BOOBs 2011 Fun Facts!

1. How did you pick your blog name?  I remember sitting on the couch with my laptop agonizing over what to call my blog. I kept trying all kinds of different things that were already taken. I was also in the mindset that this was probably the last time I'd be able to muster the strength and courage to make it happen, thus it's my Last Train Out of Fat Land.

2.When did you start blogging? 

April 10, 2010

3. Theme of blog (weight loss, family, circus clowns, sci-fi, erotica, fly fishing, doll collecting, star wars, etc)

Mostly my lap band and weight loss, but other stuff creeps in too. 

4. Did you go to BOOBs 2010? 

Hellz to the yes!

5. When were you banded?

January 22, 2007

6. How much have you lost?

70 lbs

7. What are you most looking forward to at BOOBs?  

 Seeing all my pals from last year, and meeting lots of new ones!

 
8.What/who do you hope to find/see/accomplish at BOOBs 2011? 

Stephanie and I will be having many a philosophical discussion on the works of Olivia Newton John. Rollerskates and greek mythology may be involved. Feel free to join us!

9.Children? Pets?

2 kids. The tater tot is 3 next month and the little guy is 20 months. Yes, I'm crazy like that. I also have 3 cats: Snickers, Julius, and Mr. Baby. Yes, I'm even crazier like that.

10. Who is your roomie? 

Grace and Kristen

11. What day do you arrive? 

My train is rollin' in around 4pm on Thursday.

12. What airport/flight/time? 

Union Station

13.What events are you signed up for? 

Friday afternoon Chicago Detours tour and the drag show. I am playing the rest by ear.

14.Hobbies?

I am a voracious reader. And I am currently addicted to Lego Star Wars on my DS. I am a nerd, in case you haven't realized it yet.

15. Career? 

I've been doing stress testing and EEGs for five years, but I was recently promoted to supervise a similar department.

16. Single? Married? In a relationship? 

Married almost 6 years.

17. Your birthday month?

June

18. What do you want other BOOBs to know about you?

I like to laugh alot... I always go for the gross-out when presented the opportunity. No subject is taboo with me. I like to think I can party down, but let's face it... I have two toddlers at home, and it'll be a miracle if I make it past midnight. Anyone remember our pajama party in the Bama girl's room last year?

Paleo Challenge Day Two

Well, holy hell, I just may do a little posty-post every day of this challenge!

Food for today...
Breakfast: 1/2 Quest bar, coffee with cream
Snack: 1 small avocado with salt and lemon juice
Lunch: 1 pc beef jerky, slice of cheese, and a small banana. This was my unfortunate 7-11 lunch that I grabbed on my way to class.
Snack: almonds
Dinner: ground turkey with sauteed zucchini and diced tomatoes

That lunch really left something to be desired. I'm hungry as all get-out right now, but I'm doing my best to hold out for dinner.

So, how awesome is this? I set my week one goal to be down 2.5 pounds... and it is already gone overnight! Bye-bye water weight! One other thing I've noticed already is I've had no afternoon slump yesterday or today. Usually around 2:00 I just want to lay my head down on the desk and nap. Today, even though I was in a boring management systems class, I was completely alert the whole time. It's fortunate -- I would've been head bobbing normally, and that never looks good in a class like that!

I also procured a babysitter for Saturday morning so I can go to the Crossfit Intro class. Hubs is running a 5k, so he won't be around. I am so pumped for this. Next summer I am going to be busting out pullups and pushups like nobody's business!

Paleo Challenge Day 1

So far so good, my friends! I know, I know, it's only been what... 7 hours?

Breakfast: 1/2 Quest bar (not strictly paleo, but LaraBars give me wicked heartburn!)

Snack: coffee with cream and no sugar (yes, you read that right. NO sugar)

Lunch: 1 link Italian sausage with onions and peppers, asparagus cuts

Plans for the rest of the day:

Snack: 1/2 nectarine, handful of almonds

Dinner: 1 link spinach and pepper chicken sausage; spinach, mushrooms, and walnuts with ranch dressing

Snack (if needed): 1 cup coconut milk (this shizz is really good, I swear!)

I will reactivate my food log on the sidebar later so you can see macronutrient breakdowns.

The little guy is due to the doctor for his well-visit, so no gym for me today. Maybe we'll take a spin around the block when we get home.

Sunday night refocus, paleo edition

I'm doing it. I'm going whole hog. I'm going paleo for thirty days. Starting tomorrow, ending the day I leave for Chicago.

I would love to write you all a novel about my week, but I gotta tell ya... even though my period is about to be done, I still feel like a raging hormone-driven monster. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop once I get started.

So, in a nutshell, hubs and I are challenging ourselves for a month. Daily weighing and posting on the white board in the kitchen. Tomorrow, when I get home from work, I'll be taking pics and measurements. I'm also starting Cross Fit at the gym next week, and I'm pretty geeked about that.

Oh yeah, if you're wondering what paleo is, check out Mark's Daily Apple and Robb Wolf's site.

Quiet 'round these parts

Why do I make up these post titles that sound like cowboy-speak?

Yes, I've been quiet. I wouldn't say I've been hiding, just quiet. It's another rough work week for me, and I'm just exhausted. I won't go into detail because, frankly, I don't want to relive any part of it. Things should settle down next week. Needless to say, I haven't made it to the gym, though once again hubs has promised to pick up the kids once a week so I can go to a late exercise class. They are offering cross-fit at my gym through a local affiliate, and I really want to try it.

I'm also PMSing like a mo-fo.

In all this funkity funk funk, I've actually started cutting sugar and flour from my diet. Okay, I will admit that the withdrawals may be adding to the funk. Just gotta get through a week or two. It's been going very well, although I did stick a spoon into a jar of hot fudge when I got home. Hey, it's a work in progress. I just finished reading Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It. Very good read. In keeping with my self-help junkie promise I made earlier this year, I had to give it the ol' college try. So, I'm following the Primal Blueprint, which is another book I am in the middle of reading. Any other bandsters out there going primal? I'd love to hear about it!

Anywhoozle... my brain is tired. I need to zone out for another thirty minutes before I go pick up the chitlins.

Look who I had dinner with!

Yes, it's none other than Grace and kagead ! We enjoyed some delicious tapas and sangria tonight. I've decided tapas is the perfect bandster dinner outing -- why have I not thought of this before?! Anywhooz, I could've sat and talked with them all night, but there will be plenty of time for that in Chicago, right?

I would tell you more, but I'm already up way too late for my own good. Hey, at least I managed to post the picture!

Choices

And that's what it's all about... right?

Early this morning around 4am, I had just got up to change the little guy's diaper and decided to stay up since my alarm would be going off in 45 minutes. Of course, I end up in the kitchen trolling for food, and I spy some gummy fruit slices. I don't even like these things, but I popped one in my mouth anyway. As I was about to walk out of the kitchen, I thought, "Let's not start the day like this," and I promptly spit it out into the garbage. It's things like that that will make or break the day, dontcha think?

Lap Band Gal posted about a recent NSV -- and it reminded me of something I did this weekend. We were at my cousin's house for a birthday party, and my little guy had climbed further than I expected onto the play set. Without even thinking, I climbed up and got him and sent him down the slide to his dad. Later, I realized that even just last summer I probably would have not wanted to do that for fear of getting stuck in a small opening or having the whole thing disintegrate underneath me. It's nice to have let go of some of that.

Sunday night refocus, and boy do I need it.

I went off the deep end quickly this week. I type this as I sit here sipping a glass of sangria. It hasn't been horrible, but I would put myself at about 40/60 good/bad choices this week. I can do better. I keep telling myself I could get down to around 190 before Chicago, but if I keep farting around like this, it ain't happenin'.

You know me though, I'll keep plugging away, even if it is only a half-ass effort. Better than nothing, I suppose.
I keep thinking about my whole approach to things. I've tried to go back to things that worked in the past (specific food items, specific exercises, etc.), but those things just don't seem to be fitting into the grand scheme of things right now. I even thought about going back on the elimination diet for a few weeks, but even there, I don't have any great motivation to be so strict. I already know what my problem is (dairy), so I avoid it, and that's that. I need a new health philosophy, a new weight loss frame of mind. I need a fitness goal of some sort. Lord, I wish I was a runner, because I would be all over the 5ks. I just don't know what to do with myself sometimes.

I read somewhere recently that the people that get to their goals are the ones that learned to enjoy the journey itself and not just get through it for the sake of their ultimate destination. I think that is where I'm having trouble right now. I'm looking to hard at the goal, and not relishing the good things about this journey. I'm not enjoying the good food choices (which is ridic when you consider my hubs made the most delish zucchini patties with collard greens on the side tonight), and I'm definitely not enjoying the exercise.

What does this lead me to? I guess I need a change-up. Something totally different. I have no idea what that might mean food-wise, but for exercise, I think I'm going to try doing some classes at the gym instead of just hitting the treadmill and the weights. My gym has quite a few classes that are free to members, so why not try it out? There's Zumba two days a week, boxing, CardioSculpt, Track Blast, and even yoga right when I could be there. I'm going to try everything. Even the stuff I think I won't like. Hell, I might even try spinning in the mornings.

Anywhoozle, that's where my head is at this week.

BYOC

BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy – 5 questions you can copy and paste to your own blog if you so desire – in an effort to get to know your fellow bloggers better and to give your blog brain a break!

Enjoy!

1. I have to do some MAJOR cleaning tonight…which is prompting me to ask…what is the absolute worst thing you hate to clean or cleaning chore you hate the most? (vacuuming, dusting, laundry, toilets, floors, etc.)

All of it. Every last thing. I pay someone to clean my house. No seriously, I do.

2. Brown or Black? Fly or Drive? Hot dog or Burger? Gold or Silver?

Black. I've tried to branch out into brown, but it just doesn't work for me.

Drive or Fly. Depends on the distance. For instance. My hubs hates to fly, so he wanted us to drive to Virginia for my cousins wedding. 11 hours in the car on Friday, wedding on Saturday, and 11 hours in the car on Sunday again? I think not. I will just make sure he has a drink or two before we board.

Burger. But I do occasionally get a hankering for a hot dog, especially Chicago style.

Silver or white gold.

3. Repeat question: I'm going to pick a person not knowing your relationship with them or even if a relationships exists – and you then try to describe that person in 5 short sentences/words.

Maternal Grandmother

This is a good one! I lived with my grandma for two years before I got married, and she's one of my best buddies.
Spitfire
Loving
Saucy Sicillian
Sharp as a tack
Always good for a hug

4. Even if you don't have kids, how do you feel about kids in multiple sports during their school years?  Were you in MULTIPLE sports all during school?  Forced or by choice?

Like Draz said, I was limited by my parents in how many things I could do. In fact, I was forced to choose between piano and basketball when I was in 7th grade, and like the idiot 12 year old I was, I chose basketball. I regret giving up piano to this day.

Having said that, I can see myself being a little selfish and not wanting my kids to get too crazy with stuff. But I'm also a sucker when it comes to my babies, so I will probably remember my own regrets and let them do more. Of course, my kids are still in daycare, so I have a long time before I have to deal with that.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blog land.

Blog land has been good. I've been neglecting my commenting duties a little this week. Sorry guys! 

Real life is good too. My first week back at work after vacation has been great except for some nonsense today. The next two weeks are going to be a little rough, but I'll manage. Still holding onto a couple vacation pounds -- doesn't help that I haven't made it to the gym at all this week. 

Talkin' 'bout the band

Today I got to put on my WLS PSA hat, and talk to a group of nurses about the lap band. It was nothing formal -- a nurse I used to work with called me and asked if I'd answer some of her co-workers' questions about the band. I, of course, said yes because I love talking about it these days. Funny how that happens when you finally have something to show for it, right? So, answering questions turned into a full-on half-hour grilling session. It was awesome. I told them about everything from food rules to PBs: the good, the bad, and the very ugly. I think they appreciated it, even the part about sliming. There was, as always, someone there who "had a friend with a band" and knew everything about it already. Whatev. 

It got me thinking... my surgeon is now doing cases at the horse-pistol (get it?) where I spend my days. What if I visited post-surgical patients to answer questions or just say, hey, recovery doesn't last forever! Might be interesting...

I'm working through a major chocolate craving right now. Trying to stave it off with Crystal Light. I know, it's a disappointing substitute at best. There is also a tub of tex-mex snack mix calling to me from the cabinet across the room. Maybe I need to go take a walk!

BOOBS fun idea!

So that title is bound to earn me some creepy search traffic!

Anywhoozle, any BOOBS out there interested in doing a Chicago Untouchables tour Friday or Saturday? I will get more details tomorrow so that Steph can officially post it. I've wanted to do this every time I've been to Chicago, but I've never managed it. I was also looking at Chicago Detours, and they look like the might be interesting. They got better reviews too.

Day one for me has gone well. I will cop to having a spoonful of hot fudge sauce this afternoon, but other than that I've been on plan. I also learned that I absolutely cannot have ice cream anymore. Ice cream = dairy. Duh. It's like colon blow for me. At least that should help me get my vacation poundage off.
 

Sunday Night Refocus - Hardcore Style

This Sunday night refocus session is actually a little exciting for me. Having just had a not so good food week on vacation, hubs and I are both starting a major overhaul tomorrow. I really didn't pig out too badly on vacation -- it helps that my inlaws eat really healthy, it was more that I drank EVERY night. It's just not something I do. FIL and I did do a 40 minute walk on a dune trail one morning, and MIL and I took the kids out for lots of walks, but there was not much real exercise happening. I decided not to bum myself out too much and I avoided the scale Saturday, and then I just totally flaked on weighing this morning for the BOOBs challenge. Oh well. Tomorrow I'm back on it for realz.

Our plan is, as usual, nothing fancy. Meat, veggies, minimal fruit, no liquid calories, and alcohol no more than once a week. We have lots of good stuff in the freezer so there is no excuse to eat garbage for dinner. Breakfasts for me this week will be either a protein shake or bacon and fruit from the cafeteria. Lunches will be either soup/leftovers from home or chicken/fish/veggies from the cafeteria. I'm even avoiding salads because I can't control myself with the blue cheese dressing. Dinners are planned out in advance:
Monday: buttermilk herb chicken with broccoli slaw
Tuesday: beef chimichangas with corn relish
Wednesday: rotisserie chicken with spinach
Thursday: dijon pork loin with zucchini
Friday: fish tacos with leftover corn relish

I'm hoping this vacation was enough to recharge me for work. The last week was super stressful, and I'm hoping that being away from everything will help me to look at things a little differently or at least not get so worked up about stupid crap. Oh yeah, and I finally found some work pants! New York & Company to the rescue! They're 18s, but I don't care -- they fit really great and do not cut into my gut when I sit down. Awesome! I may just manage to look professional a couple days a week!

Grace's and my train tickets for Chicago arrived in the mail this week -- makes it seem that much closer! Whee!

Vacation and survey

Vacation has been awesome already. It's nice and hot, and even the lake water is warm. Yesterday morning my FIL and I went over to one of the nearby state parks and walked the dune trail, so I even got some exercise in.

Can I tell you how awesome my in-laws are? Last Saturday they did the Warrior Dash. If you've never heard of it, click that little linky there because it is amazing. They did it all, 18 foot wall of cargo net, mud, barbed wire... the whole bit. How cool is that?!

On to the survey...

1. What is your occupation right now ?

Supervisor of a small division in a hospital.

2.What color are your socks right now?

No socks -- I'm at the beach!

3. What are you listening to right now?

The sound of the fans cooling the house.

4. What was the last thing that you ate?

1 molasses cookie and a cup of coffee

5. Can you drive a stick shift?

Nope.

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?

Father in law.

7. Do you like the person you stole this blog from?
Yes, Dawna is the bomb, and I can't wait to meet her in Chi-town!

8. How old are you today?

35

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?

Hockey is pretty much the only sport I will tolerate on TV.

10. What is your favorite drink?
Iced tea

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes

12. Favorite food?

Pasta

13. What is the last movie you watched?
Tangled

14. Favorite day of the year? .
Any day my kids sleep past 6am.

15. How do you vent anger?
Throw things. Lift weights. Go for a walk.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Roller skates. I even had this sweet case to keep them in!

17. What is your favorite season?
Fall.

18. Cherries or Blueberries?

Cherries

19. Do you want your friends to blog this survey?
Go for it!

20. Where is you favorite place to escape?

Up north to the lake (like where I am right now!)

21. Favorite Tv Show?

CSI (all of them), Criminal Minds, all the SyFy shows (Eureka, Warehouse 13), the USA shows (Royal Pains, Burn Notice, White Collar, In Plain Sight)

22. Living arrangements?

3 br ranch with my hubs, two kids, and three cats

23. When was the last time you cried?
In May when I had my last kidney stone episode

24. What is on the floor of your closet?

My knitting bag, shoes, gym bag, makeup train case

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest?

I have known my friend Nicole since 7th grade!

26. What did you do last night?

Hung out with my in-laws and ate junk food and drank adult bevarages after the kids went to bed.

27. What are you most afraid of?

Losing my kids or my hubs or any of my family for that matter.

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?

cheeseburger

29. Favorite dog breed?

 Golden retriever

30. Favorite day of the week?

Saturday

31. How many states have you lived in?

Just Michigan.

32. Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds.

33. What is your favorite flower?

Magnolia