vinesqueen

welcome to the Banded Gentry both of you! Oh, the weird noises have only just begun! You just have to learn to laugh at all the weird noises you are going to be making... Try Miso Soup, it really helped me.

I shop at Lane Bryant. I don't think they have changed the size of their clothes, but the other stores have so we don't feel bad. I think they call it vanity sizing, but I'm not sure. I don't really care what the size says, since it's all arbitrary anymore anyway. I am currently in sizes from 24 to 18. It makes no sense what so ever. I'm in shirts from size XL to 24 still. Again, it doesn't make any sense, and I'm not going to hurt my brain over it. I have found their quality and prices reasonable, plus the saleswomen don't make me feel like a freak. I cannot say the same for other stores I've shopped at. Sorry, does this post make my butt look big?

FFM stands for fat free mass. It is what you weigh without any fat, just as it says. We, of course, require a certian percentage of body fat to maintain a healthy body. For women my age, and for Pat's, we need to be between 25-35% fat. (not like the 41% I currently am ) Because Pat (Harlynana) is currently putting on muscles mass, she is reducing the amount of fat on her body, and changing the number of fat pounds she can and should carry. She's actually increasing the number of fat pounds she should have!

Yeah, that whole gaining definition thing is really important I journal all the time, not exactly weekly and certianly not daily. I think the only thing I would have done differently was to keep track of my starting metabolic information from the Tanya (or something like that) brand scale. I'll get a copy of the print-out when I go home. Thanks Karla!

thanks for letting us know how you are doing. I am sure more than a few of us were pulling for you.

thanks for posting this Kelly, it has really got me thinking about things. I did not want to date my husband. I didn't want to go out with him, and I sure as hell didn't want to fall in love with some guy that weighed more than 400 pounds. No way in hell. I'm shallow, or at least I was shallow. I will not be the same person after I lose all this extra weight. I am not the same person I was last December or March before I was banded. If I am not the same person or will be be the same person, how can I expect other people to be the same? How can I expect them to not change in some way? If I view myself differently, which I will, the how can I expect others to not view me differently as well? MsButtercup, I think everyone is screwed up, just in different ways. So, yes, in all likelyhood, if you are a screwed up fat person, you will be a screwed up skinny person too I think it is vital to figure out how to act/react to the opposite sex once we lose our extra weight. I know that the last time I lost a significant amount of weight that suddenly I was the center of attention of all the young men at work. And yup, I freaked out. But I have realized that I use my weight and size as shield and armor. It is hard to face the world naked.

Wow! Congrats on your astounding loss! Can't advise on the flipped port although I can't imagine it would be anything like what we went through in the banding. I say this because the port is attached to the outside of the abdomin, so there wouldn't be any cutting through muscle fibers or probably any need to anything invasive. I'll even bet it could be done under a twilight sleep... a local with sedatives should be enough. (I've had 5 or 6 major surgeries done under twilight because of my asthma)

Decaf is awful. They use the cheapest beans and the quality isn't that good either. Life is too short for bad coffee.

Here's my chart. As you can see, I lose, then gain a little back, lose more, gain more back, but so far, I'm down 23 pounds after being banded. I'm down more if you count from being down from my all time highest weight. my chart.bmp

What???? WHAT????? WOOOOOTTT!!!!! (That's a big HUZZAH!) Okay, not sure what the "growing upside down under my arms, ERRRR." means, other than you are getting stronger arms. And who doesn't want stronger arms??? This is EXACTLY what you should be wanting!!!!! I don't know how to empasise this any more! You are one of my heros here at LBT. You have gained now what, 30 pounds of muscle mass??? If the then you have that much less fat to lose! Gaining a pound of muscle means that you don't have 2 pounds (or more) of fat to lose! Gaining a pound of muscle means that you are more efficient with your body! Gaining a pound of muscle means that you are stronger now, and will be stronger longer as you age! Gaining a pound of muscle means that you will need to eat more food to keep the same weight, since your metabolic rate will be increased! Gaining a pound of muscle means that when you are 70, or 90, you will be less fall prone! Gaining a pound of muscle means that your body looks better than if you lost 5 pounds of fat. Since you know that you are still gaining muscle (Woot!) you must know your FFM, your fat free mass. This means that you know closer what your personal ideal goal weight should be, not some arbitrary number on a chart. It could mean that your goal weight needs to be adjusted to relect your new reality of a stronger, more compact body. Please post or PM your FFM, or your body fat % if that is what you have. If I put on even half of the muscles mass you have gained HarlyNana, I, personally, would only be about 20 pounds over weight, not the 50 pounds I currently need to lose. If I had put on all the muscle mass you have gained, I would be at goal, right now, at 240-ish pounds. My goal would be in the 220 to 240 pound range, since that would put me in the 25-35% body fat percentage, which is the healthy range for women my age.

coffee? Yes please, make mine a quad americano with cinamon and room! Search "coffee" and/or caffein (but spell it correctly for better resutls ) and you will find all the really great conversations about this subject

you were just banded. From the date listed, it's just about the time when most poeple start back on food from their liquid diet. Your colon is probably holding that 2 pounds. Doesn't mean anything. It's not fat, it's the ... stuff that your colon and intestines hold

Sorry fee, I didn't realize that you needed an answer RIGHT NOW. Maybe I didn't answer because I don't know the answer, maybe I didn't see your post, maybe I needed to think about it. I'm terribly sorry you don't feel supported. Sue or not, I don't have an opionion, and I cannot advise you. In the past, have you not gotten support on issues that we could offer when we could?

I heard that They just did another translation, and the new number of the beast is 616. The Church of Satan said that they don't care what the number is... just as long as it freaks out the Christians.

Yup, you are too tight. And thinking you have a 4 oz gain is crazy talk. I think by taking a really deep breath you can "gain" weight.

okay, I don't know how this will look, but here's your graphy to date.

excellent idea to post your scale journal in this thread too.

nope, a gator is bigger than my head.

Well, coming to pain would would involve something I just don't have a lot of right now... time. Or money.. Okay, time and money are really short right now. Full time student on a tiny little stipend, and we don't qualify for student loans. so... crap I"m late for class again.

Honestly, do we ever thing DeLarla would have a brown nose???? I think not!

I'm partial to shades not found in nature.

I've never heard of a weight called "grammers" We can't answer your question because there are so many different sizes of cans. There are little bitty cans that just have a few ounces and cans that are a gallon size. You have to be more specific. Sorry. Do a google search on "weight conversion"

I believe all the pix of me here, except as the Pirate Queen, my brows are au naturale... not plucked, not waxed ... Just call me Brooke Shields! In the one with my pirate hat, those brows were designed by Christina (I'llSucceed) our last night in Vega. Just a pair of tweesers and much crying from me. ("stop wiggling or I'll poke your eye out!")

Oh come one ReneBean, not even a little martyr? Please? Geeze, where's your team spirit?

Uhm, Kathy, dear, at the rate we are going with our Turtle Power, I'd think you are in more danger of them falling apart... Try a hipster style.