vinesqueen

Hi Bigmama, have you tried to up your calories? Some people find that when they are working out that much, they need more calories. Are you tight enough? Also, have you checked your body fat percentages? Do you know what you started out at, and do you know where you are now? This is very important to find out. You might be building muscles and those weigh more than fat. Just a thought

food is such a diffiuclt adiction, because we could never smoke another (fill in the blank) and not die. But if we stop eating we die. I'm sorry you are having such struggles. But every really is a new day and we always have a new chance in the morning, or even late in theday. The band is not all or nothing. It is the best we can do. Sometimes it means that our weight loss is slower than others, and sometimes it means that we gain a little weight. And sometimes, just sometimes, the band works even when we are working against it. If you were able to eat and eat and eat, you might need even more fill. Trust me when I say you can be too tight to eat anything, but that of course, is way too tight and isn't good. Courage, and we are here for you

When you first start crunches people frequently find that their tummies hurt. Just don't give up on them, and you will be doing 70 in no time at all!

Oh Jessie, how wonderful! I'm so very happy and proud of you!

Oh Kim that is wonderful isn't it! I remember the first time that happened to me, we went to a private showing at the SAM (Seattle Art Musium) because the DH supports it through the matching charity giving at his work. I know how exciting that is for you! Well done, and weare waiting for the newest installemtn!

Feel free to PM me any time! Brenda, copy the BBcode, the top option for getting the ticker in your signature. And as for what keeps me motivated, well, it's my NSV list. Some days it is the only thing that keeps going. Right now, I've been reviewing it, remembering where I was last year, now sick I was, and how .... debilitated I was. I am amazed that have progressed so far, with so little scale victories. I'm depressed right now, because after getting my unfill, getting to the place where I can eat a massive 1200 calories a day, I've gained 10 pounds in 3 weeks. I spent about 30 minutes crying, and I'm sure I'll cry again.

Okay, I got to ID, and my scale, and, well. Crap. My weight is 244, again, not 235. This sucks. I'm back the same place I was in July.

Hi Brenda. Well, he's baffled and has no freaking clue. The fine folks at my clinic are baffled and frankly mystified as well. The only folks that they see who don't lose weight are non-compliant ones that need extra head work, and not someone like me. The next step is to find an Endocrinologist, I think I'll try to find one in SE ID and not wait until I get back home for Spring Break. Even though all my thyroid tests came back "normal" as in smack dab in the middle of the expeced range, he put me on thyroid meds to see if we can jump start my loss that way. I've been on them a week, and will weigh myself tomorrow to see if there has been any loss in a month.

loose pouns per day???? what a novel idea Yup, we use pounds primarily because most of the folks on this board are Americans, and we are still on the Imperial system.

Alex, you rock! You just rock.

that is FANTASTIC news! Congrats! and here's hoping that you will stay a rabbit!

Good question, but I have no answers. I've either been MO or thought I was MO my entire adult life, starting from high school. Even when I was the same size as others, I was always heavier than they were. I am a strong assertive woman, but I think I would be this way no matter what size I was. I think in part it comes from being raised by wolves, and having the curage to stand up against my parents when I was in high school.

Ok, I'm in, although I have little chance to win anything. Gee, the end of March? Hell, I have a chance to lose a whole pounds in 3 month. Geeze I really am turning into a bitter old woman. Okay, my NSVs for the week... Last night I went skiing for 3 hours. Didn't huff or puff at all, and I didn't need my puffer either. So, that puts me at 3 NSVs. Wait, make that 4 NSVs, I'm not sore from skiing yesterday.

Oh Maggie! I'm so very sorry you feel that way! But just so you know, belly dancing is NOT for men, it is a dance by women for women. It isn't a sexual thing, but a cultural thing. And some dancers wear full flowing dresses that would hide as much of you as does a sweater! For some women, I'm sure they like to primarily dance for men, but the vast majorty of dancers never dance anywhere but in their class! It's all about comfort levels. I'm a middle child, doing everything I can to get some attention.... Thanks for your kind words Emily. It's hard when all you have are NSVs, but those are what keep me going on my journey.

Hey Celest! we, better than anyone, can appricate the pain of not losing. Sorry it's been such a hard go for you. At my current rate of loss, I will weigh 180 pounds in 2010. That's being optimistic at 18 pounds a year. Since April I've averaged a loss of 1.5 pounds a month, not a week.

bumping for the new year!

Zoe! Zoe! ZOE! (the crowd swells!) Yay! You're back! You're back! I'm so very glad you are back! (can you tell?) Glad you are recovering, sorry it took so long!

Our GeezerSue converted from the Band to the DS, and she's doing really great so far. I say so far, because she just recently had it done, like within the last month. She's still in the healing phase, and is very happy with her convertion. ( I just love Sue) I expect that Sue will do just great with her new DS, since she's a real trooper! Other than Sue, I don't think we have anyone else who's had that particular WLS. This is a board dedicated to the Band, so you will find few people here with other types of WLS. We are all very pro-band, and so you will get lots of pro-band folks. Which isn't a bad thing, but it is a little one-sided. Good luck in your research!

When I was over filled, I was only able to manage a couple of tablespoons of food at a time. Now that I'm back to a reasonable fill, I find a saucer size of food is just about right. When we go out for dinner, one entree makes 3 meals, unless I order the child's plate. I can't eat an entire child's meal though.

It's funny about the straw thing. We were told anything that would fit through a straw was just fine during the liquid phase. And yes, the liquid phase is a time for healing, not for weight loss. I have never had a problem with extra gas from using a straw, and I can't for the life of me figure out how people end up swallowing air using one. But my mother always ends up swallowing a ton of air when she uses one. I love using staws, espeically silly ones.

Holy crap! 40Kg since August and you're WORRIED????? Oh honey! you are a freaking rabbit! (queue thunderous appause!) You are doing AMAZING!!!! Please stop stressing about this!

I've had 5 treatments for my ... ah hem... little problem. Every time before I used the numbing cream and sat there for 30--45 minutes or longer, and it still hurt like hell. (and it does NOT smell like popcorn, smells like... BURNING HAIR) This last time They told me that they no longer use the cream but used ice packs instead. I was more than a little paniced because I knew it was going to hurt like hell. Again, only worse because they didn't use the cream. Well, instead they packed my face with ice packs. and after I decided that I couldn't feel my face anymore we proceeded to zap my face. You know what? It hardly hurt at all. Instead of being red for a couple of days, I was only red throughout the afternoon. And this time i didn't have the terrible acne breakout like I did with the numbing cream. Bonus!

Ahem, We ARE dancing in your living room in our PJ's! See? Right now! I've got on my red flannle bottoms on with the teeny white raindeer, and white thermal shirt!

Or am I simply one of the truely odd outliers with a probable metabolic disorder?

Well, sweetie, only you can answer that question. There are many bandsters who've lost that kind of weight in a year, or two. There are also plenty of folks who've had the RNY or other GB and haven't lost that kind of weight. And there is no saying that if the band doesn't work for you, that any other one will either. I have recently come to the decision that while the band isn't going to work for me the way it does for others, a malabsorptiive technique like the RNY or the DS probably won't work either. If I can't lose on 700 calories a day, then I probably can't lose at all. But I'll keep my band, thank you very much. And at the stage you are at right now, I think EVERYBODY second guesses their decision right about 2-4 weeks out. Some sooner, some later.