 100's .. 199.8 .. it's a few oz less than 200.. but still seeing that 1 vs a 2 .. huge boost..

thanks for letting me waa waaah waaaaaaah yesterday.. i really think i'm PMS'ing .. i was an emotional mess all day yesterday.. like crying at a commercial-type-mess.. love LOVE being a woman .. ;)

things that make today a happy day ..

-it's sunny! oh thank GOD it's sunny ... and it's going to be almost 84ish .. nice and warm..
-i bought a cupcake book today <--- what!? .. not really to eat ..but i have this crazy idea of starting a cupcake truck one day ..and thought who else to get recipes from ..but the baking god herself.. martha stewart..
-family picnic at my son's school .. another reason to be happy about the weather ..he's going to be so excited to see the 'bounce' house that they're setting up for the kids!!

and the best news..

i'm getting my hair done today!!

2ish hours of sitting at a salon that i love.. with ladies that love to chat about all kinds of things..

someone washing my hair and scrubbing my scalp in to pure blissful oblivion ..

getting rid of the few gray hairs that i have..

showing my hairdresser my 25lbs weight loss.. she hasn't seen me in months ..and i was 25lbs heavier then .. i hope she can see a difference! :0)

off to read some blogs before i'm off to my appointment.. happy thursday peeps!

it's gloomy out..and i'm feeling sad..

waaa waaa waahhh...

bandster hell is not a fun place to be .. and i've been trying so hard to stay on track with a few minor slip ups.. (a cookie here and a cookie there.. in my mouth) ..

today i had two squares of thin crust pizza (with chicken on top) and a mini cheese cake the size of my palm .. i'm feeling so bleh ..and full to the brim.. like I just ate thanksgiving dinner.. and it's almost been an hour since I ate..

i taped the biggest loser last night and i'm watching it this afternoon.. and someone (forgetting who..) was talking about daris and how he 'sabotaged' himself before the weigh in .. and that's almost how i'm feeling right now..

i've been so caught up in the fact that my *one month* with Leenah<---my band..is coming up on friday ..and i'm so close to losing 10lb ..but more than likely i'll be at an 8lb loss..that it's almost like saying to myself:

hey ..your not going to make that 10lb mark.. nice try ..but maybe some other time .. so you want that pizza.. go eat it .. and your full.. but want that cheesecake ..why don't you go for that too..

what the heck.. these are the time that i feel that i'm going to rock this band..

and it's so crazy because the other part of me .. knows i have rocked this band so far.. i've lost 25lbs since the first of the year.. and that's given me some self confidence back .. some energy back ..and a few NSV to feel good about..

i'm so hard on myself..and i'm trying to work on that .. because it doesn't do positive things for me.. it pushes me backwards ..and that's the opposite of where i want to be..

i'm going to go to the gym in an hour .. (third time this week..) and then i have to go out and help a new mama with her brand new baby.. so i'll bring a protein shake for dinner..

and i'll just hope and pray that i haven't fallen to far off the losing path..

New Shorts, New Bra..good weekend!

here's a new pair of shorts i hope to wear as soon as it's hot out around here

..long enough to cover my leg dimples! :0)

thought I was a 42D ..nope i'm a 40DD

thanks lady at Victoria Secrets for measuring me and telling me about a great bra!

here's a pic of the new bra.. love it! and love how my
incisions have lost all of the surgical glue!



just me, on 5/5 ..got to my 2week appointment early
so naturally that means a self portrait time in the car..

i'm really loving the whole shopping thing.. window shopping.. online shopping.. shopping at the mall..shopping at the outdoor mall..

who is this girl and why does she want to spend all of my husbands money!? :0)

today I got a bra (actually got sized for one and i've never done that before) ..and i'm a 40DD instead of a 42D like I thought I was .. who knew!? I also got a pair of bright pink shorts ..for gym and just hanging around the house..a new candle for the kitchen and got my eye brows done.. it was a great afternoon! it helped that my little dude is away for the weekend (camping with my mom&step-dad) ..so I didn't have to worry about taking him to a million and one stores..he wouldn't have liked that as much as I did..

on the food front ..i'm feeling like i'm slowly crawling into bandster hell..i'm not staying full for long'ish periods of time ..and i'm eating a bit more at each sitting..i'm looking forward to my early june appointment and my 1st fill..

i'm still working with my band to help the weight loss continue or at least not gain.. i had a protein shake for breakfast this morning and then went out to lunch and only had three triangles of a quesadilla..not to shabby..

Saturday Dinner- A Buffalo chicken burger (no bun) and a little bit of ranch dressing for dipping

Saturday Night Snack- Ice cream (2 scoops with a big heaping tablespoon of hot fudge)

Sunday A.M- The rest of my lunch from Saturday (3 triangles of quesadilla)

Sunday Lunch- Handful of Tortilla chips and homemade salsa

Sunday Dinner- 5 "Chicken" nuggets (vegetarian chicken nuggets) :0)

And I went to the gym Sunday afternoon ..walked on the treadmill for 30min ..slow walking..but walking on a high incline.. burned almost 300 calories!

i do have a question.. do you ever get a cramp feeling on your side if you've eating a little to much? not to the point of getting stuck ..but it almost feels like a runners cramp..? maybe it just me..but i was a little worried that it was my pouch or something being angry at me.. ;)

hope everyone had a great weekend.. and that the weather in your area was just as b.e.autiful as mine over in Connecticut!! :)

ps- only 2lbs from leaving the 200's in the dust ..forever..