nolagirl2

Cynthia - I think you should get out a before picture and a current picture and put them together so you have a reminder of how far you've come. I know you're in a battle right now, but you do not want to get back to where you were before banding. And I have faith in you that you can hold off until you get your issues resolved. I just think you need to keep reminding yourself of how far you have already come, and you don't want to go back. Robyn - Hopefully you are home by now. Get some good sleep, and keep us updated. You'll be in my thoughts. You can do it.

Keep on kicking butt Funny I just want to see pictures! that's the one thing I do for myself all the time - lots and lots of pictures. That way, I also have a reminder of how far I've come. By the way, I changed my goal weight today. I was originally going for 170, which would have been normal-BMI if I was 5'9. Turns out I'm 5'8. Then I decided "Oh who cares? I can set my goal to lose 150 lbs. Then I can always chose to lose more if I want" I'm the type of person who sees goals as guidelines and doesn't get discouraged as long as i see progress. For example, I wanted to be at 250 by 7/15. That is not going to happen, so my amended goal is to be at 258 by 7/14 (10 more lbs). That is achievable, but again, if I am at 260, I'll be okay with it. I also am L-O-V-I-N-G swimming. The past two nights I have swum for an hour.... love, love love it. Lins, btw, CONGRATS on the -3 lbs. this week! Kick butt!

Lianna - I'd recommend confusing your body a bit. Eat different things at different times, exercise different ways at different times. Instead of walking and cardio (I dont know which -elliptical, bike?), try swimming and aerobics. For three days, eat the (healthy) opposite of what you eat. Load up on protein, cut your carbs. Just kick-start yourself.

Thanks Funny... and You! I was pretty confident I'd be a serious contender in the June GFG challenge, I was in it to win it, until your crazy 23 lbs. in two weeks. Blew me out of the water. Pictures please!

Here I am, 4 weeks later

So today I was trying to figure otu my eating patterns etc, and I realized that every night, after dinner, I'm fine, I don't snack. But during the day I seem to always be hungry. Well I read a post saying that caffeine makes some people hungry. So anyway, today, no caffeine and way less snacking. I still ate a biggish lunch, but still, nowhere near the grazefest I was having some other days. I want to lose 10 more lbs. before I move (If I can)

Ladies I am officially a licensed driver (again). And I'm starving! I'm thinking a tuna steak for dinner.

c 268 (-65 total, -4 this week)

My last meal I did it up! My parents and I went to Macaluso's on 39th (a-m-a-z-i-n-g italian food) and split two dinners (Even pre-band, didn't eat a whole one!) We ate bread and I think maybe an appetizer, and then split tortellini and a steak. Yum. We had dessert and wine etc. That was saturday night, and my surgery was on tuesday. Oh yeah, and after dinner I went out with friends and had more wine... Piece of advice... Never drink the night before you have to start clear liquids :doh:

Well the offer stands, you've got my number. Let us know when are you up for fun! I think sometime late next week hopefully would work?

Jennifer - Oh ok. Yeah, that meeting was a blur to me I think It takes me a while to figure out names, faces, etc. Yes, we definitely need to get together soon. Also, Holli, Robyn, is there anything we can do for you guys? Call if you want me to come over and eat popsicles with you :success1:

I bought myself an "I love me" present today... New hat! It's my friend Les who makes hats. They are supercute but expensive But to me, worth it, because I am worth it! :success1: So anyway here's a picture of me wearing my sister's hat (same style) and a picture of my hat, which is reversible!

Hi Chantay - PCOS... Still have the facial hair going (which I take care of), but acne has cleared up, so that's a good! Jennifer - Thanks & Hiya! I think we missed each other at SG meetings maybe? Welcome to our virtual SG, with more fun

PCOS is Polycystic ovarian syndrome. It is hard to diagnose, but the symptoms include obesity, acne, hirsutism, difficulty conceiving, irregular periods and/or amenorrhea. It increases your odds for getting Diabetes II or endometriosis. I also scheduled my last fill at Dr H. (At least for a while). July 12 at 3:30pm. I leave the 14th! Yikes! It finally hit me today when I realized that after Friday (finally June will be over), I won't be at work again until the 5th!! And then its really on.

Alright Hoehn-ators what's for lunch? i am havin some salmon salad. About 1/3 can of canned salmon (not that bad) with a special sauce my parents made (mainly basil, garlic, oil, brown sugar splenda) as the lubricant (instead of ff mayo). YUM. And maybe a piece of cheese, we'll see how it goes.

Most weeknights I am pretty good. The days I know I am not free are 6/29, 7/1, 7/2, and 7/13. Haha. That's not too much! I would say Monday the 10th is probably the latest I can plan to do something. So anytime between now and then is probably good. What about you gals? I've noticed, PCOS-wise, my skin has improved a LOT since banding/eating better. that's the most noticeable thing so far.

yeah I'm glad you got the directions! It is funny - I oculd only eat 1/2 my breakfast, but now I'm hungry again 2 hours later! Grr... I'm just going to drink a lot of water and see if I can hold off until noon or so. Plus I like to drink at least 32 oz. before lunch. I am leaving for NOLA on July 14. I'm so excited! And nervous/scared. Lots of emotions. BTW, who else has PCOS? Just curious.

So girls, I wake up this morning and maybe a pretty usual breakfast: 1/4 c. egg beaters 2 strips turkey bacon 1 cracker cut of cheese I'm pretty sure my "soft stop" is taking a deep breath. A few times I've eaten past it (oh, but if i weren't a compulsive eater, how much easier life would be...), but this time I stopped. And I had only eaten half my breakfast. This is new. How are yall this morning?

Let's do a recap of all the things I should have responded to: 1) Lox - I bought it @ the Hy-Vee on 76/State Line. Some stores have it, some don't. They didn't have it at price chopper. I used to eat it on bagels yum.. But now I don't eat bagels You could have it in a wrap with lettuce, cream cheese, maybe another veggie? I eat it in a salad with spinach, tomato, egg, and chevre. 2) Social suppers... I think the only way I could swing this is if we all cooked the same things and just split up the portions... which would be complicated. Thats all I know for now...

Edamame is green soybeans. They are a good veggie/protein source. I eat them as a veggie usually (not anymore!) I'm glad too, it will make me chew and eat slowly again. Good habits are so easy to fall out of!!

Wow, that's a good idea funny. I already owe myself about $450!!

Wait so what is up with surgery this Friday? Are you on a preop diet before, where is the surgery? Is it outpatient, will you be home same-day or next day? Do you have to pay? Do they totally unfill you?

Yeah it was over in like 5 minutes. I mean, it wasnt comfortable, but from "Yikes!" to "Ahhh" was about 5 minutes. I waited about an hour, then had some refried Beans, which went fine. I think on a scale of 1 to 10, my PB was like a 2 or 3. Very easy. Woohoo I have a band! I can't eat a horse! :eek:

$500 seems reasonable if you get an hourlong massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, and other treatments.

Thanks :eek: Yeah I was walking by my parents computer and saw all these old pictures of me, and it was crazy. I didn't have a lot of before pictures, so its hard to really see the difference if you don't.