Hi everyone! I'm having surgery on January 10th and created a group in the groups section "January 2012 bandsters". Would love to get some discussions, support going.

NJ2NC- I think you might be in the perfect sweet spot. My doctor said you're there when you can only drink your bfast and when you can feel your food hit your band. She said at that point eat a bite no bigger than your pinky nail, chew 20 times, swallow and wait until you feel it hit the band before taking your next bite. I have never gotten to that pint but I hit my 1 yr and now it is $250 for a fill so I am just going to try to work with what I have got. I think I am pretty close. I am tight in the am and feel hungry about every 2-3 hrs and eat about a cup of food. I have not had a PB but have felt stuck but it has always passes. Every time it was due to not chewing enough or waiting until I was starving and eating too fast.

Nicki- sounds like you are doing so good! Just getting in the habit if packing you gym clothe is a step in the right direction. Be careful not pack matching shoes or you will look weird like I did a few months ago!! I still worked out. I didn't use it as an excuse. If your weather sucks maybe you need to hit the tanning beds this weekend too!

My update. I tried to do liquids Sunday and ended up cheating so I did liquids Monday and Tuesday. Yah!!! I also did circuit training both days and logged my food! What really got me motivated was when the scale said 190. I kinda freaked because last time I was on it I was 180. So I am getting back on track & hitting a tanning bed this weekend!!

Oh and I am nicoleabright1. On MFP or search me by email. Same as user but add @gmail.com

Hi all! I have a fill appt today- I am also pondering asking him about an appetite suppressant. I'm just always hungry! I think a teeny smidge may do the trick- I'm pretty tight, but can eat bigger bites and bigger portions. We'll see. WIth my insurance change my first fill may be more $$ but we'll see. Sigh.

I need my head in the game again. I need another aha moment.

Nicki I know how you feel the aha moments appear to be few and far between these days. Good luck at the dr.

Thanks Nicole- he did give me a little fill. He walked in and I said, "ok, I want you to put a band around my head!" he just laughed and said if he could do that he'd be rich and nobody would be fat, LOL. He himself has lost a bit of weight, just tracking his food and exercising- he said, "I've been doing everything I tell you to do!" He said he slips, but just makes it a one time thing, not messing up the whole day. I said my slips tend to mess up my whole month! He told me to log even if it's a slip and that he's proud of my progress.

So I'm pretty tight. We'll see how it goes. Had to sip my protein shake a little slower, but it went down just fine.

I just need to eat more filling foods and not sliders. Now chocolate chips are my new nemesis. Sigh.

Everyone post, check in, how's everyone doing???

Val Ann, Otaknam, Horsegirl, haven't seen LadyBandido in a few days, Ready for my Journey, come on girls, post!!!! Chrissy, how you doing? Meredith, are you hanging in there????

Have a great day!

Nicki

Hi everyone! I had a run-in with ice cream this weekend, but I am glad to say I couldn't eat as much of it and it made me sick (not literally, but I felt horrible), so I think I'm off it now! It was a rough weekend food wise- not horrible, but definitely not on track. So I'm logging today, yay! I truly do better when I log, so dumb of me to stop, LOL.

I have my workout clothes here, but not sure if I'll go- we have a new boss starting, so we'll see what happens.

Post! I need you!!

NIcki

nicki i feel the same way please band my head,ever since my unfill and refill i feel like i can eat the house,eatting things before the unfill i never even thought about eatting, on the up side i can no longer shop atb lane bryant since the smallest pants size they have is a 14, but iam gaining like mad....idk gonna do south beach for a few weeks and see what happens

Ugh what a horrible week! Work has just blown up in my face & now I'm eating wrong again! I have been logging & working out but somehow the 5-10 cookies just don't make it into my log!! Maybe I just need to take a break with trying to loose and just maintain until the stress is down. I don't know!!

Congrats on the fill Nikki! Sounds like it is just what you needed! Hang in there!!!

Hi there, quiet lately here! I'm doing okay, actually- though I started back with ice cream, but since my last fill I can't eat as much which is good. So baby steps. Doing all right with working out- I really love the Y.

Nicole- work is rough right now for me too, and some DH medical/financial stuff- stress is a b***h, isn't it? I know you're self pay, but maybe a smidge of a fill would be helpful?

Chrissy, what's up? NJ2NC? Sue? Horsegirl? Bueller? Bueller?

Nicole it is difficult to change the way people treat you however, if you enable them to treat you poorly that is what you will get... kids that age and your husband need to take care of themselves..My husband of 37 years has learned that I am focusing on myself for a change..and he has started cooking his own meals or going out.. I am no longer the chief cook and bottle washer,, it is liberating not to have to worry about what we are eating.. I cook sometimes but not like I did for all of our married life... your husband the kids are being selfish and I would get myself a small apt and let him stay in the house til it sells....take care of yourself first...they will survive...

Hi All ... I am still here, just nothing much to report. Maintaining the same weight, 168-172 depending on if I have carbs or not, and like ome of you I have been munching on the things I am trying to stay away from ... Quite a lot. I thought I had a fill apt this month, but it's not until April.

I was pretty sick with a cold this month so that threw me off track since I crave comfort foods. Having a little difficult time deciding if I have head hunger or real hunger lately, so I need to get back on 3 meals a day, instead of little bits here and there. The weather here is picking up, so I'm optimistic that my mood and energy level will too.

Nicole, you've been doing a great job overall, no need to be so hard on yourself right now. You will get through this and come on the other side even better.

Nicki, you hang in there too. I think it's great how you go to the Y and Zumba and everything. That is something I aspire to do but my commute schedule makes it very difficult.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi All ... I am still here, just nothing much to report. Maintaining the same weight, 168-172 depending on if I have carbs or not, and like ome of you I have been munching on the things I am trying to stay away from ... Quite a lot. I thought I had a fill apt this month, but it's not until April.

I was pretty sick with a cold this month so that threw me off track since I crave comfort foods. Having a little difficult time deciding if I have head hunger or real hunger lately, so I need to get back on 3 meals a day, instead of little bits here and there. The weather here is picking up, so I'm optimistic that my mood and energy level will too.

Nicole, you've been doing a great job overall, no need to be so hard on yourself right now. You will get through this and come on the other side even better.

Nicki, you hang in there too. I think it's great how you go to the Y and Zumba and everything. That is something I aspire to do but my commute schedule makes it very difficult.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi there everyone, we're quiet this week! I have hurt my left calf somehow, it's a bit better today but still iffy. Doing okay, still stuck on the ice cream, but not eating as much- baby steps, I guess. A bit down, it's totally raining here, and some stupid DH issues. Sigh. Oh well, that's life, right??

NJ2NC- how are you doing? Still feel like you're too tight? Are you able to eat all right?

Ladybandido- it's hard, isn't it, when you test things out you really shouldn't be eating and you can eat them still? I knew this when I went into it that there were some things I would still be able to eat but shouldn't (like my nemesis, ice cream)- and I did well staying away for a long time, then fell back into it. But we're still holding on, right? And I weigh a lot less than I used to- and if I just get my rear in gear I could weigh a lot more...less? LOL Do you feel like you need a fill? Can you change your appointment?

Sharpie- welcome! Some wise words...

Nicole, how are you doing? How's work?

Chrissy??? Where are you? How are you doing?

Everyone check in- Val Ann, Otaknam, Horsegirl, Ready for my journey, everyone, you know who you are!!!

Have a good day!

Nicki

Hi ladies! Sorry I haven't been on much lately. I've been crazy busy with work since returning from my company National Sales Meeting at the end of January. LOTS of things on the work "to do" list!

I'm just plugging along-sounds like a lot of you too. I think it's time for a very small fill. I am not staying full for as long as I was and I am eating some junk. I have been exercising a lot more and am feeling good about that though. I can now do a plank for a full minute! When I started working out in November, I could only hold it for 10-15 seconds.

I think I've hit a point where a fill makes sense. I'm at a new low-down 65 pounds total-but I've stalled out in the last two weeks or so. I know my clothes are fitting differently with the exercise, but since I didn't measure myself before getting hard core on my exercise, I don't know how many inches I've lost. Just the stupid scale isn't budging...

I've checked in on all of you a few times, but haven't taken the time to drop a note.

Nicki-wish I could offer some magic answer about the ice cream, but I can't. Sounds like you are making some progress with it though so keep up the hard work!

Ladybandito-completely understand the testing of foods! I also know how much challenge a cold can bring. I have been under the weather the last few days too.

Nicole- I know your pain with work! I have been traveling every week and yes, the cookies in the hotel lobby always call my name. I have been good about keeping my gym bag in the car and using it, even when I travel but it doesn't off set the 10-15 cookies.

Well ladies, gotta run. See you later. Doctor appointment, dietitian appt and potential fill in the next week so I should be busy!!!

I agree with the work stress. This federal furlough thing is driving me crazy!

Nick, you are doing great with the ice cream. No one ever said never. If you can keep to a little, that is fantastic.

I have to stay away from the peanut M&M's. They were great today, but I counted them and am ok!

I have started physical therapy to prepare for hip replacement. Who would have thought that would be painful with all of the exercise I get. But, I do know that I do the exercises that don't cause me any pain. My hip flexibility is so poor that I have to do these exercises every day to see if I can get it better before surgery. My pain is coming back now after the injection and I hope I can make it until surgery. I am going to do all my preop this week and get on a waiting list for a cancelations that will hopefully come in so I don't have to wait until June for surgery! Keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get this done with so I can really start enjoying life in my new body.

I am happy with my weight loss, down to 177 as my personal goal was 180. Now I am trying to maintain because I feel once I can afford plastics I will lose another 10 of skin.

Sorry to ramble on...

Hope everyone is doing well!

Gee whiz, we're not super chatty, are we? I have to brag a little, I made some baked goods (which shall remain nameless)- and I didn't have a single one. At all. I knew I'd probably get stuck if I did, LOL, so why bother! Still having trouble with the ice cream, but it really is a lot less than it was, for sure! It was 2 giant bowls a night, now it's just one, LOL- but that's 50% less, right? Exercise has been a bust, I really need to get back in the mindset of doing something at night at home if I can't during the day. I need to get my mojo back!

I knew this would still be hard, so I'm not surprised. I know I go through cycles, and banding didn't change that. So now I'm just not going to gain a ton of weight during a down time, right? Right!! And then when it cycles back around I'll move down the scale without having to lose the pounds I had already lost and gained back! So it's all good, I'm human and I'm working on it!

Everyone have a great day! Do it RIGHT!!!

Nicki