NJ2NC

Hello Everyone, I've been in stealth mode a little bit but still trying to to keep up with all the happenings...I've gotten a little discouraged but NEVER gave up. I've plateaued a little bit. From my last fill till the 1 got on June 8th I only lost 1.8lbs (35 pounds since surgery day 1/17). I'm exercising, getting protein but I can eat all day! and have been. snack snack snack never feel full. I just have to get back to the basics and pump up the willpower until I get to that "sweet spot" but I'm still trying and I'm still exercising and I refuse to give up. I'm sure I know what the issue is aggressive exercise always make me over-eat thats why pre-band I could only lose upto a certain point ..I thought with the band it would be different but I'm at the weight I could always get to on my own and now I'm stuck here again! at 208/209. Sorry to come in after all this time and just vent out my frustrations but I know you all won't judge me. I thought maybe it was muscle since I do 2 intense weight classes per week..but shouldn't I still be losing inches at least?? Well 1 did have a non-scale victory. My husband and I went to an outdoor festival and out the blue said "you walk with so much more confidence when your around a lot of people" Trust me that was a compliment.. I never liked the summer with everyone wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts..which I never wore. Now I do! and apparently walk with confidence lol

Savannah26, you said your hospital discontinued their bariatric support group literally a few months before your surgery so no local support.. you stay in this forum, the ladies here are so very supportive and have experienced some of everything. We are all very nice and offer lots of encouragement. 1 thing that is important (I don't think you mentioned) are you drinking with your meals. I'm a stickler for waiting 30 minutes after I eat and not drinking within 15 minutes before. I understand drinking while eating or too close to eating will make you food slide right through your band too fast and leave you feeling unsatisfied. I've only been skimming the threads and not sure if someone else mentioned that. I know my portions are bigger than recommended and I've not reached my green spot...I just keep trying to exercise get in that protein and water.. your body will respond and a slow weight loss is good that mean it will STAY off!

Way to go! I just bought some 16 (not 16W) myself and felt optimistic and bought a size 14 jean capris (hey they were on clearance for $3.00) I didn't even bother trying them on until a week later and they were tight but wearable and I even got them buttoned..I think I'll wait a little longer to wear them but It felt good to get them up. I only get .5cc per fill too and last time he only gave me 1/2 of that! I'm thinking on June 8th I may see the doctor (who's a little more aggressive) than the PA who does the fill clinic.. I hope I don't need much more to get to the green zone, I can get up to about 3 hours before I start thinking of food but then again I know I am eating more than a cup of food at each sitting. I'm working out 4 days a week now and get very hungry which was always my problem, the food would over power the exercise efforts cause I would burn so many calories and binge eat them back on (pre-band) so I need to find this green zone fast so I "can't" fall back into that same position. yesterday I did Zumba and went home and ate 1/2 cup of sweet peas and almost 2 baked chicken thighs, then came back for more veggies and before I went to bed 3 hours later I was hungry again so I just ate a piece of 2% cheese and made myself go to sleep.. Exercise make me want to EAT EAT EAT.. its a crazy cycle thats why I always stopped exercising in the past..

Welcome to band-hood everfeels9, I was banded on Jan 17th and still getting use to the changes in my health and body. I love my short wash 'n go style.. I swim, sweat and steam and have no worries. I want to let it grow out so I can do a twist out styles but I always say "trim it up" at the last minute. I was going to perm it straight in the fall but I'm thinking nahhh this is too convenient for exercising.. so I just add color for a little variety.

Hello Everyone, just wanted to say have a Happy, Healthy, Safe weekend and for all the moms, Happy Mother's Day. Luv the Scarlett O'Hara reference, just believe we'll have more good than bad days! I only got a 1/4 cc today, I was getting stuck more often even with good chewing, I'm still at 209 which is 10 less than my Fill Appointment 4 weeks ago, dr thought he better not give too much today but still glad we came to a compromise with the .25 cc fill. Soooo back to Clear liquids, uhhgg I better skip Zumba tonight since I haven't eaten food all day. Changing up high/low calorie days does really help!

I had a wonderful surprise..first, I have a very very old scale thats questionable for accuracy so I try not to get on lol i really need to make time to get another one. However its been consistently bouncing between 213-214 for the last couple weeks. Well last night I went to a meeting - a very cool program between the bariatric department of our hospital and the University of NC kinesiology dept, called Bariatric Exercise & Life Transformation 12 weeks program) OK, back to my surprise. At 8:15pm last night when I stepped on the scale at the meeting it was at 209 I couldn't believe it. They weigh you twice for accuracy and their it was again 209... wow was i surprised. Time to get a new scale at home I think!

I would like to enter onderland by June 1. I'm 212 now. 13 pounds seems like hard work since i've only been averaging about 1 to 1.5 per week...but I'm up for the challenge. Let's do this!!!

Happy Birthday Chrissylu!!! Btw everyone, I loved my 1st Zumba class today.. I can see more of those in my future!

Recap-I believe I missed it by 1 pound I think it's only been 4lbs.. but its ttotm so it's possible I could be down another pound and it's just water weight now hahaha ok ok I'm reaching lol I only lost 4

ValAnn, Thanks and yes my chest feels very sore this morning, throat feels ok. yes, PB'ing provided immediate relief thank goodness! I was able to successfully eat scrambled eggs this morning.. funny I felt a strange need to chew them to oblivion haha. My husband said almost the same thing to me.. he said, hmm I'll bet you learned to chew slower, you always have to push the limits dont you..lol. Thanks for the advice I do have some soup here at work I think I will stick to protein shakes and soup today.

OMG.. My first real 'stuck' I promise to chew chew chew and chew some more! That hurt!! And kept on hurting until I was able to finally bring it back up and Yuck thick mucus .. Never want to do that again.. Scared my 9yr old to death she thought I was going to pass out, poor baby! Now my chest is sore.

amica813, wow, what was the name of that machine? I'm glad you are feeling better, I haven't had a kick butt workout like that in a LONG time.. I hate that you had pain afterwards, I hope it don't happen again, yes, yes, get that six pack, on second thought get a 12 pack and send me 6 keep us posted.

JDI130, When I asked my nutritionist about certain foods she said to just always try to stay less than 15g of net carbs especially for things like snack bars and yogurts. I do try to avoid carbs like bread, rice, pasta etc. (I'm not counting either) but I look at how many carbs are in the foods and try to stay within guidelines. I do well with my protein but I'm a complete slacker on my exercise and water..going today, 1st time in a couple weeks.. and work on my couch to 5k program and planning to try Zumba for the first time tomorrow.

Btw: if you cook a big enough steak you can cut it in half and have some for lunch the next day. 1 last quick lunch meal I'd like to add is chef salad with lean ham and turkey, 2% cheese, 1 hard boiled egg, Romaine, tomatos, I don't use croutons but its an option and lignt dressing. If I'm really hungry by lunch I may eat a yogurt with it or sugar free pudding.

For Breakfast its either a 2%cheese & egg omelet but mainly its a protein shake. For Lunch its tuna salad or chicken salad, or small chili w/ cheese from Wendy's (I may go to the hot bar at the grocery store and get a meat and veggie) For Dinner, I try to change it up from time to time, last night I made chicken fettucini w/ Classico alfredo sauce for the family. For me I took out a few cut up pieces of the grilled chicken from the pasta and put it over veggies, I took a teaspoon of the alfredo sauce and cut it will skim milk and put it on top just for some flavoring. I figured I ate light all day a little alfredo sauce wont be too bad. When I make spaghetti w/ ground beef (97/3) and salad for the family. I use either heart smart or light smart Prego sauce, I grill me a piece of chicken breast and I use some of the sauce (without the meat) and shredded cheese and put it over my chicken with some salad. If you like a sweet sauce like my family I just sprinkle in a little splenda (they don't even know I stopped using real sugar in their sauce) Another quick dinner is grilled steak and cut it up over a salad and a nice light dressing. Fish is always a winner too. I cook almost everything on my Nuwave Oven..I love that oven!! countertop healthy cooking.

Congrats to everyone with all your accomplishments this weekend.. running, smaller sizes, reaching and passing goals, breaking plateau's... this is a great group. This morning I decided to try on my family birthstone ring (a Christmas gift 3 yrs ago) that I was never able to wear because it was too tight. I'm wearing it today and it actually have room to spin on my finger..Yay for the NSV.

Prayers for you Chrissylu, hope u feel better and way to go on doing the 5k.. I'm aiming for October Breast Cancer 5k Congrats to all us incredibly shrinking women! I like to order my bathing suits online too! just dont know what size to buy for the summer..im not a big beach person but i may change that! lol

North Carolina here!

Hello All, Kganous, sorry to hear about the issues with your port...hopefully May 7th will be a positive visit and no surgery will be necessary...prayers. Chrissylu - "43 by 43" thats great.. glad you are able to increase that goal.. Congrats to all that are meeting there goals, getting restriction and doing well especially with those NSV's. I went to my nutritionist appointment today..she says I'm doing well even though I fell off the exercise bandwagon over the last week or 2 (6.4lbs lost in 6 weeks). I think I'm finally feeling some restriction well I did right after the fill on Friday into Saturday. I can go at least 3 hours before I think "am I hungry or thirsty" usually water help fill me up for a good while before my head is in the fridge. Well only 12 more pounds till "onderland" so I have something great to look forward too! if I get my butt up and workout hopefully I reach it soon..but its a process! I know. My NSV include going to LB's and buying 38 instead of 44 bra's during the buy 2 get 1 free event. The sales person said..wow your bra is too big why are you wearing that..I just smiled and said "that's why I'm here"

the dietician also told me not to worry too much about calories. So I don't count them. My diet is very similar to Adkins. Low Carbs, high lean Proteins, low sugar and veggies but NO starchy veggies she gave me a list and at least 60g protein per day. As far as protein bars she was adement about looking at the labels and watching out cause they are loaded with carbs and sugars. She said stay try to stay less than 14g net carbs per bars (if fiber is >5 subtract from total carbs = net carbs) so of course that fits the adkins bars and they are only 1g of sugar...If I can't get my shake in for breakfast I'll grab a meal bar (I use to never eat breakfast, so the bars or shakes is a big step). However lately I want 2 bars and more food and then more food on top of that. I'm feeling hungry all the time I think my will power has finally given out. My mom said on Easter "ohh you are human" I laughed and said what do you mean, she said "you always walk pass all your favorite desserts and food and never get tempted, today you ate, although a little bit but you ate dessert and more food than I've seen you eat in a long time" I realized then my will power was on its last leg and that my mom reality just slapped me in the face by my mom. I called my doctor and explained I'm hungry all the time and they moved up my 3rd fill it's now on FRIDAY.. I've never had restriction but I can't fight it any longer .. I've done terrible all week and scared to get on the scale now.

Round of applause to JustDoIt130..that's fantastic!! next thing you know you'll be on a shopping spree cause everything will be too big!!

Me too, me too! I'm at 216 so that will be 211 by 4/25. My goals are to get back to 3 days a week working out and drinking my 64oz of water per day! Good luck to us all and away we go on our 3 week mini-challenge!