After 12 days of only up and down movement on the scale it finally shifted today. I am down to 209. I hope this is a decent run as I am only 5 pounds from my 100 pound loss.
It is laundry day and I dug to the bottom of my slacks drawer to find something to wear while the rest went into the washing machine. I pulled out a pair of slacks I bought to take to Germany with me back in October. They are 18W and they are way too big. I think it is time to cull my wardrobe again :) Christmas time is not really a good time of year to spend money on myself but I smell a good shopping spree in my future...woohooo.
Living with a lapband after seeing goal is just as much work as getting there. This blog chronicles my journey to qualify for band surgery, my work to goal weight and now living with the band long term. Weight will always be an issue but there is a whole lot of living to be done.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Verizon is Evil!!!!
We have fiber optics to our house and have had (until last night) Verizon cable television and telephone service. David (hubby) has a separate commercial business account for our internet so he can run his server and other sorts of high powered networking stuff. The internet costs us 99.00 per month. The TV and telephone were bundled together and cost (or at least that is what I thought) about the same amount. This was fine although we had gotten into the bad habit of watching TV too much. As we do when money gets a little tight around here we took an examine of our bank statement (yes were are poor money managers and do not pay close enough attention on a regular basis). Well the television and phone account tripled this fall for no apparent reason. When I called to find out what was going on I was told that all bundled accounts expire every year and it is up to the customer to pay attention and renegotiate their contract so that they can rebundle the service. I had according to the Verizon people been switched, without consulting me, into an ala carte plan. As my
Aussie friends say...FARK that!!! You know darn good and well that the system is set up for the many people like me who are too busy making the money to pay attention and remember every year to renegotiate!!!
I canceled my service immediately and told them they were dishonest and I would no longer do business with them. We cut the phone back to minimum service (there is no other land line game in town but also not regulated-thank you Ronald Reagan). When David got home from work I told him what I had done and he was also appalled by their business practices. He said the commercial internet had not changed since we got it (perhaps they take better care of their business customers than they do their residential??). David also had some ideas as to how we could cut out our land line. I suggested going cell only but instead he has found Vonage and we are dumping Verizon for their internet based system. We are not sure if we will be able to access a new internet provider (the only other company is comcast who is equally evil and will not do static IP addresses).
I hate companies (and we have run across a few lately). Who take advantage of people with hidden fees and expiration dates. We recently paid off a couple of no interest (yeah right!!!) loans that we took out as we were working on the house.
One was for carpeting the company said no interest but did not say you had to pay 39 dollars a month to keep the 0% rate and that it would go to 39% interest if you did not. They also did not say that you would never be able to get anyone on a phone. The other was also a 0% interest loan that supposedly was no pay and went to 25% interest if it was not paid off in a year. What these people did not tell you was that you would also be charged a pay off fee of 50.00 per month. Well guess what that amount worked out to?? about the same as the 25% interest!! Jerks. So we paid both of these loans off and are wiser consumers.
I never was much of a loan user until this money pit of home fix it began. I now realize that I was better off avoiding it. David and I after these eye opening experiences have learned that if we want a loan there is no free ride. If we get a loan it will be through our credit union and nowhere else.
Hope you all have a debt free Christmas :) and watch your bank statements. Apparently there are no honest non-loophole businesses out there anymore.
Aussie friends say...FARK that!!! You know darn good and well that the system is set up for the many people like me who are too busy making the money to pay attention and remember every year to renegotiate!!!
I canceled my service immediately and told them they were dishonest and I would no longer do business with them. We cut the phone back to minimum service (there is no other land line game in town but also not regulated-thank you Ronald Reagan). When David got home from work I told him what I had done and he was also appalled by their business practices. He said the commercial internet had not changed since we got it (perhaps they take better care of their business customers than they do their residential??). David also had some ideas as to how we could cut out our land line. I suggested going cell only but instead he has found Vonage and we are dumping Verizon for their internet based system. We are not sure if we will be able to access a new internet provider (the only other company is comcast who is equally evil and will not do static IP addresses).
I hate companies (and we have run across a few lately). Who take advantage of people with hidden fees and expiration dates. We recently paid off a couple of no interest (yeah right!!!) loans that we took out as we were working on the house.
One was for carpeting the company said no interest but did not say you had to pay 39 dollars a month to keep the 0% rate and that it would go to 39% interest if you did not. They also did not say that you would never be able to get anyone on a phone. The other was also a 0% interest loan that supposedly was no pay and went to 25% interest if it was not paid off in a year. What these people did not tell you was that you would also be charged a pay off fee of 50.00 per month. Well guess what that amount worked out to?? about the same as the 25% interest!! Jerks. So we paid both of these loans off and are wiser consumers.
I never was much of a loan user until this money pit of home fix it began. I now realize that I was better off avoiding it. David and I after these eye opening experiences have learned that if we want a loan there is no free ride. If we get a loan it will be through our credit union and nowhere else.
Hope you all have a debt free Christmas :) and watch your bank statements. Apparently there are no honest non-loophole businesses out there anymore.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
I Hate Cold Weather!!!
We are still under a freezing front. The temperatures have been moving up and down from the single digits to low 20's all week. Our cars are suffering. I woke up today on a mad and disorganized dash to travel back over the pass to Eastern Oregon and found that my tires were flat. Apparently cold weather causes them to deflate. I did not know that!!
Yesterday our truck (used by Cinda to go back and forth between university and home) started with plumes of white smoke and spewed liquid all over the ground. We think it is a radiator problem that was also caused by the cold.
I am thinner and have lost my one cozy parka of fat. I have been cold inside and outside. Right now my toes are freeeezzzing. Although I like the thinness the cold annoys me. I want to wear shorts and sandals all year long :) Does anyone have a spare room they can lend in a nice warm weather location????
Yesterday our truck (used by Cinda to go back and forth between university and home) started with plumes of white smoke and spewed liquid all over the ground. We think it is a radiator problem that was also caused by the cold.
I am thinner and have lost my one cozy parka of fat. I have been cold inside and outside. Right now my toes are freeeezzzing. Although I like the thinness the cold annoys me. I want to wear shorts and sandals all year long :) Does anyone have a spare room they can lend in a nice warm weather location????
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
I Now Eat Less Than My 20 Month Old Grandson
Update:
Well the great prune removal did the trick and by dinner I was feeling OK. David (hubby) and I in a rare moment of collaboration cooked dinner together. He was the fry guy and I prepared beer batter and the fish. After he finished the fries I dropped in my fish. It was yummy and I managed to eat 1 3 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch strip of fish and 3 french fries. The best part is there was very little pain involved in eating it...phew..I have to say over the last couple of days I was beginnig to worry that I had done some damage.
Now don't think that I am a regular fry-up kind of girl. This was only the second time in my life I have attempted deep far frying. I do love fish and chips though (ever since my band this love has increased dramatically). I decided that since we were not eating out anymore that I might as well make them in. They did turn out well if I do say so myself.
Original Post
I have my grandson over today for a visit. My oldest daughter is taking her finals for school. For lunch I made a grilled cheese sandwich and split it. I put a prune on the side for me and about 6 corn chips. My grandson had the same only he also had a few segments of satsuma orange. Before starting I cut both of our half sandwiches into quarters. So I ate 1/4 of my sandwich and then ate about 3 corn chips and my prune. that was it. Done.....My grandson then proceeded to eat the rest of my corn chips, his corn chips, his half a sandwich and orange. He did not like the prune so I threw it away after he spent some time sliming it all over his plate.
I don't know if i would have been able to eat the remaining 1/4 sandwich if I had taken a pass on the cornchips but geeezzz this tight band of mine is really cutting into my eating portions again. I am sitting here after my measly lunch and feeling like I am going to need to PB. I have once already relieving myself of a little spit. Ok...just did it again. Hmm I am wondering if corn chips are not going to stay on my eating list! I have been super tight for the past few days and it is beginning to worry me. Now I have not made the best choices of food in the world given my tight state but I am going to report them regardless:
Sunday: Breakfast: no breakfast, lunch: 1/2 grilled cheese, snack-1 1/2 cup protein shake,1 cupcake. Dinner-1 cup chicken tortilla soup, 1/4 grilled cheese (part of my daughters meal ordered out). 1 small slice of french bread 2 Tbls. egg salad.
felt like nothing-seems like quite a lot looking at it all together.
Monday: Breakfast: 1/4 c egg salad. Lunch: nothing, Snack: skim mint mocha from Starbucks Dinner: 3.5 chicken nuggets. Evening snack: 100 calorie yogurt thingy.
Tuesday: Breakfast: nothing, Lunch: 1/4 grilled cheese sandwich, 1 prune, 3 cornchips. I have home made fish and chips on the menu for dinner but I am not sure I am going to be able to eat any fish as my tummy hurts right now big time.
.......................A brief station break............
ahh so yes in real time typing I got to the root of the problem-stuck prune. finally a forceful and not to pleasant vomit and the offending prune revealed itself. In my quest to eat I have again slipped into shoveling food in without chewing enough. arghghghghghghg
The worst of it all is (visualize a whiny voice here) that since I feel like I have not eaten much of anything (or as my friends says: I do not eat anymore). I should still be losing weight. Nope..I am up 1 pound! @#$%@$%@#$# scale.
Well the great prune removal did the trick and by dinner I was feeling OK. David (hubby) and I in a rare moment of collaboration cooked dinner together. He was the fry guy and I prepared beer batter and the fish. After he finished the fries I dropped in my fish. It was yummy and I managed to eat 1 3 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch strip of fish and 3 french fries. The best part is there was very little pain involved in eating it...phew..I have to say over the last couple of days I was beginnig to worry that I had done some damage.
Now don't think that I am a regular fry-up kind of girl. This was only the second time in my life I have attempted deep far frying. I do love fish and chips though (ever since my band this love has increased dramatically). I decided that since we were not eating out anymore that I might as well make them in. They did turn out well if I do say so myself.
Original Post
I have my grandson over today for a visit. My oldest daughter is taking her finals for school. For lunch I made a grilled cheese sandwich and split it. I put a prune on the side for me and about 6 corn chips. My grandson had the same only he also had a few segments of satsuma orange. Before starting I cut both of our half sandwiches into quarters. So I ate 1/4 of my sandwich and then ate about 3 corn chips and my prune. that was it. Done.....My grandson then proceeded to eat the rest of my corn chips, his corn chips, his half a sandwich and orange. He did not like the prune so I threw it away after he spent some time sliming it all over his plate.
I don't know if i would have been able to eat the remaining 1/4 sandwich if I had taken a pass on the cornchips but geeezzz this tight band of mine is really cutting into my eating portions again. I am sitting here after my measly lunch and feeling like I am going to need to PB. I have once already relieving myself of a little spit. Ok...just did it again. Hmm I am wondering if corn chips are not going to stay on my eating list! I have been super tight for the past few days and it is beginning to worry me. Now I have not made the best choices of food in the world given my tight state but I am going to report them regardless:
Sunday: Breakfast: no breakfast, lunch: 1/2 grilled cheese, snack-1 1/2 cup protein shake,1 cupcake. Dinner-1 cup chicken tortilla soup, 1/4 grilled cheese (part of my daughters meal ordered out). 1 small slice of french bread 2 Tbls. egg salad.
felt like nothing-seems like quite a lot looking at it all together.
Monday: Breakfast: 1/4 c egg salad. Lunch: nothing, Snack: skim mint mocha from Starbucks Dinner: 3.5 chicken nuggets. Evening snack: 100 calorie yogurt thingy.
Tuesday: Breakfast: nothing, Lunch: 1/4 grilled cheese sandwich, 1 prune, 3 cornchips. I have home made fish and chips on the menu for dinner but I am not sure I am going to be able to eat any fish as my tummy hurts right now big time.
.......................A brief station break............
ahh so yes in real time typing I got to the root of the problem-stuck prune. finally a forceful and not to pleasant vomit and the offending prune revealed itself. In my quest to eat I have again slipped into shoveling food in without chewing enough. arghghghghghghg
The worst of it all is (visualize a whiny voice here) that since I feel like I have not eaten much of anything (or as my friends says: I do not eat anymore). I should still be losing weight. Nope..I am up 1 pound! @#$%@$%@#$# scale.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Catching Up
I came home from my business trip and immediately went back to work on grouting the bathroom we have been remodeling. Last year at this time I would not have been able to do observations all day, drive 4 hours home and then go right back to work doing home-fix it. I would have come home. Crashed on the couch and probably taken a nap! This time I had energy to spare. I do not think there is a better feeling on this earth than that!
I said that I would report on the muscle milk I bought during my trip...Sorry I do not know what flavor my fellow bandsters are drinking but the vanilla flavor I was able to buy at Walmart was the most vile tasting stuff on the planet! It tasted like mold. I checked the date thinking it had gone bad but no it was a year in range. I tried to pass it off to one of my daughters thinking that my taste buds were just too sensitive but she agreed with me that the drink was not good.
This is a problem as the Jamba juice that was once located right near my office at the university went out of business. My office-mate and I decided to cut out for a little protein drink and walk the other day and it was just gone..no sign in the window no warning ahead. Very strange and difficult as I had begun to rely on the Jamba juice to get me through my work days without reverting back to my old McDonalds habit.
We spent most of the weekend working on the little bathroom and attempting a clean out in the garage (not much success as we missed the dump hours). I am hoping to get the plumber in tomorrow to install a small pedestal sink and toilet. As I have finally figured out how to install my own pictures from the camera I will for sure be sharing pictures when it is done. While I am at it I will throw in some more ones of the house as it is looking very good if I do say so myself.
Finally I am adding a poll. Our house in for sale right now and we are in a quandary. Do we decorate the house for Christmas or not? We live in a mixed area with several populations that do not celebrate Christmas. If we decide to decorate how much? How little? It would be easier not too but quite boring I think.
I said that I would report on the muscle milk I bought during my trip...Sorry I do not know what flavor my fellow bandsters are drinking but the vanilla flavor I was able to buy at Walmart was the most vile tasting stuff on the planet! It tasted like mold. I checked the date thinking it had gone bad but no it was a year in range. I tried to pass it off to one of my daughters thinking that my taste buds were just too sensitive but she agreed with me that the drink was not good.
This is a problem as the Jamba juice that was once located right near my office at the university went out of business. My office-mate and I decided to cut out for a little protein drink and walk the other day and it was just gone..no sign in the window no warning ahead. Very strange and difficult as I had begun to rely on the Jamba juice to get me through my work days without reverting back to my old McDonalds habit.
We spent most of the weekend working on the little bathroom and attempting a clean out in the garage (not much success as we missed the dump hours). I am hoping to get the plumber in tomorrow to install a small pedestal sink and toilet. As I have finally figured out how to install my own pictures from the camera I will for sure be sharing pictures when it is done. While I am at it I will throw in some more ones of the house as it is looking very good if I do say so myself.
Finally I am adding a poll. Our house in for sale right now and we are in a quandary. Do we decorate the house for Christmas or not? We live in a mixed area with several populations that do not celebrate Christmas. If we decide to decorate how much? How little? It would be easier not too but quite boring I think.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Just when I Was Getting Cocky!
Ok just to knock me down a peg or two. I bought clothes without trying them on.
I am away on a two day business trip to the other side of Oregon again. On my way over I stopped off at a Walmart store for a little shopping. While there picking up the food to eat while I am over here (no thoughts of it as I left the house today) I took a circle through the regular sized department (i refused to look at the large size department). Walmart had a ton of cute t-shirts and a pair of shorts made by Danskin. Well being the cocky 'skinny' girl that I am I picked up two sized extra large tshirts and a pair of sized extra large shorts without trying them on. Welll...I know..stupid duhhhh.
The shorts fit fine around me but they are soooo short that my poor saggy legs sticking out the bottom looked like those of an elephant...pay special attention to the really wrinkly bit up by where the elephant leg meets up with his body..you know that upper thigh area...
yep..the elephant leg looks less wrinkly and saggy.
One layered look shirt was so tight that my arms had rolls and it dug into my side fat. The second shirt was thinner and with medium length short sleeves. It fits on the tight side but is not a total write off like the shorts and other shirt are.
Back to the the other purposes for my stop-
I get wicked neck aches when I drive for long periods back to back. Yesterday my 30 minute commute to Grace's school plus some shopping turned my driving and shopping combination to 2 hours. On Monday I drove my 1.5 hour each way commute to my university and then today it was 3.5 hours to my hotel and tomorrow will be driving around the region from school to school. Needless to say I needed drugs to combat the neck pain. I have found that Alieve helps with this problem. My band poses a problem, however. I am now tight enough that I worry about pills getting stuck in my pouch. Last week when I had this neck pain problem I chewed the pills I took from my dad in my mouth but the taste is not very good and the medicine got caught in my teeth. So I stopped and got some of my own tonight and a pill crusher to save my poor teeth the aftertaste. I talked to the pharmacist about the problem and asked her if the gel caps would help me. She said that I was probably much better using a crushed pill than gelcaps because the coating would take a while to dissolve.
While at Walmart I also got a few protein bars. Every so often I try out some new brands because I have gotten tired of my twisted protein bars. I like them but they get boring after a while. I picked up a couple of other brands and will let you know if they are any good. I also bought a 4-pack of muscle milk. I think one of you said you among the blogs I read or who follow me said they liked them. I am giving them a try and will keep you posted if I can choke them down.
Finally I bought some of my baby belle cheeses a small baguette a box of prunes (a girl has to get fiber sometimes), some Diet Coke, OK and you got me..a box of red vines out of naughtiness. I have not opened the box yet. My dinner consisted of two cheeses and a small ripped off piece of bread. I am still full and I ate them at 8pm. I chased the cheese and bread with a prune about 30 min. ago. I think that will be it for me tonight.
I am away on a two day business trip to the other side of Oregon again. On my way over I stopped off at a Walmart store for a little shopping. While there picking up the food to eat while I am over here (no thoughts of it as I left the house today) I took a circle through the regular sized department (i refused to look at the large size department). Walmart had a ton of cute t-shirts and a pair of shorts made by Danskin. Well being the cocky 'skinny' girl that I am I picked up two sized extra large tshirts and a pair of sized extra large shorts without trying them on. Welll...I know..stupid duhhhh.
The shorts fit fine around me but they are soooo short that my poor saggy legs sticking out the bottom looked like those of an elephant...pay special attention to the really wrinkly bit up by where the elephant leg meets up with his body..you know that upper thigh area...
yep..the elephant leg looks less wrinkly and saggy.
One layered look shirt was so tight that my arms had rolls and it dug into my side fat. The second shirt was thinner and with medium length short sleeves. It fits on the tight side but is not a total write off like the shorts and other shirt are.
Back to the the other purposes for my stop-
I get wicked neck aches when I drive for long periods back to back. Yesterday my 30 minute commute to Grace's school plus some shopping turned my driving and shopping combination to 2 hours. On Monday I drove my 1.5 hour each way commute to my university and then today it was 3.5 hours to my hotel and tomorrow will be driving around the region from school to school. Needless to say I needed drugs to combat the neck pain. I have found that Alieve helps with this problem. My band poses a problem, however. I am now tight enough that I worry about pills getting stuck in my pouch. Last week when I had this neck pain problem I chewed the pills I took from my dad in my mouth but the taste is not very good and the medicine got caught in my teeth. So I stopped and got some of my own tonight and a pill crusher to save my poor teeth the aftertaste. I talked to the pharmacist about the problem and asked her if the gel caps would help me. She said that I was probably much better using a crushed pill than gelcaps because the coating would take a while to dissolve.
While at Walmart I also got a few protein bars. Every so often I try out some new brands because I have gotten tired of my twisted protein bars. I like them but they get boring after a while. I picked up a couple of other brands and will let you know if they are any good. I also bought a 4-pack of muscle milk. I think one of you said you among the blogs I read or who follow me said they liked them. I am giving them a try and will keep you posted if I can choke them down.
Finally I bought some of my baby belle cheeses a small baguette a box of prunes (a girl has to get fiber sometimes), some Diet Coke, OK and you got me..a box of red vines out of naughtiness. I have not opened the box yet. My dinner consisted of two cheeses and a small ripped off piece of bread. I am still full and I ate them at 8pm. I chased the cheese and bread with a prune about 30 min. ago. I think that will be it for me tonight.
Another pound...I Love This Band!!!
I am down at the top edge of 211 today (211.8) but as you may or may not recall I round down for each pound I lose. I wait until the scale ticks below the next marker. The consequence of this is that I might have a wait a while to count the next pound gone but on the good side this method minimizes some of the up and down angst I have always had with the scale.
I have said this before but will share it again as I really feel it has contributed to my sanity this time around. I weigh every day right after I wake up and just after I do my morning bladder empty (if i can empty more I do but that is not so common first thing). I then walk back in my birthday suit to the scale and get on. If I am down I count it if I am the same or up I ignore it (ok I try to ignore it). When I am down I get my morning caffeine (either tea or diet coke) and sit down at my computer and update my ticker. It is a new post-band brain groove I have gotten into and I like it. The band of course makes the down days much more frequent than they have ever been in the past. I have had almost 2 months with no movement even post band though so there has to be something more to this numbers game than just the band. Whatever the cause I am happy to have finally after more than 30 years of dieting figured out a system that is working and can't wait to see what the next months bring. Success is just at the end of my fingertips and I am reaching for all I am worth at this point.
I have said this before but will share it again as I really feel it has contributed to my sanity this time around. I weigh every day right after I wake up and just after I do my morning bladder empty (if i can empty more I do but that is not so common first thing). I then walk back in my birthday suit to the scale and get on. If I am down I count it if I am the same or up I ignore it (ok I try to ignore it). When I am down I get my morning caffeine (either tea or diet coke) and sit down at my computer and update my ticker. It is a new post-band brain groove I have gotten into and I like it. The band of course makes the down days much more frequent than they have ever been in the past. I have had almost 2 months with no movement even post band though so there has to be something more to this numbers game than just the band. Whatever the cause I am happy to have finally after more than 30 years of dieting figured out a system that is working and can't wait to see what the next months bring. Success is just at the end of my fingertips and I am reaching for all I am worth at this point.
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