April Foolin' for Marchies of 2007

[kyethra 0]

Last month, as I passed my bandiversary it occurred to me I hadn't been on here in ages. So now I'm finally logging in. I had a project to work on. School is keeping me busy, and I'm looking for assistantships. On one good news front: I should be able to get my Master's degree in August! I think it will be nice to have my M.L.S in hand. Then when I'm working on my Certificate of Advanced Study (its sort of like another masters here) and the K-12 teaching cert over the next couple of years it might make finding part time employment easier. This grad school thing sure is addictive. I'm already thinking about options for my next masters (I think children's lit), etc. I imagine I might get burned out and want to just work at some point. But right now I'm just adoring all the learning and really want to work on developing more of my research.

And I'm finally moving in the positive direction weight loss wise again, rather than the evil yo-yo. I went to get a baby fill last week. I was done 11 or 12 pounds from my last fill! Woohoo! And the jeans and stuff are looser. I'm just 2 pounds away from my ever elusive 220 pounds goal. Way too much chocolate this week though. But I think by the end of the month I can get it. And then I need to get my behind in gear so I can lose what I can before we go on vacation in may. DH and I are going to Great Britain mid May and i'm so very excited-- 2 days in London, one day in Edinburgh, one day in north Wales, three days in Mid/South Wales and then one day in Bath.

I've been doing better about getting to the gym too. I started Pilates in January and I go once or twice a week for that, and I started kickboxing aerobics about a month ago and go the same for that and do my weights as well. I have to keep the kickboxing low impact and I can't do certain things like stepwork or too many squats or else it really bothers an old SI joint injury of mine (my hip) but otherwise its great fun. Good for stress! The pilates and weightloss combined have been really helpful for an entrapped nerve ending I have in my abdominal wall. At the end of March I took a medication holiday from one of my wakefullness meds for my narcolepsy since the new neurologist mentioned that and I wish I hadn't. It really screwed up my sleep schedule for about 2-3 weeks even though it was just a one week break over spring break. I missed the gym, was late on homework, late for class, etc. Winter was a litter hard on me-- my neurologist is ill and has been on medical leave for a while so I had to schedule with a new one and I missed a regular apointment and med adjusment. Nothing big, but a few little things that can add up like a cold that turned into a nasty sinus infection. So now that spring might come I'm thrilled and I'm glad I'm feeling much more energetic too. I gave a performance of telling a version of sleeping Beauty the other day (Brynhild) :smile2:

I'm thinking of trying another group class at the gym this summer and I want to try hang gliding. Now that I am under 250 pounds I can go for a tandem flight and lesson.

I'm trying to plan out a few meals for this next week, mostly light stuff. I'm thinking Soup one day, frozen lean cuisine the next, and making my husband pick something up, and then fish, and then whatever. I like yoghurt for lunch. If I leave it up to choice without much thought I go for chips and dip a lot, which is ok but not for every day. I like bean dip and cheese dip and those have Protein and I eat it with pretzel bits or corn chips, but the calories can really add up. I also have been skipping Breakfast lately and that is just not good-- I end up eating more junk later when I do that and less energy. In order to have the appropriate amount of milk without spending too much one thing I have stared dong is freezing milk. I bought a couple quarts of milk and then washed out those containers. Now I get a gallon of milk and half of it goes into the quart containers. Those get frozen. then the other half (well a bit more since I leave room for expansion in the quarts) gets used. Then the frozen stuff gets thawed one quart at a time, and its time for a new gallon.

This summer I have an internship working with kids so I'll need that energy! Then in the fall I'm going to be working with teens.

Regarding telling people-- I do tell people, if they ask. Or I might mention it sometimes in passing. Its not a secret. I tend to be pretty open about things in general. I tend to advocate for inclusivity in terms of things like disabilities and so forth-- I'm someone with multiple invisible disabilties, narcolepsy and Asperger's Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disability. This is a related issue, to me. I think being able to have dialog about these things is important. I can see where people wouldn't want to share things about themselves and I certainly think time and place and environment are important considerations. I am in a liberal university environment-- thats easier than a more conservative corporate environment. I'm also in a field that tends to be liberal, at least where I am.

I am enjoying planning for the warmer planting weather- I ordered a couple of apple trees to plant in the back yard, a golden delicious and a honeycrisp. I can't wait until they ship and then I can have DH dig the preliminary holes and when they come we can refine those and get them in the ground. It will be about 5 or 6 years until I expect them to bear fruit, but I have all sorts of things to protect them and baby them along. I got staking kits to help them grow tall, trunk wrap, fleece cover for winter, slow drip fertalizer stakes, some natural pest repellents, rabbit and deer repellents, rabbit and deer barriers (hey they eat at least half the garden every year, and I tend to kill most of the rest) and so forth. I'm trying some new garlic clips to keep rabbits at bay and I'm going to put my herbs in really big container gardens outside I've decided-- I am very bad at keeping herbs alive, I tend to kill them just putting them in the ground if I start seedlings. Not my talent. I also have some tomatoes I am growing hanging and some peas and I ordered some roses and more peonies and a little ground cover. I think thats all I'm up to! Plus I'll be busy with school and trying to get to the gym and so forth.

Ok time for me to read last month's back posts!

[Nikki 0]

I just started a new job, so people here have no idea what I looked like before - someone did comment to me the other day about how long it takes me to eat. I just agreed, like yeah - I am a slow eater. I don't know these people well enough to share much at all. I don't get to see my very best freinds very often but we talk on the phone all the time, most of the time they just ask how I'm feeling and I get the - ok give me an update on how much you have lost about once every like 2 months. Of course, I am happy to oblige - these are close freinds. Old co-workers and acquantinces who have seen me called me "flaca" skinny in Spanish. LOL But I'm far from that, just their way of paying a compliment. Lots of them do not know about my surgery and when they compliment me I just say " thank you, I've been working very hard" :-)

[demsvmejm 5]

Hey everyone!

Been a few days since anyone posted. Just dropping in to say "Hi" and hope all is well.

Spring is here! Forget that treadmill, I'm outside now!

Biked 30 minutes this am (that's all the time I have between getting the kids on the bus and getting ready for work) and boy did it feel great, my legs where screaming and I loved it.

Everyone take care

[Sugarbear 2]

People are going to notice the loss, for those who don't know about the surgery, they always say your losing weight, or what are you doing to lose weight? I thank them for noticing, and say I am eating less, which is the truth! I am pushing back from the table, or something like that. Your weight? Too much, I'm still working on that. They SHOULD get the hint. If not, I embarrass them and tell them it is personal, and I don't dicuss it.

Haven't been to this thread in quite a while. Looks like many are doing super. I am slow but still losing very slowly. I broke my leg and ankle in a fall and lost about 6 months of good exercising. Spent 2 months in a wheelchair. But I am slowly getting back to Normal. Good to see everyone doing well!

[neveragain 9]

Just thought I would drop in and say hi! I hope everything is going well for everyone!

[Whitepants 0]

Just Checking In.This restriction is something else. Tight days are too tight, and not that many loss days. This morning I had to drink my Protein drink w/ a spoon. Even then it took about 15 min to get down. lunch was a bust. Made an attempt to finish it for dinner and still can't get it down. They say, be careful what you ask for.

My appt. is next week, I'm going to ask for an unfill. And I thought I could handle this restriction. At this rate, I'll lose the weight, but won't be getting in my nutrients. Gettting in exercise 3x a week now. So that's good.

Welcome back Sugarbear.

Well hope to read good posts from you.

[Sugarbear 2]

Whitepants, maybe you can just get a partial unfill. Don't want to be too tight and risk erosion. Take care.

[Whitepants 0]

Hello Everyone, hope your weekend is a good one. Much will power needed to stay focused these next few days..

I'm still learning about this restriction thing. Yesterday and today I was able to eat without any problems. The food went down much easier. So, I may be experiencing the tight and not tight feeling. But, I'm trying to figure out what causes these tight and not tight days. I thought with the loss of weight the band would get looser, 'cause the stomach is shrinking, which would cause the stoma to shrink also. Any thoughts or ideas?

Due to these tight days and not eating well this week I lost 4 lbs. Was able to get to exercise 4x this week. Good for me, but didn't get in much nutrients this week. Some days I was only able to get in two meals. And they weren't much, very little Breakfast and lunch. dinner some nights was only toast and that took almost and hour to eat. Or it was for breakfast the next day.

Well, hope your meals were better than mines this week.

[OH Juli 15]

Hi Marchies.

I've been reading but way busy. I hope everyone is well.

Juli

[lala3000 0]

Hello everyone

I just want to check in and post this month. I am soooooo Happy because I am past the 100lb mark. I never, ever though I would be able to lose One Hundred Pounds!!!! I have come to the realization that it had a lot to do with my negative self image and self talk, and me not believing and therefore not working toward any goal because I had already defeated myself mentally. It is funny because I can honestly say that if I ever worked as hard as I do now with my band (in the gym) and put forward half of the effort I could have lost some of the weight. So the band helped me physically and mentally.

I LOVE my band. It Work's if you WORK IT!!!!!

[tammyj 15]

WOW!!!!!! Jillian Michaels is no joke!!! Her tough girl persona is a bit annoying, but MY GOODNESS SHE WILL WORK YOUR BUTT OFF!!! If anyone is stuck in a rut and not losing try her workout for a day or 2 and that scale will move! I am drenched with sweat by the end of the workout...heck halfway through the workout! I haven't sweated so much since my Workout Express days. Funny thing is, it was the same concept...60 second intervals of cardio and strength training. Only difference is Jillian hits you with 2 minutes of cardio...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!

HEY LEAH!!! YOU ARE DOING AWESOME!!! Congratulations on the 100lbs!!! We have to meet up again this summer for our walk/jogs by the lakefront!

[OH Juli 15]

TammyJ

Is it a video? How do you do it? Is it via the internet? I want details.

That's fantastic that you're finding a great workout.

J

[tammyj 15]

TammyJ

Is it a video? How do you do it? Is it via the internet? I want details.

That's fantastic that you're finding a great workout.

J

I have Comcast On Demand and ran across her workout on Exercise TV. Before that, I had never heard of hear. She is the trainer from the show the Biggest Loser. She does have videos and I think she has a website. I think it's just JillianMichaels.com if not you can probably google her. The workout is just 20 minutes of 60 second intervals of cardio and strength training using free weights, but it is VERY INTENSE!!! I like to FEEL like I've had a good workout and this does it for me.

[OH Juli 15]

Duh, there's her banner ad below. Well above as I type but below as you read this.

I'll check it out. Thanks.

[Whitepants 0]

Hello Everyone: I see that there is another 100lb looser. With tammyj soon to join. Each and everyone of you are a strong inspiration to me. I'm only 29lbs from loosing 100lb, but with people like you, I believe I will make it. With 71lbs lose so far and 51 more to go to reach my goal.

Keep up the good work.

I thank you and this website for this inspiration and support offered here.