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!