Real, Honest-to-Gosh Restriction

I knew I was very, very close to the Sweet Spot. I could smell its cologne. I had decent restriction before, but thought maybe just a tiny bit more would do the trick. Indeed, 0.2cc was the magic number for me. Today I didn't even really think about food. Weird! No sickness, no reflux, no heartburn. And full for 4-5 hours. Nice!

The Fat Clinic

I think that it must be interesting to work in a bariatric clinic during the summertime, when all the folks who have started losing weight are coming in fresh of the hottie press in their stretched, smaller-size summer threads. The gals at the front desk of my clinic don't seem to notice. Maybe they are professionals about it all, or maybe just bored. None of them are obese. Maybe some of them have had surgery, but I doubt it. They all seem about 20 years old. Anyway, when I went in for my appointment today I felt kind of like that, in my summer sundress and sandals, 27 lbs lighter and straight from the gym.

I met the new surgical fellow, a nice Indian man whom I liked much better than Dr Stinky, who was Dr Hong's fellow when I had my surgery. He was very thorough in his history and assessment, but unfortunately could not access my port to do my tiny 0.2cc fill. Dr Jan was there too, and he had no problem--this was actually the first time anyone has had trouble getting into my port, but the only people to try before were Drs. Hong and Jan, and they are experienced. I just hope and pray that the jabs (which were north of my port, or closer to my head, therefore closer to the tubing) did not puncture the tubing and start a leak. Water went down fine, and I went home.

I did get wiser this time, and schedule my fill late in the day rather than early. Why spend the whole day hungry? :) Dr Jan was pleased with my 9 lb loss since my last appointment 5 weeks ago. My next appointment is in 7 weeks, which is early September. Nice! I get the rest of the summer "off", so to speak. Hopefully I post another nice weight loss by then and can cruise like this for a while. 7 weeks, I should be able to manage at least 10 lbs more by then.

Adjustment

I just updated my stats in the Excel spreadsheet I'm using to track my weight loss. I realized that the day before surgery my weight was 2 lbs higher than what I have been using as my start weight, so I decided to use that as my start weight. It seemed more accurate when looking at my spreadsheet. Of course, it helps that it makes my weight loss look better too. :) Can't complain about that.

I have an appointment Monday with Dr Jan, my 'replacement' surgeon (since my surgeon Dr Hong left the practice and moved back to Canada). It's about 5 weeks since my last fill. I have lost about 5 lbs in the last 3 weeks. I get hungry about 4 hours after a meal. I have never vomited one time since having my band placed, or gotten food stuck in my stoma. I am not sure if he will want to fill my band some more or not. If he does, it would be a very small fill, I would think. I think things are going very well for me right now, and I don't want to screw it up. I work out about 4 days a week, get plenty of protein and veggies, and am losing weight.

I am lucky that I am not terribly picky about what I eat, and I like a lot of things, especially healthy foods. My mom did a great job in giving us kids a lot of variety in our diet and a lot of healthy foods growing up. We all like to eat nutritious food (we like junk food too, but still) and we don't turn up our noses at much of anything. I think that has made the band journey a lot easier for me than for some people. I actually have changed very little about the way I eat since being banded. Now I am more careful about eating protein, and I obviously eat smaller portions. I also try my best not to eat when I am not physically hungry. That's a daily struggle, as is drinking enough water. I try not to eat as many sweets, but I don't avoid them entirely. I am more conscious of the fact that eating sugar reinforces the sugar addiction and causes a crash that makes me crave more sugar later; it's a vicious cycle that I try my best to avoid. I don't always make the best choices, but I do get back on the horse after I fall off, and I can get back on track more easily than I could before having the band.

The Loser's Bench

Today was spent at ACLS class, or Advanced Cardiac Life Support. This certification is required every two years for certain health care providers. Those who are familiar with it know it is a pain in the butt. 8 hours of class going over familiar material that has been altered ever so slightly each year by the American Heart Association, ending with a test and a "Mega Code" in which each tester has to be the leader for a scenario that the instructor walks each leader through, going from one type of cardiac arrhythmia algorithm to another and recognizing which one you are in and going through the correct steps. It's nerve racking for most folks, and annoying for everyone. But it must be done, and my time was up. Afterward I went to the gym.

I continue to lose weight, to my constant amazement and delight. I have lost 23 lbs now. I am happy with this so far. I get hungry about 4 hours after eating a meal, but I never get extremely hungry. The hardest thing for me continues to be not grazing on treats at work. At work the best thing for me seems to be spreading out my lunch over the whole shift so I have something to snack on instead of treats. If there is a potluck, I make the best choices I can and don't go back. Some days it works better than others.

This turtle is moving!

We started a little group on the Lap Band forum on OH.com called "The Turtle Club" for those of us who feel like we are losing slower than average. It's kinda fun, and a little bit motivating. I've been stuck gaining and losing the same 3 lbs for the last month and it's been really frustrating. But this morning, voila! Finally down to 22lb weight loss. Yes! Especially since this weekend we went to 2 parties, and another one last night. But it feels good to lose again.

What have I done differently? I'm trying to drink more water, but that is still difficult for me. I took a class at the gym 2 times this week, called the NIA technique, to change up my usual routine. And I've been tracking what I eat more closely on fitday.com. That seems to help. And I've been tapering off of my antidepressant, so hopefully that will help me stop holding on to a little of that weight. If I find I still need one, even though it's summer and sunny outside (my primary problem is S.A.D.) my doc gave me a script for Effexor to try that might work without as much weight problem. So. I'm getting through my first plateau! Yay me.