Exercising

I have been exercising and it feels so good. I have to attend an exercise class once a month at the hospital for bariatric patients. The class reminded me how much I love to exercise. I used to be an aerobics intstuctor in my home town. I have always loved aerobics and it has helped me over the years to lose weight. I also taught a volunteer aerobics class for two years at my church. We would meet three days a week. We had so much fun. I was proud of myself that I did it all during my pregnancy with Delana. But I have not been exercising for the past year because of my health problems. I thought I had not missed it until I attended my bariatric exercise class. Now I am exercising four to five days a week. I am attending a new class at my church. Another gal took over the class when I stopped so now I am attending her class three days a week and I am walking Tuesdays and Thursdays and days I can't make it to the church. I am walking with a good friend Deronda on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We walked together yesterday and it was so nice. I loved it. I feel so much better!!!!!! I have not felt this good for a year now.

2nd Appointment With Nutritionist

I had my 2nd visit with my nutritionist today. It went very well. I have lost 5.4 lbs since last month. I have to loose 21 lbs before my surgery. So I am on track. Just 4 more meetings with my nutritionist. We talked about my eating habits and set some guidelines for me to start living by now to prepare for the lifestyle I have to live by with the band.

So Here Are My Goals:

*Slow Down When I eat. Take 20 to 30 minutes to eat a meal.

*Pay attention to my bodies feelings of fullness as I am eating. Stop before I start to feel full.

*Eat Breakfast EVERY Morning....I am not a breakfast person.

*No drinking during my meals. There is a 30/30 rule when you have a lap band. You can not eat 30 minutes before you eat, while you are eating, and 30 minutes after you eat. Drinking will liquify my food and cause it to run right through the band and I will never feel full. This rule will be difficult for me. And it is the complete opposite of what we are normally taught of drinking a lot of water with your meal to create a feeling of fullness.

*Set a Meal Schedule. Eat three full meals and two nutritional snacks on a regular basis and set a schedule for myself. I was already thinking about this after visiting my mom because she had an eating schedule for the kids (the 7 grandkids that were staying at her house). They had to all eat their three meals together and they had their snacks at 10:00 and 2:00 and no other time. My mom did this so that she did not have to spend the day in the kitchen and hear little people say all day, "I'm Hungry." I have thought about that a lot since I got home because I am so tired of my two kids eating at different times and wanting snacks all day long. I am tired of being in the kitchen.

*I am also going to start eating these three meals and my two snacks at the table. And the table ONLY!!!! Not standng at the kitchen counter, not in front of the TV, only sitting at the table taking my time eating and slowing down.

I will keep you posted

So Excited!

So today I discovered a really great chat group for lap band patients. (it is a cafe mom group). There were tons of before and after pics posted by people that have been banded. I got so excited. My dr. told me that the weight loss with the band is really slow about half pound to a pound a week. And I don't know anyone that has had it to ask so my dr is the only one I have to ask questions to. So I have been excited and okay with a half pound or one pound a week......would I like it faster? ....who wouldn't? but I think it sounds great. But I got so excited to read on this chat group from many women that are losing much much faster. Some of the before and after pics are only a month or two and you can see a difference in their bodies after only two months. I am so excited. One of the women posted a picture after a year. Wow! I was getting so excited. I can't wait.

For now I am doing well, I have my first weigh in this Friday with my nutritionist. I have to lose 21 pounds by December to be eligible for the surgery. So that is about 4lbs a month. I think I did it this month, but part of it is because I had my cast taken off. Even my nutritionist said last month, "next month's weight loss should come easy. All you have to do is get your cast removed." we both laughed. So I will let you know how I did on Friday. For this week I am trying to eat the best I can. And do whatever exercise my foot will allow me to do (lots of upper body exercises)

The Before Picture

So I found my before picture. This is a picture of me at my sisters house in AZ a couple of weeks ago. I don't even recognize myself! Every great weight lose story has a terrible before picture and I think this will be mine.

Another Month

My surgery has been pushed back another month. Now we are looking at January for the date. I broke my foot and had to missed my first appointments of my 6 months of appointments for June. So now the 6 month count down begins in July.....ughhhh!

I was online today because I was trying to see if I could find a cute scrapbooking T-shirt that I could wear that maybe would drum up some business for me and I cam across this cute shirt I want, but I can't get it because it only goes up to size large. They have a boring white t-shirt for plus sizes....boring!!! Who invented the law that says chubby girls can't wear colors....we are stuck with black and white.

Picture of Me

I don't let anyone take many pictures of me but I got brave this week and asked a friend to take a picture of me and my daughter together. I don't like the look of my pale flabby arms, but what a special picture to be taken with my daughter with my arms around her to show my love to her. No matter what my arms look like, these are the arms that I love my babies with and that is good enough for them so it is good enough for me. So I am proudly posting this pic.

Waiting for 6 Months

So I got some bad news last week.....It will definately be later than sooner for the surgery. One of the requirements for insurance approval is to meet with a nutritionist once a month for 6 months. I have been meeting with one since January so I thought the process would be sped up for me. But the part of the requirement I did not know about is that in those same 6 months I had to see my primary care dr. once a month as well. I had seen my dr. 3 out of the 6 months.....urghh!!!! So it really will be 6 months and now I have to meet with a different nutritionist, one from the bariatric dr's clinic. I really liked my nutritionist Karen too. I will miss her. She was great....very patient with me and gave me a lot of her time. She was the one that recommended the surgery....thank you Karen. So I have all of my appointments set up with the bariatric nutritionist one for every month through to December and now I just have to make sure that I make it to my dr. every month or I have to start all over.