westcoastmom

Hello all. It has been nice reading all your recent stories as we approach our anniversary. Too many successes to count! This is our busy month as an Irish Dance family. We will do some Reels and Jigs for you all... Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Happy Holidays to all! We are getting so much winter weather in the Seattle area. It is unusual to get so much snow and then to have it stay around for so long. We are all stir crazy. My husbands office is even shut down. I did manage to get out a bit yesterday so we can at least serve dinner to our guests on Christmas. Although the kids kept making sure I was driving carefully enough the whole time. I grew up on the East Coast where you got 20 inches of snow overnight and still went to work the next day. But it is very different here with less infrastructure to take care of things and icy conditions. And very easy to want to fill all this time at home with eating! But it will be fun to have a white Christmas - and maybe I will even be in a picture or 2 this year...

Christine - I am sorry you are having a difficult time. I can't offer you any advice or explanations, but I do send you good thoughts. I guess fear of this is one of the reasons I have kept Fluid out of my band - you are braver than me to give it your all and have really worked hard. The only small thing I might offer is a bit of my experience. Although I don't have the restriction and sense of fullness that many of you have, I have tried to change many of my habits. I have found that as I have lost weight, my body's responses have changed as well. So even though I might not be eating the very small amounts or very small calories, I am still either losing slowly or at least maintaining weight loss. I have found that if I limit too much, it does not make me lose any more weight. With a bit more food, I have more energy and actually lose more. I wonder if your body and band might need to function with just a bit less fluid in than most? I remember reading some success stories from people who did not have much fluid in at all. Maybe at the very least, have a bit less in would give you and your body a bit of a respite to feel better. I wonder if being able to get a bit more food would give you more energy and even enable you to be able to lose weigh more easily? I wish you well - I know this must be hard. WCM

I think we might want to give Fenton a bit of a pass on the weigh in - if I read his post correctly it sounds like it might be a bit of a logistical issue. Although, I will seach the web every once in a while for a story about a naked gentleman in Paris just looking for a neighbor's scale...

I am not sure I can join in, but I thought I would add myself too... NAME *******START WEIGHT *******CURRENT WEIGHT *******GOAL *******LBS. Lost aJoneen............XXX............XXX............XXX............0 Fenton.............XXX............XXX............XXX............0 HarleyGirl.........XXX............XXX............XXX............0 Hopeinapril .......XXX............XXX............XXX............0 Hungry4help........XXX............XXX............XXX............0 Lynn1215...........174.5..........174.5..........XXX............0 NurseNiki..........XXX............XXX............XXX............0 Nycm00.............220............219............XXX...........-1 SpecialK...........274............274............165............0 Sugarbean..........200............200............XXX............0 Tess41.............XXX............XXX............XXX............0 WestCoastMom.......155............153.5..........140..........1.5

I have started the cooking already - and the ignoring of my children. Luckily they play well together. I have the cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, salad dressing, chocolate pecan pie, apple pie, and kid's chocolate mouse pie ready. Just the turkey, carrot Soup, potatoes, and salad to put together tomorrow. (Maybe some cleaning too...) But the most fun is decorating gingerbread houses after dinner - and trying to keep our dog away from the houses until Xmas. You know the funny thing is that I don't really feel like I identify closely with the people at our support group or sometimes even feel like a "bandster" - but I still enjoy reading here and keeping up with everyone's stories. Happy Turkey day to all.

I am sorry things are so stressful for so many. I am thankful that my stress is only from being busy with so much kid stuff. But aside from the mounting piles of laundry, I enjoy it all. I don't think I will write about my daily food intake or choices. It might not go over very well. I will just say that it is more than most and I still enjoy eating things that I want. But I have found a balance of being able to do that without over indulging as I had done in the past. And I am still the same 10-15 pounds from goal, so it is still going OK. I am still fighting with low Iron and some other little things. I think I thought so many things would just get better right away with weight loss. But it is so much easier to find clothes!

My food groups of late are the chocolate, nougat, crackers and cheese. Obviously I am not losing weight, but I am still right where I was and am good with that. I know I have not used the band well - I can actually feel myself get full in my "real" stomach. At some point, I will have a check up to see how everything looks. I know I eat way more than 1/4 to 1/2! It is amazing how different everyone's bodies are too. I know I am so short when I read the comments about what size everyone is wearing. Even with my weight down below 160, I am still in size 14s. Hopefully at some point soon, I will get motivated to lose about 15 more pounds. I would then be able to say I am "normal". I would certainly be happy with that by March.

Bras are expensive - I have to say that I usually spend between 48 and 60 for each. I hate doing it, but it is the only way I can get one that has support and comfort. I just end up being unhappy with anything I get that is cheaper. Sorry I can't help you with finding less expensive support! My favorite is Le Mystere.

It is nice to hear from so many of you. Rhonda & Tess - congrats on your new "lands"! It feels so good to hit those milestones. I love reading about what you are all going through, but I don't always contribute because I still struggle with the lap band decision. I don't want my worries clouding the other successes and positive outcomes. Even with those feelings, it is so nice to be looked at as "normal". Some newer friends have been surprised when they hear a comment from someone about how much weight I have lost. I hope to lose about 15 more pounds, but I am OK with it being slower now. My kids love having lots of lap to sit in and I notice how my 6 year old can now easily hug the whole way around. I know that I haven't used the lap band like I should. I can actually feel myself get full in my lower stomach - I don't think anything stays above the band. I guess in some way it gives me a bit of hope that if I do get the band removed that I might be able to keep the weight off myself. I will probably get the little Fluid out that I do have in soon - just because I find that I have always had to clear my throat since having surgery. I think that if I had lots of money around, I would probably have the band removed. That said, I also would never say it isn't a great tool for so many people. I know how much it helps and how it has changed so many for the better. Who knows - I may be the poster child for this some day...

Sharon - I can certainly understand the talks we give ourselves to get the kick in the but we need to make changes or get motivation! I have been thinking about things in terms of just setting the "reset" button every once in a while. Hopefully you can just do that instead of feeling disappointed in yourself. I know I used to make a choice that I considered bad and then then I would just let everything slide for the rest of the day too. I am now trying to look more at the big picture. And maybe to make you all feel better, I am sure I can still eat way more than most of you at one sitting! I can eat a whole tortilla rolled up with veggies and cheese. (And I don't feel bad about it.) I think eat person does need a certain amount of calories to feel like moving and to get their metabolism going. I have actually started losing more after eating more. Although things might be challenging this month! Today is my oldest daughter's bday (just turning 11) and she wants brownies which are my favorite dessert. We are traveling almost every weekend for the girls dancing. And we are having a big halloween party for my daughter and friends toward the end of the month (and I love to have way too much food for parties). I am not even going to think about getting halloween candy for a while. It is tough when there is so much in the house.

SpecialK - what a wonderful way to mark your milestones! You have set the challenge to me to come up with something as meaningful. My daughter is asking friends to donate to a local wildlife rehab provider instead given her gifts for her bday - maybe I will add 60 pounds of somethinnd they need. At our last support group, they were talking about how you need to reward yourself with "things" and something about that just didn't feel right to me. I talk with my kids all the time about how important it is to feel self worth - I don't think you get that from an external reward. This just makes great sense. Thanks!

I have lost enough hair in the past 2 months to craft a border collie. It is a good think I started out with thick hair, but it is not so thick now. I am sure it was started by losing weight, but low Iron also helped it along. The nurse who runs our support groups and does fills always gives this advice about hairloss. You can take supplements, Biotin, and add more Protein and your hair will grow back in a few months. Or you can just keep doing what you are doing and your hair will group back in a few months. She just says it is a normal part of the process and that there really isn't anything that will change it or speed up regrowth. And Mom007 - wouldn't your husband rather have a wife who is happy because she loves how she looks? I would imagine that if you feel good, you might be more willing to (pardon my outburst) "feel good together". But, I have to say that I am much better now at doing what I want to do and not just what everyone else wants me to do. And about getting hit on - I would just think it would be flattering to get hit on regardless of "team"!

Hello Fenton (and everyone!) - I checked in quick before getting the kids to the bus stop. Well, I made it to my original doctor's goal this morning. It does feel good to get there! I think I will adjust the goal about 20 pounds more so that I can actually be just in the normal range. I think it will probably take me until my year anniversary to get there, but I am OK with that. I am actually pretty comfortable where I am now. As for Halloween - I love it! I know the candy will be a challenge, but I am having difficulities holding myself back from decorating. We do actually have a 3 foot spider named Ralph hanging out on the stairs as a head start. I have had a bit different philosphy on treats and food I think since I have started this journey than some. I have acutally allowed treats every day if I want them (small of course) and do eat the foods I really still like. That has helped me feel like I am not restricting myself and I to also feel like I am not on a diet. I know that at the end of the day, I can have something sweet I want and it helps me not eat stuff throughout the day. Although I am very hungry right now...