J_BandRanger

what a great story! :-)

if you can still eat anything, and a lot of it, then it sounds like you havent reached your sweet spot. until you have proper restriction, the band is not "working", you're just dieting...and if we were "good" at dieting, we wouldnt have gotten banded, right? i have 10.75 in my band (3 fills)...maybe you need more fills?

WOW! you can do Zumba? I havent even tried that! Just figured i would never make it through....maybe i will try?? thnx for thr encouragement!! congrats on the 14 pounds!!

EXCELLENT success!! Way to go! THNX for sharing!

Hi Chelsea (and Cathy) you've come to the right place for suppport and answers!!! WELCOME!!

I am happpy about the 5!! trust me! i guess the mind is just a powerful tool b/c i had convinced myself that b/c i could fit into all those clothes, I had lost like "oooodles" of pounds! LOL! the anology w/the pillow and the brick really helped me to put things into perspective and understand then i realized that its only been like 2 weeks since i last weighed**...for some reason i thought it was a month?!! all i'm supossed to loose is 2 pounds a week---->> so i'm doing GREAT!! ** I was confused about the time frame b/c i lost my BlackBerry and EVERYTHING including dates, times, amounts, etc was logged into that calendar!! so i really lost track of time and events!!!

the new photo looks great! what a big difference! I tried to put an avetar picture up but this site wont upload any of my photos!!!???? that's why i'm stuck w/the little "burping frog"!!!!

yes, that time after surgery and before you hit your "sweet spot" is HELL!!! you are right! that time is for internal healing and also, new habit forming...that's why you are "not allowed" to eat 'normal' food even though your band is wide open. yes, your hunger IS real!!!! I filled up on mashed potatoes (homemade)and mashed beans and babyfood and tomato soup (Tomato Basil by Pregressive is very tasty!) !!! and cottage cheese!!! Humus added to stuff for flavor and protein. I had a lot of Rita's SF Italian Icees. I did not count calories/carbs/sodium, etc (dont know if that's bad or good, just saying what i did) I did not dwell on weightloss during that time b/c i just needed energy from food to keep going. It WILL get better!!! It takes about 3-5 mouths, maybe 3-5 fills before you hit your sweet spot. So, the band doesnt "start working" until then...right now, for you, its all "mental"... IT WILL GET BETTER!!

isnt cleaning out the closet fun!!?? my poor hubby hasnt seen me in any lingerie in YEARS!! but all my "small nighties" are still sitting there waiting for me to return! your husband is funny! that indeed was an unexpected answer! thumbs up to him!!!

★.ø¤º°¨¨¨°º¤ø ¸„ø¤ ★ ★Happy Birthday, Lucky Dog!! ★ ★º°¨¨°º¤ø¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø ¸„ ★ ★Enjoy Your Day on the boat!º ★ ★¤ø ¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø ★ ★.ø¤º°¨¨¨°º¤ø ¸„ø¤ ★ ★Happy Bathing Suit to you!!★ ★º°¨¨°º¤ø¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø ¸„ ★ ★Congrats on your weight loss!º ★ ★¤ø ¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø Whoo-Hoo!

Yesterday at the food area of a conference that I was attending, I spotted one of those Hershey's Strawberry Shortcake bars in the freezer… (the vanilla ice cream on a stick covered w/tan and pink crumbles....you know? so good!) I grabbed it (telling myself "no! no!") I walked away with it like I had an illegal drug! I start unwrapping it, slowly. I only got a corner of the paper off and noticed that it had obviously melted at some point and refroze (is that a word?) I still tasted a nibble (didn’t taste too bad...but "no! no!" my little band said!) I tasted another small nibble - hand to mouth:tongue_smilie:... I never did put the pop to my mouth. I never did unwrap it completely. I looked around for the nearest garbage...Shucks, that one was for "paper only"!!! The other for "bottles only"! Where was the one for "things I'm not supposed to eat?" !!! Now I did feel like I was doing something illegal!!! Suppose someone spotted me throwing away a 'perfectly good ice cream', still wrapped no less!!?? :bored:Finally I found a trash can labeled "waste" and this was indeed a “waste”! So I discreetly chucked it in and got away from that area as fast as I could!!! Too funny:lol:

Ha! Ha! it was meant for you NOT to have an ice cream! I'm laughing w/you b/c yesterday I had a similar "ru-in" w/ice cream!!! check out my blog for details!!!

when i went to the doc'd yesterday (ear infection) i weighed 5 pounds less. i'm glad to loose 5 rather than gain it. i'm glad to see the scale move down at all!! but after being able to fit back into all those smaller clothes this week, i really thought I was down much more. i have been exercizing 5 days a week, 1 hour per day... my restriction is good ( 3 fills, 10.75 cc's total)...my eatting has been very good... i guess i've lost inches and fat but gained muscle....we all know "muscle takes up less room than fat" (it doesnt actually weigh less) i found a good explanation & anology on another site: "Muscle is more dense than fat, thus it takes up less space than an equal amount of fat. A good analogy is comparing a pound of lead(muscle) to a pound of feathers (fat). The pound of lead would be a small brick and the pound of feathers would be equal to a pillow or two. " well, that would certainly explain why my clothes fit better!! but i just want that scale to DROP!!!! :thumbup:

i've been craving ICE CREAM THIS LAST WEEK! not just "any" ice cream either----->> Ben & Jerry's "New York Super Chunk"!!! or Colstone Creamery "Peanutbutter Perfection"!! In fact, I think i'm gonna have to rob that place tonight!! Who will drive the get-away car for me?? come'on my blogging buddies!!! i'll grab a sundae for you too!!!

wow! that gym w/o sounds great! (i'm tired just reading it!!!)

you are doing well!!!!! keep up the good work!

i want to take a Martial Arts class after i loose weight! also dancing!! like Salsa or Ballroom (couples stuff)

i am down another 4.5 pounds according to their scale. of course, i wish it was more, but at least the scale is moving in the right direction!!!!

I agree w/luckydog...let your doc know about the fever, try to hv some crushed ice & SF ice pops, walk! walk! walk! for the gas (gas-x ddnt work for me), take your pain meds and "sleep it off"!! it WILL get better! PROMISE!!!

WOW! There's just so much "wrong" in this post that i just dont know where to start!!! All i can say is "wow"!!! (and you just keep doing what you know to be right!!!)

my ear hurts and i keep sneezing/blowing .... I'm going to the doc in about an hour...funny thing is, this is the Doc that did my pre-op work, so I'm actually looking forward to going so that I can jump on his scale when no one is looking!! :thumbup: I just think that's so funny---->> I'm anticipating the scale more than medicine for my hurting ear! :thumbup:

LB is such a good decision!!! I know someone (a close friend) who had By-Pass.... It’s been well over 5 years and he is STILL sick! My dad was over his house yesterday and he said in the middle of their conversation, my friend jumped up to go vomit!!! No way was that for me! One big reason I got the band was b/c it was reversible---->> but no way do I want to reverse anything!!!

@ PattyGreen - BRAVO! well spoken!!! ....

do you have the option to visit another Doc? look into one who has referred others for WLS...

a gym named GYM! that is funny! is your trainer's name "JIM"?? that would be perfect!!! LOL! just have fun and enjoy!!!