NanaRenan

Ack!!!! I'm convinced my scale does not read below 278!!! 278.4 278.2 278.8 278.0 278.6 repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat I think I'm fixin' to start cheating on my scales -- by weighing in at THE FREAKIN' GYM I JOINED TODAY! So there, bee-yatch!

Hurray for you! You will most likely see me on CNN the day I break the 200 barrier!! Don't know yet what I'll do, but it'll be crazy enough to garner national attention, I'll wager!! LOL I'm SO aggravated about how my scales keep hanging -- drop a pound or two then SIT THERE for a month, drop another.... Well -- I got REALLY pissed and went and joined LA Fitness today!! I have a 7 AM appt. to meet with a trainer tomorrow. I went ahead and prepaid for three years -- OUCH! I know, but about what I'd pay for a decent machine at home and I don't have to figure out where to put it! And it's convenient to home, plus I drive past it multiple times a week, so it'll "NAG" me if I"m not going. But I've decided that when they say, "You can't DO IT on diet alone", they must've been talking about me. Even my walking a mile a day wasn't pulling it off either. I'm mad as a guinea wasp now -- -- so hopefully we'll get some results!

Argh! I so happy for all of you who are really pulling it off, but pea-green with envy! Yesterday was three months for me and I have lost 23 lbs. (The rest was lost pre-op). My body is just fighting me, fighting me, fighting me!!! It's SO aggravating!

I've PBed a few times -- almost every single time it was while eating something 'hand-held' -- I now use a knife and fork for EVERYTHING! Also, I should do better at setting my portion size from the get-go....because there's no warning of when you shouldn't take the next bite. Just an "OH CRAP! I shouldn't have taken that LAST bite!" Hence, I need to SLOW down more between bites. I don't know what my "LOOK" looks like, but I see something near TERROR reflected in the faces around the table -- I get lots of "Mom/Honey, are you alright?" Hmmmm....my face is flashing white.red.white.red. There are tears in my eyes. My lips are clenched. My hand is over my mouth and I frequently raise one arm up over my head and stretch uncomfortably. DO I FLIPPING LOOK "alright"??

I feel your pain.....I was banded a day before you and have stalled out SO many times already! Yes, there is a modicum of change in my clothes fitting and yes, I feel much better. But YES, I would LIKE to see some results in the numbers game. But I guess we both need to just chill and keep doing what we know is right and wait for the results. I have to have faith that this thing we have done WILL work eventually!! Sunshine, thanks for posting that piece. I've printed it out to put on the fridge!

LOL I just signed up and it told me 2460 calories per day!! So I set it for 1600 calories.....if it's all GOOD food, that's a LOT. I'm pretty sure I can't eat that much banded. But it's more reasonable than 2460!!

I'm three months post-op and had my first fill a month ago today. I've never had a problem with red meat OR salad. Now grits and seafood -- get stuck every time I eat them. But I love them too much to stop. Breads and Pasta....can't have more than ONE bite or I'm askin' for misery.

I've not had any problem with salads, either. But, don't eat them as often as I'd like because the protein gets first call and after that, there's usually some lovely broccoli or something else I like better.

I love ALL seafood (okay, calamari and fried oysters are pretty low on my list, but I never met a shrimp I didn't like!) and I live near the gulf, so we eat a LOT of seafood. Pretty much ALL of it tends to get 'stuck' if I don't REALLY eat it slow. Chew, chew, chew, but then wait a long time between bites. Not sure why -- but it just seems more likely to 'clog up' at the bandsite than beef, pork or chicken does. But eventually it all goes down. Just take your time.

Ahhh -- that's music to my ears!! I've had WAY too many people try to tell me that "starvation mode" is fictional, a figment of my imagination!! I say JUST TRY LIVING WITH IT FOR A WHILE!!!! Sheesh!! Anyway, HOORAY for you, Rumar!!! I'm thinking of going back to Weight Watchers so I can get a handle on getting in enough food so that I keep losing. I was banded about a week ahead of you and I've been stuck, too. I suspect it was because i was so focused on getting in my protein that I really wasn't paying attention to my calories and probably haven't been consuming ENOUGH to keep the loss going. Best of luck to BOTH of us!

Oh, but "I" do! Honestly, if I have a choice between just going to the movies and having popcorn OR going out for a nice dinner before, but no popcorn at the theatre -- I will pass up most anything.....steak, lobster, Mexican, Italian. The popcorn is at least HALF the reason for buying a ticket and going to a theater. Otherwise, just rent a DVD and stay home! Pam<---only goes maybe 5 or 6 times a year.

Okay -- I love popcorn, but have gone months and months at a time without eating it and never saw a change in my IBS. I don't know my LB surgeon's opinion -- it's never come up -- nor has it with my GP. But I have been to the movies once and had some -- the small bag lasted 3/4 of the way through the movie and I even shared some -- where as a LARGE used to be gone by the time the previews and opening credits were done! LOL And we went through several boxes of Act II Popcorn Balls for Halloween. They're pre-packaged into 100 calorie balls and just sweet enough to feel like you've had a treat.

LOL I'm sorry, Sweetie! I'm not laughing AT you, but with you! But you're frustration is so very evident -- and I just enjoy your....er....free-form way of expressing it! Maybe we should start a competion -- Plateau Queens!!! Sort of like cyber chicken or something. First one to budge the scales defaults their crown to the other! LOL Hmmmmmm.....this could work! UNFORTUNATELY!!!

I had my best success with WW, too. I've always said, "If I drank all the water they tell me to, eat all the veggies they tell me to and did all the exercise they tell me to, I'd lose weight. PERIOD." Problem is -- I lose it so incredibly SLOW that I give up and end up just pigging out for a few days or couple of weeks and gain back what I lost. If it doesn't do anything else, at least the band prohibits that sort of falling off the wagon!

Thanks, WASA! mwah!

I've lost 43# -- about 23 of that since the day of the surgery, 3 months ago. My waistbands are only slightly looser. My tops a bit looser still -- but nothing to write home about. However, my wedding ring can go off and on now without greasing my finger and several pairs of my shoes -- the wide-width ones -- are uncomfortably loose. Meaning I'm almost afraid to wear them afraid they'll cause me to trip or something! A neighbor who's been on the road and hasn't seen me since two-days post op saw me in the yard yesterday and went on and on and on about how much he could tell I'd lost. I still suspect he might've just been being nice! LOL

OMG -- I just started a thread on the question of doing WW while banded!!! GMTA, eh?

Hi, my name is Pam, but around my house I am known as the PLATEAU QUEEN. ARGH!!!:angry My body just like to arbitrarily STICK at a number and not budge for weeks. I've walked myself into "shin-splints" several times -- it seems the only thing that will jump start me to losing again is to have a 'blow-out' weekend, where I eat whatever I want. This is reminding me -- painfully so! -- of when I would do Weight Watchers. If I ate at the low end or BELOW my points rage, I would either sit still or have a minimal loss -- like .04# or something. But if I ate on the high end or ABOVE, I'd lose 1.5 to 2.0 a week! I'm beginning to suspect I'm not eating enough! I'm SO focused on getting in the protein, that I'm really not even looking at calories. I just know VOLUME-wise, I'm probably consuming 1/6th of what I used to. I told my hubby tonight that I'm thinking about going back to WW.....he looked at me like I'd grown a horn or something! What do ya'll think...?

I didn't see my nemesis -- the T-Factor Diet. But I know it's still around -- I recently saw the books in Barnes and Noble! I gained 100 lbs on THAT *#$&^ excuse for a diet!

I've always been hot-natured, by hubby is cold. If I'm "comfortable", I don't dare mention it, because someone is sure to point out that the rest of the room are FREEZING! I sure hope to get somewhere closer to NORMAL as the pounds drop!

Barilla Plus pasta is whole-wheat AND has Omega-3 oils and protein added!!!

I would say, "What are you waiting for?" Seriously!! Just do it.

Sheeesh!! My scales do that crap to me ALL the time! I just decided to channel it -- I weigh right before I get dressed. If I see that same stoopid number again, then I put on my walking shoes and walk MAD....surely it must burn more calories than just walking.....right???

Great pics ladies -- thanks for sharing. I need to take mine -- I intended to take them monthly, but have been convinced there's nothing notable to report. I'm coming up on 3 months soon. I'll do them then, I promise. (Somebody remind me on the 14th!)

I am SO freakin' tired of seeing the same number on the scales day after day after day after..... you get the point! I'm just gonna walk MAD on days when nothing happens!!! As opposed to just walking otherwise. I totally flubbed the challenge in October -- too many excuses and none of them worth listing. Just DIDN'T get off my bootois and do it! (That's boo-TWAH for those of you who don't speak "Nana".) And, I'm going to go to the gym next week if it is the last thing I do!