I'm singing in the rain...

Yesterday it started raining for the first time since Spring. We do not get a lot of rain in L.A. but when we do I really enjoy it. It is something special because it does not happen often and I enjoy the feelings that rain brings with it, such as enjoying a hot cup of tea, wearing socks, covering up with a blanket in the evening, etc. Especially since the aunt visited... I already forgot how you guys call the aunt but you know which one I mean, the one that always wears red dresses and is kind of annoying because she gives you headaches and cramps.

I did not expect to lose any weight because of the water retention that auntie brings with her... BUT to my surprise I was down to 271 this morning! Can you believe this? I am down to 271! This makes it a total loss of 24 pounds! This is much more than I expected or dreamed of! This means I lost 24 pounds in 33 days (+ 2 days pre-op diet).

So when I took my dog for a walk this morning, all bundled up in rain-proof clothes and enjoying the crisp, clean air I could not help it and ran like a 5-year old... dancing in the rain! I am glad nobody saw me... but even if someone did I could not care less. I am happy, really... I am so happy that Your Highness is working... I love Your Highness!

Last night I was reading on Lapbandtalk.com and I was surprised to see how many people are frustrated with their band, I even read that one person has her band for only a week and hates it so much that she wants it to be removed. I am very sorry that people feel that way and I hope they will reconsider their decision.

I guess everyone has different expectations and everyone hopes that the band maybe still turns out like a magical fix that just takes the weight off. I do not blame anyone, nor do I judge... I guess I have those hopes myself... even though I know that it does not work that way.

I got my first fill 8 days ago... and since then I am re-discovering the signs my body is sending me. I am very much in tune with my body and can even feel when I am ovulating and which ovary releases the egg. This may sound crazy but my body sends so many signals that I just cannot ignore and I always loved to analyze the signs MY body sends me. Keep in mind that every body is different and what applies to me may not apply to another body.

The last 8 days it has been all about food and the feelings and signs that are associated with it.

• My feeling of being full has changed. Full does not mean I have to open the button of my pants or having a feeling of being stuffed but instead it is a feeling that I am no longer hungry and that I do not need to finish my plate to get any satisfaction from food. This has nothing to do with will-power, I do not have to force myself to stop... it comes naturally.
  
• My feeling of appetite has changed. I am not craving any foods nor snacks. I eat my 3 meals per day and I am satisfied. There are times when I am really hungry and I do not know what to eat... nothing seems to really excite me anymore... I am eating to stop the feeling of hunger but I do not dream of any foods or feel deprived of not having certain foods.
• Getting stuck... I have problems with beef, even if it is soft and covered in gravy... I tried it twice and it got stuck badly. Yesterday evening it took an hour to go down and I was really worried because the feeling is very unpleasant. I did not PB as of yet but I am still experimenting what I can eat and what not.
• I tried high-protein shakes for breakfast because I am not really an eater in the morning but I do not do too good on them. I guess they are considered slider-food and they do not give me that full feeling that lasts for a couple of hours. I switched to oatmeal (with a small amount of milk so it is not too liquidish in its consistency and sprinkle protein powder with no flavor on top of it). I eat it at approximately 10 AM and will not get hungry until 2:30 PM. 
• I need 3 meals a day... there is no way I can adapt my pre-lap-band eating habits. I only ate two meals a day before... and dinner always was the biggest meal of the day and the one with the most calories. I assume that I ate at least 80% of my calories in the evening hours which contributed largely to my weight gain. Dinner is now my smallest meal of the day.
• Hiccups; I get hiccups when eating too fast and not chewing properly.
• Burps; I do burp much more than before, especially when I get stuck.
• Vitamins; my body needs Vitamins. I forgot to take them for 3 days and got very tired in the afternoons... I even needed a late afternoon nap on those days. I take a liquid multi-vitamin + 1000mg of liquid Vitamin C + Vitamin B-Complex. I need to remind myself everyday to take my vitamins.
• Thirst, the more water I drink the more often I feel thirsty. If I do not drink water...or too much coffee... I will not feel thirsty at all... I have a bottle of water next to my bed and finish that bottle of water while I am still getting ready for the day. This is more like a job but it helps me to properly hydrate myself throughout the day. I have no scientific proof for that but it works for me. 

Now that I am at 271 I really got greedy... I am only 1.1 pounds away of saying my final good byes to the 270s... With my birthday coming up on Friday I really want this to be my birthday gift. I will not step on the scale until Friday morning and will work very hard to lose 1.1 pounds until then. This would be the biggest birthday gift I could give myself and something that would exceed all my hopes and expectations I have had before lap-band-surgery.