Well, we have our challenge going to help keep us motivated, but I thought it'd be nice if we shared a little personal info about ourselves so we know each other more than just how much we want to weigh!

Share as much or as little as you'd like.

Here's me:

I am 56 and live in FFld County, CT. I am married, have two grown children. A daughter 30,dental office manager, married and living in Las Vegas, her husband is a firefighter. A son 29, engaged to be married late Sept, lives in Mass. works for a biodiesel fuel co. as the transportation co-ordinator.

I have NO grandchildren yet.

I trained about 20 years ago as a dental assistant and worked for over 8 years as a surgical assistant and office manager for an Oral surgeon. I later began working as a medical receptionist in a primary care office 2 to 3 days a week. I left that position last April and now am unemployed by choice.

I also manage our rental properties. We have three houses in RI close to the beach. We rent to university students from Sept to May and then weekly from June through Aug for beach vacationers. I field the e-mails, (that's why I'm online and on computer all the time), handle the leases, summer rental agreements, advertising, and bank accounts for the houses. We are very busy last the two weeks of May as our students leave and we clean the inside and yards of the houses and repaint etc. as needed to prepare for the summer season.

It's a lot of work, but we, both my husband and I enjoy it.

My husband works for Cadbury/Dr. Pepper as a district sales manager. His territory is mostly CT. Mass, RI. His office is at home, but he travels most days to his customers and has occassional overnight trips.

Hope that wasn't too long! Hope to hear from more of the November Valentine day challenge people!

Good post Shortgal!

I live in Southeaster Massachusetts just 10 miles from Cape Cod. I have 3 boys ages 14, 13 & 10 and am married to great guy my best friend. I am 40 years old (just had a birthday last Saturday). I homeschool my boys so that is why I am on the computer all the time. My husband and I own two Country Stores in Middleboro and Kingston Massachusetts called Hollyberries Country Gifts. You can check our website at Hollyberries Country Gifts.

As you might be able to tell we are super busy all the time with running two businesses and homeschooling our children but with God's grace we get it done.

I chose to homeschool the boys after my oldest son was diagnosed with ADD. He was struggling at the private school we had him in and when he was in the third grade we decided he needed the one on one attention that he would not be able to get in a school environment. He is doing super in the homeschool setting because he can go at his pace. I am not against school just needed to do something that was right for him and didn't want him to get lost in the school system. By the way, he wants to be a professional baseball player and is planning to go to college.

My youngest son was born with a birth defect; bi-lateral cleft lip and palate. He has gone through numerous surgeries for repairing it and will have several more before he is completely done. Just this past week he had some work done on his gum line. They had to rebuild it by taking bone from his hip. He is a trooper and did very well. I think the surgeries are harder on the parent than the child sometimes. The worry!

The Band...why did I choose it. Well, the straw that broke the camels back was it. I had hit an all time high of 358lbs. and knew that I needed to find something that would nip my weightloss in the bud before I was 400lbs. I can lose weight but can never keep it off because I always revert to eating large quantities. My problem isn't sweets it is the endless pit inside that doesn't know the sign to stop eating when I am satisfied. I was always the last person leaving the table because I was still eating 2nd's and sometimes 3rd's. I was so glad that I found out about the Band and researched it and decided that this was the option for me. What better way to combat overeating if you had a tool that would do such a thing. I was always the big girl but I wasn't going to eat myself into the grave. I remember meeting with the surgeon the first time and he asked why I wanted the Band? I told him to look at me...I am freakin' fat. I didn't have anything wrong with me just that I was fat and needed to lose the weight if I intended to live to be 80. Best decision of the my life...it's fickle but I still like the fact that I am the last one eating because I am chew chew chewing and on only 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food. Who knew! By the way, my doc who is usually more for RNY said I was a great candidate for the Band and didn't even try to talk me into RNY.

Well enough about me...I want to read more about you all.

Cindy

Hi everybody!

I'm 39, single and live in Sugar Land, TX which is a suburb of Houston. I am a controller for a manufacturing company. I've never been married and have no children although I do have a 9 month old Cockapoo that is my baby.

I am losing weight slowly but the scale keeps going down and that is all that matters. My life hasn't changed that much and I really thought it would. That is a good thing though. I don't know why but I thought I wouldn't be able to go out to eat without getting stuck and so far everything is great. The only change in my life is that I am eating much less.

Howdy, y'all! We did a thread like this back in November but I'm glad you started another one, shortgal, as our group of November Nymphs has grown!

I'm 52, married almost 32 years with four grown children, ages 23 to 28. My oldest daughter lives in Denver, my identical twin daughters were both married last spring and live in Austin, and my son is a U.S. Marine who spent the last three years in Japan but is now stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. My husband, who is a remodeling contractor, and I live outside of Austin. I teach and tutor math at community college. Our nest isn't empty because we have five dogs, two to 11 years old and 18 to 110 pounds!

I'm an avid Texas Longhorns fan (all sports), a San Antonio Spurs fan, and a Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm also a political junkie of the liberal variety. When I have time, I enjoy reading, crocheting, and traveling.

I gained weight by losing it. Every time I lost 20, I gained 30, etc. Four years ago, I was up to 70 pounds overweight so I lost it on Medifast. This time, I meticulously fought every pound I regained and regained it anyway. But I stopped gaining five pounds short of my highest weight and got the surgery instead. I see a lot of folks blame themselves on this board (and everywhere else!) but I think much of that blame is misplaced. I believe we need to take responsibility for our health and our eating habits but there are plenty of thin people who make no effort to control what or how they eat (I'm married to one!) And there are plenty of overweight people who have worked hard all of their lives to change their condition. So it's my belief that many of us are fighting biology. It is not simply a matter of self-control. When I realized that the band would allow me to lose weight but, more importantly, to avoid regaining it, I knew it was for me.

I really enjoy the November Nymph board and look forward to continuing to share our challenges and success!

Howdy, y'all! We did a thread like this back in November but I'm glad you started another one, shortgal, as our group of November Nymphs has grown!

I'm 52, married almost 32 years with four grown children, ages 23 to 28. My oldest daughter lives in Denver, my identical twin daughters were both married last spring and live in Austin, and my son is a U.S. Marine who spent the last three years in Japan but is now stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. My husband, who is a remodeling contractor, and I live outside of Austin. I teach and tutor math at community college. Our nest isn't empty because we have five dogs, two to 11 years old and 18 to 110 pounds!

I'm an avid Texas Longhorns fan (all sports), a San Antonio Spurs fan, and a Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm also a political junkie of the liberal variety. When I have time, I enjoy reading, crocheting, and traveling.

I gained weight by losing it. Every time I lost 20, I gained 30, etc. Four years ago, I was up to 70 pounds overweight so I lost it on Medifast. This time, I meticulously fought every pound I regained and regained it anyway. But I stopped gaining five pounds short of my highest weight and got the surgery instead. I see a lot of folks blame themselves on this board (and everywhere else!) but I think much of that blame is misplaced. I believe we need to take responsibility for our health and our eating habits but there are plenty of thin people who make no effort to control what or how they eat (I'm married to one!) And there are plenty of overweight people who have worked hard all of their lives to change their condition. So it's my belief that many of us are fighting biology. It is not simply a matter of self-control. When I realized that the band would allow me to lose weight but, more importantly, to avoid regaining it, I knew it was for me.

I really enjoy the November Nymph board and look forward to continuing to share our challenges and success!

Longhorn..

How was you week back. Are you tired? Hope you had a good week back at school.

Cindy

Longhorn..

How was you week back. Are you tired? Hope you had a good week back at school.

Cindy

The first week was fun but yes, very tiring. I'll get back in the swing of things, though. Thanks for thinking of me, Cindy!

I'm Wendy. I'm 47. My DH is Charlie. We have been married for 24 years--25 in June. We have two boys: Wes who is 21--22 in March and Ian who is 8--9 in April. We live in Murfreesboro, TN. Murfreesboro is south of Nashville. It's a great place to live.

I have two paid jobs, but if you ask me what I do my response is always the same. I'm a MOM!! The paid positions are part time. I work at a hotel one day a week and teach preshool two days a week. I am wanting to return to school to get my teaching certificate. I love working with kids.

My DH, DS and I were all banded within a month. We decided that we need to do this together. It has been a great thing for our whole family. It cracks me up though, when our 8 year old ask if this or that food will get stuck. LOL

I am 46 years old and I work for a very large Medical Group, 7 hospitals and 80 offices with 200 physicians in two states; and I bill insurance all day long, I talk to patients about their bills and work with insurance companies. I love my job.

I have been overweight my entire adult life since becoming pregnant with my first child. I was about 40 pounds over weight when I lost my son in 1988 to cancer he was 4 1/2. Since then I put on 100 pounds and my highest known weight was 287 my pre surgery weight.

I am married to my best friend for the last 28years, we will Celebrate our 28th anniversary on March 15th. He is fulltime in the Air National Guard and he will be deployed in May for his second tour in the Middle East.

I have a daughter who is married and has two sons my grandsons Adam and Cole. Adam is named after my son Adam. We had his 4th birthday party today and he was so cute. He loves dinosaurs, in fact he is obsessed with them. That is all he talks about or wants....LOL

I live in the Central Midwest and it is DAMN cold here today......feels like the artic outside.

I have two dogs Kodi (gordon setter) Bear (Yorkie) and I lost my Amber(gordon setter) on September 8th 2007. She was my sweetheart. I miss her every day she is chasing rainbows in heaven with my son.

I can not express enough how much I love my new life and my new way of eating and being healthy. I love how I feel. I love that I have energy and am not always exhausted. I love that I look forward to doing things now, because I am not always hurting or aching somewhere.

I know the next 6 months are going to be tough ones and I know that as I get closer to goal I will have to work that much harder, but I am up for this challenge. I would advise anyone considering having this surgery to do it. I would never say NOT to. It has saved my life.

Great to hear about your lives. Everyone has such an interesting family or job.

I forgot to mention we have a golden retriever "Sonny". He is a senior citizen now at over 14 and having some trouble with stairs now, but he's been a great dog. He's the last one standing of the four pets we had at one time. We a cat and then acquired a small Lhasa poo "Sweetums" and then another cat and then the Golden. It will be very hard when we have no pets, but I'm very undecided if I want to start with another puppy. I'd love have another small dog, except for the inconvenience when we travel.

WENDY: How great you have your husband as a "band" partner. I confess I am jealous many times when my husband eats something delicious in front of me.

LONGHORN: sounds like you are on track with getting a trainer and another fill.

CINDY: We just got back from the Cape. Our son is getting married Late Sept. on the Cape and we went up this weekend to find a rehearsal dinner place. His future in laws currently live in NY, but have a home in Dennis. The reception is at Ocean Edge in Brewster. We just got to see it this weekend and it's beautiful.

KRISTIN: Can't believe how well your weight loss is going. You seem very focused and you're lucky you've had great restriction.

I don't think this last fill did it for me. I'm so surprised when I read posts that people say they had 4cc put in their band at Surgery. I am just at 4cc after seven weeks! I did have one mild "stuck" episode this weekend, but most food is going down too easily. I'll know how I did tomorrow a.m. when I weigh myself!

GO NOVEMBER NYMPTHS!

Shortgal:

I think a lot depends on what the surgeons sees when they are inside. If the band fits snugly, they're not going to leave much in there but if it's too loose, they will. How much we have in our bands really means nothing as far as how much restriction we have.

I got the impression that my surgeon has a sort of schedule that he adjusts depending on what I report. He put 3ccs in at the first fill (plus 1cc in there) and didn't even have me drink water! And I felt absolutely no restriction. How did he know that? This time, he added 2ccs and he did have me drink before I left the office. He does want to give me time to adjust and he said he's only had a couple of patients who were overfilled, even though he doesn't use fluoroscopy. He also told me he can tell a lot by how much pressure he feels when he injects the saline.

It sounds like both a skill and an art!

Lots of good info, Thanks.

I must have had a lot of swelling initially, because I had nothing in my band at surgery yet felt some restriction for a few weeks that gradually diminished. The last two fills didn't do anything! Hope the next does. It should, because my weight will not be a lot less at next appt vs. last appt ( unfortunately).

This is great! I am Shelly and am recently 34 years old. I live in Longview, Texas and have two boys, 5 & 7. I work full time as a probation officer at all of 4'10 inches... Can you believe it, but have been there a long time now. My husband and I are building our first real home and are very excited and stressed.

I have battled my weight all my life and have the same issues when I loose, I just gain back more. I reached my highest weight this summer hitting 195, which is a lot for someone of my height. I decided that taking four - five medications a day at my age is ridiculous! So the surgery. I am six weeks post op with no fills. My DR. will not give fills until 6 weeks and I need one. I haven't lost any weight in almost two weeks. I am not gaining, but not loosing either! It will be great next week.

Thanks to all of you for the support. I don't know what I would do!

Shelly

I am a 35 years old divorce mother of one. My seven-year-old son Noah is my greatest accomplishment and the greatest gift god has given me other then life. As I was told at 21 after finally being diagnoses with endometrioses that I would never have children having my Noah was a gift from god.

My son and I live in New York City, I love living in the city lots to do. I am a high school history teacher, it hard to tell from my spelling, but the longer I teach the worst my writing has gotten. I love teaching I can’t see myself during anything else; like I tell my mother, I get to do what I love, make a decent living, make an impact on others and speak about history all day long.

In the past 15 years I gain 150 lbs mostly due to poor eating, and an inactive lifestyle (308 before surgery). It’s hard to believe that in 1982 upon entry in the United State my passport was stamped malnourish. I look at that picture sometimes and I wonder what happened; even looking at my college pictures (150lbs) I wonder how did I get so fat.

I’ve always had a bad relationship with food, I was a primy; my mother was always trying to get me to eat more. When she came to the U.S, I went to live with her best friend whose parenting style revolved around using food to control children’s behavior. When I finally got liberated from her I kept the habit of using food as a form of control. I feel good about myself I would eat a good healthy meal, but when things went bad, had a bad day, I would starve myself, or binge eat. I started therapy for this four years ago, it seems to be working, and each day is a struggle.

I thought about having weight lost surgery for two years before I even made up my mind, every day I think god for helping me make the right choice. I am not saying it easy, its very hard but I am glad I did it. I know the band is not a magic weight loss pill, but I hope from my band I learn to have a better relationship with food.

I love this board, I get all my support from here, and since my doctor’s support group meet on Wednesday night (6 pm) getting a sitter for that time is hard.