Making progress!!

My check in with my nutritionist was today and...down another 12 pounds!! Making me down 34 pounds in total. So excited! This makes me halfway to my goal to making me eligible for surgery! They were even going through my pre surgery check list asking if I had gotten my EGD done yet, made it feel so real like this is really happening!! I am so excited, I know the lap band is going to be hard and a huge life adjustment for me. I have been doing a lot of research reading about what others experienced, so I am realistic but excited none the less. Lap band is a tool, not a cure. Its going to give me that extra boost to not be fighting these hunger demons, and since I have so much to lose will really make a big difference for me. I am so very hopeful about my future. I can already feel the difference in having more energy and stamina to do moire things with my family and it feels really good. Oh and did I mention its already having an impact on my blood pressure! When he took my BP today it was kind of low and some days I am feeling a little different so he thinks I need to be taken to a lower dose of BP meds! How exciting! Can't wait for what the future has in store for me! Thanks for reading and supporting me on my journey!

xo,
Emily

10,000 Baby!!

Wow its been a minute since I have blogged, I'm sorry guess it feels like there isn't anything too exciting to write about. Just my day to day counting calories, making good food choices, and learning portion control. This I think is my biggest struggle. I can officially say I check marked one thing off my goals list, I have joined the gym with my best friend Christina. We are meeting on Tuesday and Thursday's and hoping to add more days soon. We work on cardio and some strength training each time and I hope to increase the length of my workouts soon! :) I really am enjoying the gym, gives me more choices and feels more exciting than alone at home. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and getting out of the house for some "me time". Which if you know me is a huge leap to say me time consists of exercising!! lol :) I have been taking trips to the park to walk with my sons, too bad its getting so hot we will have to find some others options for the summer to get some family exercise in. My first plan is to get out and swim, swim swim this summer! Also we renewed our membership to the science center so that is a lot of walking I can do and indoors bonus! :) Plus the fun time with my kiddos of course. We went to the zoo yesterday and I earned my first 10,000 steps badge on my fitbit!! I am so super proud and excited about that accomplishment!! :) I am thinking of getting a membership to the zoo as well! I am finding it easier to walk these long distances than before which is a good feeling, my back doesn't hurt as bad as it used to. I do find that I get tired but I just take a little breather and then get back up and keep going! Its more a battle in my head sometimes as my old way of thinking and habits creep in making me want to sit down and take extra breaks, but I am telling that urge to shut it! LOL :) I feel like I am still doing well with my food choices, at home I only have the healthy options so I know I am okay there, going out into the world is more of a challenge. I just try to plan ahead if I know we are going out to eat, look online at nutritional facts and plan on what to order to know I will not go over on calories. There is a lot of power in knowledge, knowing how many calories I can eat empowers me to make better choices since I want to keep within my calorie goal. At this point I am still at 1500 calories a day although I am pretty consistent on not using all of them. I am wondering if next nutrition appointment he might lower it, oh and I will have a new official weigh in next week so I will be sure to post it on here. I am super excited, since I have added so much more exercise within the last month I really hope it shows on the scale so I know I am closer to my goal for surgery. Oh and besides my numbers on the scale I want to be sure to remind myself of my NSV (non scale victories) as I have learned following along with fb group of other lap banders. My NSV this week is at the zoo I would normally skip any rides as my fear is always being too big to fit or safely ride so I usually just opt to sit out, usually bummed but at least felt safe in not trying. But I really pushed myself yesterday and I wanted to go on the skyride(basically a ski lift that takes you around the zoo) with my hubby and kids I was so afraid to be told no sorry you are too big to ride but I tried anyway. When I sat down the lady has to lower the lap bar and make sure it locks into place. My heart stopped as she stopped the ride as it didn't fasten right away, but I sat up straight and with a little extra push it locked! May not sound big for someone who has never struggled with being as big as I am, but to me this felt huge! I know at the beginning of this journey I would not have fit and would have missed out and been really sad but not this time! I was very happy with that NSV. Thanks for reading! My appointment is in less than a week so check back for my weight loss update! :)

xo,
Emily

Progress updates:
82 days since I started
82 days of food logs

Best fitbit day:

Thank you for those walking in this journey with me, and believing in me when I didn't even believe in myself.