I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where we could discuss the different challenges/issues we face as being single and banded.

I'll start with introducing myself. My name is Chris, I am 32 and live in a suburb of Boston. About a year ago I got out of a 5 year relationship and have just casually dated (online dating) since then. I have decided to take a break from dating for a bit, so I can focus on myself and adjust to living life as a bandster. (I was just banded on 10/2). One of my biggest concerns when I start dating again is if/when to tell that I am banded. It's not that I don't want to tell people, it's just that my idea of great dinner conversation does not include discussing my weight. Overall I would say that I have a great life. I have a good job, a very supportive family, and lots of friends. I am happy to be taking control over my weight and issues with food, and am excited at the prospect of my future as a not-so-fat woman.

I look forward to meeting more single bandsters and hope this thread takes off!

Chris :cocktail:

I'm shooting for 15 lbs by Valentine's Day, although I won't get there if I keep eating like I have been lately. Ugh! lol. I am using January 1st as a clean slate too. Between the holidays and stress at work and home, I've been munching way too much. So back on track for me! I didn't get this operation to only lose 30 lbs, that's for sure!

Kristi I am moving to a new apartment in the same town, just way from my building and my psycho neighbor that lives downstairs. Yikes!

OKay, I am getting banded next Friday, woo hoo!

My goal is going to be a pound a week, which is 6 lbs between banding and February 14... That seems doable!

Supergenious you will probably lose 6 lbs in the first week! Congrats on your banding. You'll do great!

Lets hope so... I will be pumped if that happens!

Kristi....you go girl! Good luck on the Elliptical < aka evil torture machine>.

Chrispy, I don't know what has happened with your neighbor, but your post kind of had a scary feel to it. I wish a safe and speedy move to your new place.

Susan, congratulations on getting the band. Keep up posted.

Hi everyone...I know it has been forever since I posted here. The holidays have been crazy! I definitely haven't been very disciplined about eating and exercising. I will be working more on that starting tomorrow. 2007 is going to be a great year for us!

So one of my goals for 2007 is to date more. Scary!! But I find it very difficult to meet new people here so I've decided to resort to online dating...again. However, this time I'm doing eharmony and chemistry (it's basically like eharmony, except it's done by the match.com people). I figured I should try something new since the tradtitional online thing has never worked for me. I always get weird people who never quite match up with what I want. So wish me luck because I'm terrified!!

Hey Everyone!

I know I dropped off the planet since my first post but I have enjoyed catching up on this post.

Love the comments about the dogs. I have two and my boy (Tobin Aubrey) is never leaving my bed. I am not sure how that'll work if (when) I get a boyfriend. Tobin is not good at sharing - especially me!

My surgery is coming up very soon (1/10). I only have 1 pre-op appt before the actual date. It is starting to feel very real, finally.

Love the idea about mini-goals. My goal is to go walk on the treadmill at work for 10 minutes during my breaks on a consistent basis. I know it is not a long duration but even that little bit helps. Good luck to everyone with their goals and continued success with weight loss.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and BE SAFE tonight!

Kathy

KristiB,

I'm a nurse, so I can totally understand exactly what you mean about the boobs and veins, etc. I ALWAYS look at peoples veins and want to stick them myself, so you're not alone. LOL It's just part of being in the medical field I guess.

New Year's is going to be a real bummer for me to. I am home taking care of the 5 dogs while my daughter is at her boyfriend's house celebrating with him. Plus, she doesn't care that I'm home alone either. Ugh!!!!!!!!! Kids! Anyway, that's what my night is going to consist of. No alcohol, but I will kiss the dogs. LOL

Things aren't going well in the man department either. Donny seems to be obsessed with a different woman every other day, and I haven't heard from Steve. I'm a bit surprised I haven't, but I would have always wondered if I hadn't written to him. Donny still calls everyday, but he talks about other women all the time. Oh well, I will survive.

All but 1 of the puppies are gone guys. Spot, my daughter's favorite is the only 1 left. I sure hope someone buys him soon. I'm sick of taking care of him. My mom made me bring the 2 little dogs to Sherman with me, so I'm taking care of 5 this weekend. I think I need some cheese with my whine!

Joan

Happy New Year to all my fellow single bandsters!! I think this year will be an exciting one for all of us, with many stories to share!

JDru - I want to start dating again in 2007 as well. I'm thinking by the end of January I'll get online. It's not my preferred method, but really one of the few ways to really meet people. I'm sure we'll have great stories to share back and forth! lol

Happy New Year everyone!

I have still not done the liquid pre-op diet yet, but I did eat eggbeaters instead of eggs and sugar free syrup on my pancakes at IHOP. :party: My dad is gone now so I can't blame him either.

The good news is that I did a New Year's Day 5k! Yay me for running the entire 3.1 miles too. Like I said, exercise good, food bad.

I have been doing the dating thing on Match and eHarmony for the past year. Have met some really great guys and have needed to weed through a lot of questionable ones.

I'm currently hooked on one but it will be a very long distance thing for another 9 months when he returns to Texas...so there really cannot be much of a commitment from his side. There is also absolutely no guarantee that when he comes home that it will be an exclusive relationship or that he will remain interested in me.

The question: Do I continue to have my profile up on the dating sites and date if anyone interesting comes along or wait around to see what happens when he returns?

By all means, DATE! You just said you all aren't committed or exclusive now! There are a million fish in the sea and if he is the right one he will swim your way... good luck!

Susan - you did a 5K...that is AMAZING! Way to go! How did you build up to be able to run that? Did you follow some sort of running schedule? I would LOVE to run but I have twisted hips and it hurts. I can walk about 4.5 - 5.0mph on the treadmill but the jogging only lasts about a minute until I am sucking wind and in pain.

I would say that to start running you should slow down. Your walk pace is pretty fast. 5.0 is a 12 minute mile and that is smokin' if you are walking. The trick is to keep your heart rate down while you run, and since running is a lot harder physically than walking then you probably need to slow down to keep yourself from sucking wind.

As far as the hips, I don't have any injuries thank goodness. There is a big diff between workout pain and injury pain. If you have injury type pain then I don't really think you can risk it to run without getting your hips realigned.

I have been working out a long time and I use an online website that helps me keep track of my workouts and stuff. They have all kinds of different places for people just starting out exercise programs. You can type in "couch to 5k training program" on google and I bet you would get some hits.

Good luck!

TexasRose I think you should still keep dating. If it's meant to be with this guy, it will happen. 9 months is a long time to wait around for someone and you should just go out and have some fun! Besides....we need the stories!!