Well i went in for my checkup. I have officially lost 35 lbs. this year. Do I want that back?? NO! But I lost all that by last November. I requested my doctor today and not the nurse pract. Sorry, but the guy is kind of goofy. Spent about 15 minutes going on about artificial sweetners. Now I seriously do not use much of that anymore so it is not an issue. I showed him a solid FIVE weeks of great exercise. I have lifted weights 3 times a week mostly upper body. I have hit the treadmill anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 to over an hour on many days! There were only TWO days where I did no formal exercise! I put it on a calendar for him to see! Then I used the Fit.com and put in my foods. So I had a week of foods for my dietician and then the old notebook I used before that. That Fit.com one is awesome! So easy to use, most foods are there, does a pie graph of carbs, fats, proteins. She really liked it! I guess I need more fruits and more veggies. When you are trying to not eat too much and then you eat your protein first, then the room in one cup of food for those is not there. But I will try. Guess what the doctor wants me to do, EAT MORE? What a hoot! I was trying to consume from 1100-1200 calories a day and all the exercising. They are wondering if I am putting myself in "starvation" mode so that my body is using the calories so efficiently I am not losing. So he did an analysis of how many calories I need a day at my ideal weight, and says to try to just cut out about 2-300 each day. I have read this idea is Mindless eating. Not so much you feel deprived but just enough to get some off. Anyway at that rate I should lose 1/2 lb a week and 30 lbs a year, then the next year 30 lbs. So in two years I should be at or near my goal. Well, it is true, I will still be here then. However, it is extremely hard to watch others lose at such a great rate and then here I am. But honestly if I could just lose steadily I can keep motivated! I looked at my Realize Band literature really close. It says 1-2 lbs a week. So I should have lost about 50 lbs. by now conservatively. Any way the doc wants me to consume about 1600 calories a day! To INCREASE my intake and see what happens. If in 3-4 weeks I am gaining, we will stop it, if it seems to be working then I need to eat more. OK, I will try that! Interesting. Also, as many have urged me, I asked him HOW he knows that the fluid in my band is still in there. He promised to draw it ALL out next time so we could check it and then he says he can put it back all at once. Interesting. Also I looked in the literature and then can put up to 9ml in a 9ml band. Sure enough he said he sure could. I now have 7ml and he said they would not necessarily stop. But no fill today. OK then. I asked how much (ml) the tube from the port to the band held. Even with a short length dang it, it hold a ml or two. He did not know that answer. Said the diameter of the tube was real small. Still there is some saline in it too! I looked and that as many as 10% of the people tested with the bands had leaks, holes, or the tube came off. So it should be checked. Just for my benefit as well! Doc also said he checked my barium swallow from March and it looked fine but it sure showed plenty of stuff is going through there pretty easily! I saw it! The book with the band clearly says that the patient should NOT BE ABLE to eat very large quantities of food and should therefore lose weight. It is right there in black and white! And they tell me I am the one who must do all the stopping and the band doesn't do much. Interesting. So I will start looking at 1600 calories. I will try to come up with a workout plan that I CAN continue when school starts. A "mini" routine maybe. Let's see how this goes now.....

hang in there...take one day at a time...