tonya66

Week 2 of my exercise program: Monday's menu: coffee with 2 tbsp of flavored cream (just can't seem to give this up) - 70 cal yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of raw oatmeal - 230 cal Protein shake - 280 cal hummus & carrots - 170 almonds - 240 lean turkey - brocoli & 255 Total cal 1175 Exercise: Hit the gym around 8:30 pm last night Started with 30 min on elliptical BICEPS - 2 sets of Standing Hammers (8 lbs weights) 2 sets of Alternative Dumbbell Curls (1 set with 5lbs, 1 set with 8 lbs) TRICEPS Overhead tricep extensions - 2 sets (5 lbs) Tricep pushdown - rope - 2 sets, 1 @ 20 lbs, 1 @ 25 lbs. Shoulders Dumbbell shulder press - 1 set 8 lbs, 1 set 5 lbs Upright Barbell row - 2 sets @ 20lbs Chest Incline dumbbell flys - 2 sets 8 lbs dumbbell bench press - 2 sets 8 lbs BACK One are dumbbell row - 2 sets @ 8lbs Lat pull down - 2 sets @ 40 lbs ABS Ab crunch machine - 2 sets (15 each set @ 10 lbs) incline sit ups - 2 sets of 25 ab roller machine - 2 sets of 15 ab ball machine - 1 set of 20 (5 lb balls) Back on the elliptcal to finish up for another 15 min......home by 10:40 and asleep by 11:30 Then, the alarm is off again at 4:50 am this morning and I head to the gym and on the elliptical by 5:20 am, did 40 min of HIIT. Whew, what a day....... Going home tonight and watching the finale of the Biggest Loser, then to nighty night!

Week 2 of my exercise program: Monday's menu: coffee with 2 tbsp of flavored cream (just can't seem to give this up) - 70 cal yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of raw oatmeal - 230 cal Protein shake - 280 cal hummus & carrots - 170 almonds - 240 lean turkey - brocoli & 255 Total cal 1175 Exercise: Hit the gym around 8:30 pm last night Started with 30 min on elliptical BICEPS - 2 sets of Standing Hammers (8 lbs weights) 2 sets of Alternative Dumbbell Curls (1 set with 5lbs, 1 set with 8 lbs) TRICEPS Overhead tricep extensions - 2 sets (5 lbs) Tricep pushdown - rope - 2 sets, 1 @ 20 lbs, 1 @ 25 lbs. Shoulders Dumbbell shulder press - 1 set 8 lbs, 1 set 5 lbs Upright Barbell row - 2 sets @ 20lbs Chest Incline dumbbell flys - 2 sets 8 lbs dumbbell bench press - 2 sets 8 lbs BACK One are dumbbell row - 2 sets @ 8lbs Lat pull down - 2 sets @ 40 lbs ABS Ab crunch machine - 2 sets (15 each set @ 10 lbs) incline sit ups - 2 sets of 25 ab roller machine - 2 sets of 15 ab ball machine - 1 set of 20 (5 lb balls) Back on the elliptcal to finish up for another 15 min......home by 10:40 and asleep by 11:30 Then, the alarm is off again at 4:50 am this morning and I head to the gym and on the elliptical by 5:20 am, did 40 min of HIIT. Whew, what a day....... Going home tonight and watching the finale of the Biggest Loser, then to nighty night!

Hello everyone, just swinging by to say Happy Monday. I finished 1 week of exercise (made it 6 days this past week for a total of 8 hours at the gym!). I had clean eating all week, had a few cookies yesterday, but besides that, I did great on my eating. I managed to stay off the scale ALL WEEK, I am not weighing until next week. I'm happy with myself for staying off the scales. I'm hoping to see some progress, so we'll find out next week. I am scheduled for ONE MORE fill, 12/28, i've decided no more after this one, if it doesn't work, I'm going back to my surgeon and let him know that something is not right. My surgeon and fill docs are different doctors and I haven't seen my surgeon in quite some time. So we'll see what happens with my next fill. I hope everyone is doing good.

Thats right, I just finished 1 week of my exercise plan and eating right! And I've stayed off the scales for an entire week. This in itself is hard for me to believe because I'm a total scale whore. I usually weight at least 2 to 10 times a day. And I haven't weighed once all week! I'm not going to weigh until 12/14 - I will also measure to see if I've made some progress in the past two weeks. Here is a recap of my week: 11/30 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strength training (lower body) 12/01 - 5 am cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/02 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strength training (upper body) 12/03 - 5 am cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/04 - 5 an cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/05 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strengh training (lower body) 12/06 - "Free Day" I ate clean all week, Sunday is my cheat day or what I call a "free day". If I want a cookie I can have it, but just one, and I don't count my calories, I don't exercise - I try and make good choices, but I'm not obsessed about it. I am happy to say, I did good, even on Sunday! Now my week 2 begins! I'm trying to do this plan until my 3 year band anniversary - 1/18/10. I want to be at goal, or close to goal by then. I'm tired of teeter tottering around the same freaken 10 lbs! I am so proud of myself for sticking to my plan this past week, its got me motivated to continue with this plan. It also helps that I've had a buddy. I know I can't turn the alarm off at 5 am and go back to sleep because she is waiting on me. So, as much as I hate to do it, I get up and head to the gym! 3 days a week its 5 am and 3 days a week its evening or late afternoon. I think my biggest fear is to step ont the scales on 12/14 and not see any results. It could happen, but I do feel my clothes fitting better, so hopefully my measurements will show a loss. Okay, I'm ready to hit week two!

Thats right, I just finished 1 week of my exercise plan and eating right! And I've stayed off the scales for an entire week. This in itself is hard for me to believe because I'm a total scale whore. I usually weight at least 2 to 10 times a day. And I haven't weighed once all week! I'm not going to weigh until 12/14 - I will also measure to see if I've made some progress in the past two weeks. Here is a recap of my week: 11/30 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strength training (lower body) 12/01 - 5 am cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/02 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strength training (upper body) 12/03 - 5 am cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/04 - 5 an cardio - HIIT 45 min 12/05 - 60 min of cardio and 60 min of strengh training (lower body) 12/06 - "Free Day" I ate clean all week, Sunday is my cheat day or what I call a "free day". If I want a cookie I can have it, but just one, and I don't count my calories, I don't exercise - I try and make good choices, but I'm not obsessed about it. I am happy to say, I did good, even on Sunday! Now my week 2 begins! I'm trying to do this plan until my 3 year band anniversary - 1/18/10. I want to be at goal, or close to goal by then. I'm tired of teeter tottering around the same freaken 10 lbs! I am so proud of myself for sticking to my plan this past week, its got me motivated to continue with this plan. It also helps that I've had a buddy. I know I can't turn the alarm off at 5 am and go back to sleep because she is waiting on me. So, as much as I hate to do it, I get up and head to the gym! 3 days a week its 5 am and 3 days a week its evening or late afternoon. I think my biggest fear is to step ont the scales on 12/14 and not see any results. It could happen, but I do feel my clothes fitting better, so hopefully my measurements will show a loss. Okay, I'm ready to hit week two!

Sula, congrats on the insurance news! I know you are so excited!!!!!!!!!!! Ladyroz - Wow, congratulations on your tremendous success! You should be very proud of yourself! Confused - Stress can cause a lot of emotional eating, I do know that for sure! A fill should help you out though. As for me, still pluggin away, I've been at the gym pretty much every day since Thanksgiving. I put my scale up, I took my measurements and I am staying off the scale until 12/14 (about a two week progress). I'm focussing on exercising and making good food choices. I'm eating around 1000 to 1200 cal a day, I've been keeping track of everything I put ini my mouth. I have a journal I carry with me everywhere. This past week I was at the gym 3 x's at 5 am and 3 x's in the evening. So I'm proud of myself for doing that. I'm hoping the scale will budge when I finally weigh in about 9 days. :w00t: My plan is working out 6 days a week, 6 days of cardio and 3 days of strength training. I also am eating 4 to 5 mini meals that consist of 200 to 300 cal. I do feel my clothes getting loser again, my size 8's were getting pretty tight and I was moving back to a size 10 so I got serious about my weighloss again. No more playing around for me! I will try and check back in, life has been so crazy at work. Its our year end, so I've been so busy and no time to surf the net these days. It will slow down in January. I have been keeping my journal updated, but thats about all the time I've had. I finally have some restriciton again, still not quite enough, but I do have some. I have ONE MORE fill appt on 12/28. This WILL be my last! It will be fill #20 and I'm done with them. One thing I have figured out is my fill doc takes the fill out EVERYTIME to recheck it, he has done this almost everytime, and then he puts back what he took out and adds about .2 cc's more. Well, I always tell him I feel like I have less retriction after the fill. Weird I know, but thats how it felt. Well, after doing a lot of research, I find this is a common problem. A lot of band patients complain about this. In other countries they have quit taking the fill out like that unless the doc suspects there is a problem becuase when you take the entire fill out, it can reposition the band a little and then the restriction level changes. Well, it makes sense to me, because it always screws me up. The last few times he has not taken any out, and guess what, I'm getting that good restriction again. I'm glad he finally listened to me. I feel like I have a band again. I can eat chicken, steak, bread etc, but not much of it. I can eat more than 1 cup of food or more than 4 to 5 oz. I do find myself getting hungry after 3 hours, so thats why I feel like I need to be a tad tighter. Not too much tighter, but a tad. But I do know that I don't eat near like I was and I don't find myself grazing for food every hour like before. So I'm grateful for the restriction that I do have. I'm so close to that sweet spot! I hope everyone else is doing good.

My thing is regarding the large weightloss, how are they going to KEEP it off. The Wednesday special that showed "where are they now" did not show near the contestants that have been on the show for the past 7 seasons. I would have liked to see everyone one of them, how much they have kept off, and how they do it, and who has gained their weight back etc. I don't find it hard to believe that Danny lost 59 lbs, after all he was losing 15 lbs a week for 7 weeks straight. The least he lost was 10 lbs in those 7 weeks. But can he keep it off? Has he made life long changes? What is he doing to be able to maintain for the rest of his life? These are things they need to think about not just the game. I know for Danny now, its about the game, he is a finalist and $250K is up for grabs. I know if I were in his shoes, I would be doing everything possible now to lose as much as I could to win the money. Now its not just about the weightloss, its about the money too. Wonder who will win, Amanda or Liz? Win as far as a finalist, not the whole thing. I don't think either one will win the grand prize.

5:15 am - Hit the elliptical machine for 45 min 7:50 am - protein shake made with Jillian Michaels Protein powder, 1 cup skim milk, 1 TBSP peanut butter, 1 banana (383 cal) 8:35 - coffee with cream (60 cal) - I need to work on giving up the cream! 11:00 - nonfat yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup of raw oats - (203 cal) 2:00 pm - 10 baby carrots & 1/4 cup of hummus (175 cal) 6:00 pm - 2.5 oz of canned white meat chicken (70 cal) Okay, my neighbor brought me over an ENTIRE PIE tonight - thanking me for taking care of her house while she was out. My husband, who doesn't think at times, cut all of us a piece, so I ate a VERY small piece. 1/2 of a piece. BUT............ when I went to fitday.com, it was still about 350 calories! Glad I only ate a small piece. I warned my husband that if it is not hidden, or eaten when I wake up tomorrow, he is dead meat! hahaha. 7:30 pm - 1/2 of a piece of chocolate peanut pie - 350 cal. OUCH TOTAL CALORIES - 1250 cal - about that. Its my best estimate - the pie thru me off a bit because it was homemade. So I had somewhere between 1250 to 1350. Even thouigh I had a little sugar fix, I still don't feel too bad. My calories are not out of control, I exercised today, so I don't think it will ruin me. The beauty of the band is, just becuase I had a piece of pie doesn't mean I "give up". I just brush it off and move on. Tomorrow morning, back to the gym!

5:15 am - Hit the elliptical machine for 45 min 7:50 am - protein shake made with Jillian Michaels Protein powder, 1 cup skim milk, 1 TBSP peanut butter, 1 banana (383 cal) 8:35 - coffee with cream (60 cal) - I need to work on giving up the cream! 11:00 - nonfat yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup of raw oats - (203 cal) 2:00 pm - 10 baby carrots & 1/4 cup of hummus (175 cal) 6:00 pm - 2.5 oz of canned white meat chicken (70 cal) Okay, my neighbor brought me over an ENTIRE PIE tonight - thanking me for taking care of her house while she was out. My husband, who doesn't think at times, cut all of us a piece, so I ate a VERY small piece. 1/2 of a piece. BUT............ when I went to fitday.com, it was still about 350 calories! Glad I only ate a small piece. I warned my husband that if it is not hidden, or eaten when I wake up tomorrow, he is dead meat! hahaha. 7:30 pm - 1/2 of a piece of chocolate peanut pie - 350 cal. OUCH TOTAL CALORIES - 1250 cal - about that. Its my best estimate - the pie thru me off a bit because it was homemade. So I had somewhere between 1250 to 1350. Even thouigh I had a little sugar fix, I still don't feel too bad. My calories are not out of control, I exercised today, so I don't think it will ruin me. The beauty of the band is, just becuase I had a piece of pie doesn't mean I "give up". I just brush it off and move on. Tomorrow morning, back to the gym!

Low carb and high protein would be good. Or liquid diet? Thats hard though. Weight Watchers? Stick to a 1200 calorie a day diet would also be a way. Best wishes

There are lots of things you can do to say its medical necessary. For instance, when you cough to you pee a bit? This is something they look at. Does diebets run in your family? How is your cholesteral? knees sore? Back problems? These are all things you can include as to why you are getting the surgery. Your doc just has to say that it is needed for these reason. Trust me, the docs are smart about knowing what to say. I did use my FSA card when I paid for mine. My insurance did cover part of it, I was out $1000 for my deductible and I used my card. I had high cholesteral, my knees were sore (this was not documented on record) but my doc just said that in the letter. I also found out I had sleep apnea. Have you been tested for that? You might have that and not even know it. Most people with a BMI of over 35 have it. Best wishes!

I'm doing it, I'm sticking to my plan, I'm exercising, I'm eating right, and I'm staying off the scales! Yesterdays menu: 8:00 am - Protein shake made with skim milk and organic peanut butter (290) calories 11:30 am - baby carrots and 1/4 cup of hummus and steamed broccoli = (270 calories) 2:30 - apple with 1 oz of almonds = (235 calories) 6:15 pm - 3.8 oz of griled chicken, 1/2 breaded chicken strip with 1 TBSP of gravy (I made this for my family and I just had to taste it since they were going on and on about how good it was), steamed broccoli = (250 calories) TOTAL cal for the day 1045 by my calculations, then I put it into fitday.com and below is what it tells me. Calories 1,068 Fat 37% Carbohydrate 31% Protein 87.9G = 32% Exercise = 30 min on elliptical HIIT strength trained - biceps triceps shoulders chest back abs Back on the elliptical for another 30 min cardio burn! TOTAL TIME AT THE GYM - 1 hr 50 min, 1 hour of cardio and 50 minutes strength training. And, I've got to pat myself on the back, I was up and at 'em this morning at 5am. I was on the elliptical by 5:15 am! Today is my cardio only day.

I'm doing it, I'm sticking to my plan, I'm exercising, I'm eating right, and I'm staying off the scales! Yesterdays menu: 8:00 am - Protein shake made with skim milk and organic peanut butter (290) calories 11:30 am - baby carrots and 1/4 cup of hummus and steamed broccoli = (270 calories) 2:30 - apple with 1 oz of almonds = (235 calories) 6:15 pm - 3.8 oz of griled chicken, 1/2 breaded chicken strip with 1 TBSP of gravy (I made this for my family and I just had to taste it since they were going on and on about how good it was), steamed broccoli = (250 calories) TOTAL cal for the day 1045 by my calculations, then I put it into fitday.com and below is what it tells me. Calories 1,068 Fat 37% Carbohydrate 31% Protein 87.9G = 32% Exercise = 30 min on elliptical HIIT strength trained - biceps triceps shoulders chest back abs Back on the elliptical for another 30 min cardio burn! TOTAL TIME AT THE GYM - 1 hr 50 min, 1 hour of cardio and 50 minutes strength training. And, I've got to pat myself on the back, I was up and at 'em this morning at 5am. I was on the elliptical by 5:15 am! Today is my cardio only day.

Me too! Tara was the bomb!

No, it was actually Danny who lost 59 pounds in 60 days. Rudy lost I think 45? or 43lbs? Which was still good. Rudy is the one who works 12 hours a day - he is having a hard time fitting in the exercise, but he obviously is doing it because he has lost over 40 lbs. Danny is the one that keeps losing double digits - EVERY WEEK, so it really doesn't surprise me too much he lost 59 pounds. Not sure if anyone went online - but they have a video - a clip, of Danny revealing a secret to Jillian. They didn't show it on tv, but evidently, he couldn't sleep in his own bed, he was too heavy and couldn't breath laying down flat. So, he had a black recliner next to the bed that he had to sleep with. He took the nice leather recliner chair out to the curb and put a sign on it "free, found a new life". Good for him! I'm rooting for Danny, he is from my hometown here in Oklahoma! I hadn't really decided who I was hoping to win until last night, but after seeing the show, I'm hoping Danny wins. I ended up voting for Liz last night, mainly because I think she can show America its never too late to get healthy. IMO. Amanda was on my nerves last night, too much crying. I know, its an emotional time, but it seemed everytime they showed her she was crying. Running, she cried, the very first clip, she was crying, blah blah blah. I guess I was not in the mood for cryers last night, I wanted to see DETERMINATION, FIGHT, and the attitude "I CAN DO THIS". Can't wait for the finale to see how everyone has done. Did anyone catch the clip of Danny's coming home party? They showed Sean - the youth pastor in the crowd (he's from Oklahoma too) and he sure didn't look like he has lost much. Anyhow, this is the first time that I'm actually excited to watch the show this entire season? I guess because its the finale. Oh by the way, I enjoyed the NYT article. I was wondering what happened to Ryan, the first season winner. I've watched the show since then and he used to have his own website, but since has taken it down. Now I know why.

So far, since last Thursday, I've been at the gym pretty much every day! Yay me! Am I really back? I think I am! One of my readers posted a comment yesterday on my blog asking the question if I am eating enough. I really counted my calories yesterday, weighed out everything and ended up eating a total of 1194 calories. I think that is enough. So I'm happy with that. I am going to start posting my menu the next day, because what I said I was going to eat yesterday, ended up being a little different. Here is what my menu ended up looking like: 5:20 am - 45 min of hard core training on the elliptical machine 8:00 am - 2 boiled eggs, 2 slices of bacon and coffee with cream = 290 calories 10:30 am - banana and about 9 almonds = 154 calories 1:00 pm - Jillian Michaels protein shake - Yummy - mixed wtih 1 cup of skim milk and 1 TBSP of organic peanut butter = 280 calories 2:40 pm - bartlett pear and about 7 almonds = 160 calories 5:30 pm - 1 cup of my homemade hamburger stew and just 1 itsy teeny bite of my garlic bread = 250 calories 9:15 pm - had a suger free dessert, jello chocolate mousse while I was watching the Biggest Loser (Go DANNY!) = 60 cal TOTAL calories = 1194 Wt - didn't weigh! Stayed off the scales and trying to stay off them until 12/14/09. Just focussing on getting to the gym and eating right! My plans tonight are: 1 hour of cardio, 1 hour of weight training (upper body & abs)

So far, since last Thursday, I've been at the gym pretty much every day! Yay me! Am I really back? I think I am! One of my readers posted a comment yesterday on my blog asking the question if I am eating enough. I really counted my calories yesterday, weighed out everything and ended up eating a total of 1194 calories. I think that is enough. So I'm happy with that. I am going to start posting my menu the next day, because what I said I was going to eat yesterday, ended up being a little different. Here is what my menu ended up looking like: 5:20 am - 45 min of hard core training on the elliptical machine 8:00 am - 2 boiled eggs, 2 slices of bacon and coffee with cream = 290 calories 10:30 am - banana and about 9 almonds = 154 calories 1:00 pm - Jillian Michaels protein shake - Yummy - mixed wtih 1 cup of skim milk and 1 TBSP of organic peanut butter = 280 calories 2:40 pm - bartlett pear and about 7 almonds = 160 calories 5:30 pm - 1 cup of my homemade hamburger stew and just 1 itsy teeny bite of my garlic bread = 250 calories 9:15 pm - had a suger free dessert, jello chocolate mousse while I was watching the Biggest Loser (Go DANNY!) = 60 cal TOTAL calories = 1194 Wt - didn't weigh! Stayed off the scales and trying to stay off them until 12/14/09. Just focussing on getting to the gym and eating right! My plans tonight are: 1 hour of cardio, 1 hour of weight training (upper body & abs)

elcee - can you send me the link to your post? I would love to read it. I tried to search for it, but could not find it. Thanks!

BG - lol. Well, I just need to stick with it. I need to stay focussed!

Oh yeah, its on! I was up at 5 am and working out at the gym by 5:20 am this morning. Now, let me tell you, I was sooooo tired and didn't want to get up, after all I was at the gym until after 10:00 pm last night. But I knew that I would not be able to go tonight - so I forced myself up. I'm glad I did it! First of all, I had a great workout last night, it lasted 2 hours, I did 60 min on elliptical and 60 min with weights, working my lower body. This morning was pure cardio - did 45 min on the elliptical. Tomorrow, I'm planning on another 2 hours at the gym, planning on doing 60 min of cardio and 60 min of weights (working the upper body) Today's menu: 8:00 am - coffee w/cream 2 boiled eggs & 2 slices of thin bacon (290 cal) 11:00 - protein shake made with skim milk (200 cal) 2:00 - Tuna & broccoli (180 cal) 4:30 - yogurt, banana (160 cal) 6:00 - carrots & hummus (100 cal) 9:00 - Weight watchers snack - (140 cal) As you can see, I'm eating quite often, just small meals. Trying to blast my matabolism by eating every 2 to 3 hours. I also retook my measurements last night, and I did not weigh this morning. I put the scales up. I am avoiding the scales until 12/14/09. A two week progress check. I will re-measure and weigh at that time to see how I'm doing. Okay, I'm off to work..............

I'm 7 weeks from my 3 year band anniversary. My goal, is to be close to goal. I would love to break my plateau and get out of the 160's! So thats my goal, to be at least 159 by 1/18/10. Today's menu Bfast 2 boiled eggs coffee snack clemintine fruit lunch 3 oz of canned white meat chicken few carrots snack 100 cal protein shake 1 cup of skim milk dinner 3 oz of grilled chicken broccoli Exercise - PM - but my goal is to switch to AM this week! 1 hour of cardio 45 min of strength training - lower body Last week, hit the gym 3 times for a total of about 4.5 hours - not enough, but it got me started. This week, my goal, is to do 5 days a week, but I'm shooting for 6 days a week at the gym. I'm in bootcamp! Thats right its boot camp time unitl my 3 year anniversary. That means NO CHEATING, and exercise, exercise and exercise.

I have been figuring up my calories and I'm eating around 1000 a day, sometimes around 1100. I know the doctors and nutrionist recommend 1200 a day, so I'm aiming for that, but I don't seem to lose when I get to 1200. Right now, I'm staying away from the scales and just focussing on exercising and making good food choices - but I can tell you that since I started exercising again (since last Thursday - Thanksgiving day) I feel my clothes are looser.

This happens to me ALL the time! I finally convinced the doctor to quit taking any fluid out and just adding some, he started doing that the last two fills and I'm finally getting some good restriciton again.

1) Exercise 2) Staying on top of my fills 3) Following the rules (like Protein first, no drinking with meal, etc)