Fenton

Where is A-Dub, btw? I hope she's feeling better. If you're out there, post, O Queen of the Outback!

Thanks for all the thumbs-up on my weight loss - and right back atcha! I feel kind of unworthy - so far, it's been easy for me. I mean, yeah, I've really worked at pounding the pavement, and soon will really work at the treadmill and eliptical trainer, but I'm kind of "in the zone", and it hasn't been hard for me. I've eaten fairly well, with the occasional splurge; I'm dreading the time when the weight loss slows, and I actually have to get a fill. Not dreading the fill itself, obviously, but not being able to eat things like dry, boneless skinless chicken, which is an easy snack or meal for me now. But I'm determined to keep going, determined to reach goal, and determined to figure out a way to pay for the inevitable plastic surgery!

One more pound gone - six more for the 100...

Hell, you have to admire anyone who'd find that photo and POST it!!!

Paul, I think that's something you should speak with your banding team about, particularly if it's an issue. Or see your urologist - just make sure there's nothing serious going on. Returning to an ideal weight shouldn't make you infertile, I don't think.

That's kind of the way I feel - I'm eating well, and exercising hard (just walking, but I walk a LOT), and the weight is coming off - I'm averaging 4.5 pounds per week, despite my weekly indulgence of going to a good restaurant and enjoying a glass of red wine and a pan roasted duck breast with ginger hoisin sauce. And, I can't tell a lie: I have dessert, too! But my mass is coming down - I'm carrying almost 100 pounds less than when I started. On the plus side, I'm moving really easily now, and feel great - it's hard to remember a time (just a few months ago) when it was difficult for me to get up from a chair. On the minus side, the less weight I'm carrying, the less energy I'm consuming, and the slower my weight loss. I'd decided I'd return to the gym when I hit 375 pounds - five pounds more. I'm only intending doing treadmill/eliptical trainer at first, but it'll be nice to do it in the cool, rather than sweating on the sidewalk outside. I'll still walk to and from work, but now I'll also be doing at least a half hour on the treadmill a day. And I fully intend SHREDDING!!! I think I've talked elsewhere about wanting to learn how to snowboard; it looks like that's working itself out for this winter. A major snowboard company is going to be making me a custom board (long story - they're buying artwork from a painter friend of mine, and offered some snowboards as part of the deal) (OK, not really a long story after all, I guess!); my plan is to go boarding in Colorado in February 2009 - so that's my main goal! I'd also like to go on a few roller coaster rides, but I think I'll still be too big during the summer season up here in the NorthEast.

The journey really HAS begun!

Congratulations and Happy Birthday Miki! ONEDERLAND AHEAD!!! And I'm sure sharona's sweet spot is going to be reached any... second... NOW!

I've not even plugged in my Wii - ADub did, and the next thing you know, she's sick as a dog! I think I dodged a bullet there - but I have to say that my walking has done me a tremendous amount of good. I have far more energy and endurance, and each day force myself to walk more. The other day, coming back from having a pain-in-the-neck skin biopsy at the dermatologist's office, I got off the bus early so I could walk 20 blocks to my office; in days gone by, even walking a couple of blocks was hard for me. As I've said time and again, EXERCISE IS KEY TO GOOD, SUSTAINED WEIGHT LOSS! I'm still too heavy for my Wii Fit, but I'm looking forward to it. Although that's partly because it has a snowboarding game, which I think will help me strengthen my lower body before beginning the epic journey into bruising and broken bones that will be my snowboarding career...

Annie, I'm sorry to hear you're sick. But not surprised - only laryngitis would stop you from posting here. Certainly not a hangover - lord knows how many times you've been posting like that! Feel better soon.

Tess, enjoy Gatlinburg; that whole area is beautiful. Some years back, I did a pilgrimage through Tennessee, driving around in search of the Great Southern Breakfast. It was a wonderful week...

Hastings, I'm not 100% sold on the Bodybugg - I was using a pedometer before, and I think that they're great. But I do find that I get motivated by the Bodybugg, even if I know the calorie counts are probably a bit inaccurate. And the interface is really slick - the little graphs of your weight loss and what not are pretty cool. Although, when you hit your weight loss target (you program a weekly weight loss goal, and it advises you about how you're doing with your calories burned vs calories consumed), you get this picture of a trainer-type dude popping up to give you two thumbs-up, which makes me want to blind myself with a pair of cake forks.

Well, at least you got the 4th in there before you get serious! Really, the liquid diet thing isn't at all bad. A day or two to get used to it, then... away you go!

I'm still unfilled, which is working well for me so far - I know I'll get a fill down the road, but I really don't need it at the moment, and the flexibility in terms of what I can eat (everything, basically) makes life easy. I'm basically still dieting, but with less hunger.

I was going to say the same thing as your doc, only slightly differently. Jesus, man! How are you surviving on such a low intake??? I aim for 1200 - 1500 calories a day, but I'm a pretty big guy. You were/are barely cracking 1000! And I'm with plain on the apple juice - who cares if it's reduced calorie? It's still 200 cals with no nutritional benefit. As far as feeling full, your doc is right that solid food gives you satiety. But I have to say that I differ about the other drinks. My breakfast every day is a shake I make with one ice cold can of low carb French vanilla Slimfast Optima (SFO), one frozen banana, three tablespoons of whey Protein powder and two tablespoons of powdered Peanut Butter (PB2, 75% less fat than real peanut butter, but ridiculously expensive - I think I'm going to try the reduced cal peanut butter when the powdered stuff runs out; the shake runs to about 350 - 375 cals, is loaded with nutrients, and has a good bit of protein. Best of all, it's DELICIOUS, like something you'd get at a milkshake shop!). I have that just about every day, and I'm good to go for a good 5 hours. Now I understand your doctor wants you to fill up on solid food, but I love the convenience, flavour, and nutritional bang of my SFO Protein Shake. My surgeon also has one a day, and he's been banded for seven years. I think your surgeon wants you to know that you CAN eat solid food, and that solid food helps keep you from being hungry. All's I'm saying is that I love my shakes, and I see myself having them for the rest of my life... Congrats on the weight loss, and keep your protein up! I really like the Isopure clear Protein Drinks - fruit punch-like beverages I buy at GNC for the painful price of $3.50 or so. 20 ounces gives you 40 g of protein and maybe 180 or so cals, but its a great way of getting protein in, particularly during liquid stages. I still try to drink half of one a day. They're not delicious - you always know you're drinking protein - but they're no worse than most Gatorade-style drinks.

I've been out shopping for a pair of shorts like from gigem's Before photo... Actually, it had been quiet in here, so I'd been concentrating on the March 2008 Bandsters thread, which is pretty busy. Things are going well - I got a bit of a shock when I ran the Bodybugg program and discovered that, based on my calories burned and weight lost, I was (according to its calculations) eating an AVERAGE of 2700 calories a day over the last 6 weeks or so. I don't think that's right - I've had a few "bad" days, but mostly I've been in the 1500 range, give or take. I think two things are going on: 1. It's overestimating the number of calories I'm burning 2. I'm underestimating the number of calories I'm eating So I'm tightening up on the second - mostly cutting out the occasional mini-Peppermint Patty at the office, or the extra piece of boneless, skinless chicken at home, and trying to be more conscious of my eating, and I'm still trying to keep pounding the sidewalk to raise my burn rate. It's going well - I'm down 93 pounds since my first weigh-in at the end of January, 67 since surgery on March 6. I have minimal restriction, but I like being able to eat what I want. At present, the band doesn't interfere with my eating, it just makes me full sooner, which is pretty ideal. I know that eventually I'm going to have to have a fill, and that life will get a good deal more challenging after that, but I'm coasting now, and it's fun.

Sweet Jesus, man! If you find those shorts, you must DESTROY them! It's the only way to keep our planet safe...

Nope, Fenton's just a boardname. I don't know why I chose it - it just popped into my head!

Congratulations on the great weight loss, Luke!

Scrappy, that's great! It underlines how weight loss makes you so much more healthy... Mark my words, this surgery is going to be increasingly huge. There have been studies emphasizing how much improvement diabetics can see after lap-banding, and since there's over 50 million US diabetics and pre-diabetics, it's a huge deal.

That damned duck ate my trousers!!!

Hastings: yes, it does. The Bodybugg I think guestimates calorie consumption based on its knowledge of your weight (which you enter once a week into a web-based program) and how many steps you've taken. It might be a bit more complicated than that, but that's my guess as to how it works. As I said, I do think that the Bugg overestimates - there's no way I've eaten an AVERAGE of 2650 calories a day over the last month and a half! Although I don't doubt that on some days I hit that number. I think the advantage of the Bodybugg is that I look at my Bodybugg monitor at 6PM and it says "10,000 steps", so I'll think, Hmm... I can do better. And I'll head back out and run errands, and take the long route to push the number up closer to 15,000. Similarly, if it's 8PM and I see I've only burned 3500 calories, I'll hit the road. In the next few weeks, I'll hit a weight that I think is safe for me to start going to the gym and using machines, rather than just walking for exercise. And when that happens: Watch Out!!!

Thanks for the thumbs-up-guys, Harley! And WCM: a kid who stays up reading isn't a problem, he's a RETIREMENT FUND! I think that's great. Yeah, maybe the hours aren't ideal, but, heck, he/she's *reading*, not playing World of Warcraft, or whatever it's called! (Not that there's anything wrong with that, MMORPGers!)

In case you are confused or frightened, that sound you hear is me patting myself on the back. Surely there's an emoticon for that!!!

Yay! Seven more pounds to my hundred! Tragically, though, I've only just crossed the One Third of the Way to Goal marker...