Monday, October 8, 2012

Chicago Recap!

Oh my! I think I am finally getting out of my post vacation blues. I realized that once I got home, I literally only took 10 pictures and half of those were self portraits! Whoops!

I just wanted to say how great it was to see everyone again and for the first time. I loved that we had some very sweet mother daughter teams come this year too.

One of my favorite things that we did was Jen and joeys art walk. I saw parts of Chicago that I never would have seen on a bus tour PLUS I got to stand in a big O and who doesn't want to do that?

Thank you again to all the awesome ladies who planned this event. I am so grateful for this community And hope that someone picks up the planning lead to so we can do this again!

Here are a few of my pics!



Wearing Dawnyas glasses at the airport while waiting for linda.



Mmmmm....chocolate buttons. Thanks Gilly!



Pretty building


















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Ten Things Thursday....

Ten Things Thursday seems like a nice way to jump back into the blogging world!

1. I am back from my Barcelona vaca. Suffice it to say 16 days was a bit long to travel with my mom. I think I could have sent her back on day 8 and spent the remaining 8 days on the beach.
This was taken in a little town south of Barcelona called Sitges. It was absolutely beautiful.....

2. I am back a work and am not happy about it. The bright side is that we are on summer hours so I work a few hours longer Mon - Thurs and then we get Fridays off for the next couple of weeks.

3. Weight gain sucks....when I got back from Spain I was up 15 lbs from my most consistent weight. (Not all 15 came from the trip) Clothes didn't fit right, I felt sluggish, and just plain gross. The Chicago challenge has helped me get my butt in gear and I am down 7 lbs now but it makes me wonder. When I felt that way in the past, what was my reaction? Did I even recognize when I was gaining weight? Was I so out of touch with my feelings that I would just buy larger sizes and move on? Whatever I did then, I am so glad that I am not doing that now.

4. I joined Weight Watchers....several other bloggers have talked about it and I just felt like I needed some structure. One of the biggest differences for me between the band and the sleeve is the idea of restriction. With the band, if I ate too much I would FEEL it. Things would start to get uncomfortable and sometimes if I really overdid it there was physical pain. The sleeve doesn't do that. I get full, but that never stopped me before surgery so I am really having to work on listening to my body and recognizing fullness and stopping. If I am really paying attention to what I am doing, the sleeve works great! I feel full after a serving of food and can be satisfied for 2 - 3 hours. But no foods are restricted...there are no foods I cannot tolerate. That's where WW comes in. Just a little extra structure to help me with my choices.

5. I peed behind one of the bushes near these ancient Roman aqueducts....deal with it.
 

6. I gave up sugar. Since my fantastic diet of Cokes with real sugar and gellato while in Spain didn't do me any favors, I figured it was time for a detox. I am on day 8 and things are going pretty well. My favorite sweet replacement right now is fresh cherries.....sooooo good!

7. I've got to choose another 1/2 marathon to complete before 2013. I promised myself when I did my first one in 2011 that I would do one a year no matter what. Well....2012 is half way over, my running condition is no where near where it was in February 2011 and it is freakin' hot outside. I guess I better pick something in November or December and hope that October isn't too brutal temp wise so I can train outside.

8. I miss my dad a lot....and it comes at me unexpectedly sometimes....which is to be expected.

9. My mom is a hot mess. She was bowling last night and slipped and fell backwards, hitting her head, and knocking herself unconscious. When she came to, she was feeling nauseous. So the paramedics were called. They checked her out, said everything was fine, and left. All the while my niece and nephew were there with her freaking out. They are 9 and 11 and my nephew is autistic which just kind of exacerbated the whole situation. Not sure what I am going to do with my mom but since my dad passed it is almost like she is a different person.

10. Can't wait for Chicago. Happy Thursday all!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I leave today for two weeks in Barcelona.....follow along on my other blog if you want!

And hopefully I'll come back 10 lbs lighter :)

angelajoyvaughan.blogspot.com




Saturday, June 9, 2012

Day 9

Still holding strong on my healthy eating plan. I only had fast food once since the beginning of the month and it was brown rice, chicken and pico from Chipotle AND I skipped the chips so I wouldn't really count it as fast food.

I have only had one or two sips of soda as well......so that has been good. However the reduction of soda in my daily intake has surprisingly increased my intake of red wine. :)

I have not started exercising yet. That will begin tomorrow. I am aiming for 5 days a week. 2 days just straight cardio and the other 3 cardio and strength training.

And I am trying desperately not to get on the scale every day. It is really hard but I do think that I react emotionally when I don't see numbers that I want to so I am going to try really hard to lay off.

Here are my results from the first week.
Friday, June 1: 196.6
Friday, June 8: 193.3
Difference: 3.3 lbs
Not too shabby....

And just for fun, here is one of my bathroom mirror shots from last week.






Sunday, June 3, 2012

Is That The Difference?

I was thinking about my blog post from yesterday...

About getting back on track.

It is unrealistic to assume that I will always be "on track".....after all no one is perfect.

We all have our times of struggle and bad choices.....so is the difference between me and skinny people, the fact that skinny people continue to get back "on track" and I as an overweight person, allowed myself to fall off track and not only wallow in it but bring along ice cream every night to soften the fall?

Which would mean that if I am willing to get back on track on a regular basis, I may just be able to call myself skinny one day?

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Day 2

It is the 2nd day of June and the second day of my new eating plan.....

Which isn't really new.

I've done this before, and lost 120 lbs doing it. It is all about your head. And my head has definitely not been in the best place.

But all that changes now.

I haven't lost anything in about a month. Wanna know why?

Because I started eating all those things that got me to where I was two years ago.

Candy, cake, soda, chips, fast food etc. EVERY DAY! (because Lord knows I didn't give those up alltogether these last few years, but I had learned moderation.) There were a few days where I had MORE THAN ONE candy bar.

I also learned what regular exercise could do for you. And promptly forgot it these last two months.

But there is a difference this time. This time I am not ignoring that voice in my head telling me I need to do something. I am not ignoring the too tight clothes.

I refuse to feel like a failure. I am not going to let the bad choices define me. I am letting them go, they are in the past and hopefully they will stay there.

And if they don't I will deal with that too.

I am taking control and starting fresh.

And just to prove it to you....here's a pic of my dinner tonight. (and just for a visual reference that is a salad size plate)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Drunk Blogging....

Good idea? or Bad? You decide....

So I am almost done with the bottle of wine that I opened about 2 hours ago. So what better to do with myself than to do some blogging! How is y'all doing? I've got the newest fun. album playing on repeat and my arms are really itchy. And I don't want to go to work tomorrow, but I will because I am a rule follower and would never call in because of a hangover.

My mom has been out of town this week so I have been off duty which has been a nice change....except I was supposed to water the plants and I didn't....I don't even water my own plants....I don't have any plants....ha. (because I didn't water them)

Grief is a sneaky little bitch....and it can be triggered by something very small. Today it was my dad's recliner when I picked up the mail for my mom. I curled up in it and had a good cry.

I have not exercised in 7 weeks. I need to. I signed up for bootcamp but didn't go Monday or today. I should probably set some goals about this but not while drinking as I might come up with something like "teach my own zumba class" which would be heartbreaking, as some of you have witnessed, I can't dance....except when I am drunk.....drunk zumba....hmmmm.

Dance break....


I went out to check the mail in my night gown and cowboy boots tonight.....maybe I shouldn't do that anymore... I'm not even drinking good wine. Such a shame....

There are 20 school days left (this does not count weekends) and I am probably more excited about that than the kids and teachers combined.

goals coming soon....sober goals.....thanks for indulging me in this good idea....or bad....you decide :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I've always lamented the fact that I didn't have a full size pre-surgery picture. Well today I found one. This was taken in Spring 2009, and my surgery was Spring 2010.




Dang....I don't know who that girl is anymore. 6 days ago was my two year anniversary of deciding to change my life. Even with the complications, it had been so worth it.

Thanks for continuing to share it with me. I am not yet ready for regular blogging. Most of my days are pretty crappy and I don't want to make my blog about that, so until I get a handle on myself, I may be absent for a while.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Found something today....

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Updates

Hello everyone!
It is Sunday night. Which is either my favorite day of the week or my least favorite depending on whether or not I have to go to work the next day. :)

I've been out of the loop for several weeks now and just thought I would update you guys on stuff that has been going on deep in the heart of Texas.

- I had my revision surgery on March 7th, just 3 days after my father passed away. My mom and I spoke in depth about whether or not I needed to postpone surgery or just go ahead with it and power through. We obviously decided to power through and now that I am past it, I think it was the best decision. However, having surgery when you are already in a heightened emotional state is not recommended. I have gotten to know my PA really well in the last 2 years and when she made the rounds the morning after my surgery, I explained what was going on and she went ahead and wrote my discharge orders so I was able to go home and not have to spend another night.

- I slept the first two days that I was home and felt kind of rotten about it because I wasn't able to take care of my mom, she had to take care of me. I guess in some ways though it was a good distraction. I made it through the memorial service without any pain meds. I really wanted to be present and not doped up, but I kind of paid for it that evening.

- I was on a full liquid diet for three weeks and finally started on mushies this last Wednesday. Can I get an AMEN??? It was absolutely awful. Very similar to bandster hell but with the overwhelming fear that I was going to have a leak along my staple line and have to go back in for another surgery with almost a month long recovery which I COULD NOT afford to go through. But it looks as though I am out of the woods though as the majority of leaks occur between days 8 and 14.

- I have lost 10 pounds since surgery which puts me down to an all time low of 184.4. I am excited to start this new journey and put some of my good habits back in place so I can find my new normal.

- I have been back at work for two weeks and things are pretty crazy. I guess it is a blessing though because it doesn't give me a chance to think about things. But I think that I am just a ticking time bomb. With everything that has been going on, most of my time off was spent either in a drug coma or taking care of my mom. I have not had a moment to myself, nor have I had my "breakdown" yet and I just pray that it doesn't happen at work.

- I bought my tickets for Chicago. I am very excited about seeing everyone again!

- So thankful for all of you. I am sure that there is more for me to share but I am tired. I walked 4 miles today and it wore me out. My how things have changed. :) Hugs and kisses and have a great week all!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I'm Here....

The last two weeks have been consumed with state testing. I have a sub AP and a counselor on bed rest so preparing everything for testing this week has been all on me. Normally you have a team of 3. Today was our last day of testing and I am happy to say I am done.....until we do it all again at the end of April! Just checking in to say I am here. I will do a longer post and catch you all up with my revision surgery. It has been 3 weeks and things are getting better. Finally able to start mushies today and I am super excited.

I will leave you with a couple of my famous bathroom pics.
This one is a close up of my Stella and Dot purchase from the wonderful Amanda.
I am 1.3 lbs away from my 130 lb lost milestone. Hopefully I can make it by Monday, my official weigh in day. Have a beautiful Wednesday everyone, it is currently 73 and partly cloudy in the Big D. Perfect weather for a walk in the park after work!


Monday, March 12, 2012

Not quite sure what to write but just wanted everyone to know that I am here, I made it through the surgery, made it through the memorial service (barely) and we have one more service on Tuesday at the N@tional Cem etary.

I have lots of things to share but just need to get everything straight in my head right now. Thank you for the comments, emails, texts and phone calls. It is proof that this community isn't just about weight loss support, we are about life support. :)

Love to you all.....

Sunday, March 4, 2012

March 4, 2012

My sweet sweet father passed away this morning.

I am blessed to have been a part of his life and his death.

What a beautiful day for a home going.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Pre Op Diet....

Started my preop diet last Tuesday. Did really well on Day 1, 3, and half of 4 which was yesterday. I have officially lost 6.5 pounds in 4 days though. But I really attribute that to the fact that I ate almost non stop last weekend, and not good foods. One of those easy on easy off situations. I am still up quite a bit from my low but I am just going to keep trucking.

I get to have lunch with some amazing Texas bloggers today and I can't wait! I need a little time out of the city.

A lot going on with my dad but I think we are in a better place than we were last weekend. We seem to have found a routine and a med schedule that is keeping him comfortable but not totally doped up.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!


Sunday, February 19, 2012

It's Been a Long Weekend....and This Is A Long Post

Well I didn't meet any of my goals this week. I have also avoided the scale. Tuesday I start the 2 week pre-op diet so I should at least stop gaining but I have really done quite a bit of "self medicating" with food this week. Things are kind of progressing a little bit faster than I thought they would with my dad. I think I may have to start spending the night down at my parents house to help out with my dad. We will see how it goes. Below I have cut and pasted an email that I sent to my friends/prayer group. Any advice you guys can give me would be much appreciated. I know what my dad wants....I guess we just need to be brave enough to follow through with it.

"Hello all,
I am updating you all because I don't really think I can do it over the phone and most times that you call, I am not alone and can't really talk. Also, please be warned that I am not emotionally equipped to sensor myself right now and this email may be a little dramatic. (and long...sorry)

On Friday, I got a call from mom (during a fabulous marathon ARD), that the hospice nurse wanted to bring in a hospital bed for dad. This freaked mom out as she finally recognized how much dad had changed just from Tuesday when we had our first visit with the hospice nurse. She didn't want to/couldn't make any decisions concerning the bed so I came home to be a part of the decision making process. Since Tuesday, when we started treating dad for his pain, he has basically been asleep. Even when needing to go to the restroom he has been unable to wake up enough to stand and sit in the wheel chair. I am not quite sure how mom was handling it during the day except to say that he wasn't eating or drinking so there wasn't much output, but when I was helping it took all of my strenght to lift him and get him in the chair so I know it had been difficult for her.

Friday, while waiting for the bed to arrive, I called my sister and she agreed that she was going to come up to Dallas. We eventually got dad set up in the hospital bed in the living room where he continued to sleep until just a few hours ago when he finally woke up and drank some water and had some yogurt. During all of this craziness, we also had my aunt and uncle, my cousin and his wife and the twin boys up here running around the house. I don't think any of us minded though because it was a great distraction and kept things feeling normal in a very not normal situation.

Now everyone has left except for my sister and we are all just sitting here in the living room, watching dad sleep. Here's where the email gets ugly....

Here are the questions that I need answers to (and I understand that you all can't answer them but I just need to write them down and ask that your prayers for me are specific to these needs)

Are we overmedicating my father? How is it that we can go from Tuesday when he was discussing his pain with the nurse and could hold a somewhat lucid conversation, to Friday and him barely being able to stand up and having lost the ability to determine what is reality and what is hallucination (ie....he keeps trying to get up because the bell is ringing and that means it is time to go home, and no matter how much we reassure him that he is already home, he just thinks we are crazy) and not eating or drinking? If that's not being overmedicated then I don't know what is.

If we are overmedicating him.....should we care? Is this how hospice works? Did I just not fully understand what hospice would mean for my dad? Which is totally possible because I can barely understand what a world without him would be like so how could I understand this? He did say to us that all he wanted to do was sleep so should we honor that and just let him? Is this an answer to dad's prayers? I don't know that I could handle the fact that I have had the last real conversation with my father, which would be the case if we keep going down this path.

How long is this going to last? I was ok with dad being on hospice for a long while because in my perfect world scenario he was still able to have a conversation with me, and sit in his chair and sleep in his own bed all while receiving hospice care. Praying for his suffering to be quick is the equivelant of praying for him to die. How am I supposed to do that?

Ugh...I swear I am not losing it. I am holding things together pretty well but these are things that I can't answer and I don't like it and it makes me uncomfortable. So there it is. Your dose of crazy for the evening. I don't expect any kind of response, I just needed to get it out there which has always been hard for me to do.

Love you all..."

Goals for the week. 1200 calories a day/liquid during the day and protein at night. Walking....I think boot camp is a little overwhelming for me right now so I am going to focus on walking a minimum of 4 days this week. Plus I think I have injured my right arm and would only aggrevate it with the exercises we do at boot camp.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Game On...

Sorry for the absence from blog world. Last week was crazy and three days were spent out of town so I have not had much time to catch up in this wonderful little neck of the woods. I did receive good news while I was gone. I have been approved by insurance to move forward with revision surgery. My surgery date has been set for 23 days from today.

So since I have gained 6 lbs since losing the band, I need to get a plan in place. When I weighed in at the hospital before surgery I was at 190. My goal is to make sure that I stay below 200. I am not necessarily looking to lose, just to maintain until surgery. So here is the plan...

3 bootcamps a week
10 miles a week
1400 - 1500 calories a day (this may change depending on pre op diet orders)
Blog regularly

There is a lot of emotional stress going on right now too and I find that every time I am at my mom's house (which is often) I cannot refrain from eating the wonderful goodies that she keeps stocked in the kitchen. The latest victim being the hohos that she has (used to have) in the pantry. I just need to focus. I think I may just start putting my own snacks in her kitchen so that I have a healthier option.

And thanks to all who have commented about my dad. We have a long road ahead and I may write about it here because I can get it out and not worrying about running into you at work the next day. Does that make sense? I just have to compartmentalize right now and I don't think I would be able to function at work if people kept popping in my office to talk about my dad. It's ok if you think I am crazy....it's just how I roll. :)

Boot camp tomorrow... 5:00 am. I sure hope it isn't snowing!

Friday, February 3, 2012

It's Great To Have Friends....

(A text message exchange between Dawnya and me this morning)

D: I woke up this morning & realized you are going to lose your balls today. :-(

Me: I thought I would be happy but I am going to miss them....I find myself playing with them all day...just like a guy. :)

D: U r such a spaz

T minus 4 hours to ball removal ......I think I am most worried about the tape removal.

Happy Friday Y'all!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Illusion of Control

So yesterday I talked about needing to get my eating under control but I think that the only way I can be successful with that is to get my emotions, stress, life etc. under control. So much easier said than done.

There has been lots of drama in my life not just related to my band since before thanksgiving. And I am still working through a lot of it. One big piece is work but I really can't go into that here due to confidentiality just suffice it to say I really hate being a supervisor sometimes.

The other piece that I am working through right now has to do with my father. I've written about him before, but long story short he was diagnosed with a terminal illness about 7 years ago and we are starting to have conversations about moving to hospice care.

This has been a trigger for a lot of the food choices I have been making over the last three days. Combined with not being able to do boot camp, this has resulted in a three pound gain. Once I get cleared to work out those will go away.

So moving forward towards gaining control, I have chosen not to eat anymore of the chocolate hidden away in the supply closet outside my office. I will focus on small healthy snacks and meals.

Thank you all for believing that I can do this, even when I don't believe it myself.

And here's my bathroom mirror picture for the day.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Control

The word today is control.....
I have been doing well with my eating until yesterday. I ate so much crap yesterday it was out of control. Today is back to the regularly scheduled program. I can't do boot camp yet but I did walk 4 miles on Sunday. I will be walking 3 more times this week. I will find out Friday at my follow up if I can start boot camp on Monday. Hopefully he will say yes.

I had a great dinner with the Texas girls....and yes Ronnie....What happens at Tillman's STAYS at Tillman's. :)

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week! I am not feeling the inclination to blog but I am going to try to at least twice a week for accountability sake. It is good for me.

Maybe posting pics of my outfits in the bathroom mirror again will motivate me......

Thursday, January 26, 2012

I Will See Your Port....And Raise You Two Balls


So when they take out your port, they replace it with two gauze balls. These balls are to prevent the area where the port used to be from filling up with fluid. They will be with me for two weeks. It made me think of this quote I saw on pinterest.

And please excuse the orange skin, they won't let me wash that area until the two weeks are up, hince the weird wrinkley effect made by the tape. I swear my stomach doesn't look like that normally, just my thighs. :(


Hope everyone had a happy Thursday. I went back to work today and got rewarded with an extra long evening, as we have reading night tonight. Should be fun, but I am dead dog tired. Will sleep well tonight.

I seem to have a few new followers as well, so if I don't follow you please leave a comment and I will rectify the situation asap!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Plan

So I am feeling much better. The surgery went well and I came home pretty doped up. I am feeling pretty good today and will be going back to work tomorrow.

Now for the plan!

Once I realized that there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to keep my band, I went in to action. When I first started researching having weight loss surgery, I was torn between having the sleeve and the band. However, my insurance didn't cover the sleeve so that made my decision easy. Now that I was faced with the possibility that I may not be able to keep my band, my mind turned back to the sleeve. I know that Jacquie, succeseful bandster turned "sleevester"(not a real word, I know), had a revision to the sleeve so the research began. At this point I knew I would not be able to afford the revision surgery out of pocket, but I would be willing to do some hard core saving to maybe afford it in a year or so. Which got me thinking....a year is a pretty long time. It has been almost two years since I had my surgery and maybe just maybe, my insurance company had changed their minds about covering the sleeve. So I called them up, discussed the situation, and it turns out that they DO cover the sleeve. So, now I had a contingency plan. Now I knew that if they were not able to fix my band, and had to remove it, that there was a possibility that I wouldn't be out there on my own.

Now, we just wait for the insurance approval and hopefully I will have revision surgery in March during Spring Break. Until then, keep my meals in check and exercise, exercise, exercise! I made a committment to change my life 2 years ago and with out without the band, that commitment is still in place. I will go back to accountability blogging and will keep you posted on the insurance process.

Now for those of you who are reading this who are thinking about getting the band or have the band. I want the record to show that I DO NOT REGRET GETTING MY BAND!!!! Even with the complications that I have had, this has been the best decision I have ever made. It helped me get my life back. It led me to this amazing support group, and it taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to.

Thank you all for your amazing support. You guys are awesome and are a big reason why I have been able to lose 120 pounds and keep it off!

Exercise starts again in two weeks! Boot camp here I come!

Monday, January 23, 2012

It's Out

I am no longer banded. But don't fret. I'm not. I have a plan, will share with you when the drugs aren't so powerful.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Accountability Days 5 & 6

Day 5
No exercise - needed to rest my knee and hip (I sound like a grandma)

Calories - 1645 a bit higher than I would have liked especially with no exercise but I went out to get more laundry detergent and was seduced by the giant chocolate chip cookies in the deli, and when you are supposed to be on liquids it is sometimes hard to resist.

Day 6
Exercise - 8 mile walk

Calories - 1570

Tomorrow's the day. I go in at 11:30, but I am already working on my contingency plan.

Going to bed soon. Going to hit my 5:00am boot camp before surgery tomorrow. Who knows when I will get to do it again?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


Friday, January 20, 2012

Accountability Day 4

Calories - 1100ish

Exercise - Bodyworks class at the gym
I didnt go to boot camp this morning, because I ended up going in to work about an hour earlier than normal to prepare for a parent meeting so there just wasn't time for both.

I may or may not run tomorrow. It will be 7 straight days of working out and my knee needs a break.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Accountability Day 3

Exercise - 5:00 am boot camp
Calories - 1370

Boot camp again tomorrow, 3 mile run on Saturday, 8 mile walk on Sunday

Surgery on Monday.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Accountability Day 2

Exercise: 2 miles in 22 min, could have done 3 but I really had to use the restroom and once you stop running, it's hard to start up again.

Calories: 1400 - I am pretty sure it was lower than this, but there were some unknown items in there so I guesstimated on the high side to be safe.

Going to sleep soon, have boot camp at 5:00 tomorrow.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

True To My Word

5:00 am bootcamp - done
1380 calories consumed

A little high but I am trying the "I am not eating enough calories" theory.

Been asked to stick to mostly liquids until surgery. Did that today, except for the granola bar and crackers with my soup. Will do better tomorrow.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Love you all.

Here's a pic of me on the way home from work. My nine year old niece and I were talking and she wanted me to send her a picture because she didn't believe I was on my way home. (I tend to work late.)



Love the sun flare. :)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Date Has Been Set...

Pending insurance approval, I will be having surgery in one week to fix my slipped band, and if it can't be fixed....then they will take it out. I am a very odd combination of freaked and calm. My dream would be for them to fix it and I never have another problem for the next 40 years of my life, but in my heart of hearts, I am so scared that it will not work out the way I want.

There is a plan here and as much as I fight it, it is His plan, not mine. So all I can do is pray and keep with the course. Bootcamp tomorrow morning, and a 3 mile run on Wednesday. Keep my calories in check and just keep going. I did drown my sorrow and smother my fears with a blizzard, but it stops now. I am no longer that girl. I will not be gaining back 120 lbs. with or without my band, but I prefer with.

Thanks for your thoughts and encouragement. It means the world to me. I will be blogging each day this week to keep myself accountable for food and workouts. It is the best way to keep myself from old habits, especially since I have NO restriction right now.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and let me be the cautionary tale. If you are too tight, GO TO THE DOCTOR!!!!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Here's the Deal....

So to say that I am beyond frustrated would be an understatement. Last January, I experienced some pretty severe tightness with an inability to get anything, including fluids, down and after some tests, it ended up with me having a slipped band and having all of my fluid removed. The remedy was to wait a week, see if the band moved back (which it did) and then start slowly refilling the band. In June, things started to get tight again and so I went in for an unfill and from June until now I probably did this about 4 or 5 times. This last time, the PA said we needed to go for another Upper GI to check for a slip and indeed it has slipped. So unfill, wait a week, have another upper GI. If it has not moved back then we move to surgical revision. She said I could have popped a stitch and we would just need to repair it. I asked what happened if it wasn't a popped stitch and she said that they would remove the band but not to think about that right now.

I am at a loss right now. I have been struggling with losing weight since October. I have been working out 6 days a week, 3 bootcamp, 3 running a minimum of 3 miles each time. I have stayed between 1100 - 1200 calories and I only lost 3 pounds. So frustration has been with me for a while. Maybe this is the answer as to why I haven't been losing.

So here I sit waiting for my second upper GI. I should find out in the next 45 minutes whether or not the band has moved back in place. If it hasn't, then surgery is on the horizon. If it has, I still have some questions....mainly, how likely is it that this will happen a third time? Who knows. Sorry for the absence from blog world. My days are pretty crazy, I get up, work out, go to work, come home after 8:00 most days and go straight to bed, only to get up and do it all over again. Will let you know how the upper GI goes.





Deja Vu...

My band has slipped.....again. Just got back from getting my band deflated and I am sad. :(

Will post more details after work.