Pictures!!

229lbs 73lbs lost 1 yr anniversary!!

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

**SORRY I HAVNT POSTED PICTURES YET***

WELL I JUST REALIZED MY YEAR ANNIVERSARY WAS TODAY! I cannot believe I didnt even realize it until 1030 tonight! I have been waiting for this and am a little disappointed I forgot! things have been crazy for me lately, I received a promotion at work and have been working really hard, my husband and I are building a home and its coming down the home stretch and we have been very busy. So please forgive me for not being able to post my before and after anniversary pics:) I am going to have my husband take a picture tomorrow and try to figure out how to put the pics side by side to post..if anyone knows, let me know! My final year anniversary weigh in this morning was 229.0 even. That is a total year loss of 73lbs! a little less than what I wanted, I wanted at least 80lbs but I will take it:) Oh yea did I say 229??? Why yes I did......I FINALLY lost a couple pounds and got into the 220's. How did I do it? well I joined Weight Watchers online last Sunday. I really had a tough time with making that decision because I felt like I got the band so I wouldnt have to diet anylonger and the fact that I spent so much money on the band out of pocket I was bummed I was turning back to Weight watchers again....BUT even though you have the band you still have to watch what you eat ....or should I say "dieting" is a way of life no matter what your mean is and I was doing something wrong if I wasnt losing weight. I was eating "easy" foods that were higher in calories and fat, I wasnt tracking or watching what I eat and I wasnt following the band rules like I should have been. I was at a stand still for 3months..I didnt lose anything and was beyond frustrated. My sister just had a baby and she joined so thought it would be a good time for me to join too and do it right along side of her. I think its what I needed. I wasnt paying attention to what I was eating as much as I should of and now with tracking using the weight watcher site I really keep an eye on what Im putting in my mouth and tracking my calories ect. I am pretty much able to eat my points everyday so it worked out...and in the first week I lost 2 lbs. Im gonna keep up with it since I think it will help me. I have to keep telling myself that the band will help now in the fact that it wont allow me to over indulge or "pig out" like I used to do, and it will keep me away from things like soda, bread, fast food and some junk food because I just cant eat that stuff now without that stuck feeling. it will also help me from gaining weight at warp speed like I used to. Its hard finding that perfect sweet spot with the band. when I had too much I was miserable and not losing and now I feel like I can eat more again. I go back at the end of September and hopefully if I lose a few more lbs I might losen up a bit to get another fill so that I can eat less again. My next short term goal is hitting the 80lb loss marker. That is 7 more lbs and I think If I stick to both Weight watchers and the band rules I will hit that in a month or month in half. My workouts have been suffering too...with starting this new job I have been working later and its hard to get out of work by 5pm to make my 530 classes. I only got to the gym 1x last week for spin class than I walked for 30 minutes another day. so only 2x total last week. I need to try to fit more exercise in, I dont want to back track after working so hard to get into shape and show some muscle definition. I have my boss's wedding sept 3rd so I want to step it up a notch and try to lose those 7lbs by than. I need goals to look forward to in order to keep me motivated no matter how small they are. So...that is the most up to date info I have. I will get some pics taken tomorrow and post. I am also going to measure cause even thought I have only lost a couple pounds in the past 4 months I am hving more and people, people that see me every day ,say that I am shrinking before their eyes. I even had a guy the other day at work call me the incredible shrinking lady..lol...I thought that was pretty funny!! promise pics to come!!!

What a difference a year makes!!

A year ago this week, I was miserable!..I was on our yearly vacation to the Outerbanks, NC with my whole family...I felt like a beached whale, I was lazy, out of shape (big time), never walked the 100 ft to the beach, had a hard time getting out of my lounge chair. I drank mostly sodas and eat like a PIG. What a difference a year makes! I am approaching my year anniversary on the 30th, I just arrived back from our vacation this year...70lbs lighter and in pretty good shape and not a pound gained might I add:). It was a completly different vacation for me this year. I rented a bike and biked along the shore several times, I drank nothing but water or v8 juice, I felt good, looked so much better in a bathing suit and had so much more energy!! I had no problem waking to the beach, hands full of stuff, every day. I felt like I barly eat anything while I was there, we only went out to eat twice and cooked in most of the time. I had a hard time with my eating and gravitated toward easier foods like ice cream. I did manage to lose a couple pounds but over the past couple of days I have gained those back. Iv been making up for my eating. Since I got out the half of a cc a couple weeks ago I can definitly eat more but I feel so much better and have had no issues. I just need to re-group now that vacation is over and get back to the gym and following the band rules. I need to start losing again! Iv been at around 231 for a couple months now. I really need to get down into the 20's enough is enough:). I had a really nice time on vacation and am ready for my year anniversary. I re-read my blog from last year and remembered how crappy I felt this time last year preparing for surgery..I am so glad I dont feel like that anymore and that I made the decision to have surgery. I would have never lost 70lbs in a year without the surgery. I needed to have it. I had lost the momentum to do it all by myself. I had gained too much weight to ever have the stamina to lose it all. I really feel like I took charge of my life. I have going to the gym for 10 months straight now..that is the longest I have EVER stuck with it. I have had my little week breaks here and there but I just have to tell myself its ok occasionally but I cant let it last any longer than that..I dont want to go back to where I was..and even though I have lapband that person can be right around the corner at anytime! I am going to post pictures of me in my bathing suit:) and some side by side pics of me from last year to this year..if I can figure out how to do it:) coming soon!!

Slight Unfill ...

Hey everyone! I went to the doctor yesterday morning and he took out a half of a cc from my band. He thinks I had some irritation from being too tight. The heartburn and bringing up my food at night are signs of irritation. Ya think?..:) He told me only mushies and liquids for a week. I have to admit that I didnt follow that order yesterday and I know I should have but it was my husband and I's anniversary and we already had plans for dinner and a full day out to the the Baltimore Harbor so I did eat a couple wings but for the rest of the day and today of pretty much stuck to mushies. Im going to try and stick to that all week. I leave for vacation next week so Im glad it doesnt impact that. I dont really feel a difference yet but I didnt bring up anyfood while laying down in bed last night like I have been so thats a good sign. I loaded up on buying some soup today and plan on following the doctor's orders. I weighed in at 230.5 so I ended up losing a couple pounds over the past week and half. I am hoping being on mushies and liquids that I will lose another pound or so this week. Im glad I went yesterday and didnt wait until my appt in august. I dont want to cause any issue with my band! I wasnt expecting to be put on mushies all week so that took me by surprise but what he said does make sense. He said that its not unusual to hit a plateau like I did for a couple months. he said to get my band back to working condition and keep the exercise up and it will start to come off agains so I am hoping that is the case! I was down another 16lbs from my March 1st visit, so that averaged out about 4 lbs a month..which isnt as much as Id like but they said Im still losing it the way it should be at almost a year out. they ordered me to get some blood work done to check my vitamin levels so I will be doing that next week! So I will keep you all posted on how things are going!!

Weight at a STAND STILL!!

Iv been in the 230's since the first of March, that is over 3 months! Im almost out of them but I have been titter tottering from 233 to 231 and back and forth for over a month now! Im very frustrated why the weight loss is soooo slow and why Iv hit a plateau! I thought sure I would be in the 220's by now. I tried the low carb deal but only last a couple days. its so hard to just eat meat and veggies. Some things Iv tried to do to start losing again is cutting our my morning mocha latte that I got in the habit of drinking. I cant eat in the mornings, im very tight so I got in the habit of drinking protein drinks but than moved to latte to give me some energy. I cut them out and havnt had them for almost 3 weeks. I went back to my normal protein drinks. I picked up activity at the gym since I went from 4x to 2-3 times a week. I picked it back up to 4. Iv been pushing my water intake too BUT STILL NO MORE WEIGHT LOSS! now dont get me wrong, Iv had some ice cream here and there and a candy bar but not alot and Im still eating pretty small portions. I dont think I need a fill because I was having that bad heartburn and getting a few stuck episodes and I dont feel like I need a fill but I really dont understand why the weight loss has just stopped! I mean being banded and losing not even 10lbs in 3 months is not good progress. I know Iv lost 70lbs since in 11 months and I am proud of that but still want to keep seeing the scale moving down not staying steady for that long. 3 months is a long plateau! Since I did reach my 70lb Weight loss goal I went and got a new tattoo on my left shoulder...its a crucifix and its really cool. I got it last night and its a sign of who has given me the strength to do so many things and be successful in doing so. I truly believe he has blessed me. Now if he would just bless me with a 20 more lb weight loss I would really be happy:)

70lbs Gone---but boy I got some heartburn!!

Sorry I havn't posted in a while! things have been pretty crazy for me,I am in the process of building a new home and been focused on that. Well from the subject line you can see I hit the 70lb marker!! Its been really hard to lose this past 10lbs!! It feels likes its taken me forever, I keep hitting platueus where i stay the same for weeks and sometimes months than I might drop a couple pounds..its very frustrating. I started low carbing this week and completly staying away from anything but protein and veggies thinking that may help me. I had a fill appointment scheduled last week but I cancelled it. I didnt go because I feel like most days I am at my sweet spot or very close to it, I also had a pretty bad stuck episode last week, completely my fault, I was eating chicken wings like I never knew what band was..lol...AND since my last fill in March I have been getting alot of heartburn. At first it was just occasionlly when I eat something too quick or eat too much or something spicy but now Im getting it alot more. Mostly when I eat really dense foods like meat (which Im eating alot of lately) or when I eat too much or too fast. Its really uncomfortable. I have to take zantac 1-2x per day and tums have become my best friend. I know they say that if you get heartburn that you may be too tight..I really dont feel TOO tight..so Im not sure...I posted on lapband talk today to see if anyone had any suggestions..most people said I should get an unfill but I really dont want to. If I wasnt able to eat that is one thing but I dont want to get any out!! Im self pay that is 300bucks gone, once for the fill before and than another 300 to take it out! I think Im gonna just try to focus on what I eat, eat slow and not to much for a while and see if that helps. I have an appointment aug. 2nd which is right around my 1 year band anniversary so I want to just wait until than. Now if things get crazy and i cant take the heartburn anymore I will call. Iv had no issues before so I cant really believe Im slipping..like one poster told me. that freaked me out! My close friend and band buddy just had her band slip and was in the hospital so sick last weekend. They had to operate on her and fix it immediatly. She has had alot of problems though since getting the band 2.5 yrs ago. she was over filled 2x to the point that she couldnt even drink, she would spit up food like a week or more after eating it..I mean crazy stuff that I never had to deal with. her food just sits on her band forever. She had all of her fluid taken out and now she can't even get a fill for 6 months. She was self pay too. She is still feeling pretty sick. Its scary to hear the horror stories and thats why i try to be careful and not get greedy with the band, which is why I cancelled my appointment last week. All and All I am happy with my progress. 70lbs in 10 months. My doctor's goal was to be at 215-220 by my one year anniversary. I am at 232lbs now. Not sure with the slow rate Im going now will I get there its only 12lbs but it takes me a couple months to lose that now..my personal goal was 100lbs in a year but Im not too upset about that considering I am already worried about how my skin and body is handling the quick weight loss so don't want to rush it. Im still tackling the gym, Iv cut back some which is another reason i think Im not losing as fast...I was going 4-5x a week, now I am going about 3x a week. For me, working out made the difference in my weight loss but its so hard to stick with 5x a week. I get burned out quick but I wont let myself stop it! I really can see the definition in my legs and arms and I feel so much stronger now. For example, I have a pretty big truck, its a Toyota Sequoia...I can actually have both hands full with bags, toys, whatever, step up on one foot to the truck runner and get in the truck using NO HANDS AND ONE LEG...lol...It might be hard to picture but when I did that the other day, I was like there is NO WAY in hell I could of done that last year at this time!! my legs felt so strong and I didnt even have to balance myself! ..lol...anyway, things are going good and I will try to update you again soon, especially on my heartburn and low carb I just started. Thanks for reading!!!

2nd updated pic...65lbs gone!!! 237lbs