bandiva

I suggest vitamins!

Hi! I am feeling a little down these last couple days. It is probably cause I know what I have to do, I just keep procrastinating...exercise. Ironically, I love exercise, but I am having a mental block... I would like to get off atleast 4 more pounds before the 23rd. I am going back to Grande Prairie to visit the kinfolk. I need to stay positive and maybe work a little less so I am not so tired. I can do this! Hope you all are doing well!

Lets see if this sounds at all like what I said in Jan and Feb...hehe... exercise 3X week eat less in evenings lose 9 pounds to be at 50 pounds lost.

Well, it must be the month everyone is buying pants! I too went shopping yesterday cause my size 20 pants were to big and ended up buying the exact same pants in size 16. I was pretty excited about that. I can't wait for 14 or even 12....wow. I have been eating too much in the evenings and need to exercise more...I will get there. I need a kick in the butt! Congrats everyone!

Gold thimble, I can't answer any of your questions but I just wanted to say welcome. I hope you are able to make a decision you are comfortable with. It sounds like genetics are going to be working against you, but you can do it! It is a long hard journey, but it is not as bad as the journey we are signing up for if we stay overweight. Best wishes.

My goals are to reach "50 pounds lost" (9 more pounds); to exercise atleast 3 times a week, and to cut out food after 7 pm. I often work late so I don't end up eating until 8:30-9:00. Then I go straight to bed... not good! Sweethot...I am glad you checked in, I have been wondering how you are. Good luck on your goals everyone!

Lots of good info everyone, thanks! Audree, how is Grandma?

I read this today and thought it was helpful, so I thought I would share it with you. Hope you all are having a fabulous day! De-Stress in 3 Minutes or Less Stop Emotional Eating Before It Starts -- By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert What is the single, most common problem that most dieters face when trying to lose weight? Will power? Nah. Temptation? Sometimes. Emotional eating? Bingo! That’s why it takes so much more than good intentions and information about nutrition and exercise to be successful. The ability to manage difficult situations and feelings effectively—without turning to food and eating—is a necessary foundation for a successful weight loss plan and healthy lifestyle. Fortunately, there are many proactive steps you can take to keep functioning on all your mental cylinders during tough times. These steps range widely from basic relaxation techniques to the development of a reliable support network. Other options include: Keeping a food journal to help you identify your emotional eating triggers Cultivating mental and emotional well-being through practices like meditation, mindfulness, massage, and yoga Developing good problem solving skills Turning to the Message Boards for help and support when you need it; offering help to others as a way to get your mind off your own troubles and gain a little perspective on things But all of these things take time, and there are many instances when you need something you can do right now, to keep yourself grounded, focused and able to make good decisions. After all, you don’t always have time to take a walk, relax in a hot bath or call a friend to talk things over. That’s what we’ll be talking about here—a 3-minute trick for handling stressful situations in the moment. Minute 1: Stay Grounded Emotional eating happens when you lose your connection to your grounded self. Stress itself is not what makes you reach for something to eat. In fact, stress is often a good thing and your grounded self knows this! We need the physical stress of exercise to keep our bodies in good shape just as we need the stress of intellectual and emotional challenges to keep our minds healthy. Nine times out of ten, what really leads to emotional eating is getting caught in a "mind storm" of worst-case scenarios, projections, misinterpretations, and all the emotional overreactions that come with these thoughts. This "storm" turns a manageable challenge into something that makes you feel helpless, overwhelmed, ashamed or afraid—and sends you to the kitchen to find something to stuff those extreme feelings. When you can stay grounded in the moment of stress, you have many more options. Here are some simple ideas to keep you grounded when something (or someone) pushes your buttons and your feelings start to spiral out of control: Take a few deep breaths. (You can also count to 10, if that helps.) If the stressful situation involves someone else, take a timeout and agree to continue the discussion in a few minutes. Remind yourself where you are. Take a look around, noticing and naming the colors and shapes in the space around you. Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing. Whether it's a sinking feeling, turmoil in your stomach, tension in your hands or jaw, restricted breathing, or heat on the back of your neck, try to name the feelings that go with the sensation. Is that sinking feeling fear, or dread? Is the heat a symptom of anger? The idea here is to stay in your body and in the moment—with what’s real—instead of going inside your mind where all those unreal scenarios are just waiting to get spun out-of-control. Minute 2: Reality Check Once you’re calm enough to start thinking productively, put all those thoughts that are clamoring for attention inside your head through a quick reality check. Here are several very common thought patterns that have no place in reality. Do any of these apply to you? All or nothing thinking Example: You go over your calorie limit or eat something on your “forbidden” list, and then decide to keep eating because you’ve already “blown it” for today. Reality: Weight loss is not a one-day event. If you stop overeating now, you’ll gain less and have less to re-lose later. That’s something to feel good about! Reading your own thoughts into someone else’s words Example: Someone made a mildly critical or unsupportive remark to you, and you feel completely devastated. Reality: The more bothered you are by such remarks, the more likely it is that you are being overly critical of yourself. When you treat yourself with respect, what others say won’t matter nearly so much. Either-Or thinking Example: You make a mistake or have a bad day and feel like a complete and hopeless failure. Reality: No one does well all the time. Mistakes are a necessary and valuable opportunity to learn—if you don’t waste them by getting down on yourself. Taking care of other people’s business Example: Something is going badly for someone you care about, and you feel responsible, or pressured to fix it. Reality: People need to learn from their own problems. You aren’t doing anyone a favor by trying to fix things just to make yourself feel better. Minute 3: Putting Things in Perspective Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to handle when you keep them in perspective and avoid making mountains out of molehills. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make sure you aren’t in the mountain-making business: How big a deal is this, anyway? If I knew I was going to die in a week, would this be something I would want to spend this minute of my remaining time on? Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I have more time to figure things out? Do I have all the information I need to decide how to respond to this? Do I really know what’s going on here, or am I making assumptions? Am I worrying about things that might not even happen? What do I need to check out before taking action? Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this situation? Am I trying to control something I can't, like what other people think, say, or do? Have I really thought through this problem, and broken it down into manageable pieces I can handle one-at-a-time? Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel overwhelming, and you'll quickly find that the mountains that seem impossible at first can quickly morph into what they really are—manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb. All it takes is three little minutes of your time. Article created on: 6/21/2006

Hi! I have no idea why it took a couple weeks. Don't even know how that is possible. Tried to eat Sushi last night. Not such a good idea. I wasn't hungry in the first place so when I ate....bad news. There is no way I could eat what you do for breakfast...I have to have liquids for breakfast and that is unfortunate cause I love breakfast! However late afternoon and evening I can really pack it in! I have to be careful and use will power and common sense. Ya...lets hook up in April, I think I will come down around the third week (it is my birthday on the 20th...I think hubby is coming too) We can work out details later...I may need to come earlier in the month depending on my restriction. I have 2CC's now. He gave me more cause I am so far away. BTW, I tried to PM you and it won't let me, says your mailbox is full. :~( I cant wait to see an updated picture! Take Care! xox

Wow Jean! You are doing great. I am glad this has been a success for you.

Thanks Yoda. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Really, it is to early in the morning for sarcasm, I am being sincere! Thanks.

Alice, I understand what you are going through. Sometimes I need a head adjustment. Too bad we can't get a band for our head to section off a small part where no negative thought or self sabatoge can enter. All I can say is, this is a stage...it will pass. Don't let other people rain on your parade. They don't know what you are going through, and unfortunately, somtimes friends and family can be our worst enemies in this journey. They mean well, but sometimes they just don't understand what makes us tick.

Hi Everyone! You are very inspiring. Thanks for the link Audree and congrats on your fill. I am glad your hubby went with you. I will probably go again in April and take hubby too. Maybe we can hook up. I will let you know when I have more details. Glad you are doing well! I din't get restriction for a couple weeks after my fill, but believe me, I have restriction! I am not complaining! xoox

I had it done there and would highly recommend it. I received the best medical care in a state of the art facility. There is lots of info on here...maybe try searching the word 'Mexico' for more info. Good luck!

Hi! I am glad you found this site. I found it very helpful in the decision making process. Let me know if I can help!

There you are Yoda! You can hide, but we will get back out to play with us! Hope you are doing well. I lurk sometimes too. Lately I have been feeling a little grouchy and stressed and I really enjoy just stalking the site. Guess I am going to have to work on sharing instead of internalizing everything. My, my, so much to learn. Everyone is doing so well. I am happy for you, and worry about you when there are complications. I will write more soon. xox

I broke a scale once by throwing it out of the bathroom window on the third floor of the house I was living in. Then I went down into the yard, picked it up and threw it against a tree till it shattered. Nuff said.:opps2:

My fill didn't kick in for a couple of weeks. I remember lying in bed and thinking I wish I had more restriction. The the next 3 days I slimed and PB'd anything I ate. Now, a month after my fill, I am still having to be careful about pretty much anything I eat till mid afternoon, when I loosen up a little. I am rarely hungry. I hope you find the restriction you need to feel encouraged and know you are on the right path.

I went to Mexico and have no regrets. I also returned for my first fill. I am so fed up with the system in BC that I don't want much to do with it at the moment. I have a problem with Dr.'s playing God...before you all get mad, that is just my opinion based on what I have read about surgeons in BC. I may be wrong, but I just feel like a person who has struggled for years knows when he/she is ready for surgery or a fill. We have to take some responsibility for our health, and under the current system, that can be difficult. I believe I would have spent thousands over the next 10 years in medication, loss of income, food ,clothes etc...so I don't mind jumping on a plane and going down there. My initial cost was $8500 US plus travel exp. I was really happy with my Dr. Let me know if you have any questions. Best Wishes! Victoria

Had a rough afternoon today. I had some garlic sausage for lunch. While I am eating it, I am thinking..'man, this hurts', but do I stop???? No, why would I do that? So then I slimed for a couple of hours, had a hot tea and lived to talk about it. It's strange how the body is saying no, and the brain is saying keep going, there is just a little left. Hope you all had a fabulous day!

Hope you enjoy your trip, and congrats on reaching your goal!

You must be so excited! Congrats!

My parents are older and on a fixed income. We gave them cash for Christmas with a note in the card saying we wanted to take them boxing day shopping. They bought new bedding, shoes, practical clothing etc...and it was a fun couple of days shopping with them. You probably don't have time to do this...but...my dad is turning 80 this year. We are registering in with a travel agency (chain) so that whoever wants to donate 20 or 200 etc...can do so. My parents have never been anywhere outside of the three western provinces. My sister and I figure we will go with them to Hawaii or an Alaskan cruise or something. ( Keep in mind we are expecting a couple hundred people at the party so it will add up...) I am glad you are taking such good care of your grandmother. You will never regret the time you spend with her.

Hi everyone. Just thought I would pop in and say hi. I lurk here reading posts almost daily, but just haven't posted often. I do enjoy reading about you though! We all are at the same stage, so it is very encouraging. I am doing well, still have lots of restriction from my first fill (Jan 22). I need to exercise more, I have just been working so much that when I get home I want to lay in bed with the remote till I fall asleep. Next month won't be so busy, and I will need to get serious about the exercise. I did buy a universal gym...does that count? Steph, your pics are great. Huge difference. You have a nice indentation for your waist line. That is great! BK-I think of you often, and your busy life. I hope you are getting some time to take care of yourself. You deserve it. Nikki- sounds like you might need a fill. That is how I was feeling/eating before my fill. Kirsten-congrats on your second fill and weight loss. That is awesome! Beversman-WOW! That is all I have to say about that! Well, I am off to work. Take Care everyone. Victoria.

Hi everyone! Glad you are doing well! I love reading about your activities...I can't wait till I am that active. I really enjoy hiking swimming etc. I just bought a universal gym, so now I have that, a treadmill and a recumbant bike. I live in an apartment, so it is quite packed! My son came to visit the other day and when he came in, he asked how much a membership is! It was very funny. Keep it up everyone, you are doing (and looking) awesome!