LeighaMason

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.

Here it is, for those who wanted to do another challenge. Its 8 weeks till Halloween! Here is the spreadsheet, I hope it works its the first time I have tried to make one. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tYmPkphTP9YKZEc8WCbyoHQ&authkey=CNrR4dQH#gid=0

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.

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).

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!

Christie-- Love your letter to Steve. He is so passive aggressive. Dottie-- I am so glad your back! Don't worry about your weight loss break, those regain pounds are fresh and easy to get rid of. Stacie-- Here is what you do, decide you defiantly don't want kids, make a huge time commitment to school that it will be hard to break from, and you will be pregnant immediately, works every time. I couldn't get pregnant and when I finally did, with twins, lost them in the 4th month, had severe internal trauma, so the Dr told me "You will never get pregnant again" so after I was healed I bought a flower shop that was in serious financial trouble and I knew I was going to have to work like a dog to get it on track, then I got pregnant 2 weeks later.

Congratulations! And we are always interested in your success.:blushing:

The good news about those hungry days is they usually only last 1 day. I hope you feel better today. I haven't seen anything from Astra's either. :blushing: My birthday is on the 19th and we will be running at 1:30. I am getting nervous, I hope I can do it..

Adkins diet, no exercise, 139 pounds, size 10, quick regain Band diet, exercise 3X a week, 135 pounds, size 4, regain unknown.

It was overcast this morning so even though it was only 77 degrees it was 96% humidity. The last couple of days I almost wish summer was back, at least the sweat would evaporate and cool you off some. Here is what I was suppose to do: 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 reps of push ups and sit ups, with a 2 minute run/walk with a purpose between each round. Here is what I did: Slept too long to ride my bike to the park, sat around drinking coffee until I had to go and then did my workout in the yard instead of the park. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy 105 push ups 105 sit ups 12 min running 1.03 miles The push ups and sit ups are actually getting easy. (I cant believe I am saying that!) So I am going to start doing at least some of the push ups on my feet instead of on my knees. I am also going to start really trying to run faster on these short runs. I think I have been kind of dawdling and not pushing myself to max potential. That is the draw back to working out by yourself, however, I have such an aversion to being bossed around that I don't do well with others. So I am going to start pushing myself more.

WOW someone erased it. I will send a PM to the lady who created it and see if there is a way to salvage it. :thumbup:

I became lactose intolerant right after my surgery. I changed to lactose free milk to mix my drinks and I was much better.

Lizzy, I am glad to see your post. I have reached my personal size goal even though I am still 2 pounds from my stated weight goal. I think I look good in my clothes and I am happy with my fitness level as I am starting to run in some organized races and I as seeing muscle tone for the first time in 15 years or so. But I am also having anxiety about being "skinny". I went to my sons football game Friday and people who only see me during football season were calling me over to talk about my weight loss. 3 different people said I didn't need to lose weight and another even told me I should gain it back, that I looked better last year! I am just now in the middle of normal range for BMI, I would need to lose 22 more pounds to be underweight. I had to walk in front of the whole stands to get to where my son sits with the band so I could take some pictures and I felt really self conscious walking across there, and never felt this when I was obese. I am really starting to think obese is the new normal.

Fall is here. I was able to sit around until 8 am drinking coffee before I went to work out. Usually I have to get out as soon as possible to beat the heat, I wasn't even as sweaty when I was finished. Here is what I was suppose to do: As many rounds as you can do for 30 minutes: 6 minute run/walk with purpose 100 jump ropes 15 push ups 15 sit ups Here is what I did: Rode my bike to the park 1 mile I ran for 24:25 min, 2.03 miles 400 jump ropes 60 push ups 60 sit ups Rode my bike home I was able to do all 4 sets of 15 push ups and push ups without resting in the middle, plus I jumped the first set of 100 jumps without missing and jumping on top of the rope or hitting myself on the feet. :smile: That only worked on the first set. Sometimes I wonder if I jump on the rope on purpose so I can rest. Jumping rope is incredibly hard.

Stacie-- You did not fail! What actually happened is you set your goal 2 pounds too much, as in "shoot for the moon, if you miss you will still be among the stars". I am proud of you. As a matter of fact, I am proud of everyone who stayed with our challenge for the whole 9 weeks. 9 weeks is a long time, I remember dieting before the band and I never made it 9 weeks. Especially during the summer! I want to say thank you to everyone who helped me stay motivated during the 4th of July and Labor Day challenges. I couldn't have done it without y'all. I "officially" have 2 pounds till goal weight but I am at my goal size so I have stopped trying to lose and I am now trying to find a place where my weight is stable for the first time in 17 years! Thank y'all from the bottom of my heart.

Not only have I given away my fat clothes, I have given away my skinny clothes too. You know, the ones I held onto because one day I might get thin enough to wear them again. Well they are too big now also. Because I am an organized hoarder, I cant just throw things away so I sorted it into sizes and found someone who could wear each size to give them to. I took some to a consignment shop but I found that I took more pleasure in giving them away to be enjoyed by someone else than I did in selling them.