mcgreen

Yea LJ on losing inches!! that's great! LOL moment here- I was reading and running my hand right along my necklace- it hits right below my collar bones and I felt this lump.. I immediately freak out and then realize its a rib! I can actually feel ribs now!!! hahahaha

thanks for the suggestion! I end up eating out more than I'd like due to work/family stuff so even though I order well ( chicken, fish, veggies with some beef. mmmm. beef- yum!) portions are still hard for me yea-we're band twins! :clap2: You are doing GREAT with your weight loss! I agree that evenings are the worst in being able to eat much more - the band feels much looser to me. I don't know that I needed my first fill a month ago- I was losing and had some restriction but its definitely less noticeable now. Good for you for being able to do so well without having to tighten the band! I know myself and I like to push/test - can I eat X and not gain weight? Having a bit more restriction will hopefully keep my binge urges at bay. I want to still be able to eat meat so I don't want to be very tight. I'm thinking 1.4 cc (I was 1.2 last time in a 4cc band) yea for the May bandsters! It looks like everyone is doing well!

yea Mellisa and Sandra!!! I need a fill too- I'd been doing pretty well at mealtimes- around 1 cup of food but last night I was able to eat an entire stip steak (about 8 oz) without any problem. YIKES! Didn't even realized I had eaten the whole thing (talking too much at mealtime!) Last fill was around June 20 - have an appt next week. Just need to keep portions controlled until then! anyone else tempted to bring a food scale with them when they go to resturants? I still have a rough time on judging portion size

sandra you are doing great too! Just think if we hadn't done this, likely we'd be where we were before band if not heavier.. its all headed in the right direction!

its amazing how many pounds you need to drop the bigger sizes- I'm down about 80 lbs from 3/06 and am only down to a 22/24 bottoms/ 20 top from previously 28-30 bottoms; 24 top. I don't remember what I weighed when I was in misses' sizes. SO looking forward to wearing cuter clothes!

I keep trying every day- I can cross them sortof (5'9", 257) but it isn't the girly leg cross where the legs are right next to each other - the toe still points out. Looking forward to this NSV!

everything in my closet fits or is too big!

Hey Liz- I've been banded almost 8 weeks and the desire to binge has not gone away for me at all. I keep all the foods that I used to love to binge on out of my house- they aren't allowed in and I try to eat some Protein first if I feel like Im out of control- usually by doing that, I get full and the thought of eating a bunch of crap doesn't appeal to me at that time. The band won't fix your head hunger. It does make it harder to eat the volumes that I used to eat. Good luck!

Patty- congrats on doing so well! I'm sorry you have to wait for a fill but I remember reading a poll where a remarkably high % of bandsters didn't need a fill for many months (some never) - they have enough restriction with the band alone. Good luck! Melissa- congrats on your progress and the wedding dress! Manatee- you've lost 40 lbs!!! I'm sure that people can see a difference- congrats!!!

you can get it to work without bootcamp or parallel? I have a power pc mac (the first generation version) but never use my pc side. I'm very interested in the BB but am a mac person all the way

that is an interesting site- the "people's weight rec is 189 for me (I'm 5'9") - I'm thinking I want to be less than 150 though- I was 170 in college and was in a size 12/14 - I'd like to be thinner than that. We'll see. Below 200 will thrill me. Anything else is zero calorie icing on the zero calorie cake head hunger is killing me- I want to snack on salty stuff. Had some saltines (low fat) to tide that over but then ended up eating 24!!!!!! Gotta get the head stuff under better control. AND get a fill. my last fill attempt was a nightmare ( the girl couldn't access my port and no one else was in the office) and I am feeling not very restricted right now.. Sue- glad you enjoyed the burger

what a GREAT thread and congrats to everyone! I'm still early in my journey but am thankful that with excercise I can now easily go up several flights of stairs without feeling like I'm going to die! no more seat belt extenders! bye bye super-plus (> size 28) size clothes! more to come

she stuck me 4 times today including once where i was standing under fluoro - no go. I had her stop because it hurt and also I was worried about infection. Going to try again in another 2 weeks.

Thank you all- this thread is very helpful- I have had one fill and I'm not certain if I need a 2nd one- I have restriction- I can eat a cup - 1.5 cups at meals and stay pretty satisfied until the next meal unless my head convinces me that I need a snack. I guess as long as you are losing and not suffering between meals- you're in the right place?

I'm with you- I LOVE the eliptical- not hard on the joints either. Just added some upper body weight lifting to tone. Still don't like getting up at the buttcrack of dawn but love how I feel when I get the exercise accomplished :cool:

NaeNae- PB = productive burp- when you eat something that can't pass through the band and you "burp" it back up. It SUCKS. I had one with a piece of apple. It really hurt too. The Intro section of the board has FAQ with some bandster terminology :cool: I'm undecided if I need another fill or not- I have restriction - I can't eat what I could before but at the same time I can eat more than I think I should be able to (about 6 oz meat and up to 1/2 cup veggies). If my weight continues to go off and I'm not starving between meals, I think I'm going to put it off.. dunno. I'm finding that telling my head "I'M FULL!" is harder than I thought it would be- I'm still eating way too fast and must not be giving my body time to get the signal to my head..

Congrats Margaret on your NSV! I can't wait until I can use regular towels I unfortunately have hit my first plateau. No real weight loss for 2 weeks and actually am up a pound despite almost daily exercise (6/7 days a week) and no days of calories over 1500 (most under 1000). SO FRUSTRATING. Makes me want to say f*** it and go eat french fries and cake. how long do these plateaus last?? I don't feel like I need a fill- I don't get super hungry between meals.. this just BLOWS. yea for everyone who is doing so well so far on the challenge! happy monday!

does anyone know what days Dr Spivak does fills? A newer person (not Brenda) did my fill last time and I could tell she's not been doing this a long time. I'd prefer to go to someone with more experience

aren't the stats that 50% of people who get the band will lose half of their excess body weight in the first year? There is a bell curve around that so some people do extraordinarily well and others are in the 30lb club. Your weight loss is GREAT! Think of how much better physically you feel, look at old photos and don't think that the weight loss has to stop. it DOESN'T! If you are unhappy with the loss, look at your diet and activities and see what you could change to maybe boost it a bit. You are doing great so reward yourself for doing so well by focusing on what you've accomplished and what you still CAN do!

I'm in for the challenge. I'm convinced that to truly lose the weight that I want to lose I'll need to exercise more than 5 days a week. Water is very hard for me - I don't have a desk job and I can't interact with some of the people who come to see me with a water bottle in my hand It was easier when I could chug it thanks for starting the challenge!

I really appreciate everything yall have posted about your exercise routines. I'm a new bandster but am convinced from reading the stories of people who have lost 100+ lbs that the majority of them have done it with exercise and the band helps with cutting down on food so the loss can continue. Increasing muscle mass will increase the basal metabolic rate so it works for you on so many levels to exercise. I go to the gym 6 days a week and at this point am doing primarily cardio. In about another month, I'm going to get a trainer and start on the weights. I do 30 minutes eliptical (and OMG I didn't know I could sweat like this!) then 15 on the treadmill to cool down. I love the eliptical cause it doesn't hurt any of my joints. Ideally I want to become a runner but think I need to lose about 60-70 lbs before I try it. I'm going to focus on getting my CV system in top shape by increasing resistance on the eliptical and varying the routine I do on the machine. I was worried that it could be harmful to exercise daily that you need some breaks - it looks like many of you are successful with daily exercise which is very encouraging thanks to yall who have had success in posting what has worked for you- its an inspiration and allows me to ignore a lot of the negative stuff on this board

I think it depends also on your health- the more medical problems you have, the higher the chance you'll need pre-op tests. I think they recommend a low carb diet to many people prior to surgery in case you have fatty liver to try to reduce the size of the liver but I didn't get any specific recs from him

Hey Maryum! I think you are right in that it is helpful to vary your calories a bit so your metabolism doesn't get used to one thing and try to conserve. I vary between 700-1100 with most days below 1000 and that's kept things moving for me as well. With my job I have to get up early to exercise or go very late.. anyone find that getting up early to hit the gym gets easier with time??? I hope to god it does

yea- figuring out "full" is still hard. Plus my mouth wants whatever is tasting good so stopping after a small amount is a challenge

this really hit home with me - I think that's true for me in many ways. Like you, I'm doing this for my health, so I can wear cuter clothes and I'll ignore the icky love stuff if guys start hitting on me.... at least until I can handle it to the thread starter- hang in there and its great you are thinking about this! getting our heads where we need them to be is so much of our battle