I Like Weight Loss

Hi there my little turkeys!  Friday means weigh in day of course!

Starting Weight: 17st9lbs (247lbs)
Current Weight: 15st11lbs (221lbs)
Loss this Week: 2lbs.
Total Loss: 26lbs!

I'm so happy that my weight loss has been consistent so far, and 2lbs a week (as it's been for the past 3 weeks) is absolutely ideal.  I only made it to the gym once this week so definitely want to start going more regularly to increase my fitness.  Well, I've got to run to a seminar on memory, trauma and testimony!  It's going to be depressing!

Love xxxxx

P.S. Lani, I'll reply to your email very soon!! x

Fill Me Up, Buttercup.

Hello my darling girls!  I had my first fill yesterday morning!  I wasn't too nervous because I've read so many accounts from all of you about what it's like to get a fill and that really it's no big deal.  So scooted up to London (about 40 mins from where I live at the moment) but then had to wait in the waiting room for about half an hour as the nurse was running late.  I don't like the receptionist at my clinic, he seems snooty and he doesn't smile and he doesn't put you at ease or give you any information - AND he's the one that weighs you.  Really horrid.  The clinic isn't just WLS but all sorts of cosmetic surgery as well and because it's private, I guess there's a kind of elitist feel to it.  Anyway, I finally got in to see the nurse who was LOVELY.  For some reason they didn't have all my records there, I don't think they'd been transferred over from the hospital where I had my surgery, so the nurse was really pleased with my for knowing all my information, like the size of my band etc.  She said most people don't really know what they're doing/talking about!  She was also really pleased with and complimentary about my weight loss so far.  She had me read through some information about the fill procedure and then locate myself on the yellow/green/red band scale, you know the one, to ascertain how hungry I was.  I said that I'm definitely looking for food and able to eat fairly large meals, but that I'm not that hungry that often.  So I lay down and she very quickly and efficiently found my port and stuck the needle in!  It felt a bit weird, not really painful, but like the was a bit of a popping sensation of the needle going into the port. She pulled out 2cc which had been there since surgery (thought it was empty!) and then put it back in plus another 2cc so I have 4cc in a 10cc band.  I then had to sit in the waiting room and drink a glass of water and a hot drink and if they went down fine (which they did) then I could leave.  So all good!  I'm now on liquids for a couple of days and then mushies for a couple of days and then back to normal.  I haven't noticed a difference yet but I won't really be able to get a sense of that until I'm on solid food.

In regards to my last post about what the dietician said, MandaPanda, (thank you for your nutritional advice) I've been on solid food for 2 weeks, not mushies.  I thought it seemed weird to suggest crackers which is why I flagged it up on here and I'd always heard that they were a slider.  She did say crunchy foods like raw vegetables as well.  But ultimately I've decided she must be an idiot (too harsh?)  So I'm going to still stick to 1200 calories a day and aim for as much protein as possible.

I hope everyone in the States has a wonderful Thanksgiving! x

Weigh In.

Hello beauties, thank you so much for your sweet comments, particularly about my accent, after I posted my very first vlog!  Just a quick note from me today.

Starting Weight: 17st9lbs (247lbs)
Current Weight: 15st13lbs (223lbs)
Weight Loss this Week: 2lbs
Total Loss: 24lbs!

I'm now firmly out of the morbidly obese BMI range, I'm 39.5 and never going back up!  I had my first phone appointment with the dietician today which was fine.  I didn't really learn anything new except that I should be having crunchy foods like crackers...?  Does this sound right to you guys?  She wouldn't give me a number of calories or amount of protein or anything, she said it should all be about hunger and satiety.  My first fill is now on Tuesday morning and I'm excited!! x

First Vlog

Not sure if that has worked...  If it has, I present to you, my very first vlog.  I'm rather bad with technology so I don't really know what I'm doing with the software I'm using, I think it's a free trial...  I signed up for onetruemedia but is it right you have to pay to upload videos?  Can you vloggers out there tell me what to do?  Could I use youtube?  I feel stupid.  Secondly, sorry if my face or voice is weird. x

Meet Me on Monday

Seeing as all the cool kids are doing it.

1. Does your family/friends know about your blog?


I've told my mum that I have a blog but I never invited her to look at it and I don't think I told her the name, so I'm pretty sure she isn't reading this.  But if she is, Hi Mama, love you!  Other than that, no one else knows.

2. What is your favorite card game?


I don't know if this goes by another name in the States, but my favourite card game is called Shit Head and my dad and I played about 90 games on a very long train journey once.

3. What do you wear to bed? 


Well usually I wear some pyjama bottoms and a vest but over the past few months I've begun kicking all my clothes off during the night and my oh my what a lovely thing it is to be naked!  It's funny, I used to sleep naked all the time when I was with my ex - maybe it's weird being naked on your own!

4. What is your favorite kind of French Fry?


Well here in good old England, we call fries chips, and none are better than squidgy, vinegar covered chips from a fish and chip shop - a British classic.  Having said that, I haven't had any for probably 2 or 3 years and don't expect I'll be having some any time soon.

5. What is your usual bed time?


Much to the horror of you all I'm sure, probably on average about 3am.  I'm a complete night owl but I'm also an insomnia sufferer.  No matter how little sleep I've had I find it so difficult to get to sleep that's it's usually at least 3am.  Once asleep I'm ok, so if I don't have to get up for anything, I can happily keep on sleeping til midday or beyond.


In band news - eating is going fine, I'm definitely allowing myself too many sweets though I'm still sticking within my calorie range of up to 1200 calories a day.  I really haven't struggled with hunger at all other than when I've left it hours and hours without eating, like today when I didn't have anything except a skinny latte until 5.30pm.  Just bad planning, but I think overall I'm doing ok.  Tomorrow is my one month bandiversary, it has flown by!  I have a phone appointment with the dietician this week and hopefully my fill next week though I need to change the location of the appointment so that may screw things up a little.


Love you all and love your comments so much!  I'm sorry that I don't always comment on your blogs, sometimes I don't have enough time to read them all and comment, but know that I will when I can. x

First or maybe second NSV and Weigh In

First off, it's Friday so it's weigh in day!

Starting Weight: 17st9lbs (247lbs)
Current Weight: 16st1lb (225lbs)
Loss this Week: 2lbs
Total Loss: 22lbs!

I'm very pleased with losing 2lbs this week and definitely think that drinking more water the past couple of days has helped.  I've been getting in lots of water and treating it as though it's my job!  I've also started taking the stairs up to my flat - 4 flights, 61 steps - doing that at least twice a day is a start, right!  How long after surgery did you guys wait until you started exercising again?  Either in the gym or otherwise?  I was told 4-6 weeks post op would be ok and I'm 4 weeks out tomorrow and itching to get back in the gym, do you think that'll be ok?

Secondly, I received a big, and what I thought was my first, NSV today!  There's a cafe/bar on campus that I popped into today to grab a skinny latte, and I saw a girl who works there who I vaguely know but don't see very often.  Anyway, she proceeded to tell me that I look great and had I lost a lot of weight?  I started grinning and said yes and that she was the first person who'd noticed.  She seemed surprised by this and reiterated that I was looking wonderful!  How great is that!!  My family has said I'm looking good, but they know about the surgery - this girl was the first person to notice my 22lb loss.  Funny, I thought it would take more of a loss before people noticed.
So the reason I thought this was my first NSV but in fact it wasn't is because: quite a while back, right at the beginning of my blog, probably August, I said how much I hated and couldn't bear the pain in my legs that I got when I walked anywhere.  Shooting pains like I had lead rods in my shins.  Well, they're gone!  They've been gone for a long time, I think since the second week of my pre-op diet - so probably all it took was about 10lbs to fix one of the worst physical problems I had.  I only noticed how good my legs felt as I was bounding around campus this afternoon looking for a printer.  I am SO happy to put that problem behind me forever!

Overall, a pretty good day!

Mush to Solids.

Well I seem to have made the transition from mushies to solid food a little early.  This week I've had sausages, bread, cucumber - and they've all been fine.  It's been 3.5 weeks since surgery and I'm chewing my food like crazy so it might as well be mush.  Even though I can probably eat quite a bit more than I am, I'm using myfitnesspal to track everything I eat and most days staying around 1200 calories, though yesterday I didn't even make it to 1000.  I haven't really noticed the band when I'm eating, sometimes I worry that it's not in there!  I'm sure it is, I've got the incisions (war wounds) to prove it.  My fill is scheduled for 2 weeks today.

I've been having a little bit of pain in my left side, kind of near the medium sized incision I've got there - but it feels like a pulled muscle.  I don't know if it's to do with surgery or I just stretched too far when painting my friend's hallway the other day.

I haven't been doing as well as I should with protein or water.  I don't know what the deal with water is - I used to be so good a drinking the right amount, but since being banded I don't think I've had a single day when I've reached my quota.  That will be my mission this week.

Weigh In Day Today.

Finally a new low!

Starting Weight: 17st9lbs (247lbs)
Current Weight: 16st3lbs (227lbs)
Loss this Week: 4lbs
Total Loss: 20lbs.

Delighted to see a low, 1lb lower than I've seen for most of the week.  I've upped my calories a little bit, not really on purpose but because I've been having a few too many snacks.  But perhaps my body was unhappy about having 1000 or less?

Also, I hope you like my new blog design that I pilfered from the cutest blog on the block, I think it's lovely.
Happy Friday everyone x

Lots of followers and lots of award based love.

Hello my darlings...I feel like I haven't blogged for ages, but it can't be more than 5 days, surely!  I keep meaning to post and then using up all my time reading your fabulous blogs!  Because of this delay in posting, I didn't celebrate my reaching 50 followers, and now I have 51!!  I can't believe there are so many people interested in reading what I have to say - thank you so much!  And please please let me know if I'm not following you back!  I definitely want to be following you - I love reading about everyone's lives!  It's funny, because so many of you gorgeous bandsters are American, I feel like I know more and more about the USA even though I've never been there.  I'd really really love to visit.

Second of all - I was nominated for an award!!

Thank you so much to Rockband Barbie, Cat and Jessica for all nominating me, I feel all loved and cared about!  I think all these blog awards are such a lovely idea because they help promote blogs and get people more followers!

So 7 things about me:

• I absolutely love cats with all my big whole heart.  I love them.  One day I will get one and I will call her kitty.  If I get a second one, I will call her puss.  I love them.  I desperately want one but it's just not practical or possible for at least a few more years.  Sometimes I think that it'll all be ok (life) because I know that one day I'll have a kitty.  Crazy cat lady, right?
• I am a singer and pianist.  Did all my grades and everything and was trained as a classical singer but prefer singing things like Adele and Joni Mitchell, I write some of my own songs too.  I love singing, it pretty much feels like the only right thing to me, but I have so little confidence when it comes to performing or belief that I'm any good.  I'm trying to work on it though.  Now when people ask me what I want to do with my life, I tell them I want to be a singer.  For years I could never even say that.
• I study English Literature and Philosophy at university.  I love reading, my favourite novel is Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, or maybe The Outsider by Albert Camus... But sadly studying literature isn't that enjoyable for me.  I want to read to escape and to fall into a world not my own - not dissect and ruin it all.  Stupid choice of degree really!  
• My dad lives in Australia - Melbourne to be specific, and I have 2 younger brothers and 1 little sister over there (half siblings but I don't take any notice of that distinction).  I've been to Australia 11 times and I'm desperately hoping to get over there next July as I haven't seen the kids for more than 2 years.
• I've had insomnia on and off but mostly on since I was a child.  When I was about 9, if I couldn't sleep, I used to write little biographies for all my soft toys - their names, where they were born, their family tree.  Weird right!  Insomnia really really sucks - luckily at the moment it's not very bad, most nights are ok, but this comes after an awful 8 month stretch, the longest period I've ever had.
• Although I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, I don't have a great work ethic.  I've had a number of jobs (alongside studying or during gap years) and have pretty much hated all of them.  I hated being taken for granted, getting up early, having to wear a uniform, being spoken to by managers as though I was an idiot or couldn't see through their sickly sweet but clearly condescending attitude towards staff.  I hated how mindless all the jobs I did were (retail/call centres).  I know it's a bit taboo to say this stuff because people are struggling to get jobs.  But like many people, when I've had to work to earn the money (luckily I just about get by with my student loan at the moment), you just put up with shit jobs because it's hard to find one you love.
• If I could spend my days cafe hopping, I'd be a happy girl.  A good day for me is taking a book and a notebook and my ipod and sitting in a cafe, and then maybe later going to another one and having a bit of lunch, maybe meet a friend later in the day.  Heaven!  I love coffee so much, the stronger the better, I love finding the best seat and position in the cafe and I love staying there all day, reading, writing, people watching.  Sadly, no one gets paid for doing this, misery!

Well, that was a bit long winded, sorry!  My nominations for the Versatile Blogger Award are:

Lani; Rachel and JRD - I know we're meant to choose 15 people, but really, it's just too many!  So I'm nominating three of my favourite bloggers, but certainly all of you deserve all the awards in the world!

My sneaky peeks for the last few days have shown 16st4lbs (228lbs) which is 19lbs lost and officially 3lbs down from last week's weight, but only 1lb down from the week before.  But I'll wait til Friday to post official weigh in results.  Getting bored of the scale not whooshing down like it did during pre-op.  I think I'm doing ok with food.  Sometimes it's a little tricky to decide whether a food is a mushie or just a soft-ish food.  I wonder if I'm having things I shouldn't be having.  But all seems to be fine.  On average I'm having about 1000 calories per day, is that normal?  I must confess that I've had a few pieces of chocolate in the last few days, but logged them all on my fitness pal (which is brilliant!) and they haven't sent me over the edge calories wise.  I speak to my dietician in a couple of weeks (I'm on mushies until the 12th) and she'll advise me of a diet plan, but for now I've only got basic guidelines.  I haven't been told how many calories to have or how much protein.  My first fill is on the 23rd November, 3 weeks to go.

Well done if you're still with me, that was a pretty long post.  Much love xxxxx