salsa1877

I am going to the doctor tomorrow about my foot. I am not running on it this week, but doing eliptical and bike instead to keep my legs moving. I talked to the athletic trainer at my high school today and he is pretty convinced it is a small stress fracture. So I am going to break down and go to the doc tomorrow. The trainer did say that bike and eliptical was fine. On an exercise note I did an hour on the eliptical and a 1/2 hour on the bike. I am pooped....and starving. This is when being totally unfilled kinda kicks my butt. I have eaten my allotted 1500 calories so the rest of the evening is going to be filled with will power, will power and more will power!

So I sent this email to my DH...love that guy! But now I am going to pose the same question to my wonderful family. I know ultimately the decision is mine, but I have learned that sometimes others can give you a perspective that you can't see. I get VERY tunnel visioned in life sometimes! Okay so my foot hurts REALLY bad. I am going to go to the gym tonight and try the eliptical. If I can't do that I am going to ride the bike, but there is something that I want you to think about. I HAVE to do the run on Sunday. I paid for it and I am determined to do it. But more important then that I HAVE to do the marathon in Sunriver. Not because of money, not because of pride, but because it is something I have to do for me. That is my moment and my time. That is my gift to me for everything I have gone through. What I would like you to think about is this...I either want to run the entire 1/2 marathon or run/walk the full marathon. Honestly...do you think with this injury/fitness level that I can run the entire 1/2 marathon? If I can't run the whole thing I am going to feel like I didn't accomplish what I wanted. Or do you think that I would be more likely to be successful running/walking the full marathon. I can tell you right now that if I finish the entire marathon I will feel like I accomplished a goal even if I don't run the entire thing. We have to consider the training. 1/2 marathon - running (much shorter distances but running the entire time) Full marathon - combo walking/running (much longer distances, but can do cross training: walking/running/biking/elipticalling) My ultimate goal is to run a full marathon next year, but I am wondering if I am pushing myself too fast and too hard to get to the 1/2 marathon. Or am I just being a pansy and just need to run through the pain? I don't want to make excuses, but I want to be realistic and not set myself up for failure.

Okay I want to finish what I was posting. LONG TERM: you have to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat...but you can't expect that to show up on the scale immediately. That damn scale doesn't know the difference between fat or water. So in conclusion, you just have to find what works. If you need to lose faster you either need to exercise more or eat less calories. IN ALL HONESTY...Exercise burns very few calories while you are doing it...and unless you have a bodybugg or similar metabolic tester the estimates they give you on the machines or from a computer are not necessarily accurate. Especially if you have been doing the workout for a long time. This is why marathoners will gain weight sometime when they are training. Even though their calories stay the same their body gets very used to the motions they are doing and it doesn't take as much energy to do that any more. Think about when you are learning something new in school...it takes a lot of work to get it right the first couple of times, but then after a while it becomes easier and takes less effort...same thing for your body. Okay I have got to get back to work...I hate grading weeks!

Looks like I am in Science Mode today! First of all...I think that all liquids should be counted. If we go into the chemistry of the situation ALL of those products consumed are at least 90% water. Yes caffeine has a MILD dehydration effect, but if you drink 8 oz of coffee the caffeine is NOT going remove 4 oz of the water from your body! So therefore I would count it. I don't drink straight water except for when I am the gym. Otherwise I drink crystal light or diet V8 splash. I count all of those things. As for the gross vs net thing...it is totally up to you. If you are losing weight at a rate that is happy for you then you should be happy. Let me tell you this...the calculations say that you have to burn an additional 3500 calories before you can lose a pound. However, even if you had a bodybugg and could account for EVERY movement you make, if it shows a 3500 calorie defecit you will most likely not see a 1 pound difference. You may see a gain or a 3 pound weightloss or anything in between. That is because your weight is WAY more complicated then just how many calories you consume. Yes you must burn more calories than you eat in order to lose, but water, hormones, and electrolyte balance will throw the scales totally off! Okay I will be back shortly I have to finish this class!

Okay...as a chemist/physicist (yes I have degrees in both) I do have to say this one thing. 1 pound of fat = 1 pound of muscle. You are right in saying that a gallon of muscle will weigh more than a gallon of fat. But the statment that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat is absurd. A pound is a pound! However, what IndioGirl was trying to say is that people OFTEN delude themselves into the thinking that just because they are working out but the scale is not changing that they are somehow miraculously converting their fat straight into muscle. It is very hard to do that. NOW if you are dropping sizes but the scale is not moving then the argument is valid...you probably are gaining muscle. So if your body is shrinking but the number on the scale is not, then you are converting your fat into muscle....however if your body is not shrinking AND the number on your scale is not shrinking then you are NOT gaining muscle...but merely maintaining your current weight. One mistake A LOT of people make is that they start exercising and so they feel that they can eat more food. When they do that it equals out the extra calories they are burning and therefore no weight is lost. Also it is a myth that you turn fat into muscle. Your body breaks down the fat and uses the energy as fuel for your body when you are not consuming enough calories. Then as you lift weights/exercise you create minor tears in your muscle. Your body uses energy to rebuild those muscles. The more tears in the muscle the more energy the body needs to repair them...hence the more calories you burn. Remember calories are nothing more then energy. We have just given them a different name (DOn't you love us scientists) So you both have valid points A pound of muscle weighs EXACTLY the same as a pound of fat. A pound of muscle takes up less space then a pound of fat. Another way to look at this. If you are 250 pounds with a very HIGH body fat percentage you are going to be MUCH bigger than some who weighs 250 pounds but is ripped like the Incredible Hulk. However, when they step on the scale they will get the same number.

Cross me off the list:tt2:... I just finished the last of my water for the day...and now I am finished for the day. To the shower and then to bed. I am exhausted!

My foot is huring along the outside edge of the right food. It hurts if I put a lot of repeated pressure on it...like running or if I twist the foot. I am pretty sure that I have strained or sprained the tendon/muscles in there. I rested it today and did not go to the gym. However tomorrow I am going to do a combo of eliptical and bike to keep my legs at the level they need to be for the run on Sunday. Exciting to hear about the PS date.. I am jealous...everyone is having it before me!!! But I had to wait because of my job!

Dave - WAY TO GO! I am sure that it feels fantastic to get off all the meds!!

Is this how much food you have been eating all along. My bet is you are not eating ENOUGH. I know that when I was losing that I had to keep my calories around 1000 calories or the weight would just stop dropping. Post a day or two worth of food and we will see what we can do for you. THis is a great group of people who love to help out. Plus, join us on the exercise challenge group. Now that you are working out you can hang out with a very good motivational group.

Yes I need one of those... and today it needed the alcohol to go along with it! Got another 16 oz down. That means that I am up to 48 oz today. 1 more and I will be good to go!

Unfortunately I don't have any great advice on the breaking the plateau. Only thing is...have you talked to a nutritionist? Your body might be in starvation mode. You are talking to the queen of too much exercise! Try cutting down on the exercise for 2 weeks (or upping the calories for 2 weeks) I know, I know...easier said then done. However if you notice your weight going up 1 or 2 pounds, you can easily reverse what you are doing. Believe me..I know this is easier said then done. You don't want to do either one because the fear of gaining is always there. I am SOOOOOO with you on that one, but fortunately for me I am just trying to maintain, but I completely understand the fear. I had to do the same thing so that I would stop losing. One other thought... have you started taking any new medication? Now as for the 15 pounds before PS...have you talked to one. I know that one lady on the PS board just had a TT and had a higher BMI than you do. I am having my TT on July 3 and I am still technicall overweight, so often times a PS can do the surgery even if you still have a few pounds to lose. You will want to start shopping around for one about 2-3 months before you want surgery because it can take a lot of time. Good luck! Keep us posted if you find something that works! But you have done amazingly well...I am positive you will find what the body needs.

I have had 2 bottles of water today and I am lucky I have had that. Seriously not a moment to breathe today. Plus I ran out of Crystal light and I can only stomach water during workouts. However, NO MORE EXCUSES...I am off to home to drink some crystal light there. I think I am taking the night off from the gym. My foot is kind of sore.

I am not going to be running on my foot at all this week. I am going to work on leg endurance using the eliptical (no foot pounding) and the bike. Today I am going to do the bike...that is if I don't go home and drowned myself in about 3 bottles of strong alcohol. Okay...so i wouldn't actually do that because I don't like alcohol, too many liquid calories, I don't like alcohol, I would have a raging headache after 3 sips, and did I mention that I don't like alcohol. So here is the story... When my students don't turn in their work on time they have a three day grace period...once that time is up they have to come in during lunch and work on that project/assignment until it is finished. Today I had 78 FREAKING KIDS IN MY ROOM!. That is right...78 out of my 140 students hadn't turned work in. How ridiculous is that?!?! I am here EVERYDAY before school by 6AM at the latest, at lunch, and afterschool for at least 30 minutes. Also I give them class time to work on it. These are the days when I would rather dig ditches. At least then I would get a workout in as well. I told another teacher that this frustrates the CRAP out of me...who needs laxatives when I have my job! As for postponing the half-marathon...I can't. 4 days after the 1/2 I have surgery so it is this one or nothing. I haven't signed up for it yet and I will see how my foot is feeling after Sunday's run. If it still hurts I will go to the doctor and see what it feels like. I think it is just sprained. I promise I will not do anything that will hurt it permanently. As soon as I realized I couldn't run I came up with another plan. This is where I am so different from before. In the past I would have just said..."well I can't run so I might as well just give up." Then I would follow that up by binging. Now I just find alternatives. That is what life has to be about. You have to find alternatives to food and make modifications to exercise when necessary. Well I have a CRAP ton of work to grade so I had best get it done. This is the first time since 6AM that I have not had students in my classroom. I have been at school since 4:30AM...for the second time this week. And yes if you are keeping track...it is only Tuesday.

I had a crappy run tonight. Started out bad and got worse. I now have a mild injury. I think I have a muscle strain in my foot. So I am going to take the rest of the week off of running so that I can..no WILL get under 30 at the Eugene 5K on Sunday. I am going to bike and do the eliptical the rest of the week to keep the legs in shape. Hopefully that is all that it will take. I am going to ice the foot and kind of baby it. Then back to training next week. I am hoping that as long as I am still working the legs that I can pick up where I left off. I still have 9 weeks before the half marathon so we are still good on the time front. Well I am going to bed...I had a 3AM morning today. That is pretty much going to be my schedule from here on out since DH has to be to work by 4AM. I am going to do my morning workouts then. Well except for tomorrow. I have to finish my grading. I think I am through 1st and 2nd period. I have to get 3rd period done by 7:30 AM and hoping to get through 5th as well. I think I would rather run on my sore foot than grade any more stuff!!! Talk to you tomorrow!

You are very welcome. You will find around here that they best way to STAY successful is to pay it forward. Your time will come soon, when you will have advice for someone!

My doc said as long as you could get it through a straw so that means that a few VERY small pieces would probably be okay. If it is on your doc's list then it should be fine. But if there are any questions add some milk or water and blender away. Whoever said that the blender was your best friend was ABSOLUTELY correct!

I got in a 3.25 mile run tonight before I pulled up with my first injury. My foot is really hurting. It was giving me problems Friday, but seemed to be fine Saturday during the run and yesterday during our tennis match, but today I ended up walking the last 3/4 of a mile. NOT happy since I soooo want to be below 30 min on Sunday. I have a plan to work my legs this week without putting too much stress on the foot. Hopefully that will work. Glad your back Dave...We miss you. Becky you always do so amazing! You really are an inspiration! BTW have you decided on a PS yet?

It does get better. To this day I still can't eat Campbell's tomato soup though. I am going to copy some soups that I made during my last "too tight" episode. I know you don't want soups, but that is really all you can have right now besides smoothies. For smoothies I would take Low Fat yogurt (I can't do milk since after surgery) so sugar free Hershey's Choc syrup, Peanut Butter, unflavored Protein powder (though can be omitted) and ice and blended it to a thin smoothie. You can do the same thing with fruit and yogurt (or use milk if you tolerate it). As for soups I ate pretty much tomato soup and cheddar cheese soup. Okay for the soup recipies: Soup recipes Roasted Tomato with Roasted Garlic This recipe yielded about 1 cup. Ingredients: ½ container of grape tomatoes 4-6 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu 2 TBSP of fresh basil (2-3 tsp of dried basil) Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Peal the garlic and wrap in a small piece of aluminum foil. 2. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet and spray with PAM, sprinkle with salt and pepper. 3. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a 350 degree oven until done. a. Tomatoes will burst and shrivel a bit b. Garlic will be soft and mash easily with a fork c. Tomatoes will probably finish before the garlic 4. Place the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor (or blender) 5. Add the tofu and blend until almost smooth. 6. Heat through and add the finely chopped basil at the end. 7. Simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors blend. 8. If necessary thin out with FF evaporated milk. Grilled Asparagus Soup Ingredients: ¼ pound or more of asparagus 2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu ¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste) ¼ -1/3 cup of LF shredded cheese. Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Either boil grill on BBQ (much better!) the asparagus until just undercooked. a. To grill on BBQ spray with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in aluminum foil if you do not have a flat grill on BBQ. 2. Sautee garlic, onions and cooked asparagus 3. Place veggies in a food processor (or blender) 4. Add the tofu and blend until smooth. 5. Add FF evaporated milk until correct texture. 6. Heat to desired temperature Sautéed Mushroom and Tuna Soup (This was my way of eating tuna noodle casserole…soup style!) Ingredients: ½ pound or more of mushrooms (any kind will work) 2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu or white Beans ¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste) 1 can of tuna fish Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Sautee mushrooms, garlic and onions until desired texture. 2. Add to food processor or blender. 3. Add 4oz of silken tofu or ½ can of white beans (depending on your taste!) 4. Add drained tuna fish (or any other canned fish) 5. Puree to desired texture. 6. Heat and add FF evaporated milk to thin if needed So as you can see, the base for these soups is pretty much the same. If you don’t like tofu I would assume that white canned beans would work just as well. Experiment with different spices, add a little parmesan cheese, or different veggies. Right now you shouldn’t be worrying as much about calories, but rather about healing. If you would like add meat to any of these it would work just fine. Ground chicken, hamburger, and ground turkey all pulverize very well. You will most likely just have to thin it out with the FF evaporated milk. That one ingredient has changed my way of cooking. Once you graduate to real foods you can have chicken Alfredo for VERY few calories by using this one ingredient. Another soup that has good flavor is to just take some refried beans and beef stock. It has a lot of flavor and a lot of protein to keep you fuller longer. Also take some spaghetti sauce and add some pulverized veggies to it and it makes it better. Adding some pureed white beans also helps it feel like more food. How much longer do you have on liquids? I am really good at revising recipes so if you send me something via a private message I could probably figure out how to make it into a liquid. This is how I survived! Hope this helped a little!

As I mentioned earlier, my doc said that the only way they were going to get my tummy tight is if they did the t-cut. However, for most people the presence of a VERY long scar (mine will run groin to chest) is not worth it for the results they would acheive. She said that because most people do not have an enormous amount of excess skin from side to side that they can just pull down and most will take care of itself. However, when they pull straight down with out the t-cut that some of the excess tissue gets displaced off to the sides and therefore you can lose a little definition (the tree trunk effect). Some of it will go away but some of it you have to live with. The look and the healing time of a t-cut can be a turn off to patients and doctors alike. In fact my doc said that the reason my first PS kept raising the price is because he didn't want to do it. Most docs don't like doing the t-cut because of the intersection of the 2 incisions (which can cause healing problems) and because most patients are not happy with having the full vertical scar. However for me, she said that there was just no other way of doing it. I just have WAY too much skin off to the sides. My PS did warn me that they wouldn't be able to pull as tight around the port so that I might have a little pouch of fat. I am SOOOOO okay with that as long as I don't look like Jabba-the-Hut's sister! I can't imagine that 10-15 pounds would HURT anything. Maybe that is all your body needs. I do know that in the last several pounds that I have lost that, like Karey, the body shape has totally changed. When I started lifting weights people started commenting left and right at how much I had dropped. Funny because I had only lost 10 pounds...but that made a huge difference. I look forward to seing your pictures.

Julie Glad to hear that you are doing fairly well. You seem to be in good spirits and that is probably why you are pulling through without much pain. I know that when you start going off the pain meds for any reasons the pain seems to hit like a truck. I hope that I have as little pain as you do. Still 2 months away for me, but training for the 1/2 marathon will hopefully take some of the waiting pains away! Hang in there!

I am really glad that this helped you. I honestly have followed my own advice and I think have been very successful. In fact...I just ran my personal best at a 5K race on Saturday. Good luck and keep on trucking...after a while, it really does become second nature.

I have told everyone...students, teachers, friends, waiters, total strangers, and for me I wouldn't change a thing. I always say that having this band has changed my life. I started making the right food choices, and exercising. I always inform them that WLS is not the easy way out. Yes sometimes people get more info than they want, but I have used my experience to educate people. But that is just my 2 cents. For me it helped. Besides, I had to worry about what students would think when I was dropping weight so quickly. The would have automatically thought I was on Meth...after all Oregon is the Meth capital of the world!

Thanks. I was really proud of myself. Now I just need to improve my time next week. Here is some advice on the sore arms. Don't wait too long (48 hours max) between lifting sets otherwise you will always be sore. The soreness will actually go away with repeated lifting sessions. Also, make sure you are stretching and drinking plenty of water during and after the weights.

My doc will be doing the mons lift as well, but she laser removes the hair at the pre-op appointment so that there is no concern with hair around the incision. There was no extra charge for any of this...just part of the 6500 I will be paying her. I am sooooo excited for you guys. I am scheduled to run a half-marathon 4 days before my TT so that I can focus on something else. Otherwise I would be up all night for the 2+ weeks between the end of the school year and my TT. I practically did not sleep between the time I found out that I was having Lap Band until I had my surgery. A month without sleep is tough! Steph our bottom tummy part looks the same, but I have a distinct upper roll. Where my belly button is sunken in between the two rolls and my skin there is fairly tight. I look ridiculous! You can check them out on http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f95/plastic-surgery-55221/ if you want to look at something that will make you feel better. I can't wait for July 3!!!! That will be my independence day...Independence from fat and skin!

Not quite 5 miles, it was a 5K (3.1 miles), but this week I will be doing a 5 miler. As part of training this week I have to do the following 2- 3 miler 1 - 4 mile 1 -5 mile I am going to run 5 miles tomorrow, 4 miles on Wed, 3 miles on Fri and them my 5K (3.1 mile) on Sunday. The following week I am up to 6 miles. CRAP!