Monday, December 21, 2009

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...


5 comments:

Debi said...

Hey Colleen, any lose is a good loss right? As for the restriction question, I wouldn't have the foggiest since I am scheduled to have my FIRST fill next Monday!

Congrats on your review & raise!! That is always something to celebrate.

The Photos in Central Park are amazing! I have never been to New York, but it really looks beautiful in the Winter!

Hope you have a great Christmas & New Year.

Happy Holidays :)

THE DASH! said...

Such beautiful pics of Central Park. I cannot wait one day to get there and see it for myself.

As for restriction and what it feels like: I would say restriction is when you are forced to eat slower because otherwise things get stuck. You're still eating bread? EEK.. though I'm a little envious.. lucky girl. Also you should start to feel fuller quicker due to the slow eating patters. Maybe a cup is all you can manage of food whereas before it was way more. Not sure if this helped any but hope it did.
Hugs
Cara xx

Debi said...

Just wanted to say, Happy New Year!!

Tina said...

Hi there! I Just found your blog from the Dash. I loveeeeeeeee New York and your pics in Central Park made me miss it.

In my opinion you have beginning restriction. This is the stage where you are starting to get restriction and it takes behavior modification (chewing, smaller bites, and slowing down) in order to stop from sticking. If you eat too fast you might over eat and have to relieve some of the space above your band.

Restriction to me comes on a sliding scale.

1. There is loose restriction where I have to be careful, chew and go slowly but I can usually wait a few minutes and the food will go through allowing me to eat more.

2. There is moderate restriction where pasta, olives, rice and salad will always get stuck. I can eat about 1/2 cup of food at any one time but am hungry shortly after my meals (30min-1hour).

3. Hardcore restriction is when it is dangerous to eat most carbs (perhaps a bite of bread but thats it). I have to really think about the order of foods I eat (liquid to crunchy or dense as well as protein first). I can only eat 1/2 cup of food and i do not get hungry for 3-6 hours after a meal. This kind of restriction I reserve for when I have been stuck at a weight for a long time and I am pretty sure this super tight state will loosen up fairly quickly.

My ideal restriction is between 2 and 3. I am going in for a 3 on Tuesday, however, because I am 4 pounds away from losing 100pounds and it is killing me!! :) I once got a level 3 fill when I was new to the band. I had not retrained myself to chew well enough or gotten used to the drastically reduced volume of food. It was SCARY! I had an unfill and then worked my way gradually back up to it. I feel like the cool thing about the band is that it caused relearning as well as food restriction. I love mine :)
Good luck!!!

Colls said...

Happy New Year ladies!! Thanks so much for your comments. Your information has help me tremendously! I really have a better understanding of what restriction should feel like. I have a fill next Wednesday so hopefully I will be on my way to good restriction!