Crossing Off the List - Major NSV

Reason #2 on my Reasons to Lose 100 Pounds list:

2. To not have to use CPAP anymore for sleep apnea.

Well, I had my sleep study last night and five years after being diagnosed with sleep apnea...



NO signs of apnea. ZERO. My last sleep study, 80 pounds ago, I had SEVERE sleep apnea with 50+ events per hour.

Buh-bye CPAP. I'm breaking up with you. No more sleeping together. You're just not good for me anymore.

Karin's Visit & Tailbone Pain

Spending the evening with Karin was awesome. She was one of the people I feel I strongly bonded with in Chicago last year. When she was going to be in town for one evening, we decided to make a night out of it, have a fancy dinner, and have a slumber party.

Dinner was wonderful - the restaurant focuses on fresh, organic, farm-to-table ingredients...and the best part - they offer 2 sizes of entree - full size or petite. Built in bandster portions! When we ordered, the server thought we weren't ordering enough, but turned out to be plenty. I decided to order two appetizers as my meal - one was a market salad with beets, greens, different lettuces, radishes...it was very fresh and delicious. I also had grilled wild shrimp with goat cheese polenta and local veggies. Delicious.



We did go for dessert. Karin had a gorgeous little key lime tart with pistachio and berries:


I had the mini chocolate cake with bitter chocolate mousse and dark chocolate shell. It was delectable and perfect.




We went for a drive after dinner and then settled back in our hotel room to relax:




The next morning we played around at Marshalls for awhile and tried on silly hats:





Our visit was way too short, but it was just a preview for the excellent time we'll have in Chicago. It was wonderful to see this amazing lady and I miss her already!

In other news, I don't think I mentioned it here, but I've been having a lot of tailbone pain. It hurts so freaking much when I am sitting for a long time (I work sitting in front of a computer all day) or when going from sitting to standing. I didn't think it was related to weight/band at all so I didn't really think to bring it up here, but Karin and I were at dinner last night and she obviously noticed I was hurting. She said she also had tailbone pain after she'd lost a bunch of weight. It went away eventually for her and I hope it will for me too. She thinks it's related to losing ass fat and not having as much cushion. The doc called in some painkillers, but those things make me loopy so I really can't take them during the day. Tylenol doesn't touch it and I'm not allowed to take Advil. Has this happened to anyone else? Anything help?

Soooo Close!

Tomorrow

Guess what I get to do tomorrow. No really...guess.

Give up?

I get to have dinner and a slumber party with none other than Lap Band Gal!

To say I am excited would be an incredible understatement.

Why is the Number Important?

My husband asked me an interesting question last night. Why is the number on the scale, and specifically getting under 200 pounds, so important to me?

I think we human beings like nice, round numbers. I happen to have been born in a country where we use pounds to measure the weight of things. If I was in Australia, it might have been very exciting to me when I got under 100 kilos. If I was in England, I might have been thrilled to get under 15 stone. But I don't, and here in America, I have always been told that "normal sized women" have weights that start with a "1".

I haven't seen a weight that started with a "1" in about 17 years.

Arbitrary? Probably. But I still think I'll be excited when I get down to 175, and 150 too.

My first major goal was to hit 232 pounds because that's what I weighed when I met my husband. I was on Jenny Craig at the time. My next goal after I reach "one hundred something" is to be 181 pounds, because that will put me at 100 pounds down...another nice, round number.

Of course, I have goals that don't involve the scale at all. I had a goal to be able to shop at regular stores instead of the "fat lady stores" and I accomplished that. I had a goal to be able to ride roller coasters. Done. I had a goal to be able to comfortably run around a city with my sister. Not a problem now. In fact, I wrote a whole list of reasons why I wanted to lose weight, and I have accomplished so many of them.

But I still want to see that "1" on the scale.

I weighed 201.4 this morning. Maybe I'll see that "1" tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. I want it sooner than later. It may be arbitrary but it sure will look pretty.

It's Missing!

My appetite, that is. The carb monster is sleeping. Maybe there's something to the whole "carbs make you hungrier" thing.

After the first 2 days of hell (Wednesday and Thursday pretty much sucked), today my mood improved, my energy level improved, and I've lost...drumroll please...about 4 pounds since Tuesday. If that's not incentive to keep going, I don't know what is. I'm only about 3 pounds from Onederland.

Today's food was:

10:00 AM - Breakfast -
Coffee w/ Splenda, a tablespoon of heavy cream, and a splash of Almond Breeze
2 deviled egg halves
4 slices of bacon

2:00 PM - Snack -
1/2 of a small cucumber, peeled and seeded, with bleu cheese dressing

4:00 PM - Lunch -
Turkey sausage, shrimp, and shredded cabbage, steamed with Old Bay and topped with a tablespoon of butter (oh my goodness, this was so good!)
Few bites of leftover jerk chicken

9:30 PM - Dinner -
Small taco salad: romaine lettuce, turkey taco meat, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce

My bedtime "snack" will be 1/2 cup of Almond Breeze with a dash of sugar free strawberry syrup.

Not bad at all.

A Day in my Life

Amy wrote (in response to the banded woman on Dr. Oz who professed to eat nothing but 6 spoonfuls of yogurt and some broth each day):

In the meantime, it did make me realize that for those just starting to research WLS, I should (and perhaps YOU as well) should write up a little post about what OUR lives look like now that we are banded.

Ok, here you go. This is a bit different this week since I'm doing Atkins, but generally my typical day looks something like this...

8:00 AM - Wake up. Drink coffee with 1% milk and Splenda. Walk 2 miles.

9:00: Get ready for work. Put on my size 16 pants. Notice that they're getting a little loose. Feed parrots.

9:45 - Eat breakfast - usually leftovers (a bunless hamburger, leftover turkey taco meat, etc.), Eggbeaters on a toasted deli flat roll with a slice of cheese, or Lean Cuisine spring rolls (I especially like the garlic chicken ones). My band is usually tighter in the morning but as long as I
eat slow, I'm fine. I've never been a protein shake drinker as a meal...I have a long day and I need a solid breakfast.

11:00 - Arrive at work. Drink coffee.

1:00 - Have a small snack - a fiber bar, piece of fruit, tablespoon of chicken salad, or a string cheese.

4:00 - Lunchtime. A taco, bowl of soup, salad, cup of chili, 6" Subway turkey sub with the bread scooped out, or leftovers. Also, sometimes a small frozen yogurt or Tasti-D-Lite. If the weather is nice, go for a half mile or so walk.

6:30 - Cup of chai tea with 1% milk and Splenda.

9:30 - Dinner - almost always a piece of fish or meat and a vegetable. Sometimes we'll have brown rice too. Turkey tacos (in a bowl, I don't eat the shells), burgers, or a Lean Cuisine are frequent visitors to my dinner table.

Later - Watch some TV, read, mess around on the internet, read blogs.

This can vary a bit...I have school once a week and on those days I have to be at work at 9:00 AM (with an hour commute) and don't get home until after 9:00 PM. Thursday nights are my knitting night and my friend Erin and I knit and have dinner at this amazing Jamaican restaurant where I will have either a jerk chicken salad or a piece of jerk fish. Weekends are TOTALLY different. They include a trip to the gym, cleaning the house, seeing friends and family, or just chilling out with my husband

I will tell you this...I do not live on 6 spoonfuls of yogurt and a cup of broth per day. And life is good.