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Okay, guys, this it is! No excuses, no whining, let's just make it happen! We know how to make this band work for us and 2015 will be our year!

SO good to hear from you guys!! @bacon - I’m so sorry about your troubles, but sounds like you have a great plan in place. I suppose surgery is today and I’ve asked God for peaceful, comfortable, and quick healing for you, friend. @2babutterfly - how’s life? You all healed and healthy after your health issues?

@bacon - walking 30 minutes a day is fantastic!! Way to go!!

Hey there @bacon! Congrats on that great loss! Sounds like you’re rocking and rolling. I’m doing well, down 20 since the new year. Eating right and going to the gym five times a week. It’s amazing what can happen when I put forth some effort and do what I know to do. 😉 Who’s with us???

Hey, @bacon! Good to hear from you. Congrats on that camper. We hike a lot in our area and really enjoy it. Like you, I just need/want to be more active. How’s everyone doing??

Hey, hey, hey! Moving right along around here. Got in an excellent workout this morning and plan to get my 10k steps today. Meals are planned and I’ll just follow it. Glad you’ve joined us, Tom. Jump right in! Bootcamp doesn’t sound very pleasant. Is it like CrossFit-type exercise? @2babutterfly I stay under 1200 calories - 25% Protein, 25% fat, and 50% carbs. I talk to a dietician monthly and she adjusts as she sees fit. MyFitnessPal makes it super easy for me to keep track.

Still plugging along here. How about you guys? Five days a week to the gym and logging my food on MyFitnessPal. I’m also utilizing the Fitbit to make sure my activity is where it should be to get the best burn. Let me hear from y’all!

How’s everything going? I am home from the gym and have meals planned for the day. My portions had gotten out of control over the holidays (3 month binge), so I’m doing Smart Ones or Lean Cuisines for dinner. Makes it easy for me to stay on track. It’s temporary, but working for me at the moment. Let me hear from y’all!

@2babutterfly I use MyFitnessPal to log food. Try the shakes and let me know what you think!

Congrats on that granddaughter and the promotion. I went back at 40 and got my masters, so I feel you! I’m good...joined a gym and logging food. I also boughy a Fitbit and set a goal with the dietician for 10k steps on gym days and 5k on my two off days. So far, so good! What are you guys eating these days? I’m having a premier protein shake everyday. I add a scoop of benefiber and it keeps me full in the late afternoons, my danger zone.

I’m here! How in the world are you?? I’d LOVE for us to get back to posting and holding each other accountable. Who’s in??

I'm around, @bacon! How are things going?

@2babutterfly - praise God on those results! Take care of you as your recover. I will continue to pray for peace and comfort.

Well, where is everyone??? I'm still plugging along. Lost another 2.6 this week and I'll take it! I'm down 14 pounds since the weight loss challenge began 5 weeks ago with another 29 to goal. How are y'all doing? What victories have happened? Let me hear from you, PLEASE!

Hey, hey, hey! I'm still rockin' and rollin'! @bacon - excellent weigh-in, my friend. What I'd give to lose six pounds in a week...Congrats on that super loss! Sounds like you're making it happen! Weekend meals are planned, I'll work in some sort of activity, and I'll get all of my fluids. I keep thinking the scale will be kind and give up more than one measly pound in a week. I did shake things up a little with a sweet treat on Wednesday. It was logged into myfitnesspal and counted, plus I didn't let it start a binge, so I hope it might be a little boost for my metabolism. We shall see on Tuesday...

@bacon - I'll take those kinds of victories all day long! Way to make it happen!!! Today is weigh-in day for the weight loss challenge I joined. I was only down a pound and that makes me extremely frustrated. However, I am trying to stay focused on the little victories and the long term. Sometimes, though, I just want to pout though and today's weigh-in is messing with me. I shall persevere... Food is planned, water will be consumed, and I'll get my annual physical over with this morning. I'm always glad when that's behind me for another year. @2babutterfly - thinking of you today.

@2babutterfly - brave woman making that two hour trip!! Glad it went well. Thinking about you today as you get the colonoscopy. All is well here. I am armed with an eating plan and will get my exercise cutting the lawn today. I'll get all of my water and make it happen. I put a pounds left to lose countdown on the back wall of my closet, hanging next to my pair of goal jeans. (It's funny how much I love crossing out those numbers on Tuesdays.) On that countdown, I put the words, "stop wishing, start doing". That's what it's all about for me today - I shall spend it DOING! Hope everyone is doing well. Take care of you, friends, and let's make it happen today.

@bacon - you are making it happen, friend! Sounds like you're in a good place and I love hearing the victories you're celebrating! @2babutterfly - Dear Heavenly Father, I ask for Your grace and presence be so obvious to Jennifer and her family this week. God, wrap Your loving arms around her and give her a peace that can only be explained as You being fully engaged with one of Your own. Let all who come in contact with her know there's something different, a presence, and that it is You. Please give comfort and healing as she recovers from both the colonoscopy and the hysterectomy and provide strength as the days pass. Lord, please give wisdom and discernment to all of the doctors and medical staff as they care for her. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I am armed with an eating plan, I'll get in all of my fluids, and exercise will commence. I spent part of yesterday shoveling rocks, another part planting flowers, so plenty of activity this week. My arms and legs are so sore from all this manual labor! Maybe I'll work out some of the soreness when I cut the lawn later today. @bacon sounds like you're rockin' and rollin'. @2babutterfly hope all is well with you! How about some of our other buddies?? @punkinvine @HealthyNewMe @JustWatchMe @enjoythetime @nailpro00 @ParaGirl @lisacaron @RockinRobin59 @katesuccess

Sounds awesome, @bacon! If your tool is working, do your thing! All is well here. Eating is spot-on and I've had plenty of activity as I've been our trimming our shrubs all afternoon. I won't be able to lift my arms tomorrow, so may not have to worry about eating. Ha! I thought about you today, @bacon, and enjoying your salads. I was hungry for a salad with my homemade thousand island. I sat down with MyFitnessPal, worked out my day, and had my delicious salad for lunch. It was SO GOOD and ZERO GUILT!! My little looked over at me while I was eating it and said, "Well, is it that good?" It was a warm day and tasted cool and tasty. It's the small things! Thanking God for the encouragement here on this thread at just the right time. Sometimes I'm so humbled at how He's into the details. i've missed you all and so glad to be back in touch and posting here. I am praying for you guys and thinking about you, @2babutterfly. Post when you can and take care of you.

@bacon thank you for the thoughtful responses. Being scared of going back is real. Trying to decide whether or not to have the band removed would scare the stew out of me. Like you, I need the tool. Have you consulted with a new bariatric doc? Sounds like you're back to basics...watching what you eat and how you eat, plenty of fluids, and exercise. That's super!! Are you still on the road? @2babutterfly I am so thankful to hear from you and so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I have had surgery with my band. I did not have to have any fluid out, but stayed on liquids for a few days after surgery until I felt like my guts had settled back down. Anesthesia and pain meds mess with my stomach feeling yucky, so I let that pass before I threw food into the mix. I really didn't have any issues. Go with your gut (ha ha, literally) and do what's right for you. I will keep you in my prayers, both for calm during the storm and for healing. After a few months of total binge, I came clean and got back to basics. I put it all out there - to myself, to God, and to my husband. It wasn't a nice process, but I had to admit and say out loud that I am a binge eater. Eating, for me, has to be a lot like alcohol to the alcoholic. I have opened it up to my dietician coach as well. (I think I shared this with you guys a while back.) With the support of my husband and coach, we continue to focus on one positive healthy choice I make each day, take one day at a time as far as eating, and do what I can to stay motivated and busy. I've increased our coaching calls to monthly rather than every six weeks and the frequency is helping. I am proposing kayaking, walking, and hiking with friends and family rather than sitting at a local restaurant or coffee shop. I've recently joined a weight loss challenge and stand to win $1000 if I have the highest percentage of weight loss. So far, I'm hanging in the top 10 out of 45 women. Even if I don't win the pot, I figure it is good motivation to keep me on track for the 20 weeks. We are only a month in and I'm down 10, so I am feeling successful. The biggest step I'm taking is finding a new lap band doc. The current one offers no support group, no weigh-ins, and has done nothing to promote weight loss. I think it's especially true for me since he didn't place my band. As a result, I have found a bariatric center about 30 minutes from me and have begun the process of establishing as a patient. I will attend my first support group meeting next week and am really looking forward to interacting with other banders. Since moving to Tennessee three years ago, I've felt so alone in this band journey and hope that's soon coming to an end. So, there you go....that's where I am. Sorry for the length of my post, guess I needed to put it all out there. You guys are the only ones that truly get it. I'm so thankful to hear from each of you.

Hey, @bacon - so glad to hear from you, but so sorry to read of what's been going on with you. How did the band get that tight, from the doc doing fills? That is inexcusable! I'm so sad that you ended up in the ER with serious complications. Kidney function is no joke! You said that you are scared and unsure what to do. What has you scared? What are you unsure about? I ask that you ponder those two questions and get back to me. I hope you've gone back to basics, eating mostly protein and some fruits & vegetables. I really hope you're taking a good vitamin daily. I also hope you're getting plenty of fluids. With those things in place, I think you'll set yourself up for success. Be kind to yourself, please. Let's talk about what you're doing right, not what you did wrong. This could be a new starting point for you, a fresh beginning. Let's take advantage of it! I'll look forward to hearing your response on those two questions and hopefully be someone on which you can lean. You are not alone. Take care of you.

That sheet pan meal sounds SO good, butterfly!! I do plan and prep meals ahead. I made a batch of chili and put it in my one-cup containers so I'm ready to roll. I even do that kind of prep for my little's lunch, makes my life less hectic. I got in two days of exercise over the weekend, both involving strenuous East Tennessee hills. I commit to at least two days this week. Yesterday's positive - I turned down a trip for fro-yo after church. After checking calories and carbs on my fitness pal, it just wasn't worth it. Butterfly and I shared, now it's your turn. What positive choices are y'all making??

Congrats on that great loss!! Congrats on exercising this week!! I will take a walk this afternoon. Yes, yes, I will... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Will totally make that trade, RR59!!! All is well here. Eating out of my one cup containers has put me totally back on track. Yesterday's positive - I held on to some calories so that I could enjoy a fancy coffee with my love while our little was at youth group last night. What a treat!! Today's positive - just met with my dietician and she's proud of my getting back on track and focusing on the positive. I committed to twice a week planned exercise. I think I'll walk with my daughter when she gets home in the afternoons. How about you guys? What's one thing you're proud of today? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App