Band too tight – require an unfill!

After well over a year I went in today to see my surgeon….and I got a full unfill. Let me tell you the story. I have not been feeling great for a while, but the weight has been coming off – down 86lbs…so why stop a good thing, right? WRONG! Over the past month, it has been harder and harder for me to eat. I have been waking up at night couching…and feeling like I could taste stomach acid in my mouth, I’ve been sticking to foods easy to get down (like soup), I can hardly finish a cup of tea. Well, after fluoroscopy, my Dr. told me that nothing was getting through my band, and my stoma and my esophagus was inflamed. So, a full unfill, wait 3 weeks, and then check back in. I am really hopeful that I can get back on track, learn from this mistake…. don’t live with a band that is too tight….If after 3 weeks things don’t look better, then it will be another check in 3 weeks….and after that it would have to be a band repositioning surgery…which I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE. So, good people, send me your good vibe, and learn from my idiotic mistake. Pay attention to your band, and if you have got to point where you are A) coughing at night, feeling like you have acid in your throat B)only eating foods that are easy to go down (like soup) C)feeling like you can’t eat much….go check in….you might need an unfill (even a little). I will be so peev’ed with myself if I have not listened to my body…and then need a surgery!

OK, enough of that rant…the big thing now is to go 3 weeks without gaining weight. I’ve had a little “talk with myself”…and now I am saying it here…I will not over eat, and I will not add back into my diet foods that I do not eat with my band! This cannot be all for not! I’ll keep you posted.

I’m Back!

Happy 2011….this is the first time I have gone to the web this month to think about my journey, weight loss, my band….

Needless to say I have work to do, but rather than throw in the towel like I have in the past, I can say the past is behind me, and I need to focus on bringing weight loss back into the forefront.  Eliminating junk, eating clean, and envisioning my long term success.

I looked in on a few blogs I was following in 2010, and I’ve been thrilled to see the progress that my fellow bandsters have made.  kudos to you! My weight loss has been slow, but I’m OK with that.

I’ve started working out again, so this is a big win for me in 2010.  Both circuit training and Zumba….shaking my bootie…off, off, off!

My closet…oh, my closet.  On the weekend, I cleaned house.  I wish I had a home to send my clothes to.  Just glad to be in smaller sizes these days.  So, if there is anyone out there that could benefit from size 20, 22…letme know.

Feeling Stuck!

I have hovered around the same weight now for 1 month.  This correlates well with the fact that I have nothing to write about.  It also correlates with the fact that I have not been to NWWLS office in a while.  I’ve been eating total crap…and any protein worth anything is hard to get down.  My verdict is that my band is too tight.  So, I get by, by not eating meat, doing protein shakes, and generally eating crap that slides right through!!!!

Halloween has not helped….our house is filled with candy….no one will notice something missing every once in a while.  I am sabotaging myself??????? Why?  It’s not cause I’ve hit my goal….cause believe me I’ve got a ways to go….not cause I’ve not seen results, cause I have…..HELP!!!!

My first move is to live 1 clean day…..no crap, which I really mean is no sugar! No snacking, good protein, and veggies and call it a day.

So, how long will it take me to get back on track?

Sugar Free Chocolate = Diarrhea

I’ve taken a likin’ to Russell Stover’s sugar-free chocolate – in particular Toffee Square, and Peppermint Patty’s.  Yum, they are my delicious….but too much of a bad thing.  If I eat 3 in total then I am fine, but if I move into the vicinity of 4…getting bad, and 5 is full on diarrhea.  So, how do I feel about this?  I seem to forget (wink wink read: don’t care) when eating these lovely little packages of heaven.  I sure pay for it when I’m running for the loo…but then the next morning, I’m no worse for the wear….and there is definitely no constipation.  Now I’m not suggesting you do this, but I can’t help myself.

Gotta run, if you know waht I mean 🙂

Your stomach the size of walnut, really????

I just re-read the blog posting by Lisetheloser, and she mentioned that your pouch when first created is the size of a walnut.  I read it without pausing, but then 10 hours later it hit me…THE SIZE OF A WALNUT?  Then how can I eat so much.  Man, I better scale way back.  So my question today is around portion size.  Would you say that you eat more than a walnut amount of food at one sitting.  My answer is DEFINITELY!  So, how much do you eat?  A protein the size of a deck or cards, plus a handful of veggies?

Hair by the handful!

I swear to you, I am loosing a massive amount of hair….how will I not end up bald?  I know this is common…but c’mon!!! Everyday it seems like I am loosing 1000 hairs.  Thank goodness I started out with thick hair.

What else is new, let me see…hhhhhhmmmmm. I went in for another fill. I think I am close to my sweet spot so we moved to 0.5cc incraments. I am not at 8ccs.  I can definitely tell a difference, and my portions are definitely smaller…so what I am saying is that I feel the full signals much earlier than I did before this fill.

I am down 45 lbs and on my path to 60lbs by Thanksgiving. My big addition at this point needs to be more fitness!  I emailed my trainer and told him I was getting ready to come back and see him….I just need to do it now.

that’s it for now, I am hoping to get caught up, read some blogs, and I hope that some of you read mine.

A peculiar thing happened to me…I went on vacation and lost weight!!!

A peculiar thing happened to me…I went on vacation and lost weight!!! Can you believe it.  Yes, the lapband works!  In fact I had told myself that it was OK if I maintained while on vacation, but happy to say that I lost.  Now that I am back from vacation and buckling down, I will be focusing on my next challenge.  60 pounds down by Thanksgiving!  Can I do it….in the words of Obama…Yes I can!

I’ve missed  checking in and seeing the comments that others have left.  I look forward once email is back under control to reach out to my friends with their blogs.

Talk with you tomorrow…my topic will be losing hair…yikes!

Almost at -40lbs!

I can hardly wait to tell you I have reached 40 pounds down…..so if I write it here, maybe I’ll get there quicker 🙂  To be honest, I think I need a fill…and I need to stop snacks.  I went camping this weekend, and I am going camping next weekend for 1.5 weeks.  Once I am back in town I am going to get a little fill.   Funny thing to note however, it seems like “not good food” never gets stuck….grrrrrr!

So, keep me honest, and ask me how I am doing.  I hope to soon tell you I am 40 pounds down.  So, in 12 weeks I have lost about 24 pounds….on track.  While I know this is what I should expect, I still think it can come off quicker.  I bet when I look at the trend, it was more per week in the beginning and less per week now.  Another call out I need is guidance on a new scale.  What scale should I purchase?  I heard good things about Tanita, but which model?  My scale is from Target, and it is marketed as part of the “Biggest Loser” program.  the problem is that I can weigh myself 5 times and get 5 different readings.  I have tired resetting it, by adding more or less weight to it…but still..no consistency :(.

Help a sister out, tell me which scale you love (or at least love to hate).

Old Habits Die Hard

Hey there, well it has been a whiles since I posted.  My weight is still going in the right direct…DOWN….but slow.  Perhaps because of the cookie I that I’ve been sneaking????? Why, Oh why..do we do this to ourselves…not just any cookie, the really yummy Vegan Choc Chip cookies from Trader Joes.  I need to stop….for other’s it is McD…for me, these new found cookies.  Am I insane….general anaesthetic, surgery, $17K, a foreign object in me, and I’m sneaking a cookie…WTF!!!

I am pondering going for another fill.  My question today is around my band.  It seems like when I get fills, I am restricted, but then after a week or so, I am not tight…is it loosening, am I getting used to it, am I loosing fluid, am I stretching my pouch?  I am very scared of getting too tight.  So, what do you think??? 

I found I was not really tracking my weight loss from day to day…so before you know it a week passes and I don’t really know my last weight…I’m getting sloppy.  I need to keep on top of it…so, I hung a chart in my closet, so it is easy to capture it on paper.  Then when I have a minute I can put it in XL, but in the moment it is easy to record it.

As for protien shakes, I always blend mine, and I only have it for breaky, so when I need to boost my protein. My shake is a proprietary blend that I purchase from a club in my area, and it has 23g of protein, 4 g fiber,21g carbs, 24 vitamins and minerals, gluten free, and 180 cals.

Peace out, speak to you soon, I promise not to wait a week this time.

Counting calories is not my thing

I have not really been counting calories.  I am loosing weight, so that is good.  My weight loss is right around that 34-36 pound mark…I fluctuate a lot…or at least my scale does. I stick to my standard 3 meals a day, with no snacking in between.  Morning I go with my trusty high protein shake…which I love and have been eating/drinking for a long time.  18o kcals, 23g protein, dinner I eat  standard low-fat protein choice and handful of veg…think 3/4 chicken breast, and 4-5 brocoli stem.  My biggest meal for sure is at lunch, and I go with a salad most days made of spinach, egg whites, red peppers, feta cheese and dressing.  The point here is that my salad portion is creeping up in size because I can just keep eating.  I can use willpower to keep it small, but what I was hoping for is restriction so that when my willpower wears thin (no pun intended), my band would help me.

Please don’t tell me to count calories….so should I be looking at another fill….or since my weight loss is on track, leave well alone?