Westport Young Woman's League Minute Man 5K & 10K Race
Sunday, April 26, 2009, 07:45 AM

I am going to do this! My first 5K. I've been talking about doing one.. I've been running occasionally on my treadmill, and now I'm going to really do it! It's a family event, I may bring my kids with me too! I'll have to see how into training they are, I only registered myself at this point, can always add them later. It is a fundraiser so once I get my webpage up I'll post a link in case anyone is interested.

I'm having a great weekend. I bought some Muscle Milk Protein powder yesterday at GNC and it was $22 off. I love a bargain. And I had heard that the Cookies & Cream flavor was pretty good.. indeed it is. I had one shake last night and one for breakfast. I've not really been focusing on getting all my protein and calories in lately, but looking back I realize it is when I am at the high end of my calorie intake that I am losing weight. And I need the protein to make me feel full, and more importantly FOR MY HAIR. And I do think it boosts my energy too. Nothing wrong with that!

I'm up at the Lake this weekend, heading back tomorrow or Tuesday. I don't have to work until Wednesday. Hubby and the kids will be up here all week. I will take that time alone at home to spend some extra time at the Gym.

Well, that's about it.. as my daughter would say: " Peace Out"

I know it is the holidays, but I am getting frustrated with the scale! Yes.. I have had a bite of this and a bite of that ( cookies, fudge, etc.) But I hardly eat anything at meals, well at least compared to the way I used to eat. The scale hasn't moved. Right after I got my 2nd fill I lost 2 more pounds.. but then the last 2-3 weeks.. nothing! I weigh myself on Friday.. I got on this morning thinking surely this week it would move and I could greet the new year and my 40th birthday with hopes of reaching my goal. Same weight. :: sigh:: I wanted to lose 40lbs by my 40th birthday. My birthday is a week from Monday.. which means an 8 lb loss to reach the goal. Yikes! I need to go on the Biggest Loser Ranch to pull weightloss like that! LOL

I did make it to the gym this week, although the weight training appt was cancelled due to snow. I have another appointment with Claudia next week to learn more about weight training. Santa also brought me an exercise ball. ($6 @ Sears, woohoo) so I am going to work on my abs with that since I hate laying flat on the floor. On a positive note, my water intake has improved dramatically. Yayy, I'm getting in 40 ounces out of habit now and only struggle with the last 20.
And I did have a small victory on Christmas Eve that I think I will write about. I was stuffing the stockings and usually fill them with small items and then fill the rest with loose candy. I was sitting there with the bags of candy and knew if I opened the bags, I'd eat a bit of each ( peanut M&M's and PBcups). So... instead .. I just shoved a whole bag into each kids stockings. The next day they opened stockings, and traded with each other so they ended up with some of each kind of candy anyways. So I went to bed feeling proud of myself for resisting the urge to wolf down the candy.
So.. I guess even though the scale isn't moving, I'm making progress. These bad habits aren't just going to go away overnight. I still love potato chips. I still like fried food. But I'm learning to make better choices.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Getting Stuck

Well, it finally happened... I got what is called 'stuck' (in bandster language). It means that something I ate didn't want to pass through the tight part of my stoma where the Lapband is. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to work its way through, other times you end up throwing it up, or what is called "productive burping". Luckily I just needed a bit of time and it passed on its own. It was a hairy 15 minutes though while I paced the bathroom at the mall wondering if I was going to have my first PB experience too. I did not. I took some Papaya enzymes( said to help break down food and allow it to pass easier) and it seemed to work. What an awful feeling though, I will definitely be more careful. I had my 2nd fill over a week ago, and I definitely have restriction now. I think I had gotten a little relaxed on the whole chewing and taking tiny bite routine. Well.. after that painful, unpleasant reminder, I won't be lax again -that is for sure. OUCH. So the band is working. I'm eating less.. but still the weight loss is slow. But that's okay.. I know slow and steady win the race. And so far no hanging skin.. woohoo!

I saw my Gyno the other day for my annual and she was VERY pleased and asked me all kinds of questions about Lapband and the requirements. She then said, I'm sorry I never suggested it, I know you struggled with weight loss, but I hadn't realized you'd be a candidate.Common misconception. I always thought you had to be at least a 100 pounds overweight too. You don't. We chatted a while and I ended by telling her if she had any patients that wanted to talk to someone that had been through it to give them my number.

I hit my 30 lb loss mark. I am so thrilled.. sometimes I just can't believe it when I look at the scale and the smaller numbers. It really feels like a miracle. I struggled for so long and always felt like such a failure-- I love this!
Oh.. one more thing.. I highly reccomend the Wii Fit. Omgosh is that fun. I did the Hula Hoop game with my daughter the other night and we were laughing and having a great time.. the next day my abs were sooo sore. I guess I was working out harder than I thought. and the Yoga is fun too.. as long as nobody is around. I do that one when the kids are at school because I am such an unbalanced clod. The kids just laugh..limber little shits.. LOL For Christmas I got my daughter All Star Cheer Squad- a cheerleading game for the Wii. Should be fun.

Off to do more shopping and try to get my Christmas cards addressed and mailed.

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Mine was terrific. My parents drove across Canada (from MI) to come stay with us at our cabin upstate NY. We all had a great time. It is always great to get a little time with your mom. Well, I guess maybe not everyone feels that way, but I do. We cooked, shopped, talked, just had a nice time. They were happy to see my weight loss, but surprised by how much I can still eat. But I was surprised too.. I mean, it's not as much as before, but I was still able to eat a full plate of Thanksgiving food, with about 1/2 cup of each food. And Pie.. it took a few hours later, but I had room for pie too! Monday I went and got a fill! Monday night I had some soup, and then felt full for hours! Even a little too full.. but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I still showed a loss by the Doc's scale, but I know it was a 2 pound gain from last week. Pie. I'm sure. Oh well.. today is a new day, this is a new week, and even a new month! Lots of opportunities....
On Thursday I am meeting with Claudia, the nutrionist/trainer woman from my gym. We are going to go over weight training. I'm excited. Building muscles boosts your metabolism. I want to try to map out a clear schedule of work outs.. correction.. I want to map out a schedule of workouts. Not try. Do.
I was reading a a success story on lapbandtalk.com and the person had done a triathlon and was just really inspiring. Do you know what they call the last person to finish a triathlon? The same thing they call the first person, a triathlete. I love that saying. Now, mind you, I don't think I will ever do a triathlon as I am not much of a swimmer, but I am still planning on doing a 5K this spring.
Off to start my day.. have a good one!

The pounds are falling off.. but..SO IS THE HAIR!

My hair is falling out. On my clothes. In the shower. In my car. I am just shedding all over the place. It is really starting to freak me out because I am afraid it is going to get to the point of being noticable. I bought shampoo to strengthen hair. I bought Biotin supplements.I make sure I eat enough protein every day. But still, it keeps falling out. I know it's only temporary. I know that. But when it's happening.. it seems like the end of the world. I've always really liked my hair. I get highlights occasionally.. and right now I don't even want to do that and risk stressing it out more. This side effect sucks. Yes.. it's normal, although not everyone experiences it after surgery, I guess I just got lucky. :: sigh::

Maybe I'll just get it cut short.. at least then the pieces won't look like as much hair when it falls out. Oh well.. in the big picture, this temporary frustration is minor. I would not want the 27 pounds I lost back to get my hair back. It is worth enduring this to be healthier.. .. well, at least I keep telling myself it is. When I look in the mirror and wonder if I was always able to see my scalp or if this is new I am not sure.
-2 lbs this week.. EVEN during TOM. I have never ever ever lost weight during that week. Yayy me. I was dialing the phone the other day and thought..'wow.. my fingers look thinner' .. and then I giggled. Of all the places to notice weight loss.. my FINGERS?? lol! But hey.. I'll take it!

Have a great week.. I'm going up to Lake George to our cabin and my parents are driving here from Michigan. I can't wait to see them. It will be our first Thanksgiving up at the cabin, I hope I remember everything. I've had a list going for about a week now and I keep adding to it. Things will pop into my head.. like.. potato masher!.. gotta bring that! I won't get up there til Wednesday night, or I would have just bought one for up there. But I'm sure stores will be a mad house Wednesday night. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday and are among friends and family. I'm not worried about pigging out. It's just one day.. and I bought a No Added Sugar Apple pie (made with splenda) and they had samples, and I thought it was really good. If I don't lose weight this week, I'm okay with that. I'm finally starting to have confidence that I CAN do this. Even when I fail, and make bad choices, I get up the next day and try again. It's all we can do...

Take care and enjoy.. see ya!

Lazy Saturday

The house is quiet. My hubby took the kids up to his sister's house as he had to do some electrical work for her, new lights in her kitchen or something. The kids enjoy going up there (1 1/2 hours away) I really have nothing in common with my sister-in-law, so I opted to stay home. If he doesn't finish the job, they will stay overnight there. I was definitely not on board for that! So me and my brown dog are hanging out at home. In the rain, taking a quiet day to clean and reflect. Well, that's what I am doing anyways, not sure how much reflecting Chocolate Labs do.. lol. And cleaning? Well, she isn't too good at THAT either!

This week I lost 2lbs. I'm getting to a weight I haven't been in 10 years... and that is very exciting for me. In all my diets, I was never able to lose more than 20 lbs. The deprivation would get the better of me, and I'd have a little here, a little there, and before I knew it I was back where I started plus a few. I'm now down 26lbs. I lost 2 lbs this week. And I kept off the 2 lbs I lost last week-- which I wasn't so sure I would do. Last weekend was my daughters 13th birthday. And we had a few celebrations.. and I ate.. and ate.. and ate. It really scared me that I was eating garbage (onion rings, bacon, cake, etc.) And when I weighed myself on Tuesday after that weekend, the 2 lbs I had lost were back on! No!!!! That is what I would struggle with on weightwatchers.. Up 2, down 2, I swear I lost the same 5 lbs 10x in 6 months. So I went back to basics... the band is a TOOL, it can't do everything! I'm proud of the fact that my binging was dramatically reduced amounts than I would have eaten in the past, but it was a wake up call that I need to make better choices. I felt gross after eating that stuff. Bloated, just gross, (and ended up with a big ugly pimple on my face too). So this week I upped my water, upped my protein, and had intended to up my exercise, but well.. 2 out of 3. I have to get better at exercising. I will be at that Gym Monday morning to start weights. And I will be on my treadmill at least 3 times.

I go back and see Claudia (my trainer) this week for another assessment. I still cannot do sit ups. Maybe she can show me some machines that will help build my Abs so I can conquer this hurdle. I do crunches, I do the exercises I see in mags to build Ab muscles, but for her assessment, it is how many full sit-ups I can do! Grr.. If I make enough progress, I get a FREE year at the Hospital Gym. But it can't just be pounds lost, my overall fitness level has to improve. So by golly I am going to conquer these darn sit-ups!

Happy Saturday...

No More Whining!

I woke up this morning and decided I needed to just put on my shoes and do it! Get my butt on that treadmill. So I did. I bought an MP3 player but I have no music on it yet. My daughter just got a new iPod after saving her allowance for 2 months, so I inherited her old mP3 player. I fired it up and got my butt on the treadmill. I didn't feel like doing my 'podrunner' workout, so I just sifted through her music and found stuff I could walk/run to. She had some good tunes on there. And some that I was horrified listening to the lyrics. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of Smak That? "bend you over, look back and see me smak that' lol.. yikes! Had a good beat though.. And for part of the workout I was really RUNNING and it really is getting easier. I was running to Lita Ford Kiss Me Deadly.. and singing along.. LOL. Glad nobody was home, I'm sure I was quite a sight. " Kiss me Once... Kiss me twice... come on pretty babyyyyyyyyy" .. LOL today is a better day. I feel like I was just whining too much on that last entry. Yes, I'm having a hard time controlling myself with food, but thats life, thats reality. I can't rely on the band to do everything for me. I'm lucky enough to have a treadmill and belong to a great gym through my work. I need to take advantage of these things!! Thanks for the encouraging words... off to chug some H2O .. agua.. water!