Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

Hello All!!! I am baaaaack!!! In my new house now!!! TV/Internet hooked up!!! Yeah!!!

I just got over the stomach bug from HELL, could not keep anything down but whey protein shakes. Even the phenegren did not help. My back is killing me too, so I feel your pain. I have not been able to eat much today without pbing, so I am going to stick with shakes the next few days.

I was not going to post tonight, because I am doing horrible on my diet. My six months have come and gone, and I am only 27 lbs down. I feel like a total failure. But only have myself and holidays to blame. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now the MONTH for Christmas crap. I am such a lap band loser that I even put off my fill until December 26th so that I would know what to expect over the holidays at parties. (tight in the morning, little lunch, drink warm water, eat soft things at party, etc)

Since my sick episode, I thought, well this is the time to get on atkins, but two seconds after I woke up this morning I drank a cappacino and thought "doh". But I have been good the rest of the day, so I will be good this evening and start fresh tomorrow. I just have one more week until my next fill, and then I will need to relearn my band. I would love to be able to eat meat... not ground or blended... real meat... but don't know if that will ever happen again.

Will let you guys/gals know how things are going after my fill. Glad to see everyone doing so well. :love:

Now off to find Jack...

Poodles sorry to hear that you had a stomach virus. Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery and getting settled into your new house.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't get a stomach virus. I was at a store this evening. I literally ran in to grab something and get out. I wasn't even there a minute. This teenage girl got sick right next to me. I praying she actually had food borne illness. I asked her mom had she not been feeling well. The mom said she's been just fine until right now. (I hope lady luck is on my side).

And Poodles --you are not a lap band failure. You are doing great. And I do believe that you will be able to eat whole meat again in the future.

Well, off to finish up some Christmas wrapping (for my Aunt) who is ill at this moment with a sinus/migraine episode.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Melissa Lea

Poodles,

It is so good to hear from you. Hope you are enjoying your new house. That is a lot of stress moving so don't beat yourself up on losing weight. It will come. The 26th starts a brand new involvement with the band for you. Just relax until then and don't stress. On the 26th recomit and get busy. Its nice that the band will wait for us to be ready to proceed. You should be able to eat meat so not sure what's going on there. You may have to try very tender cuts and load with nonfat gravy. Don't eat lots of it at any one meal, but maybe an 1 oz and work your way up.

Melissa hopefully "it" didn't get on you and you will be fine. Keep some of that hand wash with you and wash hands constantly. I'm taking that onboard ship with me so hopefully we won't come down with some crud on the ship.

I tried on size 18 pants this morning. I need to lose about 3-5 lbs to get in them. One pair I could wear, but very, very tight. I won't believe I've lost weight until I can get in those pants. I have 3 pair waiting for me. Two brand new tops I bought for the cruise are two big. They are sweater types so can only wear them tucked in.

I seemed to be back to normal. Not hungry in the mornings, but can eat lunch and dinner with no problems. I'm still on semi mushies, but will be moving off of that tonight. I'm having dinner with two friends that haven't seen me since the lapband. This should be fun.

PinkyLee have you tried to upload the pictures again? If you can't send them to me and I'll do it for you.

Update: Went to Macy's at lunch and found a pair of capri's size 18W. I haven't seen that size for 30 years. This is too exciting!!!!!!!

Congrats on your NSV Barbara.

Melissa Lea

Congrats on your new found size Barbara. Good job!

Thanks Barbara, I'll get on photob and see what I can do. Glad to hear your NSV and that your are better.

Poodles, we've missed you. All of us are placing high hopes for a fresh start on the 26th. You are not a failure. Your move is finally behind you, so you'll have time to concentrate on YOU.

I'm anxious to tie up the loose ends and enjoy friends and family during the holidays!

Do you have an eating trigger? DH is mine. He can really take on a stinky persona sometimes!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas ..... I am finally getting in the real holiday mood. Not many people at work so I'm getting lots done. I have finished all my year end reports and preparing for multiple project presentations in January. I'm just staying busy.

Had dinner with two friends last night that haven't seen me since the band. They said I looked great! It's so nice to the ego to hear compliments. We had a great dinner and I was able to eat moderately without any issues. I had the best crab cake since leaving Maryland. It was so light and no breading. I split a plate with one of the ladies so I had more than enough to eat.

I have way too many clothes laid out for this trip. I will have to weed them out tomorrow as I just want to take one medium suitcase. I just don't want to be bothered with a bunch of stuff I won't wear.

I feel great since the unfill. I'll use my willpower the best I can to not eat too much. I'll recomit on the 30th when we return. One of my goals is to walk the promenade deck every day for 30 minutes. That should jump start my exercise program.

DH's cousin arrives today. I haven't met here, but I'm looking forward to it. She will be going with us along with another of my friends. My friend is having a meltdown so I guess there will be some drama on the high seas. I'm not planning on letting that get me down and ruin our trip.

I've heard of food triggers, but people triggers? I think we need to work on the stress triggers in our lives. So many of us are emotional eaters. I also eat when bored so I'm going to work on that. I bought a jigsaw puzzle holder so I can work on puzzles and then put the board up out of view. It should keep my hands busy, my mind active, and hopefully away from food. Hours after dinner are still killers for me.

Have a great day.

I agree Barbara --

The hours after dinner can be difficult. Next week I will go to the movies several times. That keeps my mind off of food and there are a lot of good movies out right now. The popcorn etc isn't a problem because I really don't like it. I've also been doing a lot of reading. This month ofcourse has been wrapping presents etc.

Yes Pinky --I see your point about people triggers. Sometimes I don't even think the person realizes that they are putting you in an uncomfortable food situation. Be strong and just a few more days to get us through our first holiday stretch in bandland.

Melissa Lea

Well today I went shopping for my Christmas get together, and I did something out of the ordinary. I actually went looking for healthy things to offer my guests. I now have to offer my family: SF Spiced Cider, Caramel Apples with Sprinkles (Better than pie), A variety of Nuts, Chocolate covered frozen bananas (again better than pudding), A variety of dried fruits, trail mix, and diet sodas. Now, since my family only gets together for desserts, these should be a little helpful.

Figure we will let the kids make the apples, so they can put the sprinkles on them. That should be fun.

I found Sugar Free English Toffee Syrup to add to my coffee, and have officially jumped back on the low carb band wagon. Figure the stomach bug has helped me figure out some things. That and the fact that everyone else has beat me on the scale... and I have some catching up to do. I actually thought about not coming back to the boards, because I have done so poorly, but really appreciate everyones support. Now, if I can just convince myself to get up off my butt and exercise it will be all the better.

Really, kinda kicking myself for not going to get my fill today as planned. But, I don't think I would have remained in the closet if I had. (My family still does not know.) Guess the slow weight loss helps with that.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. And, just for my information can someone post a good day and bad day of food list. Good day being when you can eat, and bad day being when you can not eat. That may help me to see what I need to do.

Thanks all!!!

Regarding Triggers: Bad days at work, too much sugar, and Mother Nature (TOM) all trigger me.

For those that practice religion, I thought this was fitting for our journey.

The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.

Poodles --your making me hungry with all those great sounding goodies. Also, I'm very glad you came back to the group. We are not here to judge you (or anyone else for that matter). Your amongs friends here to support you.

Enjoy the goodies!

Melissa Lea

Don't ever stay away, any of you. This is the only place we can get support. We are the best group ever! I feel comfortable inside our June thread.

Last night I took the second bite of dinner and got the golf ball. I was really surprised. However, we were having steak and brocolli. I put down the fork, continued dinner conversation as we had a guest. It passed with no incident. Whew. I've never experienced this without it being related to a fill. I didn't eat much yesterday because I wasn't hungry so maybe I was tight.

Got to work early so I can leave at noon. I'm not packed yet so I need to do that this afternoon. I can't wait to be on our way and just kick back and relax.

To all my friends here have a safe and happy holiday. Make good choices when you can and don't beat yourself up when you don't.

ok. i am pretty bummed out. i had my worse banded day ever yesterday. i went absolutely crazy with the sweets the other day. i can't believe it. i have not over eaten at all like this since i was banded. i think i did it because my husband and i have been trying to conceive and been unsuccessful and i think it is taking a toll on me. my period finally arrived after being 3 days late and i think i just said whatever, i am going to eat. of course, i have gained 2 pounds. maybe it is water, maybe it is not. i am now in this rut. i started my day off with 2 big cookies. there is tons of sweet stuff to chomp on here at work. i shouldn't have it. but, why not?

Oh Christa I'm sorry you are going through this. It's rough when you are trying to get pregnant and get your period. It's like all hope is shot for another month. You need to relax now and stop stressing. There is a master plan and you can't rush it.

Curb those sweets. They are your trigger and one bite leads to another. Step back from the candy. You can do this. We all have to learn to cope with our "triggers" with something other than food. Remove yourself and take a quick walk around the floor at work. Journal your thoughts instead of feeding your disappointment. You can do this. We are here for you.