Donna113

Oh Happy Day! It's Phyl's Birthday! Happy, Happy Birthday, Dear Phyl!

I don't even have that excuse. The weather here in Houston is awesome! Since it's winter now, there's virtually no humidity and the temps are hovering between high 60s and 70s. I also have a wonderful treadmill at home as well. I just got out of the habit when I injured my knee but it's been better for 2 months and I've just got to get back into gear. When I was speed walking on it daily, I LOVED it and felt so good. It also helped me sleep much better. I know I'll love it once I get back in to the groove, it's the starting part that's hard.

Thank you for the pics. The blue butterfly took my breath away. The bull made me chuckle--it looked like it came out of a Dr. Suess book. Anyway, the pics are simply spectacular!

I need a swift kick in the a** to get me started on the exercises again. Unless I start exercising, I don't think the scale is going to start moving. C'mon ladies, give me a well deserved kick in the a**.

I love dogs but I'm more of a cat person and I LOVE your kitty! How adorable!!!!

WTG and congrats to both of you!

Beth and Froggi, congrats and welcome to bandland! Fanny, your pics are breathtaking. I love thunderstorms. I haven't even attempted to access LBT on my crackberry--I'm addicted to it enough as it is. If I combine the LBT addiction with the crackberry addiction, I don't think there will be any hope left for me.

I note many on here have a myspace page. I was wondering if I was the lone holdout?

Kimaly, you're doing awesome! What are you doing?

I'm sorry Orea. Keep your spirits up and focus your thoughts on your husband getting an even better job.

I've been lurking a bit here and there. I've also been crazy busy at work with our fiscal year end. I've been on a plateau for 3 weeks so I really need to kick it up somehow.

Karri, it's good to see you posting again. I've often wondered how you are doing and was hoping the reason you weren't posting was because you were too busy and not for any other reason.

I don't know what the sweet spot is yet so I can't really answer that question. I don't think what you are describing is getting stuck if it happens at the end of your meal, it sounds like you are hitting maximum capacity in your pouch. Once you hit that level, you clearly need to stop. How much do you eat before that happens? Is it more than 1 cup of food? If it's more than 1 1/2 cup of food at a sitting, then you probably really need to measure your food because more than that at one time could lead to stretched pouches. If it's less than that, then it's probably what they call the satiety level. Ask your doc/RN the next time you go in for a fill/check up.

I like your new registered name much better Denise aka Gus'sGirl

I am only down 23 lbs and like you was hoping to be down 40 lbs by Christmas as well. I am trying to look at it not so much as in how quickly I get there but focusing more on just getting there. The scales are not climbing. I lose 2-3 lbs at a time and then the scale just sits and refuses to budge, then about a month later, I'll lose another 2-3 lbs and repeat. I'm going to get back into exercising and see if that helps and plan on going for another fill on Dec 2nd. Keep your spirits up, we will get there.

WooHoo! Your happiness and excitement are coming through loud and clear through your posts! I'm so happy for you!

Karen, you may be experiencing a bit of plastic surgery addiction. This is a topic they've covered extensively and it appears that once they've gone under the knife for PS, the fear and stigma of PS has been removed for them and they start seeing other areas they'd like to improve. I'm sure it's a fine line between wanting to be your best and going overboard on PS to achieve it. Have a talk with your surgeon and see what he thinks. If you trust him and he's a reputable surgeon, he probably will tell you if he thinks you are crossing the line.

WTG Claudine! Don't short change yourself and say you just want to maintain through the holidays, that's still another month! If you managed to do this well already, then set another mini goal for New Year's Eve. I haven't even come close to my goal so my New Year's resolution will be to really focus on the exercise.

imb, WOW! I'm so thrilled for you and it's stories like yours that keep me inspired when I get frustrated. Thanks for sharing.

Everyone is doing great on their weight loss and whether it was pre or post band, it's a loss so it's all good. I am a painfully slow loser and realize I really need to get back on the exercise bandwagon to kick off my weight loss. Starting today, I'm getting back into exercising by starting my walking routine this evening.

Sometimes when I think about the band, I resent it. Is this thing going to have to be in me for the rest of my life? Why can't I control myself after I reach goal? I've been told by my doc and from reading the posts here that once unfilled or unbanded, people tend to start spiraling out of control again with their eating. When the band plays such a small part in the weight loss, why does it play such a BIG part in maintaining it?!?

Fanny, thanks for the pics of the gorgeous scenery and beautiful horses. PTP: It's 50F in Houston this morning--the kids are hopeful it will snow. I told them that it has to get A LOT colder than that to snow but they figure if it can get this cold in Houston, it can get cold enough to snow. Can't help but envy the hopeful optimism of children. Beth - thinking of you today. Let us know as soon as you feel up to posting how you're doing.

Sorry to hear you are in the job market at this very precarious time in the economy. Good luck with the job search and the revision.

I had some Ketostix left over from my Atkins diet a couple of years ago and out of curiosity tested myself. It shows my keytone levels in the moderate category. Even when I was on the Atkins diet I could never get the test to be in the moderate level. The most I ever got was at the small level.

I haven't been receiving e-mail notifications from LBT all day. Has anyone else had this same issue?