With all of the excitement on the board recently, I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who is re-dedicating themselves to "treating the band right". I have been guilty of the following sins against the band, and here is my confession:

1. I don't take my supplements regularly.

2. I have no idea if I'm getting enough Protein because I'm not keeping track. I suspect I'm only getting in around 35 grams/day.

3. I don't get in 8 glasses of Water a day.

4. I am eating few (if any) fruits and veggies, but always manage to find room for crap.

5. I'm not exercising.

6. I'm eating too quickly and beyond full to the point of pain at least once a day (not PB'ing, but pain cannot be good).

So, in front of God, Allah, Buddah, and my fellow bandsters I vow to do the following:

1. Start my day with my uber Protein shake BEFORE I let myself drink coffee (1 scoop unjury plus carnation plus milk = 35 grams of protein).

2. Exercise 4 days a week. Today is the day I dust off my $3500 elliptical machine (yes, you read that correctly - I'm blushing in shame).

3. Drink water and learn how to time it correctly so that I'm not washing my food out of my stomach.

4. Take my supplements EVERY DAY.

5. Slow down, slow down, slow down when I eat. Stop eating at the first sign of fullness.

6. Eat at least one piece of fruit for a snack every day. I know this doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a big step up from nothing.

I've just taken my supplement and I drank my protein shake. I'm heading upstairs to drag the workout clothes from the mothballs. Wish me luck!

Good luck!! Go on wit yo bad self!!!! I have a brand new elliptical machine that I need to dust off too!!! Motivation is my demon that I will make my lover and friend! I have to get the exercise in....that is my biggest problem. But now that I have hit the 100's again, I have to do it! Can't be a slacker now!

Hey just noticed you are in Michigan. My husband is from Dearborn. Cool!

Kathy, I long for the day I hit below 200 - good for you! I just got off of the elliptical (gasp, choke!) and I was able to get in 30 minutes. I was hoping for 15 minutes, so I'm feeling pretty damn proud right now. Dust off your elliptical too - you'll be so proud of yourself!

i know exactly how you feel. I have paid to much money and i have got to get these pounds off my ass. I try to eat slow, I try to get my protein shakes in and water in but it gets soooooooo boring. i start to forget. I did really good my first month. I need serious help. I want to be 199.5 or less by January.

Anwyn I cannot recommend www.cardiocoach.com highly enough to make your elliptical machine FUN. Try it, go on, it will challenge you and get you back on that blasted thing more often than not. Its the only way I can use any workout machine other than a treadmill, without dying of boredom and falling off the thing mid session.

Thanks for the info Jacqui! I made it 30 minutes on the elliptical but I had to keep it at the lowest elevation and resistance. So, I'm not ready for cardiocoach yet but I'll keep it in mind for the future. I have a treadmill with a cardiocoach type CD built in, and I love it.

I find working out without music almost unbearable. My iPod is broken, so I spent the 30 minutes staring at a closet. Ugh! I'll have to drag a radio in tomorrow...

Its the pits isnt it? I'm coveting an ipod with a waterproof case so that I can swim laps with music - about $300 Australian dollars. I just dont have it at the moment, have to save up. I love swimming apart from the fact that I cant have music.

YaYYY Anwyn!! Feels great, doesn't it?

Ya'll are right about music though .. I couldn't possibly workout w/out my ipod cause the gym I go to plays really crap music LOL.

Anne--or anyone else--PM me your address and I'll mail you a CD of the music I run on my elliptical to. I LOVE my IPOD, but since I use headphones so much my morning time on the ET is just to a CD. If you don't already have one, there are several decent boomboxes at Target for under $50.

Anyway, I've got a good mix of music--30 minutes fast and 20 minutes cooldown/stretch I think you'd like it. After a little haitus I'm back to the trainer 20 minutes before work every morning. I don't let myself turn on the heat when I get up and warm up on the ET instead. That machine is some of the best money I've ever spent.

Anwyn, your post has inspired me. Since realizing that I was not losing weight I changed my mindset for the worst. I started thinking that since I wasn't losing anyway I could eat however I wanted (even went to mushies when I should still be on liquid) because nothing was happening anyway. That is a bad way to start and a bad attitude. I'm signing up on your thread that I am going to do 1 3 5 every day. Get back to the excersizing when the doc says it's okay and go from there. You don't need luck you've got all you need right there inside of you! Work it!

Anne, items 1-6.....ditto, unfortunately, that's the top six!

I'm in with you. I'm jealous of every bandster who has lost weight from not following the rules. Poo on you! The only rules I don't follow are getting in the required Protein & Water intake and I can't get the scales to move and haven't for a very very long time. I did yoga 3 times last week.

I am resolving to drink water until I make myself puke - I literally hate water and literally have to choke it down - I've tried everything - changing my mindset to my body needs this - I need to quench my organs - etc - nothing changed the fact that I still gag on water - now I love tea but I have to have it sweetened but everybody frowns upon sweet tea and says you can't count it as your liquids, I can only do so much crystal lite before I gag on it too.

These are the things I do consisitenly

I gave up pop & carbonation completely -

I eat slow

Don't drink with or after meals - I wait one hour

Do yoga 3 times a week

Eat small portions & variety of lean meats & veggies.

Minimal sweets.

AND STILL NO WEIGHT LOSS :

Things I'm going to start doing more.

Getting in more liquids.

Taking a multi-vitamin

Tracking my Fiber & protein.

Excercsing more.

To be honest I'm pretty discouraged with my progress and the band. I posted on another thread how I used to eat 3-5000 calories a day pre-band so I really thought the dramatic food intake with the band would cause me to drop a significant amount of weight and from the weight loss would bring the motivation for me to do more and excercise - but that has not been the case and I cannot understand why I haven't lost more in 6 months than just freakin 11lbs!!!!! I have good restriction and I don't eat around the band.

Candysmooch, yoga is fabulous for your strength and flexibility and you should definitley keep it up. But to shift fat, you need long periods of cardiovascular exercise. If you add in some serious walking or training on an elliptical, treadmill, bike or whatever, it will make a huge difference to you.

I was thinking the same thing Jacqui. Candysmooch, I think your metabolism needs a good swift kick in the behind. Cardio is the only way to do that. Also, you might want to try tracking your calories for a few days just to double check. You said on the other thread that you're eating 1500 cals/day. I've noticed in the past that if I eat around 1800 cals/day I maintain my weight. Is it possible that you're getting in a little more than you think?

Most bandsters stick around 1200 cals. I personally have no idea how many calories I'm eating - I'm just quoting the number I hear most often on this board. Maybe a combo of lowering your intake to 1200 calories and a good cardiovascular workout would help kickstart your loss.

Just my thoughts... Try it for a week and see how you do. Good luck!

On another thread related note: I did it! I drank my Water, ate my Protein, and exercised today. My thighs are aching, but I hope I'm not in too much pain tomorrow because I'm getting my booty back on the elliptical in the morning!

ok I'm going to go find some sort of cardio workout and as far as counting calories - I do - I log it everyday into a kraftfoods.com - they have an interactive food journal - but to keep a more accurate count instead of using the foods already in their little system - I take the extra time to add my own foods on there to be more accurate - so I'm pretty good to sticking to the 1500 cals a day. Ok - since I'm at a loss here I'm going to find me some sort of cardio excercise and I will report back.

Good luck!