Hi everyone--I thought I'd listen to some advice from one of the other monthly groups and start one master thread in which we have an ongoing discussion/updates. I don't know about you all but I certainly spend most of my time on these boards on the pre-op forum and the general forum, not here. It would be nice to have just one thread to go to once in this forum.

We can maybe start out with introductions?

As for me, I'm going the "online privacy" route for now (paranoid that people I haven't told about this will somehow stumble across me on this site I guess, which is crazy, I know) but I can give you the big picture:

You can call me Penny, I'm 27, single and live in the Washington, DC area. I have a background in politics (which is why I live in DC) but now I'm a librarian which is much cooler and way more fun (trust me on that). Oh, and there's no "Marion the Librarian" thing with me either. One of the things I hear most frequently (besides the cliche "you have such a pretty face") is "but you don't LOOK like a librarian", which is another one of those bizarre backhanded compliments that you never really know how to take.

Personality wise, I'm kind of dorky, big into public radio and books and popular science. Oh, I'm also a little on the paranoid side (as you may be able to tell from earlier in this post). Beyond that I'm just kind of silly and friendly, VERY much so into traveling and I'm an aspiring "green" domestic diva (but that's not going so well).

Tuesday weigh in: 1 more pound gone, I will take it. I'm happy with 1lb at a time!

CONGRATS! I am going this morning for my first WL sesson. I will report in later.

Hey Ladies... sorry I have been MIA. I guess I have kinda felt out of place since my pregnancy put me on hold and you all continued to lose.. I got my fill back in January and I tried to hook up with the January 2010 bandsters and that wasnt happening because they are all in that fresh loss liquid phase and it was annoying when Im in my lost 33lbs.. gained 30lbs post babyness.. so now Im back.

I have lost 14lbs since my fill.. but now the scale is just stuck.. I dont dare get a fill since I am pbing more than I ever did before.. just stupid stuff. life on the run with 2 little ones and my hubby in med school makes me eat too fast and make bad choices. Im not too tight.. I think Im just right.. I just need to cut out the high calorie foods,,

I developed a milk allergy with this last pregnancy that hasnt gone away so I think I am allowing myself to indulge in sugary foods because I cant eat SO much with the milk allergy.. its like I have to suffer with that so I allow myself this little thing to reward myself for the pain and suffering of never eating cheese, milk, ice cream, butter.. you get the point.. I need to cut the crap and cut out the crap. I am just not being honest with myself that the little cookie here.. or the little dark chocolate there is adding up to more calories than I need.. I am Breast feeding too!! so I should be burning more..

anyhow.. I hope yall will accept me back..

and Kimaly.. I lost the diamond out of my engagement ring 2 weeks ago!!! prongs bent sometime through my day and it fell out!! it was so crappy! so I understand your pain.. I thought for sure it was a goner.. my cleaning lady found it while sweeping! so maybe it will turn up.. so sorry.. I know its such a bad feeling.. I hope you recover them! and you go girl with the friend thing.. I know its not easy cutting out someone youve invested so much with.. but you have made the right choice.. I had a friend for about 10 years that was bad news.. she used me so bad.. and I just kept her around because I felt bad for her.. but it got to be too much so I just cut her out.. I thought why am I this persons friend? a friend is someone that has your best interest in mind.. its so FREEING! hang in there.. its a good choice!

Hey Ladies... sorry I have been MIA. I guess I have kinda felt out of place since my pregnancy put me on hold and you all continued to lose.. I got my fill back in January and I tried to hook up with the January 2010 bandsters and that wasnt happening because they are all in that fresh loss liquid phase and it was annoying when Im in my lost 33lbs.. gained 30lbs post babyness.. so now Im back.

I have lost 14lbs since my fill.. but now the scale is just stuck.. I dont dare get a fill since I am pbing more than I ever did before.. just stupid stuff. life on the run with 2 little ones and my hubby in med school makes me eat too fast and make bad choices. Im not too tight.. I think Im just right.. I just need to cut out the high calorie foods,,

I developed a milk allergy with this last pregnancy that hasnt gone away so I think I am allowing myself to indulge in sugary foods because I cant eat SO much with the milk allergy.. its like I have to suffer with that so I allow myself this little thing to reward myself for the pain and suffering of never eating cheese, milk, ice cream, butter.. you get the point.. I need to cut the crap and cut out the crap. I am just not being honest with myself that the little cookie here.. or the little dark chocolate there is adding up to more calories than I need.. I am Breast feeding too!! so I should be burning more..

anyhow.. I hope yall will accept me back..

and Kimaly.. I lost the diamond out of my engagement ring 2 weeks ago!!! prongs bent sometime through my day and it fell out!! it was so crappy! so I understand your pain.. I thought for sure it was a goner.. my cleaning lady found it while sweeping! so maybe it will turn up.. so sorry.. I know its such a bad feeling.. I hope you recover them! and you go girl with the friend thing.. I know its not easy cutting out someone youve invested so much with.. but you have made the right choice.. I had a friend for about 10 years that was bad news.. she used me so bad.. and I just kept her around because I felt bad for her.. but it got to be too much so I just cut her out.. I thought why am I this persons friend? a friend is someone that has your best interest in mind.. its so FREEING! hang in there.. its a good choice!

Welcome Back Butterfly! We need all the support we can get. I started a medically supervised liquid diet today.

4-protein shakes-800cals

no more than 50 carbs a day

lots of water.....divide your weight by 2.....that is the number of ozs you need to drink a day

you can use half a cup of yogurt or low fat milk in the shake or half a cup of fruit.

20 min of exercise a day....no weights....not good to use too many calories when the calorie intake is low

I can eat a green salad with 4oz of turkey or chicken once in awhile

This is my first day. I won't lie.....I am not hungry, but I have a headache. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. She said that I shouldn't be hungry after 3 days.

Okay, you know what I know. I just saved you 300 bucks a month. lol

Hey Ladies... sorry I have been MIA. I guess I have kinda felt out of place since my pregnancy put me on hold and you all continued to lose.. I got my fill back in January and I tried to hook up with the January 2010 bandsters and that wasnt happening because they are all in that fresh loss liquid phase and it was annoying when Im in my lost 33lbs.. gained 30lbs post babyness.. so now Im back.

I have lost 14lbs since my fill.. but now the scale is just stuck.. I dont dare get a fill since I am pbing more than I ever did before.. just stupid stuff. life on the run with 2 little ones and my hubby in med school makes me eat too fast and make bad choices. Im not too tight.. I think Im just right.. I just need to cut out the high calorie foods,,

I developed a milk allergy with this last pregnancy that hasnt gone away so I think I am allowing myself to indulge in sugary foods because I cant eat SO much with the milk allergy.. its like I have to suffer with that so I allow myself this little thing to reward myself for the pain and suffering of never eating cheese, milk, ice cream, butter.. you get the point.. I need to cut the crap and cut out the crap. I am just not being honest with myself that the little cookie here.. or the little dark chocolate there is adding up to more calories than I need.. I am Breast feeding too!! so I should be burning more..

anyhow.. I hope yall will accept me back..

and Kimaly.. I lost the diamond out of my engagement ring 2 weeks ago!!! prongs bent sometime through my day and it fell out!! it was so crappy! so I understand your pain.. I thought for sure it was a goner.. my cleaning lady found it while sweeping! so maybe it will turn up.. so sorry.. I know its such a bad feeling.. I hope you recover them! and you go girl with the friend thing.. I know its not easy cutting out someone youve invested so much with.. but you have made the right choice.. I had a friend for about 10 years that was bad news.. she used me so bad.. and I just kept her around because I felt bad for her.. but it got to be too much so I just cut her out.. I thought why am I this persons friend? a friend is someone that has your best interest in mind.. its so FREEING! hang in there.. its a good choice!

I missed you and glad to have you back how is the baby

Shrinknme, Thank you so much. And how fantastic to have you back.:thumbup: Don't worry about who has lost more or who has gotten to goal or so on and so on. We all started this journey togather and I would like to follow through togather no matter what. As I'm sure you know we all have our ups and downs some of the butterflies are already to goal and others still have a way to go and some have had bolder after boulder thrown in there path and are still trying to figure out how to get around or over them. So bottom line we would love to have you stick around. How's that beautiful baby?

Thanks for the info Charlene, Boy 800 calories sure is low. I find it quite hard to get my water in. I guess because I can't put down the coffee(it's decafe) but just can't seem to put it down.

Good for you. I have lost 50 and would like to lose about 20 more. I have had a spell where I fell off the eating wagon so now I am back on and doing so much better. I am glad to see there are people still out there losing after two years

Good for you. I have lost 50 and would like to lose about 20 more. I have had a spell where I fell off the eating wagon so now I am back on and doing so much better. I am glad to see there are people still out there losing after two years

Good to hear from you Sparkles.......I hope more of our Butterflies report their Victories!

thanks all! My baby boy is doing well.. He is almost 5 months now.. rolling over and such a good baby. he is so much more low maintenance than my daughter.. she is 2.5 and killing me! LOL Shes great.. just has a strong personality like her momma :thumbup: I guess I only have me to blame for that one!

Charlene..thanks for the info.. thats an intense thing..I hope it works out for you. my mom did a Dr. supervised liquid diet once.. she was very successful but then gained all the weight back and ended up doing the stomach re-sectioning surgery. I cant do liquids because I am breastfeeding and need to have at least 1500 calories a day to maintain that. even when I got the surgery they had to bump me up off of liquids pretty fast because I was losing too fast and it wasnt healthy for my daughter.. I am doing weight watchers and its working out well for me. its good to have the accountability of what I put in my mouth. its great you have lost so much weight! I cant wait to get back to where I was before the baby.. I was fitting in clothes that I hadnt fit in since highschool and it was nice! Im almost half way to that point again!

thanks all! My baby boy is doing well.. He is almost 5 months now.. rolling over and such a good baby. he is so much more low maintenance than my daughter.. she is 2.5 and killing me! LOL Shes great.. just has a strong personality like her momma :thumbup: I guess I only have me to blame for that one!

Charlene..thanks for the info.. thats an intense thing..I hope it works out for you. my mom did a Dr. supervised liquid diet once.. she was very successful but then gained all the weight back and ended up doing the stomach re-sectioning surgery. I cant do liquids because I am breastfeeding and need to have at least 1500 calories a day to maintain that. even when I got the surgery they had to bump me up off of liquids pretty fast because I was losing too fast and it wasnt healthy for my daughter.. I am doing weight watchers and its working out well for me. its good to have the accountability of what I put in my mouth. its great you have lost so much weight! I cant wait to get back to where I was before the baby.. I was fitting in clothes that I hadnt fit in since highschool and it was nice! Im almost half way to that point again!

I had asked for a revision to a sleeve and he said he wanted me to do the liquid protein and give the band a rest(meaning fills won't fix my problem). So, I am doing it. I am not hungry, but I am anxious. I guess I am getting in touch with what really sets off my bad eating habits. Hopefully, through this I will form better habits.

I had asked for a revision to a sleeve and he said he wanted me to do the liquid protein and give the band a rest(meaning fills won't fix my problem). So, I am doing it. I am not hungry, but I am anxious. I guess I am getting in touch with what really sets off my bad eating habits. Hopefully, through this I will form better habits.

Thats awesome Charlene! I hope you will accomplish what youve set out to do! youve already done great so far!

I am in your corner, cheering for you, Charlene!!! You can do this!:Banane20:

I am in your corner, cheering for you, Charlene!!! You can do this!:Banane20:

Me too Charlene you can do this :Banane20:

:huggie:

Hey have any of you really look at all the pics of the banannas they are perverted LOL

Me too Charlene you can do this :Banane20:

:Banane20:

Hey have any of you really look at all the pics of the banannas they are perverted LOL

Thanks for a the cheers. Yesterday I had

2coffee w/ half bottle of Projoe in ea. (vanilla)

3 protein shakes -1/2c cup of cherry carbmaster yogurt w/chocolate protein powder

Then I caved before I went to bed I had 1 low fat mozarella stick

70 of water

Not bad for the first full day

20min of bike

Just checking in. Last week I had a craving for chocolate chip cookies, so I went out and bought a package. I ate some, well I ate too many, not the whole package, but still too many. I got on the scale a few days later and it was up 2 lbs. I don't believe I ate 7000 calories worth of cookies, but whatever. This week has been pretty bad. I discovered that I can tolerate my whole grain spaghetti and have been eatin that with ground turkey meatsauce this week. It's almost gone. Today will be the last of it. Anywho, I'm trying to get these 2 lbs off as well as my last 20 lbs so I can reach goal.

That's alright Blaze, I ate a snicker bar yesterday. I'm trying hard to stay away from those malted robin eggs, They kicked my butt last year.

Good going Charlene, I like the pro joe. I have it on auto delivery. But I do the mocha. I haven't tried the vanilla yet, What do you think of it? I think I like the atkins better but the pro joe has fewer calories and more protein so I kinda switch off between the two. And 20min. on a bike is good, I was trying to start the couch to 5k yesterday and after 12minutes I was shot, I didn't even do the whole 20min. So I'm thinking it's gonna just take me longer then the 9wks they say it will take.