The Chicken Dance

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words and support on my last post.  I believe that I've found my focus again and if you've been watching my Facebook posts, you've seen how I am back to logging my food intake.  A neccessary evil.  But it seems to be working...I saw a high of 144.6 lbs on Sunday morning (yikes), but this morning I am already down to 141.8 lbs.

Second, can we please talk about my rotisserie chicken addiction for a sec?  It's kinda a good addiction I suppose since I get most of my protein from chicken....oh and dairy 'n eggs too.

I usually buy one or two rotisserie chickens at my local grocery store each week.  They're about $6-$7 each.

I take the chicken home and immediately carve it up into four or five, 3 ounce servings.  Lots of little Tupperwares hang out in my fridge and are ready to go when I get hungry.  They're easy to take to work for lunches and make a quick dinner when I'm busy in the evenings.  I've been doing this for over two years now.  It's easy.  It works for me.

Anyways, I've been thinking about the quality of those rotisserie chickens that are mass produced and distributed on the huge corporate scale.

A little background for you: I was an Agricultural Business major in college.  I took crazy yet interesting classes that I never use in my real life today like "Soil Science" and "Poultry Science." Yes. I have disected a chicken (feathers and all).  Wait, let me clarify.  My lab partner disected a chicken while I stood a good five feet away.  Anyways, I digress.

One fateful day in Poultry Science class, we took a field trip to Foster Farms in central California.  We got to see the ENTIRE process of how chickens are produced.  We saw live chickens waiting in trucks outside the facility and saw them move through to slaughter, cleaning, and processing.  We saw EVERYTHING.  And I still eat chicken today.  Yum.  I know for a fact that my local large corporate grocery store does not source from a high quality operation like Foster Farms.

So, I thought that I would give this chicken cooking thing a try.  How difficult could it be?

I bought myself a locally produced, organic chicken (by the way, I named her Eloise 2.0).  She cost $13. Ouch.  That's twice the price of my rotisserie chickens.

Being a firm believer in the saying "You Get What You Pay For," I pressed on.

I decided to cook her in the "beer can" chicken style.  But alas, I had no beer, so I used a can of apple juice. I added lots of lemons, lemon juice, salt/pepper, seasonings, and even gave her a fashionable lemon hat and into the oven she went:

Here's how she looked when she emerged from the oven about an hour and a half later. The kitchen smelled freaking AMAZING.

Now, on to the important part...how did it taste?  FABULOUS.  So much more flavor than those rotisserie chickens.

Was it worth the extra work?  Yes, it was.  But I will probably only do this occasionally.  My life's too busy usually.

Was it worth the extra cost? Yes, the better quality and taste was totally worth it.  There's something about the lack of antibiotics and being organically produced that also makes it worth it. 

I'll have to pinch my pennies though and save up.

Struggling

Whoever said this one was right on the money:

"Being fat is hard.  Losing weight is hard.  Maintaining is hard.  Choose your hard."

I've really been struggling with my food choices ever since I returned from London.  It's been about a week now.

I could go into the gory details of all that's gone down this past week...including Peanut M&Ms, Thin Mint cookies, and eating out.  Did I mention eating out?  Oh my.  There's been way too much eating out.

I could make up some lame excuses like "it's the time of the month, the chocolate was calling my name" or "I'm too busy to make good choices" or "blah, blah, blah"  REEDONKULOUS.

I've been trying to wrap my head around why this is happening and I think it has a something to do with the fact that my "honeymoon" phase is coming to an end.  I knew that this was going to happen.  I've heard people talk about how the newness and fun of weight loss wears off after awhile and turns into the "same old, same old."

It turns into life.  Just every day boring-ness.  

I just realized that I've been in maintenance now for almost 15 months now.  That's longer than my losing phase of 14 months.

Sure, I'm still in my goal range of 135-145 lbs and my size 6 jeans still fit onto my ass.

I feel very lucky that I am catching myself now and not after a serious weight gain. 'Cuz this girl can easily gain one pound a day with poor food choices.

It's frustrating.

I can honestly say that I haven't struggled with my food choices this much since the pre-band days.  Seriously.  

WTF.  This scares me. 

Where has my focus gone?

If you find it, please send it back to me.

New Banded Bloggers Alert!

Please stop by and say hello to these lovely ladies.  They could use your support and encouragement:

http://bandpipes.blogspot.com/

http://victoriasnewlife.blogspot.com/

http://thejuliaanneshow.blogspot.com/

http://lapbandlaughter.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Weigh-In Day...and the Results Are...

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 142.4 lbs

Not too bad considering that I ate my way through London.

Happy Friday!

"You can’t cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

LONDON!

Where to begin?

OMG. So much to share!

Let's start with the amazing opportunity that I had to meet up with the one and only Nora from A Traveling Bandita.  She has lost over 128 pounds with a lot of hard work and her band.  A freaking rock star in my book!  She's a very lucky lady to be living in London. I'm so jealous. We spent almost two hours catching up over tea and coffee at a local cafe.  Nora has so many amazing trips coming up that she will soon tell us all about.  I can't wait!

Onwards to a London Non-Scale Victory (NSV)...Yes, please.  Every time that I was in London previously, I would visit Trafalgar Square and wish that I could climb up on the monuments like the other tourists.  But alas, I was never strong enough and/or too heavy.  Well, I can now say that I've climbed those monuments and alive today to tell the tale:

How about some food porn? Oh yeah.  Sign me up.

I can officially say that whoever coined that STUPID saying that "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" never enjoyed a traditional British caramel sticky toffee pudding with homemade vanilla ice cream and custard.  This is a horrible photo, 'cuz it kinda looks like a nasty hamburger patty, but oh no...I can say that this is the best dessert that I have ever eaten...in...my...entire...life.  I am already hunting down a recipe online to recreate it  If you have a a good recipe, please help this sista out:

Rich Caramel Sauce + Cake = PERFECTION

On the other hand, whoever did coin that stupid phrase, has indeed tasted a traditional full English breakfast.  Bleh.  I didn't even want to taste it.  And I didn't.

And just went you think that you've seen it all...while we were waiting for our return flight, Carnival dancers showed up in the duty free shopping mall at London Heathrow's Terminal One for an impromptu 15 minute performance.  They were crankin' out some serious moves.  A lot of Zumba moves to be specific.  I shoulda joined in, but unfortunately I had forgotten my feathers at home.  Darn.  I think that this performance was in celebration of Fat Tuesday.  By the way, what are you going to give up for Lent?  Church? Yeah, me too.

Lastly, here's a "before" (2006) and "now" (2012) comparison pic.  Yes, I know, my sad Photoshop skills have plateaued:

Overall, I had a fun and memorable time in London.  Why is it that vacations are never long enough?  I wish I could have stayed longer.  Oh well, time to start planning my next trip.  Where will I go next?  Anybody know how many days until Chicago BOOBs 3.0?

I'm Back From London!

I have so many stories to tell you.

I have so many photos to show you.

I even met up with a banded blogger in London. Lucky me!

I'm too tired and jet-lagged to make sense right now.

So you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for all the juicy details of all that went down in London town.

Stay tuned...

- Posted from my iPhone

Weigh-in Day...

Or is it?

Hmmmm...

I think I'll be "minding the gap" instead.

Two New Banded Bloggers!

Here are two new bloggers that could use some BOOBs love and support.

http://pregnantwithlapband.blogspot.com/
This blogger is sharing what it's like to be pregnant with a band.

AND

http://mylapbandjourney2012.blogspot.com/
This blogger will be banded on February 24th and is doing her pre-op liquid diet.

Please stop by their blogs and say hello.

Thanks!

Weather Forecast For Tonight: Dark.

So yesterday morning around 9am I was innocently eatin' my 2% Plain Fage Greek yogurt at my desk while working on the latest spreadsheet (like I always do) and bam! I noticed that the restriction fairy was visiting.  Big time. The yogurt was SLOWLY going down.

How odd.

On Sunday after lunch, I was actually thinking about how I needed to go get a fill.  'Cuz that's where my mind wanders after eating two slices of yummy cheese pizza. 

So, anyways, back to yesterday morning.  Hello restriction!  Where could this be coming from? 

Stress? Nope.  Time of the month? Nope.

And then it hit me.  Duh. 

I had driven in the darkness yesterday morning to work through the slushy snowy roads.  Yep, it had snowed. Not something that happens around here very often.  Once a year if we're lucky.  Nothing like cold snowy weather to get my band to tighten up.  Anybody else have this happen?

I think that the TV weather men could consult bandsters in their weather predictions.  Just sayin'.

Give More, Expect Less...

Remember this post where I was inspired by Shelly over at The World According to Eggface?  

Shelly donated one food item for each pound that she had lost in her weight loss journey.

Well, after lots of coupon clipping and hunting down sales flyers at my local grocery stores, I finally gathered all 114+ non-perishable food items to represent the 114 pounds that I have lost.

Here I am just before dropping it all off at my local food bank:

It felt great to give back to my local community and knew that the food would go to such a great cause.

I would like to give special thanks and a shout out to Peace, Love, and Coupons.  They're my go-to coupon source. I puffy heart that blog!

Weigh-in Day...and When Was the Last Time You Ate at McDonalds?

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 141.7 lbs

I think the last time I ate at McDonalds was a few months ago.  If I remember correctly, I had a caramel sundae.  Yum.  Pre-banded, I ate there all the time. I kinda miss those Big Macs. There's NO WAY I could eat those now.  When was the last time you ate at McDonalds?

Don't Blink...'Cuz You Just Might Miss It.

Are you sick of hearing about Jazzercise yet?

Well, let me tell you a lovely tale related to...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

....Jazzercise!

Let's start at the very beginning....because, as Fraulein Maria said, it's a very good place to start.

Let's take a step back in time....all the way to a few weeks ago.  I saw a Facebook post on Jazzercise Inc.'s fan page saying that they were looking for testimonials and photos from people who love Jazzercise.

You don't have to ask me twice: once a groupie, always a groupie.  I immediately emailed off a few before and now (there are no "after" pics) and the link to this blog just in case they wanted to know more about me.

I didn't hear anything for quite awhile and figured that there were other more impressive Jazzercisers who submitted their emails as well.  So I kinda forgot about it.  Days and weeks passed...

But then out of the blue...SURPRISE! I got an email response from Jazzercise that they'll be featuring my photos and/or my success story on the Jazzercise website AND their upcoming DVD sales presentation on QVC!


OMG.  National TV?  Yikes.

It's going to air on QVC on Wednesday 2/15 @ 12PM EST.  I've set the DVR. I guess it's my turn for my 15 seconds of fame.

I better run, I gotta go work on my jazz hands!

Who Pushes You?

Meet Julie.

Meet Julie's guns.

In honor of my one year Jazziversary (yeah, that's a word), I thought that I'd tell you all about my Jazzercise instructor, Julie, who's been motivating me to always push myself farther with my fitness levels.  She's been kickin' my ass up and down the dance floor three or four times a week for the past year.  She's also been doing Jazzercise for over 20 years now.  She must have started when she was 9.  Seriously.

A great instructor can be worth her weight in gold.  24 karat gold to be specific.  

An instructor can make it or break it for me.  I've had exercise class instructors in the past who have just been ok.  Nothin' special.  Ho hum.  I will then usually stop attending classes and my exercise slows down.  That's no good for this girly.

But then there's instructors who are freakin' A-MAY-ZING.  Julie is one of those people...genuine gold.  She tells us funny stories in class while we rock out doin' our jazz squares, lunges, and kick ball changes.  But of course I can't repeat any of those stories to you, because what happens at Jazzercise, stays at Jazzercise.

I've learned over the past 12 months that Julie's favorite's words are (by the way, these are usually shouted):

• "Is your booty down?"
• "Come on!"
• "Lower!"
• "Higher!"
• "You gotta add your own little somethin' somethin'"
• "Uppercut!"
• "Put your booty down"

Yep, that's Julie in a nutshell.  Now that I think about it, she would fit in a nutshell.  She's 5'3" and teeny tiny.

So, I ask you...who pushes you in your weight loss journey?  I want to know.

My Current Addiction

That is all.

Let's File This One in the Category Called...

"Things That Are Not Sexy":

Yep, that new high blood pressure medication has my lower legs and feet swollen to the size of tree trunks.

Ouchy.  Very ouchy.

I'm bustin' outta my skinny jeans, but not at the waistline, but in the calves.

My feet are achin' to get out of my shoes...they're soooo tight.  Yikes.  I think I may start wearing my flip flops (yes, in the February winter cold).

I can't wear my sh*t kicker boots.  They won't zip up.

The doctor wants me to keep taking the medication because he says it'll go away.  So, here I am.  Being patient.

Patience is not something that I have a lot of.

I remember not too long ago that I asked myself to promise to never forget what it feels like to be fat.  Well, ask and I shall receive.

How Did You Know That the Lap Band Would Work For You?

Amanda is researching the possibility of getting a band.  She is self-pay.  


She's been asking some pretty awesome questions over on the Facebook page.  They're so awesome, that I was hoping that other bandsters could also comment and respond to her questions:


Here's what Amanda wrote:


How did you decide, I mean, where did you come up with the idea that you should do the lap band? How did you decide you COULD do it and do it well? How did you decide you could spend that kind of money? If I do it, I am self pay. I know I could stick to the diet and exercise and it wouldn't even kill me. It's just the money that hurts so bad at this point. I keep thinking, if I know I could do it with the band, then couldn't I do it without the band and save the 
bucks....but that doesn't make me feel hopeful....


My answer:


I decided that the Lap Band was for me when I failed at every other way of dieting and losing weight. I would lose and gain the same 30 lbs over and over and over again.  I learned that by attending a gastric bypass support group, that gastric bypass wasn't for me. I was relieved that there was another option: the Lap Band.  I then researched the Lap Band on every online source that I could find.


I was and am VERY determined to make the band work for me because I feel like this is my last chance to "get it right" and lose/keep the weight off long term.


I recommend that you attend a Lap Band support group if you can.  Attend a few.  Take all the time you need to gather all the information that you need to make the best decision for you. 


If you are thinking that you can do it without surgery, how about you give that a try? Honestly, see how it goes.  


When you are having episodes of hunger between meals, that is when the Lap Band would be there and quiet that hunger.  


When you are eating large volumes of food, that is when the Lap Band would be there to remind you to eat less (not always, but usually).


The band will not be there to make good food choices for you. You will have to do that.  Always.


If you do decide to get a Lap Band, please make sure that you are 100% comfortable with your decision.  


I too was self-pay and paid over $16K for my band.  Would I do it again? Absolutely.


**************
Your turn...


Why did you choose to get a Lap Band?  Were you a self-pay patient?


How did you know that the Lap Band would work for you?

Weigh-In Day...and Flashback Friday!

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 142.0 lbs

Onwards to a few flashback photos for you.  Here I am getting ready to go ATV'ing in the jungles of Kauai, Hawaii March 2009 (~250 lbs): 

'Twas an AMAZING ride!
Covered head-to-toe in Kauai dust and dirt!

What I mostly remember from that day's adventure? Being told repeatedly to "Slow down!"  Gold stars for me and my driving skills.

I had NO IDEA that in less than six months time, I would be banded and on my way to improved health.

Wanna See My Wobbly Bits? Spanx Review!

I've got my share of loose skin.  For me, it's a necessary evil after my large amount of weight loss.  There's only so much that exercise will do for my body's appearance.  My muffin top is here to stay. Oh well. C'est la vie.  For me, the health benefits of my weight loss far outweigh any skin appearance issues.

Luckily, I've become somewhat skilled at disguising my extra skin on a daily basis.  I will usually wear a tight camisole under my shirts but sometimes a girl needs extra containment of the muffin toppage.

So when I was flipping through the channels the other day and came across QVC and their full hour Spanx show....I was instantly glued to the TV.  And of course, those sales ladies convinced me to fork over my credit card number.  They make it SO easy to spend money on that channel.  Damn it.

Anyways, I decided on the "Open Bust Camisole" size small.  Therefore, I could wear my usual everyday bras with it.

Here's what it looks like on the model.  By the way, why do the models on that website never look like they need Spanx? Just sayin':

Well, my QVC package arrived yesterday and here are the results:

Without Spanx (side):

To put it on, I step into it, not over the head. Not the most easiest task in the world, but doable.  Here's what it looks like on:

Here's the after (don't forget to check out my awesome grandma floppy arms):

I am surprised how comfortable it is on!  All the wobbly bits feel contained.  There's something so wonderful about that feeling.

What I like about it is that it contains the tummy and muffin top while not squishing the girls.  I think it even lifts the girls up a bit. Bonus!  It stays down and tucked into my jeans.

I probably won't wear it every day...maybe once or twice a month (special occasions/etc).