I will go to the gym. I will go to the gym. I will...

You get the idea. I went to a pump class on Monday - first time at the gym for ages and I enjoyed it. Tried not to go too hard but I have been a bit sore - am planning another class tomorrow but last night I hurt my back carrying a big box of books into my book group - stupid. I hope I feel okay tomorrow as I want to keep on with this gym thing. Once I get back into the routine I'm great at going to the gym, but it's always hard to get started again. I've taken some voltaren left over from after surgery and am trying to keep moving gently.

Anyhow, apart from that I have had a blah eating week - needing bigger meals to feel full and definitely keen on a fill when I see the nurse tomorrow. I'd like to try a .5 ml and see how I go - although I want to avoid Jenny's tight experience. But I do live and work about 5 minutes walk from the doctor's office so not a big deal if I need to go back in. We shall see...

New photo and back from Easter holiday

Finally Jenny and I managed to get a new photo together showing our new post-op-but-still-in-progress photo! Here is the old one taken a few weeks before surgery:



I can definitely see a big difference. And I feel different too. This week we've been on holiday with the kids and it felt good to be in togs at the swimming pool and feel like I'm on my way to slim - and dragging 17 kilos less out of the pool is great, too! I went on a hydroslide for the first time - not that weight had stopped me doing that before - just nerves - but I LOVED it -can't believe I wanted until I was 40 to do something so fun. We had a great holiday in Taupo (geothermal area for those not in NZ). Here I am at the Huka Falls (it was cold - hence the hat!):





Back to work tomorrow - yuck! But also an opportunity to get back to the gym...think I need to ramp up the exercise to keep this weight loss moving and stay toned. Hope everyone is doing well.

Tight - Oh so Tight!

I had a .5ml fill on Thursday before Easter taking me to 6ml in my 10ml band.... and it had been 5 weeks since my last fill. The glass of water at the doctors rooms went down fine and so did coffee, and crackers and cheese later that evening and I wasn't hungry... so I was pretty happy. BUT - the next morning was a different story. My band was so tight... I could not even get a cup of coffee down before it went cold. At first I thought it was just the "tight in the morning" issue but as the day went on it didn't get any better. Everything was a struggle - a glass of water took an hour to pass through my band... with plenty of weird gurgling noises accompanying this. I spent most of the Easter weekend struggling to swallow enough fluid to keep hydrated and some protein shakes to get some nutrition in. Had several bouts of near vomiting and lots of regurgitation - was very unpleasant and uncomfortable!! Not even chocolate or ice cream seemed to want to go down - so I knew things were not right!

I did contemplate trying to get a local doctor or nurse to remove some of the fill over the weekend but noone here in my hometown has the knowledge and as I was managing to keep hydrated I hung on until after Easter. I did have a non-cored needle and I used to be a nurse and I seriously considered doing the deed myself... I was pretty desperate! Luckily sanity prevailed and I waited for the experts to save me! The clinic receptionist was fantastic yesterday when I rang with my sorry story, I did a mercy flight to the big city and she hastily arranged for the doctor to come in and sort me out...! I had .3 of the fill removed and felt an instant relief and then snacked on her lunch crackers, water and juice - Big thanks to the clinic angel! It's amazing how such a small amount can make such a difference.

What have I learnt from all this....
1. I now only need a very small amount to make a difference - might be .1ml fills for me from now on
2. You can feel fine straight after a fill but be too tight the next day... weird but true. I might stay overnight in the big city next time I have a fill - just in case
3. You can lose 3.5kgs in 4 days if you only manage to swallow 1 optifast shake in a day - I am fully expecting to gain a fair bit of this back in the next fews days as I make up for lost time
4. I did not eat (well did not keep down) any hot cross buns or chocolate this easter and the world did not end!

Easter eggs are a slider food

Easter Sunday and I am chocolated out - have had half a medium sized egg and about 8 belgian praline chocolates and I don't want any more (well now yet anyway!!!). I had planned to eat some chocolate today so I feel fine about the chocolate consumption. My theory is that it's better to eat it all on one day and be done with it than spread the evil chocolate over a week.

We're having a relaxing Easter break - have seen lots of family friends and had some nice "you're looking good" comments but I am wondering how much to tell when (if) people ask how I've done it. So far I say "eating less" and move on - but I do feel a little guilty that I'm not telling the whole truth. Hmmm....

Jenny and I are still to get a decent photo for this blog - but we are going to replace the current one where we are pre-op and less than gorgeous.

Frustrated - Going around in Circles!

I'm feeling pretty frustrated with my lack of progress. I've sat around the same weight for the last month - just watching the scales go up and down over the same 1.5kgs but never getting past my lowest point from 4 weeks ago. My band was feeling really tight after my last fill 5 weeks ago but it is not now and I'm hungry again. And when I am frustrated I start making poor food choices, start adding a few snacks and treats to give myself a boost. Nothing too drastic yet but I know it is not a good thing for me to go down that road....! Time to re-focus and also time to get another small fill.

I guess it is a natural plateau that we all reach sometimes during our weight loss journey. And it is interesting that Maree and I are both experiencing the same thing at the moment. Maybe it is just time for our bodies to adjust for a bit but I don't like waiting. I'm hoping the fill tomorrow will get rid of the hunger again and kick start a new weight loss phase. I was going to wait till after Easter but have decided that might not be a good idea given how my food intake is creeping up. I probably should have gone for a fill in the last couple of weeks but since I don't live in the same city as the clinic it takes a bit more planning. Anyway, I am making a flying visit tomorrow and then home in time to enjoy a family Easter weekend.

Thanks to all of you bandster/blogger followers for your comments and support. I love to hear from you and am following your progress as well. I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend.

And yet another fill - is this a record?!

Third fill in 10 days this morning - I posted about the .1 ml fill where I think I lost at least that, then last Tuesday I had another .2ml fill. This morning I had yet another .2 ml fill as I am still HUNGRY. Interestingly I should have had 6.7ml before today's fill but the nurse took out all the fluid before she started and I only had 6.0 ml - strange!! So I have 6.2 ml now in a 10 ml band so still a way to go. She said she would like to give me a bigger amount (say .6 ml) but as Easter is coming up and she's going away and so am I, she didn't want me to be overfilled and not able to get in for an un-fill. I'm comfortable with that - I certainly don't want to be in the red zone and although I'm frustrated that I haven't had a loss for a month, I realise this is a long term game so I'm trying to be patient.

Only two days of work until we're all off work and school for a week (then the girls have another week of holidays - they'll go to a holiday programme). We're heading up to see family (Mum and Dad and Jenny and her lot) on Friday - will be nice to have a break. I'm keen to go shopping and get some new clothes - though I don't want to spend too much as I hope these clothes will be too big soon as well - but I have hardly anything to wear and I think rotating the same three outfits has gone on long enough! I'm also going to eat some chocolate on Easter Sunday - only the good stuff and only one one day - hopefully that will limit any damage!!

Another fill

I managed to get an appointment yesterday and saw the new nurse again - told her I was HUNGRY (and that I'd eaten a whole bagel the day before with no problems) - she gave me another .2 ml - here's hoping that one takes the edge off - I feel like I'm so close to the green zone but keep dipping back into yellow. I have another appointment for next Tuesday so we'll see how I'm doing then.

Thanks for your nice comments about photo - how funny that Tamati looks like the Rock! He is definitely not a wrestler! A lover not a fighter I'd say...

Just noticed that Jenny and I definitely need a new profile photo - that one is horrid. I'm seeing Jen next week for Easter so we'll try to get a better shot then. It's also time for more comparison shots (no holds barred, in our underwear arrrrgghhgh!!). We took some pre op and at Christmas so it'll be interesting to see how the current shots compare - and no, those are not on this blog!