Bright

I love Pogo too....tumblebees is my favourite! I think I'm Bright1042....

My top five are: Dangerous Liasons, Annie Hall, (ok, anything by Woody Allen), High Fidelity, Any Given Sunday, Something About Mary, Oh, and the Lord of The Rings Trilogy......I love movies!!!

And you too Nancy! Yay - I'm soooooo excited!

Great Susan! It would be great to meet you - we're thinking of 23/24/25 September later this year....

go for it Michelle!

sure, I know he's busy....ok let me see... audrey is from Scotland, as is JulieB....Johnathan, Scotty are from England, Me and Blacknamaste from Ireland - I've seen people from Australia, Belgium and Poland here - not to mention Sarah from Paris in France! There's only a few of us tho, so I don't think the sub-heading "Europe" would offend anyone - except those from Australia obviously!

ok I'll post pics - gulp! Please just remember that the top looks great in the photo above cos it's a size 8, and laid out flat on a table....I sorta fill (ahem) it out WAY more...

Well done Daisy - welcome to bandland xx

I'm bonkers about Trinny And Suz - they are wonderful, cheeky but wonderful! I did see them on Oprah one day, and wasn't sure how much they were doing in the US - they have great books out, which go thru the best things to wear to every occasion (like Summer Wedding, PTA Meeting etc) and for the best body shapes - I am trying to figure out from their book what skirt/dress to wear at the moment, as I never wear dresses! Here is their english website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/tv_and_radio/what_not_to_wear/index.shtml What else do you guys get on BBC America? I must check it out.... Thanks for all the encouragement - this is so alien to me - looking forward to an event - usually if I couldn't get out of going, I would be shaking in my wardrobe for a week before! Worried about my damn hair tho....haven't had anything done to it in a year.....gulp!

best of luck - you'll be gorgeous afterwards!

excellent Pat - well done! I was becoming very disillusioned too about low weight loss before my last fill, so I did my measurements and found I had lost 35" over all! So the scales isn't the only measure of success!

yeah I had a 2.5cm hiatal hernia which i think they fixed during surgery - I missed out on learning the french word for hernia.....it's a pretty minor thing I believe...

me too - just wondering how you got on?

hey, the problem with sugar craving INCREASES when you drink/eat some - and aspartamine (ooops, sp?) is 20 times sweeter that sugar, and may trigger even worse sugar cravings! I was addicted to diet coke also, and tons of diet products, that are laden with sugar to make up for the fat they've taken away....just look at the sugar difference between a diet yogurt and a regular yogurt!!! .... anyway I completely gave up all sweetened diet drinks, whether carbonated or not, and suffer way less from the cravings! If you can get through two weeks, then the worst is over!!! This website really helped me www.radiantrecovery.com

I asked Alex about that before but he never got back to me.....he must have forgotten all about it!

ok Penni - I looked it up, "Animal Print Halter with beading" - sounds so you !! It says £35 sterling, about $70, if it's in the store tomorrow I'll get it and mail it over to you - PM me your address and I'll make up a label tonight so I can mail it when I'm out.... Kathy - do you guys get Trinny & Susannah over there? Original "What Not To Wear" women from the UK???? I LOVE them...have all their books!

Aw thanks everyone! Penni/Pat - the top is 100% Silk and cost me 55 Euro which is about $72 - I don't know if they ship to the US or not, but I can bring you guys over anything you want from there....Or buy it for you now and mail it over...They have really gorgeous stuff I'm wearing it with jeans or black trousers....dunno yet! I'm really excited!!! There will be a group of girls there, slim, blonde, in fab designer outfits AND I DON'T EVEN CARE! I feel so great these days with so much weight off...

I am invited to a party on Friday night - in a posh hotel! And staying overnight! And for once, I have accepted - 80lbs ago, I would have refused to go, making up some excuse as I had absolutely no confidence....and in the unlikely event I would attend, I was forced to wear something "flowing" and black, probably with some sparkly beads on it, that a 70 year old woman would find ageing!!! So, I now can go into Principles (www.principles.co.uk), my favourite shop from fifteen years ago, when I was last slim, and wear something glam and funky! I enlose pic of top I bought in UK size 20!!! (USA size 18!) It's their largest size but hey, I'm in the store!!! Whatcha think???

Pat - I am not totally restricted by any means - I had just gotten used to having little or no restriction - for example, I could eat a whole Pizza Hut pizza (for one) - now I can only eat a slice and the dough kind of hurts anyway! I can eat a reasonably healthy amount just can't really tolerate breads etc - I have lost 15lbs since my fill at the begining of feb

I just had my first proper fill at the begining of February - I was banded over a year by then, and the shock of first time restriction has really hit! I have PB'd twice, ON SALAD which I think is hilarious....but emotionally, I am finding it really hard! I have found the past three weekends really depressing without my food treats - I had been dieting during the week for the past 14 months, and then joyfully, going out for pizza/chinese/indian over the weekends (which is why I have "plateaued" for so long!) - now the weekends seem meaningless - I know that's pathetic - I have a great husband, wonderful kids, and tons of fun things I COULD be doing but after sitting in pizza hut without pizza, and in a movie without popcorn, I was fed up and sad! I don't smoke, drink (rarely), or have any worthwhile hobbies - I have just realised over the past few weeks how intrinsic food is to my life - for treats, for rewards, for relaxing etc - I feel "hungry" in my head, and miss actually putting stuff in my mouth (easy, Lulu....!)!!!! I feel disfunctional...so much so, that to my husbands amusement, I have reverted to sucking my thumb at night when I'm asleep!!! Not nearly as much fun as when I was 6 and didn't have fake nails!!!! It is classic oral fixation (see Freud!!) and I feel like a sick freak, standing over the toilet, chewing stuff and spitting it out... Sigh.........any thoughts on this?

hey Marie, did you get my PM?

ohmigod.....!!! Please tell me I'm paranoid and I'm not guessin right what you guys think you're thinking....??!! Someone PM me, I'm a bit dim.... :ninja :eek :eek

woo hoo - welcome to bandland! Hope the next few days aren't too uncomfortable for you xx

thanks marie, that means a lot to everyone

Wahoo! Donali - Alex - Penni - Bright for defo....any other definites? Harleynana, we're thinking about NYC/NJ now, does that suit you? I'm so excited...my friend Debbie, (non-banded but very up to speed!) says she'll come with me too so I won't get lost!!!