Happy St Andrews day

As I'm half Scottish I'm claiming St Andrews day, I've tried to tell Paul that I have to be waited on as its "my" day, he's not buying it though.

Scale showed a slight gain of 1/4 of a pound today which pushed me up to 15st again (210 lbs) total of 43 pounds lost, I'm ok with this, my band seemed to loosen up yesterday and I could eat more, I did feel a little better for it too.

I have a couple of questions that maybe ladies who have been banded longer than me can answer.

TMI, my periods are all over the place, missed a period and now have had it for almost 3 weeks, could this be in anyway band/weight loss related? I'm in no pain at all.

Secondly, my friend, N, was banded just over a week ago and she was telling me today that she feels like she can feel her band and she doesn't like the sensation at all, do you ever feel like you can feel your band?

If I'm very stressed I can sort of feel a heaviness, I'd like to try and reassure her if possible.

We're still getting lots of snow, the country has almost shut down, we've put our Christmas tree up, it seems very Christmassy!

Hope that everyone is well.

Just wanted to mention lovely Amanda at http://lifeofahopefulloser.blogspot.com/ she has just got her insurance approval and she is one of the nicest people I have "met" in blogland.

A picture of our garden taken in the dark!

A new milestone.

Morning all,

Snowy in England today, we don't normally have snow so early so its quite odd. Today is a school day which means I have to drive in it, I hate driving in snow, scares me silly. I have one of those cars which looks like it might be 4 wheel drive but isn't so skates around like a sports car in it!

Wish me luck!

The scale rewarded me with a 14st 13 lbs (209 lbs), this is huge for me, twice I have got to 15 stone but no lower and then went on to gain it all back. Onederland would be wonderful for Christmas, not sure that I will be able to make that.

Crying boy, will be back xx

Tighter than ever

After all those old posts complaining about no restriction I really can't be complaining of being too tight now, can I?

I wouldn't actually say that I'm too tight but I'm really tight, today all I have managed is 1 wheatabix with milk and some soup for lunch that I'm trying to finish now, I pb'd a little of it at lunch time too I've also had one protein shake with a banana in it, I may have another one shortly.

My hormones are all over the place (completely missed a period, finally had a long period, stopped for a day and now a whole new period) think that those egg's must have been stacking up! It's all very odd.

So I think that it might be hormonal, I also think that I'm fighting a cold which I know can often effect bands so maybe I've got a double dose.

I'm still weighing in at 15st 1, (211 lbs) as I have been eating some biscuits and chocolate but have pretty much lost my appetite for junk too so am hoping to see a lower number on the scale tomorrow.

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend, I can't believe how close to Christmas we are now!

Happy thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish all my friends who are celebrating a happy thanksgiving! Hope that you all have wonderful days.

Nothing much going on with me, still really tight which is pushing me towards junk foods a little too much, how come biscuits are ok? Have just tried and failed to eat some risotto.

The pine effect is finished, I am no good at sewing or any kind of craft and it shows! This is Isobel modeling it at about 6am this morning! Sorry about the pose, she had been leaping up and down to start with!

3 stones down!

Thanks for your comments on my blog yesterday, glad that I'm not the only hairy Mary around! I figure that it keeps me warmer when its cold!

I'm still tight and am down another pound today, maybe that is down to all the body hair I mowed yesterday! That puts me at 15st 1lb (211 lbs) and a big milestone of 3 stone lost!

I've managed to get to 15 stone twice but not under it, I can't wait for my weight to start 14 something!

So cold here today, I just washed the car and it just started raining. I never wash the car but it really needed doing, I hoovered the inside too and even took out the kids car seats (also found a library book I lost) I didn't do a great job but it looks better and surely it must count as exercise.

Have a lovely day all xx

Down a pound but so tight

Afternoon all,

Stepped on the scale this morning praying it still said 15st 3, to be rewarded with 15st 2 (212 lbs) very pleased and not surprised as I really struggled to eat anything yesterday, Paul made a gorgeous dinner of chicken tempura with rocket mayo, so lovely but came back up, I thought that I'd not chewed enough and tried again but sure enough, no go. I had a little ice cream and a shake.

This morning I had some musseli, went down okish, lots of chewing but ok, went to the gym, came home and had another shake. Just tried to eat dinner, roast chicken and all the trimmings and no go, managed a little chicken but that was it.

The kids have had colds and I wonder if I'm coming down with one too, I know that I've moaned about no restriction but this is no fun at all, I can drink fine though. Might just get some soup for tonight and try again tomorrow.

Am doing quite well with exercise, yesterday and today I went to the gym and then took the kids on a bike ride (they were riding and I was walking) was lovely and must have been about 2 miles. We're also taking the kids swimming later, not that I will be doing much swimming with them there. This means that I have to shave my legs! My poor husband, my legs are hairier than his!

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend xx

The house hunt continues (boring none band related)

None band post!

We put our house on the market with another agent 2 weeks ago, so far nothing at ALL! No viewers, no one is interested, we dropped it by £20k too.

I've viewed the most beautiful and fantastic "forever" house today, here is a link if you're interested, no internal pictures though I'm afraid. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-17159712.html?backListLink=/property-for-sale/find.html%3FsearchType%3DSALE%26locationIdentifier%3DREGION%255E64186%26insId%3D1%26radius%3D0.0%26displayPropertyType%3D%26minBedrooms%3D%26maxBedrooms%3D%26minPrice%3D%26maxPrice%3D400000%26retirement%3D%26partBuyPartRent%3D%26maxDaysSinceAdded%3D%26_includeSSTC%3Don%26x%3D76%26y%3D13%26sortByPriceDescending%3D%26primaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26secondaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3D%26oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType%3D%26newHome%3D%26auction%3Dfalse&thumbnailId=1

It would need some work but it was habitable (well, it would be once it had a bathroom fitted, there are at least 4 toilets!) It is huge, would be at least 4 beds on first floor, there are 2 smaller rooms which would be en-suite and bathroom and 3 other bedrooms on the top floor, perhaps 2 if one was made in to a huge bathroom. It has pretty much all its period features, cornices, fireplaces, really high ceilings and the most beautiful stained glass windows.

Alas, it won't be ours, bids have to be in on the 3rd of December, we have no chance of selling our house, it makes me very sad.

Just wanted to vent, I'm being very zen outwardly but want to lay on the floor and throw a stiff bodied tantrum!

Alison's trip around the world.

Thanks so much for telling me about where you live, would love to find out more. I will be compiling a list of where I'm going and when you're to expect me!

Would love to find out more about New Zealand, Maree, I have a friend on the North Island.

Great scale news today, 15st 3lbs! (213 lbs) am thrilled, just 2 pounds to go until I've officially lost 3 stone, can't wait. I'm just off to the gym now to try and shed some more.

Have a great weekend all x

What is it like where you live?

I find the blogs I follow endlessly fascinating, not just the band and weight related but relationships, where you've been and what you bought, your work mates, what you've cooked and especially where you live.

I'm in England and therefore I'm fairly ignorant about the US and Australia (and lots of other places too!) Of course I know about the countries as a whole but I find the fact that the countries are so so big and the different states can be so so different. I read lovely lisa's blog post today (http://therestofmylifelisa.blogspot.com/) and found what she wrote about the area she lived in amazing, imagine living near Amish people and what the hell is shoo fly pie? and is it as horrible as it sounds?

So I thought that I'd ask about where you live, I envy people living in the cities but also in the countryside, some of the beautiful places you all live make me green!

Where I live

I'm originally from a town called Rotherham in South Yorkshire (very near Amanda's hubby) Its in the north of England, when I was 15 my family moved to Essex which is east of London. Paul and I moved to Rowhedge 6 years ago when I was pregnant with Isobel, we live in a modern 4 bedroom house.

Rowhedge is a nice place, it's quite small, most of the houses here are 100 years old plus. A fair amount of the people that live here have lived here for generations and a lot of them are related! We have a river running through the village which is tidal, it gets really busy in summer. We have a lovely church here, the congregation is often less than 10 people, since we have been attending a few of our church friends have passed away, such a shame. Paul is very good at getting involved, we have a regatta in the summer and Paul is normally one of the organisers.

This is the village websitehttp://www.rowhedger.co.uk/index.shtml there are lots of pictures, it's slightly out of date but worth a look if you're very very very bored!

Our village is in Colchester which is an early Roman settlement, we have a large army barracks based here and lots of lovely young yummy soldiers! This unfortunately means we have lots of bad news with the soldiers being injured or killed in Iraq/Afghanistan.

We're about an hours train ride in to London, I worked in London for years, in Canary Wharf in the east and Covent Garden in the centre, having worked there for so long I'm not that bothered about visiting that much, I normally have a good look around when I go for a fill. I think that its a great place to visit as a tourist but not so great as a commuter!

So, that's where I live, tell me all about your town!

The pine effect

Thanks for all your comments, as always, its so nice that someone is listening as my husband and kids don't!

I know what the pine effect is, it sounds like some deep study doesn't it!

Just to recap, Izzy needs green tights & green t shirt for her massive part in the school play (4 of the girls are tree's) Apparently, the pine effect that they are looking for is green tinsel around the neck and arms and bottom of the t-shirt, well of course it is silly me, pine tree's are trimmed with tinsel all the time!

Scale staying the same this morning, 15st 5lbs, (215 lbs) I was a little sad but then realised that this is ridiculous, I can't expect to loose a pound every day and I've lost 2 over the last couple of days. Would be very happy to see 15st 4 tomorrow though!

My ridiculous spending is carrying on unabated, just received my new Bailey button Ugg's, they are lovely and snuggly and warm, I just need to rough them up a bit to convince Paul that they are old ones!

I made a Thai prawn (shrimp) dish last night and served it with some noodles, I thought that I may struggle with the noodles but I also struggled with the prawns had 2 pb's, managed to eat a couple more prawns but it was a slow struggle but I was starving.

I'm managing to keep my snacking down a bit by having single serve chocolate bars (favourite is Cadburys flake at 135 cals) I seem to be able to accept that I only get 1, it's larger bars and bags that should last days that I need to finish in one sitting.

Hope everyone is having a happy Thursday xx

Back to my lowest low

Really hope that I don't have to write this sentence again, think that I've written it at least twice before.

Scale said 15st 5lbs (215 lbs) today, I'm very pleased, really need to keep it going down , my restriction is really good an I'm able to eat only half of what I could eat last week, unless its junk of course but I'm staying away from that.

Nothing much else happening, just chipped my nail varnish doing housework, further proof that it's not worth doing, it just brings sadness!

Isobel is playing a tree in her Christmas show (I'm rolling my eyes right now) apparently she is to wear green tights, green top with a pine effect! What the hell is a pine effect? Branch's? pine cones? Am going to talk to the school about the pine effect and will be searching the internet for green t shirts and tights! Wish me luck.

How can it only be Tuesday?

This week seems have been very long already, wish it was Friday.

Hope that everyone is well today, I've had a quiet morning, after driving kids to school which takes 90 minutes by the time I've dropped each of them off I went to the gym, had my eyebrows waxed, my nails painted (black by OPI, is lovely) went for a coffee and collected George again, I've not even changed out of my gym clothes yet!

Scale was good today 15st 6lbs, which is 216 pounds, I managed to control my intake of sweet stuff yesterday but it was hard going, not helped by the banana cake that I made to use up some over ripe bananas, I didn't have much, just a little. I made a lovely Thai chicken dish with rice last night, I had a little rice but it filled me up completely, its amazing how little it takes to fill me at the moment, if only this stopped my chocolate intake!

I'm addicted to Words with friends on iphone/itouch just at the moment, it's like Scrabble, I'm not that good at it though, if anyone play's feel free to challenge me, my user name is allicenn.

Just heard that Prince William is engaged, I'm not much of a royalist but Kate has waited a long time! Made me think about the street parties we had when Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married, wonder if that will happen? Good luck to them.

Have a lovely day xx

Lest we forget

Remembrance day here in the UK today, we observed the silence but managed to miss the service at the war memorial, I feel awful, just assumed it would be at 11am and it wasn't.

I think that I'm starting to get it!

Get that I can't just eat crap. I seem to have slid in to bad habits in the last couple of months, hence the lack of movement on the scale. I've been eating ok and then having junk, mainly chocolate and not just a little bit.

So, I really need to start again, again. It's quite depressing really but need's must.

I went out to dinner with my friend Alyson, her partner Claire and a friend of theirs who's I've met a few times called Lou, she's very nice but has an awful lot to say! It was a nice night at a really nice place. I was hyper alert about what I could eat, they wanted starters so I ordered the soup, for main I ordered a starter prawn salad but did have a dessert, it was really nice to come away feeling satisfied rather than uncomfortable.

Scale is 15st 8 today, 218 pounds. I really need to start a new regime today, we're going to my Mothers for lunch, she doesn't know about my band, wish me well!

I'm off to the gym this morning too, really need to be below 210 soon!

Things I have learnt today

I can not eat pastry, trying to eat a mince pie whilst at a packed "shopping evening" was a huge mistake!

So, I bought a chicken and mushroom pie at a farmers market this morning, thought that I would have a small amount with some cauliflower for dinner, one bite of pie, stuck, very sick.

Then went to shopping evening, had a mince pie, awful again and again and again. I'm not sure that I ever normally eat pastry, it just didn't work at all.

Did get some things at the shopping evening, I bought Paul an indoor composting caddy, sounds boring and indeed is boring but he will be thrilled. It's from Jamie Oliver's range and is quite tasteful and will look nice in the kitchen.

I bought Izzy a hand made cushion that has "love" embroidered on it, she has a fluffy heart cushion on her bed which she sleeps on every night, we bought it a few months ago and I told her it was a hug from me and she loves it, I thought that she'd like the cushion too. I bought my friend Sarah's daughter Emily a pandora bracelet and some beads and a whoopie pie cake thing, have never tried them before, was ok, not great. Was able to eat it which was good!!

My homage arrived

My beautiful (homage to) LV Stephen Sprouse scarf arrived yesterday, it's stunning and I'm very pleased with it, I may even have to photograph myself in it to show you all.

Not much else happening, George and I are at home not doing much after spending the morning with friends.

I'm back on solid food from today, have had some chicken for lunch, didn't manage it all and have hic-ups now so think that I had a little too much, I don't feel full as such, just a bit uncomfortable.

Scale was good today, 15st 7, 217 lbs, been here before but better than the last few days, 2 pounds above my lowest.

Does anyone have anything nice planned for the weekend? I'm going out with Sarah this evening to a shopping evening, not quite sure how it will be but I'm booked to have a manicure there, I forgot about this about did my nails last night, I am sporting a very dark blue at the moment, I like it. Tomorrow night I'm going out for dinner with some lovely friends and on Sunday we're going to my mothers for lunch, I also need to fit in 2 gym sessions and going to the unveiling of the local department store Christmas window, not sure if I'll manage it.

Am really enjoying an old US Biggest Looser, think its couples series 7, it has Tara and Ron in it, I'm fairly near the end, I don't know who wins. I'm not sure that what they do is sustainable at home but it makes interesting viewing, I would want Bob as my trainer if I were there, Gillian is terrifying although looks like she's about 3 foot tall!

Hope that everyone is well xx

Had my fill

Trundled off to London yesterday, fought my way down Oxford St in the pouring rain and howling wind and bought nothing! I wanted a few new tops to go with my jeggings and jodpurs I've bought recently but found nothing. I was quite naughty and ordered a Stephen Sprouse LV scarf so am building my wardrobe around it, not that I have it yet. It's not an original, they cost a fortune but it was really quite expensive and is allegedly a very good copy or homage as I prefer to call it! lets just see.

I did buy some make up and nail polish and a few Christmas presents.

Fill went really well, now have 8cc's in my 14cc band and I'm on liquids, I think that it will be quite tight, I feel like I can feel it although it doesn't hurt. The nurse that I normally see wasn't there and I saw the original nurse who's i'd spoken to before, the newer nurse always takes a while to find my port but not yesterday straight in.

In all I lost 8 pounds since my last fill, this was in August so not fab but in the right direction at least.

Found out last night that my sister starts IVF treatment in 2 weeks, am really happy for her, just really really hope that it works.

Scale said 15st 8lb's this morning, 218 lbs. I'm happy with that but can't wait to see it go down below 210.

Have a good day all xx

haven't blogged for a week, that can only mean one thing

Morning all,

It can only mean that I've not had a great week, I'm 15st 9 today which is 219 lbs, so not huge weight gain but still no loss.

Good news is that I'm going for a fill today which means I have to go to London and have to do lots of shopping as I don't get there very often so I'm hitting Oxford St, Regent St then Marylebone High St.

I have been doing some blog reading, my laptop is being very highly strung lately so it makes things harder and I've developed a addiction to Angry Birds which is taking up far too much time!

In other news, house is back on the market with another agent, fingers crossed, this means I have to do lots of cleaning - boo!

We had Isobel's parents evening last week, you can only imagine how that went, she's wonderful and awful in every breath! They decided to start a good behaviour book on friday, they didn't tell me, I'm not happy but I'll live with it, it came home on friday with positive news, it didn't come home at all yesterday, I can only imagine that they can't be bothered! What kind of example does that give to a 5 year old? She knew that she'd not had it back.

Anyway, shopping for me. I know that as I'm ready for a big shop I will buy nothing, that's always the way isn't it?

Thanks for asking after me Amanda, sorry for being so rubbish!

Thanks for all of your comments, so nice to have people to moan at!

Had a good day yesterday and the scale rewarded me by going down by 2 pounds, I'm still 3 over my lowest but its better than 5. Have been to the gym today but really need to up my exercise, am going to try and do more walking, I spend so much time in the car driving the kids around that I hardly seem to walk anywhere, am hoping to take George to the zoo tomorrow which is a good walk and hopefully get to the gym, on Thursday when George is at nursery I intend to walk in to the centre of town, (my gym doesn't allow more than 2 visits in a row)

I think that I do need a fill and have one booked for next Tuesday, I don't think that I need much just a tweek.

Potty training a disaster, George managed to do a huge wee whilst sitting by me on the sofa last night, didn't realise until it hit me! I can't help but think that he's not ready as we had lots of accidents yesterday, may have to leave it for a while. He's sat cuddled up to me now whispering that he loves me, he's the sweetest boy!

Just had a big bowl of risotto for lunch and am still hungry, I really do need a fill!

Hope that everyone is well, sorry for more moaning!

Had a rotten weekend.

Hello,

Have been feeling really down for the last couple of days, tired miserable and fed up and being a horrible Mummy to my children. I missed a lot of sleep when I was away and didn't sleep too well when I got back, my husband has been in "sick man" mode and so instead of taking up the reigns with the children he's been feeling very sorry for himself and this has added to my irritation. So I've been a horrible wife too.

Have been eating rubbish and am up to 15st 10 lbs (220 lbs), am really pissed off with myself.

Had a bit of time to myself yesterday when Paul took the kids out for a while and I slept better last night so feel a little bit more like myself.

Lovely Amanda suggested looking at doing a liquid diet for a while, I think that this is a good idea but I'm not sure that I'm up to it yet.

So far today I've eaten (2pm here)

protein shake

milk in coffee

2 rashers of turkey bacon

1 egg

350 cal's so far

Am making home made stock at the moment for a chicken risotto tonight, last time I made this I wasn't able to eat very much so hopefully it will come to less than 400 cals.

George is potty training again today, he's been in pants for almost 2 hours and had only one accident, he has a sweet for every use of the potty and has been very keenly using it! Only hitch is that I have to go and collect Isobel later and this is an hours round trip, I'm going to have to use a nappy but thought that I would put it over his pants, I used to do this with Isobel. Please cross your fingers that we might crack it this time!

I've been selling a few bits on ebay recently, trying to make money for Christmas and declutter the house, its gone ok but I am addicted to checking how my sales are doing about 50 times a day! I'm trying to stop myself blowing all my ebay money on clothes for me!

A quick funny from my daughter, Saturday morning I said that I didn't understand why she was behaving so badly, Isobel (5) said "I'm at a difficult age!" Cheeky monkey, I managed not to laugh but it did stop me in my tracks!