I’m baaaaaack!!

   Yes, I have been on a hiatus the last few weeks, and for that I apologize. We had an incident happen, we have very appropriately named, “The Flood of 2012″. Let’s just say my entire downstairs is gutted at the moment, and we have been a bit preoccupied. LOL. Combine that with a not so friendly flu bug that decided to make itself at home and we were in a world of yuck. We are mucking through it, and recovering.

” It” happened to be the day I went to my bariatric surgeon to face the music of my less than stellar performance the last month. I was NOT given a pat on the back for surviving, but a lecture and 6 week appointment to make sure I hadn’t “fallen off the wagon” Why? I GAINED 4 stinking pounds since I had seen him last. UGH. I had dropped to my pit of despair eyeore mode, only to walk in the door to two inches of water covering everything. Yay me.

Weighing in that day was an eye opener for me, and the flood made me aware of my less than active lifestyle. BOTH of which needed to change. Monday, yes two days ago, I took the steps I needed to push me back into where I belonged. I found my walking feet again. There is a trail outside of post that is beautiful. Because of the rain last week, it had been too muddy to attempt..until now. I grabbed my trusty jogging stroller and walking buddy Cwynn and headed out. The goal: 2 miles. What surprised me…I actually ended up doing 4.25 miles…and it felt GREAT!!! I mean, absolutely-this -is-what-I-had-been-missing phenomenal!!! Needless to say, I replayed the event yesterday…only this time I RAN the first 3/4 of a mile. Me + running have never really been a compatible duo. I have always been WAY to endowed up top, and it was uncomfortable. I still have my girls…just a smaller version now. LOL. Apparently that is all that was needed. I didn’t go the entire 4 miles. However I did go 2.5 and it again was great!!

 Now, on to the amazing part. I weighed this morning. Not expecting much, but hoping for the best.Ask and ye shall receive. My NEW WEIGHT: 236.2. Yes siree..I not only lost the new weight gain, I also said goodbye to the hovering number that had been haunting me for so long. Hooray!! Totally excited, motivated and ready for some more booty kicking!!

  At first, I let myself get swallowed up in the lecture, weight gain and flood..it literally opened up a lot more flood gates than I realized. I allowed it to envelop me, it marinated awhile and I let it stay. Now..eyes are open, mind and body are aware of what needs to be done. The goal is to go after it..and keep going after it until I have reached it. Where has this girl been the last few months?? I have missed her, and would really like the new me to stick around for a long time to come. More walking? YES PLEASE!!!!

Ah-HA

I missed last week. Sorry about that. I can’t even tell you what happened last week though, so you’ll just have to forgive me and move on with it like I did! 😉

Moving on… last Thursday I was talking to the hubs about my weight {seriously I do talk about other things than this, I swear} and telling him how frustrated I was with it. I told him I wanted to do anything to get that scale moving. One of my sweet co-workers is doing HCG so I was talking to Bry about that when I had an “Ah-Ha” moment. I don’t need a tool to help me, I HAVE a tool to help me! So the next morning I put on my Big Girl Pants and decided I was going to become a patient again at my work. I made an appointment, filled out the paperwork for 2012 {we had 2009 paperwork on file…oops}, and talked to the dr. I think that was the hardest part for me. I told him that once a month I needed him to be my Dr. I needed him and I to have that Patient Dr relationship that was completely disregarded when I started working there. I told him that I needed him to hold me accountable and treat me like any other patient. He agreed he would do that on 2 conditions. 1. I had to recognize that I had a lot of stress in my life and that 2. I needed to take time for myself. I was fine with #1 but #2 has never been my strong suit. But I agreed. He told me he was proud of me for coming to him and that this was a sign to him that I was ready again to lose the rest of my weight. The he gave me a fill. 1cc. That’s a pretty aggressive fill for someone who hasn’t had one in nearly 2 years. I stood up and I knew it was too full. However, I saw this as an opportunity to try and restrict myself and thought that I would “get used to it”. By Saturday morning I couldn’t hardly swallow. I interrupted my poor doc in Synagogue and told him what was happening. He met me at the office and took out a 1/2 cc and suddenly my world was so much better!

This week has been so nice. I eat about 1/2 c- 1cup and I feel satisfied for 4-6 hours. I’ve been making good choices and this morning I weighed. I crossed my everything and stepped on the scale. I had lost 4.5 lbs!!!!! I was sooooo excited! A little hard work and a fill really paid off! 🙂

At this point, I would like to add for any of you who thinks that I’m a cheater by having a lap band for losing weight… you try eating a cup of food and not wanting more. Even if you know that you can’t physically do it. You try not having sweets. It’s not easy. I’m working hard. And you know what, if you want to call me a cheater then that’s what I am! I work hard and track my every bite and every step. My way of “cheating” isn’t easy!

Anyways, here are the goals I was given for the month by my doc….

1. Walk 1 mile nightly.

2. Consume no more than 1500 cal/day

3. Track every single bite I put in my mouth.

So that’s what I’m working on. It’s not easy, but I know that it will be worth it. And you know what… I’m proud of myself.

Hope everyone has a good week!

xoxo,

Autumn

Thank you for being a Friend

Did you know it was Monday…I’m just putting the pieces together!  Ack.  What wisdom can I drum up so late on a Monday…

 Use your friends!

Be accountable and let them be accountable to you.

I was in a mud pit, so to speak.  My son got me out walking on Monday last week.  I felt so much better afterward.  Not because the work out was so wonderful, but because I did it even though I didn’t want to.  The week got ahead of me and before I knew it, the weekend was upon me…and I hadn’t gotten in another walk, run, anything.  I had a full weekend (in fact I didn’t even get any sleep on Friday to prepare for an event on Saturday) so working out wasn’t in the cards for me on Fri or Sat (recovery after the event)

On Sunday, another friend asked me if I wanted to go for a 3 mile jog (walking was to be involved too).  I knew I had to say yes.  Again, I was so glad I did!  It was a great time doing something good for us and enjoying each other’s company as well as the company of another friend who decided to join us – accountability is contagious!  You know the benefit of this is spending time with people you enjoy improving each other’s health, being involved more deeply in each other’s lives, real accountability!  Now that is something to cling to.  True friendship happens that way.

Well, it kickstarted something in me.  Just getting out and doing it has lit something in me.  I did an hour interval training on the treadmill today…walking quickly for 1 1/2 minutes and then a sprint the next 30 seconds.  I did this for an hour and the last run was at an 8 on my treadmill.  It felt awesome!  I’m recharged.  I sat down and worked out a schedule for my week – a much milder week – to get in my exercise..it’s in my planner so I HAVE to do it!  I credit this “charge” to my friend…the one I used!

Use your friends!

Have an excellent week!

Oh, I almost finished without a report (it helps me to keep accountable to all of you!)  I am down 2 pounds!  I am 171 pounds.  Now I’m not looking back at where I could have been if I’d only kept with it, I’m going to keep on THIS path and make a dent in things THIS week.  I WILL be in the 160’s by next Monday!

Oh, and if you’re interested, I will be walking on Thursday and Friday too…while T-Man is in school.  I know there’s a path nearby…join me?  My back up for Friday is to walk while my T-Man is at swim practice…making it a priority this week…and know that a habit will eventually follow.  I remember the days of really WANTING to work out.  It’s a matter of getting there again…here goes…

Thanks for letting me babble tonight…MONDAY!