A year has come and gone

and I am now down 43 pounds.  I have been on another plateau of sorts for a while, but it is ok.  I have finally figured out that this is going to be a long journey and although I may stick around at a number a while, I won’t be there for ever.  I am officially off ALL meds with the exception of my allergy tablet that I take nightly.   My gynecologist was very happy about the weight loss at my yearly check up.   I started out wearing a TIGHT size 20 jeans.  I am now in a 12-14 depending on the maker and the cut.  (yay!)    I want to get down to at least a 10.

Some questions that I have been asked recently that I thought you might like to see the answers to:

1. Was it worth it?   Unequivocally YES.  I would do it again tomorrow.  I know that 43 lbs is not the huge amount of weight that I had hoped to lose by this time, but it is still a significant amount of weight.  I have SO much more energy now, and to be honest am saving a TON of money on not only food but also on medicine co payments every month!  It took me 15 years to gain to over 250 lbs, so I suppose that taking a couple of years to get rid of it isn’t such a bad deal.

2. Is it easy?  NO – I still struggle every day with the head hunger.  I am getting better – I think my mind is finally accepting that bread, potatoes, rice and other assorted starches will not be tolerated.  I know pretty much the things that I probably will never eat again.  And it’s ok.  I am finding things that take the place of those foods and I’m healthier for the substitutions.

3. Will I ever have the band removed?  NO, the only thing that could convince me to remove it is if something goes horribly wrong – which I do NOT expect to ever happen.  This baby will be in there until the end.

4. Do you still have problems with the band?  Yes and no.  The problems I have are from not listening to my body.  IF I try to eat in a hurry, too early in the day, don’t chew properly, or eat things that I know good and well won’t go down, I end up in the bathroom.

My band is as tight as my MD will allow.  I have 9.5 cc in a 11 cc band.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  The major one being that  I push the limits with what I can eat.  This is my way of keeping myself from eating the starches and carbs.  With the band this tight, they will NOT go through.  If I order chicken fingers, I have to pick the breading off or I can’t eat them.   So now I just get grilled chicken and I’m good.   When I hit goal weight I *may* have a tiny bit taken out, but I don’t expect to make any changes for a long time.

If YOU have any questions – please comment or email them to me at tricia.gilliland@gmail.com and I’ll try to post the answers here.

My journey so far in photos – yes I realize nearly every one is me riding.  Evidently that is the only time anyone can take a photo of me cause I usually run from the camera!  LOL

Sept 2011

Oct 2011

Jan 23, 2012

March 11, 2012

May 2012

August 2012

Sept 30, 2012

sept 30 2012

Oct 3, 2012

 

November 11, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

Dec 9, 2012

A very inspirational journey

hundreds of pounds gone

 

You really should watch this video, I found it to be very inspiring!

 

 

In my own journey, I am down a solid 40 lbs now.   I cut all my hair off and now look like a totally different person!  Will post photos later.

Fill number 2….

Got the second fill today.  I now have 7 cc of liquid in my band.  Came home and made some soup for dinner.  I didn’t really follow a recipe, but here’s what I did:

cubed up 1 lb of chicken breast and 1 large onion – saute in butter

In another pot,

1 box of chicken broth

1 can of diced chiles

1 can of tomato paste

1 jar of home canned tomatoes

1 can of black beans

1 can of white beans

1 can of hominy

1 can of mexi corn

2 chicken bullion cubes

1 cilantro cube

taco seasoning to taste

bring to boil and add browned chicken and onion  – simmer 15 minutes

I also took about 1/2 package of low carb tortillas, cubed and browned in butter before adding to the soup.

YUMMY

I had about a cup of it and was full.   Just a few minutes ago, I was thinking that I want something sweet so I got a banana muffin.  WRONG choice.  I managed to eat about half of it before I got that familiar feeling of – UH OH – Houston we have a problem!!  I tried stretching my chin to the ceiling, standing up, twisting around, jumping up and down…….   Needless to say, it would NOT go down.  Oh well.   Guess that’s the end of my bread/muffin eating days.  🙂

Oh yeah, and I’ve lost 4 lbs since last visit.  I’m hoping that this little bit of extra will get me really rolling.

Stress and comfort food

I’ve spent the past 20 hours or so at the hospital with my Mom who we believe had a mini stroke.  In the past 24 hours, I haven’t eaten exactly the best of foods.  Hospital cafeteria food is ‘ok’ I guess, although not too much flavor there.  I didn’t keep my liquid intake up because of the issue of having to go down the hall to use a bathroom – nothing like going to the toilet when you can hear everything through paper thin walls…..   When I got home this evening to take a nap and rest, I was craving pasta big time.  Made a pasta salad and basically ate until I was almost sick feeling.  It was SO good.  I don’t allow myself pasta often, in fact almost never these days.  Hopefully that will settle my nerves and comfort me for a long time.

In an hour or so I’ll be off to bed for hopefully a restful night of sleep.  Tomorrow I’ll go to work for a couple of hours and then back to the hospital to take back the bedside vigil.  My Mom is one of my reasons I am on this journey.  I don’t want to reach her age and be in the same physical shape.  She is a diabetic and refuses to take the medication.  She is very obese and can’t/won’t lose the weight.  She has become very sedentary over the past couple of years.  And I am terrified for her.  I just hope that this will be a wake up call and she will open her eyes to see that her lifestyle is shortening her life by years……