LoseIt!

That is the great thing about the band. You can get a little cocky, but you don't have to blow it! Go you! Congrats!

Wow! You have been through a lot. I was nervous even after the surgery, wondering if I did the right thing. Six months out...I know I did. You still have to work at it, but it makes it doable. That just makes all the difference! Best of luck to you. I hope you keep blogging and letting us know how it's going!

Gosh, that sounds terrible! I'm so glad it has passed and you feel better.

Hi, jk, welcome!! I've found that writing down my thoughts is quite cathartic and has helped me immensely on my journey. Best of luck to you!

I think it would be odd if you didn't have some intense feelings going into such a life changing procedure! Good for you for taking a step to make your life more healthy. It does make things a lot easier (in my opinion!) Best of luck to you.

I agree with Leigha, I definitely do better when I'm journaling (even though I hate it) because I tend to "forget" things. Also though, you are at the beginning and probably haven't reached proper restriction. Keep focused and do what you need to do...you are going in the right direction!!

I feel like I "amen" you every day! That is so well put and a good lesson for us all.

That is beautiful!

This is a really tough time, but do what you are supposed to do and be patient. I promise that it gets better!!

I love hearing about your workouts!

Wowzaa...Friday sucked. Flat out one of the top (bottom) ten work days I've ever had. In one decision, I cost my struggling company about $40k that it sincerely doesn't have. I was a basket case on Friday and it took me long into the weekend to get a grip on my mood. Objectively, I knew about 2 hours in that it wasn't truly my fault and about 4 hours in I had determined that with the information I had at the time, I would make the same decision every time. But it took me about 24-30 hours to adjust back from my bad attitude. I was mad at EVERYBODY although I did do my darnedest not to show it. I slipped a little, but my truly awesome friends rallied and even tried to cheer me up with crazy You Tube videos. :thumbup: But by Sunday, I was all better and today is just another new workday. I have a lot of responsibility in my job and a lot of high expectations. Occassionally, I'm going to make a mistake and that is just part of life. The good news is that we may have legal rights to retrieve the money so that would be even better!! Regardless, we have all learned a lot from this experience. Moving on to Sunday...I went shopping. (Sidenote: finallyincontrol, I think you were the one that said that I love to shop? I thought of that repeatedly during the day. HA!) I now have plenty of clothes to get me through the next 20-30 pounds, I think. One of my friends here at work told me I look very SLENDER in the outfit I'm wearing today. ME...slender? Uh, okay. Huh. I will take it!! I figured out last night that I wasn't going to be down this week at my Monday morning weigh in. I even had a fill this week...a teensy weensy one, but a fill nonetheless. I ALWAYS lose a couple of pounds at least on a fill week. But I guess I have reached my first dreaded plateau. Y'all know I'm not one to sit around and find out. So...yes, I have a plan! I ordered a Body Bugg last night and it should be here sometime this week. I'm committing to a new 8 week plan. I'm not technically starting until next week since I don't have the bug which I have already named Jax (after the badass biker on Sons of Anarchy). I was going to name it Bicho (meaning bug in Spanish), but I was afraid that everyone would think that I was calling it a bitch. :smile2: I will use Jax to accurately determine calories burned during the day as well as log my calories consumed. I'm committing to using Jax for calories burned for 8 weeks. I'm committing to recording calories consumed for 4 weeks, because I honestly don't think I can get myself to do more. Hopefully after 4 weeks it will become habit, but committing to 8 weeks for something I absolutely hate to do is too overwhelming. Additionally, I'm committing to doing 20 minutes of beginner yoga 4 times per week. At least 3 of those times must be in the morning before work (because I think it would be really beneficial). Honestly, using Jax for calories burned is a no brainer. Once I got over the thought of spending $300, using it will be no big deal. Getting myself up (just 20-30 minutes) earlier in the morning is going to be a little more challenging, but I used to do it all the time. I know that once I get through a couple of weeks, I will be able to do it. Recording my calories consumed is going to be the real challenge here. Technically, it was supposed to be part of my first 8 week challenge, but I gave it up after a day and decided that I would only do it if I gained weight. I'm such a sucker to myself!! But I thought if I lowered the committment to 4 weeks, I might at least get out of the gate. I'm going to visit my brother and his family for Labor Day. They know I'm doing this and saw me at the highest at Christmas and then again 40 pounds lighter at my grandmother's funeral. There are over 5 weeks until that vacation and I would very much like to lose 10 pounds. That is a lot for me since I typically average 1.8 pounds and I seem to be slowing. BUT it is very doable. That would put me at around 70 pounds lost and only about 15-20 pounds from my lowest weight ever as an adult. I can do this! Thank you all for your good wishes and support. It makes ALL the difference in the world!

I think everyone's experiences are different. I know that I didn't have much port site pain at all and the gas pains faded after a few days, BUT I had bad esophageal spasms for a week. You might just take a little longer to heal. Be patient and it should fade soon!

Three pounds since Monday? I would say that is a BIG thing!! I have really worked at the head hunger vs. true hunger and it is tough. I do think that it is harder at the beginning when you are actually hungrier more. I would just ask myself if I am hungry enough to eat carrots or something nutritious. If the answer was yes, then I would try and eat something healthy. If the answer was no, then I would find something else to do. Well, at least most of the time.

Write down your questions when you go in. I know that seems simplistic, but it helps me because I get flustered and don't get my questions asked. Even something as simple as "when do you expect my surgery to be?" or "what steps need to be taken before I schedule my surgery?" Good luck!

Your new picture is beautiful! Congrats!!

Keep at it, girl! Every day you are closer and eventually you will bet there.

Aw...I do hope you feel better soon! I got a teensy tiny fill yesterday, but I'm still just doing liquids. Jazzercise is going to be super tough tonight, but I should be thankful that I at least have SOME energy!

I'm not sure I know enough to give you good nutrional advice, but YAY for the boxing class. That sounds like a ton of fun!!

I feel for you! That is totally a horrible situation. I'm glad you were able to leave. The only time I got stuck (that badly) was at the movies and I had been driven there, so I was stuck in more ways than one! Glad you were able to get rid of it!!

I'm not sure if I would have been in the right place mentally for it sooner, but I certainly don't regret having it done now. It is hard work, but this makes my goals attainable! Make sure you research it well and are prepared for your new lifestyle. Other than that, go for it!

I hit a plateau around 3 weeks out that lasted until my first fill which, luckily for me, was a month after surgery. I lost slow at first, but after the 3rd fill it started coming off faster. Although it is never fast enough, huh?! Be patient and do what you are supposed to do. It will work eventually.

Hi everybody! Yesterday I was scheduled for my next fill. I think that makes my 5th. I hadn't been sure what I was going to do because I have had some sticking issues, but the last week I have been VERY hungry a lot of the time. Tuesday night I got some very good advice from a fellow bandster that if I was in doubt, I should wait. So I decided that I would cancel my appointment first thing in the morning. Interestingly, I woke up at 2:00 AM and I was STARVING. Tummy growling, I could eat a horse type hungry! I had eaten a perfectly fine dinner, so I felt it was a sign. I decided to keep the appointment and see what my AWESOME (not to mention dreamy looking) doctor had to say. I got to the office quite early. I spent the time reading Diet Girl...(I'm almost done!) When it was time, I found out I had lost 11 pounds since my last visit 6 weeks prior, so that was great! In the back waiting room, there was a lovely lady there who had gone to a different doctor the day before to be filled (someone closer to home) and she couldn't even hold down water. Yikes! She looked utterly miserable. That made me stop and think a little bit. I NEVER want to be like that. She said the other doctor described himself as "aggressive". Hmmm...interesting. Anyway, she went first and looked SO relieved when she was done. When it was my turn, I told my doc my feelings. He took a look under the fluoro and said that he thought I looked really close. He only added one tenth of one cc. He said that some people are very sensitive to it and just a couple drops can make a difference. He cautioned me to come back right away if I can't hold things down. I'm glad he such a great doctor! He actually seems to care. I have heard so many horror stories of surgeons and fill docs not listening to their patients, so I'm quite thankful. I don't typically go back to work after my fills because I'm a big baby and I get REALLY grumpy when I'm hungry. Fill or no fill, a liquid diet does not make me not hungry...EVER. So, I went shopping. I need some jeans so I started a Lane Bryant. I was in a size 1 Blue Right Fit. They don't do those sizes anymore, so I took a plethora of 14s & 16s to the fitting room. One pair of 14s fit (badly) and ALL the rest were too SMALL. What up, kitty cat? That's not right. Anyway, I went back out and started over. After trying on about 20 pairs of jeans, I ended up with two pairs of size 16 straight leg. They are going to be too big in about a month, but I could barely get the 14s on, much less wear them in public. I wear jeans to work almost every day, so I decided that I needed them to fit now. I will worry about it in a month or two when they are too big. I also bought a $15 pair of black trousers that fit perfectly. SCORE! I picked up some undies while I was there. I love their old thongs...the new ones aren't very good quality, but I got them anyway. I won't fit in them for long anyway! Then I went to Old Navy. To the fitting room I took size 18 & 20 jeans, khakis, & cargo pants. I figured that would be enough to cover the difference between "Womens" and "Misses" sizes. I also took in a XXL dress and an XL & XXL shirt. The shirts fit weirdly, but everything else was too big. WHAT?? Yeah, but sigh. I went back out and started over. I brought size 16s of everything and an XL dress. The dress looked adorable, but all of the 16s were too tight or ill-fitting. Ugh. Whatever. It was still quite early when I got home and I didn't want to sit in front of the TV where I would think about food, but I also didn't really have enough energy to exercise, so I decided to clean out my closet. I tried on every single item in my closet that I have not worn in the last two weeks. Holy moly! I filled up 3 stretchy garbage bags of clothes. My old jeans alone were over a half of one garbage bag!! I had a group of "a little too small, try again soon" clothes from last time. EVERYTHING in that group either fit or was too big. YAY!! I had a pile of "good luck someday cause these suckers are TIGHT" clothes and everything in that group fit or moved into the "try again soon" section. What a trip! It put the whole shopping debacle in perspective. This morning I officially hit the 60 lb mark. WOOHOO! In 2006, I weighed about 20 pounds less than I do now, so all the clothes I have on hand (except for my prom dress) are reachable very soon. Come winter, I will have almost nothing but my jeans to wear. Although, Dallas is a good place for layers, so a lot of summer stuff can go well into Fall and be layered for Winter. I told my mom I would fly her down in late Sept/early Oct so she can shop with me. She won't let me get frustrated or stop before I've finished my mission. Ha! Hope you all are having a great week!

Wow! Great success! You are a machine! I'm so impressed and very inspired. You go girl!

Welcome to the club! It's great that you are doing well and you will be full speed ahead in no time.

What a fun support group! Doesn't it always figure that you find out the one you like isn't the one you should be eating. Darn it all!