My Blog is moving!

I have moved my Blog for BandedBecky to WordPress.  Please visit my new site and follow me from there!  I'll leave this site up for a bit longer to give you time!

Slow Recovery

My last post talked about a 15 pound gain after a summer-long illness.  Once the meds left my system, I lost half the weight gain.  But I'm struggling with water gains and losses in the last two months.  I assume I need to be much more diligent about salt intake.

Meanwhile, I have tried to get more active, only to be thwarted by the high pollen counts in the Midwest this year.  So I've had successes, but also setbacks. Allergy congestion means drainage which seems to tighten the band and cause distress a couple of times a week.  So I've been on ground meats and stayed away from vegetables that can cause me problems.

I've given up the desire to run 5Ks until next year. I've been trying to increase my walking, but I fall very short of my exercise patterns of last spring.

So 2014 will not be the year I get the last 15 pounds off.  I'm hoping for a hard freeze soon and then maybe an Indian Summer before the cold winter begins.  A bit more aggressive walking would be good if allergies can be minimized.

I'm reluctant to go in for a band adjustment.  Looser would not be good and tightening would likely make more days on liquids and soft foods.  So I'm likely in the "sweet spot" with my band.  

Set Backs

I haven't posted in a while.  Things have been going OK.  I hadn't been losing more weight- the last 15-20 pounds- but I wasn't gaining.  My exercise plan was working- Pilates, walk/run, walking several times a week, and more.  Eating had been under control and the Band was working.  I went to China of for two weeks and came back from vacation feeling great with no weight gain.

Then came the summer cold to end all colds.   A month of inactivity, lack of sleep because of meds, restricted breathing that makes even a climb upstairs leaving me tired, and then...a gain of 15 pounds!

I can't do much yet other than start logging my food and watching how much I'm eating.  But it will take jump-starting m y exercise plan to begin losing the weight.

I'm beside myself.  Pollen counts are very high and going outside triggers the restricted breathing.  So I have to wait..recover..do the best I can to not gain anymore weight. And. Not. Give. Up!!

Looking back, before/after and moving forward

It usually starts with, "how many pounds have you lost?!" but the story of my journey is so much more than pounds.  I am no longer diabetic.  My arthritis does not bother me anymore. My blood pressure is almost always in the normal or low range.  I can climb, hike, run, jump and not have aching bones, or muscles that are weak. And while my aging body has generated a few new illnesses, they are much more manageable with a lower weight.  So what is the whole story, the bigger picture of being a Banded Becky?

It started with me collecting photos I'd taken or had taken during my Lab-Band Journey.  Then I had to print them.  Then I wondered what the charts would say about weight and BMI. Someone suggested that I take body measurements during my journey, but I had never looked at the story the data told.

The photos:

The camera doesn't lie- unless you get carried away with Photoshop!  I did two galleries.  The first is as series of full body photos and the second is just my face.  The thing is, when I look in the mirror, I don't see or remember the changes.  The photo series blew my mind.  

The numbers:

Then I looked at the charts of my weight and BMI:

Again, looking back over my journey, I knew I had lost weight.  I knew I was wearing a LOT smaller sized wardrobe.  But the charts seem to exaggerate the loss over the last thee years.

I've been keeping certain measurements- hip, waist, chest, thigh, calf, bicep, neck, and bra size.  How does a total of minus 29 inches sound?  Pretty amazing!  It does explain why I've had to get rid of multiple wardrobes!

Going forward, I still have weight to lose.  In the BMI chart I added a projected weight in the future where I would be considered at a "healthy" weight.  Time is not reflected in the graph!  Pounds are harder to lose now, 2.5 years out from surgery.  Another 15 pounds off my bones would be great!

The title of my blog talks about my journey to a size 12.  It seemed an impossible goal five years ago, yet here I am! I have lost about 65 pounds since April 2011, which was six months before my surgery.

But Lap Bands are forever!  I will continue to work to get these last pounds off.  But I'll tell you a secret- I can fit into most size 12 clothes!  Sometimes a size 14, sometimes a Medium.  But I am almost there!