Work fun...

So last week at work, my coworker decided to decorate the office in a Hawaiian them (frommm the dollar store).  I got to work with a grass skirt and a shell bra on my desk.  NO ONE ELSE had this.  But I wore it anyway, ahah.   So this pic is my cube.  Is that pop in my hands, you ask?  Why of course not..  :p

And we even got some fruit-kabobs :D

This is my friend / coworker Stephanie and I :D

In this next pic, there's a group of us.. but I only asked Steph her permission to show it.. and it was just too funny to pass up!  I mean, c'mon, look at her face!

                       

Lastly, I'll leave you with this little gem.  So I could not stop touching my stupid shell bra!  someone captured it. 

5k, BOOBS 'mates, etc

I just started following approximately 8.2 million people. I'm a little overwhelmed! Tomorrow I work at the grad school for about 5 hours and I plan on seriously getting to know every person I followed. Unless they want me to actually work or something (ha!). It's a hard task though.. I like to go back to the beginning and read every post. Eek! I might have to do an abbreviated version. But! If you've noticed that I've started following you.. just know that I'm creepily lurking on your blog ;)

This Saturday I'm going to do my first 5k. It's just a walk (I am incapable of running, for reals) and I'm going with two of my coworkers. I'm looking forward to it but it's sooooo early. I can't wait for the shirt! :D

I'm going to Chicago ... and I need roommates! I think I'm pretty cool with Stephanie just pairing me with whoever else doesn't have anyone. I'm pretty laid back so whatever.. But I am a poor graduate student so I would like 3 roommates if possible. Oh well - it will all shake out.

Scale hasn't moved in a long time... but I'm not surprised. I haven't been the model bandster lately. I'm okay with it..

peace out homies.

B.O.O.B.S

I think we all know that I'm a pretty horrible blogger, ahah. I mean, don't deny it. I disappear for months at a time .. I hardly comment, and I basically just suck at it. To my credit, I've warned you from the beginning. But I definitely READ and take in what everyone is saying. I follow Amy's postings religiously.. I know what's going on in the blog universe for the most part. So it comes as really no surprise that when I heard about the BOOBS convention in Chicago that I was like "seriously?! That's soooo cooooool!" .. because, to me, I know you all. Here's the thing. You don't all know me. I don't talk to any of you outside reading your blogs.. so even though I feel like I know you and I feel like we're friends.. we're kinda not. I mean, we definitely could be.. but we're not. And because *I* don't blog as often or as well as other people, you definitely probably don't feel like you know me. So I argued with myself over whether or not I could even go to something like this - even after it was made clear that everyone was invited, lol. So then I started thinking.. well, I probably won't go. Then I thought.. wait. I need to see what Drazil looks like. Then I thought... but ahhh, no one knows me. But you know what -- at the end of the day, I'm pretty sick of the fact that I have let my weight hold me back from TONS of social situations in the past. So, tentatively, I'm in. Chicago is only a 2.5 hour drive from where I live in Michigan. and hey, I have 5 months to make friends before I get there ;)

Fat Boy [Jewel]

Fat boy goes to the pool
Sees his reflection, doesn't know what to do
He feels little inside and filled with pride
Oh, fragile flame
No one sees the same

Fat boy goes about his day
Trying to think of funny things to say
Like, "This is just a game I play"
And "I like me this way"
Oh, fragile flame
When no one feels the same

Hush, sleep, don't think, just eat
Your daddy's little boy
Your mama's pride and joy
You know they love ya
But not because they hold ya

Fat boy says "Wouldn't it be nice
If I could melt myself like ice
Or outrun my skin and just be pure wind"
Oh, fragile flame
Sometimes I feel the same

FRIDAY! and Drazil's Surveyyyyy.

I'm soooo glad it's Friday! It's supposed to be 65 degrees today! Yesss! But it's suppose to snow on Sunday.. WTF weather?! I'm rocking the start of a cold. My throat has been sore and today my nose is a little stuffy. I don't even care. I just want to be out of work!

I'm going to do Drazil survey because Friday's are completely pointless at my job.. :D

1. If you could be a weather forecast, what would you be and why?

This is harder to answer than I thought. I guess I'd be a clear night in the summer. I love seeing the moon and the stars. Makes me feel like there's something much bigger than me out there. Also .. I love that there's only one moon. and anywhere you are in the country, if someone else is looking at the moon, you're looking at the same thing.

2. If you could be a crayon, what color would you be and why?

It's no secret that I love bright green. It brightens my day.. If I were a green crayon I would look in the mirror and it would make me happy. What a change of pace :p

3. What is/was your biggest physical goal you want to do when you hit your goal weight?

My biggest physical goal ever would be to run a marathon. But since I can't even run around the block.. that might take a little more work than I'm willing to do at the moment ;) I just think it would be a great accomplishment.

4. If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

I would be a baby elephant or a dog. These are my favorite animals. Mostly, I'd probably be a dog because I feel like I relate better to dogs than I do to most people. I love dogs. If there is such a thing as a past life, I would bet money on the fact that I've been a dog before.

5. Just because I’m new to some followers and I’m curious – let’s do a put it out there in black and white stat question.

What was your highest weight? 263
What is your weight now? 162 (as of Monday)
What is your goal weight if you have one? 140 (ultimate goal weight would be 130 - 135 but I'm not sure if my body will let it happen)
What is your goal size if you have one? I don't have a goal size. I'm not concerned with size.
What diet/program/tool do you follow/have if any? Well the biggest tool I use is, obviously, the lapband. Other than that, I try not to worry about it.
How did you lose the weight current to today? a lot of hard work and some help from the lapband.

6. What’s your best advice for people in this weight loss journey?

I'm going to steal Drazil's sentiments here. Keep on keepin' on. It's so important. I never thought I could lose weight because I tried something, expected instant results and ultimately gave up. There are no instant results. This is a process. You won't be perfect every day.. in fact, you might have a whole month or more off track... but keep on keepin' on.

7. Have you ever shaved your whootananny?

ahahah.

1-6-2

I finally updated my ticker so it's actually accurate. It's hard to go from down 110 to down 98 or whatever it was. My ticker is now official as of my weight this morning.

I think I have troubles with protein shakes. Whenever I get a fill, I drink protein shakes and freak out because they're not going down as well as I think they should. But I always have troubles with protein shakes. Yesterday, I ate a whole plate of nachos. Yes, I felt a little tight at times and had one close call.. but it all went down. My protein shakes stay stuck foreeeevvveerrr. So.. who knows.

I'm going to try to catch up on my blog reading a little later even though I should be studying for a quiz. My computer crashed in the middle of February.. and I hate reading blogs on my phone. Needless to say, I'm way behind.

I need to figure out a way to continue to work out while not getting as many calories in my body. I haven't been to the gym in a week and a half. eek!

Scale says: 162.

Fill!

Hey everyone. So I really didn't want to blog today. Like some of you, I have a hard time blogging when things aren't going exceptionally well.

I went in for my fill on Friday. I had a new nurse practitioner (NP) who was GREAT! I might make all my appointments with her from now on. She listened to what I had to say and gave me suggestions. It was great to feel like I was being heard. She told me that since my last (un)fill, they had all went to a conference at some place in Kentucky or Connecticut or something like that.. some place that has very successful band patients. So they're doing fills a little differently. Basically, what she did was fill me ALL the way up and completely closed my band. That was such a weird feeling! Even before I had anything to drink, I could feel tightness in my chest. She had me drink water (knowing that since my band was closed, none of it would go down). When I could feel the water towards my throat, she had me stop drinking. She slowly took fluid out of my band until I could feel the water go down. When it started to go down, I could hear it gurgle, lol. She basically used that point as a base point and fiddled with it a little more with me drinking water. She put everything away and had me continue to drink water. I felt like the fluid was hanging up for a little while before it was going down. She put in 2.2 ccs... and I asked her if she could take a little out. She took out .2 .. and the water went down just fine. Since it was a Friday and I was leaving soon, she gave me her pager and cell number in case anything went wrong and I needed an unfill before I left (very sweet).

She told me that filling up the band all the way was especially aggravating to the band and that even though they're usually not very strict about fluids after a fill (especially for long-term patients), with this kind of fill, they definitely wanted me on fluids for two days. I was planning on it anyway. That night, I had some tomato soup and it was hanging up a lot. I didn't feel "stuck" or like I was going to puke, but I definitely had to wait awhile after each small sip. Since I was leaving the next day, I called the NP just to get her advice on what to do. She said that as long as I'm not really stuck or puking, that it might just be because the band is irritated. So I went with that. Well, I haven't had much to eat these past couple of days. Yesterday I had a really hard time with both my soup in the afternoon and my protein shake in the evening. And I'm not getting in enough calories so I'm getting these wicked headaches. I almost puked up my shake last night but this morning (when I usually have the hardest time eating), I drank a slimfast thing just fine. So... I don't know what to do. No one around here will unfill me... and I can't just go back 10 hours to Minnesota lol. I'm hoping that maybe it's still a little sowllen.. and it'll get better..

On a similar note: How is it that I have trouble with a milk protein shake but absolutely NO trouble with a triple-thick Shamrock shake from McDonalds? WTF band!