This Fill Is Your Fill, This Fill Is My Fill....

Greetings!

So, my first fill was March 4th. I wanted to give it some time before I decided I needed another fill. Technically, my next fill appt is May 5th or something...

I can still eat pretty good. Especially at supper time. So, I am going in for another fill this Thursday! Yippee! I called today and asked if I could and they said sure. I am hoping that I get to where I can eat less. Sometimes I feel something in the morning. Sometimes, if I am eating a sandwich at lunch I can feel something...but today I remembered my nutritional instructions and how I am supposed to feel "full" at around 4 0z. What! 4 oz?! (*^^%*&%

So, I will keep you posted.

I would also like to share that I made some poor food choices this weekend. I didnt eat large quantities of anything, but I didnt eat good things either. For example, on Saturday I ate yogurt for breakfast, skipped lunch bc we were going to a 2pm bday party. I made 7-Layer bean dip for that and queso...so all I ate that afternoon was the dip, cheese, and chips. OH YEAH...and a wonderful piece of birthday cake with that precious whipped frosting.

Then yesterday...queso for lunch and I made a delicious cheeseburger pie casserole thing and a banana split pie (my parents came over). Again, I didnt eat a lot of it...but that one piece of pie had a lot of calories.

So, back on the wagon today. Or is it off? I get confused.

Also, I am going to start weighing myself once a week...on Mondays (versus 7 days a week :). If I can stick to it, I think it will help. Here's my thinking. If we are supposed to "only" lose 1-2 pounds a week...then I am setting myself up for "sad girl Amy days" when I dont lose. So, hopefully I will feel better about the 1 or 2 pounds if I weigh once a week.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Blood and Laughter

So, after lunch today I went to the main hospital (I work for a health care system) to give blood. I was sitting in the little privacy booth (I mean, what screams privacy more than a cubicle with 3 walls). The lady was asking me questions...where do I live, whats my social, have I ever had sex with a donkey...etc. Then, she asked me my weight, and without hesitation I said 193.

193!

I then realized what I had said, and started laughing. I said..."that's not true..I weigh 293! Wishful thinking I guess". Just thought that was funny.

Yoga Class Woot Woot! Hollla!

Yoga. Big girl. Concrete walls that are conducive to echoing. My fear...that I would fart in downward facing dog.

I didn't fart...but I wanted to!

Okay, so Tracey and I went to our first yoga class. First, Tracey was going just to be nice. And he is a pretty southern man. For example, he went to yoga wearing a shirt that had a picture of a dog eating a motorcycle...or something along those lines. The point that I am trying to make is, he doesn't look like the yoga type, but he was being a good sport.

I actually had a mat that I bought years ago when I tried yoga via a dvd. Needless to say, the mat was in almost new condition. Now, this isnt yoga at the Y, this is a little yoga studio, taught by a wonderful lady I will call Mother Earth. She had a gentle voice and spoke about sunshine and breathing. I want to carry her around with me so she can brush my hair when I am feeling blue.

Anyways, we got all of our other equipment. This includes a blanket, a bolster (long pillow) and a square block...oh...and a long belt thing. I had googled yoga etiquette before going, so I knew a few things to expect. I focused on myself. It's not a competition.

Did I suffer fat girl embarrassment? Well, not really. There was a point towards the beginning, when we were laying on our backs, knees up to the chest, and we were supposed to be hugging our knees. Kinda hard with a big belly. So Mother Earth had me use the long belt to wrap around my knees. But, I learned she walked around and helped everyone...even the little pixie student instructor.

I have always danced, and try to maintain my flexibility bc stretching has always been something I enjoyed, but in one certain position, Mother Earth told me "Gooood, you are very flexible". That made my third eye smile.

Because it was a beginners class, there were many modifications I had to make to the poses. But that's okay. I will learn. There is this one position where you lunge, put your one hand behind your back, one hand under your crotch, and you clasp your hands together. I tried my best to google a picture for you guys...I may just have Tracey demonstrate and I will take a picture. Anyways, there is no way I could make it with the size of my butt. There were some positions that I thought my arms were going to give out.

Yoga is different than anything I have done. Its not about pumping it up, sweating the most, competing with others. Its about centering yourself, listening to your body, stretching. I left feeling very peaceful.

If only Mother Earth could have come home with us for dinner.

Maybe next time.

Shoes and Feet

I wanted to share two things. My foot and my new shoe. I have wide feet, and I wanted to illustrate with an actual picture of my square foot. Sort of Fred Flinstone yes? Well, for the past forever (maybe 5 or 6 yeears) I have worn Nike Shox. I like to believe bc they are narrow, they help my feet not look like a box. So, as you know, I have started walking. I blew out the stiching in one of my shox and have been walking with tape wrapped around it. I did some research on walk makes a good walking shoe (bc I also get shin splints). Turns out, Nike Shox sucks. They raise the heel. Bad for walking, bad for shins. So, I broke down and bought what I refer to as fat girl shoes. They make my feet look 9" wide. BUT!!! BUT!!! They are wonderful. They feel so good! Woo wee.

Aren't you excited to? LOL

Post-Fill, So are the days of our lives

Good Sunday to everyone! Okay, so here is a picture of where my port is actually located. The top scar is my port scar, and until my fill, I thought that the hard lump I felt underneath it was my port. Wrong-O! Its actually a little lower. So now we all know.

So what have I been eating. Okay...Friday was my first full day after the fill. For lunch I had a Wendy's chili. YUM...it was a small and I ate it in 5 minutes. Too fast I know, but it was sweet love in my mouth. For dinner, we went to O'Charley restaurant. I had a triangle from our quesidilla (I can't spell) appetizer, one roll, and a cup of potato soup. It all went down just fine. Nothing felt weird. I wasn't "stuffed" afterwards, but I wasnt hungry. In fact, I wasnt hungry when I woke up Saturday but I ate half a thing of yogurt bc I didnt want to walk on an empty stomach. I didnt eat for about 4 hours, wasnt really hungry until then. I ate about a half a cup of chicken salad. About 7 hours later I realized it was past supper time! I hadnt been hungry all afternoon. I ate a low-fat hotdog, on half a bun and some pear bits. Went down just fine.

Then....'ominous music playing' I woke up this morning and made a piece of toast, added a little peanut butter on it, with some jelly...and sat down to eat--'more suspenseful music'....I took a sip of milk (I know! Not supposed to drink but I just need a little fix man!) and about 20 seconds later, I told Tracey to get the bread away from me. I went in the bathroom and up came the bread and milk. Nothing violent, it didnt even come from my stomach...just was chillin in my throat.

So, either toast and peanut butter will no longer work, or I ate to fast, OR I am tighter in the morning. That's my story and I am sticking to it!

My first fill!

Here is a picture of my doctor.
Hola everyone!

So, I went for my first fill today. I was feeling pretty sassy and cute...had a hop in my step and a twinkle in my eye.

They weigh me, take my blood pressure. Dr. Friedman had me come back in the little room and opened my chart. He looks at my weight and says "34 pounds, Holy Shit". LOL...seriously that's what he said. LOL..hahaha

He read through his checklists of questions. Am I exercising, do I feel restriction or have trouble eating, etc. He was very proud of me. He asked me if I could eat a sandwhich no problem. I said yes. He said "We are doing 4cc's then girl". I said "GOOD, thats what I wanted but was afraid to ask".

I also asked him a few questions that have been perplexing me after reading a few posts on Lapbandtalk. First, my doc puts stitches around the band to secure it to the stomach to help prevent slipping. Someone on LBT said that they disolve and are only temporary. Dr. F said no way. They are there to do a job. I also asked if he could tell me what I felt when I pressed on my port incision. Turns out the hard lump I fill under my scar is not my port but scar tissue...and that my port is just a little lower than the scar. When I get home I will take a picture and post it.

So, he layed my back on the table and felt around. He had Amanda-the office coordinator (I dont know what her real title is), come in so he could show her how it was done. He gave me a shot to numb me. That hurt. Then, he filled up his needle and stuck it in. I didnt feel a thing. He gave me 4 ccs, put a bandaid on, and had me set up. I drank a little water...no prob...and I dont have to go back for another 2 months unless I think the fill is not doing anything.

Easy. Breazy. Beautiful. Lapband girl.

Happy March!

Hello all! Today at 4:00 central standard time, I start my liquid diet to prepare for my first fill! Yeah! I get fill on Thursday at 4pm, and I are really looking forward to the fact that I might feel a restriction.

We are still walking. We did 2.5 miles on Sunday, and again last night. I think we will stick to that until this weekend when we will go to 3 miles! Thats our 5k distance (technically, a 5k is 3.1 miles)...but still good enough! We were planning on doing our first 5k on May 17th, but my organization is doing a 5k on April 4th out on the beach...so I think we might do that one! That will give us about 3 weeks to work on our timing for the 5k. I would like NOT to be the last walker that crosses the line. But if I am...at least I finished.

The other night I blew out the right side of my right Nike Shock. The stitching ripped. So...since I dont get paid until Friday, and I only own one pair of tennis shoes...I DUCK TAPPED THEM! Wrapped them all around like an ace bandage. Good times.

Last night when we were walking, there is this slightly crazy lady with a big old dog and a stick that walks the path also. I think she is from Australia...or maybe she just pretends to be. Anyways, she apparently has wonderful vision for a woman in her golden years bc she hollered at me last night (now imagine in an australian accent) YOU ARE LOSING WEIGHT GIRL! I said that's my goal! She's only seen me a total of probably 6 times...but hey...you take it where you can get it!

This weekend I hope to buy a new pair of shoes.