OH Juli

Mary- I wouldn't call that cheap! We are just breezing through sizes right now. I haven't gotten past my skinny clothes but I'm in them now. I'll be hitting the gently used clothing stores in another 20 pounds. Lori- Great for you! If you're not a meat LOVER Protein getting enough is hard to do. What are going to do to increase that? Tia- Sushi and drinks?! Sounds like a great time. I'm a big fan! Can I say though, I'm such a light weight when it comes to alcohol now. Last night I shared a bottle of wine with a friend over dinner. I'm so hung over! Message to self, "order wine by the glass, and have only one!" Have you noticed a difference in your tolerance? Carol- I've not read either. Sorry I'm no help. Cindy- I eat fat free yogurt, FAGE, from the health food store everyday with berries. Normally salad with chicken breast or a piece of fish for dinner and lunch. Pretty boring. Discovering fish and cooking it a million different ways has kept me from getting too stuck in a rut. Mornin' Miss Tammy J. Has anyone seen Yenken? Hello! Where are you?

Eddie- If you've got IBS, I'd try going the non supplemental way...you should be able to get the system moving with regular vegetables and fruit-are eating enought?- and plenty of Water. I know when I struggle, it happens every few weeks, I've not eaten my fruits and veggies. Just one girl's opinion.

Hi gang. Happy Monday. I'm going to jump up and down and scream for a minute. I've lost 60!!!! That's since the first of the year and I'm so thrilled! I'm at minus 37 since banding and that's about 12 pounds a month! Woo FREAKING Hoo! Please indulge me as I post my scale goals! 250. Getting below that is next. When I lost big wieght once before that's where I stopped. I've not weighed less than 250 in 12 years or more. 230 will be when I have only have 100 pounds to go. 221.5 will be 50% lost 213 will be 100lbs gone! 199 will be ONEderland! Excuse my gittyness. It's just that I actually believe I'll see those numbers and that's very new. Sure I've hoped and planned, but I would give up. I feel like I'm just getting started, not about ready to give up, like I would in the past. Thanks for listening! Juli

Pamela- You're loss of 23 then nothing is typical. I think it's the body adjusting to such a dramatic change. You don't seem stressed about it though. Thanks for the movie review. I want to see Mr. Brooks. I love the sapranos too, but got rid of HBO a few years ago. I rent them after they're released. I can't wait! I had a productive weekend and got a little sun between all the rain. DD and I had a good time at the pool. As for trying things on, ordering on line...I just got burned again, with a swim suit. You'd think I'd learn. I CANNOT wait until I can shop at regular stores for something other than shoes! Soon! I've gone from a solid 30 at the first of the year to a 24. Come on 16's...then eventually 8's.... Kisses!

Hi Dawn- Good luck with your approval! Welcome to this forum. Juli

Northernsun That's a fantastic NSV. The body dysmorphia that allowed us to get obese does a number on our heads during the slide down to normal too. What more can a person do, other than trust the image in the mirror and the words of people we love? Poeple are shocked when I tell them I only looked at my face in the mirror. Good to know there's a group of us out there.

<p>My head is exploding...</p> <p> </p> <p>I was going to write a whole bunch of stuff but basically I just want to say you'll have to deal with gays at some point other than thinking they are a tiny minority...(commerce dictates what you see on TV and people want gay folk's money and that's 10% of the population...but I digress) When one of your children or your neice or nefew whom you love turns out gay you'll need to examine truely how you view the world based on bias and hate.</p> Tolerance is not a bad thing.

Well yesterday I took the kid to a Chinese Buffet, mostly because I didn't want to cook and she loves crab legs. I thought if I was careful I'd be okay. I did stay away from the obviously deep fried food, egg rolls etc. I ate sushi and green Beans. My choices were good...but the quantity was the issue. Mind you I ate a third of what I would have done pre band, but oi vey! By the time my mind caught up with my actions I was feeling awful and worried about stretching my pouch. How long before eating right becomes automatic?

Stevee- Not to discount the hurt feelings going into old navy. But oldnavy.com has their styles in bigger sizes. A girl does need to buy a few things before surgery.

Otherway- There are gay Christians. FYI And even some Christian ministries don't see gays as wholly unworthy of God's love. Strange but true. And if you went to outinamerica and posted that you were a woman looking for a man you fundamentally could. No one would overtly say your kind are not welcome here. It's about equal access. That's all. And yeah, I think Eharmony is a waste of good queer dollars, but a straight people only site is like a white people only site. Juli

Well they were started by a minister....I'm not surprised. But yeah gay folk getting what they want! I met my girlfriend on line, outinamerica.com if there are gays looking, it's the place to go. Anti queer homophopes!

Welcome Gina. Nice to have you here. Tranam, it's hard not to compare ourselves I know. But it is an individual jouney. Don't be so hard on yourself. And KUDOS to you for quitting smoking! That's a huge accomplishment! Lisa, Jamcambra and Carol, sounds like you all are looking to exercise more. That's wonderful! Remember what they say, who ever they are, "no one ever finishes a workout and thinks it's a waste of time." Happy June!

Hello Marchies! We were on page 2?! That is so not allowed! Mary good to know you are feeling better. May was quite a month! I met my 10 pound loss goal for the month so I've postponed my first fill appoinment to July 9th! I know I'm somewhat the loner on this board, doing this with out fills...but it's working for me...I'll run, not walk, to the doctor's office when my weight loss slows down. When I doubt the band is giving me restriction all I need to do is eat lunchmeat too quickly and Bada Bing Bada Boom I PB or get awefully near to it. Read slime. EwW! As for personal challenges they are mostly in my head, like stop comparing my losses to other people's and stop trying to hurry the process along. I'm looking to hire a personal trainer but I'm waiting to see what kind of money I can put toward that. Still paying freaking co-pays from the surgery. I'm grateful for insurance, but still it's money out of the ol' budget. Know what I mean? It's raining here now, I hope it clears up by tomorrow so DD and I can go to the pool! HAPPY WEEKEND!

Lor Are you supposed to be on mushies right now? When are you allowed solids? Know that the first 6 weeks after banding are pretty miserable and white knuckling it seems to be the way through it for most. I'm grateful for my nutty doc who had me eating real food pretty quickly. However during my mushy stage I blended all sorts of wacked stuff. Regardless, the up side is that this is only temporary and soon you'll have some help from the band. It's nice to have it superimposed over unhealthy behaviors. Sometimes we need that boost from the band to give us pause long enough to get our hands around the mental stuff. Rambling..........

That reminds me of a comedian who was talking about, "getting some...when is it going to happen? who will I be with? where will I be? What will I wear?" She of course was talking about sleep. :biggrin1:

Denise three for three is fantastic! You're a real gym rat now! To answer what a person does for exercise this is my routine. Monday through Friday I do cardio 30 minutes three times a week. The other two days a week I do 60 minutes of cardio. Most of the time it's on a eliptical trainer, sometimes I do the recumbant bike or the treadmill. The same for weight training. Three days a week I do about 30 minutes and two days a week I do a full hour to an hour and a half of strength training. (We have a rocking fitness center where I work, very close to the my office so I go everyday.) On the weekends I go for a bike ride or to the pool on one day and I do nothing on the other day. I have some muscles getting stronger under all this fat! How about the rest of yous guys???

pcjumshoe- I thought that was very well put. Especially, "I say, embrace it and live through it... and "through" doesn't mean until it is over, it means pick it up and carry it around with you until you don't care that it is there and suddenly, it isn't because it means nothing to you." That's a lot of how I see things. Good, good, good.

Kity I'm one of those poor souls who works at a school 12 months a year. I don't get the summer to myself, but I am looking forward to the change of pace with the students (and more importantly my staff) gone!

Mary These are my favorites! I love to give a good butt kicking! Don't be that mom who cleans her childrens' plates by eating their leftovers. (Was that icy enough?) Are you tracking your food? Do you know that grazing is the number one way to defeat your band? Sugar isn't going to kill you, there is room for it with the band, but you need to know just how much you're putting in your mouth. Track your food. You're hungry because you're grazing and not filling your pouch...or because you're not drinking enough. Are you exercising? Aside form the pedometer what else are you doing? What about drinking? Can you do some self-reinforcement, where you won't allow yourself to eat unless you drink so much Water? You need to work with the tool that's inside your body. I mean your brain! Sure we don't want to have to think about this ,"ALL OF THE TIME" but it is way too soon to go on auto pilot and you are making some poor choices. So put the band rules back on the front burner and start working it. Butt kicking over. Much love,

Oh Dear! How frustrating! There is a 7 pound difference between mine and my surgeon's scale. I wish I could stay off of my scale. I just can't! But a general downward slide is what we're all looking for, right?

TammyJ Are you going set us up for June? MaRcHiEs IN JuNe? How about challenges? Thanks,

Meltini I like your 80/20 rule. I too also don't deny myself. But I do try to keep the calories at a certain point. I've eaten a bit of pizza, had some wine, a cookie here or there...it feels normal. Instead of feeling like I must eat the entire pizza or 6 Cookies...it's rather nice to enjoy a piece of something and beat myself up over eating too much of it. Thanks for the props too. I'm liking this process.

Lor- One other thing. I was put on mushies before I left the hospital. I was put on regular food 2 weeks out from surgery. I've been eating regular food since then. Not the same amounts as before, and I really didn't start with raw stuff right away, but I've been eating table food since pretty early on. Dr. said it was okay. The first two weeks were about setting the band and not allowing the stomach to digest/work at moving the food through but after that it was on. Now really, I do eat differently in that I keep the Protein up and the carbs and fat down as much as possible. So is the issue what you were eating or the amount of what you were eating? :confused: OH Juli

Stevee We're waiting for you! Come on over to the banded side. Do you know if your insurance requires 6 months of doctor supervised dieting? If so, you should start that now. I just saw my family doc once a month and told her lies about exercising and eating differently. I was scared to lose weight. I did however, start exercising and dieting after my 6 mos. were up so the surgery would go better. Sounds crazy but it's what I did. What's the new job anyway? Edd- we know you work at a bank. What do the rest of us do? I'm a cafeteria manager at a residential Deaf school. Juli

That had to be horrible. Ouch, ouch, ouch