Road Queen

P'Nut - just realized we are the same age. My goal was not to be overweight when I hit 50. I have 8 months to lose that last pound - LOL - so my BMI is normal. I am going to celebrate next year alot - taking motorcycle trips in South Africa, going to Italy to drink wine and eat olives, etc. How about you? Any 50 plans?

PhotoNut - I wish I could send you tons of my 12s and 14s. I was so excited to get into those when I moved here I bought a half dozen pair of jeans and another half dozen twills for work. And they pretty much fall off now. I have been giving away clothes since I moved here. It is so weird to put on a sweater and look like I'm wearing a tent. Congratulations - you are doing awesome.

Livvy - good job! And congrats on recognizing the importance of NSVs. Keep us updated.

My dr had a two week diet - but I was in Ecuador vacationing so could only follow it for one week. And I blew it most days! But not too bad and I still lost weight. booda- there will be many times in the future you will plateau or stall. Weight loss initially is always rapid. I wouldn't worry too much now but if you are still losing this rapidly in a couple of months. I think the skin issue also depends on 1) original size 2) skin elasticity 3) age, and other things I am sure I don't understand.

NewSho, There isn't even a dr in this country that I am allowed to use. If I would have any medical condition, they have an individual on contract that could stabilize me until I could be flown to South Africa. I have not been able to find a lapband dr in S. Africa. But I didn't move here until 10 months after surgery. So I seem to be okay. The big issue is that after this trip in August, I won't be back in the US until 2008. Right now, I am shredding carrots, spinach, cooking black Beans, etc for my 10 days of healthy eating (oops I forgot to mention I am having my unhealthy Sunday morning coffee with 1/2 shot of baileys - to relax my morning band). Joe - how's the ice cream addiction coming? I am lucky that I have never like it. I would get a caramel sundae, eat the topping off and give my dog the ice cream. Maybe you should share your ice cream with a four legged pal. Let us know how you are doing. Celeste

to see how food goes down, take a funnel. put in yogurt. (if you want to see the effects of drinking Water with meals, put in some water with it) now put in mushies. they tend to go down slower.

I don't remember if you followed the fill restrictions affter you got this fill - 2 days liquids, 2 days mushies - but if you didn't, that may have caused your initial swell. If swelled from the fill, going on the post-fill diet of liquids relieved the swelling and allowed you to proceed. You could have been swelled for many reasons. I swell from heat, TOM, stress, etc. From what I understand, the US is pretty hot these days and I would have alot of restriction there now. But this journey is teaching me about my body. Start listening to your body, eat healthy, make good choices, determine what is right for you. Sorry you had such a bad experience with your fill. I have found that I cannot rely totally on my dr - he doesn't have a band and only knows what patients tell him. I find reading posts here (especially old ones) to be much more beneficial. Good luck.

okay, take the cheese and sausage out of my salad, put in a packet of flavored tuna. Its awesome. I alternate using thousand island or italian dressing. This is going to be my main meal for the next 10 days....I have 3 gallon bags full of spinach in my fridge and a gallon bag of carrots.. My gardener thinks I need to start eating more.

Joe, it looks like you are doing great but are stuck in a rut right now. That happens to me periodically and I need to remind myself that I am not a regular person but a bandster and I got the band to get a healthy weight - and not center my life around food anymore. I received some boxes of food from home a couple of weeks ago and have been eating very unhealthy too. I have had licorice, candy bars, sausage, etc. I am now pledging to eat healthy every day from now until Aug 23 (when I visit the US to ride my new 96 in. 6 speed Road King for a couple of weeks). Spinach, black Beans, shredded carrot, tuna, fresh veggies with olive oil and vinegar dressing is going to be my main food!! (Finding food to eat here is difficult as a bandster) Make a vow to take it one day at a time and improve your habits every day. Don't lose the momentum now. Good luck. Celeste

I had to wait 3 weeks after surgery to do anything beyond walking.

Yes, that happens occassionally. If I drink Water too fast and cold, it comes back up. I had a couple of weeks where I couldn't tolerate coffee in the morning. (I like my coffee strong). I am extremely sensitive to heat and when its hot I have to be careful to take small drinks of water that is just slightly chilled, not cold. I have had a very stressful week and as I am drinking coffee this morning, I can hear it going down. Slowly. Sorry about the center alignment on this. I don't know what happened. Over time, you will find many new things out concerning your band, your body, stress, etc. This is all part of the journey. And I think it makes us more aware than non-bandsters. Good luck. Celeste

This journey has been freaky. When I left the US, everybody was noticing my weight loss, complimenting me, etc I was able to buy lots of clothes and enjoyed it all. I have lost another 25 since then. I hope when I get back and look in a full length mirror, I am happy. Sometimes, I feel like a runt. I don't want to be tiny. Just normal size and healthy. I also stayed home alot after surgery (May 2005). So there are many people who haven't seen me for 70+ pounds or 1/3 of my former body weight. I feel more vulnerable physically at this size. I always figured if worse happened I'd probably squash an opponent. I know I looked more intimidating in old photos. I will post after I return to US and let you know how it goes emotionally. Celeste

I hate to tell you this but what you are doing is the right thing. When its not working, go to threads, read what others do, implement the basic rules. These are what I call basic rules: don't drink with meals small bites chewed 25 times stop at the first sign of being full don't lay down for at least an hour after eating eat your last meal 3-4 hours before bedtime never assume that what works today will work next week Even after 15 months, this is still a learning experience for me. Good luck.

3loves - love that mower. Two weeks from Friday I will be riding a 2007 Road King custom 96 ci 6 speed. Can't wait...

I have been addicted to scales and tape measures since the 70s. Even when I was gaining, I recorded. Everytime I lost weight, I checked how much inches compared to other times I was at that weight. BTW - in 1975 when I weighed 108, I had a 23 inch waist and 21 inch thigh. Now, at 146 I have a 32 inch waist and 23 inch thigh. Not so thigh heavy these days. When I moved to Africa, I threw all the records away - except post surgery documentation. I know my body changes as I age and its better to just accept it. But I still love to weigh daily and measure weekly.

You guys are doing great. Hang in there. It will be worth it. Now, I have to go get food ready for my book club tomorrow night. Good thing I have my band or that alone would put on 5 pounds a month. Celeste

Wheetsin, I have friends who are into stuff like that. Please remind me in two weeks when I get back to the US for a visit (yes, two weeks) and I will ask them. They are not the kind of guys who email so I can't do it from here. Some go to black powder competitions, others do those renaissance type festivals, etc. Celeste

Picardy, I feel sorry for you and yes, the band tightens during stress. Being miserable at work is so bad. We spend the majority of our time at work and when that's miserable, it really disrupts our lives. But isn't it cool that when we are banded and stressed - food is not the instant solution. I hope things get better. Try and set up some support system with other teachers who are experiencing the same difficulties. Don't use it as a whine session but how can we get through this and make it as positive as possible. I always picture myself at a job interview and they are asking 'describe how you have turned a negative into a positive during a past job' and I can say - 'at a job site, we had a new boss whose management style was difficult for many of us to adjust to. By setting up a support group for each other, we gave positive suggestions to help the others and ourselves adjust to the situation...' Then, if nothing else, you are ready for your next job search. Good luck. Celeste

I don't think it was chocolate season she was referring to - its ice cream season. You can only have ice cream when its cold outside and its too hot now (in the US anyway).

Everyone here has given you great advice. I also have had major time periods where I stalled. For me, those are weights that I weighed for a long time in the past. 190 - I was stalled around 6 weeks. I weighed that multiple times over the years. 179 - stalled for 4 months. Weighed that in 1975, 1982, 1988, 1994, etc 152 - stalled for 2 months. My low phen-fen weight and my normal weight in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I have just thought these are weights my body has been comfortable with and needs incentive to leave. (lol) I was 132 for many years so I'm hoping that's where the body decides to go!!! I don't know if this applies to your current plateau but it gets me through the plateaus mentally. Good luck.

I don't know if my brother has made comments but I wouldn't have listened to them anyway. I'm a little independent and headstrong and never worried about his opinion. But I do have a funny similar story - I was home for an all school reunion a couple of years ago and a classmate commented that he always respected me for my professional work, volunteer work, motorcycle riding, etc but his respect was diminished when he saw how fat I had become. I told him to get away or I would sit on him and squish him - and how embarrasing would it be to have a 'short fat girl' beat you up. The owner of the bar threw him out, bought me a straight shot, and we laughed about it all night. One thing about Africa. I do outweigh most of the guys here....fortunately, I no longer hang out in bars or make rude comments....

I moved out of the US at 49! When I was 42 or 43, I decided that I wanted to work internationally someday. Even if it meant at retirement that I opened a humane society in a remote country. I went back to school for my masters, started on a second masters, began teaching college classes at night, increased the organizations I belonged to, volunteered abroad, started reading books about peace corp volunteers, etc. I could not have handled this 20 years ago. Even at 30, I don't think I had the skills to deal with situations like this - heck, I struggle now. If you truely want it and work for it, it will happen. Good luck.

When did this occur? You don't want to be overfilled. That can cause problems. Also, some peoples fills kick in a few weeks later. I am much tighter right now than I was a couple of months ago. I am also tighter at 1.5 than I was at 1.7 because I react to heat. Give it time. Take it slow. We didn't put the weight on overnight and should not expect to lose it overnight. Good luck. Celeste

Yes, you may have pain from the port side. I think it was a couple of months before I could even sleep on that side. My port still irritates me at times. Use a heating pad. Walk. You have the after effects of anesethesia combined with a foreign object in your body. They also use some kind of gas during surgery that gave me should pain for weeks afterwards. You just had major surgery. If your dr gave you pain medicine, take it. Good luck. Celeste

just had a great salad - 4 pieces of spinach torn up small, a grated carrot, little bit of onion, 3 Tablespoons black Beans, One slice summer sausage cut up into small bits, 1 Tablespoon cheddar cheese, 1 T reduced calorie thousand island dressing - I know its heavy in fat but it only clocks in at 220 calories on fit day. I had Protein shake at 90 calories this morning so I'm still going to struggle to get close to 1000 calories today.