A Rumor Is As Hard To Unspread As Butter

On Tuesdays, the Weight Watchers at Work meeting happens is in the same conference room that I do my Shred DVD workout.

And like every other Tuesday, as I walked into the room, the Weight Watchers leader was finishing packing up all her Weight Watchers swag after the meeting.

I usually just say "hi" (don't know the leader's name) and she's usually out of the room within a few minutes.

Well, guess what happened this Tuesday?

I said more than "hi."

I asked her this one burning question that I've always wondered about:

"Can people with weight loss surgery join Weight Watchers?"

Why did I ask this?

Because everything that I've read on the interwebs on this topic has always been:

Don't tell WW that you have weight loss surgery. They won't let you join. 

They don't like weight loss surgery.

But guess what that WW leader did when I asked that question?

First she looked at me like I had grown horns.

Then she said "Of course! Only pregnant women can't do Weight Watchers. We welcome everyone to join who is looking to lose weight and get healthy."

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.

That rumor is officially squashed.

Now you know the truth:

Weight Loss Surgery peeps can go to WW meetings.

I've always said that my lifestyle with the Lap-Band is similar to Weight Watchers:

• I have to track my food choices and water intake
• I have to exercise
• I have to take vitamins
• I have weekly weigh-ins for accountability (in my bathroom at home).

No matter our method of getting healthy, we are all trying to achieve the same thing: Weight Loss.  And how awesome is WW for having a weekly meetings (support groups) and the accountability of a weekly weigh-in? That's the bomb dot com.

PS: The WW leader also wanted to clear up another rumor that's floating around out there.  She made it very clear that the weigh-ins are done individually and privately at the WW meetings.  Weigh-ins are NOT conducted 'Biggest Loser' style on a huge mega-TV screen for all to see.  Just. Not. True.

24 Minutes & I'm Done

I talk about Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. 

Pretty. 

Much. 

All. 

The. 

Damn.

Time.

Are you sick of it yet?

You should be.

But obviously you're not because I've been getting buckets of emails and Facebook messages from you guys about what exactly goes down during a Shred workout.

Therefore, I've created a photo montage for you.

You're welcome.

And so it begins: With a remote control.  

The MOST difficult part of the entire workout? Making the decision to make the time to workout and press "PLAY" on the remote.

And now some warm up moves:

How about some walk-out push ups? Pemberley likes to join in:

Liftin' some weights:

Cardio mixed in for good measure: High knee lifts

Don't forget the abs:

And more weight liftin':

Phew! 24 minutes of sweat.  The end.

Fun With Fat Photo

I just found this oldie...

Because it's important FOR ME to never forget what it felt like to be fat.

I was so tired.

I was so uncomfortable.

I was sick all of the time.

Here I am at about 255 lbs in June 2007:

Note to self: Please, please, please never forget that feeling. I'm counting on it.

Weigh In Day & Spicy Red Hot Pants

Goal weight: 145 lbs

Today's weight: 141.0 lbs

Now, check out these bad boys that I picked up on a shopping trip this week:

First the close up: size 4!

A spicy red non-scale victory (NSV)!

That's Not How I Roll

There is one thing that I see a lot of peeps doing that I've never done.

I don't count my exercise calories.

To each there own.

Whatevs.

There are a lot of apps out there on the interwebs that tell you how many calories that you burn doing a certain exercise or activity.

For example, here are the stats from a FANTASTIC hike this past weekend:

I know how my  crazytown  brain works.

I know how I will cheat the system and these reeeeedonkulous thoughts will pop into my head.

It turns into a game of negotiations in my head:

"Well, you did burn 539 calories, that means you can eat a pack of pop tarts. BOTH of them. Put butter on them too!"

OR

"Since you burned 539 calories, you could totally go to In-N-Out Burger. Right. Now. Yay!"

To sum it up: I get stupid in the head.

So when I began Zumba back in January 2010, I made a very conscious decision that I did NOT want to know how many calories I was burning.

Sure, the Zumba peeps love to brag about how Zumba burns over 1000 calories an hour. 

That is fantabulous.  I am jealous of your arm bands that tell you all those fun calories burned details.

But it's more important to me whether I exercise or not. 

Plain and simple.

For me it's whether I check that "Yes, I worked out today" box on my to-do list.

I do like knowing distances that I walk. (I do not run. Unless a dinosaur is chasing me, of course)

I do like to know how many minutes that I have exercised for.  That's kewl.

But I'm better off not knowing that calorie count on the exercise.

Cuz' I will eat those calories up in a heartbeat.

PS: How accurate are those calories burned totals anywho?

Fat Girl Fridays

Let's talk about ice cream.

Or perhaps some Taco Bell?

Yes. 

Please.

Once I was at goal for approximately one year (October/November 2011), I started doing something that I originally self-labelled as, "Fat Girl Fridays."

Ever since then, this funny label has kinda caught on among my friends and family.

I can remember one particular coworker/friend in Oregon who would love to cruise by my desk on a Friday morning and ask "Is it Fat Girl Friday yet? Let's go get cherry turnovers in the cafeteria!"

Or sometimes I get texts like these:

My friends know that I am pretty strict with my portions and food choices most of the time.

What happens on "Fat Girl Friday"?

On Fridays, my food choices are similar to what I ate when I was a fatty.  Examples:

• I may have a Nacho Supreme with extra nacho cheese sauce from the Taco Bell Drive-Thru

OR

• I might visit the vending machine at work for that Twix bar.

OR

• Perhaps I'll treat myself to half of a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

OR

• Two glasses of wine? Yes. Please.

I know for a fact that if I made these once-a-week food choices while I was in my losing phase (Sept '09-Dec '10), then I would have MAINTAINED my weight.  Remember how HARD CORE I was for that long 14 month losing phase?

Not a drop of alcohol passed my lips.

No food choices were eaten that weren't on my plan to get to my goal weight.

I was very focused on getting to goal during my losing phase.

Therefore maintaining my weight was not acceptable for me and my goals.

I didn't have "Fat Girl Fridays" when I was losing or during the first year of maintenance.

Even though I am rockin' some pretty lame ass-hat food choices on "Fat Girl Friday", I still do the following:

• Drink water like a badass.  100+ oz for the day.
• Exercise like Jillian Michael's #1 fan would.
• I have a tally in my head of the number of calories that I've consumed. Sometimes the total gets as high as 1800-1900, or even 2000 calories for the day.  But that's OK. No biggie.

I have maintained my weight for over a year and a half now doing "Fat Girl Fridays."

I guess this is what maintenance is all about for me.

Weigh-in Day & It Finally Happened

Goal weight: 145 lbs

Today's weight: 140.6 lbs

Did you see what I posted on Facebook on Wednesday night?

Yep.

The dreaded official "PB" or Productive Burp happened.

It only took me until 3 yrs, 9 months post-op.

I was eating a protein bar way too fast, not paying attention to my chewing.

And.

BAM.

Stuck.

Saliva pooling up in my mouth.

Standing over the bathroom sink.

Strings of slime (AKA spit) pouring out of my mouth.

Chest tightness.

Super tight.

Yikes.

Being super unexperienced with the PB, I decided drinking some water would help.

Nope.

A few sips of water and I quickly realized that was a BAD idea.

More standing over the sink with slime pouring out of my mouth.

But a simple cough-like move and up it all came, protein bar, water, all of it.

Phew!

I thought that this experience would be more like vomiting.

But it is not.

By the way, did you see Catherine's recent post about her worst stuck episode ever?  Go check it out.

Everything You See Is Not As It Seems

Let's talk about support group.

Here's how it usually goes down on the second Saturday of each month:

I walk in the door to the check-in table.

I slap on the obligatory name tag.

I grab copies of all the various flyers for upcoming weight loss surgery support groups and classes.

I sit down.

And ya know, I get to sit next to this fabulous lady.

But let me tell ya.

This past Saturday morning?

That is NOT how it went.

I did walk in the door to the check-in table.

I did slap on that name tag.

But when I reached over to grab all the flyers for upcoming weight loss surgery support groups and classes?  ...these flyers to be specific  ...sorry for the blurriness

"Back on Track" Class Series:

"Success Habits" Class Series:

The woman (a WLS post-op, actually) sitting behind the check-in table said to me, "Oh you don't need these, you seem to have figured it out.  Those aren't for you." AND she takes them from my hands. 

Wow.

I actually smiled and laughed a little when she did it because I thought that she was joking.

But she wasn't.

Perhaps she was being kind.

Or complimentary.

Perhaps she was trying to be nice.

And yeah, I guess she could be judging a book by it's cover.

But these flyers as they state on them "are for those struggling with obesity"

Am I not someone who struggles with obesity each and every day of my life?

It's moments like these that remind me to never judge a person based on their appearance.

Never.

Weigh-in Day. What Did the Scale Reveal?

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 141.6 lbs

I love, love, love all the feedback from my last post where you guys are adding the weight loss tickers to the top of your blogs.  Awesome-ness.  Indeed.

Oh and a BIG Thank You goes out to Julie for explaining to me what "O.G." means.  Check out her recent blog post.  I sure can be clueless at times.

PS: Coming up soon: another book giveaway! This time it's a book written by one of my favorite veteran  bandsters.  Stay tuned for the 411 details!

Have You Seen These New Banded Bloggers?

Do you know what my favorite type of blog is?

A blog that has an official weight loss ticker at the top of the page.

Oh the accountability of owning that number on the scale.

And sharing that number with the world.

My weight loss ticker has been at the top of my page since October 2009.

Does your blog have a weight loss ticker?

Anywhoozle, it is now time to announce that this is an official Banded Blogger Alert!

Check out these new bloggers.

Stop by their blogs.

Say Hello.

Tell 'em that Lap Band Gal sent ya.

Don't worry, they don't bite:

Emily at Just Got Banded and It Feels So Good

Julie at Lap Band Eats 
 
NJ Lap Band Girl

Oh, and don't forget this non-newbie banded blogger. You're missing out if you don't stop by and check her out:

Bohemian Burble

If you have a blog and would love new visitors to your blog (banded or not), post the link in the comments below.  We would love to stop by and say hello to you.

The Ultimate Non-Scale Victory That Never Gets Old

Retail therapy at a size 6 Petite is awesome-sauce.

How different shopping is now compared to when I was limited to Lane  Giant  Bryant size 24W.

It's.

So.

Much.

More.

FUN.

Now.

So what else do I do when I need a little pick-me-up?

Every couple of months, I head over to my favorite local outlet mall and try stuff on.

Lots of trying on.

Not usually a lot of actual buying tho'.

I try on buckets and oodles of stuff:

Dresses.

Shirts.

Jeans.

Dress slacks.

I walk in and find the nearest sales lady and announce, "I would like to try all of your size 6 Petite pants and jeans on, can you please find them for me?"

And guess what?

Those sales ladies always find me pants that I would never ever find. They have mad skillz. 

It keeps them busy too, so that I can then cruise the sales floor.

Did you know that I shop by color?

The color must first speak to me, then I look for the correct size.

Here are the highlights from today's outlet mall cruise. 

Can you guess which items actually came home with me?

Tight in the chest.  Bummer.
Damn you Clearance rack and
only having size XS Petite!

Soccer Mom meets Luau.
Size Medium Petite

A dark grey (not black)
Size Small Petite.

Where's my sailor hat?
Size Medium Petite

GREAT color.
Officially a "ladies who lunch" dress
Size: 6 Petite

The skinniest of skinny jeans.
Am I the only girl who does the
"turnaround" to see how
the booty looks in jeans?
Painted on. Yikes.
Size 6. 

Bermuda Jean Shorts. Size 8.
Red top: Size Large

Could you guess what I ended up buying?

• The dark grey/orange floral dress: $16.99
• Bermuda Jean shorts: $14.99
• Red top: $12.97

But I really, really, really wanted that orange dress too. Damnit.

A Secret To My Success

If I gathered up all of the reasons why I have been successful with my Lap-Band, I would probably come up with a list of about seven or eight secrets to my success.

One of those key reasons that I've been successful?  AFTER CARE.

I was lucky enough to have a FABULOUS local bariatric surgery practice only three miles away from my house.

In my opinion, the magic of the Lap-Band ('cuz you know it's magical like a rainbow unicorn) is directly related to the quality of the medical professional who does the aftercare appointments and band adjustments.

Sometimes it is the surgeon who does the after care.  

Sometimes it's a Nurse Practitioner.  

Sometimes it's a Physicians Assistant.

Either way, those aftercare appointments should be a little medical advice with a WHOLE LOTTA therapy and talking it out.

For me, I only saw my surgeon at two pre-op appointments and the day of surgery.  That's it.  

He did a GREAT job.  Seriously. No sarcasm here.

But who was it that was each and every after-care appointment for over two years post-op? 

A Nurse Practitioner.

That's a total of 23 appointments.

Yep.

Those after care visits to my local bariatric surgery practice was a HUGE reason for my success.

That's why I am sooooooooooooooo happy that you now have a chance to have some of that magic too.

That nurse practioner who I visited 23 times has recently started a podcast series on iTunes.

Check out the podcast here: Weight Loss Surgery Podcast; Episode 002

Make sure you choose episode 002. It's all about the Lap-Band.

I wish I had heard all of the info that's laid out in this podcast prior to my surgery.

I would love to know what you think of this podcast. 

So please, please, pretty please give me some comments below.  I'll be your BFF if ya do.

Weigh-in Day & a Nifty Chart For You

My weight is posted up there.

Ya know, look up in the ticker near the top of this page.

If you're viewing this on your smartphone, then you can't see my weight today.  That's a stupidphone in my opinion.

Oh well.

No biggie.

So you do know that weight maintenance is boring?

Fo' sho'.

Yawn.

There is never a new exciting all-time-low weigh-in to report to you each week.

But I did make you a neato bandito chart instead.

You're welcome.

This chart's got some pretty colors on it.

If I had some hot pink glitter or a Bedazzler I would have made it even more fantabulous for you.

Sequins make everything better.

So does cake.

But wait.

I digress...

What did making this graph teach me?

1. That my weight stays in the same 6 lb range usually:  137-143 lbs.  Perhaps this is my weight maintenance happy place?
2. That I enjoy making charts in Excel WAY. TOO. MUCH. Is there a 12-step recovery program for this condition? Help.