Sunday, January 13, 2013

Bariatric Betty finds fitbit sale!... and other news

OK, this is not my normal post, but my love of my fitbit Zip as a motivator and tool in exercise in weight loss is borderline obsessive.  This morning my mailbox had the new week's sales at Target and I saw that they are selling the Zip for $49!  That's $10 off, people!

If you are looking for a pedometer or just something to motivate you to be more active, I LOVE THE FITBITS!  They wirelessly upload your steps and other information every time you are within 20 feet of your computer (or in the case of the Zip and the Fitbit one, you can also set your smartphone to sync with them via bluetooth).  The Ultra and Fitbit One are souped up versions of the Zip where they also do sleep tracking and counting flights of stairs.  I love the Zip because 1) it's $40 cheaper 2) comes in bright colors so it's easier to find if you set it down and 3) the grip of the holder is much better - I have yet to have it fall off my clothing, unlike it's predecessors!  They all calculate steps, intensity, distance traveled  and calories burned, and all work with a fabulous website that calculates your metabolic rate and lets you log exercise not easily tracked (biking, swimming, weight training).  Best of all, in my opinion, is that the Fitbit site has partnered with www.myfitnesspal.com so that your activity is automatically uploaded in to my favorite food logging/ diary site.

Logging food and exercise is very important in weight loss, but let's face it, it's not fun.  Anything that reduces the effort involved is golden to me. 

OK, this ends my unsponsored ad for Fitbit.  I received no compensation for this - it was just a combo of my love of deals and this nifty gadget that made me want to post it for my readers.  Back to regular programming.
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The last couple weeks have been good.  I'm considering joining a WLS friend for an event in Cleveland called Tackle the Tower.  It's a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House held at a local upscale mall that is attached to an office tower.  Instead of running a 5k, you run the 38 flights of stairs in the tower.  My concern is my knees, which have always been week and used to pop/ dislocate occasionally in my teens.  They were part of the reason I never jogged/ ran (other than my weight, obviously).  But, as I've seen - things change.  Now I can jog without knee pain as long as I don't run to hard/ fast or too far.  So, I went to our rec center to try the Stair Climber dinosaur machines that look like escalators on steroids. 

Wow.  That kicked my butt.  I've never loved climbing stairs, and my muscles recognized that fact as I completed the 10th "flight".  I started to sweat!  No reactive hypoglycemia this time - I've been back on my regular super-high protein super-low carbs so THAT doesn't happen again.  No, it was a matter of using muscles that I'm not used to using!  I finished climbing 38 flights and stopped, feeling a little achey in my hips and knees.  I waited a few days and did it again, this time doing 40 flights without pain.  I'm still not sure I'm going to Tackle the Tower - climbing up is the hard part, but then you still have to climb back down, and I'm worried that might be too much for my joints...  I'll try it again this week and see how it goes.

My bra size changed again - my whole life I have thought that a "C" cup would be perfect, and imagine my surprise to find that I now fit in (some) "C" cups!  I never wore them before - as a teen I wore a B (skipped A entirely), then went straight to D and then DD.  At my heaviest I was 44DD.  Now I'm a 36C.  Most of my actual breast tissue is gone (it happens in rare circumstances to WLS patients during weight loss), so it's more like I have deflated skin that I stuff in to fill up my bra cups, but hey - once I'm dressed nobody sees those particular battle scars. I'm also hopeful that it reduces my risk of breast cancer, and assume that mammograms will be MUCH easier now.  :)  It's funny, because when I was starving myself to lose weight in high school and was 30 pounds less than I am now it never came off my chest - I stayed a DD.  I didn't have much hope that my cup size would go down.  Now it has.  It has literally lifted a weight off my chest - my back doesn't hurt as much as it used to.  What a blessing!

Next week our family is going to Kalahari - one of the largest indoor waterparks in the world - for our annual weekend visit.  Our school district has a fundraiser that makes the cost reasonable, and allows us to stay in a suite with a full kitchen, which makes eating a LOT easier for me.  I took my "before" bathing suit pictures there last year, and even though I've already posted some "after" ones I look forward to getting new pictures with the family (even if I'm in a swimsuit).

 We're also starting to plan a family trip to Florida - we've been twice before in the past 7 years, and both times we went to Disneyworld and once went to the Kennedy Space Center.  This time we're going to Sea World and Universal Islands of Adventure - one of my sons is into everything water and sea life, and the other loves rides and Harry Potter (almost as much as me).  I found out that Embassy Suites not only had some great deals, but your stay comes with a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast including eggs and omlettes, so I'll have a bariatric-friendly breakfast each morning.  I'm not as nervous having taken the trip with our extended family to Williamsburg this last summer.  While we won't have the luxury of a kitchen on this trip, I feel confident that I can make do with a bag full of Quest bars - but I'm NOT touching any fruit salad unless I can verify it hasn't been sweetened this time!

I had my first negative experience with straws today.  Many post-ops are warned off drinking with straws because if we swallow too much air it can become very uncomfortable in our pouches.  I've tried it a few times without problem, but for the most part sip out of water bottles.  Today I finished my drink and was still 1/2 hour from home (and a refill) so I got a Light Lemonade at McDonalds.  At first I was fine, but less than a mile from my house I started feeling uncomfortable.  By the time I was pulling into our driveway my pouch was hurting bad enough I was almost crying.  Luckily, just walking around the house dislodged the air bubbles and the pain went away, but it took a few more minutes to figure out what had happened.  Ouch!  But, no damage and another lesson learned. 

A couple of weeks ago I entered a contest with www.tout.com and Zappos where we were supposed to talk about what inspires us - and I talked about my Weight Loss Surgery Support Group.  The contest has ended, and they will be announcing a winner in a couple of weeks, keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

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