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Wow!! I love your graph!! Did you do that yourself?? Seeing your weight loss graphed out like that.. a real visual boost! I love it!

We have to remember this is NOT a race. If your mind is thinking race, then think marathon and not sprint! Steady, even, sometimes slow, but always forward progress. We've not eaten right for many years and we are making lifetime changes in our eating habits. We can't get discouraged because the weight isn't coming off as fast as we think it should. Just hang in there and don't let the scale get you down. Our bodies need time to adjust. My pattern since my banding last July seems to be to drop 10-12 lb in a 2-3 week period, then stay there for several weeks. Then drop another 10 lb or so, then level off again. After doing this for several months, I've realized I just have to keep up my exercise and eating right and not get impatient for the scale to move. If we can manage 5-10 lb a month, think what that will total in a year! God Bless! Hope everyone has a GREAT day today!!

Hah!! Or maybe I just lived tooo close to Canada growing up!! I was born & raised in Buffalo, neighbor. I'm German/Irish.

Shoes??? I often take off mine when going in to someone's house, too, but I'm not sure why?? Wasn't brought up to do that. I think the habit started when we moved in to a new house with light colored carpeting. I even have two extra pairs of slippers that live near the front doors of our two daughters homes! And when we go to our son's, we park the RV out front & I take my slippers inside every morning! Never thought about why.

Hmmmm, I might have to go check that out! Sounds stimulating! I got a little huffy with a gal a few months ago. It was over insurance.. on one of those sites. They were discussing Medicare/Tricare coverage for lapband. This one gal was insisting that Tricare DOES NOT cover lapband, period, end of sentence! Duh! I have Medicare/Tricare For Life and I've had very little out of pocket expense. Certain things they wouldn't pay for, but most of it, they paid their share after Medicare. She wouldn't listen so I just had to go away for a while.

Very well put, Karri & Janet! And I know the support and encouragement, AND the accountability that we provide each other here on this site are immeasureably important!! Vital! That's why I practiaclly LIVE here when I'm not out and about!

I'd suggest water exercise. I have bad knees and I LOVE my water aerobics sessions. My legs get a good workout without putting too much pressure on my knees. I don't think anyone actually kept a tally of the December exercise challenge... we each kept track of our own. And some of us added it to our signature. You can set up a signature by clicking on "Edit Signature" under the Quick Links at the top. Then each time you exercise, go back to that and update the number. I think I've been to Mickey D's once since my surgery. I had one of their chicken snack wraps. I suppose I should look up the calories and fat grams, but they're small so it can't be too bad. One of my favorite fast foods (that I still indulge in about once a week when I'm home in WA) is KFC.... this is weird but I get mashed potatoes, no gravy, and coleslaw! And I mix them together! We made some killer Seafood Soup a few days ago.. made it like vegetable soup, couple of cans of tomatoes, frozen mixed veggies, can of white beans, some celery, onion, garlic, about a pound of mixed seafood.... shrimp, clams, artificial crab, etc., and seasoned it with a little Old Bay Seasoning, chili powder and a little curry powder. Very low fat, low carb, low cal and it was soooo good... still is... there's still some left. Always better after the first day.

:welcome2: :welcomeB: :welcome2: Suzi, You are doing GREAT!! Welcome to our Lucky#7s thread! Hey, gang, I'm going to renew the exercise challenge for January if anyone wants to join me. It helps make me accountable, especially on those cold mornings when I really don't want to go down to the pool. Knowing I can't up my exercise number for that day can make the difference between toughing it out or staying inside under my blankie!! Maybe this month I can make it to 20. I only did 15 for December, but I did make the other holiday challenge. I'm only down .4 lb, but it IS down!! Hooray!! :clap2::clap2:

===============After Christmas================ 'Twas the week after Christmas, and all through the house Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse. The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste At the holiday parties had gone to my waist. When I got on the scales there arose such a number! When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber). I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared; The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared, The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please." As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt And prepared once again to do battle with dirt I said to myself, as I only can "You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!" So away with the last of the sour cream dip, Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip Every last bit of food that I like must be banished Till all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have a cookie - not even a lick. I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick. I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie, I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry. I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore But isn't that what January is for? Unable to giggle, no longer a riot. Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

Who knows???? And why did my GlitterMaker signature go away???? It broke and I can't seem to fix it!! Maybe it's just my computer. I can't see IndioGirl signature anymore either. I tried to redo mine and I can't.

Hi, We are in Desert Hot Springs and will definitely be going to Quartzsite later this month. I'm not sure about the date yet. We usually just go over for the day... leave about 7a.m. and stay all day. Keep in touch. Would love to meet up over there. Don't know what to tell you about the arthritis meds. I used to take something for mine, but now just tough it out. Mineral springs hot water pool/spas down here helps a lot. Not nearly the pain I have when I'm up in WA. In fact, almost non-existent. Recommendation is no NSAIDS after banding, but I do take Ibuprofen occassionally for headaches. I'm sure they can work something out for you.

Hi, We are in Desert Hot Springs and will definitely be going to Quartzsite later this month. I'm not sure about the date yet. We usually just go over for the day... leave about 7a.m. and stay all day. Keep in touch. Would love to meet up over there. Don't know what to tell you about the arthritis meds. I used to take something for mine, but now just tough it out. Mineral springs hot water pool/spas down here helps a lot. Not nearly the pain I have when I'm up in WA. In fact, almost non-existent. Recommendation is no NSAIDS after banding, but I do take Ibuprofen occassionally for headaches. I'm sure they can work something out for you.

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Good Morning and Happy New Year!! Yes, I am definitely using the scooter less. I used to ride it ride to the side of the pool for water aerobics every morning. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start parking it in the locker room. Everyone was shocked and my DH thought someone stole it!! LOL I am making a conscious effort to walk more and leave it parked. And I'm hoping to get the left knee fixed when we go back home in the spring and that will help a lot, I'm sure. My DH is looking forward to the day when we can get a light weight fold up scooter. I'm hoping I won't need it at all eventually!

Mango Mama, No, you're not the only one online on New Years Rockin' Eve!! I'm sitting her by myself on the computer, listening to my DH snoring in the back. He barely made it to 10pm. We watched the ball fall on the east coast feed on DirecTV and I guess he felt he'd stayed up late enough. Happy New Year! Guess we're too old to celebrate! I did get your Christmas email... cute!! So, it's your fault I was on the computer for hours that night playing on the elf site!! I made lots of elf videos and then I did a paste/cut of every photo of Lucky#7s that I could find to make a video of all of us as skinny elfs! I got the pictures and then ran out of steam! Never made the video! Happy New Year all my Lucky#7 Bandster friends!! :cheer2: :banana :Banane52: :Banane41: :mad: :scared: :Banane42: :Banane40::cheer2::Banane09: :cocktail: :drum: :violin:

We are partial to Winnebago products. Ours is a 32ft Brave. They now have one called the View that comes in a mercedes diesel engine. It's 24 ft. There are 3 floor plans, 2 with a slide out. We get 7-8 mpg in the Brave, but once we get down here to CA, we stay put for 4 months. Might take a trip back east this summer, but usually just the one big trip each year. So, not too bad. Probably about $150 in gas each travel day.

Oh, MY!! You HAVE had a busy week!! Don't get discouraged. Tomorrow is a NEW DAY and a NEW YEAR and it's going to be an awesome one for us!! You've done great already and you'll be back on track when all this holiday stuff is over!! We really enjoyed learning how to play Mexican Train the other night and looking forward to more opportunities to play. They have Pinochele, Bingo, Cribbage, etc. groups here... Maybe we can get a Mexican Train night on the schedule! It's fun! Ah, yes, the Packers! I'm happy that the Seahawks are in the playoffs, but I watched that Redskins game yesterday and they were impressive!! I'm not sure the Seahawks can beat them if they play that well next weekend!! Patriots game was pretty exciting! Didn't look too good for them for a while!! But they certainly pulled it off!! Just had to add some excitement by getting 12 points behind!! It was great! My DIL must have really enjoyed it! She's a BIG fan of the Patriots even though she lives in a SEAHAWKS house! Son & GS put up with her! And she supports their Seahawks habit.

:welcome::welcome::welcomeB::welcome::welcome: I can relate to so much of what you shared! I've been struggling with weight issues since about age 10. I've been to WW, OA, TOPS member for over 15 years w/o success, yoyo dieting for many, many years. My highest weight this year was about 328 and I am only 5 ft tall. I had my surgery in July and I am down almost 60 lb and it's NOT coming back this time! I've already had to give away a ton of clothes and now I'm at a point of getting rid of another bunch of things that are getting too baggy. I recently bought a new bathing suit three sizes smaller than I wore last winter. We are at an RV resort for the winter and I am doing Water aerobics 4X a week to help my weight loss. I also have sleep apnea, high BP, pre-Diabetes and I have fairly severe knee problems and use a handicap scooter. Recently, I have been using the scooter less and less and walking more. I used to ride the scooter to the side of the pool every morning. Now I park it in the locker room and walk. It gets easier and less painful to walk with every pound that I lose. We'll all be keeping you in our prayers as you embark on this journey. You will not regret your decision.

The first part of the season we were getting all the Seahawks games. I think we're not getting them now because they already have the western division title. I see they lost today. Boo Hoo!! I LOVE football, too, and my DH isn't that interested. Our grandson has a Fantasy Football league. Last year we both had teams in his league but DH paid no attention to his so I had to manage two teams. So this year only I have a team.... "Gram's Gremlins"!! I was in 6th place out of 9 teams for most of the season. Then two weeks ago I had a really good day and moved up to 5th. That lasted for one week. Now I'm in 6th again and the way my guys have played today I may even get knocked down another peg! I have two quarterbacks... Jon Kitna and Jay Cutler. I switch back and forth between the two of them and never seem to get it right. I wasn't paying close enough attention this week and I had at least two players in there that didn't even play today-- Terrell Owens and Ernest Graham. I usually check on Saturdays or Sunday morning to see if it looks like anyone is not going to play but I didn't do it this weekend! Oh, well! I guess we're off topic!!! :focus:

Good Afternoon!! Hope your are feeling better soon, Janet. Do you have to work tomorrow?? Last day of the year... be nice if you had that one extra day to recover. Karri... I'm so frustrated... no Seahawks games aired down here the past several weeks. Have to wait for the half time report on other games. Catching up on the Bills... my hometown team, too. Yesterday we went to see a movie... National Treasure... and I could sit in the seat with BOTH arm rests down with room to spare!! Wow!! Also, pants I'm wearing today are loose, and getting longer....I'm almost walking on them. They have one of those dreaded drawstrings at the waist, though. I usually rip them out and throw them away if I buy pants like that. Didn't do that with this pair so now I can tighten them up so they won't fall down! Hee hee! I'm not going to make the exercise challenge, but I will make the other one!

Makes sense to me, BlooEyez. I imagine the cold air could do that. Where in So CA are you?? Janet probably asked you that before and I forgot! She is in Indio and I am in Desert Hot Springs.

:welcome2: :welcomeB: :welcome2: You're doing great! If your doctor says you're in starvation mode, you probably need to up your calories. It works! I experienced that when I was on a pre-op diet and I was restricting myself to 500 caolories a day. Your body wants to store everything when it thinks you're starving it. Some people use the induction phase of Adkins to jump start their weight loss when they get stalled and they say that works well. If you like hanging out here with us, just use the "Quick Links" above and choose "subscribe to this thread". Then you should get email updates whenever someone posts.

Very quiet here today! I've been lurking around. Didn't do much today after water aerobics this morning. No plans here for New Years Eve either. We've talked about a couple of things... "dance" at our other park down the road... don't know very many people there, though. Chapel has a "watch party" in the evening... snacks and watch the NYC celebration on big projection TV. But, so far, not much motivation to do anything or go anywhere. We learned how to play "Mexican Train" last night. Maybe we can find someone to play again before we forget the rules!!

There are 4 different fabrics. I'm going for the poly-lycra. POLY is intended for warmth. Our original fabric is a comfy polyolefin-lycra blend with four-way stretch. It provides adequate warmth for most environments. Poly has the same comfortable feel and effect as wearing a sweater It was sooooo cold this morning! I think I will order it! Thanks for your input !