Thanksgiving in TX

Hi there! I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving... I did :) I went home to Dallas to see my family which was really nice. Lucky for me, I have never been a huge fan of the food at Thanksgiving (with the exception of apple pie) so the meal itself was not a temptation nor did I feel any resentment that I could not gorge myself like many do on the holiday. Though thanksgiving itself was not a temptation, I did eat out alot over the week meeting up with friends and family... even though I did not always make the best choices food wise, I did not eat alot and almost always put half my food in a box at the get go. Needless to say however, I did not lose any weight over the break :( I did maintain though which is important because I exercised everyday but one. Here is a picture I took in my room in TX because I was feeling rather cute that day :)

The indoor pools were mostly closed during the week due to the holiday, but I did manage to get two days of swimming laps in. On one of the days my old diving team was practicing at the same pool I was at and I saw that a girl I used to dive with is now one of the coaches... I had not seen her since I was 13 years old and she did not recognize me at first. I told her I could still dive even at my weight and she smiled and clearly did not believe me. She told me to prove it so I got up on the 3m diving board and did a pike one and half and the entire pool cheered... I haven't felt that rush of excitement/nervousness since the last time I competed at a diving meet! Needless to say, I felt pretty damn cool.

On the days I could not swim I walked for an hour with my Mom which was really nice... the weather in TX was nice and warm (high 70s) which was perfect for walks. I got to see my sister for the first time in almost a year which was awesome and my Grandma Beth flew in for the holiday too. I am really excited because while I was home my little cousin made plans to fly and come see me in late december and learn how to ski.

Anyway, now I am just getting back in the swing of working long days again after a nice week long break. I unfortunately have a little cold and have felt kind of crummy since monday... I was actually supposed to get a fill of saline at my doc on tuesday but overslept and missed it :( They don't have another appointment available until Dec.19th, so I am just going to have to suck it up and really buckle down on my calorie budget until then. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, Ill be back on next week (and hopefully with some good weight loss news :)

Hello Again!

Hi everybody! I was just called out by both my Dad and another blogger for not posting in a while... er over a month.... OOPS. My bad. I have been busy busy busy working three nanny jobs, vacationing in Hawaii, etc, but that is NO excuse and I vow to post at least once a week from here on out. I am still here, still going strong, and still losing weight and doing great!

Before I get into the thick of it, here is an exciting announcement... I got accepted to graduate school at CU Denver for Mental Health Counseling :) I am so excited and overjoyed that I got accepted... it is a competitive program and they only accepted 25-30 people out of the 140 that applied. I currently live and work in Longmont, CO (which is about an hour away from denver), so I am actively looking for a new place to move to much closer to denver. I am sad because I will not be able to nanny for the boy I have been with 2 and a half years anymore (Cody, age 11), but I will definitely be seeing him every so often because he is like a little brother to me at this point. Lots of new and exciting changes ahead...

So since my last post in October, I sadly report that I have only lost an additional 3 pounds :( I have really hit a serious plateau that is frustrating me beyond no other. The upside is that I have maintained and am not gaining any weight however. At my 6 month check in appointment at the doc, we had discussed possibly another fill if I could not beat this plateau and that is what I am now planning on doing. Unfortunately, they cannot get me in until after I get back from Dallas (I leave on sat for a week to spend thanksgiving with my parents and family), but the tuesday when I get back I will be getting another fill which should hopefully help. I still swim everyday that I can, but there have been many days that I work 2 nanny jobs (one in the a.m. until early afternoon, then cody all afternoon/evening) and am too exhausted to workout afterwords. On these days I try to take the baby for a long walk in the stroller which helps burn some calories.

I have been staying on par as far as my eating goes, but I have finally experienced having something "get stuck" in the band and let me tell you, it is the worst feeling EVER! I was starving and made the poor choice of getting a bagel one morning when I was in a rush... I threw away half and was just going to eat the other half but I only got two or three bites in before it got stuck in my band. The bread was just much too thick and dense to push through the band comfortably and the only way to describe it is like the worst heartburn you have ever felt and something STUCK at the bottom of your throat. I was driving and had to pull over and wait for it to pass (which it did) but lesson learned... NO BAGELS!!

I have bought a few things clothing wise to tide me over for a while and I am so excited with my new changing figure... I feel better and happier in clothes and in photographs! It was recently my boyfriend's birthday and we went to Oahu, HI for 5 days which was absolutely incredible. We swam/snorkeled all over the island and had an amazing time. For those of you that do not know, sea turtles are my favorite animal in the whole world and I found/swam with them practically everyday of the trip... heaven! We rented and underwater camera so we got to capture it all too! Here are a few pics from the trip... I will probably end up making an album online somewhere then posting it here.

                                                         Snorkeling at Lanikea beach

This is me following a turtle at a beach in Waikiki

Gorgeous turtle I saw in Waikiki

Dinner in Waikiki

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Hanging out at the North Shore

Pristine Lanikea Beach

Birthday Drinks

After swimming in Waikiki

Hanuama Bay Nature Preserve... we snorkeled here :)

We got back from the trip a week ago, and then my Grandpa from Florida came to visit for the weekend which was really nice. We went and saw the Vangough exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and saw a few movies as well. I love spending time with him and am so glad he came to visit! I am off to Dallas on Saturday, but I PROMISE to post once a week from now on. Happy November everybody!

--Caroline