None of my impulses are good.

I had a wild impulse on Friday night to stop taking my blood pressure medicine and diuretic. I tried to get my primary care doctor to take me off of it at my last appointment, but I think she felt like "why mess with it if it's working?" But she's not the one who has to take two extra prescriptions a day. So, I decided to stop taking them and see how my blood pressure was at my lap band appointment this morning. The good news is, the blood pressure was perfectly normal. The bad news is that without the diuretic, I swell up like a Thanksgiving parade balloon. I'm up 4-5 pounds from Friday's weigh-in, and I did not eat 5lbs worth of crap all weekend.

The nurse practitioner said I probably shouldn't abruptly stop taking both medications. And yes, she probably has a point. She suggested that I stay on the diuretic for now, and start tapering off after a month. So, I'll try that, and see how my blood pressure looks when I go back for next month's appointment. And now that I'm back on the diuretic, I'll be taking about one million pee breaks.

I did not get a fill today. The NP didn't see the point. My weight is going down, yet I can eat whatever I want. It's sheer will-power alone that keeps me from eating entire loaves of French bread. She said if I still want a fill next month, I can have a little one.

Here's another picture from our trip to Disney World. My 12 year-old sister went with us. She weighs 83lbs. I have now lost the equivalent of one Abby.

Friday Weigh-In

Starting weight: 281 lbs
Surgery day: 261 lbs

Today's weight: 196.6

- 1.6 lb loss

-64.4 lbs loss since surgery

-84.4 lb loss overall

Lowest weight in 15 years! The teachers at my son's daycare have all been making a big deal about how great I look, saying they don't even recognize me at first. I can get used to this.

I have no idea what is even happening with me, weight-wise. I feel like I could eat ALL THE THINGS, but I usually don't, and I'm still losing weight. But I'm not going to question it too much. I have a lapband appointment scheduled for Monday. I've been debating getting a tiny fill (like .1) since I only have 6.3cc in my band, and it would be nice to be less hungry sometimes. But then, I think I'm only hungry when I'm supposed to be, like when it's been at least 3-4 hours since my last meal. And obviously, I'm losing at my current level, so maybe I shouldn't jinx myself? Nobody can make a giant deal out of .1ccs like me.

Now that I've hit Onederland, it's on to the next mini-goal! Which is: 191 lbs. Way to set the bar low, right? The thing that is so special about 191 lbs is that it would put me in the "overweight" BMI category, instead of the "obese" one. And then, after that, it's only another 10 lbs to hit my 100 lb weight loss! Which, if you'll remember, involves PRESENTS.

Disney World

Thoughts on Disney World and Universal Studios: fun, humid, obscenely crowded, long lines, absurdly expensive.

We were delayed on our flight there, arriving 12 hours late and exhausted. It rained on and off, the entire time we were there, sometimes POURING on us. The weather did horrible things to my hair, that are now preserved in photos, and I may never forgive. I successfully ate from the surprisingly good Disney kids menu all week, which was very helpful. I wore my fitbit and logged insane miles, nearly every day we were there (Epcot day was NINE MILES). We missed lots of fun rides due to the long lines and waits being simply too much. Next time, we may save a few thousand dollars and just drive to San Antonio and take the kid to Six Flags. If we buy him enough souvenirs, he may not notice the difference.

And now, some photos!

Much more comfortable seatbelt than the last time I flew.

Me and the kiddo riding flying Dumbos.

At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - with butterbeer!

How many calories are in a butterbeer? Who cares?! It was delightful!

Immediately after coming back, I headed off to ATX Television Festival all weekend, and did even more walking. Got to go to lots of fun panels and screenings, including Friday Night Lights, My So-Called Life, Vampire Diaries, and Veronica Mars (where I got to meet the beloved creator, Rob Thomas). Super fun times for a TV geek like me.

What have you guys been up to?

P.S. Oh, and in case you missed it, I hit ONEDERLAND last week!

Wonder

As in, I wonder how the hell this happened. 

 

Friday Weigh-In

Starting weight: 281 lbs
Surgery day: 261 lbs

Today's weight: 200.8

- 1.8 lb loss

-50.2 lbs loss since surgery

-80.2 lb loss overall (the MFP ticker refuses to update to this effect)

So I didn't quite reach Onederland by June, but I can see it from here. Hopefully, I'll make it by June 8, the one year anniversary of my lap band consultation. A year ago, I never let myself imagine this far ahead. I knew people had been successful with the lap band, but I didn't really think that I might be one of them. I never wanted to be thin. I've never been thin in my entire life, and the thought of it is completely alien. But I never even imagined losing more than 80 pounds.

The truth is, I've weighed over 200 pounds most of my adult life. Weighing less than that, for me, is associated with adolescence. You know, painfully awkward, horribly self-conscious, adolescence. That time of my life where I pretty much constantly hated my "fat" body. I was definitely more confident and comfortable in my own skin at 280 pounds than I ever was in my high school body. Even though I've spent the last year on this weight loss journey, the slowest part has definitely been the emotional adjustment to living in a different body.

We leave Sunday for Orlando. I'm going to Disney World and Universal Studios with my family, and I'm pretty excited for the non-scale victories that await.

Rewards

This morning's weigh-in showed that I've hit 80lbs lost. It's not official until Friday weigh-in, of course. But, in the interest of celebrating/rewarding with something other than food, I got a new Summer dress.

I had a really great collection of sundresses, but they all ended up in the donate pile after the last closet clean-out. One NSV I've noticed? Non-plus size clothes can be WAY cheaper. $20 sundresses blows my mind. I think I could get used to this.

Seven Month Update

Starting weight (6/8/12): 281 lbs
Surgery day (10/26/2012): 261 lbs
Current weight: 202.6 lbs (down 1.6 lbs from last week)

- 58.4 lbs since surgery
- 78.4 lbs loss overall

This time last year, I was on a girls weekend trip.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 - 281 lbs

That was a size 3X dress from some plus size website. I was finally ready to make a change, and I had scheduled my lap band consultation.

Memorial Day Weekend 2013 - 203 lbs

That's my game show hostess pose for y'all. One year and 78 lbs later (bat wings come at no extra charge), and I'm wearing an XL dress from an Old Navy store where I can just walk in and buy clothes that fit me whenever I want.

It's been a good year.