LoseIt!

I didn't see this until today. That is too funny!! Just think with J. Geils, you will soon look like a Centerfold!

YAY! Hope you are 100% very soon!

Yuck! I'm so sorry you are having to go through this. Your attitude is inpirational though and I wish you the absolute best!

Aw...I do hope you feel better soon!! Keeping anti-nausea meds on hand is probably a good idea and something I should look into.

Yesterday was a busy and emotionally draining day. Almost immediately after posting yesterday, my DC coworkers were here. I spent most of the day with them which while nice, didn't allow me to get the work done I had anticipated. I mentioned that one of them is leaving the company and we did get to spend some quality time together yesterday. I was glad that I got to see him before he starts his new journey. I feel sure that it isn't the last time that our paths will cross. We went to dinner and then took them to the airport around 8pm. I held it together pretty well. Ha! By the time I got home and got myself in front of the TV, it was almost 9pm! I watched every pitch of that Rangers game. I finally crawled into bed around 11:30pm which is late for me. Plus, I had a dentist appointment at 8am, which is really EARLY for me!! :thumbup: I made it though...had the appointment and was still at work on time at 8:30! CLAW! Today is another day. I'm planning to run at lunch, so I hope that goes well. I have a boring continuing education class from 1-3pm and then the game starts at 3:00. YAY!! After the game, I have a 2 hour massage appointment, so I won't be home until after 9pm again tonight. Crazy! No game tonight though so maybe I will get caught up on reading blog entries!! Go Rangers!

Thank you all very, very much for your sweet comments about my hair. I'm officially on board with it (well, at least 80% and that's more than passing). I'm loving the fact that it only takes about 3 minutes to dry! The next test will be how it works out after my lunch runs. I'm not too worried about it though because my work folks have seen me about ever which way. :-) So, I'm completely obsessed with the Rangers. I will admit that I'm a Bandwagon fan. I never got into baseball. But I LOVE watching the Rangers in the playoffs. First, the boys are super cute, so that never hurts. But I also love sports and competition and watching the Rangers and Yankees is just fun. Claw! (For those not in the know, the Rangers have the symbols of antlers and claw. Antlers represent speed and the claw is kind of a "high five".) So if you see a random CLAW in my posts over the coming days, that what it means. :-) Go Rangers! Today is a bit of a tough day. One of my coworkers (from our East Coast office) is leaving my company. I have worked closely with him for over 10 years and he has played a big hand in shaping my career. We are friends as well as coworkers so I think we will keep in some kind of touch, but it won't be the same. Life moves on and everyone needs to do what is right for them, so I hold him no ill feelings and wish him the best. But I will miss him very much! At least he is going to be in town today (with another coworker from the East that I'm friends with as well), so I will get to say goodbye. On another note, I measured the block around my apartment complex and it is 1.7 miles long. I want to start doing some running in the mornings, but I probably won't start until at least next week. Maybe 2 days a week? Again, thank you all so much for your support and kind words. I love feedback! It makes such a difference knowing you are out there pulling for me. Know that I am here for you too!! Beth

Glad to hear your husband is doing okay. As far as the band goes, this is a tough time, but I know you will get through it!

My entire life is full of do overs! Tomorrow is always another day. In my opinion, the band helps me not COMPLETELY fall apart when I'm having a "relapse" and helps me get right back on the horse instead of going in a downward spiral for the next 3 months. Don't beat yourself up. Just note that you had a bad day and move on. You can do it!!

That wasn't me, but that is the most awesome thing ever. Band Jovi! Haha!! Love it. Good luck with the surgery! You are going to be hitting those NSVs before you know it!!

Well, I got the big haircut today. There were piles of hair everywhere! I would post a picture of the winning style, but I can't. My wonderful stylist of 15 years went rogue. Chop, chop, chop. After venting to my mom for 30 minutes and crying about it for an hour...I took a shower spruced up and starting looking at it objectively. What I was originally seeing was just short hair. My mind was screaming "boy", "butch", and "soccer mom". Sigh. All of the pictures I had were of medium length. Short in the back but with the sides and top long so it was roughly all one length. What I got was short all over, just shy of a pixie cut. I am proud of myself because I did express my displeasure and did get her to get rid of the scary "roundness" of it all. She did admit that she cut it too short on top, but I can't get too mad at her. She has been an AWESOME stylist for so many years. I think she may have been distracted today because she had to tell me she was dropping me as a client. I knew it was coming because she has been wanting to scale back. I wish she wouldn't have been so nervous about it... :-) Ha! Anyway, now that I look at it, it is a cute cut. Just VERY short. Thank goodness I'm 75 pounds lighter and feeling better about my body. This cut last year would have put me in the looney bin, i think. I tried to take a picture but I can't get a good one of myself. I will try and have someone take one on Monday. I guess one silver lining is that it is going to inspire me to lose more weight just to stay confident with it. All in all, I wanted something different to emphasize my transformation and I got that. It certainly makes a statement. I'm determined to make that statement "I'm a confident and sassy woman!" and not "I hate my hair." Have a great weekend! Beth

Hi everyone! It is a busy day getting back into the swing of things. I will have to post about my trip tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm very proud to say that I lost a pound on this vacation that I found on the last vacation!! :cursing: So, only a pound to go until I'm back to my lowest again. Also, I got a fill yesterday so that should help me control some of my hunger. I was holding my own, but it was tough. It is time for progress pictures! I have attached my "Casual" pics from the beginning, last month and this month. I also attached "Head" pics from the beginning and this month. I will post the super fun "Spandex" pics tomorrow. I missed you and look forward to getting back into my routine!! :thumbup:

Y'all know I'm all about setting goals, making/implementing plans and rewarding myself. It is a cycle I can truly live by! :-) I have 5 pound mini goals. Today I'm officially 75 pounds down!! YAY!!!! I'm very happy to reach this mini-goal as I feel like I have been working at it for longer than usual. So, I went to the numbers. Hold onto your hats! It took me 30 days to lose this 5 pounds. (Regardless of anything, that is FANTASTIC and far better than I ever did pre-band...especially 8 months into a weight loss program. In fact, I don't think I ever stuck with anything for 8 months anyway.) 30 days is a little longer than usual, but I'm starting to notice a pattern. 35-26 days 40-13 days 45-27 days 50-12 days 55-30 days 60-16 days 65-28 days 70-21 days 75-30 days It seems like it takes me longer 26-30 days to lose 5 pounds, but then a shorter time 12-21 days to lose the next 5 pounds. I lose 5 pounds on an average of every 23 days. I love numbers! All in all, this doesn't really mean anything. Except it does tell me that I'm still doing VERY well, even if some days it feels like I'm chipping at an iceberg. :thumbup: I have been trying to focus on things other than the scale and weight, but sometimes it is nice to see the progress made there too. 276 days ago, I weighed 75 pounds more than I do today. I have lost over a quarter of my body weight. Sometimes it takes me writing statements like that to put it all into perspective. Another super goal reached today is that I am no longer Class II or super obese. I am just plain old obese!! YAY!! Haha! Just 30 pounds to go until I'm overweight. :-) This weekend, while at home for the first time in a few weeks, is going to be busy. I'm going to try and relax tonight, but tomorrow I have Jazzercise then a haircut and errands to run. Sunday I have church and theater tickets. Somewhere in there I have to do all the laundry that is piling up!! Then next weekend it is yet another out of town trip. What was I thinking?? Oh well, being this busy is MUCH easier 75 pounds down. Have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone!!

You are looking spectacular!! I absolutely love your tattoo. YOU GO GIRL!!

I'm running one the same day! I just want to do better than I did on my last one. If I can do it, I have no doubt at all that you can. Good luck!!

That is just awesome, Sandra! Exercising while away from home is tough...it is truly fantastic that you were able to do that. You are doing so well!!

That is just fabulous, congratulations!!

Way to go!!

I was banded in January and I still have times where I blindly look in the fridge or pantry. The difference is that now I typically don't bother to eat anything. Best of luck to you!!

Glad to hear that everything went well!

Welcome!! You will find a lot of great support and resources here. I was banded in January and have used this site to document my progress. I can't tell you what a difference it has made. Best of luck to you!!

Beautiful!!!

Wow, it has been quite a busy week. But vacation was SO FUN! My BFF Cori went with me to Indianapolis. She had a cold, but she was a trooper. We flew in Friday afternoon and went to Circle Centre Mall. I went straight to the Colts store to stock up on gear. It is so frustrating because Misses fit XL is still too snug and most of the unisex shirts are too shapeless. Sigh. It was funny though because they didn't have a fitting room but the salesguy just told me to go try them on in the bathroom...in the bathroom of the mall outside the store. Ha! That felt very weird. Only in the Midwest... I ended up with a cute shirt I can wear now. It is unisex, but fits less boxy than most. And I also bought a Misses one to wear in a couple months when I KNOW they will fit! :thumbup: Then we went for some Bazbeax pizza. If you are ever in Indy, I recommend it. Yummy! Then we met my friends at the Slippery Noodle to have some drinks and people watch. We talked for a few hours before calling it a night. Saturday, after an AMAZING breakfast at Maxine's Chicken and Waffles (another Indy must) Cori & I drove over to Terre Haute for ISU Homecoming. I didn't really run into anyone I know so it was uneventful, but we did visit some old haunts which was fun. I also bought some gear at the bookstore and had the same issue I did at the Colts store. Not complaining, but I will be glad when I can fit in Misses sizes all the time. I know it is coming soon. In the late afternoon we headed back to Indy and went to church. After we hung out at Champps to watch the disappointing Rangers game. Cori was feeling pretty bad so we just had some room service and turned in early. Sunday was GAMEDAY!! We all met up and walked around Lucas Oil Stadium. We finally made our way up to the suite. There was some seating confusion, but it ended up being fine for the most part. I will say that if you are a rich person that is giving away seats for charity, you should probably make sure that everyone involved knows your wishes. Some people in this world are just entitled and mean. My friends are awesome, so we took the high road. After the game (WE WON!!) we hung out in downtown Indy at different bars to watch the late afternoon games. After that, we had dinner and turned in early again. There was an American Legion convention in our hotel, so we were constantly surrounded by 70 year old men. That was funny! Sunday morning, after a half hour detour to Smoothie King, we made our way to the airport. When we landed, I had to hurry to Ft. Worth for my fill appointment. I tell you, I HATE liquid days, but they certainly do jumpstart weight loss. In addition to finally dropping everything I gained after my unfill, I'm even down another half pound. Another half pound and I will be at another mini-goal!! Last night I had dinner with my AOII little sis. We hadn't seen each other since 1996! You know that feeling you have when you are talking with someone and you just know you are supposed to be friends? That's what it is like for me with Shannon. She is amazing and inspiring. I'm so glad we reconnected. Tonight it is back to Jazzercise. It has been a WHOLE WEEK since I have been. Bad me. But I'm ready to get back into the groove. After being on limited calories because of my fill and it being that time of the month...I could only get myself to run a mile and a half yesterday. I was slightly disappointed at first until I remembered that 4 or 5 months ago, I couldn't even run a mile. So, I will take it!! It will be super to have a weekend at home! Plus, I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday and it needs it!! Have a great day, y'all!