steph_co

I haven't thought of a specific month because I don't want to be disappointed and beat myself up. But I'm hoping for summertime. So that gives me a 3-month window. LOL I would be thrilled to be in the "normal" range by the beginning of summer. Only 21 more lbs to get there! I thought I'd be able to hold off in the pants I have until I got to goal since I wore my 42s until I was down to 36. But the 36s look funny and they kind of rub funny against my legs when I walk. I told DH if I fit the 32s, I'm getting some. As for tops...thankfully the official uniform shirt is provided. I made DH get me a medium. I got a medium fleece, too. Of course, going down in that size isn't too hard when you don't have boobs. :biggrin: LOL I thought you looked pretty skinny in your pic sitting down with your husband and the dogs. I'd say 30 lbs in 3 months is pretty dramatic. Keep up the good work. At this point, I really haven't had many people say anything. 2 acquaintances, my DH, and my mother and that's it. I hate to say it, but I think I'm starting to notice that people tend to be pretty self-involved. I guess I find it weird when I feel like I always notice that stuff and would comment. Oh, well. That's people for you. Thanks, Sades. :biggrin: Thanks, Shortgal.

52 pounds...halfway to goal.

OK, I said I was going to hide the scale. Actually, DH was supposed to and he forgot. I couldn't resist using it. I am just past my midpoint for weight loss. So I decided to take a halfway pic and compare it to one I took before the surgery. Same outfit...BIG difference! I'm scared for the weight loss to slow down - they say it does as you get closer to goal. But I'm really excited - I feel almost normal...especially looking at the after pic!

I am seriously impressed. To only gain 3 lbs over 1 year of being "off track?" If I went off track before the band for a YEAR, I would have gained back ALL of the weight I lost. Sounds like the band IS helping! 85 lbs is a lot!! Welcome back to the board - I know you can do this!

I have DEFINITELY fallen down...more than once. The important part is to get back up. Just take that first step to get the carbs out of your system. Once they are out, the cravings are much easier to handle. Mine are in my head and actually easier to battle now that my body isn't begging for sugar. I agree with katrose - do a 3-day purge. Tell yourself it's just 3 days...you can do that. At the end of 3 days, you'll feel so much better and a bit stronger at fighting those carbs. You can do this!

I agree with this. I have been using Burt's Bees body butter. They changed their formulation so I'll have to find a new one. But my skin is really soft. It's always been a little dry and it was more so once I started dieting. The body butter has made an amazing difference.

Thank you. :eek: It's frustrating for me to look at it because it doesn't look THAT much different to me.

OMG...how cute is that? Kids are so perceptive. That's really great. Keep up the great work! I can tell he is already so proud of his Moma!

I love watching him on Big Medicine. He and his father seem to be very good surgeons and very involved with their patients. I am impressed to say the least.

Scared going in, wondered WTH I had done to myself afterwards for a couple days. But really, it wasn't that bad and I would DEFINITELY do it again. The pain in the grand scheme of things wasn't the worst I've ever felt and I've never had open surgery like this before. About 1-3 days post-op (I can't remember, exactly) I was up and walking a mile around my neighborhood. I went back to work at 4 days post-op. Felt MUCH better at about 10 days post-op. Have had pretty steady loss. I'm at 6.5cc in a 10cc band which was great restriction when I first got it...it's starting to loosen up, though. Have not PB'd or slimed, yet. There is no food off-limits for me - it all goes through if I chew well enough. Almost halfway to my goal and only 3 months and 10 days post-op.

Grrr. I don't know how much good these are going to do. Like I said, I don't have a really good before pic. The best I could find was my pic a couple days post-op of my incisions. You can kind of see the stretch marks to (MY) left of my belly button. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/sanncmd/Time%20Progress%20Photos/scars2daysPOb.jpg I just took this one. Not a great pic and I don't think it does justice. Crappy camera phone and in a badly-light office bathroom. LOL Probably can't tell much of a difference. My marks weren't TOO bad to begin with, but you would have been able to see them had my tummy been bared. Now I don't think they are as noticeable in person. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/sanncmd/Time%20Progress%20Photos/scars3mopo.jpg MAN...does that stomach get ANY smaller? :thumbdown:

I didn't specifically for this. I wish now that I had. But I can look around at pictures I do have that I took for like my scars or my full body shot I took in my undies and see if you can see the stretch marks. LOL Let me see what I can dig up...

I did use our bread maker for the cinnamon bread. You can cook them in the oven, but I'm kinda lazy. :thumbdown:

I have heard from a friend that Tricare South will not cover Lap Band. If anybody could expand on that for me...or maybe that would explain to mynmann if you're on Tricare South? My DH is former Army, but I know very little about Tricare.

I didn't have them get stuck...but french fries. I used to LOVE Wendy's french fries. Didn't have them from pre-op until about a week ago (3 months of fry sobriety) and I thought I was going to gag. NASTY.

I have lost a small bale of hay. I look forward to losing a total of a 2-month old horse plus a brain! HAHAHA

Metal piercing rejection by the body is not uncommon at all. But having your body reject the band...not as common. There ARE possible complications such as erosion that I guess would be like your body rejecting it...but the rate is low if you have a doc that knows what he/she's doing. Martin, I have not PB'd once. I have good restriction, I can eat a cup or less and be full for 4-6 hours. I have eaten too fast, I have taken too big of bites, and I have not PB'd. I have had the stuck feeling, but it goes away soon enough. Just never had anything come back up the hatch. So really, it depends on the person. But if you follow the rules of what foods to eat or not eat, chew until mush, and swallow small amounts...the likelihood of PBing is greatly decreased.

First off, when you have good restriction, your stomach will adjust your pain level for you if you eat too fast. So that reminds ME to slow down and chew, chew, chew. I am a major boredom and emotional eater. When I'm being GOOD, I just try and find something else to do with my time. For boredom, I picked up a few hobbies (most recently has been this board and the Sims2). For emotions...I think the thing that has helped me the most is talking to my husband. He's my best friend and I can really share anything with him, so I share with him kind of like he's my "sponsor" like I'm in AA, or something. I tell him I'm wanting to eat Cookies, he gives me ideas of better things I could eat. But I also think it will help me to get in to see a counselor. I'll be working on that this week to find somebody...oh, the pain. I'll just have to make myself stay away from the fridge on this one.

I have definitely noticed a difference in the heifers. They used to be full grown, now they are slimming down. I don't have a recent measurement and since I've lost 15 lbs since the last measuring, I think there's a difference. I wear boots for work that go 8" up my calves and they have DEFINITELY gotten looser. DH and I have the same boots and I HATED seeing the huge gaping opening that was the top of my boot compared to his. That has slowly gotten smaller and smaller as I have had to keep tightening the laces to keep my socks from falling down.

I found my doctor through the Lap Band website and investigated from there. I liked his bedside manner, his frank talk at the seminar about both Lapband and RNY, and I like his curriculum vitae (doctor speak for resume). And I liked the price and most of his staff. I didn't look any further after that. Kind of like finding the perfect pair of shoes...if they fit, why would I keep looking?

You know....I was reading to surgery day and waiting for the point at which her mom knocked her over the head or drugged her and shoved her onto the gurney. Since that didn't appear to happen - why the hell wouldn't she have just NOT GONE TO THE HOSPITAL TO GET IT DONE. I could slightly, kind of, sort of believe it until I got to the surgery date and it just "happened." This got me, too. Even if that were legal, just go to another doctor! They'd be more than happy to take it out for you!

I noticed from my most recent 3-week bender that food really affects my mood. When I was eating high carbs and refined sugar, I was moody. I had a short temper, I was depressed, and my sex drive was low. It was really weird to feel that out of control just because of what I ATE. I have dealt with depression for most of my life. It seems to come and go. But really, the biggest difference for me is when I change my diet. When I'm eating low carb, I have less of the spikes to deal with and my mood is SO different. It's hard for me to even remember feeling that down in the dumps. I have to just remember in the future when I'm in a funk like that - no matter how hard it may be, I need to get back on track with my diet and I just plain feel better. Which, of course, makes it easier to get moving with exercise, which helps make endorphins, which makes me feel even BETTER. Don't be so hard on yourself, either. 24 lbs lost in 3 months??? That's easily at least 2 lbs per week, which is the recommended loss. That's fantastic! As for tools...like Longhorn, I like the 60 calorie puddings. I also like part-skim string cheese for munchies. And I do the Slim-Fast shakes. Or when I need to switch it up for flavor from the Slim-Fast, I do Muscle Milk. Boiled eggs are also great anytime. I have an egg-boiler that I can cook them in the microwave. If I'm feeling hungry and just have to have something, pretty much any kind of Protein I can find really helps.

OK, so I'm at the 8-week mark of using the stuff. BUT...I did have several days in there when I didn't use it at all (kind of went off track on EVERYTHING). I had red stretch marks and they are almost completely faded to a light color. I think you'd have to be standing close to me in the right light to see them now. I do want to add that I didn't ONLY use the Revitol as a means of repairing my skin. I also use a supplementation, skin brushing and moisturizing regimen to help my skin along as I lose the fat sitting under it. It's supposed to help my cellulite and spider veins, too. My spider veins are fading (I never thought I'd be able to say that!). I only had one noticeable spot of spider veins on the inside of my right knee...but it's fading already. I'm hoping to end up with near normal looking skin by the end of all this. Maybe if I were faithful with this skin regimen I'd be further along by now...who knows.

OK, so I had to measure today. LOL I'm at my 50 lbs lost mark. ARM DATA TABLE Name....... Start (in) .....Now (in) .....lbs lost .........lbs to go Foofy ...........16.................14.5............31.............. 86 Zannie ..........23.................18 ............100...............84 Nurseamy.......15 .................9.5............ 82............... 0 Sweethot...... ? ..............12&13.5 ...........81 .............26 Jachut...........?................. 10.5 ..............?................0 Luluc........... 15.5 ..............11.9 .............38 ............37 Steph_co...... 16 ................13................50.............53 JulieNYC .......19.5 ...............9.75*..........217..............5 xxlaneyxx.......17..................?.................?..............1 27.9 *Brach

I'm getting ready to go home from work, Rhea...but I want to respond to your post...don't think you're being ignored. I'll be back online in 12 hours.