Saturday, October 30, 2010

Holiday Challenge!


It's time for another challenge! If you'd like more information or to join the challenge, head on over to Kristen's blog, I'm With the Band.

And by the way, this beautiful image was designed by the super-fab Joey. She is so talented!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

In Which I Let You See My Drawers

Inspired by Lap Band Gal's post where she showed us how she makes it happen at work, I thought that I would show you what I keep in my drawer at work too.


Clockwise, from top left:

~ Light vegetable soup - great for lunch in a pinch if I can't get out.
~ Sugar-free gum
~ Carnation Sugar-Free Instant Breakfast - to be mixed with the milk I keep in the fridge
~ Crystal Light packets
~ Fiber chews - citrus flavor (they taste like lemon Starburst and I know I'll grab a couple at some point during the day, and I need my fiber!)
~ Peanut butter protein bars - yummy snack if I get hungry in the 6 hours I have to wait between lunch and dinner
~ (Bottom left, hard to see) Chai Tea bags...my new delicious discovery


The following are NOT in my drawers, but I saw them in a store and, in a total "you know you're a bandster when..." moment, they made me gag until I realized that "PB" probably stands for "peanut butter" and not...you know.


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Potato Salad

Did y'all know that Weight Watchers makes fresh deli salads now?

The potato salad ROCKS. I read about "resistant starch" which is a type of fiber that happens when you cook and then chill potatoes, among other things, and is supposed to have some health benefits. I read about it on a blog for dietitians. Blah blah blah nutritional mumbo jumbo. The bottom line is that I like potato salad and I never eat it because of how CRAZY high calorie/carb it usually is. I saw this stuff when I was getting regular potato salad in the deli for my husband and had to try it.

The WW stuff is half the calories of the other potato salad because it's made with egg whites and light mayo, and let me tell you - it's tasty. Really tasty. And 130 calories for 2/3 cup. That's a lot of potato salad.

Over the weekend an hour or so before a long walk, I took about 1/2 cup of potato salad, and chopped up 1 hard boiled egg and mixed it in, along with about a teaspoon of mustard. I had some fabulous high protein "southern-style" potato salad for about 160 calories, and it kept me going for HOURS, even after working out.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my new find. It was in the deli section at Publix. They also had a coleslaw and a macaroni salad, but the potato salad was the most appealing to me so that's the one I bought.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Confession Time

I ate two raspberry thumbprint cookies, a bite of a lemon bar, and a chocolate donut hole.

I could blame the food pushers at work, but it was all me. I saw, I drooled, I ate. Raspberry anything is my favorite and once I tasted all of that sugary, buttery deliciousness, I wanted more.

It's over. I have said it out loud. I won't be secretive and give in to any sort of binge. I will have a healthy, light, and high protein lunch and dinner, drink a lot of water, go for a walk on my lunch break, and move on.

Thanks for listening.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sisterhood Clothes

My first post for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Clothes!

I have up for grabs:

2 pairs of size 7 (I think they're the equivalent to a 26) PETITE length LA Blues Jeans (these were supposed to be for Meli but she shrank so fast that there's no way they'll fit her anymore!)

This shirt (3x):



This shirt (also 3x):


Let me know if anyone wants anything!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Model Patient?

I got an interesting call from G, the nurse in my surgeon's office, today. She said that the local Palm Beach newspaper wanted to interview a band patient about the experience, and she asked me if I would do it. Um, heck yeah! I would love to share my story. So I'll be doing an interview about my favorite topic and I think that's pretty darn cool. I'm excited! I will share it with all of you if/when it comes out.

Also, this morning I had a new follower, Shanilie, ask: "How do you find the lapband?"

I just look into my stomach, and there it is. Bah dum bum.

I crack me up.

Anyway. Plain and simple, I love my band. I am pretty sure I could not have possibly been this successful without it. Dieting was always miserable before. Now, I don't diet. That is NOT to say that I don't eat healthy...I do.

For example, I made tacos for dinner tonight. Extra lean ground turkey, onions, and spices cooked together, about 1/3 cup over a bed of romaine lettuce with a 100 calorie packet of guacamole, a dab of light sour cream, a tablespoon of shredded cheese, and lots of fresh salsa. Low in calories and carbs and DELICIOUS. Seriously, it was so good that I am looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow. Is it "diet food"? Before band, I would have missed the taco shells, the full-fat sour cream, and loads of cheese. I probably would have eaten 4 tacos and still have been hungry an hour or two later. I was totally satisfied by my small and healthy dinner.

Another example...lunch today. I went to lunch with a couple of co-workers. We went to our local Jamaican joint, and we all ordered the same thing - jerk chicken. They both finished every morsel and practically licked the plates. I ate about half my chicken, part of the small side salad, and about 3 bites of rice and beans. The rest of my meal is in the fridge at work for lunch tomorrow. I enjoyed it tremendously, and the whole thing was around the same number of calories as a Lean Cuisine.

I watch what I eat. I listen to my body. I make good choices. I exercise. It's no different than any other diet...calories in versus calories out...but the difference is that I have this gorgeous, fabulous tool that makes it so I am not walking around hungry all the time.

And I've lost 56 pounds in 7 months and feel better than I have in many years.

So, a bit long winded, but I LOVE my band.

225.2 Today

225.2 is a much nicer number to see since it's been inching down a tiny bit every day for the last 5 days. That's 1.4 pounds since Saturday and about 6 pounds since my Chicago gain. I'll take it. I'm not calling this plateau broken yet, but so far, so good and this morning's number was a new low.

I'm not sure this new fill is perfect but it seems to be kicking in a bit this week. Thank goodness.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

226.6

The number 226.6 is starting to make me a little nuts. I have seen it on the scale EVERY day for well over a week. I have a new fill, dammit. I'm eating really well, dammit. I am walking EVERY DAY, dammit. I'm drinking enough water to fill a swimming pool, dammit. Aaaaargh!

I stepped back from the situation and thought about what I'd tell someone else in the same situation:

  • You've lost 54.4 pounds. Sometimes your body needs to catch up.
  • The scale is being stupid. There is no way that on your current calorie level that you are not losing fat. It's probably fluid. Keep on going. Eventually the scale will move.
  • Change something up - eat differently, exercise differently, change something.
So, I am taking a deep breath and following my own advice. I had a different than usual breakfast (I usually have leftovers or chicken salad with crackers, but today I had a mini whole wheat bagel with egg whites and turkey sausage) and I am getting ready to go to the gym for - get this - a bellydancing class before I have to go to school this afternoon.

Fingers crossed that I'll see anything LESS THAN 226.6 tomorrow.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Meralgia Paraesthetica Weirdness

For many, many years I have suffered with Meralgia Paraesthetica - a painful, burning, tingling, numbness thing in my left outer thigh. It started out the size of a quarter and got worse until it went from my knee almost to the top of my thigh. I could ignore it pretty well as long as I was sitting or laying down, or even steadily walking. However, walking slowly (such as browsing in a store) or standing still were horrible. It would start to tingle, burn, throb, feel like I was being stung by bees, and the only way to stop it was to sit down for awhile.

Of course...other than the one doctor who said it was all in my head and prescribed antidepressants (which I refused to take because I knew it was physical), every doctor I've been to for it, and had tests from MRI's to physical therapy have all said the same thing:

It's because you're fat. Lose weight.

I have noticed that I haven't had that pain in awhile. I had no problems in Chicago with the 5K, even with all of the standing around before it. Standing around the airport didn't bother me. Shopping and playing tourist for hours with Lap Band Gal didn't bother me in the least. My thigh was numb, but not painful.

And now...

Over the last few days, the feeling in my thigh is coming back. I seem to have sensation in my skin where I haven't had any in years. It feels so strange. I feel like I have bugs crawling on me as the feeling comes back and the nerves start to fire again. It's not exactly comfortable but not painful either. I hope that it goes back to normal and I regain full sensation, but I suppose only time will tell that.

It sure is encouraging me to bump up the efforts and get some more weight off quick to see if that helps. I went on a short (1/2 mile) walk on my lunch break today, I'm getting up early to work out tomorrow, and I have my check in with the doc for a weigh in before work in the morning. I can't wait to see how I've done since this fill. MY scale says 5-6 pounds, but that thing is screwy so I want to weigh on the good scale. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and for everyone who was praising my self control in my last post - thank you. It's not so much the self control as it is me being stubborn as hell at this point about not wanting to eat the crap food at work and give "them" the satisfaction. I did have cake at my best friend's nephew's birthday party this weekend. And a little bit of ziti. And a nibble of spinach pie. And...um...a soda. Yep, after all this time soda free, I had a diet Sprite and it was deeee-licious. I won't make it a habit, but I surely liked it. I didn't go overboard by any means, but I enjoyed myself, ate sensibly, didn't go back for seconds, and felt good about my choices. That's what it's all about, right?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Food Pushers

Why is it ok for the food pushers at work to be so annoying? In what universe is it funny to literally wave a cupcake in someone's face while she is on the phone with a customer after she has specifically asked you to not talk to her about junk food and she has already said she does not want any and doesn't want to hear about it?

Grrrr.

It would be one thing if this really was a once-in-awhile treat, but there is crap food at my job nearly every day. There was pumpkin cake yesterday. I avoided it. I was told several times that I don't need to be such a stickler for my diet and I should loosen up every once in awhile.

I DO loosen up once in awhile. But not every day. I've come too far to screw up now.

If I were a drug addict would it be funny to wave crack in my face?

This was my day. I got in to work and went in to the kitchen to put my lunch in the fridge. There were bagels. There are ALWAYS bagels on Fridays.


A few hours later was when the cupcake thing happened.



This note was also on the freezer door.



All of this made for a very grumpy me.



I didn't give in though. I stuck to this:



And a couple of these:



I don't expect anyone to tiptoe around me and they can eat all of the crappy sugar-laden junk that they want to and balloon to 500 pounds. I don't care. Just stop waving the stuff in my face and being such assholes!