JulieNYC

I consistently lost 3 lbs/week when my BMI was above 35. From 30 to 35 it was more like 2/week. Now it's more like 1/week, but, really, that's fine.

Doctors' advice on this varies dramatically. My surgeon says to drink up to 5 min before eating -- that a properly adjusted band will not keep liquid in the pouch for 5 minutes, so the washing through effect won't happen. Other docs say 30 min. That doesn't make sense to me, in logic or in practice, in terms of normal liquids. I definitely agree with Tracy's point though -- you can use liquids to help open you up (for example, drinking coffee or soup) before you eat, which can be a bad thing if you're doing it to sneak food past your restriction. Of course, it can be a good thing too, if it's a tight day and you're just trying to get proper nutrition in. In terms of regular Water, etc. in my experience, I can drink almost right up to when I begin to eat with no consequence on my satiety. I think that's your real question, right?

It's just a number. Reset it if you want to -- it's NOT a failure to change it upwards, if that's your concern. The number we choose at the outset is just a guess of where we'll want to be. My original goal was 199. Then it was 175, then it was 160, then 150 -- now it's 136. But if PS doesn't take me to 136, I'll be adjusting that upwards. I don't want to lose much more weight except in the spots that need PS. if I wind up in the 40s, so be it.

There's nothing about being banded that inherently requires you to moderate your sugar intake (unlike, for some bypass patients, who experience "dumping" when ingesting sugar). As others have said, it's an issue of how you want to use your band to maximize weight loss. Once you're banded, you may find that you don't want to consume much sugar because weight loss is easier with the band and it's even easier with calorie (or, for some, carb) control.

I did 10 miles this morning before work. It's still so wild to me that I can do that. I wanted to get it out of the way because I'm traveling this weekend and didn't want to have to work in running time. If I can get in 4 miles in the morning, I'll be done for the week. Next week is my last real training week for the marathon. I have 4-9-5-22 next week, then it halves every week for 3 weeks until November 4. I bought my plane ticket for my thigh surgery on November 8th today as well. All this is ALMOST becoming real! My view on the calories in vs. calories out discussion is that it IS only calories in versus calories out, but that calories out varies dramatically within the same body, meaning that running exactly the same run can burn 300 cals one day and 400 another day, depending on what's going on in your body. My body is pretty consistent and I'm thankful forthat. It's just that the ONLY downside to being smaller is that we don't burn as much with the exercise we do because we don't weigh as much, so it doesn't take as much energy to perform the task. I know you all know this -- I'm just rambling. So, the guy I was excited about turned out to be a flake. Too bad -- he was really cute and interesting at first. So, I made 2 dates for next week with new guys to console myself! I'm going home to AL this weekend and looking forward to seeing my family and finalizing my PS details.

I don't know much about this, but when you see your PS, ask about salicilic acid pressure tape. My surgeon (Dad) said he'd evaluate me at 6 weeks to see if he thought I'd need it. Apparently it helps with raised scars. I didn't wind up needing it, so I don't have further information. It apparently doesn't make normal scars any better -- they only recommend it for scars that aren't developing normally.

I went on a first date last week and ordered a drink. About 1/3 of the way into the drink, I ordered a glass of Water because it was going to my head and I didn't want to be tipsy on a first date. The guy figured out what I was doing and, off the cuff, said "Really, after 1/3 fo a drink? Yeah, I guess that makes sense -- I mean, you are really small." Second date anyone? Haha.

Well, I'm of child bearing age, but not trying to conceive, so I don't worry about it too much. I eat 3-4 servings a week. I would say I'm conscious about it though. If I were trying to conceive, I'd go down to 1-2 servings.

Betty, I've seen you. You're a medium in a race t-shirt as well.

Coo, I'm ovo lacto (I tried eating fish early in my band journey at my doc's insistence, but I just can't) and have had no problems being banded. I eat a fair amount of soy, a fair amount of whey, a lot of Beans and lentils, dairy (whipped cottage cheese nearly every day), etc. I eat asparagus and pineapple. You'll learn that you can eat everything (or at least most things) if you make modifications, like taking small bites, cutting the fibers with your knife before you start to chew, blending textures, etc. It's all going to be fine. Being banded is great.

Betty, do you really think you're going to want to do 2 half marathons within about a month of each other? That's actually the perfect timing for me, in terms of my recovery. Let's talk it through some more.... It's official -- I haven't lost a single pound in a month. This might be the end of the road. Let's see -- I ran 140 miles last month. At 125 cals per mile, that's 18,200 "extra" cals burned, or 5.2 lbs. WOW -- seems like you should burn more than 5 stinking pounds running those kind of miles, doesn't it. Anyway, since I didn't lose (or gain), that means I'm taking in more calories than my body burns on its own without this level of exercise. That's a scary thought. Guess I'm going to have to keep running to even stay this size.

You look AMAZING!! Way to go, on the bod and on the confidence. Woohoo!!!

Dawn, I'm 4 inches shorter than you, so I get to be 40 lbs lighter than you before we are comparable in terms of final goals. Then throw on that I had 12 lbs of skin taken off my stomach and I get to be 52 lbs lighter than you before we're comparable. Throw on the 10 I'm going to lose in 34 days (yes, I'm counting the days now) and I'll need to be 62 lbs lighter than you to be comparably thin. Crazy, huh. I ran 20 miles on Saturday. It took me almost 4 hours (11:30 pace) in the 90+ degree San Antonio heat, but it was a good run. I'm sunburned. Only one more long run before the marathon. I feel good though. Like, if I can do 20, I can probably do 26.2. I'm not losing weight though. I'm mostly ok with that, but I do think my body's switched into maintenance mode. Part of it is eating so much more with all the miles (I'm running about 45/week now), part of it is being close to the finish line in terms of final weights, part of it is less than ideal food choices on my part. I'm making a push on the last of those this week. I need proper nourishment for my body. I have to remember that. Meanwhile, I've met someone I'm really interested in on the dating front. I'm kind of holding my breath waiting to see if it's turning into something real or not. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is a whole new world right now.

Isn't it wild that I ran 10 miles before work this morning and it was, like, no big deal at all? That's so wild. I think my long-term running plan is to stay trained for a half marathon all the time, meaning I run 9 or so miles at least once a week (and 6 on a normal day). I feel SO GOOD around mile 6-7. OK, I'm going to say something that's not going to make me popular. Hear me out, ok? Boo, Dawn, do you think maybe your bodies are thin enough? If you work really, really hard and lose 15 more lbs, will you be able to maintain that loss or will you always, always be fighting? Do you want to fight? I'm sure I'm going to need this same talk soon enough! Anyway, all I'm asking you to do is to reassess one last time and make sure you really want to meet your current goals. If you do, I'm here to support you 100%. I'm off to San Antonio this weekend for a concert. My friend Joel is in the symphony there and they're having a big deal concert this weekend, so off I go. I have to run 20 on Saturday and it's going to be HOT, but I'll get through it. After that, only one more long run before the marathon! Betty, what are you up to?

I did my second half marathon today. 2:05 -- Yes, that's a 9:30 pace for the whole time -- woohoo! Of course, now I'm itching to break the 2 hour mark, but I need to calm down and remember this is "marathon not a sprint" -- haha.

There are tons of us. Check out the Road to Twoterville thread as well for some inspiration.

Betty -- how far from Vancouver are you? BMO Bank of Montreal Vancouver Marathon

Oh no, Betty! I can't abandon Boo if she's in NY that week! Can we pick another 1/2 marathon? I'm really thinking that's the right length race for us. There are something like 300 per year in the U.S., so it'll be easy to find one, maybe even the next weekend. Let me look into it.

Betty, that's PERFECT!! April 6th -- I put it on my calendar. Wonderful! Yes, I have NO DOUBT you can do it. You're going to be so happy! I can't wait to start our training. I won't formally train for it until Feb, but we'll start talking strategy soon. I'm in trial in DE this week and work is insane, so I'm not around much until the weekend. Hugs to all.

I got in 5 miles this morning at a 9:45 pace and I had to go to the doctor before work, so I had to get up SUPER early on a Monday. I want extra gold stars for that one, ok? Wink. Headed to Delaware on business today. Catch yall tomorrow.

Hi PigsAreFlying, You might want to check out the "Passing For Thin" thread. It addresses all of the questions you asked on this thread, at least the psychological ones (for example, why I buy size 6P pants and still see a fat person when I put them on). It's not all roses at goal -- we still have head issues and struggle with food issues. But the negatives don't control my life anymore. The band is the best thing I've ever done for myself. Take care,

I know, Boo, I don't get it either. I know a big component of it is not running too fast for my fitness level. If I run at a 9:30 pace or even a 10:30 pace, I simply cannot run more than 3 or 5 miles, respectively. But if I slow it down to an 11:30 pace, I haven't found my limit yet -- it's somewhere past 18 miles! Hopefully it'll be past 26.2 miles, haha. It can be hard not to "over run" in the first 5 miles or so, but if you can force yourself to slow down and know you're in it for the long haul, adding distance really just isn't that much of a challenge. Who knew! My PS is November 8th. My marathon is November 4th. I know that's pushing it and I don't care. I just want it done. It's mostly a work-timing thing. If I have PS on November 8th, I can take 2 weeks off and the end of my 2 weeks puts me into Thanksgiving weekend, which essentially gives me 3 weeks off. It's a huge surgery, so I need as close to 3 weeks as I can get. Normally I would only be taking 6 weeks off running, but since I'm planning inner thighs for 6 weeks after the outer thighs, I probably won't really be running again until the spring. I hope to do a walk with Betty before then though. So, this winter it'll be Dawn that we're cheering along to half marathon victory! Speaking of half marathons, I have another one a week from today in Queens. I'm going to intentionally run it slower than I ran the last one. It took me longer to recover from the Chicago half than it did for the 18 miles I did yesterday. I feel 100% from yesterday already, where it took me about 3 days to feel completely normal after Chicago. I'm at work because we've got an INSANE case going on, so let me get to it. (Have I mentioned how much I hate working weekends?!!?) Have a good day, all.

I made it through my 18 miles uneventfully and kept an 11:15 pace. Anything under 12 min for that kind of length is just fine by me. Didn't think I'd die at any point either, so that's a coup. Dawn, I'm sorry you had a tough run -- part of the sport, I guess.

"Wheeet-whheeew" (That was my attempt at spelling out a whistle, phonetically).

Juli, I was just where you are! It happened for me a little later in the journey, but it was still just as you're describing. Basically, I got to 199 and just quit trying because I was sick of tracking calories, making time to exercise, etc. I knew I wanted to lose at least 50 more lbs, but I had come such a long way and I was just tired of the diet mentality. So, I took about 2 months off. Part of it was conscious, part of it wasn't, but for about 8 weeks, I didn't watch what I ate and I exercised some but I didn't log it or pay it much attention. The GLORIOUS part of this is that I didn't gain weight. Pre-band, I'd have gained 40 or 50 lbs in a heartbeat just by setting down the diet reigns. And, one day, losing weight became important to me again, so I picked back up the reigns and lost about 10 or 15 lbs before I needed another break. I guess my point is that this is a marathon, not a sprint. It's life, not a diet. If you need a break, take one. The band will help you maintain until you're ready to make the effort again. Stay involved in the LBT community while you're on your break though. That'll help you stay sane, in terms of overall life/food choices and might provide you with some motivation once you've had your break.