Ok, I'm back on the forum and ready to restart my journey. It seems I've taken a long vacation from doing what I need to do...kind of like nearly 2 years. I haven't gained any weight back, I just haven't lost any. So now it begins...I am determined to do this.

Just a recap. I was banded in Oct 2009. My journey began at 309. I had great success early on then I, let me stress I stopped doing what I needed to do. For at least 18 months I have been up and down from 245-252. The lowest I have ever been with the band was 237 for maybe a minute on one random day. I usually stayed between 242-245.

I have decided that I have slacked off long enough. I have gone more regulary to the doctor for fills. It had been nearly a year since my last one when I went back in April. I went again in June and again just yesterday. I have to wrap my head around the fact that it doesn't matter how many ccs are in my band (9ccs in a 10cc realize band) but how my body is reacting to what I'm doing or not doing.

I have started going to water aerobics for 2 weeks now. I try to go three times a week Mon/Wed/Fri mornings. I know this will change once school starts. I'll only be able to go twice a week on Tues/Thurs afternoons if I'm lucky. I am determined to make this a priority. I'm planning on cutting back my after school hours to one day week for tutoring this year. I'm not going to stay in that building until 7pm this year. I am also going to be back in grad school to earn the next level of certification. I think more than ever, I will need the exercise of either water aerobics or Curves as an outlet for stress.

I am blessed to have a supportive family. My husband and son are wonderful. My son, who is 19, always talks about whether I should really try to eat something. He worries. My husband is there for whatever I need. Last night I had such painful gas trapped as I was trying to sleep that he woke up and rubbed my back for 30 minutes in the middle of the night when he had to get up and go to work.

So I guess in rambling about all of this, I am trying to tell myself that I have no excuses. So here I go!