Wonderful week! It is time to buy the boots!

This week has went well, we have been using www.lapband.com to get recipes for our dinners this week. I have lost four pounds this week. One more pound and I have lost 60 pounds. I am getting very excited at this point. I love that the weight is still falling off, even if it not as fast I would like all of the time. I have lost two more inches off my waist.

On Thursday they put another .4 cc's of saline in my band. I am really noticing a difference this time. I am only able to eat .5 to a cup of food per a meal. This is the amount they want me eating. I am hoping that it will stay this way.

Since I have met this short term goal, it is time to buy the boots. The real boots! I just need to decide on the color. Purple, blue or Red? I will need to buy an outfit to go with the boots.

Next month I will be walking for the "Out of the Darkness" walk. I am hoping you will show your support for my teams efforts. I am hoping to raise $150. Suicide is a big issue when you are a middle school teacher, not to mention my own past and my friends past. By the age of 15 I had three close friends that had attempted.
Here is the link to donate: http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=353050  

Change attitude and recipee book

Changed my attitude, used my tools and tried cooking new things. I was down three pounds since Friday. Yesterday I cooked Bell Peppers stuffed with turkey meatballs and Barley Pilaf for the side dish. It was very good and a little expensive. Saturday night I cooked a Beef Barley soup ($12 to feed a family of 6 with enough left over for three lunches for me this week). It was also tasty. Tonight we tried spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs. Also yummy.
I however cheated and ate a snickers at work today. I had forgotten my vitamins this morning and was feeling my energy level fall to the floor this afternoon. I needed the sugar and protein to get through my day.


I took my measurements Saturday and I have lost another 1.5 inches off my waist. 16 inches until I have old waistline back. Three more inches and 23 pounds I will be at the half way mark.

loosing steam

Loosing stem quickly with the numbers on the scale not changing fast enough. Feeling hungry again and wanting again. Loosing maybe a pound a week. I am finding it really hard to stay on track. Question is, I am failing my band or do I just need to let them keep filling the band. The last two weeks I have been back to craving chocolate and Dr. Pepper. Am I hungry? Sort of, but not extremely. My next appointment is Thursday. I think I will go ahead and ask for the full cc this week. I am truly tired of not loosing weight like i was in the beginning.

I am trying some new recipes from the lap band website. Today I cooked Beef Barley soup, my entire family liked and was full from eating one bowl of soup. I have three servings saved out for my lunches this week and one serving saved for my hubby to take to work tonight. Tomorrow I am going to Peppers stuffed with turkey meatballs, Monday Spaghetti squash and meatballs.
This morning I learned how to cook an egg where I can eat it without it getting stuck. It seemed very odd way of cooking a fried egg, but it worked well and was tasty. You boil a pan of water and then crack the egg open into the water, let it cook for two minutes and get it out of he water (that was the hard part). The yoke stays nice and runny! Then you toast a slice of bread and put the egg on top of it. It was really yummy. So, here is to healthy eating!

The Eight Golden Rules--i am breaking one of them.

Before I had the surgery the clinic gave me a book called "The Lap-Band Solution" written by Paul O'Brien MD. I give him full credit for the following "Golden Rules" I give myself credit for following them or not following them. LOL

1. Eat three or less small meals per day. I am at three small meals a day, sometimes I need a snack depending on the business of my day. Today has been long and hectic, so I am hungry. Also, I am hungry because I had to eat soup for lunch due to my hectic day.

2. Do not eat anything between meals. I normally do okay with this. When I do have a snack it is normally not more than 100 cals. Yesterday was an emotionally stressful day so I found myself sitting in my van with that bag of chips and a candy bar. I did not eat all of either one.

3. Eat slowly and stop when no longer hungry. I do follow this one.

4. Focus on nutritious foods. They go on to stay eat your protein first. I eat lean protein twice a day with a protein shake for breakfast. I may eat 5 or 6 green beans or peas with it. Sometimes I east 1/4c of potatoes.

5. Avoid calorie containing liquids. Checkmate, I can handle this one! (And no soda pop for over four months)

6. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Okay, well here is where I am cheating myself big time right now.  My day is completely packed all day during the work day. Most of the day I am on feet, not sitting down. After working from 7am to 4pm I come home to be a mom of three, caregiver to my mom, wife to my husband whom I pray I will one day have more time for again. My hubby and share cooking chores and homework chores ( on the evenings he is not working a 12 hour shift). After dinner it is time for chores, finishing homework, getting kids in showers and ready for bed, checking on my moms needs, putting kids to bed, finishing getting mom ready to be alone during the day. It is 11pm before I get to shower and go to bed. I usually have an extra 30 minutes in the evening to sit. I hate the idea of putting my tired feet on the cross trainer during that 30 mins. So, if you can tell me how to get my time in, let me know! With all of this today I was reminded of Amy Grants song "Hats." Why do I have to wear so many different hats? Im a mother, im a lover, im a teacher, im a daughter, im a pet owner.....you get the point.

Amy Grant "Hats"

7. Be Active throughout each day. Yep, I have got that one down.

8. Always keep in contact wit your LB DR. I no longer call in between appts, but my next appt. is next week.

Thanks for reading!

Gripe session

I think my scale is stuck. Surely that is the problem. I keep teeter tottering two pounds for the last to weeks. Okay, so I am not working out. I have no motivation right now to work out. All I can think about is that I have so many other things I have to do.

Stress: I am back to work in the full swing of things. Back to the nonsense that goes on at work. Back to managing four kids in school, opposite work schedule from my husband and taking care of my mom in the evenings and on the weekends.

I feel like so many friends are suffering from so many illnesses. An elder from our church in Kansas past away this week, another one went in the hospital, a friend who has a boy my daughters age started chemo this week for bone cancer this week. I have two students that are to sick to come to school for several days. My brother has been to bull headed and landed himself back in jail over a traffic this week. My mom fell last night and has a spiral fracture in her  right humorous. She may have to have a rod put in her arm to assist with healing. She already has one in her leg and left shoulder and pins her right knee. I need a ramp for her wheelchair. I hate to say it, but I feel like we need to buy a conversion van with our large family and adding the power chair.

I know all of this stress is adding up to my willingness to stick to the problem. I also know I have three months of helping mom constantly because she can't use her right hand.

My friend that has cancer has created a star on standup2cancer.org. Please feel free to donate: Chase Ward The money goes directly to cancer research!

Curves

WELL, I will try it again. I hate committing to a one year contract with anything. I have learned that you just can't predict the future or what it will bring. However Curves is offering a 30 day trial period for free. That gives me long to decide if I will become hooked on it. Honestly their hours of operation are pretty limited, with very little time on the weekends when I am not working and they close early evening. However, I do like their equipment and the fact it is easy on the old knees. The whole 30 sec. and switch thing is easy on my attention span and I don't have to count reps. So, starting tomorrow I will give them a try.

small goals

September 7 marks my 90 day post op stage. I am suppose to be ten pounds less than what I am today by the 7th. I don't think I will make it. So, in order to not be to discouraged I went and trade on clothes, Saturday. First I went to Victoria's Secret, a store that I have shopped in since my first pregnancy because $50 for a bra is soooo not worth it. However; the last ten years I have not been able to purchase bra's at VS. The ladies were very nice to me. I told them that I have lost a large amount of weight and I don't know what size I need, or if I can even were their bra's yet. I also asked if they had extenders. As it turns out, I am two sizes below being able to wear their bra's without an extender. She told me that to buy only one at this point since I am still loosing weight. I told her I would next payday. My next stop was to try on jeans. The last time I bought pants (Feb. 2012) I bought 30/32 petites. This is not an easy size to find. I couldn't even think about buying jeans or slacks from Wal-Mart. Last night I tried on size 22 jeans and a 18/20 shirt. Okay, well they were to tight and looked awful, but they went on zipped and buttoned. The shirt showed every curve. I have not been able to wear those sizes but about four months total since I gave birth to my  almost thirteen year old daughter. As far as my weight goal, historically when I loose weight I have a big change in clothes sizes then the next week it shows up on the scale as well. Hmm... I am real close to bing able to shop at Maurices again!

I also realize the stores have changed their sizes. The last time I wore a 18/20 comfortably I weighed 40 pounds less than what I do today and my waist was 6 inches smaller. I need about another three inches gone before that size looks good on me.

I also have to give kudos's to Red Robbins. They were the EASIEST restaurant I have found to be able to enjoy a meal and stay within my cal. range and other restrictions. our meal for my girls and I cost $17. We all three had lemonade to drink. Our meal consisted of two appetizer plates. One was the Hummus plate and the other was the french fry, sweat potato fry and onion straws plate. Okay, so the fry plate was not healthy and full of saturated fat, but once we divided it between the three of us it wasn't bad. Unfortunately the meal was full of sodium, but that is hard to get away from when you at out.
 I need to go and eat my egg whites and turkey bacon. Have a geat holiday! (Oh and I know have been at this for four months!)