Aloha! and picture post!

What a fantastic trip we had!  We got home on Easter Sunday and I swear, I am still not adjusted back to eastern time!  We spent 3 days in Oahu and let me tell you, if you need any advice on what to do or see while in Oahu, just ask Stephanie of Dreams of Skinny High Heels!  Her and her husband are very Hawaiianized (if thats even a word!) and gave us the best advice and we had a great time while there.  After Oahu, we boarded the NCL Pride of America Cruise Ship and sailed to Maui for 2 days, Hilo 1 day,  Kona 1 day, and Kauai for 2 days.  It was a great way to see all the islands!

The highlights of our trip was going to Pearl Harbor - very emotional, snorkeling at Molokini Crater, going to the top of Haleakala Crater at 3 a.m. and waiting for the sunrise and then mountain biking down! in Maui, ziplining in Hilo, and the helicopter tour we took in Kauai.  So many great memories.  We also met a couple on the second day of the cruise that we really bonded with and spent a lot of time with them in the evening.

I have to say, that doing all these activities while being 50+ lbs lighter made all the difference.  I wasn't worrying about what I looked like in a bathing suite or zipping over valleys while ziplining, etc.  I was just living and having fun!  NSV anyone?  I didn't even freak out the two times during the trip that I had to get on a scale fully dressed with sneakers on!  Once at the ziplining office and than again when we did the helicopter tour!  I weighed myself the day we got home and I was up 2 lbs but it was gone the next day.  All in all, I am back to where I was before the trip and I can now get back to my routine which I missed believe it or not!  Tomorrow will be my first day back to the gym and I can honestly say, I missed it!  Who knew?

Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip:

Matsumoto's Shave Ice 

Balcony of the Hilton Hawaiian Village

My toast to Stephanie at Roys Asian Fusian

Sunset Waikiki Beach

Pearl Harbor

Sunset Booze Cruise (sunset was on vacation!)

Molokini Crater Snorkeling Trip

3 a.m. Haleakala Sunrise!  (FREEZING at 10,023 ft above sea level)

Steve made me do the bike tour down Haleakala to pay me back for getting him up so early!

What would a cruise be without towel animals?

Ziplining in Hilo

Kona

Waimea Canyon - Grand Canyon of the Pacific!

More towel animals

Waiting for helicopter

Last night of cruise

Thank you and "Whats next?"

Thank you all for your very kind comments on my comparison picture post yesterday!  It really does put things into perspective seeing how far I've come in pictures.

Sadly though, I don't think losing the remaining 15ish lbs I want to lose are going to take care of my problem thigh/knees that really bother me!  So, I am going to start researching what my cosmetic surgery options are:  Lipo, thigh-lift, whatever.  I have no idea what the cost of this is but I know that I will never be 100% happy with my weight-loss until I address this problem area of mine.

I am busy packing for my Hawaii trip this week!  I cannot believe it is here already.  So much to do in the next few days!  At least I am finished with work for now and that is a great thing!  I usually get bombarded with buyers who come out of the woodwork when I am planning on being away and it usually creates big-time stress that I don't need.  Hopefully they are all waiting for me to come back refreshed from my trip to help them buy the home of their dreams, right?

***EDITED****Look what I found

EDITED to include now pictures!  Original pic I was 213 lbs (my high was 219!) and the picture today is me at 159 lbs.

Me thinks I am in need of some thigh lipo!  Stay tuned!

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Oops! She did it again!

TA DA!  I hope you love my new blog design as much as I do.  It was custom designed for me by Jenny at Jens Lapband Journey and she did a fanfreakintastic job!  THANK YOU SO MUCH JEN!  I am sure after working with Clientzilla she will be increasing her rates soon so you better run over to her blog and ask her for some help if you are thinking about it!

I had a doctors appointment yesterday and got a .1 cc fill.  My Doc is still telling me that I should really be focusing on maintenance at this point and not worrying about the additional weight I want to lose....10ish lbs.  I suppose thats a good thing but unfortunately, in this one instance, I am not listening to my Doc and I still want to see the scale go further south!  Sorry Doc D!  I just know I have it in me to get it off me and I really want to try!

After we left the doctor, we continued heading south to visit Steves Dad who lives in Boynton Beach FL.  We had a nice visit and I finally got to eat at Fishbones Grill.  I figured a little fish is the next best thing to mushy food and I was right!  It went down fine and it was actually quite good.  I have one in my town but we've never gone.  Steve is not a fish eater but now we know there are quite a few land lubber dishes so we will be going back when I can eat a wider variety than on a fill day.

So, day one of my fill is in the books and I don't feel any different.  I didn't expect to though as I am one of those people who usually feel it 4 - 5 days later.  I hope, I hope!  We leave for Hawaii soon and I don't want any surprises if ya know what I mean!  We will be in Honolulu for 3 days than on a 7 day cruise.  I hope that I am as lucky as Steph and manage to lose some weight as we have an action packed week planned!  I cannot wait!

My daughter and son-in-law (I get such a kick out of saying/writing that!) got back from their honeymoon and had a really great time at Sandals in St Lucia! This week its been back to reality for all :(
She had Tuesday off from work and pretty much changed her name everywhere important; DMV, SSA, etc. so she got that out of the way!  That part is really a pain for us woman....men really do have it easy, yes?  Anyway, next on the agenda for them is a new job for Kevin...he is currently working but is actively looking for a better paying job.  All prayers appreciated!

It's not Wed but...

I won't be able to exercise tomorrow and this was my second trip to the gym today so I'm counting it as my Wed Workout!




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Redecorating going on!

I am so excited because Jen at Jen's Lapband Journey is designing a new blog for me! I cannot wait to debut the final version!

I am also very excited because I went shopping today for some capri's for Hawaii and I got 4 size 10's and 1 size 8!!!!  Holy Schmoly!  Size 8 on me?  I don't even care if it is a fluke or not, the tag says 8!  I might even leave all the tags and stickers right on the pants!

I am going for a slight fill tomorrow.  I have been so screwed up since my unfill in January.  I am not even at the level of where I was when I got my first fill one year ago!  I am going to ask for only .15 cc and that still wont bring me to the first fill level but I feel like it will give me some much needed restriction.   We are leaving for Hawaii next Wednesday so I know if I have any problems I can address them before we go.  I just dont want to go away with my current fill level.  I feel like I am almost at "the" right level and now would be a good time to reach it!

My weight has held steady since all my fill/unfill drama started in January and I am only 2 lbs lighter than I was at the end of January!  On the other hand, my measurements have gone down thanks to all the exercising I've been doing so thats all good.  However, I still have weight to lose, maybe another 10-15 lbs and its all from my lower body. When I try on bathing suits or shorts it kills me that I still hate my heavy legs.  My husband said "keep doing what you are doing and the weight will come off your legs".  I just dont think so.  I have fat knees in addition to fat thighs and really think ultimately, the only thing that will help is liposuction at the very least.  I don't have any problem with my calves so I should be thankful for that, right?

So, back to the gym I go tonight for 60 minutes of spinning with Herman the 'Hermanator'....he is a killer.  Sunday morning, he changed the name of the spin class to "Sunday Spinning for Saturday Sinners"....you get the picture.....TORTURE!  But man oh man, do I love burning those calories in an hour!  I also went to a cardio class this morning but wont be able to get to the gym until Thursday night as we are going to visit my father-in-law after my fill appt.  By the time we get to the doctor who is 100 miles south of me, my FIL is only another 100 miles so off we go!