Week 10 Weigh In...

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last weeks weight - 307.6

Today's Weight - 305.0

Total Weight Loss - 25.6

SWEET!!! I lost 2.6 pounds this week. That totally makes up for the pound I gained last week. I am really hoping that I can keep this up.

I am set to get a fill on Wednesday. I still look forward to the day when I feel the restriction I know the band is capable of...At the moment, I am pretty much on my own.

Onwards!!

Having a dilemma...

As the title might suggest...I am having a bit of dilemma

To give a bit of background on my life...

My husband is a delivery driver for UPS. This means that we have next to no consistency when it comes to what time the love of my life arrives home. Typically we eat dinner together whenever he get homes. In my "Pre-Lapband" life this worked just fine. I would hang around and wait for him to come home. Some times I would make things like casseroles in advance. The thing I noticed the most "Post-LapBand" is that I spent a TON of calories on various things....Specifically eating off my kids plates. After all this imbibing of calories I would then eat dinner...again!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE eating dinner with my hubby. It is the closest to a normal adult moment we get on a normal basis.

So now that you have the history...this is my dilemma...

Should I do what is best for me and eat dinner at 5 pm when I am hungry instead of waiting for my hubby?

The husband in question constantly tells me that I need to take care of me first. Do what is best for me...But I SO don't work that way!

Any thoughts...

Friday Fun Five (FFF)

I missed Ten Things Thursday...so I am breaking out of the box...

Favorite Five Friday...

1) Snow Days - Two of them actually...I am one of those parents who has one kid in school and one at home. Snow days are both a vacation and a curse. I LOVE LOVE having the extra time with L but having two kids couped up in the house for two days straight is NEVER easy.

2)Faux-workouts - Due to be buried under snow...regardless of the preparedness of MoDot there is snow EVERYWHERE!!! Due to this little demon fluff I have been unable to make it to my favorite dancing past time...JAZZERCISE...I am beginning to wonder why it is the first week I decided that I am going to hit the gym everyday it snows and everything is closed for two days...Anywhoozle...In place of Jazzercise I spent my 4% shoveling snow...both days!!!

3)Feeling like you have been hit by a bus - This is the results of my "faux-workout". Apparently I am a girl and I lack the upper body strength to shovel snow with the correct form, according to my wonderful husband who DID NOT shovel the driveway yesterday. I use my legs and simply grip the shovel and using my abby muscles I twist to throw the snow. Now EVERYTHING hurts! My back is tired, forearms, legs, abs, gluts, shoulders...the list goes on. Even my feet hurt! It is days like this that show you the muscles that I miss at Jazzercise!

4)Pizza night - I am practically addicted to Papa Murphy's! There is no other place that you can find spinach and feta cheese as options for pizza toppings. I have eaten the same pizza every Friday night for 6 months. It is the Gourmet Italian on the DeLite crust. At 179 calories/13g carbs/10g protein per slice it isn't the worst thing to eat on a Friday night!

5)Constant Motivation - I have technically stolen this idea from The Biggest Loser. A few seasons ago one of the contestants used to write his goal weight on the inside of his arm to be a constant reminder of what he was working for. I did this a few years back and it helped me get to the lighest I have been since I got pregnant with L seven years ago. I used to use a sharpie, but do the the constant transfer (the number ended up on random parts of my body when I woke up in the morning) I was forced to come up with a new idea. My wonderful husband ( the same one who didn't shovel the drive way) mentioned the "Shimmer" product that the tooth fairy brought L when she lost her last tooth. It seems to be working well. I know it won't transfer but I will have to see how long it last with showering.

My goal by my next monthly weigh in. If I manage it then I will be down 30 lbs in 3 months.

Week 9 Weigh In

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 306.4

Today's Weight - 307.6

Total Weight Loss- 23

I gained...it isn't the first time...and I am pretty sure it won't be the last. To be honest I expected it. It is my "time of the month" and I pretty much ALWAYS gain this particular week...

I am not going to let it derail me. 

I am going to pick myself back up, watch what I am eating, and go to the gym!

ONWARD!!!!!!

Motivation/Inspiration Board

Lately I have been feeling a little...ehh...about my weight loss. I know that I have 165 pounds total to lose to get to where I want to be. Even though I have lose 24 I feel like it isn't very much.

So with that in mind...I decided that I needed a visual representation of my progress...So I looked online and got some ideas and made my own inspiration board...

It is AWESOME!...I hung it in my bathroom so I can look at it every day more than once....

Sunday Reflections...

So I didn't post much this last week.

I was stressed!

I had a lot going on and while I was excited about the weight loss, it didn't really register on my radar...until today!

I woke up this morning and was like "Whoa...I lost almost four pounds in a week..."

I have to admit that this thought almost bothered me, at three in the morning I was laying wide awake pondering the changes I made last week and pondering how I could keep them going....

1) I got a fill
I don't know how much this actually did for me. I have to admit that regardless of knowing there is more liquid in my band "Beatrice" is still MIA.

2)Plan Diet
I FINALLY got the information on what and when I was supposed to eat. For the last six weeks I have just been kinda winging it. One of the best tidbits of advice I got was that I should take in 30-50 grams of protein every three hours. The NP likened it to tending a fire. Honestly, I think this made the largest difference in my weight loss. It was the one big change that I made after my fill.

I focused on making sure that I got my protein in every time I was supposed too...I can't say that it helped with the hunger cravings but it seemed to help... definitively didn't hurt!

3) Movement
I moved more this week then in the past. It wasn't a huge change to be honest. I increased my average per day by only fifteen minutes.

So that was my pondering....moving on

Random discovery that I made...Atkins not makes frozen dinners and breakfasts...they are AWESOME!!!

They inspired my new breakfast experiment...Tex Mex Scramble

It is awesome...so much better then I had hoped!(Recipe is on the recipe page)

Week 8 Weigh-in

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 310.2

Today's Weight - 306.4

Total Weight Loss- 24.2

Down 3.8 pounds from last week...sweet!

First fill appointment

So at the beginning of my Lap-Band journey I chose to go with Weight Loss Surgical Center. They are a surgical center based on Kansas City with satallite clinics across Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.  I loved my surgeon and I love the fact that I was able to have my surgery done by a guy who ONLY does bariatric surgeries and not have to drive to Kansas City for post-op and fills.

With that, I had my first fill today.

I have to admit it was kinda cool!

The Nurse Practitioner used a flora-scope to locate my port and stab this REALLY long needle into the port-a-cath that I have located beneath my skin.  She added 1.8cc for a total of 1.8cc. It didn't sound like a lot to me, but they had me stand up and do a barium swallow...which I have to admit was kinda gross and cool all at the same time!

It was a cool experience and I have four weeks to adjust before my next fill in March. I posted some photos below!

Here is the port that feeds "Beatrice"

My "Humming Bird" barium swallow

The only sign that anything was done is that little tiny dot

Week 7 weigh in

Beginning Weight (12/20/2012) - 330.6

Last Weeks Weight - 310.0

Today's Weight - 310.2

Total Weight Loss- 20.4

Up .2...and to be honest I don't really care.

The last two weeks have been "Murphy Weeks". Between illnesses ( Both my own and my families), school, and home life I have been stressed and that NEVER bodes well for weight loss.

I have my first fill/post-op appointment today...So expect a second installment soon!

My keys to success...Recipes and Jazzercise

Protein Pancakes....yum!

My kids were BEGGING me for pancakes...As you all know pancakes are NOT carb, calories, or protein friendly...Well at least not the good ones you get from IHOP. However, it isn't the IHOP ones that my kids wanted...My daughter L wanted the "cottage cheese" pancakes, and I was more than happy to oblige. They were awesome! The recipe can be found here.

My awesome protein pancakes were only the start to my day. I also went to Jazzercise. While I never want to go exercise, I am always so very glad when I do.

Afterwards, I made lunch for me and my dad.

Herb baked cod loins with faux mashed potatoes - (322 cal/34g prot)

I have recently been suffering from an addiction and craving to fish. I love and want it all lately...I was NEVER like that before. Any who...My cod and faux mashed potatoes were AWESOME. What I love the most about my fake potatoes is the fact that they are not made from potatoes at all. They are made from...wait for it...Cauliflower!! Both recipes can also be found on my recipe page!

Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast with Faux Mashed Potatoes-(413 cal/58 pro)

To end my motivating day, I made Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts for dinner. My husband and I both loved it. I haven't decided if I am going to post it on my recipe page yet since it is the first time that I have made it and I have yet to consider it perfect. So if anyone wants to know how I made it I would be happy to share.

All in all I had a fantastic day, it was just what I needed to get myself back on track with my weigh loss journey!