5jacks

You bet!! All my life the closet has been full of clothes that were too small. About 3 months into this I cleaned out all the baggies and was amazed at all the clothes I could wear from the "back" of it! Now, once again, the closet is full of clothes too small.....of course that's by choice!!!! I go to garage sales as often as possible and buy clothes one to two sizes too small and put them towards the back. It's a great feeling.....congrats on your weight loss and before long your closet will be empty!!

I totally agree with everyone else.....have only been banded since January but could not imagine what it would be like without a supportive spouse/family member!! He's my rock when things go bad or I'm not losing as fast as I'd like. Life's too short to go through unhappy or unsupported....there are other fish in the sea!!

Sula....Isn't it amazing how fast the calories add up!! It's so good to hear from everyone! Sunshine.....Know what you mean about the fill. Sounds like your maintaining though so that's good for now. I passed on the fill during the last dr. visit....wishing now I wouldn't of. For some reason during the middle of the month I get really hungry and can eat anything without any problems. We'll get it fine tuned before too long! 64# is still fantastic!! Babygotback....good to hear your doing well. Thought you had left us! Enterprise.....thanks for the info on the scales, ready to try about anything!

Good to hear from you!! I need to start back journaling my food intake. Also need to get back to exercising. As for the calorie books.....try checking out used book stores. When I started all this, the books I had didn't have protein counts, so found one for 1.50 at the Thrifty Reader....a store that buys and sells used books. They had an entire section of different options, calories, carbs, sodium, protein, etc. Good luck, I've gotta go, have about 40 acres of hay to rake in about an hour and lots to do before then!

Am I the only one who checks this thread at least once a day? I can't beleive we've been demoted to the 3rd page!!! Someone please get this started again....give us your updates, good or bad, someone will be able to relate! My loss is at a standstill.....this happens every month so not going to worry yet!! Does anyone have a really good set of scales? Mine vary constantly....my husband's work has platform scales that are acurate to the tenth of an ounce. He's been checking the difference between theirs and ours since the beginning of this journey, and this week for some reason ours is showing about 4 pounds heavier than ever before. Need new scales!!!

Thanks so much for your story!! Everything you've said is exactly what I'm afraid I'll do in the future. Every diet I was ever on started great and after a good weight loss (but before goal!) I would settle in to my new body and quit dieting. I'm going to try and remember everything you've said so it doesn't happen to me!! Thanks again!

Congratulations!! The day I was approved I just sat and stared at the paper through tears. Good luck on your journey!

Kim, I admire you for excercising every day!! That's the one thing I've failed to do lately. Since the weather turned off nice and I'm outside so much I haven't "made the time" to get in an exercise routine going. Also, haven't worked on keeping track of calories like in the beginning. Guess I need to take a page from your playbook and get working on those things!! Thanks for keeping us updated and good luck!!

Thanks!! I've actually hit 65#'s lost now....my body is so weird! I go through about 3 weeks of gaining and losing about 3 or 4 pounds and then WHAMMO....in 1 week I lose 10 pounds! At first it really bothered me but have learned it's just how I lose weight. I had to work all weekend also, driving a tractor on our farm. One big NSV for me was that pre-band I would head out for an 8-10 hour day on the tractor with a cooler full of lunch food and snacks so I wouldn't "starve to death". Caught myself going this time with a Southbeach Diet High protein granola bar and 2 waters...and beleive it or not, I didn't die of hunger!!! Hope everyone is doing well, need to head to bed. Going to check out a new swimming suit store tomorrow morning, mine isn't exactly fitting anymore!:clap2:

I agree......but in the end it still has to be your decision. It shouldn't be really hard to maintain. The way I see it, you got the band to succeed so don't be afraid of success!! Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know how it goes!

Sounds like everyone else is doing great also!! At first I was doing water aerobics....we're farmers and as soon as the weather cooperated I was too busy to get to the center. Was trying to walk some but that also got pushed aside. Know that weight loss would be better with excercise but can't imagine squeezing another thing in my day. Our days for the last month have pretty much started on the tractor at 6:30 a.m. and we just got in and it's 10:07p.m.! It's raining here now and we're going to try and take the kids to the lake for the day tomorrow....hope everyone had a good weekend and a safe one!

Where is everyone? It's been 2 days since anyone has posted anything!!! Surely I'm not the only one who stayed home on a holiday weekend?!?! I hit the 60 pound mark today (and yes the "happy dance" was performed!!) and man was I ever excited!! Went to the grocery store and wanted tell everyone (but didn't) that I hit 60! Hope everyone else is doing well and having a safe holiday weekend.

Congrats on reaching your goal!! I hit 60 pounds lost this morning!!!! As for rewards.....hadn't set any specific ones....yet! Getting to buy clothes from an actual store instead of a catalog is reward enough for me so far. I'll think on it and hopefully come back with some....

My first fill was 1.25, next was 1.00 then the 3rd was .75 for a total of 3cc in a 4cc band. My results were about the same as everyone else.....after the first couple of fills it would be great for a week or so, then would settle in and little or no restriction! After the last .75 fill I've had decent restriction, enough so that when I went in for the 4th the dr. and I decided that none was needed at this time! Good luck and work with whatever you get and know that it can be adjusted at any time!

OMG!!!! I think the attachment was on the LARGE photo selection!!! Shows off the bad hair day...(it was the day after surgery!!) in the first picture and the wet hair choice in the second!! Can anyone tell me how to make the pictures smaller for next time?

Gonna try this.... the clothes in the pictures are the same shirt and sweats! First was taken in January, the second was taken about a week ago.

By the way, I asked my Dr. about already at 3cc in a 4cc band. He said that it actually holds at least 5 cc's and that it's very uncommon to fill them to max. I'm at 3cc's now and was worried about topping mine off. Since my friends death it seems as though I'm tighter than ever! When I went in for my dr. appt. yesterday he said I lost another 12 pounds this past month and we decided no fill was needed!!! Would be interesting to see what other doc's say.....

Can someone explain to me how I attach or insert my pictures into this reply? Am an idiot when it comes to the computer and have spent the last 15 minutes trying to copy and insert and it won't work! Don't want to use the pictures in my signature, just in one reply. Thanks to anyone who can help!

Okay Tonya you look fantastic!! Congrats on the new jeans! I didn't realize until just recently that a body is supposed to actually be able to wear and breathe in jeans at the same time!! I was excited to be in a 22 instead of a 30/32....can't imagine a 13!! Way to go!!!!

I know exactly what you mean about being afraid to move or even get back on!! It was wonderful to say good bye to the 300's then the 290's, 280's, 270's and with any luck at all the 260's this week!! Each 10 pounds you leave behind there will be another glorious celebration!!!! Congrats on your loss so far....looking forward to hearing more in the very near future!

Where is all the January group? I had to go to the 3rd page to find us!! Would love to hear updates from anyone and everyone......

Shawn....congrats on the new baby! We live on a farm, calves are always coming before we know it. Had a few lambs a while back, went out one morning to twins(not unusual)!! After that, anytime they were starting to lamb I would camp out in the barn so I didn't miss the birth. I swear they would wait for me to leave to have them....it happened twice! Congrats again! Sunshine.....I've got 3cc in a 4cc band....total of 3 fills and scheduled for the 4th on Monday. I've gotten stuck quite a few times this week and am thinking twice about another fill. In the past I'm stuck for the first week or two and then can't wait for the next fill. This time it seems to be getting tighter, that's why I thought it might be the stress/crying I've been going through. Agree with you that I wish the band would get where it's gonna be and stay there!

We're guessing she died from an overdose of prescription pain meds. She's had a history of migraines and tends to take quite a few meds. Once in a while she gets so many in her that she can't remember when or if she has taken them so she takes another and so on. Everything was good for so long....then she had a root canal done that got infected, the pain started and the rest is history. Thank you for all prayers, please say one for her husband and children....they are going to need as many prayers as they can get!

I've decorated wedding cakes for the past 25 years or so. Have attended more than my share of weddings! It's amazing to me that the size of the events have gotten so huge! Back when I first started doing the cakes a bride would borrow a dress, not pay thousands for one. The cake would actually feed the amount of people invited to the wedding....not be partially made from foam so it would LOOK huge without serving as many and also without costing so much. When my husband and I got married (15 years in Aug.) I planned the entire thing, went as "thrifty" as possible so as not to put Mom and Dad in the poor house. Our entire formal wedding, including the rehearsal dinner, reception and honeymoon was a little less that $2,000. These days that's what brides pay for a dress, then start griping because the cake to feed 200 people is going to be $225! I no longer decorate cakes and that's the main reason! Luckily I have 3 boys....with this attitude I'm sure if I had a daughter we would fight through the entire wedding planning process too! Good luck and I don't envy you a bit!!

Sunshine...As for my goal.....I would like to be within 20 pounds or so by the end of the first year. That would mean a loss of 120 pounds the first year! So far I'm on track, just afraid that this sweet ride will end soon and not looking forward to the stop! Enterprise... Unbeleivable, congrats to you! I hadn't realized that you've lost 57 pounds with no fill! I'm in total awe! My doctor appt. is on Monday, if I can remember I'll see what he says about how much a 4cc band can actually hold and what they do for people who "top it off".