Marimaru

My head is always clear when I leave the gym. I felt like crap yesterday after work and was LOOKING FORWARD to going to the gym because I knew I would feel better afterwards. Looking in a mirror after the gym isn't so bad. The sweat of "I just worked my ass off" is an attractive thing, vs. "I'm sweating for no reason because I'm fat" or "I'm sweating because I just ran up one flight of stairs". My 2 sisters and I are all going to the gym together. My youngest sister had a baby in January, and practically has her figure back, but she's had weight issues her whole live, and doesn't quite see that she's there. My other sister had a baby in March, and this is the first time she's ever had a weight problem, and it's been nice being able to advise her on it (holy crap, we wear the same shirt size, this if a first in my WHOLE LIFE). I love mini goals. At first, my mini goal was to do 30 minutes on the elliptical. After that, it was making sure I did 300 calories in that 30 minutes (by the machines calculations based only on my height and weight). I hit 330 yesterday, so now my goal is 350. My goal for the weight training machines is to start to see some muscle definition in places other than the current "smaller than she was". If your gym has exercise balls, do crunches sitting on one of those, that definitely works you hard than regular crunches. Does anyone have an opinion on what kind of benefits a sauna has? My sisters both sit in there for 30 minutes after their work out, I can't sit in there that long, and I'm just not sure it makes that big of a difference.

"Chirashi" sushi is a good option. The fish slices come on top of a bowl of rice, so you can eat the rice, or not. It's great

I was banded at 22, 25 now. I'm so excited. I'm not to goal yet, but I'm going to be a size 14 (haven't seen that in 10 years) in my wedding dress!

I was 22 when I was banded (25 now), and I agree, why wait when I know what the pattern is like and I can see where it's going! I had my surgery on a Friday, and flew home on Monday and went to work on Tuesday and I was fine (also a desk job). You do need to be aware that sometimes there are reasons you'll be in the hospital longer than planned, so, just keep that thought in your back pocket, you know? You should just tell people what you are thinking if they say things like "you CHOSE surgery" you can just say "just because it's something I chose to have done, doesn't mean it's not a major thing and doesn't mean I can't be scared of it". And, whoever griped at you about the chicken sandwich is likely to say things in the future like "are you allowed to eat that? Can you eat THAT MUCH??" it's really annoying, so you should just be prepared for however you want to handle that. I had a little cup of Soup, and some refried Beans and a little salad a while back when I went out to lunch with my dad (who lives out of state) and he said something like "that's a lot for you, huh?". One of his neighbors got banded this year, so I'm hoping he'll get an education, lol.

Many of the Mexicans that I have come across have been very hard workers, trying to make a good life for their family. It occurs to me that if they went home, and worked that hard, Mexico might not be so bad for them. The Mexicans that get tax ID's and pay taxes don't bother me nearly so much as the ones that stand outside 711 and home depot waiting for work, getting paid cash, never paying taxes, and sending their kids to our schools. There is a lot of value in a kid learning a second language at a younger age, but they shouldn't be learning Spanish because the Spanish speaking community wont learn English. My fiance got out of jury duty when the lawyer asked him if the defendants legal status would sway is opinion and he said "yes, if they're here illegally, I have no issue believing they would do something else illegal".

My understanding of how these type of ads work, is that he would give them keywords, and the ads would populate based on that, not based on random words from all of the posts. In which case there may be some bypass related ads, but all the ads will likely be weight loss/plastic surgery related. The other option is for someone to buy the space (for a certain amount of clicks, or time) in which case Alex would know exactly what banner was going up. I don't believe RnR is going to have any effect on the advertising.

I agree with Alexandra. I think you are probably too tight and that's why you are having so much trouble. An unfill, even a small one, would help alot. Another thing you could do is get a complete unfill, because for many, a complete unfill is like not having a band at all, in which case you can give it a go and see how you do for yourself, but if you start to have trouble, your band is there and you can get a simple adjustment to get that little extra push of help. I know for myself, that I do NOT have a good handle on the beast in my belly.

What exactly didn't work? And what is going on that he thinks it wont work again? If she's eating around her band (which we all do at some point or another, I'm sure), I don't think the bypass is a good answer anyway, because you can out eat that too, and it's not adjustable. Was she too tight and having that soft food syndrome thing? If so, the unfill should help alot, because the solid protein will keep her full longer. I'm a slow loser, I know that it's 2 things, number 1 I've always been a slow loser on any diet, and number 2, I struggle to be 'good'. When I'm not good I don't gain weight, which is all thanks to my band, and when I am good, I lose slowly, which is frustrating, but it's the right direction and that's how my band works for me. I think she just needs to figure out how her band works for her.

They try and pull at your heart strings with the stories of the children that are left behind when people are taken away by the raids for illegals, and it is sad for the children, but it's a risk the parent took when they came here, and they new it. I really don't get all of this "oh it's so unfair" stuff, they knew the risks coming in. IMO, they need to tighten the border so we don't get more and more coming in, once that's done, figure out what to do with the people here, but the answer is definately not "they're already here, we might as well let them stay". The idea of the prisoners and the welfare folks doing the labor is great! lol.

My engagement ring is a white gold setting with a single round diamond. My wedding ring (that I get to wear in 2 weeks!) is white gold with I think 6 small stones set in the ring. I got an aquamarine(my birthstone) earring/necklace set from my fiance for my birthday, that has little diamonds in it as well. The earrings are going to be my 'something blue'. He's also gotten me 2 Topaz necklaces, one white topaz and one 'mystic fire topaz'. They are both very nice, and I am always wearing one of the three necklaces, unless I'm wearing something specific for an occasion or something. The other jewelry I have is cheaper stuff. A lot of the jewelry from places like Claire's is just fine for me on any given day. I have 3 sets of ear holes, Often I wear all hoops, or 2 hoops and something dangly, but recently, I've started wearing 2 sets of dangly earrings... the 2nd set being a little less dangly than the first, and then something small at the 3rd hole. I've gone back and forth with the idea of getting a higher up piercing on one of my ears, and one of my goal rewards is a belly button piercing. I have no issue what-so-ever with manufactured diamonds, and if the price is that much better, than they make more sense to me anyway. My fiance and I have actually had conversations about this, so he knows, lol.

I can see why they want you to maintain for a while, but 2 years does seem like a long time. My weight loss has be s...l...0...w but I'd probably wait 6mos or so after I got to or close to goal. The other thing, is if you are close to goal but just can't get that last few pounds off, and are planning on significant plastic surgery, getting the surgery done might actually get those pounds off for you.

My port is sore on and off. I can't seem to find a reason for it specifically. It has happened more as I've lost weight tho. Whenever I have any plastic surgery done, I will be asking to switch to the low profile port that has been mentioned. It's a lot flatter than the regular one.

The Water in those countries doesn't have the issues it used to. For Mexico, most of the bigger towns and tourist areas have adopted American plumbing as well. I will also mention that I have been to Mexico dozens of times (before my surgery with some of them after), in popular areas, and less popular areas, and I have never once gotten sick. And most of the restaurants now serve bottled water, probably to try and get people to come there. I don't blame you for the hangup, I do understand it, but at least in Mexico, it's just not an issue like it used to be.

Cell phone telemarketing has started recently because before it was actually illegal. With the advent of all of the unlimited calling plans, I guess they decided they didn't care if they were spending the money of people who are not on those plans... There is a separate DNC list for cell phone numbers.... just google it. I don't know what it is off hand.

Flying does tighten me up for a day or so. It's not that big of a deal if I'm prepared for it.

The member on the forum who had the tumor and cushing is Vinesqueen, you should look her up. She has a journal of her struggles and whatnot as well.

My initial weight loss was because of the band, but now, when I lose weight it's because of work I do. Without trying, I usually eat between 1500 and 2000 calories a day, which is fine for maintaining, but I need to eat between 1100 and 1300 to lose. It's still a bit of work to cut out the 200 calories between 1500 and 1300... but when I'm not up to task for that, I'm not gaining, and so I pick up right where I left off. THAT is what the band is doing for me, and that is what my current fill level (sweet spot) does for me. I hope this helps give you an additional perspective on the band..

Garments like that could help a little bit, but in the long run, I don't think they'll help a whole lot. My breasts didn't sag much until I quit sleeping in a bra (long before surgery), and now that they do, starting to sleep in a bra again isn't going to get them back where they were, you know?

Congratulations!!!

My fiance had some issues right at first. His work situation wasn't good shortly after my surgery, so we already had some stress, and I'd lost about 25 pounds or so, and he'd started to get worried about me getting skinny and wanting to find someone else. I told him I never 'settled' for him, and that if someone wanted me after I got skinny that didn't want me before I got skinny wasn't worth my time. That calmed him down a lot.

Well yay for SIL, lol. My wedding is in 2 weeks and I am going a bit stir crazy. I'm having trouble getting a hold of the event coordinator at my location and I need to do all the final confirmation stuffs. eek! It sounds like your daughter is on the way to being a little more organized, so it should be more fun!

My doctor actually prepared a basket of things I could fix in my hotel room with just hot Water... cup Soups, teas, broths, etc. Also, there was a grocery store right next door. I could have gone there if I'd needed more.

Benefiber is one of the ones that you mix in.. you can mix it in water even and not taste it. But, is it that you are 'backed up', or are things just slower than they used to be?

Lisa, You really need to be more patient with yourself. You are only a month out, you don't have any restriction, and your body is wondering what the hell just happened. Give it some time to adjust... stay off the scale and get out a tape measure... how doe your clothes feel?

If you have a decent level of restriction, you'll want to get an unfill. In addition to the possible risk of vomiting, you are likely to do some coughing while you are healing from the tonsillectomy. Good luck!