TGIF! Today was hard. Actually, today was easy, too easy, and that made it hard. Are you confused yet? Good! Me too! Today I realized that it's getting easier to eat, and it's time to start being super careful about what goes in my mouth. I knew it would happen at some point before my first fill. Dr. Holloway even warned me. I hoped it would be a little bit closer to my first fill date, but it's now. Bleh! What this means to me, is that right now it would be very easy to cheat my band. I've always known it was definitely possible to do, but for the first two weeks my band felt so tight that I had no interest in making myself uncomfortable by eating very much at all. It's time to be very vigilant and I'm up for the challenge. After all, I have a beach goal to work on! I simply HAVE to buy a new swimming suit before the last week in June. Period.
I also had my first "omg it's stuck" incident this morning. One would think that an incident like that would scare me away from eating anything else for the rest of the day.. and it did make me slow down... a LOT. It did not, however, make me overly concerned about what I needed to be eating. That didn't happen until later this afternoon when I realized that there truly haven't been any foods that I simply can't eat right now, although obviously tortillas are going to give me a little hell since that's what got stuck this morning. So, while I'm still not eating even close to what I used to be able to eat, it occurred to me that the quality of the food I can eat needs to be much, much better, or I'm going to find myself screwed! Tomorrow I will start keeping a food journal, and my plan is to attempt a version of the WW points system that works out to the number of calories that I need to adhere to. I'm also going out of town tomorrow for a quick trip to a much larger town, with much more fabulous restaurants in it where I will be tempted beyond belief to eat delicious food that can't be found at home. Thank goodness it's only an overnight trip or I could be in trouble!
For those of you who don't understand the whole banding concept I will tell you that it's not as easy as just getting a band put in and losing weight without trying. It's entirely possible to "eat around the band"! It's pretty easy to cheat if you so choose. To make the band work for you you have to work hard. You still have to diet, you still have to exercise, and you still need to remain extremely conscious of the quality of food that you put in your body. In case anyone wondered, it's definitely not the easy way out. The band is simply a tool to remind me when I've had enough, and until I get my "sweet spot" fill (which could take a few months) I will have to be pretty careful. It's not that the band isn't already working. It is. But I'm not feeling optimal restriction yet and I guess I'm just feeling overly cautious.
So, that's all I've got besides the fact that my scale hasn't budged in two days and I haven't abused it yet! That's something.. right?! Thanks for stopping by!
http://www.myotherbutt.blogspot.com
Two weeks! Again, it's mostly flown by. This week was interesting for a few reasons. Per my doctor's instructions I advanced my diet. This means that basically I got to try eating anything I wanted to. I was very surprised at his recommendation to do this, because before my surgery I was told this wouldn't happen until week three, and in the hundreds of lap band stories I've read it seems that more than half of the bandsters didn't get to eat whatever they wanted to until six weeks post op. But my doctor is a smart man! I did quite well with his recommendation, and I've learned a LOT this week about eating.
I haven't tried steak yet. I probably won't for a week or so, just because I've had issues with other meat. No big issues really, but I definitely have to take my time with it and chew, chew, chew. I have had a few things "stick" as they were on their way down... nothing to the point of getting stuck for hours though, and while it was uncomfortable, there wasn't much pain involved. I called it a gentle reminder to slow my happy butt down, and it worked! I've found that there are a few things that don't go down like you would think they would. Yogurt is the prime example here. For whatever reason, I can only eat a teaspoon or two of it, and that's it.. I don't know if it's because I only eat it in the morning, and that's when my band feels the tightest, or if it's simply going to be a "trouble food" like my good friend Tricia warned me!
I have to say that I feel pretty great about eating after this week. I'm able to at least try whatever I want.. and that's very happy news for me. I've been able to partake in some of my most favorite foods this week, and I'm getting the taste that I was worried about never enjoying again, and am only able to eat a very small portion of it, which is of course very different for me, but it feels great!
I had issues with my scale this week. It wouldn't budge for five days straight! My scale shows pounds, and ounces. Even the ounces stayed the same for those five days. I was bummed out!! I verbally attacked the scale for at least three out of those five days, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, yesterday morning it gave up 2.3 pounds putting me at 19.7 pounds in two weeks. Very nice, I'll take it!
I finally made it to the gym yesterday for the first time! I navigated my way around the circuit room and did the treadmill. My doctor told me as soon as the steri strips came off of my incisions I'd be okay to swim, and they're off now, and looking very good. So, I swam for only about 15 minutes.. which was hardly worth the time it took to change into my suit, but it did feel good to get in the water for a bit. I'm going to walk this afternoon, and go back to the gym tomorrow. I'm starting to think about doing a class at the gym as well.. I'm wondering how I'd hold up in Zumba! It looks and sounds so fun, but I KNOW those girls get a hell of a work out! I can see myself stumbling around in there, sweat pouring off of my body and looking like something the cat drug in by the time it's over... maybe I should re-think that...
I think I'll be okay now if my scale doesn't budge much.. losing those first 17 pounds so quickly really spoiled me. It's really awesome to step on there and not see a GAIN if nothing else! I haven't weighed myself today, and maybe I won't. (who am I kidding?!)
I do have one little NSV (non scale victory) to share.. I haven't noticed much difference in the way my clothes fit yet, even with almost 20 pounds down the tubes. But yesterday I did accidentally put one of my smaller t-shirts in my gym bag. When I unfolded it to put it on I thought "Oh damn it, I grabbed the wrong one" but I was pleasantly surprised when it fit very nicely, and didn't hug those fat rolls on my belly! Sweet! I'm hoping for a few more of those little victories in the next few weeks!
Countdown til the beach is... 60 days!! Woooo Hoooo! And actually a few days before that before my plane leaves! Sixty days til I'm lounging on the white sugar sands of Gulf Shores.. a full week of girl time with some of the best women I know! Right now, in this chilly, rainy spring weather in Nebraska nothing sounds more inviting than that beach for so many reasons!!
Okay, signing off to see what week three brings~ I'll be back in-between now and then if anything exciting happens! Thanks for stopping by!
http://www.myotherbutt.blogspot.com
