Mariposa Bella

Funny that you should talk about this today, I have been sitting at my desk all week doing the same thing, It is so big on my finger, I really should go get a ring guard while I finish losing my weight. I would sure hate to lose it, you see this is actually my third ring, when I first got married all I could afford were gold wedding bands, well after a year, we splurged on a 1 ct diamond with baquets (sp?) on the sides, but it is gold and not what I wanted. (He surprised me with this very nice ring, but it wasn't quite what I wanted.) You see I have always dreamed of this huge diamond rock mounted on platnium and two years ago, he bought me the ring of my dreams, its beautiful the center stone is only 1 ct, but the setting has another 1 3/4 ct of diamonds and it is platinum with a matching band. It is totally awesome, and it was so expensive like you would not believe, (well to us normal folk, I'm sure that to rich people this is not much, but to me its priceless) this is probably the only piece of nice jewelery that I will ever own in my life and so I have to take very good care of it. Even when I wear only jeans and a tshirt, my ring dresses me up. But the fact that he splurged on something that was so important to me makes it even more valuable to me. So there is my story on my beautiful wedding set. So Delarla make sure you also get a ring guard so that we don't lose our precious rings.

Well I want to know too, I usually start to hiccup and by that time I'm overfull and pb, I still don't have the hang of this thing and its very frustrating, sometimes I can eat certain things, sometimes I can't, personally I am very annoyed by the whole thing, most days I sit here and think if this whole process was worth it, I sit here and wish I could eat one of those massive burgers they prepare at CHilli's, oh boy, I can't stand it, I want one of those burgers so bad. But I can't, I can't even eat bread, this is a lot tougher than I ever imagined, I am sure it will be worth it in the end, but meanwhile I am left here wondering. Well hope someone can help with this question.

Congratulations, take it easy and don't try to do too much, it will make your recovery easy and follow your doctors diet very strictly, I didn't and payed the price afterwards by making myself very sick. Well here's wishing you a speedy recovery.

What is prilosec? Never heard of this before. I'm sorry you had to go through this Paula, I hope you feel better soon, this band is hard work you know, so much for some people thinking we took the easy way out. If they only knew what we go through.

Good luck, I now how excited you must feel, I have 30 lbs to lose by July so that I can have my tt and liposculpture. I too must start working on getting to my goal. BEst of luck to both of us. Keep us posted on your progress as I will do the same. Love,

I get my fills without flouru and there hasn't been any problems with not hitting the port. As far as getting to your sweet spot, flouru doesn't determine that, other people have gotten fills with flouru and have been too tight or haven't gotten any restriction, so I don't know how to answer that. The last fill I had was terribly tight for the first three days and I was miserable, but it loosened up just enough to give me good restriction.

Well, I spoke with my doctor and I am planning to head to Mexico to get my tummy tuck and my liposculpture end of July, I am so happy, I have to work extra hard to try to get as close as I can to my goal weight. I have a tough job ahead of me, but the reward will be amazing. He even said that he will reshape my butt with the same fat he removes from other areas to give me a rounder, higher looking butt, I am thrilled. My husband is excited for me, he gave me the money last week and I'm all set to go. One catch, he has challenged me to get to my goal weight and my reward will be my surgery. I think this is the incentive I need. I am so excited. I stand in the mirror everynight and imagine how my body is going to look minus the fat roll overhang on my stomach, minus the extra fat on my thighs, and back. Oh, its going to be awesome, please keep me on track, I want this so bad. Can I ask that all of you check in with me and keep me encouraged to eat properly and do my exercising. I would really appreciate the encouragement from all of you. Well, I will keep you posted on how I'm progressing, I have to lose 30 lbs in four months or 14 weeks, so that is about 2.14 lbs per week, its dooable, please help me stay focused. Thanks. I can't wait.......

Thanks ya'll. you're the best. I'm glad to get reassurance that this is dooable. Thanks again. L,

Just awesome, just awesome ((((YIPPII!!)))

I'm with you Megan, I've seen enough of it in my kids diapers and I'm tired of it.

I have started carrying a styrofoam cup in the car, just in case, funny thing, my kids are now used to me having to pb every now and then, my nine year old says, "ate too much, huh?" She is too funny.

QWinner, I think you hit the nail right on the head, a partners reaction to you might not be so much a change in physical appearance (althought it is a plus) but a reaction to your self confidence and new found self esteem, I personally know this because the times that I have been thinner I enjoy sex more, cause I look good, I feel confident and when I am heavy I hate myself so I don't want sex, I think that if someone loves you they love you no matter what, but if you don't love yourself, it might be difficult for others to love you too, and if your acting like a bitch half the time because your unhappy with yourself (which is my case) then its not surprising that once confidence is gained your attitude improves and therefore hubby is more interested in you, not so much for appearance but for your attitude change. It all about your new attitude not your new appearance. At least thats what I think. I don't even mind the light being on so much now. Can't wait to be my goal weight and enjoy it even more.

How awesome, That is the one fantasy I have, to be carried over to the bed and made love to by my husband. Just like in the movies, you know??? I know its corny, but I've always been too heavy to lift by anyone, actually that had always been one of my fears if I passed out somewhere, how could anyone lift me or rescue me?? Weird. What an awesome son you must have. My son is only three but he climbs in between my legs and grunts like he is trying to carry me, its so funny, he only weighs about 34 lbs and he thinks he can lift me!!

I too wish there was a miracle lotion out there, but I don't know that one exists. I personally have been pregnant too many times for my belly to go back in place, my personal trainer says that I could do thousands of sit ups everyday and not be able to get rid of my pouch, so I am having a tt in July. Sorry if I wasn't any help. And excersising will help tone up, we all have different elastisity on our skins and you might be one of the luckey ones, I know women that have been pregnant three or four times and dont have one stretch mark, and others that were pregnant only once and have tons of them, so we are all different and it would be hard to say. Good luck.

I had a drink not too long ago and boy did I feel tipsy with just one drink, You know whats bad, that I used to have an ocassional beer w/ my pizza or on a hot day and now I can't. I wasn't a beer drinker, but hot being able to have one makes me crave one even more...

Good Luck, You're On Your Way!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!

That is wonderful, I am so happy for you. Wow, 43 inches is alot.

I am totally with you on this one, especially because the weight that had come off came off fairly quickly in the first month 1/2, and then nothing, I had even gained 5 of the 23 lbs I had lost, I felt horrible. But I have to be honest I thought the weight would have come off sooner than it has, because I kept seeing how some people on this board lose 50-60 lbs so fast, I thought I would surely be at my goal weight in no time, BIG MISTAKE> I have had three fills and I think this last one is the charmer, I had it on the 16ht and I have already lost 7lbs, but 5 of that is weight that I had put back on, but hopefully I am on my way. It is very frustrating though that it is this slow.

The sounds that come out of you are so funny sometimes, my kids have a ball with them and the funniest thing happened the other night, I leaned over to kiss my husband good night and this really loud gurguling came from my throat, we started laughing so hard, he said he didn't know he could cause such an uproar in me..

I know how you all feel, it is really discouraging, but you have to remember that because we don't have as much too lose the weight will come off a lot slower. It is frustrating for me because I sure expected to lose a lot more than I have. I was banded on Nov. 4, 2004 and the 23 lbs I've lost was all lost in the first month in a half, so it has been awful not having any other weightloss. (I even put 5 lbs back on) I have had three fills but had not gotten to that sweet spot, as of my last fill I have started to lose weight again and am feeling pretty good. I have lost about 7lbs since my fill two weeks ago and that's wonderful. I have 30 lbs to lose to get to my goal and it is taking forever, but I have to remember that this is not a magic wand, it will take time. But I desperately want to get to my goal, my husband has already handed me the money to get my tummy tuck and body liposculpture, but I can't use it until I get to my goal. So hopefully this fill will do the trick, now I just have to get off my fat butt and exercise excercise. WEll good luck to us all.

Well who knew that when I was 12 and stayed up late at night doing my WE MUST, WE MUST INCREASE OUR BUST exercises they would work. I wear a size 38D which to some of you isn't that big, but they are BIG!! And the worst part, they don't shrink with weight loss, they stay.... The best bras are WACOAL bras, I love them they run $50-$90 but they are worth every penny. Oprah had a show on several years ago dedicated to this very subject and that is where I discovered these amazing bras, wouldn't change them for anything else.

Here are my thoughts, those dresses are fine, but if its truly a formal dress, formal means floor length to me.. those are cocktail (is this how you spell it?)dresses and when its a cocktail dress affair it says cocktail wear which is diffrent than formal wear. Keep looking, your best bet is to head into some stores, I personally don't ever like shopping on line for clothes because I have large boobs and large hips and it is quite difficult to find something that I am trying on so I can't imagine how I could ever buy something that I haven't tried on. Sizes are never the same, I can wear a size 12 in some brands, but others I still buy 14. So from an experienced self admitted shopoholic, go and try on everything but the kitchen sink and then you will know that the first black floor length dress that you tried on first is the perfect one, and it will never be on sale, speaking from experience. I am the queen of black dresses, I own them all!!! Good luck and have fun at your affair. And don't forget to ask at what formal really means....

That is way cool, but no I couldn't use it, even though no one can see, just the thought of you seeing passers by would be too distracting.

I love your idea, I think that if we each have someone take our pictures in our hometowns it sure would cut travel costs. I personally don't know of any photographers here in this area except the lady that does my kids pictures at the private Christian school they attend, and I sure am not letting her see me in my b'day suit.. She's a board member there and that would not be very appropriate, I don't want to get my kids kicked out of school, so I might just have to come visit you in Michigan one weekend.. I really don't need much graphics except maybe some rain, I'll supply the yellow umbrella and yellow rainboots, we'll keep working on this. Have you heard back from Scotty???

I too hope you start feeling well soon. Love,