It's Friday!

What a week.......nothing exciting happened just work, home, work, kids. Had car break down - that was fun! It lost all power as I was accelerating from a side street on to the highway! Shits were trumphs. And talking of shitting oneself.........I walked out of my office the other day and a jackaroo decided to crack a whip! I thought I'd been shot. Well - didnt he get told he was a "lovely young lad" in my language!!! He won't be doing that again.

For those of you who don't know I work for TAFE Primary Industries so I do encounter the odd jackaroo/jillaroo, ag trainee, horticulture students, woolclassing students, shearing students, conservation land management students and students who are aspiring to be Vet nurses. It's a real mixed bag and you should smell the joint when it rains and there is a shearing school on!! The guy I share my office with is an Ag/Woolclassing teacher and loves the smell of a shearing shed - I personally think it's something I will never get used to but it comes with the job! I'm sure not from a farm - my dad was a country cop and my mum was a teacher.......so I was classed as a "townie".

Anyway - on the weight loss front......well Myf must be on holidays cos she hasn't answered my question about the food. I'm going back to Doc on 23rd June so will have fill then. Just have to watch what I eat and keep up the water. A bit of exercise would be nice but the knee is totally blown out and is so painful that I'm contemplating going back to the doc and seeing if the surgery they were going to do is still on the cards. Can't be expecting to lose weight without any exercise! I also can't be bothered so motivation is lacking too.

Unsure...

Wow - it's Wednesday already and I haven't taken a breath this week it seems. Too much on the mind! I'm a bit worried about the slowing down of the weight loss....and I'm back to eating in between meals. You have a look Myf and tell me if you think I need a fill (you are my expert opinion!).

Before Bfast: 200ml glass juice with medication and vitamins.
Bfast: 1 x 40gm satchet date delicious porridge with skim milk and 1 tab brown sugar
8:30am - skim mocha
10am - pear
11.50am - mandarin
1pm (I might have lunch earlier tomorrow) - left over chinese - about a cup. Prawn chow mein.
2pm - 250ml juice
3pm - skim mocha
5pm - water 250ml
6:30pm will be 2 slices cornbeef, 2 tabs mashed pumpkin, 2 tabs mashed potato, 1 tab peas/corn then nothing except maybe a drink of some sort about 7:30pm.
I know I didnt drink my water today and that could be a factor.....and if I had lunch earlier I wouldnt have eaten the mandarin. I'm not excrutiatingly hungry but not happy about the slowing down of the weight loss!!! I'd like to lose one kg per week.......

Anyway other than that things are good. I bought a top today from a shop where last year I couldnt find anything to fit me! And I didn't have to buy the biggest one - god I'm clever!

Another one of my friends is going to have the banding done and I'm so excited for her! She is getting done on the 24th July which is not far away really. Don't envy her going on the old Optifast but hey if I had to go through it so should she!

Reality

I realised that the band has taken up all my thoughts and rightly so for a while now. But reality set in today with Jess being really unwell. Sort of brings you back to earth and away from it being about me. When she is like this it makes you realise just how reliant she is on us and we don't begrudge her for it at all. She ended up having a seizure at the end of the day which is where the day she had was leading and she seems fine now but it was a pretty long and constant day. Caitlin is so good with her I might add.

So we didn't do much today at all funnily enough. We did go out for dinner last night which was lovely. Great food, great company. I had a person I haven't seen for a year or so not recognise me - go the band! Must weigh myself tomorrow and see if that mum's weekend gain has gone!! Who cares I had a blast and it'll come off again I hope!

My mum is a bit worried about my sudden liking to alcohol consumption but don't worry mum I won't be having anymore for a while now!! I discovered Riccadonna & Pureed Strawberries - my new favourite drink but alas it's riddled with hidden calories!! Not the strawberries mind you....

Anyway - have a good week! I hope I do after last week.

Lifes a Bitch sometimes

It must be the week for it! I had a really bad day on Tuesday. Had a bit of a "misunderstanding" with one of my work mates and ended up snotting and sooking about that for a while. Then as I was just starting to recover I had a phone call which unhinged me again and off I went. Long story but it's a neverending fight for services for Jess that really gets my bloody boiling! Govt depts are the worst to tackle and I"m just the little black duck to take on the fight. I hate injustice and when it comes to my girl then I get even more feisty.

Today was a better day - I had a meeting with the Disability Advocacy Service and have found an ally who is going to help me which is great. I also handed in all my evidence for the course I'm claiming my RPL's for and was relieved to do so as it's been a big job gathering it all! Hopefully this will give me a Cert III in Govt and a Cert III in Business.

The Mum's Weekend

Here's a photo of the girls and myself....I love the fact that for the first time in my life I'm not the obvious fattest chick in the photo.! I look slightly normal - not there yet but much, much better than ever before. I'm one proud Mum!

Our weekend away was just brilliant. We left Friday afternoon and arrived in time for drinks & nibbles. I had a few of the nibbles but more of the drink! I love Riccadonna with pureed strawberries - my new favourite drink! We played a few getting to know you games and sat around talking till whenever and then hit the sack.

On Saturday we were taken into Mudgee (1.5hrs away) to be pampered at a beauty salon where I had a facial, eyelash tint, eyebrow and lip wax and a hand massage. Then of course it was lunchtime! We went to a Wine and Cheese place where the girls had antipasto platters of which I had one piece of bread with a bit of camembert, sundried tomato and proscuitto. I didn't indulge then as I knew I wouldn't have enough room for the main meal - not that I had much. I had 2potato & corn fritters with proscuitto and salad.....very nice but got through only one of them. Then they sat up and had cappuccinos and biscuits (of which I had a half a cap and the smallest melting moment I've ever seen - about the size of a 20c piece! which is just the right size for a bandit! We then went back to the cabins and had a rest for an hour or two (we polished off another bottle of wine) and then got picked up for dinner. I couldn't believe they would be hungry after all that but anyway we had dinner of casseroles and rice etc. I had 2 little pieces of chicken and about a tab of rice and opened another bottle of wine - it was yuk so I left it.
We the headed upstairs to the loft for a night of fun and games. We started with a trivia night, then Celebrity Head, then we had to wrap a couple of the girls in toilet paper and turn them into a mummy (which was hilarious) and then we had a "Singstar Competition". All the while drinking CS Cowboys. We had a great night.......great because we could forget about the world for a while and just enjoy each others company.
Anyway - boring you to death I'd say. Won't be weighing myself this week obviously!
It was nice to get home and find signs all over the house..."welcome home mum", "we missed you mum" and big hugs from all especially John who is still in a catatonic state poor thing!

Another Bandit !

Had the best thing happen yesterday. I met another bandit in Dubbo! yay - how exciting is that! She has lost 110kg.........had lots of drama though that we won't go into cos it's yukky and no-one would have a band if they heard her story and she has had the band removed for the moment and has put on 30kg! But hey - she's been there and done that and is going back again I think. She only weighs 90kg now and started at 170kg. I was nearly jumping out of my skin asking her about her experience etc. and she was just lovely to boot! She lives about 3 blocks from me. So I gave her my card and she works at my favourite pub even!!

I bought myself some new jeans - size 22! Legend status! I was in a 26 - yes I can admit that now.....still not revealing the weight though! Just watch this space - I will reveal it one day.

I've only got 2.5kg to go until I get my 20kg charm! I'm getting a two-toned "K"

Anyway - off on my weekend away tomorrow afternoon - destressing I hope. Really need that at the moment.

Getting Excited now.

Had a call from my dietician yesterday. She is very happy with my progress and made an appointment if I need it in June with the surgeon and herself. She is such a positive influence on me really. She gives me guidance yet doesn't dictate. I tend to listen to her above anyone else because everyone is an expert on dieting but not on a banding diet. I must do the diary thing like you Myf as it's very interesting seeing what you eat as I find myself comparing what I eat with what you eat and find it's about the same in quantity. Can't find that bread you eat up here though...and must find Jarlsberg cheese!

On a more exciting note - I had a call from the lady who is organising this weekend. It is usually an annual event for Mum's of kids with disabilities but due to staff changes of the organisers etc they haven't had a chance to organise one so it's been 2 years. We are being taken to the Turon River which is near Mudgee to a resort there (you can look it up on the net - turongates.com). We leave on Friday afternoon, stop in at a winery at Mudgee and stock up on my favourite wine (is that on the list.....hmmm...that's tough!) and then off to the resort. We will then have a few drinks and then dinner and games night (which is a good way of getting to know the other mums). On Saturday we are being given makeovers - not sure what that will entail but hey I'm up for it! We have free time in the afternoon which will probably involve more drinking or maybe a LLD (little lie down). The sat night we have dinner and more drinks. Sunday off to the markets in Mudgee and lunch in Mudgee then home. Can't wait - just gettting away from everything for a few days is great.

More Progress Stats

I've had another measure:

Boobs 123cm = -18cm
Waist 110cm = -22cm
Stomach 136cm = -15cm
Legs Upper 56cm = - 10cm
Legs Lower 40cm = -7cm
Neck 41cm = -4cm
Arms 34cm = -4cm

Total Loss = 80cm WOW!

It got stuck!!

I had my first experience with something getting stuck! Bloody hell - I didn't know which way to turn. I was out for lunch with a friend and STUPID me ordered steak & prawns. Well I haven't had steak since the banding and I had "hormonal" restriction going on! OMG - I am now officially a bandit. That won't happen again I can tell you.

On the upside I've lost more weight and have run into a few people this week who haven't seen me since the op - so they were more than surprised.

Things I am looking forward to in the next 5 months (apart from losing more weight):
1. Next weekend I'm going on a Mother's Weekend where they take mum's of kids with disabilities away for the weekend and pamper us. Really looking forward to that.
2. We have bought tickets to Disney on Ice for us and the kids in Newcastle in July. I know the kids will love that.
3. September - Bring on the Cook Islands!
4. October - our friends daughter is getting married
5. October - we are going on a Warehouse tour bus trip with our friends to Sydney.

Hmm...nothing in June yet - better fix that!

Another update...

I've officially lost 16kg. I'm at the point though that I want it to just fall off!! I want it over! My clothes don't fit me! I should be more positive about it all but I'm heading for the old PMS today I'd say so just don't look at me!

On a lighter note I was told by an bloke I've known for years that I look gorgeous but he thought I always did. How nice is that. Very flattering.

Life

Sorry I haven't been posting this week. Life has been rather hectic which is usual but more than normal. Work has been extremely busy and I seem to get caught up in all this other stuff which keeps me busy.

I have quite a few friends to support at present who are going through a really rough trot and am trying to give them as much support as they need. It's hard when they all live so far away - I just want to cuddle them and tell them it's going to be ok. One of them and you know who you are should really MOVE TO DUBBO!!! (I know she'll get a laugh out of that!).

Weight loss wise - doing well. Will let you know how I'm going with that on Monday.