vickyd

Hi Joan, Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to do the stats for July so we need someone else to step up and do them. Any volunteers? I do plan on participating in the challenge so I'll still be around.

I count calories and when I had my last appt with my surgeon he told me that his most successful patients all count calories. Watching portion sizes works for some people but I'm way too anal retentive for that to work for me

For me it was (and still is) clothes and shoes.

Absolutely!!

Glad to hear things are moving again, Joan! Hopefully you won't have the same issues this time around. My drivers license says 250 which was a HUGE lie because I was about 330 at the time...now I weigh 235 so it's actually too high! BTW, I hit 90 lbs lost on Saturday!! I still have a ways to go but I can't believe I am 10 lbs away from 100!

Ditto with the "satisfied" feeling. If I eat until I feel full (what I have always called full) then I have over eaten and will feel horrible later. From the beginning, I have weighed and measured my food (if I'm at a restaurant I portion it out by eye) and just eat that amount...when I'm finished I am no longer hungry - that is my new "full"

Awesome feeling, isn't it? I remember thinking "I will never again see a weight with a '3' as the first number!" Great job!!

I realize that not everyone will agree with my saying this, but here is my .02... I think it's well and good that our NUTs and PAs give us advice about what to eat, how many calories, etc but this is really a personal journey. What works for me may not work for someone else. Rather than trying to stay within the calorie/protein/carb range they gave you, why don't you try some different things and see what works for you? Try raising your calories a bit, lowering your carbs, increasing your Protein...small "tweaks" can get things moving again. You don't say if you track your food, but I find this to be very helpful. When my weight loss has slowed down I can look back at my food journals (I use myfitnesspal.com) and see what changed in my diet. During a recent stall, I looked back and realized that my protein levels had dropped...most surgeon's suggest 60g per day but mine wants 80-120g per day which I was doing at the beginning but I looked back and could see that my protein was averaging 60-70g so I made a conscious effort to increase my protein simply by substituting my normal Breakfast with a Protein shake and it made a huge difference. Yes, this band is a tool but many of us aren't given a complete instruction manual on how to use it. This isn't a tool that you can do steps A, B, and C and get results...you need to work with it to figure out how to get the best results. Good Luck!

I have my food journal public...I'm vickyd205 on there.

This is YOUR body and YOUR decision. If you feel like you are ready to have surgery and do the work you will need to do in order to be successful then I would just tell them that although you respect their opinion you have done the research and strongly believe that this is the right decision.

I use MFP and I don't stick to their guidelines. If you go to "Goals" (under "My Home") you can change your daily calorie requirements. I set mine at 1,100 calories per day because my goal is to be between 1,000-1,100. You will also have to get used to it "yelling" at you every day when you complete the days entry because it will tell you that you aren't eating enough...just ignore it. I don't know how many calories your doctor recommends but I think you have to tweak it yourself to see what calorie level works best for you. There are a lot of people on here who stay around 1,200 calories per day but that level doesn't work for me...I just kept adjusting things (calories, protein, carbs) every 5-7 days until I found the right level for me. Everyone's journey is different so don't be afraid to play around with things until you find what works.

Well done!! :woot:

I would definately cut back on the roti...there's nothing wrong with carbs, but it looks like they take up the majority of the food you eat. Instead substitute higher Protein items. Also, I agree with the others about tracking your food. You need to have a good understanding of how many calories, protein, etc you are eating so you can evaluate how to best adjust your food choices. Good Luck!

My doctor's office recommends 80-120g Protein each day. Like you, I can have a hard time getting in enough calories because I'm not hungry. I normally force myself to eat a couple of Snacks (string cheese, etc) even if I'm not hungry. My NUT told me to have a protein shake at night if I need to in order to get my calories and protein in.

I highly recommend myfitnesspal. There are a lot of bandsters on there who you can friend (I'm vickyd205) and many if us have our food journals open for our friends to see. Maybe looking at what others are eating will help give you some ideas.

www.pandora.net It is a jewelry line that you can find at most jewelry stores...I got mine at Jared.

You don't have to have a blog to follow but you do need a blogger I.D (I'm not sure if a regular google I'd will work - maybe someone else knows). Go to www.blogger.com and sign up. You can create your blog when you get around to it.

Thanks! I've been amazed at how easy it has been for me...I've been very fortunate.

You are probably hungry all the time because you're not eating enough to support the amount of exercise you are doing. I would suggest increasing your calories with high protein foods...the protein will keep you full longer - maybe adding a protein shake before your workout will help.

There are several people on here who have done charm bracelets so I got the idea from one of them! The pandora is a bit pricey but I only get a charm every 4-5 weeks so it's not too bad...i hit the 90 lb mark this morning so I'm going out later today to get my next one

I use myfitnesspal.com - they also have apps for the IPhone and blackberry and it already has almost anything you could imagine eating v

I also do the charm thing...I splurged and bought a pandora. I started it out with a nice charm to represent my surgery day and now I buy a new charm for every 10 lbs lost.

I have gotten stuck on shrimp (and salmon) before. I think because it's seafood I just didn't think I needed to chew it that much. But I've learned my lesson - it doesn't matter what food it is...chew, chew, chew.

All of mine came off except the big ones over my port incision...my surgeon removed that one at my 2 week post op appointment.

Absolutely not! I am very happy with my restriction and can take something as large as a Tylenol caplet without issues.