Happy New Year!!!

Above is a photo of Times Square . . which I will be avoiding tonight like the plague!! It is (brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!) freezing out tonight and very windy! Even inside my cosy apartment, I can hear the wind whistling outside and the building is creaking a bit as it sways (don't worry . . it's supposed to do that, apparently. . !)

I am heading out to my friend Erika's apartment in about 40 minutes for a dinner party/celebration. I'm bringing two very nice bottles of wine -- a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa and a Pinot Noir from The Eire Vineyards in Oregon. My goals for tonight are twofold -- (1) Not to freeze my behind off outside; and (2) not to drink too much wine. I'm EXTREMELY nervous about the idea of having a hangover with the band, which is bound to keep me honest.

At this point in my Bandland, I am 2 months and 9 days post-op. Here is how I am feeling:

* I have decent restriction (though I think a wee bit more would be even better);

* I still have shoulder pain from time to time, though it doesn't last very long and isn't anything near as painful as it was post-op;

* I've completely changed my approach to breakfast and have made great strides in changing my overall approach to portion size (I was generally a healthy eater before);

* I could be doing much better on the exercise front, and will work on that in the months to come;

* I am down (!!!) 18.4 lbs -- Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!

* I am so glad that I got banded -- I know that I would not be this close to 20 lbs down and still so motivated to keep going if not for my band;

* I've found that the hardest part about being banded was Bandster Inferno, and that the food thing really isn't that big of a deal to me;

* I can actually SEE a difference in my body when I look in the mirror, and my face looks much thinner and better!

* I'm a little worried about what all this weight loss is going to do to "the girls" (God, I hope my Dad isn't reading this one) but so far, so good; and

* It's been a real pleasure to find so much solidarity with other Bandits!

It's going to be an amazing year, and I can't wait to see what wonderful things it has in store for me. I hope it has much happiness, great health, love and friendship in store for all of us.

Happy New Year!!

It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

I got back from visiting my brother's family in South Carolina last night . . . after a 3 hour flight delay and a 30 minute cab line wait. Was very happy to be home after all of that!

So. . . how did I do over the holidays?? Well, I wasn't perfect -- but I did pay attention to what I was eating and the fill in my band forced me to keep my portion sizes small. However, (Confession Time. . . ) I just couldn't (OK, didn't want to) resist the home made cookies entirely. . . One of my uncles made these AMAZING home made chocolate chip cookies with pecans. . . and my sister-in-law made her famous neapolitan cookies (a row of pink dough, a row of brownie-like dough and a row of normal cookie-colored dough. That said, over the entire holiday, I probably had 8 cookies, whereas in years past, I probably would have had more like 4-5 per day -- plus wine every night . . and plus larger serving sizes at most meals.

One thing I should say is that I haven't told my brother about my surgery yet. I don't have any worries about whether he'd be supportive -- I know he would be. It's just that I don't feel like telling my sister-in-law about it at this point (or possibly ever), and I don't think it's something that I could reasonably expect him not to ever tell her. I just told them both that I've been watching my weight, let them know I'm down more than 15 lbs, and mentioned that taking time to properly chew my food is part of my weight-loss strategy. That actually worked out well, since it let me be careful when I wanted, but also didn't open my food choices up to extra scrutiny.

So, at meal times, I focused on chewing my food carefully before swallowing, which let my one reasonable serving last the whole meal every time. I wound up being the last person to finish at pretty much every meal. Now that I have a decent fill, I tend to get a little bit stuck at the beginning of every meal. It's not terrible -- and I can sit there and look normal while this is going on, but it's just really uncomfortable. I generally just found an excuse to get up from the table and get something for one of the kids when this happened, so that the stuck feeling could pass without me having to sit in front of my plate, not-eating. After that, I'm generally fine (and possibly more careful) for the rest of the meal.

Also, I noticed that by the time I got hungry, I was generally really hungry -- and even got into the "Danger Zone" twice. (The "Danger Zone" is the point when I'm so hungry that I get really, really grouchy. . . not a good look!) When I'm at home, I would have been less self-conscious about just getting a bite or two of cottage cheese or something to keep me from getting that hungry.

This morning I got on the scale to see how I'd fared. I really didn't know what to expect from the scale today -- on the one hand, I was very good (small portions, generally good food choices, largely avoided liquid calories) -- but on the other, I wasn't perfect (cookies. . . and having to have pizza one night when the restaurant choice wasn't in my hands -- I just ate the topping and left the crust). Want to know how it went??

I'm down another 1.8 lbs!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY, CHRISTMAS!!!

This is definitely a first!! I don't think I've ever actually LOST weight during Christmas vacation! I am totally giving my band a big hug right now . . well, in my mind, anyway! :)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

I'm heading to South Carolina tomorrow for Christmas with my brother and his family! Really looking forward to seeing everyone, especially my niece & nephew. I probably won't post while I'm away, but will plan to take some photos and catch up next week.

Best wishes for a very happy and healthy holiday!

Full pool!

I said something about having empty pool syndrome before and realized that I never explained what I was talking about. This comes from a post that I read on LapBandTalk.com -- someone analogized the time between surgery & the first fill to having a great new swimming pool, but no water in it. Well, I'm very happy to say that there is water in my pool! :)

(Catherine & Sharon - Greve, Italy - 2005)

Above is a photo of me in one of my favorite pools ever -- it's at an old castle in Tuscany that is now a hotel (Castello Vicchiomaggio in Greve). The first time I went there was in 2005, when I went to Italy with two of my best girl friends (Sharon & Nadia), and we met up with five other friends there and rented a farmhouse on the property. What a blast! The summer before last, two of the friends from the earlier trip (Sharon & Scott) got married at the castle, so I went back with my (now-ex) boyfriend and a bunch of our other friends for the ceremony. It was really a fantastic trip. (at dinner in Greve - 2005)

Anyway, the pool at Vicchiomaggio is spectacular -- it's an infinity pool that looks over the Tuscan countryside. That's how I am picturing my band, now that I've got a bit of a fill going on! Here is another shot of that pool. I'm practically drooling -- there is snow on the ground here in NYC, and its' been raining on & off all morning!
The scale is still down 15.2 as of this morning. I'm happy to stay at that weight for a few days before it moves again, since it tells me that the loss wasn't a fluke!


(And, just for fun, here is a photo of us in the town square in Greve for Sharon & Scott's wedding in the summer of 2007!)

Down another 1.2 lbs!

Man, this restriction stuff is great! I had to go to my office's Christmas party last night, and it was a bit hard to find "mushy" hors d'oeuvres. I wound up just having mainly cheese without crackers, but it was fine and I don't think anyone noticed that I was eating a bit strangely. I like the restriction -- it's making things so much easier.

BTW, this is a landmark day because I'm officially down 15 lbs! In fact, I'm down 15.2! Woo-hoo! :)

Restricted Area!

I'm still on liquids today, following fill no. 2, but I did have a thicker soup (pureed turkey chili) for dinner, and I noticed that it was not going down the same way as before. As of right now, swallowing a thicker soup feels a little bit like when you drink something when you have a sore throat. Not the hurting-your-throat part -- it's more that I just am more aware of it going down. Also, the sensation isn't in my throat, it's more inside my stomach at the site where my band is.

It's definitely interesting and a little weird, but not bad. I'm noticing that I'm getting full a lot faster and that I can get a little stuck. The stuck feeling I've had is really mild -- so maybe it's not a "stuck" feeling, but more of a theres-food-waiting-to-go-down kind of feeling. It's a little uncomfortable, but nothing all that bad.

After this morning's scale victory, I'm feeling excited and motivated about my future with the band, and like things are finally on their way. Everything pretty much had stalled, in terms of weight-loss, from the point when I got on solids until my first fill, so it feels very good to know that I'm back on track.

I'm back in the game, people!!!

Yesterday I went for fill no. 2. Strangely, when my doctor looked at how much saline was in my band, there were only .7 ccs in it -- instead of 1.7 ccs. She told me not to worry -- and that saline could be stuck in the tube due to the band being at low pressure after the operation. Honestly, given that it was exactly 1 cc missing, it sounds more to me that she may have accidentally only put .7 in the first time. What are the chances that I'd have low pressure (or a leak - yikes!) that would take out exactly 1 cc to the dot?

In any event, we'll monitor this next time I go to the doctor. Right now, I have a 2cc fill in my 5 cc band. I'm on liquids until tomorrow, then have 2 days of mushies, so I won't know for a few days what the fill is really like. However, I can tell that there is at least some more restriction.

I've been really focusing on my diet lately and (!!) finally!! The guilty five are all off and a bit of one of their friends is gone too! As of this morning . . . . I am at my all-time lowest post-op weight and am down 14 lbs in total. Woo-hoo! :) It's working!!

Season's Fillings!

I've been MIA for a few days, mainly because I haven't really had anything to report. My first fill of 1.7 ccs was definitely not enough to get me to good restriction -- not even close. I'm going back for my second fill today and am ready to get going already!

I'm happy to report that I've been pretty good on my diet lately, despite that I've been running on nothing but will power for about 3 weeks. Almost all of the "guilty five" from Thanksgiving are off -- I have just one pound left before I'm back to my lowest post-op weight. I'm really hoping to take that one off this week!

Above is a photo of my current-favorite ornament on my tree! I grew up living all over the place (London, Holland, France, New Jersey, Saudi Arabia and Texas -- and Texas is the place I lived the longest . . before I moved to NYC! Since college, I've lived in D.C., NYC and even spent a year in the Bahamas working on-site for a client. Anyway, I love this Texas boot -- it's so festive and colorful, and it looks great on the tree! I got it at a store in Houston called Events -- GREAT store!

The Empty Swimming Pool Effect . . .

Yesterday, I was back on mushies for the first time after my fill. Unfortunately, it seems like 1.7 ccs isn't going to take me to good restriction, so I'm going to go back to my doctor as soon as I can for another fill. I really couldn't tell a difference between 1.7 ccs and no ccs in the band -- though I was certainly chewing very carefully.

Will let you know if it's any different after the next day or two!

Congratulations to April & her husband on getting banded!

Finally! My First Fill!

At long last, I had my first fill today! I was going crazy in Bandster Inferno, so I'm happy to finally be on my way on the real weight loss part of this journey!

Before my appointment with Dr. Ren this afternoon, she had me get an esophogram on another floor at the NYU Hospital. It's very cool -- they uploaded the images onto the NYU intranet, so Dr. Ren was able to pull up the images from my esophogram on her computer during my appointment. I was able to see my band inside me on the picture. She said that the placement is just where it should be, which I expected -- but it was nice to hear!

Before she did the fill, I asked her not to be too conservative & told her I was ready to get going already! So, she gave me 1.7 cc, whereas she usually starts people off with 1 cc. BTW, I have a 9.75 cm Inamed Lap-Band, which has a 5 cc balloon. I'm now on 2 days of full liquids, followed by 2 days of mushies.

I had lunch after my fill -- a medium soup -- and couldn't tell any difference. BUT, when I got home tonight, I pureed some of the turkey chili I made over the weekend (sorry I didn't take photos!) and had it for dinner. It was a little thicker than the soup I had for lunch, and I could feel that I have more restriction (unless I'm totally imagining things!). Interesting!

BTW, I am very proud of myself for using my leftover Thanksgiving turkey (which I'd frozen) in two soups that I made over the weekend. I made the soup with green chiles and low fat cheese that I posted about before, substituting turkey for chicken, and also made a chili with turkey, & chipotle peppers. Both turned out nicely, and I feel good about not wasting any of that organic, free-range turkey!

'Tis the season!

Let me start this day by giving mad props to my mother, who is an extremely talented present-wrapper! I received these two presents this morning and they were so beautifully wrapped that I had to take a photo! The picture doesn't really do them justice, but I'll post it nonetheless. :)

Also, I am now going to enter the territory of bloggers-who-put-photos-up-of-their-cats. I can't help it. How freaking cute is Max? Does anyone else think he might benefit from lap band surgery? j/k

An observation I made this morning is that, six-weeks post-band, I've completely changed my approach to breakfast. Pre-band, I would usually pick up a bagel with butter and a large coffee with skim milk on my way into the office every day. Now, I consistently have -- and enjoy just as much -- either a vanilla SlimFast (yum) or (like this morning) some cottage cheese, or yogurt. Seems to have become a habit, and one that I hope will be life-long!

Bandster Inferno!!

One of the things that, somehow, I managed to overlook before getting banded is that most people go through a phase -- commonly known as "bandster hell" -- during the time between their operation and their first fill. Personally, I prefer Bandster Inferno because, while evocative of the hell experience, it still conveys optimism that the whole thing could turn out to be as fun as a disco -- The Studio 54 of WLS!

All disco festiveness aside, this is a period -- that I had no idea would exist -- when I can eat whatever the heck I want (steak, bread, turkey, stuffing, rutabegas!), as long as I don't try to do so without chewing like a civilized person. So, after four disciplined weeks of liquids and mushies, at some point during weeks 4 and 5, there is time when most bandsters are on normal foods but have no restriction. This is still during the "healing" phase, so you're not supposed to be too tough on yourself. Nonetheless, it's six weeks after you let your body be cut open for WLS and not a whole lot of WL (weight loss) is happening -- or, if it is, it's with some serious struggle!

Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, I just wanted to get this out in the open. Also, I still occasionally (maybe 3% of the time, if that) have some shoulder pain. Very annoying. I hope it's 100% cleared up shortly. Currently, it's nothing like it was after surgery, but it's still a bit painful and irksome.

Not to be a bummer with this post, but I'm hoping that I'll later feel like bandster inferno was the awkward adolescence of my post-band period. Here's to Tuesday's fill! :)

As an aside, I saw some very helpful posts about bandster inferno on lapbandtalk.com tonight -- from people who experienced this at first, but who are now near their goal weight. Oh, how I hope to be posting like that next year and helping other newbies!!

Positive development. . .

The scale may be my friend again! Today 2.4 lbs of my "guilty five" are off. WHEW! Hopefully the other 2.6 will come right off as well. That freaked me out to see the number so high again!! I'm just back on my normal band diet -- not doing anything extreme.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: Slimfast shake
Lunch: A little risotto with butternut squash and asparagus
Dinner: Salmon & rutabega (OK, maybe I do like them after all!)
Snack: A lowfat yogurt

Um, Yikes.

Well, I braved the scale this morning and the results were not pretty. The scale jumped up five pounds from my lowest post-op weight (and 3 lbs since my last weigh-in). I'm not surprised by this, but it was a good wake-up call for me. I have 9 more days of this unrestricted, pre-fill, period to go, and this should keep me on the straight and narrow.

Funny -- this is probably longer than I've stayed on most diets in recent years. In the past, getting derailed on Thanksgiving probably would have been my excuse for giving up on a diet. Not this time, though!! Fingers crossed that the "guilty 5" will come off as quickly as they came on. . .