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

Amanda,

Thanks for checking in. I am so sorry you and your family are going through this. My prayers are with you all.

I find swimming laps is a great way to clear the mind. I had forgotten about that little fix. I dated a swimmer in college and he got me into the pool. Thanks for the reminder...maybe I'll find a pool.

Hugs,

Christine

Looks like I'm going to face the wrath of the claw today. I'm up one pound. The really scary part is that I'll be in Fenton's neighborhood this morning and I know he's very close to the claw!

Best of luck to everyone with weigh in.

Christine

Amanda, glad you could pop your head in here, gladder that you made it to the gym. In hugely stressful situations like yours, getting away to a gym and getting out of your head and back into your body is perfect therapy. Try and keep it up, if you can (and you can).

And give my thanks to your Dad! Who doesn't love praise???

Christine, I think the Claw is only interested in people who put on 2 lbs or more; I think that 1 pound up is within standard deviation for the measuring process, and wouldn't sweat it.

I'm down 5 this week, somewhat to my surprise. This puts me at 5 from my hundred, and I'm going to aim for the hundred for next week's weigh-in - unlikely I know, but only dreamers move mountains.

Hi Everyone, I am down -1 today. So I am now at 101. I was getting worried that I was stuck at the same weight with no loss. So I went and received a fill. So we will see how that goes. I feel really tight. :tt2: I hope that I am not too tight. Good luck to everyone.

Nice work, again.

I went down 5 lbs - and since I was bad until the last 3 1/2 days before weigh in, I assume it's mostly Water weight. But I'm determined to be good from now on.

I think my relationship is falling apart - and it may be for the best. It's a long distance thing at the moment, separated by almost 2000 miles, and it's hard for her and it's hard for me. But I'm grateful to her for showing me that I can still fall for someone and be with someone, despite my various issues. And I'm returning with my energy renewed to the fold.

Realizing that I'd just been fooling around for the last five months was a useful wake-up call, too.

The one thing that worries me is my pattern - I have a big loss, then I get complacent and blow-out my diet, and begin to go back up again. Rinse, lather, repeat.

But not this time, I think.

Although I do have to go out to my fave restaurant tomorrow night with a food writer friend, and it'll be a bit taste-y. We shall see! I went there tonight and I just had some fish, which is rare for me.

And a glass of Pinot, not so rare.

My esophogram was totally normal. I am scheduling an endoscopy. I might have to wait for DH to return from his trip to Hong Kong unless I can find someone to drive me or convince the MD to do it without sedation...do they do that?... Anyway...no fill for me. She won't give me one until we know for sure there is no ulcer.

I asked what would we do if the endoscopy is normal...she said I should really try to chew my food better....did not even know how to respond to that one.

Christine......feeling a bit discouraged.....

FYI - When I updated the Friday Weigh-In thread I accidently removed Potatie's 100 Pounds Lost comment. I agree with Fenton (I can't believe I am admitting this) We should post our big accomplished goals. Fenton suggested every 25 pounds. You may want to update your line on the thread or wait until next week.

I know each of us have lost an amazing amount of weight in just 9-10 months. Wonder what our collective weight loss is????

Amanda - glad to see that you have found a gym to get your mind off of things. Prayers are still coming your way.

Christine - I sure hope they find out exactly what is wrong with you so you can feel better.

Fenton - I am rooting for you for 5 pounds this week so you can make the big 100 too!!!

Well, I am off to finish the last minute details for my mothers suprise 70th birthday party for tomorrow. And yes, I will probably eat just a little cake and ice cream. Just enough to taste. MMMMmmm.... but not enough to fall off the wagon.

Arrgh.

dinner tonight - about 7 savory courses, a pre-dessert, three Desserts, petit fours. The whole 9 yards.

Argh.

I had only a shake for brunch, expecting the meal to be quite calorific, but it far exceeded my worst expectations. I suppose I could've just nibbled, but I didn't.

And now I feel super full, will have difficulty sleeping, and will wake up early.

My Bodybugg came Friday and I am in the midst of getting it set up and using it. I forget if any other Shamrocks are using one? Also, when you go to activate it has a medical history questionnaire and it did have a question if you've had any type of bariatric surgery and when I answered yes on that, it blocked me from finishing my activation until I consult with their dietitian and get a clear to keep going and let them develop the program. Bummer but I am wearing the Bodybugg itself now and its no big deal, I slept with it in bed last night without noticing it so that is good because you are supposed to wear it for as close to 24 hours as you can so that it measures your whole day of calorie burn. Then you connect it up with a USB cable to your computer and upload the data to empty the device memory to the website that does the tracking. So far because I have the dietitian block, I can't do the food tracking on their website for the calories eaten part so that when it does calories burned against calories eaten it should tell if you are getting deficit going meaning more calories burned versus eaten means losing weight.

Chime in if you are using one and what you think and I'll post here how its going for me.

Next surgeon office visit for me is Monday 8:30 am and I'm staying off the scale until Monday before I go so I'll update our tracker after that. Congrats to all who are doing so well. I really slowed down in the last month thus the even more dedicated tracking of calories and activity and food eaten. I'm committed...maybe a little obsessive about it at this point.

Whatever it takes....

Amanda, glad to hear from you, so sorry to hear about your mother, I'm continuing to keep you in my prayers. It's a hard thing going thru this, unfortunately, I went thru a similar experience with my mother almost 2 years ago before she passed. It's a rough go, but I'm sure you'll get thru it.

Fenton, I too, am knocking on the door of 100 lb weight loss and it's only about 4 1/2 lbs away for me. I'm hoping to reach that mark in the next couple of weeks if not before, WE can do it. Keep up the good work.

I plan on posting my before picture and my current picture once I reach the 100 lb weight loss so everyone can see my progress!!

Keep up the good work everyone!!

Well, Teri, you may beat me to the century. Not only was last night a night filled with sin, but TODAY I screwed up, too - I skipped Breakfast because we were going out to brunch, and brunch was a solid calorie hit, but manageable. But then we decided to get Cookies from this amazing cookie store; because of a mistake in how they filled our order we ended up with an extra three cookies. And I ended up eating three cookies instead of one, which would have been bad enough.

And the way I wolfed them down was bad - unconscious, compulsive eating, clearly just the behaviour which landed me in this ridiculous spot in the first place.

I know it's a hard time for me - my long distance relationship is pretty clearly breaking up, and I'd thought she was perfect for me. And she kinda was! Except she has her problems too, and then there's the distance, so... ANYWAY, long story short, it's so easy to fall into the trap of emotional eating, and I did.

But now I think I'm back in control. By way of penance, I walked over 5 miles today. And I think I deserve extra brownie points, because it was pretty bloody cold here in NYC today...

The End.

:thumbup:Fenton, don't beat yourself up over today's indulgence, we all do it. You walked 5 miles today, I give you kudo's for that!!

I know about the emotional eating all too well, eating from being bored is one of my biggest downfalls as well. That's why I just try to take one day at a time and try not to beat myself up over it when things don't work out the way I hoped.

Keep your chin up, we shall reach that century mark soon!!! :confused:

Amanda, thanks for checking in with us, we worry about our own. I am saying a prayer yet again for you and yours, I hope all is as well as it can be. Keep the faith.

Fenton, you make me drool more often than not over your food escapades. I live vicariously through you, good or bad, lol. That dinner sounded AMAZING. Courses? I can barely choke down a few ounces right now, lol. You are totally my food wet dream! However, you know where you messed up, you are incredibly intuitive, fix it and move on.

On to other things... Ladies and gentleman, we have restriction! I had a fill on Thursday, and I am now at 10.5 in a 14cc band. Boy, I thought I was at restriction before, but man, was I telling stories! I was totally in the dark as to how much I was actually eating, since it was so much less than I could consume pre-band. I can now eat comfortably 2-3 ounces, nothing more. And I have to eat that very slowly, super slowly. Slow to the point that my fam is worried that I am not eating enough. However, I am reveling in it! I am totally ok with eating so little, as I have spent my life eating soooo much. I have dropped 3 pounds this past week, and am officially over 100 pounds lost from my highest weight! Yay meeeeeeee!!!

Granted, I am just under 80 punds gone since surgery, but I take my victories where I can get them. I am also less than one percentage point from being merely obese, as opposed to morbidly obese. Let's raise our glasses to being Obese! Obesity, here I come!!!

Teri - I'm not really beating myself up over it. I did it, I enjoyed the food, although not so much the Cookies because the way I ate them worried me. But I think it's important to salute my slip-ups, to take note of them and recognize what they mean.

Last night at the restaurant, the chef came up to chat; my friend was writing something about the place, so I just wanted to give her a basic introduction - my plan was to order two appetizers, split a fish dish, split a meat dish and have dessert. But once the chef got involved, everything spiraled out of control. They wanted to show off to her, and she wanted to be shown off to. I suppose I could've eaten less of what was served, but in truth it was all so good that I didn't want to eat Just a Little.

It's funny, because it was an amazing meal, but I wasn't into it. It would be too cruel to list the menu, but I'll just mention the first course (because I suspect that it wouldn't thrill everyone on the board!): raw sea urchin with sea urchin ice cream and smoked trout eggs with 80 year old sherry vinegar...

But between last night and the cookies today, I had the motivation I needed to push myself to walk extra - including crossing Central Park after dark. So I'm pleased.

Lisa - we're weighing in every Friday, and posting in the Friday weigh-in thread. Join us there! And when you hit your Century, be sure to add it on behind your name...