salsa1877

Alright I am in. Going for the same 25 hours this month though I really am hoping to get in a little more. However I would rather beat the goal that fall short! Oh and I think I figured out what is causing the port pain...the stupid belly! I didn't have my spanx type undergarment on all day yesterday or the day before and I was really active and with all the extra flab that is hanging on, it was really pulling on it, not to mention the very hard workout that I had on Sunday. So back to the sucker-inner for the day. Guess I am going to have to wear it all the time now. Probably the reason my back hurts too! AHHHHH I am falling apart. PS consult is FRIDAY!!!

The beauty of this group is that you can do what you want. We will just be there to motivate you, encourage you, and Celebrate your successes. I report mine by hours, some report by sessions, and I think it is Becky that has a very complicated reporting, but we love her still the same! So pick what you think you can do and maybe up it just ever so slightly to challenge yourself. Welcome. This really is a fantastic group!

I agree with you and never would have considered plastic surgery if it wasn't interfering with my life. I am having terrible lower back pain, starting to get rashes and mentally I am not doing well with it. I could have handled some loose skin or some sag, but I look EXACTLY like I did before I lost the weight. But my lap band doc really encouraged me to go to a PS because of what it is doing to my back. I have feverishly worked out since right after surgery, but my belly had been stretched for the last 20 years and now that it is no longer attached to ANYTHING it is really interfering with everything. In fact I talked to my doc about why my port gets really sore when I work out and he figures it is because there is so much bounce in the stomach that is irritating it. Today's workout was BAD because it hurt so much. By the way Jacqui you do look fabulous and always give such great advice.

My consult is on Friday and I am hoping to have surgery the first week in July. I am a teacher so I need to do it during the summer so that I can have a stress free recovery! I don't have a post on the cosmetic surgery thread yet. I figured I will wait until I hear from the PS.

I know the feeling...unfortunately for me the only way this belly is coming off is with the talented hands of a surgeon. I patiently waited and waited and waited for it to go away so that I could see my belly button (it is tucked neatly away in between my rolls ) but after consulting with my lap band doc he informed me that since I was so close to goal it wasn't going away. Here is to wishing away your belly!!!

I knew I was missing a book in my library!!! Okay got in an hour of cardio but it was a crappy hour. I had some MAJOR port pain. I think it was caused from my weight lifting workout yesterday I bumped up my weights so I think my whole body was a bit sore. But alas I am over the challenge by .5 hours:thumbup:!

So that is what I kept having an issue with. I kept losing all this weight and my belly would NOT go away. I kept telling my BF this belly is going to be gone in 40...30...20...10:scared2: pounds. He kept reassuring me that it would. Well even he realized that no matter how much I lost this big ol' Jabba the Hut Belly was here to stay. I asked my lapband surgeon about it when I went in for a fill and he said to stop losing weight because he was happy with where I was and go to a plastic surgeon. Since that conversation I have lost an additional 9 pounds and guess what...the belly is still there. He told me that the former way of thinking was to get to your goal weight and wait for a bit, but now he is finding that there are medical and mental risks of having someone weigh their goal weight and still look like I do, so he now encourages people to consult a surgeon when they fill comfortable and have the PS help them make the decision as to whether they are ready for the surgery or not. I go for my consult on Friday and I have only been banded less than 8 months. I have lost 90 pounds during that time but when I look in a mirror naked I feel like I did 90 pounds ago. So i would talk to your lap band surgeon, your primary doc, or even schedule a free consult and see what they say! Good luck

Actually peanut butter was one of those things that my nut. suggested I add back into my diet...one problem...I don't like it any more. I don't mind it if it is in things like my Protein bar, but to just have it on some apples or crackers...just don't have the same appeal! So I was bad today (though good for most bandsters:biggrin2:) i was supposed to have salad dressing with my lunch today, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I have avoided it like the plague unless I am at a restaurant and can't put salsa on my salad. So much for getting my fat in for the day. Perhaps I will just have a little extra cheese at dinner tonight:tongue2:! I would love to swap you diets! I tried soooooooo hard to get to 1500 calories and couldn't do it. I planned out my menu this weekend and last night I calculated the calories that I would consume if I ate the food today and I got to just above 1300. I guess as I become less afraid of food it will come to me. Not to mention that I am really tight today and almost pb'd on my pears during second period. That would have given the kiddos a scare:scared2:. Okay new batch of students in 4 minutes. Probably should get ready!

Holy crap.... you have lost 142 total pounds. Nice job:thumbup: Congrats on the 56 too, that is astonishing!

I have spent the last hour trying to get my stupid computer to hook up to the internet. First day back from spring break and our computer system is a nightmare. We couldn't print until about 2 hours ago, the wireless networks (we all have laptops) were screwed up and still are. So desperate for my LBT fix and the fact that I need some way to take attendance (but really just for LBT) I have a cord strung half way across my room to get internet access. Whoooo...someone is obsessive! So onto what I have been trying to type for hours :party:Happy Birthday Jackie!!!! :huh2::party: Phyl - Sorry to hear about your aunt. It is okay to shed some tears though. She may not have wanted you to, but it is a natural reaction and we have to let our emotions behave naturally for us, and I am sure that she would want you to grieve in your own way. Ruby - Congrats on pre surgery weight. I go for my TT consult on Friday. I am a little nervous. I had a dream the other night that I went to the PS and he just laughed at me and said that there was nothing he could do for me!:tt1: I guess I will be the guinea pig for the group here and let you know all the do's and dont's. Kristin - Yep it was payday for me too...only we somehow got our deposits on Saturday! I was happy:thumbup: cause it was really sucking that our paychecks came on the first day back AFTER spring break. Talk about poor timing, but it all worked out. Kari - My boobs must look just like yours. I went from a DDD to a DD, but really it now just looks like I am trying to stuff them with crepe paper! They are hideous. Even with that look I don't mind it too much, but when I bend over in the shower it is pathetic...They must be about 4 feet long!!:crying::tt1::thumbup: Linda - Just wanted to say HI! Peaches - How are you doing today? Is the port incision as sore this time as it was the first time. That was the only thing that even remotely gave me problems Mom - yep the granola stuff was heavenly!!! It is one of those things that I have to make sure that I only eat when I am scheduled to or I could definetly go overboard on that! I love beets but only if they are pickled so I haven't been eating them because of the extra sugar, but since I can have a few more calories now I can have a few now and then. I had asparagus yesterday too. I was upset when they told me I might not be able to eat asparagus after surgery because it had just become one of my favorite veggies. I refused to eat it growing up, but now it is my absolute favorite. Well that and green peas. I don't get to count them as a veggie though...I have to count them as a starch GRRRRR. Trace Adkins is very dreamy, though I have always been a HUGE Toby Keith fan. Not so much for R&B though! I drove through Laughlin several times but never stopped there. I know that a lot of people that live in Vegas go there to escape the big city. I would say that it is pretty (though hardly anything in southern Nevada is what I would classify as pretty...too much brown) but essentially I have only driven through there during night hours so I don't really know! I don't really feel sorry for you when it comes to your current weather though. It was 19 degrees here this morning and SIGNIFICANTLY less if you factor in the windchill. Oh and then top it with the fact that one of our boilers is down at work and I am FREEZING! I am going to be a popsicle by the end of the day! Yes our school is falling apart! Well I had best get going, next set of drones will be filing through the door in 11 minutes!

Nice job:thumbup:! So I don't know how this logging thing works for me because I already have my menu planned. I tried really hard to get to 1500 calories and it didn't happen. I think I got to just over 1300 calories. I guess that is a start.:tt1: Part of it is this mental block that I have that I don't want to go over 1000 calories because that is where I was comfortable and what I have known for the last several months. I don't like change:sneaky:. Well happy logging for the day. Pizzi WHERE ARE YOU????

My consult is on Friday so I am totally feeling the nervous butterflies. I actually had a dream last night where the doc said that there was nothing he could do for me even though my lap band doc has told me that the results will be drastic. Always the fears though! My tummy is my absolute worse. My thighs and back are alright but the breasts, arms and tummy are just repulsive. However I had to prioritize due to finances and the tummy has to go first. It is really causing back pain and mental anguish! Good luck and keep us informed.

1.5 hours at the gym today. Hey I am actually going to make this challenge!!!!

That is the reason that I am getting it fixed now. I figure even if I have to work longer before I get to retire at least I will be healthy and hot!! Before I was hell bent on retiring at 52 (that is when I will be eligible for teacher pension) because I didn't plan on living past 70. I mean with where my health was headed I didn't forsee living past then. But now...hell my grandma lived until she was 93 so it is in my genetics. She was the only one in my family that was not morbidly obese! And yes my DF is FANTASTIC. He took the whole thing in stride yesterday and did assure me that I look so much better and so much curvier now. He told me that if he could love 90 extra pounds of fat that he could love extra few pounds of skin. Gosh I got a keeper!!! Okay got to finish eating. I don't chew as well when I am typing and I just got a sweet potato stuck! UGH!

I took 1/2 cup of frozen berry mixture and heated it in the microwave until it was warm and juicy (about 1 minute). In a bowl I put in 1/4 cup ginger granola (got it in the bulk section of Fred Meyers) and 2 tbsp of LF cream cheese. I added the warm fruit and stirred until the cream cheese was soft. Then ate. Seriously it was very easy and very yummy. Just made it up in my head! Sometimes I surprise even myself! I am just eating now too. I bought a george forman grill the other day so I made 2 chicken tenders coated in grated parmasean cheese, 1/2 sweet potatoe cut into homefries and baked (coated with pam, garlic salt, and rosemary) and some beets. It actually looks very pretty on my plate. I have ground chicken/beef meatloaf with green peppers, dill, and zucchini in the oven for tomorrows lunch. I love cooking!!!

I live in the high desert so it does get REALLY hot here in the summer and REALLY cold in the winter. So I am okay most of the year. It was the boobs that really got to me yesterday. They are absolutely HORRIFIC! But most of the time they are tucked away in a bra so I keep telling myself that I can handle them. I am only in my 20s so I am hoping that I can, at some point in my life, have a body that I am proud of. Unlike some of you I have been FAT my whole life, so this is the first time that I have the opportunity to flaunt it. But now I have so much skin that I feel just as ugly. Body image is kicking my but this weekend. But I will conquer this as well. Just hoping that I feel so much better when the tummy goes away! Fortunately I am a fairly conservative dresser so I can cover up most of the flaws. Now if only I could find a way to never get naked again!! I don't think my DF (that would be dear fiance since I guess we are technically engaged) would like that though!

Yep I can relate. Since we are posting our pictures I thought I would share mine. Janet we have matching arms...only mine have a bit of latina tone to them! Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, the camera did not want to cooperate! And mommy I am trying to put more starches in my diet. I just had more starches today than normal. I had some yummy ginger granola with fruit and cream cheese. It was quite tasty. For breakfast I had cereal and yogurt (protein fortified Kashi GoLean, but it has carbs:tongue2:) Now if only I could figure out what to have for dinner! I have my whole week planned out but I forgot about tonight!!!:cursing: flabby arms.bmp

So I managed to not do any school work all week so for the last three hours I have been working like a dog making sure that I am ready for next week. I only have to work 4 days next week too as I have my PS consult on Friday. Oh yeah and then I am getting married on Saturday! No I am not like my band mommy when it comes to piercings, tatoos or jewelry, or shopping for that matter! Oh well we have enough in common to still be mom and daughter. I don't have any tattoos, I had my ears pierced but they have long since closed I am sure. Can't tell you the last time I had earrings in! So mommy I won't yell at you about your ice cream cone if you don't yell at me about my bag of popcorn (not the 100 calorie bag: YIKES!) I am still within my calories so I am fine and my nutritionist does want me getting more starches/fiber. Yes I did have a waffle yesterday for breakfast but it was a chore getting it down. I am still pretty tight in the morning. BIZARRE I tell you considering that I have less in now than I did when I went in for the last fill. So I had a bad day yesterday (Not food wise, just mentally). My body is a wreck. We all know about my tummy which is getting fixed, but my boobs and arms are getting worse by the day. TOO MUCH INFORMATION COMING!!! So we were doing "horizontal exercises" yesterday and I seriously started crying in the middle because my arms and boobs were so bad. That does nothing for the mood, but I couldn't help it. If money wasn't tight right now I would have them throw in a breast lift, but I just don't think it is going to be in the budget. I guess I will ask at the consult. Well I should probably leave here shortly so that I can have dinner at a somewhat decent hour. I am going to go to the gym as soon as I finish here. Perhaps that is why this is such a long post...procrastination!!

Pammy...You really look wonderful. Thank you to everyone for their kind comments about my pics.

It's funny because my doc originially helped me set the goal that would make me 5 pounds above a normal BMI (150 pounds), but now at 160 he would like to see me stop losing. Now I am a numbers person (chemist/chemistry teacher) so I like numbers but after much soul searching and tears I am where I want to be. The scale is just a number and I for one think that I should be defined more than by one number. I am healthy, active, eating right and at a place mentally that when I look in the mirror (with my clothes on...naked is a plastic surgery issue!) I am happy with myself. That for me is goal. Technically my ticker has 1 pound to go and it will probably get lost as I transition into maintenance but it will certainly go away when I lose my Jabba-the-Hut Belly! It is all about being happy...not content...but happy with where you are.

LBR I know that if I went too low on my calories I stopped losing. In fact when I first went up to 1500 calories I dropped weight quickly. Alright so I will be logging my food starting on Monday. I did get my menu planned out for the week so we will see how that goes. Keep up the logging.

Good morning. Today was weigh in day and I was down another 1 pound. That actually really surprised me because I haven't been counting calories at all and had no idea where I was at. Linda- Congrats on the 100 pounds. That is astonishing. Kari - That is a very nice picture. However I understand about the no picture rule. I hated having my picture taken before surgery. Even now I am a bit camera shy. Getting over it a little bit, but the camera still makes me nervous. Jackie- Janet can be on one shoulder and I will be on the other. Potluck things can be really difficult because all the stupid food is sitting there the whole time. I can choose not to eat the foods that are not good for me, but I end up eating too much of the foods that are relatively good for me...hmmmm sounds like the reason that I got to 250 pounds in the first place! Phyl - We have had crazy weather in the the Pacific NW. When I was coming home from my nutritionist I had rain, snow, high wind, no wind, light wind, snow and hail mix, rain and the hardest hail I have ever had, blue sunny skies and snow, and thunder and lightning. And that was all in a matter of about 100 miles! Like Janet said though...why couldn't you extend your stay a little bit? Peaches - Congrats on a successful surgery. I am very happy that you will now achieve restriction. Well I need to go. We didn't get anything done around the house yesterday because we were out and about. We got our marriage license yesterday and my BF said the funniest thing. First, he is going to be taking 2 months off this summer to take care of me after the TT so when I told him that he was going to need to spend 2 months worth of salary on my ring he asked me if he could pick the 2 months paychecks to use. I started laughing so hard, because I realized that he would be using July and August's paychecks! Actually we are not doing the ring thing either...mainly because I HATE jewlery. I really am odd, but you all still seem to like me so that is all that matters. Well, we are way over due for breakfast so I should go light a fire under his hiney and get him cooking. I think we are having waffles and eggs. We will see about the waffles! They may not go down

Got in another hour at the gym and then we went for a brisk walk later today for another hour...so I got 2 hours in on my day off!!

I'm here, just trying to figure out how to make this menu. I was going to do it earlier but I got tired and took a nap. I have not slept well the last few days because I was not at home! So I have found that the biggest problem with this new menu that she has me make is that I don't know how to cook small amounts, and with my BF not home to eat with me...I am going to be throwing out A LOT OF FOOD!:scared2: Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but we are on a very tight budget right now so buying 1 can of chipotle Beans for 1.29$ and then only eating 1/2 cup doesn't really thrill me. My nutritionist doesn't want me eating the same thing for a week like I have been because she says then you don't vary your nutrition enough. This will get easier. That is the Mantra I keep repeating! Well nothing else going on here. Weird thing though...I needed some extra calories today and some fat so I had some crackers with Peanut Butter, and you know what...I don't think I like peanut butter any more. :confused2: HOW BIZZARE IS THAT. This is coming from the girl that would eat half a jar of PB with a spoon. Now it just has an odd flavor to me. I have tried it in several things and out of the jar it just isn't doing it for me any more. I had a really good dinner tonight, but when I calculated the calories it came out very low. I had a tuna burger with green beans. It was DELICIOUS! But I think it was something like 175 calories for the entire thing!! Janet I am feeling your pain with the calories. I wouldn't get anywhere near where I am supposed to be if it wasn't for my daily Protein bar. My nut is having me switch it up and only eating 1 every other day because she would rather see me eating real foods instead of processed foods. So the days when I have my protein Cereal (Kashi GoLean) then I get fruit and a string cheese instead. Well I have got to go back...I just realized where I could use the rest of those beans I was talking about earlier. Yep I am scatter brained!:w00t:

2 hours at the gym today. Cardio and weights.