salsa1877

So I was in such a down mood yesterday. Couldn't stop crying all day. I missed eating (MAJOR HEAD HUNGER) and I was tired of working (I put in a 16 hour day), and I had a bad dream about my mom. I would start crying at the drop of a hat. So I went home and I ate A cookie. Not 10, not 20, but 1. I did feel better and I didn't feel one bit of guilt. I also went back to a more balanced meal and yep the scale went up, but only by 0.5 pounds. Before when I would go off of Atkins I would jump 5 pounds in 1 day. I really am learning to eat in moderation and it feels so good. My students have been commenting that I have been losing a lot of weight, so that is nice. Also, I tried on a pair of pants this morning and they are 14's. Now they are Lane Bryant 14, but still a 14. Dini - :eek:An extra small.... I was happy when an extra large fit:biggrin1:

I ordered mine through wal-mart and did the site-to-store option so that I didn't have to pay the shipping. I couldn't find it anywhere in the store, but I am assuming it will come after Christmas seeing that it should be out in time for "New Year's Resolutions". Yes I am a teacher, but the notion that teacher's work 7-3 (my contract hours) is a false thought. I usually work between 12-15 hours a day. That is why I am quitting the profession after this year. I have had 4 miserable years at this job and I hate it. We (my BF and I) are going to move closer to my family. I don't know what I am going to do for a job right now, but I may go to work at t-mobile which is where my BF works. Then once I get my surgery paid off, I am going to try and go back to school to get my Pharmacy Degree. That is what I really want to do, but it takes at least 4 years and cost $$$$$$$. SO we will see.

I am convinced that we will be attempting to teach calculus to kindergartners soon. The rigor, pace and amount of information that these kids are expected to learn is astronomical. It is no wonder that they just want to stop learning. I fully believe in setting high expectations, but at the same time, their brains are no more evolved that brains were 20 years ago, but they are expected to be. Okay, and really do they REALLY need to be taking chemistry as a required class. Have any of you ever used the periodic table outside of the classroom! I am chemist and I have, but again I AM A CHEMIST. I think that if we were to start teaching our students things that will actually benefit them while also teaching them "trivia knowledge" then maybe we could have more successful students. I loved school, but for me it was a sancutary away from my mom and a place where I was successful. As a teacher I see that so few people (parents, community members, students, other teachers) don't care about learning and it makes teaching an uphill battle. My curriculum last trimester was great in incorporating real life team work, business skill while also teaching chemistry. However, we had so many parent and student complaints that it was not traditional enough that between the administration and I, we scrapped it. It was too bad, because it was teaching them skills they would actually need in the workplace. Oh well. I just want a job where I don't have homework. Something meaningful but that leaves time for me. I am all about that now. For so many years I took care of everyone else and by having surgery I took the first steps to take care of myself and now I need to continue that.

Janet I am impressed with that time of the morning too. I usually get up at 4:45 so I can relate somewhat. And yes I am glad that I am making the right decision. I left teaching once before but went back in because I thought I would like it better. I have had some very terrible experiences and I just don't foresee it getting any better. Well I got most of my baking done this weekend and I didn't eat a thing. I am down another pound but I have to change my ticker from my home computer. I am going to have a cookie or 2 on the night before my fill so that I don't feel left out and do something stupid after I get filled.

So I can't do a full review of the DVD because I haven't done the whole thing yet, but I can give you a review of what I have seen. Bob (the trainer) works you hard. My butt, hips and thighs are sore, but it is fun. It is nice to see that the people in the video are struggling right along with you. It makes you feel that if you can't quite keep up that it is okay because sometimes they can't keep up either. There are a lot of alternate motions given for those that can't quite do the full range of motions. So far I like it. I am not going to get to exercise tonight though because I have to work until 9:00pm. I have been at work since 5:30AM so it is going to be a VERY long day.

Distant - good luck on finding the Wii, but I hope you do...it is a blast. My BF and I played it a lot this weekend. I bought mine this summer when there wasn't a big rush. I have heard that nintendo is shipping a bunch more this week, so maybe you will luck out. Well my BF and I made a decision this weekend to leave our current residence at the end of this school year. You have all heard me complaining about my job and I have decided to leave teaching at the end of this school year. We are going to be moving to Bellingham, WA because my BF can get a transfer there. So I will actually only be living an hour away from Phyl! I have no idea what I will do once I get there, but I will figure something out. I am most likely going to work for my BF company (t-mobile) until I can figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I am looking at different college programs, but I want to find one that I can stick with for the next several years as I already have 2 degrees (BS Chemistry and MA Teaching) and don't just want a useless collection of expensive pieces of paper! I would love to use my chemistry degree but because I don't have an advanced degree in it, I would make more working customer service at t-mobile. Well I guess I had better get back to my class. 4 days until Christmas Break. I can make it, i can make it.

Holy Cow! I just worked out to the Biggest Loser Volume 1 DVD and DANG it kicked my butt. I will give a better review of it tomorrow, but I am exhausted now so I am going to bed.

Janet I tell you, we are so alike. When I was looking at your pictures I told my BF that we were built a lot alike and are losing in about the same way. I carry almost all of my weight in my front tummy area. My arms are bigger than I would like, but I can live with them. I have always like my legs because they weren't huge, but very muscular. Everyone is looking FABULOUS. It is amazing at what a huge transformation can take place in such a short amount of time. I know we all get down on not losing quickly (GUILTY AS CHARGED!) but just look at how far we have come in 4-5 months. Well I am in the middle of doing my christmas baking this weekend. I will not have time this week to get it done for next weekend, so my family gets week old gifts! Hopefully it will not be too much of a temptation. I know that since I am on Atkins that I can't have any. I will have a FEW on Thursday night before my fill on Friday so that I don't feel completely left out. I don't usually crave sweets, but I think that is because I have a protein bar everyday. Since I can't have the bar when I am doing Atkins I have been craving something sweet. So I bought some low carb/sugar free candy last night and did I pay for it. So 2 things that I can no longer eat: sugar free stuff that contains sugar alchols and milk/ice cream/pudding products. They wreak havoc with my system. Well my cookies are almost ready to come out of the oven so off I go. Again you all look wonderful, and peaches you are right about the smiles. I know mine gets bigger as the chin gets smaller!

Here are my 4 month pics. Anyone else wanna share?

Congrats Phyll. Your pictures looked amazing. So I have decided that I am going to post my 4 month pics now.

I have gone down a whole shoe size. I used to be a 9W or 10 regular, now I am an 8W or a 9 regular. When I say that nothing in my closet fits, I am including my shoes. I finally had to go get a different pair of black dress shoes because I kept walking right out of mine at school.

Got #10 in yesterday. I can't wait for my Biggest Loser DVD to get in. Before it was not enough weights...now its not enough cardio. I don't think I will ever be satisfied!

Well I guess when the scale wants to make a statement it is going to make it in a big way. I stepped on it this morning and bam down to 192.5. I know that part of it is because of the low carb, but I don't care, I am still relieved that it started moving again. You guys all said it would (smiling sheepishly) but I started getting that panicked feeling in the pit of my stomach when morning after morning it read the same dang number (or up .5 pounds). I know myself and if I start not seeing results I get tempted to reach for A LOT of food. There are benefits to being young, but one of them is not having a lot of patience!

I shouldn't complain, I have actually lost 7 pounds since being unfilled. I haven't gained any weight because I have had MAJOR will power. My weight loss was so steady prior to being unfilled, and then about 2 weeks ago, it just stopped. Woke up one day and the dang scale wouldn't budge. Again I shouldn't complain as I hadn't had a plateau since August 9. I am just part of that "instant" generation that wants everything right now. My doctor told me that I could gain a lot of my weight back too when he unfilled me and actually wanted me to come in sooner. However, as I mentioned before he is about 6 hours away from me and across a mountain pass. I am a pansy when it comes to driving in the snow (don't ask me why I moved to where I did where it snows all winter). the 21st is the first day of our Winter Break at the high school so it works out well to get it then. My ultimate goal would be to lose 10 pounds total while being unbanded. This experience has just gone to show me how incredibly blessed we are to have gotten this tool. Yes we still have to do the work, but when there is something that can make that work a little easier, it makes such a difference. Whenever someone makes a comment about how I make losing weight look easy, I just tell them to let me give them a band and they will see just how NOT easy it is. I don't let ANY one take my credit away from me just because I have the band. Alright off on another tirade. I need to get to bed. 4:45 am comes early!

I get my fill on Dec 21. It is good and bad to get it at that time. I WANT to be restricted, but I never get to see my family and that will be the only time that we can Celebrate Christmas and I will be on liquids. Oh well, I have the rest of the year to eat food, and I desperately need a fill. So I emailed my dad and said that we could go out to dinner at this Mexican restaurant in my hometown (my doc is close to there and it is ~6 hours from me AND across a mountain pass) and I would just have a non-alcoholic Margarita. I don't drink alcohol because it gives me a headache so I will substitute it with sugar, my drug of choice.

Hope you don't mind, but I post on the Lucky #7's board too and I am going to share!

I have lost an air conditioner and a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. Funny that you put this up here. I was measuring in sticks of butter that I had lost. To date I have lost 226 sticks of butter!

There is a great post somewhere about how fills work, but I couldn't find it and I only have a few minutes. Basically it says, just as we lose fat on the outside, we also lose the fat that is on our organs. So when they put the band around the stomach there is a layer of fat between the band and the stomach. As we lose fat, that layer disappears as well, making the band looser. At some point we will have lost most of the fat off of our internal organs and we won't need to go back in as often. Hope that short quick explanation works. But look towards the very top of the main page of here and there is an explanation by a guy named Wendell.

I didn't think that it did, but the way the people were talking about it on the other board, I thought maybe I missed something in Lap-Band 101. It was probably a dumb question but I asked it anyways. I always tell my students that there are no such things as dumb questions and then they open their mouths and ask one and I want to revise my statement. I was down a 1/2 pound this morning so it gave me a glimmer of hope. I am almost a week late on my monthly pictures so I guess I won't be doing them this month. I will wait until my 5 month pics.

Funny I keep praying that mine shrink to C's! Don't think it will happen though, I got the wrong genes for C's! I started at DDD and am now down to DD. Keeping my fingers crossed that the size keeps going but that they don't sink down! And princess you are doing awesom. My scale may read lower than yours, but I would take smaller size over smaller weight any day!!!! 10-12 is my GOAL!

I love torturing students. It is the only thing that gets me through the day!

So I have a weird question. Before I had to become unfilled I was consuming about 1000 calories per day. After I was unfilled I continued to eat only 1000 calories per day. Can not being filled to the proper restriction cause me to stop losing weight? Someone on the other board said that she had lost 3 pounds this week, so her fill must be working. Am I just crazy or doesn't the fill just cause you to not be able to eat as much, hence lowering your calories, or does it ACTUALLY help you lose weight (I don't think it does, but thought MAYBE someone's doctor said something). I think I am just looking for the answer as to why my scale isn't moving right now. It actually did drop to 193.5 this morning, but I think it is because I am doing Atkins right now. I think I will gain a little back when I starting adding carbs in. Probably not as bad as in the past when I would gorge myself on BAD carbs.

Worked out last night, but I don't think I am getting enough cardio with the exercise ball so I ordered the Biggest Loser Workout DVD. Have any of you tried it? We actually drove everywhere on Saturday trying to find it, but the stores have replaced all of their workout DVD's with Christmas Movies and Candy! No wonder we all weighed so much.

I know I need to go to the dentist too, but I just don't want to. Right now I don't have the time with the whole house buying situation, but i am sure that i will come up with other excuse when I actually do have time. So I am doing okay with food too, but I can eat way too much. I just make sure that I always eat salad first so that I can get full without wasting a lot of calories. I was proud of myself last night. My BF and I went out to eat and we split a Cobb Salad. Before I would have dumped the ENTIRE bowl of blue cheese dressing on my salad and then ask for more. Last night you could hardly tell that I even had any. I had just enough to give it some flavor, but not so much that I drenched a perfectly healthy salad in 1000s of calories! I am excited to get my fill, but a little apprehensive too. I live so far away from the doc (and across a mountain pass!) that I am always worried that I will be too tight. Fortunately we will be staying with my brother for 2 days after I get my fill, so perhaps I will be able to tell and go back in. I didn't really think the whole distance thing through when I decided to have my surgery. We had just moved to our location in Central Oregon right before I decided to do it, so I think I was still acting as if I lived on the other side of the mountains. :rolleyes Well I should prepare for my next class. I like my new schedule. I teach 2 classes have prep period and lunch and then teach 2 more classes. I actually can get stuff done during my prep period now. Last trimester I had my prep period at the end of the day and :notagree:notagree I was dead by then so I didn't get a thing done, except surf around here! I am much more of a morning person than I am an afternoon person. Chat Later

Mine said one hour too. 1/2 hour before and 1 hour afterwards. It does make getting in all the water a little difficult, but I like the rules that are straightforward and definitive, cause I can follow those no problem. My doc also said that sometimes the water can float the food up like a beach ball in a swimming pool and can send the food back up. UGH. I haven't wanted to experience that, so I just don't do it!