Weekly weigh in: Didnt make - see photo below

I have a had a week from hell. I have been sicker than a dog. Slept the last few days away when my water went out in my place again. Of course my parents are out of town! I knowing I had to go back to work tomorrow, I drug myself outta bed and did my laundry. After that was TOPS, or so I thought. I called Sharon to let her know I was running behind cuz of my laundry. Well I never made it to tops afterall. I was a little over a mile away from home when it happened. I got my very 1st buck!!!

I have added a photo - not a good one, it was taken with my cell phone (so I could send it to my dad who is down with my uncle in saginaw for the night. Do I know how to get attention or what?!

I'm gonna sign off for now. I'm starting to get really sore. The doc at Munson said I was going to be in a lot of pain in the next couple days. GOOODIE! Tomorrow, I will get to see my car in the daylight. I couldnt see much with it being a dark purple car in the dark. Of all the days I left my camera at home, it was when something actually happened.

Until next time~ Jennifer

6 week photo comparison

On Nov 4th, I had my sister take a picture to see if my weightloss was noticable. So below I have added 2 pics. The pic on the Left was taken 2 days before surgery on Sept 23rd, and the pic on the right was take Nov 4th, Exactly 6 weeks apart to the day! Ironically, I am wearing the same shirt in both! lol.
I am 18.5lbs lighter in the pic on the right. What do you think, can you tell I have lost?

Week 5 weigh in: -10.25lb

This past week, October 30th, I went into to see the surgeon for my very first band fill. That was 5 days ago. So between lots of exercise, water and new restriction I managed to get a nice loss.

I should have posted about my fill and I should now but I am so tired. My sister Michelle & 3 year old neice showed up to spend some time at my house with me. So once I get some (much needed!) rest I will elaborate further on my 1st fill experience and my great loss.
For now I am gonna get my butt into bed. Of course not until I empty all the contents of my spare room off of my bed!

Goodnight~

Week 4 weigh in: -1.00lb

I actually made it to this weeks' tops meeting. I missed last week because I didn't feel well. The way I have been feeling lately, I thought for sure I was going to gain. Whew! boy was I happy to have a loss. I am still +1.25lbs from my lowest after surgery. But that is gonna come off plus much more next week. If I were to say that I have been super motivated and behaving myself completely that would be a huge lie! I don't know if it's the weather or what but I have been in a "funk" lately. Hopefully by Thursday I will be feeling more like myself.

I can't believe it's a month already since I had my surgery. I would have posted something sooner but that darn thing called work has gotten in the way of a lot of my hopes and plans. I will get an updated pic soon. I am hoping to get a pic taken every so often so I can have a visual to go by. Once I do I will be posting a new pic eventually.

Thursday I will be going in for my very 1st fill! I am so excited to get my fill over with. I am a little nervous about it too. My appt is in the middle of the day of course. So I will be using my "lunch break" to go to my appt. Then clear liquids for the rest of the day. I guess tomorrow after work I will be making some jello for my dinner! Yummeeeee! I have some restriction now, but not as much as I should.

I will update on Thursday after my fill & maybe add a pic or 2.
~Jennifer~

Scrapbooking weekend

I spent this last weekend at out annual scrapbooking weekend. I look forward to this weekend every March and October. I was worried about having all the temptation that is around during scrapbooking. Sue, the hostess, is an AMAZING cook. Besides, all the soda at your fingertips, and homemade caramels & chocolate covered marshmallows. I did have a couple (watered down!) sodas, and only 1 caramel. They were soooooo good! And they lasted me forever it seemed. That, and I didn't want to stand out because of my restriction. I was also afraid that with my luck I would end up getting sick for the 1st time there. (Well that did happen, just not at scrapbooking. It happened at home while getting ready to go scrapbooking.)
I started a new scrapbook, also titled My After, that I am using to keep me motivated that I can track my progress. I did work my tail off getting my pages done thou. I needed that caffeine to keep me going!

Today at work, I have had a few people already saying that it is noticeable already that I am loosing. One of Hospitalist was seeing a pt on our unit and said that it was already noticeable that I am loosing. I can't remember what exactly he said. But it was a nice feeling. Even a pt told me I was loosing my "chubby cheeks".
Tonight is another weigh-in at TOPS and I am hoping that after this last weekend that I will come in with a loss. It's going to be slower now that I am eating all textures. I know it will be a lot different once I get my 1st fill this next week. I am excited and nervous all at the same time

But of course, just like scrapbooking came to an end, so must this post.
Until next time ~ Princess Jenn

Back to work/ Week 3 weigh in: +2.25lbs

It has been crazy here lately. Well the days my life isn't crazy are days days I don't answer the phone and stay home in bed. So it's not very often.

I started back to work on Monday. Man, oh man, those 12 hour days are long! Answering a phone should not be that tiring. I hope that by next week I will be back into the swing of things. I hope! Plus I need to work on some serious meal planning and packing my lunch for work.

On the weight loss front, I could have done so much better. I actually gained back 2.25lbs. I'm not surprised now that I am eating just about all textures now. I should start loosing again now. It won't be long and I will be going for my 1st fill. I have some restriction but it's not quite enough. My Dr. said to do 5-6 meals a day, each about the size of a hockey puck. I have been trying to stick to that and not get used to eating any more than that. I am doing better at eating slower & taking smaller bites. I am positive that from now on my weigh in's will even out. On the upside, I am down 24lbs down from my initial consult with the surgeon till now. So I am still down!

I am so excited about scrap booking this weekend. I printed a ton of pictures. I have enough things to start my surgery scrapbook and work on plenty of niece & nephew pictures. I am a little concerned about the whole eating in front of a strangers. Sue (the hostess) is an incredible cook so I'm not worried too much about that. However, I will have to take plenty of food with me so I will be able to have my 5-6 small meals. Otherwise, I might get a little cranky by not being on my schedule. I have already found that if I go too long between eating I tend eat too fast.

Wish me luck that I behave myself at scrap booking and don't fall asleep on my pages!

1st trip post surgery

This past weekend I went with my parents to the UP to visit my cousin. I spent 9 hours each way in the car. Let me say, I am so happy to be home. We went all the way near the Wisconsin border. We ended up getting a hotel room in Wisconsin because it was closet to where we visiting.

Anyway, this was my 1st weekend out of town since my surgery. I am now coming up on 3 weeks post surgery. (In 2 weeks, on Oct 30th, I have my 1st fill. Which means I am on the soft foods & adding textures part of my staged diet. I got to start this part of my eating habits in restaurants. It was a little scary at first. I have known for a while that that I can tolerate mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and applesauce. So I thought since my 1st fill is a week sooner than usual I decided to start adding things like the Dr said to. I was honest about starting the soft textures early and he said that it was OK since I had no problems.

So this past weekend I learned I can tolerate in very, very small portions: burgers, fries, hash browns, toast, eggs (duh!), pasta (duh!), broasted chicken, and pasties (with gravy). I was happy know that I can tolerate bread. I never thought I would miss salads so much!
It's not easy to eat healthy when you are traveling but I am certainly eating less. I tried to order off the kids meal when possible. Also, I shared as many meals as I could with my parents & cousin.

Not that I didn't have any problems. It is extremely hard to change your habits. I am catching myself over and over again taking drinks and bites that are too big. When that happens, I try to chew really good and take several swallows. Of course that happens after I have swallowed too much and start feeling uncomfortable. I have been able to keep from getting sick by taking sips of whatever I had with me and trying to get out any of the extra air.

I have to keep reminding myself of what I should be doing. Like sizes of the portions, bites, and drinks I take. From now on when I go shopping I will start getting a dish or 2 that are more suited to my new portion sizes. Like dessert dishes & small juice glasses. It is definitely going to be different eating at work with this band. I am going to have to be much better about taking my lunch. The eating slowly part could be a bit tricky as far time factors into work and break times.

Speaking of work. It's time to dust off my name tag & find my parking sticker because Princess Jenn is going back to work tomorrow. I wish I could say I am excited to be getting up at 5:30am again. I like getting a paycheck so I am going to get my ever shrinking behind to bed.
Goodnight!