Surgeon's Visit

My surgeon's visit was great. He was very happy with how I look and how I'm doing. I was about 200 last time I was there, I've gotten as low as 188 and am back around 200 again. I weighed exactly 200 at his office. (Deep breaths!) But apparently I look different to him, so that's cool.

He said since I'm not having issues with vomiting or extreme band tightness, he'll just leave my fill until my third trimester at which point he'll take all the fluid out. Won't that be weird? I haven't even had to have an unfill yet, so I haven't gone backwards on restriction except for the natural fluctuations in the band and weight loss.

He said one of the biggest issues for pregnant ladies is the port bothering them. Since my port is detached, it should be just fine. He said he has actually removed ports from two pregnant women. One of them he put back in shortly after the baby came and the other one he said decided to just get her band out because 6 months after baby she hadn't put any weight back on. She was confident in her new lifestyle.

Last night I woke up with burning in my throat from acid reflux. I used to have that a lot before my surgery, but it was under control with Nexium. After surgery I was able to stop taking the Nexium. So last night I got up and took a Nexium and drank some Alka Selzer Heartburn Relief. Looks like the surgery helped me with run-of-the-mill heartburn, but maybe not pregnancy-induced heartburn.

I've been so tired I haven't been exercising lately, but with the beautiful weather today (74) I think we're going to have to go for a family walk!

Life is changing

Big news at our house. We've got a baby on the way. We are very excited. This will be child number 4. I'm feeling a little sick, but nothing to complain too much about. I'm a little nervous about weight gain and pregnancy and the band, but we'll get it all figured out. I'll let you know along the way how things are going.

I'm probably due in June. I'll be going to both the band and regular doctors this coming week.

Answering a question

Anonymous said...

Melissa,

How do you get back on track or better yet get started when you don't have the right mind set? What gets you there?

Anyonymous,

I thought I would respond here because you've asked a good question. Getting started for mehappened because I hit my breaking point with being fat. I had enough and realized there wasn't any chance of me losing weight by doing what I'd always done. I had to make a huge change and I did. Because the change I made was so drastic, there was no looking back for me. The decision to have lapband surgery was a decision to live a healthy life for the rest of it. It's not always easy and I do fall sometimes.

Basically it's a daily process of getting back up and dusting myself off. I have realized that I can be healthy, but it takes a constant effort and focus to keep on track. If one day is bad, then the next day has to be better. Sometimes I feel really strong and have several good days in a row. Doing challenges is better helping me to be on track.

But really, you have to see it as a life-long pursuit. There is no going on or off a diet. It's a change you make and it needs to be a permanent one.

I also pray a lot. I pray for strength and determination. It helps.

Hope those words were helpful.

Body For Life begins

We have started the Body For Life program. My sister and husband and I are all doing it together. We started on Monday. I'm thrilled with how this week has gone. I have lost 8 pounds somehow. I think there's definitely been some retained water that I've lost. My husband has stuck with it really well, too. He didn't actually weigh to start with, so I'm not sure what his weight has done.

We have entered a new world of weight lifting! Part of this program has you do weights, three times a week. We did two upper body and one lower body work out. We're like a couple of goofs in the gym trying to figure out which machines do what, looking at the pictures in our Body For Life book, and then trying to figure out what weights are best. I'm glad we live in a small town and have a really low-key gym because I don't really feel conspicuous here. It's really nice.

I really like the aerobics part of this program. You do three days a week of 20 minute aerobic workouts. You workout according to intensity level, scale of 1-10. Whatever fitness level you are at and whatever activity you're doing, will work with this program. You start with two minutes of an intensity level of 5. Then you do a minute each of levels 6-9. You repeat that three times, the last time you get to 9 and then the next minute you go all out and go to 10 for one minute. Then one minute of 5 cool down and you're done. I feel like I'm getting so much more done in a 20 minute workout than I was in 45-60 minutes at a slower pace.

We took before pictures, but didn't take measurements. I think we will probably do those this weekend so we have some way to gauge our progress besides the scale and looks.

Recent pictures

We had a friend take some pictures of us on the way to church on Sunday. Well, the field of sunflowers wasn't exactly on the way to church, but you get the idea.

And the music gets louder. . .

I have been avoiding my blog the last while because I haven't been eating great and I didn't want to post about it.

Vacation was fun and I had a vacation from worrying about what I'm eating. It's been hard to get back on track. The other day was a particularly bad day. By the end of the day I felt like I had been so out of control it really scared me. I determined the next day would be better.

By 1:00 p.m the next day. I still hadn't allowed myself to eat anything because I didn't trust myself to make good choices. I decided that was stupid and had a protein shake to start my day of eating off. I actually did really well. The next day was also much better.

One of the things I did to help myself get back on track was to go back and re-read my entire blog from the beginning. I was reminded of my mindset from all those months ago. I really needed a readjustment back to focusing on making choices because they are healthy instead of making choices because they fit a certain plan or program. (I'm referring to the Health and Wellness Challenge I did for 12 weeks that ended just prior to my last vacation.)

During the challenge, I found myself working around the rules and eating things that weren't necessarily healthy, but still qualified for the rules of the program. For example: No Sugar Added ice cream fit the bill of No Sugar, but it was certainly not a healthy food to be consuming because it still had a lot of fat and calories. So I began seeking out treats that would qualify within the guidelines of the challenge.

Well, once the challenge ended, I was free to seek out treats that were no longer forbidden. Add that freedom to vacation and it quickly became a problem. It just became a constant mindset of "What treat can I have next? " I was always seeking out what there was yummy to eat next. Totally pre-band mentality. I cannot go there again and continue or even maintain losing weight.

So the scale reflected all of this struggle. The morning after my particularly bad day my weight was up several pounds. I didn't even want to know, but not knowing was scarier to me. So after 2 days of better eating, I'm back down a few of those, but still not back to my lowest, or even my lower numbers. I'm going to give myself a week and then I'll readjust my ticker to where I really am.

I really tend to avoid posting when I am struggling, but I don't want to give a false impression that things are always easy and that there aren't still obstacles and struggles. There are. I just need to remember that I'm in this battle for life.

Early on in my blogging, I said "In this weight loss marathon, I still need to keep jogging, not slow down for a walk, or even sit to rest." I found those words very profound the other day when I read them. What I've done recently is slow down to a walk and even sat down to rest for a while--even taking a few steps backwards. I need to move forward and that is what I am doing and plan on continuing to do.

Facing the Music

Hello again.
The last few weeks have been a vacation of sorts. A vacation from regular life and a vacation from worrying about what I'm eating.

Luckily my weight hasn't suffered much. I would like to get back on track, though.

I did win 3rd place in the Health Challenge. :) The sloppy eating came after that was over.

I went for a walk today. I walked a mile to the high school track, ran one mile on the track and walked the mile back home. Felt pretty good. I didn't exercise much last week, so I've got to get back in the habit.

School starts next week so that will help our daily routine to be more consistent.