Show & Tell . . . Hobbies

I've been a fan forever of beautiful stationery, wrapping paper, ribbons and penmanship. I've been doing calligraphy since I was 11 and have been making cards for as long as I can remember.

(Here's a self-photo shot I took this weekend in the studio. . .)

So, a few years ago, I took lessons to learn how to do letterpress printing. (That's the type of press used for many high end wedding invitations. Below is a photo of a letterpress I've used for several projects.) Since then, it's become a big hobby of mine. Occasionally, for my very nearest & dearest, I offer to do the calligraphy for their invitations -- or even to make their invitations -- as their wedding presents. Also, for the past several months, I've been working with a private tutor/graphic designer to learn Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop.

So, that brings us to this weekend! I spent about 8 hours at the studio printing the invitations of my very good friends Adam and Erica (that's Erica with a "c," not "Erika" with a "K" -- two different people!).

(Here's a shot of my filthy gloves, screwdriver, palate knife, California wash, scissors and loop!)

(The yellow thing on the press is the
border design for their invitation)

So, since I'm doing a bit of tell. . thought I should show you a few projects that I've done on the press!

Here are the bachelorette party invitations that I did for my friend Sharon (I posted photos from her wedding in Greve, Italy some time ago). The cartoon looks pretty much like her, albeit in cartoon version! She has a total pirate fetish, hence the "Yargh!" and skull & crossbones skirt!

Here are the wedding invitations I did for my best friend last year. She was born in Taiwan, and we wanted the invitations to reflect that -- so we used the traditional Chinese good luck colors, red and gold, and the characters for Double Happiness, which are often used for Chinese weddings. (BTW, was a really fun wedding & she looked amazing!)

And, here are the invitations that I printed this weekend. I love LOVE LOVE the paper that I found to use as the belly band (a phrase that now makes me think of my lap band!). My friends really wanted something summery, casual and fun for their summer beach wedding and I feel like this fits the bill!

So, that's my show & tell for this evening. If anyone has an interesting hobby, would love to hear about it!

TWENTY-FIVE!

It's finally official! I have now lost 25 lbs! Actually, as of this morning, I'm down 25.2. One of the very best things about the band is that, although I've been on this "diet" for nearly 4 months, I am still very motivated and feel that this is a very sustainable course. That is so very different from how I've felt on any other weight loss plan (and, let's face it, I never got to the 4 month mark on any other plan)!

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Five things I've noticed after losing this weight are:

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1. I'm starting to look like myself again, instead of a puffy, more matronly version of my old self.

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2. I feel lighter and healthier and, emotionally, I feel really good about making the decision to get banded and making it work.

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3. The robes at the spa I go to give better coverage (I went for a massage yesterday. Normally I feel like their robes are just a little too skimpy. I checked the size and saw that it was the same as usual and realized that the difference in coverage is due to me losing 2.5 inches from my hips and my waist! NSV!)

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4. My back doesn't tighten up as much when I go for long walks (not that it was ever that bad -- just something I noticed)

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5. My feet don't hurt as badly when I wear heels (nothing like having 25 lbs less of pressure on them. . . )

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(For some reason, this program is taking the returns out of my post today, so I thought I'd use dashes to break up the text -- if anyone knows how to fix this, be sure to let me know!)

Fun with friends

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd been a little stressed about seeing a very dear old friend and her 2 sisters because I was worried about what they would think about all of the weight I put on during the years since our last visit. It really was not an issue at all, and we had a fantastic time.

I thought I'd share a few photos from the weekend! Here my friend (Sofia) and I are posing with Max at my apartment.


We had dinner at Buddakan on Saturday night, which was delicious and a total blast. (If you saw the Sex in the City movie, this is where Carrie & Big had their rehearsal dinner.) The other girl in this photo is Sofia's sister, Daniella.

This one is of Sofia and her other sister, Eugenia. Super cute photo!

And, lastly, here we are at The Mermaid Inn (cute restaurant in the East Village) with my friend Brooke on the girls' last night in town.

I actually wound up telling Sofia and her sisters about me being banded during their first night in town. They were totally supportive (after all, they are from Venezuela, where cosmetic and similar surgeries are very common -- plus, they are just very open, cool people!) and I was glad that I told them. My other friend in these photos (Brooke) has known about the surgery before I had it, so that wasn't an issue either.

I feel very lucky that I've been able to tell family and friends about the surgery and that everyone has been so positive about it. I think that they can tell that I'm feeling good about it, and that's bound to help as well.

NSV! But Embarrassing!

Yesterday, for the first time since I got banded, someone who doesn't know about my surgery let me know that she noticed my weight loss.

One of the secretaries in my office stopped me as I was going into the kitchen and yelled "HAVE YOU LOST WEIGHT?!?!" While I'm thrilled to death to finally (!!) have someone who doesn't know I'm dieting notice and say something, that was pretty embarrassing! Hopefully no one heard her (we were the only ones in the kitchen). Not that I am ashamed of doing well on my diet, I just don't want to call too much attention to it at work! Anyway, while HOW it happened wasn't a dream come true, it felt pretty good anyway!

Seeing old friends

One thing that I've stressed about through the last few years is seeing old friends who I haven't seen for a long time. This stems from me being ashamed that I put on so much weight and being embarrassed for my friends to see how out of control my weight was.

This past weekend, a very dear friend of mine (Sofia) and her two sisters were visiting from Venezuela. Sofia and I became friends when I lived in the Bahamas (2000-2001) and we spent a lot of great time together there, going out dancing, doing fun things during the weekend, talking about life, guys and the usual stuff! I visited her in Venezuela in 2001, but -- though we stay in touch through e-mail and Facebook -- I actually hadn't seen her since then!

So, going into this weekend, I was in the funny position of both feeling fantastic about being down nearly 25 lbs -- while at the same time knowing I am 45 lbs heavier than I was the last time I saw my friend. Of course, I know that our friendship has nothing to do with how much I weigh, so reminding myself of that was a good thing to do. Unsurprisingly, it was totally a non-issue and I had a great time!

TWENTY-FOUR

Wha. . Who put that photo up here? This post is NOT about Kiefer Sutherland! :) I'm down 24 lbs as of this morning! Not 23.8 not 23.9, but a solid 24. WOO HOO!

(But that doesn't mean I'll deprive everyone of this other Kiefer photo that I came across this morning. After all, I'm in a GREAT mood!) :)

Recipes to Share?

Another quick note while I'm talking about cooking. If anyone has good band-friendly recipes to share, I wanted to invite you to post them (or a link to the recipe) in the comments to this message. I'll try out any that sound good to me and will let you know how it goes (with photos if I'm really with it that day)! :)

Cooking with Catherine #3

Now that I finally (!) have a new camera, I'm excited to share a really, really delicious recipe with you for a very easy and band-friendly soup -- Butternut Squash Soup with Blue Cheese and Walnuts. http://www.freshdirect.com/recipe.jsp?recipeId=rec_tb_rstbttrnt_squash_sp&trk=srch

How gorgeous is the color of this soup?!

This is my second time making this soup -- it is seriously delicious, and by only using a wee sprinkling of blue cheese on top (and either limiting or omitting the walnuts), you keep the calorie count low. I also made a few tweaks to the recipe, which are mentioned below, and it turned out really well (it also turned out great the first time I made it, when I followed the recipe to a tee).

You start with fresh butternut squash (though honestly, the lighter squash here didn't look so great, so I only used the dark one this time).



Even though the recipe says to cook the halves, I peel and cube them first, then coat them in a little bit of olive oil, freshly ground pepper and a teaspoon of sea salt. Then you roast them in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

I really love my olive oil bottle (above). I bought it in a little shop in Positano, Italy three summers ago. I was there with my mother -- who is a great person to travel with -- and we had a fantastic time!

While the squash is roasting, chop up 1/2 of a Spanish onion (I used a small white onion here and that worked just as well) and one pear.

In a large pan (I use my big non-stick wok), heat some olive oil and cook the onion and pear in it at medium heat for 20 minutes without browning them. (Nothing tricky here -- just stir once in a while and make sure the heat isn't too high.)

After that, add in 1/2 cup of wine and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then, add in 5 1/2 cups of stock (recipe calls for vegetable, but I used chicken stock and it was great). BTW, one of these containers is about 4 cups.

Bring that to a boil, then add in your roasted squash and cook at a low simmer for 30 more minutes. Then, let the soup cool a bit, put it through your blender or food processor, and you're done! (I left out the honey this time and didn't miss it at all.)

Once the soup is done, I divvy it up into individual serving Ziplock containers and put a little Roqueford cheese on top. I then put them in the freezer and take one to work for lunch every day (unless I have other plans). By lunch time they are a little thawed and only need about 3 minutes in the microwave.

You can see that I still have some of the chicken & chile soup in stock! That recipe is in an earlier post -- I've made it 3 times now!

Bon appetit!

I saw Will Ferrell. . . and it was GLORIOUS!

Will Ferrell is just SO SO funny! My friend Erika took me to see his new show on Broadway last night, and we laughed our heads off! He was seriously the spitting image of G.W.

In band news, I'm still (!) suffering from getting stuck on Sunday night. I think my band just tightened up a bit after that. It's been harder to eat without getting stuck, so I've been having liquids as much as possible, and I bought a few Isopure protein drinks at GNC yesterday to make sure I'm getting enough protein. Don't want my hair to fall out! :)

Here is a self portrait of Erika and me in Times Square after the Will Ferrell show. Not the best photo ever!

Also . . . as of this morning, I'm 21.6 lbs down!

Scars. . .

I responded to a post on Lap Band Talk earlier today about scars and thought it might be interesting to post an updated photo. Honestly, I don't know if using Mederma has made any difference. Unfortunately, my first set of photos just weren't that good, quality-wise, and now that I have my fancy new camera (yay!! just got it tonight!), the image is a lot clearer.

Below is the photo I took tonight. Actually, the top scar seems to be fading pretty well. The bottom one is still quite red and not so pretty!

Below is the photo I took on c. November 20th (2 months ago). The thing is, the lighting here was much brighter and the photo isn't really in focus, so it's hard to really see. Still, looking at this one, it's obvious to me that the little scar has faded a lot. Interesting! Maybe I'll keep using the Mederma after all!

Measuring up. . .

Two days before my surgery, I took measurements of my chest, waist, hips, upper arm, forearm, wrist, thigh, calf and ankle. I started a progress chart with that information and my weight. I've been great about logging in my weight, but I misplaced my measuring tape in October and haven't taken measurements since then.

I am now 3 months and 5 days post-op and 20.4 lbs down. I took my measurements tonight and was surprised to find that I lost the most from my waist and hips (which is great!). Here is how I measured up:

Chest: -.75 inch (not that I'm trying to lose there!)
Waist: -2.5 inches
Hips: -2.25 inches
Upper arm: -.5 inch
Forearm: -.3 inch
Wrist: -.55 inch (surprising that it's more than my forearm, right?! Maybe I didn't get the exact same spot, though I've been trying to just measure the thickest point to be consistent)
Thigh: -.25 inch
Calf: -0
Ankle: -0

I thought it was weird that I'm losing more some places than others and that my calves didn't change! I guess we'll see if that changes in another few months.

Stuck

Last night, I cooked dinner for my friend Erika and had a great time. I made veal chops with polenta, roasted tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms, with a great arugula salad to start and lemon sorbet for dessert.

Erika knows about my surgery, so it was not any big deal for me to just take a small portion for myself and chew chew chew. Everything went fine, but after she went home, I was still a little hungry, so I had another few bites. And I got really stuck.

Basically, I slimed for about an hour and did a little PB, but I still didn't feel totally unstuck. I was able to have some water, and it went down, but I really had to burp after it went down. (If this sounds familiar to you and you know what the fix is, please post a comment!)

During the night, I woke up and STILL felt stuck. It was just really uncomfortable, and I had to burp. This morning, I still have an uncomfortable need-to-burp feeling, and when I drink water, it seems like my stomach is probably swollen a bit around my band b/c it feels tighter. I expect it is irritated from last night's events.

Here's to hoping the feeling goes away by mid day!

No Man's Land Size

I have to admit, I felt really great yesterday in those pants! And, when I thought back on it, I realized that it's been more than TWO YEARS since I could get into them (I haven't worn them since before I started my current job). Wow.

In other news, I have to go to an engagement party on February 19th, and my ex-boyfriend is going to be there. By way of background, I broke up with him in early July because after 2+ years (which were fantastic, I might add), we just were not on the same page about marriage and children. (Read: We're both 38, I'd like to get married & have kids with him, and he's more in the Peter Pan mindset.)

He's an investment banker and lost his job several months ago. So, he decided to take time off to travel and has been out of the country for the past 2 months. I saw him last in mid-November.

My weight was never an issue for him, and I don't have any illusions that me looking better is suddenly going to put him on the same page with me. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that I don't want him to see me and be kicking himself that we're no longer together! On the contrary! :)

That leads us to the obvious issue of me needing to look really, really good at this party! Unfortunately, I'm a weird size right now! I bought a really cute dress on-line in 14W, but am totally swimming in it. And, 16 is still too snug. (To my thin friends who read this, please block out this info. and let's never, ever talk about it.) Plus, most designers whose clothes I'd like to wear only make up to a 12 -- or a 14 at most. Oh, how I hate them!!

You know, you'd think the fashion industry would NOTICE that there is a 4-6 size gap in the market. There is such a shortage of clothing in that range -- hence the title of today's post. Yes, you can buy pants at The Gap, but finding a great dress is pretty much impossible. (If anyone thinks I'm wrong on this, please let me know where to shop!)

Now that I think about it, I was in the same position about 2-3 years ago when I was on my way up the scale. It was much easier to shop being 20 lbs heavier than I am now. However, I wouldn't trade those 20 lbs for anything! After all, soon enough, I'll be 30 or 40 lbs down (can't wait!) and then the problem will be "There is so much to buy! How will I ever decide?!" :) :)

Woo hoo!

I'm wearing a pair of pants today that I haven't fit into in about 1 1/2 years, and they look good! :) :) Band, I am loving you!!!

Breakfast Break (Day One)

I tried out my doctor's no-breakfast suggestion today. It went OK. I wasn't hungry when I woke up, but wasn't sure how the rest of the day would go. I packed my usual food supply -- a SlimFast shake (breakfast), a Ziplock bowl of homemade soup and a lowfat yogurt.

I still wasn't hungry when I got to work, so I decided not to have the shake. Funny enough, I kept thinking about breakfast -- so I kept asking myself "Are you really hungry, or do you just want to have something for the sake of having something?" The answer was the latter. By around 11:30, I actually was hungry, so I had the yogurt.

I wound up having the soup closer to 2, which worked out really well because I had a cocktail party for work tonight. I was still full enough that I didn't eat any hors d'oeuvres there (I'm still on day 2 of post-fill liquids) and just had a glass of wine.

Now I'm home, had another bowl of soup and am feeling good. (I was pretty darned hungry on the way here though!)

I'm going to try the no-breakfast thing again tomorrow. I brought some decaf teas to work, so I'll plan to have that instead again and see how it goes. It's interesting that the hardest part about that was feeling like I didn't do something I'm "supposed" to do, i.e. eat breakfast. Hmmm!

TWENTY!

Woo-hoo!!! As of this morning, I am OFFICIALLY down 20 lbs to the dot! Not 19.4, not 19.6. . . a solid, real 20! Feels great!

Skinny Girl Secrets. . .

I went in for another fill today and made sure that my doctor was the one to give it to me this time. She added in another .3 ccs, and I am now at 2.5 ccs in my 5 cc band.

My doctor has me follow each fill with 2 days of liquids, then 2 of mushies, so it generally takes a while for me to figure out whether the fill made a difference. While I was waiting, I re-read the office's list of best practices for bandsters. I've read it many times before, but this time, one of the first items caught my eye. It said: "Eat one to three small meals per day." I'm not sure why, but I never noticed the "one" in this before -- I just understood it to mean that I should have three small meals.

I asked my doctor about that guideline, and she said -- "Let me tell you a Skinny Girl Secret." (By way of background, she is thin and very pretty.) Needless to say, I was all ears! Her: "You really don't need to eat breakfast every day." She asked if I ate breakfast because I was hungry when I woke up (I'm not), and asked what I usually have (either a SlimFast shake or oatmeal). She then went on to explain that, while breakfast is a very important meal for growing children, the same isn't true for adults. She also told me that several studies by obesity physicians show that breakfast really isn't that important. I was like "WHAT?! All I've ever heard about breakfast is that it's the most important meal of the day!"

So, at my doctor's recommendation, I'm going to take a break from breakfast to see how it goes. She said that if I'm hungry when I get up, it's fine to have breakfast. But, if I'm not, there is no reason to eat. (That seems pretty straightforward, but it kind of blew my mind to be getting this information for the first time!) She suggested that if I'm not hungry, to just have a tea or a coffee instead of a meal.

The "one" part of the "one to three meals a day" thing really surprised me, so I asked some more questions. My doctor said that if you're not hungry, one meal a day is fine. She also said that I should think of just doing a healthy soup at lunch (which I do anyway) and dinner. I remarked that part of the reason I've been sticking to three meals a day is out of habit, and she was like "Exactly!!"

Still, it seems weird to me (and a little anorexia-esque/unhealthy) to think of only eating one small meal each day. I'm not planning to go that extreme, though I will try foregoing breakfast for a few days to see how it goes. Will let you know how it goes!

Funny -- I just ran a Google search and see that there are a bunch of articles on doctors' conflicting views of the importance of breakfast.

More Fill

I'm going to try to get in for another fill today. This weekend showed me that I really can eat a bit too much -- not that I overdid it in any real way, it's just that I've stopped losing. I had one of those Amy's Organic frozen meals last night and could eat the whole thing, so that tells me I probably am too loose.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Cindy -- 30+ lbs down is amazing!! Congratulations!

BTW, I ordered my new camera over the weekend, so will be back to posting photos soon!

Seeing sights on the Hudson. . .

Today was a pretty crazy day. This afternoon, I heard people talking excitedly in the hallway. -- Let me preface this by saying that I work on the 37th floor of a building that has 360 degree views of the city. My office looks out over midtown at the Hudson river.

So, someone came in my office and said something like "Oh my God! Look outside! A plane just crash landed in the Hudson!!" And, sure enough, there were all of these boats in one area and there were two or three helicopters hovering nearby. I'm pretty high up, so I couldn't make out the plane right away, so I went into one of my partner's offices and someone lent me a pair of binoculars.

This isn't my picture (darn me losing my camera on New Year's!!), but it is what I saw. What an amazing feat it was for the pilot to land that plane safely in the middle of the Hudson! I was very happy to learn that everyone survived and that -- aside from one person with two broken legs (ouch) -- so far, it looks like everyone is fine. WHEW.

In band-related news, I'm finally back down to my lowest post-op weight (after wrestling with the same 2 lbs for a week). I can't wait until I can report another loss!

How much of a fill to get into the zone?

I posted earlier about my third fill experience with Nurse RoughStuff. I only had him add .2 ccs to my band, thinking I just needed a weeee teeny fill. However, the .2 doesn't seem to have made a bit of difference.

I was thinking of going back for more on Tuesday (the day when my doctor lets people walk in for fill appointments), but my last experience there was bad enough that I didn't feel ready to go back. I've been worrying since my last appointment that the nurse might have pulled out a stitch or two, and the area around my port has been tender.

However, after staying at exactly the same weight (to the 10th of a pound) for about a week, I'm feeling better and am ready to go back. I'm going to call up to make an appointment tomorrow.

It's interesting to realize that soon, I'm going to have an idea of what it means to put in an extra .5 or so into my band. A week ago, I had no idea what adding .2 ccs would mean -- I honestly had no clue -- and Nurse Roughstuff deferred to me, whereas I think my doctor would have been able to translate what I wanted into an approximate amount of saline.

BTW, I am sorry for not posting more lately -- I lost my camera on New Year's (it must have fallen out through a hole in a bag I was carrying), so I haven't had any new photos to post!

Pierce

Years and years ago, my best friend had a dream that I was going to marry Pierce Brosnan. That was back in the day when I was substantially thinner. . . as were Pierce's wife and co-stars! Tonight, I was surprised to see him on the red carpet with his beautiful, albeit heavier-than Hollywood-norm, wife.



I'm guessing she's somewhere between 180 and 220 -- but she's still very lovely -- and gorgeous Pierce has been quoted as saying that he loves her curves. How refreshing.


Clearly, things with Pierce and me could have worked out after all! Too bad someone else already is married to my supposed husband! :) :)

Third Fill

I went in for my fourth post-op visit on Friday and had my third fill. My doctor's nurse (a guy) did the fill this time -- and it was really unpleasant. He was just way too rough and I left feeling sore and manhandled. He kept pressing on my port before putting in the needle, and I let him know that was hurting me! Then, he didn't get the needle in properly and we had to do it again.

By that point, I was THISCLOSE to refusing to let him do it and saying I'd wait for my doctor (who is a total pro), but I felt bad doing that because he was nice (personality, not port-prodding-wise) and I didn't want to get him in trouble. Still, this is my body and I'm scared that he might do something to mess up my port. Next time, I'm taking no prisoners! I'm going to insist (nicely) on having my doctor do it.

So, you might remember that after my first fill, I went back and there was 1 cc missing from the 1.7 cc the doctor said that she put in the band. Well, this time, the exact right amount was still in my band (2 ccs), so I don't have a leak -- whew! I had Nurse RoughStuff put in an additional .2 ccs -- in retrospect, I probably should have gotten a little more. I wanted the band to be a weeee bit tighter and .2 doesn't seem to have made any big difference.

On the weight loss side, I'm still wrestling with the same 2 lbs, which seems to be the norm for me. But I'm still nearly 20 lbs down! I'm really, really hoping to be at least 25 down by month's end, and I think that's a totally reasonable & realistic goal.

In other news, I saw two movies this weekend -- Defiance and Slumdog Millionaire. Both were really good -- great stories and fantastic acting. I definitely recommend them both.

Privacy and Friend Frustration . . .

I know I mentioned earlier that I decided only to tell a few friends and family members about my surgery. I've been very lucky in that everyone has been very supportive.

Yesterday, though, I was talking to one of my friends (let's call her "Y") and she said -- "I hope you don't mind, but I told X about your surgery." By way of background, X is one of Y's best friends and lives in California. X is also a lawyer and works in house for a company I'd be extremely thrilled to represent -- she also is at least 100 lbs overweight. Y is not heavy at all, and I understood that she told X about my surgery in the hopes of helping her find a good solution to her weight struggles.

However, when I told Y about my surgery, I specifically asked her to promise to keep it in confidence and let her know that I consider it to be something very personal and private. I also let her know which of our mutual friends know so that she would have that information. Under the circumstances, I find it EXTREMELY uncool that she told X without clearing it with me first -- all the more so since I've met X and am going to see her later this month at a party here in NYC. It's also likely that X and I are going to cross paths professionally through the years. And, even if that were not the case, this is my private business, not something that a friend who supposedly promised to keep it in confidence has any business telling others about without my permission.

I let Y know that I wasn't happy with this and that if she wants to mention this kind of thing to anyone else, that she either should ask me first or, if she can't control herself, at least avoid disclosing my name. This is not her news to share. Have any of you had similar issues with friends not being able to keep confidences? I let Y know that I would be happy to talk to X if she is interested in going forward, but stressed that -- while I'm willing to forgive her this time, I will be very upset if this happens again.

The other issue that I'm having is that another friend -- who is tall and thin, but is heavier now than she is used to being (you'd still describe her as "thin" if you saw her) doesn't seem that happy for me if I tell her how things are going with the band and actually seems to get a bit competitive about the weight loss. It's pretty ridiculous -- by her own admission, she's only 10 lbs over her goal weight, whereas I have about 55 lbs to go. If it were a contest, she'd hardly break a sweat leaving me in her dust. However, it's not a contest!! This isn't really such a problem -- I'm just going to stop talking to her about the band/weight loss. I don't want to make her feel bad about being heavier than she'd like, and if she can't be happy for me on this point, there isn't any point in me telling her about it.

In retrospect, I'm very glad that I didn't tell either of the above friends about my blog. I know that I'm not the only bandster who has had issues like the ones mentioned here, and I feel like I'm doing a decent job of keeping it in perspective. Still, the blatant violation of my trust is something that I find difficult to forgive, and I'm still pretty mad about it.

Some Post-Christmas Fun

(Me with my nephew and niece - 12/26/08)

One of the most fun parts of my trip to South Carolina over Christmas happened on December 26th. That day, we drove to my aunt and uncle's house for a festive post-Christmas dinner. My cousin's wife, Natalie, brought two gingerbread houses for my niece (Grace) and nephew (Connor) to decorate, and we had a complete blast putting candy all over them!

(Natalie, Catherine & Grace - hard at work!)

Ultimately, we decided that it would be awfully fun to decorate the kids! They absolutely loved it, and we were all laughing our heads off over this for about an hour!

I tried to put some Twizzler whiskers on Connor, but they just didn't want to stay on, no matter how much sugar icing I put on them! (Admittedly, he doesn't look too upset about that!)

There go the Twizzler-whiskers! Good thing his Hershey's Kiss horn stayed on!!

Fortunately, we were able to pull Grace away before she pulled a Mike Tyson on Connor's candy ear! :)

Nineteen . . na na na Nineteen (point 4!)

I am feeling really good this morning! I got on the scale and am now 19.4 lbs down!! I'm just on the cusp of having lost 20 lbs!! And, in all honesty, it hasn't been that hard.

Yesterday, however, I did have my first PB-in-restaurant-setting situation. I took the day off from work and went to have my hair done in the morning. I was hungry & had a little time between the appointment and my plans to meet a friend at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), so I stopped in Dos Caminos to have some lunch. I ordered a tortilla soup, which I had at that restaurant ages ago (I called in advance the first time to make sure they could puree it for me). The soup is very small, so I also ordered another small dish -- butternut squash empanadas with goat cheese.

Because the first time I had this soup it was pureed, I didn't realize that they put a lot of melted cheese in it, as well as some small pieces of chicken and avocado. That was fine -- so I thought. I generally ate around the cheese and chewed the solid ingredients well. HOWEVER, I got massively stuck. (Please stop reading if you get grossed out easily. . .) I started sliming in a big way (basically, lots of bubbly saliva kept coming up into my mouth). I thought it would pass quickly, which is what's happened in the past, but it didn't.

I got up casually and went to the ladies room to try to let whatever it was that was blocking me come up. Unfortunately, some person who didn't understand the concept of "OCCUPIED" kept jiggling the handle to the restroom door, so even though I didn't feel like the block was gone, I hurried up and got out of there as soon as I felt a little bit better. I went back to my table, and the empanadas had arrived while I was in the ladies' room.

Unfortunately, when I sat down, I started sliming again. I wanted to look normal, but there was no way I could take another bite of food or a sip of water without fear of making things worse. I cut up an empanada and made it look like I was eating. I then told my (very cute) waiter that I had to run back to the office and asked him to wrap up my lunch and bring the check. Less than a minute later, I came to the sudden realization "I am going to throw up." So, then I went back to the restroom again (feeling very conspicuous) and threw up a little. That made it a bit better, but I was STILL stuck! Thankfully, the check was on my table when I got back, so I threw in $40 (on a $31 bill. . no time for change) and got the heck out of there.

I got into a cab and was still sliming. I thought -- "OMG, I am going to have to ask the driver to pull over so I can throw up!" Fortunately, I had a plastic takeout bag, so I wasn't as panicked as I would have been otherwise. Weirdly, about 2 minutes into the cab ride, whatever had been blocking me made it through the band and I was totally fine (and didn't get stuck again that day).

So, after a brief trip home to freshen up, I finally made it over to MOMA and saw the Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night Exhibit. It was amazing -- there were some really incredibly beautiful paintings on display, including the following one, which is my favorite from that show. Enjoy!

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. . .