Restriction Confusion

I am a little confused when it comes to the fill that I received Wednesday.  Do I have good restriction or not?  I am getting stuck when I eat certain foods like soft breads and rice.  However, I still feel like I can eat more than I am supposed to.  What does restriction feel like?

Today is weigh in day and I am happy to say that I lost a half a pound.  Nothing spectacular, but after a two week plateau and a gain last week, I will take it.  Tonight I will do my measurements and take my progress pictures since yesterday was my two month bandiversary.  I have not posted my progress shots previously because I don't see much of a difference between the first shots I took a couple days after surgery and the ones I took a month ago.  Maybe I will be brave one day and post them!

Exercise has not been good as you can see from my Workout Log.  I have been working like crazy which has required me to go in early and leave late.  To top it off, I worked for 9.5 hours on Saturday!!  But it is all worth it - I had my annual review Thursday and it went extremely well.  I received a huge increase and that is a big deal because we are not giving out increases (with the exception of a couple of key players) or bonuses this year.

Dan and I went out Saturday night to play in the snow and to celebrate my review.  We went to Columbus Circle and walked around the Holiday Market and then went into the Time Warner Center to look at the beautiful Moravian stars that turn different colors set to the music.

Then we went to Lanmarc for a bite to eat and some wine.  We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of appetizers.  I had the Lamb Meatballs with Tomatoes, Whipped Ricotta and Mint.  Dan ordered the Smoked Mozzarella and Ricotta Fritters with Fried Zucchini.  We shared two half bottles of wine and great conversation <3  We were there for quite a while and decided that as the song goes "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and ordered another half bottle of wine!  So needless to say - I am actually very happy for the .5 lb lose this morning!

Here are a few pics from our adventures in Central Park Sunday morning.  You can click on them to make them larger...

Ouchy Ouchy Boo...

I survived my first fill!!  Wow, that was really uncomfortable and what a HUGE needle!

Okay, it really wasn't that bad, just some pinching and a lot of pressure, but she was in within a couple of minutes.

"Ouchy Ouchy Boo" is what I used to say to my mom when she brushed my long, long stringy hair when I was 5 years old :)

I am really glad that I decided to get my fill today.  I feel great and have been taking down liquids like a champ.  The NP, Chrissy, put in 2 cc's and I had 3 after surgery so I should be at a 5 now.  She wanted to do more, but decided that with the holidays this would be a good number.  She also said that I might be one more good fill away from my sweet spot.  I am very happy that my doctor is aggressive with fills.  I know that there are people who have doctors that are not as generous.  I feel like if I walked in there tomorrow and asked for more they would seriously consider it.  Chrissy also told me that if I were to stay on the clear liquids all day today and tomorrow that I might be able to nibble on some food at the holiday party tomorrow, I just have to make sure I chew very carefully.  We shall see.

Thanks for the little push girls, without it I probably would not have gotten my fill today.  You guys rock :)

To Fill or Not to Fill....

Hello, I hope everyone is having a great week!
So, I mentioned to the girls at brunch on Sunday that I have a doctor's appointment today and that I wasn't sure if I should get a fill or not.  Basically I can gulp water and I can definitely eat more than I could after surgery.  I am also getting hungry between meals.  My band was installed with 3 cc's and it has been almost two months since my surgery.  I was questioning getting the fill because of the holidays, I want to enjoy myself and not worry about getting stuck during family meals.  My family does not know about my surgery and I am not sure I am ready to tell them yet.  The girls all agreed that I should get the fill now and that I would be fine.  They also told me a little about what to expect when you get stuck.

So, what did I do after receiving all of this fabulous advise?  I called my doctor's office this morning and pushed my appointment back!!  You see, my real worry - if I am going to be honest - is that my office party is tomorrow and i want to enjoy it.  It is 4 hours of top shelf open bar and your typical bar food selection.  Also, we have Christmas dinner with my husband's family on Sunday.

I wanted to move the appointment to next Monday that way I could enjoy my party and dinner with my husband's family.  I felt that this would give me plenty of time to be comfortable with the adjustment before Christmas dinner with my family on Christmas night.  However, they only do fills on Wednesdays - that's only two days before Christmas, that is too close.  So, I had to move it to the 6th, that's so far away!  When I hung up I instantly felt scared, I ran to my bedroom and drug out the scale.  Guess what - I am no long at a plateau - I GAINED 1.5 lbs!!  At that point I grabbed my phone and called the office back - she must think I am insane!!  I will be going to my original scheduled appointment this afternoon!

I mean really - I didn't want to get the fill because I wouldn't be able to eat fried bar food at my office holiday party - really?!  There is a reason that I chose to have this device put in my body - so I can stay on track and lose weight!  Not so that I can chose to live in "Bandster Hell".  I may partake in a cocktail or two, that falls in line with the liquid stage, right?!

This will be my first fill and I am really nervous - I have read so many stories of rough fills!  I will be back later to let you all know how it goes...

NYC Bandster Brunch...

Yesterday was the NYC Bandster Brunch and I had so much fun!  There were five of us that could make it - Jen, Catherine, Heather, Carla and myself.  It was fantastic to have the opportunity to meet some of the bloggers that I follow.  I hope that we continue to do this, maybe it could be a monthly event!  We give each other so much support on our blogs, but meeting in person really was amazing.  I have never met anyone that was banded before yesterday! My husband and friends are extremely supportive and I am grateful for that; however it was so cool to sit down with other people who really know EXACTLY what I am going through!  Thanks for a great afternoon ladies!

Here are the brunch girls - what a fabulous looking group :)

Debbie Downer Warning!!

The good news is that I have been keeping up with the gym and meeting my goals in that department.  Spin class is spectacular, in fact, I moved myself from the very last row in the back up a few rows to the nice bikes!  I used to attend the spin classes pretty regularly about six months ago and during that time I was always the last bike in the back.  No one needs to see me huff and puff my way through the class!  The only downfall was that the back was where they put the dinky bikes.

I am also on track with my eating, although I did have two drinks on Sunday.  I can no longer avoid the temptation of glorious libations!  I am okay with this, I know what I have to do to make this work.  I am a strong believer in “Everything In Moderation”.

So, the bad news (read this in your head with an extremely whiny voice)  - I am working really hard at the gym and eating well; but I have been stuck at 239 for THREE weeks, WTF?!  Last week when I saw that I stayed the same, I felt okay – but this week I wanted to kill someone!  Is this normal?  I have 3 cc’s, it’s not like my band is empty and I’m in the dreaded “Bandster Hell”.  I feel like a disappointment, like I am not holding up my part of the bargain.

Then when I thought I couldn’t feel any worse my Old Navy jeans came in the mail yesterday and didn’t fit.  My jeans now are a size 22 in regular jeans and a 4 in Layne Bryant jeans, they are all pretty baggy.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a number of jeans that I saved from when I weighed less.  None of them fit me – they skip to size 18 – no 20’s in the pile.  So, on Cyber Monday I order a size 20 at Old Navy thinking that I should be able to fit into those.  No such luck 

I need to get out of this rut – any suggestions?

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

Yay, I did my first Spin Class this morning in over six months and I didn’t die!!  It was not a pretty site, however.  It took everything I had not to drop to the floor.  I had to take a couple of mini breaks here and there.  Sometimes when the class was up in third position, I stayed at first or second in the saddle.  I did keep my resistance up, though so I was still getting my heart rate up.

This is such a great accomplishment for me and it comes at a really great time – I am soooo bored on the Treadmill and Elliptical, I can’t stand it!  I love spinning to the beat of some good music and the instructors at my gym are pretty good.

Happy Thanksgiving - Belated!

I hope you all had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend and for those of you not in the US, I hope you had a lovely weekend!  I just got caught up on reading everyone’s blogs and it looks like everyone did quite well this Thanksgiving.

I am no exception!  My husband and I decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving alone.  With this being my first one banded, I wanted to make it easier on myself – have total control of the menu.  We purchased a 6 lb turkey breast, some brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes.  I sliced an orange and seasoned the slices with a spice rub I made and then stuffed them under the skin of the turkey and in the cavity.  I then took the rest of the spice rub and rubbed it over the turkey using a little Olive Oil.  For the brussel sprouts, I sauteed canadian bacon and shallots with some PAM Olive Oil spray and topped the sprouts with them and stuck the mixture in the oven.  Then I made some sweet potato fries, which turned out pretty good.  I just sprayed and seasoned them with salt and pepper and threw them in the oven.  The only unhealthy thing we had was the gravy, which wasn’t really that bad.  We used a bold chicekn broth that we had in the fridge which is fat free and low in sodium, some flour and a little bit of the pan drippings from the turkey, which we drained the fat from.

I had a little of everything – more turkey than anything else – protein, protein, protein!  The whole meal was excellent and I didn’t feel deprived.  Most importantly I was satisfied, and not full to the point that I was going to burst!  I guess there is a first time for everything!

Thanksgiving was actually the easy part of the weekend!  Wednesday was my friend’s birthday so we were all getting together Saturday night to celebrate.  I grew up in South Jersey, right outside of Philly, which is about one and half hours from NYC – this is where my friends live.  Once I got to SJ Saturday morning I met up with one of my friends and we went to a neighborhood parade with her family.  After the parade we went back to her brother’s house where they had a huge spread laid out for lunch.  The usual suspects - crock pot roast beef, lunch meats and rolls the size of your head!!  I did pretty good, I rolled up a couple pieces of ham and cheese, had three potato chips with a tiny bit of dip and I sampled the tiniest piece of lean roast beef.  I also had two Chicken Cornbread Cups that her mom made.  They are pretty small and very good!

The birthday celebration dinner was pretty good, too.  I had a shot of butternut squash bisque, a taste of my friends warm beat salad, half a crab cake, roasted veggies and a little bit of rice.  I was nervous about the rice, but it was no problem.  The hardest part about the dinner was not drinking wine, but that’s a whole other post!

Oh, and I had a sliver of birthday cake and a scoop of low fat ice cream back at my friend’s house.  Over all, I think I did pretty good this whole weekend – I did not gain or lose weight, I stayed the same.  I am happy with that…

This past week was also great in the exercise department.  I successfully made it to the gym four times and I am officially up to 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the elliptical, yay me!  In fact, not only did I go to the gym on Thanksgiving day I actually ran on the treadmill for a couple of minutes!  I don’t know what happened, all of a sudden I realized that I was running, fantastic!

Measurements - I Need Your Help, Please!!

So, my husband did my measurements last night and I don’t think that they are correct.  Please take a look at my Progress page (top right corner) and then click on the Progress – Data link.  Is there anyway possible that I lost 16.5 inches in one month?!  He swears that he is doing exactly the same as last month, but I really can’t believe these numbers.  I tried on my stockpile of “one day I will wear these again” jeans and none of them fit!  Well, I was able to get one paid up all the way, I just couldn’t zip or button them.

What do you guys think?!

No Weigh...

I can not believe that I forgot to weight myself this week.  My schedule is once every Monday morning, but I have been getting up to go to the gym and I am so tired that I forget.  I always remember when I get back, but you shouldn’t weigh yourself after working out because you won’t get a true reading.  I will do it tomorrow morning, I have set an alarm on my phone.

Speaking of going to the gym, I have gone twice this week, which is great.  I have added two minutes on the elliptical every workout so I am not up to 16 minutes.  My overall goal is to do the elliptical for the full 40 minutes.  So, once I get up to 20 minutes I will continue to add two minutes to the elliptical, but will be deducting two minutes from the treadmill.

On the food front I am doing really well.  Even with 3 cc’s I don’t seem to be having any difficulty eating solid foods.  I do have some difficulty drinking fluids though, I can’t seem to sip, sip, sip – I just want to drink normally through out the day.  This especially becomes a problem at the gym, I usually take tons of huge gulps while working out.  I am working hard on take many sips while working out so that I don’t feel so thirsty after I am done.

That’s about all I have for right now.  Tomorrow I WILL post my weight and measurements!

Ta Ta!

On Track

I went to my one month follow up appointment yesterday and things are looking good!  They clocked my weight loss in at 23 lbs and were extremely happy with this.  First I saw my surgeon, we just had a general discussion about the healing process.  I mentioned to him that I was really out of breath and very tired after only 10 minutes on the treadmill and that my stamina has been pretty low.  He said this was normal and that I just need to build my stamina back up.  Um, which is basically what I said in my last post, so I guess I am doing okay!

Next I saw my nutritionist and she was extremely pleased with my progress – I am right on target.  I really like her, she is very nice and never seems to be rushed to get me out.  She gave me her blessings to move on to Stage III, which is the “normal” diet.  However; I am to take it slow and introduce one new solid food a day.  I can have pasta and bread but should stay away from rice for another couple of weeks.  With the bread, it should be toasted; which I have learned by reading other blogs and random posts on LBT.  The softer/doughier it is the more chance there is for it to get stuck.

All in all I am very happy and will see them all again next month.  I just need to get my official weight and measurements in on Friday, which is exactly one month post-op.  I will post the results sometime during the weekend.

Down 18.5 Lbs!

Just a quick post this morning…

According to my scale I am down 18.5 lbs in just under a month!  Wow, that is awesome!  My doctor’s office for some reason always shows a larger loss than what I see on my scale.  I go tomorrow afternoon for my next follow up appointment, so I am curious to see what their number is.

Anyhow, I am so incredibly pleased with this progress.  I was hoping to to lose 20 lbs in the first month and I came pretty darn close, I’ll take it.

Treadmill = Blah

As you can tell from my workout log page – I am not doing so well.  The main problem right now is that I HATE walking on the treadmill – it’s boring and I definitely don’t push myself the way I should.  My machine of choice is the elliptical trainer, it really gets my heart pumping.  However; my doctor said the treadmill is the only equipment I can use for the first four weeks following surgery.  Well, four weeks is tomorrow – close enough, right?!  This morning I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then planned on doing 20 minutes on the elliptical.  Well, I wasn't able to complete 10 minutes on the elliptical.  How sad is that?!  Boy, I am really out of shape.  Actually, I am in the worst shape of my life.  I started to get really down on myself, I mean my heart should not be pumping that fast after only ten minutes and NO incline!  However; on my walk home from the gym I recalled the first time I ever tried the elliptical trainer.  I was a hot mess - I couldn't even make it five minutes!  Eventually I was able to do a half hour, which enabled me to do spin classes three times a week for a couple of months.  So, the game plan is to really focus on getting to the gym at least four times a week.  Each day this week I will increase my time on the elliptical by two minutes.  My ultimate goal is to feel comfortable enough with my cardio level so that I can resume my spin classes.  I can do it!!

Protein Blues

Well, I seem to be having a problem drinking my three protein shakes.  It’s not that they taste bad, they are actually pretty good – my husband even thinks so.  I use the chocolate flavored Unjury powder.  The problem is that they are thick and I am sick of them.  Right now on the mushies stage I have to drink three a day and I am lucky to finish two a day.  I was under the impression that this would end once I was able to eat “normally”.  However; the sample menu that my surgeon’s office gave me lists out three 4 0z high protein meals – okay, that is fine, it’s the next part that is bumming me out.  They have three protein liquids in between each meal.  Not protein shakes, but things like fortified milk.  I hate milk - absolutely do not like it on it’s own.  I am not allowed snacks in between meals, just fortified milk – yuck.  Um, so I will have to take protein shakes or other liquids forever?!?  


Also, I am a water drinker - have been for at least 12 years.  I want to GULP down a big glass of ice water - actually at work I use a mug - Amy, if you actually read this - my mug does instantly make me look sophisticated and smart ;)  


Sorrty, got off topic there - anyway the point is that I am not allowed to gulp or even drink a full glass of water.  I have to sip, sip, sip - no more than 4 oz every hour.  For the rest of my life?!?!  I guess my questions are - How does everyone in the normal stage get their protein in?  Do you drink more than 4 oz in an hour?  Do you really pay attention to the time?  Writing this blog is very therapeutic; however comments would be fabulous!  I leave you now with a picture of my uber cute work mug...

Sleep vs Gym - Sleep Won

I can not get my arse out of bed in the morning, it’s terrible, I seem to have lost my motivation to exercise. I have looked everywhere for it, but it is no where to be found!  I find that I do better when I go to the gym in the morning, I defiantly feel better throughout the day. If I skip it in the morning and say “I will go tonight after work” – it just doesn’t happen. In fact, I uttered these words this morning when I failed to “Rise and Shine”. My job requires me to work a lot of hours and and most nights I am not home before 7:30 or 8:00. Going at night can be a real challenge.


Overall, I know that my only choice is to go in the morning – it makes the most sense. I would like to get to the point where I treat it like work. I don’t lay in bed pressing snooze 500 hundred times only to decide that I am not going to work today. Why should the gym be any different?

Mushies!!!

Well, it's official - I have advanced to mushies, YAY :) In fact I am enjoying my home made Shrimp Chowder right now. I purchased the book Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery by Patt Levine M.D. a few months ago. This book is a life saver, especially if you like to cook. All the recipes are approved for our lifestyle and are high in protein. The great part about this book is that you can make the recipes for your family and then there is a section after each one that tells you how to prepare it for each stage for Lap Band. It also lists out directions for other WLS as well.


I know it seems strange that I am eating this shrimp chowder for breakfast, but the yogurt that I brought apparently expired on 10.31.09, bummer. I wasn't planning on stinking up my office and the kitchen with the smell of shrimp until later this afternoon. At that point I was hoping it would blend in with all of the other lunch smells that come from the kitchen at that time of day!


The one thing that I am noticing is that my food gets cold before I finish it. It should take me at least 30 minutes to eat these measly 4 tbs of mush. I am down to the bottom, but it is ice cold :(


I am off to reheat the rest! Have a great day!

A Little Background...

Accountability, Accountability, Accountability...

Accountability is the reason for this blog.  I am going to use this space as a journal for eating, exercising and recording vairous points of my Lap Band journey.

I was banded on October 20, 2009 and have lost a total of 14 pounds at this point.  My doctor seems really happy with this, which make me happy.

The two week clear liquid stage is almost over, I will be moving onto mushies tomorrow.  This makes me extremely happy as the clear liquids that I have consumed over the last two weeks were basically water, SF ice pops and of course my protein shakes.

During the mushie stage I am only allowed a total of 4 tbs of food three times a day.  Wow, that's sounds like so little!  I have been instructed to continue my protein shakes three times a day as well.

I love to cook, it is a great stress reliever for me and as you can imagine I have not been cooking too much lately.  Tonight I will be making some fresh salsa to have with my FF refried beans and low fat colby jack cheese tomorrow for lunch.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I will also be making a soup tonight that purees quite nicely.

Well, that's all for now!