September Bandsters

[BJean 16]

Mariecarmen: I am floating at the same spot where I've been for a long time. I even got a fill a couple of weeks ago and don't seem to make it work for me.

I am at the same weight I was last week. No loss.

[lisalee 0]

Hi September Bandsters! This is our 6th month! Seems like a lifetime and yet we still have a lifetime to go!

Tami.....drumroll please....:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: congrats on your mini birthday! It is so much more than SV's isn't it?! And you look so happy and healthy!

BJean..........hang in there. It's gotta be much more difficult without the exercise. Don't go anywhere though...I enjoy reading your comments and encouraging words.

I'm in at 190 pounds down 3 from last week. I haven't lost more than 1 or 2 in a while. Ran 3 times and walked 3 times last week. The flu has finally gone so I'm hoping to catch up to my pace last week and get going again.

Two more weeks left in this challenge! While I'm nowhere near 25 pounds I am better off having been a part of it. Thanks all!

[gonnabethin 10]

Down 1.5#

slow seems to be the ONLY way its gonna come off!!

The good thing is people are not suspcious that I have a band!!

[BJean 16]

gonnabe: I'm glad I didn't tell everybody that I got the Lap Band! Right now I'm beginning to wonder if it's still in there!

[gonnabethin 10]

I wish I had not told anyone!! I feel like those who know are wondering why its not coming off faster! I just keep telling myself 30 gone-

[BJean 16]

Yeah! 30 lbs. ain't nothin' to sneeze at!

Sometimes I look at myself and I'm so excited that I look and feel so much better. Sometimes I look at myself and think, gosh I'm still so fat. When I see thin people I wonder, how the heck do they do it?! I think I'm just at a plateau that I need to break thru and I'll get some momentum back.

A friend of mine just started Medifast and I actually thought, maybe I should do that. Then I thought again and realized, no... that's what got me into this mess. Very restrictive dieting.

My DD sent me an article today about French people and how they eat and aren't fat. If I were smart, maybe I would taking French cooking classes and get obsessive about it instead of just trying to cut portions of the foods I've always eaten. Because I didn't eat that badly... just way too much. And a glass of wine with dinner would be beneficial too, right? I've never done that.

Anyone else considered adopting the French approach? That would mean we would also need to walk more as well. There go my knees. But if I lose more, the knees would hurt less.

I'm just thinking aloud here. Any feedback out there for getting me off this darned plateau?

[MimIN 19]

I think I am officially at a plateau - reporting 0 again....

I'm starting to panick a bit, I told my surgeon I would be at 175lbs by surgery day and well... unless there is a miracle it's not going to happen! I should probably focus more on how I feel rather than what the scale says but it's an obsession!

Tommygirl: Congrats! 6lbs is awesome!!! I will add you to our list!

Lisalee: The MCSE exams can be quite a pain in the arse! The first few are kind of easy for someone that has been in the industry for awhile but once moving in on security I'm lost! LOL. I know how it works but don't ask me the fundementals!

Tami: I can hardly believe it has been 6 months already! It's like it was yesterday and then at the sametime I can't really remember life without the band. It is amazing how far we all have come in such a short period of time, it's awesome.

St. Patty's is soooo close! Looks like Ms.Tami "The Inspirer" is in the lead :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: I hope everyone wants to keep these challenges going... I need them to keep motivated. It helps when I have someone to 'answer' to:)

[LindaN 0]

I have lost 0 this week. Did get in one day of exercise.

Yes, I too need these challenges to push myself.

[lisalee 0]

I was just wondering....has anyone heard of or read about the emotional challenges that come with being a new, "skinny" person? Like....how to deal with the new you...the new self image.

I feel exuberant much of the time...and yet very self conscious too. Somehow that fat allowed me to *insulate* myself from others.

I'm not complaining....I like the compliments (they come sooooooo often) and the whistles, honks and so on. It's just so odd to be noticed.

I searched the internet for reading material on this type of stuff but really couldn't find it. I will trudge on (lightly!) through this new experience but being the person I am I would love to read up on it and understand the phenomenon better.

Any ideas?

Any thoughts?

[MimIN 19]

I was just wondering....has anyone heard of or read about the emotional challenges that come with being a new, "skinny" person? Like....how to deal with the new you...the new self image.

I feel exuberant much of the time...and yet very self conscious too. Somehow that fat allowed me to *insulate* myself from others.

I'm not complaining....I like the compliments (they come sooooooo often) and the whistles, honks and so on. It's just so odd to be noticed.

I searched the internet for reading material on this type of stuff but really couldn't find it. I will trudge on (lightly!) through this new experience but being the person I am I would love to read up on it and understand the phenomenon better.

Any ideas?

Any thoughts?

I wish I did know how to overcome the emotional challenges, I've had a difficult time adjusting. I still see ME when I look in the mirror and I do not see what everone else sees.

A friend of mine who had by-pass a few years ago forewarned me about this and how hard it was for her to deal with and to accept the 'new' her; at that time I really didn't understand. I've always been bigger, even during my skinny period I was still around 200lbs.

I have days where I look in the mirror and I am amazed at what I see and others where I am absolutly disgusted. Initially it really weirded me out when people would point out my weight loss, I felt like I was on display. It happens so frquently now that I'm ok when it's someone I know but when that random person in the hall stops me to ask, that still weirds me out.

I am caught off guard when men pay attention, I'm use to being the fat girl that goes unnoticed. I don't know if I liked it better that way or if I had just become so accustom to it that it became comfortable. I had a wall to hide behind and now all of a sudden the wall is gone and I feel naked and exposed.

I really don't have any ideas and I haven't found any literature but I would love to know how to 'cure' this!

[lisalee 0]

MimIn, so true, so true! I have realized after talking to a guy that he was flirting with me and trying to be friendly but I didn't get it! Maybe I'm looking for it but it seems like doors get opened more, people smile more and I feel like I'm more visible. I really hope to keep the memory of what it was like to hide behind so much flesh and be invisible. I don't want to do anything like that to another human being. I can't say that I ever felt outright discrimination or dislike from another person because of my obesity but I know it's out there and don't want to be a part of it.

I suspect that once I began to pack on the pounds a part of my emotional growth was stunted and I'll have to travel through the developmental challenges that I may have missed. Boy, that sounds deep!

There is so much to learn! :girl_hug:

[kareyquilts 1]

Lisa and Mimin: I've been thinking the same things! It's wonderful that we are all experiencing similar things at around the same time. I love this forum. I'm away at a convention with my DH and am seeing people I haven't seen for a year. I've been shopping with some of the ladies and they keep handing me clothes to try on. They're smaller sizes and I keep thinking they won't fit. I actually bought 2 size 12's. One of the blouses was very fitted and I'm on the verge of taking it back, because I don't feel comfortable in anything that shows my figure. It's so weird. Here Iam trying so hard to get a figure and then I feel uncomfortable showing it off. I guess part of it is that I still don't think I look very good, even though I do look alot better. My friends have been telling me to stop thinking of myself as a fat person, becuase I'm not. It's a strange experience. I guess time will make us all more comfortable with ourselves. I've been exercising everyday while on this trip, but my eating not so good. I think when I get home, I'm going to do a high protien diet for a while and try and break this platueau. Good luck everyone.

[TamifromAL 1]

I have some emotional issues with losing weight, too. My problem is that I am getting way pickier about myself. I guess it's vanity. When I was fat, I accepted that I was "imperfect". I'd wear a bathing suit in public and reallly didn't care. But, now I notice every little bump and bulge. I've been buying clothes for our vacation to Cancun (while Mim's having her surgery :girl_hug: ), and couldn't find a single pair of shorts that I would wear in public. And forget about bathing suits. I came up with a solution for that, though. I bought men's board shorts that coordinate with my bathing suits. Why should men be the only ones who get to wallow in big ol' bathing suits? I'll take my board shorts off when all the guys put on Speedos. But, anyway...back to the emotional issues. So, why am I *more* picky about my looks now, 85 lbs. lighter? I think this was one reason I ended up gaining after my last major weight loss effort.

Tami

[BJean 16]

Lisa: There is definitely a whole lot of discrimination against fat people! I even had a chi-chi hairdresser once ask me why I didn't lose weight, and why I accepted myself the way I was. No, I didn't go back. But it still hurts. I mean, damn... a hairdresser's supposed to be providing a personal service, isn't she?

I too feel very uncomfortable wearing clingy tops and blouses that aren't big and hang down over my butt. I haven't lost as much as a lot of you, but I could wear something more fitted than I'm comfortable in now. I see lots of heavy chicks wearing tight stuff and they seem to be happy with who they are. My DD actually asked me why I'm still buying such big stuff. I really don't know why. I don't think I saw myself realistically when I was obese. I think I was bigger than I realized. But I don't think I am seeing myself now realistically either. What's up with this?

[mariecarmen 1]

A few weekends ago a friend of DH's came by early in the morning. We were expecting him and were dressed. He knocked on the door, slowly opened it and yelled in, can I come in?

A little later he casually remarked he didn't want to come in without warning in case I was in a negligee in my new sexy body.

First of all, ewwww. I've known this man over 30 years.

Second of all, what's he doing imagining my body in a negligee, or my body period?

Third of all, now it occurs to me I'm not invisible anymore and people, including men, are looking at me differently.

I guess when I was heavier I was protected and felt gender neutral. Am I now going through what 12 year olds do when their breasts start to develop and they get unwanted male attention?

Let's discuss this.