Laura_MD

That is a great accomplishment. Thank you for sharing that story. Sometimes it is the tiniest things that we don't even realize that we lost the ability to do until we get it back. People who can tie their own shoes on the top of the shoe (vs the side because we cannot reach our feet directly) and people who can see their feet for that matter. Congratulations on this victory and may you savor every one! Laura

Sometimes I get so caught up in the scale movement (or not), that I forget that I have made a lot of progress and I am still making progress. As a reminder to myself, I write down those little victories in my food journal so that if I start beating myself up or feeling down about not losing fast enough to suit me, I can go back and review my progress and feel much better (usually). Remember, muscle weighs more than fat and as we workout and make the exchange, the scales my be stagnant, but our bodies and our lives are still changing for the better.:biggrin: For instance, I went on a trip to Antigua last week and I had to buy bathing suits. I cannot tell you how long it has been since that was a fun experience! Or since heads turned (toward me and not the other direction to laugh) when I walked out of the fitting room to model. Then, when I got on the plane, I didn't have to suck it all in to buckle the seatbelt. I actually had about 8-9 inches left over on the strap! Yeah!!!!:hurray: Now that I have tooted my horn, I would like to hear yours. What are some of your most recent and/or most prized NON-SCALE victories*? If you haven't thought about it, you really should. It is not ALL about the scale. I look forward to hearing about your victories. *Non-scale victories are changes as a result of your weight loss efforts that do not depend on the scale moving (i.e. getting off medication, being able to walk two blocks without panting, playing on the floor with your kids/grandkids and being able to get up, unassisted).

What area of Maryland do you live in? I live in Salisbury (on the eastern shore near Ocean City). I wonder how disbursed we are because it would be great to do things like clothing swaps, etc. if we can find common ground and enough people. Laura:cool2:

I live in Salisbury MD!

That may be true, but the FCC is not fining ABC for any of the male buttocks they displayed, only the female, Charlotte Ross, because they [essentially] claim that it is a sexual organ. That was my point about the male vs female and gay male vs straight male in my earlier post. Hardly seems fair to me!

Juli- congrats on getting back on track! 14lbs in 6 weeks is doable with the band, good luck. It is great that you are working on your MBA, I got mine in 1999, and now I teach at a local college. If you need a resource for any of your classes, I am available to help as needed. It keeps my gray matter moving to recall some of the info that fell victim to "post exam core dumps". (Ha) Best of luck to you! Laura

Jennifer, Thanks for the referral to Dr. Brinkley. Her office returned my call today and I have an appointment for Feb.6th! I could not believe how fast they were and how quickly they fit me in. Not used to that in this field of medicine! However, I was so excited that I forgot to ask about insurance. Do know if they take insurance? (I have BC/BS) I called back but got the answering machine, so I left a message but I was just curious if you knew. Thanks again, Laura

No offense taken. I just didn't get it. Sorry for the abruptness of my reply. :tongue: I understand the mourning process. I can't eat it anymore either, but I don't really miss it. Laura

Pizzaman, Was there a point to this posting?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that releasing the plantar facsia allowed the bone structure of my foot to collapse so now I am virtually flat footed and have chaliced feet because of the improper weight distribution on the bones of my feet. All this force me to try yet another pair of orthodics (though I think these may actually help) to relieve the knee, hip, and back pain that my poor step patterns are causing. WTH, does it never end? Aging sucks and I am still very young and 100+ lbs lighter. I shudder to think what my feet would feel like now if I still weighed 277 lbs!

I had plantar facsiitis in both feet and, like you, I tried everything. But in the end, I had the surgery and the pain was gone instantly. Now, however, years later I am having issues again and just got orthodics last week. So far it has helped a little and I am hoping for a lot more, but I am not betting the farm on it. I hate pain and I hat when my body interferes with what I want to do, so I get very impatient about slow cures. As for activities in the meantime, have you considered Water aerobics or swimming? This is great exercise and it is VERY easy on the joints and the feet. Think about it! Good luck, Laura

I too am VERY liberal, you would not believe..... I was a faithful viewer and huge fan and I saw the whole scene on NYPD Blue that ABC is being fined for. In the story, Dennis Franz's son (9 or 10) walked in on his then girlfriend (later wife) in the bathroom in the early morning. She was nude as she was preparing to shower (apparently the FCC guys shower with their clothes on). When he opened the door, Charlotte's character was facing the sink and her butt was visible to the child and the camera. Then she was startled and turned around to face the child and the camera, but she covered her "sexual regions". The FCC position is that in showing her buttocks, ABC showed a sexual organ. Really? Many people would call that notion perverted. As stated in a previous post, we saw Dennis Franz's but, and Jimmy Smitz, and David Curuso (the red head on CSI:Miami now), and just about every other male cast members butt, and that was ok? What if they showed the gay character's butt, is the male buttocks a sexual organ then? I saw that show IN 2003! Why are they complaining now when the show is not even on the air anymore? Charlotte Ross was smokin' hot and I think the FCC was just looking for a way to fine ABC because they couldn't get a longer look. Get TIVO! These fines are supposed to deter other shows from breaking the "rules" (which I don't believe that NYPD Blue did), so what good do fines do 5 YEARS after the fact? Oh yeah, it's an election year and we have to look like we are busy protecting the public. That 'spains everythin' Pardon my rant, but this really pisses me off (in case you didn't notice). Here's to Charlotte Ross, NYPD Blue, and ABC for pushing the envelope!:frown:

So he got an MBA at Harvard. Harvard gave us W. too, so that's two strikes already. Romney had the NERVE to stand up and say that he is the only candidate who knows what it is like to hold a real job! PLEASE! He was born with a golden spoon is his mouth and everything he has (including his education in all likelihood) has been handed to him on a golden platter! If Mummy and Daddy donate enough money, you can have any degree you want, and if they own the company, you can have any "job" you want. Tell me that Mitt worked for minimum wage at Mickey D's and then we'll talk. Romney has spent millions of his own fortune on this campaign and still he is only running second to a guy that could barely make payroll. Haven't we had enough of "them" and isn't it time for one of "us" in the White House (I am referring to socio-economic status only here). None of the candidates are "poor" (it takes millions to run for office these days), but of the field, Romney has a definite financial advantage, and I am sure he would work just as hard as W. to help his friends keep their financial advantages at our expense. :frown:

I have seen many posts on this site regarding "self-pays" worried about paying for subsequent surgery when they have a problem such as slippage. You should all be aware that even though the Lap-band surgery was elective and may not have been covered by your insurance, problems that arise later are very different! If you have a slippage for instance, that is potentially life threatening and MUST be corrected. That means it is required, not elective, surgery and your insurance must pay for it. Go to the mat with your insurance company, even call the insurance commissioner's office for help if you have to, write the appeal letters and ask your doctors' office to help you if need be, but make them cover it! Don't take no for an answer, and DO NOT put off proper care because you are worried about the cost. Besides, any doctor worth their Hippocratic Oath will do the surgery regardless of your coverage, if your health is at risk. Please take care of yourself first and the details later.

Yeah, "bad" foods sometimes go down easier but there are so many "good" foods that go down just as easily if not more so. If your husband is having trouble getting foods down perhaps he should try different preparation methods, for example: meats - cook them less for a more tender serving Vegetables - cook them more or steam them to make them easier to eat Also, he should really see his doctor and discuss the problem because overeating can lead to more than just weight gain. If he stretches his stoma, he will not be a happy camper. This is a dangerous game he is playing, he really needs to make an appointment with his doc. You might also be able to help if you do most of the shopping by not bring the "bad" foods into the house. If it is not there, he can't eat it (at least not at home). You could look for some recipes that will be easier for him to eat and shake things up a bit, maybe he is just bored with eating the things he initially learned were "safe" foods. Sometimes we are scared of getting something "stuck" so we are hesitant to try new things and we keep eating the same ol' same ol' until we are bored to death of it. As for foods "getting stuck" or "not going down", I have found only a few foods that I cannot eat (conch, and broiled pork or chicken). I have found that almost every time I have experience discomfort/pain the problem has actually been that I had too much air in my stomach (because I waited too long to eat). I theorize that as the food tries to pass through the band it actually displaces the air and the air tries to escape but is blocked by the food (just like the air bubbles that infants get). I have found that it really helps when my husband burps me (yes, patting the back the whole nine yards, well, eight, he doesn't sling me over his shoulder). Once I get the air bubbling out past the food, and burp a good sailor's burp, I feel much better and I am usually able to finish my meal. It is at least worth a try. I am sorry for writing a book here, but I hope something in there helps. Good luck.:frown:

Hey, has anyone else noticed that you like foods now that you never liked before or could not eat. Particularly spicy foods. I was a total wimp for "hot" foods pre-band, but now I can eat things I could never have eaten before. I even ate catfish last week and loved it. I have tried catfish several times over the years, but always hated the taste but now I really enjoyed it. I can't get too carried away with the spices because I can't drink anything to wash it down with, but there is a tremendous difference between before and after. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?:frown:

Consistently being active is great but be careful about being too consistent in your workout. What I mean is that you have to very your workout routine or your body will stop responding as well as it did at first. Find three or four different exercises for each muscle group and rotate them routinely for best results.

I like Prince's best of because most of the songs are upbeat Welcome to the Jungle - Guns & Roses Def Leopard U2 Fergie Basically, anything with a fast beat and is NOT country.

Good for you and I am glad everything is good. That's how my excursion started, I was having a lot of tenderness and some outright pain. At first I thought I pulled something at the gym, but it didn't go away so I went to the doctor. He was unsure of what the problem was so he ordered a mamo and sono. There was such a change from last year's mamo that the radiologist could not use the films for a comparison so he looked very carefully at the mamo and sono and found the lump. It was partially cystic (fluid) and partially solid and it was vascularized (had blood flow to it). That scared me! I had already had a hysterectomy years before, so I was not taking hormones and I don't drink caffeine at all, so I couldn't figure out why my breasts were hurting so badly. The doc said the soreness was likely from the flood of hormones from the weight loss. Fortunately, it was only atypical hyperplasia (malformed cells in the ducts). They do have to watch this closely, but in all it was good news. Good luck to everyone when you get your exams. Don't wait, call now and make the appointment.

There is a physical reason for the depression, in addition to all of the emotional changes that losing weight, losing favorite foods, and sometimes friends (eating buddies) brings about. Our bodies store hormones (and lots of other nasty things) in our fat tissue and as we start to lose weight that all gets released. If there is enough junk or you lose fast enough, your mind and body get flooded with chemical rushes it doesn't know what to do with. Then the tide may suddenly shift and the levels may fall dramatically, it's like being pregnant or menopausal (regardless of you sex). Don't blame yourself or beat yourself up for getting down, it's part of the process that most of us have or will experience. I had a period of depression about 6 months (60 lbs) after my surgery and I had to take Wellbutrin because it got so bad. Then I learned, about two months later, that the hormone surge had actually caused changes in my breasts when I found a lump which had to be removed. It all turned out ok, but I have some permanent changes in the breast tissue that now have to be watched carefully. Maybe they would have occurred regardless of my weight, but the doc said that they were certainly accelerated by the sudden release of many years of stored up hormones in a matter of months. So ladies and gents, please, get your checkups and mammograms as recommended!

The Pats said that they were not using the tapes to cheat and, obviously since no one has beaten them yet, they were telling the truth. Stop making excuses before your team even loses (which they will of course). Ha, go Pats!

I can't believe how many of you have a 4cc band! Mine is a 12cc band and I have 10cc filled. Once they put in 13cc by accident and oh my, was I in misery. I was 2 hours away from my doctor and had to sleep with a wash cloth in my mouth because I could not swallow my ow saliva! My point is, don't push it. The discomfort is not worth it. Laura

If the guys laugh at you, let them give it a try for an hour. Bet they won't do it, and if they try, I bet they fall off. Then you get the last laugh!

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I understand where you are coming from, but you see, I love to cook and I love variety. So finding this book that gave me great ideas for some wonderful new foods (most of which were really easy to make even though they were out of the norm) was great. Plus it provided quantity guidelines and nutritional information for each dish that I found invaluable. I guess it is a matter of how you cook/eat in everyday that will determine how much you use it , but even if you only pick one recipe per week to make on the weekends, it breaks up the routine and is well worth the $12 bucks to me. Another book that is interesting is Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. He also wrote Body for Life (which I believe is more responsible for my weight loss than the band). Both books offer a lot of inspirational stories, some exercises to work your entire body, and Body for Life has some recipes, but Eating for Life is primarily a cookbook. Most libraries have a lot of these books or you can go to the bookstore and look at them for yourself to see if they fit your life/food style before you buy them. Happy eating!