LoseIt!

Hi everybody! Thanksgiving vacation was SO much fun and in even better news, my weight held steady. My goal was to lose 5 pounds this month and I lost 4. I will take that. Especially since I'm "taking a break". I have one more week like this, then I have my partial deflation on Monday. I will have a couple days with the ability to eat anything which I'm not too concerned about. I'm going to try and be good, but I guarantee you I will be having some pizza in there somewhere!! Tonsilectomy is on Thursday, 12/09 and after that, I'm guessing eating will not be an issue for quite a while... North Carolina was BEAUTIFUL!! I flew into Atlanta on Wednesday evening and drove up to Murphy, NC with my dad. The drive up the mountain was a little scary. It felt like the car was going to flip over backwards!! It was so good to see the family! Thanksgiving day started with a trek down the mountain which was steep so it was tough but highly doable. The walk up was MUCH harder, but I made it! I tried not to be annoyed with my nephews and SIL who RAN up. HA! Just kidding...they are some of my biggest cheerleaders. We had a bit of fun with dinner because the oven didn't work correctly. It was bad news for the turkey but everything else made it with success. I only cared about the mashed potatoes and noodles because that was all I needed for a yummy Thanksgiving!! Other than a short trip to explore the town, the rest of the day was spent watching the football games. Friday was quite chilly. We drove to Anna Ruby Falls and hiked up to see the waterfall. It was extremely beautiful. Then we went to Helen, GA for lunch. Helen is modeled after a German town and the downtown buildings all have a distinctly German fascade. We had to sit outside for lunch. Since it was cold, I think it made some people cranky. We walked around for a bit, but decided to leave soon. We headed Babyland General Hospital, home of the Cabbage Patch Kids. I love dolls, so I thought it was a neat little stop. It was a packed day, but we all slept well!! Saturday, we went hiking around Fires Creek. We had an absolute ball with the kids as they climbed around like mountain goats. In the afternoon we went to the movies. The group split up and I saw Tangled with my brother, nephew and niece. It was cute. Afterward, we went home and played games I had prepared. They were Minute to Win It style games and we had such a blast! My nephew Sam was crowned Family Showdown Champion! Sunday it was time to leave and I was ready for my own bed. It was a wonderful vacation!! Now I'm back to work to get everything I can possibly accomplish into the next 7 working days! I will check in before the surgery, but until then...Make every day a great day!! Beth

I guess I should be glad that it only took me 30 minutes to figure out the new format today. Whew! I'm not so good with change. It's funny, because I have spent the last few days contemplating my band and my next steps. I had no idea the site was down! Many wonderful people I have met since being banded have talked about how great it is that they no longer have to diet. They just work with the band and the pounds melt away. I'm truly so glad for them and wish everyone had the same success! However, not everyone does. I, for instance, have had WONDERFUL success, but I have had to work at it. I have come to the realization that I'm tired of dieting. Now, dont' get me wrong, dieting this year has been SO MUCH BETTER than dieting in previous years. It was easiER than in previous years and I was able to be PRODUCTIVE. If I do my normal routine...which does include exercise...I can MAINTAIN steady with the band. But in order to lose, I have to watch my food intake just like any other DIET I have ever been on and I have to actively increase my exercise. Don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint. Quite the contrary! I have never been able to stick to a weight loss plan for 10 months in the past. I have never been able to lose 75 pounds before. These are all gifts in my mind! But a diet is a diet and I'm tired of working at it. Soooo...y'all know me and my never ending need for a plan. And, I'm not just going to "stop". But I need to stop this frustrating water treading. So, I have 2 weeks and 2 days until my throat is (literally) cut. When it is time for my tonsilectomy, I know that Band or no Band, I will not be able to eat normally for 10-14 days. Until then, I plan to live normally. I plan to exercise. I plan to not eat like a crazy person. I plan to use all of the good habits that I have developed over the last year. Additionally, I will continue to log my exercise time and my daily weight. But Jax is going to take a vacation. I'm NOT going log my calories or any Bodybugg information. What I hope this does is to take the HYPERfocus off my diet and just let me chill for a bit. Two weeks until the surgery, then three weeks after. By then, it will be 2011 and like any NORMAL person with weight issues, I will have New Year's resolutions and I will be excited. Even with this break, I should be in Onederland by my bandiversary. I had hoped to LOSE 100 pounds by then, but I'm flexible and I refuse to be disappointed. Tomorrow I leave for Thanksgiving vacation. My parents, brother's family and I are renting a cabin in the mountains in North Carolina. It is going to be so much fun!! I will check in when I get back and let you all know how it goes. Have a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving! I certainly have much to be thankful for this year and you all are among my blessings. Thank you. Beth

First of all... HUG!! Second, thank you so very much with your post. At 10 months in, I still have a way to go until I'm in a maintenance situation, but it is something I think about. Although I hate that you would have to go through any hardships, it is invaluable to me to hear your perspective. For most of us weightloss has been and will be a lifelong committment. I'm glad that there is a blogging community and LBT to help us go through it together.

Weightloss has been a lifelong struggle for me as it has most likely been for most of you. In order to lose weight, I had to sacrifice and deprive myself of so much in order to be successful at it. It has been a challenge this year to completely change my perspective. Although weightloss is my primary goal, I want to enjoy my life as I live it. However, this week, my body seems to be rewarding itself for bad behavior. I had a fill last week and after a 1/2 pound gain the week before, I lost that plus and additional 4 pounds! I felt strongly that a lot of that was water weight and dehydration that would be put back on. But I got to this week and I'm still losing. Monday, I didn't work out at all. I had a work lunch and a work dinner, both at delicious restaurants with richly prepared food. On Tuesday, I ran a couple miles at lunch, but I had a decadent dinner. Both nights I also had a drink before dinner and coffee with cream after dinner. Yesterday, I had TWO Otis Spunkmyer (aka HIGH CALORIE) cookies at lunch and finished off the leftovers from Monday night. I did work out, but I finished the night with BOTH ice cream AND two pieces of dark chocolate. All of that and I'm still down over a half pound since Sunday. Today we are having our Thanksgiving pitch in at work. There will be casseroles and carbs galore! I plan to enjoy it. :smile: I know I tend to be conservative when I log calories. I will put down the calories for the entire serving even if I didn't eat all of it. Or I will put down calories for 1/2 if I eat more like 1/3. I figure there are always hidden calories I miss, so I want to be conservative. However, I wonder if I am being more conservative than I realize. Am I getting so used to eating smaller portions that I don't need to "pad" the numbers so much? I know that my mom is constantly making comments about me "eating all that food". I think I talk about what I eat as if I ate it all and maybe I even have that in my head, but in reality I didn't. I told her this morning that I had a bagel for breakfast yesterday, but I actually had half a bagel and I don't think I even ate the last 2-3 bites. There is a big difference there. I guess it comes down to my concern that suddenly I will wake up tomorrow up 4.5 pounds higher which would make me sad. My scale is telling me to keep doing what I'm doing, but my head is yelling at me that I'm not sacrificing enough to be this successful and it will all come crashing down. I will enjoy our pitch in lunch today, but then I will also work myself out like crazy at Jazzercise. Maybe that isn't bad/nuts/indulgent...maybe it is just normal. I guess only time will tell!! Beth

If you feel it is right, then it probably is. Best wishes on your journey!

You rock, sister!!

Maggs! I feel like I haven't heard from you in forever. Sounds like everything is going well...so YAY!! Keep up the awesomeness.