janesays

i just wanted to jump in here and say all you ladies (and a few men) are so inspiring to me! i have been exercising and weightlifting for awhile now, but only recently decided to change things up and add running to my workout (and my workouts are already pretty tough now that it is summer and i have the energy! not to mention that i have a personal trainer! love him) the last time i actually ran was in middle school, when i was on the track team by default (they made the volleyball players compete in track during offseason. i was the slowest, but i still ran.) well, my mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently going through chemo. i want to do something but what can i do, really? well, i read about a 5k race for the cure and looked it up about a month ago, and i decided i want to run the sept. 13 5k race in central park in new york. my goal is to run the whole thing straight. and after reading what all of you have accomplished, i KNOW i can do it! for the past month i have been slowly increasing my endurance. i can run/power walk for awhile, but i cant run a full mile straight yet. ive done really well on my weightloss and in gaining muscle, but i want to gain speed as well. thanks for the great conversation in this forum and hopefully i will be running 5Ks with you all in the future!

ok first of all -- BRAVO!!! 100 pounds in a year! that is so incredible and inspiring, ESPECIALLY because you said you did all that in the first half of the year and have been able to successfully maintain that weightloss for the past few months. so a huge round of applause to you girl, seriously! im gonna respond to the post you wrote on my visitor wall in this message board because you asked for my advice and i feel like i have to explain myself a lot more than this website will allow to fit in a visitor message! :wub: wrapping my head around being "skinny" is really hard, and im sure it is realllllly hard for you too, at least that is what i gather from what we have talked about in the past. one of my first memories of clothing sizes was in 5th grade wearing a size 12 (of course i worked my way up to a size 20 by the time i was banded). well the first few months i dropped weight consistently, and can say i had it down to a science because every day i have been writing down everything i eat in my online calorie counter. i bought my first pair of size 12 pants at the end of march.. but in the 2 months since then i did not really lose any more weight. i was overstressed and that had an effect on my band of course-- like everything does-- and at the beginning of may i had my band completely unfilled after my doctor was worried my stress had caused a slip (i could not get any food and eventually any liquid down). a week later i had an upper GI (had to swallow the barium liquid so they can look at me through an x-ray), and my body had already healed itself. this i could have told the doctor anyways-- because i DEFINITELY am hungryyy! but that is great news because it means i can slowly put Fluid back in my band. but unlike a year ago, when i would have felt hungry and gone out to eat a 4th or 5th or 6th meal at some fast food place, something has finally clicked in my head. i am so thankful for my band (JUST LIKE YOU OBVIOUSLY SHOULD BE!) because without it, this plateau would not have happened--- we both know i would have gained the weight back, then been depressed about gaining weight after all that hard work and eventually gain MORE weight. thankfully, with my band, i know i cant let myself down. this is why i have continued to write down everything i eat, even when i know i am going waaaay over the calories alotted for me for the day. i know sometimes i make poor food choices or say i shouldnt have eaten that or drank that... but because i am aware of what i am putting in my body, i know exactly what i have to do to lose the weight i want in the time i want to do it in. we are also in the same boat exercise-wise -- i have also found my motivation again! a few weeks ago is actually when i will say i started up. we both know how much i was exercising back in november-february, but school work made my life too busy, especially because i wanted to hang out with friends in my free time. but like i said-- i guess something clicked in my brain. i want to be healthy and fit and active more than anything, and while this band will certainly put me in the right direction, nothing and no one aside from me will get me to my goals. even when i dont have time for it, i HAVE to make the time for it. it takes a half hour to get in a solid workout, thats all. and then an hour to quickly shower and dry off/cool off, which i can do while watching tv or doing homework anyways. the hospital i went through assesses your physical fitness with a personal trainer in their physical therapy center before surgery, and when i first met him back in november, we became pretty good friends. i can obviously exercise without his help, but i called him and decided to "hire" him as my personal trainer for the summer (he hooked me up with a sweet discount because he knows im self-motivated so i wont be a tough client for him). i am so excited to work with him and get off this final weight. it is great to have someone else excited for me to lose weight and get fit too, and who cares about my well-being so that i won't injure myself doing so. i already feel so strong and powerful, and i have always loved that euphoric feeling that comes with exercise. i worked out really hard this morning and a few hours later i was still a little red even after a shower, but i saw an old mentor who was just gushing "jane-- you are absolutely GLOWING! you are so skinny now too! are you in LOVE or something? is there a BOY in your life?!?!" hahaha wellllllll that is certainly not the case, but its good to hear that my after-exercise redness makes me look like i am GLOWING and in love! ha i really want to give you solid advice-- like "do this" or take this magic pill and suddenly you will find the motivation in yourself to eat better and exercise on a lazy sunday. i want you to let go of your fears and let yourself get skinnier and healthier like you DESERVE to be. but obviously, i cant do that. all i can do is offer support and motivation like you do for me. and it sounds like something has finally clicked in your head too. year one is done and you have proven you were a successful bandster, and now it is time for year two-- the year for you to REACH YOUR GOAL and be healthy and happy and MAINTAIN IT! i have absolute faith that you will be there by next summer. alright. ive written a lot here, haha. but i hope this is all stuff you wanted to hear, and i hope that this summer we both accomplish our short-term goals! the past two weeks i have turned my plateau around and am losing again, finally. my size 12 express jeans are getting too big now, would you believe that? im smaller than the ten-year-old me!!!

already 2 pounds down, which feels great since im pretty much doing it on my own right now since i was completely unfilled! when i get a fill next wednesday that will hopefully help me out some. also... i made a ticker for myself for this challenge-- ive found it helped to keep me on track in the last few challenges so i thought i would do it again!

thaaaanks kaninag, and hi capitolchick-- GOOD TO HEAR! you have no idea how great it is to hear from someone else who has gone through the same thing. this summer i am living by myself, and while i am working and taking classes, i have WAY more time on my hands to devote to bettering my health. like i already said i have a trainer, and have found lately that i have plenty of self-motivation to keep me eating healthy and small portions even without any restriction. i think something has finally clicked in my brain. i am still losing weight because of this, it just of course always feels slow! so im glad to hear that the weight flew off for you once you got back on track!

i am adding myself to the list! two weeks ago I was completely unfilled, and now after my body has healed (the doc had me do an upper GI and everything was normal)... well i am slowly starting again. i gained back about 3 pounds in 2 weeks, which i know could have been much worse so i am not that upset by it. the nurse added 2cc a few days ago and i have absolutely no restriction, but i am not going to push myself! instead, i plan on pushing myself more physically -- last thursday marked day 1 of my personal training for the summer! i meet with him about twice a week, and i have been working with him since right before i had my surgery so i trust him. just did a five mile walk/jog/run today... ready to work towards this next goal!

i've had a lot of bad days the past week or two, but i'm back at home and seeing some friends i havent seen since before surgery. one of my friend's mom said "jane you are so TWIGGY!" (but she meant it in a good way-- she is just foreign so she doesnt speak the best english). and last night, i was out at a bar with some friends and i guess my good friend who i havent seen in about six months finally mustered up the courage (after a few drinks) to ask me about my weight. she goes "jane, i hope you dont get offended, but.... did you-- did you get a breast reduction??" and i laughed and explained no-- but i've lost some weight. and she was just like, "oh well i noticed! good job! what are you doing?" and i didnt feel like getting into the whole explanation so i simply replied "just eating better and a lot more slowly, so i eat a lot less." its funny to see people's reactions. most are too embarrassed to say anything out of fear of offending me, but usually they just say something like "you look so good-- so grown up!" or something like that. its only a few of my good friends who have, in private, asked me specifically. oh and-- im getting a personal trainer for the summer! i recently saw the fitness analyst that approves patients before surgery and helps them with becoming more physically active the first month after surgery. i mentioned that ive always wanted a personal trainer but that its too expensive, and he said that because im obviously self motivated he would train me for pennies since he wouldnt have to do much work, i would basically just be paying for a membership to the hospital's workout facility. im so excited to start with him again, i start next thursday!

hey everyone! I just went tonight. If anyone else that went tonight reads this and saw me/has questions, feel free to send me a message!

Name********Starting weight*****Current*******Goal******To go ******************:laugh:**************:laugh:**********:w00t:*******:cool2: 1RockinMom.........254............220.........145.......75 Alleycia...........255............220.........152.......68 AmethystJade.......231.8..........212.........150.......62.0 Babe...............308............278.6.......199.......79.6 Bellaperdente......196............177.........150.......27 Bklyn1984..........317............241.........165.......76 Bostongurl.........190............186.........133.......53 Brandy.............198............181.........166.......15 Cappy..............240............227.5.......130.......97.5 Chocolate_Snaps....244............224.........175.......49 CubsGirl17.........147............135.........130.......5 Clarebear08........192............171.........160.......11 Donna113...........183............172.5.......126.......46.5 dublingirl.........224............209.........145.......64 Ebonie.............307............298.8.......200.......98.8 EmmaWang...........241............210.........140.......70 FalloutGirl........282............278.........165.......112 FeliciaLevy75......200............194.........140.......54 FlordiaPete........413............378.........300.......78 GratefulHeart......226............193.........135.......58 GuyMontag..........325............276.........200.......76 health4life........279............239.........150.......89 inri09.............287............254.........185.......69 janesays...........225............189.........160.......29 kaninag............210............210.........170.......40 kimaly.............194............183.........160.......23 Lindar172..........246............219.6.......150.......69.6 Linksmom...........234............234.........145.......89 LocomotiveEngineer.311............311.........220.......91 Long2BThin.........216............183.........169.......14 lotzasunshine......270............249.5.......180.......69.5 Loveislovely.......216............185.........175.......10 ltgordon...........284.8..........250.5.......185.......65.5 lucyavery..........205............205.........140.......65 Mair...............231............222.........140.......83 Mamanmidwife.......264............260.........200.......60 mdgarcia31665......220............220.........165.......55 MissNilsa..........180............180.........132.......48 nicolerose.........365............288.........258.......30 Pink...............230............152.........145........7 Rhea2d.............283............233.........185.......58 Sandra267..........220............220.........165.......55 Tabithan...........240............240.........200.......40 Tuger..............192............187.5.......130.......57.5 Under200...........242............199.........155.......44 vzghj3.............202............202.........150.......52 Wendy_Wo...........242............218.........142.......76 WOWOX7.............173............147.........125.......22