Ninja

Hi all, I'm only 20 down so far, so no major melting yet (but I can't tell you how inspiring it is to read about all your successes--please keep it up!), but everything is fitting much more loosely. I've probably gone down one size from 24 to 20-22. I won't be shopping for quite a while, though, as I've got a full wardrobe for every size from 14 to 26 in the back of my closet. Has anyone else done this? I lost down to a 14 several years ago and as I started gaining weight again I didn't get rid of anything because I kept telling myself I'd be back there soon. I can't wait to closet shop as I move downward this time, and I'll definitely be getting rid of things as I shrink out of them.

My doctor didn't give me any caloric guidelines beyond the first couple of weeks. I think his reasoning is that if you follow the dietary guidelines and have good restriction, calorie-counting shouldn't be much of an issue. I haven't had a fill yet and have been staying within 700-800 calories a day since the week after surgery. I've been really pleased with my loss so far, but for the last four days there's been no movement on the scale and in fact I was up .6 pounds two days ago. I know that there is no way a person of 239 pounds could be gaining fat on an 800 calorie-diet, so I'm now wondering if I'm not eating enough. So many people seem to do well on about 1000 calories that I think I'm going to up it to that and see what happens.

Thanks, Libra. Yesterday morning I was up .6 pounds and today I was down .3 from that, so still up a bit but no serious damage from the Chinese. I'll still be drinking lots today to try to flush it out. The plan went really well, though--gave me confidence that I'll be able to handle eating out as long as I think about it beforehand. Jen

I'm newly registered on the site but have been lurking for a while. An old friend is visiting for the week and wants to have dinner at an organic Chinese restaurant I'd mentioned before. Chinese food is a major weakness of mine, and at four weeks post-op and with no fill yet, I realize I need a solid plan to prevent myself from overdoing it. So, I plan to order a small egg drop Soup and eat a few bites to half of it, depending on how I feel. Then, for an entree, I'm ordering either chicken stir-fried with mixed vegetables or chicken with cashews. I'll ask for a to-go box as soon as we order, and I'll pack 2/3 of the entree into it as soon as it arrives. I'll eat with chopsticks to force myself to eat more slowly, and I will not eat any rice. I'm also going to repeat my plan to my friend. Hopefully that, along with posting it here, will force me to be accountable. Thanks for reading! Jenny

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and thought it was about time to post. I was banded four weeks ago today and had a major NSV this weekend. I wore one of my favorite shirts for the first time in about six months--last time I tried it on I couldn't even button it and on Saturday it fit perfectly. That same day my boyfriend commented that my jeans were getting saggy in the rear, which is nice enough, but the jeans I was wearing are already a size down from what I started with a month ago. Yay for the band! Jenny