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

I just got back from my second fill. The nurse had to readjust three times to get it right. Hopefully she'll have a little more experience before I go back.

The gal who does the blood pressure/weighing was telling everyone to completely eliminate bread, pasta and rice from your diet. She said they had just had a bad experience with someone getting "stopped up", causing the upper pouch to overfill and fall over the band. The person had gone back for surgery. Yuck! Hope it wasn't any of our friends. If anyone hears anymore details, please post.

Has anyone else heard anything about no bread, pasta or rice? Sounds like the Adkins Diet.

I didn't get my water in over the week end but I'm back ontrack today.

Oh yes, I lost another two pounds. Yippee!

Barbara you have me worried. I go on Wednesday. I hope she has more experience by then!!!!!!!!! I wonder what happened to the other one. She was good. I just thought they were bringing this one in because they had so many. This is the 2nd or 3rd "experience" I've heard about from her. She needs to get trained, but not on us!

I have heard from the beginning not to eat soft bread, rice, pasta. I just thought it swelled in the stomach and that it was really fattening. I've never heard of the pouch getting packed and them having to do surgery. That sounds very strange and dangerous. I'll definitely stay away from them. I wonder if that was all she was eating? You would think she wouldn't be able to eat anything once she filled it up.

Barbara12--

Good for you on the loss! Good luck on the fill. I was wondering how you were.

By the way both of you Barbara's are ahead of me in weight loss if you count from day of surgery. My ticker is from 6/6 pre-op.

Barbara4--

I seem to be fine today. No golf balls--taking it easy--but the restriction is much better. I'm not sure what I would do if I were you--probably call Patrice and ask what's up? So far I'm happy with restriction and don't plan to allow myself to get so "loose" again. I developed some bad habits while I was flowing "free".

Hey guys how's it going. Sounds like everyone is in such different phases, but like someone said earlier, every pound IS GONE FOR GOOD.

Barbara- Yes I am watching big brother!!!!

Here are some photo's of me, the first one was taken 10/2005 and the next one last week. Thanks to all of you for sharing your inspiring pics. Keep up the GREAT work guys.

pre-band 255 --------------2 months post-op 199

WOW oh WOW. 58 lbs lost. OMG!!! I am turning Green with envy!!!!!!!!That is so wonderful. You look fantastic.

I think I belong with the turtle club. I try to do everything right, but its slow. Well that gets fixed tomorrow. I'm going to say "fill me up". Just slap me if I complain.

Big Brother is driving me insane. How can grown people act that way. :eek: I look through the live sessions and find some of the background that goes on away from what they show on TV. Its wild.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Is this your first season to watch?

Let's talk about envy for a minute everyone, I had so many people at my church (all good friends) praying for me when I was going through my approval journey. Now I am having success it's like they are mad! They tell me they get depressed when they look at me because of their own weight. I know how that feels guys don't get me wrong, but that hurts me when they act differently towards me. Am I wrong????? Help me guys!

Hey RRoswelltx........

Oh my gosh! Talk about inspiration. Please tell what you have been doing to make the pounds come off so quickly. You look awesome. I'm jealous too but I am so happy for you and I'm still so proud of every pound I've lost and this time it is "lost" forever. Yo-yo is no longer part of my vocabulary.

Please don't let the jealousy of others get to you. If they are truly your friends they will be happy for you and hopefully they will get inspired by watching you shrink.

Keep up the great work and just know that you have made my day!!!

I think sometimes when people see our successes they think of their failures. It is difficult sometimes to be "happy" for someone when you have turned in to really look at yourself. Shrug it off. Be confident in what you are doing for yourself. However, remember, we've all been on the other side. We've seen others lose weight, get a promotion, whatever, and have felt jealous or sad for ourselves. I believe that is human nature. Sometimes we act like children - the its all about us syndrome. Most are really happy for you. They just can't express it.

Now for my victory from yesterday. A young man that I met at work the first week I was here stopped me yesterday. I see him from time to time. I've been here about 10 months. He said I can't help but notice that you are losing weight. I said thank you and you are the first to notice. He said he couldn't help but notice. It was a brief moment, but boy did that lift my spirits. I can tell in small ways, but I still can't get in my clothes one size smaller. Its like I've lost and gained weight in different places. I have another wardrobe waiting for me, but I can't get in those clothes. Oh well, I'll keep plugging away at it. It was nice to get a complement.

Thank you all for the encouragement. I know I have been there too watching someone loose the weight, but I would never treat them differently. I try to just stay confident and be proud of what i have accomplished. Thanks guys!

Regina - you look wonderful!!! I am so proud and happy for you!

I also agree with Barbara465 - even my husband (who is very proud and happy for me) looks at me and says he had better get busy and lose some weight too!

It does make people think about it and if they aren't ready to make the commitment they may want to avoid you because it is just too painful to confront their own problem.

Regina, you look wonderful!!! Great Job!! Applause for you...:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:. I know exactly how you feel about your "friends" acting like they are depressed, treat you different or jealous. I have people in my family that are actually competing with me. When they found out i was having the surgery they said ohhh you dont need that you can do it on your own....u can just watch your carbs like us. Well they have lost just as much as me now and it is like they rub it in...but i compliment them and tell them that i applaude them to because i was not strong enought to do it on my own i needed my band. But i did throw in that 2 years from now when yall are dieting again because you gained your weight back and then some my little band will be there helping me to maintain my big accomplishment.....i didnt say it in an ugly way...just said it to let them know the difference between there diet and mine. Of course i hope and pray by all means they keep the weight off...but we have all been there over and over again and we know eventually it comes back. I am not ashamed to tell anyone that i need the band i was out of control...food was my addiction and i needed it to be happy. So i know where you are coming from when you say it upsets you that your people treat you that way. It is really ashame that people have to be that way. But you have us and we think you look awesome girl so you keep up the good work and just smile pretty at church and pray for the people that are not so encouraging.

:cheer2:GO REGINA:cheer2:

Regina, wow. You look great. You must feel good, too.

I'm thinking about your jealous friends. Many times in my life before I made positive changes backed by committment it seems that I had to get to a real low point before I could muster up the inner resources to do it. Maybe you will be a catalyst for their own turning points, but they're just not quite there yet.

I've been camping and working the odd day so I've only been home briefly and haven't kept up with the Junbie news.

My news is that I went to the mainland and had a fill. I could feel restriction immediately. I've had a few minor pb's, I think mainly because I got careless about chewing pre-fill and have had to relearn. I also have lost some more despite eating the odd bit of junky stuff while out at the lake. So I'm down 40lbs from my high weight one month preop. And my pants are falling down!

Thread news, has it been decided where our first year get together is going to be? Is the voting still on, or did I miss it? And how do I vote, do I PM somebody?

I think the two choices that it narrowed down to were Las Vegas and Oprah in Chicago. Maybe, just maybe, someone is working on getting us on Oprah as a group. Wouldn't that be fun? Las Vegas seemed to be the next most frequent choice. I don't think anything has been decided and if there are more suggestions bring them on.

40 lbs down. That is great!!!!!!!!! There are many of you out there that have really had significant weight loss.

regina and others, you are all looking great!!!!

my scale has been moving, 5 pounds in one week! amazing. i was beginning to wonder if the thing even worked! i did make some behavior modifications though. i went back to measuring my foods and making sure that i only eat 3 ozs at a time. even just drinking no more than 4 ozs at a time in 30 minutes. i think perhaps i was getting a little laxed with all of that and eyeballing the food and having too much. or having enough to maintain, but not lose. the wedding is next week and i am stressed out completely! so, the weight loss been a great thing!