Guess What? It's Finally Happened.

I'm starting to forget.

Yep, I'm starting to forget that I have a Lap Band. 

I remember when I used to hear bandsters say that they "forget" that they have a band.  I would immediately think to myself: "Are you CRAZY?!  How can you forget that you have a band?"

I remember discussing this idea of forgetting with Banded Wendy in San Francisco this past Spring.  We both couldn't believe that anyone would ever forget that they have a band.

Well, it's finally happening to me.

Could this be because all the healthy habits that go along with my band lifestyle are now just second nature and I don't have to think about it as much?

I do get all kinds of reminders daily that there really is a band inside of me:

• When I swallow my first sips of water in the morning.
• When I walk outside on a really cold day.  Bam! Hello restriction!
• When I eat too fast or don't chew well enough.

After two years, the band almost feels like a body part that I've always had.

However, I can promise you that I will never forget what it felt like to be fat, sick, and tired for almost 20 years:

“It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.”

~Henry David Thoreau

Do You Still Have Leftovers From Thanksgiving?

Yeah, me too.

One of the major ways that I stay on track with my eating choices is to keep what's in my refrigerator and kitchen cabinets very boring with healthy food choices. 

I make sure that there are no tempting foods lurking in my kitchen.  That way, if I am having a moment of weakness, there is nothing hanging around in the kitchen calling my name.  I drive over to Dairy Queen or Taco Bell for those special moments.

But seriously, in the past two years I have finally taught myself to throw away food (or pawn it off onto friends).

Yes, I chuck that food out. 

With no regrets.

Of course, I know that there are starving and hungry people around the world who could use that food.

It can be confusing sometimes to live in a culture of so much abundance of food while others are suffering of malnutrition and starvation.

I have learned that me cramming my pie hole with bad food choices because "I don't want it to go bad" or "waste it" does not help ANYONE, not even the world's hungry.  It's not like I'm going to FedEx my turkey and stuffing to the starving people of Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Seriously.

Therefore, I like to think of this little nugget of wisdom that Stephanie, Electric Lady Band told me in Chicago: "You can put it in the garbage now; or eat it and put it in the toilet later." 

Enough said.

I Need Your Help

If you remember, I never really rewarded myself when I arrived at my goal weight.  Because for me, the real test has been maintenance.

I will be celebrating maintaining my goal weight for one year with a new sparkly.  A ring.  I'm not much a jewelry wearer so this is a big step for me.

An alcoholic gets one year chip, so I'm getting a ring.

I will always be an obese person in recovery.  Always.  This ring will be a physical reminder for me.

So this brings me to YOU.  I need your help thinking of a 3-5 word saying/quote/etc that I can engrave inside the ring.  You are so creative with your ideas, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Ideas so far that I've received from you on the Facebook page:

• "12-17-2011"   (1 goaliversary)
• "Never Forget"
• "Never Look Back"
• "Baby Steps"

Some initial sketches of the ring...

I hope to have the ring on my finger by the end of December, but as they say "Something worth having is something worth waiting for."

Weigh-in Day...and Eloise.

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 137.9 lbs

Here's a quick pic of me getting the turkey (A.K.A. "Eloise") ready for the oven yesterday.  Do you name your Thanksgiving turkey?

Happy Friday!

What Are You Thankful For?

It's Thanksgiving day here in the U.S.A.  


A time for me to remind myself of how thankful I am to have such good friends and family in my life.

But of course, there are also many, many weight loss related things to give thanks for:

I am thankful that I have learned:

• My food choices are never, ever going to fix my deeper problems.
• Food is not going to make me blissfully happy.
• Food is not my friend.
• Food is not going to make me feel less stressed about the business that is life.
• Food is not going to give me the courage to change things in my life.
• Food is not meant to be an escape from reality.

I am thankful that I am no longer sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I am thankful that I don't feel like I am dieting just because I am eating less.

I am thankful for my improved sleep quality at night -- no more naps during the day! I am no longer sleeping my life away.

I am thankful that food no longer has as much power over me.

Lastly, I couldn't end this post without a Thanksgiving funny...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm the Type of Girl...

...that used to fall down flat on my face.  Literally.  All...the..time.

There's a joke in my family about always packing enough band aids when heading out on vacations, 'cuz I would need them.  Lots of them.

The other inside joke is that there isn't a country that I haven't fallen down in. 

I can think of so many embarrassing examples, here are just two:

• Inside the British Museum in London in front of a crowd of tourists? Yep, it happened...just next to the Rosetta Stone.
• At the top of some waterfalls in South Africa? Of course it happened.

It's a good thing that I know how to roll once I hit the ground.  It's an acquired skill set.  I should put that on my resume.

Anyways, I just read this recent article about how obese people are 73% more likely to have an accident than the non-obese.

This made me realize: I don't fall down anymore.  I wonder if the extra weight threw my balance off?  Who knows.

I'm just glad that I don't have to buy so many Hello Kitty band aids anymore.

Time to add another Non-Scale Victory (NSV) to the list!

“Friends are like bras: close to your heart and there for support.”

Why have I never heard any of you ladies talk about the Brassiere Removal Approach (B.R.A.) of getting food unstuck?  Yeah, I just made that acronym up.  It's an official bandster word now.  You're welcome.

I have now used the B.R.A. method on three or four occasions (luckily I'm usually at home!) to get a stuck vitamin or piece of food to go down.  

Here's how it usually goes down (literally):

1. I swallow the food/vitamin.
2. It gets stuck.
3. I slime, slime, slime, then slime some more.
4. I walk around for a few minutes with my arms/hands above my head stupidly thinking this will help.
5. Then I undo the clasp on my bra, I swallow a few times and down the vitamin/food goes down.

Crazy, indeed!

I did some searches on the interwebs about this B.R.A. method and I did find THIS forum post.

Let me assure you, my bras are not too tight.  I am technically a 34D and I'm still wearing my 36Ds 'cuz they're more comfy.  And I almost never wear underwires...those b*tches are painful torture devices.  Just sayin'.

So, has anyone else used the B.R.A. technique? I want to know.

It's Time to Place Your Bets!

I'm looking forward to making a big Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday.  Family will be staying for the long weekend too.  It will be fun!

So I've made my spreadsheet with my shopping list and have just returned home from grocery shopping.

Now there are foods in my kitchen that are NEVER EVER there.  Yikes.

What foods?  All trigger foods for me:

• Breakfast cereal
• Peanut butter
• Ice cream
• Pie
• Mini Marshmallows
• Butter
• Whipped cream
• Half & half
• Bread
• The list could go on and on.

How many days until Thursday?  Sigh.

This will be a good test for me to see if this food stays OUT of my mouth until then.  

Do you think I can last until Thursday?  Place your bets...

Here are all the yummies....I think I can even hear their thoughts if I listen closely...

How Maintenance is Different than Losing

I would like to send a big shout and thank you to Dawnya who inspired me to do this post. 

If you haven't visited Dawnya's blog, please stop by and say "hi."

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Maintenance is NOT losing.

Losing is NOT maintenance.

No one ever told me about what maintaining my weight would be like. 

This is uncharted territory for me.

I never knew what it would take to maintain my weight because in the past I would lose about 25 lbs and then gain it all back.  Repeatedly.  A very viscous and frustrating cycle.

What I ate and my exercise choices when I was losing is different than what I currently eat and my exercise choices in maintenance.

However, what I learned when I was losing has helped me to better understand what I need to do to be successful at maintaining my weight. 

Confusing, right?

Well, since I love a fancy color-coded spreadsheet, I created this one to explain it: (Click on the picture to make it BIG):

My summary of the above:  I eat more carb-type foods now (and more of them) but I exercise more to make up for it.

Sure, there are many different ways to achieve weight maintenance, but for me, this seems to be working pretty well.

Weigh-in Day...and What I'm Thankful For

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 140 lbs

*******************
Onwards to giving some long overdue thanks...

So, you've heard me go on and on about Zumba...Yeah, I've Zumba'd in Los Angeles, CA.  I've Zumba'd in Orlando, FL.  I've Zumba'd in Monterey, CA.  I've Zumba'd in Napa, CA.

All different instructors.  All different styles and moves.  I guess you could say I'm a promiscuous Zumba-er.  I get around.

What have I learned?

The instructor can make the class FABULOUS or just ho-hum and not too exciting.

I am thankful for having one of the most motivating and FUN Zumba instructors...EVER.

Last night was my Zumba instructor, Anne's, last class teaching for awhile.

As you can see, she's 8+ months pregnant:

When we hugged good-bye last night, I reminded her that she has transformed me from a big T-shirt, baggy sweats wearing 230+ lbs to a now tight tank-top, spandex wearing 140 lbs.

She then reminded me that, no, it wasn't her doing, it was me who did it.