Calmish Night

Last night was much better. I was finished by dinner at 7 and had two corn chips at 8. After that I worried all evening as I think dinner (a rerun from last night) was not settling very well. I took two tums before I went to bed and I didn't have any trouble last night.

I think it is the beef stew I made with whole tomatoes and peppers. I will for sure watch it though as I think acid reflux seems to be the big warning sign when things are going to take a turn to the bad. I do not want an unfill if I can help it.

My scale registered at 181.0 this morning (I was hoping for another drop into the 180 or even 170's zone. It still gives me a surge of joy every time I get on the scale and it moves down (even if it is just ounces).

I have read a bit about people trading one obsession for another after they lose weight. Now I was never obsessed by food and I have altered my life away from so much work and towards more leisure time but....I have noticed I am shopping a lot more than I used to. I am gong to have to keep a lid on it and monitor things I think. One of the things I notice is that because I have so much more energy after this weightloss I am no longer happy to sit and watch TV all evening. I am trying to find things to keep me occupied (including cleaning house) but it is a new oddity that I didn't really think about before losing weight.

Last night i burned up some of the energy with another round of bathroom cleaning to get ready for our Independence day party this Sunday. I also cleaned my sewing room and sat down to work on a make up bag for one of my daughters. When I looked at all of the stuff I have accumulated in my sewing room I decided that it was time I finished things already started instead of getting stuff for new projects.

My First Bedtime Acid Reflux AKA the Acid Rocket

I was seriously evaluating whether it was time for a little top up. The day after my little Montezuma episode improved I went on a serious crazed food seeking bender. I was ravenous. Every item of food I saw, could reach or could even dream up sounded absolutely delicious. I felt very open and used this band laxity to graze my way through candy, cookie, cake, roast beef, vegetables, cheese, crackers, some dry cereal and even a couple of sausages.

Yesterday was a bit better. The hungry beast calmed down a bit and I was mostly good during the day but after dinner (A nice healthy one i might add) I felt that hoover feeling again and had a small frozen yogurt at 7pm and then another pina colada yogurt with a few chocolate chips stirred in at 8:30.

Then I went to bed at midnight. I felt a bit full and did a bit of walking around the house until I felt like the food had made its way south. So I went to bed and fell asleep. About one hour later I woke up coughing and in a panic. The acid launched up my esophagus like a rocket. I jumped out of bed thinking I was going to have to throw up but no...just horrible tasting acid. I did a bit of spitting and drank some water followed by burping and tried to go back to bed....ahh no...more acid rockets. I finally sat and rested my pillows stacked high on my lap, leaning my head forward so I could doze while keeping the acid down. As soon as I nodded off to sleep-another burst of acid. I thought this finally dislodged whatever it was and again no--I laid down and more acid. I got up and grabbed my box of tums and started popping them every time I woke up. The rocket scenario happened each and every time i fell asleep and about 6 times in total. I finally burped a final time and viola..no more acid and I could fall asleep at 4 in the morning.

Today my stomach has been a tad tender. Breakfast gave me grief and I have been trying to take it really easy on my tummy. I am hoping this is another cycle of tightening as my band seems to do periodically. I dropped a little lower into 181. Normally I tighten up as my scale cycles up and loosen as it cycles down. This is a tighten and cycle down combo.

Now some good news...My hair is growing back in. I have an annoying hair halo when I put my hair into a ponytail...a bunch of baby hair is cropping itself all over my head.

My brand new swimsuit is getting too big!! It seems that the smaller you get the quicker your sizes change. I wore one suit for almost 100 pounds and now 5 pounds and my boobs are flopping out of the bra cups because they are smaller!!

Happy Tuesday.

By Request-Before and After Montage

I have slowly been working on the SOB profile for Gen at I Heart the Band. The before and after pictures took the longest. It is funny how in the beginning i just wore any old horrible outfit and took the pictures. Now I had three photo-sessions before I was satisfied with my after pictures. Go here to read the full interview with pics.



I labeled each picture but I do not think it is viewable (not on my little computer screen anyway). The first picture: 298 pounds August 2008. The second picture: June 2009 250 pounds. The third picture: 199 January 2010 and the fourth is 181 pounds June 2010.

So all of you who are just getting started note the length of time it took for the weight to come off. it took almost a year to lose 50 pounds, then 6 months for the next 50 and finally slowed down again for this last 20. Have patience and keep working and filling.

Just to spice it up a little-tat pic.

While trying to get a decent 'after' pic I snapped this of my tattoo.


My tummy is better but not happy yet. I can just barely make it in time instead of having a few misses as was happening yesterday. I had a little preview of what my old age will look like. Thank goodness one of my children is training to be a nurse. The other two had better be earning a good living to pay Cinda for her services :)...

The good news is the whole tummy thing helped me get another pound off my carcass. Hopefully it won't come back on with fluids after.

BYOC and Montezuma's Revenge

1. This comes from my post yesterday about me bragging that I can still wear the same earrings I wore in high school….got me to wondering…how many piercings do you have? (the ones you can tell us about anyway – *wink wink)

I have two holes in each ear. I wanted two in one and one in the other but my mother insisted if I was going to have a second ear piercing that I have symmetry. The funny thing is that I rarely wear earrings or any jewelry really now. My ears are usually bald :)...


2. I'm asking this one because I'm getting another tattoo soon…and even have plans to get one of a lizard – my little Draz – because this blog and you all have become a major part of my life. Anywhoozle – how many tattoos do you have? If you have none and wanted to get one – what would it be?

I have one tattoo but i have had two tattoo sessions (added to the canvas). The first was to celebrate my Ph.D. I got a lamp (Latin symbol for learning/education). I got that one in 2006. I was never completely happy with it and this Spring when My dad, brother, sister and I became registered members of the Cherokee nation and I hit 100 pounds loss right around the same time I did some fixing and addition to the art- The lamp now has some color (still don't love that part) and I have added In Cherokee across the bottom of the lamp the words 'everyone is important' and then floating in a cloud above the lamp is a tribal turtle that symbolizes wisdom and my weightloss ticker symbol.

I have plans for another tattoo on my thigh. When I can ride my bike for 50 miles I will get half a bike cog and when/if I ever do 100 I will get the rest of it done.

My husband has an aversion to tattoos....but all of my daughters (except the 8 year old) have tattoos on their fee like I do. It has kind of become a family tradition.


3. If you've ever suffered from a weight-loss plateau, what's your best advice to get past it?

I have a few times-When I hit a plateau I try to really pay attention to what I am doing or not doing. I really reflect on what I have been eating, how much, how much activity or lack of it that I have been doing. During each of my plateaus it has been a combination of both-fat loss around my band and another of the incremental changes in my habits that needed to happen.

1. Fill-are you hungry and snacking more?
2. Are you eating ice cream or too many sweets that slip through?
3. Are you exercising or sitting on your butt?
4. Are you eating enough/the right foods at meal times?
5. Are you getting enough protein?
6. Are you drinking enough water?

I go down the lists and it is at least 3 issues every time. Getting a fill and altering habits at the same time has usually got things moving again.

4. This is a repeat. I liked last week's challenge for BYOC and I saw a lot of people this week follow through on the promise they made last week. You pick one thing for just one day next week that you want to do….and mentally doing it for the one day can totally jump start more successes. And I feel like I can do anything for just one day.
What will you do for just one day in your quest towards health?

Get back on my bike and ride the Banks Vernonia trail (17 miles)

5. Repeat *make someone a Superstar* question – what's your favorite blog or comment of the week?

Linda's discussion about slow food. I go back and forth between eating slowly and too fast. I have mostly gotten the chewing part down now but it is amazing to watch other people in public eat now. I watched a guy inhale a hotdog at Costco the other day in 3 bites. I know I have come a long way because i used to do that same thing. But---I can still knock back food way to fast sometimes.

So...Mexico has given me the gift that keeps on giving. My bathroom has had to go through some major cleaning and my husband had to come home from work with a stop off at the store for some Peptobismol. The good news is that you can get a lot of cleaning done in your bathroom when you need to stay in close proximity to the toilet.

Home Now and Had a Good Time

After I last left things I was headed down to dinner in the lobby. I skipped the orange juice and vodka and went for a Diet Coke instead. The good thing about Mexico is that they let you sit and take your time over a meal. I got to slowly drink my soda and then slowly eat my soup...I ordered a super yummy bean soup with a cheese kind of like cottage cheese and thin strips of tortilla chips in it. I mostly went after the cheese and the runny bean soup. I managed about half and then ordered flan (I love flan). I ate a little more than half of it.

Today was pretty much just traveling home day-up at 6 and out the door to the airport and then Houston and then Oregon with some waiting bits in between. I went ahead and ate my lunch on the Houston flight. I was really hungry today (Probably my body decided it had better get me eating :)..either that or i managed to drop some more belly fat on Tuesday. They offered a chicken sandwich with swiss cheese. It was really rather fresh and good considering it was airplane food. I peeled off most of the bread and saved the chocolate and potato chips for later. Sitting on the plane is not too good for digestion. everything seemed to go down fine but after I hit Houston and made my way towards the Immigration line I had to take a side trip to the bathroom for a tiny spit PB. Probably the sandwich was too much for the funny angle my poor stomach must sit in on a plane.

For dinner it was HORRORS----a cheeseburger on the plane. There is only one food that I DO NOT EAT---yup hamburgers. No matter how hard I try They always come back up eventually. I ate the chips I saved from lunch, the chocolate and I took the cheesy bun top and ate just it throwing the rest away.

I did try to drink a lot of fluids but my legs and ankles are swollen from my trip. I hope I get to see a little weight loss over the next few days.

OK-the non-foody stuff.

I did like Mexico City. It is a strange sort of place. In a sense it reminds me a lot of Madrid. Quite a bit of choc-a-block housing mixed in with businesses and window shades. the water things on the roofs reminded me of Spain as well. There were also a lot of the same shops but also---many of the same ones we have here in the states though too. There is so much English on all of the signs and TV it is a wonder they manage to keep speaking Spanish.

The people were very nice, friendly and helpful but there was always a slight feeling of unsafeness...For example one of the people I was at the meeting with lived in a nearby neighborhood of attractive looking houses that the hotel looked over. From my 7th floor window I could see each of them from above. They each were surrounded by a wall with a yard inside and then of course the house and garage. On Tuesday when I rode back from town in the expensive taxi he took us through the neighborhood. Well each of these very middle class homes were fairly covered in graffiti when they were not protected by vines and each of the walls were topped with razor wire, electric fences or big security cameras.

It was very much a yin yang feeling...such warmth and history but an edge of poverty and fear. Now having said all that I would go back in a heartbeat. There is much more to see and do.

It Was In My Head-Mexico City is Good

Ok the Jamon stayed down as did the cheese. I slept in and left the hotel at 11am. I took a taxi ride down to the main square and walked around the cathedral an archeological dig (skipped the museum) and then down a few side streets to look in shops. It is interesting that all of the shops are arranged by the type of goods here. I found one street that was all fabric and notions another that was jewelry and another that was men's clothes. I like fabric stores so it was nice to see what they had and how much per yard things were. The zippers and ribbons etc. were really inexpensive as was most of the fabric. I didn't buy anything mostly because I am a big chicken and avoided trying to communicate. I also know that I don't really have any room in my suitcase to go home tomorrow.

After window shopping I went into an art museum and had a look around and then walked back to one of the hotels to get what the concierges call 'safe' cabs. I have no clue whether I would have done just fine with the regular cabs but I guess better safe than sorry. I took a cab to the anthropology museum. I was VERY GOOD. On the ground floor were archeological artifacts from all of the native populations in Mexico and on the second floor were displays about how the Spanish occupation changed them as well as much of their modern culture. I really enjoyed the museum a lot.

It is the rainy season and while I was in the museum (I didn't have a clue) it rained really hard outside. I left the museum and walk under gray skys to the nearest hotel (about a mile). I thought the storm was coming in but did not realize it had already dumped a bucket load of water on the city. I got a cab at the first hotel I came across (man pesos are hard to come to terms with as the cab fare was 400 of them). I rode home for at least 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic. The rain had flooded many of the roads and most cars were having huge difficulty getting through them. Some roads had to be closed. I was in an a tall SUV so thankfully when we finally got up to the flooded streets the driver could forge them.

I am now back at my hotel and planning on going down for another drink and some sort of dinner. Food is kind of difficult as I go back and forth between fear that I am going to get food poisoning and fear that I will get a huge portion that I cannot eat. I have had a lot of water today but only a protein bar for food. I feel fine but I know I need something to eat. It is now 8pm I guess I had better get down to the lobby. Dinner starts late in Mexico but when I go to bed my stomach doesn't care what city I am in and needs to be empty.