New pictures...

Hi guys!

So my sister, Rachel, has been wanting me to take new pictures, but I didn't want to just because I don't feel like I look any different. Well I don't know how many of you have heard of Skype, but my sister and I use it all the time considering we don't live too close to each other. She lives in FL and I live in MD. Skype has the capability to do video chat as well, so thats what we do. Anyways this morning we were on skype and she said that I had looked like I lost more weight and that I looked really great!! She has to say that shes my sister! haha I love her though. Anyways so I denied her taking pictures of me right now, but then I got a text message from friend Angie who lives in CA and we went to nursing school together. She has been wanting me to send her a picture for the longest time and I always tell her no just because I am still at the point where I am a little camera shy still. But then I was like ok...I am going to do this! So I took my phone and went into the bathroom and shot some pictures of myself and sent them to her. Now keep in mind she hasn't seen me since November when I was in CA to take my boards. She was amazed at the progress I had made and was super excited. So then I talked to Rachel again on the phone (she was at school walking back to class) and I told her that I ended up taking pictures and she told me that I should share them all with you. So thats what I am going to do. Below you will find pictures that were taken as of this morning. Sorry they aren't too glamorous I took them after my work out this morning. You will also find another picture of when I was at one of my heaviest times that I had on my computer. I really didn't want to share this photo because I am almost embarrassed to say oh my gosh that person was me....but I want you all so be able to see it.

Me...I have not weighed myself in a couple of days, but I wll have a number for you all on Friday when I weigh in...this was after my work out of a 2.2mile walk



Another view....



Side View...

I found this picture on my computer as well...that is me at about 279lbs at my graduation...

I am the one standing in the backround with the ponytail by the Flag...around 279lbs as well....

I have been reading several posts that you all have written and I just have to say that you all are so inspirational and I love that I can come on here and have such a huge support system along side my family and friends!

I also want to give a special thanks to my sister who is my number one supporter. She is always encouraging me, even when I am having a bad day, I know that I can always talk to her for inspiring words! I love you Rach and I am so excited to see you in just 2 weeks!

Fill tomorrow...

Its been a while since I have posted (I know only about a week, but a lot of you post more frequently so to me its been a while). Anyways I have an appointment with my surgeon tomorrow for another fill. I need it!

My work outs have been going great. I was sick with a bad cold last week so I only exercised 2 times last week....I guess better than none right? Well this week I am back on track and so far so good. I am weighing 226.8lbs right now which is a low, I just wish it was lower. I have been able to do about 2 miles on the treadmil each morning which is an awesome feeling! I remember when I was barely able to do a mile.

My dad, Syd, has been getting into the exercise mode as well. But he likes walking outdoors which is awesome, however the cold winter isn't allowing too much of that. Today we have a bit of a warmer day so we will be going later in the afternoon for about a mile and a half walk. We have 4 dogs so usually we take 2 with us. But it will be a good change for my body. I can walk on the treadmil in the morning and then do another walk in the afternoon. When I first moved here (about 5 months ago) when I was at one of my heaviest points I used to go with my parents to do this walk. Its at a park nearby and its a little hilly...I remember how out of breath I was and how much pain I would have in my ankle and foot and sometimes my hip. But since I have lost a couple of pounds and winter set in and I started exercising regularly, I told my dad that I would join him on his walk this afternoon. It was funny he said im going to go about a mile and a half or 2 miles and I said dad I do about 2 miles every morning on the treadmil. Haha it was funny he had no idea and said ok then lets do it!

It feels so good to be able to go out and do things and not get so tired and down about everything! I am excited to go to my surgeons office tomorrow. Hopefully I will get another good fill. Linda the Physician Assistant who I normally see is wonderful! She is really so supportive of every patient that walks in the door and she truely cares about how your feeling as a patient. I will keep you all posted about how much if a fill I will get tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a great week and as always, lets shed those extra pounds together!!

~*Michelle*~

A new set of numbers...

As most of you all know I have been stuck in the 230s for a while. Well this week I really dedicated myself on focusing what I could do better. So I decided ok...I am done hanging out in the 230s and enough is enough. I have been working out daily on the tredmil doing about 2 miles every morning. Honestly, I have to say its such a great feeling to me now to be able to do that every morning. I used to dread working out, but now for some reason I actually look forward to my work outs. I really focused on drinking all of my fluids every day which for me is about 64oz a day. So I am sure you can all guess...yup I go to the bathroom constantly! Haha. So not only have I been doing my exercise and drinking all of my fluids but I have really been paying attention to my diet and actually writing everything down AND measuring everything out (even down to the salad dressing). It truely is an eye opener to actually see how much your eating and I think I lost focus with that for a while. But it feels great to be on track.

I had gotten to the point where I was weighing myself almost daily. I was getting so frustrated with the numbers that were on the scale that I decided I really can't do that to myself. So from now on I will be weighing myself once a week.

Well this morning was my 1 week challenge. I was very nervous for today to come just because I know how hard I have been working this week and I didn't want to be disappointed on the scale. I am sure most of you have felt this way. I had a million things running through my mind..."what if I lost nothing", "what if I gained weight", "what if I only lost a pound"...I hate feeling like this and most of all I hate that thats what weighing myself does to me! Then I thought to myself, I really need to stay positive about the situation. I know how hard I have been working and that was the important part to me. I have been feeling so good about everything that I have been doing this week and thats what I was going to focus on.

The big moment had arrived this morning. I thought to myself no matter what the number is, I am going to remain positive and keep doing what I am doing. After weighing myself twice this morning because I couldn't believe the first number I saw.....I thought to myself...the hard work paid off!!! I lost 6lbs!!! I have also come into some new numbers...I am no longer in the 230s. My new weight as of this morning is 227.4lbs. I have also reached my 50lb goal. I have now lost 52lbs to be exact and I now have a big smile on my face. WOW! To even think I have lost over 50lbs is amazing to me and I never thought this day would come!

I am going to keep up the hard work and start for my 60lb weight loss goal....8 more pounds to go. Thank you to all of you as well. I love all of the support we give each other and it truely helps me stay on track!

As always lets shed those pounds together!

~*Michelle*~

The little things count too...

So I have noticed these past few weeks that a couple of things are changing on my body. Not just my weight. What I mean by this is I actually am starting to see my collar bone, something I haven't seen in a couple of years. When I was in college taking anatomy and physiology, I always remember my instructor who used to tell all of her students that the sexiest part on a female was the collar bone. I am actually starting to see why and its such a great feeling. There is also the fact of actually being able to see my wrist bone. Another great feeling especially because my boyfriend, Bryan, used to not be able to fit his hand around my wrist and now he always says my wrists are getting so tiny! TINY?! Something I never thought possible (even though we are only talking about my wrists). Not to mention the ring Bryan gave me as a promise for the future, its too big on my finger now. Size 8 ring. And my favorite of all that I just noticed a couple of days ago and I am sure you all are going to think I am crazy, but that little triangle that you can see between your legs when they aren't touching!!! These are all such great feelings to me and it makes me want to work that much harder! I am sure all of you have discovered some of these as well. It makes it fun because you never know what your going to discover next on your body! Thats why I like to say that the little things count too ;o)

This week I have really been focusing on my exercising and drinking all of my fluids and really making sure that my diet is up to par. I feel like I have been stuck around the 230s for too long so I am really hoping to see a number drop this week. Its just frustrating to know that you are working hard and although I may be losing inches which is very important to me too, I still want that number on the scale to drop as well.

I hope everyone is doing great and as always lets shed those pounds together!

A Better Me

First I would like to start off by saying I hope everyone is enjoying the new year of 2011. As you all know I was in CT visiting friends for New Years. Well while I was there I was coming down with a cold. UGH! Sore throat, cough, chest aching from coughing, and to top it off a stuffy nose. I have to say though as bad as it sounds its really not a bad cold. Its really bad in the morning and night time but during the day its not too bad. I have still been able to do my workouts even though I am not walking as far as I normally do. Which brings me to my next point....

I see that you all are picking a word....well I have been thinking about my word for a while now and I really wasn't sure which word would fit me best. Until today...

I really wasn't feeling well this morning. But for some reason as soon as I woke up this morning I put my gym clothes on anyways ( I find that if I lay my gym clothes out the night before and thats the first thing I do in the morning is put those gym clothes on I know that I am definitely going to work out! ) Well anyways there is a lot of constructrion going on at the house right now...plus we have 3 dogs and 1 puppy who is definitely a handful. I normally have everyone on a routine where I am able to get my workout in before any craziness goes on. Well this morning was a bit different. We have had people here since about 7am this morning which messes up my whole schedule/routine!

So here I am this morning, extremely stuffy nose not feeling good and in my workout clothes. I always find that its easier to talk myself out of not doing a workout because I will make an excuse like oh im sick not feeling good or I will work out more tomorrow...and I am sure you all have gone through this at one point or another. WELL that all changed this morning. I decided my word for the year is going to be DEDICATION. I am going to be dedicated to myself and my family and most importantly my weight loss.

So I tried something new this morning....I talked myself IN to working out instead of talking myself OUT of working out. Even though I am not feeling 100% I told myself you know what it will be better to do something instead of nothing. I actually completely surprised myself this morning was able to power walk for 30min. I did 1.80 miles and burned 252 calories. It made me feel so good and extremely proud of myself. I also weighed myself this morning and am at my lowest weight that I haven't been at in I don't know how long. My current weight is 231.2 lbs.

So for all of you lets all dedicate ourselves to a great weight loss in 2011. I want to thank all of you as well for being so supportive and following my blog. I hope everyone has a great day!!

As always....lets shed those extra pounds together!

2011 Here I come!

Hello to all, and I hope you all had a GREAT new years!! I just came back from visiting friends in CT and had a great time. But now its time to buckle down and shed these extra pounds! This is going to be a short post but I wanted to make sure you guys didn't I disappeared or anything. I got back into the swing of things this morning and worked out. I didn't do as well as I hoped but I thought I did pretty well for being gone for a couple of days and not being able to use the tredmil like I was doing. So this morning I did a mile and a half burned 185 calories and felt really good! Breakfast consisted of a protein shake and a diet iced tea which was definitely refreshing.

So I want to hear from all of you...quick question...

How full are your bands and when were you able to feel FULL after a small meal?

After my surgery I had a couple of complications...right after surgery my band had 3cc's in it and I wasn't able to get anything into my system. I was very dehydrated and landed myself in the ER twice for fluids. FINALLY my doctor decided that the fluid needed to come completely out so I pretty much started from a completely empty band. Well coming on the 6th is my 3 month period and I now have 5.2cc's in my band (although my doctor counts it as having 2.2 because I was behind since they had to take out the 3cc's right after surgery). I now feel my band more than ever, however I still feel like I can eat too much of a meal. So I am very curious to find out how much fluid you all have in your  bands and am I ever going to be completely satisfied after a very small meal?? I probably sound ridiculous right now but to me its a little bit frustrating. Thanks for all your support and I look forward to hearing from you!!

Lets all make it a great year and help each other out as best we can!