Feel2Young2B40

Hi! Ok, I'm concerned about the liquid and mushy food stage. I won't eat yogurt, tofu, never have tried a liquid protein shake but probably won't like the consistency. Does anyone as picky as me have any suggestions? My surgery was postponed a few days to 3/25 and I'm thinking I'll need to plan ahead. I probably won't want to go grocery shopping right after I'm sure. Help! I'm looking for suggestions for something that can replace the yogurt in a shake format. Does anyone know of any shakes they'd recommend? Preferrably one that tastes just like a McDonald's chocolate one! LOL! Or is there a way to buy these individually so I can "taste test" or do you have to buy a full package? Thanks! Laura

Hi! Doing my monthly check in! I found out from my principal doctor last week my highest weight was actually 289 so as of today, I've actually lost 82 pounds. High 289 Current 207 Talk to you soon! Laura

Hi! Doing my monthly check in. It's been nuts around here between prom, graduation, relatives from out of town, etc over the past few weeks. Considering everything going on, I'm down to 210. I even saw 208/209 the other day but it was over the weekend so I'm going with this morning's weight. H 278, C 210 (-7 for May) Huge NSV last Friday - had to buy new swim suit and it was a size 14! Down from my original 26/28. Then I went to try on some capris and bought 1 pair in size 16 and the other a size 14. And I'm proud to say neither the swim suit or the capris were tight. Wow! What a great feeling. Then one of my friends said "don't lose anymore!" I said are you NUTS! I have another 40-45 pounds. I do feel self-conscious though lately because people seem to be staring or wondering what I've been doing. I feel like a fish in a fishbowl. Oh well, I guess there are worse things. I have another fill scheduled for 6/14 and due to some possible upcoming insurance changes, I'm going to go ahead and do it. I'm going on vacation the end of June so I'll have plenty of time to see if I need some unfill at all. Let me know when the June get together is in DFW. I'd love to go! See you later all!

Hi! I know, I haven't been around for a while. Been working out a bunch with Kim_8. Also working alot and getting ready for my daughter's prom this weekend along with her graduation in a few weeks. Here's the latest: H 278/ J 230/ G 150?/ C 217 (-61 lbs total) I'll try to check back in more often. See ya! Laura

Hi! Not too much to report but after the last fill on Monday - should see something soon. With 8.25 in there and only a small mini straw size opening into my pouch, I think I'm finally at my sweet spot. 229 (-1) 2 great NSV's though - down 8% body fat from surgery date so the doctor said technically I've lost more than 49 pounds (of FAT) and actually gained almost 20 pounds in muscle. They increased my goal weight by 25 pounds but I'm not changing what my mind says it should be. Oh, and the other one - my cholesterol is down from 330 (yeah, I know terrible) to 189 in 1 year!! My good cholesterol is way up and the bad is down even further. Plus my blood pressure was 112 over 75. Even though I didn't lose the 100 pounds I was hoping for since I just celebrated my 1 year anniversary last Saturday - I'm at least much, much healthier! Onto next week - here I come 50 pounds gone!!!

Hi! My husband and I are going to try to make it. We just have to go have some blood drawn at the doctor and depending on how long that takes, we should be able to be there but it might be a little late. Thanks, Laura

OMG! A girl born, raised for 36 years of her life in Northern Illinois and I end up being 58% Dixie! No offense meant to the southerners but I guess I've now crossed the Mason Dixie Line!!!

Hi all! Everyone is doing so great and welcome to all the new "losers"! Well, for the second week in a row I did not lose anything. BUT, I did measure myself and compared against the measurements I took 2 weeks ago and here's what happened: Bust -3" Waist -1" Hips -1". So, yep - gaining muscle, etc with all the working out Kim_8 and I have been doing. I must say, if anyone has the opportunity to work out with another band member it's fantastic. Kim and I have alot in common (more than just the band, the fact we live within 1/2 mile of each other, our kids both go to the same schools, etc) and it's been great spending time with her. The time goes quickly and enjoyably!!! See ya next week!

All of these are hilarious! My dad during Halloween time would move my pumpkin throughout the living room when I wasn't looking and told me I had a walking pumpkin. I think I believed that til I was almost 8. We have 3 kids in my family and were always teasing and taunting each other. Most of the time it was my sister and I against the only boy. We used to tell my brother (who was the middle child) he was adopted because he didn't look like either of us. Then we told him he was mentally challenged because his eyes slanted down. My sister and I were cruel as kids. We used to dress him up in one of my old dresses and ask him to go outside to get the newspaper. No idea where my mom was at the time but he did this several times. After he went outside, we would lock all the doors. After watching him run around the house outside in a dress he would be frustrated and take off the dress and run around naked! My best though when I was a kid was with my sister. This went on for years....She's 5 years younger and very quiet. She always wanted to play Barbies and nag me til I gave in. Usually about 5-10 minutes after we'd start to play I would take the Barbie head off the body and hold it together so that at the right moment I could and drop the body to the ground. Then I would squeeze the head and make it talk. That always got a HUGE terrifying squeal from her. Also, ended Barbie play for the day. After I had kids, right up until Christmas Eve, I used to tell them I was going to leave a note on the front door to tell Santa "Not to bother" and if he's already left I had his sleighphone number. Boy, that always got a good reaction and good behavior quickly! When my husband and I had a long hard day working we would turn the clocks ahead and tell the kids it was bedtime which was 8:30. In reality, it was really 7pm. Just lately we let that slip and oh boy, did my older one get mad!! She said I thought the time went really fast after dinner and I wondered why it was still light out! My daughter's most famous incident that will be recorded and made public in a street size banner at her college graduation, will be the time she had Water in her ears after swimming. I had drops to put in and asked her to tilt her head. She did and I put the drops in. I said ok, turn your head to the other side and she seemed confused. I asked why and she said and I quote "I'm surprised because I thought it would come out the other side?". I said "me too, hun, me too"! Then another time equally as ironic and noteable was when I came across her standing in the middle of her bedroom daydreaming. I asked her what she was doing and she said "Thinking." I said about what, she said "Nothing.". How do you "think" about "nothing"? Still to this day, I have both kids convinced I do monthly, random drug screens with hairs from their towels or hair brushes to keep them away from drugs. It works! We also have secret caller ids in the house the kids don't know about so they can't erase calls they don't want us to know about. My husband even made an excel spreadsheet he kept updated regularly of the area codes my daughter was getting phone calls from. This went on without me knowing for a couple of weeks. One night, he comes running downstairs with a huge smile on his face, exclaiming with glee "Do you want to see excel sheet I have on "your" daughter's phone calls?" I asked him if he had a bar graph because I do better with pictures......

Hi! Date Banded: 3/25/05 Country: US State: Texas Surgeon: Dr. Richard Carter Eroded?: No problems at all (knock on wood!)

I'd love to meet with you all! I'll vote but basically lunches are better for me on the weekends. Thanks! Laura

Well not surprising I lost nothing this week. Had work meetings and dinner meetings all last week. Sure glad that's over! Couldn't work out either in the evenings like I normally do. Back on track this week though and will stay there! 230 (-0) Laura

:whoo: Congratulations!! Feel better and take good care of yourself. Take things slow and don't over do it!! :cheer2:

:welcomeB: Hi Kenny! Dr. Carter is great! He did my surgery as well as 8 other people in our local office. Very supportive and helpful. I say go for it and it will be much easier for you to lose weight now than when you are older. Plus the effects from losing the weight now will allow you to enjoy your success even longer! I just wish I had done it when I hear about it 2-3 years ago. I'm in Keller and there are quite a few of us in the area so if you're ever around here, let us know!! Laura

Good luck and keep your chin up! Keep after them in a nice way and ask your doctor to do all he can to get the approval. Again, good luck! Laura:gluck:

Hi Steve and welcome! Congratulations on your insurance approval and you'll do great through the testing I'm sure. Look around and ask questions! Everyone here is great. They were a fantastic source of support when I just started out. :welcome:

Hi Pam! Welcome to LBT and congratulations on your upcoming surgery! Ask any questions you have and you'll find many by searching through the various threads. Laura :cheer2: :welcomeB: :cheer2:

Can you believe it's been a year? How is everyone doing? Post your success stories!!! Laura

Sure! Just sent you an email. Saturday is great. I'll give you a call tomorrow night after I get home from my dinner meeting. Unless you want to give me your number at work and I can give you a call during the day. Up to you.

Hey Kim! Was just thinking I would email you to see when you wanted to go. I have a dinner meeting tomorrow night but I should be going Wednesday (possibly may have to meet someone that night about my son's trip to Mexico over spring break) but definitely Thursday and Saturday. What's going on March 27th?

Hi! My mom took the hormone therapy when she started menopause and ended up with breast cancer 10 years ago. She was very lucky and had a lumpectomy and only needed radiation. The doctor then put her on Tomaxafin (spelling?) and after taking that for 5 years she ended up with uterine cancer. She had a complete hysterectomy and thank goodness everything was caught. She's fully recovered now and no more cancer scares. Anyway, it's important to note we do not have ANY history of cancer on either side of her parents. None of her family members have had breast cancer or uterine cancer, or cancer of any sort. Her doctor attributes her cancer to the hormone replacement therapy. He said some people are more receptive to the hormones given and it increases your risk of developing cancer. So, as I sit here entering menopause myself (can you believe it at 41?), I WILL NOT DO REPLACEMENT THERAPY! I've been trying something called Estroven from GNC to decrease the hot flashes and it's been working great. Anyway, off my soap box and thank you Penni for bringing this up. I got a little off topic but I think it's important everyone hears this and I don't mean to scare anyone who is taking them. Talk to your doctor if you are and get all the information you can. I too love horses and all animals (gosh I should - we have 2 dogs and 4 cats) and I am totally against ANY animal testing or mistreatment of any sort. I can't tell you how much that disgusts me.

Hi! I had to skip my bio when I signed up last week because of a hellish week at work. So here goes.... Married for 14 years to a great guy. Super supportive and takes very good care of me (like cooking dinner, chores around the house, etc). We have two kids - my daughter who is 18 (she's not my husband's) and we have a son together who is 13. I'm originally from a suburb of Chicago and lived there my entire life. I began becoming overweight when I hit puberty at 11. I am short - 5'3" so every pound shows. I dated quite a bit in high school and college but never met the right guy. I got pregnant with my daughter with a guy I had been dating for 6 years and decided the best thing to do was NOT to get married. I would have killed him within the first year. So I raised her for a few years by myself and met my husband. We married about a year later and then had my son. Between my son and daughter I lost 90 pounds and kept it off until I had my son. After the baby, I lost it again and kept it off until I moved down here to Texas when I was asked to work for our corporate office. I've been at my present company for almost 14 years and I have a stressful, management, high visibility job that keeps me busy well past 5 pm most days. So, after I gained my weight back and was at an all time high of 284 pounds, I decided to either get the band or I was going to slowly, surely end up killing myself by gaining weight. I haven't lost as fast as I thought I would but in the end, it's not the time it took for me to get to goal but the end result. I feel good because I'm eating good food, not going out for dinner each night or picking something up that is easy (Mc'D, Wendy's etc - not been there to eat for almost a year!). I'm back to working out which helps greatly in relieving stress as well as weight loss. I've been going on average 3-4 times a week, sometimes 5 or 6 if I can leave work at a decent hour. Anyway, that's a little (or alot!) about me. I look forward to the challenge and welcome anyone who would like an email buddy or workout buddy if you're in the area! We live in Keller, TX if anyone is close by.

CONGRATULATIONS! Exciting that there was something in the mail other than bills and junk!! Good luck and keep us posted!!!

In a heartbeat. Just wish I had done it as soon as it was available in the states. I've lost slower than I expected because I tend to give everything I do 120% but I took a few months off during the holidays to regroup. Had another fill the beginning of February (5th in the BIG BAND) and finally feel some good restriction. It's different for everyone. I had the period of mourning food but in the end, I can miss some things (like BREAD) but I get over it. I actually even crave Protein now over carbs which is good. The one thing I was worried about was the effect my new eating habits would be on the family but after almost a year, the only effect has been positive. My kids were never overweight but my husband needs to lose about 40 pounds. I eat whatever the family eats (good food - not junk) but only in smaller portions. I go out to dinner with the family and take home doggie bags or order a kid's meal. I have lunches out due to my job and it's not noticeable to anyone at all if they aren't one of the select few I've told. I pretty much have settled into the lifestyle which is what I needed. I can't DIET. That has never worked. I've lost 80-90 pounds twice in my life and always regained it. I won't this time - not so much because the band won't allow it but I won't allow it. So anyway, good luck in your decision and let me know if you have any questions. Laura

Hi! I've been on Zoloft for about 12 years now. I take 200mg a day and when things aren't real rough at work I lower it to 150mg. Chemical imbalance as well as depression runs in the family. I can definitely feel the difference if I miss a couple of days. Easily angered, fidgety, anxiety - the whole works. I went through a period of time all I did was cry (post partum after my youngest), couldn't write a check, couldn't decide what to wear to work and changed clothes 3 or 4 times each morning. Couldn't make EASY decisions that were basic to running a household with 2 little ones. SuperMom syndrome also as well as guilt that I worked and wanted a career. In a positive, people are always amazed if I tell them I'm on Zoloft and I'm clinically depressed. For me, it keeps me on an even keel and allows me to think calmly and rationally. I don't have the "lows" I used to have and there isn't a feeling of a "high". Just stability. The only two side effects that have happened to me are the low sex drive (can still have the BIG O though!!) and my general practitioner told me anything over 100mg can cause weight gain. With that in mind, I much rather be on my Zoloft and work with the band than to decrease my dosage below 100mg. I was on Prozac (made me EAT constantly because it made my stomach upset), Wellbutrin (made me NUTS - I constantly shook like I was going through some sort of withdrawl) and Paxil. The Paxil was ok and I can't remember why the doctor changed it. So Zoloft is my magic pill and I couldn't live without it. I did at first become angry and felt like a "mental case" and a "pill popper" to be able to get through the day. Angry that I had to rely on medicine but as my doctor said "Would a diabetic not take insulin if they needed it?". He reminded me I have a chemical imbalance and I will more than likely take it the rest of my life. It did take initially several months to get the right dosage and feel the full effects. I also went through counseling for 18 months to work out some of my guilt and anxiety issues as well as trying to overcome the "SuperMom" syndrome. Like my counselor said "Will your kids remember their socks were folded and the house was clean or will they remember Mom was there when they needed her for support or play?" Really hit home and I've tried to keep that in mind anytime I feel pulled in all directions. I unfortunately also have a very demanding, stressful job and it helps me deal with that also. Good luck and PM me if you need any other info. I swear by the stuff! Take care!