5 Months Down, 50+ lbs, and Much Deserved Spa Day..

Hey all!! Well, yesterday was my 5 month date! AND, I did it!! I finally hit 50 lbs! (I actually hit it on Saturday, and then went up again, and then down again and then up and then down.. you get the picture) but today, I was down another 1.2!! Yahoo!!!!
Anyways, I'm very thrilled with my progress.  I know it's not 50 lbs in 5 months, but close enough..  (I count since my pre-op diet started).  I was chuckling to myself (yes, I do talk and laugh to myself sometimes.. ) b/c whenever I think / say the word 50, I think of Sally O'Malley from SNL (Molly Shannon) which then makes me think of Shannon, my BFF, b/c she used to love this character!!!  Here's  a clip if you have no idea what I'm talking about..  seriously still cracks me up!!



So, onward and downward right??  I think I'm actually starting to feel what it's like to be near the Sweet Spot.. I don't eat a ton and I'm not always hungry like I used to be.  I have to say I like this feeling!! I have a fill on Thursday that I'm still going to keep.  So, what has changed for me at 50 lbs down?

1. I'm down 2 sizes
2. I'm so much more confident with myself.  I carry myself a little differently. I know I have a long way to go, but I just feel much better about myself. 
3.  I am a workout machine now and instead of making excuses to not go work out, working out is my new excuse to not do other things..
4.  I still eat whatever I want, just in much smaller quantities ( I know that if I changed this, I may be down more, but I'm OK for now on my progress)

I still have a very long way to go but I'm going in the right direction.

So, I promised myself that I would do something for myself when I hit 50 and I'm heading to the spa on Friday for a nice, long, massage.. I can't wait! I can't remember the last time I got a massage. Right now, I'm in so much pain from my recent workouts with Kathi that Friday can't come soon enough. I have a whole other blog dedicated to my hatred of ketel bells / exercise balls alone.. 

Ok, I'm out!  Loads of work just sitting at my desk waiting to get done.  Hope you are all having a great week!! And hopefully, you all are lucky and get a short week too!!!

xo,js

This MAY have been the last time I wore shorts, AND tucked something into them!!!

Ha! I was just on Facebook, and was on one of my ex-camper's page and there's a picture on there of ME and all my campers from Camp Weequahic, circa 1992!!!  Hilarious!!  I was a camp counselor at CW in lower PA/ Poconos for 4 years during college and it was some of the most fun summers I've ever had. I love that I've been able to catch up with most of my campers on Facebook and am planning on seeing them when I visit NYC in May!  Just had to share this picture!!  I was too cool for school back then, with my Bon Jovi hair!!! :)  (I am the third one from the left, if you couldn't tell!)

BB Wife of the Year...

That's what Michelle called me today.. (Baseball Wife of the Year)..   Today was the last Spring Training game of the season and it was a good one!!  We went with some of my buddies from work. Had a blast and the Brewers won!!  Now, the real season begins in about a week and then we start hitting up some away games (Phx, San Diego, and San Fran!)

Random Photo blog coming at you.. most are from today!  Enjoy!

Me and Timmy after the game..

JB, me and Jen

Jen and Manual (aka the Chorizo)

We all picked teams for the Sausage Race..  my guy, the Polish, won and I pocketed $20! Woot!

Beautiful Saturday at the ball park!!!

Me and my buddy JB...

This one is from a couple of weeks ago.. Timmy and I before a big birthday party night out..

SO CLOSE!!!!!! UGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I am so close to being down 50 and it's making me crazy that the scale isn't giving me the magic number I want to see!!!  Today, when I got to the gym, I weighed myself and I was 1.2 away from down 50.. I worked out, then got back on the scale just for kicks and I was then .6 away from down 50.. I'm hoping when I weigh in on Monday, I'll hit that number.  It's so irritating to be so close and keep going up and down and up and down!!!  Monday will be my 5 month mark so that would be SWEET to hit that number.  I shoudl preface by saying that I wouldn't be 50 lbs down from my surgery date, but 50 down from when I started the pre-op diet, two weeks prior. So I guess, I'm already past my 5 month mark from that date..  in reality, I lost almost 20 lbs on the pre-op (I overindulged the week leading up to it to hit an all time high!! AND, went to Mexico and drank and ate like there was no tomorrow!! ) So, if you are keeping track, I'm really only down almost 30 since surgery which compared to a lot of people, isn't THAT great, but I'll take it!!! :)

So anyways, moving on..  while on my way to work today (it's a beautiful day here in AZ by the way.. going to be 80!) I spotted some Hot Air Baloons in the sky and thought I'd take a couple of pics. Turns out, I'm not that great of a driver/photographer but I try..  

Sorry for the blinding sun in this one.. if you look just under the sun, you can see the balloon..

Here's another.. there were two or more in the sky in the same general area!!

Wish I could have gotten closer to them - they were so pretty against the mountains!!

Ok, back to me.. I keep noticing the more I lose, the more I find different imperfections in myself that I maybe hadn't noticed so much before - maybe b/c I was always so focused on my weight that I didnt' notice other things.  Take, for instance, my nose.. it's HUGE!!!  I think chubbier cheeks might have downplayed this

thing but I'm noticing it so much more now!! 

Ugh, and dont' even get me started on the wrinkles..   thank god the company I work for is planning an Employee Reimbursement plan for the products they make - like Restylane and Dysport.. this girl may need some filler for these lines!! :) Too bad you can't see my cute earrings in this pic, b/c they are CUTE!

Ok, I'm done bitching for the day. I have a huge headache and I need a day off.. next Friday (Good Friday) can't come soon enough!!)

They Tried to Make me go to Rehab...

Hey all!!  Well, I have to preface this blog by saying that I had already written a full really long blog about my theory that my husband's sole purpose in life is to find ways to irritate the shit out of me but I realized that what I was writing was making me sound like a huge beyotch so I nixed it. But for the record, some days, I do believe that is true.. especially today. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and am very happy in my marriage but today was one of those days where I had to question whether I was being punked b/c of all the irritations he was laying on me!! :) So, he's safe from blog topic.. for today...............

So, what's with the title?  I may need to go to Rehab for my current addiction. I recognize this addiction b/c I realize that I mention this place at least once a week.. yes, my name is Jen and I'm officially addicted to Pita Jungle..  here is my dinner:

This is hummus with Sirloin.. not sure why I got the Sirloin b/c me and Meat don't really get along lately, but I'll eat around it and just enjoy the hummus - at least 1/2 of it!!  I also had about 1/2 of a side of cucumbers. I'm not kidding when I say I could eat this EVERY.SINGLE.DAY... it's that good!!! 

this is my girl Frieda hoping that I'll share some of the Sirloin with her... she has her moments!!! She's a bona-fide PJL (Pita Jungle Lover) as well... 

I know I have a pretty addictive personality and admittance is the first step right?  So, in no particular order, here are my current addictions..

1.  Iced Tea - this has taken over for my addiction of Diet Coke.. I love, love, love Iced Tea

2.  My Iphone - I'm never anywhere without it.. biggest mistake I made was downloading my work email onto my phone..  bad idea

3.  Facebook - I'm on this alot on my phone and it's the easiest way to keep up with my friends

4.  Yogurtology - Yogurt what you ask??  This is just a not so distant second to PJ..  I go here at least once a week.. the Yogurt here is the BOMB..   especially the Oatmeal Cookie.. and it's completely fat free.. 

5.  Reality TV - you name it, I probably watch it.. my current faves - Survivor (have watched every season), Kell on Earth, Real Houswives, Bad Girls Club..  this is truly a sickness.. there is not enough time in the week for all my reality watching.. the good news is that a few of my friends share this addiction so there is always something to talk about!!

6.  Checking my bank account - pretty much what I do every morning first thing. I think this has to do with the fact that a couple of years ago, Timmy and I went through a really bad financial situation and I'm almost conditioned to make sure everything is A-OK on the financial front.

I could go on and on and on..  wish I could say I was addicted to exercise but I don't think I ever will be.. it's getting easier the more I do and the more consistent I am (and lord knows I'm consistent these days!) I'm sure this is super boring post but whatevs..

Today was a good day. Seems like overnight I lost some more weight (even though I didn't) b/c a handful of people told me how good I looked. When does it get easier to take compliments??

Hope you are all doing well!!

xo,js

***Oh, Vanessa - you had asked about beer and how it is with the band.. I haven't had any issues with carbonation at all and" it tastes so good when it touches my lips"..  (who can name where that line came from?)

I did it.. and I can't believe it..

Today, I not only tried on, but bought shorts.. I don't think I've owned a pair of shorts in at least 10+ years..  but I gotta admit, despite the pasty whiteness and horrible dry skin patches on my legs, they look pretty darn good in these shorts!! 

I did not wear them but I will someday soon, once I have some color on my legs.  this is HUGE people!!!  Might not seem like much but for me, this is a major milestone for me. 

So, I went to my 4th baseball game in under 3 weeks.. like I said to someone today, if this doesn't qualify me as the "good wife", I don't know what will.. actually when Tim heard me say that, he said, this qualifies you as "the AWESOME wife"..  smart man..

Speaking of baseball, we normally sit in the lawn section but today we spent the big bucks and sprung for some box seats (a whopping $21/person!) and this ass did not only fit into a seat but fit comfortably without any spill-over..  SAWEETTTTTTT..

Had a pretty rough week at work so I had a beer last night while out watching some college B-Ball.. it was needed and appreciated!!  I did get a promotion this week that was majorly overshadowed by some other crappy things that went on, but nevertheless, it happened, and I was excited!!! I would blog all about the crappiness but I have some work friends who follow me and it would be inappropriate to write about.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!
xo,js

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!

first, how cute does KD look in her St. Patty's day outfit??

Hope everyone is doing well. Again, I've been slacking in the reading of blogs lately. I've been working a lot (big shocker) and by the time I get home, I just am not in the mood for the internet!! One day I'll catch up!!

I love St. Patty's day. Wait, I should say I USED to love St. Patty's day. Back in the day, when I lived in Chicago, we'd take the whole day off, head to a bar around 10am or earlier and live it up all day, drinking green beer, dancing and socializing.  Unfortunately, Phoenix doesn't have much of a St. Patty's day scene.. or at least I'm not aware of it. And, there's no way I could take a day off of work to drink!! :) I have to admit, I really miss those carefree days!!!

Tonight, Timmy and I are having dinner with my Aunt and Uncle who are in Tucson for the month of March and then my cousin is arriving in town as well. Should be fun since I haven't seen any of them since my surgery and it'll be interesting to get their opinion!! HOpe they notice that I've lost some weight!!

Gotta run, but wanted to jump on here and wish you all a Happy Day!!!

xo,js

Observations while sober..

Well, I knew it would happen eventually...  I've been trying to be booze free in this booze filled world of mine..   I am bored out of my mind!!! :)
Now, that sounds really bad, b/c really, it's not like my nights leading up to this booze hiatus were all filled with nightly debauchery.. but I've now been to two spring training games, three happy hours and have not had anything besides a sip ( I wouldn't even mention those sips except that a couple of my girls who I had a sip from their glass read my blog and they would totally call me out if they read that I hadn't had a sip!! ) We all know that I do enjoy a drink every once in again..  so, what am I finding myself doing lately?? Taking pictures OF MYSELF!!!  Every game we've been to.. there I am taking pictures with my phone.. trying to get the perfect angle.. not sure why photography has taken the the place of a cold beer, but it has.. so here are some of my current observations:

1.  I only want to be photographed from here on out UPSIDE DOWN.. check out this chin!!  and those almond shaped eyes!!!

2.  While I was sitting in the living room last night, i noticed that my trusty watch is now getting way to big for me and I can pull it straight off my wrist without unhooking it.  This is major b/c my watch has almost always been a little snug on my wrist.. glad to know that I'm losing somewhere!!  Also, notice in this picture, the ever present crossing of the legs that I consider my greatest NSV to date:

3.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a fan of sleeveless anything.. my arms have always been a sore subject for me. Well today, I'm declaring myself a sleeveless wearer.  I am no where near where I want to be with my arms but they are looking better, thanks to my fabulous Kathi!  And today, I was outside, in a tank top, getting some sun and reading and when I was getting ready to come in, I checked myself out in the doorwall and was like "damn, girl, you are starting to look a little good.. your waist is starting to actually have some definition and your arms aren't all that bad.."  so I struck my best Amy pose and am sharing it for all the world to see.. Sorry if the quality on these pics is less than perfect. The Iphone doesn't take the greatest pics!!

Well, I'm off tonight for a co-workers birthday party. Should be fun, minus the fact that the wine will be flowing and someone mentioned "bottle service".  Seriously, I'm actually doing fine with this no-booze thing.. I'm not really Crazy, party of 1 here!!  I just like to have a little fun with the situation!!!

Finally, I leave you with my favorite picture of the past two days..  my girl KD..  she'll be one in two weeks and can't wait for her big party!! 

xo,js

Stuffy Head Blog..

I have a stuffy head. I haven't been feeling quite me for a couple of days now. I haven't seen Kathi since Monday and I miss her. I've had a migraine that would kill a horse.. However, I have been at work for the usual 9+hours each day all week.  Long story short, my boss got a massive promotion and my workload has picked up even more than the heavy load it normally is.  Oh well..  moving on.

So, here I am, in my cube (yes, we have cubes here at Medicis.. it promotes an Open Environment.. dontchaknow?) I figured since you haven't heard from me all week, you might also want to see me!! :)

Chicken and I had a bittersweet parting on Monday and I'm thinking Beef might be following Chicken's path  as well..  I just can't keep sliming - it makes me crazy.
I'm soo close to being down 50.. so close but yet so freaking sloooowwwww.. I now have some things to focus on in order to hit my goal. I played travel agent this week and booked myself on several trips in the upcoming months!!

My mom and I are headed to NYC on May 20th - 23rd. I would love to meet up with any of you NYC bandsters for lunch or brunch or whatever. I can tell you that we'll be there full days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (leaving Sunday morning early AM) Check your schedules!!

My girlfriends and I are headed to Mexico (Riviera Maya) in June for my girl T-Mac (Tracy)'s ahem.. 29th birthday!!! Cannot wait for that!! I hope to be down over 60 and a lot more comfortable in a bathing suit!!!

I know I have more to say but I'm in the middle of "listening" to the required 3 hour compliance training and it's sucking all my thoughts.. 
hopefully more later...
xo,js 

So Long Chicken.. I'll miss you..

I'm officially done with Chicken.  I had 3 different stuck moments this weekend whilst eating chicken.  I don't know why I keep trying it but it's time to say Sayonara to the chick....   

Oh, and how good were my predictions on the Oscars.. Holla.. I missed my calling as an Oscars gambler..  (plus I read a lot of entertainment mags and everyone else pretty much predicted the same!! ) 

Brew Crew, Fun and OSCAR picks!!

Spring Training has begun!!! yahoo!  Timmy and I went to the Brewers game yesterday which was glorious!!! It was super sunny, 80 degrees, pretty perfect.  No beer for me, not even a hotdog!!  I did have some peanuts, which helped make the day worthwhile!!  The Brewers killed the Giants 12 - 1 so all in all, good day!!!

I went out for happy hour with some work friends on Friday night and spent quite a bit of time defending my decision to lay off the booze for awhile.  Most people know I have the lapband and understood that I wanted to test myself to see if my introduction back to booze after 2 months off after surgery had anything to do with my recent plateuing on my weight loss..  HOWEVER, it was trying to say the least. There is a lot of peer pressure when at happy hour!!!  I had a really good time though!!!

I worked out with Kath yesterday morning and did some cardio after for about 45 minutes.. I couldn't do an hour.. I was too tired!!! My shoulder is killing me lately and today it's at it's worst.  So, I'm not working out today. Instead, I plan to stay in my PJs and make a date with my DVR. 

So, on to my Oscar Picks..  Oscar Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year!! This year, I set a goal to see all of the 10 (why did they  have to decide to do 10 movies??) of the Best Picture nominees..  Well, I fell short of that goal by 2..  I did not see District 9 - mainly b/c I did not WANT to see that movie and didn't want to justify the ridiculousness that it was even picked for an Oscar - and I didn't see "A Serious Man" - this was b/c for months I thought that "A Single Man" was nominated and then last week I opened up my Entertainment Weekly and saw that I was wrong and it was " A Serious Man" was nominated.. HA!!!  And my friend Windi (Whom I trust completely as a movie critic) said that "A Serious Man" was crapola...  So, here are my picks.. I have who I think will win and who I wish would win:

Best Supporting Actor:

Who will win:   The guy from Inglorious Bastards (Christolph Waltz)
Who I wish will win:  Same as above - he was CRAZY good in this movie..  total freak

Best Supporting Actress:

Who will win:  Mo'Nique (Precious)
Who I wish will win:  See above - - she was AMAZING.. and a monster. The movie was disturbing and she made it so...


Best Actor:

Who Will win:  Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) - he's won every other award and I guess he's really good in this movie
Who I wish will win:  Clooney - loved him in Up in the Air.. it was one of my favorite movies this year.  And I just love him in general!!

Best Actress:

Who will win:  Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Who I wish will win:   Jul.. oops I mean Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia) - she was unbelievable and yet so believable as Julia Child.  I've always loved her in everything, but she had my heart after this movie.. I wish they would have just called the movie Julia and gotten rid of the Julie part!!! :)

Best Movie:

Who will win:   Hurt Locker or Avatar (please God, do not let it be Avatar)
Who I wish will win:   Up in the Air - one of my personal faves; An Education - the other personal fave - if you have not seen this little known movie - run to see it..  I loved, loved, loved it.. and the girl in it.. she's going to be a MAJOR star!!!; or Hurt Locker - totally intense, more like a documentary than a movie and really really good..

there you have it!! I hope there are some surprises b/c it seems like people are pretty set on knowing who will actually win and that makes things boring!!! 

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

xo,js

Take Me Out to the Ballgame.....

Yahoo!!! Today is the official start of Spring Training down here in AZ!!!!  And it's gorgeous outside!!! Too bad I'm at work!!!  I did go out for lunch today and we sat outside and I think it's finally time we can start wearing sandals!! Yahoooo... my feet are tired of boots!! 

This weekend we are heading to our first Brewers game on Saturday. Ahhhhhhh, I love March..  sitting outside, drinking a beer, eating hot dogs, peanuts, rooting for the Brew Crew...  uhhhh wait... I just remembered I'm on the wagon this month - no beer, definitely no hot dogs unless I want to spend the majority of the time in the bathroom trying to get the hot dog to get unlodged from above my stomach (no thanks!) So I think I'll settle on water and a couple of peanuts.. I'll be fine, really I will (trying to convince myself here!!) I can be proud of myself for being the designated driver that gets us to the not so nice part of town where the Brewers are located..  really, I'll be fine!!  :)

I've been horribly absent from the blogworld this past week. Things have slowed down in some areas of work and picked up in other areas so no downtime for moi!  I've been doing really good on the Crazy Kathi Challenge (no booze, 1 hr workouts/day).  We went out to Happy Hour for my girl JB's birthday last night and I had some iced tea while everyone drank the best looking cocktails in town.  REally, this not drinking thing is not killing me at all.. I swear!

I was reading back on my blog this past weekend b/c I wanted to start crossing things of my list o'things that I had put as my reasons for wanting to have the lapband surgery (if you haven't read my blog from the beginning, you are missing out.. I think I was a lot funnier pre-band!) and found two that I could certifiably cross off -

• I can officially cross my legs without having to lift one leg by the pant leg and place it over my knee!!
• I no longer fear booths!!! Tim and I went to dinner on Saturday night at the Yardhouse after seeing Shutter Island (so good!) and we were sitting for about 20 minutes before I realized that we were sitting in a booth that I would avoided pre-band and there was lots of room and I was comfy!! 

I promise to catch up on blogs this weekend! Hope everyone is doing well!!

xo,js