Weigh-In Saturday

Starting weight: 301
Last week's weight: 237
Today's weight: 235
Total loss: 66 pounds
Banded: 6/7/2013

I am really in a 2 pound groove here, aren't I?  It seems like for the last four or five weeks, that's the way it has been. And I have no problem with that. Slow and steady wins the race!

You guys know that I like to future trip a little bit about my weight, and imagine where I could possibly be by certain dates. If I keep up this 2 pounds a week thing, I could  be down 75 pounds by the time 2014 arrives. That's a really inspiring thought. Hopefully it will be inspiring enough to keep me on track during the holidays! I'm really not worried about that, though. More on that topic later.

So much to tell you guys. This past week has been so busy it almost seems like a blur. We made it to the Thanksgiving break. Finally! It's going to be so nice to have a full week off, and I plan to make the most of it.

I did not cook a single meal this week. I can't believe I'm even saying that. I have "prepared" a bunch of meals, but cooking has not been on the agenda at all. I've been away from home most evenings, so dinners have just kind of been on the fly. But, you know...I've learned that there are healthy choices everywhere. You just have to be smart about it. Monday night I met John for dinner at Chipotle, Tuesday night there was Chick-fil-A, and Wednesday night I had dinner with my friend Jordan at my very favorite Mexican restaurant of all time, Taco Mama. That meal also turned into Thursday night's dinner! I love it when that happens. I'm religious about logging everything in MyFitnessPal. Thank god for MyFitnessPal. If any of you would like to follow me, my username is juliemiller1972. Send me a friend request!

On Thursday night, I went to a weight loss surgery support group at a local hospital. My very good friend Melissa had lap band surgery almost exactly a month after I did. She invited me to come to their support group this month, because they were having a very special guest speaker. Support groups are something I truly enjoy, and it also gave me a chance to see her surgeon's bariatric coordinator, Audrey, who is the definition of awesomeness. The guest speaker was running a bit late, and I was shocked when Audrey called me to the front of the room to talk to everyone. I was happy to do it, but a bit unprepared, so I kind of reverted to what I call "my weight loss story". How I lost 150 pounds several years ago, how it all came back, and how I arrived at the conclusion that weight-loss surgery was the best option for me. A lot of the same things I said in my very first blog post.

The guest speaker arrived shortly thereafter, and he was fantastic. He's been super successful and has lost 90 pounds. He is also a patient of Dr. Wellborn, the same surgeon who did my lap band.

But...there was one part of his speech that I couldn't have disagreed with more. I want to run this by you guys and see what you think about it. He mentioned that early on in his journey, he would get very angry when he couldn't finish a meal. He used the example of dining at his favorite steakhouse, and only being able to get through a fourth of his prime rib. And being REALLY angry about it. Even feeling regretful that he had gotten the lap band. Basically, he wanted to be able to eat like he always had before. This has not been my experience in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I feel the exact opposite. Instead of being regretful that I don't get to finish a delicious meal, I'm happy that it's going to turn into two or three delicious meals. Like the meal I had Wednesday night at Taco Mama. I don't know…what do you guys think? Has your lap band ever made you angry? I was feeling especially uncomfortable that all of the pre-ops in the room were hearing him say this. I know for me, one of my biggest pre-surgery fears was that I wouldn't be able to get my grub on like I did before. That has turned out to be such a non-issue.

And so now here we are…a little less than a week away from the biggest eating holiday there is. Thanksgiving has always been very special to me, but not necessarily because of the food. Oh sure I like it, but my family does Thanksgiving a little bit differently. We never have turkey and for this I am grateful. I don't really dig it, and neither does my dad. We have a delicious lemon chicken usually. One year we even grilled steak. This year we are going to my sister's house, and I'm in charge of bringing the sweet potato casserole, the green bean bundles, and a delicious recipe that I found on Pinterest called "Crunchers". Click on that link if you dare. It seems like it's going to be dangerously delicious. So what is my holiday plan? To eat a little bit of everything and deny myself nothing. It's one day of the year, and I know myself well enough to know that if I feel like I am being denied, it will just send me into a Food Craving Circle of Death. Okay…maybe that's overstating it a little bit. I'm also prone to hyperbole, but you know what I'm saying. I'm going to enjoy myself, and let the band do it's job of controlling my portions.

Before I go, I would like to welcome my new readers. I'm so glad you're here! I hope everyone has a great weekend. Thanks for reading!