sunsett

Eileen-Cool no boss today! I think my biggest regret about all these years is that I was a huge mama. It must have been hard for the kids to see the "normal" moms and then there was me. I know they love me but I was embarrassed for them and me. You so lucky that she's so young and yes your on your way down, how cool what a great example you are for her and everyone else. You GO GIRL! CLAP CLAP my legs are doing that! You crack me up! Kat-I'm so sorry you have all this going on. 1 week will go by slow and fast at times. You know were thinking of you and DH. WOW what a DICK, DD's almost X is! The nerve of that jerk! Come on we all need to go smack him. (DICK is my new favorite name..lol...for DH's) My MIL is also highly medicated some days she is so off balance it's scary! I'm glad your going to speak with someone else. I think it's horrible that these Dr.s are medicating the older people so they don't have to help them. EWW That gets me mad! You have such strength, your such a wonderful lady. Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Darcy-I have been thinking about you ALL DAY. I haven't givin you that kick in the butt and I'm feeling like I gave you the ok to give in...WELL I AM WRONG...GIRL it is time, you can do this, you will do this, you are doing this!! I know how hard it is to give up those wonderful things. But we all made a choice to have the band to help ourselves. No it's not easy. Yes we are going to have to say no to certain foods, but yes we can do it. YOU CAN DO IT. That dark cloud that is hanging over isn't cool...kick it out! Don't look at the scale for 2 weeks! Take a walk to the mail box it will make you feel better. Check out the clouds, aren't they awesome! Change you signature you don't need to look at lowest weight and feel bad all the time. Have current and highest. You can do this I know, you have. We are here to kick hug and support you. Now I feel better...I hope you do to. Love you. Cindy-I bet you can make that goal. It seems reasonable. I'd like to also lose 25 by then but I learned the hard way no to pressure my self. I wanted to do it in 3 months, not good. The more I thought about it the more I messed up. But you are giving yourself a reasonable amount of time, so that's great! I was tempted to join the no ice cream club for a week, but I don't want to set myself up for that but if you guys do it I'll do the no hersey kisses for a week! Those I have everyday and really need to skip them! OK so I"m a slow reader. I see we are on with no chocolate or ice cream! please be one or the other. Ice cream would be easier for me than chocolate, that's why I want to go for the chocolate. And Monday sure sounds better than NOW like right NOW! Darcy- you give us the ready set go and I'm in for the chocolate part..oh I hope I can do this....I LOVE my hersey kisses!

Well you sure have gotten a lot of information here. I hope it's helping you make the desision. I strongly recommend seeing a theripist before hand and after. The emotional stull is tough, but there are things you can do to help that. I got a puppy, every night we sit together and watch TV. She wants whatever I have, so I have learned to bring her a bone and hold it for her. Where food used to nurture me, Lucy has taken that place. Don't get me wrong it sure isn't all the time there are those times I eat and enjoy it. But the band has givin me an option I can either grab onto it and use it or not. Good luck I love my band and I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Eat until satisfied. If you eat till full then you have the risk of that one more bite and PB trust me you don't want that! Be sure to take AT LEAST 20 minutes to eat. That will slow down the amount you take in. I did notice in the begining that when I'd eat I would get up and when I stood up I'd feel fuller than when I was sitting. So try to get up and answer the phone or do something for a second and see if you feel any differen't. I don't notice that as much anymore now, but I sure did like it. In May we didn't go on a cruise we went to an all inclusive place in Mexico. It was like a cruise though cause everything was included. We have been taking 1 cruise a yr for the past 5 yrs..wow..5yrs already! Our best friends got married 3 weeks after us and we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year! We have always said that were going to do something for our 25th with them. But then Laurie finds these fantastic cruise deals so this will be our 3rd cruise with them. The first cruise we took with them was out of NJ going to Canada it was a 5 day cruise and $ 347 each! We couldn't pass that by. I forgot what last yrs was but it was under $100 a day. Then this one is 9 days and it's also way under 100 a day. Cruises can be so reasonable! Angie-I have an appointment in Gastonia at 12 aren't you near there? My appointment should be no more than 1/2 hour please call me on my cell and let me know if you want to meet. I'll PM you with my cell #. Well our curves contest is ending this Saturday. I am in 4th place my team is in 3rd or 4th. I really want to be first..lol..so I'm digging up people to come and be my guest thats 5 pts. I think I can get 4. Plus I didn't know that you can go more than 1 time a day. So I may try to kill myself and go a few times more today. Thank goodness it ends on Saturday! lol I never realized how competitive I can be. Wish you guys lived closer so I could bring you as guests! Maybe I can get Loretta she's not to far from me..lol.. Have a good day.

Congrats! That is just wonderful. You should be very proud of yourself! We sure are!

Darcy- that would be so cool! Thanks I'll try first then let you know. I am SO sorry. You deserve a pitty party. My heart goes out to you. I can't imagine the pain emotionally you are feeling. BIG HUGS NEVER LEAVE US PROMISE! Cindy-Did I already tell you how fantastic you look!! Give DD a hug for me, she sure is a sweety and she sure did bring tears of joy for you to my eyes. It is awesome! Donna-Thanks for the pictures that was great. I know your proud and you should be. Patty-Have a great trip! Pat-Good to see you. Eileen-Hows it going girlie. Well I'm off to bed yesterdays Dr appointment went really well. I don't go back for 2 months. Actually it works out to be the day after we get back fromt he cruise! YIKES. Have a good night

Hey Angie, You know we'll help. My appointment went very good. Of course it was after 4:00 when I got on the scale, so it was 197, but who cares, I really just count the curves scale since thats the one I go on regularly and in the morning not at 4 in the afternoon. I love Dr V and the office one staff member inparticular..lol..but, the waiting..AHHHHHHHH..He is wonderful though and takes his time with you so I guess it's all ok. I do think next time Ill go a half hour earlier and maybe get to see him sooner. I'm not a problem patient TG! so I go quick. He doesn't want to see me for 2 MONTHS! WOW I can't believe it. I'll be on a curse when the 2 months are up so I'll see him right after the cuirse..yikes...I do want to see how I'm doing I may get a slight fill before the cruise. I've lost 70% he said. I have to take extra Vitamins double up on the daily's and add B complex other than that everthing is good. Well I'm going to hit the sack I'm exhausted. I can't wait to see what the B Complex does for me. Have a good night.

Hey you guys are ALL beating yourselfs up! STOP! It is not going to help the scale. Jamie, Julie hi Charlotte girls. Hi and welcome to everyone else. OK here is my story. I have been averaging about 7 pounds a month since my surgery. That is far from 1-2 pounds a week, but it works. For the past month I was going between 202-200 back to 202 again. Talk about frustration, guilt, anger, sadness...wow you know the feeling...Anyway I got so mad one day that I desided not to go on the scale until my next measurement day at curves. In 3 weeks I lost 5.5 pounds. Perhaps your all looking to often, it is a visous cycle..I can't spell.. The other thing that I did was I went to a new family physician off of Rea RD if any of you want his name let me know. He explained how our bodies (women that is) lose slow much slower because it thinks we are starving out in the jungle somewhere. He wants me and I have heard almost everyother women patient he has, to eat every hour of the day. Here are the rules: Eat 6 bites of sometype of protien or fruit within the first 20 minutes your awake. Every hour have 6 bites of something healthy Eat a regular lunch and dinner Don't worry about the calories, because your only having 6 bites. Sometimes I only do 4 bites it depends how hungry I am. Today I had a piece of deli turkey then got dressed and before I left had another slice. An hour later I had a protien shake. I was on the road all day today so I had a total of 2 protien bars which I ate over 6 hours. Other days I'll have 1/2 a yogurt then I go work out come home and have the other half. Take a shower and then I usually have my protien shake. I have to think ahead and prepare a baggie of nuts and protien bars to take with me when I go out on the road. It was very hard to get used to doing and I messed up a lot in the beging but now that I see the scale moving it sure is getting easier. Don't forget at least 60 grams of protien a day and 64oz of Water. You guys are doing good. I totally understand the frustration, we all go through it at times. Hang in there. We Charlotte girls are here for you all.

absolutley you are feeling what all of us have felt. I forgot about the apathetic phase. Youll get the excitement back and the butterflies then the thoughts of am I nuts! I can tell you I am 10 months out almost to the day, and I am so thrilled I can't stand it. The changes in your life are going to be just wonderful. Weather your a fast loser or a slow loser the fact that you are taking your life in your hand, your health in your hands is a wonderful thing which NO ONE can take away. Congratulations on making a life changing desision.

You do look GREAT! I'm hoping to figure out how to do that by my 1 yr anniversary. Dr appointment went real well today he's very happy with my WL and doesn't want to see me for 2 months. My appointment is the day after we get back from the cruise. I asked him how much more weight he wanted me to lose. He said I am already at 70% lose he said another 10-15 pounds would make him real happy then I'd be under 30 BMI. I must have looked shocked to him. Of course I need to go a lot more than that! So my next goal is 27 pounds that would be 100 pounds. I'm love to see that by Christmas then after that 23 more pounds that would bring me to 145 I'd go into shock and faint if I ever got there...lol...we'll see I refuse to put that pressure on myself. Lucy at the carpet in the living room today! She must have been looking for attention and DD was on the computer! have a good night.

I'm about 73 pounds down and would love to lose 27 by September 26th, but I don't think that's realistic. I am thrilled with my WL. I saw my dr today and he said that 10-15 more pounds is what he'd like to see then I'm under 30 BMI. Of course I'm thinking more like 30-50 but I'm in no rush. I'm ging to stick to going on the scale only on my curves weigh in days and my Dr's appointments. Good job everybody

where is everyone?! We are almost a year out. Can you believe it? I'm so excited I made it under 200!!!

Bettina-LOL I have to open up my email and type in response on that. I CRS..lol..that's the only way it works for me. Then I get to hit spell check too...Welcome. When is you bandaversary? Cindy-I don't think were tired of hearing about your retirement. I think its great! I think seeing Stephen Kings house would give me the willies, although I would do the same thing! How cool. Sherry-That 2 pounds could just be water who knows. Your doing great! Eileen- Can you eat hot dogs? That is the one thing I mourn for. I haven't tried them in a while but Costco sell these incredible Mt Sinai dogs. OHGOSH! I always hated HD's but these wow I was dreaming about them last night. Maybe I should try them again! We are meeting with our core group girls tonight. I've been praying about this mess. I I'll let you know how the Dr.s appointment goes. He may want to take the hockey stick out on me because I had a 1/4 of a Philly cheese steak yesterday. I ordered chicken and it came out fried so I had some of DH sandwich the better of the 2 evils. Of course he ate the 3/4 of his sandwich and my whole chicken parm sandwich..lol..and I'm telling him he needs to lose weight! Love you guys

Angie-Do you need help with the kids? My daughter is 20 drives and loves kids. I'm working quite a bit this week but would be able to come up at nights for you. Let me know BIG HUGS feel better. Please let me help you. Kim-I wish I knew about the meeting I thought August was the next one. I have to meet with our core group girls tonight. Speaking of that, please pray for our meeting tonight. 4 of the girls are having major issues with each other. We are getting together to get things right! Have a good day. I go see the V man today. I dontthink his scale reads as good as curves but it doesn't matter because curves is the correct one that I have been going by since October. Although if his is better then I'll switch..lol...

now I have to go to world market today!!! How bad are the calories on those cashews? So far I'm been sticking with almonds and peanuts the most. Nuts work great on my new few bites an hour plan.

I just want to say Alexandra could not have said it any better! I too want to live my life and eat what I want. I have learned that making smart chioces is the key and if I want to have a piece of chocolate cake(like I did last week) I'll split it with some one and I won't finish the whole thing. It is comforting to me that I can live my life and not fret about food anymore. And to know that when I leave whatever # I'm on it's gone for good. I met a ryn lady a few weeks ago. She lost 155 in a year. I think she had her surgery in 95. She has gained at least 75 of it back. I'm sure she's a 24/26 again. I was terrified! I kept thinking oh no is that going to be me. But then wonderful wise people like Alexandra remind me of why I chose the band. My grandmother is 97 yrs old she still drives travels shops drinks and has a full life. I want to be healthy like her and have a long full life. Good luck on your desision.

Wow sorry to hear your in such pain. What about having your fill done under fluro? That was they can see if it's to tight. Have you had an endoscopy? I'm so sorry to hear this bump in the road. Hang in there and feel better.

You can damage the band if your to tight. Thats a big warning t people. I've never been t tight but I have heard of a lot of people who have. He won't take the whole fill out just some. I would go back ASAP and get a little taken out. Your doing great with your WL. Try not to put that I'm not doing enough pressure on yourself. BELIEVE me it doesn't make you lose any fast. For me it slows it down further.

Darcy-I'm sorry your having such a hard time with the band. Hang in there. Take one day at a time. Ask God to lead you and hold your hand. It will get better whatever your meant to do. I'm so sorry that your feeling so down. Exercise sure does seem to be a major answer. Anne-Hi how are you doing? Were you on vacation? I can't remember who's going where and doing what these days. Cindy-WOW how cool are you!!! Let me tell you you are way cool. I love what you wrote. You really have it together. I still have tears in my eyes. What an inspiration you are. How true it is about those brownies being there..lol..I also look forward to your year 2! I'm sure it will have it's ups and downs, but it will sure be exciting to go through the next year together. Congratulations, your doing great! Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. Eileen-Your so cool! I'm so glad I got to meet you. You are such an inspiration to me. You are so right about what you said to Darcy. It is true 10 pounds a yr down with the lap band rather than 10 pounds up! I'm so sorry you have to wait so long to get the test results back on Jessann. My prayers continue for all of you. Does your sister have another children? I just can't imagine what your all going through. God Bless. Betty-WOW I'm SO SO SORRY! We have been VERY LUCKY to have never gone through that. I can't imagine how scary. God will provide, he always does. He knows the fear you have just lean on him and some how some way he'll take care of you guys. How are you feeling these days? How's the footsie? Patty-Good to see you. I bet your excited it sure sounds that way. Have fun on your trip. Sherry-What a great time it sounds like! Welcome home. We are going to Bermuda on September 21st on that ship that just tipped! I sure hope it will be fixed by then! It's the new Princess Cruise ship. Yikes...how many stops did you make? Bermuda is one of our stops so I really need you to tell me where to go and what to do. I bet you didn't gain much if anything. You do so much walking on those ships. I'm sure you'll be fine. I have decided to really try to wait 4 weeks now before I go on the scale again. You may want to wait also. Bettina-Welcome. I am a former Jersey girl born there and lived there for 41 years. Moved to Charlotte NC 5 years ago. I am now a southern girl, but there is no place like home. I lived the past 14 years in High Bridge, near Flemington. Grew up in good old Bergen County, River Edge, Oakland, Hawthorne, Hackensack, Fairlawn. Do you have a band date yet? DH's interview went good. They want to see him again. He seems to realize, I think, that what he has isn't to bad! So we will wait and see what happens. I'm hoping that as he looks he realizes that at this time he's in the best place, if it is the best place. I hate for him to leave after 16 yrs, but I hate that he is so miserable. I know God will direct him and I believe he is listening. I'm heading off to the pool for a swim before they close. Tomorrow I have my Dr's appointment. I haven't been in 6 weeks. I don't think I'm ready for a fill yet, but we'll talk about it. He may want me to in a few weeks. Other than that, everything is good. Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend. It is so hard to keep up with everyone these days.

Well I saw Kim today, and she looks FABULOUS!!! She really is doing great! We ran into each other at Boston Market. You know I think I have known Angie, Melissa, Kathy, Loretta and Kim no for a year. I think the first time everyone got together was last July. I didn't make that meeting but I did in August. So happy Anniversary gang! It's so cool to have this board and your friendships and support. Have a good night.

Hi guys, Eileen-How cute that she wants to g shopping! I'm so sorry that she will have to have MORE surgery. She sure sounds like she is a swwet full of life little girl. hugs to both of you. Is this your brother r sisters little girl? Please et them know that we are send ing prayers and hugs to them also. How incredibly hard for all of you. Kat- How are you? Betty- Hows the foot? How is everyone else doing today? Thanks for all your encouragements about ONDERLAND! I'm still feeling wonderful! I have 2 prayer requests if you guys wouldn't mind. My Step Grandmother, Grandma Gay, is doing VERY poorly. Please pray that the Lord will take her quickly. She is 93 and it's just real sad. DH is having an interview tomorrow morning. Need I say more....:phanvan I have to go to curves tomorrow morning. I haven't made it there 3 times this week yet and we are having that compatiton, so I have to go. URGH at least they are open until 12! Have a good night and I'll check in with you'll tomorrow nighty night

Thanks guys.

Hi GAng... OK CAN YO HEAR ME SHOUTING!!!! I'M sooooooo EXCITED! I FINIALLY MADE THE ONERDFULS!!! I really think that Dr Sensenbrenner's suggestion of having 6 bites of something every hour has made the scale move. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO 180's here I come!!!! Denika how's things going?

I agree with everyone so far! And I'm the leak QUEEN! I don't like this dr. Sorry, but I don't. When I went in for my fill the Dr couldn't get anything out. He thought it might be a port leak but said the only way to tell was under fluro. So 3 weeks later I went for fluro. It was there that he could see the leak not only in my port but also in the band. Be sure you have a tech do the fluro that know the band and exactly what to look for. I was afraid that for some reason my band would have to come out. My dr told me that there was no reason for concern for that. Band leaks are VERY uncommon I tink there are only 2 other people on here that have had the band leak. Port leaks are more common, but still not very common. Try not to worry to much. Just be sure you have an experienced fluro tech like I said, and I agree with who ever said it, that you should send results and talk to the Dr who put the band in. I was only 5 months out when I had my second surgery. I still wasn't totally healed from the first, so it was no picnic for me. But you are a lot further out so you should do great. If I had to have the whole band replaced for a 2nd time, I would do it in a heart beat. Hang in there and please let me know how your doing.

I finially made it! I'm so excited! I had been staying between 200 and 203 for over a month now. I STEPPED AWAY FROM THE scale for 2 1/2 weeks and kicked up my exerise. I'm so excited! Finially All the glory goes to God because without him there is no way I could do this. And with out all my bandster friends I wouldn't be able to Celebrate this way. You guys are awesome! Thanks for helping me get there I still have a way to go, but I no longer feel like it will never happen!! YAHOO:banana :bananapartyhat:

WOW Kat- I'm SO sorry your going through all this. I wish I could be there for you. Know that you have our prayers and HUGS. Hang in there take a deep breath, feel our love and most importantly feel God's LOVE. Eileen- I'm praying hard you the little one today and for you, the dr.s and your family. CAN I MAKE YOU GIRLS SMILE I'M IN ONDERLAND TODAY!!! YUP 196!!! I STARTED TO CRY WHEN I SAW IT! I AM ONLY 1&1/4 INCH AWAY FROM THE 4 FOOT CLUB! I OST ANOTHER 3/4 INCHES IN MY CHEST STILL NOT IN THE BOOBS, BUT AT LEAST I DON'T HAVE BACK BOOBS I'M GREATFUL FOR THAT! Have a good day. I'm thinking of all of you Eileen and Kat (((HUGS and PRAYERS))))coming your way ALL DAY!