mini_me

hey girl, i did the same thing(only I didn't get down to 191, i was down to 196). we talked about that, i think. well, my doc told me the same thing about the first fill/two week thing. I went back in and almost half of my fill had disappeared. So, the refilled me and then added more. I am now at 1.8. I have restriction, as I can tell that I have to chew better, and eat slower, but I can still feel the food move past the band almost immediately after i swallow. I have noticed a marked change in my appetite, and the scales are SLOWLY starting to move(my time of themonth, so it is hard to say how much Water i am holding onto.) Monday next week, we should be able to tell. So hang in there. We are lower bmi bandsters, and the loss is usually going to be a bit slower for us. Let's just take it one day at a time, and not lose faith in our bands. It is not like we can take it out and return it to the doc, we might as well learn to live with it and rest assured that as long as we don't try to trick it, then in the long run we will win this battle!!!

i like only the thin layer of chocolate on the top and bottom of the cup. I do not like the thick rim of chocolate on the outer rim of the cup. oh, gosh, i am demented. wheres is vinesqueen's tough love when we need it?

CONGRATS!! take care of yourself!

jack jack bo back banana fana fo fack fee-fi mo mack JACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1-2-3 WE LOVE YOU JACK!!

welcome and good luck!! you have come to the right place to find information, and testimonials...

wow lianna, thanks for sharing that. i have never noticed them, but i will look for them from now on. how many calories/fat/carbs etc?

hmmmmmmmm, wonder who that might be???

hmmmmmmmmmm...i am going to look for this in my area...

nerd, Jachut's message should clear up the reason for stopping meals at 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, your pouch has had time to work some of the food through the band, so you have room to replace it. If you sit long enough, you will end up eating too derned much and defeat the purpose of the band. good luck and by the way. i had my second fill on wednesday, and i am really feeling the difference. each day is more significant.

Someone should start a Chris Daughtry thread!!

Hey, I wonder if I got the last absent element CD. I ordered around 4 or so yesterday, and i havent gotten any notice that it was not in stock. i can't wait til my CD gets here!!! I cant wait for Chris's new CD to be made!!

i tried the miniatures, but they come in these great big bags with about a thousand of 'em. i can't stop until they are gone. the easter egg ones are my most dramatic addiction. i think they have more Peanut Butter and less chocolate. That is just how i like em. The Texas sized "Big Cups are more like the eggs. Only one in a pack, and i peel off the layer of chocolate on the outer top edges, and they are perfect. Damn the following people who allowed their chocolate to mix with someone elses peanut butter: the cavemen who were fighting the flight attendants who else people? I know there are more people who allowed their chocolate to mix with their peanut butter. I just can't remember. ((in my best mocking voice...you got your chocolate in my peanut butter, you got your peanut butter on my chocolate!!))

grocery shopping online?? I bet you drive one of those HOVERCrafts to work too?? I thought Mrs. Jetson was the only one who could GROCERY shop online!! How does this work? Do they deliver, or do they gather, and you pick up? Is there a service charge? OH MY, the poor bag boys are going to be obsolete. Some of them were so darned cute.

WHAT!!??? A diet reece's peanutbutter cup??!! Is it a true reece's?? Or is it a knock off? Oh, what am i saying, diet only means that i will eat twice as much, feel half as guilty, and lose NO fat. ((sigh)):tired

thanks for the good info...

hmmm, excellent ideology...any suggestions for implementation? This could be tricky...i mean those damned grocers put them RIGHT in my FACE and then make me stand in line at the checkout for 45 minutes. That is too long to fight for me...

BROADWAY for katherine!!?? That is a great idea, i never really considered it, but you are right. She would do great there. You know, i have read of several former idol contestants finding their niche on broadway. I overlook elliott's teeth. He WOULD look better with a repaired grill, but why risk changing the sound of his voice. Consider Jewel, her grill is pretty whack too, but i read that she feared changing the sound of her voice as it sounded now. and Elliott IS much more pleasing to look at than clay was, not that clay was a total dog or anything. Hey Dody, i just bought one of chris's band's CD's. Kelly posted the website earlier in the thread, maybe on 36-37. i want to say it was www.absentelement.com but i may be wrong. i listened to a sample of the music, and it is Chris, just like I want to hear him. I think he could boost Absent Element to real success if he hangs with them. He has a huge enough fanbase with AI to lay a firm foundation to build on. Kellymoos i read that too about the contestant voices on the phone numbers. i think we are ALL trying to find some kind of flaw to blame this on, we are still all shellshocked. I think that once we all see that Chris is not over as a result of being booted off the show, that we will begin the "healing" process and move on. And Sunta, thanks for answering back. I really worried that i had opened one of those cans of worms that explodes all over ya. PHEW! Group HUG!

oh, my...these things are going to be my downfall. i peel the chocolate off and eat the peanutbutter. i love that damned Peanut Butter. you cant get it in a jar like that(thank goodness). anyone have any reece's peanut butter cup eradication ideas?

To say that if celebs can't handle having negative things said about them, then they should not reach for the limelight is, well, imo, a cop out, especially when we are talking about idol contestants. Now, if you were to say that if celebs cant handle having negative things said about them, then they should not do stupid things...I could have agreed. These contestants, for the most part are NOT celebrities, and do not seem to fit the mold for the people who would typically reach superstardom on their own. Consider Kelly Clarkson. She refuses to shed her southern draw in her conversations. She stills says things like, "heck" and "ya'll." You don't hear Beyonce doing that...and Beyonce is a Texas girl too. They are both superstars, but are distinctly differenct celeb types. blah blah blah, i did not want to start a debate.... We can agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My opinion-if we are going to criticize, then we should make it resemble something other than a personal attack. To say that any of these folks cant sing is not a very valid statement to make, as they have beat out how many 100's of thousands to get there. Maybe they arent superstar material, but neither are most of the former idol winners. And when I said respect yourself, it was not a personal attack on anyone, it was advice for any and everyone. it is a phrase that I use when talking to my children, my family, my co-workers, those who have worked for me, and even my bosses. If we ALWAYS respect ourselves, then there is no reason to believe that we will ever disrespect anyone else. I guess the whole idea for me, in this instance, is if we were the friends of these idol contestants, how would we deliver our criticisms to them? GOSH, THIS IS A FUN THREAD, AND I WAS ONLY TRYING TO SLOW DOWN THE NEGATIVITY. i still love you guys...and Sunta, I am sorry if you took offense.

perhaps it IS something in the phone lines relative to the part of the country that you are calling. I do not know. I still find it hard to believe that SOOO many predictions were made for Chris to take the final title, and now he is not even in the top 3!!! i do find myself trying to rationalize how this could have happened. I just find it quite difficult to swallow that in the past, i have been able to place all 100 psychotic votes for him with no busy signals. Yet this time, i can't get a line for him, and have no problems getting a clear line for the others. It seemed that Chris was doing so well. And he is most definitely very appealing and marketable to the alt / rock culture. I mean, i can turn on any of the major stations in Houston, and i hear songs that remind me of him. i hear the subtle, yet very distinctive differences in his style that i believe will make him stand out. i know that while he has the same appealing sound, he will not blend in as "just another" rocker. I think Kathryn will have a successful carreer singing for the whole celine dion crowd. i think that is where she wants to be too. despite those who call her boring, etc. i have found several of her performances entertaining, and even adorable at times. she can be very cutesy, and then charming, then elegant. She is very young, but i am confident that she will grow into a hell of a performer. Taylor may be spastic...he may be wild, but i LOVE to watch and listen to him. He is really talented(as they all are). his cheesy antics are NOT enough to make me write him off. i believe that he has a sound that will withstand time, and in the genre that he prefers, he will thrive. Elliott has a sound that does not match his appearance. Boy, they could make his voice a pop(by pop, i mean popular, not bubble gum) sensation, but I could also see him being a HUGE R&B superstar. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but there is just a sound to his voice that I can hear in a duet with some of the great R&B stars of today. From what I understand, he is from New York. If New Yorkers are anything like Texans, they will all vote for Elliott regardless of who their favorite is, so I think he has a real advantage in that he is hugely talented AND has numbers on his side. Who is my favorite to win? Elliott, AI will not be tempted to make him sell out and do songs that do not fit him. He can sing the songs that AI wants. I can hear him be soulful and seductive. Who do I think will win? Taylor, who i love, but i don't think that AI will allow him to sing the songs he needs to sing. Then again, who knows. Kat may run away with it. Stranger things have happened. Closing on Chris--although i am saddened, as i could sense his own disappointment in being eliminated, bigger tragedies have occurred, and will occur. Heck, this was probably best for Chris, AI, AND Chris Fans.

hate to break this to you, but i would not expect full restriction with the first fill. i could never "consciously" feel my restriction, but i did lose weight daily the first week. after that, i maintained. i got my second fill yesterday, which was one month after the first fill. over half of the first fill had disappeared from the band. this is normal according to my doc. i can feel the restriction now. it is not utterly dramatic, but i can definitely call this restriction. i have to be really careful about finishing my meals in 20 minutes. otherwise, i could sit and eat slowly, and the food would pass at a rate that would allow me to eat large portions. If i try to eat the large portions too fast, BOY, do i feel it. so, i eat slowly, and stop at 20 minutes, following the bandster rules of Protein first, etc. I am going to weigh again on monday, and we will see if this starts the scales to moving. good luck to you!

amen sister!! don't wanna hear me sing, although i do attract quite a crowd at karaoke. i make all of them...uh....smile.

gosh, i have to interject here... we are all upset about Chris leaving, but I do not think that justifies everyone slamming all of the other contestants. If Chris was getting married the day of idol auditions and did not make it onto the show, we would all still have a favorite. I think it is OK to be disappointed about Chris leaving, but we are doing a disservice to Chris(and ourselves) by trashing the other contestants. I say, let's all respect ourselves. Let's remember that these are real people. So many of the criticisms seem personal. Who is to say that these contestants will not, some day, stumble upon some of these insults? I know that I would not want to hurt someones feelings just because MY favorite did not win. They are all good in their own right. They each have their own fan base. AND NOONE CAN DENY THAT THEY ALL HAVE TALENT. Everyone has to acknowledge that they could have never gotten this far without it. Just my .02 btw, i am still boycotting AI. I think that there must have been a malfunction of the calling systems. I called each of the contestants lines last night, well after 9pm. Chris's line was the only busy line. I called it several times and heard the busy signal. Does that make me a hypocrit? ((sigh)):Banane13:

I just went to absent element's website and bought the CD for $7 (plus $4 shipping). I would have paid $20

GHB, Call them and have them schedule your next fill. Tell them that you have no restriction. They did not ask me any questions. The just scheduled the fill, and I got it yesterday, and I can already notice a difference. I could not even eat 1/2 of a mcdonalds hashbrown this morning...I know, bad food choice, I was in a hurry. good luck!