Sorry it's been so long since I've been on here. I got motivated tonight when I saw a friend of mine who had surgery for the gastric sleeve.

I am going to admit that I have not been exercising at all like I should be. I do have a list of excuses that I can add here but I am not going to. The bottom line is that I have just lost my motivation. I haven't gained any weight or lost. I am maintaining..... that doesn't make me happy. I need to get myself moving again and it is SOOOO hard!! I can think of 1000 other things that I would rather be doing than going to the gym or even just getting out and walking.

So I have reflected back on this journey I began last fall. I have re-read this entire journal and I am so thankful that I did! I remember what I went through before my surgery... and especially right afterward. I didn't do this to just get to this point and lose my motivation.

My plan is to get back on here and post every week again. It gives me some accountability that I feel I really need right now!

-2 lbs. I have this nasty stomach bug that has been going around. It hit me on Friday night and I still have it today (Monday)!! I went to the ER on Saturday and was there for 7 hours. I was having so much abdominal pain that I thought I was going to die. The other thing was that I had been vomiting so much that they thought it may have done something to my band. I had a CT with contrast done and found that everything was OK with the band!! What a relief. This has been a hard winter for me!! BRING ON THE SUMMER!!

Anyhow, that's about all that's new. I will post again on Wednesday!

Sorry I didn't post last Wednesday. It's been a busy week. Thanks to my friend who sent me the friendly reminder :O)

I haven't weighed myself. I have still been feeling really crappy. Haven't been to the gym for a while now... like 2 weeks I think. I have been walking... but I know it's not the same. So my focus this week is to get my butt to the gym at least 4 times and do my walking. I will post again on Wednesday.

Thanks!!

-3 lbs this week. I feel like my band is finally working for me. I am feeling full a lot longer and have even made the mistake once of eating more than I should. It is VERY painful.... so much that I won't do that again. You either have to just wait for it to go down or throw up. Throwing up isn't a good idea because it could cause the band to slip, but when you are in that situation.... it brings about almost instant relief.

My Bodybugg is my new best friend. It is great! It has really helped me to push myself a bit harder. I was definetly getting comfortable with my workout and not really pushing myself as hard as I could. My goal right now is 10000 steps a day (which is 5 miles) and at least 1 hour of physical activity. So far, so good.

Not much else to report this week. Have a good rest of your week!!

Got my 3rd fill yesterday. AND... I was actually down -2 lbs more than my home scale showed!! We talked about whether or not to even fill this time and I told her that I really wanted it. Even though I am losing weight, I feel as though it isn't necessarily because of the band. She agreed and put in another 0.5 cc's so I am now at 5.5 cc's . Hope that I will feel something different this time. I am back to liquids today, soft foods tomorrow, and full diet on Saturday. She said that it is because sometimes filling the band can cause excess swelling. If you eat too soon it can make you vomit. Every time you vomit you are risking slippage of the band. And I have come to far to have that happen!! So, I will stick to the schedule.

Oh... BIG news!! I got a Bodybugg~~ I am sooo excited and can't wait to start using it!!! For those of who don't know what that is... it is an armband that you wear all the time, except for showers and bed. It calculates how many calories your body is burning during the day... even at rest. It comes with a computer program that allows you to enter in the foods that you eat during the day. You then plug the band into your computer at night and it will tell you how you did for the day. The idea is to have a deficit between calories in and calories burned. That's how we lose weight. It also has a band that you can wear that looks like a watch that communicates with the armband and you can look at the wristband and know where you are without actually having to upload the armband all the time. It's just another TOOL for me to use in my quest for healthy weight lose. I will keep you updated and let you know how it's working for me. If you watch the Biggest Loser, they wear the Bodybugg. You will notice it strapped to their upper arm.

Hope everyone has a great week!

I know that I am posting a little early this week... however, I have been going stir crazy here at the house. I have been down and out for the last week with a sinus infection which then traveled down to my chest kicking my asthma into gear! Today I am feeling MUCH better... I think I am on the road to recovery now!

-5 lbs this week! I am feeling really good about that. I haven't seen the scale move too much lately. Tomorrow I am getting my 3rd fill. I will write again and let you know how that goes. I am excited... I feel like this is going to be it. The fill that makes some sort of difference.
Unfortunately, that also means back to liquids for 3 days :O(

Well, that's all for now. I will post again tomorrow evening after I get that fill.

No weight loss this week. I only made it to the gym 1 day, between working and this darn sinus infection that I have been struggling with. Started on some antibiotics yesterday so I hope I will start feeling better soon!!

I am scheduled for another fill next Wednesday. Will let you know how that goes. I still don't feel as though I am feeling as much restiction as I should.... or at least as much as I thought I would at this point.

-2 lbs this week. It wasn't hard to get back on track with my eating and the gym. It actually feels really good. Although my weight doesn't seem to be changing too much, I measured my body again and realized that I have lost another 4 inches.... a total of 26 inches.

I have been adding more weights at the gym and not doing cardio every day as I was before. I learned that it may actually be slowing down my metabolism by during the cardio 6 days a week. So, I have cut back to 3 days and will see how that works.

I decided that since I have been having such a hard time just kind of hanging around this weight that I would set a little goal for myself. When I lose 16 more lbs I will plan a weekend away for me and my hubby. I have been wanting to get away to Chicago so this is a little incentive for me.

Hope everyone has a great week!! Keep your goals in focus and you will achieve them before you know it!!

We have returned to the land of the Artic!!! Holy cow... what a difference in the weather. Anyhow, we had a GREAT time at Disney. The boys did an awesome job with their performances down there and the weather was beautiful every single day.

So I gained +2 lbs over the last two weeks. I honestly did not count calories or anything else while I was gone! All I did was have fun!! And I am totally OK with it. I am back on track now and I will lose it. Life is going to happen.... this journey is for the rest of my life.... not just for a month or a year.

I believe that having the band did limit me to what I ate. I was not hungry all the time... I was just not choicing to eat the things that I KNEW I should be eating.

I hope that everyone has a great New Year in 2009!! I have great expectations of things to come and I am looking forward to what the future is going to bring.

Hard work and dedication are the keys to success. Enjoy life for what it is.... it is OK to have a "bad" day and not make good food choices. The important thing is just getting back on track!!