WTH! We're too big to get around in? LOL too funny!

Girlfriends? Don't leave me now.

Well I am going to

bed right now, I am

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tired!

HOw many posts is that 20?

Jill- yeahh for the 5lbs! I can't wait to break into the 170, this week I will with the help of my lovely bodybugg

LOL you all are too funny!

Faith of course you are welcome - we are pretty accepting of just about anyone.

Jill good job! I wish I were going with you on the cruise - we went to Bermuda a few years ago and LOVED it!

Sweet - I can't believe how good you're doing on the running! I can't even get my butt motivated enough to walk everyday let alone run!

I really miss Nat - I wish she'd come home.

Hey Maud! How are you doing?

Sweet--congrats on the 3 miles!! YOU ROCK sister! Keep it up! WOO HOOO!!

Jill--keep up the good work! You will make it babe!

Faith--silly silly girl! They accepted me, that means they take anybody! lol...

Hey Steph--how are you doing?

Ok girls I have to share with you my Mommy moment. I had to buy Brooke my 9 (ALMOST) year old a bra! No joke. David pointed it out she needed one. I want to cry. Ugh...and the worst thing is what she said, so sweet and true...

"Mommy I just have to get used to it, it is a part of growing up and being a lady."

Wahhhhhh........

:smile:

ahhhhh I remember those days. So sweet and innocent. I remember when my oldest went into 5th grade, the first day of school one of the boys said well I can see what you did over the summer. She said what do you mean? He said you grew boobs!

Needless to say my girls are both very busty.

I hope everyone catches up with us here on our new thread. I'm going to bed - talk to you all later.

booboo- that is so sweet. Mine oldes is 5 almost 6 those days are just around the corner for me too! about 2 years from now you will be buying her some Kotex!

hi girls

well i have started shopping and im having a ball bought my buggy yesterday in sale ..got some gorgeous cute tiny baby clothes ,blankets etc, wrote massive list for hubby to pick out from baby store he has friend in ...more discounts

im really enjoying the thought of new baby ..im extremely tired but happy !!!!!

boo...im so glad i have boys ..bras ...bless her...

i found my eldest boy hitting puberty traumatic and my second son starting now:eek:

sweet....well done hon on all that excercise i need lie down just reading about it ..god im such a lazy arse.:smile:

faith.......hi and welcome:biggrin:

jillrn...great you back losing its crappy when you stall so frustrating but we know we all going to get ther in the end :myscared:

brandi...hi babe whats happening with you is the world treating you well ??

steph...hows you ???i agree wish nat would check in say and say hi ?

wheres claud.....is she on vacation ??

Thanks for the welcomes!

Is it time for Claudia to be in Chi-town?

A quick snippet about my loss journey, I started researching the band years ago, had to change ins co's a couple of times to find one that paid for it, then that one required a 12 month MD supervised diet with a 5% loss.

By the time my 12 months was up, I had had some success with weight loss, but sadly in the beginning I had another health issue that caused me to gain. At the end of the 12 mos, if I remember correctly, I was up about 7lbs from my starting weight. I had needed to lose 9 lbs, so I was 16 lbs over what I was supposed to be.

I was of course denied the first time around, cried and whined and felt very depressed, then I buckled down and made it the next month.

By the time I had surgery in June of 2007, I had lost 44lbs from my high weight. In the process I started practicing the "Bandster" rules, Protein first, not drinking with meals or after, cut almost all white, refined carbs from my diet, no soda or caffeine, yada, yada.

I had good restriction from the band itself (AP Small) and probably still do (I will PB or get stuck with sliced turkey breast or roast beef, if I don't chew well enough, things pass verrrry slowly through the stoma and I slime).

The first couple of months were fine. I felt (and still feel) soft stops and get what is probably a "satisfied" feeling after anywhere from 1/2-1 cup of food. But I can't stop. Food tastes SOOOOOOOOOOO good. I came to associate the "stuffed full" feeling pre-banding with what full is supposed to feel like.

How do I get past this?

I have bounced in the same ten pounds since late August. I feel like I gave up. I stopped logging my food (have started again last week), quit drinking all my Water (bought three cases of bottled this week to get that going again), and started snacking all the time, PLUS meals. I'm trying the five or six small meals thing now, maybe I just want to eat more often, but I need to cut out the big meals, too.

I have had NO fill since surgery. With soft stops and slime and occasional PB's, I have felt that I don't need one. Though there is the whole issue of no weight loss. Though I really think that's WHAT I'm eating, versus how MUCH I'm eating. My pre-op loss included Snacks and meals, but it was good snacks and good meals...

If I lost really well pre-op (almost effortless, actually), then why on earth can I not seem to do it post op? Why if I now get a "satisfied" feeing sooner will I continue to eat and sabotage myself but before surgery I'd stop eating?

So, I finally admitted I need some help with this whole band thing and scheduled a fill. I don't really want one. And that I don't understand, either. I fought and fought for this band, now I can't get my head around *using* it???? WTH???? Then I think that since I do feel stops and I do feel "satisfied," do I really need a fill?

How do I do the head work to stop eating when I feel "satisfied" and learn that "stuffed" is not what I am aiming for? Stuffed is not how thin people eat.

Well, I had scheduled a fill, but had to cancel, dang it! My FIL has to have his pacer/defib tested that same day, three hours away. DANG! I had finally wrapped my head around it in a mild little way, figured I'd start with one fill and see if it helped....ARRRGGHH!

I go to the same place Boo Boo Kitty goes. It's about the same drive for me, too (a little over an hour) and I work nights, 12 hour shifts. Scheduling a fill is tough. Let me take that back...scheduling a fill with just anyone there is easy, but BBK has given me the scoop and the only woman I think I'd allow to touch me with a needle (HUGE phobia) has limited availability. EEEEEEEeeeeppp!!!!

So, I need help. I will try again to schedule with her, but it's looking about a month away.

Can anyone give me some ideas to help me get over this whole head thing? Anyone read any good books about overcoming the need to eat to stuffed versus satisfied? Any good stories out there?

Since I've been logging the food again and trying to get back to basics, I've gotten the scale to move by two pounds. It's a start!

Faith - hon, I struggle with the same "head" hunger. I also love the taste of food and just enjoy eating - but I've come to the point of not denying myself something that I really want - usually I find that a bite or two will bring me satisfaction if I allow it too and still follow the bandster rules. For instance. Today I had a cup of coffee, went to church, got home and of course everyone is always starved after church - so I made chili, which is something that I can eat very well. I was stuffed but just needed something sweet, so I took 2 bites of a debbie cake. I was fine with that. First of all if I ate anymore then that I knew it would probably ball up in there and I'd get sick, 2ndly I looked at the calorie count and 230 is alot for a brief moment of pleasure. :smile: I know I won't be hungry for at least 4 hours, if I feel like snacking in between I will drink hot tea - I have a favorite that works for me - I also stopped tracking but if I add things up in my head I'm keeping in the 1200 range, and if I would exercise like I know I should I'd lose faster - but right now I'm still losing a pound or 2 a week and I'm ok with that. I think one of the reasons its ok is bc I have lost 65 lbs and I do feel "normal" again - wore a size 10 skirt to church this morning - and although I know to look really good I should lose another 20-30 I just kinda feel its ok now to lose slowly.

The bottom line is that it really is up to us how we want this band to work for us. If we use it agressively we can lose alot faster, with exercise and tracking - really work at. But if we are letting the band work for us we will probably still lose but much slower. The choice has got to be yours and how you want it to work.

As for needing a fill? I would say you most likely do need one. The sliming and pb's are probably bad food choices - not necessarily unhealthy - but bad band choices - and remember each one of our bands acts differently to different foods - so I've learned if I choose to eat that food then I better be prepared to be sick or miserable. The other thing is how well I really chew my food. I think the reason I can't tolerate Pasta and breads is bc I don't really chew them as well as I should.

I probably didn't answer any of your questions and you probably have heard it all before, but Faith my point is we all struggle with the same things, don't feel as if you are alone. And remember all those bad eating habits took years to develope, why should we expect that they'll just disappear bc we are banded? I think it'll probably take years until we are in the real band habit.

I have to confess that I've been so hungry for a McD's burger for so long, and its been forever since I've had one, well since my very first pb - so the other day I decided dang it I want a cheeseburger, bun and all! I got the little cheapo burger and I ate about 2/3 of it and I was stuffed! The whole while I was eating it I kept reminding myself to chew it really well and it took me a while to eat it. I never got sick, I didn't pb and I wasn't hungry for 4 hours! I was so proud of myself, I was able to drive through McD's and not order fries or soda, just a greasy little cheeseburger. LOL Who'd a thought I could eat like a bandster?!