FINALLY!

This morning I got on the scale and it said 210. Then I went about my day and hopped on again at 8 pm and it said 208.8 - my lowest post-surgery number. Guess which one I'm entering in my spreadsheet?

I am so relieved to see 208.8 again, and I will be even more relieved when I break through and keep moving downward. It's been almost a month of bouncing around with no real losses, and I'm over it. Over. It.

The last few days have been so busy that I haven't had time to eat much, and today was the same. So I'm hoping the scale will be benevolent tomorrow despite the olives I had with dinner. Dare to dream, right?

Side note: Had a business lunch at an Asian place today. I had checked out the menu and figured sashimi would be safe because it doesn't have rice and would be easy to get down.

People, sashimi is literally just sliced chunks of raw fish. I guess I should have known this, especially since I fancy myself quite sophisticated, having lived in New York for three years. Really, though - chunks of raw fish with some ginger and the green spicy stuff on the side.

FYI, it does go down easy with the band.

I'm Hungry. Or Snacky. Or Something.

The scale is stubbornly sticking within a four-pound range above my most recent low.

Listen, kids, it got so bad that yesterday I exercised. Not crazy, sweating-like-a-pig exercise, but a brisk walk. Which clearly means I've gotten desperate.

I'm hungry, thinking about my next meal a lot. I can't blame it on hormones or any particular stress, so I guess it means I need a fill? I still think I'll wait till after Labor Day. We have so much traveling between now and then, to places that aren't likely to have a fill (or UNfill) doctor nearby, that I guess I'm OK with just sticking it out and trying to eat well in the meantime.

In other news, I think I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating: Despite the fill-or-no-fill, when am I going to lose more weight, ohmigod I just threw up again moments... I love this band. I have a different outlook on my life since getting it. My constant mental battle with myself over my weight and my lack of discipline, all of that stuff, is almost entirely gone. I feel at peace with myself in a way that I can't remember feeling in a long, long time.

So I resolve to be patient. The weight will move. I am actively working on it but not letting it consume my life.

Isn't that a nice change?

Catching Up

Today is the last day of the Summer Meltdown Challenge. Confession: Despite the record heat, there wasn't much melting here. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong. For a while there I had a big chocolate thing going on, but that has subsided. I've cut back on wine. I eat very little meat. I guess I'm just still eating too much of the things I do eat. Gilly has mentioned on several occasions that she's terrified of stretching her pouch. I think I need some of Gilly's fear. Or Joey's workout prowess. Or something. A little discipline goes a long way, Kristin.

My surgeon told me to come see him after Labor Day, and I guess I'll be ready for a small fill then.

Also, I've been terrible at commenting on your blogs lately. I'm reading, although last week was intermittent with the family and puppies visiting. But I'm trying to get back into gear and be more engaged with the band babes.

In other, more positive news, I wore my Banana Republic sweater set to dinner with the Hubs on Friday night. Sorry about the weird lighting.

And, finally, our two adorable furry little houseguests went back to Guiding Eyes for the Blind on Friday. We loved having them here, despite the workload and alarming depletion of newspapers from our recycle bin.

Godspeed, Sheldon and Saffron!

New York Times Discovers Plus-Size Market

OK, the headline's overstated. But it's a grabber, no?

The Times Magazine is previewing this story on plus-size fashion from its Aug. 1 edition. I haven't actually read it yet, but if someone wants to give it a go and offer a Cliff's Notes recap, that'd be super.

xoxo

Puppies and Kids

This is Saffron. Isn't she adorable? She's six weeks old, and if all goes as planned she will grow up to be a working dog. Her brother Sheldon is here too, he's a black lab and is destined for the working life as well. They are sweet-tempered pups.

It's busy here, but a good busy. Puppies and kids - lots of work, lots of fun. The extended family leaves tonight after dinner, and puppies go back to Guiding Eyes for the Blind on Friday.

I haven't had much chance to take pictures, just this one. We're trying to keep the puppies busy exploring and learning while also keeping the kiddies busy in parallel play so they don't overwhelm the pups.

The scale is wending its way back down, just one pound above the low. And it better, because I'm eating practically nothing. I want a new low number, and I want it soon.

Chaos Reigns

We're in the midst of a fun and completely exhausting visit with my parents, sister-in-law, nephew and two nieces. So we've got six kids under the age of eight to feed, entertain and tire out. Total chaos.

A typical scene: We're trying to get dinner on the table, two kids fight over the Nintendo DS, the two-year-old is covering her entire body with Band-Aids she found in the pantry, the four-year-old is playing with the water cooler and the baby is crying because she wants someone to hold her.

Everyone's displaced from their usual beds, so no one is sleeping well. Last night I ran into my sister-in-law at 3 am while my 5-year-old was having a conniption about his pajamas and she was bringing her two-year-old back to bed after discovering her wandering the halls.

We keep reminding each other that we're making memories for the kids. I better be really skinny after this visit.

The chaos intensifies tomorrow with the arrival of two six-week-old Labrador Retriever puppies. Weeks ago I signed us up to do volunteer "home socialization" visits for a local guide dog organization. The pups come for three or four nights to get used to being around lots of different people in different environments. At the time I volunteered for this week we weren't expecting visitors. Should be interesting.

In band news, I'm too busy to eat much but the scale isn't really working with me.

My Boggle Problem

I downloaded Boggle for iPhone yesterday because I heard it was awesome. It is.

I'm having trouble focusing on much else. Such as the several calls I need to make to square away some insurance and medical billing issues, and other important household tasks.

I wouldn't say I'm at an intervention point, but I can certainly understand how *other* people might find this game addicting.

Anyway, enough of that. My band was crazy tight this morning, I had trouble getting my usual Zone bar down so I had some blended turkey and black bean chili for lunch to avoid any unpleasantness. It went down fine, and this afternoon I had some cucumber and the rest of that sinful french onion dip, so I guess solids are OK now. You just never know with this thing.

NSV: My wedding rings are rolling around my fingers a little bit. Not a lot, not all over the place, but once in a while I feel them clink together and it makes me happy. Which is nice because the scale hasn't moved at all. And I'm actually eating decently.

Tomorrow is going to be record-breakingly hot, so I'm not expecting anything much to change over the weekend. But I will forge ahead! Onward and downward.

Also: Brunch for NY Bandsters on Sunday!! Be there.

Band Lessons/Life Lessons

First, thanks for all your notes about my daughter. She's back to her old toddler self. And by that I mean she raised holy hell in Target this morning and I couldn't even run for the exit because I was waiting for a prescription to be filled. That was fun.

In other news:

1. I cannot be trusted around any kind of chip dip. I will inhale it, and I know it is still a bad idea even if I use cucumber slices rather than chips.

2. I still stress eat.

3. I still hormone eat. (You know what I mean.)

4. If you loll about and wait for the band to do all the work, you stay fat.

Big exhale. I know I said I'd post photos of flowy blue skirt and Banana Republic fitting room, and now I will.

Upon further review, I think I look shlumpy in this skirt. Or at least in the outfit as a whole:

Here's the Banana Republic sweater set:

I think it's best to hold off on this for another 10-15 pounds (and if you don't believe me, check out the side view below).

When I do bust out my BR outfit, I'll button a few middle buttons but leave the top and bottom few unbuttoned. Is that what the kids are doing these days? I am so fashion challenged.

And now, I have to go get my nails done do some errands.

All Good on the Home Front

My baby's surgery went really well this morning (though I think she'd beg to differ). We're home already, she seems to be feeling almost back to normal and I'm incredibly grateful that this was as simple as we had hoped. Thanks for your kind words and thoughts, they did help.

(I'm particularly grateful to the awesome pediatric nurses who, upon hearing what my daughter's favorite song is, immediately burst into "Beat It," despite the fact that it's a ditty about gang violence sung by a pedophile.)

My weight... HOLY COW, people. 213.8 this morning, up two and a half pounds from yesterday and FIVE pounds from my recent low. But I know I didn't eat badly yesterday and my period is due any minute now, so I can't get too worked up about it. This too will pass.

Stop. Stop! STOP!!

Learning when to stop eating is not coming easily to me. This is primarily a problem at dinnertime, but occasionally it pops up at lunch too. (Breakfast is a portion-controlled Zone bar.)

I've never had a vomiting episode from not stopping in time - getting sick for me is always a result of eating a cracker or something that was too dry, not chewing enough and eating too quickly. I've had a tummy ache once or twice from eating too much, but otherwise the only consequence has been slow or no weight loss.

Both nights this weekend I had social events, dinner with friends on Saturday and book club on Sunday. On Saturday I felt like I ate a LOT, although in retrospect, I gave half of my appetizer to my husband and only ate half my fish. But I did finish the completely amazingly fabulous side of mashed potatoes. And a couple bites of dessert (one dessert split among four people). MUCH better than pre-band, but not exactly weightloss friendly. Accordingly, my weight is up a bit the last few days.

This afternoon I got sick from a couple of crackers. Blah. Not sure if the tightness is the result of a hormonal shift or stress. My baby is having minor surgery on Wednesday morning which itself isn't a big deal, but the general anesthesia makes me nervous. And this morning lightning struck some power lines, which fell across our driveway, causing a(nother) power outage. Then I couldn't get in my driveway to get the baby for her pre-op appointment (she was home with the sitter while I did morning errands). So I had to park at my mother-in-law's house and walk through drenching rain across the back yards to carry her back to my car and go to the doctor's office. What a morning.

In happy news, I BOUGHT CLOTHES AT BANANA REPUBLIC ON FRIDAY! This is totally cool for me. It was a sweater set thing, and I don't think I'd wear it just yet but in 10 or 15 pounds it'll look great. I have photos that I'll post soon.

I hope you're all well!