julie.ann

Has it really been over a month since I have blogged? The newbies won't even know me! Well let me introduce myself. My name is Julie. I was banded 8 months ago in October and have lost 107 lbs. Yay me! Now let's talk turkey..... The band and I just had our first big battle. Now don't get me wrong. The band is in charge, as always, but for the first time I started to get a little pissy at it...always thinking he knows just what I can and can't eat. My son left today for overseas on a 10 day trip, I have hit a plateau the last few weeks and I was feeling like I needed a little old fashioned comfort food. For me that is pizza. What a coincidence.... I just happen to have some homemade (from scratch) pizza in fridge left over from last night. The first time I cooked pizza from scratch in 8 months! Last night I just picked off teh toppings and such. Well none of that sissy crap for me today. I wanted P-I-Z-Z-A dipped in sauce! So the band said no. .....then I said "DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A BET? I'LL EAT SLOW AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!!!!" Then the band said in a small yet confident voice..."Go ahead honey. Just give it a try. You will regret it. I wish you would listen to me....but if not we'll see what happens." So the band won...then I tried another battle and he won that one too. :confused: It wasn't pretty. So I sat down with some ice cream and HE couldn't stop me from eating that so I feel like crap now. Blah..... So I am going to lay off of the weight training and get back to more cardio and add some Zumba classes. I have been at the gym 5-6 days a week all summer and I need to be careful I don't burn out. I'm going to surprise my family at the end of this month. They still don't know I have lost all this weight and I want to tell them I had surgery. I have been just a couple of pounds away from no longer being obese, but that might have to wait while I realign my routine. Stay cool this 4th of July! High /Surgery/Current/Goal 285.5/ 271 / 177.5 142.5 Banded - 10/29/08 Four fills - 4.7cc/10cc Read My Blog: My Secret Journey Touch Below To View My Pics (More on my profile) [ATTACH]151[/ATTACH]

Well for the first time since October I will officially record a gain. I am off of the next challenge and I am going to try to change things up a bit. Good luck to all and happy 3th of July!

Hello Plateau.....Good-bye Sanity!!!

Jmegirl...haven't heard fro you in a while. How are you doing?

Well put me down for a 1.7 loss. I am just a couple pounds shy of my goal. I was focusing on the goal and when I got back to focusing ONE POUND AT A TIME I started to eat better and it started to come off again. I hae to keep that in mind. I know that about myself. I guess I just forget. Good luck everyone. One more week left.

Well I weighed in later in the morning last week and I recorded a 0.3 loss. This week I have 1.7 lb loss. I am so close to that goal of no longer being overweight. I know what I started doing wrong. I started focusing on a big goal when I have to focus on ONE POUND AT A TIME. When I started doing that I started eating better and losing weight. I am not going to make it to the gym today. I hate that. The first day I've missed in weeks (except Sunday when they are closed) Onward and upward....I mean downward! :thumbdown: How is everyone else doing? Jill, be sure you aren't too tight. You don't want to fall into soft calorie syndrome.

BG- I know I've been away from the blogs for a while. I still check in with my forums everyday. I hear you talking about knowing what it is like to PB and I just feel like a proud momma. You are growing up so fast. I'll try to keep in touch. How much have you lost so far in what amount of time?

First of all you can eat ALMOST anything. Second...what does she think will happen if you can't eat something? Is she worried about depression? Is she worried that you won't be happy? Is she worried about what will happen if you change? Is she worried about what will happen if you lose weight? If you are healthier and more outgoing? I would be very honest with her. The type of honesty that is difficult to give because it hurts. Why do you want to lose weight. What can't you do that you want to do. My husband didn't realize the worries and pains I had because of my weight because he had never experienced it. Once I really showed him my feelings and was honest he began to understand that her really couldn't every completely understand what it was like for me. Let her know what your goals are. Just be very open.

People say that I follow South Beach. I don't know about that. I've never read about South Beach. Follow the bandster guidelines. They are posted towards the beginning of my blog. I also have a blog entry that lists some of my favorite foods. Here are the basics. No bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. No water 30 min before or after meals. Eat Lean protein first to fill you up. I eat lots of protein every day. 70-120 gms per day. (turkey breast, chicken, I am addicted to cottage cheese..I know it is soft food, but I mix it with my meat and it helps things go down easier.) I work to keep carbs low. usually 30-50 daily...more towards 30. WORK OUT! I started to commit to 3 times a week for 30 minutes a day. Now I go about 5-6 days a week. If you log onto www.sparkpeople.com and look me up (nursemom5) you can find my food diary and see what I eat. Good luck. If I can do it anyone can!

Awesome!!!!

Well I guess you can put me down for a 0.3 loss. I almos had a gain this week so I shouldn't complain. I lost more today from yesterday, but if I can maintain that it will be on next week's numbers. Julie, I'm glad to hear everything was ok with your band!

I think I might have a gain for the first time since last October. Crap! I ate like crap last weekend and had my birthday on Monday. I have to get it in gear. I think that I need to tell myself just 15 more pounds because I am getting tired of this weight loss journey. I'm ready to get to maintenance. I will see my family for the first time since December at the end of next month. They don't know that I have lost all this weight. I decided to tan and look really good when I go down. Well now the "girls" are a little burnt. Wow that is a new experience. It sucks! Next week I have to do better!

Well put me down for -2.4 This means I have finally dipped below the 180 mark. YAY!

Julie, Are fluids going down ok? Is that causing you pain? First of all stay hydrated. If you haven't slipped and you are just very tight all of the sudden then stress could make that worse. I would call the doctor. If not today then first thing Moday morning and stay on liquids. Again stay hydrated and get some protien drinks to keep strong. You don't want to stop calorie intake or else by the time you get to the doctor you will be weak. Sometimes it takes a few days...even up to two weeks for my fill to really hit its full power. That could be the case. I think that being too tight is a possiblity. Keep us informed. I know that I don't post much, but I do follow along. Take care.

You mean high protien low carb? ABSOLUTELY! Really that is what we should be on anyway. Think of the bandster guidelines. Eat Solid Protien first Follow with veggies. We can't eat much so if you ALWAYS start with solid protein and not eat unless you are hungry that will take care of things. It works amazing. You still have to eat healthy when you aren't watching your carbs, but it will cut the weight fast. I eat lean meat mostly and that helps too. Really any healthy lifestyle of eating will work great with the band as long as you stay away from the soft and liquid calories.

MYTURN: I know that is frustrating. Maybe you need to cut out all carbs to get a jumpstart. I can't believe my scales said 179.5 today. GOOD-BYE 180's!!!! The weekend is the hardest for me so I will have to try to be extra good so those numbers don't come back on the scale! I can't wait to surprise my family next month with my weight loss!

The pouch test is going back to the basics. It will help get carbs out of your system to help with cravings and the theory is that if you slow down and give your pouch time to rest it may help shrink a little if you are stretched. Some will do this to jump start their loss, some do it after they fall off the wagon to get back into the lifestyle. You should be able to search it and find more on it. That's just the little I've heard of it.

Sunshine - You know reflux can be a sign that your band it too tight. I would call Dr. K

Cut our ALL carbs (stay under 10-20 a day) and eat only protein. that will drop you pretty quickly. All lean meats (Chicken breast and turkey cooked in a health way...baked) This will also kick cravings by the end of the two weeks too. get on a site like www.sparkpeople.com to keep track of what you eat. It will count your calories, carbs and protein for you!

I live in Pratt. I use the term obese based on BMI. That is generally how the medical community measure obesity. >40 BMI is Morbidly Obese 30-39 is Obese 25-29 is Overweight <25 is Healthy I think I could use a tad out of my band, but my doc is 7 hours away and I don't want to go that far. I just have to be careful. I get support from this website and I have recently told some friends that I have been banded. I'm glad to hear things are going so well for you. Let me know how the support group is.

Yiou know Angie I think that everyone fights this to certain degrees. This is why my weight loss has slowed. The best way to battle cravings is to get it out of your system. The more sweets I eat the more I crave. A couple of days ago I decided that if I was craving sweets I would satisfy that with a chocolate Protein shake. I know....no liquid calorites allowed, but it is the lesser of the two evils until I get those carbs out of my system. The same with bread Pasta rice and potatoes. I don't eat them and haven't in so long that it doesn't bother me anymore. I would also suggest an online food journal if you don't have one already. I use www.sparkpeople.com. Thedailyplate and lapband also have free versions as well. It has really helped me to be accountable for every little bite I put in my mouth. I think about putting it in my food journal and seeing my calorie count and carb count increase and I know it isn't worth it. I also try to weigh daily and update my ticker with EVERY TINY LOSS. I know daily weigh ins aren't for everyone, but they work better for me. I was slipping. I wasn't weighing everyday and not keeping strict accounting of what I ate and I could tell. My weight loss slowed to 1/2 lb even one week. I haven't had a gain yet, but in the first 5 months I was very very good and averaged about 3 lbs a week. Even in the past 3 days the weight loss is better and I am making better choices because I am back to following my rules. Low carbs is the way to melt off the fat. You also have to realize that you can't go back to high carbs, just a balanced diet. Again my food journal has helped me to learn what that is. Good luck. You have the drive and in my opinion you have fought half the battle and that is learning the difference between real hunger and head hunger! I believe it is the people that can't tell the difference that don't succeed.

Well I joined the century club last month! Happy to be here! I am slowing down because I am getting lax in following the rules. I am getting happy with how and I look and less motivated, but I trudge on. I love the gym and if I could run without my hips hurting I thought about doing a half a marathon. Maybe some day.

OMG. I live near Wichita and had surgery with Dr. K (www.lapbandrockies.com) He is great! Best decision I ever made!

Eartha, I live about 45 minutes from Hutch. I just found your post. Hope everything is going great.

Julie. I don't know how things are for you now but I would recommend Dr. Kirshenbaum in Co. www.lapbandrockies.com He accepts self pay only and his price (unless it has changed in the last month or so) is only $9950. I went through www.surgeryloans.com I don't know with bad credit how it is at the least the price is less than most and he is the BEST. I love him and it is worth the 7 hour drive for me. His fills are only $15 after the first 3 months so it costs less to drive there, spend the night and come back than it does to get a fill in Wichita (which is very close to me.) Good luck. I love my band!