Wrapping My Brain Around It, Part II

As I did at 40 lbs, I thought it would be good for me to think about what 50 lbs really means, and try to conceptualize how much weight that is. I still have to go to the gym to pick up 50 lbs of barbells and walk around with them, but I'll do that soon.

With respect to my body, 50 lbs translates into just over 24 inches lost. . and six sizes! If we measured it out in sugar, this is what it would look like:

Measured in kayaks, it would be this blue one right here! (Can you imagine. . . before last October, I was basically carrying that kayak on my back (and hips. . and thighs. . . .) every day!!)

I can practically hear your question. . "But Catherine, what I really want to know is, how much weight is that in Sled Dogs??" Why funny that you should ask! I was effectively carrying Rover here around all day, every day. . .

And, for consistency's sake, we should really think about what 50 lbs means to a fish! This guy's arm looks like it's about to give out.

Bye bye and good riddance, fifty! I don't want to see you ever, ever again.

Nifty Fifty!

I am still on such a high from today's weigh-in! I basically floated through the whole day with a big smile on my face, and it was so great to see all of the nice messages that everyone posted!

Pretty much my expression for the entire day:

As special treat for hitting 50 down, I popped out to The Gap during lunch. We are having a wear-jeans-for-charity week at work, and a friend told me that the pair I had on were too baggy. Mind you, those jeans are a size 18 from The Gap -- and it was a such big milestone for me when I was finally able to fit into them again (on Superbowl Sunday)! It was unimaginable to me at this time last year that they soon would be way too big!

So. . . I get to The Gap and pull a bunch of jeans in size 16. And they were all TOO BIG! I then had someone pull a pair I liked in a 14, and they fit like a glove! WOW!! I totally skipped size 16 in jeans! That means that I'm down 6 jean sizes from when I started. I am just totally thrilled and so happy about this!!

FIFTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

I am so happy right now!!!! I literally have tears in my eyes because I am so thrilled to FINALLY have made it to 50 lbs down!! This is so major and so great, and even though I knew how amazing it would feel to see that number on the scale, it's even better than expected. :)

As of this morning, I am 50.6 lbs down. I have gone from a very unhealthy 37.2 BMI down to a 28.95 (still overweight, but not in the scary range)! And, I've lost a grand total (as of this morning) of 24.05 inches. Thank you, band!!

I have about 25 more pounds to go to my goal. This means I'm only 25 lbs heavier than I want to be!! As opposed to 75 lbs more, which is where I was last October.

I feel very lucky to have had so much support from family and friends (including everyone who follows this blog) and am excited to keep up the work I need to do to get to goal!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY FIFTY!!! :) :)

Point two. . .

The scale this morning shows me as .2 down after the weekend. That means that I am now just 2/10ths of a pound away from being 50 lbs down. I really want to see that new 10 lb range this week.

Hey .2 -- get off of me!!! And take a friend or two with you!!

Home Sweet Hamptons. . .

The pool and pool shed. .

I have serious house envy after my weekend in the Hamptons! We had such a great time out there, played a bunch of tennis, soaked up the sun poolside, went out to dinner in East Hampton and just enjoyed lounging around generally!

"ChickenDog" makes a run for it!

My friend's brother had his new girlfriend visiting and her crazy --but very sweet-- dog. . . who was just cuckoo for tennis balls! We had to put him in the house while we were playing, since he would run across the court, trying to get all the balls! It was actually pretty cute.

I really noticed this weekend that Boot Camp and the band have made a HUGE difference in my overall fitness and endurance on the tennis court. I didn't get tired at all and was able to run as much as I wanted. What a great feeling!!

Here is a photo of a really fun sculpture of an elephant that was in the backyard -- you can move the head up and down, which was highly intriguing to the dog (um, OK, and to me, too)!

The place where we had dinner on Saturday night is right down the road from one of Billy Joel's houses (shown below). Weirdly, he just keeps his motorcycles and cars on the first floor -- you can see them if you look in the window. It was kind of bizarre -- I can't imagine why he would want to keep them there!

I ate reasonably this weekend, though I did have a wee bit of ice cream (not even a whole scoop) on Saturday night. Still, the scale seems to be stubbornly sticking. Darn! I was hoping to get to 50 this weekend!

Weekend, Tennis and Such!

I'm so excited that the weekend is finally here! I'm heading to the Hamptons with one of my friends. Her brother is an eye surgeon and has a very nice house out there, compete with a pool, tennis court and a nice gym. I am thrilled to have been invited!

One thing I haven't mentioned about myself yet is that I LOVE to play tennis! Seriously. LOVE! It's by far my favorite sport. So, I'm dusting off my tennis bag, packing my trusty raquet and my neglected tennis-specific shoes, and am getting ready to go! (We're driving out late to miss the traffic.) I haven't played for about a year and 1/2 -- long before my surgery, and am excited to see how it feels to run around the court now that I'm nearly 50 pounds thinner and in much better shape.

On the WL front, the scale keeps bouncing around (annoyingly). I still don't have that last .4 off to get me to the 50 lb mark, but I know it's just a matter of time. . .

Have a great weekend!

Shocking development. . .

Me at Casa C in Austin

Brace yourselves, people. I actually let one of my friends post a photo of me IN A BATHING SUIT on Facebook, and I didn't untag it or ask her to delete it. Well, I guess there is a first time for everything! :) I love the hat, but it's still hard to see a bathing suit photo of myself. That said, I recognize that this photo shows a lot of improvement from this time last year, so I need to relax and embrace it!

In the interest of full disclosure. . . I did untag at least two other bathing suit photos that were a lot less flattering. . . Guess I've got some more evolving to do! :)

Summer Celebration!

The hostesses

My friend Jennifer and I decided to invite all of our friends to meet up at the bar of The Park restaurant last night (great bar) for a summer celebration. It turned out to be a blast, everyone seemed to mingle with one another, and we wound up having about 30-40 people there. Lots of fun! Here are a few photos from the event.

I had really wanted to invite the cute guy from Boot Camp, but he's been MIA. Oh well!

Erica, Emily, and S

Erica, Jack & Catherine

Am I blue. . . (no, just kind of purple. . )

Um, ouchie!! Check out the big ole purple bruise on my thumb!

I've been doing a decent job of not getting so bruised in Boot Camp. HOWEVER, tonight, I totally whacked my thumb as I grabbed on to a hurdle that I was about to climb over. My thumb instantly got a big purple bruise on it and got really swollen! OUCH! My instructor confirmed that it wasn't broken and told me to suck it up and stop being a baby! Whatever . . Waaah!

I am icing it on a bag of frozen peas right now and all is well. But still! Ouchie!!

Time to cue up a soothing sympathy balad on the world's tiniest violin! :)

By the way, the cute guy hasn't been at Boot Camp for the past week and 1/2. Hopefully he is just on vacation and hasn't finished the program. Fingers crossed!

FORTY NINE!

As of this morning, I'm down 49.6 lbs. Woo-hoo!!! Come on fifty!!! Fifty-point-anything will put me into a new 10-lb range that I haven't seen for probably about six years. I am so excited so see that friendly old number on the scale!

NSVs and Last Dr. Appointment

I posted about the weekend, but never mentioned how my follow-up appointment went with Dr. Ren last Thursday. I didn't need a fill, but since I hadn't been in since March 12th, thought I'd check in and ask her some questions that I had.

She seemed really happy with my progress (I was down 20 lbs since my last visit) and it was reassuring to get her to confirm that it is totally OK that I wasn't losing as quickly now that I'm building muscle in Boot Camp. Actually, it was great to talk to her about this and how I am doing with the band in general. I told her about my crazy workout and got confirmation that I'm OK to climb the highest wall (I've been worried about hurting my port if I have to lean on it -- you can see the three walls at this link -- the third is substantially taller than I am - http://purepowerbootcamp.com/media/print/contem.html).

I also told Dr. Ren that my compartmental syndrome seems to be gone and that I've been able to run. Actually, I got completely choked up when I talked about this and teared up because I was feeling a little overwhelmed by how great this is, and how incredibly happy and grateful I feel to have been able to overcome that problem and to be doing so well in my struggle with my weight. Apparently, I'm not alone in having an emotional response to these things and, according to my Dr., that's why they have tissues all over the office!

The other NSV that I had recently relates to my Austin trip. I generally take all possible measures to make sure that I never have to sit in a middle seat on an airplane. It's not comfortable for anyone, but it's especially bad for the non-teeny! I always fit in my seat, thankfully, but sitting in the middle just sounded like torture to me. . . and I just imagined how much the people on either side would be hating me the whole flight. Anyway, during the shorter (1 hr.) leg of my flight to Austin, I got stuck in the middle seat because I hopped on to an earlier flight at the last minute.

I did not feel like this guy looks during my flight!

In the past, I would have foregone the earlier arrival time to be more comfortable. But I didn't do that this time, and I was completely fine. . and had plenty of room to spare. Major NSV!

A Very Happy 4th!

I just got back from my trip to Austin, and have to say that the only way it could have been better is if it was longer! I got to spend time with my best friend (Grace) and her sister and brother-in-law (C & M), who are long-time friends of mine as well! It was so nice to see everyone and to catch up with them in person. Also, I hadn't seen Grace, C or M since my surgery, and it was great to hear that they really noticed a big difference.

Me at lunch at North with C, prior to our fun shopping jaunt at The Domain, which is a fantastic shopping center in Austin.

No description of this trip would be complete if I did not tell you that C&M are masters in the art of being great hosts (seriously, I was taking notes!) and that staying at their home feels like staying at a very exclusive 5 star resort!

It was H-O-T this weekend!

We spent much of the day time in M&C's glorious pool, sipping bubbly and chatting in the sun. Honestly, it was like heaven! Getting to chill out like that with some of my very favorite people in the world was just fantastic, not to mention very relaxing and decadent! One of the many hosting tips I picked up this weekend is that it is extremely civilized and considerate to put a second, smaller cooler within reach from the pool! It is all the more civilized and considerate when stocked with very nice champagne and ice cold water. :)

Me, living the good life at Casa C!

M manned the grill and made all kinds of delicious food for our 4th of July lunch (and dinner), including that shown below. (No trouble eating a hotdog, and I also had two wings with no issue, though I had a hard time eating steak this weekend. I didn't get stuck, but it did not go down very easily, so I took a long time to eat it to make sure that I chewed it properly. Nonetheless, it was very yummy!)

Grilled hot dogs, an assortment of wings prepared with different marinades, mesquite chips and, of course, a bottle of Louis Roderer Brut Premier!

It was really a great weekend, and there were too many nice things (not to mention delicious meals) to tell about them all. I will add that I was on pins and needles today watching Roddick and Federer battle it out at Wimbledon -- what an amazing match! I am really glad that I got to see it.

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

Restaurant Reflections. . .

My very good friend, Christina, just sent me an e-mail with some great questions about eating with the band. I thought I'd post them here, along with my responses. . .

What do you eat when you go out?
It varies a lot. If my band is feeling tight, I try to order something like soup or something mushy that will be easy to get down. Fish also is a great option, since most varieties are relatively soft in texture and easy to chew.

When you posted about sushi, you said that you didn't eat the rice -- why is that?
I was thinking of the rice as empty calories, and I wanted to be able to eat more fish, so I saved room by not eating the rice as well. I did eat a bite or two of it though, and it went down just fine.

What would you order in an Italian restaurant?
I went to a very nice Italian restaurant on Sunday night . . . Babbo (it's one of Mario Battali's places). I split an arugula salad with Erika (I just had a few bites) and ordered a small plate of gnocci with braised oxtail. It was DELICIOUS!

What would you order in a French restaurant?
Hmm. . I haven't been out for French food recently, but fish is always good and is generally very easy to eat, so that would be one good option. I can actually eat most things, so there is never a problem finding something good on the menu.

How about Mexican?
I go to a Mexican restaurant for brunch most weekends. No problems there. I can have guacamole with a chip or two (not more because I get too full, plus, it's fattening) and usually get either a quesadilla or carnitas (tacos with grilled pork -- I only eat the pork and leave the tortilla).

Do you think you have already changed your eating habits?
Yes. Working with the band is not hard for me at this point -- it has just become what I do.

You wrote what you do for breakfast, but what about other meals?
For lunch at work, I either bring a soup or I order food for delivery. I usually wind up getting soup, but sometimes I do sushi (would do it more, but it's expensive), and I even get a salad once in a while. A few times, when I needed to get in more protein, I've ordered a tuna salad wrap and just ate the tuna. I keep my office door closed during lunch -- that way if I get stuck, no one else has to know about it. (I kept my door closed during lunch before the surgery as well -- that's pretty common in my office.

Dinner varies a lot. If I'm home, I might make a scrambled egg (one egg. . a bit of cheese and some spices) or even have a low-calorie microwaveable dinner. If I'm feeling more festive, I might poach a piece of fish or cook some scallops.

Babbo's gnocci with braised oxtail. I am drooling.

Do you ever fight against hunger?
No. I still get hungry when it's time to eat, but I get satisfied pretty quickly. I eat whenever I am hungry, which is usually 3 times a day. Also, unlike before I was banded, I can't really overeat anymore. I mean, I could, if I wanted to spend an hour or two trying to get down more food than I should have, but that's a big time investment! :) Before the band, I would often eat whatever was on my plate without stopping until I felt full (and by that point, I surely was overly full). Or I'd finish something because it was delicious, even though my hunger was totally satisfied. So, I was frequently overeating.

Do you think you really need the band to eat and live like that or is it mostly a mental help?
I do think that I need it to keep me on the straight and narrow. I think that if I did not have it, it would be very easy to slip into my old habits without really thinking about it. In some ways, the band is a mental help, but the biggest help is that it physically limits me from overeating and from eating whatever I want without thinking about it (how it will go down, whether it is what I want -- given that I only get to eat a small amount each day, etc.) first.

I thought these were great questions -- and hope it made for an interesting post!

Forty-eight!

I waited until today's weigh-in to make it official, but I am now down 48.2 pounds! Funny, it seems that my weight loss is now centered around TOM. I basically stall for most of the month, then drop 2 lbs when TOM is over. That happened last month, too.

Yesterday, I got in a dress that I had ordered for work to tide me through the summer. It's a pinstriped Tahari dress in. . . size 14! AND, it fits! It's a bit low cut for work though -- I'll have to wear a black tank top underneath.

So, after figuring out the measurements and going down 2 more pounds, I'm feeling like I'm back on track and that things are going well. I'm going to check in with my doctor today -- mainly because I haven't been in to see her since March 12th.

I don't need a fill -- 2.85 ccs in my 5 cc band seems to be just right for me. However, I did want her to check to see how my scar is looking, to get her take on my rate of loss (especially recently) and to see if she can suggest anything I can be doing better.

I'm off to Austin later today for the long weekend! Am meeting up there with my best friend, and we will stay at the home of her sister and brother-in-law, who are two also friends of mine from college. I'm really looking forward to it! Happy 4th everyone!

Inch-analysis

I had an interesting revelation yesterday. It turns out that I have lost almost as many inches during the last 17 lbs as I did during the first thirty. So, I guess all this exercise really is paying off.

For example at 30 down, I had lost 3.2 inches from my waist and 3.25 from my hips. But, just 17 lbs later, and my waist is down 6 inches and my hips are down 6.25. Also, I was 11.8 inches down in total (from the points I'm measuring) at the 30 lb point, but 21.6 inches down at 47 lbs.

I don't have time to do all of my measurements this morning (and I'm down another whole pound today. . . though I did have 3 glasses of wine last night, so maybe I'm a little dehydrated), but I checked my hips and waist and I've lost another fraction of an inch from both already. Interesting!


I'm very glad that I've been keeping track of my measurements, since it's really helped me get through this period where the scale hasn't shown much in the way of results!

Forty seven!

Wow! This last pound was hard-earned! Again, I know it's because I'm building a lot of muscle right now, but boy! It sure did take a long time to get this one off.

I had a great weekend. On Friday, I had drinks with a friend, then had my hair done on Saturday. I spent Saturday night letterpress printing the thank you cards for Adam & Erica (photo to follow). Then, Sunday, like a superstar :) I got up, ran 2 miles on the treadmill (!) and had brunch with Nadia and Erika (Erika with a "k" being a different friend than Erica with a "c").

Erika and I wound up wandering around Soho and the West Village after brunch, and saw part of the Gay Pride Parade, which is always fun to watch. We heard so much Michael Jackson -- from the floats, in stores, and playing on the radios of passing cars. While I have problems with how MJ lived his life, there is no denying that he had an incredible number of great songs and was a huge influence on music and my generation.

Point One

The scale FINALLY budged this morning! A big, whopping .1! I know it's not exactly anything to write home (blog?) about, but I'm at least happy that it moved in the right direction.

It took 17 days for me to get that off! 17 days of crazy killer exercise, I might add. In the last week, I ran on Sunday (20 minutes of constant running, 10 min. bike, plus abs) and went to Boot Camp three times. That is a lot for me.

I completely get it that the plateau is due to me building muscle. And, I do see that my body is looking better every day. The plateau isn't going to deter me from signing up for another session of Boot Camp, either. It's totally addictive (in an awesome way) and I really like it.

Also, before I got home last night and heard the news about this RSVP situation, I was in the best mood. The very cute guy from Boot Camp and I chatted a bit more before class, and that was a nice bonus. :) No clue if he is interested, or even single, but it's nice anyway!

Peter Pan is a Moron

A few posts ago, I mentioned that my ex-boyfriend RSVPd to the wedding I'm going to in July without a date. Well, it turns out that. . not only is he a complete idiot, but he's a complete idiot who doesn't know how to fill out a freaking RSVP card.

Erica had her fiance check with him to make sure he wasn't bringing this girl he has been seeing. (Yes, Mr. "I think I'm just meant to be alone. . despite that this is the greatest relationship I've seen in my entire life and I've never been so happy" started dating someone else 3 months after we broke up and is still seeing her.) Well, apparently, he IS bringing her. . he just forgot to list her on the RSVP card (moron).

It sure is a good thing A&E checked, since I told Erica that I would be her designated person-to-insulate-her-from-crises at the wedding. His date's unexpected appearance at the event not only would have been a rude surprise, but I also would have had to be the schmuck running around trying to find a chair for her, since she wouldn't be on the seating chart for the reception. Unbelievable.

You know, I get it that he's allowed to bring a date to this thing. We are broken up. Heck, I broke up with him! But, what sticks in my craw is, among other things, his incredibly bad taste of claiming to be someone who "is just meant to be alone," then immediately jumping into another longterm relationship (that is surely going nowhere). And, to add insult to injury, now I have to be at an event with them together. It's just gross.

Anyway, I'll be fine. I'm just annoyed and irritated and a little upset. Better get it out of my system now, since my mission is to exude fabulousness and light at this event. And, at least after this wedding, I never have to see him again. Hmph.

Scientific Ice Cream Experiment. . .

Mad Scientist. .

My scale still isn't budging, so I decided to take the advice I've received to up my calorie intake for a day or two. Of course, if I'm going to do that, you know I'm going to do it in a very enjoyable way! Last night, I bought a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream. . Vanilla Swiss Almond (with chocolate covered almond bits) and enjoyed a reasonable-sized bowl (then went back to the freezer for an extra spoonful. . . three times).


The results? The scale is up a pound today! YIKES!!! I just put the rest of the ice cream in the sink and ran water over the carton until it all melted! People, don't try this at home! :)

Er, maybe I was supposed to up the calories with protein? You think? :)

Welcome Back, Sushi

Sushi is one of my favorite things to eat but, for some reason, I haven't had any since I had my surgery. This is a pretty big change, since I used to have sushi about once a week. . and would have had it more if I hadn't been worried about mercury!

So, today during lunch, I ordered from a Japanese restaurant. . . 2 pieces of hamachi sashimi, one piece of tuna sushi (but I didn't eat the rice), a California roll, and some green tea. I chewed carefully, and it went down just fine. Actually, it dawned on me that sashimi is a really great pro-band meal. . it's mainly protein, is easy to chew up, and is delicious. Sushi, I'm back!!

Tonight, I started week 5 of Boot Camp. I was SO TIRED after work . . it's been raining for days and days here, and the weather has been sapping my energy (not to mention the Max wake-up plan...). BUT, even though I really wanted to cancel, I went anyway. I'm glad that I did. . . there is a really cute guy in my class, and we've been chatting before class here and there, but tonight we got to talk a bit more than other times. :) So, that was a nice bonus, and I got a great workout to boot!

Little Miss Crankypants Takes a Whine Break!

OK, I admit it. I am a crankpot this morning, despite that I'm in for a really fun day and am bound to get in a better mood soon.

I thought I'd sleep in today, since I've been really tired all week. Of course, Max (my cat) had other ideas. As usual, his M.O. is to get me out of bed as close to 7 a.m. as he possibly can so that I will feed him. He does this by being as annoying as humanly (felinely?) possible. . pawing me, scampering on the bed, sitting on my back, meowing. . I love him, but it is so IRRITATING. I actually endure this because I REFUSE to get out of bed and feed him while he is acting up. So, I basically sat there for an extra 30 minutes after I was awake in order to avoid rewarding his bad behavior. It's uncanny -- he has a perfect grasp of the time . . or maybe can read my alarm clock. . who knows?! :) So, I've been up since about 8 a.m., despite that I was awake until about 2. Grrrrrreat. And, I don't want to go back to sleep, since I have things to do this morning.

No. 1 on my S. List today

Other than that, today should be a really good one. I'm going to take two new dresses to be tailored, then will head out to Long Island to visit some very good friends and their adorable children. I am really looking forward to spending time with them, and always have a fantastic time when I see them, so the crank is bound to lift before I even get there!

BUT, while I'm still on the crankwagon, let me get something else off my chest (other than the 1.5 inches I've lost since May . . WTF?!). My scale is STILL stuck at the same weight. Thank God I took my measurements, or I'd be really upset about this, given how hard and how regularly I am working out and how well I've been sticking to my diet.

Seriously, I have been busting my butt at Boot Camp -- literally, doing the hardest workout of my entire life -- and have done it 3x a week for 4 weeks in a row. That makes 12 ridiculously hard sessions where I have spent a full hour working out to capacity, drenched in sweat. AND, I have been very reasonable in my diet on the whole. So, how much weight have I lost? 2.2 measely pounds. IN FOUR WEEKS.

To anyone else in my position, I would say "Don't worry about it. You are losing inches and toning, and that is more important than the number on the scale." And that advice is sound, and I remind myself of it every day when I get on the scale and see the same number. And, I do see that my body is improving and looking better. AND, I'm even reminding myself that this slow period is giving my body a chance to adjust to the weight loss and for my skin to shrink.

I know I should not fixate so much on the number and that it will move eventually when I am not building so much muscle, but darn it!! I just want to hit the 50 pound mark. (And then the 60 . .and then the 70.)

OK, time to stop whining and start showering! :)

Thanks! And 21.6 Inches Down! (Measuring Up Part IV)

In the past week or so, I've received a bunch of messages through lapbandtalk.com from fellow bandsters who read this blog. I was very happy and honored to hear that people really like it, and (!) one person told me that I (me! Traditionally lazy gym girl!!) had motivated her to get back to working out! That is just amazing to me, and makes me so happy. So, thank you for letting me know!

Tonight I complete week 4 of boot camp. Here's the weird thing. . . (well, maybe not so weird, since muscle weighs more than fat). I have not lost any weight at all during the last 10 days. However, since May 6, 2009 (last time I took my measurements), I've had a few changes. Weirdly, the inches are not coming off evenly right now.

Waist: -1 inch (Yay!)
Hips: -1 inch (Yay!)
Chest: -1.5 inches (wha??)
Wrist: -.2 inch (whatever)
Forearm: No change
Thigh: No change
Calf: up .2 inch (! No!)
Ankle: No change
Upper Arm: No change (bummer)

Kind of surprising, right? I'm happy for the change in my hips and waist, but no loss from my thighs?! And a lot from my chest? Seems weird to me. I'm guessing that my body is just moving stuff around and things will equal out at some point, but this was a little weird!

Just to put this in context, here are my inch losses from day one:

Waist: -6 inches
Hips: -6.25 inches
Chest: -4.5 inches
Wrist: -.75 inch
Forearm: -.7 inch
Thigh: 1.5 inch
Calf: .8 inch
Ankle: .3 inch
Upper Arm: .8 inch

That's a total of 21.6 inches down! Wow. Go, Band!

Date Update. . .

Most surprisingly, my blind date last night was the first non-horrible date I've had since I broke up with my old boyfriend! It was just a short meeting before I headed off to dinner with Erica and J, the girl who set up the blind date. But, it was a lot of fun, the guy was attractive, nice and interesting, and I felt like we both had a good time!

In other news, Erica told me that my ex (of the Peter Pan Avoidance Tour) has RSVPd for the wedding and it looks like he won't be bringing a date. So, apparently, I've been torturing myself thinking about this for months for no reason. That really is a load off of my mind, and now I'm actually looking forward to the wedding 100%. Before it was more like 60% dread, 40% excitement for my friends. This is a much better balance!

Catching up!

I never did post anything about the bachelorette weekend in Shelter Island (the weekend before last). It really was a very fun weekend, and pretty tame as far as bachelorette parties go! Here is a photo of our group at The Frisky Oyster in Greenport -- a great spot!

It was really good for me to go to this and to bond a bit with the other women who will be at the wedding (given that I have to see my former boyfriend there. . . possibly with this girl he has been dating). At least I feel like I have a bit of a possy who will have my back at the event! :) E (who is on the far left) has offered to step on my ex's foot in stilettos if he is causing me any grief whatsoever. :) Doubt we'll need that backup measure, but I sure do appreciate the solidarity!!

At Sunset Beach on Shelter Island, after dinner

Weekend Fun

I had a really enjoyable weekend, but avoided the scale this morning because I thought it might be up, after all of the good food and wine I had over the last two days. I'll hop on it in the morning.

Not too much to report tonight, but I did want to check in. Tomorrow begins Week 4 of Boot Camp. Even though the scale has barely moved since I started, I noticed that I've already lost about 1/2 an inch from my waist and hips, and my body looks better to me.

At some point in the next week or so, I'm supposed to be going on a blind date with a friend of a friend. . . I haven't done one of those for a long time, but I think it's important for me to get out there. . . will let you know how it goes!

Reflection. .

This morning, I took out a storage bin of clothing I'd put away a year ago because it no longer fit (all too small). I was really surprised to see how much of it now fits -- or is very close to fitting. One of the things I tried on is this great Ralph Lauren dress that I wore to my friend Philipp's wedding in Germany in 2000 or 2001. It didn't fit perfectly, but it's close.

I actually got a bit choked up doing this, since I had the thought that "wow. . I am getting my self back." Does that make sense? It's as though I was living under some kind of cloud for the past several years. Not that I didn't enjoy myself, and not that I wasn't engaged in my life. It's more that I was just ignoring my body, whereas now I'm paying a lot of attention to being healthy and am really using my body and working it out hard. This feels so, so much better than what I was doing before.

Landmark SV & NSV

Today was a great day for me. By finally breaking the 46 pound mark, I got my BMI into the "overweight" range. . .the last range before the "ideal weight" range! Well, at least according to the NYU site. This is major. I mean, it's no Onederland, but it feels really good. I feel like I just passed a major milestone on the marathon to goal.

I went to Boot Camp tonight -- can you believe that I've already finished my 8th class (out of 24)? I'm probably going to sign up for another session as soon as this one ends. I can't believe it, but I really love the workout. Also, yesterday was the first time that I wasn't put in the beginner's group when they broke up the class. They actually broke into 3 groups (usually it's only 2), but for the first time, I wasn't in the worst one! That feels like a landmark to me too!

Another nice thing that happened to me was that, on my way in to the office, I went in via the entrance I always used to use. It's not the closest one -- but it was the one on the way after I picked up my former breakfast. . a bagel with butter. The security guard on that side looked at me and said "Wow! I almost didn't recognize you! You look like a movie star!! You look great -- how much did you lose?" And, on a total high from today's SV, I said. . "Forty-six as of this morning! Thanks!!" He totally made my day. :)

Forty-Six!!

FINALLY!!!! Some movement on the scale! I am down 46.4 lbs as of this morning!! Thank you, Boot Camp and my band! :)

Catching up!

I've been MIA all week because I've had a ton of things going on! When last I left off, I was about to have a dinner party for my friend Don. We had a great time, and everything turned out really well. Most of the guests went to college with us, except for the guy (see below) at the head of the table, who is married to L, a close friend of Don's from college.

Here is a shot of us at the table.

So, that dinner was on Wednesday of last week. On Thursday, I went to Boot Camp, came home to change, and headed out for the birthday party of my friend Nadia (who is one of my best friends). This was a big group get together at a bar on the upper east side, and one of her other friends brought lots of Hello Kitty paraphenalia. Check out her Hello Kitty tiara and candy necklace. SASSY!

Then, the next morning (Friday), I got an early jitney out to Shelter Island for Erica's bachelorette party weekend. I had a great time -- low key but really fun and relaxing -- and will post about that next! Don is still in town, so we hung out last night after I got back from Boot Camp. So, there has not been much time for posting!

The one thing I will say is that my weight loss is totally stalled. I know that it's because I am putting on muscle, but it's still frustrating. I've been at 44 lbs down for quite a while now. Haven't stepped on the scale yet today, but I'll update if there is any good news.

Dinner Party Deluge!

My friend Don, who is one of my two best friends from college (not to mention life in general!), is coming into town tonight. He just successfully defended his thesis for his Ph.D. in linguistics (with highest honors, I might add!) and we're going to celebrate! Instead of getting everyone together at a restaurant, I thought I'd have a small dinner party. Here is how I set the table:

I used this really pretty Japanese paper (leftover from the bellybands for my best friend's wedding invitations . . you can see that in an earlier post) as placemats. I saw that idea in a magazine recently (Martha?) and loved it. The lighting in my livingroom isn't that great, so the photo doesn't really show the color. Here is a closeup:

I'm just (shhhh. . . ) going to do the same menu that I did for Erica's shower last week, since I love the recipes and they are easy to do for company, because you can do almost all of the prep in advance. I don't like being stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is having fun! The only thing I am changing is . . . no bacon (so sad!) because Don doesn't eat red meat. We will, however, be having some celebratory bubbly!

Boot Camp Update

I had my fourth day of boot camp last night, and it's getting better -- I am actually really loving it! I can already tell that I'm getting stronger, and I really enjoy pushing myself and the whole group setting of the class. People are very supportive and great. I even went running on Sunday night on my own because (a) I've been loving that working out feeling; and (b) I need to get better at running for boot camp!

There is a great video showing the course at the link below. BTW, the cargo net is where I got most of my bruises! I've figured out how not to get as bruised, and I don't think I have any new bruises from my last two classes. WHEW!
http://purepowerbootcamp.com/media/video/ (the Fox News Channel clip is a really good one)

Shower Power!

With all of the reflection I've been doing on my pre-op journal, I completely forgot to post about the shower I threw on Thursday! It turned out to be a lot of fun, and people didn't start leaving until after midnight (it started at 7), which I take to be a good sign!

Here is the invitation I made . . with the square brown envelope (to match the brown & blue of the wedding invitations). I drew this caricature of the bride & think it turned out to be a decent likeness!

Here is a better image of the file I printed from. . .

The food turned out really well (and I had no trouble eating, which was good, since I didn't know everyone there that well and only the bride knows about my band). I made my favorite salad (arugula with dates, Fuji apple, caramelized walnuts, shallots and manchego) and. . . a Paula Dean recipe for shrimp with cheese grits that is so delicious (it involves a lot of butter and cheese. . and bacon. . hmm. . wonder why I didn't lose weight last week. . . ). Then, we had cupcakes (from Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery . . so much better than Magnolia!) for dessert. Yum yum!

The bride-to-be! I love the shirt!

Four friends, laughing their heads off (not sure at what)! Check out the cute cupcake stand on the table (which you can kind of see. . .) . . a friend at work lent it to me!

We only did one game -- I had the groom come to my office before the shower and videotaped him answering some Newlywed Game-type questions. Then, the bride had to guess what he answered. . and the guest who correctly guessed how many the bride got right won a cute travel package of yummy L'Occitaine body products. I was able to hook my camera up to my TV, so after she answered, I could play back his answers. It was a big hit, and a lot of fun! I would definitely do that again if I throw another shower.

And, on another note, here is a photo of me with my youngest cutie pie nephew from the weekend before last, after we saw The Lion King (which was amazing)!