crzytchr

I am back from my trip and happy to see that everyone seems to be doing well. I was correct in thinking that I wouldn't get any formal exercise in, but we walked soooo much that I actually lost 2 lbs! My NSV from the trip was that on the plane ride I no longer require the seatbelt extender like I did on my flight 4 years ago. Not only do I not need the extender, but there is quite a bit of excess that it can fold back a little! I don't really lose or gain much any more. I stay between 95-100 lbs gone from surgery. I gained some when my mom was dying, but lost that soon after her death. I will begin exercising at the gym again tonight. Oh, and I went for my checkup and my doc did bloodwork and it seems that I am HEALTHY. I have the horrible family history of heart disease, but my blood pressure, cholesterol and all blood work suggest that I don't have anything to worry about, so I guess if I have a heart attack I get to call him a liar and punch him...right? seems only fair! Cynthia, keep you butt moving, girl. Don't stop! Hey, Donna, Good to see you check in. I just came back myself. I am active on a different website, because I hate the format of this one now.

The dress sounds amazing! Soooo, are you exercising yet?

Charlene, good luck with the sleeve and congrats on approval. If I were to ever lose my band, I would hope I could have the sleeve done. I don't qualify now, but I am afraid I would regain what I have lost without some kind of help. Cynthia, you have been through a lot in the last 4 years, but it sounds like you have gained wonderful family and an amazing man since then. Continue to fight, you are worth it! Update on my exercising...in the last 24 days I have only missed exercising 1 day. I am excited that I am able to stick to it and I was working on the elliptical mainly on level 7 as the lowest in the beginning and now it stays on level 13-15. I haven't lost any weight at all, but my husband and dad said I look smaller. Today I noticed my jeans were getting baggy and I realized I could pull them down without unbuttoning or zipping them! So, that is a surprising NSV! I hope I am able to keep it up. I am not sure I will be able to fit exercising in when I go to New York next weekend, but we will be doing so much walking that it will make up for it. Happy Bandiversary to us all and keep fighting!

Charlene, I don't see a cardiologist, yet. I have a checkup with my regular doctor on July 13th and I will see if he thinks I need to go after examining my test results. I also had a nuclear stress test about 4 years ago due to a little arhythmia problem. The doctor I had then blew it off, but I will have him look back at the readout to make sure. I just finished day 10 at the gym about an hour ago. I have gone 10 DAYS STRAIGHT and I stay on the elliptical for an hour each time at levels 7-11. I am determined to get healthier.

Charlene, I hope they get you approved quickly. I know you were having metabolic issues and that really sucks. I lost quite a bit, but I still have more to lose. I just started exercising again last week and I have gone to the gym 6 days in a row. Last night I was back up to 65 minutes on the elliptical. I am stunned and happy to get back into it so quickly. I started on Wednesday and had already decided to commit to it and Thursday night, my cousin who is 3 weeks younger than I am, had a massive heart attack. It is our family curse. We die young from heart problems. My grandfather was 36, grandmother was 57, his mom, my aunt, was 48 and my mom had a bypass at 48. So, that gave me an incentive to not skip at all. I have made a promise to myself to go everyday unless I am extremely ill or injured. The only way I am going to allow myself to skip is if I have gone 5 days in a row and then I can only skip one day. I have decided I am going to fight heart disease, like my life depends on it, because it does. If a heart attack wants me, it will have to take me kickin' and screamin'.

Wow, I haven't checked in here, in a long time. I stopped being active when they changed the format. It threw me for a loop and I really hated it. I still don't like it, but I wanted to check in. I plan on going back and reading what I have missed, but it will take a while since the last time I posted was November-ish. It seems that we all seem to struggle with the same few lbs up and down. The scale doesn't move much any more for me, but it is my fault more than my band's. I need to exercise more and eat more solid protein, I just don't do it. I gained about 6 lbs between Jan. and Feb. My mom was dying from Alzheimer's and it was just easier to eat it away than to deal with it. I am in a better place now, but still need to get off of my butt and move. I am presently teaching summer school and driving almost 3 hours per day to do it. With stress, it just seems easier to drink something than eat sometimes, it is a hard habit that I am trying to break. With our bandiversary coming up again, I think I am going to rededicate myself to doing it right. The band ain't cheap, and I seem to be wasting this tool that saved my life. I will check back in again after I have caught up on all of the older posts.

You have been given good advice already. Unless you are getting hungry or finding yourself eating bigger portions to get satisfied, I would wait on the fill. I was banded July '08 and I have only had 2 fills total, each one for only 1cc. I still get satisfied with less food, usually eat 1200-1500 calories per day and have lost 100 lbs. Really, I would like to lose another 35, but not if it means I have to eat fewer kinds of foods or less calories than this. I honestly just need to get off my butt and exercise now! Good luck and let us know what you decide to do!

Michelle, log in and post. I never received a confirmation email, but I am activated. Try it!

Well, I have an account over there, but it won't let me log in. So, until I can get it straight, I will keep in touch here or on fb. This sucks!

I still don't have approval yet.

I am waiting for approval, as well. I wonder what they will think about the sudden influx of new members?

Michelle and Jenn, thanks. I am eating now that she isn't in the hospital. The problem was that I couldn't leave the room at all or she would try to get out of bed and the moment I got home, I would shower then go to sleep. As soon as I got up, I would drink coffee, get dressed and leave to go back. As I just posted on fb, I just got home to my husband's fabulous meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes. Can you believe I get rewarded for spending money? How lucky am I? I love y'all and will check out the other site as well. I will let you know if I get the same screen name. **Update** I am now registered with the same screen name. In fact, I replaced Jenn as the newest member!

Kat, I hope your shopping turned out well and that you stayed bundled up!!! I used to do all of the doorbuster stuff, but people get too crazy sometimes and I just don't want to deal with it any more. I plan on getting a manicure today, since most people will be shopping and maybe shop later when the frenzy dies down.