Heads Up Pacific Northwest Bandsters!

I just learned about the upcoming Northwest Weightloss Conference in Portland, OR.

Check it out HERE

Weekend of October 22, Friday-Sunday.

Dr. Garth Davis from the TLC show Big Medicine will be a speaker.

Anyone interesting on meeting up and/or carpooling?

Let me know :)

New Bandster!

Quick post...

There's a new bandster out there... THE BANDED LADY.  She's just started her blog and band journey, please go over and say "Hi"

From My Rack to Yours... (all taken)

After shipping off two swimsuits to AMY yesterday, I've continued my closet overhaul.... I've been digging through my closet to ensure all the clothes that are there actually fit me.  I don't want any "crutches" of bigger sized clothes sitting around, except my "Play Jared (from Subway) official before pants".

Here's what I found.  Email me at lapbandgal@yahoo.com if you're interested:

Black Skirt (polyester/spandex/stretchy), size 2XL, very twirly/flippy at the bottom:

TAKEN

Black dress with turquoise trim, for the taller ladies.  size: XL, however it's stretchy tshirt material so probably more like a size 18W:  TAKEN

Lane Bryant Dress, size 18/20:  TAKEN

Black cocktail dress, size 16W.  Great for a black tie event. I had it professionally tailored/shortened.  I'm 5'4". TAKEN

200+ followers! Wow!

I just noticed that I have 201 followers!  WOW!  You guys are awesome and I appreciate all your comments and continued support.  I think of you all as my special online cheering section! :)  Have a great weekend!

THANK YOU!

Weigh in Day...and the results are...

a loss of 0.8 lbs.... 

It is no joke about the weightloss slowing down when one is close to their goal....WTF.

Here's what I did this week:

• 3 Zumba classes
• Kept my calories to 1100 or less per day and 50+ grams protein per day. 
• Tons of water
• Took my vitamins religiously.

In the first 6-8 months of this journey, with that much exercise and calorie restriction, I would have lost at least 3+ lbs...easy. 

I really want to be officially 100 lbs down...so close!  What else could I be doing to increase my loss next week?

The Rules

I should really put this as a sidebar on the blog here so I can see it everyday....

I try to remind myself about the Lap Band rules..it usually only happens some of the time...therefore I am putting them here to reinforce them in my head:

1. Three small meals a day
2. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly
3. Stop eating as soon as you feel satisfied
4. Limit drinking during meals
5. Limit snacking
6. Eat only nutritious foods
7. Avoid fiberous foods
8. Drink 64oz+ water each day
9. Drink only low calorie drinks
10. Exercise

Public Safety Announcement

PSA for today:

Do not eat more than one Fiber One Bar per day.  I repeat, no more than one Fiber One Bar per day.  Unless you want to spend some extra time in the Ladies Room...

I honestly haven't eaten these bars since my Weight Watchers days...when it was all about the fiber (which makes the point value less).

Well, the bars were on sale this morning at Target.  So I bought a package and ate a bar on the way home in the car.  No big deal.  Then I ate another one after lunch....uh oh!  BIG problem.

This concludes today's PSA.

Weigh-in Day...and the results are...

a loss of 1.4 lbs.  18.2 lbs to go to goal.   AND 2.2 lbs to go to 100 lbs lost.

It seems that the weight loss really slows down as I get closer to my goal.

My band has really tightened up since yesterday...I forgot to take my allergy meds and I think that may be the culprit..who knows...?

Oh yeah, one last thing...I signed up for the 5k Breast Cancer walk in Chicago.  Should be fun!  A big thank you goes out to SARAH for being our team captain and organizer for this event.

Happy Friday!

PS: today is my 10 month bandiversary...almost forgot!

Going to Chicago & a NSV!

Yep, I booked my tickets and made the hotel reservation to see you all in Chicago for BOOBs!  Can't wait to meet you guys!

Here's today's NSV (Non-Scale Victory):

My watch was getting so loose that I had stopped wearing it...well, today I had two links removed and it fits so much better now:

Sweet Tooth

Did I ever tell you that I have a major sweet tooth?

Yeah...I can pass up the salty chips/etc...but I gotta have my sweets!

I try to keep low calorie sweet treats in the house so I can still satisfy my sweet tooth and stay on the course of healthy eating.

Here are my favorite sweets:

• Jamba Sorbet Bars -- YUMMY!  70 to 90 calories each. Check 'em out HERE

• Fudgsicles -- 40 calories each.  Check 'em out HERE

By having these things around the house keeps me from getting in the car and going through the drive-thru at Dairy Queen....chocolate fudge Blizzard...yes please!

Refocused!

I'm just waiting on my ipod to finish charging so I can go on my power walk through the hills of the neighborhood.  2.5+ miles here I come (40 minutes)!

I am back to tracking (and writing down) my calories/protein.  I notice that I don't lose as much or I maintain for the week if I don't keep track somehow...counting in my head is not working for me.

Exercise plan for the week:

• Sunday: Walk
• Monday: Step Class
• Tuesday: Zumba
• Thursday: Zumba
• Saturday: Zumba

This process/journey is so much more than the band.  Sure the band keeps me feeling full longer and eat less, but it's a mind game...and more than half of it for me is exercise.  

How will you move your body today?

Fill and official pre-op photo!

I'm back from the surgeon's office and got .6ccs fill.  Hopefully this one does the trick...

I had a good chat with the NP about goal weight and she pointed out that extra skin is very heavy and she said that I probably have an extra 10-15 lbs of extra/loose skin...a thought to ponder indeed.  So are we saying that at my current weight of 160lbs, that I am "really" 145-150lbs?  Sounds like funny math to me.  I want to see 140lbs on the scale one day...dammit.  LOL

Also, I finally received my official pre-op photo that my surgeon's practice takes.  Here I am at 256lbs back in September, I think I look pregnant :(

Weigh-in Day...and the results are...

a loss of 0.1 lbs.  Yeah, pretty much maintained...

I lost my focus this week on making good food choices.  However I have been keeping up with the exercise.

I really need a fill and today I am getting one! yay! The hunger has really been creeping up on me...I haven't been this hungry since before surgery...!

To keep me accountable, here are some of my poor food choices this week:

• Medium fries (dipped in honey, yum!) from McDonalds...the whole thing.
• Mini size Chocolate fudge cookie dough Blizzard from Dairy Queen
• Entire bag of Pop Chips, consumed in one sitting...I think that it has 6 servings in the bag...sigh.
• Lunches this week have been 6" Subway sandwiches or Taco Bell.  I need to plan better and bring my lunch to work.
• Way too many chocolate milks from the cafeteria
• Lots of snacking between meals...

OK, those are the confessions for today.  Onwards and upwards to better/smarter food choices.

Happy Friday!

Size 10!!

No more Lane Giant (Lane Bryant) $50 right fit jeans for me...I used to be a Size 6 Yellow Square (AKA Size 22)....why is Lane Bryant joking around with those single digit sizes anyway.

Anyways, I just got back from Old Navy....who knew that they have all these different styles of jeans from "Diva" to "Sweetheart" to others...and on sale for $19.

And...

I fit into size 10 in all of the styles!! NSV! Pics from dressing room...

PS: I fit best in the "Diva" size 10 Short.

How I Lost 100 Pounds

Wait, before you jump to conclusions...I'm talking about a new documentary on TLC last night called "How I Lost 100 Pounds."

They profiled folks who lost weight the old-fashioned way, with the band, and other ways...

The woman who was profiled with the band had plastic surgery after losing her weight and looked great!  I didn't exactly agree with the way she portrayed the lifestyle of having a band...  She made it seem like she can just eat whatever and her band keeps her in check...while that perhaps is partially true, in my opinion there's a lot of hard work involved that perhaps she wasn't giving herself credit for or didn't want to talk about on the show....I feel she portrayed it as the "quick fix".  It could also be how they edited the footage they took of her...who knows.

Anyways, go set those DVRs and check it out.  Let me know what you think!  :)

Weigh-in Day...and the results are...

A loss of half a pound...and officially in the 150's!  Yay!   159.7 lbs

I was expecting a bigger loss this week due to:

• 3 Zumba classes
• 1 Step class
• Kept the calorie count to about 1200 per day

But I'll take it!

Gotta Sweat!

First of all, thank you all for your awesome and kind comments on yesterday's post about my focus this week to see my weight start with a "15".

A few of you have been asking over the past few months, how I continue to lose weight most weeks...the answer is something that is the not exactly the most fun...it's:

EXERCISE

Yeah,  :(

Nobody ever said it was going to be fun...nobody ever guaranteed that those muscles wouldn't be in pain the next day....I just gotta do it.

Yesterday was Zumba... Monday was Step Class...This is how I look after class:

Check out the sweaty slicked back hair...!

Check out the no make-up and red face...!

Check out how UNglamorous I am after exercise...!

Oh how I would much rather sit on the couch all evening after work and watch my guilty pleasure reality TV like "Big Brother 12" or "Kathy Griffin My Life on the D List" or "Flipping Out"...but wait...isn't that a big  part of how I got to be 256lbs in the first place?

Determined to see the 150's...

I have set a goal for myself this week...I would like to see my weight start with a "15"....yep the 150s!

I have been upping the exercise...and keeping an eye on the food choices...

I just calculated that I have already lost 82.5% of my excess body weight.  Take THAT Allergan statistics... LOL.

I'm a bit hung up on the numbers...

New Cookbook Find!

Happy Monday...ugh...wish I was still in bed sleeping...

On a more happy note, I discovered a great cookbook this weekend at Target.  "Hungry Girl 200 recipes under 200 calories."  It has lots of single serving recipes - which is great when you don't want tempting leftovers sitting around.  Also great for us single bandsters.

I made the Cheese Sticks recipe yesterday - pretty good and a great opportunity to get in some protein.   Not exactly like the deep fried cheese sticks you get at the usual chain restaurants (800+ calories, YIKES!), but still tasty.   I served them up with some marinara sauce for dipping, YUM!

I hope to try out some more recipes soon and I will share them here with you.  Get ready for some fun recipes with photos!