9 Months!!!!

So, it occurred to me that yesterday was my 9 month "bandiversary"....  How I lost track of that is beyond me. I've been watching the scale like a hawk lately, so it seems that I would be totally aware of how much time had passed, but I hadn't noticed....  So anyways, in the spirit of the past 9 months, I thought I would focus on 9 things that have changed since I received this little gift in mah belly... 

1. I have lost almost 70 lbs. This, in my mind, is not what I had hoped for. I had hoped that I would be much like all you other rockstar bandsters who lose 100 lbs in 9 months or less.. but my body did not agree with my mind. I'm almost at 70 lbs down and hopefully will be there this weekend. In reality, I'm super excited b/c I've NEVER lost anything close to 70 lbs EVER!!  I'll take it and keep on plugging along

2.  I have gone down almost 4 sizes, which is astounding to me. I started out near the top end of clothes sizes at LB and am getting towards the lower size range. I can shop at Old Navy regular sizes and am not the biggest size. In fact, I bought not the biggest size in jeans the other day and they were still too big in the legs. Apparently, my legs are a size 12 while my belly and ass are an 18!!! Would be nice if they could have a discussion to meet in the middle.

3.  I have much more confidence in my appearance than I have in ages.  I'm comfortable in my skin now and I wear tighter clothes and taller shoes than I ever did. I don't worry that I'm going to teeter over or my feet are going to hurt at the end of the day when I wear 4 inch wedges.

4.  I am more physically fit than I could have imagined possible. I love to workout and often do 2 a days.  I have found that I miss it when I don't exercise and feel like poop.  And we all know I Love the Zumba!!! (and my instructor!!)

5.  I rarely think that I'm the fattest girl in the room. Now granted, I still have a long way to go and generally am the fattest girl in the room, HOWEVER..  I'm not as self-conscious as I used to be. This is a HUGE step for me. For instance, this week was our national sales meeting and the women who work for our company in sales are generally thin, beautiful, blinged out women. Usually, I feel like the ugly duckling around them, but not this time!!! I felt like I belonged.

6.  I am busy, busy, busy..  in the past, I would have done two things a day.. gone to work, and go home. I have so much more energy and now I fit in workouts, work, socializing, shopping all into my day.

7.  I have met an incredible network of people via this blog.  I can't honestly say that I would not have gone crazy had I not been able to read that many of you go through the same things I do on a daily basis.  It has truly been a godsend to know many of you.  My relationships with my close "real life" friends has not changed, but gotten stronger. I could not have asked for a bigger support system. I'm extremely fortunate that I have such wonderful peeps in my life.



8.  I can cross my legs regardless if there is something to put my foot against or not.  I can sit in seats without worrying if my big booty will fit.  I can buckle all seat belts with ease!

9.  My band is fickle and is a bastard at times, but I'm so happy I did it.  Wouldn't change a thing!

have a great weekend!
xo,js

So, apparently, I'm not alone in my crush on my Zumba Instructor...

If you have no idea of what I'm talking about, click here .   Last night, not only was there a record number of ladies at Zumba but at least 5 of them had made t-shirts that said "The A Team" (Adrian is my Zumba Crush..)  AND, they had started a petition to get him to teach more classes. THAT is how much he is loved, by more people than me..   I definitely need to step up my game..  I'm hoping that there will be a video after next week's class.. just trying to figure out how to strategically place my Iphone and video so that no one notices.. this is my mission and I choose to accept it.

tata for now.. 

Confessions/Obesssions...

Hey all!!! Just doing a quick bullet point check in!! I've been trying to catch up on all your blogs!!  You blog a LOT!!!

1.  This week is our Mid-Year Sales meeting.. which means a lot of work for those of us in Marketing!!  Since I don't work on a brand anymore and just work for my boss, it's been a little less stressful this year and I get to pretty much just observe, which is nice.. some things I have observed:  I was surrounded by lots of fake boobs and injected lips / faces yesterday (I work for a pharmaceutical company who's mission is to help patients obtain and retain a healthy, youthful appearance and self-image.. ) so many of the reps are partaking in the company juice, ifyouknowwhatimean..; the meetings staff is BIG on providing CANDY/CHOCOLATE at every break.. it's amazing how much these little sales reps eat in chocolate bars!!!  And also very hard for me to abstain!!!

2.  I have a confession that I've been keeping a secret...  wait for it..  I'm crushing big time on my Zumba instructor.. I think I love him.... it doesn't matter that I'm happily married and he's happily NOT into women..  I look forward to our Wednesday nights dancing the hour away.. 

3.  As many of you know, I've been working out a ton and I've been trying to find some new tunes to keep me motivated..  here is my current obsession:   I pretty much just play this over and over again (with a little mix in from Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock "It Takes Two" and "Joy and Pain" , and a smidge of Limp Biscuit "Nookie" thrown in.. 

 I

4.  Obsession #2:  Gaga is this weekend..  I'm frantically trying to get caught up on all her music so I can sign at the top of my lungs at the concert :)

5.  Speaking of Gaga, anyone watching the "Bachelorette"?? I have to say, besides Wednesday when I get to spend 8 - 9 with my Zumba lover Adrian, I thoroughly enjoy Mondays, when I have "date-night" with Michelle and Ali, the Bachelorette. I think she is going to pick Chris, Michelle is prone to Roberto..  I think Ali doesn't know how to say his name correct and not an episode goes by that I don't say "Rooooobbbbeeerrrtoooo" in the fashion of Gaga at least 5 times..  If you know "Alejandro" you know what I'm talking about, otherwise, you might just think I'm crazy right now..

6.  Obsession #3:  Big Brother..  nuff said!!

7.  So my band.  I hadn't mentioned it but up until this past Saturday, I had not had a period on 2 months..  joy, huh??  I fully blamed my period not showing up for my lack of weight loss..  we shall see when it ends if anything moves south..  I'm keeping my fingers crossed b/c I have nothing else to blame if that's not the case!!! :)  I had a fill scheduled for today but moved it to next week b/c of all that's going on at work.  Yesterday I was able to eat a piece of garlic bread (full piece) without one stuck issue, which means to me that I definitely need a fill. 

OK, off to the Camelback Inn (where the meeting is being held) Hope you are all well!!!
xo,js

Wanna Laugh Wednesday??

Hey all!!  Thanks so much for your kind comments yesterday. I'm still not 100% out of my funk but I did say "No" 3 times today, so I'm doing good so far. And my hair is still looking fantastic today thankyouverymuch...

So, in need of a laugh today, I printed the picture below out and put it on my "workstation" wall!!  This is from my girls trip to Mexico  - if you remember a few blogs back where I spoke of this trip, you'll remember that we were deep in the "Tropical Depression Alex" storm...  well, we didn't let the red-flag warning

stop us from hitting the beach but the only trouble is, my friends TMac and Shannon ended up floating a little further off than expected and rolled right up into a wedding.. Luckily, our friend AJ caught it on camera. It makes me laugh EVERYTIME I see it!!  So, thanks to my friends for giving us a laugh at their expense.

See ya'll tomorrow!

Saying it best by saying nothing at all...

Hey all - serious funk going on here which is why I've been M.I.A. from blog-world.  Just don't have much to say since nothing seems to be going my way (rhymes!) with this lap band o'mine. I'm over being frustrated that no matter how much I work out and eat decent, the scale doesn't move.  My clothes are all much looser and that's the only way I know that anything is working.

Plus, I'm super irritated with my work-life right now. I'm done being the one that helps out EVERYONE all the while getting nothing in return. I've spent the majority of my day so far doing someone else's work. And it's starting to creep into my real life too. Sick of being walked all over and taken advantage of. Just sick of it all.  I'm definitely a YES man who needs to learn to say NO!

Got my hairs cut this weekend and LOVE it.  Here are some pics.

sorry for the debbie downer post..  hope you are all well.

Wet, Wild and SO much fun!!!!

Today was the BEST day!!!  Tim and I were sitting trying to come up with something "different" to do this weekend, since the majority of our weekends consist of the same old thing - hanging in the pool, eating out, etc..  and it's hotter than balls outside. So, today, I threw away my modesty and put on my suit and this chubby chick hit the WATER PARK!!!  Who knew we had a waterpark within 15 minutes from our house!!! It was soo fun!!! We just left our clothes in our car and headed in.  In the past, I would NEVER have done that, but today, I didn't care.  I looked at the signs and smiled everytime I was under the weight limit.. much under.  We went from ride to ride, laughing and screaming and falling out of the rafts.. it was by far one of the best days I've had with the hubs in a really long time.  I didn't feel self-conscious at all (although I did glance once at my reflection and this body still needs a lot of work.. )

Not only was it fun, it was good exercise too.  Every ride had a huge staircase leading up to it.  Towards the end, I didn't think my legs could take it anymore. Did I mention I also did the hardest Zumba class ever this morning? I knew it was hard but when my friend Julie, who is an ex-professional dancer said it was tough, I knew it was a killer. So, yeah, my legs are hating me right now.

Yesterday I started my "training" for the 1/2 that the Jens signed me up for.  The RUN/WALK 1/2...  I walked 3.5 miles after working out with Kathi.  And, then proceeded to slime all day long.  I have a horrible sinus head cold and I think the mucous is messing with my band. Oh and I woke up weighing 3 lbs more than I did yesterday.. pardon my french.. but WHAT.THE.FUCK?????  I'm back down now but who the heck knows what's going on with me.. this band sure is a mystery.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!
xo,js

Five Point Friday..

Hey all!! Happy Weekend!!!

1.  No plans for this weekend!!  Love that!  I will most likely sit on my floatie in my pool, working on my savage tan.

2.  I know I haven't spoken about it since the day I wrote a whole blog on the subject, but yes, my Brother-in-Law is still living with us. It's still not going well. But I have a light at the end of the tunnel. I told him last weekend he needs to be out by October 1st. I'm buying his ticket home this weekend. I think that timing is more than generous.  He of course said he felt like I gave him an ultimatum, to which I replied, "you are right.. I did... "  I don't care what he or any of his family thinks about me anymore.. I just want my regular life back.  Tim is totally in agreeance with me which is good. We will see if he even makes it to 10/1 since he now knows I don't care for him and am just living with this situation to appease my husband.

3.  My girlfriends, the Jens, are crazy!!! They signed me up to do a 1/2 marathon with them. I, of course, will be walking it with one of the Jens.. but they gave me a training schedule and everything. I have until November to figure out how to get out of this nonsense.

4.  Our plans to go to Michigan in a couple of weeks have been canceled.  The flights were way too expensive and considering we are going in December for Christmas as well as potentially moving sometime this year, it just didn't make any sense to spend that much money to go for 3 days. Plus, with my recent travel debacles, I'm good not spending an entire day to get somewhere.  I'll miss my family for sure though!!

5. I've got to figure out what's going on with my weight/band... it's making me go a little crazy. I have been having trouble keeping things down since Mexico and my weight is not budging.  I'm usually a slow loser but this is ridiculous.  I can't get into the dr until the 27th, which blows. 

Hope you all have a great weekend!!! 
xo,js