minpinmom

Okay, so I am in love with my BodyBugg. I started the program on Monday, had my coaching session this morning with Coach Tamala and I LOVE it! I am having over 1000 calorie deficit a day and I am not working out like I thought I would have to. It is amazing how many calories you burn just doing household chores.

Other positive, it motivates me to do more Household chores! lol, my house is cleaner than ever. What am I going to do now? Hmm, shopping burns a lot of calories too.

I can see where this is going.

On a side note, I am having another fill next week! I have it scheduled for Thursday the 17th at 400PM. I am actually going to carpool with a gal I met there at my last fill. Come to find out, she lives just minutes away from me. How lucky can I get?

Okay, so I am so freakin excited I can't stand it. I got a BodyBugg! If you don't know what one is, here is the website:

http://www.bodybugg.com/

There is a wonderful Thread on here about BodyBugg and it is 60 pages long - I have read every page. I knew I wanted one, but also knew we couldn't afford 400 dollars. HOWEVER

I found one on Craigslist - the lady bought it from her personal trainer at 24 hour fitness. Well, her trainer must have held her head underwater and forced her to! She never even opened it. She said she was scared to tell her trainer she wasn't going to use it. So I bought, the unopened BodyBugg with the wireless display. It even has a 3 month subscription to the website with it! I am so jazzed.

I only had to pay $240 for it. We drove across town Friday night in the pouring rain to meet at the Ikea :-) to make the swap. I felt like I was doing a drug deal. I handed her an envelope of money and she handed me a bag of "product"! Too funny. I guess I am truly a dork.

Tomorrow, it will be setup. Funny thing, it is being setup under the ladies name that I bought it from, she had to call her trainer to activate it and chickened out and told her it was for her!

So tomorrow is the big day. I can't wait to be a BodyBugger!

I will try to keep my Blog updated with my thoughts on the program. Here's to money well spent!

Yesterday, I had my second fill. (Thank God for the cancellation!) It wasn't as bad as the first time, I guess because I knew what was coming. He looked at my chart and asked me if I wanted him to use a larger needle or stick with the smallest. Chicken Little, of course said stay with the little needle. The prick doesn't hurt, but since my port is deep and he has to press down to reach it, that burns a little, but not enough for me to want him to go larger :-)

I am on liquids again, and I hate liquids. Dr. Spiegel is pretty strict after a fill. Liquids (clear) the day of the fill, then for the three days following too. (He does allow - insist, you drink Slim Fast, but other than that, they have to be clear liquids). Then on day 4, you go onto mushies for the rest of the week, then start on regular foods. I can't wait for mushies.

I am doing so good, I am logging everything into Daily Plate. I love that thing. I can SEE what I am doing. Sometimes, I am embarrassed to put it down, but it allows me to cut back later in the day for a splurge in the morning. I have entered some of my recipes on there, it calculates all the nutrition for you. I LOVE it!

Hubby got me a new bicycle yesterday - it is a granny bike. :-) I searched everywhere for one, and the people were all laughing at me. I would ask them if they had any bikes like Jessica Fletcher rides on Murder She Wrote. I found one on Wal Mart online and it said it was available in SOME stores. It wasn't in the first two, but the third store had it. I made it mine. ----> Swooning <----

I went riding today, for maybe 15-20 minutes and OMG I thought I was going to die! My legs were total jelly. Tomorrow I will try to go a bit further and maybe one day I will be a seasoned bike rider!

I am so excited. I had a fill scheduled for 4/16 and I was so frustrated, I have been eating a LOT more than 6oz at a time - and I am feeling like I am about to get out of control. So, I called in this morning and sure 'nuf, they had a cancellation for tomorrow. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so ready for it!

Oh, and I am still a freakin chicken. I can't help it. The first one did not hurt - wasn't a fun time at the spa, but it didn't hurt. But, once again, I am chicken little. Oh well, I will pretend to be brave - then when it is over, I can act all Wendy Bad Ass! Wish me luck . . .

I have had a few episodes of the dreaded PB and slime. I am pretty sure it is because I am not chewing enough and probably eating too fast. It is such a new world to get used to.

The funny thing, I can eat Chicken or Salmon and not even think about eating and everything is fine, but man, let me try a baked potato, eggs, or soft fish and it kills me. I think my mind determines it is already soft - and not much to chew.

It is a total unpleasant experience. I feel a tightness in my chest - then I feel like the food is coming back up, but I don't have to vomit. It is a very odd feeling the first time.

The thing I don't understand, where is it getting stuck at? It is hard for me to believe it is stuck at the band, because the purpose of the band is to hold the food back for a while, so that doesn't make sense. I just don't get it.

If the pain hit 10 minutes after you eat, then it would make sense that it was too big of a bite for the band, but I can eat for 20 minutes and take one bite that is too big and BAM - here comes the slime.

I am trying to chew slower and take longer times between each bite. It really does seem to help. However I am a slow learner - I keep trying the food until I can get it right.

It has been over a week, so I feel that I can write about this without being too stressed.

For those of you that know me, or follow my blog, you know that I live for my Dogs. Piper, is my first Min Pin and the true love of my life. She is so spoiled, she goes everywhere with me, sleeps with me, everything. (she shared my profile picture) With that being said, I will continue my story.

About a month ago, I scheduled a teeth cleaning for Piper. It isn't a big deal, all of my dogs have it done every year. They put them under for a few minutes, clean their teeth, then they get to go home at the end of the day.

Well, when I scheduled her appointment, I had a nightmare that night that Piper died during the surgery, I was walking around PetSmart, holding her little body, crying and telling everyone that she was dead.

It bothered me. Bad. I told just about everyone I know about the dream, and how it was stressing me out. Last Wednesday was the day that Piper was scheduled. I didn't sleep at all that night. Eddie, the hubs, kept telling me that I was getting all worked up and I needed to just calm down. This was routine, all of our dogs go through it. All true, of course, but I still couldn't get the dream out of my head.

The next morning, I couldn't bring myself to take her, so the hubs graciously got up and took her there at 6:30. I was nervous all morning.

Then we get the call. As soon as they stared administering the anesthesia, they lost her heart beat and had to give her Atropine to get her back. My Dr. is the very best and was on top of his game and everything is ok. However, if he hadn't noticed her right away, it would have killed her - double fold - their scales had malfunctioned that morning and weighed her at 11.5 lbs, she is only 7.5 lbs. So of course, they had enough medicine for a much larger dog.

Piper is, of course doing fantastic. We are actually getting ready for a dog show this weekend as I type. However, we have a new rule in our home. If I have a bad dream about something - we are going to listen to me.

Wish us luck at the Dog Show!

I snore no more!

I can't believe it. I had SEVERE sleep apnea and had surgery to correct it back in ~1994. It was a wonderful success, however, about 2 years ago, I was battling Strep throat and Bronchitis and was SUPER sick for about 2 weeks. I started grinding my teeth, talking in my sleep and snoring. When I got better, the talking and grinding stopped, but the snoring continued.

I hate to snore, it is so embarrassing. However, my husband told me that I haven't snored in a WEEK!

Can I get a hoorah!

Here are the stages of my scars - check out how swollen my abdomen was - I didn't really realize it until I saw the pictures.

So let me set the stage. My hubbs and I are sitting in the waiting room, excited that our Godson is being born later that day (by planned C-Section). The nurse calls me up and says - "Okay Wendy, you will have a $12.00 copay for today's fill and here is your paperwork for your fill." I smile and say, I am not here for a fill, just a follow up. (uhm, duh, this is just a follow up). She smiles back and says, "Yes, you are getting your first fill today - they didn't tell you that when they rescheduled you?"

Thinking back - I remember Dr. Spiegel saying something about we will talk fills next time. I thought he meant we will TALK fills next time, not DO a freakin fill next time. Bravely, I shake my head and say, oh darn, I drank a SlimFast this morning, she smiles and says, "No Problem, you can have liquids today"

So, I pay, look at the hubs, with that deer in the headlights look - he smiles and asks if I want him to go back with me. Now, I do, but I say no, because with any babying, I will get worse, crying and pouting and planning an escape route. So I decline his offer and I take the long walk to the seminar waiting room.

My name is called, my hands start sweating, the nurse takes me back weighs me and sends me back out to wait. Sigh of relief. Maybe I can think of an escape out of this crazy scheme they have here.

About this time a breath of fresh air walks in. Her name is Stefani - it was her first fill too. She is just as outgoing and outspoken as I am. We sat and laughed about our fears and thoughts about the dreaded first fill. Time flew and they called me back. Damnit! I forgot about my escape plan. I had nothing. I had to go in.

I sat in the room for a few minutes, as quiet as I could, awaiting the screams I was sure to hear coming from the other rooms. I heard the patient talking with Dr. Spiegel and laughing - oh well, she must be here for her first initial visit!

Dr. Spiegel entered the room, smiled his "no worries" smile and shook my hand. All I could say is "I am really nervous, I hate needles" He put his hand on my shoulder and said "don't worry, this won't hurt."

They laid me back (by this time, there was Dr. Spiegel, another Dr., and his nurse in the room). He was explaining the procedure to the other Dr. (he is in training I presume). He said that he always uses the smallest needle - he felt of my port, and inserted the needle - it really didn't hurt. Even less than a regular shot. However, he couldn't reach my port.

He said, "Wendy, your port is very deep - I can do 1 of 2 things. I can pull the needle out and use a larger needle, or I can press on your abdomen, and get the needle down into the port." The chicken in me said, For the Love of God, PLEASE don't take the needle out! So he pressed (very hard) I wasn't looking, but the needle burned a bit when he was pressing, then he said ok, there it is, inserted 1.6 and pulled the needle out.

They sat me up, asked me if I was ok - I, knowing it was over, was very ok. I returned to the waiting room and announced to the not-so-interested crowd that I had survived my first fill! Stefani came out shortly after and she survived as well. I guess a fill can't kill. :-)

I am on liquids for 3 days, then mushy foods for 4 days. If I am still hungry, he will do another fill in 2 weeks!

Well, it is amazing how this band really works. I am down 9lbs. I am hoping to keep loosing 1-2 lbs a week until my fill. I feel some restriction (I think). I get full faster and I stay full longer - but I can eat about 1+ cups at a time. I am counting calories and trying to stay between 900 - 1100 a day. I am eating a lot of dairy and keeping my Protein at least 60 Grams a day.

I feel great. I have my 2 week follow up with Dr. Spiegel on Monday the 10th, he said we would talk "fills" that day. I am so worried about a fill. Needles are my sworn enemy. My worst fear with the surgery was the stinkin IV. I am such a baby. I know I need a fill, because I can eat ANYTHING. Today was my first day on solids - bread is no problem, chicken is no problem, I really don't think anything will be a problem. I do find it hard to NOT drink for so long afterwards. I have always drank during my meals - and now, to not drink for 1.5 hours after - it's pretty hard.

I feel that I am doing pretty good though - I am having to use will power to keep from eating lots of bad stuff. Hopefully I can keep it up till my first fill. I have started using www.fitday.com I LOVE it. It really allows me to see what I am doing - and how to improve.