Holy Falling Garage Doors!

I got the crap scared outta me! I came home and pulled the car in the garage because the neighbor behind me had his car broken into the other night. Well the garage door made a bunch of noise when it was going up, but lately it has seemed to do that (huh, this should have been a clue). Pulled the car in and pressed the button to close it.

It went down part way and then went back up, but not all the way. First I figured the cat had gone out because it is a nice day and there is that auto sensor thing. Then I looked and said to self, "hmmmm, don't think that is it. The door isn't all the way up." So, of course I figure well I will just release it and close the door manually and call someone to come take a look at it.

Yeah me on this one - I decided I would go ahead and pull the car out before I close the garage in case I can't get it back up (again, a yeah me on this one). I then released the garage door from the opener thing -- sorry, it's not like I know the technical name for this stuff, especially 'cause if I did I wouldn't have messed with it. I start pulling on the door (hello dummy!!! it's not moving very easily - hint, hint). I keep pulling and then all hell breaks loose!

One part of the door comes down, the other is up, roller thingies fall off, it looks like the actual door is falling apart (!), and the top part starts falling IN. I freak and jump outta the way. The door stays hanging there and I am totally freaked out!

Turns out that a couple months ago I had the garage door guy out here, because my stupid cat ate the wires (seriously) on the sensor things and they needed to be fixed. So I only had to dig for about 10 mins (yes, the house is messy) instead of 45. I find the number and call the garage door guy. I say, "I am having a garage door emergency." That is really what I said. The cats have a door into the garage to do their business and I can't leave the house with the garage door open -- work now becomes an issue.

I describe to him the best I can what happened and I am thinking - holy crap, this is going to cost a ton o' money. Luckily, he heads right out this way. It is still light out because I left work early to go to the gym (more on that later). He takes a look and I say, "how bad is it?". He just says, "All ya gotta do is pay me 129 bucks." Me: "Really?" Him: "Really". Me: "Well all righty then, I am one happy camper."

He goes on to explain that what happened is his most common call. The garage door came off the tracks and everything gets discombobulated (I love that word and that I got to use it in my blog!). He replaced a roller, pushed the rail thingies back into place, sprayed some lubricant on things, and voila - working garage door!

Whew! I am sooo relieved. Although, I could have used the excuse to stay home tomorrow! ;)

As far as the gym, welllll didn't make it there this weekend. And not making it tonight either. It is too late now.

Go Figure?!

Yep, you read that right! All my laziness has paid off ;). I lost 2.5lbs this week. I am 1/2lb from the halfway mark. That is exciting, but I can honestly tell you that it isn't going to knock me out of my funk---at least not today. My most recent excuse: I haven't been getting home from work until late. Yes, I know lame...Then again, the 180's are getting close! I'm going out on a limb: I am heading back to the gym this weekend.

Official weigh in stats:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 192lbs
Overall loss: 42lbs
Lbs to goal: 43lbs

Still Not on Track

Nope. Still haven't gotten back on track. No exercise since Wednesday. My excuse today is a sick stomach. I am wondering if chicken is on my banned list. I can eat it in soup, but it seems that everytime I have chicken breast it just doesn't work. Today it was moist, marinated chicken. I was sick afterward, but this time it went on for a long time. Pardon the gory details, but PB, foam, you name it, I had it. By the end of the afternoon, my tummy was not happy nor was I.

I can honestly say that today was the first day that I seriously wondered if it was worth it. (The funk gets funkier.) Right now I don't have an answer. None of this is easy and the weight is coming off slower than the last diet that I was on. I am trying to remind myself that I have always been a "champion loser", but keeping it off has been impossible. Always gaining it back with friends, this tool is to stop the cycle. Only time will tell. Maybe I am having delayed after surgery depression? ;) Can that happen 3 months later?

A bit of a funk

It's TTOTM. It has kinda put me into a funk. The weather isn't helping either since it was 85 on Thursday and dropped to 40 on Friday. Today is even colder - like 28. Now don't get me wrong that is far from cold compared to places like the Midwest and I know that. It has just had a big effect on me. I don't want to leave the house and am curled up on the couch with a blanket. I highly doubt that I will make it to the gym today.

As far as yesterday, it was my 3-month bandiversary. With cramps and all, I didn't get to the gym. In fact, I was feeling like I was going to kill someone unless I satisified my cravings. So, I ate a pint - yes, a pint - of ice cream. I didn't eat much else, but still it wasn't really on the plan. It was a conscious choice and I didn't feel guilty at all. We'll see what effect the ice cream and the lack of exercise will have on the scale, but right now I just don't care. Told you I was in a funk...so much for the attitude adjustment.

I was reading a blog - honestly can't remember which one and it referenced this site that would make your blog into a word cloud. Mine is the pic on this post. Kinda interesting. If you'd like to do yours, click here.

So close...but no cigar...

Official weigh in day. The good news is that I dropped 2.5lbs. The 'bad' (disappointing anyway) news is I was .5lb from hitting the 40lbs lost mark. Oh well, I WILL look at the positive - I am down 39.5lbs. Tomorrow is my 3 month mark. I'll post more then. I'm just not in a good mood today -- rough day at work. (BTW - elliptical today - 35mins)

Official weigh in stats:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 194.5lbs
Overall loss: 39.5lbs

Whoa - I'm a S-T-U-D!

OK, probably a bit of an exaggeration, but I am on a roll with the exercising! Let's recap...

• Saturday - 50 mins elliptical
  
• Sunday - 50 mins elliptical
  
• Monday - 45 mins elliptical
  
• Tuesday - 50 mins elliptical
  

I thought about why and I have to tell you that knowing that I am going to be reporting it on my blog has seriously helped. Monday I didn't want to go (welllll, do I ever really 'want' to go? NO, but you know what I mean.). I told myself that I'd have to put on my blog that I didn't exercise and there was absolutely no reason for me to not go and put in 30 mins. And then I get there - still hating it - but there are so many people around that I feel pressured to work out longer than 30 mins. All of this works for me - even if it is mind manipulation :)

Today wasn't a struggle to go though. I just asked myself - would I rather get the weight off or sit on the couch. Getting the weight off won. I hope to have more of these days. I am going to a wedding on June 3 and plan to reward myself with a cute new outfit for the event. That's about 16 weeks away, so I am targeting an average of 1.5 pounds per week to be solidly in the 170's then.

Man oh man, I am hoping for a loss tomorrow. I am 3 lbs shy of the 40 pound mark and feel like I am due for a big drop. I really want to hit 40 pounds because the 16th is my 3-month bandiversary. Please oh please weight loss fairies - please make a stop at my house and carry away some of my weight!

Looking for a Little Crunch?

Well, my latest find that I MUST share is by PepsiCo's Quaker division - Quaker Soy Crisps! They are de-lish. Salt, crunch, low-calorie, AND protein.



I have had the White Cheddar flavor and give them a big thumbs up. I have the BBQ, but haven't tried them yet.

Here's the scoop from the BBQ bag - the White Cheddar is probably pretty close.

• 110 calories per serving
  
• 18 crisps!!! per serving
  
• 4g fat
  
• 15g carbs (4g sugars)
  
• 6g protein!!!
  

Sometimes a girl just has to have a crunch and these are way better for me than the dreaded potato chips. These are definitely good for that scenario without breaking the calorie bank.

Weekend Activities

I made it to the gym both Saturday and Sunday - Yeah! I put in 60mins on the elliptical both days. I belong to 24hr Fitness - cardio equipment is upstairs and weights are down. While I was plugging away on the elliptical, I was gazing downstairs at the weights. I realize that I need to add weights to my routine. I had a good weight routine that I need to try and locate in my pit of an office. It is the basics that I need to do to work out the core muscle groups. BUT if anyone knows of any websites that have good workouts, please send them my way.

Overall my eating and exercise has been excellent. The ridiculous part is that I am not getting to my goal on liquids. This is ridiculous because prior to the 'attitude adjustment' overall fluids were good. Sometimes I wonder if I am doomed to not be able to get all three of my goals going at once, but I will NOT give up.

I have been reading a ton of blogs. There are a lot of good ones out there. So many that I am working on a BlogRoll - assuming I can figure it out - that I plan to add to my blog. Up until this point, I have just been trying to remember where they are - I know I could use my Favorites, but I just haven't.

I have to admit though that I have developed some Blog Pet Peeves...I hate blogs that I can't figure out how to navigate through them easily - I just find it to take too much effort and move on. The other thing - blogs that launch music when you view the blog. I find this to be the most annoying thing that can be put on a blog. I am there to read what is posted not to hear a bunch of noise. Seriously, even if I like the music, I find it irritating and immediately close the blog. Just my two cents...

Yikes - Tight!!!

Man oh man - all of the female bandsters that say that they get tight during sometime of their cycle are so right! I am only at 3 months since my surgery next week, so I don't have a lot of data to go by. I can tell you that today and yesterday I have been tight! It has been hard to eat, so I am back to soft foods.

Going to stick with that for a day or two as there has been quite a bit of pb'ing and I bet that has also added to the tightness. For any future bandsters (females) - learn from me and start tracking your cycle and how tight you are from the get go. It will be extremely helpful as you go through your journey.

Today has been a bad day as far as the attitude adjustment - not enough food, not enough water, and no exercise. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, right? Since it is Saturday I have absolutely no excuse not to go to the gym.

NSV(?) - My close friends that see me all the time don't really seem to notice the weightloss much. Well, today one of my close friends hadn't seen me in a week and she was shocked at how thin my face was. It was pretty hilarious as I haven't really lost much in the past couple of weeks, but shows how a little time apart from close friends/family helps make the weightloss noticeable.

NSV(?) - I can wear jeans to work on Friday. I pretty much wear the same pair every week - for obvious reasons - it's the only pair that fits. Well, I'm not sure if it was because it was the second wearing or what, but they were falling off! This is good and bad. Good because I seem to be shrinking, but bad because I know I haven't lost enough to fit into the next size down so baggy butt will have to stick around for a while. But let me stress, I am not complaining ;)

Down 1/2 Pound

OK, well so much for the rant. I did lose a half pound. It is just so weird how weight just bounces up and down. Technically I could rant, since I lost less than 1.5 pounds (per my earlier post), but I did such a good job yesterday that I don't feel the need. :)

I did get to the gym today for a workout - 50 mins and 4.1 miles on the elliptical. Eating was OK. Behind a bit on the water, but I'll catch up before bed. Short post today.

Official weigh in stats:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 197lbs
Overall loss: 37lbs

PS - Serena - Glad to hear I'm not the only one that does the weight previews! ;) I was warned that depression could be possible after the surgery. Have you talked to your doc? Maybe some anti-depressants for a bit might be helpful?

I Like This Show!

Love Monkey - And believe it or not it is on the 'old people network' aka CBS. I am trying to remember the name of the show that the lead character was on. This show reminds me in a way of that show. Was the name of the show 'Ed?' - no, that isn't right, but I can't remember the name. He was a lawyer that owned a bowling alley...

This show he is in the music business. I'm not going to get into all the gory details. I just thought that I would share that it is a pretty good show. I am a music person and the show has good music in the background and features cool musicians on the show now and then. For example: Anna Nalick, James Blunt, Ben Folds and others...

Long and short of it is if you are bored on Tuesday night and looking for something to do - give it a try and turn it on. Tuesday - 9pm CT - CBS

A Preview to Tomorrow?

I sure hope not! Yes, I did it again. I stepped on the scale before my weigh in day (Wednesday). The news was NOT good. Up a 1/2 pound. What the heck is up? I am working out, eating right, and drinking water!!!! aarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhh!

I know be patient. Well it sucks! I'm not officially up 1/2 pound until tomorrow, so maybe miraculously I will lose weight by tomorrow morning. Regardless, I am going to do things differently. I am going to track every single piece of food that enters my mouth to ensure that my calorie estimates are right. Maybe I am off, but HELLO? No way enough to actually GAIN weight!!!

Just a warning, this WILL be a recurring theme. Because the weight is not coming off fast enough. I will promise though that on weeks that I lose 1.5+ pounds that I will NOT whine. Look forward to those weeks...

*comments*

Craig T - I don't think you are the only one! ;) Some days the bars don't fill me up either. PS - I am not a Cowboys fan. I am convinced they are a love/hate team. You love them or you hate them. I am a hater. Also, I tried to get to your site, but couldn't get there?

Serena - Girl, I am so with you on the 'maybe tomorrow'...lol. As you can see, my attitude adjustment was short lived...and I hope/plan to get it to kick in again tomorrow. Today though I am going to wallow in my frustration. I checked you blog and you haven't posted in a bit. How are you doing?

Ramblings...

First and foremost, the Superbowl was very disappointing! I know the Seahawks weren't 'supposed' to win, but it didn't stop me from wanting them to. *sigh*

I am so tickled at how popular the Taco Soup recipe was. I will post more recipes as I stumble across them and determine that they are WLS friendly. I am thinking that I will try making a modified King Ranch Casserole---less corn tortillas and more chicken. It might not be until the weekend though that I get to it.

I did go to the gym today - 50 mins / 4 miles on the elliptical. Felt the workout on Saturday and Sunday today. Still planning on going tomorrow though. Just need to take a dip in the hot tub to get some of the soreness out. (Yes, water in and on target for food as well. Attitude adjustment is in gear today.)

Discovery of the day - I needed a meal replacement that I could eat at my desk yet still be good for me. Enter Zone Perfect All Natural Nutrition Bar - Chocolate Peanut Butter. Pretty good - not very peanut buttery, but overall I give it a thumbs up for lunch on the run. It kept me full which is the most important part. It was a tad bit high on saturated fat and 13 grams of Sugars might be too high for some.




Calories: 210
Calories from Fat: 60
Total Fat: 7g
Saturated Fat: 4g
Cholesterol: <5mg
Sodium: 330mg
Potassium: 110mg
Total Carbohydrate: 21g
Dietary Fiber: <1g
Sugars: 13g
Protein: 16g

On the topic of bars, I don't think I have published the other bars that I like. Sometimes I have one for a late breakfast, a lunch, or a snack. I prefer these to the Zone Perfect, but not as much protein. Less sugar though, so might be a good choice if you have to watch your sugars. They are the South Beach Diet High Protein Cereal Bars by Kraft.

This chocolate one I can only eat as a snack. I can't eat sweet in the morning. It is pretty good. Fixes me up when I have a craving.

The peanut butter one is my favorite! It seems like I am eating something that I am not supposed to.

Cranberry Almond also gets a thumbs up. I always have to make sure I chew this one or else the cranberry and almond bits can be tricky in the morning.

And the 4th of the 5 flavors is Cinnamon raisin. I usually switch between this one and the peanut butter.

They all are 140 calories and have 10g of protein. The specifics vary between bars, so I'll let you check them out if your interested. BTW - Wal*mart has been the cheapest place I have found them. In fact, I just stocked up because there was a $1 off coupon on the box. (I love those coupons 'cause I actually use them!)

Mmmm, mmm, good - Taco Soup

I had taco soup at a mexican restaurant here in Texas. It was really yummy! By looking at it, I figured it had to be pretty easy to make and has a lot of protein. In searching the net, it seems that the recipes are pretty standard. So, I made a big pot yesterday. It is AWESOME! I had to post the recipe here for anyone that is interested.

1 pound ground lean ground beef (I used ground sirloin - leanest I could find)
1 onion -- chopped
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix -- (small)
1 pkg Taco seanoning Mix
1 can kidney beans (I used the ones with jalenpenos for added zing)
1 can pinto beans
1 can corn
1 can Rotel
1 can stewed chopped tomatoes
1-2 cans chicken broth depending on how soupy you want it - I used two cans

Brown meat with onion, drain excess fat, add all ingredients, simmer to blend flavors. Estimated calorie content is 100 calories per cup

PS - Go Seahawks!

Attitude Adjustment Needed!

Yep, I definitely need an attitude adjustment. I am not working out enough. I worked out today and yesterday, but other than that I have been making up excuses. Nope, not really even making excuses, just not going.

I am also struggling with eating. I am just NOT hungry. I know, what a problem to have, right? But as I have posted before, if I don't eat a minimum of 1000 calories, then I don't lose.

And don't forget the water - I haven't been hitting my 8 glass minimum either.

Yes, an attitude adjustment is needed. I honestly didn't think this would be a problem until I could fit into all of the clothes in my closet. I'm not even to that point yet.

I am posting this to get it all out there. I HAVE to do better. I did NOT pay all of this money to not get to my goal. So, I am drawing a line in the sand right now!

• I will drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day.
  
• I will workout a minimum of 4 times a week for 45mins per session.
  
• I will eat all of my meals and get in 1000 calories.
  

I WILL HIT MY GOAL OF 149!!!!

PS - GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Jessica - I'm glad you like reading my blog! Do you have a date yet for your banding? BTW - the pictures that I use are from trips to Maui.

Another Week

Well, 11 weeks have gone by since my surgery. Overall things are going OK. Since the fill, I have had a hard time eating. Same old story - eating too fast, seem to be getting a lot of air, and not stopping soon enough (too much food).

The past few days have been good though. I have concentrated on eating slower and eating less. I'm talking like a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of food. This seems to be working well. The key - eat CONSCIOUSLY - make sure that I am 110% engaged in the activity. This is the only way things are going to work without problems.

I lost 1.5lbs this week - not as much as I hoped as I had gone up a 1/2 pound the week before, so it is really more like 1 lb. Then again, I haven't been consistently getting in my water and workouts have been sporadic at best.

Not much to post. Mainly because work has been hectic and I haven't been in the best of moods the past couple of days. I've got to get caught up on reading everyone's blogs as well.

Official weigh in stats:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 197.5lbs
Overall loss: 36.5lbs

RMR - Resting Metabolic Rate

Well, I figured since I 'flaunted' around RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) that I should go ahead and prove my theory. There are many scientific calculations for your RMR. They vary a bit, but I just took the least amount for my purposes. (If you want to find a calculator, simply Google 'calculating resting metabolic rate' and a bunch of calculators will come up.)

What is RMR? It is the amount of energy (calories) that your body requires at rest. In other words, if you don't do anything but sit around and breath, this amount of calories are required by your body to function.

There are things that affect your RMR - the amount of muscle you have (this is why you want to preserve as much muscle mass as possible - in fact, adding muscle mass would even be better!); your age (boo!); your sex (of course, guys burn more. mainly because they have a higher muscle mass naturally); climate (the colder the climate - the more energy the body needs to keep warm - but hello, who is really exposed enough to the elements for this to have a real impact?); small regular meals (supposedly).

Oh, I should mention that RMR is also referred to as BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate. There is really no difference. So use whichever one you want. But I see some differences? There are like 5 different calculations that are commonly used to determine RMR / BMR - therefore you can see up to a 50 calorie swing depending on which calculation is used.

Using one of the calculators, my body at its current weight requires 1634 calories at rest. Remember that is with no exercise - this is your body at rest.

1634 RMR/BMR x 7 days = 11,438 calories expended per week

(**Assuming 1000 calorie diet/day on average**)
1000 calories x 7 days = 7,000 calories consumed per week

Calories In - Calories Out = Weekly Deficit
7,000 cals per week - 11,438 cals per week = -4438 calorie deficit

Translation - 4438 divided by 3500 calories in a lb = 1.3lbs

Bottom line - I should be losing at least a lb a week. My overall average shows this weightloss.

Bad news is that as you lose weight your RMR / BMR goes down -- assuming constant muscle mass. Why? Well it all boils down to there is less of you to support at rest. It takes less calories to support 150lbs than 200lbs. What to do? Any combination of: Eat less, move more, gain muscle mass.

Hopefully someone found this interesting! :o) It was a good exercise for me to remind myself that as long as I am patient - the weight WILL drop off.

Whew!

**Thanks for the comments Rhonda and Jessica!**

Everything was A-OK. They did a fluoro with me standing up to check the position of my band and it was right where it was supposed to be. I then did a barium swallow and it just whooshed on through! What a relief!

I figured while I was there that I might as well ask if I could get a fill to avoid having to make another trip. Since everything looked OK and they saw how the barium went on through they said yes. I asked for a small one as I had lost well between fills (9.4lbs), but eating a tad bit more than recommended and getting a bit more hungry between meals.

As I’ve said before, I plan to ‘get away’ with as few fills as possible. Not that I am trying to be the hero or trying to diet, but want to increase restriction only when I need it. I know that I will need it eventually and will ride the wave until I get to that point.

Here’s the specifics on my fills:
1st fill – 1.2cc – 12/21
2nd fill – 1.8cc – 1/25
Loss between fills (using doctor scale): 9.4lbs (1.88lbs per week average)

Today was my official weigh in day. Not good news. Up .5 lbs. Why? I attribute this to less exercise and not drinking all my fluids. I also don’t think it is a ‘real’ weight gain. There is no way that I ate 1750 calories above and beyond what my body needs to maintain my current weight. What to do? Get my exercise in, drink enough fluids, and eat my meals as planned. Next week will be better.

Official weigh in stats:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 199lbs
Overall loss: 35lbs

Unofficial weigh in stats – doctor’s scale:
Starting weight: 234lbs
Current weight: 202.2lbs
Overall loss: 31.8lbs

Appointment Tomorrow

So, I called and explained what happened. I go in tomorrow for fluoro just to make sure everything is OK. Of course, wouldn't you know it, a little relief mentally and I seem to be feeling better. Ate some harder stuff for dinner without a problem. Oh well, better safe than sorry. I'll speak to them about getting a fill tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also my official weigh in. I haven't been getting in all of my water or exercising as much as I had in previous weeks. Oh well, I'll report in tomorrow.

Uh oh - tummy not good!

On Saturday I ate something that did not agree with me. What was different about this time was the vomiting. It lasted longer than normal and it felt 'deeper' for lack of a better way to describe it.

I had liquids and soft foods on Sunday and Monday until dinner. At dinner, I attempted to eat very very moist chicken, but no luck. I am keeping down liquids and soft foods no problem. What could be the problem? Was it the vomiting? I think I am supposed to be close to my period? I am stressed out!

I plan to call tomorrow to see if I can get in to get it checked out on Wednesday. Can't on Tuesday -- too much going on at work. One more day won't matter because I can drink and eat soft foods. I swear it will just be hard psychologically. PLEASE let it be irritation, swollen stoma, or something easy like that. As long as it isn't a slip.

What I did find out is there is not a lot that I can find about a slip. All I was able to locate was that it is a possibility, but not what the symptoms are. So, that's my story for now. Keep your fingers crossed. I will call tomorrow.