Very interesting weekend for me. Early last week I was asked to speak at my surgeon’s seminar this weekend. I, of course, jumped at the chance and accepted immediately. Then panic set in. Those of you that know me, know that I am a chatter box. I can talk your ear off if I’m interested in the topic. I also know that many of you think I am very outgoing and have no problems speaking to anyone. Well, in truth, I’m very shy. I force myself to be outgoing, but the trade off is that I get a huge case of nerves and can make myself nauseous in new situations. So I spent most of the week rehearsing in my head what I was going to say, thinking of chickening out, and just basically wondering how I’d make it through without throwing up. Saturday arrived and I found myself standing in front of 25 people who were trying to decide if they wanted to take the next step and have weight loss surgery. I am the first lap-bander that has been asked to speak (as far as I know) at these seminars, and I wanted so much to say the right thing. I didn’t care if they were there for gastric bypass, lap-band (gastric banding) or the sleeve. I just wanted to say the one thing that would help them cross that hurdle and possibly make the decision that could save their lives. I also wanted to be able to portray how deep my gratitude is for my surgeon and his staff. They have truly saved, and changed, my life. So I get up there and I hand out my before-and-after pictures and I start to talk. I was so nervous I kept hugging myself, and smiling like an idiot, while the words were just flowing out of my mouth. I’m not sure really what I said, but I made it through, answered all the questions I was asked, and finally went back to my chair to wait out the rest of the seminar. I’ve been told that I did really well. One of the potential patients even told me I almost made her cry. That was so touching. It was nice talking to people after the seminar as I really do love sharing my experience with the lap-band. As you know from this blog, I love sharing the good, the bad and the ugly.

After the seminar I was heading to the mall for our monthly lap-band gathering. I invited two potential lap-banders, from the seminar, to join us and happily one did. She’s fantastic! I look forward to getting to know her better and watching as she progresses through the process.

In the end I’m glad I did this. I hope I get asked to do it again, and I hope that I helped a little.

Until Later
-Heather

I’m not the only one in Columbus playing the game!!! Here’s proof: See If ‘The Grocery Game’ Saves You Money

Until Later
-Heather

Tomorrow I am going to a local area food bank to donate some groceries that equal the amount of weight I’ve lost to date. So thanks to the Grocery Game I was down shopping in my own mini-mart. I gathered up 64 pounds of groceries and I had to bring them up from the basement. That task was easier said than done, I literally was out of breath after walking up the stairs carrying all 64 pounds up one level. How did I carry that on my body for all those years? Truly makes me appreciate how far I’ve come. My weight hasn’t changed in over 3 weeks and I was starting to get a bit discouraged, but just that short trek up the stairs has reminded me that if I don’t lose another pound I am worlds ahead of where I was 6 months ago.

Until Later
-Heather

Weird isn’t it? Now that I hardly eat anything, I’m obsessed with grocery shopping. Well, the truth is that my obsession is more economically motivated than it is food motivated. In two weeks I have a graduation party to throw, and that takes a lot of food and beverages and a lot of money. Luckily I was turned on to a program that has helped me save tons of money doing my weekly shopping. THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL I truly am obsessed with my new find and want to share the love… it’s called The Grocery Game. I signed up for a 4 week trial (cost = $1) and have been shopping my little heart out ever since. I’ve been tracking my savings on a spread sheet and so far I’m averaging just shy of 60% savings on my shopping since I started on March 29th and I’ve got enough stockpiled now to see us through a month, or more, of only buying milk/produce/eggs. Not to mention that I’ve almost got everything I need for the graduation party. This makes me so happy because as the economy gets worse and gas prices keep rising, we’re really feeling the crunch. My family likes that I’m not buying just the same old items I always buy, I’m actually buying more of a variety of items and we’re trying things we’d usually not have in the house. Plus, I’m now back to shopping at Giant Eagle and Kroger (instead of only at Walmart) and now I’m also earning gas discounts each month.

I won’t keep going on about it here, since it’s really off topic, but I’ve posted a page with my tips and hints on playing the Grocery Game for anyone interested in further reading.

Until Later
-Heather

P.S. If you end up trying The Grocery Game, please use me as a referral email: heatherabc @ gmail.com so I can earn free weeks of the game.

OMG…. I just happened to look at a BMI chart today and I’m OBESE!!! Not Morbidly Obese, Not Clinically Obese just OBESE!!! My BMI is 34.9 down from 43.3 when I started this journey. Can you believe it??? It’s a happy day!

Until Later
-Heather

I know I haven’t posted much lately but this time it’s not because I’ve been off gaining weight and giving up on myself as it has been in the past. It’s just because I haven’t had much excitement happening and I figure that no blog post is better than a boring blog post. However, today I stepped on the scale to find myself at 55.1 pounds lost so I thought I’d share it with the world! I now weight 228.9 pounds. I’m definitely on my way!

I’m in a push to be down 60 pounds by the end of the month. My father is coming and that’s the goal I set for myself to achieve before his arrival on May 29th. The end of the month also brings my daughter’s high school graduation. I am happy that I will be able to be with her and celebrate looking like a much healthier mom and not the morbidly obese mom she had just a few short months ago. I feel so bad that my children have had to grow up with me in such a state, though I must say they have never ever made me feel bad about my size, they have never felt embarrassed to be with me (they’re very honest with me, and I asked) it was always me that was embarrassed for them. So anyway, I am just thrilled that I will be able to enjoy her day without feeling self conscious about myself and how others might be thinking of me and my size.

Speaking of goals… I have another… I want to be down a total of 75 pounds by July 15. That’s the next time I visit my OBGYN. She’s one of my favorite people and has been so supportive of me in this endeavor. I have not seen her since last spring and I want to shock her with my weight loss. I don’t think I’ve ever weighed less than 250 pounds when I’ve been in to see her and that’s been over the last 16+ years. When I had success with my weightloss previously I lived out of state and by the time I was back so was the weight.

So anyway, as you can see I’m moving right along. This lap-band has been such a blessing to me. I truly think it has saved my life!

Until Later
-Heather

I am so excited today! The scale registers 233.7 and that makes me down a total of 50.3 pounds in 6 months and 1 day! OMG!!!! The last time I lost 50 pounds it took me ages… I just love my lap-band! In two days I will be at my 4 month bandiversary. So this milestone encompasses several things, initial weightloss was due to me following the nutritionists plans pre-surgery. Following surgery I took my surgeon’s advice and dieted until I had restriction, following that advice kept me losing the first month or two. Since my second fill I’ve had decent restriction, enough to help me feel satisfied on less and keep me on track with my 1200 calorie daily goal. One thing I’ve done since October was journal nearly every bite that went into my mouth. I use a free tracker at http://www.thedailyplate.com and track my calories, weight and exercise on a daily basis. I find it helps keep me on track and it’s fun to use.

The other thing I’ve done differently this time around is to actually add exercise into my life. I’m not quite as fanatical as I was back in January/February but I do get a good walk in 2-3 times a week and last week I started going to the gym to take advantage of my 3 month membership that came with my surgery. Last night I actually “thought” about getting out my “brand new” 5 year old rollerblades that I’ve worn one time and trying to learn how to stay up on the darn things. Who am I??? LOL

Anyway, I’m just as excited as can be that I reached this milestone. My next goal is to hit 60 pounds by May 29th when my dad comes to town. He hasn’t seen me since Thanksgiving and he’s been such a huge support in this chapter of my journey. I’d love to surprise him with a “new” daughter.

Until Later
-Heather

Just a quick note to celebrate a milestone… 45 pounds gone as of this morning (45.3 to be exact!) Whoo Hoo…

Until Later
-Heather

This morning, after I posted, I ended up throwing up a cup full of saliva. This helped relieve some of my pain. So that was good… I decided I could not wait to have some taken out. So I called and left a message at the Drs. office and was called back by 7:45. I was there before by 8:30 and feeling much better by 9. All she removed was .25cc but I feel so much better. I have been able to drink a protein shake, some water and I’m now having lunch in the form of a protein smoothie. Life is good again!

Until Later
-Heather

I had a miserable night… I started experiencing reflux as soon as I laid down and managed to fall asleep around it. About 1am I woke up choking as I must have aspirated some of the liquid that came up from below my band. I’ve been coughing to clear it ever since. As soon as that happened I moved down to my couch and slept sitting up. Needless to say I’m exhausted now and my chest/back are achy from the band and from my sleep position. I just keep feeling like I need to burp little burps and I think it’s just my esophagus spasming because it is uncomfortable.

I do not know how people can live this tight. I am hating every moment of it and it just seemed to get worse as the hours went on yesterday. I think I’m going to have them remove everything that was put in on Tuesday and take me back to my previous level. I hope that helps.

It’s scary how you can go from being perfectly normal to this in 24 hours.

Until Later
-Heather