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

Seem to have hit another plateau of sorts

 

I have noticed over the years that I seem to have a problem every fall.  I call it my “Bear Gene”.  My body tells me that I MUST EAT EAT EAT.  I am always hungry and eating and sleeping are both always on my mind or sitting on the fringe of my thoughts waiting to jump back to the fore front.   Is there a scientific explanation to this?  I don’t know – what I do know is it IS real and it does happen to me EVERY single year for as long as I can remember.    Add into this equation that I have been battling a cold/sinus infection for the last 2 weeks, and you can easily see that the weight loss has stopped.  I actually gained back 2 pounds.    It came to mind this morning that maybe it is my body’s way of trying to maintain temperature since the temperature outdoors is dropping.   Perhaps I should drink more warm things, decaf coffee and herbal teas – things of that sort.  I do love a good coffee with some of the flavored creamer in the mornings.  Does anyone have suggestions of herbal teas that are good?  I’ve never been a hot tea drinker, after all I was raised and live in Alabama – home of Sweet Iced Tea.  *wink*

 

 

 

Happy Hump day

Need a pick me up to make it to Friday?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re Welcome!

Pinterest

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time there lately.  Discovered an app for my phone and kindle which sometimes helped the long hours go by when we were at the hospital with my Father in Law who just passed away.   I pinned a TON of recipes and thought I would share a few here with you that I thought might be useful to ‘banders’.

 

Protein Ranch Dressing: (Serves 4)
1 Cup Cottage Cheese (Watch your label, sometimes low fat doesn’t mean low calories and the regular cottage cheese is only a few cal. more)
3-4 tsp. Buttermilk Ranch Dressing mix
1/4 C. water (or milk if you prefer: Milk will add more calories) add more water if the consistency is too thick for your liking.

Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. (About 3 min.) Enjoy!

 

http://fabulouspinterestfinds.blogspot.com/2012/02/protien-ranch.html

 

 

Chicken Ranch Tacos:

3 cups cooked chicken, cut up
1 pkt. taco seasoning (chicken or beef)
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
——————
taco shells
lettuce
cheese
Ranch dressing
tomatoes
etc…

Heat a skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken & warm it for a few minutes. Sprinkle on the dry taco seasoning. Do not add any water! Heat for 5-7 minuted until all heated through & powder is stuck to the chicken.

Add Ranch dressing, heat an additional 2-3 minutes to warm through.

Serve in taco shells with all the fixings you love – plus an extra squirt of Ranch!

http://pedersenfood.blogspot.com/2011/05/chicken-ranch-tacos.html

 

 

 

I’m also exploring freezer to crockpot meals and have put quite a few bags of these in the freezer.  Today’s selection (closed my eyes and grabbed one!) is Pork and apples.   I’ll let you know how it turns out.  I am planning to make some mashed potatoes for Chris and some green beans for the side.

 

 

 

 

 

A few more gone

The funniest thing….   I know that I have lost weight,   BUT I didn’t realize just how much I have lost.     Before surgery size 18-20 was getting tight.  Hell, who am I kidding?  Before surgery I was close to popping some of my clothes,  and lately everything seems to have gotten REALLY big on me…..   but I’m too cheap thrifty to buy more clothes.   I Was OH SO SURPRISED last week when I went clothes shopping.   I checked out Cato’s selection of dressy type fall things, and picked several size 16 and XL’s to try on.   Ummmm – NO.  They were too big.  I ended up with size 14’s fitting a little loose on bottom, a couple of large size tops and 1 XL that is made to be more fitted.    Seems that the girls aren’t going anywhere fast (dang it!), but the rest of me seems to be shrinking.

As far as how the band is going, I have had good days and bad days.  I have discovered that mornings are NOT good for eating.  Warm liquids are best (coffee with flavored cream please!),  a protein shake – either Atkins or Ensure,  followed by nuts around 10 am ( love Wasabi Almonds and Dill Pickle sunflower seeds – don’t knock them till you try them!).  Lunch is usually some  fruit or tuna or egg salad – depends on how my tummy feels and how hungry I am.  Afternoon snack of more nuts or jerky.  By about 5 or 6 I’m ready to eat in the more traditional sense.  I try to get a lot of protein in during the evening.  The band seems looser in the later hours of the day – not sure why that is, I’m sure there is a medical explanation.

Anyway, that’s where I am right now.  For the past week or so I’m dropping an average of 3/4 to 1.5 pound a day.  I’ll take it!

 

 

WOW

What a difference this fill has made!!!  I am down 10 lbs in 1 week. At this rate, I’ll be skinny in no time!  LOL

I know it’s not healthy to loose this fast, so no lectures, ok?  But it sure is nice to be surprised pleasantly every time I step on the scales.  I am eating literally next to nothing.  I just -am-not-hungry- , and that’s a GREAT thing.  🙂   I AM drinking Ensure protein shakes – milk chocolate please, and they are quite tasty.  Still getting my vitamins every morning, so I think I’m doing ok.   I have lost 33% of the weight I want to lose.  1/3 of the way there!!!!  Whoop!

I go back in September, and *may* or may not let them take some out.  Probably not.  LOL   It is SO nice to be finally going in the right direction again.  I was all but ready to give up.   Won’t make it in time to wear a bikini this summer, but maybe next (YEAH RIGHT!!  LOL).

OH YEAH – almost forgot to tell you this – I am 100% off blood pressure meds – YEE HAW!  That’s $90 in my pocket a month that I’m not spending on meds!  cha ching!  Camping money, tack money, and later on NEW WARDROBE money!!  For now I’ll just wear everything baggy.

Came back to add this.  I promised when I started this blog to tell it all – good, bad and ugly.  Well the bad/ugly side of my current situation is that I’m having to learn HOW to eat and drink all over yet again.  I MUST take teeny bits of food or liquid in at a time.   I came inside yesterday and was very thirsty and forgot about the tightness of the band.  Turned up an Orange Vitamin water (my favorite drink of all time) and chugged it.  Instantaneous eject is all I am going to say.  It had to go somewhere and it couldn’t go down fast enough so it came back up.  Out my nose, mouth and it even felt like it was coming out my ears!  LOL  Not really, but it was pretty explosive.    As long as I take my time and lots of it, everything is ok, but the second I try to eat like I have for 43 years, the band says “Hey sister, you AIN’T eating like that anymore” and rejects whatever I’m trying to cram down my gullet…..  That can be painful and unpleasant.

BUT, I knew it wasn’t going to be all roses, sunshine and fairy farts when I signed up for this.

 

Looking back over the past 8 months, I only have one regret and that is not being more adamant at the Dr office that I wanted more fluid.   I let them sort of guide me because I thought they ‘knew best’.  I have come to realize that this band is NOT a one size/fill fits all and that *I* know how I feel and am the one who lives with this band every day, not the people in the Dr office.

So now I’m HAPPY again.  I’m back on my path.

The Verdict….

Not slipped and as far as they can tell from the barium swallow, no leakage.

The barium wasn’t fun, but it was not too bad either.  Just stood there in front of an xray machine drinking chalky stuff mixed with some fruity liquid while the Xray Dr watched.  No biggie.

He said he could see the band and it is in place.  He also said the fluid was going through much faster than he expected it to go with the band in place.  SO – over to Dr Schmitt office to find out the final verdict.

They did an ultrasound and said everything looked good there.  Then the nurse practitioner came in and drew out all the fluid.  I couldn’t see the syringe to tell exactly how much fluid measured, but she said it had 8cc.  I was supposed to have 8.5cc.  She made the comment that IF the band was leaking, they would expect to see very little to no fluid in the band.  She said it is possible that some ‘may’ have evaporated.  (I don’t know if I buy that or not).  She put in all new fluid, and I did see the measurement on it 9.5cc.  She was very worried that it would now be too tight.  I am to be really careful this weekend and have only liquids for a day or two then soft stuff in teeny amounts.

On the way home I was thinking and wondering if maybe they had made a mistake in writing down how much they have given me over time.   But it still doesn’t explain why I had really good restriction after the last fill and then lately have felt almost none.  It doesn’t make sense to me.

Right now I’m sipping a protein shake and I can tell a good difference.  I am over 8 months into this and really thought that by now would be so much farther along.   I am hoping that it is right this time.  My plan for now is to really be careful with my protein and make sure I get the 60 gms that I need (I’ve been lax about that), and as soon as it cools down start back hitting the track in the evenings.

 

Hooo Boy….

I can tell a BIG difference with that little 2 cc of liquid added.  I got a bit stuck at lunch today and it seemed to take ….f-o-r-e-v-e-r….  for the bite of grilled chicken to finally go on down.   I only managed to eat about 1/3 of the grilled chicken salad from TJ’s in Albertville.  It was really good – I asked them to dunk the chicken in Teriyaki sauce.  mmmmmm

Seems that I’m a slow learner because I got stuck again at dinner.  I made sort of a breakfast casserole type thing. – Crumbled and cooked a pound of sausage, added about 1/2 pound of hash browns, cook until taters are done, top with well beaten eggs (I only had 5 and would have added 8 if I had 3 more).  Turn heat off and keep stirring until the eggs are cooked.  Topped with shredded gouda cheese and enjoy.  I had a bit of light sour cream, guacamole and salsa with mine.     Really good stuff.  At about the 5th bite, I was stuck.  Darn it.   After being patient for about 2 minutes, the clog finally cleared.  The time that I’m stuck seems to go so slowly.   I simply MUST learn to take teeny tiny bites and eat much slower.

I forgot to mention, I got baby chickens yesterday.

Blue laced red Wyandottes

And Golden Laced Wyandottes

I figured I may as well grow my own eggs since we’re eating so many of them these days.  And if we have extra, I’ll either give them away to family or sell them.   I can’t wait.  The babies are only 2 days old now and it will be probably late summer before I see any eggs, but that’s ok.

I intend to get some Silver Laced Wyandottes later on – they are a bit rare and the hatchery won’t have any to sell until mid summer.

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.

Going to get out of the house for the weekend

Leaving in just a few minutes to go horse camping with friends.  This will be my first time back camping since pre surgery and I am so excited that I’m almost beside myself.   I have been going nuts trying to make sure I remember to pack everything I need to take.  See, before my surgery, I stripped out my trailer and unpacked everything that I usually leave in there and put everything away.  Now I’m having to remember it all again and the places I stored it…..  Not such a great thing when you sometimes wonder if you have the beginning of Alzheimer’s or dementia.   LOL

Anyway, I’ve dropped another pound this week.  I’ve been really diligent about the carbs, so I think that is helping.  Total down is now 19 lbs.  Doesn’t seem like much when I think about it, but hey, I’ll take it!  That’s 19 less pounds on my feet and I can tell ya that they certainly appreciate that.

The food intake for the weekend will be as follows : Atkins shakes for breakfast, along with some protein bars just in case that doesn’t fill me up – but it usually does until lunch.  I’m taking turkey, spinach, gouda cheese and low carb tortillas to make roll ups for lunch each day.  Dinner tonight will be tuna salad.  Tomorrow night, Debi is cooking chicken and Melanie is bringing a veg, plus I have a salad.  I’ve also got some apples and string cheese, some low carb nut mix packets and some sesame crackers with 10 carbs in 8 crackers.    I think I’m set.   I was going to boil some eggs but I think that above will be more than enough.

Happy Weekend Peeps!  Get out and move your body.  🙂