salsa1877

By golly...I think I have everything done and planned for school all the way until Christmas break. That means that I shouldn't have any 4AM mornings and should be able concentrate more on me and less on the gosh darn kids!! I will print everything out and proofread it while I am in Washington this weekend. Just a forewarning...I may not be able to be on during the weekend cause we are going to my technologically challenged brother's house. It has been quite the challenge to figure out what is going on this weekend. My brothe doesn't do Thanksgiving. The smell of Thanksgiving meals just about makes him hurl. I think it is mostly a psychological connection to the miserable times that we had during holiday's when we were growing up. Therefore after at least 5 phone calls between me and the two parts of my family (dad and brother) I think we have finally figured out weekend out...I hope. Thursday we are leaving here and heading to my dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Then we will head back to my brother's house which now officially has heat! Last year it didn't! Friday we are going to the Casino without my brother's girlfriend (she has to work) which is ticking her off. But frankly I don't care. I am sick of trying to please EVERYONE. Saturday we are heading to Seattle so that I can pick up my racing packet for the next day. We are also celebrating my brother's birthday and DH's birthday. We will also be meeting my dad and his family up there as well since his son decided he would also be running in the half-marathon. (Dont even get me started on this one!) Then Sunday I get to ignore everyone and everything for a 2.5 hour, 13.1 mile run on what is forecasted to be a crisp, sunny morning in Seattle! Then we have a 7 hour drive home! By the time we get here I will probably be in a permanent sitting position that will take a pry bar and a hot bath to get me out of. I am looking foward to Christmas WAY more than Thanksgiving. Don't know if I told you all, but we are going to VEGAS! I had a midweek crisis about a month ago and came home and booked a trip to Vegas. There was a huge special going on through an airline at our local airport and we got the entire trip including flight and hotel for 325$. Well I had best get going. I am batting 3 for 3 on dinners this week (all healthy and DELICIOUS) so I am trying one last one tonight! Chat later, Karri

Happy, Happy Birthday to YOU!!! Be glad that you only get the written lyrics and not my signing voice!

So as I tell my students...I don't like pets and I don't like kids! My students get a kick out of that one but they also realize that I respect them more by NOT considering them kids but rather as up and coming adults. This helps to build a relationship at the beginning of the year! Anyways...I am doing my daily posting...a little late! Today was a good day. I just made the best dinner I have ever made. I roasted a chicken that was stuffed with red potatoes, carrots, whole garlic cloves and onions. DH had 2 HUGE helpings. It was fantastic. Went to the gym today and did my last run before the half marathon on Sunday. Ran 3.2 miles and then lifted weights for about 30 minutes and then ran home. So I told Janet that I was coming up with a plan that I need you to all hold me accountable to. So here it is. Everyday - Calories between 1400-1600 calories (yes that seems high but I MUST have the calories to fuel the runs) Sunday - Long run (10+ miles) Monday - Weights only Tuesday - Run 5K Wednesday - Gym workout with weights Thursday - 5 mile run Friday - Gym workout with weights Saturday - Day off Goal - Be back to 140 by the end of February and maintain a size 4 I don't think any of these things are too unreasonable. Well I am working on lesson plans so I will get back to that. TOmorrow I will reply to some of the things people have been saying and doing. I don't want people to think I am selfish and only caring about me, but right now I need to get my head on straight. Pretty certain none of you think I am selfish, but I just wanted to make that clear!

Checking in for the day. We have been out and about all day so this is the first time I have been able to type anything at all. Still pretty tight today but managing to get good food down. I am hoping to go to the gym tonight but I am still pretty sore from my run yesterday so I may move my day off from tomorrow until today. Usually my long runs are on Sunday, but there was a chance of snow today so I didn't want to wait and that is why I ran yesterday. Dinner is taking FOREVER and 3 days to cook and I am getting hungry!!! Will type more tomorrow.

Well I did my 10 miles in just under (and I do mean JUST) 2 hours. According to my Nike+ fitness system I burned 1153 calories. I would have written earlier but we went to the neighboring town to find a new bookcase. We moved a couple of weeks ago and are now renting a house. We hope to buy a house in a couple of years after all of my loans for surgeries are paid off, but right now we were tired of living in an apartment. Well I need to help DH put the bookcase together and cook dinner. Hopefully it will go down. Last night I ended up eating SF popsicles for dinner! Today is better though.

Checking in this morning before I go for an 8-10 mile run. We will see how the little legs hold up. This will be my last big run before the half which is 1 week for tomorrow. It really does feel good to be back. Foodwise yesterday I behaved...but my band did not. I got stuck on everything yesterday! My band has been really fickel of late...probably cause it isn't used to the food I have been eating. But I was below 1500 calories so I was happy. With the training I can't go below that or I just don't have any energy during the runs. Will check back when I get done...assuming my fingers don't get frostbitten and fall off. Even then I will try to type with my toes. Yes...it is very cold here!

Alright ladies, I am back...and I desperately need to be. I got my swift kick in the rear end from my mommy (asked her for it!) and I need to be here. Things have not been going well, and I think just checking in on a regular basis will help me stay true to myself. But I need some help (and believe me I don't like to ask for help!) If I have not posted everyday by 5PM PST I need people to start emailing me. I will send you my home and work email address from the list I have (I don't want to put my work email addy on the board!). Yes I need to give you my work email because I tend to not check my home email as often. I get too tired and by the time I get home, I usually take a shower and go to bed. No kidding! Up at 4AM, to work by 5AM, work until 6 or 7 PM, go to the gym, come home...go to bed. DH has decided that we should have moved our new TV to my classroom so that he could have something to do when he comes and visits! In a nut shell...work has been disasterous this year but the end of the first trimester is right around the corner and then it gets WAY better. I have been working 12-16 hour days, 7 days a week, for the better part of the last 10 weeks. As a result...keeping up with food and exercise has dropped totally off of my priority list. Well today (actually last night starting when I got my mommy's email) it jumped right back up to the top of the priority list. Fortunately that corresponded with a time at school that worked out well. Today is our last day before a week long Thanksgiving break. That break is what is going to give me the time to get caught up, and ahead as well as giving me the opportunity to start focusing on ME. On a good note, I have a half marathon coming up on November 30 in Seattle. I have not given up on the exercise as much as I have the food. I know thye reason I started eating poorly again. I caved to peer pressure. We have had a lot of teacher gatherings lately because we are all so stressed out that we get together and have some fun for a little while. Well everyone kept saying, have some of this, have some of that, you can't live your life eating like that, have some fun. So I caved. Poor excuse, but that is what happened. Now I know... I do have to live like this forever and I can't listen to anyone who wants to tell me otherwise. Well I have to get to work, but I just wanted to let you know that I am back.

Didn't get much done this weekend except work. My fill is working great as long as I don't eat any bread products and eat very slowly!!! I have had to redo my schedule at work because I am doing lunch recovery to get my kiddos passing so I don't get lunch AT ALL. So I decided to eat during my prep period which is 9AM so that I can eat SLOWLY. Then I have a buffalo jerky snack thing that I can eat in Lunch Recovery where I have less time. This is the first day I am doing it so we will see how it works out. I am back down to "normal" range though as I dropped to 145 yesterday morning!!! Feels good to be back to normal!

My run went great! I did it in 56 minutes which is pretty slow but it was really hill and WINDDDDDYYYYYY! I almost got blown away. It was nice to come in to the "finish line" with a bunch of cheering fans. Well I am going to spend the rest of the night with hubby!

I wanted to comment to the people that had their bands tighten up after losing weight...my fill level went down with weight loss. One suggestion that my doctor had is that losing weight places stress on the body and at least when I am under a lot of stress my band tightens up. That is why I could hardly eat ANYTHING last weekend and towards the beginning of the week. Now I am fine and can get down most foods. So if your body is being placed under stress from losing weight that could be the reason for the tightening. But don't feel alone...I steadily decreased my fill as I lost weight. Well DH is taking the first round to tests to become a teacher. It couldn't come at a worse time as he is still dealing with the effects of losing his mom. He is also taking his classes online but told me last night that he is going to take a break between this set of classes and his next because he just needs a mental break. I don't blame him. I am starting to get caught up on things...I hope. I just cleaned our entire kitchen from ceiling to floor and just about ready to go scrub the floor on hands and knees. It hasn't been mopped in a couple of weeks and our swiffer just isn't going to cut it. My run starts around 1:30 so that will help me get caught up on the exercise front. ALMOST all of my grading as done, my lesson plans are pretty much finished for next week and we only have students 3 days next week so I am finally convinced that I could be caught up with work by Thursday. That takes such a burden off of me. As with the weight I was back down closer to last weeks weight this morning. I am retaining water like there is no tomorrow. I did get a wedding ring for my birthday (it is my birthstone) and I can really tell how much water I am retaining by how loose or tight the ring is. It is either water or I am gaining and losing fat in my fingers!!! The biology teacher told me it is probably my body storing cortisols because of the stress and lack of sleep that is causing the weight fluctuations. Ruby I am glad that you are looking forward to you lazy day. I feel like everyday has become a lazy day in terms of exercise for me, but hopefully with getting caught up I can curb those days. Hope you had fun at your class!

I have just briefly read through the pages and tried to catch up but I feel like I am trying to catch up EVERYWHERE! Work, home, running, LBT. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. As I sit here crying. I know that I should probably up my meds right now but am resistant to it. My doc has given me permission to play around with the dosage as she says that I am the one that knows my body better. I am almost totally off of it (I only take 25 mg every other day) but I am thinking that I should probably go back to 25 every day. I know this week is tough though with the family issues so hopefully it will pass. My weight is all over the place. This morning (while not an official weigh in day) is up 5 pounds. I have kept track of everything that I have eaten and there is no way that I could have actually gained weight. The calories are hovering between 900-1100. I think it is water weight but it is not that time of the month. I think it is stress and lack of sleep. I haven't had one night of sleep in the last 1.5 weeks that was more than 5 hours. So for any of you struggling to lose weight...check your sleep times!! I know that I normally would lose slower if I wasn't getting as much sleep. Probably the reason that I was losing so fast at the end of last year was that I actually was getting 8 hours of sleep!! Not so much right now. However at the same time, I haven't had a moment to go to the gym. We are in the middle of developing new programs at work and I am co-chair of the sophomore core class curriculum and we have had a meeting everyday this week (except when I was gone on Monday with the funeral). Then last night I ran (literaly) from the meeting in the main office to the gym and kept score for the volleyball game and by the time I got home DH was already in bed. I have seen him for a total of about 4 hours this entire week. Our house is a DISASTER. If company showed up unexpectedly I would probably die from embarrasement. I just can't keep up with it. Steph - I totally understand the need to not want to think about food all the time and have it control every waking thought. I am still not there...and I don't know that I will be. When I did stop thinking about food constantly I ended up putting on 11 pounds. Now a lot of that could be attributed to the meds that they had me on and the fact that I didn't give a crap about anything but it still is frustrating. Well I have an observation today at work and I am so stinking far behind so I had best get going. I just didn't want you all to think that I had fallen off the face of the earth again. I am going to try to get totally caught up by Sunday so that life can return to a sense of normalcy. I have the Crooked River Ranch Run tomorrow. I was supposed to be running in the 5 mile event at the Portland marathon but our monthly teacher PARTY!!! is this weekend so instead we made up our own run for me. DH is dropping me off 5 miles from the house where the party is being held and I am running there. That way I am the only participant and therefore winner!!! The only requirment was that since I was using their shower when I get there that I had to bring them extra homemade spinach dip...I swear the hosts of this party will find any excuse to get more spinach dip!! Talk to you later, Karri

Yipee...I lost another 1.5 pounds. Not too shabby for being sick, not getting hardly any sleep and not working out except for one time because of the 1st to reasons listed. I am still tight and living on mushies now, but I am hoping to loosen up next week when my world returns to somewhat normal. The funeral is on Monday so I am going to that and then rushing home to teach my night class. THen on Tuesday I am forcing things to go back to normal come hell or high water.

Just wanted to check in. I am sick as a dog and my MIL passed away last night so it has been a tough day. I didn't go to work today and have to miss Monday due to the funeral so now I am frantically throwing a lesson together. I will check back later.

I know that 4 hours of sleep is no where near enough but I am trying desperatly to get caught up so that I can go back to my days of getting here after 6 like I was during the first couple of weeks. The disaster with the test was a total wrench thrown in a not so well oiled machine!! So I did go home right after work and took a nap. Then I went to the gym for about 2 hours and burned off almost 600 calories. Now I am back at work and going to stay here and get these tests completely graded and tallied. Tomorrow my students are working in the computer lab so I should be able to come in later tomorrow. Thank goodness!!

OMG...I am soooooooo tired. I have been at work at or before 4AM everyday this week. That makes it tough for working out and for eating. When you are up for 20 hours a day you certainly have to eat more than if you are only up for 16! I am going to the gym today and working out for a couple of hours. Then I am coming back to work and trying to finish everything up. I WILL NOT GO TO BED UNTIL EVERYTHING IS GRADED!!! Don't get me wrong...I really am loving my job this year...It is just really hectic right now because well frankly I am doing the job of the entire chemistry department. On a good note, I the scale seems to be dipping lower despite the arrival of Aunt Flo. Well gotta go...kids are getting ready to leave and I need them to clean up their mess.

I feel good after the run...except the tummy muscles. I am actually in more pain from the TT now than I was right after surgery. I think I am going to have to go in to my PS because I have a spot at the incision intersection that really hurts when I stand up if I have been sitting or laying down too long. However, I am not sure when I am going to have time. Work is getting crazy right now. My students did HORRIBLE on the test so I gave a different version. The way I teach just doesn't match multiple choice questions so I scrapped the test and gave a short answer one instead. NO complaining from the students so that is a good sign. Okay gotta get 5th period grades posted. Chat later. Thanks for all the words of encouragement on the run. I am still happy about it!

I feel good. The fill seems to be just right. I am eating about 1 cup of food and satisified. It doesn't seem to be so tight that I can't get anything down, but tight enough that I really am going to have to watch how I chew. I had to go off of liquids earlier than I was supposed to though because there was no way that I was going to be able to make it through the run without actual food. Liquids are metabolized too quickly and I would have died about half way through. So I very carefully chewed a protein bar and it went down fine...and that was at 7AM. I should also mention though that I am coming down with a cold so that time was with a cough, runny nose and sore throat. Therefore I am going to bed at 6:30 so that I can get up and grade early.

Today was a good day!!! Down 3 pounds and I finished the 6.2 mile run in 1:00:58. That is only 58 seconds higher than my goal and considering this is the longest run since surgery...I did pretty freaking good! At the halfway point, I had beat my personal best for 5K and then by the end of the race had beat my personal best for a 10K by...get this...20 minutes!!!

Don't panic!! At one of the in person support groups that I went to the nutritionist said that MOST people are Vit D deficient, especially when you live in rainy states! They can put you on a prescription Vitamin D pill that is 10000 units of Vitamin D (though from what I have read in journals, this is the least effective of the supplements). Most bypass need to take this all the time, but I would suggest that you get a specific OTC vitamin D supplement. I just read a few articles on this in my peer reviewed journal subscriptions and it says that most people cannot get enough vitamin D from their food or the sun. Also some medications can increase the breakdown of vitamin D within the blood and therefore reduces usable amounts. So if you are worried about it, take some extra supplements while you are down south and get some extra sun. Vitamin D deficiency is not an acute problem...so if you up your intake of supplements and get more sun you should be fine while you are gone.

I tried posting this earlier...but alas LBT wasn't working. There is really no change in MIL at all. She is pretty much sedated at all times. She has a feeding tube, a ventilator, and all sorts of other machines hooked to her. DH went yesterday to visit but she was out for tests and after waiting for 2 hours he decided to leave. I am working at school right now and he went to see her. As for waking up hungry...that is the worst. I have to eat with 1/2 hour of waking up or I just get nasty. However this morning it was different...there were no hunger feelings. Though I have to say that when the hunger did hit it hit with a vengence. I don't do well when I am hungry in the morning. I can be hungry in the afternoon and evenings and pretty much ignore it but when I am hungry in the morning...WATCH OUT! I have so much work to do at work that I am taking the day off from exercising. Since Sunday I have burned 2600 calories so I think I will be okay. I also don't do well exercising on liquids...that should make tomorrow's race fun! I have a 10K race tomorrow that I am really looking forward to. I am hoping that it really sparks my enthusiasm again. It was my first race that got me hooked so I need this one to do the same thing. I am hoping that because it is mostly downhill that I can break the hour barrier for the 6.2 mile run. That is my goal...and it is a lofty one considering that the last time I did a 6 mile run I was at 1:20.

Sorry I didn't post last night. I got home handed my car keys to DH and told him to bring up the groceries and I went straight to bed. Yes...I did drive by myself but stopped once on the way up at a rest area to take a nap and stopped at a grocery store on the way home and took another nap. But the fill went well...though I am a little nervous that it is going to be too tight. I had 1.2 ccs in before the slming incident and when she filled me under fluoro watching the flow rate of the barium I was up to 3.6. She asked me how I felt about that and I said..."not so good". So she backed it down to 2.2. That is the level that I was at before I got unfilled in April. We still weren't certain if I was going to be too tight so she called the doc in and we discussed why I had been tight before surgery and now and am loose. He asked about medications or any life changes and I said that right before surgery they put me on anti-anxiety meds. He said that was probably the reason that I am looser. It is well documented that when your body is under stress (physical or emotional) that your band seems to tighten up. Well when I was freaking out about calories and food earlier in the year I was under constant stress...now the meds have reduced that for now so I am not under as much stress. I told him that I was off the meds now and he said to work with my PCP if I am too tight to put me back on a VERY low dose. He said it should help keep the edge off, loosen me up a bit and not cause the hunger side effects that they are known to produce. He was not as upset with my official 7 pound weight gain as I am. It was the first gain I had shown at the doctor ever! He just said ...now you are human like the rest of us! Ruby - I have to agree with Janet that 1) too many carbs can cause a false weight gain. It takes 2 pounds of Water to digest 1 pound of carbs. So if you are eating a lot of carbs the body thinks it needs to store the water and that could be the reason for the scale going up. Unfortunately the scale can't tell the difference between water and fat. 2) you may need to up your calories. Remember when I was working out so much when it training for the half? THe more calories I ate...the faster the weight came off. Now if I had eaten too many calories I would have gained (which is my situation now) but when I would rebel and eat fewer calories the weight loss would actually slow down. The body tries to maintain a balance...and if feels that it is being deprived of anything (food, water, exercise) it will rebel. Alright I have to go eat (drink) something. For the first time in months I did not waking up STARVING.

Okay...had to post right NOW! I just finished at the gym...801 calories in 2 hours 11 minutes!!!! Now I need a shower...I'm STINKY!

Didn't get to the gym...Total fiasco at work. That dumba$$ teacher that I talked about earlier in the year that caused my class numbers to be so high....well he is just being a wonderful gem of a person. You all were almost getting messages from me while I was in JAIL. So needless to say while he left at 2:50 (ten minutes before contract hours are over) I frantically worked to prepare for my sub until 4:29, raced down to the gym to keep score for volleyball, then raced back and spent another hour working. All because he decided to send his students to me to make up their lab because he didn't want to set it up and I already had it up in my room. However I guess that also means that he doesn't have to supervise them!!!! Okay enough ranting. So to make up for that I am up at 3:57AM and going to the gym for as long as I can stay alive, go to school for 20 minutes to help a different (good) teacher with the new grading system, and then drive to my Dr. Appt in WA. I will post when I get home to let you know that I made it safely. Karri

Grrrr....didn't get a workout in last night so I went to the gym at 5:00AM this morning. I got in 1/2 hour and I am HOPING to get back to the gym between the end of school and the beginning of the volleyball game. I managed to burn 325 calories in 30 minutes so if I can workout for an hour...I could reach my goal of burning 800 calories for the day! Keep your fingers crossed for me. Tomorrow I go for my fill...and I need it!

Not getting to the gym tonight but will go before school, after school, and after my duty as volleyball score tomorrow to try and get all my workouts in. Went and saw MIL today...not good. I told DH I just couldn't go back in with him any more. I don't know here real well, but I don't like seeing people look like that.. His brother told us that if we wanted to see her we probably needed to go today as they don't know if she will make it. When we got there ,however, they told us that she had been off the ventilator for a few hours and that she did suprisingly well. So I don't know what exactly the status truly is but I just can't do it. SO I am just getting home and haven't eaten dinner yet. Might skip it and go to bed. I am EXHAUSTED. Chat with you tomorrow. Karri