It seems like there is something EVERY SINGLE DAY that I could use to get me off track. In yesterday's blog I mentioned the stuck episode. Yuck! Now today I have a sinus/ear infection. Bleh! It isn't horrible, but it is starting to suck the lively out of me. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning so I figure if I can hang on until then I will be better or will get something to get me on the road to being better!
On the positive side of allergy issues...I'm not very hungry and the drainage makes me tight so I lost 8 tenths of a pound yesterday. Ha! It's probably water weight, but I will take it today!! :thumbup:
I hope you all have a wonderful day and I'm sure I will feel better tomorrow!
First, I want to stress that I truly wasn't compliment fishing yesterday. I was just so happy that I had seemed to get past a mental block of mine. But your comments just made me feel so good. Especially you, Janet! Your email made me decide to change my avatar, so I will be doing that soon! Thank you all, truly.
Okay, onto the rest. I was sick yesterday. I'm afraid that until I get my tonsilectomy (29 more days) I will be constantly fighting this. But I went to the doctor and got some meds. About 2 hours after I took them, I started feeling better. I think it was the steroids. I feel SO MUCH better today. It is like I am a different person.
But I was determined to get my fill yesterday. So I went and told the doctor that I wasn't as concerned with how much I was eating at once as I was that it didn't keep me full for very long. He took a look and gave me .25 cc's. The last few times I got fills, I only got .1 cc, so this is quite a bit more. I was a little nervous that it would be too much. I sipped my water just fine and I left.
I had asked my PCP for liquid antibiotics, but it turned out that none of the pharmacies (including the compounding pharmacies) have them in stock. I would have had to wait until today (probably this evening) to start taking them. So I went with the horse pills. The steroids were small and caused me no issues. I crushed up the pill and put it in my frozen custard. It tasted disgusting, but went down just fine.
I had a lot of gurgling through the evening, but I didn't have any reflux problems while I was sleeping. YAY!
Today, I had my coffee and smoothie for breakfast. I took my steroids and even popped my full antibiotic without thinking about it and it went down just fine. I guess I'm not TOO FULL at all! :scared2:
I'm eating some soup for lunch today and I will do that tonight too. Tomorrow I will start on some mushy soft stuff like mashed potatoes or something.
I'm sitting out of Jazzercise tonight. It is hard for me to really get up the energy when I haven't eaten anything solid. BUT, my cousin is coming for a visit tomorrow and I am going to go home and organize at home. My housekeeper comes tomorrow and she will clean, but I need to sort out the clutter. That should burn a few calories for sure!
Last night I got on my Wii Fit for the first time in MONTHS. I'm surprised my little Mii believed it was me. Anyway, I had lost 60 pounds since the previous time which was AWESOME to see!! But I had to laugh when the Wii still made sad noises and told me I was obese. Stupid Wii. BUT I was happy to see that the line didn't go off the charts anymore, it just hovered in the obese section.
And finally, I get to today's clothing choice. My favorite part! The last time I had lost a lot of weight was 2005-2006. In 2006, my company took on a new partner company and my group tripled in size. I was in charge of the hiring and averaged 2 interviews a day. There would be some days I would have FIVE! I felt like an HR person...it was good experience though. Anyway, I had no time for myself and I put on about 50 pounds in 6 months. I hung there for about 3 years before I gained another 30 pounds and started this journey.
Sooo...at the end of Winter 2006, before I had gained anything, my mom and I went shopping. I tried on a XL sweater dress that I never dreamed would fit me. Not only did it fit, but it looked spectacular! Unfortunately, since it was the end of the season, I couldn't wear it and I put it in the closet until the following Winter. Well, we all know what comes next. By that time, I was entirely to big to fit into the dress.
BUT I kept it all this time and today, I took it out of the closet, took off the tags and wore it! Woo hoo! I wanted to take a pic for my mom, so I thought I would go ahead and include it. I'm 2 pounds away from the lowest I was at that time and only 8 pounds from the lowest I have ever been as an adult (1999). It is so close that I can taste it!
According to my scale, I gained 2.5 lbs this weekend while on vacation. Whoops! Now, much of that (I think) is bloating which happens to me when I travel. Based on history, I feel sure I will be down at least 2 of those in the next day or two. So, while it is an annoyance, I'm not really freaked out.
However, what I am starting to notice is my general lack of discipline. I haven't been acting "out of control" per se, but I have been following more of a maintenance plan than a "losing" plan.
Interestingly, from the day I got Jax at the end of July, I logged information every single day. That is, until the first weekend in October when I went to NOLA. Then there is a gap the next weekend when I went to Indy. Then another gap the next weekend when I WAS HOME! And another gap this weekend while I was in NC. I find it interesting because for the nine weeks I wore Jax and recorded info, I lost weight every week but one.
In the four weeks since, I have lost twice and gained twice. So what does that tell me? It is obvious to me that I need the accountabilitiy.
So, I went back over this weekend and tried to log absolutely everything I ate and it is not a pretty sight. Did you know that Starbucks lemon pound cake has 500 calories?? I don't even like it that much!!
I'm sure it comes to no shock to you at all that I have a plan. :thumbup:
1. For the next 4 weeks prior to Thanksgiving, I'm going to focus on good food choices. I'm not saying it is going to be all chicken breasts and veggies, but I will truly shoot for that 1,000 calorie deficit a day. (My goal is to consume 1800-2000 calories and burn 2800-3000.)
2. But that requires exercise. So I'm adding the morning runs. This is going to be SO HARD for me. But it is time. So, twice per week (and I can choose the days that work best with my schedule), I will run in the mornings before work. This week I plan today and tomorrow.
3. Also, I will not lessen my other workouts because I have added the morning runs. That means 2-3 Jazzercise classes per week and a total of 5-7 work outs per week. This week, I will Jazzercise tonight and Thursday. I will also work out at lunch (bike or walking) Tuesday and Wednesday. Plus I have my 5K on Saturday. So, that will be 7 separate work outs for a total of 4 1/2 hours.
I know I can do it. I don't even question that anymore. I just have to make myself get it done! I need to focus on how it is going to make me feel.
By the way, I had a FABULOUS time with my friend and godson! The Outer Banks area is beautiful and the weather was spectacular. We went on a Wild Horse tour which was a lot of fun. I have included some pictures from the trip.
Happy Monday!
I'm not a patient person and I know that. I work at it and I have become better, but there is a long way to go.
I am one of BG's certified scale whores. I'm typically good about keeping things in perspective. For instance, Tuesday morning I was down two and a half pounds. I know that some of that probably isn't "real", so when I was back up a half a pound on Wednesday, I was fine with that. As long as my net weight is down each Monday, the in between doesn't matter so much.
I had thought after losing 12.5 pounds on my preop diet, then losing 6.8 pounds in the two weeks post op (total 19.3 pounds), that I would be a fast loser. I truly thought that I would be another 10 pounds down by the end of February and another 10 pounds down by the end of March.
Yeah, that didn't happen. I've lost 6 pounds in the 5.5 weeks since then. [interestingly, I originally wrote "only 6 pounds" and dropped the "only" after I decided that wasn't so bad. ] Six pounds in 5.5 weeks was disappointing to me this morning, but after some thought, it is not. Six pounds in 5.5 weeks is WAY better than I was doing before surgery...which was packing on the pounds. I promised myself that as long as I was doing what I was supposed to do and if the scale was moving in the right direction, I wouldn't be as concerned with the actual numbers. That is a bit easier said than done, but I'm glad I have a place to talk it through with myself!
As far as my 8 week Jumpstart plan goes, I did work out during lunch on Tuesday, but I skipped Jazzercise that evening. Yesterday was a day off, so we will see how I do today. The goal is 25 minutes on the elliptical at lunch and 40 minutes of the aerobic portion of Jazzercise. I can do it!
On a completely different topic, LB has giving me something else...new friends, in addition to all of you wonderful ladies and gents. I have been attending a local support group and at the last one, I met two ladies that I have since become friends with. One lady and I email several times a day talking about how our LB lives are going. It is GREAT to get another real time perspective and hear what she is going through. Plus, she has great recipes! :eek: The second lady and I have been texting and we ended up going to a concert together last night. They are both wonderful people and I would have never met them if I wasn't going through this process.
Life (particularly life with LB) is an interesting journey!
I wore a skirt yesterday and Lord Almighty, my inner thighs are paying for it! If I am blessed to lose a lot of weight in this process that is one thing I'm definitely NOT going to miss!!
I got up this morning and stepped on the scale as I do every morning. I weighed 235.6 which is six tenths of a pound from my next major goal of losing 50 pounds! Still have a bit to go. No worries.
I continued to get ready and as part of that went to the bathroom. Without TMI, a lightbulb went off above my head and I weighed again. 235.2! Only 2 tenths away from my next goal! I almost wanted to cut off a finger. Ha!
But then I realized that whether my scale read 235.6, 235.2 or 235.0 this morning, I still look the same this morning. My true goal is to feel better and to look better. That .2 will come off and when it does I will be very excited! But no frustrations, because things are moving steadily in the RIGHT DIRECTION! And that is what is important.
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!!
I'm a part of a Yahoo group (Band Buddies) where I get emails from fellow bandsters. It is similar to LBT except communication is primarily through emails instead of forums and blogs. Many of the active members of the group are from my Support Group, so it is interesting to actually get to know them face to face. One member of the group is often setting up challenges for us to participate together. The newest is Onderland by the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl is on 2/06/11 which is almost 4 months away. I only have 12(ish) pounds to lose to get to Onederland, so I was hoping to get there by Thanksgiving(ish). Now...in order to LOSE 100 pounds, I have to lose 27 pounds. As many of you might know, my goal is to be there by 1/31/10 which is roughly a year from my surgery date. This challenge works perfectly!! So I have two Onederland (of sorts) challenges in one.
Shrek was great!! If you like family friendly musicals, you will love it. Debi, my friend from group, and I went to Champp's before and had dinner. We even shared (between us we may have had 1/4) a dessert. One thing we talked about was the ridiculous portions. Both of our meals were easily 3 servings. And I'm not talking about "real" servings (probably 5 or 6), I'm talking about normal person real world servings. The sad part is that I could have easily eaten the entire plate pre-surgery...probably along with a salad and part of the dessert.
Even though it kind of grosses me out now, I don't judge the people that clean their plates. Lord knows that without this band, I would most likely do the same thing. I'm just very happy that I stopped the madness and took control of my life.
Only one more day and then another fun mini-vacation! Have a good one, y'all!
I absolutely LOVE the Olympics!! I know a lot of folks don't, but I do. I love the competition, the pageantry, the patriotism, the cute guys...I love it all. It just makes me happy. Although while I was typing this, I got a CNN Breaking News about one of the races. That is just mean. I don't want to know! I want to watch and enjoy it. Sigh. Oh well, I LOVE the OLYMPICS!
Today is Ash Wednesday and as a Catholic, I practice fasting as defined by the Church. That means no meat today or on Fridays during Lent. It also means only one "large" meal with two smaller meals, but I already only have three small meals because of the band! I went to church during my lunch break and picked up lunch when I got back at the deli in my office building. Typically I would get a sandwich, but since I can't have bread yet for a while (surgeon's orders) and I can't have meat (Ash Wed), it created a mini-challenge for a high-protein diet. I settled for a scoop of egg salad on tossed greens which ended up being quite good.
Tonight is my monthly dinner with my girlfriends. We are going to Jaxx Steakhouse which offers a nice choice of seafood. Yummy!
Hi everyone! I've been absent for a couple of days because I had been following the rule that if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. :bored: I knew from everything you all told me that the pain would pass, so I just waited it out.
I can't say you all didn't warn me...you totally did! I guess that since I have a high tolerance for pain, I thought I could handle it better. Plus, I don't think I expected it to last so long. They didn't really get bad until Day #4 and they lasted excruciatingly until Day #6. Alas, it is Day #7 and everything is tolerable. I am still quite uncomfortable, but I feel that it is downhill from here!
Food has turned me off since the surgery so I still have to force myself to eat the mushy stuff. I don't feel hungry at this point. I'm sure that once all the swelling goes down, I will be hungry again.
Tomorrow is my post op appointment and they will tell me what I can eat from here. I'm trying not to hope too much that I will be able to eat something new. :mad3: That would be super awesome though.
I have a girls group that goes to dinner once a month and we are getting together tomorrow. I would be fine to get soup and just eat the broth or get a smoothie on the way, but it would be so great if I can have flaky fish and mashed potatoes or something!
Hope as is well with you all!!
Tuesday, I went to the doctor because I was sick. While the doc was feeling up my tonsils, he seemed to get serious and really started pressing on my neck. He said that he was feeling small nodes on my thyroid.
He went on to say that I needed to get an ultrasound to confirm. He said that he has found several of these types of nodes on patients and only twice has it turned out to be anything. But in both of those cases, it was found so early, that they were easily treatable.
So, today I went for my ultrasound. My first prayer is that my doc's fingers are too sensitive and there isn't actually anything there. :-) Until I hear otherwise, I will do my best not to think about it.
On another note, I had a nice time with my cousin last night. We have so many biological (?) things in common, but our personalities are very different. We talked some about our weight struggles. It definitely runs in our family.
I do enjoy my downtime at home by myself, but I really like to surround myself with people. Joni, on the other hand, is more of a loner. She was showing me pictures of her last few years and she spends a lot of time camping on her own. I admire her a lot for doing so much on her own and not letting it stop her.
Although I don't think we have enough in common to be the best of friends, I am glad she is back in my life. I think family is important and I do hope that we keep in touch.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Beth
So, I got a speeding ticket this morning. Isn't that super awesome!! :thumbup: Honestly though, I was going 76 mph in a 60 mph zone, so I totally deserved it. The only thing that makes me mad about the whole thing is that that motorcycle cop is there EVERY morning and I KNOW BETTER! Oh well, it is what it is.
I'm feeling much better today! The respiratory infection has faded for the most part. Jazzercise was tough last night, but I definitely felt better when it was over. It is nice to be in enough shape that I don't feel like I'm killing myself the first day back after a break! Today I'm taking it up a notch and I'm doing my 2 mile hill run at lunch and Jazzercise tonight. I only have a non-running lunch work out tomorrow (maybe the bike?) so I should be able to push it out today.
I was hungry yesterday. After breakfast, it didn't take too long until I was hungry for lunch. We went to Mi Cocina to meet my parents and I was worried that I would need to eat too much. But my mom & I shared a nacho plate and I ate three nachos with sour cream and guacamole. So, not too bad. In fact, it held me until very late in the afternoon and I didn't get hungry until about 4pm when I had some greek yogurt.
I was a little hungry when I went to Jazzercise, but it wasn't horrible. When I got home, I fixed goodies for dinner. (My niece's favorite meal is what she calls goodies, which is bascially a collection of snacks, like apples, pretzels, peanut butter and cheese.) I had just less than a 1/2 c of potato salad, a boiled egg, 10 crackers and 5 pieces of cheese (roughly 3 oz, I think.) I finished the potato salad and egg, but I left 2 crackers and a piece of cheese. I didn't seem to have any "restriction" in the sense that there was no issues with anything going down, however, I did have "restriction" in the sense that I was full after eating a reasonable amount of food. So, I did well yesterday. The trick is stopping when I'm full. I've not been good at that historically and is something I need to work on.
So, goals for the week...drink water! And stop eating when I'm full.
PS: My new item of the day that I'm wearing...electric blue flats with a row of sequence around the top. Very flirty, but practical too.
Have a great day!!
First things first...I just got a call from the doc and they told me that the ultrasound showed two nodules on my thyroid. They are both very small and probably nothing to worry about. In four months, I will have another ultrasound to confirm that they aren't growing. So, I will circle back with you all in March! But until then, I feel strongly that all is well.
Onto random thoughts...
Exercise - I have just been lazy lately. I was doing SO WELL with exercise for so long and then I just became complacent. I'm very glad that I made my Jazzercise class manager committment because it is about the only thing I'm doing. I was supposed to be running twice a week, but I'm not even averging once. I'm supposed to work out twice a week at lunch and I'm barely doing it once. I'm lucky to get two Jazzercise classes in. I guess I should be glad that even though I'm not doing all I would like, I'm still working out more than I used to. Gonna have to work on that in 2011! :bored:
Compliments - I am so enjoying the compliments that I get from everybody about my shrinking body. It never gets tiring to hear how great you look! HA! But sometimes, when people go on and on and on and on and on about how proud they are of you and how different you look that I start to get a little defensive. I mean I know I wasn't a beauty before, but I was still a good person. I was smart and funny and hard working. I'm glad you are proud of me for this, but hopefully before you were proud of me for that... I get over it quickly, but I've noticed that I felt that way a couple of times.
Sleep - you would think that I would start getting more energetic, but that isn't the case. I feel like I need at least 9 hours to feel decent. 10 hours makes me feel great. That just seems like too much. I wonder if my sleep apnea is changing and my machine doesn't work properly. I know that I still snore because I woke myself from a nap snoring. :-) Once I heal from my tonsilectomy, this is something I'm going to look into. Maybe I just need my settings changed.
Clothing - last week I tried on some brown suede boots I had bought when I lost weight in 2005. They are sweet! I remember that they were super tight back then and I weighed roughly what I weigh now. When I tried them on last week they still wouldn't zip up. I tried them on last night and they did. It is amazing to me that one week would make that difference!
Today I'm wearing a skirt I bought when my mom was visiting in September. I remember picking it up at Kohl's and thinking that it looked so small. It was tight, but doable and I bought it. Today, I'm wearing it and it fits great! I feel like $1,000,000. I have a business dinner tonight and I feel professional and hot! It is just so hard to imagine that I will probably be too small for this cute little skirt by Christmas.
Busy - I have so much planned between now and my tonsilectomy! There is something ever single day or night between now and then. I guess I wanted to get everything in before I'm down for the count. I mentioned that tonight is a work dinner. I'm sure we are going to go to some super fancy steakhouse which is going to be lost on me. I just haven't been able to do steak. Maybe they will have a fish option or something. I'm sure it will be delicious!
Sorry for the incohesive thoughts today. It's Monday. :thumbup:
Sandradee (among others) has asked me a couple of times whether I think Jax (my Body Bugg) has been worth it. The cost of the device plus the display device was around $300.
I will say up front that I am extremely blessed. I have a wonderful job and since I'm single with no kids and relatively no responsibilities, I'm able to spend my money however I see fit without worrying about anyone else. So spending $300 for me is not the same as say my friend who is a married stay at home mother of three or another friend who is a single working mother of two.
That being said, I'm very glad that I got it. I have NEVER been one to log my food. I would try to commit myself to it, but I would lose interest in a day or two. Something about having your calories burned to offset calories consumed has helped to motivate me. I have been going strong for 3 weeks and I don't have the mindset that it is a chore. I actually enjoy logging in each night after dinner to make my updates.
One thing that I have noticed is that I think more before I just eat something. For instance, on Monday after lunch, my work group stopped and got a cookie from the Nestle Toll House Cookie Store. I LOVE Nestle Toll House cookies. I bought one and brought it back to the office with me. I looked up the nutritional information and I plugged it in my online food journal. Since I was working out that day, I determined that I could eat the cookie if I had a lighter dinner than I originally planned. I enjoyed the heck out of that cookie and savored EVERY bite. Later that night, I chose the lower calorie dinner and all was well.
I will say that I think that most of the benefit comes from logging my food. So, if you are already very good at that, I don't know if it would be worth it or not. To me, it has changed how I operate entirely!
Also, I am very conservative with my food counts. Meaning, I always try to pad my estimates. For instance, if I have a couple bites of mashed potatoes, I would probably log 1/4 cup as opposed to 2 T. I have read that we tend to underestimate what we eat by 20-40(!)% Wow! I figure that no matter how hard I try, I will not remember (or know) everything that is in what I'm eating (especially when I eat out) so if I pad a little, hopefully I will have enough counted to cover anything I miss. Interestingly, even with that padding, Jax tells me that I only lose 1/2 of what I calculate that I should lose. And I definitely don't lose it when I'm "supposed" to. But that's okay, as I collect data about myself, I learn more and more and it helps me to be less frustrated.
So for me, for my needs, for my circumstances, Jax is worth it! I committed to logging food for 4 weeks and wearing Jax for 8 weeks. I realize now that I need to do both and will now commit to doing both. I feel sure though that I will continue long past 8 weeks. I feel that way now...I will get back to you in about 5 weeks! :thumbup:
Just wanted to give you a couple of quick updates:
Eating steak: I did okay with the steak. I had to cut it into the smallest of pieces and I was only able to eat about an ounce. Last night at home, I had the leftovers and ate bigger bites, but would spit out the fat (tendons that wouldn't chew down) instead of swallowing it. Sounds kind of gross, but it worked. I don't think I like steak enough to work that hard. HA!
Jazzercise: our friends came to class with us last night. They had a lot of fun supporting my BFF by it really isn't their cup of tea. One is a runner, but the other doesn't work out much and I hope that she finds some sort of activity that she enjoys. My arm ached a little from the tetanus shot (it still does!) but I'm glad I got in the extra work out. Something funny...as I was cleaning up after class, I picked up some 5 pound weights that someone had forgotten to put away. They felt so light to me that I almost threw them in the air. It made me feel like The Hulk!! :wink2:
Have a super day everyone! Tomorrow is Friday!
So even though I had to get up an hour early this morning, I already feel like it is a better day! I think sometimes Mondays are just kind of overcast type days. Weekend hangovers abound. :bored:
So, yesterday was a normal day at work. I had a working lunch with the Controller at my Property Management company. He & I used to work together when my company owned the PM Company, but we sold it. He went with the PM and I stayed with the Asset Management company. We went to a place called the Ranch and it was delicious. I had the meatloaf which worried me a litte because I sometimes have trouble with ground meat. But it was so tender and had a delicious chipotle salsa to make it almost melt in your mouth. Plus, there were mashed potatoes! The waitress was very concerned that I didn't like my meal since I only ate half. I'm very excited to have the rest for lunch today!!
Then I had a meeting with my boss and our insurance broker. He was in town networking. We met for about an hour then went to dinner. We went to Pappa Bros. steakhouse. They had a salmon option, so that's what I went with. I also had a glass of wine. This is one of those places where you buy a $50 steak, then have to order your side items separately. The guys ordered asparagus (which melted in your mouth), crab macaroni & cheese (unbelievably good), & au gratin potatoes (just in case we didn't already have enough cheese.)
The side orders come family style, so our broker was piling them on my plate. I ate maybe a third of what was on my plate when I was done. He was SO UPSET that I didn't like my meal. I assured him that I eat very little at dinner and that I will love eating the leftovers. Life has so changed! In the past, I would have eaten everything on that plate and then leapt for dessert when he offered.
When my boss got up to use the restroom, the broker (who is entirely too old for me) started telling me how awesome I am. Ha! Good to know that I'm appreciated. It was only slightly awkward. :-)
I went to bed early so I could get up early. I had a CPE class in North Dallas at 8am! I left around 7am and got stuck in traffic. I didn't even make the class. That's annoying. BUT...I still feel like it is a good day. I'm going to work out at lunch and then I get to enjoy my leftover meatloaf. Then I have my monthly girls dinner tonight! I will have leftovers for the entire week after tonight. :-)
Have a good day everyone!!
Beth
I LOVE the show So You Think You Can Dance and have attended every tour they have had! Yes, I am somewhat of a 12 year old girl. :thumbup: The first tour which was from Season 2 didn't come to DFW so we actually flew to Chicago for a weekend to see it. We are dedicated!
Last night was the most recent SYTYCD tour at the Verizon theater in Grand Prairie. Eight of us met for dinner, then went to the show. It was great! Plus, I had plenty of room left in my seat AND I kept my legs crossed which was super awesome!!!
I was slightly annoyed this morning when I weighed and I hadn't gotten rid of ALL the pesky extra I had found with my Chinese food. I guess it was over half though, so I should get over it. I'm sure that tomorrow will bring things back to normal.
Today's new items: I'm wearing a long shirt/short dress in grey black and white animal print over leggings. I added a short-sleeved linen jacket and grey suede short boots. My dental hygenist told me that I looked "super cute" this morning so that is fun! This is the first time I've worn any of it except for the leggings. It's so fun to take tags off and wear something each morning!
Tomorrow is Friday everyone...hold on, we've almost made it!!
Hi everyone!!
I'm back from my weekend volleyball extravaganza getaway in Wichita! After two weekends out of town, it will be nice to get back into a routine.
Friday, after a Starbucks stop, we made our way from DFW to Wichita. I have to say that Oklahoma has some beautiful views. Our hotel was in Old Town Wichita which is a fun area with bars, shops and restaurants. Very nice! After relaxing a bit and freshening up, we had dinner at a Latin American restaurant. I had paella which probably wasn't the best choice, but I love the stuff! I couldn't eat the shrimp, squid or clams (too fibrous) so I gave those to my friend Cori. I ate the chicken, veggies and some rice. Surprisingly I just haven't had much issue with rice lately after having horrible times with it in the past. Weird.
After dinner it was time to head over to Wichita State University (home of the Shockers!) for a fun night of volleyball. We were there to watch the mens USA Volleyball team play the Russian team. We beat them 3-0 in a surprisingly exciting blowout! WSU has a strong volleyball team and there were a lot of fans in attendance. After the game, the guys lined up to sign autographs. I used that time to get up close and take some photos. Those guys make me feel much like a midget, but darn it if they aren't cute!!
After dinner we strolled around Old Town. We had a glass of wine and some hummus at a wine bar. It had a nice laid back atmosphere, but was more of a date place. We ended up at a more "bar" bar and sat at the bar nursing a glass of wine. We ended up making friends with the bartenders who gifted us with a free shot. After that, it was time to hit the sack.
I woke up about 2 hours later with HORRIBLE stomach cramps. Guess 2 1/2 glasses of wine and a shot isn't really "in moderation". Good to know for future reference.
Saturday morning, I woke (surprisingly) feeling pretty good. We went to a place called Eggs Cetra for breakfast. I usually can't eat at breakfast, but after some coffee I was able to eat a little bacon and eggs. Yum!
We spent the day walking around Old Town and driving around Wichita. It is a really nice place to visit! If the volleyball game is there next year, we definitely plan to go back. We HAD to stop at place called Nifty Nuts to get some honey roasted cashews and some dark chocolate covered graham crackers. :rolleyes2:
That night there was another volleyball game. This time the team wasn't so fired up and we lost 1-3. With that the USA is out of World League play for the year. Bummer! I have attached a couple of pictures of the players that I find adorable. As much as I already love volleyball, it sure doesn't help to have some eye candy. Ha! Also, during the breaks, the bench players worked out. BEST TIME OUT ENTERTAINMENT EVER!!
After the game, we went for a late dinner. I had grilled snapper and it was a little overcooked, but the light sauce was DELICIOUS! Since we ate late, we walked around for a while to make sure my food made it's way where it should before I went to bed. There was a HUGE car show going on so it wasn't hard to waste time checking it out. There was one super pimped out red caddy with unbelievable chrome trim and a fur dashboard. Awesome!!
After that, bedtime. We are just not night owls. The next morning as I was packing up the car, I pulled a muscle in my back. It is certainly not the worst I have ever done, but it made the drive back to DFW quite unpleasant. I'm not sure about you all, but when I am in pain (any kind) my band tends to tighten up. So, I couldn't eat breakfast or lunch. I'm guessing Cori was as eager to get back as I was considering I was probably not very good company!!
Once I got back home, I was able to eat so that helped. Today my back is still sore, so I will have to take a few days off exercise. I was telling my mom this morning that I can completely tell the difference in my life because since I'm not "on a diet", when I get thrown a curveball, it is so easy to get back to things. I'm just much more flexible than I ever was before. I owe SO much of that to the band.
This morning, I was down 3.4 pounds! What?? I guess I did walk around a lot this weekend. That means I passed another 5 pound mini-goal and have lost over 55 pounds. YAY!
Tonight is Support Group and I ALWAYS look forward to that. Tonight is also picture time, so I should have that updated tomorrow.
Have a great day y'all!!
Vacations are GREAT! But it is good to come home and get back in my routine.
Thursday I got to Louisville and my brother picked me up at the airport. My brother and I love each other, but we have never really been friends. I noticed that this trip, that seems to be changing. I have no idea if it is coming from me, him or both of us, but I LOVE it!! One nephew and my niece were with him and were really excited to see me (as I was them!) We picked up other nephew and met SIL at home. SIL was extremely complimentary...she has been one of my biggest supporters throughout this whole process. It feels good!
Friday I slept in and then went to my nephew and niece's school for a Read-a-thon kick off. Too cute! That night we went to a party at some friends' of my brothers house. One of his friends that I have met before just went on and on about how different I look. Awesome!!
Saturday, I got up and ran the 5K. I detailed all of that for you in my last post. Sunday, my brother was having a big party for the neighborhood, so I helped get ready for that. It was almost like a work out! But then all the delicious food came in for the pot luck and I ate like a fiend. Now, of course, I didn't eat like I used to, but I still ate way more than I usually do today.
Sunday, I woke up and hung out with the kids a bit. Then, my SIL, the kids and I went to lunch before they took me to the airport.
Super fun time!!
I was really hungry this morning when I woke up. I weighed myself and I lost .2 pounds for the week. Not too bad since I went on vacation, but I think it is probably time for a fill. I had one scheduled for Thursday, but I cancelled it a couple of weeks ago when I was going strong. Oops! Anyway, I have one now scheduled for 9/14. That is two days before my parents come to town, but they are supportive so it should be fine.
I certainly missed you all!!
In order to focus more on work, well at work and to have time to some other things, I'm going to attempt blogging in the evenings. It's usually the first thing I do in the morning so we will see how it goes.
I ended up leaving work on Friday because I felt so bad. That tetanus shot really kicked my butt. I got the shot on Wednesday and today, Sunday, my arm still hurts. How crazy is that?
Hi all! So, I've started my new "night blogging". I think I can see why I did it in the morning. By the time you get to the end of the day, you are just ready to wind down!! One thing I do have to figure out is how I can have time to write, but also to read. I LOVE reading and responding to your blogs, so I will work on how I can do both.
First, constipation. Holy moly, do I have it. I have been taking Benefiber twice a day, but it just isn't working for me. I bought Miralax today and I'm trying that tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to invest in some Activia. I will keep you posted. Ha!
Second, my PCP referred me to an ENT for my throat issue. I feel sure that I have mentioned the disgusting issue I have with food getting stuck in the back of my throat. Well, I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow. When I talked to them on the phone, they said that it sounded like I have craters. Ha! How hysterical is that? Craters. Heh. I can't wait to hear more about that. Hopefully they can fix it though. I'm starting to get an ear ache from it!
Today, one of my best employees resigned. Sigh. She is excellent and has so much potential. She is the person I had planned to groom to lead the group. I'm sad because we are losing someone special. But I wish nothing but the best for her. It is going to mean some craziness for us. I feel sure that I'm not going to get to replace her so things should get super fun!! Wish me luck!!
Hope you all had a good Monday!
Hi everyone! I think I must've caught something while on vacation because I've felt puny the last couple of days. I took some Nyquil and went to bed at 8:30pm last night so I feel a little better today. Hopefully, I will feel a lot better by the afternoon because I work at Jazzercise tonight. If I'm going to be there I'm going to work out!!
I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Tomorrow after 3pm, I have to call the US District Court to find out whether I will be called to Jury Duty on Monday. I have never been called before, so there is a part of me that would be interested to participate. The other part of me knows that I'm super busy during the next 2 weeks and jury duty could really mess me up! :wink: I will keep you posted.
Tomorrow is also my annual well woman exam. Super fun! At least I'm not old enough for mammograms yet, so I suppose it could be worse!
Have a great Thursday!
I'm back in town after visiting family since Wednesday. I'm proud to say that I lost 3.6 lbs this week...yay!!! So, I am averaging 1.95 lbs lost per week since the surgery. I'm SO happy for that!
I thought being away from home would be more of a challenge, but it wasn't bad.
Wednesday, I flew into Indianapolis and then drove to Louisville. I had a smoothie before I left and ate about 2 oz of chicen and some cheese and pita chips on the plane. For dinner we had ham steak and potato casserole. I also worked about about 40 minutes on the Wii Fit. I enjoy the Wii a lot, but I don't get my heart rate up as high as when I work out in other ways. Still, exercise!!
Thursday, I woke up VERY late (yay, vacation!) and drank a smoothie. My SIL came home from work and we had some homemade chicken salad on crackers. Then we went the YMCA to work out. I did 25 minutes on the stairmaster, then 20 minutes on the treadmill. I would walk one song (3.0 mph) then jog one song (4.0 mph). Not too bad! Dinner was smoked sausage and leftover potato casserole. I also had some ice cream before I went to bed. :smile:
Friday, I had another smoothie when I got up. There is a really cool 2.0 mile outdoor trail near my brother's house, so I went there. I walked one song/jogged one song for 1.5 miles. Then I was pooped. I walked to the 1.8 mile marker and challenged myself to jog just one more tenth. I made it! Then walked the last tenth. Excellent! I had a Deli Creation Cracker Combination for lunch, then some ground beef & bean nachos for dinner.
Saturday was my grandmother's funeral. ALL of the family was there and she looked lovely. I'm sure she would have been quite pleased.
After the service, we gathered at a nearby hotel. The kids were playing in the pool and I notice an exercise room that overlooked the pool. I put on my workout clothes and did my first "Couch to 5K" podcast. I had tried it before a few weeks ago, but I just wasn't ready. I think I am now. My SIL challenged me to jog a 5K around Labor Day, so that is my new goal! That day my walking pace was 3.5 mph and my jogging pace was 4.6 mph. Hopefully I can increase those as I go forward. At the very beginning of my exercise commitment (almost 3 months ago), 3.0 mph WAS jogging!!
I love my family, but one thing I noticed this weekend is that we are a BIG family. My brother and one cousin are what I would call thin. Another girl cousin is "normal", but I know she REALLY has to work at it. A couple of my guy cousins are chubby. The rest (including me) of us are huge. it puts things into perspective for me. I believe that I was dealt these genes and it does make things more difficult. But I know that just means that I have to work that much harder. Did I want to eat a cream cheese danish for breakfast yesterday? Hell yes! But I know that I can't and so it made it easier.
I told most of my family about my surgery. I think that many of them could benefit from it themselves and I thought I could be proof. I hope that next time I see them, I will be one of the skinny cousins! :biggrin:
Have a great week, y'all!
I weigh every morning which some say is a no-no. It is a motivating tool with me. If I'm up, I commit to working harder. If I'm down, I get excited and I'm ready to do more. I guess I just need a lot of feedback.
In the past, that has only worked for a little while. Because although when I am up, I get motivated to work harder...that only works when you go down most of the time. That's why things are going so well now. I don't mind working out 4, 5 or even 6 hours a week because I'm seeing results. (Interesting side note: I always thought I worked out 4-6 hours a week, but when I started actually tracking it, I wasn't. I've found that writing it down makes me accountable and more likely to actually work out more.)
If I woke up most mornings weighing the same or more, I don't think I would have the motivation to continue. Although I'm up, down and all over the place each day, I am consistantly moving down the scale overall.
Which (finally) gets me to my point. Tuesday I had a 30 minute work out, but I totally splurged at dinner with friends...not horribly mind you, but definitely more than normal. Wednesday I was at the same weight as Tuesday. Makes sense. Wednesday I worked out for 90 minutes total in two sessions and ate well. On Thursday, I was down 8 tenths. YAY! But still makes some sense. Yesterday, I did a Jazzercise class, but during the day I ate a brownie, a serving of Chocolate PB Hagendaas ice cream, & two Ghiradelli chocolate/caramel squares. DUDE. That was ridiculous! Today I'm down 4 tenths. WHAT?? Now, I know enough not to take that at face value, but ha!! It is my goal today to eat well enough and work out hard so that 4 tenths doesn't pop up tomorrow!
The challenge is on! By the way, my size 2 Lane Bryant jeans are getting baggy in the booty. Should be into the size 1s soon! After that...regular store jeans! Woohoo!!
My smoothie this morning was great as usual, so no issues there. I even started my morning with some hot tea as recommended by the nutritionist and I really like how it cleared my throat.
About 10:30 I started getting hungry. At 11:00 I ate a sugar free jello cup which is allowed on the plan.
I told a friend that we could ride together to grab lunch. There isn't a Smoothie King by there, but there is a Jamba Juice so I decided to try it for the first time. I have to say that I was quite dissappointed. They had some good choices, but their protein powder is only 10g of protein. Not enough for my plan, but I decided to go with it this one time. I got a Mega Mango (all fruit) with the protein. I honestly almost can't drink it. It doesn't have much flavor and I can really feel the protein powder coat my tongue. It is going to take me 2 hours to eat the darn thing.
In the end, I guess it is a good thing. Won't be tempted by something that doesn't really fit in my plan.
I brought a jello cup and a pudding cup for afternoon snacks. I have theater tickets tonight so we are going to dinner somewhere I can get some soup and I have another pudding cup for dessert.
It will feel good to have one day on the books!! I'm hungry, but psyched up enough to keep on track.
After 7 sinus infections in one year, last November I saw an allergist. It turned out that I was allergic to EVERYTHING! At least all seasonal allergies. Big bummer. So I started getting shots. At first it was 2-4 times a week which was tough to do, but I actually stuck with it.
The shots were so effective for me that I didn't have another sinus infection until today. Although it totally stinks that I have one now, I think it is pretty cool that was able to put it off for a whole year.
Now if I can just get through the next couple of days!! i have tickets to see South Pacific tonight and I'm not going to miss it. Getting up for work tomorrow will be the painful part.
Have a great day, everyone!
Hi everyone! I have to say that I'm a little tired today. I went out with a LB support group friend last night and didn't get home until 11:30. That is late for me!! We met for dinner then went to see the musical Dreamgirls. We had a GREAT time! I feel so blessed to have met her.
But I had a hard time getting to sleep and (pardon my TMI) I am feeling constipated the last couple of days. That is unusual for me so I'm getting a little annoyed with it.
I think part of my problem is my lack of exercise this week. It will be a full week for me today without ANY kind of organized exercise. I feel sure that once I get back to it, my energy will take off. I have Jazzercise tonight, so that will be fun. I am supposed to go see Master Bruce tomorrow night which is fine, I guess. I have really gotten to the point I dislike him and don't want to go anymore which is too bad. I only have 4 more prepaid sessions I need to use and then I can focus on trying something else. Any ideas? I am trying to think of something fun to do probably once a week that would be a little different (to supplement the Jazzercise and running.)
Mostly, I'm just looking forward to a weekend at home! I loved going to Louisiana and Kansas, but I'm ready for a break.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!! :thumbup:
