Fenton

Yes, we're outnumbered - and you're a hula hooper, so you're by definition unreliable... I shall have to check this out for myself and make a final ruling. In the meantime, try to behave.

Amanda - great work with the cholesterol! And it'll continue to get better, I'm sure. AND I WAS JOKING ABOUT THE HULA-HOOPING! Nothing unclassy about Hula Hooping. And, apparently, in Australia, hula-hooping is considered the HEIGHT of classiness!

Diva, you're not going anywhere! You are NOT allowed to stop posting in this thread! You need to be here. This is in no way a competition - Harley's right, the important thing isn't other people's numbers, it's YOUR numbers. And more than that, it's not other people's lives, it's YOUR life that matters. Don't waste time seeing how other people are doing and despairing about how you're doing, focus on what it is that you're doing, and why. Now you have a few things going on here - first off, vomiting until you're bleeding isn't a good thing. This might represent a problem with your band - you should call your doctors' office and let them know, and ask if you need to have a check-up. Tell them that you're having difficulty controlling your intake, and ask them what you should do. Maybe it's the wrong time to have a fill, maybe you need a fill now more than ever, but you have to TELL them what's going on! You're obviously having a hard time with the head hunger part of this process - and maybe a shrink wouldn't be a bad idea. Perhaps your lap band team can refer you to someone. Trust me, you're not the first person to have this particular collection of problems. Also, I'm not sure that you're looking at your intake in a healthy way. A piece of stale toast with some grape jelly is NOT going to sink your weight loss. Unless, that is, you choose to take an all-or-none position, and say to yourself "Well, since I had that toast, I've screwed by intake goal for the day, so I might as well just eat two pints of ice cream." You CAN'T be like that. Recognize that if you have too much at one meal, or on one day, you can make up for it by eating a bit less. This is a CONSTANT PROCESS, not something that's about achieving victory or disaster at any given second. Of course you're going to have bad days - last night, for example, out at dinner on a date, they brought ALL of the Desserts to my table, and I had some of every one. But that was last night. This morning, I got up, did yoga, and then walked a mile and a half in the broiling sun. And I'll walk home and do more yoga tonight, and I'll try to watch my intake. It's all just a question of finding the right balance. No one says you have to lose a pound a week or two pound a week: you have to find the rhythm and the pacing that works for you. And you can absolutely do it - you just have to learn to listen to your body, rather than your head. Every one of us here knows where you're coming from - we've all been there. The question facing you now is why are you still there, and, more importantly, what can you do to get back. I do think a therapist might be able to help you with this. But can you control what comes into your home? Can you limit the amount of sweet stuff and ranch dip or whatever that you or whoever stocks your fridge with? The less there is to tempt you - particularly if you have an All-or-None attitude - the less likely it is you'll be tempted. The thing is, every second brings you the opportunity for a new fresh start. Everything that has happened to you up until the moment you read this post is history; it's up to you to decide what your future will hold. But the first step is to seek help. First off from your band team, maybe a therapist, and second off (?) keep talkign here! Tell us what you're going through. We're your friends, we want you to succeed, we know what's happening with you, and we believe you can get where you need to be. And we're all in exactly the same boat - struggling with the same desires, the same bad habits. You just have to get through these days now, and find the Lap Band Zone. You can do it. Let us help.

Thanks, A-Dub - I'll certainly check it out. But tell me, will we be able to understand a single word of what people are saying, what with that peculiar and impenetrable Aussie accent?

Finally, where the hell is Teri from KC??? I hope she's not Gone Wild in Nashville! And by "Gone Wild In Nashville", I don't mean getting plastered and flashing "the girls" (as you women apparently like to say) at a video camera for a few bucks...

BTW, Amanda - thats some pretty stellar weight loss there! You've been a bit quiet lately, but... NICE WORK!

WHICH REMINDS ME! KPod, moving from No Exercise to exercising two to three times a week is GREAT! And as your weight loss continues, I bet you'll exercise more, as you see and feel the results! KEEP IT UP! I genuinely believe that exercise is the key to attaining great weight loss results with the band. Or with anything. (I think I'm repeating myself.)

KPod, I'm sure if you explain your position, the other Mainer will be happy to give you advice about how she managed to get those fills. Don't make her defensive, just ask her if she had any trick to persuading them - promise you won't reveal her name! I think that the Strict Fill Interval docs believe is that learning to accept a degree of hunger might be beneficial. Again, when *I* feel hunger, I embrace it as a sign that I'm losing weight. And my body has become accustomed to much smaller volumes of food, particularly because I have a fair amount of liquids still - my Breakfast most days is the tasty health shake <tm> that I adapted from someone here (who WAS it who introduced the chocolate/banana/peanut butter thing?). Anyway, it continues to go well for me. As of today I'm down 83 lbs since my first weigh-in at the doc's at the end of January. And my exercise level is way up.

You see, I'm way too classy for hula-hooping.

Oh please! I don't think I really was a MAN until I read that thread - I went in a boy, emerged a man...

Haha, plain! I think something similar happened to mediummike, didn't it?

Oh, good! I've been DYING to contribute to the Waxing thread!

Hey, Oren - it's a piece of cake! Surgery just whizzes by, and recovery is just a question of honouring the restrictions your body is telling you about. Mark my words, afterwards, you'll be asking yourself what you were worried about! The best advice is to take it easy after surgery for a while - again, listen to your body - but to keep walking. YOu'll probably experience some gas pain for the first few days (usually in the tip of your left shoulder or in your back), but that too will ease with walking. You'll be a bit stopped up at first, so taking a Fiber supplement like Benefiber is a good idea; I started when I got back from the hospital. Pain is pretty minimal, but you can help yourself in the first few days by clutching a pillow to your belly as you get out of bed or out of your chair. In the Master Thread on the March 2008 bandsters forum in the Monthly Bandster support area, I detailed explicitly my experience, starting a couple of days before the procedure (I was banded March 6) - I posted every day for a while. It might be worth a read to know what to expect. One things for sure: you've made the right decision. You have a life-threatening condition, and this is the most effective and safe way to take care of yourself. Welcome aboard!

I wasn't offended - I hadn't meant to offend!

I'd always thought of women as having a significantly higher pain tolerance than men, but time and again, going through these boards, the people who seem to be suffering worst in terms of post-op pain are women. While there's a chance that men may just be holding back from expressing themselves for fear of being considered wussy, I think there's more to it than that - I had almost no post-op pain (I think I took tylenol once), and most of the men posting here also have strikingly little pain. I'm not sure if your implication was that I was saying that women were being wusses - that wasn't it at all. I just think that, for whatever reason, this surgery is more uncomfortable for women than for men.

A-dub: supposedly because of the weak dollar, Nintendo has been sending most of its allotment of exported equipment to Europe and Australia - US dollar prices are lower than those of foreign currencies anyway, and now that the US$ is worth spit, they're maximizing profits by selling their product for top dollar in smaller markets. Glad to hear that my book is available exclusively in fancy-shmancy bookstores in Oz!

Busy, I tired K-Mart.com, but, alas, no stock. I could probably get one if I dragged my carcass up to the Nintendo store in Rockefeller Plaza, but I'm not desperate. It'll be a few months before I'm under the Wii Fit's weight limit, so there's no huge rush.

Hmmm. I like the donation idea, too. But I think what I'll do is donate my weight loss in dollars to Heifer.org (a really great charity where the money you give goes to buying livestock for people in developing nations - you can donate a hive of bees, or a flock of chicks, or a heifer, so that people can raise them for, for example, milk, and ultimately to eat (sorry, animals!) (vegetarians can also give trees!). Here's their catalogue: Meaningful Gifts | Heifer International Online Gift Catalog OK, that's what I'll do: every fifty pounds I lose, I'll give my current weight loss total in dollars to Heifer, starting at 100 lbs in a month or two. For $100, I can give a flock of chicks, a flock of geese AND a trio of rabbits (which breed v. quickly). And when I hit 150 pounds lost, I can give a llama or maybe a goat and a hive of bees. I like this idea!

I'm not sure whether or not those two last posters were dudes or not - this being "the Men's Room" - but it seems to me that men suffer a lot less from pain after the procedure. That said, it does take a good day or two to get over the op, even though it's small. You *could* go to that party, but I wouldn't, and I doubt you'll want to on the night... As far as expected weight loss goes, I'm three months out from surgery, and down about 60 pounds post-op (haven't weighed in for a while). But I started at a larger weight than you, so I burn faster. Then again, all I'm doing for exercise is walking; you're light enough that the gym is a good option. If you hit the gym, you'll lose very quickly. And heatherlynn's tip about walking is a very good one - walk, walk, walk!

OMG! You two are, like, total Bandster Twins! I check in on the site usually a couple of times a day - it helps to keep my head in the game. Which is also why I post so much - I'm not normally a Compulsive Over-sharer!

Gosh, I hope the summer doesn't continue like this, too! I'm going to putter around the house today; I think I'm going to make some basil oil. Maybe do yoga this afternoon, maybe just take it easy.

SpecialK! Get a Playstation 3 and you'll never be forced to quilt again! And if you like quilting, you'll *love* GRAND THEFT AUTO! A-Dub! That's just about enough out of you and your Land Down Under, where you can just go out and find a Wii Fit at the drop of a hat! I'm kind of dreading tomorrow - NYC weather is going to be rainy with a high of 97... I'm going to try to get up and do some walking early in the morning, then try doing some yoga in the afternoon...

I think thats the sensible choice, buddy. You're going to be fine! We'll give you a day off after you get banded, but you better get back out here and tell us how you're doing. And how much you're walking!

Here's an odd one, but actually kind of nice: *I* am beginning to notice! Because of shame at my weight, I tend to avoid looking at myself in the mirror, but I happened to catch myself out of the corner of my eye yesterday, and looked at myself and I can see that I've lost significant weight. It felt good.

And again: keep walking! Where I got banded, they get people up and walking in the Recovery Room, shortly after they get out of the OR - and that's what you WANT!