My So-Called LAP-BAND Life - A Blog Review
Posted by Adam Yarbrough on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 @ 11:31 AM
This is the second in what I hope will become a regular series of LAP-BAND Blog reviews. Previously I reviewed Chronicles from LAP-BAND Land, where Catherine shares here LAP-BAND victories and struggles with wit and sincerity.
Today, I'm reviewing My So-Called LAP-BAND Life: One fat chick's journey to thin-dom. Its author is named Em, and she is 32 years old, living with her fiance and their dog. She's had her adjustable gastric band since March of 2008, and has a handy graph that shows she's lost about 42 lbs so far. (Actually, it shows she's lost about 19 kg, but I Googled that for you.)
A few of the primary reasons I like My So-Called LAP-BAND Life is because she uses her blog as an accountability tool, she uses it to share her frustrations with her support network, and finally, after venting the frustration, usually she comes back soon with a fresh perspective or a victory to share.
For instance, in a post about ups and downs she talks about how she was concerned about stepping on a scale after some cheat days but did anyway and actually had lost some weight. Then looking forward to the holidays, she shared:
It's so weird how you can work out and eat well and not lose, put weight on and then have a super dodgy week and lose. But I'll take it. Coming up to the silly season which is soooo hard to keep on track. We've got multiple parties every week till New Year so I'm going to TRY to be sensible. I'm no nun though, so guaranteed there will be alcohol and lots of food but I'm going to attempt to get in my 5 days/week exercise and definately keep the water intake up.
If you haven't noticed by the kg weights and the term "dodgy," she's Australian, so be sure to read her blog with an Aussie accent.
As I said earlier, her frustrations usually have victories around them. Shortly after the previous post about gearing up for the dodgy holidays, she brought her readers this good news:
So last night I beat my personal best in the pool for 1km - 29mins 45 seconds. Last best time was over 31mins so I was stoked with that. I really pulled hard against the water in freestyle and I was flying sometimes!
So many of us who struggle with weight dread the idea of excercise, but I, personally, found that statement very moving. First, it's a measurable victory that can't be denied. She's improved her ability and her speed. But more importantly, she talks about how it was like flying. It makes me want to hop in a pool.
I think what I really like most about her blog, though is its honest and accountability. She sets goals for herself, and she gives honest evaluations about meeting them.
In October, for instance, she had created a challenge for herself. Two weeks in, she gave an update:
So I got through the week with no iced coffee.... amazing! Exercised 5 days out of the week too! Including a 10km walk around the river on Thursday night.
After a lengthy update, she picked back up her reporting on her self-challenge:
Anyway - confession - already blew my no ice cream challenge for Week 2 by having a choc top at the movies yesterday - oops! But I will go saturday to saturday with no ice cream I promise!
If you haven't alerady done so, follow the links over to read more of her posts and learn about what life is like with a LAP-BAND down under.