Drunken Stuper....

Yes, you read that right. It has been a rough week. Tuesday was a going away happy hour for someone at work and then last night was a big party for the 100 people that were laid off yesterday. So for 2 days I've been drinking. Wednesday night I really drank!! See!!! Here is the first one, yes that is a bucket. And it is filled with a Margarita.

And the second....this was called a Susie Q....

And yes.....wait for it....a thrid....back to Margaritas...YIKES!!!

And Yes of course we had crap food! Pizza and quesadillas....

Can you say 3800 calories in one day!!! OMG I can't beleive I did that.....and did I work out?!? Of course not!

 

So bring on Wednesday night....Lets do it again.....Hmmmm....No so much ...I was tamer but not great. Food was quesadilla and Shrimp in a great sauce with Crostini's. I had 1 Patrone Margarita, and 3 of these.... Dragonberry Strawberry Mojitos. Yes they were wonderful!!

I finished the day at 1874 calories. Not good at all...and what did the scale tell me (scale whore remember?!?) I gained 4 flipping lbs. Yes, I know totally my fault, and totally bad choices. Didn't get all my water in either of those days either. I am sure most of that 4 lbs is water weight, but OMG!!! Wednesday night I swam and burned only 150 calories. It was supposed to be a run day but that didn't work out.

 

Do I drink much?!? No hardly at all. As a matter of fact, I have had more to drink in the last 2 days then I had all last year. Were they good?!?! Incredibly!!!

 

OK so time to recover! No drinking today. At all!!! And I worked out HARD!!! Gotta get that 4 lbs back off and then some! So I swam for 30 minutes tonight. Burned about 200 calories.....I think I am going to have to find a better HRM for the water because the one I have doesn't work all the time in the water. Does great on dry land though. So After swimming I came home and did week 3 day 3 of the C25K...warm up walk 5 min, jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 3 min, walk 3 min and repeat, cooldown walk 5 min *I threw in an extra run of 90 seconds. It was hard since I hadn't run on 4 days, but I did it!! 1.3 miles, 28 minutes.

Nope  I wasn't done yet. Determined to dump these lbs!!

I was feeling pretty good at this point so I decided to get on the elliptical and do week 1 day 1 of the C25K....I think Chelle said I could do this on the elliptical too, So I gave it a try. I think I did pretty good. I was at 40 RPM's while walking and around 60 RPM's when I was running. 2.8 miles and 30 more minutes!

Burned a total of 650 calories today and I feel great! Hate it when I lose that niche!! Got keep at this!

 

 

Today's food numbers?!? Good!!

Calories: 1142.5

Fat: 38.09

Sugar: 54.50

Protein: 95.25

 

So that has been my last few days....Not so great choices and beating myself up now....But I really need to get over it and move on. We are supposed to go out again tomorrow night. We shall see...

 

Sorry the pictures are so big....It won't let me make them smaller...Have a great night all! I have to get caught up on your blogs now.

 

Happy Friday Eve!!

Mad Monday Weigh In....

 And the results for this week are.....Down 1.8 lbs! I'll take it!

So where does that put me you ask?!?!

My totals are:

54.0 lbs down since 8/22/12!

39.4 lbs down since surgery on 10/15/12!

 

My average loss since surgery? 1.97 lbs per week. This is not bad! I have even had a few weeks with slip ups in there and we got through the holidays! The doctor tells me that this is unheard of. They expect .5 - 1 lb per week. So I am happy with this progress!

 

This last fill and then unfill seems to have been the most rockin! It's been a week since my unfill of .3 cc's and I have been really watching the amount of food I can eat. I am right around one cup. And it is keeping me full for 3-4 hours sometimes more! This might be my.....dare I say it?!?!.....GREEN ZONE!!! I certainly hope so! <-- Excited!!

 

Today was a great day, food was OK (not great, not horrible)! I started with 30 minutes on the elliptical. and I burned somewhere around 280 calories.  This says more but my HRM said like 75 calories less. But 2.8 miles I'm good with! And all before breakfast!

Then my mom and I went for a Spa day. We had a great time! Manicures, pedicures, sugar body scrub, Jacuzzi, massage, & facial. We had lunch too! With a glass of wine! It was way cool! Then my mom took the kids and I to Mimi's for dinner. Yummy! they have the best corn chowder!

 

My numbers for today?

Calories: 1552.83

Fat: 55.0

Sugar: 85.33 (Cookie with lunch and desert with dinner) :(

Protein: 71.42

 

So all in all not horrible but not great. But it was a good day!

 

Tomorrow is a run day. And it is also a Doctors appointment day and a goodbye party for someone at work. Tomorrow also marks the last day my company will operate. It is being sold Wednesday. Then we begin the 3 month closure process before I get laid off. It will be a sad day to see all of the people I have worked with over the last 7 years leaving...

 

And so it begins... Happy Monday y'all!

 



Weekend is almost over...

So sad to see it go (But I did take tomorrow off for fun)! I just love not having to work :) As most do.

So what did I do all weekend!?!? I haven't blogged since Thursday. YIKES!

Friday was a busy day. Parent/Teacher conferences, taking my nephew to his fathers. Got a good running work out in, went swimming.

Saturday, I will admit, I was lazy!! I didn't work out. I went shopping with my daughter and then went for a massage and she got her nails done. We went out to dinner and then went to see "A good day to Die Hard". I have always liked Bruce Willis, and yes I liked this Die Hard movie too. We went to the Movie Tavern and had desert during the movie. It was a yummy brownie sundae! Seems I do not eat well on days I don't work out.

On to Sunday. Today was nice. Despite our "Blizzard" here in Colorado. We haven't gotten a ton, but further north it sounds like they got a foot +. I got up this morning and completed day 2 week 3 of the C25K. It is so hard. But I did it!

Followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical.  

 

For a total of 537 calories burned today. I felt great today!

 

I find that I take more pictures of myself now. I have always hated the camera, and even though I still don't love the camera. I am not afraid of it anymore.

I took this picture today. I really like this one!

This weekends numbers?

Friday: Have to control the Starbucks

Calories: 1629.84

Fat: 35.39

Sugar: 177.48 UGH I had a Iced Chai from Starbucks today...

Protein: 86.30

 

Saturday: Brownie Bottom Sundae YIKES!!

Calories: 1527.08 

Fat: 67.84

Sugar: 108.80

Protein: 45.35

 

Sunday: Totally better day!

Calories: 1369.92

Fat: 28.17

Sugar: 34.96

Protein: 63.59

 

Tomorrow my Mom and I are having a spa day. I am looking forward to it and praying there is no drama. My mom and I's relationship has been strained my entire life. And sometimes she is one of those negative people I have to distance myself from. This last year has been especially difficult for our family, but I have to keep trying. I have a habit of trying to repair damaged relationships, and well, shes my mom. So we have 5 1/2 hours at the spa tomorrow. Facials, massages, scrubs, hot tub time, manicures, pedicures & lunch. I will somehow avoid the stress building conversations and enjoy tomorrow. Wish me luck! Tomorrow is weigh in day too! Cross your fingers. I hope its good!

 

OK SO now I am going to catch up on reading all of your blogs that I have fallen behind on. Thanks again for your continued support and for being a fantastic community I absolutely love being a part of!!

Ten Things Thursday

OK I have never done this before but I thought I would give it a try. So here goes!

1) I was super tired today, apparently I didn't get enough sleep last night and I paid for it all day.

2) I could have done better with my eating today. My numbers are Calories: 1482.60, Fat: 51.30, Sugar: 95.49, Protein: 69.10. OK so they are maybe not horrible. But I gave in to the peanut butter cups & kit kats laying around the office. Love those!!

3) I am feeling positive! And loving the way things are going right now! I am generally a happy person. Eliminating the negative people around you and surrounding yourself with positive people really does work and makes for a happier life in general. I am an enforcer of this one!

4) It snowed here last night and a little today. Not surprising for Colorado but I really and over winter. I prefer Spring and Fall weather.

5) My oldest daughter is a texting machine. I wonder what she would do if she had to be without her phone for a day!?!?

6) I didn't work out today. I used the excuse that I was too tired, mainly just because I wanted a lazy day. I chased my youngest around the house and we threw water on each other but that is about all the exercise I got today.

7) I never thought the words "I enjoy running" would come out of my mouth. But I must admit. I am enjoying myself. Next in my C25K journey is day one of week 3. Hopefully I will start that tomorrow or Saturday.

8) Tomorrow is parent teacher conferences. I know everything will be great, I keep tabs on the kids grades weekly so it is mainly a formality but I am a lucky parent and have zero concerns.

9) I am having my hernia repaired on March 15th. I am going to have to exercise as much as possible between now and then since I won't be able to work out hard for a couple of weeks.

10) Arrow, Supernatural, & Beauty & the Beast are my favorite shows! I DVR'd them all and got to watch them tonight!

Did I do it right?!?!?

Have a great night! :) And thanks for you!

I came out...

on Facebook. I posted before and after pictures. I am not sure why this has been such a big deal.

The occasion? It's been 6 months since I made the decision to change my life.

4 months since surgery. Can you see the difference?

I see a big change and I am loving every minute of it!

Kind of puts things in a whole new perspective!

I am not ashamed of who I was or what I have become!

BECAUSE I AM WORTH IT!

And for the first time maybe ever, I actually believe that!

 

How about you? Are you worth it?!? I THINK YOU ARE!!

 

I have been on full liquids since yesterday's unfill. I did eat some super moist meat loaf tonight. I really wanted substance. I had zero issues!

 

Today's numbers we out of this world great!! I am proud of myself today!

 

Calories: 1043.42

Fat: 15.33

Sugar: 11.18

Protein: 131.27

 

Tonight was busy with my daughters band concert. So the C25K run suffered and didn't happen tonight. Tomorrow will be my run day. I start week 3 day 1. Run for 90 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, run for 3 minutes, walk for 3 minutes. I know I can do it.  But today I swam. Not very fast but burned about 150 calories. Not the best work out day, but good for liquid calories all day. Protein shakes galore!

 

I will win this war! With each obstacle I overcome! 

WE will overcome and prevail!

And so it begins! Again! Join me!

 

Unfill and instant relief!

Turns out all the "stuck" episodes I have had over the last few days is not from not taking small enough bites and not chewing well enough. I woke this morning around 3 because the battery in the smoke alarm was dying and the alarm kept saying "low battery". Yes it talks, it's creepy. So i got up to change that and took some water and I got stuck again!! This was the 4th time I had gotten stuck on fluids in the last 3 days. It was so bad I couldn't get back to sleep. So I called in sick to work because I had a nasty headache on top of being exhausted. I tried a protein shake this morning and got 1/4 cup down and the lump in my chest would not clear. It is a horrible feeling.

I called the doctor's today and told them what was going on and that I thought I needed some fluid removed and they got me in immediately. She took out .3 cc's. So I now have 6.45 cc's in my 10 cc band. INSTANT RELIEF!!! I drank some water and it didn't feel like I swallowed a rock. So the doctor and I are thinking that somewhere between last weeks fill of .5 cc's and today's unfill of .3 cc's is my happy place. It would be nice to find that "green zone".

Also asked about a bulge just below my sternum that has become more noticeable since I've lost so much weight, I thought it was my band but turns out I have a hernia. It's been there for a while, since before I had band surgery. I think it's from after my hysterectomy surgery which was in 2011. The surgeon that did my band is going to be fixing that so I will be scheduling that in the very near future. The sooner the better since I am losing my job in 3 months. Might as well get everything fixed up while I still have good insurance.

I am still pretty exhausted. I slept a little this morning but I am going to take it easy the rest of the day. I've had a few dizzy spells over the last couple of days and I don't want to push it. So I will resume working out tomorrow. I am on full liquids for the next couple of days.

I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

Mad Monday Weigh in...

Today's weight?!? The first time I stepped on the scale it said 222.2 then I weighed myself 2 more times and it came up at 222.6 so we will go with that.

 

222.6 - no change. And after all the slip ups last week. I am ok with that. Today was a totally better day.

 

So here are my totals:

52.2 lbs down since 8/22/12!

37.6 lbs down since surgery on 10/15/12!

This morning I completed Week 2 day 3 of the C25K and then I swam this afternoon. Burned 369 calories on my run this morning! According to mapmywalk.com the route I took today was around 3.22 miles. Most of it is currently walking. About 1/2 of this route is the interval running. I'm getting there. I like being able to wog 3.2 miles :)

And I burned 218 Calories Swimming this afternoon!

Totals Calories burned today?!? 588.

 

Cool!

 

Food totals today weren't too bad either:

Calories: 1228.40

Fat: 56.07

Sugar: 115.59

Protein: 57.85

 

I think I need to detox from sugar, that was way high today and I have a headache today and protein was kind of on the low side. Made better choices today tho.

 

For dinner we had taco salads. The family had tortilla bowls but I opted for baked wonton wrappers in my salad. Adds a nice crunch.

Lesson learned today? Take smaller bites! I've got the chewing down but smaller bites and eating slower would help the "stuck" episodes. I'm a slow learner. I'm working on it. Relearning how to eat after 40 years has definately proven to be a bigger challenge than I thought!

 

I hope everyone had a great Monday! Back to the grind tomorrow. Sleep well blog land!

Sunday Check in....

Today started out great! Elliptical for 35 minutes. Then the hub and I went to a swim spa expo show that was a joke. Totally not what we expected.

We ran a few errands after that. Then I totally sabotaged myself. My husband and I decided to share a Snickers Sonic Blast...well he ordered a large and I ate like 3/4 of it!! OMG How horrible. Good thing worked hard on the elliptical this morning!

Tomorrow is weigh in day and I am really not expecting great results after this past week. I think I will be happy if I just maintained from the 4 lbs I lost last week. Yikes! Plus I have been running low on my water intake the last few days. It is amazing how much of a difference that makes.

Tomorrow is another day off. And a run day. I will run in the morning since I will be home and then I have a swim appointment set for 3:30.

Today's numbers were disgustingly horrible! Nearly 2000 calories and 90 grams of fat and 160 grams of sugar...Oh so bad!!!
Calories: 1912.68
Fat: 87.65
Sugar: 156.45
Protein: 68.77

Must do SO much better tomorrow!! NO grazing that's for sure.

I am hoping to get some 4 month post-op pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

That's all I've got for today. Hope y'all had a great Sunday!

Yes I feel it!

Restriction that is! Back when I started this journey I asked Lapband Gal what restriction feels like. She was really great and there was some great feedback to the question. Well since this last fill (my fourth) I think I may have figured out what restriction means to me. I have been feeling super tight today. I even got stuck on water today.....YIKES!! Got stuck on dinner tonight too.

I have also figured out that drinking something warm, like hot tea or hot water really relaxes and calms my band after getting stuck. This was a fantastic discovery!! I love that I have been forced to listen to my body! I never really listened to my body before. And the fact that it screams at me when I do something it doesn't like is oddly rewarding. And even though I sometimes have "stuck" episodes because I don't chew well enough or eat to fast, I would do it all again! I have to say, I love my band!!

So this past week was a little rough work out wise. I guess it was really just Thursday that I totally missed, and Friday I didn't work out real hard I just swam. But that's OK. At least I moved. I was supposed to run Thursday but ran out of time and I was going to do it Friday but I promised my little girl I would be at her basketball game. Those smiles are definitely more important. So I ran today, day 2 week 2 of the C25K. Still loving it!! And rather than resting tomorrow I will work out instead. I have to keep at it because I feel that if I slow down I will stop. I know myself. If I stop I really stop! I won't let this weight defeat me again! 318 calories burned today!

OK SO Chai is my all time favorite thing! I love Starbucks Iced Chai's, Hot Chai's, Frappuccinos, just chai anything. But I am so picky about the flavor. The Oregon Chai concentrate is OK but not great, the Tazo concentrate you buy at the store is not the same. I have tried the powdered stuff and it's good but just not right. And most of them have a ton of sugar in them.

Homemade Chai is the best! When I was in high school my boyfriends father would make me authentic homemade chai all the time. It was so good. So today I went to the Indian market and bought the tea and all the spices and made it myself. It's pretty easy and it tastes great!

Here is my recipe:
3 cups water
3 heaping tbsp loose leaf black tea
2 cardamom pods (broken)
1 crushed cinnamon stick
8 whole cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
3 cups skim milk

Makes about 4 -1 1/2 cup servings

In a 4 quart pot boil water, loose leaf tea, cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves and ginger for 5-10 minutes or until desired strength. Add milk and boil for 5 additional minutes (be careful not to burn the milk and watch it closely because it boils over easily). Remove from heat, pour into cup sweeten with Splenda to taste. (5 tbsp of splenda sweeten the entire pitcher for me).

If my calculations are correct the nutritional value of this Chai is:
Calories: 74.6
Fat: 0.00
Sugar: .09 (natural sugar from skim milk)
Protein: 7.00

I pour it into a pitcher and drink on it for about 3 or 4 days. This totally beats the 300 calories in a Venti Nonfat Starbucks Iced Chai. And when I drink this warm it is so relaxing!

NSV! I can cross my legs like a woman (As apposed to a man you know resting your ankle on your knee because it hurts like this...)

2 more days until I have to work! I love long weekends!!

OK I am going to go catch up on your blogs now :-) Have a great Saturday evening!

The one that got away...

Yes today totally got away from me. Not much to report. I worked, went to store and came home and made the man's favorite. Homemade fried chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy. Got beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day! Kitty liked them too! My sweetie also got me 2 shake bottles and the very wanted Rascal Flatts & Toby Keith new DVD's! And a cute Love coffee cup!



Canceled my swim appointment today because I ran out of time and worked over a little. Had to get to the store and then home to make dinner. Tonight was also supposed to be a run day, didn't do that either. SO....Not real productive. Haven't even finshed logging food today. And full of excuses, oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day!

Whos humpin' today?!?!?

2 more work days and this week is complete! Followed by a 3 day weekend! Love it!

I went to the doctor's today and discussed somethings with her and got my 4th fill.

We talked about the hair loss. She assured me it would stop as everyone else as too. She said sometimes it just happens and it is most likely because of rapid weight loss. I didn't think I was loosing that fast but OK.

The doctors scale today was 1 lb heavier than what my scale said this morning (HAHA! Last month it showed .2 lbs less than mine! I knows its close.) but I didn't go to the doctors until 2:45. I am not worrying about that at all! I am going to continue to use my scale since that is the one I have relied on since day 1!

I did ask if it was OK to take ibuprofen because I have read online where several people's doctors have told them that is a big no no. She said I can take it. I don't take it often but I pulled something in my collar bone area last night and holy cow did it hurt! It still hurt this morning too so I took some today, it's the only thing that helps me when I am in pain. Seems better tonight.

After a semi long discussion about how much I am able to eat (I thought she was going to tell me no fill) she agreed that I needed a fill and was able to get .5 cc's injected. So I now have 6.75 cc's in my 10 cc band. I felt it pretty much immediately. I can totally tell I have more restriction. It could be just because it's the first day, but I was able to feel the first to fills right way too. The 3rd fill I had felt non-existent. So I am hoping since I am feeling it again right away this means I am closer (if not there) to my "green zone". I think I really need to start measuring my food more so I have an exact idea of what I am eating. I always eye it and guesstimate. She said she thinks I am eating less then I think. So she said if I am not losing a lb a week then to come back next month. Other than that she will see me in April. That will be my 6th month mark.

After working out tonight I can totally feel some swelling above my band. It's weird, it is hard and I can feel it through my skin. Usually it is only when I over eat that I can feel it. But tonight I can feel it with an empty stomach. (I know it was empty cause it was growling at the time.) The only thing that was in there at the time was water. I think it is just swelling. I am sure it will be fine by morning. I have been on liquids all day today and am on liquids through tomorrow. I will start soft foods Friday. Has anyone else felt this "swelling"?

My fill days always consist of an Iced Chai from Starbucks and Panera Cheese Broccoli soup! I am not worried about calories on my fill days because they are all liquid and they are never much. I am not even really worried about sugar on these days.

So today consisted of a Decaf Skinny Mocha for breakfast, 2 EAS Advantedge Carb control protein shakes (one for lunch and one mid afternoon, a Nonfat Iced Chai, and pureed broccoli cheese soup w/ added Unjury unflavored protein powder. My sugar was higher today but so what. It's because of my 2 trips to Starbucks today :) My numbers are not bad. I'm good with this today.

Calories: 1007.00
Fat:  19.67
Sugar: 86.00
Protein: 95.40

I might throw a no sugar added fudge pop in there later lol.

Today's workout was intense. I had to cancel my swim appointment to get one of the kids and I burned less calories and only used the elliptical. But damn did it kick my ass. I initially decided I was going to do the elliptical on a pre-programmed calorie burn workout that lasted 30 minutes. I was able to finish but had to slow down and take a few breaks. I kept moving but I was really huffing. So once I finished that I decided to add 10 more minutes. So I was on the elliptical for a total of 40 minutes and my legs were so shot I thought I was going to fall down lol. I burned a total of 339 calories. And went almost 4 miles (3.986 to be exact).

 

 

 

 

Wow! Lots to say today :) And I feel like I am forgetting something.....Hmmmm....Since I can't remember I am going to end there!

 

Have a great night everyone! If i remember what I was going to add I will come back and edit lol.

 

Staying motivated....

is one of the hardest things I have had to do. I am afraid that if I skip one day I won't get back at it. So I am kind of thinking that even if it's only 20 minutes I need to make sure I keep moving!

So far it's working well! Today was a better day swimming. I was able to swim hard and I didn't feel exhausted like I did last week. My HRM is picky. Sometimes it works great in the pool and other times it doesn't. Today it did well! I know I burned more than this because the HRM was giving me fits when I first got into the water. But it worked well for most of the time. So my 30 minute swim results were 182 calories burned.

Today was also a run day. I started week 2 day 1 today. 90 seconds of jogging with 2 minutes of walking. Let me tell you, this is really hard!! I did it tho. There were times when I felt like I was just walking fast but my heart rate was up. And I definitely got my sweat on! I did the 31 minutes of the C25K and followed it up with 10 minutes on the elliptical. 391 calories burned!!

 

So 573 calories for today! Was a good day!

 

Today's numbers were good:

Calories: 1073.83

Fat: 29.29

Sugar: 15.54

Protein: 54.82

 

My protein was a little low. I will work on this.

 

Tomorrow I am getting another fill. It will be my 4th. Currently I have about 6.25 cc's in my 10 cc band. We will see how much they give me tomorrow. I think I am close to the green zone. Almost. I am still able to eat about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of food at once.

 

I am going to talk to them about my hair loss too. The doctor said with 60 - 80 grams of protein a day I should not experience hair loss, but I think they lied. Typically I get right around 80 grams a day. I have been a little low the last week or so. Hopefully between the vitamins and the protein my hair will be OK. I know its only temporary and I am trying not to let it get to me. This too shall pass!

 

In other news, I have graduated from morbid obesity to just plain ole' obese! That's progress! Can't wait to graduate to overweight! :) Categories and stereotypes drive me nuts!

 

Tomorrow is Hump Day! We are that much closer to Friday! I love that! And it's a 3 day weekend!

 

Have a great day everyone!

Spread the love!

Second post for today but I wanted to spread the love. I am so thankful for the friends I have made here. You're support and inspirational stories have kept me going for months.  So I wanted to give a shout out to Julie over at Half A Julie. Also wanted to say hello to Ty over at Tales of a tired Mommy.

Thanks for being a rock star in my world!

Mad Monday Weigh In....

Today's Weight!?!? 222.6!!! Down 4 lbs flat from last week! I got on the scale like 3 times cause I didn't believe it! LOL

 

Finally over the 50 lb mark! Super excited about today's weigh in!

So here are my totals:

52.2 lbs down since 8/22/12!
37.6 lbs down since surgery on 10/15/12!

The Hair loss has me a little freaked but I have been reassured it will slow down and I won't go bald. Geez I hope so!! This is what else I lost today...My poor hair...I thought this wasn't supposed to happen if you eat enough protein?!?! I usually get 60 + grams a day... WTF?!?!

Started taking prenatal (nope not pregnant), B-12, and I am going to get some Biotin. I hope this stops fast.....

Numbers today are not great. Went to a Mexican restaurant today with a friend for lunch. Had a chicken quesadilla and ate about 1/2.
Calories: 1147
Fat: 34.24
Sugar: 46.94
Protein: 60.79

Run day tomorrow! I start the second week of the C25K. Run for 90 walk for 2 minutes. I'm gonna try hard!

Whats new in your world?