I am lucky enough to have one of the prized and difficult to get Hamilton tickets for early 2017 at the Pantages.  I need to study up for that and listen to the music.  Looking forward to it.

Les Mis, Wicked, Phantom are probably my top 3, but I do like some from Rent too.  The girl rocked the "Cabaret" song last night.  It was pretty awesome.

Sorry to hear about your sleep troubles.  I am a procrastinator of sleep because it interrupts my life, so I stay up way too late, but I usually fall asleep quickly. I sleep much better now that my husband has a CPAP machine and his snoring no longer wakes me up, which would then make me think I had to go to the bathroom, which really interrupted my sleep.

I had a nice weekend and took myself to the beach on Saturday, followed by dinner and a movie (Tarzan-saving Jason Bourne for non-opening weekend) with my husband.  Sunday was spent returning my eleventy billion (to quote AV) shoes that I ordered from Nordstrom to try on size 11s because they don't carry them in the store.  I had to return them before the bill was due!  I kept a couple, but can't find a pair of black pumps that work with my feet.  I hate toe cleavage and on top of that my baby toes have issues due to surgery years ago, so they end up sticking out of the shoe because they don't cover enough.  On the bright side, I no longer require a wide or double wide shoe.  So apparently I didn't have wide feet, just fat ones.   I need pumps because I want to start wearing dresses.  I will continue searching.  I managed not to succumb to the Auntie Annie's pretzel stand, but it has some sort of gravitational pull and it was strong.  And I got my nails done, visited with our neighbors, and went to dinner again with hubby.  We had food out to cook, but it was too hot for that. So, it was a nice weekend overall.  Back to the grind today.  Gym tonight and going to see Cabaret on Wednesday night.  I have the gym scheduled for Thursday, but my friend just asked me to go to a concert in the park with an Eagles tribute band.  And I had seen that it was happening and wanted to go, but was not going to bail on the gym/trainer.  I just might bail on the gym.

QOTD:  Chocolate anything.  Although mint chip and rocky road ice cream are delicious.  I haven't had ice cream since my surgery, but I have had frozen yogurt with no dumping issues (bad news-I have to be cautious it doesn't become a habit).  I don't really like tiramisu, cheesecake, or key lime pie, so that is a good thing for me.  The truth is I used to mindlessly eat any dessert if it was around, even if it wasn't my favorite.  Things are different now.  I hope it stays this way.  It is funny how everyone likes different things.  OK...just read the new posts since I started this in the AM....ooohhh pizookies.  They are the best.  The other day I had a coupon for a free pizookie or appetizer at BJs.  I am happy to report that I had the chicken lettuce wraps as my meal and passed on the pizookie.  But, if someone else orders it, I'd really like to have bite of one.  Dodged a bullet on this last visit, nobody ordered one.

B:  Premier Protein Shake Chocolate, of course

L:  Shrimp tostada (but mostly just the shrimp)

D:  Chick fil a grilled nuggets, small fruit cup

S:  Laughing cow cheese wedge and 6 crackers

Have a great week!

I have been thinking of you. Hope you turn the corner soon.

There can be complications in life just walking out your front door every day. There are risks driving down the road. There are risks to not losing the weight. I had zero complications. Zero. I followed the rules and did what the doctor told me to do. Just listen to your body and call the doctor if you have any concerns. 

I didn't have salads for at least 4 months. I started by ordering a shrimp or chicken tostada if I was out and then I would eat all of the protein and a few lettuce leaves. Evenutally, you can eat more salad, but you should have the protein first, which doesn't usually leave much room for lettuce.  All of the suggestions I have seen posted are great. Chickfila grilled nuggets are great. I usually order the kids meal and get the fruit salad for my side. It is a small bit of fruit and a nice treat that I save and eat about an hour or two after I eat the nuggets. 

Just ask for what you want at any restaurant.  They are usually so accomodating.  Italian restaurants seem to be the hardest, and I avoid them if at all possible, but sometimes we have a planned work event at one. I just ask the server if they can grill shrimp or scallops for me with no sides. They have done it for me every time. Also, BJ's will grill some shrimp for you too and it was only like 5.99 or something. Just tell them what you need.  It is better to not even look at the menu, just figure out something you like and ask the server for help.  Nibbling beef jerky throughout the day helped me with my energy level in those early months. Just chew chew chew.

Good luck.

Where is the dislike button? So sorry to hear that. But on the flip side, you are making sure it heals properly which will prevent further problems.

I think there is something to that. I have struggled with weight throughout my whole life, but definitely gained weight once I had kids. And had lots 50 pounds or so then my Mom had cancer and I gained every pound back and more while I was caring for her that last year of her life.  Rocks are amazing!!! It is a running joke with my kids because I said that throughout our 2 month camping trip one year.  I kept saying, "Look at those rocks.  They are so cool...so amazing."  They still tease me about it.  Although now they sort of get it and agree.  I want to go back through all of Utah again, but there are so many other places I want to visit.  Work sure gets in the way.  

That is a good analogy about the oxygen mask and taking care of ourselves first so we can help others. We all need to remember that.

I've been thinking of you. Hope all goes well. Can't wait for the updates. Hopine for a speedy recovery. 

Good morning all.  There has been no hope of logging in and posting early in the day these past couple of weeks (super busy time for work, plus 3 days of work-related travel), but know that I read most of the posts late at night on the West Coast.  It is my therapy. LOL. Some posts make me chuckle, some make me cry, but mostly they make me feel like there are others who understand  and can relate to what I am going through (because let's be honest, most people don't want to hear us talk about our food and struggles).  I'm excited to see pictures of the Grims and Daisydoo meetup.  You guys will have so much fun.  I am excited (and a bit envious) of Cynthia's surgery.  It has been a busy year for you.  I will be thinking of you. 

I have nothing on my schedule this weekend except for a hair appointment tonight, but I will not be as daring as Deanna.  Although I have always had very short hair (finally trying to grow it out now) and I love the streak of color, I couldn't really do that at work.  It looks great on you.  I am always busy and I do like it that way, but the next two weekends are kind of free and the following two weekends are out of town trips for some fun stuff, so it will be good to putter about the house and catch up on life maintenance.

QOTD: Fortunately, there are so many protein options out there nowadays.  Grocery store-cheese or P3 pack; Fast food-Waba Grill and Rubios both sell fish/salmon.  I have bought just the fish before without all of the rice, etc.  I don't like pork rinds (wish I did, because I like crunchy things), but I do like beef jerky. It was literally life saving for me early on. Still handy to keep around, I always have a small bag in my purse and have several in both of my office locations at work.

I was gonna post a picture of the scale this morning because it said 155, which means I have lost 150 pounds. WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!  But then I put on underwear and held my phone and it said 155.1, so I didn't have time to readjust things because I was already running late.  Trust me when I tell you, it said it!  I had many goals along the way:  get to onederland, lose 100 pounds, become a normal BMI, lose 150 pounds.  I am so excited that I have met these goals.  It didn't really seem possible.  Next goal is to lose ½ my body weight (only 2.5 pounds away), then get to 150, which is lower than I have been since I hit my goal of 151 on Weigh****chers 28 years ago. I was there for about 1 minute before I started gaining, so I am very afraid of that phenomenon, but my mind is definitely in a different place now, so I am hoping for (and will be working toward) long-term success.  I only wish I had opted for surgery years ago.  But it may not have been the right time for me, so I am just trusting that now is.

Here is a picture from a wine tasting trip a couple of weekends ago.  I haven't worn dresses in years.  I wore one to dinner for father's day this year and wore this one for wine tasting. So, it's a big deal.  The upper part of my legs are cascading waterfalls of skin, but my calves loo****can't wait to hear about Cynthia's surgery), so dresses are working for me.  I need to buy more.  The other picture was a new outfit I bought that has been my go to outfit this summer (Note: I am a terrible selfie taker, as both of my daughters remind me constantly).  I normally wear a lot of black and white, so this was quite different.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Although I did go to handbags, I didn't succumb.  I did, however, bought a beautiful cashmere travel wrap.  I had to order it and have it shipped because they didn't have black in the store, and I wanted black.  I have wanted one for years and decided I deserved it!  

Last week kicked my butt too. I slept in both today and yesterday, which then made it so I couldn't fall asleep until 2 am last night. Hoping for an easier time tonight since work begins again. I am a Finance Analyst for the County.  Technically, I am part of the County Administrative Office and am assigned departments.  However, I am assigned to the County hospital and work there 3-4 days a week.  I have offices in both places, but eventually will probably be at the hospital full time when they run out of space and need my other office. I love my job. There have been times when I had to work a gazillion hours a week, but now that I have had the hospital assignment for over 2 years, I have some systems in place that make my life better. I work on the budget and that is a year-round process, plus am the liaison for helping the hospital work within a governmental system. Never a dull moment that is for sure. I am currently working on reviewing accruals (yuck-my least favorite thing) and I was out of town three days last week for work, and my review was due Friday. Mostly done, but did not work the weekend. I prefer to work super late or in the office on weekends rather than bring stuff home.  It is just easier because every resource is there and I have two computer screens, etc.  But I do have email on my phone and respond to that in the evenings if necessary. I am also assigned the funds that realigned state revenues to the counties and that lags a couple of weeks behind everything else, so I am tortured by accruals until the end of the month.  But seriously, I do love my job. I wish I had started my career here years ago.  I will be working for another 12 years at least, so I am happy to be here now.

I am heading to the mall to check out the Nordstrom half-yearly sale. I desperately need work shoes and some new clothes. I think I have stabilized enough that I can spend a little on some nice clothes, if they are a good deal. I have lots of things to get done today since I was gone all week...laundry, chiropractor, paying bills, Costco run.  But Nordstrom is first. 

I am not sure what I will be eating.  Protein shake first, taking jerky and protein bar with me in case I need it, but otherwise I am making my hubby take me to dinner so I can eat some grilled shrimp somewhere.

Have a good day.

Amazing transformation!  You look great and I am sure you feel great too!