Weigh-in Day & Why Blogs End

This is my 959th blog post since I began my blog back in October of 2009.

This is my 218th weekly Friday weigh-in since I began my surgeon's pre-op diet to get my body ready for surgery.

Yep, this journey began 4 years, 2 months, and 4 days ago.

Today's weight: 141.4 lbs

Still below goal.

I'm kinda surprised that you all still stop by to check on me in my little corner of the interwebs here.

I'm not sure what more there is to tell you or blog about.

Weight maintenance is super boring.

There is no "done."

There are no exciting weight loss numbers to announce every week.

Almost all of the boxes have been checked on the to-do list of getting healthy and fit.

I also learned this morning that some blogs do come to an end.

Today's example? Emily, who I've been following since 2010, blogged at "The Bright Side: Breast Cancer at 31".  She just passed away. I didn't know Emily personally, but reading about her over the years, I kinda feel like I did.

So that brings me to a few questions for you:

Are there any specific topics that you would like for me to blog about? 

Any questions that I haven't already answered?

Non-Scale Victory Alert!

To get into the driver's seat, sometimes I have to climb that big scary ladder.

Let me explain.

My job has a few perks.

One of those perks is the occasional neato cheeto fantastico field trip.

Yesterday's field trip was to the ocean port.

Ya know... that place where they load up really big boats with cargo containers and ship them off to all corners of the world.

Time to climb up that ladder to get up onto the boat.  Amazingly steep. Yet I made it to the top! Non-scale victory!

I couldn't miss a photo-op with the captain.  He's been at sea for fifty years! A cool tour guide too:

Where would you like to go? I'll take you there...

Weigh-in Day & What Will I Do For My Four Year Bandiversary?

Goal weight: 145 lbs

Today's weight: 142.0 lbs

Still.  Below. Goal.

In exactly 23 days, it will be October 20th.

On October 20th, 2009, I had my Lap-Band surgery.

It's theeee official "bandiversary" -- as us bandsters like to call it.

And I have some seriously EPIC plans for this bandiversary.

I will be doing something that I don't think that I would have tried to achieve or complete when I weighed 258 lbs.

It's something that involves some serious fitness.

And there will be lots of climbing.

Ladders.

Stairs.

...lots and lots and lots of climbing involved.

Hopefully there will be lots of amazing photos to share with you too.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post on October 20th where I will post a photo of me showing you what I did to celebrate my Bandiversary!

Does That Dress Come With A Pole?

Did you know that mirrors are big, damn liars?

They lie to me.

Mirrors show me a body shape and figure that I do not see when I take photos.

While we are on the topic of liars, did you know that my brain also lies to me all the damn time on what my body shape really looks like?

Speaking of dams, here's a dam picture of yours truly at 166 lbs:

July 2010

This is how I picture myself and my body image currently in my head.

About 166 lbs-ish. 

Size 12 shorts.

This is also how I see my shape when I look in the mirror.

Kinda a no-waist kinda figure.

That shape is awesome.

And healthy.

I remember that blue shirt.  It was a size Large.

I was no longer shopping in the plus size section of the store! Sweet.

I am waiting on my brain to catch up to what I look like now. Size 6. 140-ish lbs.

And what about those mirrors too?

They need to catch up to what I look like now.

But let me tell ya....

How do I know what my shape really looks like now?

PHOTOS!

Photos tell a completely different story.

Here is a photo from this past weekend in San Francisco.

Girls Night Out!

What have I learned?

I learned to take buckets of photos as I was losing weight.

And I take lots of photos at my "now" weight.

This has helped me to realize what my figure currently looks like.

It helps me to not believe what I see when I look in the mirror.

Take photos.

Take photos.

Take photos.

Did you hear me?

Take.

Those.

Photos.

Weigh-in Day & Roll Call Alert!

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 141.4 lbs

Still below goal.

Yay.

Maintenance.

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

Did you see what we're up to this morning on Facebook?

We are doing a roll call and finding out what state here in the USA we are all from (or what country of the world!)

Here's your chance to represent your home state!  Go comment on the roll call post.

So far there are lots of you from Texas and Tennessee.

Where are you from?

Loose Skin & Vegemite Sandwich-Eating Koala Bears

This is a two-for-one post today.

Lucky you.

And you didn't even need a coupon for this deal.

#1:

I posted this pic on Facebook the other night.

Why?

I still struggle with being comfortable with my loose skin.

Especially the belly skin.

WTF.

Don't get me wrong though.

I love that I have lost weight.

I love that I am strong and have muscles.

I love that I have improved my health ten fold.

Go me.

I know.

But have been thinking about so many recent rockstar examples of ladies of all sizes in my life who have rocked their rolls, belly skin, tight tummies and not so tight tummies at the beach and pool this summer. They are confident! Awesome-sauce.

No matter the size, shape, wobbly bit, I've seen these ladies rockin' their bikinis, tanks, and swimsuits.  They look GREAT!

And all the while when I see these lovely ladies, I am silently thinking in my head "I wish that I could be that comfortable with my jiggly bits. Sigh."

Welcome to Crazytown. Population: 1.

Maybe because I always covered up my jiggle-jaggle belly bits for so long (about 20+ years), that it's a little bit awkward to now show the belly?

So I have officially started "Operation: Let It All Hang Out" 

What does this stealth not-so-military operation involve?

 All kinds of tricks so that I get more comfortable with my extra skin and wobbly bits:

• Posting random pics of the loose skin on Facebook or here on the blog.

• I've also been wearing the bikini occasionally around the house.  

• Whether I'm sitting on the couch with Pemberley watching TV or cleaning the house, it's bare-that-belly time lately.  

• You should have seen me vacuum in my bikini on Monday night.

 Stay tuned on how "Operation Let It All Hang Out" goes.

#2:

Do you live in the land of koala bears? 

Do you live Down Under?

I'm headed your way in October.  

Sydney and Melbourne to be super specific. 

Would you like to meet up?

I have already received lots of positive feedback from all you Aussies when I announced my upcoming trip on Facebook. 

If you're interested in a meetup: email me at lapbandgal at yahoo dot com.

We could eat Vegemite sandwiches together and pet each others ports.

Good times.

The Long Lost Blog Post - My Maintenance Ring

I've written over 953 blog posts in four years. 

Only one post has been deleted. 

Deleted on purpose.

On that deleted post, I showed you my my ring that I designed for achieving one year of maintaining my goal weight.

Then I deleted that post a week later.

I regret that decision.

I've received a few emails and Facebook messages from some of you recently asking, "what ever happened to that ring?"

So here we are with a story to re-tell you.

Let's flashback to December 2011.

I had just achieved my one year goaliversary.

One year at my goal weight of 145 lbs.  

For me, my plan for my Lap-Band was not about losing the weight, but really all about maintaining that 115+ lbs weight loss.

And I knew that I deserved a reward for that accomplishment and at the same time needed a daily reminder of maintaining my weight.

So I asked a local jeweler to design me a ring.  

My only two requirements that I asked the jeweler?

A ring that I couldn't break if I accidentally hit it against something.

And a ring that was symmetrical.

I know. Doesn't my practicality scare you sometimes?

The jeweler drew these images to give me an idea of what he had in mind.

Then I chose a gemstone (a gift - a ruby, thanks Mom and Dad!) It's the in the bottom right of the box:

Then the jeweler made the ring in wax and put the ruby in it:

And the final creation:

White gold, ruby, diamonds

If you look closely in most of the photos of me on this blog and on the Facebook page, you will see that I have been wearing that ring ever since my one year goaliversary back in December 2011.

The ring is always there to remind me of my accomplishment of losing 115+ lbs.

The ring is always there to remind me of what I need to keep doing: maintaining my weight.

Being silly with my sister at Disney World
Christmas 2011

Having a laugh with friends!

 Singin' Karaoke!

Eatin' ice cream - Spring 2012 - Austin, TX

Summer 2013 - Lunch break

I have now maintained my weight for two years and eight months. 

I wonder what my ring and I will be up to next?

What Did I Make & Take?

Thank you all for all your fantabulous ideas and recipes that you gave me on Facebook last week when I asked the question: 

What is a good potluck type of dish to take to a weight loss surgery patient get-together? 

Go check out all of your AWESOME-SAUCE suggestions and ideas HERE

On Saturday I went to my weight loss surgery support group annual potluck picnic BBQ.

What did I end up bringing to the potluck?

I made these: Bite-Size Caprese Appetizers

Super easy to make.

Just put a cherry tomato, mozzarella, and a basil leaf on a toothpick.

Word.

Easy cheesy.

And see how fantastic it looks!?!  

Amazeballs, indeed.

Yum!

Weigh-in Day & How Did I Lose 115 lbs?

Goal weight: 145 lbs

Today's weight: 140.8 lbs

I just realized something kinda interesting.

Like a light bulb just went on above my head.

Fridays have been my weigh-in day for over four years now.

I've rarely ever really looked past the upcoming Friday.

Let me explain.

When I started out in my weight loss journey at 258.8 lbs, I almost never thought about the daunting task of losing +115 lbs.

I never thought at the beginning of this process back in August 2009, "OMG. How am I ever going to lose THAT MUCH WEIGHT?"

I only thought about that upcoming Friday weigh-in.

That Friday was never more than 6 days away.

What I focused on: that the weight on that upcoming Friday needed to be less than the previous Friday's weigh-in.

That's it.

Just less.

It didn't really matter if the scale showed 0.3 lbs less or 3 lbs less than the previous Friday.  It just needed to be less.

I know that if I had thought about the HUGE job of losing 115 lbs, I would have been discouraged.

I broke it down in manageable weekly chunks.  I wonder if it's one of my secrets to my success?

That's how I rolled for about 14 months while I was losing.

And let me tell ya, all of those little losses week after week added up to 115 lbs eventually.

Now that I've been in maintenance since December 2010, I still never look farther out than this upcoming Friday.

Each and every Friday, when I step onto that scale, the number needs to be less than 145 lbs.

That's it.

As long as the scale shows less than 145lbs, then it's all good.

And to be honest?  This is a pretty fantastic place to be.

Would You Rather Gain Weight or Gain Financial Debt?

I am a personal finance blog reading freak.

There are about 17 personal finance blogs that I read pretty much each and every day.

'Cuz that's how I roll.

My favorite personal finance blog?  DINKS Finance.

And just in case you didn't know, D.I.N.K. = Double Income No Kids.

Today's post over at DINKS Finance was:  What does your health have to do with your budget?

Go read it.

It's awesome-sauce.

What I liked most about the post was the hypothetical question:

Would you rather gain weight or gain financial debt? 

Let's get one thing super duper clear here:

Debt.

Scares.

The.

Sh*t.

Out.

Of.

Me.

I don't like to owe anybody, anything.  Ever. 

The concept of debt gives me the heebie jeebies.

Just for grins, let's rephrase that hypothetical question again with some hard-core numbers thrown in: 

Would you rather gain 100 lbs or gain $100K of financial debt? 

My answer? 

I'm honestly torn on this.

 

If I instantly gained 100 lbs, I would take me about a year and a half to lose it again. (I've done it before and I could do it again).

If I instantly had $100K of debt, that would take way longer to get rid of it and pay it off.  Maybe ten years or more? Who knows.

But how can I put a price or timeline on my health?

How can I put a price on how I feel today: fit and healthy. 

What is your answer to this question?  

Would you rather gain 100 lbs or gain $100K of financial debt? 

Tell me: