Okay so we have been having a hard time and the thought has crossed many minds wondering if we are a dying breed. I say no way! I need you all, and I need to keep chatting away if I'm going to get anywhere near that finish line.

In one of the threads here it was suggested by another that we just create one master thread where we can communicate. Make it easier to stay in touch, and is something many of the other monthly groups do to stay in touch.

I know for me that is really important, and something we have never done before.

Please don't leave guys... check in! It doesn't even always have to be about losing weight or whatever. Just tell us all what's going on, whatever it is.

Wow! Everyones's done sooo well! Congratulations all! I haven't done too much in the last year. I probably would have been even bigger had I not been banded. it definitley is part of me now and I have adapted. Still have occasional bad habits, and go off the eating wagon. I am debating on a fill as I have been the same for several mos, but I dont know if i am ready to just do liquids and softs for a while .Help! Any idea??

Um, HELLO.... Hello.... hellooooo.....

Where the heck is everyone? :thumbup:

Us February 2008 Bandsters have all gone!!!!!

I'm not doing super good. I still have not lost any weight in a very long time and I'm still far behind in the game. However, it took awhile but I've learned something very valuable. Nothing is going to get the weight off and keep it off except YOU. I do have alot of headwork to do and in the meantime I will continue to fight.

I hope to see some check-ins!

Um, HELLO.... Hello.... hellooooo.....

Where the heck is everyone? :thumbup:

Us February 2008 Bandsters have all gone!!!!!

I'm not doing super good. I still have not lost any weight in a very long time and I'm still far behind in the game. However, it took awhile but I've learned something very valuable. Nothing is going to get the weight off and keep it off except YOU. I do have alot of headwork to do and in the meantime I will continue to fight.

I hope to see some check-ins!

Hey Lil Miss Diva! It has been much too long since I`ve checked in here! My band has been empty for awhile, my port was leaking. So I haven`t lost any either. But I got it revised on may 24th and also had a hernia repair and a tummy tuck! they took off 9 pounds for the tummy tuck. yay! I`m so excited to not have my big flab of belly anymore. I`m anxious to be able to work out again. any problems with your band?

Hey Jul!! Only problem I had with my band was the reflux issues. But once my Dr. took out some fill those problems went away, but in the mean time now I'm hungry all the time and I can eat ALOT!! :-(

Congrats on the Tummy Tuck, I bet you look fabulous! I hope your other band issues resolve quick. You're too nice a person to struggle much. :tongue2: Nice to hear from you!

Just checking in to let you guys know I had my baby. He was born June 9th at 8 pounds. He is healthy and sweet. I'll be back before too long to address my weight and band issues. Until then, enjoy!

Congrats on your baby boy! What did you name him?

Blessings,

Brenda

Just checking in to let you guys know I had my baby. He was born June 9th at 8 pounds. He is healthy and sweet. I'll be back before too long to address my weight and band issues. Until then, enjoy!

Yay congratulations!!!!

I'm having weight and band issues too... however I didn't have a baby but I do have a good excuse! Both of my knees are defunct now.

His name is Aaron. His big brother's name is Adam. The baby has been called Adam more than by his own name. I can't blame anyone but myself for double A names.

Lil Miss, that's so rough! It's hard enough to get our exercise in without our bodies rebelling.

I went for a walk today. I'm 6 days post partum. I cannot believe how difficult it was. I think I may be rushing things a bit. I'll give it a few more days before I try again. I still hurt quite a bit in the ab region. Go figure!

Anyone else rededicating? I'm ready to get started again on my weight loss. Here is my latest blog post. The link is in my signature if you're interested in seeing the whole blog.

Melissa

Well, I'm back. I'm ready to get this weight off and get back to my pre-baby size. So here we go!

As of right now I have no fill in my band. The nearest fill-doctor is over four hours away, so as of right now, I'm going to see what I can do on my own without having it filled. If I get stuck and can't lose any more, then I will look into getting fluid put back in my band.

Honestly, I don't miss the restrictions of the band as far as having to eat slowly and some foods that I can't tolerate. If I can do this without having to get that restriction, I think I will enjoy the eating aspect of my life much more.

So as I posted before, I gained way more weight with this pregnancy than I had ever intended to. It ended up being about 75 lbs. So, right now, in order to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I have 50 pounds left to lose. Yay for already being 25 pounds down from my baby's birth three weeks ago!

I have tried to exercise a couple of times since baby was born, but both times I ended up in pain and really worn out. I think I was jumping the gun just a bit. I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I didn't make it more than about half a mile either time. My abdominal muscles were very weak and sore throughout. I will try again soon and see if I'm ready yet.

My biggest problems that have caused my weight gain are not exercising and eating too many sweets. So this week, I started back on not eating sweets. I will allow myself one occasion of sweet-eating per week. (Like a party, or movie, etc.) I'm on day three of no desserts and down four pounds so far. Not bad results. It really shows me that sweets make a huge difference in my weight.

So I will be posting much more regularly to keep myself accountable and update you on my progress. Stay tuned!

Melissa, great work already!! I admire your work ethic, I totally believe you can do it - with or without the band. I believe that is true for everyone on this entire website.

True enough the band helps, but does it make it easier? I say "no" emphatically. No because IMHO it actually makes it so much more difficult. You are constantly in pain, foods that are meant to enjoy once in awhile, you are completely restricted from. So, when that doctor loosens the noose - guess what? Yeah, you got it, you kinda go berserk with it. That's pretty much what I've been doing the last 6 months since my major unfill.

Well my body is expanding, as well it should. I'm back up into size 22's again - and 1x tops. Ok, well maybe not as bad as 30's and 3x, true enough - but guess what? If I have a blasee attitude I'll be there again before I know it.

Thank you Melissa for posting this!! I as of this morning made a pact with myself. GET RIGHT GIRL!!! I've gone through so much to lose the weight and I'm failing not anyone but myself. So like I said, GET RIGHT!! I woke up at quarter after 3 am this morning to do my workout before work. Yes I did, and guess what? I feel awesome! How soon we forget the healthy lifestyle makes you feel so blasted great.

In the same manner as you I'm just going to do it. I'm going to keep my band as tight as it is right now and just do the right things. Eat healthy most of the time and workout as anyone should. The weight WILL without fail come off as long as I'm doing this. I don't need no tight band to make this happen. I'M DOING THE WORK -- NOT THE BAND! Now I will use my tool perhaps down the line when my portions need to be reduced by alot, but until then... It's me and my will power from here.

Best of luck to all! I would really love to have everyone check in so we can see how we are faring. This weight thing is gonna be a challenge for the rest of our lives. I know that's true.

I came within 50 Lbs of my goal. Now I'm back to needing to lose 100... yeah, yeah, sad - wah wah - but crying isn't gonna get me back. Being STONG and willing IS.

We can do this, Irene. We really can.

Clothing has been one of the biggest pains for me through this. I expanded quickly into maternity clothes, and then into bigger maternity clothes. Now that I'm not pregnant, none of my pre-pregnancy things fit anymore, so I'm still wearing those bigger maternity clothes. Not great for the self-esteem.

I was wearing 14s and some 12s before getting pregnant. Now I can't even fit into size 18 pants. Sigh. Oh well, it will come. It's just frustrating. I guess I will have to buy some in between sizes until I can get back into my old stuff. I don't regret getting rid of my bigger sizes, but it would sure come in handy right now to have some of them.

I will keep checking in to keep tabs on you, Lil Miss.

Awesome! Let's do this!

I don't regret throwing out all my biggie clothes either to be honest. I even refused to buy anything super expensive in the larger sizes too. I just bought me a few pairs of duds and told myself I'm not gonna dress cute again until I look cute again... lol. Ok not nice to say to myself but I'm just being real, ya know?

Definitely lets always check in. I'm going to make sure I'm posting again. In fact I (for the last few months) have been making monthly workout chat threads. It's in the fitness and exercise area. You are welcome to chime in if you like! A'la I'm down almost 3 Lbs already. Only 97 to go!! :-D

So far this week I've been down five pounds since Monday morning. I was back up one pound today, but a definite downward trend. :tt1:

I'm sure that one pound is just a fluke. That's the trouble with those of us who torture ourselves with daily weigh-ins. Though I know one thing, when I don't weigh daily - it goes up, then up and up and up...

Well, my official one-week weigh in showed a five pound loss. I'm down one more as of this morning. Losing weight is so much more exciting than gaining it!

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I plan on enjoying some cake and ice cream. 38 years old! I wonder what this year will hold.