The Crazy Lady With The Dog

That's what I envision myself being called by all the people in my neighborhood.  While I am out on walks with Jake, I constantly talk to him.  When he goes to the bathroom, I always exclaim in delight what a good boy he is.  If it is raining, I've been known to bring out the umbrella, not for me, but to put over him.  Well, this week, I think I pretty much sealed the deal on that title.  I have purchased a Doggie Stroller.  Oh yes, I am fully aware that in another life I would have definitely made fun of me and called me the neighborhood weirdo.  But, you see, little Jakey can't walk as far as I would like and I hate the thought of coming home after work to see him only to leave him again to go on a long walk.  Now, he can come with me!  It is amazing what age and priorities will do to you.  When I was younger there would have been no way in hell I would have pushed my dog around in a stroller - it would have called to much attention to me.  At 35, I could give a rip.  Whatever makes Jake happy makes me happy - to hell with the judgemental people!

So with that, I will *officially* begin my reign as The Crazy Lady With The Dog this Saturday.

All hail the Queen.

ABC's of Amanda

Following the trend...

(A) Age: 35
(B) Bed Size: queen
(C) Chore You Hate: scrubbing the shower/tub
(D) Dogs?: Jake - chihuahua/shih tzu mix
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: kisses from Jake
(F) Favorite Color: green
(G) Gold or Silver?: silver
(H) Height: 5' 7"
(I) Instruments You Play: none
(J) Job Title: underwriter
(K) Kids: none
(L) Live: North Carolina
(M) Mom's Name: Patricia
(N) Nicknames: Manda, D
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays?: None
(P) Pet Peeve: stupidity
(Q) Quote from a Movie: "There's no secret handshake.  There's an IQ prerequisite, but there's no secret handshake" - Troy, "Reality Bites"
(R) Right or Left Handed?: Right
(S) Siblings: None
(T) Time You Wake Up?: Between 5:45 and 6:15 am
(U) Underwear: Under there
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Mushrooms
(W) What Makes You Run Late: Nothing - I am never late
(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: lots - chest, CT scan of kidneys, hand...
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: pre lap-band - orecchiette pasta with olive oil, breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesean cheese. post lap-band - ham and cheese rollups (watch out Giada!)
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Penguins

Hungry?

Ok, I admit it.  I am hungry.  And it's only been a little over a week since my fill - and 3 looooooooooong weeks until I get my next one.  I mean...I'm not starving, but my mini-meals aren't keeping me satisfied as long as they did last week.  But I am managing.  And still losing, which is the most important thing (to me).  I still can't eat much in one sitting, but, man, 2 hours later, I feel like I didn't eat anything!  And I am totally SUCKING at getting in all my water (which I can totally gulp!  no sips for me!).  I am lucky if I get in 32 ounces.  It's hard when you can't drink while you are eating!  That's when I am most thirsty!  Anyway - I guess that can be a new goal for me:  water consumption.

So today I volunteered at a Radiothon for Duke Children's Hospital.  They asked all the volunteers to put their names on paper for a raffle and they were going to draw several names an hour.  Most of the prizes consisted of Duke calendars, Duke candy jars, Duke socks -you get the point - Duke stuff.  Hours one and two go by with no prizes for Amanda.  The third hour strikes and the coordinator thought it would be great to raffle off these two items next:

And no, I am not kidding.  So, I turn to my friend and tell her I have never won a raffle in all my 35 years, but I guarantee my name will be pulled out of that bag next.  Sure enough! 

God is ALWAYS testing us, huh?

And, yes, I passed.

Kwitcher Bellyachin'!

Soooo...I had my first PB this weekend.  Guess that restriction decided to really kick in.  And no, my followers who are not banded, that does not mean Peanut Butter.  It means "Productive Burp"  aka, I threw up what I had just swallowed.  Sorry if that is TMI, but this blog entails all that goes along with being a bandster and this is one of the side effects.  Anyway - not sure why I PB'd (did I note chew enough?  did I eat too fast?  were those pita chips not a good idea?), but I did and now I know what it is like.  And I know I hope to avoid doing that again.  Yikes. 

I am continuing to lose weight at a pretty steady pace of around .4 pounds a day.  Luckily for me the scale hasn't gone in the wrong direction yet!  Or maybe it isn't lucky.  I have been working pretty damn hard at this, so I should be seeing good results!

Well, that's it.  Just a quick post! 

BYOC and Other Ramblings

Ronnie over at Ronnie's Bandumentary, posted her answers to a questionnaire from Drazil's Blog .  Here are my responses:

1. What day of the week do you love and what day of the week do you hate?
   I love Saturdays for obvious reasons (no work) and loathe Sundays because there is never anything to do and I get bored easily.
2. What is your middle name and is there a meaning behind it?
   Claire.  I think there was a song out called "Claire" around the time I was born (1975).
3. Since I’m dreaming of my next tattoo, I’m going to ask this one. Do you have any tattoos? How many? If you don’t have one – what would you get if you did have one?
   Yes, I have one.  It is the Japanese symbol for "Grace".  It is on the lower part of my calf.  And I am kind of over it.  I got it when I was 25 and now feel the Japanese symbol is a bit cliche.  Have pondered getting something else over it, but not sure a) if I want anything more b) what I would get.
4. On that same theme of dirty little secrets…how many piercings do you have? Any you wish you had?
   Just the ears.  One hole in each ear.  Unless we are also counting fills, then in that case, 4.
5. Repeat question: Summarize your life in blog land and in real life.
   In blog land, I am thrilled with all the positive comments I have been receiving and love how beneficial this blog and reading other blogs have been to me!  In real life, I can't say that I can complain.  I have a pretty OK job (on most days), great family, good friends and an awesome tool that is helping me get back on the road to being healthy!

I also want to report that I have been successful at doing the treadmill for 30 minutes 4 out of 5 days this week!  Yay me!  In the spirit of sharing, this is my playlist.  Yes, it is a bit all over the place, but it keeps me motivated!

• Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay-Z
• Womanizer - Britney Spears
• Ring the Alarm - Beyonce
• Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyonce
• Holiday - Madonna
• Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship
• Everlong - Foo Fighters
• Runaway - Kanye West

So I am 4 days post fill and I *think* I have pretty good restriction, even with only 1cc.  Last night for dinner I had a 3 oz chicken breast and 1/4 cup of broccoli and I was pretty full after (with no side effects).  I only managed to get in a total of 847 calories for the whole day and I am supposed to be up around 1100, so I do need to work on that.

That's all for now.  Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

One Month Bandiversary

Happy One Month Bandiversary to me!  I can't believe that it has already been a month!  And that I have lost 26 pounds!  The last time I did a 12 week session of Weight Watchers I only lost half that much.  I really heart my band!

I've been getting a lot of questions regarding my blog's name, so I figured I would explain why I chose it here:

I wanted something with "Band" in the title and with so many awesome bloggers out there already, a lot of good titles were taken!  I was at a Christmas party and we were talking about the Beatles and I happened to mention that I liked Wings more than the Beatles (I know, BLASPHEMY!), and then someone started singing Band On The Run and I thought *perfect!*.  Plus Paul McCartney's solo stint in Wings is way better than John Lennon's solo work.  I mean, let's compare: 

Lennon - "Imagine there's no heaven" - ummm, no thanks. 
McCartney - "Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs, what's wrong with that?" - nothing Sir Paul, it is certainly more optimistic than Lennon.  And let's face it, in this world has anyone ever really tried to give peace a chance??  No.  But there are tons of silly loves songs on the radio at any given moment.

*stepping down from soap box*

And just for fun here is a one month progress pic (no one was there to tell me to smile):

The First Fill

So.  I had my first fill yesterday afternoon.  OMG.  Not my most favorite thing I have ever done.  It didn't really hurt, it was more uncomfortable.  And when I say uncomfortable, I mean, I am amazed I managed to stay upright while getting said fill.  So for the yet to be filled and my friends and family, I will give you the blow by blow (disclaimer - all fills are different.  This is just my experience.  Don't sue me).

My doctor does the first fill under fluoroscope.  This means he x-rays to find the port and x-rays the saline going in.  So I get escorted in to the fluro room and meet all my new friends: Fluro Guy, Nurse Girl, PA Girl and of course my Doctor.  So nice of them to gather in honor of my first fill!  Anyway, the doctor has me stand up and the fluro machine (it is a big C -shaped arm) goes around my mid section.  Then the doctor tries to find my port by placing a surgical instrument (not sure what) where he thinks my port is and then asks fluro guy to take a picture, we keep doing this until the instrument points to the middle of my port and then the doctor marks it with a pen.  Time for needles.  So he rubs alcohol on my belly and says the typical "you're going to feel a pinch".  HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.  I don't know what I was thinking it would feel like, but considering he had to stick a needle through my abdomen wall and THEN through a port, he had to push that sucker in hard and far.  Did it hurt?  Not really.  The feeling just totally grossed me out.  Next thing I know he is asking Nurse Girl for another needle.  Oh, Amanda!  Did you really think it was going to go smoothly and get done on the first try??  Must we revisit the IV episode?  On to take 2.  This time he hits the port.  I think it was because I said about 10 Hail Mary's.  Now I have this needle in my belly with some type of device sticking out of it (again HOLY MOTHER OF GOD).  Why does this have to be so GROSS?  The device sticking out of my belly is used for the saline solution the doctor is going to inject into my band.  In the saline goes.  Time to drink the Barium (aka the most God awful crap ever).  I take a gulp (doc's request) of the Barium and we watch it flow through my esophagus into my upper stomach where it totally stalls.  Doctor:  "see?  That's too tight.  Nothing is getting through".  He removes some saline.  Another gulp.  This time it breezes right through my band.  Too loose.  He puts more saline in.  Gulp three.  And what do you know?  Just like Goldilocks, this fill was just right!  Out came the needle, PA Girl slapped on a band aid (thank God for PA Girl, who else in the room would have known how to do that?), and then I was good to go.  Oh!  But doc, one question before I leave.  How many cc's did you put in there?  Doc: "one".  Me - in my head - "crap".  I say crap because I am hoping that little amount will give me enough restriction.  Only time will tell I guess.  I am still on liquids until tonight.

So there you have it -  a whole 1cc in my 10cc band.  If there is a restriction angel, please bless my band with good restriction.  Amen.

Randomness

So, did you all watch the Super Bowl?  I watched most of it - at home - and do you want to know what my Super Bowl snack food was?  A protein shake.  Watch out, now!!  So we started with the train wreck known as Christina Aguilera.  Yikes.  How do you mess up the words to the freaking NATIONAL ANTHEM??  Yes, we know she sang live, but really, is that better than lip syncing and getting the lyrics right?  The half-time show was ok.  Not a huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas, although I like Fergie as a solo artist.  BUT...this was the BEST part of the night:

Being born and raised in Detroit and having my father work and retire from Chrysler and absolutely loving Eminem - boy this commercial couldn't get any better!

I also rearranged/redecorated my room and bathroom this weekend.  Here are a few pictures.  Of course Jake has a staring role - he wouldn't move off my bed.

Finally, guess what tomorrow is???  FILL DAY!  Holy man alive, I can't wait.  I am definitely ready for some restriction.  I will report back to let you know how it goes!  Enjoy your Monday!

Wednesday Humor

If you've never visited the Blunt Card website...you must do so.  Hilarity will ensue!