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Aloha Today marks 6 weeks since surgery, and Wednesdays are my ‘official’ weigh in, although I do weigh every morning. I just record it only on Wednesdays. Yesterday the scale showed me down 40 lbs since start of pre-op, 30 since surgery. This morning I showed down 39 lbs since pre-op and 29 since surgery. ~sigh~ this is my first gain, and I’m guessing I ate something salty yesterday. I am absolutely not bugged about this. I will continue to weigh every morning. I am not obsessing. Just yesterday I had a meeting with my NUT and I asked her what her take on stalls is – is it something that just happens inexplicably, or is it usually something the person is doing wrong? Mind you, when I asked this I was still moving full steam ahead losing every day. LOL maybe I jinxed myself. ANYways, she said stalls just happen sometimes, but the individual has the power to break them. All this being said, I know that 1 lb gained overnight certainly does not constitute a stall. It has just set me to thinking about it. There will come a time when I actually do hit a stall. I want to be prepared for it. So screw the 1 lb overnight last night – I am very, very pleased with my progress! I am beginning to go shopping in my closet, and that is fun. I realized last weekend that I can cross my legs; hooo! that was a thrill! My nightly hikes have become more energetic – I can go longer and faster and work up a good sweat. My dog is loving it! I was thinking this morning that something I would love to be able to do would be pushups. Real, honest-to –goodness, straight leg, military style pushups. No way in hell I can do it now, but I was thinking how cool it would be to be able to do them eventually. My (very athletic) husband would be so impressed! And then I had a brainstorm that I will train myself in secret to be able to do them as a surprise for him! Every morning when he gets in the shower I am going to roll out of bed and start trying to do them. And then one day I'll say "look what I can do!" I also want to get some hand weights. My bariatric exercise specialist had given me a band to do arm strength training with, but I have begun to get very nervous using it because I am terrified it’s going to snap and put my eye out. Paranoid? LOL. Perhaps! But I noticed that in very tiny print on the typed instructions she gave it says “caution: wear eye protection when using the band”. LOL she never said it out loud, she didn’t wear glasses when demonstrating it for me, and I have never, never seen anyone in person or on TV wear protective eyewear with the band. Leave it to paranoid me to start thinking about goggles though. Actually, I’d just rather get some hand weights and not worry about it any further. So far my hair is the same as it’s always been – yay! I am fond of my hair. But I think it’s just a little early yet anyways to see any losses. I won't be surprised when it starts to thin a bit in a month or two. My nails are still growing like mad—I finally had to actually clip them so I could type. In the past they’ve always broken way before they got to the point of needing to be clipped. Hope this nice side effect lasts I guess as long as I get my protein and take my vitamins it will. My energy is getting better all the time. Still would love more energy, but I have faith that my energy level, along with other things in my life, will just keep getting better n better as time goes on. Onward!

Hi Everyone, I am watching Dr. Oz right now and the show's subject is Toxic Love. Very interesting about what loved ones do to each other when they have health issues. Dieting together, a mother telling her daughter, you're fat etc. and cooking the wrong foods. Right now is a couple and the wife wears an insulin pump and the husband cooks all the wrong foods. The therapist is trying to help all the people. Great show. I know of people like that, that make and feed the wrong foods to the diabetic, the WLS person, like all of us etc. Who is the the toxic person in your life? Mine is ME!!!!!!

Here is it Thursday - the 4th of July! I was so excited about my visit to see my surgeon on Tuesday but it was really no big deal. There were seven other people in the room who are getting their surgery the same day. Hello assembly line... Here are the highlights: They went over the "Eight Golden Rules" of lap band success Eat three or less small meals a day Do not eat anything between meals (this will be difficult) Eat slowly and stop when no longer hungry Focus on nutritional foods Avoid calorie containing liquids Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day Be active throughout each day Always be in contact with support staff (go in for monthly adjustments) [*]We got our prescriptions for pain relief and an anti-nausea suppository (good times) [*]My surgery time is 9:15 - and I need to be there two hours early and it's an hour+ drive. [*]We got a video to watch at home. Jason watched with me so that he can see what I need to do and how he can support me. Once our patient advocate left the room everyone talked about how they cheated on the pre-op diet! I have been so good and hadn't cheated at all (notice how I used past tense). So when I left there I came home and made my lunch. I nibbled on little naughty things here and there like it was no big deal. I was sabotaged by the strangers in the room and the conversation with our surgeon. He told us that a lot of doctors around the world don't put their patients on a pre-op diet to shrink their livers. He said he does it with all of his patients because one time he had a patient that had binged before surgery eating all of his "one last time" foods. His liver was so big and fat that the doctor couldn't put the band on. So the guy went through surgery and recovery, but didn't get a band. That is sad. So I really left feeling like the diet wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was. I wish I'd never gone to that stupid meeting - pre-op is now harder than ever. My surgeon is cute - something about doctors is handsome in general. So I had a private meeting with my handsome doctor to ask him if my ginormous boobs would be a problem during the operation or during recovery. That was fun. : / He smiled and said it wouldn't be a problem. I feel a little uncomfortable with a handsome doctor opening me up. Not sure I want an unattractive doctor doing it either. Happy Fourth of July to everybody!.

I can cross my legs while sitting. I stood up at church to pray, bowed my head and realized that all I could see was my boobs....no belly sticking out further than my boobs! The steering wheel can be lowered while I drive. I walked 3/4 of a mile today without panting and thinking I was having a heart attack. I make still look like Shamu but I am feeling like Flipper!

At 8 months out, I wished I experienced dumping syndrome. I'm guessing once you are a little further out, you'll wish you had it too. Without it, it's easy to eat the things that got us to the point of needing surgery.