Three Year Lap Band Surgery Update

2012

2013

 Started the journey in 2012 at 234 lbs.

2013 I made it down to 200 pounds

2014

2014 back up to 210 

2015
And today...211 , over all I guess that's only a pound since last year but very disappointing when 

my goal for this far out was 135 pounds.  Leaving for Paris is a few days and really plan to kick some butt in the  weight department with all of the walking we will be doing and I tend to watch what I'm eating more when we are out since I never know if it will work. Hopefully this next few weeks will give me a boost ! I'll report in after Paris.

 Au revior

January 2015 -I've got this!

Easy Breakfast Recipe

I was looking around on Pinterest for easy lap band friendly recipes and came across this one.
Here is my version.

Egg White Muffins
Makes 12 muffins (2 eggs each)
Ingredients:
1 carton of egg whites or 24 egg whites.
Options:
Baby spinach
chopped onion
chopped ham
shredded cheese
Directions: 
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Choose ingredients you prefer to use and maybe mix it up, so you have something different every day. chop if necessary.
-Spray pan
-Add chopped ingredients to each cup
-Add 1/3 cup liquid egg whites or 2 egg whites per cup
-Bake for 30 minutes.
-Immediately remove and let cool on a rack. Once cool, place 2 in a ziplock bag with no air to keep them all week in the fridge. In the morning, remove from bag and heat in microwave for 1 minute and Enjoy.

Oct 8 2014 Update

I finally called and made the appointment to go back and see my lapband doctor. I have not been back since May of 2013 I think. I was so discouraged and felt like my doctor was not very nice or understanding about my stall at the time , and losing my dad.
I guess I showed him, I gained even more and stopped getting fills. lol
I'm getting ready to celebrate 2 years with my band (Oct 15) and it's  about freakin time that I get back on track and use my tool as it was intended (I type this after having b'day cake and milk duds..ugh!)

My appointment isn't until later in the month so hopefully I'll drop a few pounds before then . I'm doing Friday weigh in's on my banded in florida facebook page and I've gained 2 lbs since I started that...wrong direction girly! Instead of focusing on the weight Ive been obsessed with cute socks that I wear each Friday. Epsy, Forever 21 and Ebay have been great in finding adorable socks.

Here are my posts since I've started...

April 21 2014 After Easter Update

Happy Easter Monday!
We had a nice long weekend and got more done around the house. Vic got the front wall primed on one side (the side that you see from the street).She also pressure washed the drive way and carport area-it looks so much better!! We've made some decisions about the plants that we are going to put out front. I was gifted a chocolate cherry tomato plant and made my first earth box and replanted it.
We had our 2nd annual Easter breakfast with Vic's son at Burgundy Square Cafe. I had much better luck this year and kept my egg and bacon down.
The scale has not changed this week..still at 209.
I've had a little more candy this week due to Easter (FAIL). Vic has cooked quite a bit but we did go out a few times for the first time in weeks (Longhorn Monday, Pizza delivered one evening and then Burgundy Square for breakfast)  Other than the pizza, I think we've made wise choices when we did go out. I usually stick to soup because it works. Tonight I'm making chili.

My mom gave me a desk yesterday that I'll be using as a vanity. I'm pretty excited that I'll have a place to store my make up and a place to sit and put it on . I'm so blind that it's hard to use the bathroom mirror because I'm too far away from it. The desk mom gave me is pretty narrow so it will work better for me.

Also last week I tried fried green tomatos for the first time.Probably not the best thing for me, but I had 3..they were delicious! I am not a fan of tomatos but these were very tasty.

I hope that you had a fabulous Easter and this week finds you smiling and happy! xox

Some images from the week..

Fried Green Tomato

Chocolate Cherry Tomato in my new Earth Box 

Easter Basket from my love 

Vic painting the front wall

Freshly pressure washed drive way 

Selfie with my tomato 

In honor of Easter

Happy Easter ...

October 3rd 2013

Happy October 3rd.

Today we are picking up my step mother at the airport. She is flying in for my nieces wedding this weekend.  October is going to be a crazy busy month for us with our birthdays (Vic, Me, DJ, Dakota and Dexter), the wedding, our cruise to Mexico!
We took Hersch (I have my dads ashes in a bear named Hersch) to the airport with us to get Cyndi!

A unexpected surprise for me was finally getting back down to 200 lbs. When I left my dads house after he died the scale was at the lowest since my surgery at 196, for most of the past 8 months it has been 202-204 but this week I've seen it going down instead of up or staying the same! I am not doing anything differently but maybe it's just working itself out finally. I am not exercising like I should. I do still stay away from bread and am only able to eat a few bites of most meats (Chicken, Steak, etc.) but I have continued my bad habits of sweets and know that if I ever want to get to goal I will have to cut those out on a much bigger scale that I have been.

I am not sure I was the most realistic a year ago when I had my surgery. I would have thought that by now I would be 135 lbs or less. I thought I'd be a super star keeing up with my blogs and videos when in reality I have not done a video in forever and this blog is forgotten by me much of the time unless I see a jump down on the scale. I guess it's normal only wanting to report on the good things. For me it is anyway. Part of those rose colored glasses I suppose.  All I can say is I will try and do better :)

Have a wonderful October day!

Later: We picked up Cyndi and then had a light lunch at Daiquiri Deck in Venice. I had a chicken, veg. soup and a sweet tea..worked perfectly for me. We had a chance to visit a little bit and then Vic and I went home.  I made a pot of Chili for dinner and it was fantastic! I was able to eat almost two bowls!! More than I should but it was just yummy! The scale showed it thou, by bed time my 200 lbs had turned to 203! Yikes.

Well Hello There..

It's less than a month now and we will be heading off to Mexico on our second cruise together. And only a few weeks away before my oldest niece gets married. Both events I had pictured in my mind as much skinnier than I am today. I was sure when we booked this cruise so many months ago that I'd be showing off my bikini  bod and looking fab in the photos from our trip. Yeah..well not so much and I seriously doubt you'll be seeing any swimsuit pictures anytime soon.

I am past the horrified stage when I see myself in pictures but not quite to the "Wow, who is that smoking girl!?"  I do think I'll get there one of these days thou.

This morning we did our routine of watching the morning news shows, answering leads, checking emails, catching up on flower shop on facebook (ok that is just me..Vic ins't into the online games) ...and then Vic says "I'm going to finish these up and then go to the gym, want to come with me?" my brain screams NOOOO but then that little devil that is never far away named guilt starts punching me in the throat. I should go, we should go often. We should ride our new bikes that sit in  the guest room closet so they don't get rusty outside. We should use our treadmill for something other than a clothes pile holder, we should, we should...I should not make lemon cake , or buy candy, or do any of the other number of bad things I've been doing. The scale not moving in the right direction is totally my doing.

I will do better. one day. Here is a no make up, current good morning to you picture :)

and another from a recent trip to Hobby Lobby (my happy place)

September 1 2013

I've had this blog up and running a year this month (Sept 30 2012 blog)

I was getting ready to go in for my lap band surgery the following month. I was super excited to lose the weight and be back to my skinny self. Thinking I would never have a "fat holiday" again, no more worries about pictures being taken of me.  

Well, I have lost some weight (nearly 40 lbs) but have not lost any more since Feb. , that is 7 months of sitting at the same place on the scale. It's my fault, I don't eat right, I don't exercise like I should. I'm  not disgusted at my pictures any more (for the most part) but I'm also not where I wanted to be  a year later. I wanted to be down 100 lbs.  I still think I'll get there, it is just going to take a lot more than I'm giving now.

With the 40 pounds down I can now sit Indian style (my legs crossed) , I don't worry about seat belts not fitting on plane trips, roller coasters, etc. I don't worry that my beach chair will break under my weight.
I feel "noticed" again and not invisible. I don't feel the need to run to the scale every day worrying that the weight will all just appear back. I can shop in regular stores again  and sometimes even find things that fit ..and not just in the big women s section.

I have not been recording in this blog or doing the videos that I started with..I think about them but don't seem to find the time or motivation to do them. Not sure anyone really reads this or cares anyway. It's mainly for me , another journal of sorts to record what I've done, what I'm doing and what I am telling myself to do in the future :)

Guess What Day It Is

Happy Hump Day!

Video Flash Back, July 2012

Dress Up Week

I mentioned last week that I had good luck shopping at ROSS, here are some of the dresses that I got! I loved dressing up all week.

4th Of July, Projects, Shopping

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

It was very different for me this year. We had rain in the forecast so Vic and I decided to head to the mall to make a Build-A-Bear with some of my dads ashes. See the full blog on that at my other blog :http://www.whathollyhasseen.blogspot.com/2013/07/4th-of-july.html

We did make it over to the beach to catch the fireworks thou and it stopped raining just in time for the show! Perfect night with Vic and Victor. It was a little sad for me, thinking about my dad and missing him saying his Ohhhh and Aaaaas at the fireworks.

Today I woke up with a goal of going shopping and finding a dress to wear to dinner tonight. We are going out with some good friends and nothing is fitting right or looking good on me. I usually hate going to ROSS because it's messy and drives me crazy but today I totally scored! I came home with shoes, 8 dresses, a pair of shorts and even a shirt for Vic! All for under $135.   To make it even sweeter I was able to fit in a size 16! (down from a 20) and went ahead and bought two dresses that will fit later when I lose a little more weight. Shopping is always so hard for me because I'm only 5' and the lengths are always too long so when I found those two that will look perfect once I drop a few more pounds I knew to just grab them!

Tomorrow we hope to make it a beach day..it's suppose to rain but we can maybe work around that if it isn't an all day thing.

Life is good.

Joined YouFit

Today we joined a gym. We didn't actually work out yet, but we did join. We will go again tomorrow and actually work out..this stuff takes time ya know :)

It's a Struggle

Today is 7 months, 6 days since I had the lap band surgery. And almost a year now since I started looking into having it done. When I started I weighted 234 pounds, today I weight 196 making that 38 pounds lost. I  was pretty happy three months ago when I hit 197 but then my dad died and my motivation and eating habits went to hell. I snacked on candy and junk food again after being so good for months . I gave myself a break at first and figured it would run its course and work out and blamed it on stress. Truth be told I am sure it was/is emotional eating.

I went in for my regular check up with the doctor last Thursday. I didn't want another fill because I already could not eat very much but more than I should be able to eat according to what I learned in my classes prior to surgery. He wasn't very sympathetic and told me that I need to do what I was taught..three bites. Chicken, meat, fish..that's it. No salads, no slider foods. He gave me another fill making it 6cc's now in my band. (I think my band will hold 10 ccs)

This has been a trying 5 days! I can finally really only eat three bites! Even my protein shake makes me feel crappy and too full. If I eat that fourth bite I am off to the bathroom to throw it up (TMI..sorry). Good news is Ive lost another pound since my doctor visit Thursday. Bad news is not being able to eat makes me very cranky! I have a feeling seeing the scale go down more will make me get over the crankiness ...we shall see.

I worry a little about dehydration and not getting enough nutrients ..I mean how could I possibly with three bites of protein and a protein shake a day? It explains the weight loss but how healthy is this?? I am taking my vitamins and my hair isn't falling out as much as before..at least not that I notice as much. I am having little bits of feelings of wondering if this was the right decision for me. In my logical brain I think it was. I was way over weight and nothing was working. I was very unhealthy and my quality of life was being effected in ways I didn't even realize until I started losing the weight. I think once I get past this bump in the road I will again think that I made the right decision but on days like this when I can't  eat, can't even imagine going out to eat ever again without worrying about embarrassing myself it's a hard call.  I'm giving myself a few more days and if I'm still struggling as much I think I will go back and have him take back out 1cc of fluid from my band. Maybe this was the wake up call I needed to get back on track?

12/5/12

Today I am so thankful that the doctor made me have a flu shot before my surgery! Vic is home sick with the flu. We just got back from the doctor and I guess it is really going around our area.  Since I had the shot, I can't get it , right?

The scales are not moving for me...I need to drink more water for sure. And probably eat more...I do my protein shake in the morning and then nothing again until dinner time. After dinner I'm in snack mode but I am keeping it to cheese, sugar free Popsicles, etc...We had steak on the grill last night..I should have stopped after a few bites but tried to finish the whole thing and of course it was too much food and ended up giving me trouble.I'm still learning on how much is too much and I know it's a no no to eat dinner in front of the tv because I'm not focused on how much I'm eating or how fast I'm eating..ah today is another day.

I've mailed out some of my Christmas cards but not all. I'm still going crazy looking for my dang address book. Knowing me i packed it away with my Christmas stuff last year and it is over in our storage unit...buried! I've put out a few requests on facebook for people to send me their addresses but not many have answered me. I guess I'll wait and send cards after we get them first. lol

I'm off to watch some TV and play nurse to Vic for a while. I hope that you all have a great day...and if you have not done it yet...GO GET YOUR FLU SHOTS!

2012 AIDS WALK

Pre Surgery

Today starts my two week pre op diet. I began researching getting the lap band back in July. I had to go to two weeks of nutrition classes, two sessions with the shrink, three months of visits to my regular doctor where he could document that we talked about my died and weight loss goals and that brings me to now! :)

Today I go in for a barium swallow at the hospital to make sure everything looks ok for surgery. Then blood work, another visit with the nutritionist, a pre op appointment at the hospital a few days before surgery and I"m ready to go.

Vic and I went grocery shopping yesterday and got all the food that I'll be allowed to eat this next two weeks. It's mainly a liquid diet but I am allowed high protein low carb type foods also so we got some of those. I've ordered quite a few protein shakes from unjury because they were my favorite. I was given some samples of a brand called Chike but I couldn't get over the fact that it reminded me a lot of my baby alives food from when i was 7...lol

I weight 234 on most days...I want to get down to 125-135. I am 5'1" and 1/2 :)
I have been getting more and more over weight for the past 6 years. I've had both hips replaced due to another condition and ever since then it's been hard to exercise and the weight has just packed on.

Here is one of my more recent pictures..My dad and I , taken Aug 2012. I was mortified when he put it on facebook.