sawyer77

I'm here in same-runner-girl-ticker-land to say congrats! What a nice idea for a reward for halfway! :redface:

Great work, everyone! :crying: In 8 days, I'm going for my fourth fill. So far, I have 5 ccs in my 10 cc band. I am at that, "Did I actually have surgery?!" phase, because I feel nothing at all close to restriction. I'm doing my own "no bread" rules, but I could eat it if I let myself. I'm trying very hard to make good food choices, but I'm in a rut, I think. Yogurt, granola, cottage cheese, yogurt, granola, cottage cheese, yogurt, granola, cottage cheese for lunch all week long at work for months now! I'm looking forward to getting closer and closer to restriction. I've been flirting with the same 169 - 170 - 171 - 172 for a few weeks now. I still have a good 50 more pounds to go, but these few pounds are trying to drive me crazy. All in all, though, I still love my band. Before I had surgery, I knew it would be slow weight loss, but it's now the reality and I'm frustrated at how slow it is. Hahahah. It's funny how our minds work. I'm about to go closet shopping! I have some clothes that I haven't seen in years! :drool: Even my brand-new jeans are falling off of me. I love it!

WOOHOO! :scared2: Exciting!

Aw, thanks, gang! I wanted to share because I figured it would apply to other folks here. I told my surgery secret to another person on Saturday night (I'm pretty secretive about my band, and only maybe 10 people know) and she responded very favorably, so that made me feel great. But I still feel like I have to tell everyone about not having restriction yet. I feel like I want every bit of credit I can get, because so many other folks out there will assume it's the easy way out. Needless to say, I'm still wrestling with the emotional angle of surgery. Heh. :biggrin:

I lost 1 pound of my 10-pound goal. I'm happy I went down, but a slight bit disappointed I didn't see more movement downward! C'mon Fill #4 -- Ten days! I gave myself the same 10-pound goal for the 8-week-long July 4th Challenge. I better be able to do that!

Good for you! :-) It's such a good feeling, and you had a great race time, too! :biggrin:

Okay, I'm in! I did not meet my Mothers' Day Challenge goal, but I still lost 1 pound! It's in the right direction, anyway! I'm in for 10 pounds in these 8 weeks. I was too ambitious last time, and want to set an attainable goal. Fourth fill in ten days. C'mon, baby! :biggrin:

I will think the best for you, but I'm feeling that this is way early to catch anything, and this can only turn out for the best! :thumbup:

Stretching after you run is the most important. Think of it like a rubber band. If you have a warm rubber band, stretching it will be much better than stretching a cold rubber band. The first week of C25K in November was the hardest for me. I actually had to stop for two weeks because of shin splints. I did calf exercises and got back in gear. I have a few suggestions: -Find your nearest running store (Fleet Feet is my closest) and have them fit you for running shoes. They will know what to recommend after watching you walk/run. -If you're on facebook, "like" The Couch-To-5K Running Program page and Active.com -- they are a wealth of information right in your facebook feed. The Couch-to-5K Running Plan | Facebook Active.com | Facebook -Cross-train! Strength training (free weights and conditioning classes) and yoga helped me SO much in my running. Good luck! You can do this, I promise! If I can run, you can run!

The beginning is the hardest part! You can do it!

Thanks! Nothing like frustration to get you going! Heh. :bored:

AWESOME! :bored: So proud of you! 80 pounds in a year is AMAZING!

NOW we're talking! :thumbdown:

Thanks, MissyMS! Hahah, I'm not looking for fun! This is work! Heh.

I'm down three pounds total for the challenge, but what a grueling road! I certainly won't make my 10 pound goal, but it's okay. I am still going in the right direction. Did I hear someone say July 4th challenge?!?! Heh. :thumbdown:

I can't tell you how happy this makes me, Leigha! I was having a little fight with my band over who is doing all the work. I had to sit down and have a talk about how much work I'm doing, and how I want the credit for it! Heh. I heard that dismissive voice of "others" saying, "Well, she got the band. That's how she's losing the weight." So, instead of screaming, I wrote a poem. Heh. :thumbdown:

Leigha!!! This is so awesome! I'm SO glad for you! WOOOOOHOOOOO! :blushing:

Banded Bond I am the one who had the courage to start something big. I am the one who wakes up early to go for a run. I am the one who eats yogurt with granola and cottage cheese instead of a fried meal. I am the one who chooses to turn away cake. I am the one who quit smoking because it was the right thing to do. I am the one who drinks Water like it's going out of style. I am the one who chooses wisely, every step I take. I am the one who takes my Vitamins every morning. I am the one who eats my Protein first at every meal, skipping my beloved carbs. I am the one who keeps going back to the gym. My friend, The Band, is the one who helps me along the way. But The Band can't taste success. The Band can't look in the mirror and giggle in disbelief at the new person there. The Band can't register for a 5K and get me there on race day. The Band can't hang smaller-size jeans in my kitchen for visual goal-setting. I am the one who can succeed. And I do succeed. And The Band helps me along the way.

I had to travel for work 4 weeks after my surgery. I packed my shaker bottle and Protein powder. I had a lot of soup and egg whites/cheese. Also, yogurt was aplenty at the Breakfast spread at the conference. I urge you to call your surgeon and ask advice regarding your menu for these days. They may give you some great tips, as well as telling you what you should eat vs. not eat.

I've got LoseIt and SparkPeople, but I don't use them currently. I need to start journaling because I think it would help me immensely. I need it to be on my phone because otherwise I will forget to track it. Now that I'm ready to dive in, which app do you like AND USE? I need it to be one that I know folks have success with and can like enough to keep doing it. So, what iPhone apps do you all successfully use to lose?! :smile: BTW, I already use dailymile (online) and the RunKeeper app to track my fitness. Thanks in advance!

Wonderful news! You're in my thoughts today!

My last fill was on Thursday (April 22), same as you, right? No, my fills are not under fluoro - I have to drink water afterwards and make sure it goes down. I have 5 ccs now. I hear everyone saying 8 months for restriction lately. Heh. AHHHHH! Still, I love my band. (I'll just love it even more in 4.5 months!)

Leigha and Karen, I hear you! Though I am only on my third fill, I am HUNGRY! I know I will need more fills (Fourth fill: May 20th, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!) I spent yesterday being stark, raving hungry! I ate egg whites, cheese, and turkey sausage at 10:30, ate some chicken at 11:30 and was barely able to make it to my cottage cheese at 2:30, and again was ravenous for yogurt at 5:30 and then AGAIN couldn't wait for dinner at 8:30. Man! I just keep telling myself I'm biding my time and that 27 pounds is an awesome amount in 13 weeks. It also helps that I keep having to pull up my new jeans because they're too loose.

Finally, I've lost two pounds! I was stalled since March 26th! Huzzah! Had my third fill yesterday. Feeling jazzed! I can do this. **WE** CAN DO THIS!

Yay, Karen! 6 months and a fill. w00t! Leigha, I'm glad things seem okay with your port. I just had my third fill today, and now have 5 ccs in my 10 cc band. The stinkin' scale at the office said I was 173 (mid-morning with clothes on), but home scale (always less than their scale) says 171, first thing in the AM and sans clothes. Anyway, even with their numbers, they're still very happy with my progress. 30%+ EBW lost in three months. Also, I asked two questions today. The first was about decaffeinated drinks. I drink 24 ounces of hot tea (decaf, splenda, skim milk) every day. I asked if I could count that as 24 ounces of water because it's not caffeine/dehydrating. Surgeon said yep, but don't drink 64 ounces of tea and consider myself watered for the day! Heh. Also, I've been losing hair. I'm getting plenty of protein, taking biotin. They said it's residual loss from the initial (three months ago) decrease in protein after surgery, when it was horrific to try to eat, drink, etc. I had about a week where I didn't eat much of anything. The surgeon also said the rapidity of the weight loss does it too. In my first 2.5 weeks (1 week pre-op and 1.5 weeks post), I lost 17 pounds. So that's pretty rapid, almost 7 pounds/week. Since then, it's been slow weight loss. Does this sound like your early three-month experiences?