Oh boy... not even a quarter

Before and after today's lunch. Now, it looks to me that there is more in the second plate, but I can assure you I honestly did eat at least a few bites of pasta! :o) 1 meatball and some pasta. Wow.

To give you an idea of the size of this portion... it was 50g of dry pasta and 1/4 can on meatballs in tomato sauce. So to only be able to eat 16th of a can of ANYTHING is pretty weird.

I stopped eating a little while ago, and it still feels like a lump in my chest. I have the hiccups now too, which is a good sign that I am either going to puke, or its going to go down...

Last night I tried to eat a salad. I made salad with prawns in marie rose sauce. I couldn't eat much of it at all. I have also found that beetroot is not that easy to chew to a pulp and I think this was the reason I spewed it up. Its a strange kind of puke. Different even to before my last fill...

Its sort of like the excess food just sits in my pouch and when I touch the back of my throat it just pops out... not even like a puke at all. So obviously things are getting tight in there.

anyway, shall update later, but this is all I have had so far today. Couldn't face breakfast. Uh oh... excess saliva being produced... better run!

The Bariceutical Prescription

Nutritionally deprived, wrinkled, drained and tired is not what Silvia Demeter envisioned when she underwent gastric banding surgery in 2003. But that is how she found herself feeling after losing weight."I felt like I was starving. My skin was wrinkled, my hair was falling out. I felt drained and tired. Even grocery shopping or caring for my family was a chore. By 5PM each day I was a couch

Arthritis and Yoga

What is Arthritis
Arthritis is not one disease - it's a family of diseases primarily involving pain in joints. It includes about a hundred diseases with a variety of symptoms affecting various ages. It is accompanied by inflammation and sometimes also stiffness. It can occur due to a variety of reasons - trauma to a joint, infection of a joint, autoimmune problems or just plain ageing. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Arthritis can happen in people of all ages - starting from very young children to older adults. Arthritis in children is known as juvenile arthritis. Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a form of arthritis that typically starts in early 20's.

Why Rheumatoid Arthritis Happens
Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune systems attacks the body itself. Think of it as an army attacking it's own country. Our body's immune system is there to fight external agents such as bacteria, viruses, etc. When the immune system has a problem, it can get confused and start attacking the body itself. In case of Rheumatoid Arthritis, it attacks the joints which results in pain, swelling, etc.

Arthritis and Yoga
While Arthritis is an enemy of your joints, look at yoga as their best friend. Yoga can help you maintain joint strength and flexibility which means you can minimize the inflammation, swelling and pain. If joints are not properly stretched and strong, they can suffer from permanent damage caused by arthritis. Yoga can help you keep joints healthy and strong. You need to choose the right yoga posture according to your condition. Over the years, yoga has become a very broad term and includes a variety of forms. It's best to work with a qualified yoga instructor who understand arthritis and can recommend the right yoga exercises for you.

Low calorie dairy foods

The following dairy foods can be used to increase your calcium intake when you are on a weightloss program and watching your diet :

Fat free or skim milk

Fat free or low fat cottage cheese

Fat free sour milk

Fat free or skim milk yoghurt - the plain, unflavoured varieties are better as flavoured yoghurts have a higher calorie content

Spice Up Your Food

Spices boosts metabolism, suppresses appetite, reduce fat absorption and adds taste to your meal. Replace butter or mayonnaise with garlic, chili, mustard, ginger. Saute vegetables and chicken in hot sauce as opposed to oil.

Appetite suppression: The strong odors and flavors of spices reduces feelings of hunger. Hot food may inhibit your food consumption. It is more difficult to overindulge in a meal or snack which causes the mouth to be slightly uncomfortable.

Increase metabolic rate: Spices speed up your metabolism and boost fat burning.

Reduce fat absorption: Ginger, fenugreek and garlic reduces the absorption of fat.
Quick Weight Loss Tips

Get Plenty of Sleep - It May Aid Weight Loss

Sleep aids weight loss - Sleep loss may equal weight gain.

How much you sleep and the quality of your sleep affects food cravings. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation increases levels of a hunger hormone and decreases levels of a hormone that makes you feel full. Inadequate sleep triggers food cravings which may lead to overeating and weight gain. So get your full eight hours each night to stay healthy and fit .

Back to the grind

Work today. 3:45 - 9:00
I have a new student today, which is great. They live in my village so its even better. I must remember to get a load of calendars and welcome letters printed out to give to them.

So already I am getting ready for my next holiday - which will be from Sunday 25th May until Monday the 2nd June, then on the 5th June we go to Malta.

So I have just 42 days of work until I am free again for a couple of weeks. That makes it easier to cope with! The weird thing is that it is the thought of going to work, lying in bed in the morning, that I hate. When I am actually at work, I really like it! Funny huh?

Anyway, seeing as I bought a new car on Friday, I have to get dedicated to the family money fund!

Weight wise, this morning I am 16 stone 2 pounds... still!

BUT

A miracle happened today. I have eBay'ed a load of clothes, meaning that shortly I will have to buy some more (what a shame!). However, I was going through my drawers to see what I could put on today that was semi decent, and I came across 2 pairs of 3/4 length trousers that I bought last May before I went to Sri Lanka. Now, they still have their labels on them and have sat in the drawer because, as you all know the band buggered up right at that point. So I have never worn them. They never even came to Sri Lanka with me because they were a little on the tight side and I kept them because I thought that give it a couple of weeks and I would be in them. Sadly that was not the case, but today...

I AM WEARING THEM!

Yes, I am wearing a pair of grey 3/4 length trousers from Tesco by Florence and Fred size 20.

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

They are comfortable, not digging in, look nice, hang well and basically just... FIT

So this is a small miracle because when I went to Sri Lanka last year, I weighed 16 stone 3 pounds, and now I weight 16 stone 2 pounds, but I am obviously smaller somewhere than I was then! How cool is that. I am definitely at my smallest now.

Now, onto the next thing that is bugging the heck out of me. I am off to the acupuncturist in about ... ooh 30 minutes, to have her take a look at me. My skin is DREADFUL. Its worse that teenage skin. It positively hurts. I also have a nagging low back ache which I have had for years, but is getting increasingly worse, and to top it off the area of my tongue that relates to my liver is pitted deep with holes like I have bitten it through. Now, I know its sort of *mumbo jumbo* but I really believe in acupuncture as its helped me so much before, and she couples it with the whole tongue diagnosis as well which is great.

I know that the area of tongue which is dodgy is supposed to be linked to the liver. My skin is terrible, and when the liver is not working properly the skin can suffer. Also low back ache in my kidney areas is also a sign that something is not great.

So I am off to get sorted. My spots totally cleared up last time I saw her. I went for slimming help remember? It kind of helped, but I did notice it helping in the spot department big time. so hopefully this time will be the same.

As far as my fill goes... I am not noticing the same amount of restriction like I had after my last fill, but the hunger seems to have disappeared. I can go back within the next 2 weeks and get a little top up for nothing, and I don't want to fin 3 weeks down the road that I really need another fill... but at the same time, I don't want to be puking all over the place. The weird thing is that I haven't puked at all since my fill. I was having a lot of chokes before, so not sure what has happened there.

I will keep monitoring it for a few days and see what happens. I guess the scales and my hunger will decide it for me.