TexasFire

Feeling everyone's pain here...literally! I had a slip and mine hasn't been the same since, either. After all the trauma and misery and failed attempts at re-filling, my doctor and I have decided to remove and replace the band with a new one. Surgery is scheduled for February 9th, so I'm really hoping to get back on track soon. I was SO close to goal when things went haywire! Good luck to everyone here...I really hope we all find our much needed solutions!

Hey, folks! Just stopping by to see how everyone is doing? I got a random message out of the blue from one of the members here that I was chatting with back two years ago and I got curious to see if the same bycyling crew was still here from way back! I haven't been here in so-o-o-o-o long! Hope everyone is doing fantasmic!

HP, JJ, ZZ ~ Thanks so much for the welcome back! I love you girls so much! I'm glad to be here again! ZZ ~ What kind of help are you needing from your LBT buddies? Someone to feel your pain, or someone to get real with you. I can do either, just let me know where you are in your head, girlfriend. CharlieTuna ~ I don't know how long you've been here. I almost called you CT. Did Juli do here knicknaming duties with you yet? <wink> Losing the inches is fantastic! Just fantastic! Those bad old scales don't tell a good story at all...pounds are not the way to measure....it's just the way everyone is used to. Inches and body fat % is the way to measure. Clothing is the way to measure. Particularly if you work out. So tell me what you do for excercise and resistance training and tell me about your diet? Maybe I can help? I would be willing to bet that you and ZZ have the very same problem right now with weight gain: you are not eating enough or often enough. That scares your body into storing (depositing fat) every bit of energy (food) you put into it if it thinks there is a shortage of food available. HP ~ Inquiring minds want to know? What is the spinning program that you joined and downloaded? I need something to make the trainer more interesting. Is it expensive?

...pssst! ...how's it goin'? ...'member me?

He's still at the community rec center. He will have to find a new partner, too. He's a big boy...he'll be all right. :thumbup:

That would of made a cute pic! LOL I started at Lifetime Fitness today. Wow, it's really kind of intimidating...I'm so used to my community rec center. All that equipment and people handing you fluffy towels on the workout floor and in the bathrooms...it's a lot to take in. Plus, I'm used to Cybex equipment, and they have Nautilus there. End result is the same, but Nautilus breaks their equipment down and specifies more...will take getting used to. I have a fitness assessment tomorrow, and I'm excited/scared to learn what my body fat percentage is currently. So anyhow, I got in a good chest workout for about an hour and then rode the recumbent for 30 minutes on hill intervals. I'll be glad to get a comfort level there soon, I hope. It's different working out alone, too...but me and my IPOD get along great, and it doesn't argue with me! LOL

Thank you, ma'am! You are such a sweetheart! :tongue: I don't know about that conference, but it better get off the ground in a fashion that you all can come out here to B's and my neck of the woods! That is too funny, D! Especially the "hillbilly" crack! :tongue: Wow...I wish I'd of known. All my beds are full of large river rock and I want it OUT. :thumbup: What a pain in the ass, though...once it is in, I think you are pretty much stuck with it. :thumbs_up: If you have a secret to getting it all out, please let me know! :confused2: LOL

Hey, folks! I finally got some pics from the MS150 put into my bike photo album in my profile! That's not all of them...I need to download my other card yet, but here is a start.

Oh, I know you were kidding! I love your sense of humor, Enchanted!

Yes, well good judgement has to come into play here, you know! LOL The holiday season? Presidents Day? Me thinks you jest at this point. I don't go on big vacations but once or twice a year, and not all would prompt me to unfill. Vegas would definitely have me unfilling! I love Vegas and go every year. A week at the lake? No...no unfill for that...but Vegas? Oh yeah, baby! That is one way of looking at it...the best of both worlds. I self-pay for fills now since we changed insurance recently, but that wouldn't stop me. My doc charges $150 for a fill and nothing for an unfill. That is expensive for some, and not for others...that's a personal decision there. I think the temporary freedom is awesome in a situation like a big vacation. To me, that would add SO MUCH to the enjoyment of the trip. Others think it's nuts, so what can I say? If you read my posting history, I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone more positive, more dedicated to her own and others' band success, more dedicated to eating clean and exercising. So my decision to unfill would certainly not be made out of weakness...I am not weak. It would be made to HAVE FUN! :thumbup:

I can answer that one, if I may? To not be hampered with the every-day routine of monitoring portion size, bite size, chewing, not eating what you dang well want to! LOL When she goes on vacation, she wants to TRULY be on vacation, and I don't blame her a bit! It won't undo much in a weeks time, or however long she will be there. Especially considering the joy and relaxation she will experience by taking a vacation from her band as well. I was completely unfilled last month, as well. Even though it took many fills to get to where I was, it should only take two fills to get that level back. I had one of those fills today. I likely will never get the rest put back in. During the month of being completely unfilled, I actually still lost. Only two pounds, but still a loss. There are several bandsters on here who got unfilled when they reached goal, and have maintained very well. Vacation is a great time and reason to get unfilled to me, but its obviously not everyone's ideal.