I am a "Band Success!"

At least that is what my doc told me today.  If nothing else, he made me feel really good.

We had our usual long talk and than he gave me a fill which brought me to a total of 2.4 cc's in my 4 cc band.  Unfortunately, water didn't go down and than he unfilled me and brought me to a total of 2.1 cc's.  Unfortunately, when i was about 5 miles from his office, I had my husband turn around and bring me back.  I was so embarrassed!  My final unfill and fill of the day brought me to a total of 1.5 cc's in my band.  I must have really done a job on my band back in January.  When I had my total unfill, I had 2.7 cc's in the band.  I am trying to look on the bright side, I went there with only .5 cc's and left with 1.5.  That should help.  Thanks again to Steph for trading appts with me so that I could get in 2 weeks earlier!

He was so supportive and complimentary of my weight loss thus far and he said as far as he is concerned, I have lost 100% of my excess weight and that I should consider changing my focus to maintaining as opposed to losing more.  Not so much!  I still have a way to go, 15 lbs probably.  This will bring me to the normal range of BMI.  Believe me, I have the weight to lose....I am not being vain.

We also had a long talk about the Sleeve.  He is still not sure that the band will cooperate with me in the long-run and that I always have the option to have revision surgery to the sleeve.  We'll see.  I am praying that between my band, filled as it is, and my continued exercise routine, I should be able to continue to lose.  Please remind me that I said that when I start to cry!

On a very tasty note, I made a soup tonight that was out of this world.  It is a Giada recipe and it was so easy and delish!  213 Calories for 1 cup, 10 g. protein. I blended it all together right in the pot using my Cuisinart Emersion Blender. Worked great!

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 to 6 servings (8 cups)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter (used 1 tbsp)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 sage leaf
• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cloves garlic, cut in 1/2
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 slices ciabatta bread (I didn't make the bread)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and beans and stir to combine. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and simmer until the garlic is softened, about 10 minutes. Pour the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Be careful to hold the top of the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pan. Puree the remaining soup. Once all the soup is blended and back in the soup pan, add the cream and the pepper Keep warm, covered, over very low heat.

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the slices of ciabatta bread with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill the bread until warm and golden grill marks appear, about 3 minutes a side. Serve the soup in bowls with the grilled bread alongside.

Fill tomorrow!

Oh how happy that makes me!  I am STUCK (on the scale) and its making me crazy.  I am exercising like a demon and the scale goes down, up, down, up!  I am eating within my calories (1200) and exercising...nothing going on these last 2 weeks.  Actually, I am not really even sure what the fill will do for me.  Well, hopefully, it will restrict some of my food choices?  What I mean is, with only having .5 cc's in my band, I am able to eat bread and pasta which is usually very limited when I am at a good fill level.  I am praying that the fill will help me cut back on these particular carbs.

The one thing I have truly come to believe and understand during this period of being unfilled is that my body is super-sensitive to carbs.  I have a "clean" day of eating (minimal carbs) and the scale shows it.  God help me if I eat a sandwich using one piece of bread.  I know the scale will be up the next day. 

I keep trying to look at the whole picture...in 11 months, I have lost 52 lbs!  That is amazing to me.  I just know that I am not done and I need to have a little positive reinforcement from my scale.

I went to a cardio class this morning and burned 430 calories and I am planning on going back at 5:30 for a spin class.  Its been a while since I've done spinning and I'm hoping that will shake up my metabolism.  I am also going out to lunch with some of my girlfriends from the gym today so by going back to the gym tonight, I will burn what I eat at lunch!  Only kidding, I am truly going to be very cognizant of what I order.  If nothing else, I am at the point in my journey where I ask myself "is this really worth it?" quite often before putting something in my mouth.  It is just too damn hard to lose and I just want to get to the maintaining part which I am sure will bring with it a whole new assortment of challenges.

She did it again!

Stephanie did it again...she heard me whining about only having .5 ccs in my band and having to wait until 3/9 for an appointment and she traded appointments with me!  She actually called the Dr.'s office and made the switch herself!  I am now taking her 2/23 appt. and she mine.  Talk about the Sisterhood coming to the rescue!  She has been an amazing friend to me and I love her!  She did the same thing for me back in September.  My weight loss took off than and I am praying that her losing vibes will continue with next weeks fill.

Thank you Steph!

Post-Valentines Day Weight Gain!

All I can say is EEEEEEKKKK!  Got on the scale this morning and jumped off...it scared the beJesus out of me!  Up 2.5 lbs from yesterday!  Hmmmm....can it be the not drinking all of my water?  or maybe the fact that I made and ate Shrimp cocktail, Filet Mignon with Bernaise sauce, mashed potatos, creamed spinach and let us not forget the WHOLE piece of Chocolate Ganache cake and handfull of M&M's! That was just dinner.  Breakfast was a protein shake and lunch was out but it was 1/2 of a hamburger, no bread with a few pieces of tomato.  Me thinks I went way over-board at dinner....what do y'all think?  I told Steve that he is to eat all the leftover mashed potatos and creamed spinach today before I get home from work.

I am back "on" today and I am hoping that I am retaining a lot of fluids and by being a good bandster, I should be able to slush it away in the next day of so.  I know I did not eat an extra 8500 calories at dinner so I think I should be ok.  I woke up at 2 a.m. so thirsty and drank 1/2 bottle of ice cold water and slept the rest of the night.  That alone tells me my body is hanging on to fluid.

Its funny how just when I thought I really had things under control eating wise, I totally lost it!  Very out of charactor for me of late but at least I have the presence of mind to know that it was a slip and not that I am reverting back to the old me where I would have just kept going with it.  This is why its so important for me to weigh myself every day.  Historically, I have been at my highest weights during periods where I didn't weigh.  The old "what I don't know, can't hurt" saying?  Of course, at some point I would weigh, which would lead to tears, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc....none of that ever worked for me.  I will never go back to being that person.  I can't do it.

Todays eating:

Protein Shake
Greek Yogurt
Turkey/Swiss roll-ups
Scrambled Eggs w/cheese
Spinach Salad
Protein Shake for snack 

Total Calories so far:  1062 (I will eat something else to get my calories up to 1200)
Proteien so far:  111

Lazy Saturday

We went to see The Kings Speech today and it was great!  Its been a while that we both enjoyed a movie and didn't leave rolling our eyes!

I started the day at the gym and than we decided to see an afternoon movie and came home and had dinner.  Thats it!  I had wanted to go to the Mall in Daytona Beach for some things (namely shoes to wear for my daughters wedding) today but as its the beginning of Race Week here, NO WAY do I go anywhere near the speedway especially on the weekend!  Tomorrow I will be working in the morning and holding an open house in the afternoon.

My ex-brother/sister-in-law are in town for the races and we had dinner with them last night.  I got them in my divorce from his brother!  Luckily, Steve really enjoys spending time with them and we get together every year when they are here and when we are all on LI at the same time.  They live in Georgia now to be near their son.  We will be getting together with then a few more times during the upcoming week.

I am happy to report that as crazy as it sounds, I am feeling restriction from my fill even though I have a grand total of .5 cc's in my band.  Crazy, right?  The 5 lbs I gained with the unfill is all off and I am now down to where I was pre-unfill.  This makes me very happy.  I am really trying to lose another 10 lbs in the 6 weeks I have prior to the wedding.  My eating has been excellent this week even with Ben & Jerrys being on sale at Publix with buy one, get one free!  I am accounting for it and measuring out my 1/2 cup!  I dont think I've hit my daily calorie goal of 1200 at all this week.  On the flip side, I am barely making it to 60 grams of protein each day which is not good.  I like to shoot for at least 80 although my doctor tells me to shoot for 60.  For me, I have to get that number up to lose weight, I know that.  Starting tomorrow, I will be shooting for 80!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Endoscopy done!

Today was the test.  Thank God it is over.  My doctor was two hours behind schedule and I was silently freaking out.  Well, actually, I wasn't so silent. It took three nurses and five needle sticks with lots of poking around to get my I.V. in.  It hurt like hell! I let the first two know that this has NEVER happened before as they were blaming my veins on the problem!  The third nurse came in and got it on the first try.  See?  I told them!  I cannot wait to see what my arms look like tomorrow.

As far as the test goes, my husband spoke to my doctor afterwards and he said I still have a little swelling in the base of m Esophagus but everything looks great.  Absolutely no dilation, or slippage and absolutely no erosion.  THANK YOU GOD!  However, he wants to take it really slow with refilling me and only gave me .5 cc!  Really?  I will be calling his office tomorrow to see when I can get in for a little more.  When you unfilled me, I had 2.6 cc's in my 4 cc band.  My first fill after surgery was 1.8 cc's for comparison sake.

All in all, the almost 4 weeks of being unfilled was not terrible.  Keep in mind that during this time I was in Las Vegas for  4 days and NY for 11 days.  I gained a total of 5 lbs from my lowest weight the day I was unfilled.  I told my doctor that and he said I probably didn't "gain" anything as I was dehydrated and just being able to drink water again cause an increase on the scale.

In any event, I have some fill now and I plan to keep losing these next 12 lbs with a combination of exercise and watching what I eat.  If that's a diet, so be it...this Mama has to do what she's got to do!

I am trying so hard....

to never become one of "those Floridians" who always talk about how great the weather is in FL.  However, after having been on Long Island at Christmas with a blizzard, arriving on Long Island last week in a blizzard and waking up to a snowy, rainy, sleeting soon to change to ice crap today is making it really hard not to have my "cold" Florida weather back! Uggers!

I was supposed to take my daughter to a doctors appointment today in Garden City which is about 45 miles from my sisters house and I cancelled.  I just was not comfortable driving my sisters car in this mess.  No problem...they will just give her the test she was going to get today, before her surgery on Friday.  Really?  When I called yesterday they said they had to do it before Friday!  Gotta love it!

So, instead, we got dressed and went out for breakfast.  I had a real honest to goodness boiled and than baked Jewish bagel, scooped out of course, with an egg!  Delish!  I ate half and than the other half about 2 hours later as I had some restriction.....Yay for restriction!!!  Than i came home and got some real honest to goodness Catholic guilt and went to the gym!  Not delish but I went!  I no longer feel guilty so that is something.

I am cooking dinner tonight....my daughter requested my chicken pot pie which I make with puff pastry.  I will probably be back at the gym in the morning getting rid of some more Catholic guilt!  Oh well, at least I have a gym nearby to run to, right?  I have exercised every day I've been here except for Sunday.  I still feel crappy as we have been eating out every day.  I can only take that for a while and than I have to cook so that is what I will be doing for the next few days.

Once I get home on Sunday, I have nothing between then and my daughters wedding on 3/25 so my plan is to get my fill back after the endoscopy on Tuesday and eat like a perfect bandster and excercise my butt off, literally!  I am up 5 lbs from my all time low of 157 since my unfill and I can feel it.  I am hoping that with this 3 weeks without a fill and than getting a fill, it will jump start my weight loss and I can get down to 150 by my daughters wedding.  I have 8 weeks to lose 12 lbs.  I know I can do it!