the best me

Oh no, stay away form the comb-overs! Just cut it or shave it and be beautiful! Let us know what your restriction is like. You'll know more as you move off the liquids. Good luck!

Good golly Miss Molly!!!!!! Ali, what a shocking difference! I'm glad I looked at them in order. I saw your before pic last...that girl ain't you!!!! Gosh, your son is adorable (how old is he now?) and the second Glamour Shot is SEXY HOT!!! I love your pics. You should be so proud!!! Thanks for sharing!

LOL. Bald is cute when you wear it with confidence! Don't worry about your first big fill. The rest of your fills won't be so hefty. You are off the a great start! How's the restriction? Are you still dong post-fill liquids? Take is slow as you ease into real foods. Good luck, Pianoman!

myband, I just realized you are in Australia, so to you, I'm a Yank. G'night!!!

OOOOOhhhhhh! I get it now! Good golly. That makes perfect sense. LMBO!!! Cute saying, yes it is!! I'm not a yank but I am an East Coaster and yes, it's bedtime. I can sleep now that I understand the bees dick thing. LOL

Okay, so let me just ask then...and call me "out of the loop" I know I am! So "my band" is saying that 33 pounds in 6 months is about as much to see as a bees dick? Is that it? I was thinking it was some ebonics thing where it bees (is) dick (as in something bad) to have lost so little. Either way, I think it flew right over me. Cute saying though. Bees dick ain't much, I don't guess??? Sorry ya'll!! Anyhow, my band, 33 pounds is great AND got you under 200 so don't give up yet!!!

Okay jennifer...here's some links to other threads so you can get the support you need. Regarding hair loss... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9862&highlight=hair+loss and regarding slow weight loss... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10174 Sounds to me like you need to increase your calories. Yep, eat more. Do you have any idea what your average calorie intake is on a daily basis? If it's under 1000, you can bet you will lose hair, feel terrible, and have a hard time dropping the pounds. Try going to www.room42.com and see what your calorie range needs to be. Also go to www.fitday.com to log your foods and see what kind of nutritional value you are getting from your food. Good luck! I'm a slow loser. But your numbers look great to me!! Keep it up!

Who's THAT?!! You are doing great with your weight loss! Congrats and good luck with your fill!

You have lots to be proud of this week! She is a doll! congrats!!!

Oh and this one is really good, too. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4917

You will wake up and say "Oh Thank God I'm alive!" and you will want to know if everything went okay, then you will want to go back to sleep. Happy band day! It'll be a great day. Please don't stress. Take big cyber ((((((hugs))))) with you and be well!!! Post when you get home, now.

Okay gang...this is really good conversation!! Here are some links to old threads that I'll just bet you will find interesting reading. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10234&highlight=dysmorphia http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4736 http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9311 that should do ya. Happy reading and thinking! Can't wait to have some new takes on old threads...good stuff!!!

The head banding is sooo the hard part. it's natural to go to thinking about food alot since your diet has changed so much and you are learning a new way. it will settle down alot as the weeks go by and you start eating real foods. You will be amazed at how much less you worry about food when you can actually eat it and you don't really care about it! The hard part for me has been not eating, losing weight, and my body making me hungry for the calories it needs to maintain my weight. What has helped me (months down the road as I figure this out) is to be sure to EAT!! so the hunger doesn't sneak up on me and I find myself ravenous...even though just a bit will do me. It's weird, but you'll get it figured out. Your body and your brain do a little dance together. You just have to learn to monitor well to be sure the right one "leads".

Wow Becky! How awful! I'm assuming your doc ran blood tests to check out your nutritional health. I know you are eating and you shouldn't be malnourished like some GP folks...but even they don't usually have grand mal siezures like that out of the blue, do they? How odd and scary!!! Take care and keep us posted on your progress. Will you be able to go off the meds in the future and begin to drive again? Wow girl, I'm worried about you!!! Stay in touch. So glad you are back in business!!

Keri!!! Banded for Life (Keri in Tx) lost a whopping 30 pounds in the Fall Weight Loss Challenge. She started at 255 and is now down to 225. Way to Go, Keri!! Her Before/After pics are here!! We are so proud of you! 11 people have signed off on the 10 week Challenge and our stats are as follows: Pavarathi 207/184 -23 pounds!! Holly 350/330 -20 pounds! Anwyn 255.5/236.5 -19 pounds! Molly 262/244 -18 pounds! gordonfamily3 271/254.8 -16.2 pounds! Debby-do 198/183 -16 pounds! PinkMary 229/215 -14 pounds! Shailin 226/215 -11 pounds! Porclndoll 223/215 -8 pounds! the best me 198/191.6 -6.4 pounds! Thanks Corinne, for starting the Challenge. It's been a good one! Congratulations everyone!!!

Could you be pregnant? I agree...time to bra shop. I get much better support with a smaller band now that I have lost inches at the ribcage/bra band. I'll bet that would help alot. Take good care of the girls!!

Vines and Candy...SIGH. I just don't know girls. I want to pump you up and encourage you and get you going and all that stuff, but I just don't have any wise advice for where you are. I only share that space with you. It's dark there, but I must admit I'm pretty good at keeping myself out of there. I don't really know how...I guess what I do is just sit with my band a bit. I hold my head high, say to myself "this is MY band journey and I'll handle it in my own time as I see fit!" and do my best. I choose better, I try, I don't beat myself up, I stay realistic, I own my food and exercise (or lack of exercise) and just do some accepting of this time and place for me. I'm here, others are there, kicking and screaming doesn't help, neither does self-deprecation (of which I am Queen), and short bursts of an "I mean business!!!" attitude just fade. So, I trudge forward, just like the turtle I am, and just be banded. My body fights it. It likes all this weight. I don't know why. My body just wants it. So as long as it doesn't pack it on, I just let it be for a bit. Rest. Peace. Security. Confidence. Self-Assurance. Calm. Joy. May it ooze through you from the inside out. That's about as Zen as I get. Pretty good, huh? hehe Kim, good job on breaking through!! You all, my turtle sisters, are the best!!!

Ahhh, so glad you have answers!! ANd it's all FIXABLE!!!! I know it's a pain. I'm no insurance person, but they really should cover the repair. When your band requires that type of maintenence (needles near port tubing) it just goes with the territory. They really should pay!! I wouldn't worry. Doc will get you all fixed up. How ill they know if it's a hernia? Can they do some kind of sonogram or something? Or will the doc just be ready to fix it if it's there while he's replacing your tubing? AND, will the doc replace the port, too? or just the tubing? Just wonderin. If that port's all healed in nicely, it seems a shame to have to remove it. I'm fairly certain the tubing is detachable on both the band end and the port end, right? Wow Trish. Chin up, you are not a failure! A LOSER maybe, but not a failure! Here's to your 50 pounds gone!!! (((hugs)))

http://lapbandtransformation.com/Adjustments.htm Check out this link to be sure, but if your fill isn't working, sure, get another! Some folks talk about a fill "kicking in" after a week or two. But if it doesn't, or hasn't, maybe it's time. Check out that link and tell us what you think. It's very helpful to me. You are sooooo close to being under 300, girl! Way to go!!!!!!

Your personal medical decisions are between you and your doctor. Your insurance can dispense their protocol, but if you have a doc with a good insurance person, you will be able to fight. FIGHT!!! If they cover banding at all, it might take some time and be a bit of a hassle, but you can do it. There is NO reason a person with a BMI over 50 cannot get banded. Contact Inamed (www.Inamed.com) about getting some documentation for submitting an appeal. Go get 'em!!

No weaseling Jennifer!! Go ahead and put it down on your calendar. Be there!!!

That sounds GREAT!!! Are you also getting in your Water before and between meals? Maybe add in an afternoon Protien shake. You are getting a good amount of protien at each meal, and that's great! Are you satisfied on that amount of food? Log all that into www.FitDay.com and see what your nutrition looks like with that menu. You will know where to adjust if needed. Are you taking liquid Vitamins? That should help your hunger, too. If you can get 1000-1200 calories a day on mushies this early in the game, it will do wonders for your metabolism. I was more like kat72 is now...barely able to get any food down and I missed it so much!!! Kat, you should really put off that first fill if you stay this tight. It WILL loosen, I promise. It's not a race, you know that. Clementine, you are doing great.

Okay, it's kinda hard to read but I can find what I need...thanks! Those phone thingys are aggravating as heck when you KNOW you need to talk to a real human! Cool.

Are you nuts?!!! How cute are you?!!!! Well done...keep up the good work! You'll be flying past me in the weight loss category in no time. Go on, girl!

It was the year I turned 40. I was hopeless. My children are young and I didn't want to spend the next great decade fighting an endless and hopeless battle with the scale, my clothing, my self-confidence, my misery. Wadn't gonna do it no mo'. Being fat overshadowed every good thing I liked about me. I like being me. I really do, even if noone else would ever like the job as much as me. I can be me better than anyone else...but I was doing a poor job of it. SIGH. So tired of not getting it right. I'm not there yet, but I'm growing. Growing smaller on the scale and in inches and growing bigger in wisdom, self-actualization, spiritually, emotionally, heck, in all areas if I think about it. I'm no longer hopeless. yay!