HeatherA

Well it doesn't look like I'll make my 50 pounds by tomorrow :-( Oh well... I did have an NSV today... went to try on some bathing suits at Wal-mart and was able to put on a size 16 bottom and if my legs weren't so ugly I would have said it fit! LOL I did buy a pair of size 16 shorts to wear to work out in, but they're stretchy cotton so I'm not as excited about the size as I was the fact that I could buy something from the "non-plus" section of the store. I feel that 16s should be in my future in the next few weeks... Not too shabby... size 24/26 to 18s in a little over 6 months! I'm in awe...

Hiya Angie! Can't wait to see you tomorrow!!! Don't worry... I'm bringing the name tags and pens again so that we can keep track of everyone :-)

That is so generous K! What a nice aunt you are.

That's so awesome K!!!! Congratulations!!! I have a huge box to bring with me tomorrow and lots more to go through for next month! I will just keep bringing my box with me as we get new people each month and hopefully someone can use them. I also have a girl at work that I will pass some things down to after our meeting. I LOVE giving my clothes away. LOL Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carol I am so happy you've joined the band wagon! WOO HOO!!!! Most of our un-banded members are now banded. How awesome is that! I'm only sad that we won't see you tomorrow... but look forward to next month when you can share all of your excitement with us!

Niki, Hang in there! Bandster hell will be over before you know it and then you'll have a hard time remembering what life was like before the band. :-)

Kathy, Even with restriction, I try to eat about 1200 calories a day and I'm averaging about 8-10 pounds gone a month. My aunt (a nutritionist with the state) thinks that I should actually be eating more than that. She warned that if I lose my weight eating at 800 or so calories consistently that I will have trouble maintaining it and will be restricted to that amount the rest of my life or risk gaining. She said it has something to do with slowing down your metabolism. I would recommend doing what I did... play with your calories a week at a time while waiting for your fills to start. I played with 1000 calories and found I was hungry and not really losing anything. I moved up by 100 calories a week until I saw that I wasn't walking around starving and wanting to eat a horse. At 1200 I saw the weight start coming off a bit faster... something that is hard for overweight people to grasp is that sometimes you need to eat more to lose more. With adding in exercise calories burned I sometimes fall below the 1200 in my "net" calorie column but there are also days I go over... so it all evens out. Another thing I do is watch my protein/fat/carb numbers. I strive for 60+ grams of Protein, less than 150 grams of carbs and around 50 grams of fat each day. Eating this way keeps me satisfied and I don't find myself going for the Snacks much at all. Just some things to think about as you try to navigate this place called Bandster Hell :-) I'm pulling for all of you!!!!

I lose about 8-10 pounds a month... but I typically have 2 weeks a month that I don't lose anything and 2 weeks that I lose a bit nearly every day. I'm happy with 6-8 pounds a month. However, toward the end of my 2 week no-loss period I start to doubt myself and worry that the weight will never come off again. :-) My only exercise at this time is 30-60 minutes of walking 3 days a week on average

Kathy, She's full of carp... I can't tell you how much trouble I'd be in if I did the same thing from my medical office... she must not pay any attention to the HIPPA laws... most places would fire someone for breaking those laws... that's how much trouble they can get in by leaving personal information on a message.

Original post has been edited to reflect the changes. I also tweaked the time to 1:45 because I figured that if the fashion show starts at 2 we might all want to be there and settled in before it starts. I will also try to be there early.

I so don't want to miss out on the fashion show! I just don't want anyone that can't make it to feel abandoned at Polaris... I am way too much of an enabler! *sigh Anyway, I think that I am going to not worry about it and go to the fashion show. I will edit the original post to reflect the changes. I will also bring name tags again so we can still see who our group is... and maybe afterwards we can move to the food court for some socialization? What do you think? Do you think 5 chairs will be enough?

Juli, I agree! I'm starting to think maybe it's not as organized as it could be in the fact that there's a date change and a venue change already... and I too worry about the out of towners... I know that at least one person has said they were coming to our meeting to meet people and help her make the decision whether to have the surgery or not... I'd hate to make it tough to find us. I too will go with the majority on this one... but I'm starting to lean more toward staying at Polaris the more I think about it.

Let's see what the majority say... we have a few people coming from out of town, Cincinnati and Cleveland I believe. I'm not sure if trying to find Tuttle will be too hard. If the majority want to go to Polaris still then I will skip the fashion show and go ahead to Polaris and those that want to go to the Fashion Show can do Tuttle. If the majority want to go to Tuttle we can move our plans there. How's that sound?

Sarah, Thanks for the heads up... as soon as we find out the time we can adjust our normal meeting around it and do both. :-) I'll make sure to keep all of the 12th open on my calendar and not schedule anything else for the family :-) I'm just bummed a bit... I was so hoping to see everyone twice next week :-(

If you search this forum you'll find that this is a very common question and you'll find some great answers. My reasons for choosing this option were simple... I was willing to do the work to lose the weight, I just needed help with the job and I felt the band would offer me that help. I also did not want to permanently change the physiology of my body or risk the malnutrition that is common with bypass patients. The risk of dying due to surgery were also much greater and that was just not something I was willing to risk. The other determining factor for me was that everyone I'd met that had had GB had gained a good amount of weight back. I liked that with the band and restriction I'd have a tool that would help me maintain my weight loss for life. Start gaining again? Go in an have a fill... nice to have that option. Good luck to you in making your decision!

Definitely get to your doctor or the ER! I just went through this earlier this week (see my blog) and just a .25CC removal was enough to open me back up. Good luck!!!!!

Ahhhh, I hope you can make the fashion show... we'll miss you at the meeting if you can't make it this month. When is the trip to Europe? I'm not sure where it's happening, my daughter thinks it might be down stairs by that store that is a doll nursery... outside of Saxs? She said she's seen chairs and runways set up there before. SpecialK might know more when she finds out the time for us. I am so happy that spring seems to be trying to come out and play. I am so sick of winter I can't stand it!!!!!

Just a little over 2 weeks until our next get together... and my clothing box is growing full! I just finished going through my pants/capris and was amazed at how many were too big. I can't wait to share them with you all next month. I also have at least one pair of shorts to get someone started with summer. I'm going to have to dig out my summer things before then and see if I can add to the box. I just love it! Today I hit the 45 pounds lost mark... I hope to be celebrating 50 pounds gone at our next meeting... fingers crossed!

Sheila, we're running about neck and neck stats wise too... nice! I hope I don't need another fill for quite awhile... I had a bad experience this week (see my blog for the gory details). I hope that I have decent restriction again... last month was good for several weeks.

For the first year my doctor schedules us once a month for an office visit.. and fill if needed. I was banded 12/18 and I had my third fill this week.

Thanks you guys! Last night was hell. I just continued to close up and by bed was unable to drink a sip without sliming. When I went to bed it felt like I had reflux and I slept propped up. Even so I was awakened when I aspirated some fluid that must have come up from my stomach. I moved to the couch and slept sitting upright for the rest of the night. I use the word sleep very loosely. I was in a lot of pain in my chest and back and was downright miserable. This morning I ended up throwing up a cup full of saliva. This helped relieve some of my pain. So that was good... I decided I needed some taken out. I was at my Drs. office before by 8:30 and feeling much better by 9. All she removed was .25cc but I feel so much better. I have been able to drink a protein shake, some water and I'm now having lunch in the form of a protein smoothie. Life is good again!

Yesterday when I went in I was unsure whether I'd get a fill or not. Since Easter I've been pretty able to eat fairly well and had felt very little restriction. We discussed it and decided to do just a small fill. She gave me .5cc which brought me to 6.25cc. I was fine yesterday, starving and dying for today so I could eat. I was drinking easily last night and thought I might even need to go in and have it tweaked next week. So today I wake up and I was able to drink my water fairly ok this morning, but I felt some restriction. I was pleased. Then I stopped to get my lite frappuchino on my way to work (for my breakfast) and after 3+ hours I still had at least a quarter of it left. So into the trash it went. Then I sipped some water and it wasn't going down too easily even in sips... I have that ball in the throat feeling everyone talks about. So I go out at lunch and do my 1/2 hour walk. I come in and grabbed a protein shake... 2 hours later I still have 75% of it left so into the trash it goes. I came home from work at 6:30 and was able to eat a little egg salad I made yesterday. I'm at less than 300 calories for the day. If this is swelling, it's not going anywhere quickly. My option is to go in tomorrow and get a slight unfill or wait until next week on Tuesday/Thursday. I don't think I can do the weekend this full. I'm going to call in the morning and see if I can get in at lunch time tomorrow. I never want to be this filled. I don't want to risk slippage, I don't want to hurt my esophagus, but most importantly I want to EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the first I've heard of that...

y'all crack me up... and ya better stop as I can't seem to stop farting those dang rainbows everytime I laugh!

Good luck tomorrow!!!!!

SpecialK, That's a great explanation of our group... I never imagined at our first meeting that I would love this group of people the way I do! Our meetings are truly the highlight of my month. The fact that we have two gatherings in April just thrills me to no end! Speaking of which, do you happen to know what time the fashion show is on the 7th? Glad to hear you are doing well!