Carboholics Anonymous and New Blogger Alert

My name is Stephanie and I am a carboholic. I think. I've allowed myself too much carby crap and it needs to stop.

Yesterday breakfast was a 100 calorie " deli flat" roll with a slice of Boar's Head chicken and a dab of light mayo.

I busted my ass doing heavy spring cleaning all morning, about 4 hours.

Lunch was a slice of pizza. I was exhausted and was able to keep it to one, but pizza is a total slider food for me and I could have easily eaten more. (Where's the protein and veggies? Completely missing.)

Dinner was with Shrinking Mommy and her daughter. We went to a great Mexican place, had some chips, salsa and guacamole. I ordered the spinach and chicken enchiladas on whole wheat tortillas, and hold the rice. I had one of the two enchiladas, some of the beans, and the rest is in my fridge for tomorrow.

I had a string cheese and a Weight Watchers ice cream for a snack.

Calorie-wise, that's not terrible. I calculate under 1400 calories with a huge workout. BUT, it's so very carb heavy.

I've been doing that a lot lately. And the scale hasn't moved.

(Well, it's moved a little, but in the wrong direction.)

Something needs to change. I need to go back to basics. Cut the processed carbs. Focus on protein, produce, and fiber. I'm seriously considering a 2 week Atkins induction phase to get things moving again. I should have seen Onederland by now, and as of this morning, I'm still 8.8 pounds away. Oof.

Also, I have a new blogger alert. Sue is being banded on April 4, one week from tomorrow, and could use some support. I "met" her through the Smartbandsters Yahoo Group and she's going through that same roller coaster of emotions that we all go through before surgery. Please stop by and say hello!

Busy Week & Date Night

I haven't posted in a week but it's not because anything is wrong - I'm just busy! This semester has been a tough one, not because it's particularly difficult - it's actually a fascinating class (Human Sexuality) - but there is a lot of reading and writing.

Work is...work. Nothing new to say there. Busy and long commute.

Had a fab date night with my wonderful and adorable husband on Saturday night. We went to the beach to watch the super moonrise and had a great time just hanging out, talking, and being silly. We walked around for awhile and Scott said how nice it was that I was able to keep up and he didn't feel like he needed to slow his pace for me to keep up. He's nearly a foot taller than me and I've ALWAYS struggled to keep up with him and it's just not a problem anymore. The best was when we were halfway across the parking lot and I couldn't remember if I locked the car door, I said, "Be right back," and ran for the car, locked it, and ran back. Scott said he'd never seen me run like that and he was impressed. That was super nice to hear.

We went to go eat some dinner - an order of Dungeoness crabs steamed with Old Bay to share, some raw oysters for Scott, and some fried clams to share...oh and a "cookie cake" for dessert. This was a total splurge, we almost never order dessert anymore, but we enjoyed our meal, really enjoyed dessert, and I'll leave it at that. ;-)



I gained 0.4 pound in this week's challenge. Not a surprise after last week's huge loss following the travel bloat the week before and then a cookie cake and fried clams. No biggie. Just need to stay focused this week and do what I have to do.

I'm thinking about doing Atkins short term with Amy W. Mmmm...bacon.

Fat Talk

The place where I work provides a system for old people with a button to press if they fall or don't feel well and we contact emergency services and/or family and friends. Part of our new customer procedure is to collect descriptive information - hair color, eye color, height, weight, medical conditions, etc.

A tiny little co-worker, an older woman, was looking at a customer's account and remarked, "Wow, this woman is 5 foot 1 and weighs 200 pounds. No wonder she has trouble walking."

Oof.

I am 5'2" and weigh 208.

Granted this woman never saw me at my heaviest but she DOES know about my surgery and DOES know I've lost a lot of weight.

I showed her a picture of me when I was nearly 300 pounds and explained that I'd appreciate if she wouldn't say those kinds of things. She's really a nice person and didn't mean anything by it, but she said she never saw me as a "big person" and I "carry it well" - and she also called me athletic, I guess because she sees me going for a walk most days on my lunch break.

It was a very strange conversation and the first time I felt like maybe someone saw me as not "the fat chick" but it was still bizarre that she would make that comment to me.

I remember someone talking on their blog about how people didn't censor the "fat talk" around them after they lost weight and I got a taste of that for the first time. Frankly, it made me a little uncomfortable.

How would you have handled that? Kept your mouth shut or said something?

Spa Day and Boobs

Saturday I had a spa day with my mom. Four wonderful hours of being totally pampered - manicure, pedicure, eyebrow wax, facial, makeup application...heaven. I need to figure out how to do my makeup the way the lady there did it...she made my eyes look huge.


My mom is the best for treating me to such a wonderful day!

In other news, I wanted to talk to you about boobs. No, not BOOBS, but boobs. I had my first mammogram this morning. I was so nervous about it but since I turned 35 this year, it was time. It was so ridiculously easy that I can't believe I was scared. Smoosh-smoosh, ok, see ya when you're 40. Don't put it off - keep those tatas healthy!

Boston Adventure

About a year and a half ago, I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Boston. They live about 1/2 mile from the train stop that takes them anywhere they want to go in and around the city, and they try to not drive their car whenever possible because getting around Boston by car is a pain in the ass. That 1/2 mile just to get to the train was awful. My knees hurt, my feet ached, I despised the one hill we had to climb, and then we had to actually go into the train station, climb down the stairs, and get on the train. By that point, I was a mess. And that was only the beginning. Once we reached our destination, we would also have to walk wherever we were going. The science museum, the Boston harbor, restaurants...it was all a complete nightmare. There were several times I was practically in tears, desperate to not take one more step.

I missed out on a lot. I insisted on taking the car several times when the train would have been the better choice because I. JUST. COULD. NOT. DO. IT. I spent most of that trip in pain and just wanting to go home to my nice suburban life where my car would take me wherever I wanted to go. I didn't enjoy the time with my sister like I should have.

It made me very sad.

This visit, 70-ish pounds down, I wanted to walk everywhere. I asked my sister how she managed to move the train SO much closer to her house. It was such an easy, short walk that I couldn't even believe that I once found it painfully difficult.

We walked everywhere.

We took the train to Harvard and walked the 2 miles back. No problem whatsoever. We did another mile or so that night.

We walked well over 5 miles one day. It was beautiful out, chilly, but the sun was shining, so we walked and walked and walked. I saw more of Boston on foot in one day than I'd ever seen there in all of my previous visits combined.

As we were entering the train station one time, we heard the train approaching. We ran for the train. Ran down the stairs, and we caught it before it pulled out of the station. It was exhilarating for this former nearly-300-pound person to run to catch a train with no problem. I wasn't even winded when I got there.

The whole trip, I kept remarking how my life had truly changed. It was amazing how easy it all was. I wasn't dragging my bones all over the place. I wasn't merely existing. I was living. Really and truly.

I crossed off two very important items on my "Reasons to Lose 100 Pounds" list this week:

39. To be able to run all around any city with my sister, up and down hills and the subway stairs, without feeling like I am going to pass out from leg/knee pain.
40. To not have a couple of miles of city walking feel as daunting as a marathon.

It was easy. It was fun. It felt amazing. My feet didn't hurt.

And a bonus? Finding out that my beautiful little sister with the adorably curvy body I'd love to have? Yeah. She's only 2 sizes smaller than I am right now. I wore her old coat. It was a bit snug but it FIT. It buttoned and everything.

I may have a ways to go before I am "done" but I am in a great place right now. I'm looking forward to whatever is coming next.

Here are some pictures of our adventures...

Bundled up in the icy cold night:


At Harvard:



Snowy park:


Breakfast with my sister and her sister-in-law and nephew:


The most amazing pizza from Pizzaria Posto - rosemary ham, brie, arugula, honeycrisp apples, and a wine reduction sauce. Yum.


Hanging out by the water:


Riding the train...comfortably!






Outside the aquarium:


With some penguins:


And for comparison, these are from previous trips to Boston. What a difference, huh?

Obesity As a Sales Tactic

Sad but true...

575-pound Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies at 29

River, who stood 6-foot-8 and weighed about 575 pounds, gained a measure of fame in the past year as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, a Chandler, Ariz., restaurant that specializes in thick hamburgers and fries. He died on Tuesday at the age of 29.

Spring Challenge Starts Today (for me)

I had an amazing long weekend in Boston with my sister, and WOW what a difference losing 70-ish pounds makes for getting around a city. I am planning a whole blog about my experiences with that, but I just wanted to do a quick post to say that band or no band...um...I gained some weight. Even with all the walking. Even with my sister being a vegetarian and therefore eating mostly vegetarian meals. I'm hoping it's mostly travel bloat and will be gone by tomorrow, but seeing the number on the scale start with "21" instead of "20" this morning was a little disheartening.

But life goes on. Today I will be back on track and out of vacation mode. Because I was away, the spring challenge starts today for me, and I am going to take it seriously.

Spring forward.

525,600 Minutes

What a difference a year makes.

281 pounds to 208 pounds.
Size 26 to size 16.
Can barely make it from the parking lot to the park to running around Disney all day.
Can barely walk a mile to a mile being barely a warm-up.
What a year.