6 months!

Goodness how time flies! Speaking of flying, I'm currently winging my way back home after a quick weekend away to celebrate with my sister before her wedding. I'm on my second flight for the day, and the in-flight entertainment is identical to the last one. So, what better time than to draft a blog post (to be uploaded once on solid ground of course).

I realised belatedly that Friday was 6 months since my surgery. So where am I sitting six months out? Well, I've lost 15kg since my first appointment with the surgeon, and 20kg from my heaviest recorded. These numbers may look familiar, as they are exactly the same as two weeks ago. Yup, 2 weeks of boot camp, tracking accountability etc and I've lost nada. Nothing. So very frustrating! I'm sure there are reasons, and I'm sure the scales will make me happy again soon, however I'll pause briefly for a pity party, table for one.

Ok, now that is over with, moving on. This weekend was lots of fun! We had a hens afternoon for my sister, starting with a high tea at a fancy hotel, then drinks/nibbles at a fancy bar. The best part was that we all dressed up in our finery, 40s/50s glamour style! I wore a dress that I bought off the Internet about 2 weeks after my surgery, hoping I would fit into it one day. That day was this weekend, very conveniently! I felt very fancy, and just a little bit sexy. Pity hubs didn't come with me ;)

Chatting with my BFF who was there (and after a some Dutch courage cocktails), I uploaded a pic of myself to fb in my dress. It was kind of my "revealing", as I had not posted a full length pic of myself in, well, six months! 20 comments and 28 likes later, it really reminded me of how far I've come, even if I'm currently frustrated with lack of progress. I didn't mention the, um, foundation garments underneath, but everyone wears them these days anyway. Don't they? ;)

So, I will take some proper comparison pics at some point, but for now here is a headless version of my 1950s housewife look for your viewing pleasure. And I'll get back to my boring flight.

Lessons from Boot Camp

- my instructor is awesome, he is of the "at your own pace" school of thought, rather than the "I'm going to scream at you til you vomit" school. Much more my style, I'm more likely to want to impress him too. - I wasn't the biggest person in the class! This may not seem like a big deal, but every other group fitness class I've taken, I was the biggest and I felt like I didn't fit in. One of these things is not like the others etc. Now, I'm not the skinniest by a long way, but I feel more like I belong there. - being paired with someone who had never boxed before meant I didnT really get too much of a workout. Hopefully next time I will either get someone else or she will have improved a bit (to be fair to her, she did go first so she didnt have anyone to copy from). - I need to drink way more water than what I did today. By lunchtime I had a horrible headache that wouldn't go away. I quickly downed two ibuprofen and then regretted it. I felt like they sat in my pouch dissolving, and gave me terrible indigestion. I won't be making that mistake again! - most importantly, I CAN get out of bed that early ane exercise, even if it means going to be at 830pm the night before! Cheerio!

I may, in fact, be crazy.

Why is that, you ask? Well at 5am tomorrow morning I will be hauling my sorry ass out of bed and going to a boot camp. Not only that, but I will be doing this three times a week for the next SIX WEEKS! Am I nuts? Bonkers? Stark raving mad? I will tell you tomorrow!

In other news, I weighed in this morning at 74.9kg (165 lbs). I'm pretty pleased with that! I have been averaging under my calorie limit (some days a little up, some a little down). I'm hoping that the 6 weeks of boot camp will help me move downwards a bit faster. Conveniently, it includes the 5 weeks leading up to my sisters wedding, where I am going to be a bridesmaid. Eek! The dress is lovely, floor length and purple. I would post a pic, but she reads this and will kill me ;) The dress is also now several sizes too big, as it was ordered just after my surgery. I knew I would be losing weight, but the dress is still too big. I've booked in to my favourite alterations lady (who did my wedding dress) to have it taken in (and up - as usual it is about 3 feet too long). I'm thinking of having a purse made from the extra material to match.

Oh, I also had a small fill from my surgeon last week (or was it the week before?). I did have 7ml in a 10ml band, now I have 7.5ml. I can certainly feel the difference, mostly in the first few bites. I have to remember to CHEW before I swallow things. Luckily no more PB's but a few uncomfortable moments here and there.

I'm slowly creeping towards my Lowest Adult Weight. I think once I make it there, I will feel like I am actually making progress. At the moment, I just feel like I am losing the same weight I have lost before, undoing all the weight I have regained. Does that make sense? I am really looking forward to some numbers I've NEVER seen before. Once I get to 72.5, you will be able to hear me shouting from the rooftops. Get ready for that! Never mind how excited I will be once I'm no longer obese, and just boringly overweight. That number, for interest's sake, is 71kg.

Bring. It. On.

20 Down, 20 to Go.

So, dear readers, as of this morning, I am officially down 20 kilograms (44 pounds) from my highest (measured) weight. I stepped on the scales twice, just to check!

In honour of this occasion, I bring you a photo from our wedding. I now weigh less than I did on my wedding day, but not quite as little as when I met my hubby. Hopefully that will come soon!

And in other news... I now have 80 followers. 80!! When did that happen?? Welcome!! If I'm not following you, please leave me a comment so I can drop in and visit you too.

That's all for now, battery running out on the laptop!!

Blink and you missed it

The last MONTH that is! How on earth did it get to be so long between posts?

Oh that's right. It was December. Which meant Christmas, and end of year stress at work, and taking over my new role at work, and a visit from my parents (who don't know about the band), and New Year, and working overtime, and then a road trip to visit a friend (who also doesn't know), and then back home, put hubby on a plane, and now it is already Tuesday the 10th! Of January!!!

SO how is everyone? I'm madly trying to catch up on some blogs tonight, although I really need to write something for uni that needs to be done by tomorrow. It is one of those unfortunate times where staring at the computer screen is not making words appear, and the stress of no words is making the job even harder. I'm trying not to let the stress snowball, as that will result in nothing getting done at all. At least blogging now will take away the guilt of not blogging for so long, and give me one less thing to stress about.

I think this is the first year it what seems like forever that I DIDN'T put on any weight over Christmas. I successfully maintained at 77.1kg (170 lb), and since then I am actually down to 76.2kg (168 lb). I'm pretty happy with that! I kept tracking as best I could on MFP, even though I know I probably underestimated my calories everyday, it still kept me mostly honest. This was especially hard with my folks here, and having to not draw attention to what I was eating.

Only 0.7kg to go, then I am down 20kg from my highest recorded weight, and 4kg to my lowest adult weight! I have an appointment next Monday with my surgeon and I would love to be at 75kg even by then, so I'm aiming to stay under my calorie targets every day and to get some exercise in too. Hubby is away until Thursday night, so I might be able to zumba it up in the lounge room tomorrow night :)

Hope all is well out there in blog land, and a belated Happy New Year to all!

Lazy Sunday

Hello all! Things are chugging along merrily here, have been super busy and also away for work. I will update with a real post soon, until then here are some pictures to tide you over until I return. I bought a couple of new dresses while I was away, from a proper department store! And they are a designer brand! And a size 14!!!!!
Edited to add; please ignore the batwings! Note to self, arms DOWN when taking self portraits!

An Unwelcome First.

I have felt the pain of the monster called PB, and I am not impressed.

Warning for possible TMI ahead!

Tuesday morning I went to visit my surgeon for an assessment, and he decided to up my fill level as the last top up had not really done much. He added 1.25ml, which took me to a nice round 7ml all up (in a 10ml band). I had a glass of water, went down fine, everything was hunky-dory. He mentioned that a was "a small person" so it could take as much as 9ml before I was at my sweet spot.

I played it safe with quiche for lunch, chewed the bejeebus out of it, and had no troubles at all. Fast forward to dinner however- we have a friend staying will us for the next 2 weeks before she goes on a big holiday, and she does not know about my surgery. Hubby picked up yummy Indian food for dinner, and I served myself half a bowl just of the meat (chicken) and sauce (no rice). I ate what I thought was slowly and with (apparently) small bites. Everything seemed to be going so well! After a while, I got a strange feeling at the back of my throat, and in my chest. I excused myself to the bathroom and proceeded to feel the most uncomfortable I have ever been. I knew something must be stuck, but couldn't lodge it. Long story short (too late!), after a good 15-20 minutes of sliming and walking around the bathroom trying to get comfortable, my dinner came up. Twice.

I tell you what, that is not something I want to repeat in a hurry! I had some leftovers tonight, and I was so careful! I took the teeniest tiny bites and chewed like my life depended on it! It took quite a long time to eat, but at least it stayed down!

So there you have it, my first - and hopefully last - PB experience!