LeighaMason

Thats why god made silicone. Now if only I can find the money to buy some....

Dawn really was a sweetheart. I will miss her blogs and posts.

Bumping up the spreadsheet, sometimes google is down and they don't work, and you have to come back later.

Nine weeks till labor day. I am using my 4th of July finishing weight to start, 139 and setting my goal at 130. Good luck everyone!

For me to lose I have to be below 1000 calories a day. I never journaled my food before I was banded (as a matter of fact, I didn't until a couple of months afterward) but I estimate that I probably was eating and drinking 3000-4000 calories a day with a high percentage being carbs and sugars from processed foods. So even if I cut my portions by 1/3 I was still over my calorie threshold and I would not lose. Mathematically you cant eat Pasta, bread, and sweets and get your calorie count under 1000 a day while still hitting your Protein and other nutrition goals.

Probably not. There are some who have bad band placement or other health related conditions that keep them from losing but some people also are in a state of denial. When I was first banded and not losing I told my husband "But I am doing everything right!" and he was like "um, no your not" so I started journaling my food and was amazed at how many calories I was still eating. I also see a lot of people who expect to "eat the same just less of it" and lose all their weight and are unhappy because they aren't losing or losing slowly. For me the key is, when your not losing, keep changing stuff until you start losing again. Eat better, exercise more or harder. There is a place where you can lose, the question is are you willing to do what it takes.

I got to my goal size and decided to quit losing but I was having a hard time eating enough and lost another 2 pounds so I had .2 cc removed and now I eat more. I weigh every day and I am between 132-135. If I am closer to 132, I eat more, if I am closer to 135, I eat less but I exercise the same. Disclaimer: I have only been at goal for about a month so this is just what I think will work..:thumbup:

Thank you! I mean, I pirated it from Shadst8, who wrote the one from the 4th of July and Labor Day challenge. Copy and paste, baby! Thanks again, Shammah!

Claire-- Try a warm bath, its what I use when I got stuck and was too tight to take liquids. If the bath relaxes you enough, have a glass of wine. If the wine relaxes you, drink as much water as you can before you go to bed. I know, wine is not diet friendly but if it gets you till Monday, that helps. Go get a partial unfill on Monday, no matter how far it is. ( I drove to Dallas on a Sunday once, 2 hours, for an unfill, I know what a pain in the butt it is.) If all else fails go to the emergency room and get an unfill there. Keep us updated on how your doing.

Cranberry juice is good and most bars have it, looks like a cocktail with not to many calories and some vitamins to boot. :smile:

I have been trying to post to this thread for 2 days! I guess LBT thought I should take a break. Melody-- Its great to have you back! I'm glad you got your fill. I'm sure it will help a lot. I have no idea why we put off trying on new clothes, it seems like every time someone does they find out they are smaller than they think and its a great boost. I am happy for you. Denise-- I hope you are feeling better since the tooth is gone. Crystl-- Congrats on the 2 pounds. :smile: Shammah-- "so if I want to get pregnant I should apply for grad school and then bam--baby.:rolleyes2:" Um, it takes one more step than that..... Thanks for fixing the spreadsheet!

Whew! Today was something else. It is only 77 degrees but the humidity is killer. Today I was suppose to: Run/Walk with a purpose for 40 minutes with 20 squats every 5 minutes. Here is what I did: Since it was a 40 min run, I started at the house and ran to the park, then kept running for 18 min (only stopping to do the squats) walked 2 min and then turned around and ran back, and walked some too. I went 3.2 miles and did 160 squats. When I got home I was beat, my face was red for an hour and it took forever to stop sweating. I have really adapted to these workouts and this one was so much harder than the ones I have been doing. I am looking forward to finishing this beginners program and start on the intermediate (after the half marathon 10/10/10).

Use your weight as of today for starting weight and weigh ins are officially on Monday, however if you only weigh a once a week just chime in anytime and put it on the spreadsheet on that week. Even if you weigh less often than once a week you are welcome to join and just log your weight any weeks that you want to. You really only need a starting weight (your last weigh in), a goal, and a final weight (on Halloween or Nov 1st) to participate.

Exactly, I usually look at how long I have, and compared to the restriction level I am at, and how much more I have to lose and then decide a reasonable goal. Like since you are newly banded and not on solids yet, I would say 8 pounds (1 a week) and then throw in 2 weeks for mini-plateaus and go for 6 pounds. But thats just me:biggrin: Do whatever will work for you. Just click on the spreadsheet link and put your name in a box and your starting weight and goal beside it.

I would have serious concerns with a Dr who recommends GB for a 26 year old lady who is 230. Don't close your mind to the sleeve, I think its better for some personalities. I would suggest that you study both the band (here on LBT) and the sleeve on the sister site and choose which one is better for you. I think the band (and the sleeve) will help you lose 50% of your excess weight if you decide to "eat the same just less of it". If you want to lose 100% you have to change what you eat and exercise. If someone loses 50% of their excess weight and they are happy with that, is that a band failure? If they torture themselves to lose 100% and are miserable, is that success? WLS "success or failure" can not be measured by numbers. Its measured by personal perception. Try and pick one that will meet your hopes, dreams, and expectations. Good luck. :smile:

Most mushies are sliders, so they go through the band easy leaving you hungry. ( I gained during mushies too!) Once you can eat solid protein that stays in your stomach you will be less hungry on less calories (and less carbs).

I love Dr Kim! He did my Band, if I were having it done today I would consider the VGS more than I did last year. When I was banded the insurance companies were still considering it an experimental surgery so I dismissed it. I might be wrong, but, from what I have read, I have the impression that it works better than the band for high BMI people. I suggest that you study both closely and see which best fits your personality and eating styles. On a side note, I have never heard of this other thing, gastric imbrication, but I sure wouldn't pick a surgeon or a WLS based on how long you have to do the preop diet. I also had my band surgery less than a month after my first appointment. :smile:

I'm doing well with my maintenance. I lost another pound (don't tell my husband he will have a fit) so I am trying to eat more. I am between 132 and 135, so that makes me happy. I feel like anything less than 3 pounds is just Water weight. Of course when I was losing every pound down was a pound of solid fat, every pound up was just water.:smile: I think, if I weigh every day and adjust my eating from that I will be able to maintain forever, my plan is if the scales say 132 or less, eat more, if they say 135 or more, eat less. Easy right? Well see. I'm not sure if I told y'all but my aunt sent me clothes, she is a true clothes horse and has lots of clothes in a variety of sizes from 4 to 12. Since the rods in her closets were breaking her husband said she had to get rid of some clothes. She sent me 60 pair of jeans, and 79 shirts. I only kept 30 pair of jeans and 50 tops and gave the rest to friends and family. So now I have this wonderful wardrobe and I get to wear something new every day. Most of these have never been worn. It has really been such a blessing, it seems like a reward for getting to my goal size, but I kind of feel guilty for having so much, it really is excessive.

I'm glad your doing well! Keep up the good work.

I had surgery for vanity reasons only. I was tired of being fat. I also tell everyone, in my experience, fit and thin people have been much more supportive than other obese people, men are generally more supportive than women so you might really be cutting out a big group of supporters by not telling your coworkers. Especially when you start losing and feel more like exercising, if you have athletes to go to for advice that would be really helpful. My husband called me last week, he had found a old camera memory card with pictures on it and was so excited. He called to tell me "You were fat!" I said "Yeah, I know." and he said "I didn't know! I knew you were overweight but I didn't realize you were fat!" Your husband will probably feel that way in a year too. Remember, love is blind. He just wants you to be safe, he will come around.

Working out has 2 benefits. The first obvious one is that you burn calories. The second one is psychological, I worked out for an hour this morning and burned about 400 calories, now I am considering eating a pack of M&Ms (or substitute any junk food here) but they are 400 calories so if I eat them my workout will have been done for nothing. So the candy doesn't sound as good and I usually don't eat it. I have to schedule my workouts, just like a Dr appt. If not I blow it off. So I work out on Tuesday and Friday between 7 and 8 am and on Sunday before 9 am depending on what time I got up. I signed up on Active.com (free) for a calender that tracks my workouts so I have a schedule that I can look at and see progress and I can also see what I am going to do. By the way, I don't go to the gym. I work out at the park, I run, do push ups, sit ups, squats, and jump rope. The only thing it costs me is the cost of the jump rope. I hope some of my advice helps you. Good luck.

Claire if you are trying to be a normal BMI you have to start eating like a normal person. 5 bowls of potato Soup tastes good and on occasion is not a big deal, however, it has almost no nutrients. Your on the right track with exercise, you need to start building muscle to burn the last few pounds that you are needing to lose but you are going to need to feed the machine if you are going to exercise. My .2 unfill was almost a month ago and I have actually lost another pound or 2. Plus you might want to read some of the posts for people who have had to have their bands removed, a lot of them start the story with " I was too tight, for too long, acid reflux, etc." Acid=erosion. I'm not trying to be mean, but I feel the need to speak plainly. Fills do not always equal weight loss, and unfills do not have to equal weight gain.

Bumping up the spreadsheet!

Your my hero!