janesays

my hairstylist has the band and used to have the same problem. she usually has a protein shake with her, but i know that sometimes she will keep something to snack on in the back and go for 2-5 minutes in between appointments to chew a little, come back in half an hour, chew a little more, etc. hope this helps and good luck!

woohoooo drew thats awesome! yeah you look so good in your pics-- but i hate to tell you, its time for some smaller sizes again! i know, horrible right? haha today i went shopping to get some new jeans. SIZE FREAKING TWELVE! i was waiting for this moment for a long time.... the reason size 12 means so much to me is because the last vivid memory i have being in this size was 5th grade. TEN YEARS AGO! i only remember it because my friend (Who was a normal kid and super skinny) goes "im wearing a size 12".. meaning kids sizes. and i go "me too!" all surprised until i realized that i was actually in adult sizes. it was kind of embarrassing at the time. NOW IT ISNT EMBARASSING!! i fit into size 12 jeans at both Gap and Express. wow... this is going to take some time to get used to! but not too much time. :rolleyes2:

omgggg-- some of the best NSVs i've been waiting for!!! so last night i was out celebrating my 21st with some friends from high school that i havent seen in awhile, since its our spring break. not only did i wear a DRESS (size large) out in public, something i havent done basically EVER, but later in the night we met up with another friend of mine, who happened to be hanging out with my ex-boyfriend. well, immediately my friend gave me a hug and he goes "JANE you look so niiiiiiice" with a wink and my ex was a fumbling little puppy in front of me for the rest of the time. i havent seen him for about a year. the whole time he wouldnt stop paying attention to me and i wouldnt give him the time of day, why should i? he didnt pursue me that hard when i was heavier. someone brought up that my brother was taking me to vegas some time in august, and i was telling my friend that i'll have my own hotel room so he was welcome to stay in my room, when my ex butted in and said "oh, well then im DEFINITELY coming!" i tried to be nice, but i was seriously, in my head, like sorry, you're not invited. thanks for breaking up with me, this ship has sailed! oh man, that felt soooo good! all thanks to the band.. i have pictures from that night that i will post in a week or so, when my spring break is over.

alright yeah i guess i will add the People magazine story in this thread too: Guiding Light's Caitlin VanZandt Drops 90 Lbs. - Bodywatch : People.com They have a video of her doing a swimsuit photoshoot you can watch for a real view of her body now. The only thing I didn't like was that in the story (unless they fix it), it says the lap band shrinks your stomach to the size of a golf ball. I have a feeling a lot of readers unfamiliar with the surgery will think it means something more invasive. Otherwise, its just good to see the magazine finally recognize that this is a valid way to lose weight too!

i gave in and finally got a slight unfill (.25cc removed) on wednesday. soooo relieved, i think this will really help me! i was having trouble getting in ENOUGH calories, and the past week that finally showed in my weightloss. im not ready to slow down yet! haha so hopefully this keeps me losing at a healthy pace, but a steady one at that. im not a fan of plateaus! how is everyone else doing? only a week and a half left in the challenge! go go go!

Yeah I saw that too. I'm pretty sure it's just another surgery scar, perhaps a laparoscopic hernia repair or something? They would have disclosed it on the show if she had a previous WLS, like they do with brown dad.

I have to agree with you! They are tied in my book. Though sometimes I have to admit I've even had a little bit of a TV crush on Mike-- ha! He's too young, even for 21-year-old me, though. But he's just such a nice guy! When he gave his grocery prize to Aubrey a week or so ago, I was crying so hard. And Tara-- what an awesome motivator! To see her footage from the first show last night was crazy... I can't believe how far she's come, she looks normal! This is the first season I've actually watched TBL.. but I might have to start watching it now! Or maybe old seasons. Anyone have a favorite old season that I need to rent and watch from start to finish?

Yay for you! I have a similar NSV like that-- today I wore some jeans from high school that were tight on me then... and now they are too LOOSE! cant wait to go jeans shopping next week. :sneaky: yesterday, we had really nice weather for once so i went to the rec center wearing some capri sweats from last year (when they fit kind of like spandex on me). BIG MISTAKE!! i started jogging (i know right-- me? ME? jogging?!) and the pants started falling DOWNNNNN! awesome.

here's the newest update story! Caitlin Van Zandt On Shedding Nearly 100 Pounds apparently there will also be a spread in people magazine this friday about her.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! yeah i was thinking about that-- what will our next challenge be??!? we need a half-way point challenge between april fools and july 4.... somewhere around may 15-20th or so. i looked on this list of wacky holidays to find something for us to work towards: May Holidays 2009 (Official) Monthly, Weekly, Daily, Silly, Bizarre, Crazy, Unknown Holiday Observances apparently may 20 is "weights and measures day" haha. so appropriate! i didnt look at the list too closely so everyone should go there and figure out a good day for our next challenge!

well, my doctor had nothing to say about dairy really. i just drink skim milk, which i guess i have 1-2 cups a day of. i also have cheese (usually reduced fat, but not always). its one of the few ways i guarantee Protein if i'm too tight to handle beef or chicken. i count my calories daily (about 1000 a day, if i exercise then a little bit more), and if by the end of the day i havent had enough calories or protein, but im too tight to eat enough, i have a big glass of skim milk. and ive had really good weightloss so far... i would just go day by day. if you are having a lot of liquid dairy and not losing any weight, try cutting that out to see if it helps. i dont know if i could live without dairy!

dont you just LOVE it when you jump on the scale and you've lost 1.5 lbs in a day?! even if its only water weight, its always so much fun! haha i dont care how i lost it, i dont even know how, but 203.8! alright now im shooting for 199 as my april fools goal! i think i can handle that.

woohoo i knew you could do it gingerbug! and you still CAN do it-- or at least get as close as possible-- to your goal!

hey mrriceguy, (sorry for the super long post ahead!) dont be so hard on yourself. lets be honest, we all got to this place because we are weaker than others when it comes to eating and drinking in social situations. certainly it will take you some time to figure it out and will take the proper motivation to get over every hump you have. as for me-- i lost a nice amount of weight in the first 3 weeks or so, then my body healed so i had no restriction. i got a fill at 4 weeks, but it wasnt quite good enough yet. it was christmas time and new years, and everyone knows that month has more social situations with eating and drinking than any other time of year! i disappointed myself some in those two weeks, as i was back at my parents house where i dont have a gym membership, and back with some old friends who insisted on eating crap food all the time and drinking. it was hard at first for me, bc it was the first time i had been in those situations since being banded. the worst night i had food-wise was new years, i had absolutely no restriction and no self-control and drank, and ate a ton of mozzarella sticks and pizza! i felt so guilty, kind of like you are feeling, but then i went back to my normal routine and schedule and got another fill. luckily, i hadnt gained any weight over the holidays, but i had only lost about a pound in those 3 or so weeks. i found the motivation in myself to exercise more and eat healthier, and was surprised at how fast people forgot the "old" drinking and eating jane. one friend even said at lunch "oh yeah- i forgot you were a slow eater!" yeah right, i was usually the first to lick my plate! i never ate salads before, but now i have one almost every day or so, and i have grilled chicken or some sort of lean beef in small portions instead of fast food or fried anything. anyways, you can see from my ticker that around the time i got focused on eating better and exercising more, i have steadily lost a little over 2 lbs a week. i havent been doing anything CRAZY! in fact, at this point only 3 months later i dont think i am doing anything abnormal from my usual routine, because this IS my life now. just eating only when im hungry (which is a lot less often now that i have REALLY good restriction!) and walking everywhere. anyways, i hope that you soon learn to kick your old habits so that you can get to losing that weight. and get the proper restriction- you deserve some help, thats why you went through the pain of having the surgery ... so take advantage of it! good luck, i know you will find your own way soon!

gingerbug-- don't get discouraged! you have proved to everyone how awesome you already are! now that you are PAST your goal and just reachin for the ultimate of "smokin hot" (which i already think you are-- but you have to be the judge on that one!), your body probably just wants to go reallllly slow. i bet when you arent paying attention, over the course of the next few months, you will lose those last few. you are seriously SUCH an inspiration!

i use thedailyplate.com they allow you to "create" meals using ingredients on their site, that way you can put them on your calorie count as one big chunk if it is a common food you eat. i love that site, i consider it the secret to my success! well-- besides the lapband, that is!

congrats lauren, you'll do great! there is a post in the 20s thread called something like "one day out and feelin fine" which i wrote about my experiences, from surgery time to about a month afterwards. hope that helps!

i got the best gift ever this morning when the scale said 205.6! i only have 3.6 pounds to go to reach my goal in 2.5 weeks, and at the rate im going at, i might surpass my goal! i might even get to ONEDERLAND! this is awesome! sooo happy birthday to me!

great job you guys-- everyone looks soooo good (and healthy!) i haven't been doing side to side pics, i need to find some REALLY good before pics because i know there are some out there. here's one for the time being, its the only full body shot i could find, but it was about 20 pounds from my highest weight: and here's a picture of me now, half way to my goal and 52 pounds down total:

congrats barb! can't wait to be where you are. you can totally pull off 15 pounds, no sweat! look how much you've lost in such a short time! just another person to add to my list of inspirations...

these NSVs keep happening every day it feels like, which is AWESOME- but i need a place to remember them all (and i want to share them with people!) so hopefully no one here minds that i fill this thread up and hopefully someone looking into the band sees how wonderful it really is. so today was a good day, despite things that would normally suck. 1- even though i had class at 8am on a saturday and was an hour late, two really skinny and pretty girls asked me to have lunch with them later (and girls, you know what im talking about. it only matters because they are those stereotypically "pretty" girls and to formerly fat girls like myself, i was rarely asked to eat with these girls until they got to know me.) then 2- i came home and saw my neighbor who asked if i wanted to hang out with her and some friends at her place, but i told her i was a little busy and would "try." well not one but two of her guy friends came up and starting chatting me up, asking my name etc, and i think i know flirting when i see it. so 3-- the two above things didnt mean much to me all day, but then tonight when i was with my other friend nora (the girl in the red dress next to me in my pictures), she goes "jane-- seriously now, you are getting SMALLER." and i go, "really? yeah, i am aren't i!" and she was like, "yeah, i noticed it the other day when you were talking to that guy outside your apartment. i saw you and was like-- daaaaamn!" haha so anyways, funny NSVs, not significant in the grand scheme of things but its the little moments that count, right?

ive been going to the same hair stylist for the past 9 years or so, and she got the lapband 5 years ago. she gave me basically the same advice as everyone here: yes, your hair will naturally get thinner no matter how much Protein you get in, but the protein level is still very important to keep up. it usually happens around month 3 or so (like it has for me) and should only last 1-3 months. but don't worry-- it WILL grow back! worrying will only make your body stressed more and you will lose more hair! in the meantime, she suggested to just use a volumizing conditioner, dont blow dry your hair as much, and get your split ends cut and style your hair more often during this time to keep people from noticing anything is different. hope this helps!

Name___________StartWeight___CurrentWeight______Goal_________ToGo *****:cool2:************************:tt2:***********:thumbup:* ********* *** AmethystJade.......231.8..........212.........150.......62.0 Babe...............308............286.4.......199.......87.4 Bellaperdente......196............184.........150.......34 Bklyn1984..........317............261.........165.......96 Bostongurl.........190............190.........133.......57 Brandy.............198............184.........166.......18 Cappy..............240............231.........130.......105.5 Chocolate_Snaps....244............224.........175.......49 CubsGirl17.........147............138.........130.......8 Clarebear08........192............176.5.......160.......16.5 Donna113...........183............174.5.......126.......48.5 Ebonie.............307............307.........200.......107 EmmaWang...........241............230.........140.......90 FalloutGirl........282............278.........165.......112 FeliciaLevy75......200............194.........140.......54 FlordiaPete........413............391.........300.......91 GratefulHeart......226............206.........135.......71 GuyMontag..........325............295.........200.......95 health4life........279............239.........150.......89 janesays...........225............208.........160.......48 kimaly.............194............185.........160.......25 Lindar172..........246............226.8.......150.......76.8 Linksmom...........234............234.........145.......89 LocomotiveEngineer.311............311.........220.......91 Long2BThin.........216............198.........169.......29 lotzasunshine......270............262.........180.......82 Loveislovely.......216............210.........175.......35 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 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............161.........125.......36

just putting the link on the last page here! http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pfAYfZkr9NWic_LuT_qA_DA good job everyone! ive only got 6 more pounds to go and 3.5 weeks to do it... i know i can do this!

awesome snaps-- i'm jealous! i still havent made the transition from gap to banana, but i have stopped shopping at gap mostly now. soon! ok-- heres a good one for me. sorry to the boys here who don't understand this NSV. alright, so for the last few days.. ive just been feeling.. well, FAT. not confident at all, just super fat, even though ive already lost all this weight and im in smaller size clothes. then all of a sudden today, it hit me (literally) when i found out i had just started my period. all this time, i was feeling BLOATED!! you know, like a normal size woman feels during their period. all my adult life i have never felt "bloated" during this time of the month because... well, i was bloated ALL the time, and i just didnt know the difference! ive never been happier to feel fat. hahaha