Happy Halloween

Hey. I haven't had much to say lately as I haven't been feeling too hot.
Monday night or Tuesday morning I woke up with the worst sore throat.   I figured I was getting sick as whenever I get sick, it starts in the throat and moves to the chest area.

This time, it wouldn't "move". I had the sore throat for 3 days. It is painful and today it felt like someone was stabbing my throat.

I was lucky enough to get a doctors appointment.  They tested me for strep but the initial test was negative. They still sent it out.   After talking with this doctor, we discussed just how often I get sick. Additionally how often it turns into bronchitis.   We traced it back to when I started the meds. Turns out some of the meds I'm on compromise my immune system and THAT is possibly why I am prone to infections.

So while the test came back as negative for strep, they're treating me as if I have it due to my susceptibility for infections.

Joy Joy.

Weight loss wise, this visit was very informative.

Item number one learned: my weight is down according to their scales. I am down 50 lbs per my medical record.  (Going back to August 16).

Item number two learned: My blood pressure is down!  It's back to the normal range it was BEFORE I got ill. My pulse was down as well. Rich of course had to point out it might be down due to being ill.   

Item number three learned:  This didn't hit me until i was walking out of the exam room.
The chair!  Normally it's very snug. I got in and out of it this time with no issues.

Other item learned: Cepacol! Why hasn't anyone told me about this stuff before? With the number of times I get ill--this would have been very handy to have. 

I don't care for the tongue & mouth numbing portion of it but the throat numbing???? HEAVEN! 
I'm on antibiotics and hope to return to work tomorrow.

Today's steps are a loss. Sad to say seeing as I did over 11K the past three days in spite of my throat issues.

Normally I would be getting ready to climb into bed but I took a 2 hr nap when I got back from the doctor, so I'm not quite there yet.

Other newsworthy items:
I've been eating real candy AND I had a piece of real pizza.

Rich bought those Reese PB footballs. 90 calories each. At the end of the day, I've been having one.   They're soooooo good.  I keep wanting more but I don't.   I know if I give in, it's a very slippery slope.   It is nice to enjoy something not healthy though.

The pizza. Our big bosses bought us lunch for our division meeting.  I had one piece.
It was disappointing and made me feel overly stuffed.   I skipped the yummy looking chocolate cake though. Wish I had had that instead.     

I think I'm pretty much in the mindset to be able to eat other things and not go over board.  I do have a pretty good support system at work and at home.  I'm very lucky to have that.   

So, until next time....Happy Halloween (no we didn't give out candy.....)

WLS pt 2--Scale update

Part two of my ‘Prejudice’ post.

As I was saying, I feel those who take the road of WLS are often harshly criticized and almost everyone who hears they’re doing the surgery has an opinion. Many harsh & not constructive.

I have encountered a few myself. Not bothering to hear the reason why or my thinking on the matter, they’ve launched into a spiel on why I shouldn’t. 

At the time my primary care doctor suggested it to me, I was miserable. Pain in my knee. I limped.  I ached all over. Getting in and out of a car was nearly impossible.   If I attempted to walk for any significant time, the back pain would start and increase the longer I was on my feet.

I tried doing my recumbent bike & my knee would act up.  I only ate 3 meals a day.  I rarely snacked.

After sitting down with the dietician to go over my eating and give me a plan to lose the ’24 pounds’ she gave me to meet the insurance prerequisite, we modified my eating.   She switched regular for low sugar or sugar free, fruit for vegetables, and I was told to cut off ALL carbonated beverages and drink only zero calorie drinks.   I was also told to switch regular bread for sandwich thins.  I was lowering a lot of my wheat intake as well. Most importantly I had to move. Get at least 10K steps a day. Lastly, a number of vitamins were added to my daily regimen.

It was incredibly difficult at the beginning. I was ALWAYS hungry.   Walking was slow going. I started using MyFitnessPal religiously, logging all my meals.  I went and got a Fitbit to track my steps. It was so hard.  I was barely getting 3K steps.

By week two I noticed two things.  The first being I was mentally more aware and feeling good.  The second, I was walking a bit longer before the pain hit.   Before we knew it, I was walking pain free and the weight was coming off.  

I truly believe it was the combination of vitamins, cutting out something harmful (pop? Sugar? Wheat?) and cutting calories helped the pain disappear.   Without the pain, I could walk more.  Walk more I did. Surprisingly I lost the weight. Never thought it would happen.

Then the questions began.  “Since you see you can do it, are you still going to have surgery?” “See you don’t need surgery” and all sorts of similar opinions.

Honestly folks, I only lost 37 lbs. While that seems a lot, you all need to realize in the grand scheme of things that is a tiny portion of what I need to lose.

 Somewhere lower is a graph thing I made. I am not comfortable giving you exact numbers so I replaced the weights with the alphabet (A-H) and BMI with #s 1-8.  The weight is broken up in increments that I fit into.   While I did not reach the highest represented by H + 8, I was not far from.   I want you to have a visual of what I have to conquer.

A/1 represents the weight I would need to be to be considered NORMAL BMI.  That is what I consider my Dream weight.  To reach that, I would need to lose a total of 200 lbs.  Read that again, 200 pounds.

B/2 is my “I so wish I could”.  If I weighed B, everyone would think I was so skinny. The joys of having a large frame/build.  10 years ago after I lost all that weight, those of you who remember how skinny I was….I was at B. THAT is considered Overweight on the BMI scale.

C is my long goal.   I don’t think I am going to reach it but this is what I’d ideally like to be at.  I came back from Japan at this ‘location’.

D is where I could live with and be satisfied if I never lost another pound.  It’s considered OBESE but thanks to my large frame, I’d still look good. I will need to lose a total of 130 lbs to achieve this.

E—since I was doing equal increments, I needed to put this in. I will just ‘pass through’ with my weight loss.

F-My current location.

G-Where this all began.

As you see across the bottom, the BMI scale for each goal.  200 lbs need to be lost in order to be “NORMAL”.

That’s a tough road ahead.  Just because I’ve lost 37 do you think I can do 200? 

WEIGHT	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	DREAM	Wish	Long Goal	Goal	just passing through	Current	Original	very high never reached
BMI	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Normal	Overweight	Obese	Obese	Obese	Obese	Obese	Obese
From Initial	-200			-130

My official weigh in with the dietitian is tomorrow.   Then we begin the process with the insurance company.  Yes I’m still going through with seeing her tomorrow.

I guess it’s time to let you all in on a secret.   When I hit 20 lbs before I thought I would, I began thinking the exact questions everyone asked me early on.   Will I have the surgery?

The answer for now is, no.

Yes, you read that. I am going to try this on my own.  I’m scared I can’t do it.  I’m frustrated that it is going to take so long.   Yet- I’m allowing myself options by holding off.  I still want to get approval as a last resort in case I fail.  

I am going to ask if I can continue working with a dietitian  I do better when I have to be held accountable to someone.   With you guys. With my doctor. With a dietitian  I may just have a chance at this.   Heck. If I could do 70 lbs on Atkins, I can do 100 on eating right & exercise. 

I actually hate calling it a “diet”.   This is just the way I am now. I watch what I eat and make sure I get in some exercise. 

So there you have it.  I’m not giving up yet, just going about things differently than anticipated.
```````````````````````````````````````````
Friday. 
I had my appointment.
If you count what I weighed on my first appointment with them, the total lost is 44lbs.  If you count when I started tracking, based on the scale, I've lost 40.   My  FitnessPal total will continue to be off of MY SCALE. 

The dietitian was very pleased at my over achievement (44 vs 24).  I also officially decided to put the surgery process on PAUSE.   I will still continue to see her and continue to do what I've been doing.

Clothing Retirement (double post today)

No...the second half of the previous post will not be posted till probably Friday.

This post instead is of a "happier" nature.

I've posted about my progress. I've posted pictures of my walks. I've posted product reviews.   I have yet to share any of the progress.    

Well this post is about my growing 'retirement' pile.  Clothing that I can no longer wear because it does not fit properly anymore.  

First off, this is a photo of me from a month ago. At this time, I was about 18 lbs down.

Down 18 lbs. Sept 20, 2013

As you can see, I'm starting to get a little figure here.  Those pants I had to quit wearing at the end of last summer.

Now, exhibit no 1.

Wedding.

This dress. Last year I got on a big maxi dress kick. I bought one last year and went out and bought a few more during the spring. I love them.   This dress I wore last summer to a wedding. In fact, here is Rich & I at the reception.
 

The dress was snug in the bosom, as you can clearly see here.  It was comfortable otherwise and long, my favorite kind.
It did eventually loosen up in the chest area and I wore this dress with a sweater or suit jacket to work.   

Well in preparation for this post, I cleaned out a portion of my closet.   I tried on all my dresses.   A few I can get a few more wears out of them.       

Here is exhibit 2, the dress today.

What you do not see is how loose this is on me.
It hangs under the arms and you can clearly see my bra.   My chest is much smaller.  Between the chest being smaller and my middle, the dress hangs on me. Where it once came to my ankles/top of my feet, it now comes down to the floor.

it is so loose, that the middle section, where the dress comes in at the waist, is so loose it just lays there and isn't really all that flattering.

BTW, Rich is constantly making remarks about the shrinking chest.    

Now, onto Exhibit 3, one of my favorite pairs of pants.   Awhile ago, I bought these dress pants for work. I loved how comfortable they were and how they hung.. I bought two more pairs & one never was removed from the package (my back up pair).   
I will now have to retire all three pairs.   I am so sad--in a bitter sweet way.

When I walk wearing these, I fear they'll fall off of me. I practically have to pull them up to just under my chest to avoid them slipping off.   I will miss my dress pants.

June 2013

October 2013

Exhibit 4 & 5.   This is a picture of me from June 8 at the NKOTB concert, The blouse I'm wearing is one of my favorites.  I love it so much.   Again, this is from THIS JUNE.

The shirt sits fine on my shoulders. Hangs to my upper thighs.  Fits just fine.

This picture was taken this morning as I was getting ready for work.   This is me down 35 lbs.

It is way too lose.  It doesn't sit right on my shoulders. It's huge in the breast area. Baggy..   I'm heartbroken that this is the last time I will wear this lovely blouse.  

Moving on. This picture, Exhibit 6 was taken ONE WEEK before I started this journey.  

 What to say about this picture? You can see my big breasts & large round middle.   What else can you say?   This was today trying the dress on. 

The way it hangs in the chest makes it look bigger in this picture than it actually is.  It hangs a bit under the arms and I have a bit of a figure.  Not as flattering as the other but still something to show.

 What I didn't get a picture of are these 4 pair of pants I own. Same type just different colors.  They're all retired. I wore the one pair to work yesterday and spent the whole day nearly tripping as they were too long and falling off.   

So visual progress. It's not as great as I'd like, but it's something.  

Thanks for reading.

Prejudice- WLS P1

Today’s subject is surgery- particularly bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery (WLS).

One thing I have learned since I began this process is just how prejudiced people are against people who have this surgery.  

I've heard it described as the “easy way out”.  I've heard from people who know someone who had surgery and then they “gained the weight back” or "they found a way to cheat" so on and so forth.

It was surprising to me just how many people have an opinion on this, especially when it does not affect them.  Most of these individuals are quite vocal in expressing their opinions as well.

It makes me mad actually. Regardless of whether or not I go through with the surgery, this is MY decision. This is my health.  My body!   It’s one thing to voice your opinion because you care, but it’s another to voice it just because you have an opinion on the whole WLS.  

I want you to understand for most, this is not “the easy way out”; far from it actually.  While there are those few who ruin the view of WLS but for most, this is by far no easy way out.

Prior to my initial appointments, I did quite a bit of research. Additionally, I've joined an online support group for bariatric surgery.  

First off, many are like me, health reasons led to the weight gain. The weight gain causes more health issues making physical activity limited or impossible.   Prior to my lifestyle changes, standing and/or walking for more than five minutes was excruciating. The pain started in my lower back and radiated out down by butt and into the back of my legs.  It would be so painful I felt like I would throw up.   The weight on my knee, which is almost bone on bone, would be painful.  

Then there is the other group who tend to have food issues. They overeat, stress eat, emotional eat, etc.  The problem with food is what led to their weight gain.  I’m not judging as I have occasionally been an emotional eater.  

There are some who may have the surgery to avoid having to work out or change their eating, but there choice to have the WLS is not the easy way out.

Based on what I've learned, this is a major lifestyle change.   I’m mostly going to talk about the RNY, also known as the gastric bypass, the most ‘severe’ of the surgeries.  

Your initial consultation involves tests: EKG, Ultrasound, Blood work, & a psychological test to determine your qualifications as a patient.  You meet with a Psychologist, BMI Physician, Surgeon, & Nutritionist. They all must sign off on your surgery.

Depending on insurance or physician requirements most are put on a diet prior to the clinic or hospital signing off on them having surgery. This serves a few purposes.  1-allows the surgeon to have more room to work with and 2-preps the patient to start eating in a way that is more in line with how they will after surgery.

If you meet the prerequisites given to you, the physicians involved sign off on your surgery , your ‘case’ is sent to insurance.  

If you're approved, then the clinic will contact you to schedule your surgery date.

A week or two prior to your surgery, patients are put on an all liquid diet.  This is to help clean them out.

After surgery, while in the hospital (average 3 days), the patient is put on a clear liquid diet.

Once they’re released and home, they are placed on an all liquid diet for about two weeks.  Many can barely intake water and have to force themselves to do this.

After that is the puree phase. About 2 weeks on pureed food. This helps the stomach heal.  

During all these phases, they’re also supposed to work on getting in protein.

After this point, they can slowly begin introducing food.  

Because the stomach has been re-routed, there is mal absorption of vitamins’ and protein. To make up for the loss of vitamins, the patient now must take a multitude of vitamins for the rest of their life.  When they eat or drink, their primary focus is to eat with plenty of protein. There is no pill for protein and must focus on that.

In order to insure that a person is getting protein, they have to change the way they eat. No water 30 mins before, during or 30 mins after a meal. Water takes up space and now there is much less room and the need for protein, liquids should be avoided.

Additionally, no carbonated beverages ever! The carbonation expands the stomach.  That will pretty much make the whole surgery void.

Each individual handles surgery differently. Some are able to eat certain allowable foods while others can’t.   Example: Eggs.  Eggs are encouraged. However for some, their body will not accept them.  Others can enjoy them with no issues.

Items with high fat content and lots of sugar are to be avoided.  The body can no longer handle them as it once did.   When the body intakes something it cannot process, the patient experiences “Dumping”.  It pretty much is what it sounds like. The body wants to dump what was consumed.  Severe cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, and even hospitalization occur and lasts hour.

From what I have read, it is awful. So how is this the easy way out?

They have to give up all sorts of foods.  There is no “cheating”.

I will admit there are those who find ways to eat and eat wrong.  That is a small number of the whole.  I don’t think that the rest should be so harshly judged for choosing surgery.  Until you are in their shoes, don’t judge.

About three months after the surgery, hair loss. Almost all patients lose hair because they are not getting enough protein.

Of course there is also the excess skin that many have due to the quick weight loss.

I have more on this but I’ll have that in a second post later this week.

I HURT

I don't know if its the weather or a flare up, but I hurt.

my arches, my ankles, my knees, my back muscles, my wrists & hands.

this is not a good start to the week.

uhm...yeah.

I'd like to apologize. I posted this on the wrong blog.   My friend/coworker mentioned I didn't post when I know I had....so  here it is..on the correct place.

I know some of you log-on on Sunday's looking for my updates.

I wasn't going to post but I figured I'd do this quick one so you'd know not to keep looking.

After logging in 35lbs lost on Monday/Tuesday, the rest of the week was not so lovely.

Friday I wasn't feeling well and came home to sleep.   Saturday & Sunday I've caught up on the sleep that I did not get last week.

I did get on the scale this morning and got right off.   This week was not a good one.

I'm pretty bummed and taking it hard, so my planned post is out the window.

On a positive note, Rich was paid the rest of his last paycheck and we're both set to get our next one, so things on that front are good.

Reminder, this Friday is THE DAY. The appt. with the dietitian where she will see I met her goal and approve my surgery so she can send it in to insurance.

SO , no update this Sunday. Check back for sure on FRIDAY for that update.  I may post a few times this week. It all depends if I get out of this funk or not.

Thanks.

XO

Weigh In

My Mom kept saying all weekend, she couldn't wait to find out how much I've lost.
Seeing me "in action" first hand, gave her a glimpse into how hard I'm trying...even when I'm tempted.

Sitting in the airport yesterday with a few hours to spare, I was starving. I was starving and right there was a Mexican restaurant.  I so badly wanted to have some chips and salsa.  Instead I went into Hudson News and found some Fuji Apple chips. 180 calories for the whole bag.

Bought those and snacked on them with a bottle of water.   Super sweet but helped fill me up.

Had my weigh in first thing today & am now down 35 lbs.   Next Friday is the "date".  The date I meet with the Bariatric Dietitian again. This is the appointment in which I am suppose to have reached my 24 lb. goal.   

She'll sign off on the surgery and my paperwork will be sent to insurance.   (Hold all those opinions, questions & thoughts I know you're having for another post).

Then we wait to see how long it takes for the insurance to approve & then a surgery date will be scheduled.

As far as my homecoming yesterday: We arrived 20 minutes early. Got to my car safely.  Arrived home to be greeted by 2 of my pups who were happy to see me.    The 3rd showed up 20 mins later to greet me.

Now I'm "at work".  My work laptop is open and logged on and I'm going through emails.  Multi-tasker I am.

Day 2 & 3

Happy Sunday.

While today would normally be a weigh in day, since I am not near a scale, you have to wait a few days.  I'm very curious as I didn't weigh myself before I left.

I've been keeping myself active with several walks with Jack.  Also, I had been walking approximately 2 miles at this one spot. Yesterday, however, my phone paid the ultimate price at the start of my walk.   My screen is shattered.  The phone is out of stock at the only 2 places to get it (for regular price, not the outrageous price they're asking for on Amazon).

Also yesterday, I had a very good look at how eating out is bad for you.   We went to Logan's Roadhouse and my meal was 2002 calories. Oh dear lord.   You can rest assure I did not eat anything else (except my snack of celery much much later).   I had a steak, shrimp & potatoes.   The two rolls I had were 454 calories but the rest was all dinner.   Rest assured, I was UNDER my daily calorie limit in spite of THAT meal.

Today, I started the day with Jack & my daily walk.   We had lunch at Olive Garden. I had the Capellini Pomodoro with Shrimp. Well, I ate half of it. I was quite full.  That was yummy. I could have had 4 orders in order to catch up with yesterday's meal.

My mother & I went to the mall and walked around.   Dear lord are they friendly here. I think every person who worked at the places we went were all smiley and "Hello", "How are you", "Have a great day" and it was soooo nice!   Gives a northerner like me the creeps! ;)

I have a walk scheduled for later.  I'm at 6K steps.  Today is a little lite in that area.   But then again, I didn't do a 2 mile walk.

Tonight I'm making dinner for the folks.  Olive oil & sea salt chicken breasts, red roasted potatoes w/garlic seasoning, and broccoli spears.    

Tomorrow at this time I'll be at the airport ready to head home.   I miss my pups.  

As for the cell phone. There was a place here that could fix it. It would have cost $230.  My phone was only $199.   However they would have had to special order it and I can't wait.  I have a new phone. It's fancy and all that but I want my Nexus 4 back.   I have 15 days to find a place to replace the glass on my phone so I can use it again and return the phone back to T-Mobile.....(Oh & it's out of stock at Google so I can't replace it for the same one)

If any of you Ohioans know of a place....be sure to let me know!

Tenn Day 1

hello folks.

Getting started.   The surprise was not pulled off how I wanted.  My phone acted weird and wasn't uploading the blog quick enough.   In the end, they were surprised but I walked in the door about 2 mins after my brother walked in.

Mom was very shocked and I guess happy to see me.  Dad was shocked.
Jack was super happy to see me.

So,  I guess that was good.

Today I walked Jack early this morning.  Later on I went for a 2 mile walk at this park near here.  I easily achieved my 10K steps.

I stayed under my calorie goal as well.  
There will not be a weigh in until Monday.  I do not have a scale here that I can use, so there will be a slight delay on my weekly weigh in.

Will keep you posted.

after surprise

This will post after the surprise post.

So far the experience is ok.  Got to the park n fly lot, that went really easy.

At the airport, no pain standing in line (both times). Got to the front & my boarding pass (on my phone) would not scan. I had to go back to the counter to get a printed pass.
Then I stood in line again. Passed security.

Walked all the way down to the United Club. Used my free pass. Am currently sitting at one of the desks using my Chormebook.

Received an email that the flight is delayed 40 minutes. GRRRRRRRRR. I knew things were going too smoothly.

Good thing I'm in the United Club to rest.

Will update later.

It's an hour or so later. This United club is purdy darn nice.  Free beverages (too bad I  can't have a beer or glass of wine).  Comfy seats. Free snacks.  

The only thing that sucks is I should have been boarding already. I keep getting email updates in regards to my flight.  Current info is that we're leaving 50 minutes after originally scheduled.  It's better than one of the previous updates. I'm suppose to report to the gate in 20 minutes.   I will. I am just enjoying my time here.  

If you plan to fly semi-regularly, I highly suggest you investing in a credit card (tied to an airline) to earn miles. I first got my miles through Key's debit card. It earned Continental miles. These miles transferred to United. I've flown 3 or 4 times for free.  Well free plus security fees. I get to check a bag free and you get 2 United Club passes a year.  Mine were expiring this month. I just got my next 2, so I made sure I used them this trip.

What I earned by signing up with United credit card.
$50 credit on my first bill (It covered my security fees).  For having a second signer, we earned 5000 miles. And for spending $1000 in the first 3 months, I earned 25000 miles.  THAT right there is a free flight when you book early enough.

Never thought it would come in handy to visit my parents.

Well, I'm going to shut down so I can go use the restroom & make my way to the gate.

So I made my way to my gate. Get this. I'm leaving from the D terminal. First time for me. I WALKED the whole connector. Did not use the people movers at all.

Next hurdle... The seats.

Plane is here. It's 5:17. Hopefully we'll be boarding soon. The plane is tiny. Will I fit?

Recommendation

Discovered this recently.

I'm working from home today (to save time and money).  I've had these before today but I just had one and since I"m right next to my laptop, I'm sharing.

Yumminess. Tomatoe & Lettuce not included

Not just for dieters

See this product here?? These are divine. So full of flavor and not too bad for those health conscious individuals out there.

I've been having these w/a piece of Market Pantry's (Target) Mozzerella cheese which adds 60 calories.
I have to be careful because I could eat these non stop.   Luckily with 23 grams of protein, they help fill me up.

I found these at BJ's, but in searching for an image, I see they're also at Sams & Cotsco.
Trust me, a quick snack that has flavor and only 280 calories?  They're not super tiny so you're not starving after.
I do not put anything other than the piece of cheese on it.   Does't need it.

You can keep it frozen or refrigerated.  I suggest the fridge as it's quicker to cook up without involving microwave thaw.

From fridge to microwave, 45 seconds. It's hot. It's ready. It's delicious.

I randomly chose Lays Potato chips as an example.
Fifteen chips is a serving.  If you're hungry looking for a snack, unless you're very disciplined, you'll eat more like 30.

For those 30 chips:
320 Calories, 20 G of fat. and 4 grams of protein. Not to mention 700 g of sodium.

compare it to one sandwich.
280 calories. 9 G of at. 15 grams of protein & only 490 in sodium. SOOOOOOOOOOOO (get it) much healthier and filling.

So there's my recommendation.

For those hoping to hear about my goal, I'm at work.  Later today I'll find out if my goal was reached. Check back later tonight.

Now about that goal.......

I’m actually starting this Sunday night.  If you’re reading this, it means I sort of met my goal!  I won’t post this if I didn’t.  

Now this posting has TWO purposes.

****goal not 100% met. ***

The first is to share with you that I met one of my goals.  See, about a year or so ago, I started flying regularly.  I really had come to hate flying with a passion.   Can you guess my reasons?  

The first would be the pain I experienced when I have to stand in line to go through security and walk the airport to and from my gates.   My one flying experience was so dramatically painful--last November. I was in tears as I found my seat on the plane.   

I could not stand for any extended period of time.  I could not walk for any extended amount of time. It was excruciating. The last time I flew, I did the tram thing.   

The second reason would be the planes I had flown in were the little ones with a single seat on one side and two on the other.  I was just big enough that I could not properly sit in the seat. I would either have to sit at an angle within the seat, arms digging into my side,  in order to fit in OR I would have to ask the individual next to me if I could keep the arm up.  I’ve been lucky that the individuals were pretty nice about it.

It really was embarrassing.   September 4th I booked myself on a flight.   The closer to the date and the more I lost, I began to have a dream. A goal really.  My goal is this Thursday to be able to go to the airport, not have any pain while I wait to clear security.   Walk through that airport like a normal person and then be able to board that plane and not have any problem fitting in the seat.

Unfortunately, the seat is still snug. Instead of scrapping the whole post, i am modifying this on the plane. Right fit but NO PAIN**   

I’ve lost enough weight now to make flying a bit more, tolerable! I’m almost a normal person!!!

So there you have it. My goal and my partial success.

That is part one of this post’s purpose.

Now onto the second.   

A certain someone or two is reading this because my plan is to call them to tell them to read my blog.   They’re reading and maybe just maybe they’re getting hopeful.   They’re reading about me flying. I never told them I was going anywhere.   Why would I possibly be flying??? Where could I possibly be going? Could I just possibly be surprising them?  

Well, if they’re not thinking that, they’re for sure thinking it now.   

Not sure how the rest of this will go,  as I am still undecided on how to pull off the reveal -but…>SURPRISE!
Guess where I’m at right now??????????           See you very very soon.

This past week

Happy Sunday.

Hope all of you are doing well and enjoying this fine fall weather. 

This week was a little bit different for me.  

As you know from my previous post, I'm having a bit of a tough time.   I'm trying though. I really am.

Step-wise, this week is a bust.   While Friday, when I worked from home, was a pretty good day.  I walked the Duch at 5AM and at lunch I walked with my friends and neighbors, Lissette and Jenni, and Saturday.... well I'll get to that.

Friday was our anniversary. 17 years with Rich as a married couple (20 years together total).  We had gift certificates to White Oaks. Wonderful atmosphere and food to die for.   While I had my calorie and nutrition daily goals in the back of my mind, we ate. We ate what we wanted.   I had the most amazing dinner AND dessert.  I did not feel one ounce of guilt.  I won't do this often.  It was a one time thing. It was our day.   Let me reiterate. The meal was divine.   The food they served was so freaking good.   I truly had a wonderful night. 

Later as I tried to calculate the dinner, I realized that yes, I may have gone over, but it wasn't really that bad.  Nothing to worry about in reality because I HAD burned more calories than I had taken in.   So no need to worry about anything.    But let me tell you...DINNER WAS DIVINE!

I'll even share what I ate since I keep rubbing it in that it was soo good. 
I drank my typical water with lemon.  I started my diner with a Raspberry salad. It was mixed greens with strawberries and cranberries, candied walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, with a Raspberry vinaigrette. So flavorful.  
I had 2 tiny slices of the ciabatta bread & butter.  My dinner was Filet Mignon: Center-Cut of the Beef Tenderloin. Wrapped with Applewood Bacon and Grilled. Topped with a Cabernet Demi Glaze. Slight Moo to it. 

Rich had the Clam Bake special. Started off with clams. Followed by Clam Chowder. Then a dinner of a agnus steak filet, sweet potato fries, and corn on the cob. That boy was happy as--pardon my pun---a clam.   (Why are clams happy?)

Yeterday was a big bust step wise.   I had been putting off cleaning out my closets and files for some time. Since it rained yesterday, it was the perfect time to go through everything.   That project took a heck of a lot longer than anticipated.  I spent 5 hours on the floor going through 17 years of paperwork.   I ended up shredding quite a lot.  SO while I didn't walk --hardly at all--I was very productive.   I also made sure i at least got on the bike later in the evening.  So while I didn't walk much, I did 45 minutes of bike.  

Today I'm going to finish up the little bit I have left and I guess we'll see where that goes.

Those of you who look at the number up top before you read, know the total. It actually is 32.8 lbs, according to my scale--which is the official weight keeper :).

I have a huge goal I'm trying to accomplish this week. I cannot tell you about it right now because....let's just say I will blog about whether or not I made it most likely Thursday evening. That should be when I will know whether or not I made it. Trust me, if I make this goal, I will be sooooooo happy.    So now you have a little teaser and reason to come back Thursday night or Friday morning--depending when I get to blog it.  

As always, thank you for the moral support.  Thank you to my wonderful friends who keep my spirits up by telling me how good I'm doing and how they can tell I'm losing weight. Thank you all.  You're not only my support, you're my detrmination to keep doing this.  Knowing I have an audience (even if it's a small one) helps keep me focused. I don't want to let myself or any of you down.   Enjoy your Sunday!