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Kristin: We have so much in common! I, too, can stick to just about any diet as far as WHAT to eat but it's the HOW MUCH that would get me. I would just feel so deprived if I had this *tiny* amount of food on my plate and I would feel hungry all the time. I could control it for awhile, even long enough to lose some weight. But then the weight loss would stall (for weeks, not just days) and I would give up. Or, on the few times that I reached my goal, I would go back to eating what I thought was normal and gain the weight, even when I was exercising and trying my darndest not to gain. I now realize that after you've lost weight, *normal* isn't normal any more. My husband and daughters can eat twice what I eat and I would still gain. But I couldn't face a life of being hungry and/or deprived on the new *normal* for me. This is why I believe the band is working for me and will continue to work. When I can eat almost anything I want but in just a couple of bites and not be hungry and not feel deprived and then be rewarded by losing weight or eventually maintaining -- that's a dream come true! It felt so good Thursday night to eat four fried cheese sticks and feel as if I had had a great meal! I wasn't stuffed but I didn't feel like I wanted or needed any more food! My doctor wants me to eat three meals a day with no snacking but frankly, I don't think snacking will hurt me because a 100-calorie sugar free pudding does the trick and I'm satisfied until the next meal. In the past, that just wasn't the case -- a "snack" could turn into two hours of grazing and then it was time for the next meal. I almost always made good choices and I never binged. I even kept track of what I ate and rarely exceeded 1600-1800 calories in a day, which was supposed to be a deficit of at least 600 calories, not counting what I burned through exercise. But I either stayed the same or gained. Between my age and my history of dieting, I realize that I can't lose weight on that many calories. My body won't be "fooled" again. :girl_hug:

I am almost 7 months post op. Three weeks ago I joined weight watchers because with the holidays upon us I wanted the accountability that comes with weight watchers. I am so glad that I did. I have lost 51 lbs. since May so it's not that I wasn't losing I just wanted to make sure I didn't stall over the holidays. I was on weight watchers pre-band. It is so much easier this time now that I have the band to help me.

Good Sunday Morning, Ladies! At least, it's Sunday morning here on the west coast. I can certainly relate to the things you are expressing regarding being stalled! I've played with the same three pounds for two weeks now. I lost 10 lb. in 12 days, then gained 3 lb. back and gone up and down with those 3 lb for two weeks! I am so much wanting to get to the -50 lb mark and just can't seem to make it! I think it's quite normal to go through these "plateau" times, though, so I'm trying to be patient with myself and encourage you to do the same. We're in the process of changing eating habits that are LONG established. I didn't have a problem with Halloween candy this week, but some former neighbors brought their two little ones over for "Trick or Treat" and brought us a small bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies!! I had a few of those and I hadn't had a whole cookie in 4-5 months! It does start a chain reaction when you have JUST ONE!! I couldn't leave them alone until they were gone. Good thing there were only six of them and DH did eat a couple of them. Then we got to my sister's. We are RVing and on our way to sunny CA for the winter. Guess what her DH brought home from work that night??? A little container of chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies!!! I had ONE HALF of one cookie! Then today my sister made cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Fortunately, DH had fixed me an eggbeaters omelet out in the RV before we came in the house. So I only had a really tiny sliver of a roll. I mean it didn't even qualify as a BITE!! I don't have trouble with the sweets if they're not staring me in the face. So....it's a HEAD battle, isn't it???!!! The band is great but the restriction isn't always there for me.. it seems to be as sporadic as my weight loss! Sometimes it wonderfully keeps me in check, but other times it seems to abandon me. I've had three fills, so it should be good. But it isn't always! Texture of the food I'm eating seems to matter a LOT. Softer things go down easy.... eggs, for example. Oh, well, that's enough of my rambling. I'm not sure that's going to help anyone, but at least you know, here's another one struggling but still plugging along and determined to be successful.

Pam - Can I come stay with you and can I sleep in your closet? :eek: Kat - I'm so glad you're ok! That would have freaked me out and it's a good thing you kept control of your truck! TracyK - How's the house search going? Have you found anything you like yet? Laura - I know exactly what you're talking about with the computer game. I sometimes sit for two little girls, one is 14 and one is 12 and they spend their allowance money on these virtual lives! I couldn't believe it when they were first explaining it to me! Obviously there is many many people out there doing the same. That sounds like a great hobby and it's great that you're able to make money off it! Jenn - glad you're feeling better! So, I've hit such a plateu. I'm completely stalled. It frustrates me because I work like a dog, fall into bed exhausted every night. but in the morning I weigh myself and I'm up and down the same two pounds every day. Been like that for about three weeks now. Granted i'm not doing cardio or nothing like that but still! Last night I had to touch up the entire house because when the guys that installed my tile floor, they would brace themselves on the newly painted walls to get up off of their knees. So last night I had to go around the whole house and repaint all the walls right around the hip level and down. My arms were killing me, I was sweating like crazy. Sunday we loaded up a huge moving truck with all the stuff that's left from our old house, brought it to the new house and unloaded everything. Then we had to load up about 500 sq feet of carpet that had been soaked by the rain because when we pulled it we left it out in the back yard and it rained so it got soaking wet. Along with the pad that goes underneath! And also about 500 sq ft of linoleum that we pulled from the kitchen and bathrooms. Anyways, we loaded that up onto the moving truck and we went and found a dumpster to unload it into. Seriously, almost every day is like this since we moved. We've been moving, cleaning, pulling, painting. trimming. This house was a wreck when we got it. It's got great bones but the interior was yuck. And i'm sorry for the rant but I'm getting so frustrated. I was crying about it this morning when I got on the scale. Oh and I guess it doesn't help that we've been eating fast food almost every night. I just can't stop whatever project I'm doing to fix dinner so Juan usually brings something home. Not overly bad stuff because he can't stand burgers and fries but it's not home cooking. Roasted chicken from the grocery deli, subway, salads from jack in the box, chinese food... AUGH. I can't wait until I get back to normal. Hopefully just one more week and I'll be done with the house that way I can get back to my routine, because not only is it affecting my dinner eating it also affects my lunch eating. I usually make lunch at home and bring it to the office. Well I haven't been doing that so I end up grabbing something quick here at the places around the office... Oh, and I don't eat breakfast. I don't get hungry until around 12:30. I have only myself to blame. I've promised myself 5 days a week of gym as soon as i get my house in order. Thanks for listening ya'll. I feel better now.

I ate too quicklly and got into trouble on business trip today. I was at the airport by 5:30 a.m., so my breakfast shake earlier didn't last me very long, so by 11:00 in my first meeting, I was starving and stomach was growling. We ended up grabbing a quick burger, so I tried to eat it with one side of the bun and a piece of lettuce to hold it together and I guess I was eating and swallowing too quickly. Only had about three bites and face got flushed and chest tight and I knew I was in trouble, so I excused myself and went to the ladies room. It has never been this bad. I couldn't believe the level of pain and I went into the handicap stall and paced, and tried to breathe, Nose was running, heart was pounding, eyes tearing. I didn't think it was going to pass, but finally, I was able to get it out. It's funny, but I only kept two bites down, but once I got the third bite out, I felt fine and actually felt full.....not sure why on the last. Ended up meeting vendors for another meeting and about two hours later they wanted to treat us to lunch. Ended up getting a bowl of french onion soup and a roll and that went down fine. Then flew back home and exercised for an hour. Then a more sensible dinner of ham and an egg. But wasn't full, so waited awhile and had another shake. About 1067 calories in total. 2nd fill is supposed to be on Thursday, but I'm back to thinking perhaps I don't want to get it. The first fill was fine until this last week and things seem tight. Perhaps it is tight enough already and I should leave well enough alone. Plus I fly out early Friday morning to meet my husband for a very hectic weekend trip. Which includes my 30th HS reunion. My Dr only recommends liquids for that one day, but might have problems away from home during the weekend.

I'm not worrying about the scales too much. I am making an effort to walk more each day. I've lived in this body long enough to know that the scales only move some of the time, and when it takes a break, the belt buckle moves. (Okay, so I don't really have a belt that goes around me at this point, BUT, I have had to retire a couple of skirts for fear I'll lose them and trip myself up!! Need to post that in the NSV thread, huh? My nutritionist didn't think I could be plateauing this early (three weeks post op + almost three weeks on pre-op = right time frame for a STALL!!)....but then, she hasn't been the one inside this body for 45 years!!! She told me to do another week on full liquid, but I was going to lose my mind if I didn't have something FRESH -- so I've been nibbling (and choo-choo-chewing!!) on a little fruit and salad stuff....and a little more real food. I did have two ALMOST PBs, enough to produce a little sliming -- both times, just got in too big of a hurry and was eating hand-held food!!!! I'm gonna have to start using a fork and knife on everything. I'm used to 'micro-bites' with them, but my mouth doesn't yet know how to take a little bite. Thanks for the support ya'll.

Hi all, thought I'd "check in". I read the posts a couple of times a day but don't usually write. I'm doing pretty well. I'll finally get me first fill this coming Thursday (unless they cancel me again - YIKES!!). I can't wait. I'll be almost 8 weeks out of surgery by then. I feel like I really need this fill. I just joined the August exercise challenge. Last week I started exercising - I did three days. That's huge for me. I haven't exercised in years. Not really. A day here and there but nothing with any consistency. I feel pretty good about it. I have to do something since my weightloss has stalled. I've been at the 31 - 32 pounds lost mark for a couple of weeks now. VERY frustrating. Take care everyone and continued prayers for all my fellow Junies. Dawn

I've been thinking about Weight Loss Surgery for a long time, but could not seriously pursue it until my husband concurred, which was last fall. We attended an informational seminar in Palm Springs CA over the winter and began looking for a surgeon then. We were in CA for the winter, but moving to WA state at the end of April. My medical insurance is Medicare/Tricare for Life, so I had to use a "Center of Excellence". I was able to make an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Hunter at Virginia Mason Clinic in Federal Way WA. We met with him on May 3, 2007 and he thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of both bypass and lapband surgery. He told me that he would want me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I weighed in at 325 that day. I started a 1000-1200 calorie diet the next day. I lost about 2 lb. a week for the first three weeks. Then the weight loss stalled and so did my enthusiasm. In a short time, I had regained the 7 lb. I was supposed to have a second appointment with Dr. Hunter in early June, but his nurse, Stephen called me early that week and told me that I didn't need to come in until I'd lost the weight. So the next day I started on a 350-500 calorie diet. Its been three weeks and I've now lost 20 lb. Last week, after several phone calls to report my weight loss thus far, Stephen called me back with a surgery date of July 20. I will have to go in about 10 days prior to that for pre-op appointments with Dr. Hunter, the dietician and the anesthesia department. :ranger:

I've been thinking about Weight Loss Surgery for a long time, but could not seriously pursue it until my husband concurred, which was last fall. We attended an informational seminar in Palm Springs CA over the winter and began looking for a surgeon then. We were in CA for the winter, but moving to WA state at the end of April. My medical insurance is Medicare/Tricare for Life, so I had to use a "Center of Excellence". I was able to make an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Hunter at Virginia Mason Clinic in Federal Way WA. We met with him on May 3, 2007 and he thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of both bypass and lapband surgery. He told me that he would want me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I weighed in at 325 that day. I started a 1000-1200 calorie diet the next day. I lost about 2 lb. a week for the first three weeks. Then the weight loss stalled and so did my enthusiasm. In a short time, I had regained the 7 lb. I was supposed to have a second appointment with Dr. Hunter in early June, but his nurse, Stephen called me early that week and told me that I didn't need to come in until I'd lost the weight. So the next day I started on a 350-500 calorie diet. Its been three weeks and I've now lost 20 lb. Last week, after several phone calls to report my weight loss thus far, Stephen called me back with a surgery date of July 20. I will have to go in about 10 days prior to that for pre-op appointments with Dr. Hunter, the dietician and the anesthesia department. :ranger:

I had lost 30 pounds in three months without exercising and then I just kind of stalled out. I now jazzercise 2 - 3 times a week and do yoga 2 times a week and 7 pounds have just fallen off since then. Plus, as the others have said, I have way more energy and just feel so proud of myself leaving the studio all sweat-soaked and red-faced. I sleep much better and now even wake up 30 minutes early and walk 1 to 1 1/2 miles on my treadmill before I go to work. Start now, you won't regret a moment of it.

Hello to all! Let me tell you of my horror recently. On May 12th I went to bed with nothing to eat or drink before as usual. During the night I woke up choking on stomach acid. It scared me to death! Long story short, I had two unfills, little at a time. Visit my internal medicine doc and my gastro doc. Both said I was to tight. With the reflux, vomitting, etc., my esophgus became very inflammed. For three weeks I could not eat and then drinking became impossible. I suffered from severe burning in my left rib cage, pain in my chest very much like a hear attack. The longer I went taking Protonix, Nexium, Prevacid, Prolesec, Carafate, you name it, I was taking it trying to find relief. After the third week and 17 pounds less, I was able to sum up my feeling. I felt as if I had a virus that was stalled at my waist. Did I fail to mention no bowel movements during that time? Anyway, I began vomitting a black liquid, high fever, etc. FINALLY, they discovered the bottom of my stomach had pertruded up into the band causing a blockage. YES a blockage. I was at the point of death. Had emergency surgery to put all back into place and have been doing great since. I am not trying to scare anyone but the best advice I can give you to NOT to play around. Go immediately and get under the flourascope and have your band checked and do a complete unfill until the reflux is totally gone. It has been two weeks since my surgery and unfill and I have NOT gained any weight thank God! In my mind, I feel as if I can eat what ever I want and for the most part, I have. The lesson that I learned the hard way was instead of being a fill freak, if you pb all of the time, you better take heed and get loosened.

Hello to all! Let me tell you of my horror recently. On May 12th I went to bed with nothing to eat or drink before as usual. During the night I woke up choking on stomach acid. It scared me to death! Long story short, I had two unfills, little at a time. Visit my internal medicine doc and my gastro doc. Both said I was to tight. With the reflux, vomitting, etc., my esophgus became very inflammed. For three weeks I could not eat and then drinking became impossible. I suffered from severe burning in my left rib cage, pain in my chest very much like a hear attack. The longer I went taking Protonix, Nexium, Prevacid, Prolesec, Carafate, you name it, I was taking it trying to find relief. After the third week and 17 pounds less, I was able to sum up my feeling. I felt as if I had a virus that was stalled at my waist. Did I fail to mention no bowel movements during that time? Anyway, I began vomitting a black liquid, high fever, etc. FINALLY, they discovered the bottom of my stomach had pertruded up into the band causing a blockage. YES a blockage. I was at the point of death. Had emergency surgery to put all back into place and have been doing great since. I am not trying to scare anyone but the best advice I can give you to NOT to play around. Go immediately and get under the flourascope and have your band checked and do a complete unfill until the reflux is totally gone. It has been two weeks since my surgery and unfill and I have NOT gained any weight thank God! In my mind, I feel as if I can eat what ever I want and for the most part, I have. The lesson that I learned the hard way was instead of being a fill freak, if you pb all of the time, you better take heed and get loosened.

Kim2Bhealthy - I really have to watch it when I eat out. I start talking instead of chewing. It gets bad if I am really hungry too. I have found after two PB incidents that I have to take very small bites, chew,chew, chew, then swallow. Then I can talk. I didn't realize how much I talked while eating. In the past, it worked, although it is rather rude to talk with food, but I would hurry the chewing process and gulp. No more for me. My official weigh in has me stalled at 203 again. I was frustrated until my trainer said that I was obsessing about numbers. I was counting my steps taken each day. I had given up my scale for weighing three times a day, to go to one official weigh in per week. I have to acknowledge that I am living healthfully; the weight will come off. I have taken the step monitor off, just doing my 50 minute aerobic 5 times per week, with some weight training two 30 minute sessions, and I log my food on calorieking, so I am doing what I need to do. Best wishes to all of you, I will get to Onederland when I get there.

Dawneb - when your weight stalls then remeasure with the tape. Hopefully you took measurements all over your body before you started your pre-op. When I had a three day stall I got out my tape and found that I had still lost inches. sometimes it's the only thing that keeps me motivated. My last plateau lasted two weeks and that was a real hard thing to deal with but I can tell by my clothes that things are still changing. We all lose weight differently. Some of us drop and hang for a while and others lose slow and steady. I'm feeling somewhat normal again, don't know what the pain was all about but if it comes back I will go see the doc. Thanks for being concerned.

I purchased a book called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto. He's a bodybuilder/fitness expert. I'm certainly not heading down the bodybuilder path, but he points out several ways to (among other things) get moving from a plateau. A couple were fairly obvious: increase your H2O input and increase both the duration and frequency of your cardio workouts. But a few others that weren't quite as obvious to me were 1) Do your cardio in the morning and 2) Break down your food intake into six small meals, spaced no more than three hours apart 3) Eat the majority of your carbs (which should be complex carbs) earlier in the day, reducing them until you are eating very few, if any at your last 2 or 3 meals and 4) Include protein at every meal, especially if the meal contains carbs. There is a LOT more, but I'm going to start doing all these ASAP, even though I'm not stalled (I'm down 8 lbs @ 3 weeks post-op). The six meals takes a lot of pre-planning, and I've still got some pain so I'm not upping my cardio too much until I feel better. Let me know if you try any of these ideas and if they work for you...

Hello There...remember me? I am not great today.. I feel the depression demon nipping at my heels!! I have lost my feelings of fullness that I enjoyed so much and I had really started to turn a corner...feeling like a normal eater for the first time ever!! I know what's happening though.. it's the old diet mentality sneaking it's way back in..or at least trying to!! I have to remember that I've lost weight and clothes sizes...funny I found myself being surprised Sunday when I got dressed and the clothes were loose...my mind was playing tricks on me and It was like I had put all the weight back on..feeling horrible & expecting a battle with the clothes! When I dressed myself I was actually surprised that they were loose..is that weird? In my MIND I had "put the weight back on!!!" and was feeling quite low! I feel I am struggling mentally / emotionally right now...WHY?? I know I've been at a plateau since MAY 7th...maybe it's because my emotional state has dipped as there's a stall on the lbs? I didn't want to come on here and admit to this, because all along I've tried to be so positive and upbeat and I've tried to talk others out of their bad periods so far in the journey. But I feel I can't join in here and it's because I'm hiding my current feelings & experience. I guess these are the demons I have to be patient & strong enough to face on this journey...I know this. I feel I'm being dragged into feeling disappointed, when I really have nothing to be disappointed about. But my OLD SELF is in my ear saying..."this is just the same as it always has been, this time is no different, you are never gonna change" I'm behind in my office work, I am feeling scatterbrained & unorganised..I feel I've let everything build up on me and my mind is feeling cluttered. These are all factors in my waining confidence right now, and add to that loosing my "FULLNESS" has kinda knocked me off my feet a little. I really felt safe, content & confident when I was on my "small food intake" I was not hungry..I had three meals a day, small ones..about 15-18 WW points and totally satisfied with that. Right now I feel I'm bargaining pouints again and I hate that. I hate knowing I could easily fulfill my quota and I fear I could just as easily exceed it!! I'd say I did today...I went to cinema and eat popcorn AND nachos!! That's so OLD me...Only a week ago I was terrified to even TRY popcorn for fear of it getting stuck..I guess I'm completely open? Is the band totally open before filling? Does your stomach / appetite go back to pre band days? I am booked in for my first fill next TUES.. I have to fly to LONDON for this. They said doc would take this into account filling me ( I took this to mean I'd get a good shot!! LOL) I hate to come on here & moan but I am feeling quite anxious today in particular and felt I couldn't really "chat" with you all while I was hiding this. So..can anyone relate or console with this?:sick

Hey April Banders - I need some advice and I thought since you guys are farther down the road, you would know the answers. I am two weeks post op and my port site is still very swollen. It looks like a small football cut in half and laid under my skin. Do you all think it will go down with time or is there something in there that should be drained. How long should I wait for the swelling to go down? I have seemed to hit a plateau big time! Not one ounce in a week and all I'm having is Three protein shakes plus 64oz of water. I might get a glass of SF drink and a popsicle in there. What could be causing the stall out? I know some of you might have had these issues so I would really love to hear from you. Thanks

Hi everyone! I have two questions . . . I am on day 12 of my pre-op liquid diet and my weight loss has totally stalled for three days. I'm getting a little frustrated over it. I walked for an hour yesterday hoping to move it some but this morning it is still stuck on the same weight. Any suggestions or comments? This is a little on the gross side but on this liquid pre-op I am only having like one significant BM a week. I took some Colace yesterday and still nothing. I want to be somewhat cleaned out before surgery. Comments and suggestions are welcome. My thoughts and prayers are with you SillyWillyMommy, KYsunshine, and keiko. Happy surgeries and quick healing w/no gas to you all!

A three week stall, especially at your low BMI, is not unusual. Just be patient. I remember being stalled for two months (on a different diet a few years ago)...then suddenly in one week I lost 6#!! After you get your fill you probably won't be able to eat bagels and breads anymore....I've heard a lot of people have problems with that.

Hello I am from Central VA. Had my surgery 1/19/07 @ St. Mary's hospital in Richmond. I am single with no kids but have plenty of supportive family and friends. Plus two co-workers who had lapband surgery before me so we suport and encourage each other. Also a supportive boyfriend. Now that I am on "regular" foods, I rely alot on of Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine type microwaveable dinners but I was doing that before surgery because it's just me and I'm not a leftover type person. I am two and a half months post-op and have lost 29 pounds. Kind of at a stall right now in "Bandster Hell" because have slacked up losing and have not had my first fill yet. Apparently that is common and my doctor assures me that I am doing very well. But, I am scheduled to have my first 4/11. Have also been exercising at Curves for three weeks. I never imagined myself doing something like that. It's been an interesting journey thus far that I know will only get better. Good Luck to you.

I did have a close call last week - my own doing. Got wonky at a restaurant with co-workers, so I excused myself and yakked in the bathroom. Didn't have that instant relief so I knew chances were that I need another yak, so I stalled, asked for a box, etc... yakked again, and still didn't have that instant relief but one of the ladies I was with needed to get to the airport (a third lady drove all of us) and I felt bad for possibly making her late. And there was no way I was going to yak in the car, so I sat there trying to convince myself I could wait one more minute... one more minute... and it just kept hurting more and more. *sigh* It's not like vomitting when you better run or else. I just got to the point where there was no where else for my saliva to go. Fortunately my co-worker knew what was up & dropped me off at the door, and I made it, but I'm glad she had a lead foot because I would have had to ask her to pull off the interstate if we had been going any farther or slower. Which I've had to do three other times, btw -- ask someone to pull over so I can PB, that is. One was with my parents/husband after dinner on our way to a store, one was with a limo driver on the way to O'Hare (with a co-worker in the car), and one (unfortunately more like 13) with a co-worker who was driving me in for an emergency unfill. :tired Man, it's a good thing we can pull our dignity off the ground, brush it off, and start over!

Europeans fear US attack on Iran as nuclear row intensifies · Transatlantic rift emerges over how to handle crisis · America builds up its naval forces in the Gulf Europeans fear US attack on Iran as nuclear row intensifies · Transatlantic rift emerges over how to handle crisis · America builds up its naval forces in the Gulf Ian Traynor in Brussels and Jonathan Steele Wednesday January 31, 2007 Senior European policy-makers are increasingly worried that the US administration will resort to air strikes against Iran to try to destroy its suspect nuclear programme. As transatlantic friction over how to deal with the Iranian impasse intensifies, there are fears in European capitals that the nuclear crisis could come to a head this year because of US frustration with Russian stalling tactics at the UN security council. "The clock is ticking," said one European official. "Military action has come back on to the table more seriously than before. The language in the US has changed." As the Americans continue their biggest naval build-up in the Gulf since the start of the Iraq war four years ago, a transatlantic rift is opening up on several important aspects of the Iran dispute. The Bush administration will shortly publish a dossier of charges of alleged Iranian subversion in Iraq. "Iran has steadily ramped up its activity in Iraq in the last three to four months. This applies to the scope and pace of their operations. You could call these brazen activities," a senior US official said in London yesterday. Although the Iranians were primarily in Shia areas, they were not confined to them, the US source said, implying that they had formed links with Sunni insurgents and were helping them with booby-trap bombs aimed at Iraqi and US forces, new versions of the "improvised explosive devices". Senior members of the US Congress have raised concerns that the US will attack Iran in retaliation for its alleged activities in Iraq. The official said there were no plans for "cross-border operations" from Iraq to Iran. But he said: "We don't want a progressively more confident and bolder Iran ... The perception that Iran is ascendant in the region and that there are no limits to what Iran can do - that's what is destabilising." The Americans and Europeans have sought to maintain a common front on the nuclear issue for the past 30 months, with the European troika of Britain, France and Germany running failed negotiations with the Iranians and the Americans tacitly supporting them. But diplomats in Brussels and those dealing with the dispute in Vienna say a fissure has opened up between the US and western Europe on three crucial aspects - the military option; how and how quickly to hit Iran with economic sanctions already decreed by the UN security council; and how to deal with Russian opposition to action against Iran through the security council. "There's anxiety everywhere you turn," said a diplomat familiar with the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. "The Europeans are very concerned the shit could hit the fan." A US navy battle group of seven vessels was steaming towards the Gulf yesterday from the Red Sea, part of a deployment of 50 US ships, including two aircraft carriers, expected in the area in weeks. "No path is envisaged by the EU other than the UN path," the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, told the Guardian yesterday. "The priority for all of us is that Iran complies with UN security council resolutions." The IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, called at the weekend for a "timeout" in the worsening confrontation in an attempt to enable both sides to save face and climb down. But the Americans rejected the proposal and European officials involved in the dispute also believe the Iranians cannot be trusted to stick to a deal. Despite recurring tensions on the Middle East between the US and France, the French are the most hawkish of the Europeans on Iran and are said to back a US drive to tighten the noose on Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The populist and recalcitrant leader is perceived to have been weakened recently, in part because of a mishandling of the nuclear row. "One group of western countries thinks it's a good time to step up the pressure on Ahmadinejad. All options are on the table. Others are worried we might be stumbling into a war," said another diplomat familiar with the dispute.

Oh Kat, I went from laughing to crying, reading your post. You created such a vivid scene out on the field, sliding around on the ice. What a blast! I want to try that! But then, you also had quite a scare! Thank heavens the Heimlich(?) manuever worked! I would have been terrified. Definitely, get that prescription for the spasms. Poor guy! He's been through enough. Julie, I saw Hillary speaking at that clinic on TV, so I PROBABLY SAW YOUR HEAD!!! I don't agree with all of her views, but I think she is brilliant and I am so excited that a woman is running for president! Betty, your turkey chili sounds great! The past two weeks I've been making a chicken chili that has become so popular around here that my neighbors, and kids' friends are gobbling it up, pot after pot! It's that time of year when hearty Soups are so satisfying. Maybe we can share recipes? Bluehill, thanks for the yoga quote. It is beautiful. When it comes down to it, we stand alone and our determination to succeed comes from within. We do inspire each other, but after every failure, we have to turn inward, face the fear and pain, and fight to change. I don't understand why we sabotage our successes! Every time I reach a mini-goal the elation is followed by a feeling that I am all-powerful, and then I Celebrate by eating anything I want. It has taken me three weeks to make up for the after-Christmas splurge. You have done so well, though! cheese and crackers may have given you a one day stall, but it is just a number on a scale. The big picture is that you have lost 100#!!! And you completed your exercise challenge for the month!! And this journey with the band and new life is still young.

So I havent logged my progress or my journey much lately, not sure why. Maybe because all the negative inner monologue stuff comes into play and all I can think of is working that out instead of talking about weight. So here is the weighty end of things: I haven't lost as much in the first month as I thought I would. I chalked it up, initially, to the fact that I was so dehydrated from gastroenterities that going into surgery I had already lost all that water weight. Thats also likley why I gained several pounds after surgery and had to lose that as well. So that explains the short term stalling. Then I thought it would just drop off like it did for Angie and so many others on LBT. But it didn't. Now being honest with myself - much of that was my fault. I was good with liquids for about a week, then I had my chocolates and ice cream snafoo. Then I was making my smoothies way too calorie dense. Then at the xmas party I was eating like a normal person, very bad. So much ice cream purchased even though I know how bad it is for me. Then when Neuro started, I initially packed, but no more. Now Im eating just like everyone else. I went to an Indian buffet and ate waaaay too much. So I have made my fair share of mistakes that can explain my lack of dramatic losses. I was feeling pretty down about all my transgressions until I went for my post op checkup, it was Jan 3rd. (approx 3.5 wks after surgery) and she told me I have acutally lost 21 lbs from my highest!!!! That really perked me up let me tell you!!!! I didn't realize I was ever that high. I thought maybe I had gone up to the eighties but I couldnt remember for sure. I was 287 at my highest in September (so I figure 284 naked) and I was 266 January 3rd!!! (263 that morning at home). I didn't realize how far I had come. I realized that even though only ten of that was post op, the overall change is what matters. I have noticed some really positive changes. First of all, my clothes fit much much better. So many jeans that I couldnt wear any more are now loose to comfortable. Shirts I couldn't button now go on much better. I have seen pictures of my face and I can see that it has thinned out. I've also made some positive changes. I quit smoking!! It's amazing to me. It was such a huge crippling part of my life for several years. I would rush home to smoke, stay home to smoke, leave rotations to go home or to the car to smoke. My apartment stunk. I would have to take a shower every time I wanted to leave the house. I was spending close to a hundred dollars a month on cigarettes. Then I just quit. I didn't have withdrawal, I didn't think about it that much. It still crosses my mind every once in a while... "just go get a pack, just one pack" But the thought passes pretty quickly. I'm just surprised it wasnt harder to quit. Even when I smoked like a chimney at that party with Eric, i still didn't relapse. I am very proud of that!!! I breathe so much better, I dont get that tightness in my chest when I walk outside. I don't have that nasty cough and post nasal drip anymore. I quit Nov 25th so its been almost eight weeks. I also quit the coffee habit. I guess I can't say that I never have any, because diet snapple certainly has a bit, and I've had an iced coffee once I think? I also gave up on carbonation. I just sipped at half a beer once. I do miss having that diet coke/pepsi fix. But I already break the rules enough, I think I should stick to as many as I can. So I go for my first fill? Jan 31st, which is post call so no one will know. I have had some trouble with the whole "make sure no one knows" syndrome. It has motivated me to eat more than I should, and things I shouldn't eat in order to avoid being noticed. At that pharm lunch I ate a whole serving of fries and half a turkey sandwich with bread and bacon. God those fries were good. Anyways - I didn't get this done so that I would pick at carrott sticks, I did it so that I could learn to have a normal relationship with food, in reasonable quantities. I think that my first fill should help move me in that direction. Right now it's hard because I feel like I have been able to tolerate eating everything, makes it hard not to have whatever I want. I'm really going to have to get better at the "bandster" rules. I am eating more per meal than I should - restriction should help with that. I am really feeling the need to drink with meals. I am not chewing as well as I should. So I have a lot to work on. But I am looking forward to the fill. So: On the exercise front. I had done absolutely nothing up until this weekend. Although I have gotten tons of walking in at work. Regardless, Saturday I remembered that patient mentioning there was a pool around the corner at the community center. Well, they also have a nice fitness center so I went and joined and worked out. I did the elliptical for about 20 minutes, thats all I could do. Man did that work up a sweat!!!! Then I did a brief nautilus circuit, but I need to figure out the machines. Its 19 a month, which is a lot cheaper than work gym. And its around the corner, couldn't be closer. And when I finally feel able - I can swim there!!!! I keep fantasizing about doing a good cardio workout and then having a refreshing swim afterwards. That would be soooo great!!!! As far as my actual weight, its been fluctuating around a two or three pound variation. It was as low as 261.8 a couple weeks ago, before I started eating badly. Then it went up to 264 ( but I felt that was from pre period swelling). It then seemed to settle at 263 for a long time. (And I still feel swollen). So I worked out on Saturday, then went out and had Etoh and a dessert on top of 1300 calories, and then this morning I weighed 260.4!!!!!! I was so excited. Usually after a workout my muscles swell and I gain weight. So I am headed off to do some time on the much neglected recumbent bike. I think that journalling on this forum will work much better than sitting down with the notebook, I can always print them out and then put them in the notebook.

So I havent logged my progress or my journey much lately, not sure why. Maybe because all the negative inner monologue stuff comes into play and all I can think of is working that out instead of talking about weight. So here is the weighty end of things: I haven't lost as much in the first month as I thought I would. I chalked it up, initially, to the fact that I was so dehydrated from gastroenterities that going into surgery I had already lost all that water weight. Thats also likley why I gained several pounds after surgery and had to lose that as well. So that explains the short term stalling. Then I thought it would just drop off like it did for Angie and so many others on LBT. But it didn't. Now being honest with myself - much of that was my fault. I was good with liquids for about a week, then I had my chocolates and ice cream snafoo. Then I was making my smoothies way too calorie dense. Then at the xmas party I was eating like a normal person, very bad. So much ice cream purchased even though I know how bad it is for me. Then when Neuro started, I initially packed, but no more. Now Im eating just like everyone else. I went to an Indian buffet and ate waaaay too much. So I have made my fair share of mistakes that can explain my lack of dramatic losses. I was feeling pretty down about all my transgressions until I went for my post op checkup, it was Jan 3rd. (approx 3.5 wks after surgery) and she told me I have acutally lost 21 lbs from my highest!!!! That really perked me up let me tell you!!!! I didn't realize I was ever that high. I thought maybe I had gone up to the eighties but I couldnt remember for sure. I was 287 at my highest in September (so I figure 284 naked) and I was 266 January 3rd!!! (263 that morning at home). I didn't realize how far I had come. I realized that even though only ten of that was post op, the overall change is what matters. I have noticed some really positive changes. First of all, my clothes fit much much better. So many jeans that I couldnt wear any more are now loose to comfortable. Shirts I couldn't button now go on much better. I have seen pictures of my face and I can see that it has thinned out. I've also made some positive changes. I quit smoking!! It's amazing to me. It was such a huge crippling part of my life for several years. I would rush home to smoke, stay home to smoke, leave rotations to go home or to the car to smoke. My apartment stunk. I would have to take a shower every time I wanted to leave the house. I was spending close to a hundred dollars a month on cigarettes. Then I just quit. I didn't have withdrawal, I didn't think about it that much. It still crosses my mind every once in a while... "just go get a pack, just one pack" But the thought passes pretty quickly. I'm just surprised it wasnt harder to quit. Even when I smoked like a chimney at that party with Eric, i still didn't relapse. I am very proud of that!!! I breathe so much better, I dont get that tightness in my chest when I walk outside. I don't have that nasty cough and post nasal drip anymore. I quit Nov 25th so its been almost eight weeks. I also quit the coffee habit. I guess I can't say that I never have any, because diet snapple certainly has a bit, and I've had an iced coffee once I think? I also gave up on carbonation. I just sipped at half a beer once. I do miss having that diet coke/pepsi fix. But I already break the rules enough, I think I should stick to as many as I can. So I go for my first fill? Jan 31st, which is post call so no one will know. I have had some trouble with the whole "make sure no one knows" syndrome. It has motivated me to eat more than I should, and things I shouldn't eat in order to avoid being noticed. At that pharm lunch I ate a whole serving of fries and half a turkey sandwich with bread and bacon. God those fries were good. Anyways - I didn't get this done so that I would pick at carrott sticks, I did it so that I could learn to have a normal relationship with food, in reasonable quantities. I think that my first fill should help move me in that direction. Right now it's hard because I feel like I have been able to tolerate eating everything, makes it hard not to have whatever I want. I'm really going to have to get better at the "bandster" rules. I am eating more per meal than I should - restriction should help with that. I am really feeling the need to drink with meals. I am not chewing as well as I should. So I have a lot to work on. But I am looking forward to the fill. So: On the exercise front. I had done absolutely nothing up until this weekend. Although I have gotten tons of walking in at work. Regardless, Saturday I remembered that patient mentioning there was a pool around the corner at the community center. Well, they also have a nice fitness center so I went and joined and worked out. I did the elliptical for about 20 minutes, thats all I could do. Man did that work up a sweat!!!! Then I did a brief nautilus circuit, but I need to figure out the machines. Its 19 a month, which is a lot cheaper than work gym. And its around the corner, couldn't be closer. And when I finally feel able - I can swim there!!!! I keep fantasizing about doing a good cardio workout and then having a refreshing swim afterwards. That would be soooo great!!!! As far as my actual weight, its been fluctuating around a two or three pound variation. It was as low as 261.8 a couple weeks ago, before I started eating badly. Then it went up to 264 ( but I felt that was from pre period swelling). It then seemed to settle at 263 for a long time. (And I still feel swollen). So I worked out on Saturday, then went out and had Etoh and a dessert on top of 1300 calories, and then this morning I weighed 260.4!!!!!! I was so excited. Usually after a workout my muscles swell and I gain weight. So I am headed off to do some time on the much neglected recumbent bike. I think that journalling on this forum will work much better than sitting down with the notebook, I can always print them out and then put them in the notebook.