Mrs. CMK

Wowsa! You look fabulous! Keep up the good work! God Bless

That is wonderful! I am so proud of you too! I look back at 8 months ago and think about the fact that I was on a liquid diet for 14 days. 14 days!!!! I can't believe I did it. But I did and you can do it too. This will strengthen you. Made me feel like I could do anything. God Bless.

You look great curvy girl! I have been trying to get up the nerve to post pictures but haven't been able to yet. Good for you. Keep up the good work!

Woohoo!!!! So happy for you! Keep up the great work.

The folks in the doctors office should be walking you through everything step by step. At least that is the way it was with my doctor. The girls in the office (patient advocates) told me everything I needed to do. Just give them a call and ask the same questions you are asking here. Everybody's situation is different depending on your insurance and your doctor. Hope you find the answers you are looking for. God Bless

It is just so interesting to me.....this weird relationship I have with food. It truly is an addiction. I remember, pre-banding, when I went to see the psycologist. She went over the 12 step program with me. I was a bit put off at first but as she read each step the realization of addiction really hit me. I sobbed. This weekend my husband and I went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I ordered the grilled Mahi. It was huge! 8 oz. I had to laugh because before my banding I would have thought that was small. I ate about 3 oz of it and some broccoli. I was completely full. Beyond full actually because I found myself in a bit of discomfort for a while. But I sort of sat looking at the big piece left over and felt sad. I wanted to be able to eat it. I don't know why. I was mourning my inability to eat the rest of it. Ridiculous. It was a brief feeling and I am grateful that I couldn't eat it but I just wanted to comment on how weird it felt. It is a learning process, right? A true lifestyle change. I am grateful. And no.....I didn't take it home for another meal. My husband ate it! lol. Thanks for letting me share.

Wow. Exactly.

It has been 7 1/2 months since I was banded and as of this morning, I have lost 80.8 lbs! I am over the moon excited. I set a goal for myself to lose 80 lbs before we go on our cruise on February 10th. I am now moving the goal to 90 lbs. I would have never dreamed that this would be possible. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Yes, it is hard work but so worth it. I'm going to be a size 16 when we cruise. A size 16!!!!!!! Happy, happy, happy. Thanks for letting me share with you my friends.

Oh my. That doesn't seem right. Might be time to find a new doctor. I'm so sorry you are going through this.

My church has a ministry called FaithFit. 18 months ago and 80 extra pounds ago, I attended the Step Aerobics class and truly felt like I was going to die. I could not do it for more than 15 minutes and seriously was afraid that I was going to have a heart attack. I attended just a couple of times before I knew it was not for me. Now that I am 80 lbs less, I thought I would join the Zumba class that was starting up for 12 weeks. Everyone said it would be fun and not to worry about looking ridiculous. Okee dokee. So....last night I went. It was NOT fun and I did look ridiculous! However, I see the potential for being fun and I will go back. The biggest achievement for me was that I moved for a solid hour. Not sure what I was doing but I was sweating and MOVING and I did it for a whole hour! I didn't feel like I needed to stop and catch my breath. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stop a couple of times but I didn't. Here is the one thing that really got to me. I was still the biggest girl in the room. I know it doesn't really matter but it is habit for me to look around the room to see if I am the biggest and I was. Ugh. I had all of these negative thoughts starting with "what's the use?". I felt an overwhelming urge to run out of the room because I thought I was going to burst into tears. I am better today and I know I just need to keep going. I will get there. For me, I am a true believer in the voice of truth (God) and not the deceiver (Satan). It was just a temporary thing that I let get to me. I have worked too hard to let one out of control thought get in my way of achieving my goals. Thanks for letting me share.

Oh my goodness. I am sitting at my work desk both crying and laughing at all of your replies. Thank you so much for your encouragement. Such a huge help to have all of you! Enjoy your day!

Thanks. My goal is to maintain my weight and we will be taking advantage of the state of the art exercise room on the ship.

We are sailing out of Miami and are going to Bahamas/Nassau, San Juan, Caicos Islands, and the Grand Turks!

Congratulations! Yes, it so worth it. You can do this! Hugs to you!

It means "productive burp".

My list includes: Comfortably crossing my legs No longer needing an extender on the airplane (met this goal) Wear shorts Wear knee high boots Be on top during sex (this is getting easier and easier) :-) Tying and buckling my own shoes (met this goal) Buy regular size clothes I know there are so many others but this is off the top of my head.

I agree with all of the above. Let us know how you are doing! Happy New Year!

Happy for you. It's a good thing, huh? I just got my 5th fill yesterday and I am almost sure I am now in the green zone. Yahoo! Yay for restriction! lol Wishing you well in the new year!

As always, we spent Christmas Eve at my mother in law's house. I was mentally prepared for all of the food that would be available and I knew she was making chicken breast for me. My intent was to stay within my calorie limit but also have a very small piece of apple pie. Well....for the first time since my banding 7 months ago, I went a little overboard. I ate approximately 1900 calories! Dinner was just fine but I had 4 peanut butter balls, a vey small piece of apple pie, and a very small piece of cheesecake. It was delicious but I have to admit that I felt sick to my stomach and naseous. lol. Who knew? Although we came home late, I jumped on my exercise bike and rode it for 30 minutes. Sick tummy and all. I had a normal 1200 calorie day on Christmas day and was actually down 1/2 lb. this morning. I teetered a bit but did not fall. It is okay and I'm good! Happy New Year everyone!

So much support and it means so much. Thanks guys!

I was banded on May 23rd and have not been sick at all. Have never thrown up. Do what the dr. tells you and you will be just fine. God Bless!

When my husband and I were married in late 2010, he gifted me with a beautiful diamond cross necklace. The accompanying chain is very fine and expensive. I immediately knew that the necklace was not long enough and would be more like a choker. I bought a magnetic extender for the necklace so I could wear it comfortably. I hate the extender because the necklace is so lightweight that the extender works its way to the front all of the time. Each time I wear it, my husband is always commenting that the bulky extender is showing. So....yesterday, I put on the necklace and I realized that it is longer than I like. I took off the extender and put the necklace back on me and Viola! it fits exactly how it is supposed to. Feels so good. This weight loss continues to amaze me. Sometimes it is just the small things......

I have to laugh at myself and thought you might get a little laugh too. I am super excited because my BMI is 42.25. All I need to do is get down 2.25 points (about 15 lbs) to move from the Morbidly Obese category to the Obese category! I am so excited. I'll probably lose my mind when I wind down to the Overweight category. lol.

Pre-op weight was 304.8. Banded on 5/23/12. Weighed in yesterday morning at 231.0. Down 73.8 lbs! Loving it!

Congratulations!!!!! Happy Dance!