vinesqueen

That's us exactly! Your DH must have seem me since i"m one of the beautiful people! well, not really, I don't jog, but I do jiggle! I don't take my poor old dog for walks any more, at this point it's more a hobble... he sometimes takes a nap on his way to the dinner bowl... In all fairness he will be 16 this year... and for a Lab that's .... beyond belief! oooh love the day spa too. But now I'm stuck in Exile... *sigh* SE ID is nothing like the Eastside.... SallyKotz is from the Seattle area too!

oh! and JohnQ! don't even get me started!

I just took a stroll through the before and after pix. Not to be undertaken lightly with dial-up! Again and again and again, I am totally blown away by the years people lose with the weight they loose. Most people easily lose 5-10 years off their age! So, Michelle and Christine, after I lose my weight, how old would you say I would be? Trishie! You've lost so much in your face! Paula, either you've lost a ton of size, or your daughter has double in width! In the before it would take 4 of her to hide behind, but now only two! Amazing! Alex, I think you used a pix of your auntie!

***blushing furiously!!!!!**** Oh for even doing the missionary...

First off, you are doing nothing wrong. Going back on liquids will solve nothing. Sounds like you are filled a bit too tightly.

Okay, I'm joining even though I probably won't lose the weight. I start at 247. Here are my starting NSVs... this weekend after the Vegas Bash I had to tighten my seatbelt as opposed to asking for an extender. I just crossed my (explative deleted) legs!!!!!

actually, I haven't met most of the NSVs I thought I would. That said, the diffent NSVs I have had blow my mind. In March when I flew home for my surgery, I had to have a belt extender. This week when I flew home from Vegas I actualy needed to tighten the belt. HOLY SH*T! I mean HOLY SH*T!!!!! I just crossed my legs! Okay, Corinne! This was one of the things on my NSV to-do list!!!!!

Today I weigh 247. I weigh more now than I did earlier this summer, but not much. Okay, I’ve been feeling very sorry for myself lately. I mean really sorry. I haven’t been handling my non-weight loss gracefully. Not gracefully at all. I just went back and looked at my spreadsheet I use to track my progress. I have lost a grand total of 3 pounds since 3/29. That’s it, three measly little pounds. Gee, I’m on track to lose an entire 6 pounds this year. (insert explicative deleted here.) On 5/5/2005 I had my impedance measured at the gym. 251 pounds, and at that time I had a body fat % of 44.9. My fat mass was 113 and my fat free mass (FFM) was 138.1. Today I checked and I have weigh 247 with a body fat % of 42.5. That’s a change of 2.4%! It means that I’ve lost 7.7 pounds of fat but I’ve gained 3.4 pounds of muscle. I really don’t know what this means yet. My new FFM is 142, and so with the 35% of body fat that would be considered in the “healthy” range for women my age, that would mean my goal is somewhere between 180 – 192 pounds. So it looks like I only have about 55 pounds left to go. … sigh. So at my current rate of loss, I should be there in 3.5 years…. That’s averaging 14 pound of fat loss a year…. Kkkkhhhhaggg However, if I put on another 3.2 pound of muscle, that will bring my FFM to 147 and my body fat% to 40.1% and I would only need to loose 47 more pounds…. And I would be just about right at 200 pounds. I wish I knew enough math to be able to figure out how much difference another 7.7 pounds weight loss would make in this equation. I wish I was smarter. So, actually, at the rate I'm going, I shoud be at goal in 2 years, total. Not RNY, but probably good bandster progress, especially for one as big (and as sick) as I started. So, I went from wearing pants size 24 to size 20-18 with a 3 pound net weight loss.

So many people, men and women, feel that they are not desireable because they think they are not. It's a BRAIN thing. It isn't about what you look like. Hell, I still weigh damn near 250 pounds and know I'm sexy. You are right partly Alex, but that is not what this thread about. Or at least, not what Mari had in mind. Being able to view one's self as sexy is wonderful and powerful. I'm so sorry Alex that you have never felt sexy. I think this is tragic.

I think the only "bad" that comes to mind is the reality of being a slow looser.

Okay, here is the thing, it doesn't matter what you CURRENTLY think is sexy. NJChick, you don't think there is one sexy thing about you. Guess what? You are right! Do you know why? Because you because you don't THINK there is anything. Pick one thing and PRETEND it is sexy. Tell yourself everyday "I have a great ass." Or "I have amazing cleavage" or "I have the most lucious lips ever." Pick one thing, in the beginning, and tell yourself that it is great. Even if you don't believe it right now. Look, one of the things we have to change about our weight is thinking that we are fat. Especially as we loose weight. We have to think differently about ourselves and our self image. I think that not thinking or feeling that we are sexy is a form of body dysmorphia. Excellent work Mari! Now that you have sexy feet, make sure to take care of them, and keep your piggies painted. My sister thinks I have beautiful toes because they are really long. She calles them my "finger toes." She on the other hand, has cute little piggies, not freakishly long like mine.) See? I've been working on appriating my wonderful long toes, and not the freakishly long ones I have. Does this make sense? If you don't think you have any little bit it sexy on you, you must start thinking you are sexy. If you don't want you, no one else will. So. FAKE IT FOR NOW. I'm serious about this. Pretend you have a great ass. Pretend you have the most beautiful toes, the most kissable lips, the most seductive eyes.

Welcome Catherine, glad to have you here! Always nice to have someone from the Pacific Northwe(s)t Cannot wait to move back home... Eastside... You know what that means..

Ahem, "tomorrow" has come and gone a couple of times now. Where's the Update?

Could a moderator please do the side by side thing for me? Please?

Oh Daisydoodle-bug, I'm so very sorry. I cannot begin to understand your pain, but I share it. I"m so sorry. I know how excited you were. Peace be with you dear one.

This pix was taken in Lisa's living room, as the second party was going on... Look at Terri's expression! Oh my! I made out like a band-it during the clothing exchange! Like a Band-it! I'm sooo sorry everyone wasn't able to make it this year. Trish! What happened? We really missed you, and we were so sorry that you couldn't make it. We thought you'd confirmed so we were especially sorry that you couldn't make it! Franchesa really is cute as a button, and Michelle's eyes are amazingly Blue! It's hard to believe that Jenna has a band, she looks so terrific. I know she thinks she still needs to loose, but I think she looks terrific and "NORMAL." I thought that Terri would be more bubbly, but she is really quiet. I'll bet though that by next year she will be really wild... Lisa is... well just as you would expect... the Tazmainian Devil... A whirlwind of amazing energy. I wish I had just a portion of what you have! Oh, and I think Lisa needs to let me paint her livingroom in a beautiful terracota, with sand accents. Yup, I think she should let me do that. It was funny when I got to the hotel I shard with Christina... I thought she was going to ask me for my ID. She was convinced that I was in imposter... that I had for some reason sent my secret daughter in my stead... But it was really me.

What a trip! I'm finally safe and sound back in my apartment in Idaho. Man, what a long trip. I left the hotel at 9:00 this morning and finally arrived in my apartment at 6:30 pm... whew! Long trip but worth it. Relatively short flight, but long long drive home. I didn't get too many pix, my battery died, and I neglected to bring my chager, or a spare... What was I thinking??? Oh, and it took me 4 guesses to figure out who I was. This first pix was taken by Jenna. It's Christina and Kare, Terri's (coyotegirl) friend. Not Kare (rhyms with bear)... Maybe next year Kare?

that was great! This is what my DH sent me last night while I was working on accounting homework.... http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20000617

oh, and I still do feel like a fraud because I haven't lost any sort of weight. Fraud and huckster= me

Thanks Jenna. Yeah, I'd peg you as a movie star too... Sorry you have to force all those things. I guess the only thing I can say to help you though that is ... may the force be with you!

Wait? are you calling me a fraud? or outing your self you silly goose? It's almost midnight, and I'm wired. Oh sure, I just spent the last 4 hours working on my accounting homework. (may I take this opportunity to thank all the accounting majors out there? Since you like that work, there is no danger ever of me having to take any job that even closely resembles accounting...) New groups of people really do scare me. Yeah, yeah, I know, the wost that can happen is that I'll be stomped to death. Again. No big deal, I know. But still, large clusters of people make me panic. Of course, it won't be like The Bite of Seattle... oh dear god... I'm trying very hard to not talk myself out of going. Not to late to miss my flight...

I was sort of hoping it was still tuesday myself. I'm still terribly nervous and scared to meet y'all. I'm goin' though...

I also don't have any "forbidden" foods. I try to do everything in moderation, even moderation. Brown rice works well for me. Little servering of it, but it works. ooooh Maki and sush rolls go down nicely too, just not too many!

Yay! what wonderful news Alex! Terrific, and I'm so glad it's all resolved!

Hi Ebony. You haven't been banded yet, so have something to eat. If you are truly weak from hunger then you probably need to eat something. Or at the very least, add another Protein shake. You won't serve yourself by being in physical distress before your surgery. Everybody is terribly, terribly nervous before their surgery, and I was convinced that no one could have been more nervous than I was. I have a sneeking suspicous that everyone feels that way. Don't worry about your fill yet either. Most people don't have any issue with their fill. Most need a little tweeking, and I emphasize *little*, to get things just right. You will do just fine.