Do You Promise Not To Tell Anyone?

Can you keep a secret?

Do you double-pinky-swear promise not to tell anyone what I am about to tell you?

You wouldn't spill the beans about yours truly, right?

OK.

Here goes.








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The secret is below....









OK.  So you know how I've been rockin' the Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred DVD for a few months now?

Jillian makes me do push-ups.

She makes me do planks.

She makes me sweat.

Well here's the 411 and the secret:

Sometimes when Jillian is encouraging us (Pemberley and I) to do our plank moves, we are actually just lying there.

Pretending.

We are good pretenders.

 

Shhh....

It's our little secret.

When Was the Last Time That I Wore Spanx?

This was the random question that popped into my head on Saturday night.

Why did this question come to mind?

I was at a comedy show and the comedian was making fun of how Spanx are like a popped can of Pillsbury can of biscuits.

I've rambled on and on about my wobbly bits (extra skin) and my use of Spanx here on the blog.

I think that if you cruise my YouTube channel (which I almost never update), you will even find a video about my loose skin.

Anywhoozle...when was the last time that I felt the need to wear Spanx and cover up all these rolls?

I haven't worn those scary stomach holding-in panties and tops under my clothes since I lived in Oregon.

That was 7+ months ago.

It's been awhile.

Maybe because I've been working out more and the wobbly bits aren't as noticeable?

Could be. But I doubt it.

Maybe I haven't worn my Spanx because I'm now OK with my extra skin?

Perhaps.

Comfortable in my own skin?

An interesting thought...indeed.

Weigh-in Day & Did You See Kelly?

Goal weight:  145 lbs

Today's weight: 138.8 lbs

***************************************

Did you see the recent May 2013 cover of Self magazine?

Nice bikini Kelly. 

Way to rock your 70lbs weight loss!

Smart minds do think alike:

July 2012

Why Are the Models in Plus Size Clothing Catalogues Not Actually Plus Sized?

There is no escaping the ladies plus size clothing catalogues.

Here's what came in the mail today:

I can see her collarbones.  She is not plus size. The end.

These catalogues inundated my mailbox when I lived in Oregon.

And guess what?

They've found me.

Again.

All the way down here in California.

For months now.

They're sneaky like that.

No matter how many times I call these catalogue companies to ask that they remove my name from their mailing lists, they just keeping arriving in my mailbox.  A few times a week.

And I kinda love it.

I love how I can flip through these catalogues and see those awful elastic waistbands on the lavender capri pants.

Or how they explain the "comfort fit" of their Mom Jeans.

The best part?

How I know that I will not have to shop out of those catalogues.

Ever.

Again.

Check Out This Awesome Bandster!

Can you see me jumping up and down through your screen?

Why am I jumping for joy?

One of my besties (not banded) just emailed me this link to a slate.com article about a bandster named Jen:

JEN DAVIS

Jen has documented her weight loss journey with photos.

She's recently has been documenting her dating life with photos.

I dig it.

Weigh-in Day. Let's Talk Some Numbers.

It's been 3 years, 8 months, and 18 days since I started my pre-op diet in preparation for getting my Lap Band.

It's been 3 years, 8 months, and 18 days since I weighed 258 lbs.

And what did the scale reveal at today's weigh-in?

138.6 lbs

I've been at or below my goal weight of 145 lbs for 2 years, 4 months, and 2 days.

Talking about the years, months, and days makes me feel like an addict standing up in front of a group of fellow addicts at an AA meeting or NA meeting.

Talking about the amount of time that I've been "clean."

Or maybe a patient with a horrible disease and talking about how long my disease has been in remission?

I guess both of those analogies are pretty accurate.

Because I will always be a food addict.

Because I will always be an obese person.

Just in remission.

Is Life With the Lap-Band All Rainbows & Butterflies For Me?

No.

It.

Is.

NOT.

Let's get one thing VERY clear: Living my life with a Lap-Band takes WORK.

Check out this conversation that went down on Facebook a few days ago:

Great questions!

Thank you for reminding me that I am doing a lot of work each and every day to maintain my weight loss.  

Perhaps I am not sharing with you all the amount of hard work that it takes each and every day?

Let's discuss.

If you go back to blog posts when I was in my 14 month losing phase (Oct 2009-December 2010), I was in the phase that I like to call "Hard Core" mode.

It was on. like. Donkey. Kong.

I wrote down everything that I ate.

On a post-it note.  Low-tech.

I counted each and every calorie and protein gram that passed my lips.

Every day.

When I got to ~1200 calories for the day: I STOPPED EATING. Even if I still wanted to eat (head hunger issues), I just drank water.  This was usually right after dinner time.

Occasionally, on a rare day, I would end up in my bed at 7:30pm because as we always used to say in Weight Watchers: "When you run out of points for the day, go to bed."

I kept track of how many ounces of water that I drank each day. I did and still do aim for 100+ ounces each day.

I hardly ever ate out at restaurants during those 14 months.  I just didn't trust the cooks in the kitchen. Literally.

When friends would ask if I wanted to go out to Happy Hour downtown or go grab dinner after work, I usually didn't go.  

I couldn't go because I had to go workout. I would Zumba or ride the Dreadmill 4-5 times a week.

I couldn't go out because me in a restaurant meant that I would eat more than I should.

I didn't trust myself with my own food choices.

I also didn't drink any alcoholic drinks for those 14 months.

I was intensely focused on getting to goal.

Getting below 145 lbs.

And I got there.

I've blogged a few times about how weight maintenance is very different than my losing phase: go read that post HERE.

I've been in maintenance for almost 28 months now. 

That's twice as long as my losing "Hard Core" phase.

How is maintenance different for me?

I have one to two days each week where I get to go above 1200 calories.  I might hit 1600-1900 calories on those days.  

Usually the weekend.

I don't write down what I eat anymore.

It's been a few months since I've whipped out a post-it note.

But I still aim for 1200 calories a day.

Even in maintenance.

I got so much practice writing it all down during my losing phase, that I usually know what my calorie and protein totals are in my head now.

I still go workout 4-5 times a week.

And I sweat.

A lot.

Here's proof:

Is all that work worth it?

Absolutely.

Why is it worth it?

Because with all that work, I get to have health. Remember how badass my recent blood work/labs were?

Because with all that work, I don't need to take three hour naps on the weekend anymore. I'm not sleeping my life away.

Because with all that work, I get to have a rockin' body like this:

It's all worth it.

Onwards.

Weigh-in Day & Did You See That Lion?

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 137.6 lbs

********************************

There have been a few requests on the Facebook page lately for an update on Pemberley.

She went for her spring spa appointment and now is looking beautimous with her new furz cut.

Boots. With. The. Fur.

Roar.

And the Bikini Actually Fits!

In case you missed the announcement on Facebook, I ordered myself a bikini online.

A leap of faith.

Ordered it without even trying it on.

Size 6 petite bottoms.  

Size 6 top.

And guess what?

It.

Fits.

On my weight loss journey, I have learned to never say "never" and discourage myself that I will or will not achieve success.

Because the next amazing non-scale victory (NSV) is just around the corner.

Just waiting for me...

...to be discovered.

Onwards.

Breaking Old Habits is a Bitch

Did you know that I've blogged about cake exactly TEN times since I began blogging in October 2009.

I dig me some cake.

Chocolate cake to be specific.

I didn't end up weighing my all time high of 258 lbs without being a bad ass baker of some tasty cake.

But sometimes I forget my limits.

Example? This past Saturday I baked me up some triple chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache glaze and crushed white chocolate pieces on top.

Sorry for the food porn.

I should have warned you.

So I had  one piece  OK, maybe more like TWO pieces on Sunday night.

When I came home from work on Monday night, that cake was just sitting there on the counter.

It was calling my name.

So guess what I did?

I chucked it.

Into the trash.

Then, I covered it in dish soap.

Just in case I was tempted to fish that bad boy out of the trash.

“Old habits die hard… but they do die.” ~ Jillian Michaels

Did You Win?

Who won the "Skinny Jeans...At Last!" book giveaway?

There were 53 comments.

The random number generator chose comment number 28:

Congrats Amy S. Petrik!  

Her answer to the official contest giveaway question: What is one thing that you can do now, that you couldn't do before losing weight?

Amy, please email me at lapbandgal at yahoo dot com to claim your book!

Weigh-in Day. Let's Over Analyze it.

Somethin' weird has been going on with my weigh-ins for the past month or so.

Let's take a look at the digits:

• 2/22: 142.2 lbs
• 3/1: no weigh-in (in Phoenix)
• 3/8: 142.0 lbs
• 3/15: 140.8 lbs
• 3/22: 140.8 lbs
• 3/29: 138.6 lbs
• 4/5: 137.4 lbs  << TODAY

That's about five pounds lost in about a month.

Since I am not really sure how this happened, let's review what I know that I've been doing lately - mainly because I've been so very crazy busy.

What have I NOT been doing the last three to four weeks?

• Not planning my meals out ahead of time
• Not packing my lunches of chicken breasts, eggs, salads
• Not going to Zumba as often.
• Not getting as much sleep as I am used to. This girl needs her beauty sleep.

What have I been up to then?

• Eating out of the vending machine at work. A lot. And before you jump to chocolate and junk food conclusions, the vending machines at my work are filled with the food that my employer produces and sells: lots of vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free meal options. Wraps, burritos, etc. Sometimes I hit up that vending machine twice a day. YUM.
• I've been rockin' the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD workouts more.  It's easier and quicker than making time to go to Zumba.

I've had two different people tell me lately that I look leaner...fitter....that I am "leaning out." Whatever that means.

I guess that the lessons that I needed to learn from this past month:

• It's OK to change up the food choices and not be so planned out.
• It's OK to change up the exercise routines.

Change is OK.

That's Fancy.

Have you seen what those Lap-Band peeps are up to over at lapband.com?

A new fancy website redesign.

I'm kinda diggin' the new search tool where you can find a Lap-Band specialist near you.

Just type in your zip code digits and wham bam thank you ma'am: you get a handy list of Rockstar surgeons in your 'hood.

But do you know what is my most favorite-ist part of the new site?

THIS PART.

It compares the three most popular types of weight loss surgeries with videos.

As you know, I'm down with the idea of being an informed patient.

PS: Guess where I'm going tomorrow? Time for a itsy bitsy tiny smidge of a fill to my band.  I'm thinking .2 ccs.  I'm currently at 7.5 ccs in my 10 cc band. 

Why am I getting a band adjustment? I'm getting hungry after about 2 hours after eating about 1 cup of a high-protein meal.

Book Giveaway Alert!

One.

Of.

The.

Best.

Weight.

Loss.

Surgery.

Books.

Ever.

 "Skinny Jeans...At Last!" Secrets to long term weight loss surgery success. By Dr. Cliff Thomas, M.D.

Have you read it?

I have.

Twice.

You should too.

All the cool kids are doing it.

This book is written by a rad bariatric surgeon who's done loads of weight loss surgeries ever since the early 1990s.  If Cliff doesn't know what the secrets are to help you to be successful with your surgery, then I'm not sure who does.

This book is a quick and easy read.  I used up and dried out my pink day-glow highlighter on this bad ass of a book.  It's a fountain full of juicy nuggets of weight loss wisdom and tips.

Now, I ask you the all-important question: Would you like to win a copy of this book?

Don't deny it.

You know that you do.

Here's how you can enter this giveaway contest:

Answer the following question in the comments below:

What is one thing that you can do now, that you couldn't do before losing weight? OR What do you look forward to doing once you lose weight?

VERY OFFICIAL RULES:

• One comment = One entry
• One entry per person
• PRIZE: One (1) copy of  "Skinny Jeans...At Last!" Secrets to long term weight loss surgery success. By Dr. Cliff Thomas, M.D.
• Contest periods ends: Friday, April 5, 2013 at 11:59PM
• On Saturday, April 6, 2013,  I'll draw one (1) winner using a random number generator and announce the winner here on the blog.
• Only comments posted below on this blog post counts. Comments on other websites, Facebook, emails, etc do not count.

Ready, set, go!  Good Luck!

PS: My answer to the question: Now that I have lost weight, I can now wrap a tiny Motel 6 sized bath towel around me and it covers me completely. Non-Scale Victory!