Sunset on New Years Eve

From the boardwalk.

Vacation time

So I'm on vacation with the ELB. We are in myrtle beach this week.

Today we walked 2.5 miles on the warm (72 degree) sunny beach.

This guy was walking his dog wearing nothing more than a speedo and shoes. #disturbing... Especially since he was like 70.

New Medical Breakthrough!

I have decided to chalk up my recent weight loss success to two things:  a fill I received in November that brought me to 6.5cc, and sinus issues.

I have decided to call the first one my "green zone", and the second one, "the snot diet". Let me explain.

I get the feeling that I am hungry. That I 'should' be eating, because I'll look at the clock and think, "oh, it's lunch time", or "oh, it's been six hours since I ate anything, I should eat now", and then I try to eat said item...and it doesn't work. The WANT to eat is there.  The ability to eat is not.

Today, I went to Chili's for lunch with a coworker. I ordered the chicken bacon quesadilla lunch combo, and told the waitress to bring that part boxed to go. I just wanted the soup that came with it (chicken enchilada), and some of the chips/salsa from my coworkers table order. I snacked on a few chips/salsa, and I ate about 1/2 of my soup. And I was full and wondering if I would be having a PB episode. I didn't, but I think it was close. I boxed up the rest of my soup (to have for dinner), and I'm taking the quesadilla and fries home to the ELB for dinner--along with a bag of the chips. And I'm FINE. I'm not hungry at all.

My coworker was like, "aren't you going to eat anything?" And I told her that I ate some chips and soup, and she was like, "you haven't eaten hardly anything". So I told her that I'm on the 'snot diet', and she laughed.

I have good restriction. I don't think I'm too tight, I'm not getting stuck, I can drink water and I can eat as long as I don't try to eat too early in the day, I eat slow and chew good and I avoid certain things. But this week, I am also having Aunt Flow visit, so I'm probably a little bit tighter this week than I was last week. Plus the constant drainage, I think, is filling up my little pouch and keeping me full.

So, the snot diet might not be the IDEAL way to lose weight with a LapBand--but it seems to be working for me right now. I might as well ride this puppy for as long as I can. It's jump started my weight loss after I stalled out, and I'm embracing it.

It's also a good excuse for all of those unexpected trips to the bathroom to PB up something that doesn't work. Feel free to use it.

Jewish Christmas = New Tradition

Yesterday was wonderful.

The ELB and I slept late. We went to the movies and saw "Frozen". Did anyone else think that the snowman, Olaf, stole the show? We want a movie about him alone.

We went and had Chinese food.  The ELB had sweet n sour chicken, and I had his WonTon soup and an egg roll. We finished the afternoon at the Charmery, an ice cream place that makes their own stuff. The owners are Jewish, so they were open for business!

There were very few people out. It was the most quiet that we have ever seen the city. Of course, we have never actually BEEN in Baltimore for Christmas. We have always been on vacation, or traveling--so this was a new experience for us.

But Jewish Christmas was a great idea, and I think it is one that will be repeated in the future.

Hope that you all had wonderful holidays--no matter how you chose to celebrate them!

B'ah, humbug!

The ELB and I have chosen to be Jewish for the holidays this year.

It's amazing what you can get out of doing! For example, you don't have to decorate. You don't have to cook a big dinner. You aren't obligated to travel vast distances on Christmas day to spend with people you may only marginally like, even if they are related to you by blood. You don't have to buy gifts, and you can avoid malls like the plague! It's awesome. And before you get all judgy on me, know that I had a roomate after college who was Jewish, and I was included in tons of family celebrations, Passover Seders and Rosh Hashanah..and on Christmas day, we went to the movies and ate Chinese food. So yes, I DO know what I'm talking about!

We started talking about doing Jewish Christmas a while ago, and I think that, even if our original plans of Chinese food and a movie don't work out, we can still embrace the Jewish Christmas theme. But we have chosen to play it be ear, see what comes forth tomorrow, and to embrace whatever we may end up doing.

After all, the whole point of the holidays are to spend time with the ones you love...and there is noone that I love more in this whole entire world than the ELB.

Happy Holidays!

I wrote a poem today

In honor of the holiday, enjoy!

Christmas cookie

You wear your festive red and green sugar sparkles

like diamonds that draw my eye

to the lithe lines of your curving shapes of

Santas and snowmen and angles

I dream of you at night, you iced vixens

of chocolate and nonpareils

that tempt me with your bright colors

and your forbidden fruits

One taste and I fall victim,

powdered sugar coating my fingers and my clothes

hard to hide the evidence

of my indiscretions.

Ups and downs....

Do you SEE the ticker number?!?

Yesterday was a bunch of fits and starts. I have been fighting a cold, and I have massive drainage. I am learning that massive drainage can cause me to do things like...oh, I don't know....PB water. Seriously. I took a drink of water, and it had to come right back up. Since I hadn't actually eaten anything, there was only one explanation.

So this is how yesterday morning started. The work lunch was scheduled for 11:30. We show up, I order my standard Don Pablos order--lunch fajitas with black beans and refritos (no rice) and no tortillas. I ate two bites of a tortilla chip with salsa--and I get stuck. I don't know how--since it was chewed up really really good--but I had to run to the bathroom and PB that right back up, too. Ugh.

This is really difficult when I'm at work and have issues, because I have chosen to tell NOONE about my little helper. So, I have to have good excuses. Yesterday, I blamed on phlegm from my cold. Which, in truth, was accurate! So, I just ate my beans (I mix them together and put some salsa on top) for lunch, and took the rest to go.

Then there were the cookies. And the cookies, damn them all, went down without a problem. And I ate WAY too many of them (like 4) while we were doing our gift exchange.

Then, I had to go to my appointment.

Based on the day I was having at this point, I was very intimidated by the scale. I should also note that I did not wear my super awesome light weight weigh in pants. I was wearing regular work pants and a sweater.

And the scale was DOWN ten pounds from my last weigh in on November 13.  I had gained weight last weigh in, so I lost that PLUS another 6lbs. I went from 364 to 354.

Even with the massive amount of junk that I feel that I've been eating, I had a loss.

I am very happy, and I did not mess with my restriction. My next appointment is in February. Let's see how things go.

Now, my goal is to lose at least another 10 lbs before my next appointment! I can do that in two months.

I think I've got this!