How Do You Know When To Stop Eating?

This is a post for the newbies.  I haven't seen any blog posts about soft stops vs hard stops lately and thought that I'd do a little PSA:

How do I know when I am satisfied and not overstuffed when eating a meal?

I listen and feel for the "soft stops."  What do I mean by a soft stop?

A soft stop is a signal that by my body and/or my band gives me to tell me that I have eaten enough and I am satisfied (not stuffed!)  I think that these soft stops can be different for each bandster.  Figuring out my soft stops when I was early in my journey was tough.  It was a trial and error thing.

For me, my SOFT stops include:

• A sigh or deep breath
• Runny nose
• I lean back in my chair and to sit farther away from my plate of food.

These are my quiet little signals that I need to listen to and STOP eating.

When I was in my loosing phase, I would sit down to eat my weighed/measured portion of food and about 90% of the time, I would never get to my soft stop.  But do you know what? I was still satisfied and wouldn't get hungry for over 3-4 hours.

I REALLY depend on my soft stop signals when I eat out at restaurants or at people's houses.  This is when the portions served are usually GINORMOUS.  It's hard to judge what's an appropriate portion and it's not like I carry my food scale or a measuring cup in my purse wherever I go.

Sometimes, like last night when eating out, I totally ignored my soft stop signals.  When I ignore the soft stops, I get to experience my hard stop signals.  That's when things start getting painful.

For me, my HARD stops include:

• Left shoulder pain
• Stomach pain (below the band) - If you catch me rubbing my belly like Santa Claus, I have eaten way too much.

So I ask you, what are your soft soft and hard stop signals?

Weigh-in Day...and the Results are...

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 137.6 lbs

Happy Friday!

They Still Fit!

Brrrr! The weather has started getting cooler here in Oregon and this morning I decided to wear long sleeves/pants to work.

And guess what?

My clothes from last year still fit me!

For example, today I am wearing an Ann Taylor (big surprise, right?) long sleeve size SMALL sweater from last Fall/Winter and it fits pretty much the way that it did the last time I wore it.

How different this is from previous years!  I can remember having to go buy new pants/tops every time the weather/season changed because I was too fat to fit into what was available in my closet.

I have maintained my weight loss now for nine months.  Being able to fit into the same clothes from last year with no fears of them being too tight is a huge non-scale victory for me!

PS: Does anyone else's closet look like this?  Mine does.  I have a bunch of tops that are in the Medium/Large range that are too big but I still keep them hanging in the closet.  I wonder why?  Time to purge the closet again.  I don't want any excuses or reasons to get back into those sizes.

I'm the Featured BOOB of the Day!

I just saw that I'm the BOOB of the day today!

Awwww...shucks....I am so honored and flattered by your kind words and sweet comments. I can't wait to reconnect with the BOOBs from last year and meet so many newbie BOOBs as well!

See you in 16 days!

What Advice Would You Give?

We have a new soon to be banded blogger out there folks.  Please stop by and say hello to Cheri over at Lap Band Fluxion.

Yeah, I had to google the word "fluxion."  But then I saw that Cheri's first blog post had the definition for fluxion as: the action of flowing or changing.


Cheri hopes to get a band in November or December.  She emailed me a few days ago about her concerns about being a failure with the band.


Here's an excerpt from Cheri's email (she gave me permission to put it here on the blog):


I have so much to lose and I have failed over and over and over.  I am scared I will fail at this too.  I ask myself "is it worth it?" and the answer is yes but I answer rather weakly.  I really do not like to exercise and have a VERY limited budget.  My hubby is disabled and we live on a very fixed income and spending this much money, stretches us very thin.  The thought of failing again is overwhelming.  I know it is worth it to be healthy and one of the reasons I am doing this is because hubby is not healthy and one of us needs to be.  I think I just need encouragement that I AM doing the right thing...........thanks so much for listening.

Cheri

Did you have similar thoughts like hers when you were considering getting a band?

Please post your comments below.  Cheri will be reading!

Thanks.

PS: Here's today's funny:

What advice would you give Cheri?  

Psssttt....Can You Keep a Secret?

Promise not to tell anyone?

OK, here's the 411.

There's been a recent and unfortunate development.

It's the "Girls" or "Ta-Tas" ....and it's not so good.

These last five pounds that I've lost seem to have all been lost from up top.  Yep, I can totally relate to Amy's recent post on how her cups runneth over (or don't).

I started my journey in VERY tight 44 DD bras.  I was delusional thinking that those bras fit correctly.  A proper professional fitting probably would have revealed that I was at least a 46 band size. and who knows what cup size.

Fast forward to two weeks ago: I was very happily rocking my 34D bras.

This week? Ummmm....where'd they go?  Did they fall off in the middle of the night?

I really don't want to buy more bras as they're kinda expensive.

So what's a girl to do?  I think that I'm going to go eat some cookies and fatten them up again.  Wish me luck!

Back in Business - Bullet Style!

• I was a good little bandster and stuck to the 72 hours of full liquids that my nurse practitioner requires after an overfill/unfill situation.  
• I'm officially back in the green zone.  So finally on Saturday night I was able to enjoy (and chew!) yummy dinner out at a local Italian restaurant. I ate bread! yum!
• The scale still showed 135 lbs this morning, so my new goal RANGE: 135-145 lbs.  I think that I feel more comfortable with this range.

Here's my plan for the week:

• Exercise! Jazzercise and Zumba classes.  Oh and some roller skating too!
• Back on track with portion control and choosing lean solid proteins FIRST.  
• No more Starbucks Salted Caramel Mochas for this girl.

Product Review - Odwalla Strawberry Protein Monster

I spotted the Odwalla Strawberry Protein Monster the other day at the grocery store.  It has a cute pink look to it with a little cow on the label and the nutrition facts looked promising:

• 20 grams of protein (from soy/dairy sources; I always try to look for whey protein isolate in my shakes)
• 240 calories
• Tons of vitamins.
• Unfortunately, it has a TON of sugar in it.

But the taste...oh my...the taste.  Sigh.  

It's pretty much like the taste of chewing on a multi-vitamin that isn't supposed to be chewed with a twist of Milk of Magnesia aftertaste.  Yuck.  I actually couldn't swallow it and spit it out in the sink.

There are other flavors available like vanilla, but I don't think that I'm brave enough to give it a try.

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

As I've mentioned before, I'm a traveller.

I was shown from a very young age the love of traveling and experiencing the diverse cultures of the world.

Now as an adult, vacations are why I pinch my pennies for most of the year.  

But do you know what?  I didn't realize it at the time, but I missed out on some pretty fun stuff while traveling when I was a fatty.

I remember having to take afternoon naps in Athens, Greece.  While everyone else went out to experience the ancient Greek Gods and magnificent ruins, I stayed back at the hotel because I was tired.

I remember not climbing as far as the rest of them inside a pyramid in Egypt because I was just too hot and out of breath to continue the rest of the way up the cramped tunnel.  I didn't get to see the  tomb that was waiting for me at the end of the tunnel.  I still wonder to this day what it must have looked like in that tomb.

I remember a few months before I decided to have lap band surgery, I sat down in an airplane seat and realized that the seat belt was so tight that I would soon need a seat belt extender.  I knew in that instant that my fat would soon be even more of a barrier to what I could see and do in my life.

Fast forward to today, I am currently planning an upcoming trip in the new year to Southeast Asia.  

I know how hot and humid it can be in that part of the world.  And guess what? I know that the heat will not bother me as much now that I am much healthier.  I know that I will be able to explore ancient Indonesian temples with ease and not have to wonder where the closest place to sit down is.  Lastly, I know that I will be comfortable and fit easily in the airplane seat for that 14 hour flight.

This is just one of the reasons why I choose to fight the good fight each and every day for improved health...why I choose to exercise....why I choose to make good food choices.

Lastly, I'll leave you with some old travel photos...enjoy!

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera Bahamas (2006):

London (2005):

South Africa (2007):

Hong Kong (2007):

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

Today's Weight: 136.2 lbs (lowest ever Friday weigh-in)

Lost this week: 3.6 lbs

Total lost: 119.8 lbs

HAPPY FRIDAY!