Please excuse this interruption

I just have to take a moment for this.  When I was like 10-13 years old, my sister and I LOVED the New Kids On The Block.  We were freaking obsessed with them.  They have reunited and will be in concert in St. Louis in November.  And…WE.ARE.GOING!!!!!  Woohoo!  Tickets go on sale Saturday, and I will be online at 11 am on the dot (at work, customers be damned LOL) getting our tickets.  I am sooooo excited! 

Yes, I am a dork.  ;-P

Ten years ago today…

Today was my 10th wedding anniversary.  Eric and I had a nice day together.  We actually both had the day off work, which hasn’t happened in ages (seriously, like a year, not counting holidays).  We ran some errands, picked up the rest of the things we needed for Christian’s birthday party (having his party with school friends on 6/8 but his bday is 7/19) and then we went to lunch.  We decided to go to Applebee’s because they have these Weight Watchers meals on their menu, low cal and low fat with points values.  When we got there I decided I really wanted some chicken tenders so I ended up having their chicken tender basket.  I ate two tenders and some fries.  It was so good. That was the first time we went out to eat other than pizza a couple of times and fast food a few times.  My fast food meals consist of a chicken breast or a burger patty.  If we eat pizza, I eat one or two slices.  I refuse to feel guilty over my splurge.  I want to be a normal person, not someone who frets over every bite they put in their mouth (though I can be like that).  I was glad I didn’t get the WW meal I was considering because I read an article tonight about diet meals at restaurants that aren’t as healthy as they claim to be.  If I’m going to eat badly, I’d rather enjoy it than have to force myself to eat it.

I really can’t believe I’ve been married for TEN years.  Geez I feel old.  Eric and I haven’t had the smoothest road, some due to our own choices and some due to bad luck.  We had a really nice day today, which reminded us of why we’ve worked to stay together all this time.  A lot of people (like, Eric’s entire family and all of his friends) were against us getting married.  I like to think we’ve proved them wrong.  They thought we were too young, that he wouldn’t finish school, etc, etc.  One family member in particular said, “Eric, you’ll date 100 girls before you settle down.”  Yeah, that’s something to strive for.  Eric has been my rock for the last 3 months and I couldn’t have gotten through this without him.  I’m so lucky to have him. 

More pictures

I went ahead and took my 3 month pictures tonight.  Wednesday will be three months officially.  As one of my wonderful readers pointed out, I am just about 1/3 of the way to my goal!  Since my last pictures, I’ve lost about 13 lbs and 15 inches!  It is a little hard to tell in these pictures, as the shirt I’m wearing is already too big (and I just bought it!).  The jeans, however, are size 24.  They are tight as hell but they buttoned and zipped.  They weren’t even close a couple of weeks ago. 

And for comparison:

Support group

I attended my second Lap Band support group last night.  It was a small crowd and only one person from last time I was there.  There were five of us who had or will have surgery with Dr. M and 2 who had gastric bypass at another hospital.  I like the groups and talking to people who are going through what I am.  I also feel more at ease with those who don’t make me feel like a total freak of nature and the fattest person in the world.  Last night’s topic was dining out and emotional eating.  One of the GB patients that came brought her husband who went on and on about how he eats straight sugar when he’s stressed but “I’ve never had a weight problem.”  How fucking irritating.  Do people just not think about the group they are in and how their words might make people feel? 

Anyway…I’m down 59 as of today.  At the last group, I remember saying that I was down 43 lbs.  So that’s a 16 lb loss in almost a month.  We started doing Walk Away the Pounds this week.  Yes, we… I got Eric to do it with me.  He has been losing weight lately too.  He wants to lose about 20 lbs, I think he should lose more like 10-15 lbs.  I really want to get a bike.  I used to love biking, I think I’d enjoy it now if my knee holds out.

Next Tuesday is mine and Eric’s tenth wedding anniversary.  Wednesday is my 3 month bandiversary.  I’ll take more pictures on Tuesday or Wednesday and post them.  I’ll also do new measurements then.  I see Dr. S on June 5th and he is really doing to flip when he sees me.  I can’t wait.  He saw my sister last month and she updated him, but at that point I was only down like 35 lbs.  I love seeing reactions from those who haven’t seen me in awhile.  I’m still waiting for some of my customers to comment, but so far only one has and I’d told her I was getting the band. 

Adjustment today

I had my second band adjustment today.  I got 3.2 cc the first time and Dr. M said that was very aggressive and today would just be a “fine tuning” adjustment.  Everything went really well.  There was no gross fluid this time.  He pulled the screen up to where I could see and showed me how the contrast went through the band then slowed as he added more saline.  I got 2.5 cc today, for a total fill of 5.7 cc.  I have the AP Large 14 cc band.  I’m not hurting as much today as last time, thankfully.  I had a little chicken broth for lunch and was actually full.  I love that feeling.  I’m having a small container of sugar free cherry jello as I type this.  I think I’ll have cream soup when I get home from work tonight. 

When Dr. M came into the room with me, he told the tech, “Jaime does everything she is supposed to and she has had great success already.”  That made me feel really good.  I’ve been paranoid that Dr. M, like all doctors I’ve encountered in the last 10 years or so (except Dr. S, my GYN) would think I lacked self-control, willpower, etc.  I did follow my pre-op and post-op diets as instructed.  I will admit though, I don’t consider this a “diet.”  If I want something, I eat it.  I just don’t eat it in the quantities I used to.  If I have a craving for chocolate, I will either eat one or two little pieces of chocolate or even just a sugar free pudding or fudge bar (35 cal Blue Bunny no sugar added–they are great!).  I’ve had bread 2 times and I’ll eat it in the future if it agrees with me.  The kids got free Pizza Hut coupons for reading so we had pizza last week.  I ate *gasp* 2 pieces of thin crust pepperoni–but before I was banded, I would’ve eaten 5-6 PLUS breadsticks and maybe even some wings.  I absolutely refuse to go ultra low carb like some doctors want, and fortunately Dr. M hasn’t given me that restriction.  I was rather discouraged last week because I was at a plateau so it was wonderful to see Dr. M and hear him say such great things about me not once but twice!

I did get a little upset while waiting for my turn for an adjustment.  Dr. M schedules batch adjustments on Monday mornings so when I got there, there were about 5-6 others waiting to have one also.  I was absolutely amazed by some of the people who were going in there because they seem so THIN!  They are obviously success stories!  Anyway, I had to be there an hour early to register and that ended up taking all of 5 minutes so I had to sit and wait for a while.  While I was waiting, another of Dr. M’s patients was there with her mother.  The patient went into the room and her mother started talking to the lady next to her, who did not have a band (the older lady asked if she’d had it and she said no…how embarrassing IMO).  Anyway, the woman started going on and on, quite loudly, about how big her daughter had been, how big her granddaughter already was and then said, “I just don’t understand how someone could let theirself get that big.”  I was fuming.  First of all, she’s sitting in a hallway with a half dozen other people who “let themselves” get that big and opted for the Lap Band.  Ugh, I HATE that attitude.  I didn’t say, I think I’ll let myself get fat and weigh 350 lbs and get surgery.  I have been obese since I was 8-9 years old.  Yeah, I ate too much/the wrong things and I didn’t exercise, but that happens to plenty of people and they don’t end up at 350 lbs.  How could I go months without gaining an ounce then suddenly gain 30 lbs in a month?  Something was seriously messed up in my body.  I’m not going to make excuses for myself, believe me.  But ugh, that just set me off today and made me so mad.  People just don’t think before they speak.  I hope that lady’s foot was low fat because she had it in her mouth today.

Happy Mother’s Day and other stuff

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas who read my blog!  My babies made me the sweetest cards and I got a handprint flower that Hailey made at school.  I also bought myself a purse and book I’d wanted (cause I’m picky and told the kids, I picked this out, but it is my mother’s day present LOL). 

Yesterday was Eric’s 30th birthday.  I keep teasing him cause he’s 4 whole months older than me.  He had a good day, other than having to work.  We had dinner with his family (3 bdays in his family between May 9th and May 13th).  I was a little worried, but I just ate small portions of what they ate and avoided the bread and stuff I didn’t think would go down well.  So mostly I ate some pork steak (yum!) and a little bit of a burger. 

I woke up this morning to no power so since Hailey was sleeping, I just went back to sleep.  It was out from about 6:30 until about 10:30.  When I got up, I took a shower and afterwards I noticed that I had really bad heartburn.  Very weird.  I hadn’t even eaten breakfast.  I haven’t had any heartburn since the surgery, so I’m really paranoid and thinking of all the bad things that could be going wrong.  I took some Tums and went ahead and ate a little breakfast to see if getting something in my stomach would help with any extra acid or whatever.  Everything is staying down so I’m not sure what is going on.  I have my adjustment tomorrow and it will be under fluoroscopy so we’ll get to see the band and make sure everything looks okay.

Another picture

I got my haircut tonight.  Eric took a picture of me and I decided to compare it to my pre-op picture.  Wow…it is a big difference!  Pictures below.  It isn’t a great picture of me but I thought I’d share anyway.

Before surgery                                                 Today

Doctor appointment update

The scale is being very mean to me.  Today it teetered between 300.4 and 299.8, then 299.6…then landed on 300.0.  *sigh*  On the bright side, my BMI is now under 50.  Not far under, it’s 49.9, but under is under, right? 

I saw Dr. M on Wednesday.  He saw me as I was getting weighed and said, “You’re just wasting away, aren’t you?”  He came in and gushed about my loss so far.  He said that he was very aggressive with my first fill, much more than usual, but he said he knew that I could handle it, would make good choices and take it easy.  He was hesitant to do another adjustment, but I told him that I’ve been so hungry lately and eating between meals.  I’m still managing to stay under 1200 calories a day…it has been rough though.  So he gave in and I’m scheduled for Monday morning.  He said it will be a “fine tuning.” 

Finals are over, thank God.  I had a rough couple of weeks.  I know that I got A’s in Oral Communication and Microeconomics.  I’m waiting to hear about Child Development and Current Political Issues.  I have a 4.0 cummulative over 3 semesters, so I’m really hoping I maintained that.  I got inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the honor fraternity of 2 year colleges, on April 18th.  I’m off until August and though I was going nuts these last few weeks, I am sure I’ll be bored in no time and wishing I had summer classes.  I’m going to do lots of reading this summer because I haven’t read anything but textbooks since last summer when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out.  Have I mentioned that I’m a nerd?  LOL

More pictures

I took my pre-surgery, 1 month, and 2 month pictures and made a collage to show the change.

2.23.08                                                3.27.08                                 4.28.08

50 pounds!!!

I stepped on the scale this morning and it read 300.4.  I have officially lost 50 pounds!  I am so excited!!!  I can’t believe I’ve lost 50 lbs in just over 2 months.  I see Dr. M again on Wednesday and I think it is safe to say he’ll be very pleased. To make it an even bigger victory, in the next few days, I should be under that awful 300 mark.  I’ll be so happy to never see a number that starts with 3!

I have more pictures to post when I get a chance.  I’m working six days right now and I have two finals left to study for so I’m super busy.  Later this week I’ll post the “official” 2 month shots and the comparison collages that I made.