No more white bread for me.

Morning all. I am home from work with a chest infection so thought I would take the opportunity to add a quick blog. Everything seems to be going along well. Andy and I met some friends at a local Cafe on Sunday. It started off really well. The sun was shining, the water was glistening, the company was relaxing, the steak sandwhich got stuck- and I spent a good 30 minutes up and down to the loo trying to dislodge the blimmin thing, I was trying to act all cool calm and collected but whoa it was so sore and uncomfortable that after a few minutes I couldn't have given a toss what anyone thought it just became 'all about me'! Anyway that was enough to make me want to wave a not so fond farewell to my gluten friend, Mr Bread. I'm not sure what that does to the band but for the next 8 hours I had a great deal of trouble keeping anything down but all is well again now. I don't know what the scales say but I have decided not to weigh in until Dec when I next see my surgeon. Some people at church didn't recognise me so that's a sure sign of changes I guess. Andy has settled into his new job as a pest control salesman well. Neither of us are missing the mines which is great and at least this way we wont have an ant problem this summer (if it ever arrives). I have been looking into going to uni or Tafe and studying nutrition. I can't imagine returning to school but to qualify as a nutritionist would be way cool and a direction I would love to take career wise. The courses are all so varied that I felt a little lost after speaking to the career advisers yesterday. I think that doing it correspondence would be a go. As I work for the government they are big on higher education so time off wouldn't be a problem. I'll keep you posted on that one. Well nothing else to report from me. Right back to my mantra........................bread is not my friend, bread is not my friend, bread is not my frie..........

Coming to grips with all the changes!

Hi all. I am teetering on 109kg this week. I try desperately hard not to get on the scales because they are just depressing. If its a loss its almost always not enough or I get a bit overcome with what I have left to lose. If its a gain - Kapow there goes my healthy state of mind for the day. If its a stay the same, well I start wondering what the blimmin point is. It all gets a bit much at times so I am going to try not to weigh in for a month at a time but when I sit on the loo I can see the scales and its as if they are trying to call me over just to wreck my day lol. Yesterday was the first day that I nibbled all day on something and even though it wasn't a lot it freaked me out that I may have slipped back into old eating habits. I found the thought really scary. Today my eldest turned 22 so we put on a lunch for him and I found it very hard to resist the trifle and the chips. I did (except for a spoon full of trifle) which was good but I still have that feeling of slipping into old habits hanging over me. I have two or three cruskits for lunch with avocado and tuna on it. It fills me enough I think although yesterday I just wanted to graze all the time. Dr Hamdorf said that the new stomach will stretch with time that's why we have to have more fills so maybe that's what is happening. I have decided the only way to avoid bad foods is not to have them in the house so now if it doesn't get eaten in one hit it goes into the bin or else its fair game and I don't want to eat it (whatever it might be). One of the biggest difficulties right now is that I let myself her sooooo hungry then I wanna eat like there is no tomorrow. This causes me to eat too fast too big a mouth fulls and too much which in turn makes me pb. I took my grand daughter to Hungry Jacks the other day and while she ate a burger I bought a salad but I wolfed down and then had to be sick to unblock my stomach. This was gross and bloody embarrassing because the only thing I could find was Kimberley's happy meal box and she kept looking at me and asking what I was doing with her box. Then when I thought I had finished, it turned out I hadn't so I needed something real quick and all I could find was my coke cup lol. I think even the ever hungry seagulls decided to give me a very wide berth! The other thing that I really regret is telling everyone about the op. Now where ever I go if they (people) know me I get scrutinised and constantly have people look me up and down which pisses me off. It just makes me feel like I am on show. I wish I had of been a bit more selective but not to worry . I will post again soon. Bye for now Dianne

CITIBEACH SÜRF SHOP Customer service of the week NOT!

Just wanted to have another vent. I will get back to the weight loss journey over this weekend but I had such an unnecessary battle yesterday I cant help but to post about it. Two weeks ago I bought Celeb a much desired surf shop (rip curl) watch. I went to great pains to discuss with the assistant the best watch for an 11year old and chose the most expensive ($110.00) watch as it was water proof and had warranty etc. Caleb is a really unusual kid in the respect that he is very meticulous about certain things and I even knew that being waterproof wouldn't matter to him because he would always take it off - just n case. That's just the sort of boy he is. So he is given this flash new watch last Friday 12th for his birthday. The night before last Caleb says to me, 'hey mum sometimes the surf board doesn't go around'. This was the seconds hand. I take it off him and set the time to my watch and sure enough an hour later Caleb's watch is 10 mins behind mine. This is no good I think but not in the least bit concerned after all I have the receipt and it is only two weeks old. The next day (yesterday) I go into CITIBEACH SURF SHOP and put my story to the young girl and then I add that I don't want money back a replacement would be great as Caleb loves the watch. She goes off and returns to tell me that the manager says all they can do is send the watch to their head office then it will be sent over east to Rip Curl and they will determine that its a fault with the watch not Caleb doing something to it then it will be either fixed or replaced. No. I aren't happy with that at all I tell her as this has only been worn for 5 days and is in pristine condition. I want either money back or a replacement. Dont get me wrong if Caleb had of had it for 6 months I would understand but not when he has worn it for only 5 days! I ask to speak to her supervisor. Over bustles the supervisor. I explain my situation and I tell her that i am sorry but it isn't ok with me to do what they are asking given the short period of time we have had the watch. She says she cant do anything about it but will go and ask the general manager. After she finally locates him she comes back with the same policy and that's the best she can offer. Can I speak to the general manager then please, I ask. 5 min later Jamie comes over and I go through the whole story again. He says there is nothing he can do as that's the store policy. Policy Shmolicy my arse! I tell him this isn't good enough. When will the watch be back I ask. Don't know he says. I had already asked that of the supervisor and she didn't know either. I said the same thing to him which was, so, it could be 6 months, 3 weeks who knows??? He said, that's right. He kept saying 'why are you being so aggressive'? This was incensing me because even though I was frustrated and getting upset I was by no means aggressive and had only said one swear word which was your policy is bullshit. He said there was nothing he could do. I asked him if I could send the watch in to Rip Curl or was it just retailers. He said no it wasn't just retailers and he would recommend I do it as they have a 48hour turn around time for the public but no timeliness standards for retailers! By then i was worked up enough to be in tears and I couldn't speak without the prospect of my nose dribbling so I waved my hand at him gathered up the watch and receipt and walked out. Back in my office I wash my face feeling so peeved that I had cried ( a sure sign of weakness in my eyes) but I was so angry I could barely think straight. I started to devise my next plan which was to make a huge sign and stand outside CITIBEACH SURF SHOP chanting 'they are rip offs, they are rip offs' . Firstly I thought I should ring Consumers affairs and ask them what the go is under the law. Consumers affairs were excellent. They advised me that unless CITIBEACH SURF SHOP could give me an acceptable repair and return time frame they had to abide by one of three other options. A, Refund, B, Replace or C, Credit note. So with a deep breath I rang Jamie and told him what the law said and that I chose either a, b or c but sending watch away was no longer an option as they could not give me a reasonable return time. I think he was pissed off at this new news as he banged on about the watch having to be returned and that was store policy. As I work under legislation everyday I had no qualms about quoting him the sections of the act he was breaking. Finally he said he would get me a time frame as being honest and telling me he didn't know obviously wasn't good enough for me. No way, I replied. You don't have that option now buddy as both you and your other supervisor couldn't tell me how long the process would take! He said that even if I took CITIBEACH to court he would still declare this was store policy. I told him the way he was going that's exactly the next forum we would end up in. I gave him my work number after he said he would ring Rip Curl for a 'time to review watch' and I told him I looked forward to hearing back from him. 20 minutes later I take a phone call from Jamie to say he had spoken to the general manager (I thought that's what Jamie was) and they had decided that they would replace the watch. Well. wasn't that big of them (note sarcasm in keys) as long as he can see by the watch there is no damage. I go down to the shop 2 hours later and get an exchanged watch.
Last night Caleb showed us his new pair of sports shoes (bought from CITIBEACH SURF SHOP only 10 days ago and the sole is peeling off one of them AHHHHH. I cant find the receipt but if I paid for them by eftpos it will show on my statement and I will be back for a refund mmmmmm or maybe they need to send them to Globe to make sure the boy hasn't been jumping too hard in them! Moral of the story is Don't give up the fight and Don't shop at stores that don't treat customers with a bit more worth than Citibeach treated me. YEAH, that's one for the little man!!!!!!!!

JUST SPECTACLES (check out the photo)

This post has nothing to do with my weight loss journey but I still think its worth a mention. My pet hate/peeve/gripe in life is bad business practices. You know the thing. We all have to deal with it but i reckon none more so than those here in Perth. A few weeks ago I put (stupidly) my glasses in my jacket pocket then promptly broke the arm when I sat on the pocket. I realised with great relief that they were repairable if I could just get JUST SPECTACLES to replace the arm.( I bought them from JUST SPECTACLES a few months before) I dropped them into the shop a couple of weeks ago and the guy says 'that shouldn't be a problem' we will have them ready in a week. I drop back for them because JUST SPECTACLES never ring to say anything is ready and am told they cant find them but will ring me in a couple of days when they do. Now after saying they never ring I need to correct that because the following Monday they ring and leave this msg for me on my voicemail. 'Um yes, Dianne its F@#43 speaking from JUST SPECTACLES. We have your glasses here for you to pick up (pause) ...................... um they're not a good match cos we couldn't find an arm to match the one on the glasses but we have put another arm on but um er mmm um its not a good match , but then adds brightly 'so there is no charge for it'. Thanks bye'. Well how bad could it be I wonder to myself. I call in yesterday and notice the girl and guy assistants look at each other when I said who I was and the guy says to the girl 'oh I'm busy, you better serve her'. The young lass pulls out my glasses and presents me with the most mismatched pair of arms I have ever seen. Apparently this is the best they can do. I looked around the shop and asked if I was on candid camera? No, the girl says shocked!!!!! Are you people serious I ask. Yessss we are she says. Oh.......................ok. Caleb is with me and just about wetting himself laughing at the new look specs. Now if a 10yr old can see it why cant bimbo and Brutus? Right, well do you think you could take off the original arm and replace both with matching arms I ask. Ummmmm noooo she says almost rolling her eyes, as she explains that they don't have pairs of the same arms just one offs. What the !!!!!!!!Well, would you have two matching pieces of wire you can use then? But she says....................wait for it...................'we aren't going to charge you'!!! Woo hoo a freebie that's so appalling I cant use them. Now theres a bargain. I have decided to keep them because if I cant find anything else to laugh about I can pull them out and they will do the trick. So thanks JUST SPECTACLES IN ROCKINGHAM I look forward to dealing with your competitors in the near future. Over and out

Its been one of those days!

I had my first fill yesterday. Dr Hamdorf put in 3mls making my 11ml band in total being 7mls filled. I feel very full very quickly but have noticed that I eat after I am past the point of no return hunger wise and so I gobble down too much, too fast and don't chew well enough. Been sick or Pb'd (productive burping) twice. This means I basically can't keep down the food and burp it back which is not vomit but just newly chewed food hence I can tell I haven't chewed well enough. I cant eat sushi now - bummed about that. I cant seem to keep it down. All in all its going well and I am now allowed to eat real food so I am enjoying the crunch of crackers. Wind is a major problem and now I have to watch the loos and only go when no one else is in there. From someone who has always been quite an accomplished farter it is unbelievable what its like now. Someone was in the loo the other day and I couldn't help but let it rip. Later when I ran into her she said she was in the loo earlier and someone farted so much she nearly fell off the toilet! She said she had never heard anything like it. I just said 'really'! Honestly it is shocking but bonus is they are pong free . Lucky its on Pbing farts lol. Today was a strange kind of day. Andy and I decided a few days ago that we would choose to have a good attitude every day which until today had worked really well. After I got off the bus today I was walking to my office when I remembered about a homeless man that I see everyday. Today, I decided I would stop and offer to buy him breakfast (something that I wasn't overly comfortable doing). As I got closer to where he is normally standing I started to think 'nah, I dont want to do this' but that little still voice in me said otherwise. So there he was standing in his usual spot. Anyway I walked slowly past him and happened to notice how huge the line was in McDonald's so I reasoned I wouldn't stop cos I would have to wait too long for his meal. I kept walking with my head down. After a few steps I stopped and looked back and thought about what a let down I was being to another human so I finally convicted myself enough to walk back up to him. I said to him 'Hi mate, can I buy you breakfast' he looked at me and shook his head and said no. lol lol lol. I couldn't believe it. I asked him again and even tried to convince him to let me buy him a feed (by now I was on a roll) but he just kept shaking his head and saying no. I ended up walking off to work feeling remarkably silly but with a bit of a smile on my face too. Then to top off this strange day. Andy came into Perth with Caleb to pick me up after work. I told Andy to meet me outside my office as I work next to a surf shop and I thought we could buy Caleb a much needed pair of shoes for school and that would be part of his birthday present. Well we found the bargain of the week. A pair of surf brand shoes for $49.00. Yipee I thought what a saving given this month has 6 birthdays in it. Off we go feeling very happy. We stop at a food place and buy a drink each and Caleb has a wrap. When we are 3 houses from home (an hours drive from Perth) Caleb says 'um mum did you pick up my shoes in the cafe'. Nooooooooo. I had to make numerous attempts to get my good attitude back and not throttle the child. Could be worse when I think about the homeless man so all in all life is great. Love to you all xxxx Dianne PS If you see a homeless person don't ask them just buy them a meal.

Exercise and breathe, exercise and breathe

Today I thought I would put a little bit of exercise into my day. So, I went to the loo's at work which are down one flight of stairs and then decided I would go down to the basement and come back up the stairs. Now take note that this is not a good plan if you are forty fat and very freakin unfit!!! I walked to the basement ok cos its all down hill but OH MY LORD it is a long way back up and there is no going back once I started. I headed up and as I approached level G I was thinking 'this sucks'. By level 1 I was thinking 'this really hurts' by level 2 I had hit the pinnacle of 'wtf am I thinking' and by level 3 I knew without doubt that if anyone from my office saw me in the next 10 minutes they would ask if I was ok whilst dialling 000. I tell you this was no fun and when I finally on jelly like legs got to my desk I was praying 'oh please lord, don't let my phone ring cos I just cant talk and breathe all at the same time. Then my day got a bit more loopy when my boss who sits right next to me starts talking about someone being full of shit. As he is talking he looks over and there lined up along my desk is Metamucil capsules, nu-lax and Benefibre with 2 litres of water. I just raised my eyebrows and said 'lets not talk about anyone being full of shit cos right now they have my deepest sympathy'. He just laughed. Yep back to squatting for me! All else is good. I am eating and drinking and generally feeling well. I am looking forward to seeing the surgeon next week for an update and first fill. Bit scared though. I only eat a cupful now per meal so not sure what it will be like after a fill. All part of the journey I guess. Will post again soon xx Dianne