I've been BodyBugg'ed

OK - I bought myself an early Christmas gift. I got a Body Bugg - the armband that you see the contestants on the Biggest Loser wearing. I installed it about 3 weeks ago but it took me a bit to figure it out. The first time I actually put it on was the 22nd of December after I had my consultation with BodyBugg (I get a one hour free consult/instruction with the purchase) and it turns out I was supposed to have been wearing it already - oops - so we rescheduled for Jan 5th.

The first day I wore it, I had to take it off after about 4 hrs - the band was super snug and hurting me. I tried again on the 24th and I lasted about 6 hrs. On the 26th however, I was rummaging through the box and found (tada!) a bigger armband and a wireless transmitter. So I've now been using the Bugg itself for 4 days and it's fascinating!! The program also includes an online food tracker, etc.

I log my caloric intake and then I download the Bugg's data 1-2X a day (for now so I can see how I'm doing). The food tracker program is ok - needs a lot more foods and they have no Canadian data so I'm often having to input my own but that's ok - I'm taking the time to learn what's in my food, etc.

It's certainly made me more aware of what I'm doing - to the point that I can say I've lost 2.3 lbs since I started 4 days ago - might just be a fluke and all but at this point, it's certainly help make me more accountable for my (shall we say) input and output. :)

Shouting from the Rooftops!

I got my surgery date!! March 12th will be a truly life altering day.

Surviving Christmas??

Well - Christmas 2008 has come & gone and I'm pleased to report that it was fairly easy to survive. I've been trying not to weigh myself too much - too frustrating but on Christmas Day, I tried on my engagement ring which I had to stop wearing mid-November (I could get it on but if my hands swelled even slightly, it was painful) and it fits again!! Still not 100% comfortable but I would say I'm at 90% comfort compared to about 50% 4-5 weeks ago. So I hopped on the scale on Saturday and I'm down... 10 lbs since I met with Dr. Pop in mid-November!! Woot!!

It's nice to have my folks here for Christmas as we all struggle with our own weight issues so we tried not to bring too many sweets into the house, etc but were allowing some so that the kids can enjoy some of the joys of the holidays too. My really close friend Penny made cookies and sent me home with a 12 x 6" container of homemade cookies on the 19th - sugar cookies, soft ginger snaps, shortbread, a chocolate coated peanut brittle type stuff and chocolate coated oriental noodles with marshmallows & peanuts. I admit to eating quite a few of the ginger snaps but maybe 2-3 a day? On the 23rd, we had my mom's cousin over for tea and we had almost half of those cookies still left to put out along with some from a tin of store bought ones (the President's Choice Belgian Chocolate selection).

The 24th was a little more challenging - we went to my Aunt's home and she had made Nanaimo bars and added extra dark chocolate (a weakness for both mom & I) on the top. Thankfully she cut them small (1/2" x 1/2" ??) so when I say I had 3 of them, it sounds bad until you realize I normally would have eaten 3 "normal" sized ones which are 1 x 1". Otherwise, I had a cup of tea... she had made mince tarts but I'm not a huge mince tart fan and I decided to splurge my calories on something I adore. How's that for a NSV?! (non-scale victory)

Dinners the week leading up to Christmas were great - we made a big ham on Tuesday night with scalloped potatoes and carrots (which meants yummy ham for lunch on Wed & Thurs). Wednesday night was Farm Boy tourtiere and ham leftovers which most of the adults chose! Christmas dinner was spectacular - we bought a fresh turkey at Farm Boy (seriously - I will never buy frozen or a "ball" bird again!!), made stuffing from scratch, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed/whipped white potatoes, carrots and peas. And we made gravy from the pan drippings... It was fabulous!

On Boxing Day, Bill & I made turkey soup with lots of veggies which the kids all loved!! I've even cooked dinner (don't drop dead out there!) 6 out of the last 7 days (with the exception of Boxing Day when Bill & I ordered in pizza).

Yep - still waiting

Not much more to add at this point - I'm still waiting for a date. I have called each week (except this one with my MIL here) and they say Dr. Pop hasn't yet signed off on my chart. Considering I have no tests to do before he even approves me, I don't understand the delay.

*sigh*