LoseIt!

Good luck! I can't wait to hear how it goes.

Definitely keep your head held high! It is a long journey with a ton of ups and downs. We are here for you both all of it!

If I go back and look at my first few weeks of blogs after surgery, there is SO much talk of needing patience. That is so normal. I'm almost 6 months in and over 55 lbs down and I still get impatient. Some days I really feel like I've come so far and other days, I need to psych myself up because I'm still fat and have so far to go. That is why we are all here for each other. It takes time and we will get through it together!!

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!!

This connection is SO helpful to me! My friends are unbelievably supportive, but they aren't going through it. This is my way of working through everything without burdening my friends and family. I LOVE it!!

That pound I lost during vacation seemed to find me this morning. But I don't care, because I feel GREAT!! I'm not too concerned because I ate fine yesterday and I ran at lunch. I'm sure it is just a body fluctuation that happens from time to time. Yesterday, I went SHOPPING. I was SUPPOSED to be getting a pair of jeans since I'm down to only one pair that fits well and a pair of dress pants. ALL of my dress pants are too big. My company switched to jeans when we downsized, but we have to dress business casual when investors come calling. We have one coming in today and I wasn't sure what I was going to wear. I started at Lane Bryant. My plan was to get a size 1 Blue pair of Right Size jeans. Imagine my surprise when the sales girl told me they have switched sizing yet again. Sigh. So I grabbed pairs of 14s & 16s and headed for the dressing room. I tried the 14s first and they were too tight. Not just jeans tight, but ill-fitting tight. In retrospect, I think they might have been petites. I tried on the 16s and they were loosey goosey. Ugh. So, I moved on to Ross. I was picking up all sorts of dresses (not on the list) and a couple of shirts (not on the list) and a pair of jeans (yay!). I LOVED the dresses. I tried on 6 and ended up buying 4 (!) of them. I also bought the size 16W (woohoo) jeans. On impulse, I bought a shirt. It is sleeveless though so I fear it is one I will never wear. Next I went to TJ Maxx. As soon as I walked in I realized that I had never been there before. Who knew? Anyway, their selection of Womens sizes left a bit to be desired, so I quickly moved on. Dress Barn was on the way back to my car, so I stopped. I picked up a few pairs of jeans to try from the Womens side. I moved to the Misses side and on a mannequin was a dress I had tried on while shopping in Florida with my mom a couple of months ago. At that time, I tried on the XL and although it "fit" my body, the words "stuffed" and "sausage" came to mind. I picked that up to try on as well. ALL of the jeans I selected were too big. WHAT?? YAY!! I went out and got a 14W and they looked great! I tried on the dress and although it is still too tight to wear, it actually fit! It was 50% off so I bought it as my inspiration. I will wear that dress when I go visit my brother's family in Louisville Labor Day weekend!!! I ended up with the jeans, the dress, a short sleeve jacket type cover-up thing, & two pairs of capri leggings. I'm on a big kick of wearing dresses (a little shorter than I might normally wear) with leggings. The jacket I'm wearing in one picture is my "skinny" jacket I bought several years ago. It doesn't quite look super buttoned up yet, but it looks good over the dress. I'm feeling like one hot mama today! Ha! I still have a LONG way to go, but it is so nice to feel good along the way. I'm looking foward to my Volleyball road trip this weekend. Maybe I will find a cute Wichatan. :smile2: Have a great weekend everyone!!

Best of luck on your CT5K!! I started my running program at 245#. I got a little over zealous and aggravated my plantars fasciitis, but I took a couple weeks off the running (doing other cardio) and I'm back on track. I'm at 230# now and I find that the running is the best way for me to shed pounds. I can't run everyday. But if I limit it to 1-3 times a week with a day or two inbetween each, I've not had any issues. Plus cross training with other exercise in between is helpful. Everyone is different. Just listen to your body!

I completely agree with sunflower. I always like classes and I LOVE being able to meet goals. Each time I get on my treadmill, I aim for something a little better than I did before. I don't like it, but I feel such satisfaction from "winning".

Great job! Congrats on hitting 25% and even more on your happy attitude!

Amen, sister!!

Ugh! That has to be so frustrating!! I'm so sorry and hope that they can help you work it out.

I ran almost 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday then huffed and puffed the ONE flight of stairs from the basement to the lobby. Ha! Stairs just do that. I'm conviced. Your Zumba story reminds me of my first days of Jazzercise. Stick with it and it will come to you!!

I missed you all while I was on vacation! I had a wonderful time. We left at lunchtime on Thursday. The drive to my friend's small town Louisiana home is about 6 hours, so we made it in time for dinner. Her brother and his family met us at her parents' house and we all had some EXCELLENT smothered chicken. I was a little concerned about the rice since I have had some trouble with it, but with the Cajun gravy, it all went down fine. Friday we went to New Orleans. I couldn't resist cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde, but I limited myself to one. I still don't understand why I can't eat bread, but the fried doughs, cakes and such all go down fine. Ha! We spent some time walking around the French Quarter. I was looking to buy a painting, but I didn't find anything that particularly caught my attention. We went to lunch at 1179 which is an Italian restaurant closer to the WWII museum. It was on the expensive side for lunch, but it was very good. After lunch we went to the WWII museum and I have to say that it exceeded every expectation. The movie is a MUST SEE. If you are ever in NOLA, you should visit and if you are a hard core war buff, you should make the trip. We left around 5 and made it back home in time for my friend's dad's Cajun Shrimp Stew. Oh my God. It was unbelievably delicious. If I haven't mentioned it yet, my friend's dad is an incredible Cajun cook. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to eat his food, but I could...just in moderation like a "normal" person. Saturday we spent with my friend's brother's family. He has two little girls that are both adorable and exhausting! We went to a 4th of July celebration and watched fireworks. On Sunday, my friend's extended family gathered at her parents' house for a potluck lunch. Heavenly!! Her dad BBQ'd Boston butt (hee, I'm 12) and there was macaroni and cheese, eggplant/rice dressing, carrot casserole (which tasted like the best sweet potato casserole ever!) and baked beans. I had a little of everything and I was satisfied with one trip. I did have a couple pieces of PB fudge for dessert. :frown: Monday was our annual casino trip. I was down almost $100 bucks in 3 hours!! Yikes!!! But I made an incredible comeback in the last 45 minutes and made it out only down $40. Whew! We came back to town yesterday. We are working today and tomorrow, then leaving for Wichita Friday. We are going to see the Mens USA Volleyball team compete in World Cup pool play. We are big fans! I'm happy to say that while I was on vacation, with NO exercise whatsoever, I'm down almost a pound. Woo hoo! I plan to jog during lunch today and go to Jazzercise tomorrow night. That's about all I'm going to get this week. But I figured it will at least keep me a little more prepared when I get back to normal next week. A fun NSV: neither my friend nor I usually fit into "normal" size bracelets. They are usually too big for her and too small for me. She got one from her aunt for Christmas and she gave it to me because it was too big for her. It didn't fit me, but I held on to it. I'm wearing it today. YAY!!

I know what you mean because I was EXACTLY the same way! I would be happy enough with myself, but then I would see a picture and freak out. I'm just now getting to the weight (over 50 pounds lost) that I continued to see myself at. I think that I always see myself in this weight zone. It will be interesting when I lost more and get into the next zone. Will I see the new me or the old fatter me? Interesting thought!

Now THAT is awesome!

I think the same thing every time I have to do liquids on my fill days. Ha! How did I ever get through two weeks?? It is amazing the difference when it is doctor imposed as to when it is self imposed. You are doing great. Keep it up!!

It's good to hear from you! I'm glad things are going well. Awesome!

I'm currently reading the book Confessions of a Carb Queen. You might be interested in reading it as the woman in the story doesn't feel support from her father either even though it is one of the things she TRULY desires. Our hearts are with you, girl. And we are here to support you no matter what!

YAY!! Good for you for sticking with it and not giving up in spite of the lack of support. Hugs to you right back! It is a battle everyday and I honestly can't imagine how difficult the battle must be without support. But I can tell you (what you already know) that life is not going to get any better by doing the same things over and over. Change is hard and sometimes it sucks, but it is necessary. I know you can do it!!

Keep up the good work! That 200# is such an exciting achievment. You can do it!!

Oh my, I do that ALL the time!! Ha! I'm glad that you are good to go. Like Luck said, listen to your body.

Chin up, chica! We are all her for you. I hope after you get through this agonizing moment (and BELIEVE ME that we ALL have them) you realize that this is just a bump in the road. We are absolutely pulling for you!