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Janet - My scales didn't go up when I started eating again. It has slowed down cause during the month that I was so tight I had lost 15 pounds. I have lost only 2 during the last week, but I am perfectly fine with that. I am really tight this morning though. I think it is stress from the job. We have grades due on Monday and the kids decided that now is the time to turn in all of the work that they haven't done and expect that it will be graded as soon as it hits the basket!:rolleyes2: Pisses me off. Well speaking of that grading and test taking I got to get busy.

Happy Birthday to my Band Mom!!!!:rolleyes2:

lindaa - Sorry to hear that you are having such troubles with the family. Sometimes they can be the worst! I have completely stopped talking to my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins etc) after my mom and grandma died, because they were just ungrateful for anything. I am not a huge one for confrontation, but have you thought about saying anything to your DIL. 25K for their house??? I am looking for a new family...I have a band mom already, but I could always use a band Aunt. :tt1: I would clean the bedroom and the bathroom and you could tell anyone ANYTHING you want about me. I love to cook and will even do dishes with just a little pouting. Oh and believe me if you want to send 25K my way I will put a thank you on a billboard right outside your house!:frown: Just kidding...hope it put a little smile on your face. Can't you get your fill taken out? I thought I was tight, but I wasn't sliming during the night. No way I could stand that. Some of it may be that your body is draining mucus (I know disgusting, but the truth) and that maybe your banded tummy just can't keep up with it. If it doesn't cost a whole lot perhaps you could get some taken out and then when you get over being sick have a little more put back in if you need it. I hate hearing that people are too tight, cause I was absolutely miserable when I was. Janet will attest to how miserable it can be too as she is dealing with it right now. And by the way, you can lean on us anytime you want. I, personally, have very broad shoulders that are good for crying on. They have gotten a bit smaller since losing weight, but there is still a decent amount of room. So a bit of bragging from me now. Since joining the gym I have been running 1 full mile a session. Up until tonight that has been broken into one half mile segment and 2 quarter mile segments. Tonight however, I ran for .75 miles. That is BY FAR the longest I have ever run in my life. I was so excited. That is such a huge accomplishment for me. So I made this statement on the August exercise thread and I will make it here. By my 1 year bandiversary I will run 5 miles straight. I know that sounds like an astounding amount but that means that I just need to add a little under .25 miles per week. Now that sounds doable. Well I have to go take a shower cause I aint smelling too pretty right now. Later!

AMAZING!!!! You are all doing wonderful. If I can lose 2.5 more pounds by Feb 9 then I will have lost 75 pounds in 6 months. There is no way that I could have ever done this without the band. Pizzicato - San Francisco is a great city...to visit, but I don't know if I would want to live there. It is SOOOOOOOO expensive so waiting for a company that would give you relocation expenses sounds like a good idea to me. I will keep my fingers crossed for you. As for the weight loss, 2 pounds is good. When I had my fill I actually lost more weight the second and third week than I did the first week. However, my body does not lose weight well when I am consuming a bunch of carbs and that is what I consume when I have to be on protein drinks. Next week you may drop those 3 or 4 pounds. Well I have to go take my shower now. I just plain stink from running my .75 miles + additional miles that were walked. (Okay for those that post on the exercise thread, I am bragging over here too...I have no shame!)

Wow...I have been slacking on the posting. I have been incredibly busy lately, but I have still managed to get in my workouts. 2 yesterday and 2 today. It is still possible that I will make my goal. But on a GREAT note I ran .75 miles straight tonight.:frown: Getting close to the mile mark. Okay I am officially setting a workout goal right here and all of you can witness it. By the time that I get to my 1 year bandiversary I want to run 5 miles straight. I can do it, I can do it. That means increasing a little under .25 miles/week so it doesn't seem that far fetched. Val - Congrats on breaking the plateau. Those things are a pain in the butt, however when you break through it is a great motivator to keep you going. Becky - I have found that with the treadmill if you vary what you are doing then it isn't quite so boring. I warm up for 5 minutes then run for .75 miles (as of tonight) and then for the remainder of the hour I vary the incline and the pace. The treadmills we have at the gym show your pace around a .25 mile track so I change everytime I make it around the loop. During the time that I am walking I am thinking about what I want to do next and it makes the time go by faster. When I am running, I don't worry about what I do next I just pray that I don't die.:tt1: Frangi - Take care of yourself. It is probably good that you took a break. Shoulder pain scares me, so if it doesn't go away you need to see a doctor. Dave - Where are you????????? He is more MIA that I am. Okay I need to go take a shower, I don't smell pretty, but if I didn't sit down and write this right this minute, it wouldn't have gotten done. Good job everyone...3 days to go and then we are in our sixth month. HOLY COW!

Yeah I was sad about my dad not being able to come over. As for the BF's hours changing...part of me is relieved that I will have some alone time and other parts of me are not. I will miss him because we play games together almost everynight. At least we still have 2 nights together. At least then I won't feel bad about missing time with him to go to the gym. No more excuses!

It still amazes me that I can get in a size 12! I am pretty sure that the last time that I was a size 12 it was size 12mo when I was an baby:tongue:! I can't fit in all size 12s, but I can feel that the ones that I am wearing are starting to get a little looser. Maybe I can fit in all of them now, but a month ago I couldn't. It still is that dang top roll that is killing me. My brother's girlfriend gave me some of her old clothes that don't fit her any more as she is now a size 4, but the cut just isn't right for me. She gave me a pair of size 9 jeans, but they are so low waisted that my top roll sticks out like a sore thumb. The jeans fit and my BF liked what they did for my butt, however I don't think I could find a shirt that I would be comfortable wearing with them. Besides, I would have to get new underwear to wear with these. They are very low rise! I even fit into the pair of size 8s that she gave me, but again it is the top roll. I have got to find something that will take it away. I have not even contimplated plastic surgery as I just don't think that there is anyway that I would ever be able to afford it (especially until my surgery is paid off), but I don't know that this top roll is ever going to go away. Also, my breasts are getting really bad and I am only 28. I look alright when I am fully dressed, but naked :eek::eek: it is not a pretty sight. Janet - as for the food, you may be like I am right now where mornings are tough to eat anything and then you open up at night. I am still not where I would like to be optimally, but I am doing alright. I am getting to 1000 calories now so that is good for me. I have been battling a lot of head hunger this weekend but I think that was because I was sad. However, I did relatively well and when I went to the store specifically to get something for dessert...I got fresh melon instead of cheesecake which is what I really wanted. It turned out that the fruit was just as good and took care of my craving. Good NSV for me! Well we are on a 2 hour delay here so my lunch time has been way off, so I am completely out of whack! But I have to get my portfolio's together for my evaluation so I should probably get that done. Later!

So the opera is a no go. Good thing my dad didn't come over because we have gotten almost 8 inches of snow in the last 4 hours. Fortunately for him, they cancelled the show and he will get his money back. We did find another opera that is about an hour from where he lives that we are going to go to in March. It all worked out. I am just excited that he was going to make the effort to come over here. The opera (Barber of Seville) is special to us because we used to conduct to it when I was very little (like 2-3 y.o.). He moved out when I was 4 and pretty much stopped having contact with me until 5 or 6 years ago. It was a combination of him not having good parenting skills (his parents were abusive), my mom not wanting him in my life and his wife being well... herself. But when my grandma died we decided that we were both adults and that we should try and get to know each other. We don't talk very often, but I do see him almost everytime I go back to visit my brother and my doctor. I still am a little hesitant to get too close. Abandonment issues! Janet I was thinking about you last night when we went out to dinner. I was able to order a side of chicken breast and could eat without pain:lol::wink2:. I am still pretty tight in the morning though. Yogurt has become my new breakfast food and even then I can feel pressure. I have decided that for me the band allows me to stay fuller longer, but that I don't use it to help me control my portions. I put 1 cup of food (sometimes less) in front of me and that is all that I eat. The band has rarely helped me stop eating, but does allow me to only eat 3-4 times per day. I think that is why I hate being so tight. I didn't mentally feel like it was enough to eat so the head hunger was almost unbearable. My brain has been trained now to know that it can only have 1 cup of food, so anything more than that actually makes me a little nervous. I think to myself (and sometimes say outloud!) "How does anyone expect me to eat all of that food!" Well I just got home from the gym and haven't had a whole lot to eat today so I am feeling a little fatigued. Off to get some food. Chat later.

Sometimes you just have to pick your battles and be happy that you won on that front. I too sometimes take naps on the weekends...makes up for the lack of sleep I get during the week! I didn't go to the gym tonight either...so you are ahead of me. I will make up for it tomorrow. So turns out my dad is not going to make it over. I am still going to the opera... my BF gave in and will go with me. I would have gone by myself, but he was nice enough to agree to at least try it. The weather is just too bad in the mountains and my dad just didn't want to risk an accident. I don't blame him, but I was still upset. My dad and I have only been talking for the last 6 years and during that time have spent a total of 2 hours alone really getting to know each other. His wife does not like me and feels threatened that we are trying to rebuild our relationship. That is why I was ASTOUNDED that he was coming over here. But alas if it isn't Kyla not cooperating it is Mother Nature! Anyways my BF is being a real sport. He loves the symphony and the theater but he has always drawn a very firm line on Opera. But he knows that it is important to me so he is going. I told him that if he hated it that he could leave and I would just call him when it was time to pick me up. He seemed to light up when I said that.

Even my BF said: "Damn that is a huge difference!" You look beautiful, confident, happy and AMAZING! Nice job.

We are going to the opera tomorrow and to the movie tonight. Andy (his son) is a freshman in high school, but really acts like he is 5. I work with this age all day long, and he is by far one of the more immature ones that I have seen. I did get a good night's sleep last night, but am considering going in and taking a nap right now. Enjoy the movie and the soup!

The only problem that I had was high triglycerides, but I knew that bad things were coming. My mom died at 53 from a massive heart attack caused by EXTREMELY high cholesterol, diabetes and lack of care about her general health. She weighed 350 pounds when she died. My dad weighs close to 400 pounds, if not more. I KNEW where I was headed and there was no way I was going to go down without a fight. I was in a position where I could get financed for the surgery and I didn't want to have to worry about losing weight and have medical problems on top of that. And about eating normal...Thank god I don't eat "normal" any more. Eating "normal" is what was going to kill me.

Janet I can totally sympathize with you. I was excited because I could eat for the second day in a row without pain. I had some chicken and noodles from the soup that I made for my BF. He was at home all day with the sniffles so I made him some soup. I haven't convinced myself that broth based soups don't violate the no drinking rule so when I can eat real foods I just eat the stuff from the soup and leave the broth behind. I know, such a rule follower:rolleyes2:. I didn't get to the gym tonight. I was so tired after work that I just came home and have been sitting in front of the TV. On a good note we got cable today and we are getting a DVR next week. I know...about time I got into the 21st century:rolleyes:. Actually we did it so that I have something to do when my BF is at work when his shift switches. It would be very boring and lonely here by myself. I would end up going to bed early and getting nothing done... or even worse, snacking constantly! Phyl - Aren't those fill prices crazy! I know most of it is because of the liability of taking on another patient. Hopefully your doc will take your situation into consideration when it comes to giving you a fill. My doc does them everyday...well his nurse does them everyday I should say. I think they do like 40-50 fills per day and they are booked weeks in advance. They have agreements with a lot of doctors from Mexico to do them at significantly reduced prices so that is why they are so busy. Plus he does 1 to 2 surgeries per day. He is busy and rich! Hopefully you won't have to bite the bullet, but either way, 60 pounds in 6 months is dang good! Well despite the fact that it is a friday night and I am in my 20's and supposed to be out partying...I am going to bed. I seriously can barely keep my eyes open. WAAAAAAAYYYY to many late nights this week. Tomorrow I have to stay up late too. My dad and his son (sorry can't bring myself to call him my brother) are coming and the kid is mad that we are going to the opera together so he pouted enough that we are going to the 9pm showing of Rambo. Again, past my bed time. However, I don't have to get up at 4:45 tomorrow morning so that will make the difference. I do have to go to the gym though. Nighty Night.

You are right and I didn't feel guilty about eating more pizza. I just wanted to think about why I ate more than normal, and those were the 2 reasons I came up with. I am fortunate that I have never pb'd, but there have been 3 or 4 times that I have gotten stuck so bad that I wish I would have. Being on liquids for very long always makes me feel like I am starving. Well I didn't get any grading done cause my principal showed up and we ended up talking the rest of the period. Oh well.

Wow! That is fantastic. I should be able to get to 100 pounds by August 9. I would really like to get to 175 (75 pounds lost) by my 6th month bandiversary (Feb 9). Despite what my ticker says (haven't had time to change it on my home computer) that would mean 3 pounds in 15 days. So very doable. I am impressed with everyone. We rock!:redface:

Becky - Sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she is doing better. And yes stress can make the band feel tighter. One of the nurses at my doc's office says that her band always seems to feel tighter if she is under stress. Frangi - My legs have been getting less and less sore as I continue to run on them. The day after I did my first .5 mile run I thought I was going to die, but when I got back on the treadmill, the pain just seems to melt away. So I got 2 workouts in yesterday and one in this morning. I am not convinced that I am going to make the goal I set for myself though. I am going to be crazy busy this weekend and all next week so we will see. However, even if I don't make it, I am proud of the accomplishments that I have completed this month. That is a huge NSV for me. Before the surgery I woudn't not have been happy with just improving. Before I would have felt like a total failure if I didn't meet the goal. So see this thing works on the brain too...just a little slower than it works on the waistline!

So it is official now, you are absolutely 100% my band mom. I was starving when I was on liquids and too tight. When I can eat real foods I don't get hungry, but doing constant mushies and liquids for long periods of time my me feel like I was starving. And I too get sick of the sweet stuff. That is one of the reasons I hate those protein drinks! You are lucky that you live so close to your doc and can go in and get some of the fill taken out. I am still tighter than would be perfect for me, but this is at least doable. In the mornings, I have to be careful what I eat, but last night I was able to eat thin crust pizza. I ate more than I normally would have, but the scale was down, so I too agree that sometimes you have to eat a few extra calories to shock your body. I couldn't eat much at one time, but I went back about 2 hours later for more. So to follow my own advice, I asked myself why I went back and ate it cause I really wasn't hungry and I decided it was because I am really overwhelmed right now. Things at school are actually getting better, but because I missed my work days last weekend I am playing HUGE amounts of catch-up. Another reason I ate the pizza was because I COULD! It has been so long since I have been able to eat any kind of real food that isn't soft and mushie that I was in heaven. Yet another reason that you shouldn't be too tight and only be able to drink your food. Well I still haven't changed my ticker...Maybe tomorrow I will have a brief second to do so! I was down to 178. That numbers seems surreal to me. I am only 4 pounds away from being overweight!!! If I get t my goal, I will still be 5 pounds overweight, but we will cross that hurdle when we get there. Well I still have 1 class worth of projects to grade:frown::redface::frown: so I had best sign off and get busy.

you are right, I have been MIA. I am soooo busy with school work. Being gone for the weekend to get the unfill totally destroyed my work time. Now my car is acting up. GRRRRR. I must have dropped a fair amount of size lately because I have gotten a ton of compliments at work. Most people know about the surgery, but some didn't. I have been doing ok when it comes to food. By dinner I can eat anything, but I am still tight in the mornings until about 3. Today has been horrible with food. I seriously have only eat 1 protein bar for a total of 140 calories. Yesterday I THINK I got to 800, but I worked off 450 at the gym. The scale is down to 178.5 but I haven't had time to change my ticker...or at least I don't think I have changed it. Janet age isn't the only thing that makes your memory go MIA. I have been really tired lately and I think it is because I am always on the run. I have been faithfully going to the gym every morning and for at least an hour after work and this is taking a chunk of time out of my schedule that I don't actually have. When I go home, I try to just spend it with my BF especially now. His work hours just got changed and he will start working 2:00pm to 10:00 pm Sunday - Thursday beginning the end of Feb. That is soooooooo terrible for us. I will not see him Monday-Thurs. More time for me too work on school work I guess. Well the lunch bell just rang and I need to get tests graded. See it is a never ending battle.

Got in another workout this afternoon. I am up to running 1 mile per evening. Not all at once, but I will be there within 2 weeks. That is my goal. Ahhh I was able to eat tonight and it was great. Still kind of tight in the mornings, but at least I am able to get in food.

I got 1 session in on Monday night (I was at the gym way too late!) and 2 more sessions in yesterday, and then 1 more in this morning. I have been going to the gym in the morning before work and then again after work. My workout in the afternoon is significantly harder than the morning workout, but I am finding that walking in the mornings gives me more energy throughout the day. Everybody is doing phenomonally well.

So it still hurts a bit to eat. I had to go back onto liquids today, but they said that it could be due to swelling from the unfill. Some people will swell, others won't. I guess I did. Probably from all the irritiation from before the unfil. You should see where thye put the needle in my port...it is beautiful shades of purple, blue and red. By the weekend it should be a nice golden yellow. I don't know if I posted this here, but if you are doing situps and you are getting sore at your port, you should probably stop. In some people it can cause excess scar tissue. She had a really hard time getting the needle in yesterday. It kept slipping off to the side because of all the scar tissue build up around the port. So she told me to stop with the situps. Well I would type more, but I am way behind in school work and need to plan my next unit tonight. We start tomorrow! YIKES!

I'm BAAAAACCCCKKKKK:lol:. So my fill nurse was actually nicer than I thought she was going to be. She took out the fill before she even looked at the barium swallow. Doesn't hurt that there was a note from doc in the chart that said to take out no less than .4cc, which is exactly what she took out. Anyways, I was a hit at the docs office because they couldn't believe how much weight I have lost. Inamed (maker of the band) considers anyone that has lost a total of 70% of their excess body weight over a 2 year period of time to be a success and I have done that in 5.5 months! I am so damn proud of myself. I will be so excited to eat real food. My nurse said that the reason that people get hungry when they are so tight is because they don't get the good foods down. Instead they have to turn to liquids, mushies, and usually higher carb foods which all tend to go through the band easier then protein. Well gotta go grade papers and finish reading the rest of the posts here. Man you miss two days and you get WAY behind!

So I didn't get in any exercise this weekend:frown:, as I was away getting a little unfill. I think I will be so much happier now that I can eat real food! However, I talked to my doc about situps and port pain/issues. He said for most people it won't cause a problem, but for some it can cause excess scar tissue, which is what has happened to me. My fill was kind of painful today because the needle kept slipping off the port because the scar tissue was in the way. So, I guess my suggestion is that if you are ever having port pain because of sit ups that you just stop doing them. He told me that I was not allowed to do them anymore, so I won't. But I just wanted to share the info that I was getting. You all are doing splendid as normal. I will be back to my two sessions a day starting tomorrow.

I'm BAAAAACCCCKKKKK:lol:. So my fill nurse was actually nicer than I thought she was going to be. She took out the fill before she even looked at the barium swallow. Doesn't hurt that there was a note from doc in the chart that said to take out no less than .4cc, which is exactly what she took out. Anyways, I was a hit at the docs office because they couldn't believe how much weight I have lost. Inamed (maker of the band) considers anyone that has lost a total of 70% of their excess body weight over a 2 year period of time to be a success and I have done that in 5.5 months! I am so damn proud of myself. I read all of the posts that I have missed (holy cow 3 pages!) and I can't remember what I needed to write to everyone, but I do remember a few. Twilight - I still have huge food issues. I always feel like I need to go to a nutritionist to see if I am eating properly. Haven't gone yet cause I am too cheap, and even though my insurance will pay for chiropractic and drug addtiction counseling, they won't pay for a nutritionist. Not saying that the insurance co, should pay for these things, it just doesn't make sense to me that they won't pay for something that effects us every waking and sleeping minute of the day. Anyways, I digress, I wake up every morning and plan my day. I think it drives my BF nuts because at 10AM, I am asking what we are going to have for dinner. That way I can plan every little morsel that goes into my mouth. I am a bit obsessive about food. Janet - I fear the day my scale dies and I have to get a new one. I need it to last until I get to goal weight so that if I do need to get a new one I am not completely playing the "Please let it go down" game. Some days I feel like my wrestlers from school and spitting in a cup and exhaling completely before I step on it. As for your scale, it could be off, and as I scientist, I totally believe in consistancy. Adding too many variables (such as another scale) can be catastrophic to the data.:smile: Phyll - You look MARVELOUS! Kari - As my band mom has already asked... "what caused you to eat all of that" I totally believe that somedays you just need to eat. I have a friend who has been a size 4 her whole life and even she can sometimes put down an entire pizza by herself. The difference between here and I WAS she exercises everyday and she eat healthy almost all the time. As you see I said was, cause this is how I am now, and how I think you probably are most of the time. One other thing for you, you mentioned that you could be our moms and I know that you are nothing like my mom. You gave yourself the biggest gift you could...health. My mom decided after her first heart attack that she was going to die anyways so she might as well not do anything for herself. Look at you... You went to Mexico to help yourself and to become a better person. Doesn't sound like you are crazy at all, but rather a very smart lady who knew exactly what she needed to do. I didn't have a psych evaluation. But I had talked to the office staff for the month prior to having my consultation so I guess I came across as sane! Guess I had been through enough family counseling that I knew what to say:rolleyes2:. Jackie - Gotta love size 12. Congrats! I don't think that plastic surgery is going to be in my budget, so for me it is in the gym to try to tone up. Nice to see that your hubby is so protective. Lindaa- Crying with you over the Packers. How in the world did Eli Manning get to the super bowl. I tell you if he can do that, I can lose these last 30 pounds. For those of you that don't watch football, Eli Manning making it to the Super Bowl is as miraculous as all of losing weight! Well I need to grade my papers that I didn't get done this weekend. OOPSY! Talk to you all later

I have been dealing with "mom" issues for a long time and I am going to have to go back into therapy now that the weight is going off. I don't have anything to hide behind now. I think this is why I always feel so on edge. Like I have said earlier I always feel like I am fighting a war: counting every penny that goes out of my bank account, counting every calorie that goes into my mouth, being a perfectionist at work. Focusing on all of that allows me to not think about why I have these issues in the first place. However, you have no idea how thankful I am to everyone, especially my band mom! I appreciate all of the kind words. Well I am going up to Washington today so that I can get some of my fill removed. I am afraid that I am going to get there and the fill nurse (who also has been banded) is going to tell me that I am a lot more open than most people, and that I am just not chewing well enough. She tried to convince me that my band was not tight enough when I left when I got my fill. I have it done under fluoro and she was trying to show me that the barium was going through at a faster rate than most. Well I guess I am not like most people. I just don't like being this tight. I truly think that I am at what some people call their sweet spot, but it isn't sweet for me. Yogurt was not going down well this morning, and yesterday was awful. Cottage cheese got stuck. Then I had a terrible episode with chicken at dinner last night. Thought I was going to die it hurt so bad. Well I have to get ready to head out, but I didn't want you to think I had disappeared. But before I go GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!! I weigh less than what my driver's license says!. That is a big milestone for me. I am in the 70's. I have lost 70.5 pounds. OMG that is hardly even fathomable for me!