ser123

I am doing really well. I am still eating 2000-2400 calories. I notice the number is creeping up some now in terms of calories eaten. No more PBs though. I have figured out I pretty much can't do bread and I am mushy stuff in the morning. I am glad I can't eat bread anymore because I feel like it is wasted calories anyway. My 8k went okay (5 miles) but I was last. Which is fine. I didn't expect to be first, LOL. I also went mountain biking again. I didn't fall off my bike once so that is an improvement from last week! I exercise like mad but don't lose weight and that seems to be have remain unchanged. I notice my calories are creeping up a bit. I am glad I am getting my fill next Friday. Hope everyone else is doing great! Susan

Jodie, Muscular guys are often good for a toss around! Life is good in Joidieville these days....

Sheesha, Wranglers and tennis shoes, LOL!

Kristi, Wow, what an injury! I know that had to hurt, if not immediately, then later. Take care of that thing!

Chrispy, I agree with Wootsie... black jeans and black tennis shoes isn't like holes in his clothes. And the way he holds his fork? Is that really a reason not to give someone a second chance? The real issue is whether you are physically attracted to him and mental/emotional chemistry. Hell, Jodie's stripper could probably wear striped shirt and plaid pants and shovel food in his mouth with his hand and we would all just overlook it completely. If you have mental/emotional attraction, and the physical is lacking... I say give it a go one more time. When he goes in for the kiss you will know whether there will be a third time or not! I can't kiss someone I am not interested in, no matter how mentally/emotionally attractive they are.

Today I ate 2300 calories, so no more restriction for me.... No work out either But I am running in an 8k race tomorrow. I have never ran an 8k race before and it has been a long time since I did that distance by myself. Wish me luck! Night all.

Weigh in today = -1 lb for a total of 8.5 lbs lost in 5 weeks = 1.7 lbs per week average. I'll take it!

Well I can say that being restricted during PMS is possibly the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. Instead of eating everything in sight that didn't try to eat me, I was just not hungry. I ate about 500-700 calories less than what my average has been. Yesterday I was back at my 2000 calories again. I am going to be filled in 2 weeks so hopefully that will provide enough restriction to get me down to 1500-1800 calories a day.

Denise, It might seem like a pain in the rear but I use a food scale. After a while you get better about eyballing your food... but a food scale really helps. I also measure my food so I know how much I am eating. I don't limit my food based on measuring (because I am in anti-diet mode) but at least I am in reality about how much I am eating....

Hey Leener, reading this thread and I empathize with you. I am newly banded so I don't know where I am going to be in a year from now. I know we all start this with so much hope that to be down 15 lbs a year later would be SO tough. I did this because I just don't have it in me to try and diet and control myself all the time. I really hope the band will help me be in control without it being so hard. I am really pulling for you on your fill and look forward to your update and hopefully hearing about some restriction.

Yessss hormones running amuck....

Well the last 2 days I have been doing great, eating 1550-1600 calories a day and now today I am hungrier again. So I would say that what you have read is accurate, based on my personal research, lol.

She will probably come at the most annoying and inconvenient time for you.

Today: breakfast: weight control oatmeal snack: zone bar lunch: mexican lasagna (YUM) snack: bacon egg and cheese lean pocket I made it to the gym and lifted weights for the first time since September. I am probably going to be sore tomorrow. Going to try and run tonight after work. 1/2way through my Water so far

Hey Joan, I am sorry to hear about your health news. The good news is that you are taking care of you and your health. You will get there, get through to the other side and be on your way!

Hey Audree, I was thinking the same thing... I knew she was due this week and I had decided if she wasn't here by tomorrow I wasn't weighing in on Friday. I woke up today and I had gained 3 lbs overnight... Plus I was in a terrible mood this morning, very depressed and woe is me. Last night, I cried when I watched American Idol. I should have known.

You really need to go to the doctor, I would say ASAP. Good luck and please keep us posted as to the outcome. Do you have black tar-like stools as well? That is another indicator of Upper GI bleeding. This is a quote from the Emergency Physcician's Review, "coffee ground emesis (vomit) contains gross blood that has been coagulated and oxidized by stomach acid and appears as "coffee grounds" floating in stomach aspirate. It usually indicates a signifcant upper GI bleed that has stopped." The bold and underline is mine. The following is a quote from the following weblink: http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3566.htm Acute gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a potentially life-threatening abdominal emergency that remains a common cause of hospitalization. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is approximately 100 cases per 100,000 population per year (Fallah, 2000). Bleeding from the upper GI tract is approximately 4 times as common as bleeding from the lower GI tract and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Mortality rates from UGIB are 6-10% overall (Fallah, 2000).

Hey Audree did you make it to the gym? Or walking or anything? I didn't. I walked the dogs for 15 minutes but that's it.

Audree, The protein in the morning and eating soft stuff has really helped me the last couple of days. I am not full out South Beach but I really think the morning routine is keeping me on track. I am just shocked that I only ate 1600 calories the last 2 days. Without trying. huh, go figure.

Alright, I had Aunt Martha come visit me today so I always give myself a day off on the first day. It is hard enough to get through the day so I just took a chill today. So no exercise. BUT I can tell you that yesterday I only ate 1547 calories and today I only ate 1596 calories! Yay me! I am thrilled because I wasn't hungry at all today.

A couple of non-scale victories today. One, was I had bought a can of sugar free whipped cream the last time I went shopping to put on fruit, etc. I found it today, and I had totally forgotten about it. Also, 3 days ago I had bought a candy bar, which I also found today. I can tell you that never in my lifetime have I EVER forgotten either a chocolate bar or a can of whipped cream in my house. I was absolutely shocked, and amazed. And happy. My relationship with food is really changing. I am not thinking and obsessing about food all the time. Sometimes I even forget about it. Wow. Have a great night everyone!

Faybe, with a name like rockstar supernova I think that you will be w00t w00ting it big time!!

Cardio is an entirely different animal than weight training. Six times a week cardio is fine. Six times a week on weight training, if it is the same body part, is not fine. A muscle requires 48-72 hours of recovery in order to heal and form new and stronger muscle, as Wheetsin stated above. If you are weight training, I think 3x a week with a day off in between is better than 6x a weeek. Everyone has really good suggestions. If you were working with a trainer, they probably would not measure your body fat, redo any time trials/lactate threshold tests with cardio workouts, do any strength testing, or take any circmference measurements for at least 6 weeks. Also, I would like to point out that to build muscle AND lose weight at the same time is a kind of contradictory process metabolically. Bodybuilders cycle their workouts and eat a ton of food on the gaining cycle, THEN they go into a cutting cycle right before the competition. They DO NOT maintain 3% body fat during the training season. As for the process of weight training, or cardio training... it is really really really really really unrealistic to expect a change in 7 days. If you were to gain 20 lbs of muscle in A YEAR, that would be a HUGE amount of muscle. You are not going to be gaining a pound of muscle in 7 days. Unless you are taking steroids, and even then that would be exceptional. People often get frustrated when they begin a workout program. Often, a new work out program is a random series of events spliced together with no real idea of what to do or how to do it. There is a lot of information and "expert" advice that does nothing except muddy the Water. Hamchu, I know you have been really consistent and posting a lot about what you have been doing at the gym. It is a trial and error process and you constantly will learn new things about your body and fitness principles in general if you keep at it. Don't give up! In the end, if you make it to the gym regularly and do EVERYTHING wrong, you will be miles and miles ahead of where you would be if you stayed home and sat on the couch.

One thing that helped me with both the gas pain and the general discomfort was walking. And walking. And walking. I was hungry pretty soon after surgery but you really do have to stay on the liquids. Try chicken noodle Soup Soup At Hands, which are very satisfying. Also a Protein shake made with ice can still be liquid but thicker, so that feels a little heavier, if you are hungry. Where did you have your surgery? What kind of pain meds are you on? Depression and a general sense of sadness/blah are normal after any surgery and after having anesthesia. You may be having a normal medication side effect. The faster you can get off your pain meds, the less depression you may suffer. But I am a big weinnie and would rather be in a depressed mood than in pain though. Just keep checking in on here for support too. This site is great!

Yes I think this is a really good idea too, and I have been doing it too. I used to do it in Weight Watchers and I like it a lot better, even though I am up on the scale every day, LOL.