I'm BACKKKKKK!!!!!

We are now living and breathing in Seoul, S. Korea! We are having the time of our lives. I had the best non-scale victory since I've been banded. I'm able to fit in the very tiny Korean clothes. Yay me! Here's a pic of the cutest dress thus far.


In fact a new friend who isn't aware of my extreme weight loss said "you are so lucky you can shop here." Luck has nothing to do with it. It's been the band and a lot of hard work! I'm finally settled and getting my exercise groove back. Enjoying Zumba and running. Things are looking up! What is your best non-scale victory?

I am the worst blogger in history! Milestones have come and gone and I've failed to document them. As I was reading some past posts I really wish I would have! 2 major milestones are my last cigarette and bandiversary dates have shot past. May 13 & 19 come and gone just like that. I'm proud and ecstatic to report that I nearly reached my " ideal weight" goal of 119lbs. I'm at 132.6 (approx 67lbs)and have never felt better in my LIFE. I wish that I had the opportunity ages ago for this surgery. Is it tough? YES! Are the sacrifices worth it HELL YES! It is a daily struggle of intake and output. As I reflect on my journey I would not have been as successful if I hadn't done the following: 1. Had frequent contact and adjustments with my MD - 7 adjustments 2 under Fluor I had my band placed in the UK. My doctor is very conservative. I was on liquids a full month following band placement (longest 30 days of my life) followed by 2 weeks of mushy. With every band adjustment it was one week of liquid and one week of mushy. I followed it to a tee. This is when I would loose the most weight. If I uped my exercise the lbs dropped overnight. You should do what your doctor recommends for you 2. Followed the rules - reread them often -post them where you can see them 3. EXERCISE (nasty word I have grown to love thx lap band girl) I started off running between 1 light post and walking and running a light post and walking I'm now running 5k at least 2 x a week with a couple miles every other day. You have to find a exercise that doesn't make you dread it. It was running for me because it's solitary and I could de-stress no one wants anything from me when I'm running. In fact when I say I'm going for a run my family usually have a million things to do. I think many of us have put our wants, needs, health on the back burner to fulfil others wants and needs. Exercise is definitely putting yourself first. 30 min at least every other day. It's doable. Start NOW! It will speed up the weight loss! Whew - that was a long tirade because it is soooo important! I've done 6 5k 2 of those were mud runs with obstacle courses in the last year. Having a race scheduled kept me motivated to run. 4. Started out using www.myfitnesspal.com to record my intake and exercise really kept me on track. It helps to teach you to calorie count when you may not have the restriction from the band yet. I tried to keep my calories at 1200. It also teaches you what food is high in protein. High protein foods will fill you up, make you feel fuller and take more energy to process! 5. I was a daily weigher. Controversial I know. My rational was if I wait a whole week to see if I've gained or lost I'm going to loose time where I could be loosing. I did have times where I gained. When I went on vacay and didn't weigh and didn't care if I gained I gained! (food in France was worth the extra work) I realised I would have to WORK extra hard when I got home. 6. Take your vitamins. My skin and hair have never looked better. 7. Drink water - I do not consume any calories in liquid form unless I'm on my week of liquids following a fill! I have an occasional cocktail but I plan for it by not indulging in something or exercising more that week. We are a week away from moving from the UK to S. Korea. The life of a military family. I'm sure I'll be faced with some new band challenges in Asia but I say bring it on! LOVING my new REALITY!

Weigh-In

Hey ladies hit a milestone today!!!! 169.4 I'm so excited. I had my band adjusted last Thursday - 4cc total in the band. I started shedding about a pound a day. Of course the week long liquid diet after the adjustment might have had something to do with it. Oh and I almost forgot the 5K I jogged last Saturday. I finished in 42mins and some change. Not so bad for my first 5K. My # was 9230. Hope everyone has a great week of loosing.

Dorothy I'm not in Kansas anymore!!!

I have been sooo busy these last few weeks. My children's school is keeping us on our toes. We've had Sport's Day, Sports Dinner (I was very good - ate a few bites of the dessert and than pushed it away), Junior and Senior Production, Fashion Show, Summer Concert, and Leaver's Service. Tomorrow is Speech Day and we are done. In the middle of all of this was 4th of July. We took the kids out of school and went on a short break to Edinburgh, Scotland. We walked the Royal Mile (yes it's a mile) a few times and then for a NSV I climbed this:

This is Scott Monument. There are 287 steps to the top around a circular stairway that narrows as it ascends. The funny thing is I convinced my family to climb it and I couldn't go all the way up. I made it to the third viewing area before fear overcame me. As you ascend this structure people are descending on the same stairs. WHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT??????????? There is barely enough room for me to get up then you want me to move to the outside so someone can descend. I freaked out. In someone's infinite wisdom they abruptly omitted the hand rail half way up. While my family completed the 50 odd steps I had time to reflect on how I was going to live out my life atop Scott's monument without a bathroom. I was seriously frightened. I didn't think I was going to be able to get down. Fear had gripped me tight in it's clutches. My family by this time had been up and didn't beat an eyelash when I said I couldn't come down. In unison they said "Whatever" and commenced their decent. I was left with further reflection of my new existence as a permanent fixture atop this Gothic beast. Needless to say when I thought of winter clearer minds prevailed and I started my descent. My daughter was laughing hysterically as I was exiting. The endless line of lambs to the slaughter were staring questioningly at my tear streaked face.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I'm off to my first 5K on Sunday. Pictures to follow!

You want me to WHAT????? EXERCISE!!!!

So I'm an avid follower of Lap Band Gal. Before I got my band I stayed up till 2AM reading her blog. I share her stories with my friends and her before and after pics with my husband. She is my lap band porn. LOL Sounds somewhat stalkerish but I assure you it's purely inspiration. So to get to the point she is constantly stuffing exercise down my throat. "It's workout Wed what are you doing." ... The sun is shinning what exercise are you doing .... etc ... etc... etc...! I was hoping she would say It's raining doughnuts what exercise are you doing? I think I would have really been motivated by that. I loathed exercise thus getting to the point where I needed WLS. So being an avid "follower" I decided to heed her advice and start exercising *GASP* I started walking with a friend, moved up to a fast (old lady mall walker) pace and now I'm jogging and walking. I signed up for the Race for Life (breast cancer awareness) 5K. This is my first race ever. Today I had a mile pace of 12 mins and burned 284 calories in 25min. My goal is to be able to run 1 mile without stopping. So thanks Lap Band Gal for annoying me with the reminders to exercise.  Oh by the way - it helped me get to a weight loss goal too. So in the words of my mentor: What are you doing for exercise?

Liquids are OVER!

I made it!!! Thank goodness that phase is over. 4 weeks of sheer will power and I'm done with the liquid phase. I must confess I did slip up towards the end and eat mushies. What utter bliss mushies are. I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I have.  I weighed in today and I was at 180.8. Yippee I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Nothing Witty to Say

It's been awhile since I wrote anything. Mainly it's because I have nothing to say. Still on my liquid diet. Thursday will be my 3 week bandiversary. I will only have 1 week to go and I get to move on to the mushy stage. I got down to 185 and have been going back and forth between 187-188. I have been really vigilant about recording everything that goes in my mouth. I'm using www.myfitnesspal.com. I have to confess that I had a McDonald's  strawberry shake and I will never ever have one ever again.  After recording the calories. I had no idea how many calories were in a lot of things until I started using this site.  Do you use any sites to record your calories?