Hello Marchies,

Here we are in May guys!!! April has been a tough month for some of us, but better days are ahead of us in MAY! :girl_hug: On the road to reaching our "sweet spot" there may be some road blocks,:think but it's nothing that we Marchies can't handle! :girl_hug: So, let's get our bodies moving and let's see those pounds drop! :girl_hug:

Challenges:

MaRcHiEs MaY ChAllEnGe

Exercise: 30 min. sessions 0 of 20 sessions completed

Exercise: 40 min. sessions 0 of 20 sessions completed

Exercise: 100 crunches/day 0 of 20 days completed

Water: 64oz or more/day 0 of 20 days completed

Choose which challenge(s) you want to do, or make up your own, and cut and paste it into your signature. Let's cheer each other along! :cheer2: Stay positive and have fun!!!

Medge,

That is awesome! Way to go! Keep up the good work!:target:

Wow guys, I am so behind. Page four and I havent said a word lol. Ok. So thank you so much for starting the challange! Yesterday was the first time I was able to get in my 64oz of Water. I've been going to the gym with my mom after work, so the exersize wont be so hard. we do 20 mins of tredmill and free weight traning the abs. I am so happy to be able to have a slice of whole grain bread with three pieces of healthy choice ham and dejionase. People at work are like "wow you can eat real food now" lol. I am starting to feel human again!

As for my fill I feel cheated lol.

My doctor didnt tell me how much he put in. He just pushed on my port which killed! and then had a convo with me to destract me from the really long needle that he stuck in my port and when the stuff went in I felt a gulp in my tummy. I asked if I had to take it easy and ice my port he said I would be find and can now do anything at the gym. He didnt even tell me about being on Clear Liquids and then thing puree then thick. When I asked him about it he said yes to do that. Weird that I had to ask him about it.

Hope everyone is doing good!

Susie

Just wanted to say HELLO and HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!

I'm decided to wait until the end of the week to see what my loss is.

I'm trying to stay excited! and I'm trying to stay focused to protein!

Still havent started excersie yet I'm so weak in that area!

Hello MaRcHiEs

I love the way we support each other on this site and I look forward to this good energy for the duration of this journey. I see the May challenge is up and going and I expect to challenge myself to the fullest and surpass my own expectations. I have become a new person in a matter of months and I have been doing things I never though I would do and this is truly a journey for me and I love learning this new person I am becoming.

<O:p

I actually look forward to working out.

I have becoming more aware of my negative self talk and check it immediately.

I feel so alive and I am looking forward to living to my full potential.

<O:p

I am ready for this May challenge and I appreciate every one of you beautiful MaRcHiEs.

<O:p

One more pound and I will be in the two hundreds. This is a Major milestone I look forward to embracing. I don’t recall when I pass this point on the trip up because I was terrified of the scale. But coming down is so important because I have been working so hard mentally, physically, and emotional.

<O:p

It is still a task to handle the head hunger but I am doing sooooo much better than I was pre band.

Good Luck to all. :gluck: WE CAN DO THIS!:target:

<O:p

:update: MaRcHiEs and Tammyj I updated my signature!!!!!!

Hey Marchies!

I did my second day of abs absolutley due to the challenge and I want to say, "OUCH".

But when my waist is tiny, I'll be sending Tammyj a dozen roses for kicking me in the pants. :whip:

Tammyj, there is a year's worth of weight loss and some plastic surgery before that happens, so don't fill the vase just yet.

Now if only the scale would move......

OH Juli

Ok so I am back from the doctor. I caved and went because I was feeling worse today in general. So antibiotic for ten days (trimethoprim) and I'm also supposed to take cranberry capsules (lots of them) and lots of fluids because trimethoprim isn't very strong, but its the only one that will work that I'm not allergic too. Though I am supposed to check with the pharmacist to see if they still make one med. And my allergist to see about antibiotic desensitisation. Its something my old doctor used to talk about too. I'm allergic to most antibiotics so that really limits my treatment options when I get sick. There are IV ones I haven't taken like vancomyiacin that should work for me but I would have to go to the hospital just to do that. I don't like going to the hospital, what a hassle for an infection! So thats my homework. And more diflucan because the antibiotics can cause the fungal stuff to come back though its clearing up beautifully.

isabellesma, the miralax takes a few days to work, so give it time! I know how you feel. But make sure not to overdo it otherwise you will end up with the opposite problem on your hands! I've been there, done that!

I didn't lose or gain any weight this week so that makes me feel better. So today I am eating better. Strange, I know. Protein shake for Breakfast. For lunch rather than trying to have a whole sandwhich I gave up on the bread and just had meat and cheese. Since I didn't overeat I also didn't have to drink while I was eating. Much more comfortable, this following the rules. I figure since I got all my protein in today already, for dinner I can focus on veggies and carbs. Maybe some pees and a bit of Pasta... We have a food sealer (it vacumes out air and seals the bag) that I am very fond of. Keeps out freezer burn. So I can take some of the left overs too and make myself frozen dinners with left over food from when I cook, I figure. If its good. I wish we had some soy meatballs (real meatballs are good too, but I like the soy ones and they are healthier) to add in, but we are currently out. Oh well, I'll put it on the list. I also want to put peppers and zuchini in the pasta next time, another thing I am out of.

I have my post op apointment on the 15th-- I'll ask about exercise then.

Hi all! Glad to hear everyone is MARCH-ing along with the ups and downs that are common to life. Heh?

I wrote a post a few days ago called "1st Fill--NOT!" but it never showed up so I'll just let you know what is going on in my world.

I went for my first fill on Monday and learned that I am probably still swollen from surgery a bit, since I can eat anything but only in 1 c. or less quantities. It really is fine by me--I'll keep doing what I can to stay around 1,000 calories and try to do better at exercising. I can't say I'm really hungry but sometimes I just want to eat. Luckily for me, I can't eat more than a half of a hamburger, etc. So although I was disappointed because I'm hoping to get a better, faster weight loss once I am filled, I really can't complain because I seem to be losing about 1-2 lbs. per week. Slow but sure, I guess.

Good luck to everyone! Looks like you are all accepting the challenge. I got me some new running shoes (well, walking shoes actually) and tried them out for 30 minutes this morning. Hope I can keep it up!

Sorry I've been so delinquent in responding to people's messages, concerns, triumphs, etc. I did catch up today with all of you. My husband and I decided we had to sell our home (HOA problems) and so have been working on the listing and then we bought a new home on Friday unexpectedly. We're excited but need to sell our current home asap! Then, since the new home is in the mountains, we bought a Honda Pilot so we can drive to and fro. Yikes! `I saw an article about how some people trade food for other addictions--like buying houses and cars! I'd worry more but my husband was really the driving force, which is totally unusual. So I guess I won't worry too much unless this continues and we're homeless (but skinny) and bankrupt. Maybe I should worry before that. But for now anyway, we've been in a whirlwind of decisions and life changes. Fun but scary. Isn't that how life is sometimes?

Love to all! Keep up the good work. Karen

Hi all!

It's been a while since I posted. You all are doing great!

I'm having a hard time getting all my Water in. I still feel some restriction, but I can eat almost anything.

I got a little ahead of myself on Sunday and ate some peanuts. HUGE mistake, about an hour after wards I was in horrible pain. It felt like something was crushing me from my stomach to my back. I couldn't breathe and passed out from the pain. I was sure my band slipped. I had my hubby take me to the ER. They finally got the pain to stop after 4 doses of pain meds. They did a CT scan and said every thing was fine. No blockage. I talked to my MIL who is a nurse and said my intestines were probably blocked and I should be having at least one BM a day.I have really had a problem going to the bathroom. I've been taking Miralax, Laci Lebeau dieters tea and drinking apple cider vinegar (YUCK). I was at my wits end! My stomach still hurts so bad. I've been back on liquids trying to clear this. I'm seriously considering having colonics. (Anyone done this?)

I have only lost 20 Lbs so far. I need to exercise, but that's hard to do when you are in pain!

I did go from a 20/22 to size 18 Yeah!!! I need to go down to my crawl space and see if I have any 18's left. I did treat myself and bought 1 new pair of capris. I just can't wait until I can buy "regular" size clothes and not from Lane Bryant (they are sooooo expensive!)

Thanks for listening!!!

You all are fabulous!!!! :clap2:

Trina

Trina, Sorry to hear about your incident. I had one similar related to a Nyquil dosage. Passing out from pain is really scarey. They sell colace over the counter, and that could be helpful. I've never tried the colonics. Hope you feel better soon.

Congratulations on your loss! It's so encouraging to be able to put on those old clothes, plus thinking about those new ones we'll be able to get soon. Some of my 16s are getting looser. I wonder if I should try 14s yet?? I'm a little scared to try....

Thank you all for your understanding.

I get sooo busy at work that I forget to call the doc to set up the fill.

I HAVE TO CALL TOMORROW!!!:faint:

I read something about a greather percentage of weight coming off in the beginning too. Have any of you heard the stats on that?

NSV...NSV...NSV

My little brother came to visit me today. Well, he's 26 but little to me. Anyway, he was showing off his new car to me and in the middle of him talking about all the great features the car came with, he just stopped. He gave me this look, then said;" Yenken, you really look like you've lost weight."

My family does not know about my band. I told a bunch of my friends about but no one in my family. I just couldn't believe it. My li'l ole chasin the girls, need to have a benz but no furniture in his apartment, brother of mine noticed. I had one of the Kool-ade grins . That really meant a lot to me.

Awww, thats sweet, your bro noticing like that, afrykanvyolet.

I ate a chilli cheese dog today. Well most of one anyway-- I couldn't finish all of it. I'm constantly surprised by how little I eat these days. Now even a whole hot god anymore! No fill in site for me. Luckily the white stuff on my tongue is just about all gone now. While I was waiting at the pharmacy today I naturally went to the candy aisle. I got a bag of big Peanut Butter m&ms to split with DH because if I have sherbert too all of that is still less than 200 calories worth of junk food. I was a good bandster today. I also looked at make up a little. I think at some point I might buy some nicer makeup and maybe even a lesson to learn how to use it. I'm hopeless at that stuff. But I looked today at sephora and the eyeliner and shadow I want come to about fifty dollars together! Thats before shipping! I was shocked! I don't even wear makeup once a week, how am I supposed to justify that sort of cost? I'll think about it.

Thanks Kyethra,

I don't think you should buy the make uo from Sephora since you rarely wear it. Especially not for eyeliner, IMO. Go to the drug store where you can find some really nice products for a fraction of the cost. I do have the more expensive products for those special days but during my everyday wear, I wear my drug store products. I looovvveee MAX Factor, Loreal, and a few others.

People don't need to know the cost of what's on your face. I've had a few people come up to me and say my makeup looks nice, what do I buy. When I tell them its Covergirl, they are shocked and say they thought is was a brand like Mac.

Thanks Kyethra,

I don't think you should buy the make uo from Sephora since you rarely wear it. Especially not for eyeliner, IMO. Go to the drug store where you can find some really nice products for a fraction of the cost. I do have the more expensive products for those special days but during my everyday wear, I wear my drug store products. I looovvveee MAX Factor, Loreal, and a few others.

People don't need to know the cost of what's on your face. I've had a few people come up to me and say my makeup looks nice, what do I buy. When I tell them its Covergirl, they are shocked and say they thought is was a brand like Mac.

Afrykanvyolet-

I'm such a drugstore makeup JUNKIE. I just went and bought two new lipsticks!

Heya Marchies, Getting my first fill today so last night I went completely off my diet and ate a hamburger! I don't even like them-but I had to be defiant. And 5 sugar free cookies. And still didn't go over 950 calories And I am not exercising today. I think I'm treating myself and actually all I feel is guilt. Guess I'm getting trained into this new Healthy Lifestyle.

Hope y'all have a healthy day.

Checking in here to see what I have in store for me......

Yenken: I laughed about your description of your little brother! LOL that is very very very sweet of him to notice your loss. BIG NSV

Keythra: I've been watching your posts with all the other health complications you've gone through since banding..... DANG woman!!!

on the makeup front..... about 2 years ago my skin changed and now all drug store stuff makes me break out... and my eyes swell shut. it is the WIERDEST thing.. I had to change to Clinique but still only wear mascara on special occasions because even though they don't swell with clinique they get really itchy after a few hours.