Hey all.

So there's a bunch of us in this group, all split up into our different banding days. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have one master thread as we move through the month, in which all of us could post as we go, from the pioneers going on March 1st to the finalists on March 31st.

I'd love to talk about our anticipation and any worries as we approach our banding date, for people to talk about exactly what happened from the moment they walked into the hospital door until the second they walked out, about how recovery is going, about weight loss and plateaus, about non-scale victories and challenges.

I was thinking that if we all contribute to one thread, it'll form a more substantial channel for information and support. At the moment, I was thinking that we might be too spread out into individual date, and that a central thread would be a really good backbone for the group, in addition to the date-specific threads.

What do you think?

Fenton

My mother was overweight and out of 7 children one brother and I are the only ones that are overweight . My Daughter who is 30 was alittle overweight (about 20 lbs ) but her and her husband went on a diet a few years ago and she lost it and hasn't gained it back . My Son on the other is skinny and can eat anything and not gain . He weighted 37 lbs from the age of 3 until he was about 6 . Now he's 20 and only weights about 145 lbs soaking wet . He didn't get my genes .

family weight issues/// my mom was 5'4" tall and 94#, Always, she never fluctuated.. Others were always on the path of struggling to keep at a decent weight.

My girls are like noght and day, one takes after my mom, the other after me. She realizes where she is, but has no motivation to cjhanfe. I worry she will end up where I am and pray she doesn't

Got fill #4 today, another 1cc, now at 6/5 cc in my 14 cc band..:thumbup:

I came from the home with the mom who really regulated our intake. 3 square meals a day. Snack after school and dessert after dinner if we cleaned our plate. Once she went off to work when I was a young teen I started sneaking food. I would shuffle the Cookies to make it seem like I had not taken "too many".....never take the last one. Out of 4 kids I was the fat one...but not until my teens....but I remember being a little girl and hearing my grandmother discuss with my great-aunts how big I was (all in German which they did not think I understood) so I always thought I was HUGE.

My extended family has boday image issues and all my life I have heard comments on how so and so looked. I have a cousin who is anorexic. So how do I deal with my kids?

Nothing is off limits in moderation. We discuss the nutritional value of foods. They know what the healthy snack is opposed to the junk food snack. I don't make them clean their plates. I allow them control over what they eat within reason.

I am HUGE on excersize. We are always outside in action. In the middle of winter my neighbors thik I am nuts, because they are all bundeled up out there on their bikes or scooters or playing some new fangled game of tag.

I hope they never have the weight issues I have had and I pray the don't have the boday image issues that have plagued my family for decades.

Christine

At the end of the day, it doesn't make all that much difference whether the root cause is genetic or behavioral: the problem remains the same, and so does the solution. Weight loss will always mean using up more calories than we take in; I think genetics probably play their biggest part in how many calories we burn (think of those people who eat like horses but stay thin because of a high metabolic rate), while behavior obviously relates to the amount of calories we consume.

I think the band helps mostly with the intake question, but I really do believe that it's the calorie-burning part of things that really makes things move WL-wise. So, yay exercise!

In other news, I don't have much - if any - restriction. I"ve been pretty good, but Did It Up a bit last night. What can I say, I'm a sucker for that duck!

But last night was last night, and today is today, and I feel good and in the groove, and know that I'm not going to overeat. I'm going to get back to Daily Plate, on which I logged my intake for, like, one day; I do believe that it is a real help in controlling eating. A reality check.

WHich reminds me: I was in a McDonald's the other day. In NYC, all of the chain restaurants are now obliged to display the calorie content of their food prominently. I wonder how much difference that has made to McDonald's (or other restaurants) sales.

My guess? Not much. I don't believe anyone kids themselves into thinking that a 1/3 lb Angus beef burger with barbecue sauce, cheese and bacon, along with a large size of fries and a large COke, is a healthy 400 calorie meal. I figure most people will see on the sign that it will run from 1150 to 1700 calories, shrug, and say WTF, and go ahead and order the meal. And, after they've done it the one time, will never think about it again.

My cafeteria at work is really on a big eating healthy thing and they've started displaying the calorie and nutrition counts of various things and its definitely shaping my selection of lunch items -- things I used to get and then now I see they are 800 calories for a serving versus yesterday was a skinless, boneless chicken breast with a balsalmic barbeque like sauce and 1/4 cup of steamed brocolli and that was like about 300 calories.

So, keep reading those nutrition labels all you Shamrocks and make good choices. Its not magic, its about good choices and as Fenton said, exercise!

I'm fanatic about reading labels.....to high of a fat or carb number will definitely sway my decision.

I agree that posting it is not going to make a huge difference to most people. It's mostly about convenience. People are in a hurry and only have so much money....so they forgo nutrition for a full belly.

I see it at work all of the time......

I think it's a gret idea and I think that people would be surprised by how many calories some things contain. I believe the average person just does not think much about calorie content and maybe this will cause people to start questioning their choices.

I recently read an article about childhood obesity causing fatty liver disease in early adulthood leading to more liver transplants at an earlier age. This is really sad. It's totally controllable. Sad.

Christine

I too use the daily plate web site to log what I eat, I also use it before I go out to eat, or when I am trying to figure out where I want to go eat... they opened a Sonics not to far from us, and the kids wanted to go, so I went on daily plate and couldn't find anything under 400 calories!!!!! That was for popcorn chicken... needless to say we haven't gone and I told DH he might have to take the kids and go without me, I just am not finding it worth it!!!!

Went to the gym today and worked out, felt good to get it done for the day, I was the only one there!! I like it when its quiet.

Well, I weighed in again - the damage wasn't TOO bad - I'm basically up 9 pounds. But, still, if I think that I've lost two months in which I'd have lost at least 10 pounds a month, I'm effectively up almost 30 pounds above where I should be right now.

DAMN!

If this snowboarding trip in February is going to happen, I'm going to have to work hard. Particularly if I'm going to spend the entire month of December in Paris.

ALSO! I hate October on a diet! Endless open bowls of mini-bars of Snickers and Twix during the run-up to Halloween. Plus I'm going to be at the Bouchercon Thriller WRiter festival in October, which means socializing in restaurants. I should probably get a fill before I go, because this one just ain't happenin'...

Go get that fill. Before I reached my sweet spot, I could not believe I would ever be able to reach 80lbs weight loss by my 1 yr anniversary in March. Now I easily see that happening by Christmas! Maybe even by Thanksgiving if I really get my but to excersizing.

With the right restriction you have tha extra bit of control. Use the tool. It's just waiting to be used.

Christine

Fenton, I too am very glad you're home, I also look forward to reading about your dau in NY, you have a way of telling the story that makes us seem like we were there... I know, the writer in you.

As far as family, I was the only heavy one in my family and in my group of friends. Sorta lost down to a half way normal weight weight when I was 18 but marriage and children took care of that.

Right now I am tickled that I am out of women's clothes and feel better about myself.

It was nice to ready everyone's posts after coming back home from a weekend trip to Boise with my oldest daughter.

I think I was probably the only person on the place estimating how much seatbelt strap was hanging out after I tightened the buckle. I am short, so I always had leg room, but it was fun to have over 18 inches of belt room left. I also knew I looked almost normal - the same amount of seat left over on either side of me. (I still have to qualify with the "almost".) I didn't have to squish onto my daughter's side to make sure I wasn't taking up any of a stranger's seat.

Now if only my poor daughter, who danced beautifully, would have had the results to show for it. But she did seem to perk up a bit after some dessert at Maggie Moo's. It sounds like I am creating an issue for her here!

I haven't posted in a long time. I was just able to return home from Hurricane Ike. Hurricane season sucks. My home is good though and we have power on my street. When Hurricane Rita hit it was more like 4+ weeks without power so the power company is going much quicker this time. My weight is holding pretty steady, not losing but not gaining and in these high stress times I think that is pretty good for me. I live in an area that took a direct hit from TS Edourd, then we evacuated for Gustav, but didn't get much wind or rain from that system. We live east of Sabine Pass about 30 miles inland. So many people in the area weren't so lucky.

welcome back Fenton, it sounds like your time away was a needed gathering of thoughts and organizing some feelings. That's never a waste of time.

What we did find out is that we all need each other in some quirky way.

The nice thing about life is that there is always tomorrow. Glas to see your back and glad you have a fill.

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