Keeper

ok, so I have had a crappy few days, maybe even a couple of weeks, so it has been super hard for me to find the positive lately.
But, today I was shaving, and this is going to sound so dumb, but I could shave the back of my thighs with ease. It made me smile. :-)

ugh, I am so with you, and I agree with both responses. I, too, am still in the fairly early stage. I have my next fill tomorrow and I am so hoping it gets me to green. but this past week in particular has been so hard for me. I had tried to do a strict food challenge for the month of Feb but I did not schedule very well at all. My son's birthday, a baby shower, and Valentine's day all threw me for a loop so whereas I was trying to do no sugar, I ended up tail-spinning into it! Very mad at myself, but even more than the above mentioned events, my stress has been out of control this month. I am fighting head vs real hunger constantly. It feels so defeating.
Having said that, when I read posts like yours, in a weird way it is actually kind of comforting. it means that I CAN get to goal, lose the weight, change, etc., but still not be perfect. Does that make sense?? It means that even though it feels like I am making one month-long mistake, I can still come out on the other side.
I have heard all kinds of things like ask yourself if a carrot or apple would satisfy you. If it does, then you are hungry. If not, it is head hunger. I am not a fan of this approach because I feel like I would just say screw it and give in already, lol. But knowing that this is an issue truly is a tool in your success.

Kelly sweetie..no one is judging..I promise. I looked at your profile and see that you are just 19 years old. I am so very sorry that you are in so much pain that you thought death was the answer. I am no therapist but I am a mother and I'd hate to think my child was hurting that badly and I couldn't help her. Please take care of your emotional issues along with your band concerns. I agree that you should talk to your bariatric surgeon regarding any damage you may have done to the band and I also think that you should be speaking with a professional regarding your attempt at suicide. I understand how you can be in that much pain. I considered suicide myself at one time but I told my therapist about it and with the help of medication and additional therapy, I got past the crisis and have not felt that way in a very long time. Please keep us posted on how you are doing because we really do care about you.

I think this is the hardest part....realizing if I am hungry or just bored! I try to always have a Protein Bar or shake around. That way if I do cave I'm stuck eating something healthy....I'm fairly new at this so I wish I could offer more!
Great job on the weight loss!

Has anyone done or tried Whole 30? For those who don't know it is a little stricter than paleo, but the gist is no grains, no legumes, no dairy and no sugar. Lots of Protein with fresh veggies and fruits. I am going to try this begining Feb 1st as a way to help me kick my sugar addiction and was just wondering if anyone else has done it. It is not meant to be permanent as you can reincorporate items back into your diet. I am sure some people stick with it, but I do not plan to. Just kicking my addiction to carbs and sugar to the curb. A system reboot of sorts.

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

@@amponder, I don't know this for a fact, but I don't think you can do it from your phone or tablet. If using your PC there is an image icon to upload photos in the reply box.
@@gowalking I don't know that I had ever seen any of your before pictures and they are very inspiring! You look great and remain an inspiration for the rest of us!
It is so interesting to come aross this topic today because I was just thinking this morning about pictures of myself. I actually take a lot of selfies, but mostly for me. Ironically, I can be quite photogenic...from shoulders/neck up. I know *how* to angle my face, tip my head, make my face look thinner than it is, etc. But I can't stand full body pics. But I read an article a long time ago where a young woman said that she resisted the urge to throw away all of her fat pictures because she embraces that even though she doesn't like them, it was a part of who she was. I have always thought that was such a healthy way to think and your words remind me of this. Very timely!

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

@@amponder that's great!
ok, so I have one. This is kind of funny but I am sure all you girls will understand. A couple of years ago - seriously, years - my MIL called to say that she was at a department store and they were having a huge bra sale so she wanted to know what size I was so she could buy me a couple. I don't mind telling the world I am a DD but the thought of telling MIL my band size was humiliating. She has never said anything about my weight before, but she is probably no larger than a 12 so I fudged and told her 2 sizes smaller than what I knew I could wear. So these brand new bras have been sitting in my closet still with tags on for about 3 years. Guess what?! I can wear them now!! Have to admit. it made me grin ear to ear!

I know this is a few months after the fact, but I thought I would add my two cents.
I have an 11 year old and I am pretty sure I went un-diagnosed as having gestational diabetes (GD). He was born at 10 lbs. 2 oz. I also gained 40 pounds during that pregnancy.
With my second, 7 years old, I wanted to make sure that I got tested earlier. My sis had a baby between my oldest and my second and she was diabetic and she was fit and healthy. Had a new doc the 2nd time who told me I almost certainly was GD the first go-round and he tested me early in my 2nd trimester. Def GD. I ended up on an insulin pump during my 3rd trimester since I was giving myself around 4-5 shots of insulin every day.
Having said all that, I saw a maternal dietitian and had bi-weekly sonos and what not to make sure my son was measuring properly. She told me to follow the diabetic diet (high Protein, lower carbs, etc). I, too, was heavier, and this was way before getting banded, so I know this is different, but I lost weight while pregnant. The day I found out I was pregnant and the day I gave birth I weighed the exact same. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely fluctuations, but to answer your question: yes, it is possible to be pregnant and lose weight and still be healthy (both you and baby). My youngest was a perfect 7 pounds and did not have any issues postpartum.
My hubby and are talking about maybe having another so we'll see how it goes!

Love this thread!
Ok so I have two...last week at my appt my doc said that if I was to walk into his office today I would "no longer be a candidate for WLS, and I should be proud of my self"'
And this a.m.....my favorite "old" pair of silver jeans fit!! 34x32...still need to work on the muffin top tho.....but I didn't have to lay down or jump up and down for them to fit!
I am a jean hoarder...you know the type who always says "someday I will wear these again"...lol

Keeper you will shrink out of them before you know it. Congrats

@@Miss Meg I totally know where you are coming from! My 3rd fill was 3 weeks ago and it made a huge difference! My 4th fill is next week and I really think it will put me in green. I don't know what the ml to cc conversion is but I have 5.5 cc's in my 10cc band. I am not sure how much they will add to my band next week, probably .5 to 1, but I would say I am "yellow and a half" right now.
Just continue to be patient with the process. you have done such a great job! kg to lb ratio is a little over 2 pounds. That means in 11 weeks you have lost a little over 30 pounds! That is awesome. I am a November-er too and I am at 24-ish.
You have done great. You are DOING great! I'll cross my fingers that this gets you to green.

@@Miss Meg I totally know where you are coming from! My 3rd fill was 3 weeks ago and it made a huge difference! My 4th fill is next week and I really think it will put me in green. I don't know what the ml to cc conversion is but I have 5.5 cc's in my 10cc band. I am not sure how much they will add to my band next week, probably .5 to 1, but I would say I am "yellow and a half" right now.
Just continue to be patient with the process. you have done such a great job! kg to lb ratio is a little over 2 pounds. That means in 11 weeks you have lost a little over 30 pounds! That is awesome. I am a November-er too and I am at 24-ish.
You have done great. You are DOING great! I'll cross my fingers that this gets you to green.

Having wrist surgery last week and discussing pain med dosage and she said "you probably only need the low dosage, you're pretty small."
Putting on the size small triathlon kit I got on clearance a month ago bc they didn't have a medium and having it fit.

Our company bought updated corporate polo shirts. When I was hired I didn't even fit in their largest one, 2xl. Yesterday I ordered a large and it fits!!

Super job! Way to go! I was called the "Little Redhead" at a friends housewarming shower last week! New image!

Today 4 dresses that didn't fit 3 weeks ago fit me 3 18's and one 16, the 16 I probably shouldn't wear until I lose another 10 but hey it went up over my hips and zipped this time so I'm counting it. That's my brag what's yours?

Great posting!!! You look awesome ????

This post was great to read! You both look wonderful.

Although I am two years out from being banded, I have a number of body image issues and I find that photographs help me to see what I have trouble seeing when I look in the mirror. I know that pictures also help my buddies on this site when they wonder if they too can transform even with high BMI's or complicated co-morbidities. Here's the proof that it can be done by just limiting intake, making healthy choices, and moving a little bit. I haven't done anything to excess and have still found success. If I can do it, so can any of you. The first set of pictures is from our company Christmas party. The before is from 2011 and the after is from 2014. The other set of pictures is from a hotel I stayed at in June of 2013 and again last week. At the time of the first picture, I was already down nearly 70 lbs. and the after pic is me down 155 lbs.

Love it love it love it! I take lots of selfies that nobody sees but myselfie.