lekanto

The best exercise is the one you will stick with. I was so disappointed recently when I looked up calories in alcohol and found that most liquor is about 70 calories per ounce. One ounce! Not counting mixers! Not fair. I had just discovered the joys of spiced rum, too.

I have a peanut butter sandwich (on a whole wheat sandwich thin bun) most days. 300 calories, easy to make ahead of time and eat in the car, and cheaper than breakfast bars.

I used to think I wouldn't be able to run because I was fat with big boobs and bad feet. Once I learned about the Couch to 5K concept, I decided to give it a try. Running actually makes my feet feel better! My tip: Enell sports bras are the greatest. They are expensive, but totally worth it. One thing I love is tracking my runs with Map My Run. I run down random streets exploring the neighborhood, then look at my route map to see where I went.

Look up 100 Pushups. There's a website and there are apps. Even if you can't do one good pushup right now, you will be surprised by your progress.

Don't be afraid of the free weights! A lot of women stay away from them, but I recommend giving them a try. They make me feel pretty bad-ass, which is helpful in staying motivated.

I picked 135. I am 5'5". That would be a BMI of 22.5, and 5-10 lbs lighter than I was before I got fat. I plan to get my body fat percentage measured once I get under 150 lbs so I can adjust my goal if needed.

Background: I am female, 40, and 5'5". I got up to my high weight of 260 last spring. I was 245 when I started my pre-op liquid diet on Nov. 8, 2012, and something like 237 on Nov. 14, 2012 when I had my surgery. I currently weigh 195 lbs. With my last fill on April 22, I got up to 6.1cc in my 10cc band. I had only lost 3 lbs in the 6 weeks before that, and I have lost 6 lbs since. I think I may have hit the Green Zone this time. It's not that I feel a sense of restriction, it's more that I feel ok with stopping when I have finished the amount of food that I have allotted for my meal. I could still easily eat more if I didn't have my food planned out. I still have to use some willpower to keep from snacking out of boredom, but it's not a big struggle. I kind of feel like a normal person. Stuff that is working for me, in case it helps anyone: As much as I don't want to measure and count everything for the rest of my life, I have realized that I will need to do it at least for as long as I am in weight loss mode. To that end, I got the myfitnesspal app on my phone. Every bite is documented. I shoot for 1200 calories a day. I love my food scale. It's easier to use than measuring cups and measuring spoons. No way am I going to measure Peanut Butter in a spoon and then scrape it out when I can make my sandwich directly on the scale. I don't do diet desserts/sweets. I keep my sweets few and far between, but I get the good stuff! I eat 4-5 times a day. I usually have a pretty small Breakfast, especially if I have to eat early, so I will have some calories left for later. I eat the hell out of sardines. Most days, I take a can of sardines and an apple to work for lunch. I keep a big container of almonds in my car so I can eat a handful between work and the gym (and yes, I have measured my handful!). Screw the rules. I drink diet soft drinks and I drink with meals! I sip slowly while I am eating and immediately afterward. It works for me. I can't always drink at work when I'm not on a break. I try to exercise every day, alternating weightlifting at the gym with walking/jogging/biking in my neighborhood. I am very fortunate to have a 24-hr gym between home and work and a nice neighborhood to jog in. I use the mapmyrun app to see my routes and compare them. Can you tell I just got a smart phone? I am also starting the 100 Pushups program (again), for which there is also an app. When I realized that part of the reason I was on a plateau was that all the change was freaking me out, I decided to change a few other comfortable things just to prove to myself that I could. I got a short haircut and three new ear piercings! That made me feel pretty fierce. I am working very hard on patience. It doesn't matter if the scale goes up one day or holds steady for a few more. If I keep doing what I'm doing, it is physically impossible for my body to maintain its current weight.

Background: I am female, 40, and 5'5". I got up to my high weight of 260 last spring. I was 245 when I started my pre-op liquid diet on Nov. 8, 2012, and something like 237 on Nov. 14, 2012 when I had my surgery. I currently weigh 195 lbs. With my last fill on April 22, I got up to 6.1cc in my 10cc band. I had only lost 3 lbs in the 6 weeks before that, and I have lost 6 lbs since. I think I may have hit the Green Zone this time. It's not that I feel a sense of restriction, it's more that I feel ok with stopping when I have finished the amount of food that I have allotted for my meal. I could still easily eat more if I didn't have my food planned out. I still have to use some willpower to keep from snacking out of boredom, but it's not a big struggle. I kind of feel like a normal person. Stuff that is working for me, in case it helps anyone: As much as I don't want to measure and count everything for the rest of my life, I have realized that I will need to do it at least for as long as I am in weight loss mode. To that end, I got the myfitnesspal app on my phone. Every bite is documented. I shoot for 1200 calories a day. I love my food scale. It's easier to use than measuring cups and measuring spoons. No way am I going to measure peanut butter in a spoon and then scrape it out when I can make my sandwich directly on the scale. I don't do diet desserts/sweets. I keep my sweets few and far between, but I get the good stuff! I eat 4-5 times a day. I usually have a pretty small breakfast, especially if I have to eat early, so I will have some calories left for later. I eat the hell out of sardines. Most days, I take a can of sardines and an apple to work for lunch. I keep a big container of almonds in my car so I can eat a handful between work and the gym (and yes, I have measured my handful!). Screw the rules. I drink diet soft drinks and I drink with meals! I sip slowly while I am eating and immediately afterward. It works for me. I can't always drink at work when I'm not on a break. I try to exercise every day, alternating weightlifting at the gym with walking/jogging/biking in my neighborhood. I am very fortunate to have a 24-hr gym between home and work and a nice neighborhood to jog in. I use the mapmyrun app to see my routes and compare them. Can you tell I just got a smart phone? I am also starting the 100 Pushups program (again), for which there is also an app. When I realized that part of the reason I was on a plateau was that all the change was freaking me out, I decided to change a few other comfortable things just to prove to myself that I could. I got a short haircut and three new ear piercings! That made me feel pretty fierce. I am working very hard on patience. It doesn't matter if the scale goes up one day or holds steady for a few more. If I keep doing what I'm doing, it is physically impossible for my body to maintain its current weight.

I like PB2 (I buy it at Kroger) for mixing into things or sprinkling on apple slices. For sandwiches, I like Smucker's all-natural peanut butter. 2 tbsp on a Kroger whole wheat sandwich slim bun is a 290 cal breakfast that I can eat in the car.

I had my surgery on a Wednesday and went back to work the following Monday. It sucked. I wished I had taken a couple more days off.

I don't have any advice for that because I don't think there's really much to be done about serious amounts of loose skin other than surgery. I just want to tell you that whenever I see someone with the telltale signs of significant weight loss, I secretly think that that person is awesome.

I'm 4 1/2 months out and I think I'm starting to get a handle on head hunger. Sometimes it helps me to chew a piece of gum after a meal. It is a cue that I am done, and it keeps me from putting anything else in my mouth.

I have been the same way. Other than my Red Zone week, I have been able to eat anything and certainly well over a cup (though I wasn't told to keep to one cup- I was told that I should be satisfied with 8-12 oz). I am 4 months out and had my last fill 6 days ago. I feel like I have turned a corner in the past couple of days. I am finding that, although I can fit more food in my stomach, I don't want to. If I am busy doing other things, I can forget about food. I hope this means I am getting into the Green Zone. Getting back to work tomorrow will be the test. Every day I find myself watching the clock, counting down to my next meal or snack.

Same here.

I love both kinds of Cadbury eggs, but I used to eat those mini-eggs by the bag. Not the little bag, either. I'm not going near those things. They are the devil. I am planning to have one Cadbury Creme Egg. One.

It sounds like you need some fine-tuning. I'm not experienced enough to say, of course. I had a fill last month that took me from Yellow Zone straight to Red Zone with just 1 cc. I got a 0.7 cc unfill a week later, and a 0.3 cc fill three weeks after that, and I'm not to the Green Zone yet. I think it's going to take some fiddling.

That is a good question for your dietician. I'm thinking that, as long as you are taking your vitamins/supplements that have been prescribed and following up to make sure you don't have any nutritional deficiencies, you should be ok eating according to your hunger.

I never seem to notice weight loss in other people until it hits about 40 lbs. My husband has mentioned that that is usually about the time people notice that he has lost weight as well.

If you think you are losing slowly now (which you are not, but I know the feeling!), brace yourself. It's probably going to slow down pretty soon. You probably have some plateaus ahead, too. Keep doing what you're doing. It's hard to be patient and keep chugging along when you don't see instant results, but that's what we have to do! I don't mean that to sound patronizing. I have to keep telling myself the same thing.

Since I've had the band, I have to be more careful about having too many dairy products. That was never really a problem before, but I think the sheer volume of food I ate kept everything moving.

Dude, she didn't call you anything.

I have also been a binge eater, and also have trouble with getting the munchies in the evening. Right now, I'm trying to work out how many calories I need and when/what to eat so that I'm not actually hungry in the evening. It's easier to avoid overeating if I don't need to eat anything at that time.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do nutritionally to raise your platelet count. (I'm a platelet donor, and also a nurse who collects platelets from other donors.)