Bridal Shower Success!

No, she was not surprised but my daughter Mallory had a wonderful Bridal Shower anyway!  She got most, maybe even all, her gifts that she was registered for!  Not bad!

This is my girls and I at the shower today:

Steve is happily working on the new wood floor he is installing in our bedroom while i am here in NY navigating the mountains of snow left by last weeks snow storm.  There is even talk of more snow this week!  Yay....not!  I have 3 doctors appointments this week with my younger daughter in advance of her surgery on Friday. I hope the snow does not screw anything up!

My band, or I should say lack of a band, is really sucking!  I cannot wait until next week, when I have my endoscopy and fill!  I have not weighed myself since I got here on Thursday but I just feel like I am eating more than usual and I don't like it.  I have gone to the gym every day, except today so hopefully that is offsetting my overeating.

Tomorrow my plan is to go to the gym and then Jordan and I have a doctors appt. in the afternoon.  I have also been good about keeping to my protein drink for breakfast and I plan on doing that every day. The one think that has helped is that in NY it is a law that all chain restaurants have to put the calorie count on all menu items.  We went to Red Lobster for dinner last night and man, is that a real eye opener.  I had a lobster tail and a salad...by far the least about of calories on the menu.  I also went to Friendlys one day with my niece and I was 'thinking' about maybe getting french toast as I have not had that since getting my band and when I saw 1100+ calories for that, I was like no way!  Instead I had 2 eggs and bacon and it was only 300+ calories.  That is a huge help for me to see the calories.  Seeing IS believing!

There really is a Santa...

I called my doctors office this morning and begged them to talk the Doctor into doing my Endoscopy and fill (I am thinking positive thoughts here) a week sooner than he originally said.  I was scheduled for 2/15 which would have been 4 weeks of being unfilled! and I asked for the week before which would be the week of 2/7.  They just called back and said he would do it on 2/1!  Are you kidding me?  I am not going to be home!!!!  They changed it to 2/8, which is what I originally asked for but just knowing I could have had it done a week sooner is killing me!  Oh well....

We walked and walked and walked....

and had a GREAT time in Vegas.  We arrived on my birthday last Thursday and even though the first day is usually not a day we go to a show, we got cheap tix to "The King" at the LV Hilton Hotel.  Can I tell you, Trent Carlini, who won some talent show on ABC was fantastic!  While we were there, Steve saw that the next night the hotel had a Pink Floyd Tribute Band playing.  He looked at me with those blue eyes and asked if I would go with him.  How can I say no to him?  So, the next night we went and even I thought they were great!  Steve was in heaven though and that made it all worth while!

I am actually so sore from all the walking we did.  Crazy, I know!  We walked from the Wynn to downtown one day and the next day, we walked from the Wynn down to City Center.  Not a straight walk, mind you, we went in to every hotel on the way.  My eating was in check (although the scale is up almost 3 lbs from last Sat. when I had my unfill, but I am assuming that was because I was so dehydrated.)  However, I did not go to the gym at all which is so not me.  I feel guilty about it too which is so not me!  Dont worry, I am going in a little bit now that I am home (only 4 days, than I am off to NY for 10 days!!!!).

Saturday though, was by far the best day of the trip.  Why you ask?  Surely you are thinking that its because that was the night that I spent with Garth Brooks?  You'd only be partially right.  This weekend was filled with MEN.  Lets see, my #1 man, Steve, yes of course, than we have Garth and another man by the name of Louis showed up rather unexpectedly.  Louis as in Vuitton!  Can I say OH MY GOD!  Steve allowed the casino to help him with this purchase and I am the new proud owner of a gorgeous LV bag!  What a production just in the purchasing of the bag.  We sat at stools and the sales person brought us each a glass of Champagne!  Too funny!  Here we are, just getting back from one of our marathon walking adventures, I was wearing jeans, sneakers and had a hoodie wrapped around my waist, sitting on a stool drinking Champagne in a Louis Vuitton store waiting for them to bring me my new LV bag all packaged up in a beautiful box that I ripped apart the minute we got back to the room!

Saturday night brought me Garth Brooks.  What a show.  It was in a small, 1000 person theatre at the Wynn.  Garth came out wearing jeans, t-shirt and a baseball hat.  Picked up his guitar (he was the only member of his band by the way) and proceeded to entertain us with stories of this childhood and playing his music hits along with other music that helped shaped him.  Two hours of Garth Brooks.  Trisha was there and he brought her out for 3 songs.  The show was everything and more   than I thought it would be.

Ok, back to reality....I have to go to the gym now!  When I get home I have to figure out how to upload pics from my camera to this computer!

Day # 2 with no fill....

No difference eating wise and so far, the scale is still being good to me.  I was 157.2 lbs today, actually down .2 from Sat. when I got my unfill.  I am eating and exercising exactly the same as with the fill.  If I can keep this up, I will be just fine.  Its really no different than Bandster Hell.  I lost weight during that phase so why not now?

My doctors office called today to tell me that I am scheduled for my endoscopy on 2/15 at 2 p.m.  He told me in the ER that as long as everything looks good, I will wake up with a fill.

I had a protein drink for breakfast and tuna for lunch.  Tonight we are having Mexican and I don't foresee any problems there.  I am still enjoying my water.  I felt like a refugee crossing the dessert the other day...i kept telling Steve that all I wanted was water and when I could drink?  Well, drink I did!  I had 5 water bottles on Sat.  The water was more important to me than food.  In fact, I didn't eat "food" until last night when I had a tiny piece of steak.

The one thing that I am loving with this unfill is that I am drinking a whole cup of coffee in the morning.  For the last few months, I have only been able to get down a few sips in the morning and I really missed my wake up cup!

I know I can get through these next few weeks and come out stronger on the other side.  I will have some challenges along the way like going to Las Vegas for my birthday to see Garth Brooks and than I will be in NY for 10 days.  I am hosting my daughters bridal shower and than my other daughter is having Lasik surgery.  Fun times!

Home from the Hospital!

Good news for the moment.  My band has not slipped that he can see from the Upper GI BUT he removed all my fluid and will leave it unfilled for 4 weeks.  At that time, I am going to have an endoscopy and it will be at this point that he will start to refill the band if he finds no problems.

He said I have a lot of swelling and when I told him the events leading up to this day, he agrees that my "pork chop" incident on Tuesday night is probably the cause of the swelling.  I confessed to him that I eat too fast...no question about it.  He explained that he understands that it must be hard to change a lifetime habit but it is IMPERATIVE to eat slow and chew, chew, chew.

So, for the next 4 weeks, I will be flying without a net.  I have so much on the line right now that I cannot afford even a little slip-up.  I have to keep my calories to 1200/day and continue to eat portion sizes as if I still had my band filled and eat slowly.  He told me to keep my exercising up (he kept telling me how tiny I am!), watch the calories and protein and most of all to keep my carbs under 100 per day.  He has said from day one that people like me (and probably a lot of you) who fight obesity have severe carb addictions.  He says I will be able to handle having no restriction in my band for 4 weeks and not gain and probably will continue to lose if I really watch those carbs.

I can and will do this.  Nothing is getting between me and my goal of losing this weight.  If it takes a little longer, so be it.  I realize I will probably gain a few lbs over the next few days due to being able to drink, ahhhhh water, and eat again, but that will be short-lived.  Goodbye 157 but i will see you again very soon!  I am a woman on a mission AND a mother-of-the-bride who is going to be sizzling hot, in a motherly way of course, on her daughters wedding day!

Wish me luck and thank you all for your caring and concerned comments these past few days!

159.6 today and a little something about my Dad

I think its a fluke though because I am suddenly so tight that I even called the surgeons office to make an appt. for an unfill. I am going in on Monday...I hope I can make it! I have not had a fill since September and then had .1 taken out in November when I suddenly got tight and now two months later I think .1 cc needs to come out. I have had tightness on and off since November but there was usually flying to and from somewhere involved. Over Christmas I was either wide open or not able to drink water. It calmed down since and then this week, two days ago, its starting all over again. The difference this time is that I am having reflux issues that I never had before and that concerns me big time! So, a little unfill is in order.

I was still excited this morning to see a weight beginning with a 15! The last time I saw a '15' in my weight, it was preceeded with a 2! Very cool for me even if I do bounce back to the 160's I will still know that it is right there! I am going to stay on liquids for today also. I was fine yesterday until last night when I decided to have a little ice cream. No go. PB'd. Ice cream! Really? That's when I knew I have to get some out. This is not how I want to lose weight.

On another note, I haven't really talked about this here on my blog but with the death of my Dad and BIL last year, there was also a very large insurance settlement that was split between their two estates I am heading over to the office of the attorney who handled this for us to pick up my fathers portion as I am the executor of his estate.

I have very mixed emotions about this money. My father was not rich by any means but he was very ok financially. Always had a fairly new Cadillac, a very new motorcycle, vacationed 2-3 times a year in Vegas or a cruise and had money in the bank. He would always tell my sister and I that our inheritance when he died would be a little money left over and the fact that he didn't ask us for money when he was alive! He really lived a good life and more important, he enjoyed every day of his retirement which is more than a lot of people can say. He died at age 80 doing what he loved to do. If he were here and knew the amount of this check that I am picking up today to split with my sister, he would be over the moon with pride that he was able to make ours and our childrens lives a little easier.

My dad was very big into taking vacations with us and his grandchildren and we have so many great memories of these times. Steve and I have decided to use this money to help the girls as they go through life and to use it for family vacations. This will help me to accept this money as I am having a very difficult time with it. I would give it back in a heartbeat to have both Dad and Jimmy back here with us, no question about it. That will never happen so the least I can do is spend the money the way my dad would have wanted me to....using it to enjoy life with my family and make memories that will last forever.

Memories are all that I have left of my Dad and I thank God that I have them.

50.6 lbs GONE!!!!

Oh.My.Lanta.!!! I didn't think I would ever see that number! I am now 12 lbs from my goal of 150 lbs. I cannot even really process this yet. I am beyond ecstatic with my journey since getting my band last March. Yea, I know, I do my share of whining to Steve and my family: "its so slow", "why can't i just wake up skinny?", you know what I mean. In less than 10 months, I am averaging 5 lbs. per month. I have been so diligent about keeping my daily calories to 1200 or less but I really think for me, its the exercise. Its taking me my whole life to really "get it". Exercise is a necessary evil and I will need it in my life forever to stay healthy! On that note, I have an 8 a.m. spin class that I have to get to. I just wanted to share my good news with y'all!!!

Have a great day!

Attention all Fashionista's....I need help!!!!

Ok, so I lied! There is another dress that I am hung up on that Steve and Mallory, bride-to-be, nixed. I love Dress #1 but I wish it came in Dress #2's color. What is your opinion? I apologize for the fuzziness of Dress # 2 and the "white thing" as my daughter called it, is actually tissue paper covering a brooch on the sash!

"Me First" and other stuff

That is my 2011 motto! I have a customer who is from Ohio and he got here late yesterday. He will be here until next Thu and we are determined to find him a house! When I was planning our day today, I was talking to Steve and said I will meet with the customer at 11:30 a.m. Steve asked why at that time and not earlier, I said "I have to go to the gym first!" Historically, I would have easily blown off the gym but I just felt like the world will not fall off its axis if push back an appointment! It was at that moment that I decided that my motto for 2011 will be "Me First".

I have been very busy this week and its been all good. I ordered the dress for my daughters wedding in a size 10 and it fits! (Excuse my pose and face as I just can't be serious posing for Steve!) Also, I am wearing a pair of Spanx that I wore 50 lbs ago and they are a bit stretched out to say the least! I think with another 10 lbs gone by 3/25/11 (I pray!) and a correct fitting pair of Spanx, I should be good to go in the fit department. Please let me know what you think.

Now I just have to keep working towards those "Michelle Obama arms" that I so want! I may not agree with her husbands politics but Man, does our First Lady have great arms or what?

In other exciting news, we just booked a 10 day trip to Hawaii!!!! I am so excited. We will be in Honolulu for 3 nights staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and than we are taking a 7 night cruise to different islands. This cruise is great because there are 3 ports that we stay overnight in so we actually have two days in those ports!!! We are going in April and we will definitely be needing a vacation after the excitement of the wedding is over.

For my birthday on 1/20, Steve is taking me to see Garth Brooks in Las Vegas. This is very cool too because it will be at the Wynn Resort and its just Garth, his guitar and the audience. No band. Very intimate and no one is more than 75 ft. from Garth! I am a huge fan but this will be the first time that I am seeing him perform live. Thank you STephen, I love you for doing this for me!

Thats all for now! Off to the gym and than on to sell a house to my Ohio customer! Have a great weekend!

I am exhausted!

Steve's family left yesterday morning at 4 a.m.! He was able to fall right back to sleep after they left but I tossed and turned until 7 a.m. and that is when I got out of bed. I spent the better part of the day, well, actually until 2 pm. in my PJ's! I cannot remember when I last did that. Travelling to NY for Christmas, getting caught in the blizzard, coming home on the same day his family arrived and having company for 5 days just must have caught up with me, huh?

Steve and I took the Christmas decorations and put them all away for another year. My living room looks so much bigger now without that tree! Don't get me wrong, I love my Christmas tree but after a month of it, I am done! Other than the un-decorating, we had a very lazy day indeed. I did not even cook! Sandwiches for Steve and I had some roasted shrimp cocktail that i had made for New Years Eve. I had 3 or 4 shrimp for lunch, no problem, dinner was a problem though. I had two shrimp and boom, stuckville big time! I really though I was chewing and eating slow but i guess not!

Today I am back to work...not much going on in the Real Estate world this weekend but dont you worry, I am in the office ready, able and willing! I was able to get a yogurt and a bottle of water down this morning, very slowly. I am so tight for some reason...maybe my (.) is on its way? hmmm...one can hope. I have not been this tight since I got my unfill in the middle of November. No matter how much I try, I just cannot figure out this band of mine! Don't get me wrong, love it but just don't get it!