HunnyBun

Holy Mozes! Stoned? Ok ok I'm not judging, just surprised. Croatica, honey first of all, put the drugs away and second, what?!?! 400kcal a day? Are you insane? Thats VERY unhealthy. If you want to consume less than normal amounts, bring it down a couple hundred, so say eat 1000 kcal, but 400? That will put you in starvation mode, and if you start eating you will GAIN weight. Stop it before you end up in the hospital with severe anemia. Your 100kg body needs a lot more than 400 kcal a day hun, and even thin girls need more than that. You are harming yourself more than anything. Now I know why they need psychiatric evaluation to get the band, some people use it as an eating disorder tool. Hey, obviously nobody is perfect and I'm not saying you have a disorder, but after reading your post I think that is a possibility and if you really are only consuming 400 kcal a day, I think you need to think about how you can do this in a healthier way.

I like the idea of just getting a few things from Target and being done with it, but I think it might be very hard to go from having everything I ever wanted from Nordstrom, to having a few things from the pharmacy. I have 10 bottles of perfume alone, which say costs average about $70, thats already $700. There there are all my fancy shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, styling products, all from Bumble & Bumble or Kerestase. Ah and cosmetics, Chanel and ShiSeido makeup. The skincare is the most, I have all these face peels, scrubs, cleansers, masks, creams, toners. Just a whole bunch of everything and it's all money down the drain because as much as I love to buy the stuff, I don't use it all the time. Every products gets used for 2-3 weeks then it goes to the side because I want something new. I'm not even old looking but I already use anti aging because I have this fear of looking older. I'm paranoid or something. I do get compliments all the time especially on my skin, but it doesn't matter because it's never enough. I think I might have some kind of a weird addiction. I hope I didn't sound like a jerk naming all the brands I use, I just wanted you guys to get an idea of what kind of money I'm spending, all the money I need for a normal life. All those things are things that I can not afford and should have never bought them in the first place Thanks for the responses, keep them coming.

Koala, I admit that I did misread your original thread and I apologize for writing a response that might have sounded like I was not being too nice. As you see, at the end of my post I too said I wouldn't date someone who is prejudice to fat, just in different words. Yoda, your thread about the recreational sex, if only I could get over myself and just do it I am pretty sure I'd be a happier person. I don't tie emotions to sex as much as other do, but I do feel embarassed to go to bed with someone who I am not super comfortable with. Plenty of men have been interested and I turned them down even though I really wanted to do it, I was just embarassed of my body. I know how great I feel after the first time I sleep with a man, I feel sexy and happy. My self esteem sky rockets because I know there are men out there that desire me just the way I am. Fat and uncomfortabel in my own skin. The funny thing is, I went through this amazing phase where I actually felt ok about being fat and told myself I look good anyway. Then the day came that I was going to go on a date with this amazing guy and I realized that I had serious self image issues.

Koala Why is it a characted flaw if a man is not attracted to a heavy woman? I don't really understand your point of view because I don't think there is anything wrong with a man who doesn't find himself aroused by a woman who is either really heavy or really thin. We all have things that we dislike. Some like curvy girls, so like to see the ribcake poking out. Some like BMW's, other wouldn't be caught dead driving a Euro car. Some like the country, some like the city. Some love rap, others like rock. Why is it a flaw to have a preference? That's an unfair judgement in my opinion. It's what you are naturally attracted to, what your eyes see and brain desires. I happen to have a huge weakness for tall men, and short men, especially shorter than me, just don't do it for me at all. I just don't find them desireable, is that a flaw too? I can't help it if I don't find someone attractive. I have nothing against men who don't find me attractive, as long as they respect me, that is ok. When I lose weight and I find a man, I wont care if he wouldnt date me when I was heavy. It's his personal preference. I would however break up with him if he was anti fat all together and was disrespectful to heavy people. I wouldn't expect anyone to like me fat because I don't like myself fat. If i thought fat was hot, I'm not sure if I'd want to lose all my weight.

Sounds like you might be building muscle. Does it feel like your clothes are fitting loosly? Maybe you have some Water weight. Try limiting salt and drink lots of water, it might help. Definately measure your body with a tape measure, do your hips, waist, arms, legs, and neck. Oh yea and boobies too. Always wear the same outfit while measuring although I'd prefer to do it naked hehe. Also, don't let the scale get to you. I have a very accurate scale that has not failed me for years and somehow between Monday and Tuesday last week it said I lost three pounds. Obviously it wasn't fat loss, just water. Sometimes water can be as much as like 10lbs! Good luck and don't give up. And throw the scale away!

Three years ago when I lost about 80lbs I remember one wow moment that I'll never forget. Actually it was a wow day. Before I went on my diet I weighed 250lbs and wore a size 20. Several months after dieting and after losing 80lbs I tried a pair of pants of my mom's a size 10!!! and I put it on, pulled it up over my hips and zipped it up. No, I couldn't breathe or walk, but they were ON! So to Celebrate I went to Lane Bryant in search of my new favorite pair of jeans and got a size 14, the smallest they carried in the store. It fit perfect. Perfect! I opened the fitting room door and told the salesgirl that this is a 14 and soon I wont be shopping there anymore, she smiled and said 'you go girl!' Unfortunately I didn't lose much more because of a personal tragedy in my life, but I'm back on track now. Pretty soon I'll be in a 14 again, and looking for my new favorite pair of jeans in a size 12!~ Mags

I like SparkPeople a lot more. It seems easier to use, easier to find all kinds of foods, and helps you track your goal. It's fun. Also, before giving you a recommended calorie intake, it asks if you're ready to excercise or weight train, and it applies your answer to the recommendation. The amount SparkPeople recommended is about the same my dietetician recommended. Good luck! BTW, I tried fitday.com too and it was allright, but it seemed a little confusing. I'm sure once you get the hang of it, it works fine too.

Its ok Mandy, I was just wondering. No need to give him my info again.

Mandy! Whatever happened to that guy you know? :eek: Pantheretti, the program at Mercy hospital is a 16 week program that requires you to attend every wednesday for about two hours. First there is a support group kind of thing where we discuss weight issue topics with a psychologist aka Dr Greg. We also go around and talk out the issues. It's not super exciting but not boring either. Second there is a weigh in time at the Dr's office and every other week the Dr talks to you, and every week you get weighed in and blood pressure taken. Before you start the whole 16 week program you first have an initial appointment with the Dr, then the psychologist, and later the dietetician. You also talk to an excercise person but that's pretty boring hehe. I lost about 4 pounds on this program and I've been doing the diet they subscribed for a week and 2 days.

Well your tummy is probably more sensitive right now and booze might make you throw up the next day. I would not do it if I was you, it's too risky. If you get sick to your stomach after a night of drinking your band might slip.

A girl friend of mine asked me once what I weigh. I told her I don't really like to share that info and she gave me a real hard time about it, insisting that I am lying to MYSELF. What a selfish person eh? Well I never told her, but we argued about it and to a degree made me question the friendship.

Have any of you read any great books about losing weight, diet, excercise, eating, weight loss surgery, lap band specific, cookbooks, etc that were helpful and informative? If anyone has any recommendations, please post them here. Please provide name of book as well as a small description of it. THANKS!

Herbalife isnt so bad, I enjoyed it. It's very expensive though, and you take lots of pills.

:bump2: Anyone else?

JoyceGA, wonderful!!!! I'm goign to Borders later, will be sure to pick up one from your list!

I also love the garbage bin statement. I have to tell this to everyone I know. This is a very inspiring thread. Tellymelly, you go girl! Excercise is such a good way to lose weight, you're strenghtening your whole body and spirit, very good!!

A book recommended to me by my Psychologist: Mindful Eating It's a Buddhist book that talks about having a good relationship with food, eat to be healthy etc. Very fun and quick read. Another Buddhist book: The Zen of Eating I have a cookbook for weight loss surgery patients: Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery. The Author is a bandster. recipes look very easy and the book is very simple and organized. I haven't tried any recipes yet but enjoyed flipping through it to see what it's all about. I also have a great older book called: Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal. It has a paragraph or two on almost any food or spice you can think of. It's a good guide for people who like using health foods or home remedies. The Complete Guide to Natural Healing: Lots of cool info on herbs and teas, home remedies, natural healing, beauty etc. I LOVE this one. Conversations With The Fat Girl: A cute novel. Fun and easy read. The Everything Yoga Book: I particularly enjoy the beginners stretching excercises. It pretty much helped me heal my sore back. Also, this has nothing to do with being fat but found it to be a wonderful guide in love relationships: Light His Fire. Nuff Said lol. Come on Ladies, I am sure I'm not the only book junkie around!

In my opinion, I think your expectations could be a little bit too high at this point. You're 58 years old and your metabolism is definately slower at this age. My suggestion is not to worry so much about weight watchers points and do the band suggested diet of LOTS of Protein, more veggies, and little carbs. With limited calorie intake, we have to make sure the choices we make are the best ones. I'm on a 1200 calorie diet right now and I could be just eating two big macs per day but instead I do a mix of healthy foods like salads, lean meats, healthy choice etc. I know that weight watchers is a good diet for non bandsters, and could be great for someone who is banded for a while and is at their max fill, but to someone who is still on their first fill, I would just do the band recommended diet. I'm sure this isn't advice that you were looking for so feel free to ignore me completely :scared:

Holy manolos! I love reading all the responses. The letter is amazing advice, I must print it and read it again and again until I memorize it and use it next time I'm doing it.

Hm edit is broken, I meant to say we DONT need threads discussing this. Oopsie.

Why is everyone so damn concerned with this? Who gives a damn what she does? We need threads discussing someones career choices, especially someone we don't even know. I think it is extremely childish of people to judge the woman based on what the media says. NOBODY knows her personally, and NOBODY knows what happens behind closed doors. If I was constantly drilled about losing weight, I'd have a damn chip on my shoulder too. Her private life is just that, private. She doesn't owe it to anyone to explain how she lost weight, just like I never will go public with my choice. Being a celebrity is hard work and all the money in the world can't buy you respect. The media can ruin you with one photo or rumor, can ruin your family, career, whole life. Why do you think it is that so many celebrities hide away in fancy high security hotels or start using drugs and alcohol. Because people are so f-ing fascinated with the stars that papparazzi and magazines will do anything to get a sale. Leave her alone, you DO NOT know her, so why badmouth her? Walk a mile in her shoes before you make a judgement.

Maybe they just want a fat girl on the show.

I did it a long time ago and it was very hard to do. I don't think it's healthy.

From my research I learned that all doctors have different opinions and plans for their patients. Some follow inamed guidelines, some make their own stricter rules, and some probably are in the band business for so long they just go based on experience which is probably that people can eat thicker liquids after a few days without problems. I've heard so many people are able to have mushies after just a week and I'm gonna be on liquids for two weeks after surgery, I'm kind of annoyed and jealous lol. Best thing is follow your doctors rules because if you dont you'll have to tell him you're cheating and he may not like that too much. Good Luck and please don't worry, if it went through then it's probably fine. Wait til you PB, I hear thats really bad. Also, please note that I am not speaking from experience, all this is what I learned from reading LapBand message boards and websites.

Well we know the sun wont run out anytime soon lol Those are cool pics. Thanks for sharing.