Life... as I know it

Thank you for all the sweet comments regarding my last post's announcement. You guys are awesome!

I think I decided on a name for my band. Lola. You know, like the Lola song from the Kinks? Love that one. I hope it's not anyone else's band's name, I'll be sad. It just came to me as I started typing this post.

Ohhhh dear. I haven't been the best bandster lately, at all. I keep eating too dang fast, especially if we go out to eat. I do okay when I'm at home though. I guess this means I shouldn't eat out too much, huh? It's like, I still WANT to be able to eat my face off, but I can't. Thank goodness Lola keeps me in check and has me on auto-upchuck every time I start to overdo it. Whenever I throw up now, Marc asks me whether it's morning sickness or band sickness.

I've also been eating more ice cream and drinking delicious mochas and I ate way too many Christmas treats. I finally dumped the rest of the treats at work--I had to get them out of here!  I haven't really had any cravings, at least I don't think I have. Okay, except maybe ice cream. There's a Baskin Robbins right next to my work and I've never wanted it. However, one day when I was feeling particularly nauseous I saw it in a whole new light. (Seriously, it's like heaven opened and angels were singing.) Since then, I've had it several more times on my way to work! Ack.

I weighed in at 244.9 this morning--almost to the 230's! I bet if I actually ate like I was supposed to be eating, I'd lose faster. However, being pregnant and all, I'm not supposed to be thinking about weight loss. Yeah, that's like telling an alcoholic not to think about their next drink. I can't just turn off my obsession with the scale. Eventually, whenever I should actually gain weight with this pregnancy, I hope I maintain.

Alright, I'm out.

Mmm, Buns...(updated)

I love buns. Especially when they're in my oven.

Yes, this means that I'm pregnant. I'm 8 weeks along and we found out on December 4. We're so completely utterly excited, because this is why I got the Lap-Band in the first place. Of course, I didn't think it'd happen so quickly, but not everything's up to me now is it?

I've still been losing weight - I saw 245 yesterday morning (naked weight), but I'm not going to update my ticker because I ate like it was going out of style yesterday! Unfortunately, chocolate so far is the one thing that seems to keep me from barfing everything I eat. I did, however update my ticker to show 246.2 (today, clothed)--which means I reached another mini-goal! Wahoooo!

This is also the reason I haven't been so active on the blog in the last month. We wanted to keep it a secret until 12 weeks but just couldn't wait any longer. I was a little nervous at first because I got pregnant so soon after my surgery, but my lapband doctor reassured me that everything would be fine. He also said he wouldn't remove too much of my fill unless I need it. I'm still going to utilize my band throughout this pregnancy and hopefully I won't actually gain any weight; I'm hoping to at least maintain.

As far as this blog goes, it's still going to be mainly about Lap-Band surgery, but with a pregnancy twist. I hope you all continue reading!

Anyway. I hope you all had a wonderful day because I know I sure did!

So close!

Alright, I finally busted through that little gain from last week and now I'm down to 247.1--so close to my next mini-goal of 246 (my weight the 2nd time I joined WW)!

I also went to Seoul last weekend the doc put back about .8cc's of my fill. So now I've got roughly 3.3cc's in my 10cc band. It still seems like such a small amount, but it works for me. I still have a huge problem with eating too fast; I get bored eating my food, and frustrated that it's cold by the time I'm finished. Any suggestions? How do you guys handle boredom while sloooooowly eating?

I think at this point I'm losing more inches than pounds. I put on some jeans a couple of months ago that I hadn't fit into in a few years. They were a little snug in the waist but good everywhere else--nothing a little Spanx couldn't help :) Anyway, as of yesterday, my husband says they're officially TOO BAGGY! I'm also going to have to buy a new belt soon because I'm on the last hole of my belt. I'm excited to be losing all these inches, but at the same time I really don't have the money to be spending on constantly buying clothes that fit--especially since we're really trying to save money now since we're going back to the USA in a few months.

Hmm, I guess that's enough rambling. Take care!

What is Jjimdalk?

I didn't say what jjimdalk was in my last post because I didn't want to bore you with such mundane details, but since someone actually asked...

Jjimdalk is one of the tastier dishes I've had here, and therefore I decided to try to make it homemade. It's a mixture of chicken chunks, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, green onion, ONE jalepeno, soy sauce, rice syrup, and sweet potato noodles (also called "glass noodles" because they look clear) all stewed together in a big pot. It was delicious! (Rae, think Andong chicken without the face-melting spice.)

Here's a picture (not mine):

Oh, and for the Taco Bell question: Saturday I ate at Taco Bell in Seoul, and there's nothing special on the menu (except they have french fries) but it is pretty limited. No meximelts or mexican pizzas! However, Taco Bell on Sunday came from the Army base here, and it's exactly the same.

Attack of the Hunger Monster!

Oh dear. Not having very much fill is a little dangerous. Here are some of the sins I've committed against my band (still unnamed) this week:

Saturday (after my unfill): ate a whole Grilled Chicked Fiesta Burrito from Taco Bell (I tore off the excess tortilla bits)--not horrible, but I think I shouldn't have been able to do that!

Sunday: ate TWO Meximelts and a bean burrito from Taco Bell! They were spaced out, but again--I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have done that!

Monday: ate a huge bowlful of mashed potatoes with gravy (probably about 2.5 potatoes' worth)

Tuesday: ate a cup and half of homemade jjimdalk (not an unhealthy dish, but I definitely ate too much)

After Monday, I realized I needed to re-focus on my portions (as well as the food choices). Just because it will go down doesn't mean I should eat it! Yesterday I returned my focus to eating slowly and small bandster-size portions and I listened to my stomach and was fine. I just had a couple of crazy days, and those combined with my lack of exercise lately (and the fact that I threw up nearly every meal last week) I'm sure is what contributed to my 2-pound gain the other day. Live and learn and move on, right? Right.

I can't believe that Christmas is next week. I still haven't bought my husband his gift(s); oh well, where's the fun if it's not last-minute?

I leave you with this--it's the photo we sent out with our Christmas cards this year.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get the cats' heads up! The black cat (Mewster) was growling at the other one (Elliot) and Marc is holding Elliot's head up with his hand. Those boys do NOT like to be restrained against their will!

Small gain and NSV!

Saturday I went for my *slight* unfill, and the doctor ended up removing 1.5cc's! I didn't object at first, but  then I realized I only had 4cc's to begin with (after I'd already left). So now I have 2.5cc's and I'm pretty sure I could eat a hamburger if I tried. I'm not going to try to eat a hamburger, I like the fear of getting stuck and vomiting uncontrollably--it keeps me in check.

I'm going to see how it goes for the next week or 2 and I'll probably go back to get more put in. I know he just wanted me to rest after throwing up so much last week, but geeeez. I guess we'll see just how much I've learned about controlling my eating.

Here's the NSV: I bought 2 really cute pair of shoes while I was in Seoul, regular 11 and not 11 wide! The wide WOULD be a bit more comfortable because I do just have wide feet, but my feet aren't fat anymore so it was tolerable. I wore the flats all night at work yesterday and my feet were fine. Hooray!

I'm starting to notice a little pattern with my losses. I'll lose really well for a couple of weeks, then I'll go up about 2 pounds over a day or two and then it'll just drop back off again. I got to 248, and today I'm back up to 250. I'm not worried though--it'll drop back off. It's only my 2nd gain since I was banded; I won't let it get me down! I'm also pretty sure that the mashed potatoes I had for dinner last night have something to do with it ;)

P.S. For those not familiar with the lingo, NSV is "Non-Scale Victory".

Still too tight, and 10 percent down!

Just 1 more day until I can get my slight unfill! It's not nearly as bad as the last time I was too tight, but I still can hardly get down my AM protein shake and choke down a tiny portion of my dinner. I like being able to eat!

In other news, today I finally saw 248 on the scale, meaning I've lost 10% of my weight since surgery! I was 275 on my surgery day--I can't believe it! Honestly, I don't really see the difference yet, but I think I see it in my clothes. Also one of my Korean coworkers (one that knows about my surgery) commented that she can tell that I'm shrinking :)

So I finally made one of my mini-goals. I think I'm going to give myself a pat on the back. Now just 3 more pounds until my next mini-goal!

Uh oh, it's been too long...

Wow, I haven't been around the blogs in 5 days! Last Saturday I got another fill and met another (foreign) bandster. Of course I've been pretty tight--really only getting down liquids. Yesterday I finally managed to eat something a little more solid. I'll see how the rest of this week goes and I may go on Saturday and ask them to take a little out. They're really aggressive here about the fills!

The good news is that today, I'm only 1 pound away from my next mini-goal of 248! And I'm 50 pounds down from my highest weight ever! I've never consistently lost this much weight before. It's really crazy.

As for why I haven't been around blogland, well, some things have been going on that I'm not quite ready to share yet. Give me some time, it may come out eventually.

Until next time...

Quit yer bitchin'!

I decided that it's time to buck up and stop whining so much, so...

Good morning everyone :) I love Christmas; the last two years I haven't really loved it so much, but this year I love it again. I've bought super-cheesy Christmas cards to send out (most things in Korea are uber-cutesy, and when you add in misspellings like "withes" for "wishes" you can't help but smile) and I've typed up my annual year-in-review. This year we even took a picture in front of our tree--it's actually not the best pic, but it shows us at home, how we really are with our cats.

I also bought lots of Christmas gifts for our families. Since this is our last Christmas in Korea, we felt we should send out some nice things for people. Shipping out of Korea isn't that bad; maybe $20 for good-sized box. I'm definitely going to miss all the low costs of living here! I'm going to try to get everything mailed by Monday. Cross your fingers!

The scale still hasn't gone back down. However, I've been lazy this week and only REALLY exercised on Wednesday (and I'll go after I finish this blog post). That, combined with not getting enough water and still waiting for you-know-who to show, I'm sure is my downfall. Why do our bodies have to be so sensitive to every little change that happens? If only restricting calories was enough *sigh*.

Oh, kind of a side-note here. Canned whipped cream is really expensive here--like $15 for a can of Reddi-Whip, or $18 for 2 cans of Land O'Lakes at Costco. Therefore, we haven't really had whipped cream here (at home anyway). Wednesday night I found something imported from Germany called "Schlagcreme" (sounds dirty, doesn't it?) and I think it's similar to Dream Whip in the US. Anyway, here's a picture of me holding my Schlagcreme (heehee):

I just woke up, but that's supposed to be a look of surprise on my face

Alright, I'm out.

If you love cats...

watch this. now.

Hi God, it's Christina...

Oi vey. (I'm Jewish on my mom's side, I'm allowed to say that.)

I got on the scale this morning and literally jumped off it in horror. Then I got on it again, and jumped right back off. Up nearly 2 pounds from my ticker weight! al;dgh;lahglahgl;hsglkhalghlk

I pray to God that my period shows in the next couple of days. Of course, being the unpredictable beast that it is, who knows. If it doesn't, then it means I gained REAL pounds, not just fake bloaty pounds.

I still blame the guacamole.

P.S. Thanks for all your encouraging words yesterday. I really do appreciate each and every one of you :)