Goal

I did it!!!

On the 15th December I weighed 81.6kg. 400g lower than my goal. Hooray!!!

Destination Plateau, Population 1!!!

Well guys and gals I have hit a serious plateau 10kg out of my goal.
I have been stuck in this God forsaken place for the past month. I have bounced between 92.4 and 92.8kgs… I feel like that darn old game show “The Price is Right” where you have to guess the exact value to get to the grand showcase and the contestants go back and forward for God knows how long till they get it right.
I seriously can’t eat any less so I don’t know what to do now…

To add insult to injury, some scumbag stole the number plates off my car last night!!! So once we realised they were missing we had to do a police report and then go to the Roads and Traffic Authority and “BUY” new number plates. I guess I should be thankful that they were well prepared with all their tools to remove and unscrew the number plates and didn’t just rip them off and damage my car. Thanks for that thieves!!!

Ok so now my sooky la la mood is lifting I do have some good news! I went and bought two pairs of jeans today at Just Jeans and I fit into a size 16. The lady in the store said the 16 was too big for me and I needed to try on a size 15 so I did. The 15, unfortunately were a little too snug though but I am over the moon at getting into a size 16 in a real jeans shop rather than Target or Kmart jeans.

Also, my doctor has been so pleased with my progress that he asked me to speak at the monthly seminars he does for prospective patients… He said that I have embraced the whole philosophy of the program and is proud to have me speak on behalf of lap banding. Wow, that is a big boost. I kind of don’t feel worthy though because I’m not a goal yet but he wants me there right or wrong.

Well enjoy your weekend and keep fighting the good fight.

Plain old OVERWEIGHT!!!

Woo Hoo… I’m no longer obese. I’m now just plain and simple overweight. I never thought I’d be so happy to say that. At 94.8kg and 178cm tall, my BMI is now 29.9.
I know that is just on the borderline but after being severely obese all my adult life it is a huge pat on the back for me. **HAPPY DANCE**

Losing my security blanket

Well, I had my 5th fill today and it feels like it is going to be a good one. Got very full, very quickly at dinner tonight so I’m feeling good about this one.

My doctor is very happy with me, which makes me happy too. I have lost 68% of my excess body weight in 7 months. The doctor doesn’t want me to go below 80kg because I’m quite tall (5 foot 10 inches). So that being said I have 15 kg left to lose.

Now, the part I’m not so happy about. Because he thinks I have done so well, he doesn’t want to see me for 3 months… WHAT… Three months is a lifetime and on my own with no monthly visit and no monthly accountability!!! I have to admit I am scared! I always knew that after the first year the visits were much less often and I’d be going it alone but I didn’t bank on it starting so soon. He is confident that I will be fine and said that I’m welcome to come in any time if I’m worried but still I feel like I am losing my security blanket.

Anyway what will be will be and hopefully I’ll have even more weight loss to impress him with when I do go back.

Take care all xxx

Yes, I'm still alive!

I thought I'd be brave and post some before and during photos...
I'm feeling really good about my weight loss but not so good about the excess skin that is becoming more evident. That being said, it has only been 6 months since my operation so I think I should wait a little longer before I have a full blown freak out about it. Anyway here are some photos.

Before








Now

WHY???

Hi Everyone

Yep I am still alive and living up to my disclaimer that I am boring and my blog will be nothing special. I even managed to lose a follower LOL...

So... My question is, why even though the scales have dropped by 32kgs, my old clothes fall off because I'm down 4 clothing sizes do I still look in the mirror and see the same person looking back at me? Riddle me that one Batman!!!

Am I the only one who has this problem? Am I really screwed in the head?

Anyway, I'm hoping the scales drop to double digits this week... I'm sick of waiting!!!

Been going to Zumba every Wednesday and loving it.

Take care all xxx

NO ZUMBA this week!!!

No Zumba this week! My friends don't want to go this week for various reasons. I'm too chicken to go by myself so I'll have to wait another week. *Disappointed*

Thanks, NSV and Blah Blah Blah!

Well I have been feeling a little guilty today after a little indulgence last night. I had COLD ROCK ICECREAM!!!!! Strawberry ice-cream with smashed tim tams to be exact. It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted! The Aussie girls will relate but not sure if you have it in the States (who knows, you probably had it first and we followed lol).
So today I’ve been feeling a little guilty about it. Especially after my drama queen tantrum over the 200g gain last week. I guess we are all entitled to a little tantrum now and then as well as a little indulgence…

Well I must say a big THANK YOU to Girl Bandit aka Sally. She sent me a lovely bunch of clothes and jewellery today. As usual I had to play fashion parades (as I always do when workinprogress send me clothes as well). Guess WHAT…. Sally sent me a linen top that was a size 16 and……… IT FIT!!!! Hooray! And it was from a normal shop too, not a larger fashions shop! I almost jumped over the moon. *Happy dance*…

I’m trying for another go at ZUMBA tomorrow night. I didn’t get to go last week as I ended up really sick with a UTI. Let’s hope tomorrow night goes off without a hitch this week.

Rantings of a Drama Queen

Well there you go!!! I had predicted it was coming but hadn’t totally convinced myself that I was ok with it… No weight loss this week and I’m not a happy girl!!! Actually if I’m honest, I am up 200g…

How the hell did this happen. I haven’t done anything different with my eating, I have exercised but yet it has still happened! This is pretty minor and petty I know, but it makes me feel like crap.

Another thorn in my side is that I didn’t get to go to Zumba on Wednesday night because I got really sick late Tuesday night. I was so disappointed!

Anyway, had my fill on Thursday night. The doctors are happy with my loss so far. I now have 3mls in a 10ml band and my doctor told me that now each fill will only be small as we should be approaching the happy place and don’t want to overshoot the mark and make it too tight. HHHMMMM I will have to see if I like this idea. I have a friend who gets at least 1 to 1.5 ml fill each go and has 8mls already in a large band (she was banded a month before me). I will only be getting .5 or .3ml each time from now on. I guess I shouldn’t second guess the experts.

I had some nice compliments today from a girl at work and a friend’s mum. My friends mum said she didn’t recognise me because I had lost so much weight and my friend at work told me that I was looking ‘skinny’ and ‘fantastic’. Although I know I am no where near skinny it’s nice to know that people have noticed the weight loss. I just wish I could see what they see because I still see a fat chick when I look in the mirror…

Just having a blue day I guess…

Zumba, Fill and New Followers...

Well, I’m doing it! I’m going to Zumba tomorrow night with some friends. Never in my life would I have thought I’d have the confidence to go to a dance work out like Zumba. I’m quite proud that I have the guts (in more ways than one hehehe) actually.
I’m sure there will be lots of gorgeous skinny people there but for the first time in my life I will be able to walk into the room and not feel like I’m the biggest whale God ever put breathe into. I obviously still have a long way to go with my weight, but I have come so far already and I’m proud of myself.
I seriously need to go and buy some work out clothes though as I have none!!! Think that will be a job for the weekend. I want one of those spangley skirts like Amy W too LOL.

Well, Thursday night I’m off to my specialist for another weigh in and another fill. Can’t wait to get another fill. I want to eat less!!! I find myself obsessing about the amount I can or can’t eat. Just want to get to a point where I am happy with the amount. I know I eat substantially less that pre op but I still want to eat as least as humanly possible.

Thanks to all my new followers, it’s great to have you on board.

Exercises for the flabba jabba...

http://www.thebiggestloser.com.au/training.htm

These look like nice easy exercises you can do at home... By the way, the view isn't bad either LOL (got to love Shannon)...

The Solution to my flabba jabba and bat wings!!! Just need to win Lotto now...

Taken from skinrenu.com.au

Thermage®

No surgery. No needles. No downtime.

A safe, non invasive, long lasting treatment that helps smooth, tighten and contour skin in a single treatment. Thermage can be preformed all over the body including the face, eyes, lips, tummy, hands, arms, legs and buttocks. Treatments are effective for patients of all skin types (i.e. it’s colourblind) and generally require only one treatment.
An aesthetic procedure performed by a highly trained clinician it is an excellent choice for skin tightening when creams are no longer enough and surgery is too much. Thermage helps tighten existing collagen and helps stimulate new collagen growth to reduce sagging, renew contours and improve the smoothness and texture of the skin’s surface. Results are long lasting, vary from subtle to dramatic and continue to improve for months after treatment.

What is the Thermage procedure?
The procedure is non-invasive, generally requires only a single treatment with little or no downtime allowing you can generally return immediately to your normal activities.
The Thermage procedure delivers heat deep into the skin to tighten existing collagen and stimulate new collagen growth. Collagen is the building block that provides structure to your skin. It is suitable on most body parts including face, eyes, lips, tummy, arms, hands, thighs and buttocks.

How does it work?
A hand piece with a smooth, flat tip delivers Thermage’s unique radio frequency (RF) technology, which saftey heats the deeper layers of your skin. This stimulates existing collagen and promotes new collagen growth over time resulting in smoother tighter skin.

What does the Thermage treatment feel like?
When the energy is applied you will feel a deep, but brief, heating sensation, an indication that collagen is reaching effective temperature for tightening. The surface of your skin remains cool with the cooling spray which is delivered before and during each application of energy. Throughout the treatment your feedback is used to ensure your comfort and to help achieve maximum results.

What kind of results can I expect?
Everyone can expect some collagen tightening. The degree of visible improvement varies from subtle to dramatic. Generally, some improvement is immediately visible and continues up to six months as new collagen forms in the skin.

Patients experience:
-Overall tightening
-Contouring
-Softening of wrinkles and lines
-Improved skin texture
How many treatments will I need?
Unlike many laser procedures requiring four or more sessions, a single Thermage treatment produces results in the majority of patients.

How long will the results last?
The Thermage procedure stimulates new natural collagen production for up to 6 months following the treatment. Results can last for years depending on your skin condition & aging process.

Flabba Jabba and Bat Wings

Well after reading Amy and workinprogress’ blog on loose skin I have started operation “tighten those bat wings”… Our friend John has a fantastic home gym with the whole lateral pull down bar system and all so I am going to start using that a few times a week and try to firm up my arms. I also bought some bio oil today to start rubbing into my flabby belly and hope it improves things there. I‘m not too worried about the stretch marks as I have come to terms with the fact they are there forever but I would like the excess skin to shrink as much as possible.

I was considering the whole idea of surgery once I have lost all my weight but I’m not keen on that idea at all now. I am a big scaredy cat and I don’t like drains and things like that. Believe me I wish I had the guts to do it, but I don’t. I have seen a few after photos of people who have had the skin reduction surgery and the results are amazing and these people look wonderful. I’m just not that brave sadly. I would however, get my boobs done. A lift and implants would be nice I think. I have a good friend who had implants and she said the pain was just like a muscle strain and nothing too bad. She said the worst part was having to sleep sitting up for 6 weeks as it kills your back. Anyway, I have a while before I have to think about all that just yet. Still want to lose 34kg yet.

For Aussie readers, did you watch Today/Tonight this evening? http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/7067420/health/losing-means-winning
There was a lady (40) on that show who lost 65kg using diet shakes. She posed for lingerie photos for the show and there wasn’t an ounce of flabby skin anywhere. What’s with that??? Wish I knew her secret. She had the perfect body after losing 65kgs.

Have a great night everyone xx

Weekend

Well thanks to our wonderful friend John who babysat for us, Wayne and I had a wonderful night out last night. We went to Gold Class Cinemas and had dinner and watched ‘Date Night’. It was really nice to have a ‘grown up’ night out that didn’t involve talking about Sponge Bob or Super Mario which are Connor’s (our 4 year old) favourite topics of conversation at the moment.

I must say that the night started our quite awkward. To be honest I haven’t dressed up for that long because I have always tried to make myself inconspicuous so no one would look at me. When I actually put on my new outfit, did my hair and make up and fluffed about getting ready I actually felt really uncomfortable. This was strange to me because I had been excited all day about getting dressed up and going out. However, when it came to crunch time it felt strange to feel nice and feel happy with the way I looked. It took me over an hour of wondering around the house and looking in every single mirror at every single angle before I started to feel good about myself. Anyway, by the time we got to the cinema I was feeling really good and confident about how I looked. One thing I did keep asking myself (and Wayne a few times) was did I just look like a fat chick trying to look like a skinny chick??? This is one of my worst fears that people will think about me. I know that what other people think shouldn’t rule our lives but I’m one of those people who worry too much about what other people think about me. I’ve tried to change how I feel but it just doesn’t happen.



Anyway…. It’s my Birthday week!!! In our house you get a Birthday week. It starts 7 days before your Birthday and goes right up to the day. During this week you get special little surprises and first choice of whatever is happening and stuff like that. Well, I got to choose if I got my presents early or on my Birthday. Of course I chose early because I hate waiting hehehehe. Well, I got Pandora jewellery from my mum, a special Pandora charm from Connor, a GHD hair straightener from Wayne (how have I lived without this for so many years, it is amazing) and from our best friend John I got a Polar fitness watch. This watch is the bomb!!! Amy W actually blogged about them ages ago and I looked them up and put one on my Birthday wish list. This watch gives you your heart rate, exact calories burnt according to heart rate, weight and height, it tells you when you are in the fat burning zone and when you need to work harder. It also keeps a weekly record of your exercise and gives you averages at the end of each week and tells you where you need to improve… AMAZING!!! I am a lucky girl with such nice pressies!

Anyway, that’s all of my babbles for a Saturday night. I hope everyone is well and happy. Enjoy what it left of the weekend xx

Victory, followers and other such matters...

Victory: Well I got on the scales this morning and to my surprise I had lost another half a kilo... Woohoo... I am loving the way the weight is falling off at the moment, however I suspect that next week it will slow down for a week or two as I have been noticing a pattern around certain times. Anyhow, I will enjoy it while it lasts and look forward to it returning when it does.
Oh yeah and my other victory for today was I went shopping with a friend and I bought a size 18 jeans (last November I was a 24 or 26 depending on the store)... *happy dance*
How have you guys found the problem of excess skin? It's only early days for me but it is starting to show... I am hoping that it will shrink at least a bit.

Followers: Thanks so much for joining my blog I really appreciate your support.

The sisterhood: I have clothes to send to new homes. Most are around a size 22 and
24. If anyone is interested just pop me an email.
Lucky for me workinprogress has been sending me some nice outfits or I would be walking around in a hessian bag lol...

Anyway, take care all till next time xx

Back on the treadmill... Literally

Well I started my workout routine again tonight after a few weeks pause with my mum being very ill. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by a 30 minute workout with Wii "My Shape"... Can I just say the Wii My Shape instructor is extremely condescending in her tone when she praises you, but hey at least I'm moving right... For those of you who haven't used My Shape, the little webcam goes on top of the TV and shows you your every move on the big screen (very scary at first but the image is getting better). Anyway off to feed the fam xxx

Here Goes Nothing!!

This will be my first post ever and to be honest I'm feeling kind of nervous about it. I have been reading so many blogs and they are so interesting, mine to be honest will probably be quite uneventful.

Here is a bit of history anyway:

I'm a 32 year old mum, wife and teacher. I have been overweight all my life and hated myself for it. Last September I was googling lap band surgery when a clinic not too far from me came up in the search. I had a look around the site and found that they were having an information night in September. So me in my usual emotional form ran into my husband and told him I wanted to go. He is very supportive and said he would come along with me. Fast forward 3 weeks and we are sitting in the car at the clinic, an hour plus early mind you and I am crying my eyes out because I am feeling embarrassed. My husband quite calmly turns to be and so eloquently says "well what do you think all the other people are going to be here for Nic?" Good point, I wasn't alone in my fears, everyone else who was attending that night also had all the same fears and issues as I did. Right, I pulled myself together and gave myself a pep talk about what a good step I was taking and I should be proud and not embarrassed. Anyhow, the night was fantastic and we were all there for the same reason and all felt exactly the same. I felt so good when I left the seminar that I rang the next day and booked my appointment.

Fast forward again and I've had my surgeon, dietician and psych appointments and I'm all booked in for the 17th December (what was I thinking CHRISTMAS)...
Anyway the 17th came and I was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't in total agony (I had prepared myself for the worst). Surgery went well and I wasn't feeling to bad...
This is where cockiness set in on my part... I was fine, minimal pain, no hunger... Why drink my shakes when I wasn't hungry??? BIG MISTAKE!!! Because I didn't feel hungry or thirsty I didn't drink my shakes or drink a lot of fluid... IDIOT!!! I got very sick and dehydrated and it took me a good 2 weeks to pick up. Christmas was a disaster because every time I got up to do anything I felt so sick and dizzy. By the way I still insisted on having Christmas at my house with the family.

Fast forward again to April... I'm almost 27kg down and haven't looked back.

Well I'll leave my first official post there and be back with more later. By then I may have thought of some funny little stories to add. Again I can't promise it will always be interesting or exciting...

Have a great day
Nic