Too Tight!

Don't we all want to keep ourselves filled to the max? Somehow, it gives an illusion of easier, faster weight loss...and while it helps to have good restriction, I found my 2.0 fill to be excessive. I was PB'ing a bit...but then after my period, couldn't drink liquid without having a little something solid to - I'm guessing - "break the seal" - then I could drink, albeit slowly and carefully. So, on the night of the 30th I woke at 3 a.m. choking on my own spit.

Good times for Jenn. Fortunately, Jill had Ambien'd that night and barely remembered my hacking, choking, etc. I got up, and it took a while to calm down and settle. After, my throat was sore and my lungs hurt.

This is where all the lap-band haters say, "Yeah, see - that's why I don't want a foreign object in my body." But, it's where I say, "I'm too tight. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit."

So, I was a good, responsible bandster and went in on the afternoon of the 31st and got a slight unfill, back to 1.8 where I was in early December. According to the doc, I went from 178.6 on Dec. 5 to 171.4 on Dec. 31st. Man, giving up that progress felt crappy - but then I thought - I'm not giving up anything! I lost that weight by counting my points (WW), doing yoga, bootcamp, and being careful through the holidays. I also noted that when I was at 1.8, I had gone from 183.8 down to 178.6 - that's 5 pounds, and at 2.0, it was 7 - still - this is all good weight loss, all in line with my goals, all good. I was tempted to go to 1.9, but honestly, I felt that feeling of water swishing about in my esophagus rather than going through my pouch, and just didn't want to risk it. I've felt dehydrated and crappy since I got too tight. In the end, the 1.8 won out and seems to be my ideal fill, even if sometimes it doesn't feel as aggressive as I would like.

Still hanging out at 171.4 officially, but I'm back to WW to weigh in on Thursday this week at my regular time - morning weights have shown me in the 169's now, and that is exciting! I was trying for 165 before heading back east on January 12th, but I doubt I can kick 4 pounds in 10 days, unless I ask to be put into a medically-induced coma with a feeding tube. And no, I don't plan on that! :)

On a separate note, I had told my fill nurse about my Bikram Yoga practice, and to my delight, she tried it out and LOVES it - she's an RNY'er a couple years out. It was fun to know I'd introduced someone to it who is sticking with it. Yay Bikram!

1-Year Plastics Anniversary!

So, this past week was 1-year since my plastic surgery. I kinda forgot about it on the exact day, and then had my 1-year appointment with my surgeon on Thursday. It went well - and basically, here was the gist:

- There are two small bits of skin on the inside of each breast he would like to "fix" - so, February 29th I'm going to have that done. It's going to be two small incisions, in the office, one hour. I kinda didn't care, but he said he'd like to make it right. So, I said, ok.

- My scars are still raised in some areas and redder than he'd like. He said, "Well, unfortunately, for some people it takes more like 2 years to fade and smooth out...and you are one of those people." Honestly though, I've never cared much about my scars - they are much preferred to rolls of extra skin and fat :) Plus, they are symmetrical which makes me happy.

He said, "You look like you've lost more weight!" and after we took photos, I compared now to a year ago (well, 1 month post-op) and I look fairly similar except for clearly being stronger and more toned! Yay Yoga!

My thoughts on the whole thing I'd sum up like this:

- I have no regrets at all!
- It took my backside almost 8 months to be "right" so that I could run or do any high-impact exercise with out a big "ca-chunk" feeling with every impactful step.
- My boobs are great, but still feel a little small to me; that said, most who've offered an opinion have said "they fit your body" which is good...I guess :) Still, glad I didn't get implants.
- I love my flat stomach and my curvy shape!
- My left side hip area and right side are not exactly symmetrical; though, who is? The left side is fuller, and it's kinda weird - both sides are nice shapes, but just not, uh, the same shape :)
- I hardly recall the pain or ordeal of surgery at this point...it was a short time of discomfort for a huge payoff.

I'll have Jill snap some photos soon and post them!

Big Week!

Big, in a good way. Seems the fill and bootcamp had a good impact - I lost 2.4 pounds at WW this week. That's the most ever! So, in 12 weeks, I've now lost 9 pounds. So I guess I should quit my complaining.

Fill Seems Good!

Tonight I ate for dinner:

2-3 oz. fish
1/2 c. veggies

And I was full! Yay! Seems the fill was a good idea. No PB, no stuckages, and overall it seems good. We'll see!

60 Days! And....scene.

Ok! So, I did it! I finished my 60 yoga practices in 60 days! And, we're done. With that, anyhow...it was a very cool challenge and gave me a lot of good things:

- Structure! Without a formal job, I was definitely seeking some boundaries and structure.
- Strength, Firmness and Tone - Whoa, is my body looking and feeling different. It's amazing to me!
- Mental Focus, Emotional Awareness - It's a lot to be in 90 minutes of wicked heat, doing thoughtful, focused, physical work. Every day.

So that's 5,400 minutes of yoga over the past two months. I'd say 50 or so were Bikram, and the rest Power Vinyasa.

What now? Well, I'm taking tomorrow off! Then...

Boot Camp - M - Th
Power Vinyasa - 1 - 2x/week
Bikram Yoga - Friday, Sat, Sun + others as I feel like it :)
Walking the Lake - Here and there :)

After Boot Camp, I'll need to figure out a new cardio gig. More on that later.

For now, I'm just basking in my happiness that I actually set a hardcore goal and finished it! I had to do 2 classes today to make it - so I did 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saiko, the yoga instructor I tend to have the most, was super sweet in my 4 p.m. practice and before the final breathing, told the class that I had accomplished a big thing in doing 60 in 60, and people clapped for me :) it was so nice of her, and though I felt kind of silly and embarrassed, I also thought "man, all these people know what that means - they are sitting here doing Bikram, they know how hard it is and they are really happy for me and they really get what a big deal this has been...the time alone is huge...2 hours everytime, the heat is sometimes brutal, and focus and improvement is just hard..." so, I graciously took in all of the positive energy from the group and was glad/grateful for the recognition. Yay me! :)

Fill Me Up

Spose' I'm feeling desperate? Maybe. But it occurred to me as I ate dinner on Monday night...

2 Veggie Spring Rolls
Countless Edamame
4 oz. of Sea Bass
1/3 c. brown rice
1/2 c. veggies

...that I was able to eat way too much. When my lapband is in grand form, I'd say the above meal would reduce to:

1 Veggie Spring Roll
A couple Edamame
3 oz of Sea Bass
No rice
1/4 c. veggies...if I was lucky

So, I went in and got a small fill. I am now at 2.0cc's in my band, up from 1.8 - so really it was tiny. Hopefully it'll help me not be so hungry, and weight will start leaving.

Bootcamp is fun and going well - I'm kinda shocked how much I'm diggin' it...who would have thought?? It's more or less outdoor circuit training - run a little loop, do push-ups, do jumping jacks with hand weights, run again, and do that 3x through. There are about 6-8 groupings of circuits. It's been fun, but a lot with yoga on top of it. Next week, I'll have finished my 60-day challenge with the yoga, so I'll be 'allowed' to miss. Thank gawd too, as 2.5 hours of exercise a day is enough. Well, truthfully, if I do bootcamp in the morning, and yoga in the afternoon, I'm pretty happy doing both! Let's just say Jenn is sleeping quite well these days...

I weighed in today at WW, btw:



Enjoy my new seasonal ticker :)

Here we Are

Not too much to report that is well, good. I got a lil' UTI for which they gave me one antibiotic, which failed, and then a second one, Cipro, which also didn't work. BUT, did you know, Cipro is the antibiotic scattered into feed lots for cattle because it causes "rapid, unexplained, significant weight gain". Apparently, I'm not so far off from a cow. I took it for 3 days, and gained 4 - count'em - 4 pounds...which did not just 'disappear' once the medicine ended. And believe me, I'm so tied in right now to my eating and exercise, nothing I could have done could've had that kind of impact. I'll admit to a bite of this and that, but nothing egregious!

On the upside, today counted as Day 55 of Yoga - a handful have been Power Vinyasa, but the rest have been Bikram. Saturday marks the end of my own little 60-day challenge - and Sunday, I am not exercising one bit!

In other exercise news, I started the Seattle Weight Loss Bootcamp this morning (yes, in addition to 90-minutes of hard, hot yoga). It's 1-hour a day at Greenlake in the great outdoors. Let me take this opportunity to also mention that here in Seattle, today, we are on track for an all-time record rainfall in a 24-hour period! Doing push-ups, sit-ups, running and overall exercise in the morning darkness whilst in a downpour was...well, very bootcamp-like. The other women were very nice, and half had done it before and seemed quite capable and in good shape (giving a soaking wet Jenn hope!).

So, despite exercising like crazy, counting my WW points and staying *well within* my calorie range which should produce weight loss - it seems I've lost about 6 weeks of slow, arduous progress. I will end my pity party here. ;)