As Promised

I promised I would fill you in on the details of my third fill the other day. Now pay attention closely kids...there's a lesson to be learned here. And boy, did I learn. Here's what transpired.

I had an early morning appointment for my third fill and I arrived ready to do battle. As it was quickly approaching my third month anniversary and I still did not feel any restriction I was prepared this time to go head to head with my lovely, yet conservative, surgeon. I was going to let him know that the time for action was today and we'd better get a move on these fill amounts or at this pace I was going to have grandchildren driving me to my fills. So in I marched with all the strength and determination of a Spartan army. I raised my shield, wielded my spear and commanded my surgeon's attention. I talked, he listened and then...he suggested a fill of 1 cc. WHAT!!! Are you smoking crack? No, I didn't say that but my expression did. I smiled. Then I politely informed him that we needed to do at least 1.5 cc as I needed to get on with this process and start utilizing this tool to my advantage. Guess what, he relented. I did a happy dance and away we went. He did reiterate the importance of going slowly with the fills but he understood my concern. 1.5 cc went in and then I sat up to drink my trial cup of cold water. I was so pleased with myself. I was being assertive about my care. Then...as I was drinking down the water thinking I will be closer to restriction, there was a sudden tightness all along the inner wall of my esophagus followed by a rumbling of volcanic proportion and then...water spewing all over the place...my own little internal TSUNAMI had let loose. My surgeon smiled and then started to laugh. "Too tight" he said. "Ugh" I said..."now I have to concede defeat!!!" I laughed. "I guess that's why you're the surgeon and I'm the patient" I said. "Okay. I'll let you have this one but no more baby fills" I told him. He was still laughing (good naturedly) as I wallowed in my defeat. He took out 0.5 cc and yes, it left me with good restriction. Lesson learned.

He did mention something very interesting as well. He said that some people have a smaller range in their ideal restriction (fill) zone than others. So even though I am not as filled as others, it doesn't mean I won't have the same restriction.

So far so good. I am very happy to feel restriction finally. This is going to make all the difference. I can't wait to weigh in on Monday and see how much the scale has moved. The spring in my step is back and my bruised ego is healing well.

Happy 3 Month Bandiversary!

It is a very happy three month bandiversary indeed! "HOUSTON, WE HAVE RESTRICTION!" Woo hoo! Yipee kai ay! Shimmy shimmy shake shake...I am now doing my trademarked touchdown dance! I love it! I love you! I love this band! I love that finally, at my three month mark since banding, I have restriction. After the scale not moving an inch in the last two and a half months, it actually moved this morning! Thank you God!

After some great encourgement from my beloved bandster buddies. I got my third fill yesterday and my life has done a 180 since then. I am not hungry between meals anymore. I can eat a small amount and feel quite satisfied. This is a dramatic departure from two days ago when I wanted to eat my shirt after work on my way to the gym. This is what this band is supposed to do. I am just so grateful this fill brought me to this point. Now I feel as though I can truly begin to lose my weight. Believe me, I prayed a lot this week. I was getting a little down about having to go three months without being able to utilize this wonderful tool. This is such a blessing to be able to carry on my journey to better, healthier life.

I will share my funny experience about my fill with you in my next blog. I must get back to work now, but not before another dance around the room. This time I'm doing the cha cha....lol.

A Great Night Out

We had a fantastic night out on the town last night. It felt like the days when we were just dating. We walked around the city for awhile taking in the lights and sights (lots of interesting people watching) before going to dinner at this great restaurant that was a buzz of activity and energy. You will see a recipe for caramel apple martinis which I love...I indulged a little. Funny, just one made me feel rather zippy skippy. My husband was on a roll with the funny, witty comments and I laughed so much that I thought my cheeks would crack. It was great just relaxing, enjoying ourselves and not having to worry about our little guy.

Food wise I did quite well. I only ate to the point where I was starting to feel full and I felt great...until...we decided to go to an old dessert place we haven't been to in years for coffee. This place makes cakes and cheesecakes that are of Flintstone's rib proportion (huge!) and I simply couldn't resist ordering a piece. It was divine. A symphony of palatal flavours...sooooo good. I would like to say it was my opportunity to ensure that indeed my band was still in place and functioning and boy did it let me know I had gone too far into the wild blue yonder. I ended up with a belly ache...not a stomach ache...a true belly ache...I had eating way too much. Lesson learned, even though I am not near a sweet spot yet, it is not time to spot the sweets and go! Lol. All in all, I had a great time and today I will set the treadmill incline a little steeper to celebrate the good time...lol. Have a great Sunday everyone!

GOING ON A DATE

That's right. My dear brother and sis-in-law are going to babysit for us tonight and my husband and I are going on a date. We're going to paint the town red! I am so excited...maybe he'll take me to a soda shoppe and we'll have cheese burgers and chocolate milkshakes. Okay...one can dream. Actually, he has been helping me stay on track and with the good advice and encouragement of my fellow bloggers, I was able to get my fill moved up to this Wednesday!! Yipee! It's time to get this party started! I feel good that I haven't gained any weight, but I would like to start utilizing my band thank you very kindly. I am excited now. I have felt a lot more positive since dear blogger buddy Band Groupie shared with me that it took 4.5 months before she had restriction. She's done fantastic so I can do it too! Gosh...I just love my blogger buddies. This journey wouldn't be the same without you! Cheers to you all...clink, clink.

I feel a renewed sense of optimism today. Maybe it's the gorgeous sunny weather we are having, or the hints of Spring all around but I am feeling super-duper happy! I want to do cartwheels. I will refrain though, my physical fitness isn't quite there yet, but you can bet that I will be able to do it one day soon. I wonder what other fun things I'll be able to do when I've lost 50lbs, or 75lbs or 100lbs? What about you...what fun things were you able to do at different milestones....do tell...enquiring minds want to know...lol.

Looking to leap forward

Top of the morning to you! Just getting ready for a great day at work and I need your inspiring ideas. I need a new look for my blog (I am going to start with that and then tackle my own look). What are some good places to find new, safe to use (ie won't crash my computer), and preferably free blog layouts? I am still new to blogging and don't know how to do a lot but I would like to learn. I would appreciate your help.

On the the band front. Nothing is happening. Literally nothing. I was trying to go for my third fill this week but it wasn't going to work out so now I am waiting another two weeks. I could really scream at this point. I have very little fill and little or no restriction. I don't really want to diet in the meantime but it looks like I am going to have to do this alone until I can get this band to it's proper adjustment. I need to work harder on my exercise. It is taking second place to so many other life things right now but I need to do it. If not for weight loss but for my own sanity. Does everyone go through this time period before they really start losing weight? It'll be three months on the 25th and the scale has not changed in the last 2 months at all. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Spin me right round baby

It has been another Olympic night. After going out for a very vigorous walk with baby boy tonight, I have been watching the men's figure skating with my husband. During the commercials, I twirl around the living room and entertain my husband with my our artistic interpretation. My husband thinks I should just go out on the ice and do my thing (without skates of course as I don't wish to spend extended time in traction). I really believe I could score at least 30 points for all my facial expressions. Why I've been practising for years. Every time I jump on the scale and it's down, it's like landing a quad (lingo we Olympic skaters use for twirling pretty for 4 times around). I am so into these Olympics...

I absolutely loved the answers I got regarding which event you would be in. It makes you think...that could have been you. If you really wanted it...you could have made it possible. That's what we've all done by choosing this band. We really wanted to take control of our weight issue, so we did what it took to make it possible. Very powerful. We should really give ourselves credit for the choice we made to better our lives. It puts us on the podium. So kudos, to everyone here on these blogs that dared to dream and more importantly, did what it took to make that dream happen.

Olympic Gold!

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are on and yesterday in the Men's Moguls, it was a gold medal for Alexandre Bilodeau, silver for Australia and bronze for the USA. It was a great moment for Canadians as it was the first gold medal won on home soil. These guys were amazing to watch. It was inspiring. How amazing it would be to have a chance to participate in the greatest of all sporting events...the Olympics!! I haven't blogged because I have been busy following all the daily events.

I can't think of anything inspiring to write about at the moment. It is late and we just got home. I will simply put this out there. What event would you compete in in the Winter Olympics and why?

The Greek Isles

Greece...my beautiful Greece...how do I love thee, let me count the ways...

It has been an early start to my day. 4:30 am and I was bright eyed and ready to go. Little baby bear woke up at 5:30 so I took him downstairs to play while my husband slept in. This early start gave me some time to write this blog and to think about going to Greece this summer. That got me to thinking about going to the beach and how I might look in a swimsuit this year. Though I have never been one to shy away from going to the beach, I must say these last few years I did not feel as comfortable lying on my beach chair. I am just trying to imagine how good it will feel to lie on a chair and feel like I have to pull a towel over my stomach and legs when I sit up to chat and sip my frappe (cold frothy coffee). Why I might even take my time sauntering into the water instead of diving in fast so no one can critique my form or lack thereof...lol. I will even fit into those darn white plastic chairs without worrying about spillage or breakage. I remember one time I sat one of those shi-shi poo-poo patio chairs and it actually bent out of shape. I was a bit embarrassed to say the least.

So I am very happy to be on this journey to a healthy body and healthy lifestyle. I sent my clinic coordinator a text yesterday to book a fill for March 3rd and will follow it up today with a phone call. I will see if my schedule will accommodate a week or so earlier but I am okay to wait until then. I am definitely going to be more assertive with them though. I appreciate they are being cautious but I really want to get this weight loss under way as I would like to plan on getting pregnant later this year. Good news on the scale today. I am down almost three pounds this week just from eating less and exercising more. I am going to keep up my part of things and restriction will come. I really appreciate all the input from everyone. Your support is keeping me sane through these first few months of getting to that ever elusive sweet spot. Thank you.

Catch the wave and go for it.

Feeling like I caught the perfect wave today.

After weighing in officially for the week and discovering that I have maintained the same weight for the last 8 weeks, I felt a sudden urgency to hop on board and catch the next biggest wave to carry me to my goal. I may not have restriction yet but I do have my own personal commitment to achieving my goals. While the last two months have been a kind of floundering around to figure out what this band is all about, it doesn't mean I have to keep hanging out in this holding pattern.

I am moving forward now and fast. I cut back my eating, I cranked out a 90 minute workout at the gym (both weights and cardio) and I dropped the "waiting around" attitude. I am taking charge of my success and I am going to make this band work for me the way I want it to. Tomorrow I check my schedule at work and Mr. Surgeon Man is going to get a good talking to. I don't expect the band to do this for me but for goodness sake what was the point of going through all this if it's been two and half months and it's still not helping me yet. No way, I am not sitting back and letting someone else control my success. It's time to surf standing up on my own two feet! (Now that's the spunk that gets results...lol.)

So it's all good. I am taking control of my journey and I am going to move in the right direction now. It feels good to get this off my chest. I was feeling quite anxious, stressed, upset, disillusioned, unfocused and down about all of this "non progress" with my band situation. After taking control today, I finally feel better. Surf's up and I'm hopping on my board!

Lemonade anyone?

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. There's a lot of truth to this saying. This week was a bit tumultuous to say the least. Particularly at work, things were planned one way and ended up going another. It felt like I was on some kind of magic carpet ride and no one seemed to know where it would land. So what did I do...I took out my pitcher, collected all the lemons and proceeded to make lemonade.

Gotta have gumption. Just like with my band. Only two fills so far and not much in the way of restriction but I am rolling with it. I am quite happy that I didn't croak somewhere along the way on my three run/walks this week. Imagine, some poor soul opens their front door to pick up the morning paper and there I am gasping out my last breath..."can you call my doctor for me and tell him I may be a bit late for my fill". I also worked on eating only when hungry and making sure I took home half of whatever I ordered while out. I am working on the water. I did break down and buy a bottle of Callipso lemonade (no preservatives) to enjoy after one of my workouts at the gym. So I indulged a little...but I made the conscious choice to do it unlike so many other times when I would just eat or drink without any thought to the nutritional value of what I was consuming. All in all, not a bad week.

I would really like to hit my sweet spot soon. It seems like I won't be able to get fills more than once a month and that's a bit disheartening when I want to fly on all four engines...NOW! My surgeon is a bit conservative to say the least. Maybe I could rig up a home fill kit and do it myself...what do you think? Kidding...lol. Would it be wrong to take him hostage? Lol...seriously though...What did/do you do to lose weight while you were/are still in "bandster hell"?

Considering getting pregnant...

After the latest news highlighting the fact that women have only 12% of their eggs left at 30 and only 3% left at 40, I have starting wondering about when to consider another pregnancy. I haven't discussed it with my lap band doctor as I had sort of put it aside for awhile as I really want to lose enough weight that I could have an "easier" pregnancy. It's not as if my first was difficult during, but the aftermath of joint laxity wasn't so much fun. The extra weight contributed to my pain and difficulty with my joints. So I am now wondering what other people's doctors have said to them regarding getting pregnant after the band. Is there a time frame that is best to wait before starting to try? Does the fill have to be removed entirely? I would be very curious to hear what everyone has to say.

Running my race

Today I ran. Yes...it's true...and it wasn't the first time this year either. I did a few warm up run/walks this last month and now I am off and running. I am following a 5K training program with the goal in mind of running a 5K on Good Friday April 2nd. It's an 8 week program very much like a 10K one I did a number of years ago. Easy to follow and very motivating. I ran outside despite the light rain which almost deterred me from going but I didn't feel like working out inside so I went. It felt great to be outdoors, breathing in the fresh air and taking in nature. Dare I say I found it peaceful. With the light rain there seemed to be a sense of renewal. A cleansing of the old and a heralding of the new. Not unlike how I was feeling about my journey to a healthy body weight and a positive lifestyle. I got back home and felt like an athlete that had just finished a great race...I was so happy and full of vigor.

I have to say that I am amazed that I have come this far. It is a huge step forward mentally for me to even think about being back in the kind of shape I once was. I have even started dreaming of myself as that girl. It's so weird to think that even in my sleep, I am changing. So during the times when I am not feeling so positive (i.e. the scale is not reflecting the changes I want to see), I am going to hang onto this feeling of renewal and I will know that I will indeed cross the finish line and complete my personal race.