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I was told at the start of my journey to drink at the least 60 oz of water a day, but more would be better. During the week I do great, drinking around 100 oz. Well guess what during the week my weight goes down! On the weekends I am a slacker. The hubs and I don't have kids and take advantage of sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings. We normally rise around 8-9 am verses our M-F routine of getting up at 5. We are not morning people and never have been. However, this getting up late wreaks havoc with my water intake. I strictly follow my doctors rule of not drinking during or 30 min after a meal. I find this is a big help in not getting hungry so soon. When I don't get up until 8-9, I miss out on getting that extra time for fluids. On M-F I would have already downed about 60 oz. I tend to drink very little between dinner time and bed time for potty reasons, therefore, I don't drink as much as I should. Looking back over my records for the past couple of months the pattern that I see is, my weight drops during the week and on the weekends rises. I believe this is for 2 reasons- 1-Friday night is my night off cooking (this was established at the on set of the relationship and I like it!) We eat out, but I choose as healthy as possible, but the sodium levels do tend to be high (read water retention) 2- Since I do not drink enough water on the weekends the water that is retained due to the upped sodium count is not flushed out. The pattern clear shows that from Friday morning to Sunday morning my weight will go up about 2-3 lbs. By Tuesday morning my weight is back down lower than it was on Friday morning due to getting in all the extra water on Monday. So, it looks like I must get better at the water on the weekends thing. But, this does clearly show me that my water intake as well as my sodium intake has a big effect on my weight. This is my little scientifc experiment.

I feel fantastic today..... My stomach has completely stopped hurting, I dont feel tired any more (the first few days I was so sleepy). My back no longer aches, and it feels like the stitches are healing nicely. I do have some decent bruising around the entry points, but nothing that wont go away... it isn't like I'm wearing a bikini or anything so that is not that big of a deal. the truth is, if I woke up from surgery like this I would find it very hard to believe they actually did anything while they were in there. I'm staying focused on healing right now. AND I'm also trying to read as many blogs and advice from veteran SUCCESSFUL bandsters. It is pretty clear that this thing feels and works differently in every one, but from what I can tell, those that grasp that this is simply a tool that will HELP us lose weight, instead of a "fat cure" are the ones that have the most long term success. this is a life style change... and I'm going to embrace it for all it is worth!

Since surgery I have had an issue that I didnt discuss much as no one seems to have the same problem. I get a thick white coating on my tounge and in my throat that has been driving me insane!It got progressively worse over the last month. Yesterday I realized it must have soemthing to so with the milk Im drinking.I cut back on the milk,but not a lot,and because of this I became dry.I could feel my lips was even getting dry.So,I tackled a bottle of water,which I dont do often as I still struggle to drink water,and almost immediately the mouth started feeling better. Today I cut the milk a little more and had a lot more water.My mouth was actually fine most of the day except tonight when I had a large cup of tea with lots of milk and didnt rinse my mouth immediately.I am now chugging some water and my mouth already feels better.I still dont know why the milk does this but I now realize that water is super important.Not tea,not crystal light but water. My mission for this week is to double my water intake.The dr halved my BP meds and there is a powerful diuretic in it.Of course I will have to stay away from the scale for at least a week (hehehe...who am I kidding?) as I will go up in water weight.But they say the best cure for that is more water.Will also juice some celery and cucumber as it is a diuretic as well. Went for a dexa scan today and some bloods.Vit D and A is low.LDL is still a bit high but HDL is also high,which is great!Will see what the B12 is like. Ok,now tomorrow I am going to exercise.I think if I keep on saying it,it will be so!

Moved to solid foods on Friday, not only have Mistress Band and I not been on the best of terms since then, my weight loss stopped. This is why when we talk about calories in versus calories out, we always need to look at the big picture rather than the daily total. Once my body gets used to what I am feeding it, the loss will start up again. Until then I just need to concentrate on making sure that I am eating what and how much I am supposed to, getting my water and exercise in. On the plus side, I had my first spin class yesterday and survived.

It took me 12 years to finally talk myself into getting the band. I have dropped 18 lbs since surgery and couldn't be happier. I have so much energy. It is great I have alot of support from my husband and kids. My middle son who is 6'1 and 185 has started to drop weight and eat healthier. My husband is watching what he eats as well. We take walks together more often. Before surgery we already didn't eat red meat or pork. No High Fructose Corn Syrup is allowed in my house. And we are gluten free. You would think we all would be toothepicks the way we eat. But I struggled with weight loss for the last 12 years and just had enough of the diets and the scale not going nowhere. I am so happy to have done this and i know to be successful i am going to have to put in alot of hard work. I am already up to 1 hour on the treadmill. i Just had my surgery on Jan 22nd 2013.

I am currently reading 703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life by Nancy Makin. It is a well written memoir about her struggle with obesity. I Googled her this morning and came across an excerpt from an old blog post of hers that resonated with me. This same struggle will be one I deal with for as long as I am alive, hopefully I can continue on this path with honesty and grace. http://www.amazon.co...-1&keywords=703 http://nancymakin.wordpress.com/ Your plan may be vastly different. Small steps make for big changes down the road. If you can’t do a lot, do what you can; excuses are just that… excuses for not moving forward. If you do this, you are sabotaging your future. If you act like a victim, you’ll always be a victim. If you want change, change the things you can, however insignificant they seem right now. Each positive act will bring results, just as surely as negative ones do…. they will change what you think, about you, your capabilities and about the world around you. Do it for yourself, because you are valuable. Exercise, ie: activity, is only one aspect of a human being’s life. We are a mixture of body, mind and spirit. Neglecting any one of the “whole” causes the disconnect that leaves us faltering, unsure and feeling incomplete. Give your love and time to someone else today in any way you can and watch the magic that’s released. You will begin to treat yourself as you treat others… Little gestures move mountains. Believe.

I may have overdone it a bit today. My husband and I have been taking a class on Saturdays - the class lasts about 6 hours and we only have 3 more weeks. If we didn't go today we would have to start over. SOOO I decided to go. Because I haven't told anyone about the surgery I just wore baggy cloths and sat in the back . i have to admit, I feel pretty decent. Didn't take any pain medication today. My stomach has rumbled and gurgled all day long and YES the incision point is very sore; YES it feels like I just did 1000 situps (I wish I were capable of that)... and yes, my back aches but consider some of the horror stories I've read, I am feeling very very lucky. I don't seem to have any trouble drinking liquids today I had 3 big glasses of chicken broth, 2 glasses of crystal light and one protein shake. however, I did try a little orange juice and quickly decided that was a bad idea. It did not sit well on my stomach. I was asked by someone what my incisions look like... so I decided to add a photo of them so you can see the band aides... once the incisions heal I'll add photos of those as well.

I would really hate to think I was being paid a service and the person paying me did not take my knowledge that I went to medical school for 12 years enough that they would have to get help on a website for medical issues. I can not believe that people really refuse to call their doctors after surgery. They are getting paid to take care of you and a pretty penny I might add. Issues regarding pain, swelling, chest pain, can't eat or drink, throwing up, leg pain, what you should be eating are all questions that your surgeon should be answering. They are getting paid 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you are having chest pain dont post it here, get your butt to the er. If you are vomiting and cant stop, feel dehydrated, cant keep food down, have leg pain or any kind of unnormal pain then call your doctors. I dont know why you all are scared of them. I have my doctors personal cell phone that I can call anytime I am having an issue and he will answer every single time. We are not medical professionals and posting here when you are having chest pain you could have been to the ER or dead by the time you"re done typing it. Stop playing with your lives and your bands. Call your surgeons if you are having these issues. What really are you afraid of? That you're bothering them? Well bother them they make 4 times the amount that most of us make a year for a service. A service they chose to have.

Today My weight is the same than last week but I am doing good.No gin and tonics..lol,clean eating! Cauliflour does not agree with me,even when pulverized in the food prosessor,dont know why. ThenI decided to put what I ate in December,lost nearly 17 pounds in 6 weeks,into fitday to see how many of what I was eating.Calories worked out to 1200 plus per day.Fats were 55 plus and carbs were about 70. At first I thought I must have made a mistake.But I did it twice and the results came out the same. This is shocking as all I ate for weeks were the following.I would take chicken breast,cup into atrips or veal cut into strips or pork cut into strips and dust it with flour.17oz of chicken takes about a cup of flour.Then I would put olive oil in the bottom of the wok and fry it.When the oil was gone,I would add more!I didnt measure it but I am sure that it was a lot that I used! Now,maybe I didnt eat as much as I think I did.Maybe I ate less of it after a week or so as usually when I eat protein only I gradually start eating less.I had 5 cups of tea with milk and 2 dolci gusto cappuchinos per day.Very little water,maybe one small bottel during the day and half at night. With only 2 pounds to goal I am going to try that again this week. At 10 and a half months out I do feel that I can eat more and should start weighing my food again.I ate like this because I regularly get a stomach ache when I eat veggies.Any veggies.I also cannot eat fruit as this causes acid even though I am on a PPI. Now to just reach goal already and then to decide if I should drop more weight.Acouple of my friend's husbands no less,have commented that I am now getting to skinny.Thr girls just say they dont recognize me!I just wish I could see what other people say they see.(they might always be lying..lol) I now wear a size 12 pants and top even though I havent lost more weight but it is very clear that my shape is changing,and not all for the good.I have saddlebags on my upper legs that appeared over the past couple of weeks and my boobs are now a size 36 C.One thing I never realized was that as we get older our waistline increases even when there isnt fat anymore.I use to be very curvy when I was young but now I am straight as a plank and my waist seems to have widened...lol.But I need to just get this weight loss phase over and done with now.It still takes up too much of the space in my head and I just dont want this anymore. I had a bit of a realitly check today when I witnessed a motorcyclist die in an accident.Life is short and all this seems so much less important tonight and in the bigger scheme of things.Accepting myself and others and living life the way the Lord has intended fo me to do is what my focus should be on all the time.I am second!But while Im counting and weighing and logging and cooking and posting I do get a bit consumed with myself which is not the way I should live my life! One more week to goal (positive self talk..lol)

Hi Everyone, It has been a very long time since I posted. The last time was 8 days post op. I have been following a sleevers page on facebook but I miss this forum so I'm back to stay. It has been 4 1/2 months since my surgery. I have lost 70 pounds. It seems the weight loss is slowing down a LOT! It gets frustrating but I realize that I wouldn't have able to lose 70 pounds without this surgery. I'm so glad I did it even though I questioned myself right after. I am almost off all of my hypertensive medication which is so awesome because I was on two different ones and have had HBP since I was in my early 20's. I was also a borderline diabetic before the surgery and now my numbers are great! I can't thank God enough for this opportunity and blessing to have this surgery. I did have to pay for it because my insurance sucks and won't pay for hardly anything but I know it was so worth it. I'm a little concerned that my weight loss has slowed. I had hoped that the honeymoon phase would last at least 6 months but it seems for me it hasn't. It is really hard for me to lose 2 pounds a week now. I am eating well and getting in all of my protein first. I do have hypothyroidism due to ablation of my thyroid so that may have something to do with it. I do know that there is no way I would have been able to lose 70 pounds in 4 1/2 months without this surgery. I'm so thankful!! In the last two weeks I was able to walk 2 5k's! Before, that would have never been possible. I was close to 300 pounds. My pre op weight was 297 and now I'm 222! Can't wait to be in onederland! I hope to be there by Christmas! What a wonderful gift that would be. Ok... so everyone have a great day and I definitely am staying on this forum! God bless! Most recent pic with my daughter attached!