Weekly Weigh In Week 6

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 309.2

Today's Weight - 310.0

Total Weight Loss- 20.6

Well...I gained...I forgot to take a picture of the scale this morning and didn't remember until AFTER I had eaten my breakfast...Meh it doesn't really matter...

I am up .8 from last week. For those of you whom are on MyFitnessPal with me know that I have been failing struggling this week. Beatrice (my lapband) has gone on vacation the last few weeks....I have been eat WAY more then I should and the only person I have to blame is myself...

Anywho, today is typically my cheat day, but since I have pretty much been cheating for the last week I haven't earned one...it is a privilege NOT a right.

So today I have take control of my eating and with the help of my new Body Media band I am gathering more information that will help me for next week!

Oh...and here was dinner at Panera...

280 Calories 23g of protien

New toys!!!

I FINALLY broke down and bought myself a new phone...by broke down I mean my husband basically begged me for his own mental sanity that I spend the $500 bucks to get me a phone that I like instead of bitching about the piece of junk shitty brick of technology that even though I got it for free I felt I got ripped off and paid too much for! *takes a breath*

Anyways...I got a Samsung Galaxy SIII...Some people might think I am nuts since next month T-mobile (I LOVE YOU!) starts carrying the iPhone5 (I HATE YOU!)...but I hate apple products...and I will leave it at that....I am SO SO SO excited about my new phone.

My second toy is a replacement for something else I already own...my bodybugg!...I have recently purchased a new Body Media Core for $120 bucks...My main reasoning for this was a few things. I currently pay $10 a month for the online subscription service. For that I get to know my calorie burn, steps, and physical activity. With the new Body Media Core sensor I pay $7 a month and I get calorie burn, steps, sleep patterns and efficiency (I am a shitty sleeping so I am most excited about this), activity, activity intensity, AND AND I get to use myfitnesspal to log my calories instead of the SHITTY logging system on the Bodybugg....I am so excited and I will update you when I get to use it...which might not be until August!
:(...but I digress...Have a GREAT Thursday night!

Wacky Wednesday Weigh-in... Week 5!

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 312.2

Today's Weight - 309.2

Total Weight Loss- 21.2

Well....I have to admit that I am a bit shocked by the scale this week. That doesn't happen often. Typically I am either happy with/surprised and giddy/or saddened by the scale. A lot of time I am also disappointed in myself when the scale confirms how I felt about my progress over the week....That is how I thought I would be feeling this week.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that I was horrible...it wasn't like I ate an entire pizza and six gallons of ice cream every day...but my average calories intake was 1900 calories. According to my bodybugg, my average calorie burn was 3071. Giving me a deficit of 1171. According to the "Calorie in/ Calorie Out" theory I should have lost 2.2 pounds. So I guess it wasn't as off as I thought it was!...lol (Totally only did the math while I was writing this post)

In other news:

I GET TO GO BACK TO JAZZERCISE ON FRIDAY!!!!!

Weekend in review...

Friday -  Spent the day at the Zoo with L and her best friend MG. They...had...a...blast! Which was amusing to me because it was cold. I mean it wasn't like we were in risk of losing fingers or toes or anything like that but it was still on the chilly side. That didn't stop the little darlings from running and jumping around the animals...We rode the train, the carousel ..went to the Children's Zoo, had lunch. I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home.

That night...The kids went to Grandma's house (my in laws)...My husband and I got a date night. They are SO rare! We saw Silver Linings Playbook which is by far the BEST movie I have seen in forever. Then we went to Qdoba for dinner at 10:00pm. It was great to just spend some time with my hubby and know that the kids were having fun!

What I haven't told you is that when I woke up my throat felt off. My voice was raspy...my glands were swollen and sore...and I had gunkies. By the time I got home from the movie...I was miserable, cold, achy...had the chills...I took two Tylenol, crawled under my heated blanket and went to bed...

Saturday - Woke up at 8:30 am...knowing that the local Take Care Clinic opened at 9 AM. Got dressed which sucked. All the hair on my skin was SUPER sensitive and everything hurt. Anyways, I drove myself there early so that I could hopefully be the first one in line...I was...

The Nurse Practitioner checked me out and determined that I have strep...STREP! I don't have time for strep. Now I have to keep a look out to see if L gets it. I know DJ won't he has been on antibiotics for two days and still have eight more to go. I go home after filling my script and crawl back into bed. Where I remained for five hours ( Thank you Grandma for keeping the babies until D got home from golfing!).

I felt (and I kids you not) like I would have had to get a little better in order to die!

I love my hubby...He took great care of me until my fever broke at 10 PM. Even after that he made sure that I was comfy and took my meds.

I was quite irritated by being ill...I had so many things that I had wanted to get done this weekend that just wasn't gunna happen...

Sunday - I woke up feeling AWESOME...well less like I had been by a bus. I am no longer contagious!

We headed out to my dad's house where my daughter L was spending the night. We also had the master plan of selling girl scout cookies around his neighborhood (What supposed to happen on Saturday...) I felt great...which was good because my darling daughter drug me up and down every driveway of almost half the houses around my dad.

The planned work...L's goal was to sell 100 boxes of cookies. That got her two patches and a cheap dolphin bracelet. As you can imagine she is most excited over the bracelet. I want her to have the two patches. Any ways..Between her family, Daddy's work, Grandma J's work, and her door to door sales she has sold 144 boxes as of today...Now her also gets a plush dolphin...L is smitten with selling cookies...And I as her troop leader am excited for the troops checkbook!

After we finally let Grandpa's house we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. That store has EVERYTHING!

I went with a particular mission in place...I wanted to buy little spoons and little forks. I have been using my sons baby spoons and I have to admit that it has helped slow the speed at which I consume my food. I decided that I like the idea of having little forks and using the crappy plastic ones with rounded points doesn't appeal to me. So I bought these...

The fork and spoon on the outside are our normal sized utensils. In the middle, are my new fork and and spoon!

As I get myself ready for bed I think back over my weekend and I have to admit that I am so glad that if I was going to get sick that I got sick over the weekend. Over a time when I had help from my hubby and my dad to take care of the kids. That is one thing that is so hard about being sick when you have young children. It doesn't matter how you are feeling they need your time...Anyways, I am ready to end today and attack the upcoming week. Bring on the first day of school ( for me) and a Daisy meeting!

TTT...as inspired by a fellow blogger!

So TTT stands for Ten Things Thursday....I LOVE reading Harmony's blog! Every Thursday she puts up a list of ten things. Some of them have to do with her kids, husband. or weight loss journey...But I love them all...So I thought that I could copy her idea!

1) TGIF - Friday you ask since it is actually Thursday!. My adorable kindergartner L is off from school tomorrow since the teachers have an "In Service day". So tonight we are celebrating an early Friday and tomorrow...THE ZOO!!!!

2) Three Week Band-iversary! I am officially allowed to eat normal solid food again. Well except nuts...for whatever reason I can't have nuts for two more months...Not a huge loss to be honest! I am super excited about getting to eat my pizza again...I am kinda addicted to Papa Murphy's Gourmet Italian pizza on the DeLite crust. At only 112 calories a slice (my slices are 1/16th of the pizza)  and 6g of protein they are my Friday night crack!

3) GS Cookie Sales - Cookie sales are going well...L is VERY good at selling the cookies even though I don't know if she she actually knows WHY she is selling the cookies but she does know that she gets "prizes". I decided that is why she is so motivated...she wants the cheap crap that they offer as a reward...lol My hubby on the other hand is determined to get my daughter up to 500 boxes...his reasons are his own and because of the potential audience I will keep them to myself!

4) Kid Free Friday - Normally my mother-in-law takes the grand kids on New Years Eve for a Popcorn party and sleep over. Well this year my poor sister in law and mother in law were suffering from the plague for pretty much all of the Christmas holiday. So in the end, the party didn't happen...Instead it is happening tomorrow night. That means that from 5pm until after breakfast the next day my hubby and I are kid free. We are going to go to a movie and possibly out to dinner after D gets off work!

5) Best friends you have never met - I am a self proclaimed geek. I LOVE/LIVE Star Trek crap. I am pretty sure I can spout off more useless knowledge about the Star Trek universe then most historians can spout about real things that ACTUALLY happened...If I were a normal person I would think this was sad and pathetic but instead it is just one of the many reasons that I am AWESOME!!!

Anyways...the point in divulging this not so secret information is to explain why I do the hobby that I do...I am a Simmer...Simming is a type of RPing (Role Playing) in which you write out a story as a character. In the instances of my simming I typically play females (writing a male when you are a female typically leads to writing that lets everyone else know that you are actually a chick)...and I love that I get to write with tons of other people who are just as much into Star Trek and RPing as I am. Though this I have met some very interesting people...Including my besty...He is (and I call him this often) my brother from another mother. I LOVE that I have him in my life and our conversations made me think of those new Discover card ads where the person on the other end is yourself...If I could be in two places at once I would totally think I was talking to myself...Love you!

6) Gun Control - I don't plan on making it habit of spouting my political beliefs in this medium but this was in fact a major conversation that has been taking place in my life as of late. All I have to say is this...I grew up in a state where it was legal (all be it a blue law) that it was legal to shot any part of a persons body that was on your property without your expressed permission...I like guns...guns keep shit head criminals from piliging and plundering my house hold...I am a damn good shot...I have gone though all the necessary back ground checks and I suffer from no major (or minor for that matter) psychological issues...So for the near future I will keep my guns and if some shit head decides to shoot up a location near me I will gladly shoot back!

7) Little DJ - My little two year old is the love of my life...His father used to hold this title but if the choice came down I would choose DJ over D...it is just the role of a mom...lol....Anyways....The little shit is A D O R A B L E!  The major issues is that he KNOWS that he is cute. He attempts to use this as a weapon and it really only works on his grandparents and the unsuspecting strangers that we meet throughout the day. His little grin just lights up my day...Here is one of my most favorite photos of him for your enjoyment!

See what I mean?!

8) My Not So Little L - My daughter is the a carbon copy of me from when I was a kid. Everything from the weird way that she holds her pencil to her obsession to reading anything with letters on it. She could easily talk your socks off and your actually listening is irrelevant. She is four years older then DJ and is like his second mommy...This doesn't include the instances when she attempts to goad him into doing things he shouldn't or when she "Accidentally convinces him to climb on her back and then bucks him on the couch" Notice the emphasis on "ACCIDENTALLY" she is completely convinced that if she starts any explanation with this phrase then she shouldn't get in trouble. Here is a photo of her...just cuz I can!

I make some CUTE babies if I do say so myself!

9) Weight restriction during recovery - I was told on discharge from the surgical center that I was not supposed to lift anything over 20 pounds. This is not the easiest thing to do when you have a 2 year old who weights 29.75 pounds. He is not heavy to me in the slightest. Picking up L is a noticeable weight, but not my cute, sweet, adorable, lovable, kissable, little DJ. So as you can imagine, I think I obeyed that rule for all of four days...Once my hubby went back to work and I was on my own taking care of my son he was picked up at least once a day. I still have a week of "following" that rule but since I carried him most of the way though the local grocery store today I don't think that is going to happen. I don't do it on purpose it just kinda of happens!

10) Ten Things Thursday - I have to admit this was a little harder then I thought it would be. I will have to keep a list for next week so that I am not sitting here at midnight Friday morning trying to complete my list! (I know this was slightly cheating but if you have read this far into my post I am sure you are just as happy as I am that I am finished...lol)

Week 4 Weigh In

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 311.2

Today's Weight - 312.2

Total Weight Loss- 18.4

Well it finally happened...I gained...I gained one pound over the last week...

I am not very happy with myself. I have to admit that I have been struggling. Other then my difficulties with scrambled eggs my band is pretty non-exsistant...My hubby keeps reminding me that I have no fluid in my band. To me that just sounds like an excuse...but what can I say...On top of being hungry more then I should be I have been stressing something fierce.

My Daisy Troop meets at one of the local branches once a month. The problem with this is that we don't have a set day of the month or a set location and this month it seemed like everything that could go wrong did. I think we have finally gotten a hold on the various aspects of our meeting planning but it doesn't change the fact that it has driven me nuts...I can feel the stress radiating down my back! 

I am going to set myself a little goal for this next week...

Move more....that should counter any extra calories that I take in!

On the Week 5!

A not so typical Sunday at Pumpkin's house...

So in my life, on top of being a wife and full time mom, a full time college student, I have also taken on the task of being the "Leader" of my daughter's Daisy Troop. I have to admit I have a BLAST hanging out with the girls in my little troop. They have so much fun and their genuine joy is intoxicating. Well as you all know these little darlings are the supplies to all people with Girl Scout Cookie Addictions. I am lucky in the sense that sandwich cookies...specifically the 365 chocolate sandwich cookies from Whole Foods...Are pretty much my only cookie weakness....Any who, that means when the little darlings around my neighborhood come to my house I hardly every buy, I donate to the troop, but I don't buy cookies. Until this year...

My daughter L puts on her little tunic and hit up all of our family members for their cookie orders...When we got home, I was no longer immune. It didn't help that my husband has been having dreams about when the Peanut Butter Patties arrive in our pantry...So needless to say, we ordered some cookies. At least it helps out our little troop with their Build-A-Bear party at the end of the year!

As far as my diet of late goes...two things...

I am CONSTANTLY craving fish...I have had it for lunch and dinner every day for the last week or so. It is a bit odd since before surgery I almost NEVER ate fish except with the hubby made me.

Also, we just broke out juicer. In preparation for this D made me go out and buy a bunch of "organic" produce including and not limited to parsley, oranges, kale, and apples. I think we also ended up with blueberries, carrots, and spinach too...All of which ended up in my awesome snowman glass! I have included a photo just for you!

The juice turned out awesome....I can totally see myself drinking one of these every morning. The awesome thing was that L ended up drinking half my juice for me...despite the fact that it was green!

I love my hubby

I can make the promise RIGHT here and NOW that this blog emtry has very little to nothing to do with my weight loss journey!

I consider myself one of the most lucky women on the planet. It was almost eight years ago that I met the man who is now my husband and the father of my children.

To tell you a little about D. Other then that fact that he is wonderful...lol. He is five years older then me graduate from UMSL and is a delivery driver at UPS. He is the largest support in my life. He never judges my outward appearance and most definiatly not like I do to myself. He never makes/lets me feel like I fail at anything. He gets all gungho about everything that I am gungho about, which would be my weight loss journey at the moment.

If you can't tell, I adore this man!

But what I wanted to share the most is his adorable habit when it comes to the show I like to watch.

He HATES Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Drop Dead Diva, and Army Wives. Talks about how much he HATES them and how the shows are crap....but the ENTIRE time I am watching them he asks questions about things he has missed. Comment on what is going one (typically agree with me)...I find it HORRIBLY amusing!

He is so darn cute!

Ok I am done!

Goals for 2013

So I thought that I would put in writing my goals and aspirations for 2013!

Weight loss:
1) I want to be down 100 pounds by my band-iversary of 12/27/2013

Accountability
1) Hold myself 100% accountable for my weight loss journey
2)Log 100% of my food regardless of what I have eaten. Lying in the log only hurts me it doesn't un-eat the bad choices I made. It also gives me the understanding of why my weight changes the way it does.
3)Track my exercise

Exercise
1) Exercise and move at least 300 minutes a week. (Jazzercise 5 days a week)

Motivation:
1) I want to make all the pain and suffering I went/am going though to recover from my Lap-Band surgery worth it by succeeding.
2) I want to be able to buy the adorable clothes they sell at Kohl's instead of the old lady clothing that I am forced to buy because they are all that fit.
3) I want to play with my kids and not sit on the side line because I can't keep up with a 6 year old and a 2 year old.
4)I want to free the cute thin girl that is trapped (and patiently waiting) beneath the fat suit I have been wearing since I was a kid.

Week 3 Weigh in

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 312.2

Today's Weight - 311.2

Total Weight Loss- 19.4

Well I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in this weeks weight loss. I felt this way for a brief moment before I looked back over the week I had according to my food log. After that little walk down  Shame Avenue I am now proud and consider myself lucky to have lost a pound. Today is the beginning of a new week and I am going to do my best not to punish myself for last weeks actions...One to something new!

Documentaries and information overload

I am sure that you have all been there...scrolling though Netflix and looking for something ANYTHING to watch in the wee hours of the night in which there is NOTHING on TV. Which is pretty normal with our cable company. We spend $100 a month and watch maybe three channels (Four if you count Food Network on Fridays when Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives is on).

Any whoozle, I was paging though Netflix and found this documentary called Hungry for Change. Before I go into detail about this infomercial documentary, I need to first explain that watch these things like I am Richard Roper and thousands of people around the world are waiting on baited breath for my review. I know this isn't true but it doesn't stop me in the moment. In the moment I listen and judge and ponder the information I receive  I hardly ever turn it off early even when I disagree with it and I do my best to listen to the information.

Now on to Hungry for Change, Hungry for Change starts out by following a down trodden women named Jane who is having a "Fat Week". She works long hours and has shitty nutrition all the while trying to impress a man named Jason who works in her office. Though out the movie we watch this shy attractive women who obviously hates herself go though all the motions that the "experts" spout as to why people now a days are overweight and unhealthy.By the end of the movie, Jane had turned her life around and the infomercial documentary ended with her new outlook on life.

I remember watching this movie and half way though wondering when exactly this "Informational Documentary" turned into a "Infomercial". While the information about removing the toxins, eating more like humans did when we first pulled ourselves out of the primordial ooze I agree with 100%. I just found myself wondering if the movie was going to turn the way of the meat hating "Only eat vegan" platform that so many "diet" documentaries do.

I would say, if you are looking for information and are anti-low fat (such as myself) give it a chance. It doesn't suck...

Head hunger

I find myself today fighting with the dreaded "head hunger"and it is driving me CRAZY!

Head hunger for those of you that don't know what it is, is the desire to eat regardless of the fact that you are not hungry. Head hunger, in my opinion, is not always a bad thing if you are in fact hungry. In that case it just makes you a little crazy about what exactly you WANT to eat. There will be times when I am hungry and my head hunger is at its worse and I am like "Ooo...I want a Chick-fil-a sandwich, McDonalds french fry, and two tacos from Taco Bell." While that might end up costing me a pretty penny for dinner and in gas at the end I was going to eat anyways...

Anywho, the type of head hunger I have been battling with today is the BAD kind. The kind that persist that you should everything in your house that is not nailed down, and some things that are, regardless of the fact that if you ACTUALLY listen to your body your will find that if you were to pass even one morsel of food past your lips you would most likely throw up.

Today I took my kids to Chick-Fil-A (was testing/celebrating my ability to drive after being off the pain meds) and I found the MOST exciting thing ever...They have brought back their Chicken Tortilla Soup. It is by far my most favorite thing on their menu and they only have it a few months out of the year. So I bought a large soup with the intention of running it though the blender (which I did). MAN did I want to eat that soup...My stomach kept telling my brain that if even a drop of food entered my stomach it would revolt and return it to sender but it didn't stop my brain from telling me that I NEEDED to eat the soup.

In the end I won the battle, which is a HUGE NSV (non-scale victory) for me. In the past I would give in to my head hunger. I wouldn't necessarily eat what my brain was telling me I wanted, but I would eat something. In the end I would not only emotionally regret the decision but I would also regret the gassy crampy feeling in my gut that my stomach tried to warn me of.

Needless to say, although I already have, head hunger SUCKS!...But today I am proud of myself. I did end up eating my soup, but only after my STOMACH told me that I was hungry...not my head!

Second post in one day...lol

I just had a thought that I felt the need to post in the off chance that anyone finds it useful...

I am TERRIFIED of having a stuck episode since my surgery was so recent. With that in mind I have yet been brave enough to take my mufti-vitamin tablet. Instead I purchased a liquid vitamin supplement. The taste is quite bad but when added to my morning V8 juice it is quite palatable...I am happy and surprised.

Six days ago my life changed

It is hard to believe that it was only six days ago that I got a surgery that I know is going to change my life. Ok, the surgery alone and not even the lap band that was placed will change my life but I know that I have been given the tools to change my life. For once I know, going into a new year, that 2013 will NOT be like 2012.

So far I have to admit that I am amazed by the results...I have already lost 18 pounds!...Now I know that the weight won't always come off at this rate but the more weight I can lose in the beginning the less I have to lose later.

I am a firm believer in having before and after photos. So with that in mind, I had Doug take a photo of my post op belly so that in a year I can compare it. It is not a pretty site but I know that it is a work in progress.

BRING ON 2013!