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Had a fantastic weekend but as usual my only wish was it didn't fly by so fast. I was in my friends wedding this weekend. Probably for the first time in many years I felt really good about myself. I felt I looked decent and I was confident. I am so thankful to my new best friend of 15 months (My band). It is truly amazing what proper fitting clothes can do for your psyche. Even standing outside decked out in a tux with it being 95 with a heat index of 105 I was quite content. 15 months ago I would not even have been able to stood long enough to be in this Wedding and finding an actual tux that would fit would've been a tremendous challenge. This first pic was taken with my IPhone which obviously has a dirty lens.

Just a few notes on some of the changes I've noticed in myself over the last 9 weeks post-op. 1. I eat when I'm hungry now, don't really look forward to the "full" feeling or have a "taste" for anything in particular anymore - lovin' it. I use to get these overwhelming cravings for a certain taste (especially Whataburgers), they're gone now. 2. I do enjoy what I eat and sometimes I still catch myself trying to eat just one more bite, but I know I'll be feeling sick if I do. It takes time to learn the new "full" signals. 3. I feel satisfied and I get a small thrill seeing how little I actually eat now. Although sometimes, I catch myself trying to finish that last bite - even though I'm full. I've learned to leave it on the plate. 4. Once my staple line swelling went down, I was able to increase my eating to about 4oz per meal, and did start feeling more "normal" after the 2nd week, but it wasn't until about week 6 that I was back at my old energy levels. 5. I can eat pretty much what I want and walk away without gorging myself. I have always been able to take or leave stuff like cakes and cookies. Rice, pasta and potatoes were (I almost wrote "are") my thing. But I can easily pass up most starches now. Although pasta triggers my hunger cravings and I have to stop myself from overeating and making myself sick. 6. My feelings or attitudes has changed incredibly about food. Don't really care about food anymore. I have no "flavors" I desire. So I eat my own concoction of shredded grilled chicken, re-fried beans, cheese and salsa almost every meal - for the past month. 7. There isn't anything that I "want" to eat anymore. I am so happy with my restriction and I don't miss anything, no food cravings, nothing I miss. And there is no food that I couldn't eat at the 3rd or 4th week. It may cause some stomach upset, but if I eat it slowly, I can eat it if I want. However, I do miss being able to chug 16oz of icy cold Crystal Light. 8. I can still eat spicy foods (curries, peppers, etc). I eat salsa almost daily and I found this sweet/spicy dip made with Greek yogurt that I like - very warm. I find it weird that the thing that bothers my stomach the most is healthy fibrous foods, like grape skins, bananas, apple peels, and pineapple.

I need to get ya'll up to date. I have been a bit behind my updates due to a busy schedule. Last week's busy-ness included another 3 day golf event and a lengthy visit from Al. C. Hall. As always, there is good and bad news to report. On the bright side, I really made good food choices and my personal technology says I walked 21.36 miles and burned 9711 calories during this 3 day period. However, I did enjoy more than several adult beverages and succumbed to a few bar snacks. Unfortunately, I think these transgressions shortened my weekly weight loss. But I'm back up on the horse and ready to get going again.Now I want to share a little tidbit of information I casually picked from a doctor acquaintance of mine. After a laid back round of Sunday couples golf, our group headed off for a mid day meal. Conversation soon turned to my quest to be less fat. I explained to the good doctor my calorie counting strategy and my progress so far. She then dropped a fun fact on me that really hit home. The affable Dr. S contends that you need to burn 3000 more calories for the week than you take in to lose 1 pound. Simple genius! Not only is this easy is to understand for my neanderthal intelligence level, it's also a number. A number than can be used in a math equation to help me better understand what exactly I'm doing here. Fact is, I have been really concentrating on what's going in the ol' pie hole. I really haven't thought about the going out process. I suppose I have typical fat ass thinking. Eat less. Lose weight. Is it that simple? Kinda. But there's more to it.  I have embraced technology to help me find Slim Street. I have 2 items that I now find essential for me to finish the filleting of my fat. First, the MyFitnessPal app (MFP). I use the daily food diary to keep track of every morsel that goes in my massive yapper. If I can't find exactly what I ate in the index, I err on the high side. My second technological necessity is my FitBit Flex. Don't ask me how, but this little peanut size device records every step I take and figures my daily calorie burn. This miniature device syncs with the FitBit app on my phone which syncs with my FitBit scale which syncs with the MyFitnessPal app. I have all the data crunching tech I need. But I needed the numbers to make sense to me. And Dr. S's simple equation is helping me do that. Let's do the math! Time to brush up on your a-fat-ma-tic. I have chosen a 1200 calorie a day diet plan. That would be 8400 calories in per week. Dr. S's tip mandates that I burn 12,900 (3000 + 1500 =4500) per week to lose 1-1/2 pounds. Divided by 7, that's 1842 calories per day! Now... Let's recall what Trainer L told me during my pre-op exercise visit. She said my body burns 1650 calories a day with just normal activity. That means I only have to burn an extra 200 calories a day to lose the 1-1/2 pounds. Simple math for a simple mind. It's starting to dawn on me that I can burn more than 12,900 calories a week, especially in the summer. Heck, last week I burned 19,800 calories according to my FitBit. The MFP app has another nice feature. When you're done logging your calories for the day, it will calculate burn and show you what you will weigh in 5 weeks if every day was like today. So far, it's been right on target. It's telling me that I will lose another 10 pounds by the end of August. Awesome news. So take it from me. Do your math and embrace your technology. I'm no Bill Gates when it comes to these fancy gadgets and I surly ain't no math wizard. But I will embrace anything that will help me finish my fight against flab. And guess what? There's an app for that. More to come.... Johnny If you want a good laugh, start at the beginning of my blog and see what I went through to have the LB installed! TheDeconstructionOfJohnny.blogspot.com

Check out my latest video for this exciting announcement! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXurQmN6IXE

I swore to myself I wouldn't be one of those posters who whines about ONLY losing ______ pounds. "I lost 52 pounds the first two months, but only 12 this month. I was really hoping to weigh less than my cat by now. " Well, I'm whining. It's a week after surgery and I've lost 2 pounds. While I'm sure this is not uncommon, I can't seem to find any supporting evidence to that end. Stalls seem to make their first appearance, for the most part, in the second and third weeks after surgery. Also, I'm full of gas. More gas than I had two days after surgery. I can't seem to take a sip of anything without swallowing three times as much air. And it won't come out. If I tied a basket to my feet, I could probably give balloon rides over the breathtaking Oregon coast (note to self: possible future career?). I'm just crabby. Nothing's working the way it should and everyone else is to blame. I keep having these practice confrontations with make-believe opponents in which I am angrily defending myself in imaginary scenarios. These things that haven't happened are making me very upset. And my mom moved my $h!t around while I was in Mexico. And did my laundry (which was a very nice thing to do, but also implies my incompetence, right?). And bought the wrong kind of yogurt. And I don't want to take Anatomy and Physiology from that @$$ho!e who won't let me change lab times, even though my schedule only permits me to take the online class but not the online class's lab. Oh, it's my responsibility to free my schedule up so you don't have to deal with the grading "nightmare", as you put it, of dealing with students in labs they aren't registered for? I suppose I should apologize for being the ONE student at Southwestern Oregon Community College who's ever gone for her second Master's? (statistic not confirmed) Really, Mr. "I don't even have a Master's! Just a Bachelor's in Biology and a f**king chiropractic certificate"!!! SERIOUSLY???? Maybe I just won't become a nurse practitioner. That'll show him. And this website won't even let me curse. I have to use fµck¡n8 §Ymb@[$!!! First Amendment, anyone? And my dog is stinky.

I was told when i was 20 that i would never be able to have a child of my own. I got married at 23 to a man with three children that i have raised as my own. I got lap band to live a health longer life with my husband and our children. The lap band doctor said there is a small possibility that one day it could happen. To be honest i really didnt think it would ever happen and my OB was pretty sure it wouldn't happen there was just to many problems with my body despite the fact that i have lost over 100lbs. It was heart breaking at times but i had finally come to term with the fact that it just wasn't going to happen. My husband and i have been together for five years and we have never really used any form of birth control. I am almost two years out with my lap band and i was feeling really good about my body again how ever i still had some body issues with loos skin so i had a breast augmentation planed and also a tummy tuck and a few more tucks like arms and legs. I had the doctor planed out and i was ready to go! One night my husband sat me down and said what the hell is wrong with you? I said i dont know i am just getting so sleepy about 12 and its like i just hit a wall and i cant get back up from it. later i went to take a drink of something and just started throwing up, i honestly thought i had just drank to fast and it was a fluke but it kept happening and i thought ok maybe i need to have my band checked. Again my husband sat me down and said maybe you should take a pregnancy test...... I just got pissed at him and said IM NOT PREGNANT. He fought with me for two weeks. One day i went to turn in some stuff at an office and saw the dolor store in walking distance before i knew it i was in the store asking the lady for the dolor pregnancy test i bought three. Went home ready for disappointment but i had something to prove to my husband. i took two of the three test and the control line came up with nothing else something you see when you get a negative test. I was pretty sure my husband would have to say sorry about that after he saw the pic so i snaped it and sent it to him and then looked back at the pic i had just sent. There was a very small pink line. I almost fainted and thought this isnt right and i looked back at the test both of them had two pink lines. i almost died right there in my kitchen. Any ways right now i am 15 weeks pregnant and i have only gained a pound which concerned my OBGYN. I think that i have gained a lot but every time i step on the scale nothing. i have to go and see a specialist because my OB is worried about my weight, should i eat more? I cant always eat more. Im a little worried i dont want any thing to happen because this is such a blessing to me and my family. any one else have this issue???

It is time for me to set some new goals. I am half way through the ones I have already set and I am finding the most important aspect of all of this for me is not the scale, but my fitness level. I absolutely love the fact that I can stay on the stair mill longer than the thin people next to me. I love that I am always in the gym with all the regulars. I relish in the the fact that my cardiovascular fitness is soon to pass my husbands....bwuahahahahah (evil laugh). I was working my biceps the other day and in the mirror I noticed a new definition in my forearm. I have never in my life seen that! Just to recap: These are the goals I have accomplished 1. Get under 300 pounds 2. Get under 250 pounds 3. Weigh less than when I was preggo (230 lbs) 4. Be able to do a straight hour of moderate/intense cardio sesh 5. engagement ring fits again! (its tight, but it goes on) Yet to accomplish: 1. Fit wedding ring again 2. Get under 200 pounds 3. run a mile in under 14 minutes 4. reach goal weight 5. Get below 25% body fat percentage NEW GOALS 1. Sign up for a 5k (I have signed up just not done it yet...its in November) 2. Do a marathon next year (I have a year and a half to get this extra weight off and train for that) 3. Hike the stair master in Hawaii 4. Do a 10 mile hike 5. Go parasailing I have many fitness goals...I think this is what motivates me

A bougie is guide that is used to help the surgeon size your new stomach. Once you are under sedation, the bougie is passed down your throat and into your stomach. The surgeon cuts your stomach around the bougie. Typically, surgeons now use between a 32 and 40. The smaller the number, the smaller the guide's circumference. Early out, surgeons used bougies as large as 70. There is a huge amount of controversy about bougie sizes. But bougie size is not the only factor in determining how large you stomach will be. Some surgeons oversew the staple line. Some cut closer to the bougie. Some people have longer stomachs. All these factors affect how much smaller your stomach is. And your stomach size is not the only factor in your success. How compliant you are with your program and how resistant your body is to losing weight are important aspects to consider as well. The pic I've included of bougie sizes is one that periodically makes the rounds on this board and others. If you want more details on bougie size and it's effect on your success, read Carmelita's blog entry on this over on Obesity Help: http://www.obesityhe.../2011/03/31/-2/ Lynda

Post-op life has been incredible so far. Even when I was in the hospital right after surgery, I was so positive. I was so thankful to the nurses, doctors and hospital staff - and I told them so endlessly - that many of them told me that I was the sweetest patient they'd had in a long time. Why? Because I was so thankful to be alive, to be doing okay (in pain, but no complications), to have them helping me, to know that IT WAS DONE... I just couldn't help but want to thank each of them so much for being there to help me through the hardest part (first few days post op). It was wonderful. Through all the pain and discomfort, I was guided by the idea that this is exactly what I wanted. I was exactly where I wanted to be. It was only gonna get BETTER from there. And it has. SO MUCH!!!! So, last Thursday was my 12 weeks post op. My stats: High weight: 459 Surgery date: 417 Today: 370. In 11 more lbs, I'll be at 100lbs down. And my high weight is from November 2012, so in LESS THAN A YEAR (cuz I know 11lbs will be coming off soon) I will have lost 100lbs. This surgery is my miracle. And I am an agnostic cynic who doesn't really believe in miracles. At my highest weight, it was impossible for me to have any sense of fashion or feeling cute in clothes. All my pants had to be ordered online and were usually somewhat ill-fitting. Almost all my clothes were bought from catalogs because plus size store tops were just too snug, even in the highest size. About 6 yrs ago was the last time I was able to buy pants at a store. Tops were okay, but jeans/pants were too small. Well, now just about everything I have is way too big. So, I started pulling clothes out of "the archives" a few weeks ago. I had held on to some of my nicer work clothes from Lane Bryant from about 5-6 yrs ago when I could still fit in them. Now, even those are all getting too big. The smallest size I remember being in my adult life is 26/28 and 12 weeks post op IT'S TOO BIG. I still find it so hard to believe! Well, I went clothes shopping this weekend. I waltzed into the Lane Bryant outlet and grabbed a pair of 28 jeans thinking "I'm sure all my old clothes are stretched out/worn in. So we'll see just how much more I have to lose before these brand new ones will fit", guessing that I'd get them pulled up but would have trouble buttoning them. Wrong. More like "Um, Miss, can you get me a 26?" A 26!!!!! And yes, I realize this is still big. I have a long way to go still, but just the idea of buying something in a store - something smaller than I would have bought even 5 years ago - it blows my mind!!! I got a bunch of cute tops in size 22/24 - and by the end of summer THOSE will be too big because they are already just a tiny bit big in the shoulder area. Anyway, aside from the clothes shopping (which I always LOVED back when I could actually shop in stores, so it kinda made me giddy to be able to do it again!) - I also have some NSVs. I've started parking on the 3rd floor in the parking garage at work. I was on the 2nd and would take the stairs every day. There are 5 floors, so I want to work my way up. Not sure how long it will take, but I just want to be able to do it! I can cross my legs at the knee. My thighs are still so huge (UGH), but small enough that I can cross my legs, and I was NEVER really able to do that comfortably in my LIFE. I moved my seat up in my car about 2 inches. Never thought that would be something I'd have to do because I'm almost 6 ft tall, but without my gut (well, with LESS of a gut) I felt a mile away from the steering wheel! I no longer fear any chair. Sometimes arms with chairs were just too tight and I couldn't sit in them. Now, I don't have that problem. Next challenge - sitting in a booth at a restaurant! this last one may sound snarky - but I have an overweight friend who's been acting a lil jealous of me lately because my weight loss is getting noticeable. I'm REALLLY close (if not already there, really), to being smaller than her. I've ALWAYS been the biggest friend. Always. I know that may sound petty - but I am just so sick of being the fattest person in my family, at work, in the store, of my friends - I have always been the fattest person... and now - I'm not! however that comes across, there is something about that fact that makes me proud of what I've accomplished! And last but not least - I met a guy. He's a really good one, too - so far. I haven't shared all my secrets with him or anything, it's still really new. But I do thoroughly enjoy him and want to see where this could go. It's got some potential! I haven't had the confidence to date in YEARS, and I go on this one blind date and am lucky enough to meet a really great guy. Another miracle? I dunno. Maybe I've been overdue for some miracles in my life! lol Anyway, that's about all I got to share at this point. Hope everyone else is doing well out there, too! <3 <3

Dare I say that I had a pancake this morning? What! Really? Yep I sho did. It's funny because I really don't eat pancakes and I really don't eat breakfast either. But this morning I woke up hungry. So I ate. So how are me and my band doing? 15 mins has passed and we are doing great. I just chew chew chew chew and chew! Did I mention that I chewed? But just in case my band changes it mind later. Please feel free to add tips for me if I get a stuck episode I also have my papaya extract on standby. Dare I say that I did not go to church this morning because it’s raining outside. So I watched church online. Dare I say that I am planning on going over my calorie intake today by 500 calories. Why because I am going to a concert tonight to see my friends band play. Dare I say that I am going to Hooters with my friends before the concert and I am planning on having some fried pickles and buffalo shrimp. Dare I say that I am going to have me another beer tonight. What! Yep I am going to enjoy me a beer I am going to let it sit for a couple of mins and enjoy it. Dare I say that within the next hour I will burn off additional 600 calories. Why? Please see above Dare I say that I am going to have a great time tonight because this is my last week in my twenties and I have to end it right! Dare I say that I am happy with my decisions that I have made above and I am glad that I am prepared! Happy Sunday Funday everyone! Thanks for reading.