May is National Fitness Month

May is National Fitness Month - lead by the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness. I was doing some research on their site and found some interesting bullets that support what so many of us have come to learn --- take a look. And take some time this month to give your body the gift of a little extra movement. You deserve the benefits you will glean from it!Adults 18 and older need 30 minutes of

13 weeks after my lap band....

Well I am 13 weeks down the road into lap-bandville.

I must admit I thought it would be more restrictive than it has been.

When I had my last supper at that lovely restaurant in Brugge I really thought I would never be able to do that again.

The truth?

I can.

I could easily go back to that restaurant and order the same bottle of wine... but I would have to drink the whole bottle before my meal...

If I wasn't comatose, I could essentially order the same starter that I had.

Once that was down, I could probably manage the second course... it was another starter after all.

The 3rd course... Nah. I could probably have a few bites.

I certainly would not be able to eat the 4th or 5th courses.

So yes, I would be able to eat there again, but not in the same quantity.

I am actually a little annoyed about that. When I had that meal, I really really truly wanted food to be difficult after that. I guess I am glad its not. It would not have been nice to be vomiting or unable to eat and every day being a chore. But I wish it was a bit more restrictive.

I am watching what I eat this week. Until I have my next fill when I get back from Sri Lanka, I think I just have to go easy. keep stopping during dinner and assessing the 'fill level' and then really stopping when I am full. I am not in a famine zone for goodness sake... I don't have to eat every scrap of food. I can always get something to eat later on if I get hungry again.

I am going to up my fruit intake as well as I don't think I have been getting enough fresh raw food. I have also got back on the treadmill after an eternally quiet period. I did 35 minutes today. I would have done more but the day got ahead of me!

Today's food...
Half a slice of eggy bread for brekkie.
Lunch was Heinz tomato soup and some bread and butter
Dinner was Beef Diane (270 cals) and then semolina with dutch apple (187 cals)

So I think today has been a pretty good day diet wise.

A Healthy Heart Lifestyle

Most people don't see themselves as potential heart attack or stroke victims. But it happens to many of us after age 40 and especially after age 55.

If one of the following risk factors applies to you, then it could be very helpful to look into heart health tips sooner rather than later;

* High blood pressure
* High blood cholesterol
* Diabetes
* Smoking
* Being overweight
* Being physically inactive
* Having a family history of early heart disease
* Age (55 or older for women)


The National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute has a 122 page handbook about heart health that you can download for free, or get a copy sent to you for $3.75. It's The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women '07.

Reducing Cellulite with Exercise

MSNBC has an encouraging article about reducing cellulite with exercise. They interviewed Wayne Westcott, a fitness research director. He has found that women who are not exercising and begin a program of exercise three times a week, together with a reduced-calorie diet can lose on average about 9 pounds of fat and gain two pounds of muscle in about eight weeks. Most of these women also said they thought the cellulite on their thighs and hips showed improvement.

Cellulite is more likely to appear if you don't have good muscle tone.

Cellulite is a drag. And even celebrities get cellulite.

Getting lower....

Hi all.
Just thought I would let you know quickly that when I got up this morning I jumped on the scales and it said 16 stone 3... or 227lbs.
so that means I have lost 25 in total... Obviously that's not an official weigh in because I like to do that on Monday#s but it proves to me that it was indeed retention.
I am really pleased... especially as we went out for pizza last night!!! Hurrah!
I just booked an appointment for hair extensions! YIKES! I have long hair anyway, but I want it longer!!
This is my last Wednesday of work!! This time next Wednesday I will be IN THE SKY!!

*update*
Well today was tiring. Lessons went well though, all my pupils are quite easy on a Wednesday... 2 adults 4 kids and 1 teenager who's quite advanced.

The advanced lesson is starting to happen now. It has been really hard getting her to work at what she needs to do. People don't realise the work they are taking on when they decided to venture on to grade 7 and beyond.

A lot of mummies and daddies decide that poppet wants to do grade 7. Ok. They don't realise that you are looking at a minimum of 2 hours practice daily.... And to actually BE grade 7 when you take the exam your looking more at 4 hours. This is a serious intensive study. What actually happens is that poppet practices her pieces once through and then does her scales once - and thinks that he/she is now grade 7. You could teach a monkey to play 3 pieces given enough time... doesn't mean hes grade 7.

I feel that if you have a piece of paper that says grade 7 on it, you want it to really mean what it says... you don't want that certificate to just mean "I can play 3 tunes quite well and stumble through a piece I have never looked at before". You want that certificate to mean "I have done a years worth of intensive study and you can chuck anything at me at this level and I can do a great job of it".

My pupil, thankfully is not one of these... but I am pretty sure she didn't like bringing her practice time up to length and working at things, not just playing easy stuff. Its taken a good year to get her to change her technique to something approaching elegance and its going to take another before I will even consider her ready for grade 7. Shes doing well, I just hope she keeps the pace going. She will be an excellent pianist if she continues... but as with all teens... there are other things pressing. Her goal is to be a piano teacher, so the drive is there... lets hope it stays.

Other than that, boring day. Didn't get home until 10:30pm and was shattered. Ate my tea on the sofa and watched 2 episodes of Home and Away then went to bed.

That's all folks.

Holiday of a lifetime

Check this out. Its where we are staying in 1 weeks time!
http://www.heritancehotels.com/HA/index.php

We are staying in the Luxury Suite...

Ahhhhh

Feeling a much better

Hi all....

I am feeling a lot better.

I think I needed to get a few things off my chest lately and last night DH and me went to bed early and had a massive chat and cuddle and I vented my spleen big style. He is always there for me and I love him to bits. He listens to me shout and rant about this and that and calms me down and makes me see that its not me, it really is unfair and that it doesn't matter about anyone else because he loves me and we have each other.

He is so definitely my better half.

Anyway, we had the most smashing evening lying there chatting and stuff and I went to sleep feeling completely clear in heart, soul mind and body.

I had a nice sleep, even though I was still wide awake at 3am and woke maybe 5 times during the night... Funny that sometimes you don't need a long deep sleep to satisfy you. It felt nice to keep waking gently and see him there sleeping and I felt safe and secure in everything. then I would turn over again and doze off and then repeat the whole thing a few more times until I woke completely feeling young and vibrant before the alarm and bounced out of bed.

Funnily enough, I really do think my weight gain has been totally down to *star* week and fluid retention because this morning, as I jumped on the scales with optimism they gleamed back at me with 16stone 4. That's half a pound less than my lowest ever... so I think what ever I was holding on to is now gone. That means that I should have a nice result when I go for my weigh in next Monday which will be the last one before the holiday. It will be nice to be under that 16 stone zone, but I know I have to chill out.

Helen left me a great comment on my blog. I asked her to tell me what kind of things she ate and how she was feeling etc...

One thing that stood out to me in what she said was:

"one thing you really need to keep in mind is that your pouch only holds 8 ounces maximum...and if you keep stretching it out, you'll have to have another surgery."

Now I have never been told this... but it seems that every bandit is given differing advice; There doesn't seem to be anything that is set in stone for definite.

So if this is what Helen has been told, and I am pretty sure that I have heard in other places a similar account, I have not been consuming too much food.

When I eat, I don't eat more than 8oz.

Yesterday when I had two bowls of cereal we (travelling buddy and I) were sitting there lamenting my lack of weight loss and I said "How come I have been able to eat that much?" and she said "Well maybe when its all chewed up and mashed together it is less than you think...?"

I gave this some consideration after Helen's comment.

Now, for any of you who still don't think I am crazy, this will most likely confirm your suspicions..... I know its a waste, but I had to do it...

Here are the two bowls of cereal

Here are the two bowls of cereal in my little blender...

Here are the two bowls of cereal blended roughly (i.e. chewed) in a measure....

For the benefit of those who can't see.... this has made just over half a pint of mush. There are still quite a few large chunks of stuff in there, but basically it has the same consistency as cereal chewed and spat out.

this is therefore 10 ounces of food. Now, this was the first time I had ever eaten 2 bowls of cereal straight off the bat like that.... So that tells me that a big bowl of cereal, even If I over filled the bowl would not be more than 8 oz.

This has made me happy. My meals are less that 8 oz too. Definitely.

So why am I not losing weight as fast as say... Helen? I dunno. But looking at what she eats, she doesn't eat very much at all (see her comment on yesterdays post) so I think probably she has a different and tighter band than me. I have read her blog often enough to see the difference in her pb'ing and eating patterns and there is a vast difference between hers and mine.

So she has enough restriction, and I have restriction..... just not quite enough....yet!!!!

this is where these blogs and chat sites really help. Dr. Clayson could not allay my fears. Helen could. It could have been anyone but they have to know what you are going through.

***A big THANK YOU to Helen!!! ***

I am losing weight. I have to look at the bigger picture. I am so bad at not doing that.

I am 20 pounds lighter than I was 3 months ago. That's great!

So even if I lost half a pound a week, its still the right way.

I WILL get to my target and Helen will get to hers.

Erika and I seem to be following much more similar routes... I have to keep in mind that we are ALL different.

I feel much more positive.

Thanks for bearing with me and I am sorry if I have been horrid and petulant.

Love you all!