K@t

Hey Robert,

I love that post. There is a commercial for a gym where some larger women are looking in a circus mirror and seeing a slimmer self, they also see the reflection of a hot guy behind them but of course when they turn around he's not the hunk they saw, they make the comment that he should go to the gym too. I love it!

My brother in law is just as over weight as me, but my mother in law said that was ok because he was a man, and continues to harp on my weight. It's all about society and how it is percieved. Kudos for you for taking things into your own hands and not listening to the negative comments.:smile2:

Thanks, appreciate the support!

Wow! I'm glad to see this thread took off. I have been so busy with my move back to the US from Portugal. I was an ESL teacher in Portugal for 2 years. I taught all ages, children to adults. I now teach 8th grade Reading in Florida. But I'm thinking of moving to 5th grade next year.

ESL teachers you may already know this website, but www.onestopenglish.com is a great resource. They have free lesson plans and printable flash cards. My school has a Tuesday Night Family Night and I actually teach parents of my students who don't speak English and I am always using that site.

Great to see some teachers around!:clap2:

Hello all,

It's been awhile since I have posted. Things have been very hectic for me since our move, but I thought it was really important that I take a few minutes to share my experience.

As many of you remember, I was banded April of 2006 in Portugal. My husband is Portuguese and I lived there for 4 years. We recently moved back to the US in July of this year.

During the year or so that I was banded in Portugal I was very discouraged because I had little to no weight loss. I thought I was doing things wrong. I had to have port revision surgery in October of '06 and had other set backs. I was very discouraged, and the 25 or so lbs I lost in the first months after my surgery I gained back. I had 3 fills of 3 cc's each and was supposed to have my VG band nearly full. Yet I still felt no restriction.

As I said we recently moved back to the US and I went to a Fill Centers USA in St. Pete Florida. I discovered that my band only had 3 cc's in it. The fill specialist said that she doubted it was a leak since there was still 3 cc's in it. She thinks that my band doctor in Portugal missed my port twice and only actually managed 1 fill! So for all of this time, I hardly had a fill, and I had no restriction.

The fill specialist was great, she gave me another cc and I noticed a difference right away. I have another appointment with her on the 30th of November for another adjustment.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that with the proper restriction I will finally begin to see some weight loss, after almost 2 years of banded life with hardly any success, I hope that I will have something to report here soon.

Denise, As you can see I have the same problem, and it is VERY frustrating. I was banded April 26th and lost the majority of my weight on the post op diet as well, even though I have gained some of it back. It is very hard. I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong but i'm going to make an appointment to see the fill doctor and see what else we can do about it. I didn't pay all this money just to fail at this too. I'm going to try to work harder at eating the right foods and I'm going to get my butt to the gym and see if that doesn't make a difference. Besides, it's summer, so it's off to the swimming pool for me!

Hey isabelle,kuebel, and Jan, welcome to BTT! I think the lunch issue is always a problem because of how short a lunch period we have.

slikchik it's nice that you have so many friends that understand what your going through. I'm not sure if any one at my new school has had any sort of wls. But because my mom works there I have the idea that they all know I had it done! We have block scheduling and I have 1 planning period thats an hour and a half. I have asked for the midday planning period so hopefully I can just eat much lunch then and not have to worry about rushing.

Well i have scheduled a visit at a fill center in St. Pete for the 15th, so hopefully I can get tightened up and back on the road to losing. Moving from country to country is so stressful I can't wait until it's all over with.

How is every one else doing?

Wow! This thread has really taken off. It's so good to see it.

Heather,

where do you get the personalized Garfield posters? Those would be really cool to have. School ends for me on the 21st.

The website is http://www.garfieldposters.com/ and at the bottom there is a link that says create educational posters here. Just click there. I thought they were sooooo cute. I think I'm going to get the Mrs. so and so's classroom rocks and the have you used your brain today one. So cute!

K@t, Haines City is in Polk Co., correct? I have lots of students in Polk county. What school will you be working at?

Yep it sure is in Polk County. I will be working at Boone Middle School. My sister also works there, she is the para for the esol teacher. She works with most of the disabled kids. You may even know her.

I almost had a pb once, I was eating a snack on our 10 min break and about 5 minutes in something got stuck, and 5 min later when class started it still hadn't gone down, I went up to class thinking it would go down, since it was the beginning of class the kids were talking and playing around and I just stood there until it finally went down. Most of them didn't even notice I was standing there until I started talking.

I don't have to much of a problem with students turning in stuff. But I really like that policy that LLSibley mentioned about 10 points each day and on the 3rd day it's a 0. I will probably adopt that policy myself.

I would love to teach in a south american country when I finish my degree. Does anyone have any good advice about where to look for jobs in that direction?

If your going to teach overseas you will probably only find work teaching English. Most places require a certification, but if you get that, then its really easy to find work. I have a friend teaching in Chile right now. Just search for TEFL or CELTA. (different places call it different things) There are loads of websites. Good Luck!

Well I am 3 weeks away from moving. I need to do some serious packing soon. I have made a mini goal to try and lose 10lbs before school starts in August. So as soon as I get to the Sunshine state I need to get my behind in gear.....wish me luck!

I was only off work 3 days, plus the weekend in between, so a total of 5 days..... and I'm a big baby about these things, but I was fine. I'm sure a week will be plenty of time, but every one is different. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing!

School is out for me on June 30th, and we are flying out to Florida on July 4th, I don't think my new classes start until August 13th, but I will probably be up there earlier to start arranging my room and what not. I need to buy some posters and decoration stuff. I found these really cool Garfield that they personalize with your name, they say stuff like "Mrs. So and So's classroom Rocks!" and "Mrs. So and So's classroom...Privlidges....abuse them and lose them!" Totally cute with Garfield and Ode. I think I'm going to order one or 2 of them for my room.

Other then that I am just getting ready for the move to the states and getting things all ready. I'm going to try to have some down time and rest after the move before work starts again and after we get all our stuff sorted out.

How is every one else doing?

it's when the doc does it under an x ray type machine and they can see the band and the liquid passing through it.

She'll make sure; she's wonderful. I thought I had 2.5 in my band, but she took it all out and all I had was 1.2. I HIGHLY recommend doing it under fluoro. It's only $75 more.

I had a great experience with that office about a week ago.

On the first visit ($250 i think) i was told the fluoro is included. I'm glad you had a good experience I have heard good things and bad things about the fill center usa, but I have only heard good things about the office in St.Pete. I'll be making an appt to see her some time next month.

Volley...remember we are only supposed to be losing 1 to 2 lbs a week, it's not supposed to come off super fast like with bypass patients. So don't beat urself up. Keep up with the exercise and watch what you eat and eventually it will all come off. 5 times a week...man you go girl :clap2:

It's so hard to be around all my skinny friends, and I live on an Island so everyone ALWAYS want to go to the beach.

I can totally understand! I'm from Florida and all though high school it was beach and pool parties that I skipped because I didn't want to be seen in a swim suit. Even on my honeymoon cruise I didn't go in the pool or swim in the crystal clear waters on the beach.

Some of us are just destine to lose at a slower pace, but don't give up, there is a ton of support around here and we will make it though some how. :hug:

Hello everyone! I've posted here before but I've been away for awhile so I'm back. Life has been hectic and stressfull, but hopefully after next month things will calm down and I will be back to normal.

I have a question about fills. I have had 3 fills (3cc's each) and (supposidly) have 9cc in my VG band (which holds 10cc right?), and I honestly feel hardly any restriction. I can still pretty much eat normal amounts (still less then before, but more than I should) and I don't seem to have any food restrictions. I do get things stuck if I eat to fast, and I have pb'ed twice (in the entire year and 2 months I've been banded) My band is almost full how come I can still eat so much?!

I'm moving back to the states so I'm going to a fill center usa in st.pete, hopefully the doc there can make sure that I really DO have 9cc in my band, but is it possible for a band to be to big for the stomach? My surgen says he uses VG bands on everyone he bands, but maybe my actual stomach is smaller then the band it's self? Or am I just crazy and 1 more cc will make a difference?:phanvan

:bump: any other teachers around?

Who the heck is Rachael Ray? And who the heck is that girl for that matter? I hate random people photos..imagine that person walking through a shopping center then all of the sudden they see their face in a fake photo of a picture frame for sale. freakish. :rolleyes

Hey thats great! I was planning on the Cereal bars for Breakfast and a frozen meal or the wrap for lunch. Then doing dinner at home and allowing myself 2 snack packs a day during the week. Hopefully that ought to keep me on the straight and narrow. Then on the weekends I might have regular food for breakfast and lunch for variety. (but still south beach approved meals)

Hey Jachut! I didn't know u were going to be teaching. It's good to see you here. I can see why you would be nervous eating around new people, but hopefully that will pass when you get more comfortable then you will be able to eat normally. I sometimes use to skip the staff room and spend my lunch in my room grading or what not when I didn't feel like dealing with people.....that way I could eat what I wanted with out any looks or comments. But of course then you miss out on the social aspect. But I totally agree that the teaching schedule lends its self to dieting. It's not like you can munch in class when ur teaching, and breaks in between are to short to really munch. As long as u can control yourself when you get home it should work fine. I'm counting on that to be part of my support system when I start my new teaching job.

Jane how the heck you get up at 5:30 I'll never know. I plan on doing my exercise when I get home around 3:30. Hopefully by then I won't be to exhausted from teaching to hit the gym.

insub- I totally agree people don't realize how hard teaching is. It's not like your sitting at a desk staring at a screen or talking on the phone. Your on display in front of all these little faces for most of your day. That takes a lot out of a person. Plus the lack of discipline in schools these days does nothing to help.

South beach has a ton of new foods out there produced by Kraft. They have frozen meals, as well as breakfast bars and cereals. And they have these new on the go chicken wraps, plus they have 100 calorie snack packs like Cookies and chips as well. They look great and it will be a lot easier for me to grab one of those for lunch and breakfast, and have the snack packs around for the munchies, then just cook a dinner in accordance with the plan. They have some great recipe books that I bought, I just got a new one with slow cooker recipes. Hopefully it will help me shed the weight. I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes.

Hey Jane, good luck with your banding next week..keep us updated.

Surby- I saw their website and the package....but I wasn't sure if it was only their package or not, I guess it is, so good news for me..it's not like I need to learn some new method of teaching.

Hey Jane,

30 min lunches are standard in middle schools. I think it's horrible, it encourages kids to eat to fast. Before I moved to Portugal i was a perm sub at the same school where I'm going to work and I had my planning time right after lunch so I was lucky to get extra lunch time. I know about the potty thing its tough.

Kids can be curious its great that yours are being sweet. When did you get banded? How much have you lost..and how the heck do u have time to go swimming before school? What time do you start work?

We would probably specify no gifts. A few family members did give us gifts but we are pretty established and it's not like we need toasters or anything. It's good to know that some people do it afterwords. I think our 5 year will be a good time to do it. I'm pretty decided we will do it. If you guys are still here on LBT in 2 years, you will see the photos. :biggrin1:

I'm thinking of doing it in a small Baptist church that my grandparents attend. Its in a really small town so I would just need to find a reception place. But it won't be a big thing, just family and close friends, probably 50 people or so. I just really want pretty photos to show my children, and you know "have my day".

Thanks for the inputy everyone.

I've avoided watching that movie for that very reason...I'm probably a witch for it, but I like my diamonds and I don't want to feel guilty for wearing them. :paranoid

Great doc, thanks for the input! I'm hoping to find a few more bandsters to join me....any one else? Any one?

:bump2: :bump:

You mean there is no one doing south beach??

Hey Surby - Welcome to BTT. So your and AP great, I'm hoping to be there in 3 or 4 years time. So you have done a lot of reading thats great too! In fact I have a question maybe you or kity know the answer. I'm taking an SRA reading position...any idea what SRA is? I googled it but I couldn't find much. And from what I understand its for grades through 6, but I'm supposed to be teaching a 7th grade class.:cry

My insurance and the hospital just stated "stomach surgery" on all the paperwork. The weight loss is so much slower than bypass that you can just let everyone think you have gotten this great will power and are working really hard to change your life.

No offence ment Ralheit, but most of us ARE using great will power and ARE working really hard to change our life, even with the band. I don't need people to "think" this because it's true.

There are any number of good excuses so pick one and use it. I told everyone and now I wish I hadn't. Every time some one hasn't seen me for awhile they look me up and down and I'm sick of it.:tired