Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Pre-Chicago Vlog

Thursday, September 22, 2011

One Week

One week to Chicago! I got a little pre-BOOB action when I had dinner with Jacquie and her husband Steve on Monday.


(Doesn't Jacquie look amazing?)

So I can't wait for Chicago, but judging by the various blog and Facebook posts, I am woefully behind. I haven't started packing yet, but will do so on Sunday. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm getting to the hotel from the airport. (Train...I guess....) I haven't really done much of anything to prepare. I've been so darned BUSY with the beginning of the semester and all.

(I also haven't really been blogging or commenting like I should. Or working out. My gym membership expired this month and I haven't renewed it yet. Ahem.)

Also, last year I planned and planned for what I was going to wear. I had a haircut, a pedicure, and all kinds of other stuff. This year, I just don't care.

I don't mean I'm not excited. Most definitely not. I just felt like that stuff just didn't matter. I'm ambivalent about the whole thing. I'll wear what I wear. I'll do what I do. And I'll have fun. Y'all can either take me as I am...or not. Whatever. :-)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

2XL Winter Coat for the Sisterhood

Does anyone need a winter coat, size 2XL? It's the one I'm wearing here:


I live in Florida, so it has gotten very little use and is still in very good shape. I don't want to lug it to Chicago unless someone actually wants it, so please let me know. I could also ship it if someone not going to BOOBs wants it.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Segway Tour NSV

One of the things I am really looking forward to in Chicago is the Segway tour that Lap Band Gal and I are going to do on Sunday afternoon (and if anyone else is still going to be there through Sunday night or Monday and would like to join us, let me know and I'll give you the details).

I was looking through some information and when I saw weight limit mentioned, of course that was where I looked. I have some bad history with weight limits (remind me to tell you the story of when my husband and I attempted to go skydiving back when we first started dating - humiliating!) so they scare me.

Are there weight limits for the Segway PT?
Yes, Segway sets weight limits for rider safety and to reduce the risk of damage to the Segway PT... The maximum payload (which includes rider and all cargo) for the Segway PT is 260 lbs.

Big NSV...I don't have to worry about that one bit. Two years ago, I couldn't have gone at all and now I would pretty much need to strap a 9-year-old on to my back to be over the limit. :-)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Dinner With Jessica


I had a lovely dinner with Jessica tonight. We had a wonderful talk. She's being banded in a month by the same surgeon who did mine and I really think she's going to do great. Topics of conversation ranged from guys to concerts to arm flappages and was a lot of fun. She took me to her favorite Thai place where I had some amazing panang curry (extra spicy) and it was deeee-licious. It's nice to meet another bandster who lives near me!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Maintaining

So apparently I kick ass at maintaining my weight. Through a cruise, some major stress, and not really paying too much attention to the scale, I've been pretty much exactly the same weight for a couple of months!

Unfortunately, I'm still in the 190's and would like to keep losing. Ahem. That will apparently involve doing something which, you see, I haven't been. That something being regular exercise and carefully watching my food intake. Or at least one or the other. Yeah.

My sneakers have not touched my feet in a week and a half. I suck at exercise right now.

(Small victory - I learned this week that I can do push ups. REAL ones. Just a few and my form isn't perfect but I can do them for the first time in my life.)

I have not been focusing on my eating. I haven't been eating great. I may be the tiniest smidge too tight. Food in the morning is not an option. I've been having Slim Fast every day for breakfast. It tastes great. And today I realized that Slim Fast is essentially chocolate milk with a multivitamin in it. Lots of sugar. For someone who is supposed to be all about nutrition, this is not good. It's not real food. I'm probably better off with a glass of milk and then a couple of hours later, some real food.

I have developed a slight addiction to Panera Bread's broccoli soup. It's easy to eat. And at 200 calories and 8 grams of protein, it's not awful. But it is a slider. And I should know better.

Pizza, pasta, and salads are super easy to eat. WTF? Don't banded people usually have trouble with those things? I can EASILY eat a whole Subway tuna salad (tuna, lettuce, onions, pickles, black pepper, oregano, and LOADS of vinegar - no oil).

But one bite of meat and bread at the same time makes me feel like I've been punched in the chest for hours. Sandwiches are an absolute no go. But pizza? No problem.

I freaked my husband out the other night when we were a Puerto Rican restaurant and I got badly stuck on a little bit of chicken and a bite of mofongo, which is essentially just smashed up green plantain with lots of garlic. He was very concerned, and I had to show him posts by other bloggers about just how "normal" getting stuck is for us. So when I am out to eat, I usually choose the easy thing to eat. I don't eat a lot of it, but my easy things are not solid protein and veggies. I can eat those things, they just take more focus and care. And a nice sauce to use as food lube.

I made a lovely pork roast last weekend that was fine.


It was very tender and I ate it slowly and carefully with well caramelized onions for lots of moisture. It was fine. It just took focus and care and time and a nice relaxed setting.

I tried to eat the leftovers for lunch a couple of days later and got stuck on the same exact thing. Reheated pork is now on my "never ever" list.

Am I worried about all this? Mostly I'm just thinking out loud. But I am a little worried. What if I never lose any more weight? I suppose I'm in control of that. I surely don't need a fill. What I do need is more focus. I need to eat the things I am supposed to, carefully. I need to find some motivation, and I know I can only find that within myself.

No one ever said this would be easy.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Chicago Pizza Party

When I posted my BOOBs Fun Facts questions last week, did I get any comments about my roller coaster riding or knitting? Nope. Any comments about the name of my blog? Not a one. (Although Catherine told me last year that she thought it meant something dirty. Thought that was funny.) Did anyone even mention my parrots? Nada.

What do we BOOBs like? Pizza. Almost everyone wanted to talk about pizza.

I've spoken with Ronnie, Amanda, and Lap Band Gal, and we have a tentative plan to go for some deep dish on the Friday we get to Chicago, before the meet & greet. If you want to go, we'll meet in the hotel lobby at 5:00 and walk over to one of the two nearby famous pizza places by the hotel.

I'm not going to post the names of the pizza places here so that it doesn't give our location away, but if you're going to BOOBs, my cell phone number is on the contact list - feel free to call or text me if you're looking for us that day.

It's going to take 4-6 of us bandsters to polish off an "individual" pizza (especially since most of us will only really eat the toppings), so the more the merrier. Let me know if you want to join us.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Spanx for the Sisterhood

Does anyone need a pair of Spanx footless tights, size G? They fit 5'2 to 6' tall, 290 to 325 pounds. I was going through some old clothes and I came across them, brand new, in the package. Those things aren't cheap so I don't want to throw them away and I'd bought a 2 pack and never opened these.

Let me know if anyone is interested. If I don't hear back, I'll bring them for the clothing swap in Chicago.