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Hi Reggie, it's good to see you posting here. How have you been? Little Mo, get yourself back to that meeting! There's a woman from the Sleeve site that came on Wednesday, she lives in Antioch. Maybe you could get a carpool going. What about MamaAsh, get her coming with you. The group is really growing with lots of new people. They keep saying that people that attend support groups have a better shot at long term success. I NEED/WANT that for myself so I go. I also want to pay it forward as people were in that room for me while I was pre-op and it meant a lot to me. I'm going to the San Leandro meeting this afternoon to celebrate the great woman that started that support group 10 years ago. That's quite an accomplishment. I heard from John on our 1 year surgiversary. He's doing well. Figuring out how to eat in his new body. He's under 200 pounds and feeling great. I'm still making my way towards goal. One pound at a time but I'm definitely not giving in until I get there. I see Dr. Baggs on the 30th and will have him access my progress with me. I'm feeling better at 60 than I've felt since I was in my 20's. My life is now filled with yoga, pilates and all sorts of other fun, now that movement is fun again! Have a fun weekend!!

Yup, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. 6pm - 7:30 pm. It's always so much more fun to go when you know people! I hope to see more of you there.

Analynn, congratulations on your surgery! Hello everyone. The Kaiser Richmond meetings have been good. They're still on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday nights. We're having a speaker these days on the 3rd Wed. Last month was Dr. Baggs and this week we had Dr. Shnurr the psychologist most of us saw pre-op. She did a presentation on body image that was quite good. I hope some of you will start coming again. They say that going to a support group ups the chance of a good recovery/maintenance so I try to never miss it. I'm hoping to go to the Santa Rosa support group in April. Do any of you go there? Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary meeting of the East Bay Bariatric group that meets in San Leandro. It should be a nice meeting. Riley, how's it going with WW? I'm still attending the weekly meetings but don't use the points so much because I eat low carb so I track calories/protein/carbs, but when I log my points I'm generally between 15 and 20. Eating the fruit just doesn't work for me and I gain weight in a flash. Take care everyone!!

It was great to meet you tonight! I hope you'll come often. You are so beautiful and have done so well!

My favorite was Sobe 0 - Fugi Apple Pear flavor. It tastes like diluted apple juice with a hint of pear. Quite yummy and it was so easy to get down. I still have it occasionally for a treat. The crystal lights are all too sweet for me, but I do like their Peach iced tea flavor or the Green Tea. The fruity flavors have been tough for me post-op because of the sweetness. I tend to drink a lot of herbal tea or decaf black teas.

Hello Everyone, Heather, it's so exciting to see you so close to finally getting your surgery. How wonderful that things are finally working out for you. I haven't checked in here for awhile. It's great to see this forum being active for Kaiser patients. I forget to bop over here from OH. I'm still working my way towards goal. It's been slow going, but it's going. Hours of exercise definitely helps. David, are you joining us next week for support group? I hope so! For anyone interested, the guest speaker at the Kaiser Richmond group on Wednesday March 16th from 6pm - 7:30pm is Dr. Shnurr, the psychologist. The topic is going to be Body Image. It should be interesting. I hope to see some of you there!

I'm almost a year out. I have been able to eat more than others since the early months. I know my sleeve is bigger than others. That said, following the rules of protein first is the best thing because it's more filling than anything else. I find that I have to really limit my carbs and stick to dense protein. I could eat a lot more than I allow myself if I wanted to but I want to get to my goal. I track everything in myfitnesspal so that I'm realistic about what I'm taking in. I exercise daily. As an example, today I had: I know others eat a lot less calories. Calories - 1002 Protein - 119 Carbs - 17 I still have 14 pounds to lose and I'm sad that I won't be there next week, but this is a journey and I'm doing what I can for the best possible outcome. Hang in there and go back to basics. You'll be fine!

Just checking in to say hello and see how everyone is doing? It's way too quiet around here. Has everyone moved to a different lapband site? I spend my time over on Obesityhelp . com because there are a lot of Sleevers over there, but I like to keep track of my friends over here. For any of you in the area, a reminder that this Wednesday is the Kaiser Support Group from 6-7:30. On Feb 16th one of the 4 surgeons will be speaking. That should be fun. My one year surgery anniversary is on the 17th. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. I'm still working my way towards goal!

That sounds like so much fun. Congratulations to both of you on your fantastic success stories!

Hi Riley, I joined WW back in October before the switch to the new plan which happened at Thanksgiving. I found that I can't lose an ounce following the guidelines but the points allotment is good. Last week I switched over to Atkins Induction level of carbs and had a much better week. I was happy to maintain my weight between Thanksgiving and New Years but now it's time to get these last pounds off. How far are you from Lifetime? I don't remember how tall you are. I need to be 146 to be at Lifetime so I have a ways to go!

They discovered that half of the people that went to the orientation class never came back, so now everyone at Richmond has to go to the 2 hour overview class before being registered for orientation. I think they try to scare us off at the overview so that they won't waste their time with people that aren't serious. Good luck with your process.

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing all of you a very healthy and happy 2011.

John, surgery brother, where the heck are you? Friday was our 10 month anniversary! If you're around, how about an update on how you're doing. Things have been slow for me since October when I injured my back and had to cut back to only around 30 minutes of walking a day. I haven't dropped many pounds since then. I'm happily wearing size 10 or 12 jeans and cords. I'm still aiming for my goal to get 100 pounds off. It's just not happening at the pace that I'd like but I'll continue forging ahead. I'm doing Physical Therapy at Kaiser now to help me get rid of this back pain. How's it going for you?

The support group meeting wasn't very good. Robin was there to talk nutrition for the holidays but Liz basically talked the entire time. It's still the same meeting as it was previously. It's really not possible to be honest about what's going on with eating etc. I'm grateful for Kaiser, Dr. Baggs and my WLS and the surgical care that I received, but the support group meetings have been lacking since Bev retired. Liz is trying to change up the format which can be a positive thing, so we'll see what happens in the New Year. With my Sleeve, I find that OH is the best support group for me, for finding information etc. I wish I had a better report about the Kaiser meeting. The first Wednesday is generally better because the post-ops meet in a separate room with no facilitator. That's where the honest talk happens. Happy Holidays to all of you and your families!

Hello Everyone, It sure was tough to find this thread again. I just wanted to remind everyone that the Kaiser meeting is this Wednesday night. I think Robin is doing a presentation on Holiday eating. Liz said Robin would have recipes and ideas for navigating December successfully. She said it would be different than what we generally hear from Robin. I've been having a really hard time shedding the pounds. I was started on thyroid meds in August but I'm not really seeing a difference. Regardless of the surgery, it takes a lot of determination and commitment. Happy December everyone.

Just a reminder that tonight is the Kaiser Richmond support group from 6-7:30. Tonight we have a plastic surgeon coming to speak to the post-ops. I hope to see some of you there.

Good Morning, Is anyone from down here in the Bay going up to Santa Rosa for the WLS support group tomorrow morning? I'm thinking of driving up.

Hey Jes, do try to schedule in Richmond next Wednesday. We have a guest speaker, a Plastic Surgeon who will be speaking only to Post-ops. I'd love to see you!

Karen, I will definitely hold you in my prayers. Your Sleeve surgery sounds like a blessing because they caught the liver cancer. Early detection is great. I know it doesn't feel great to you now, but at least you now have a fighting chance of remission before it spreads. Dr. Baggs did a biopsy of my liver during my Sleeve surgery too. I was lucky and came back clean. Many people are light drinkers and get liver cancer. Some are heavy drinkers and escape it. This doesn't sound like anything that you did to yourself. None of it matters now as your drinking days are over. Kaiser is a good team. They will do everything to get you into remission. Other than this crisis, how are you doing with your Sleeve recovery? I'm really sorry you're having to face this while learning to deal with your new Sleeve.

Hello Gang, I went to the Kaiser Richmond meeting tonight. Bev has retird and Liz is at the meetings. On the third Wednesday of November she has a Plastic Surgeon coming to talk to us. This group will be for post-ops only as they think it's too much information for those that haven't even had the surgery yet. I think it will be an interesting meeting. I'd love to see some of you at those meetings. More and more people are being operated on, but not very many come. I'm doing ok. Weight loss is very slow, but moving in the right direction. Clothes are looking better and better so I'm happy with that. I still do tons of exercise and track every bit that goes into my mouth. Life is good. Last month went to New orleans to celebrate my 60th. Met my son there and we had a great time listening to jazz and eating small plates of fabulous food. Take care everyone!

Happy Halloween everyone. Stay away from the candy! :wink2:

Hi Tamra, I'm not sure. I deleted the email from ObesityHelp. I'd go on the website and look for the newsletter. I think you won a book!

Tamra, you're a winner!! Membership PERKS Spot your user name below? If so, please e-mail us at perks@obesityhelp.com with your username and mailing address. You have until November 3, 2010 to let us know you spotted your name. Winners were selected at random. Be sure to check out our newsletter for a different membership perk next month!

YAY Monique! You're going to be at goal in no time flat! Keep up the good work.