Band Misuse and Abuse

Scene:  Amy on soapbox

A couple of recent events have led me to this post.  And please keep in mind, that I am just shooting from the hip here (which...if you have actually seen my aim with shooting instruments, you would be scurred)...but I have been thinking about how otherwise seemingly smart individuals can either misuse or abuse their bands. 

So, let's pretend that everything is black and white... really so I can lump these misusers and abusers into one of two categories. 

First, we have the Too Too Tighties.  Now I understand the need for restriction.  I know that in the beginning it is the holy bandgrail.  I mean, the band doesn't really work for you until you HAVE restriction right?

And I understand, and have participated in, and also condone...getting a fill when you need it.  Getting a fill when you feel like your eating habits need to be put in check, when your hunger is not only generated from your head...but your tummy.

I dig.

BUT, I do not understand being so tight for YEARS that you cannot, unless baby Jesus or Santa Clause gives you a special pass, get food down before noon.  Or just for s's and g's, what about being too tight for YEARS that you actually have trouble getting water down for a few hours every morning.  I'm sorry dude.  Not cool.  And a lot of us have been too tight...you know...after you beg your hot doc for a full cc.  But choosing to use your band in this way is dangerous.  And when you start to experience problems that are most likely a result of being too tight for so long...well...I want to say...did you not think that having this implanted device squeezing so tight for months and months wouldn't lead to issues?

Now to be fair and balanced, let us look at the other end of the misuse and abuse spectrum.  I am talking about those people that go through all the trouble to have surgery...but then never follow up with their doctors, never get fills, never put forth an effort...and then blame the band for the lack of weight loss.  WHAT DID YOU GET THE BAND FOR THEN?  If you werent going to stay in contact with your doctor, if you weren't going to go for fills...what did you think would happen.

WHAT PEOPLE?  WHAT?

Scene:  Amy starts rocking back and forth, muttering "The best way to spend Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear (Elf)"

Home Alone. Unsupervised.

Heather is out of town for the night (not too far away though) awaiting the birth of her first niece...and sadly...what I was looking forward to the most...was eating pasta with shit-tons of cheese, some bread with butter (um...Parkay), and ice cream.  And I have.

And it was goood.

Now I am in a food coma.

Is 7:54 pm too early for bed?

Last night we played the game "where-the-hell-is-the-camera-i-bought-you-for-your-birthday".  Which means I just started taking random Wednesday night pictures.  Here are the pigs waiting for Santa.

Me and the little lady.  As white as our little wife beaters.

And speaking of ladies...

So please excuse me while I go drink Pepsi right out of the 2-liter bottle.

Nearing The 3 Year Bandiversary

One of the pictures that really startled me.  In my mind...I didn't look like this. 

Same trip as picture above.  Probably somewhere around 325-330 pounds.

On the right: 12/4/2010 170 pounds.  On the left: today.  174 pounds

So hmmm.  I thought there would be a noticeable difference in my tone since last year...but there is not much.  That's okay.  Maybe I should be happier that at least there it's not worse. 

I took this picture below the other day.  I wanted to show you guys the difference in where my boobs ARE and where they should be...but then I heard my mother telling me my father says I share too much.  So I cropped the happy boob out (it's not like there was a nipple or anything), but its a close up of how my stomach is doing.

That scar there that you can see is my biggest one.  The remaining 4 have faded very nicely.

So that is the picture progress...I will try to work on something witty and amazing for the 3 year on January 27th.  Happy Monday.  It's practically over!

Friends...We Shall Begin Again

Have you ever been gone from Blogger for so long that you want to come back but you dont know where to start.  Like do you do a recap of your absence?  Do you just come out swinging talking about the profound thoughts you had this morning regarding vibrators?  Do you try to think of a funny bathroom related story?  I just couldn't decide.  So I will pretend that I havent been a bad blogger for the last...oh...million weeks.

Hi guys!  Seems like just yesterday that I posted.

Hope all you Stateside had a good Thanksgiving.  As it goes in the Gainey Clan, we spent most of the 4 days hunting.  Now, hunting down here involves dogs.  You let out your dogs and they run the deer, and then you spend most of the time hunting the DOGS in a pick-up truck.  No deer were killed.  Which Heather was a little bummed about because she is determined to kill one so we can have meat.

Here is a picture of me and Fisher.  We don't need real guns...with guns like these.

My Heather and "the other Heather".

Basically, me and "the other Heather" just rode in the backseat while Henry and my Heather were in the front seats doing serious hunting.  Now, when you head out for a day of hunting, you usually get out there around 5 am and may not come home...no home for lunch or anything...until 5 pm.  So I come packing food okay?  I should of takin a picture.  But me and the other Heather would just sit in the back, blanketed in cheetos, chips and dip, bacon, biscuits, pringles, puppy chow.  It was awesome.  It would be 6 in the morning and we would say "um...could you pass me the bacon and pringles please".  Good times.  Good times.

Last week I took a hunters safety class where I got to shoot a bow, a rifle, and a shotgun.  It was totally hot.

I have been shopping for Christmas.  This year I am SO GOING ROGUE and buying people what I want.  No Christmas lists please and thank you.  Remember that Heather doesnt really "do Christmas". It stresses her out and makes her grumpy.  So I already bought her some boots she wanted and she is wearing them already.  But I have a few presents under the tree for her BECAUSE I WANT TOO!  She bought me a Columbia jacket in front of me, and I tickets to an Eric Church concert.  Which excites me in the naughty kind of way.  He is my new man crush.  In fact, the day I announced that he has passed Jennifer Nettles (from Sugarland) in the running for my heart...Jennifer announced she married some model dude.  Coincidence?  No.  I think not.  Clearly she was jealous.

On the weight front, its up a few pounds...around 174. But I aint worried. That's nothing a week of buckling down couldnt cure.  My band is el-loose-o, I think I will wait until January to get a fill.  I am not sure I want to go back to tight band living.  I like to eat with a little more freedom.

On the workout front, things are good.  I am still working on getting bigger muscles.  Lower body is getting a lot of focus....as well as my triceps.  A lot of sore muscles.  Mommy likes.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Until we meet again.

kisses.

I Shall Rule The World

Last week while making my walk from our main hospital back to my office...quite a trapse across a very large parking lot, and whilst wearing heels...I decided something.

I am going to rule the world. 

It's pretty concrete.  Not much give.  It's certain.

Now, I don't really have a plan for world domination yet, but I think I will start at the organizational level of where I work.  You see, here is what I think the trick is.

If you DON'T know something...act like you do...until you do. 

For example, do you remember when you were a freshman or sophomore in high school and you thought that the seniors were SUPER smart or had  more life experience than you and thus they knew things...but then when you actually become a senior you realize you are just as stupid as a senior as you were as a freshman or sophomore...and if you only knew that WHEN you were a freshman or sophomore you would have done things differently?

Well I still assume that about some of my coworkers.  Like they are smarter than me.  And believe, some of them are.  But I am on to a few of them.  They just pretend to be really smart.  And it works for them. 

So, onward and upward folks. 

Let's dominate.

In other news.  I drank some water today. 

Happy Monday!

Picture Time!

Thought I would share some of the goings-ons with you from the past couple of weeks.  We are entering the "Pale Months" as I like to call them here in Florida...you know...where it gets just a little too cool to sunbathe but still so humid that you have to turn your fan on high while putting up your Christmas tree.

A few weeks ago I was able to spend a Friday working at the navy base here.  We were cooking out for some of the workers who staff the food service and janitorial areas out at the base.  It was a really fun day.  In case you don't know it, I am a master griller.  I suppose one of the few things that makes me butch...that and my lady nuts.  But I know how to turn some hotdogs and flip some burgers mmmmkay?

That's my main man and coworker Rusty. He is camera shy. Much like myself.

This is me (duh) and my other main man, Dennis.  He's important people.  We were at a Breast Cancer walk.

For those of you who didnt see it on Facebook, 3 weeks ago, whilst playing the very dangerous game of co-ed slow pitch softball, Heather caught a pop-fly....with her face.  I was playing catcher, she was playing second.  And bc she is blind, and hardheaded, and needs glasses, she misjudged the ball.  When it hit her it made the worst sound.  She bent over and cupped her eye and when she moved her hand away...blood was pouring on the field.  So a trip to the ER and a cat scan later, she looked like this:

She is looking better now.  Just a bloody eyeball remains.  She will be going for her vision check up soon. 

And that's about it for picture time.  Oooh.  How about a few pet pics?  Kitty and Honey May are madly in love.  Honey May is our younger bulldog and can't ever get the crotchety old boys to spoon with her. 



Skin

Here is the article I found, and like, that talks about skin.  One of our favorite concerns.

What causes the skin to sag after a significant weight loss?
“There is an inherent elasticity in everyone’s skin, but once you get to a certain size, the elasticity decreases,” explains Jason Spector, M.D., assistant professor of plastic surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

The tissue expands and your body literally makes more skin by producing more skin cells. And those annoying stretch marks? “They are the artifacts of the breakdown of the normal architecture of skin,” Spector says.

What are the biggest factors that determine my skin’s elasticity?
“The two biggest factors that determine skin elasticity are age and genetics,” Spector says. And, unfortunately,both are out of our control. How quickly you’ve gained the weight, as well as how quickly you’ve lost it, may also be a factor.

Losing weight over a longer period of time may give you more of a fighting chance. However, Spector says,there are no credible studies that show what a person can do to head off the excess skin as they’re losing weight.

Plan of Action: Slower weightloss – one to two pounds a week – can help with your skin’s elasticity.

What about my fitness routine?  Are there specific exercises I can do to tone up my skin?

“It isn’t that you’re toning up the skin itself,” says Cedric Bryant, Ph.D., chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. “But by adding muscle, you can form a tight layer under the skin.” That can improve how the skin looks, and take away some of the sag effect.

Basically, the best course of action is to preserve your muscles while losing fat, Pino says. That’s especially important for people who have followed strict calorie restriction plans because they may have lost muscle right along with the fat.

You have to build the muscle backup again. “Endurance exercise will burn fat, but you also need to add strength training,” he says, noting that the skin of patients who do both tends to react better.