Marimaru

My DH does something like this I think, but he was never able to explain it. He'll say "Just will them away" as if that means anything, lol.

Amy, with all the weight you've lost since October, your body may just be readjusting. If you keep going your course, you'll likely wake up and the scale will have jumped down a number that seems impossible over night. But you might consider changing up your diet. Since you are counting calories, I'll mention that I simply cannot lose weight unless I eat less than 1300 calories a day. You may just need to go down a little. Looking at what you have above, the easiest way to do that probably would be to have solid Protein at lunch instead of chili. Do things like calculating your loss per week, etc. That helped me in the beginning when I would get stuck.

Yikes! I hope it goes down soon. It definitely sounds like the 100 calorie pack Cheez-its must be different than the normal ones. At least you noticed before you ate the whole thing!

If it flares up after you eat, and especially after you eat higher fat meals, that screams gallbladder to me. Evidently losing weight (any way you do it) is tough on the little thing. I'd get it checked out.

I would talk to the doctor about what is an acceptable risk, and how much weight he thinks she needs to lose to get there. There are also surgeons out there who are more willing to do surgery on the higher risk patients. I'm not saying "hunt for a doctor until you find one that will do it" but getting another opinion can't hurt.

I wasn't really told not to use one, and I find that I get less air with a straw than without one, so I don't really worry about it. But, you should definitely get your doctor's opinion

Definitely shop around. I went to Mexico 3 1/2 years ago to save some money, and also because I liked the reputation of my surgeon. Prices nowadays are much more competitive, so you might find something just as cheap but local. But I would highly recommend going to someone who has at least a few hundred band surgeries under their belt, you know?

I have no idea, but if you are able to find that information, I'd love for you to post it so we could read it too!

For once, I decided to jump into a diet, and did it THAT DAY. No waiting, or anything like that. I'm counting calories, and I'm trying REALLY HARD not to justify going over on Sundays. I went over one Sunday, I had been logging everything for 2 weeks, and wanted one drink that would take me over and decided to do it. This past Sunday I almost went over, but I had to make myself stop. There's no reason to have a "free day" really. Of course by "over" I mean like 200 calories over my 1300 limit, but if I allow it one day, then it'll be 2 days...

I think nathenag was talking about the lotions that promise to firm up your skin. From the people I've heard of that use them, they'll firm it up a little, but only for as long as you are using it religiously.

Wheetsin, what do you do for sweetener? Do you use anything at all? I've been using a ton of splenda lately, because iced tea has been my new "get my Water in" addiction of late. I really can't stand it without sweet stuff, but I don't want to add sugar to it. :mad: What about something like Stevia? Does that have the same effect as Splenda? It's interesting you mention that thing about it causing stalls. I've been watching my calls for the last few weeks and I was losing nicely and it just stalled (although I wasn't doing Atkins). Any tips would definitely be appreciated!

I was in a 10W, even 11's in some shoes, and I'm a pretty solid 8 1/2 now. :mad:

If I were traveling that soon after surgery, I'd be sure to bring packets of protein drink powder and such, just to be sure I had something in the event I couldn't find anything after I'd gotten to where I was going. But, at that point I imagine you'd be off the liquid diet, and mushies are a bit easier if you are creative.

If I want to lose weight, I have to count calories. For the most part, if I want to maintain, I don't need to pay any attention. I gained some weight after my wedding and over the holidays that I am now dealing with, but I am counting calories to do it. If that's my band reality, I'm totally fine with that, because I have help in maintaining, even if I have to do the work to lose. It's still different, because if I hit a rut, when I get out of it I can still pick up where I left off. I could probably be at goal by now if I was more diligent like a lot of the people here, but I guess that's just not who I am, and so I'm a slow loser. :mad:

I used to be really bad about letting my scale affect my mood. Then I just made myself quit weighing until I could get on the scale and not be pissed off all day just because it hadn't gone down. Now I just take it for what it is; one piece of information that tells me generally how I am doing. If you are letting it affect your mood, don't get on it in the first place.

Sorry I didn't see your post when you first posted it. It's highly probably that your gas doesn't have much to do with the band specifically. You probably just ate something that didn't agree with your body. Hope you are feeling better.

My mom recently did botox in a couple of places. She's really happy with it. She only got a couple of places, so the change is subtle, but she's going to go back for a few more places next time she's at her dermatologist's office.

Stretch marks are basically scar tissue, so there's not a whole lot of elasticity there. My stomach skin has a lot of stretch marks, but it still has come back a decent amount. I think once I get to goal, if I wait a year or so, it'll be more "squishy" than "hanging skin" if that makes any sense. Areas without stretch marks have a greater chance of firming up better, but it's not guaranteed or anything.

Time will help the skin come back SOME. When I plateau, I notice that even my stomach skin (full of stretch marks) does come back a little. I don't have a big apron though.

I don't own the business that I work for, but my mom does. Her and her boyfriend work here, as well as my sister and her husband, and myself and my husband. My husband and I don't work at the main office, we telecommute from a client's office in Oregon (mom's office is in CA). I think a lot of it has to do with compatibility, DH and I are much happier working together than we were when we had different jobs. My sister likes having her husband where she can see him, but I think HE might be happier if he could get some space away from her, lol. DH and I just kind of know when we need some space. I make a point to tell him if I'm feeling moody, or PMSy so he can decide whether he wants to deal with it, or kind of hide out until I'm in a better mood, and he can tell me when he's irritable, though that doesn't seem to happen much. I think the biggest thing is being open with each other. DH and I have worked together for 4 years or so now, and it's never really been a problem. But I think you have to be able to say (nicely) "I need to not be near you right at this moment". For me that often means "I'm going out, I'll be back in a couple of hours" or something.

I keep yogurt and 100 calorie packs and things like that around. Yogurt is often my breakfast, but I also use it for a snack. As long as you keep your calories in check you might consider the 6 smaller meals a day approach. I think we need to listen to our doctors, but I also think we need to consider that our doctors have 1 plan or 1 set of rules, and we are all different people.

I also use fitday. Jack, I have the installer for the fitday program, and you can retrieve your registration key from their website, if you're interested in installing it again.

You also need to consider what you are trying to feel as "full". Likely you will never have that "thanksgiving stuffed" full feeling again. The only way I get any feeling that relates to that is when I drink too much iced tea, heh. The signal you are looking for is more akin to "not hungry anymore". You don't need to be "full" to be "not hungry".

I do not believe that one slip up will be enough to stretch your pouch. My understanding is that it's caused by overeating habitually. But if your stomach hurts, definitely take it easy. Maybe even do mushies for a few days.

I actually often look at what other people eat and I'm amazed. That gets me thinking about what my portions used to be like, and I'm amazed again. I think you'll get to a point where you are glad you aren't stuffing your face like the people around you.