Finally Swimming

 

Thank you for all of the compliments and well wishes yesterday.  I really love the support!

 

I made it to the gym yesterday and swam 1600 meters (.99 miles).  It felt so good to be back in the pool, and I plan to swim today after my cleaning lady leaves.  I was doing 2400 meters daily before I was sidelined in April and am pretty sure I will be back there in a few days.  Even though I hadn't been in the pool for two months, I was so much less winded yesterday.  The difference 20 lbs makes!  I bought the below gloves in April and used them for the first time yesterday.  They are meant to increase resistance and aid in building muscle definition in the arms, chest and back.  I could feel the resistance when doing laps and hope that the gloves will help me get toned arms. 

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I might need a small top up when I see Dr. K this month, but now I'm thinking that I don't.  I am losing weight, even though I do feel hungry more than I have previously.  My main concern is not wanting to be too tight.  I have been reading more blogs recently and see that serious problems can arise when the band is too tight.  I'd rather be as loose as possible while still losing weight rather than being overly tight so I have trouble drinking liquids, getting stuck and PBing.  I also live 3,500 miles from my doctor.  Needing an emergency unfill is never fun; needing one when I am on the other side of the Atlantic would make the process much more stressful.  I understand that I could always go to the ER or find some doctor to do it for me, but I like my Dr. K and her gentle touch.

 

Onto PBing.  I have only run into this twice, but Holy Mary, I have no interest in a third encounter.  My main issue is with the name.  I expected a productive burp to be something little and innocuous- like the burp one might get after having had too much sparkling water, only with a bit of food.  Ha!  I hereby move that PB be officially renamed projectile barf.  Am I alone in thinking this would be a more accurate description of a PB?  My first PB was when K and I were out to sushi with my mother.  I eat sushi often and didn't expect an issue.  Frankly, I still don't know what went wrong.  I ate a little something, swallowed and said, uh oh, this isn't working.  In the beginning I just experienced a bit of slime, then a load of slime, then so much slime that I was thankful for my empty water glass (which, grossly, became the receptacle for said slime).  I am usually obsessed with manners, but I had much bigger issues to deal with that night.  Anyway, I knew the PBing was going to start and rushed to the bathroom.  Not only was the women's room occupied, there was another woman standing in line in front of me.  Not good.  So I became 'that woman' and ran into the men's bathroom.  Post projectile barf I returned to the table.  But wait, I wasn't done.  This continued for about 45 minutes.  What a horror.  It didn't help that my mom kept asking me if I was OK.  The wonderful K just left me alone, and for that I was muy appreciative.  My second PBing attack was luckily when I was home, but it again lasted the better part of an hour.  I was completely traumatized, and the worst part was that my mom was present for this episode as well (the night before we left for Portugal).  After seeing this twice, she was really concerned that I was having trouble with food, but I promised her that she just witnessed my two episodes.  Anyway, who is with me in using the phrase projectile barfing in lieu of productive burping?

 

So what is up with the coins at the top of the post?  Add them up, and that is how much weight I have lost.  It is very difficult to find clip art for the number 71, and this was the best I could come up with.  When I saw Dr. K last month she seemed very excited that I had already lost 60+ lbs and mentioned that the average weight loss in a year is around 70 lbs.  Because I started at a higher weight than many bandsters, the reality is that I should be able to lose more than the average.  It is still nice to know that I am making good progress statistically.  I understand that losing weight at this pace will become more difficult, but I am committed to maximizing my weight loss in a safe and healthy way!