Fenton

I"m using a pedometer! (aka the Poor Man's Body Bug). I've been pushing it, and am averaging between 8,000 and 9,000 steps a day. It's getting easier, and the "aerobic" minutes seem to be going up, too. Which is great, if they really are "aerobic".

Haha! Frances, you're so cute!

Lisa, one trick is to keep a glass of water by you when you're watching TV, and to drink at every commercial break.

bratz'n'sharon - I'm in a similar boat to you guys. It's a month since I got banded, and I'm only down 14 lbs. And it worries me because I'm a guy, and we tend to lose faster than women. And then I remind myself that the scale number isn't just about fat - it's muscle, and Water and all sorts of stuff. I know it's IMPOSSIBLE for me not to be losing fat - my calorie intake has been in the 1200's to 1500's, and I've been far, far more active than in the bad old days of, uh, January. There's less being taken in, and more being used up, so I know I'm burning fat. And today I found that I'd gone down a shirt size. You have to free yourself from looking at progress just in terms of numbers, and start thinking more about other stuff, the so-called NonScale Victories (NSV) - changes in waistline, or arm circumference, clothing becoming loose, people asking if you've lost weight. And, maybe most important of all, you've got to notice how you're feeling: and I, for one, am feeling a whole lot better now that I'm eating less and losing weight. Or burning fat. Just hang in there - we all have bad days, we all have stalls ("plateaus"), and we just have to ride them out. What else are you going to do, go back to the eating habits that brought us here? I think NOT! That's just not an option! Just tough it out - you'll get there in the end...

A BodyBug is a $400 or so machine that attaches to your body and monitors your calorie usage. You connect it to your computer to upload your information, and it performs all sorts of tracking functions, and shows you how many calories you were using while you were watching TV, playing competitive volleyball, doing the watusi, etc. They look interesting, and I'm up for buying any gadget to show my commitment, but I'm a Mac person, and their software doesn't yet exist for Macs. Today's my One Month Bandiversary!!! And, yes, I use expressions like "Bandiversary" now!!!

I don't know why we lost it, but the Master Thread seems to have died. So here's a continuation...

Thanks - that's pretty encouraging. But my scale session today wasn't so encouraging - scale's not budged. I don't understand why I'm not losing now: I lost 11 pounds in the first 8 days after surgery, but only 4 pounds in the last three weeks. I've been the most active I've been for some time, and I'm pretty sure my intake has been in the 1500s or lower almost every day. I've signed up for Daily Plate, and will try to be stricter in my monitoring...

Reggie, you have two options: 1. Hang in there, wait as long as it takes, try to keep your eating under control and your body active, knowing that a healthier weight means a smoother surgery 2. Fly down to Mexico and get banded there. I know which I would pick! It certainly can be frustrating waiting for everyone to get their acts together, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Do you have a phone number? I know you don't want to be obnoxious, but believe me, the squeaky wheel gets the grease... Just keep after the surgeons' coordinator until they assign you an appointment. Good luck!

Yay, uh, H8! I think you might be right! The Last o' the Shrinking Shamrocks!!!

I have two black cats. They really admire and respect me, but I also I'm pretty sure they're waiting for me to die so that they can eat my face. I had to go to a buffet dinner with a bunch of cops today - baked ziti, chicken parm, eggplant rolatini, lasagne, sausages and peppers etc. I had two meatballs and some lettuce - they're now pretty sure I'm gay. Of course, the English accent doesn't help to dispel that notion - my old girlfriend used to say "All Englishmen are queer until proven bisexual", which still cracks me up.

Yay! And now you must tell us how to pronounce "evelas". I've been rhyming it with "Weevil Ass", which probably is unfair.

There's a TV Show in England called something like KILL EAT, COOK IT, EAT IT where a studio audience is introduced to live animals which are then killed and cooked in front of them. They're then asked to eat the animal, and discuss their feelings about the whole experience.

Whoa, Harley! That CAMP stuff is GREAT! It's exactly what Paul McKenna says - and Jack, too (the part about learning to recognize satiety). Thanks so much for that URL - I'm going to thoroughly explore that. For me, the hard part about mindful eating is that you can only do one thing at a time: eat. I'm so busy that I feel badly if I'm not multitasking.

Kerri! You're making my life of frustration HELL with your over-achieving weight loss since banding!!! Are you sure you wouldn't like to relax with a nice kruller, let some of that weight creep back on until the rest of us catch up with you?

Harley! As a motorcycle gear head, I'm surprised the Magic Bullet was enough to satisfy you! I'd have thought you'd need the Oster Professional I picked up, a slab of pure, hulking torque sitting on your counter top. I swear to God, as I made my morning shake this morning, energy waves blasting from my blender knocked a squirrel off a tree across the street!

Hey, Sharon - I'm not even hitting the gym 5 times a week and *I* am frustrated by my weight loss! I weighed myself today 5 days after my last weigh-in - no change! I've been doing a lot of walking, and my intake has been good. But I know I'm losing weight - I'm down another belt notch (NSV - yay!), it's just taking the scales a while to catch up. You and I have to be a little less numbers-centric - the scale will change eventually. If you're eating right and working out, the weight will come off! And if it doesn't, your body has found a way to create energy, which means scientists will come and study you in order to save the world. Scrappy: are you SURE about your intake there? If your intake is low, and you're as active as usual, you should be burning fat, and that weight gain is probably Water - some kind of hormonal situation I don't even want to THINK about! I'm, uh, sending positive (but manly! Oh so very manly!) beams to evelas...

And nycm Christine: let us know how you're doing, too...

OK, the main thread is up again! evelas, you must tell us what happens tomorrow and how you're doing!

And we're back! Welcome, Pam! You just made it in! SpecialK, what a lot of work that must have been!

Ay yi yi evelas! That's no fun! But it'll be a lot easier surgery this time. How horrid to have to deal with all this! Did he originally fill the band during surgery? I can't remember when you were banded. Whimsy, you rock! I really admire your dedication...

Thanks, Jack. I'm going to do my best to follow your lead. I shared your thoughts on this matter in one of the Master Threads in the March Bandsters forum - I seem to be just about the only guy in here, and I thought the advice was something that all the ladies should see. The ladies who don't read the Men's Room, I mean. SO, what do you eat mostly? How much restriction do you have with your band?

JDUB, it's pretty common for people to gain weight when they switch to more solid food. That little bump will pass.

I think that Jack is right. Well, I guess, OBVIOUSLY, looking at his weight loss, Jack knows how the band works. BUT WHAT I wanted from (my bloody cat keeps on pressing his paw on the shift key!) the band was a gentle break applied most of the time, and a hard break applied when I was going too fast. And that's what I have now. I assume that as I lose weight, or as my stomach becomes accustomed to this, I might start eating more - at THAT point I'll get the fill.

BUT oops But now we have a continuation thread!!!

I started it. It's called something like MASTER THREAD 2: BAND HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.