How did I let it happen? How did I wake up one day to find myself at 286 pounds and completely miserable in my own body? It happened, I can't blame anyone but me. And only I can fix it. So I am. On December 23, 2009 I had Lap-Band Surgery with Dr. John Marsden. I'm down 100 pounds so far with about 25 to go.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Long Weekend & New Swimsuits

Today is my last day of work before the long holiday weekend! Our office is closed on Monday and I'm taking vacation days on Friday and Tuesday, so I will have 5 days of no-work bliss :)

On Monday we are having our annual family Memorial Day party. We've been doing this since we moved into our house in 2003. Everyone seems to have a great time, and its super fun to swim and chat and laugh and eat with the whole family.

So, in preparation for the party I pulled out my swimsuit from last year and tried it on. It is a size 16. I bought it brand new last summer before our Memorial Day party. I was thrilled that I was able to get a 16 because my previous suits had been 22 or 24. I thought it might be a little big, but maybe still usable. Yeah, no. The top was so big that in order to get it to stay up (It has a halter tie at the neck) I had to pull the straps so tight that the back just gapes open! The bottoms didn't fall off or anything but they were definitely too big.

I went on landsend.com, my favorite place to get swimsuits! They have pretty classic styles and they are made REALLY well. They last forever - as long as you don't need to keep getting new sizes ;). But the best part is that they have some suits available in D-DD-DDD bra cup sizes. That is so hard to find! I checked their size chart for swimsuits and based on my measurements, it suggested I get a size 12. Yes, that is a twelve. Yikes! I placed my order on Tuesday, and I have to tell you that I'm a little scared for when it gets here. What if it is too small?? I'm trying to remain calm and trust the numbers but for some reason I'm terrified it won't fit.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me, I really want to swim with everyone on Monday!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day y'all!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Plastic Surgery after the Band

I'm sure most banded people have at least thought about this topic. I am in that group. I've always said (well, always since I started the process to get banded) that I would get plastic surgery after I lost my weight. So, I would like to know how many of you have had plastic surgery after losing your weight.

Here are my main questions:
  • How long after you got your band did you have the surgery?
  • Were you at your goal weight when you had your surgery?
  • What procedure(s) did you have?
  • How many surgeons did you see before you chose yours?
  • Did things turn out the way you hoped?
  • All things being equal, would you do it again if you could?
The things I definitely want to have done for sure is a breast reduction/lift, and a tummy tuck. On my "like to have" list would be some liposuction around my waist for definition and tightening up of my neck muscles. I gain weight around my middle (I'm an apple shape) so my arms and legs aren't very bad. At least not anything I can't live with :).

Please share as much of your story as you'd like. I welcome any information you have. Thank you!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Salt, shopping and sexy men

I was NOT good this weekend. I wasn't terrible, but I will certainly not be taking home any self-control awards that is for sure. I ate many salty items and therefore I have some extra numbers on the scale that I believe are attributed to bloat. At least that's what I'm hoping.

On the positive side, I moved A LOT this weekend. Spent most of Saturday cleaning and straightening my house. We have a 2 story house and there is a coat closet under the stairs, which is referred to as "Harry Potter's Bedroom" :) That got cleaned out and reorganized this weekend. Plus a bunch of laundry and vacuuming. Good times.

Sunday I got out and did some shopping - 4 new shirts, all size L! Go me!!! Then I went to see a movie with my BFF. We saw Something Borrowed, it was pretty cute. However ... the absolute, hands down, best part of the movie was this, Colin Egglesfield. Oh. My. God. He is beautiful. I seriously just sat and stared at him whenever he was on the screen. It was a great day ;) Of course this past Friday was my boyfriend Robert Pattinson's birthday, he is now 25 .. which makes him the perfect age for me as a 40 year old woman. Wink wink, nudge nudge. And today is David Boreanaz's birthday (a.k.a. Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Seely Booth on Bones) who I also love. Then we also know that summer TV will be coming back soon and that means White Collar on USA with Matt Bomer, another beautiful man.

Colin Egglesfield Robert Pattinson David Boreanaz Matt Bomer

So that is probably enough boy crazy talk for everyone for a long while! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have an even better week!

Oh wait ... I can't leave out my all time celebrity boyfriend. He would never forgive me!

John Taylor

Sigh ... so handsome. Swoon!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday!

Not much new going on today, looking forward to the weekend. I'm going to burn some calories tomorrow!! Straightening the house, getting ready for a maid to come and clean before our big Memorial Day party. I got my hair done last night, I love freshly done hair!! And today is my car's birthday. I realize that must sound weird to some people, but I love my car and I celebrate his birthday every year :) Today Gus is 6 years old!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Get up and move yourself in some way, drink plenty of water and be mindful of what you eat. Now go get 'em!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Too long between posts

I have been slacking on the posting lately, I'm so sorry! I don't have any excuses or reasons. Other than I guess I don't feel like I have a lot to say right now. I'm sure that will ebb and flow with time.

Last week was long and difficult. My stress meter was overflowing and I was about to have a breakdown. Just one little thing after another, never stopping, not having a chance to breathe and relax. Wednesday night I hit my limit. I had to go to the store to get some cat food after work. And some dumb lady in the parking lot cut me off when I was heading home. I started yelling at her and I could feel my blood pressure rising. By the time I got home I was shaking with anger. Normally, I would just blow that kind of thing off after about 5 seconds. But when my stress level is too high, it just takes over. I told my husband that I was going to take a "mental health day" on Thursday and so I did. It was perfect. He went to work so I was home alone in my house with nothing but peace and quiet, able to do what I wanted to do without anyone questioning my decisions. Since Thursday, I have been feeling much better and am back to my usual self. Yahoo!

In my last post I talked about ordering a new bathroom scale. It arrived on Friday and I tested it out on Saturday for the first time. I was worried that it would show me up from my older scale, but on the contrary .. it shows me weighing less! So, you can't beat that, right?! :) This morning I was back down to 179 and I couldn't be happier.

Saturday I participated in my neighborhood's garage sale. They do the advertising and put up the signs and we just have to put our stuff out in front of our houses and get to selling. I usually don't like participating in garage sales because of all the work that goes in to them, but this time I just winged it and it turned out great. I didn't put any prices on anything, I just made something up when someone asked how much something cost. It worked out great! My main goal was to get rid of everything. I wasn't looking to make lots of money. When it was all said and done, we got rid of every single item and made $100 to boot! Here is the secret: At the end of the sale (i.e. when I was tired and wanted to go inside) I put everything I had left into a big box. The next person that stopped by, I told them that I had a great deal for them. I was closing up and that I had a few things left. They could take the lot of it for a mere $5, but they had to take it all. No picking and choosing. They went for it and I helped load it into their truck. It was genius! I got rid of everything and they got a lot of stuff - some good, some crap - for five bucks. Win Win!

Tonight is my monthly support group meeting and I am super excited to go! Can't wait to see my buddies and hear the topic for this evening. Get some encouragement and give some too. Plus this week at work should be fairly quiet, so I'm hoping for a nice and easy time of it.

Hang in there everybody, we are doing this!

179

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New Scale

I just placed an order for a new bathroom scale. The one I have is mostly fine, but it only measures in increments of .5 lbs and I would like more than that. So I went on consumerreports.org (Yes, I'm a dork. And yes, I have a subscription) to see which one they recommend and ended up buying this beauty. It is a Taylor, model 7506, Glass and Chrome Digital Scale.

I'm pretty happy with my decision and I can't wait for it to arrive! Although, I will never be the weight that is listed in that picture! I would probably be close to dead if I was ever that weight. Hahahaha!

Speaking of weight. This morning I was 180.5. It's about 2 pounds up from my lowest. I'm a little upset about that, but not terribly. I sort of feel like I should be upset about it. I feel like I am not trying hard enough. But on the other hand, I am tired. Tired of beating myself up and denying myself little things. I am well on my way, actually I'm on the home stretch. I'm aiming for 160 and I know that the last chunk is the hardest to push through. I think I'm going to give myself a break. Not take a break from counting my calories and logging my food. But a break from the mental exhaustion of self imposed pressure to lose at the pace I did during the first 9 months after my surgery.

Tonight I'm going to dinner with my knitting guild. It is our last "meeting" of the season, and we do a dinner and have the installation of new officers for the next season. This year we are going to Spring Creek BBQ and I'm pretty excited about it. They have the best rolls ever, yum! I have no idea what else I'll get but I know I'm going to eat one of those. :)

Have a great day everyone!