March Bandsters: MASTER THREAD

[anniedub 0]

Hi bandsters!

I'm in a slight work lull at the moment (meaning I don't have anything else that has to be done tonight, and it's 8pm) so I thought I would check in.

Been reading up on pages of catch-up, it's great to hear what everyone has been up to. I'll try not to be so absent in future!

In other news, my sweet spot has gone (as I lost another 6 kilos since I was on it) so I'm getting another fill tomorrow. Hoping to reach goal by the Christmas - it will be tight, but that's the plan!

Glad to see that you are all well and just rolling along. Things are starting to slow for us now, (most of us) have just hit the 6 month mark, our momentum is dropping and maybe we are starting to slip back into old habits - I know I am. But hopefully we can all give each other a kick in the ass to get us going again until goal!

Much love, my Shrinking Shamrocks,

Annie xox

[Desdemona 48]

Hi All --I'm SO frustrated! I've been intensively reading about supplements. 2 days ago I decided to start taking significant amounts of fish oil, acetyl L-carnitine, coq10, and chelated magnesium. Some are to try to address painful muscles/joints and some are to try to increased fat burning.

[SpecialK 22]

Okay Fenton, repeat after me... One Step At A Time... Make it to September 30 on program. Think of those Halloween candies as poison - don't even consider putting that deadly stuff into your body! Then get through November, then December, then January, and before you know it, your February snow boarding trip will be here and if you stayed true to yourself and what you really want out of life, being healthy, you'll be able to enjoy that winter vacation at whatever weight you are at that point.

My Water aerobics class starts back up this week on Tues/Thurs and I have to say I really missed it. Slacked off too much and didn't do enough to compensate for missing those two workouts.

A friend got me this Mitch Gaylord DVD where you do exercises using this 2 lb ball you hold onto while you move your body to their counts and exercises. I watched the DVD to see how it would be and I think I can start with the 10 minute version and see how it goes. On the 60 minute workout, even those two little buff body folks in the DVD were dieing and sweating like crazy so I know I won't make it through the hour version for quite some time. Okay, I promise to do the 10 minute version Weds before work and Friday before work. Hold me to my word Shamrocks! Plus the Water aerobics is 60 min Tues/Thurs so hopefully this will get my metabolism working a little.

[Fenton 3]

Where IS everybody???

I'm back in the groove-ish (and sounding kinda Madonna-ish); I'm down three pounds from weigh-in Sunday, so everything's going in the right direction.

But it sure would be nice to have people to chat with, and to hear how they're doing!

You're all probably busy off somewhere being losers...

[westcoastmom 3]

Hello Fenton (and everyone!) - I checked in quick before getting the kids to the bus stop. Well, I made it to my original doctor's goal this morning. It does feel good to get there! I think I will adjust the goal about 20 pounds more so that I can actually be just in the normal range. I think it will probably take me until my year anniversary to get there, but I am OK with that. I am actually pretty comfortable where I am now.

As for Halloween - I love it! I know the candy will be a challenge, but I am having difficulities holding myself back from decorating. We do actually have a 3 foot spider named Ralph hanging out on the stairs as a head start.

I have had a bit different philosphy on treats and food I think since I have started this journey than some. I have acutally allowed treats every day if I want them (small of course) and do eat the foods I really still like. That has helped me feel like I am not restricting myself and I to also feel like I am not on a diet. I know that at the end of the day, I can have something sweet I want and it helps me not eat stuff throughout the day.

Although I am very hungry right now...

[chica 2]

Alright, I'll post. I've not been making much progress on the scale, so not that type of loser anyway! :wink_smile:

I went for yet another "adjustment" yesterday only to find there was a lot less Fluid in my band than we were expecting. They always pull the Fluid first as a reality check and then add on. Well, it seems that maybe my last fill (0.3 cc) leaked out significantly more when the needle was being pulled out?? I knew I had no restriction when I should've had a fair bit but I didn't understand why not until then. They were able to put in a full 1.0cc (which should've been way too much to add) but I had some taken out to 0.6cc because I've been overfilled before and I don't want to live that way. WHERE THE (* IS MY SWEET SPOT???? :smile:

So, I've dropped my signature line documenting my fills as it became too long and given what I've seen at various fills/unfills, it seems somewhat irrelevant. I hope this fill helps!

Fenton, we still want to hear more about Paris. Congrats on getting back on the wagon with us! :confused:

[chica 2]

Oh, also meant to weigh in (pardon the pun!) on the subject of family members and obesity. All my life both parents were obese and my mom constantly still struggles with this. Out of myself and my 3 siblings, one had gastric bypass, one had that duodenal switch (more extreme), and I, of course, had the band surgery. The first didn't get really heavy until adulthood, the second was fat from the minute he was born, and I was overweight by my early teens. Occasionally in my late teens and early twenties, I was actually "normal"!!

My husband has been obese until he was finally diagnosed with diabetes last year. His diet has changed dramatically for the better. My daughter has a little belly, but is still in a normal weight zone -- and gorgeous, though I may be a little biased!! :smile: She eats a great variety of food. My son is somewhat overweight and we battle constantly to get him to eat veggies and more fruit. We try to restrict junkie Snacks to dessert at the end of the day, but I've found my daughter sneaking candy lately. Both kids are concerned about being fat though, given that their parents are. It's depressing all around.

Last night my daughter asked me if the band was helping at all -- we haven't talked about the band in months. I asked her if she thought I was losing weight and she was baffled. I asked if she hadn't at least noticed that all my clothes are very loose, and thank goodness that registered. I think she doesn't even remember just how much bigger I was! :wink_smile:

[chica 2]

Ooh, one more thing. The kids and I made a deal. I won't touch their Halloween goodies if they leave my Dove dark chocolate tiramisu squares alone. :smile: Just one or two are enough to satisfy my sweet tooth and it's my own very special treat when I need one.

[lynnt1215 1]

Halloween treats - I have decided to give o8ut the small bags of pretzels this year, so no tempting candy in the house..

Fenton - I finally had time to begin reading your book. It is fantastic. I wish I had more free time to get into it more. But I am anticipating what will be next everytime I pick it up.

Still feeling out the effects of my fill last Friday. Eating so slow and chewing. Tat is my biggest problem. I have always been a gulper and a fast eater. I have to get back on task.

I'll weigh myself on Friday and see how I have done this week.

And Fenton - I would love to hear more about your Paris trip

[hopeinapril 1]

WCM - Congrats! You have hit a major goal. That is wonderful.

Chica - In a way, it is kind of cool that your dd doesn't remember you at a higher weight. I showed my son some photos of me at 19 last night. He had no clue who it was. I told him that it was mommy when she was young. I still don't think he got it.

Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I don't anticipate a fill as I did well this past month and I think I am at the sweet spot. I'm still having issues with getting enough food down. (from stress not the band being too tight) There is a lot of irony in that!

[Tess415 1]

Morning All! Well, I have my 25th class reunion this weekend... the good news is I am thinner than I was at my 20th!!!! So I guess I can go in and hold my head up high!!!! I already have an outfit to wear, and I am not even freaking out about that. Hmmmm... it must get less and less traumatic as the years go by! LOL :wink:

I have the day off, and after I take the kids to school ( 2 hr delay today), I am going to the gym, and keep to the routine of things.:drool:

It was nice to hear from Annie and Chica... haven't seen a post for awhile!!! We all seem to be going through the "Honeymoon is over" and trying to find our motivation to keep it going!!!! We all can do this!!!! One day at a time, one bite at a time!!!:rolleyes2:

I struggle with halloween, would you believe there isn't one kind of candy bar that I don't like!!!! I will probably have my husband buy the candy and keep it in the trunk of his car until the actual day so I will only have temptation on that night. My kids don't trick or treat anymore... so there won't be any coming back in the house!!!! YEAH!!!

[mom007 0]

I haven't been on here in FOREVER, but it seems by my skimming, I'm not the only one! I just seemed to feel like I had gotten the hang of things with the band and went off on my own.

My DH finally got banded on the 3rd of this month and is back to the eating normally stage before his first fill, which is on the 1st. He lost 22 pounds on his pre-op diet and another 6 after his surgery, but has slowly gained 5 of those back, but still...... I think it took me 4 months to lose that first 30 pounds! Not fair!

I've hit a plateau with the weight loss too, but since I was overfilled (with 0.3 cc's) about a month and a half ago, I've been kinda scared to go and get another fill. It was awful but I lost 9 pounds in 5 days! But so far I'm down 63 pounds and that seems pretty par with the rest of us that got banded in March. I used to wear a tight 24 and when I was in Old Navy a few weeks ago, I bought a pair of "normal" size 18 jeans just because they were on sale for $9.99 figuring I would be able to wear them eventually, and when I tried them on at home they actually fit. I almost cried! Some of my co-workers have even nicknamed me "slim" which kinda makes me wonder just how fat I looked to them before! Since I'm still not any where near "skinny" yet. But I feel tons better about my self and that was the whole reason to do this. And for my kids. It about killed me when about a year ago my DD who was 4 at the time told me that when she grew up she wanted to "be fat like you, Mommy". She deserves better than that.

anyhoo, I need to get caught up and I will be back at some point.

Good Luck to all of us! WooHoo!

[mom007 0]

Oh, I almost forgot! Any advice on dealing with hair loss? Not enough Protein? Vitamin deficiency? I used to have thick hair (a pony tail holder would only go around twice, now I can twist it three times and it's loose) I have lost a lot of hair.

Any one else with this problem or have ya'll already discussed this and been over it all in my absence?

I'd appreciate and advice or suggestions! Thx.

[HarleyGirl 1]

It's a big day for me......

I'M HALFWAY THERE!

I had a doctor's appointment today and after talking for a while we decided to do a *tiny* fill....just .3 Of course, I'm on liquids so hard to tell if it will make much difference. She did say to give it a week and then call her if it feels too loose still.

I had a really good visit with the doc today. She's happy with my progress and of course, so am I. I was frustrated that it's taken me two weeks to lose ONE stinking pound, but so be it. Better one down than one up.

There's a support group meeting tonight. Usually they are in Salt Lake and that's just to big of a PITA to get there during rush hour....but this one is just a few miles away. It will be the first one I've attended, so I don't know what to expect. I will share whatever tidbits of wisdom I gain!

As far as the hair loss, mine seems to have leveled off. It was horrible a couple of months ago. I have been taking Biotin, I don't know if that's helped or if it's just because my weight loss has slowed down.

We're having a big event at the Harley Shop where I work over the weekend. I'm sure there will be a lot of folks there I haven't seen for a while.....kind of excited about that. Of course, had to pick out a new outfit for that.....

[SusieQ1964 0]

Hi Mom007,

I was banded on March 11,2008 and then had my gallbladder out on

May 29th. My hair has been falling out big time. I started taking

lots of Zinc and extra vitiams and fish oil. So far nothing has changed, the hair keeps falling out. I am thankful I have thick hair,

I would love ideas on this problem. It is hard washing hair because

so much is falling out.

SusieQ1964

Boise, Idaho