October 2008 Lap-Band Update

I would like to begin by giving a shout out to Melanie and say thanks for the words of encouragement. I hope everything is going well with your lap-band. The first couple of months are always interesting, but the year will fly by before you know it.

As for me, I am doing ok. I am still stuck on my plateau from several months ago. I stay between 240 and 250 every week. I guess it is not a bad thing, but I would like to reach 220 by Christmas. I still believe it can happen. I have joined two challenges to help inspire me.

The first is a slots challenge, it is the second time I am doing this challenge. I did very bad with it the first time. The slots challenge is between me and three other people at work. We all put in $50.00 each and the winner will get $150.00 to play at the Hard Rock Casino. It would be really nice to win that challenge, but it is not the one that is pushing me the most.

The second challenge is call “The President’s Challenge”. You get into groups of two or more (we are doing groups of four at my job) and you compete against other groups (could be family, friends, co-workers, whoever). The object of this challenge is to motivate you to exercise. It is not based on what you eat or how much you weigh every week, it just focuses on you exercising. It seems to inspire me the most because if I fail to exercise then, I am not just hurting myself, but my team too. I think this is a really great program and I encourage all of my readers to check it out. It is a free site and you can view it out at http://www.presidentschallenge.org/

As for the home-life, I have informed my current roomie that I am moving out, which he did not take too well and has started being shady, which sucks, but I am being the better person. I am looking for my own place where I can control what I eat and eliminate unnecessary stressors, like coming home to a crying 2 year old every night. I think once I have my own place I will be able to set-up a daily routine of good eating habits and exercise. It is going to cost me a lot, but when it comes down to it, I have to value myself and my health more then money.

As for my job, I had to tell my staff that they will not be getting raises and I might have to double their workloads. I am in the process of trying to do what I can to take care of them and get them promotions. If that doesn’t work, then I will figure something else out to help them. I truly believe that happy staff are productive staff.

As we all know, the lap-band itself is only a tool to help us and if we don’t use it correctly then it is our own fault. We have to eat right and exercise if we want to reach our goals. With that said, I will be the first to say it is not easy and other stresses in our life impact our choices. My move to Sarasota is not something I will ever regret, but it does present new stresses in my life that I have to learn to react to differently and walking has seemed to help reduce my stress level greatly. If you ever get in a jam or lose hope, go for a least a 30 minutes walk and I will promise it will help clear your head. I wish each of you the best and I encourage you to stay strong with the holidays coming up!

~Think Positive and Stay Healthy~