Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving day. I missed being with my family a little bit, but last year I was not with them either. The spread of food at the Biltmore Inn was beyond belief. There was anything you could have imagined, and I tried quite a bit.

One thing that I am proud of myself in how I am different is: If I don't really REALLY like the taste of something, I don't eat it anymore. This has happened twice at the Biltmore with pastries. The pastries were ok, but that was it. I took one bite, and didn't finish them. This has been a pattern I have developed back home as well. My friend Wendy says, "If I don't love it, there is no point in wasting my calories on it." The formerly SSMO me, would have been all about finishing it just because it was in front of me. I really like this change that I have made over the past 20 months. Early out, it was just because I didn't have the stomach space to waste though.

I will post more this evening, I have to get ready for breakfast, pottery, and to see Gingerbread houses!

Happy

20 Months Post-Op to me! I forgot until this evening that 20 months ago (wow!) I was being operated on to save my life. My stats are in the previous post. I will show pictures in a few days, as I have several from the trip I want to post.

More later.....off to bed.

Down Two More Pounds!!!

I am at a new low this morning! 140 pounds! I am down two more pounds, a total of four pounds for this month. My BMI is 21.9, and I have lost a total of 253.6 pounds! :) WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I am five pounds away from my final goal.

This morning I was having a conversation with Ben's mom, and she says, "Ingrid is very thin, just like you...." I couldn't tell you what she said after that, because she used VERY THIN and used those words to describe ME! Pinch me I must be dreaming!

I Have a SCALE!!!

Today we arrived at the Inn at Biltmore Village. Each of our rooms has a scale in the bathroom. This place is ultra fancy. I've never stayed at a place that had a scale in the bathroom. Since mainly wealthy people stay at this type of hotel I found that interesting. There are statistics that support that wealthier people are thinner because it is valued at a much higher level. I weighed in at 143.6 pounds. This was in the evening, and I had not been to the bathroom. I am happy with that weight, and hope to report a lighter morning weight. The food here has been AWESOME. The dessert was awesome at lunch, but they had quite a bit of great food that was healthy.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun filled day. We are going to have breakfast, go on a carriage ride, and then tour the Biltmore Mansion in the evening at a special holiday candlelight event. I love the mansion, and am pumped about seeing it decorated for Christmas. Ben and I have taken several pictures together. I will post those after the trip is over.

There Goes The Neighborhood...I Mean Simple Carbs

Today was not a good day on the eating front. Let me get started....

Breakfast: 1 piece of peanut butter on toasted bread, 1 banana, and a protein shake

Lunch: Bacon and Tomato sandwich with extra bacon and mayo (mmmmmm), very small bag of chips, one piece of pumpkin spice cheesecake along with 1 chocolate chip cookie

Snack: Hershey's bar

Dinner: 10 chips with lots of queso, 2 beef taquitos with lots of cheese

Snack: 1 Tootsie Roll Pop, and 2 peanut butter crackers

Before I go to bed, I will have another protein shake

I am having a great time with Ben. Today we toured his hometown, then we made a gingerbread house together, and watched some Avatar. :) I had him take me to Belks (a local department store), because I wanted some long underwear bottoms to wear when we go on the horse ride at the Biltmore. I was looking at the sizing for these things, and I wear a SMALL. Woooo Hoooo! Ben got to see a glimpse of my excitement, and I think he is starting to understand just how big of a deal this is to me. Tonight, when we were checking out at Wal-Mart, there was a picture of a woman in half of her pants. Ben looked at me and asked, "Can you do that?" I said yes I can! I can't wait to show him. I said I can even fit on one side with that side now being a bit loose to boot!

So my plan with food for Tuesday and Wednesday is to avoid as many simple carbs as possible, and then I won't feel as bad about indulging on Thanksgiving day. I know that there will be some awesome desserts available at the Biltmore, and I want to be able to partake in them without feeling horribly guilty.

Off to make a few phone calls then to the Biltmore in the morning!

Thanksgiving in Room 120!

Here are the pictures from our Thanksgiving feast in Room 120. It was a very special afternoon. I could not have done it without Ben. He really enabled me to pull the whole thing together. My kids had a very special meal. I know for many of them this is the ONLY Thanskgiving that they will have, so that made it all the more special. :)

I am Different

Spending all day with non weight loss surgery people makes me realize that I am different. I really need to eat on a few hour basis. This three meals a day thing is really not for me. I have gotten so used to eating many times throughout the day. Since I cannot do that now, I have been thinking about food non-stop.

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: 1 piece of toast with peanut butter, and a banana
Protein Shake
Lunch: Chinese Buffet (1 serving spoon full of rice, baked salmon---a really nice sized portion, stuffed cheesy crab things, and 2 cookies)
Dinner: Salmon, 2 small wheat rolls, and about 10 bites of mashed potatoes
Protein Shake

I do this every time I go out of town, I obsess on whether or not I'm gaining weight. I seriously ruin parts of my holiday because I continue thinking about these things. I don't want to think like this. Grrr!

A Few WOWS!

Tonight I was visiting with the family, and I was holding a baby. I got up with the baby. No holding onto the side of the sofa. I was able to get up with the baby in my arms safely and effortlessly.

After dinner tonight, Ben's mom said she was sorry, but there wasn't any dessert. She looked at me and said, "Do you eat dessert? You don't look like a person who eats dessert." I was laughing so hard on the inside. I just smiled at her.

The trip in was "almost" uneventful. I have NEVER lost luggage in all my years of flying. I only find ONE suitcase when we arrive in Charlotte. I panic. We look everywhere, it is MISSING. I packed many things in each suitcase (like all my underwear in one, etc.), and here I have to meet his entire family for the first time. I go through the lost luggage, and when we leave I burst into tears. My money is really tight right now with the holidays and the fact that I did that special Thanksgiving dinner for my students. I don't even have money to spend right now. Ben comes around to hold me, and right out of the corner of my eye, I see my missing baggage. It wasn't there ten minutes prior. I was so relieved!

I did not bring my scales down for a few reasons. The first is I was afraid how the cargo trip might damage them, but the most important reason is I am on an alternate bathroom schedule....which I HATE. I was never super regular pre-DS, but I have gotten accustomed to this as a post-dser. Whenever I do something out of the ordinary, my bathroom system locks up. Right now, I am sharing a bathroom with Ben. In a few days, I will be sharing a bathroom with his mom. My weight would not be accurate anyhow.

As far as food goes, I am trying not to stress about it. I brought enough to have two chocolate protein shakes a day (62 grams of protein). I did have 2 pieces of garlic toast tonight, and one piece of regular toast with peanut butter on it for breakfast. At lunch today I had a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup with a very small wheat roll, and about 1/2 of a 5 bean salad. The five bean salad was so yummy. I am going to look for some recipes to try to make that on my own in the future. I am trying to comfort myself in the fact that I am eating complex carbs, and so far have not indulged in any simple carbs. I don't feel that I am making horrible food choices.

I met Ben's brother, sister-in-law, and their two children tonight. I bonded with Ben's mom all this morning while Ben was sleeping. Things are going very well so far.

North Carolina Bound

I'm leaving this evening for North Carolina. I am so excited and nervous. I was trying for about ten minutes to pack everything in one suitcase, and I realized that was going to be impossible. I was going to have to check two bags. I told Ben's mom that I hoped she didn't think I was high maintenance, but since I would be doing several different things, I wanted to be prepared.

Today is my Thanksgiving meal with my kids. I am really excited about this. :) Lots of pictures coming soon!

Fat Girl Fears

I always have this fear that I will bust out of my pants. Seriously...that in the back of my pants the stitching will give, and I'll be showing my panties to everyone. I know it is crazy, but I am always checking the seams on the seat of my pants just to make sure they look secure (even though I have never busted out of a pair of pants).

Anyone else have that fear?