Had a very busy but good week overall!

Sorry that I have not had a post lately but I am sure you too have been busy with the holiday and everything.  It was really hectic at work last week but I was fortunate to be off for Thanksgiving and rest of the week! I fixed a nice Thanksgiving dinner for my family and my dad came over and joined us.  It was the first holiday with my band and it went okay.  I am convinced that meat typically does not agree with my band.  Overall I did pretty good eating my meal but it could have been better.  Friday I had a very very long day since my sister and I went to shop at 1:15 am and then later that night I had to go to a wedding rehearsal so it  was a long day.  My uncle had fixed the pork loin on the grill and it was sooooo good but my band did not agree.  It made me want to cry since I want to be able to enjoy meat, why does my band not feel the same way? Saturday we went to my cousins wedding and it is nice to get the many nice compliments from family who have not seen me lately.  So I guess now is a good time to give you some stats!  I am always so pleased to get to report my progress!  Total weight lost......49 pounds.  This brings me to 275 which is a great milestone number.  I also like to say that I lost a whole Raegyn.  My youngest only weighs 48 pounds.  My BMI is down to 41 which means I have lost 7 BMI points.  Wow that is pretty exciting to report my wonderful progress. 

Thursday I go for my first fill and I am excited to see what they have to say about my progress thus far.  I am hoping I will meet with the dietitian too and maybe she can give me some more tips on how to deal with meat.  Many people become vegetarians due to their intolerance of meat but I do not want to do that.  Well this is a learning experience so it will be interesting to see how things change as I go trough this journey. 

Well I am hoping you have a great post holiday week.  Before we know it, it will be Christmas.  Well take care.  Jane

Couple of Milestones

So this week has been a good week I guess you could say in regards to weight loss.  So the week total plus today is.....7 pound for the week, 28 pounds in the last month which was the day of my surgery, for a grand total of 45 pounds!!  So one of the milestones was that I have hit the 45 pound mark and the second one is that I can kiss the 280's goodbye since this morning I was 279.  Wow!!!  I have been pretty excited the last couple of days.  I think I am starting to see the benefits.  My clothes are fitting much better, I actually tried on a shirt yesterday at Good Will and it was too big!  I am able to bend over and tie my shoes, sad but true!  I have been getting a lot of compliments lately too so that is great and I guess I am not use to that so that is something new! The only negative thing really is that some  meat is still giving me some problems and I knew to expect that.  I will work through that but it is frustrating since I love meat.  Tony and I are going out tonight just the two of us and I am not really sure what we are going to do or where we may eat.  I guess it is frustrating because so many things sound good but I am not sure if I will be able to eat them and well the portions are now way to big but that is what to go boxes are for :)   I had told Tony that I sort of wanted to be 275 by Christmas I guess I may make that goal by Thanksgiving.  I am so thankful for so much in regards to all the people who have helped me during this process!  It is exciting to see that I am conquering this beast of obesity!  Have a great day and it is time to find something to wear on my hot date!

Antibiotics and the Lap-Band

So many of you may know by now that unless you want to get sick don't come close to any of the Sprandel's.  The Girls and I have all be swabbed and found to be positive for Strep throat in the last few days.  Tony's initial test came back negative but the lady admitted it was hard to get a good swab on him so she was going to send it to the lab to see if it would grow, but in the mean time he got to have antibiotics also.  So as of Sunday night 4/5 of the Sprandel's were taking Antibiotics.  Today Seth came home with a fever, headache, and sore throat so I called the pediatrician and thankfully she just prescribe him stuff so we did not have to go to town for a culture.  So it stinks to be sick especially when we are ALL  sick!  Boo! 

So I never thought about antibiotics and how my lap band could pose a problem.  The PA suggested that I take my pills 3 times a day rather than 2 times a day  since the pills are smaller.  Sounded good to me until I got to the pharmacy and realized those pills were huge too!  So luckily the pharmacist was able to give me the liquid medicine but I do have to take 2tsp of it and I would never tell the girls but it really does not taste that good!  :(    Someone else suggested that maybe I should ask for a shot next time.  I will have to remember to ask my banding doctor or primary at my next visit. 

I had a week there a while back where my scale was stuck and I am so glad to say that it is going well again.  I sort of had a tough few days last week with eating some meat but I think it just was not small enough since I tried a little more over the weekend and did pretty well with it.  So this morning I did my daily weigh in and was pleased to see that my total is now 283.  I had set an unofficial goal to be 275 before Christmas but at this rate I will hit that at Thanksgiving.  So I have lost a total of 41 pounds. 

To be honest I don't really see that I have lost 41 pounds.  I do feel that my clothes fit better.  I have some athletic pants that I have always worn around the house that I  feel fit a lot better now.  I think my clothes are looking better on me.  I have not bought anything new but the other day, I had a shirt in my closet and I tried it on and I thought it looked decent so I wore it.  McKenna seen it later and said, "wow mom your shirt is so cute, is that new??"  Well it sort of is.....I bought it a while ago thinking it is so cute...oh a few pounds and it will be no problem to wear that, well that finally happened and I was glad that I bought that cute shirt, because my day finally came, to bad it took at least a year or more! 

Hopefully this week I continue to stay on track and continue my weight loss journey with more loss or to stay the same...that is a victory also!  Most importantly I want myself and family to all start feeling better.  I have a busy weekend planned!!  I am going to go to the OWB  consignment toy sell, Gifford State Bank Craft Show, and then The Champaign Festival of Trees.  It is the time of year that I love. Looking forward to spending some time with a few of my girl friends and my kids at the Tree Festival! 

Have a wonderfully Blessed week and I will keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers as I Thank the Lord for all your prayers and encouraging words! 

Weigh in Thursday and Strep throat

What a week in deed.  We have had a pretty busy week here at the Sprandel house, but that is nothing new for us.  I guess I will start by updating you with some vital statistics.  This week the scale had been been stuck for almost a whole week.  I was thankful that it did not ever change in the way of gaining weight so I kept reminding myself that no change is better than a weight gain.  So for the week I lost a total of 3 pounds.  Including these three pounds my total since deciding that I needed to make a change I have lost a total of 36 pounds and 6 BMI points.  I have expanded my foods that I have been trying this week.  I was able to eat some Monical's Pizza this week and we even made a stop at a McDonald's.  It is so amazing how little I am able to eat compared to what I use to be able to eat at a sitting.  I was very disappointed the other day that we made homemade stir fry and egg rolls and neither really agreed with me.  It also seems that I do not enjoy the taste food as much as I use to.  Not sure what that is all about, I may need to ask around a little, maybe because I have to be so careful when eating and chewing everything so well?  So overall weight loss continues to happen and I am feeling great.  I have been learning that my abdominal wall is still pretty sore since I have been doing to much lifting at work but not sure how to get around that???  So lap band wise things are going great!

Strep throat has moved into the Sprandel house.  Poor Raegyn had what I thought was a cold for couple of days but then when she started to complain about her throat, run a fever and then finally cry because her throat hurt I knew what that meant.  So today it was confirmed that she has strep throat and Kenna is not feeling well either so I reminded Kenna that if she is sick tomorrow it is the right thing to do, to not expose her friends and teachers that she may need to stay home and go to the doctor, I guess in the morning we will see how she feels. 

Also this week I went to a bridal shower, visited the in laws, went to a ball game, it has been crazy as always. 

I am so excited that the holidays are right around the corner.  I love going to craft shows, holiday events, shopping, and other holiday festivities.  I have  few mornings of fun set up with my friends so I am excited about that. 

Well hope you are doing well and I will keep you posted on the journey.  My first fill is set for December 2nd so that will be good since it will be between the to major upcoming holidays.  Take care! 

Stuck???

So many of you probably read my post the other day about being thankful and I hope it got you thinking about your own life.  Well as I sit here I am feeling a little sorry for myself.  I know that it  is crazy but here is the deal.  My scale is stuck!  Now I have been educated and told by my medical people that I have done WONDERFULLY and that.....I will probably level out a little and boy were they right.  So last Thursday when I went for my check up I was 295  then by Monday morning I was 289 and I have stayed there all week.  So why am I complaining about 6 pounds total for the week?  Good question.  I guess what it boils down to is the scale has become a bit of an adrenalin rush but in a great way now.  I get so excited weighing in every morning hoping to see another half pound or more gone. 
I could sit here and question everything I have put in my mouth but I won't because overall I have been very good following my outlined diet.  I have tried a few new foods and chewed them well and some have not really agreed with me but that is how you learn slowly I guess.  I am still amazed how little I eat now and but yet  I am satisfied. 
I feel like I am becoming one with my body more than I ever have.  I have always believed that a woman's cycle has alot to do with their weight and that could be why I had a 6 pound weight loss for the week.  I asked a good friend how often he has weighed the last year during his weight loss and he too weighs daily and typically reports weekly on his blog so that is my plan too.  I am interested to see if me starting the Depo Provera shot again will have any bearing on weight and it better not be in a bad way!  Also my primary has changed one of my meds so hopefully that will continue to help control the insulin in my body.  I am not currently diabetic but due to family genetics and the fact that I have PCOS my body does not process insulin like it should, typically metformin can help with weight loss. 
So yes I am thankful for this weeks 6 pounds and I promise that when I get a little down I will remember the big number.....35 total since I started this whole process! 
I am very excited that Tony and I are going on Saturday night but I do not have any clue what we are going to do.  A date night use to revolve around going somewhere good to eat.  We will eat just have not  decided where yet.  I really wanted to catch a movie but when I go to the movies I want popcorn.  It is still a little early for popcorn so I am thinking I need to find another idea for date night.  Whatever we decide to do I will totally enjoy doing it with my wonderful supportive husband!

More Changes Brewing or Just High on Emotions???

So I am now just a little over 2 weeks post op and overall I feel great.  It seems that my clothes are not as snug anymore, people are noticing that I am losing weight, and I feel like I am accomplishing something major in my life but with all this positive there is a little nag of something else going on.  I feel like I have bite a big piece of change off and I seem to be doing really well tackling it, but with that said I feel like I either  want to make more changes or maybe I am just a little hormonally imbalanced??   In my soul I feel like the next change involves my family especially my children.  The holidays are right around the corner.  As Thanksgiving approaches I feel like I have so much to be thankful for.  Just with this weight loss I am so thankful for Tony, my family, friends, and everyone else who has encouraged me and helped me during this time.  I am thankful that I was healthy enough to do the surgery and that I am young enough that I will be able to totally reap the rewards of this change.  I am thankful that I had the courage and will power to do this.  I am so appreciative and thankful.  So here is where I am questioning things.... so do I want to keep on making major changes in our household or am I just a little hormonal??  

As many parents raising kids will agree to.....I wonder if my kids appreciate things or have kids today come to expect things??  As I make daily sacrifices diet wise I think how as kids my kids do not have to make many sacrifices in their lives.  They seem to have all they need in life plus more.  Like most parents  we have tried  to give our kids the most that we can but,  have we given our kids to much that  they have come to expect it rather than appreciate it??  So I am questioning if it is time to make not only cuts diet wise for me in this house but maybe we need to evaluate too what we have and take for granted maybe not truly appreciate.  As Thanksgiving is approaching can you think of what you are thankful for??  Then think about Christmas are you thinking of all the things  you have to do,places to  go, things to buy, wrap, and fuss over?  Maybe we all need to make a CHANGE.....I want to make Thanksgiving a celebration of what I have to be thankful for and this Christmas I want to give!  I want to give less financially but more lovingly, serving wise , volunteering and being a good example to others.

Change is a good thing.  I will admit it can be scary but I am glad that I decided to make a change. 
I think making some changes/sacrifices in our home maybe what our family needs.  Maybe if we depended on less; Cable, junk food, spending money dumbly, and just overall lack of thought maybe we as a family would grow closer, becoming more caring, giving, and appreciative.

Overall I still don't know if I am just hormonal, very spiritual tonight, or just ready for a change but I encourage you to think about the upcoming holidays in a different way.  What are you Thankful for?  What can you give of yourself for other this Christmas season??  Remember Jesus is the reason for the season!