Open House!

I mean that both literally and figuretively! I am a realtor and I am hosting an open house today and that got me thinking.

Although I am very outgoing, when it comes to my weight, I have always been a very private person. I have never shared what I weigh with anyone other than my doctors and the ladies at WW. The thought about 'Opening up' and telling the world that I am having WLS is a little scarey, I won't lie! To date, I have only told my immediate family and some very close friends that I am having WLS. If I was honest, I'd say that with the exception of my DH and daughters, I wouldn't tell anyone if I thought I could get away with it!

However, I recognize the importance of surrounding myself with supportive people and I know in the long run, as time goes by, I will be more open about telling people how I finally lost the weight (and I will lose it, don't you worry!).

On another note, my very good friend and her husband will be visiting us for a few days and I can't wait to see them tonight! They will be here until Wednesday so I don't know if I'll be around before then. I'll catch up with everyone when I can.

Have a great week!

My New Ticker!

No, I'm not talking about a heart! My new weight loss/BMI ticker has made its debut! With Jens help, I figured out how to install it here.

So, what does this mean? Well, I am like many of you and I am a daily weigher kind of girl. If I don't so this, it is the old, "out of sight out of mind" kind of thing. I will not start working it until the day of surgery and if I gain or lose between now and then, I will change it to accurately reflect my starting weight/BMI. However, once I am banded, while I will continue to weigh myself every day, I will not be changing my ticker every day. Heavens no! I am going to pick a day of the week to be my weigh in day and I will change the ticker to reflect that number. Lets pray its going south!

I'm even contemplating having DH do the weekly weigh in, kind of like at Weight Watchers, ya know? This is HUGE for me, no pun intended, as he does not know what I weigh now! I promised him that I would disclose all when I have the surgery. Until then, he is on a need to know basis. He is my #1 supporter and fell in love with the "fat me" so I know he won't have a problem with the # on the scale. That problem is and always has been mine!

Thanks again to Jen for helping out an old lady!

Technical Help Please

I have been pulling my hair out, (ok, not literally, gotta save it for when I start losing it later) trying to set up a weight ticker. I created one at the tickerfactory.com and than did a cut and tried to paste it into my gadgets. It keeps telling me "URL contains illegal charactors". Has anyone ever had this problem or could you tell me what I am doing wrong? Thank you!

New Profile Picture!

My daughter told me today to ditch my picture as it was to "realtorish". So, I listened to her as the good mama I am and now my profile picture includes my two daughters! I'm not really sure this is what she had in mind! Its not easy to get pics of me as I am usually the one taking the pictures. I have made a promise to myself that I will be having DH start taking pictures of me so that I can have before, during and afters.

Why am I doing this?

I am eating like I am going to the guillotene or the electric chair on March 24 instead of going to Mexico for my surgery! WTF? Everyday its; have to have pizza or chinese or italian or whatever! Like I will never have these foods again. I've gained about 5 lbs. over the last few weeks!

Each day I say, today I will start eating as if I was banded! Ha! I am failing miserably! Did any of you have this happen before you were banded? Please tell me I'm not crazy....well, maybe in this instance at least!

Still testing the waters with sharing my band plans...

So, we had dinner out with our dear friends Adrienne and Kevin. I had been on the fence about telling them my plans right away because I was afraid of their reactions. Adrienne is a receptionist at Weight Watchers and I didn't know if she would be judgemental about my decision. She, of all people, really know of everything I have gone through in my weight loss journey so I really shouldn't be surprised that they were actually very supportive. However, they were a little concerned when I told them I was having it done in Mexico. I can understand that but once I explained everything they were more comfortable with the idea.

Kevins biggest concern was that we wouldn't want to go on cruises with them anymore! This was really funny to me because I was never one of those cruise people who gained weight on the cruise. To the contrary, I have been on 3 cruises and I have lost weight on all three of them! One was a 3 week cruise to Italy and I lost 5.5 lbs.! Anyway, I think it bothers him that I lose weight on the cruise while he gained quite a bit on the last one. He thought becuase I lost weight when I had no restrictions, I wouldn't want to eat at all and why bother going if you aren't going to eat! I promised him that having the band was not going to change my personality, for some reason, he was worried that I would become very serious. Me? Not happening. The only thing I am hoping to change is what and how much I put in my mouth!

Anyway, I am really happy that I shared this with them and just asked that they not share with others. I think this is a very personal issue for me and I want to be the one to share or not. Interestingly, Adrienne said that there were quite a few bandsters in Weight Watchers.

On another note, Hubs and I finished our class today and drum-roll please........I got a 96! and he got a 95! On our last go round of tests it was the exact opposite. I am so happy to have this behind me! Believe me!

"Followers"

Oh Mylanta, I have been like a kid on Christmas morning, signing on each day and getting all excited to see my "followers"! Thank you, everyone who has stopped by! However, the term "followers" is a bit of an oxymoron (sp?) really. I look at all of YOU and want to follow in your footsteps (OMG, I originally typed in FOODsteps..you see where my head is at?) and become a bandster like the rest of you!

Gotta go to school now, last day and test! Yayyyy! Hubs is even up without my help today. I'll check back on all of you later!

Technical Questions

I am almost ready for bed....been catching up on everyones blogs and I have a few questions:

1. How do you import picturs into the body of the blog? I can put them at the top but not in the middle;

2. I was told by a friend that she couldn't wear her bra for a few days after surgery! I am traveling to MX for my surgery and cannot imagine flying 3,000 miles bra-less! Is this the norm? Oh mylanta, one more thing to worry about!

3. I hear everyone talking about how many cc's are in their bands...what happens when the band is totally full? Is this possible or do you get into your sweet spot before than?

Ok, enough questions for tonight...any help or advice on the above is appreciated! Night All!

I Can Do This!

I woke up this morning with an internal knowing that my decision to be banded is THE BEST DECISION I have ever made regarding my weight issues. I have this new found feeling of calmness (nervous calmness mind you!) I found all of you lovely ladies who were laying everything out there. Warts and all! I could relate and I honestly thought that reading your journeys would be enough. I didn't think I'd be able to share like the rest of you but now I am thinking that I can!

I have an amazing support system at home in my husband, children, parents and the friends that I have shared with and based on the comments I have received, I know that I have an endless support system with all of you. My hope is that I will be able to encourage and inspire others like all of you have encouraged and inspired me!

Now, its off to school with the hubs. Oh, thats right, I haven't mentioned that! I was enrolled in a post-licensing class for my Realtors license, something you have to do every two years and my DH decided that he should come with me. He is also a realtor. Waking him up each morning has brought all the horrible (sorry my daughters) memories back of waking up the girls for school! He is not a morning person. I will leave it at that.

Peeking out of the closet....

I have given the link to my blog to my DH and my girls. Other than them, I am being very selective about who I tell about my decision to get the band. I know a lot of you can relate!

I've decided that I will not be putting up a BMI/weight loss ticker until the date of the surgery. Once that day is here, I will be so happy to see the BMI number going down and the weight lost number going up! I have promised DH that I will even share with him what my weight "was" once its in the past! Poor man, as much as he supports me in everything I do, especially the weight issue, he really cannot relate. He is 6 ft. tall and weighs 175 soaking wet! He used to weigh our dog Brutus, when Brutus was on a Vet prescribed diet (he was 3 lbs. overweight!) and he would get on the scale fully dressed, shoes and a gun! He is a cop so don't be getting nervous. Anyway, it would blow my mind because I wouldn't get on the scale with earrings on nevermind being fully dressed with shoes!

I cannot wait until the first thing I think about every day isn't "what can I wear that will make me look thinner". Not a day goes by that I am not fretting about my weight. I am so tired of having so much of me tied to my weight.

On a very positive note, I wanted to say a special thank you to Catherine, Cara and Amy for visiting my blog and giving me encouragement. These ladies, along with many others have been Rock Stars to me! Following their blogs and other blogs have really reinforced my decision to do this. I cannot wait to become an official bandster!

I'm a bloggin' fool!

Ok, now that I took the plunge, there is no stopping me I guess! I just wanted to add some things. We have been living in Florida full-time since Sept. 09. We bought the house in Feb. 08 but went back and forth from Long Island, NY to Ormond Beach Fl., for 18 months. All of my family, with the exception of my dad, still live on Long Island. This was the hardest decision I have ever made. To move away from my mother, sister and most of all, my two daughters. We asked both girls to come down with us but at this time they have chosen to stay in NY. My weight has been all over the place during this period as you can imagine!

Anyway, this past week we had my dad, my sister and her family and then Steves friend and his family staying with us. What a week! I cry when no one is here than I cry when I have a full house! OMG! what a week! Everyone is gone now and its just Steve, me and Brutus (my little boy puppy, you'll meet him later). So quiet. We have one week of normalcy than my girlfriend and her hubs will be arriving next Sunday for 4 days. Once they leave, I have two weeks before leaving for Mexico for my Band!

I am thankful that this round of company came pre-band. Once I get the band, I will have 3 weeks before I fly to NY to go wedding dress shopping with my oldest daughter. I hope I am passed the pain stage at that point but I am looking forward to spending time with just me and my girls. My daughter who is getting married is 23 and my younger daughter is 19 and is a college student.

Ok, thats all for today, I promise.

Ok, here goes!

I honestly didn't think I could do this but after reading so many inspirational blogs I have decided to pay it forward and hope that my journey could help someone too!

I have been overweight for a long time. After giving birth to my two daughters I never really lost the weight and so it went....I am finally in a perfect place in my life, unbelievably loving and caring husband (second time is the charm) , two beautiful daughters, a gorgeous home, a new career and considering the weight issue, I am in good health. I really have it all except the ONE THING that I have been fighting for for a long time....to get my weight under control.

I had been considering getting the band for a while but my BMI was too low (good news/bad news kind of thing) for my insurance to cover. I had looked into self-pay but could not afford the local doctors. On a cruise to the Bahamas, I met a women who was having the procedure locally (turns out she lives in the same town as me and we have since become good friends!) but whose friend had gone to Mexico to have it done. Mexico? I had never even thought about it but once I started researching, I decided that that was the way I was going to go! The most important thing for me once finding the surgeon who would do the surgery, was to find a local bariatric doctor who would provide all my follow-up care. Every thing is in place and my husband and I will be traveling to Mexico on March 22 and on March 24 I will be banded!

I am so ready for this and will use my blog as a way of keeping me accountable. Wish me luck!