Sad News and a Visit to the LapBand Surgeon

Pemberley passed away last week.

I've been sad, but remembering the fun times we had together is helping.

She will always be my favorite workout buddy!

June 2015:

4 days post-op. October 2009:

In other news, since about late July/early August, I noticed that I was getting hungry quickly after a small sensible protein meal.

So then I thought, oh well, my seasonal sinus allergies will be ramping up soon, let's see how it goes. That band will get tight again. Allergies always makes my band tighten up.

And I waited.

And the seasonal sinus allergies went crazy.  Boxes of tissues later...

I was still hungry!

So I thought, with a big vacation coming up to Italy, I figured there would be jet lag and travel stress/etc (stuff that usually tightens up my band), so let's wait and think about a fill when I returned.

That vacation came and went.

But I was still hungry!

Then Pemberley passed away.  So I thought, oh no, this is very stressful/emotional (stuff that always tightens up the band), I bet that band will tighten up. Let's wait and see.

Nope.

I was still hungry!

SO, long story short, I finally went to see my Lap-Band doctor last Friday 9/25/15 for a fill. He added 0.4 ccs to my Lap-Band.

My hunger is reduced and my thoughts of food and what my next meal will be are GONE.

I love that at almost SIX years post-op, I can still get my Lap-Band adjusted and have that same reduced hunger and full feeling as I did at the very beginning of my weight loss journey.

Italy is a dream...

...that keeps returning for the rest of your life."

Someone famous said that quote. 

And they were correct.

I'm back from two whole weeks in Italy.

There was Michelangelo's David:

 

Wine in Florence.

 

A climb up the many stairs to the top of the Duomo (Cathedral) in Florence.

There's always time for a cappuccino in the rain of Florence.

Tuscany countryside adventures:

 

Chillin' poolside.

 

Ummm. Yeah. More wine.

But I DID workout six times. Water bottles for hand weights with my usual Jillian Michael's videos from YouTube:

 

Day spa relaxing under the Tuscan sun.

 

Cocktails at sunset at the Forum in Rome:

Gelato in Rome:

Cooking class in Rome on our last night in Rome. Homemade ravioli and tiramisu!

And by the way.

One very important event happened on day 1 of our vacation. 

In case you missed the many, many hints in the previous photos.

The event happened before the wine.

Before the cappuccino.

Before the poolside relaxing.

The boyfriend got down on one knee at River Arno in Florence at sunset.

And proposed marriage.

Of course I said, "Yes!"

Fortunati Noi

 

(Italian for Lucky Us)