I haven't been blogging but I haven't had much news to report. Nothing good anyway. I got down to 204 at one point. It was my lowest low and I got there with Atkins. I didn't make my birthday goal of being under 200. I got off of Atkins and rebounded back up to 216. I am slowly coming back down and I should really just stop eating when I am full and go back to counting calories...ugh.
I got an IUD placed in May I had general pain in "my gut". I didn't know if it was form my band or my IUD. I went in and saw Carol and all my friends at True Results. I love them. Bernadette works up front and I swear we would be besties if we lived closer. We like all of the same things and she makes me laugh. Anyway, I was having a hard time drinking water without a lot of burping and I was having a lot of pain. I thought for sure that my band had slipped and I had dilated.
I saw Carol and she gave me another barium scan to make sure things are okay. She said things looked great. The restriction looked good but she saw and showed me a HUGE ball of gas hovering to the right side of my band. It was bigger than a grapefruit. She asked if I was drinking through straws, drinking carbonated beverages, or chewing gum. I said, "yes, yes, and yes". Apparently these little habits of mine have contributed to a terrible gas buildup that is causing me so much pain. So I have given up carbonated beverages, drinking from a straw (this one hurts the most because I have some cute little cups that come with cute little straws), and chewing gum. I also had slowed down on my exercise, but the exercise helps eliminate the gas. I was happy to have something to work on to help the problem. Since my visit, I have made all of the changes and I am much more comfortable!!! Problem solved!
I am a little disappointed that I have not continued to make progress toward my weight loss goals. Two steps forward, one step back. My bandiversary is July 9th. After that I am really on my own! I will have to pay to see Carol and Bernadette again. All of my post op care is done. :((( So sad....but on to positive notes...I will do a big one year post with pictures!
My new goal is try to be under 200 by my bandiversary. Thinking about losing weight all the time is really exhausting. It's hard to always be on board with it 24/7. I've never kept up with it for this long. It really helps that the band leaves me no choice. I continue to try to push it though and wish I didn't...old habits die hard. Right now I am struggling to make an appropriate plate for myself. My new self wants to fill my plate like my old self would have. AND THEN...my new self wants to finish my plate like my old self would want. It's a cycle. When I overeat I feel the gas issue and pain creeping back in.
In some really good news, I've had a few NSV (non-scale victories) lately:
- Last year my swimsuit was a size 24 - this year, it's a size 16 :)
- I went to the baseball game with my brother...and I didn't even have to think about it...my butt fit in the chair comfortably. It's so nice to live like the other half lives in regards to seating arrangements.
Me and my boy at the game 
Look - it's my big butt fitting comfortably in the seat - so much that I can turn at a weird angle. :)
- In the past when I have gone swimming, I would always swim over to the stairs and walk up the stairs to get out of the pool - I was always afraid that I would be unable to pull my own body weight out of the pool using the ladder. Well yesterday...I used the ladder without even thinking about it. Once I got out of the pool... I had "the moment" when I realized that I was unable to do the same thing last year! It's a small victory.
- Another slightly disappointing victory was that I have lost some of my flotation ability. :( I used to be able to tread water indefinitely. I used to call this my super power. Now I am not nearly as buoyant and treading water is much more difficult! I guess this is a good thing.
Love to all!
