cazulay

Lynette- I am going for the full marathon, it will be in Austin, but if I can only do 1/2 I will be proud of myself neverthless. I am training with a group, which is very motivational. I would never get up at 5:30 am on a Saturday if I weren't accountable to somebody! They said we can expect to lose 20 lbs. on the process, so we will see.

Ruby- love that analogy! And you and NewCC hang in there, a fill makes all the difference in the world. Lynette- I have had to resort to Milk of Magnesia a couple of times. My body is like 'where's the cereal?' We need to give our bodies time to adjust to our new lifestyle. Dini- so glad to hear you had a great time. Italy is fabulous! I haven't been there since they adopted the euro and am surprised to hear everything is still so affordable. I guess it's time to go back! I am off to a housewarming party, the hostess is known for her terrific cooking skills, so my plan is to choose my 2 favorite things and have a piece of each, period. And no sweets, to limit carbs. I find that the less carbs I eat the faster I lose.

I weigh in every morning, and if the weigh hasn't changed I cut carbs for the day. It seems to be working so far.

Hey you all. I have been MIA. Busy with work, and I also joined USAFit, and have started training to walk a marathon in February. We started off with only 3 miles and that nearly killed me, but I will keep going for as long as I am able to. I am happy to see everyone's doing well and having pounds melt away. Wow, I should have done this years ago. OK, I will check back tomorrow. Keep going!

School started yesterday and I feel like I have been run over by a train...already we've had kids trying to run away, biting the teachers, kicking etc... and they were all pre-K and K. What can I say? I am exhausted. Anyways, I have managed not to take my stress out on food, instead I played solitarie until I was almost blind. And I sat at a meeting today for I kid you not 2 1/2 hours, with a huge chocolate basket RIGHT in front of me. Quite proud of myself, did not have any. OK, I will post more later when I feel human again.

I haven't seen anybody mentioning it, so I thought I would ask. My dr. took 2 polaroid shots of the inside of my tummy during surgery- one of the liver and one with the band in place. She then gave it to me as a 'souvenir.' Did anybody else's dr. do this?

I have never had problems with any foods except for brownies. I ate a very tiny bite and started slimming immediately, it was horrible. No more brownies for me. I do eat rice every day, not a problem. Chicken, steak, pasta... no problem. I do chew it all very very well at least 30 times. FYI, I have 7 ccs in a 10cc band.

Kathy- CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's so exciting! I bet you are thrilled and relieved. Beautiful family, may God bless you always! Lynette- glad to hear you had a good time with your mom. I love omelettes too. I am very grateful not to have problems with eggs. Ssankofa- I can't feel my port at all. As a matter of fact, my dr. had trouble finding it also. It took her literally 5 minutes to locate it. I was getting discouraged, and so was she. But it all worked out at the end.

This past week was rough. They love to feed us at school and there was plenty of food available at all times. Breakfast, snacks and lunch everyday. They even got outside catering for us! Of course nothing was light. I did the best I could but did not lose one single ounce all week. Next week we go back to normal with the kids there so I should be less tempted and only eat what I take with me. You all have a great week!

OK, just got caught up on all the posts... Sunny- so sorry about your loss! Pets are totally part of the family, very sad to lose them. Lynette- way to go with Hunter! Dmjet- I am with you on back to school, that paperwork is killing me! Only4Me- I hope you won't get sick. Dini- have fun in Italy! What a great place for a vacation. Chim- good weight loss. Way to go! Brandy- you are doing great too. Count your blessings! As for me...I had yet another dinner party tonight and was able to control myself a little better. Had a small amount of rice with creamy chicken. For dessert everybody had 3-layered chocolate cake and a had a few pieces of fruit. They were very tasty. Everything went down fine, and I am actually hungry again right now after only 5 hours. Maybe I should have had more but was afraid to overdo it. Oh well, breakfast will come soon enough.

Work has hit me hard, no time to read posts, hope nothing crucial has happened. Well, I have hit my first plateau. Same weight all week long. But, I have been eating stuff I shouldn't, because they are catering the food at the school so we will work more and not leave the building. I could bring my own but when everybody's eating together and the smells are going on... Yesterday was cheese enchiladas and today we had chicken fried steaks, all with plenty of fixings. Of course I only ate a small portion of the main dish but still... I want to be on vacation-home- again!!!! So much easier to diet.

Tracy- your pictures came out better than mine, better angles. Mine show a lot of fat all around the tummy, gross. And I only got three. My liver also looks very healthy, that made me very relieved!

I went in for my first fill today. Man, I am a good eater, because I feel satisfied but not stuffed, and ceirtainly not sick.I got 7 ccs in my 10 cc band. I actually ate a plain roll for lunch today, I forgot that bread was supposed to make you sick, but not me. I felt just fine. So far I haven't come accross a single item that does not agree with my band( knock on wood). I will try steak tomorrow and see how that goes!

Welcome new members!!! Marcy- 3 wedges, that's great!!! I can't wait until I have that kind of restriction. Way to go. Chim- glad to hear from you. I can't believe you are still on mushies/soft foods.Hand in there girlfriend. You can do it! Just came back from Curves, I have been trying to go at it hard, and now I am completely exhausted. But hopefully it will move that scale back down tomorrow. I noticed that the scale does not move on the weekends then I do not work out. But I need a break, so I will just live with it. I am getting ready to make dinner, we will have salmon with dill sauce. Yummy. I have been cooking healthy stuff every evening, and am starting to really enjoy it. I bought a Cooking Light Supper Fast Suppers book that has a lot of great recipes. I found it on amazon.com and highly recommend it.

food Demons- I hope mine will hide away, but I think I am going to have to be aware of their existence for the rest of my life. I have a problem with food, and I am trying to get it under control, but I know it can come back atany time if I let my guard down. Especially with sugar, I am now afraid to have any, because in the past once I had a bite it was all downhill from there, not stopping until it was all gone. Again, I hope with time and work I will be able to eat a piece of cake and be satisfied and not think about the rest of the cake for days to come. And eating until I am satisfied? What's that? I am eating until it's all gone lol...lot's of work to do there also. Lynette- I don't have to go back to the psycho. or nutritionist, although the nut. is next door to the dr.- same office- so I always run into him and we talk in the hall. Last night I had yet another party to go to. TONS of food and booze, we were there until the wee hours, but I did not eat anything at all. I had a healthy dinner before I left the house, and once I got there I held on to a glass of Water. I even got myself in charge of cutting the cake, which kept me busy so I did not have to stand around with water while everybody else ate cake. So all in all it was not too bad, I guess mainly because I was full from the dinner I had at home beforehand. Luckily no parties for me tonigt lol, there is only so much temptation I can handle!

Jackie, because you had not exercise in such a long time you are probably gaining muscle. That and the AF water could easily explain what's going on with your weight. Have you taken your measurement? If not, do that and you will pleasantly surprised next time the scale disappoints you. I had yet another event last night, a cook-out. There were tons of food of course, but I only had a plain hamburger patty, which I chewed extremely slowly. I had no problem eating it, and that confirms my theory that I have no restriction. Wednesday can not come soon enough.

Not during the meal, but right after if I had something spicy. It's hard to wait a whole hour when your mouth is burning. Unfortunately, I have not found a solution to this problem ( except the obvious don't eat spicy food!).

Linda, that's awesome! 5 lbs in a week! Congratulations :clap2: I can't wait until my fill, it sounds like what I need. I never heard of this other test, will ask my dr. next Wed.

Wrangler- congratulations!!! That's fantastic,31 lbs.! Wow! Yes, I have been thinking about how much the weight is also, and how could I carry on me all the time? No wonder I was always exhausted.

Jeanie- I am really not ready to go back, I am really enjoying staying home this year. I just got back from the school, and gave away a lot of stuff, and put away a whole bunch more. So my class is looking like an actual class right now! Yeah. Now I won't go back until Tuesday, that's when we all go back full-time. I went to my game thing last night and had 1/4 of an echilada from a casserole, that was made with ground beef and cheese, lots and lots of it. Man, that hit me like a ton of bricks. My tummy felt so heavy and full, I couldn't sleep at night, and kept waking up with heartburn. No fun. I will have 1/8 of an enchilada next time!

I am down 29 lbs. and it's so much easier to bend down in the shower and shave my legs. I used to hate it, get out of breath, but today it was like shampooing my hair, pain free. I am so happy I am banded!

Marcy- have a good trip. Don't enjoy the fair food, they are not worth it. I agree with frustrated, audio books are a great way to keep engaged on the road. Chris- welcome to Bandster's Hell! It sounds like you are doing good, so just hang there for the next month. Come here and vent when you can't take it anymore. That's what I do and let me tell you it really works! Kathy- EEGs are not fun for anyone. I had seizures as a young child and still remember the torture. But they are needed, so off we go. Good thing they got a good reading today. Now, I am off to my monthly game group. We ladies play games and eat, eat, eat. It's going to be a challenge, I am hungry. Last night I dreamed I had found old candy under the kitchen sink and was devouring it with a passion. What do you think that means?

Good job! Exercise is essential to weight loss, I have discovered. Keep it up!

With the band, you must be willing to do some work. You won't be able to drink with your meals, for example. But you will be able to eat normally with your family and friends, what's going to change it's the size of your portions. Instead of huge plate after plate, you will enjoy between 1/2 cup to 1 cup of food. For me, I can say it has been totally worth it so far. I am a little more than a month out since pre-op diet and down 29 lbs., no feeling of starvation. Could I have done this without the band? I think not! Best thing I have ever done do far.

I am in Texas, we teachers go back on the 21st, the kids on the 28th. For some reason I am not looking forward to it this year, I am enjoying staying home!