salsa1877

I think that is alright too. We obviously know ourselves better than anyone. It is just my opinion that if we completely cut ourselves off from eating foods that "thin" people also eat that we are not changing our lifestyles. Now saying that, I have only had a very small amount of anything that is taboo since being banded. I, like you, can only have a few bites before I would be slip sliding into Cakeville. The lady on the other board was stating that she had a 1 small piece of her birthday cake and "was trying not to beat herself up." I responded that OCCASIONALLY it was alright to have the yummy foods as long as you know where to stop. Hope that clarifies what I was trying to say. What I really wanted to say is that while losing weight we need to learn a different eating style, not just diet, and sometimes that eating style will include a FEW indulgences.

I just gave the speech on the Crazy Ates board that it is okay to have 1 piece of choclate cake as long as you don't have many repeat performances within a setting. It was a great respons about just this... We need to learn NEW eating techniques and not be dieting during this time. Yes it will cause the weight to come off slower, but in the long run it will help us be more successful in the end. We won't get to the end and think "whew" now I can start eating again. This is what most of us have done time and time again. The only reason I am going on Atkins is because it will allow me to maintain my current weight (or maybe lose a pound or 2) AND it helps decrease my appetite, which is back with a vengence. I promise that as soon as I get my fill that I will go back to a balanced meal. I am getting a lot of veggies in right now. Salad is filling with few calories!

Candle - We are in the same boat. I just told my boyfriend that I used to be able to hold up a shirt or a pair of pants and picture exactly what I would look like. NOW! Forget it. I don't have a clue. Fortunately my panties still fit, but I don't think they will for long. And I too have lost weight in my feet. I had to go by new dress shoes because I literally kept walking out of mine! Unfortunately for clothes right now, I am smack in the middle of a size. The plus size clothes are too big :clap2::clap2::whoo: And the regular size clothes are too small at most stores. Go figure.

First, it is okay to have "A" piece of chocolate cake for your birthday. Skinny people can have "A" piece. It is the second, third and fourth peices that cause you to gain weight. Not one piece. I think that is really what we need to start looking at. It is not realistic to think that we are going to go through life and never eat something that is not healthy again. That is just setting us up for failure. We need to adjust our attitude about food and realize that 1 piece now and then is alright...it is the followups that we used to go back for that is not. Right now it is hard because we are all in the still need to lose mode, so we are cutting our calories and trying to stear clear of anything that would make us gain .025 pounds. But this is how all other diets went before. Then when we get to our goal weight, we think "whew" I can let up and then back goes the weight. Right now I think we should be learning how to eat. Yes it may make the weight come off a little slower because of the OCCASIONAL endulgances, but I believe it will set us up for success in the future. So, don't beat yourself up, but instead be proud that you didn't eat the entire thing. I am having to do this right now. I went to a holiday party the other night and at first I was disspointed in myself that I at more than I should. But I had take precautions throughout the day and conserved extra calories for that evening. When I came home and made a list of what I had eaten, I realized that it was maybe 1/8 of what I would have eaten before AND it was better choices. THAT IS A SUCCESS, not a failure. Okay I will get off my throne now, but I just had to say this, because I want us all to be successful now and in the future. I hope to still be talking you all when we are thin and successful. Everyone is doing great and even during those times when the scale doesn't move (like right now for me!) I believe we have made the best choice.

I normally don't limit my carbs, but right now the scales have totally stalled and I am just trying to buy time to my fill. Once I get my fill back, I will go back to eating normally. In actuallity if the scales don't move until my fill, I will be fine with that, I just don't want them going back up. I was on Atkins for 2 years so I got pretty good at. However, once I went off, I was never as successful going back on. I know this is only a 2 week stint so I will be fine. I wouldn't have done it if my I could have kept my hunger under control, but lately I have been starving. This helps curb my appetite. Well I have a TON o' work to get done before tomorrow. I am teaching two different classes this trimester so it is double the planning time. I don't mind that though because that is actually my favorite part of teaching. It's the grading that kills me!

Yep, I was shorting myself a day of exercise. Guess I am motivated to do more. I knew I hadn't missed three days already!

I have been absent, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working out. I figure if I am short on time it is better to workout than to post. Anyways I got both my workouts in this weekend, but I think I am off by a day. I think I have one more workout that I have not posted. I am not sure if I put Friday's in or not. I will have to check.

I always knew that if I could have been just a little taller, that I would have been the perfect weight. I kept asking for 4 inches every year, but Santa got confused and gave them to me in width instead of height! Well I have been on my Atkins phase for 24 hours now, and I remember how much I actually like it. I had to cut out my protein bar for the next 2 weeks until I get my fill, but that is fine because I just replace it with low cal string cheese. Cheese is my FAVORITE food in the entire world, so it doesn't bug me much. The only HUGE difference between Atkins before and Atkins now is that I am eating low fat and low cal and not doing the Taliban version of it. For those of you who need explanation, the Taliban version of Atkins consists of less than 10 grams of carbs per day, including sugar alcohols so I pretty much eat meat. Now I have relaxed that a little and allow 20 grams of carbs. Still not much, but it allows me to get in some vegetables. I also talked to our nutrition teacher at the high school and she suggested that I go to 1200 calories and eat like this BREAKFAST, SNACK, LUNCH, SNACK, DINNER, SNACK. Well I know me and if I eat a snack after dinner, the flood gates will open so I am not going to follow her advice on that one. Well I have to get back to working on school stuff. the new trimester started today, so LOTS O' PAPERWORK!

I am a little over 5'4 so we are very close in what they consider "ideal" for our goal weight. 150 was just a number that my nutritionist threw out when I was going through my consult. I just want to be in a size 10 or 12. I am very large on the top (though thankfully it is going down a little!) and pretty muscular, so I don't know if 150 is going to look healthy or make me look like I am sick! So far I don't think I am going to have the skin issues. The weight has come off pretty quickly and maybe it is a good thing that it has slowed down so that the skin can stay caught up. The scale has not been kind to me lately. Since I started this I never had a day that it went up over 0.5 pounds. This morning...up 5 pounds! I didn't eat THAT much food last night. If 25 wheat thin crackers, 1 strawberry with honey dip, 3 small meatballs, and 1/2 cup of bean dip caused me to gain 5 pounds, then we are sunk! I did get all messed up with my birth control pills when we were moving. They got packed and I couldn't remember what box, so I think my hormones since then have been off a little and could be causing some of the weight stalling. I did pretty well today. I had 2 eggs for breakfast, about 1 cup of chicken at lunch, 1 protein bar, and 1 cup of shepherd's pie for dinner. However, in order to combat some of the hunger and maybe spur along some weightloss, I am going back on Atkins (with some low carb veggies) until I get my fill. I don't want to see the pounds creep back up. They are too hard to get off! Well I am off to bed. I have soooo much work to do for school tomorrow, and my Seahawks play at 1pm so I have to get up early to get things done. GOODNIGHT EVERYONE:notagree

How much water are you drinking? I have been TERRIBLE doing this lately, and I need to do more than most because I have had 10 bouts with kidney stones.:faint:Have you cut a DRASTIC amount of fat out of your diet too. I remember that when my mom was put on an ultra-low fat diet for her heart disease study she started getting very dry skin. Don't know that one has to do with the other, but it is just a thought.

So I can't write tonight. My first line should have been "I started laughing so hard." My brain is on strike tonight!

I starting laugh very hard, I don't think the crazy ates would like it if I just stopped posting over there. However, I do most of my posting here. It's nice, I have huge lap band support family! Actually I am the "IndioGirl, aka food cop" on the Crazy Ate board. I just say it like it is. I had to scold myself last night. We had an end of the trimester party last night with a group of teachers and I ate WAY too much. When I am restricted I don't have any desire to eat, but I am REALLLLLLLYYYYY feeling the unrestriction right now. Now I did make high Protein choices and didn't eat anywhere where I would have in the past, but more than I should have. I saved some calories throughout the day just in case I ate too much, but I was still dissapointed in myself:cry. Oh well, I woke up this morning and it was a new day:biggrin1:. Can't do anything about what I did last night, but I made my boyfriend take my shopping (snow on the roads and I don't like to drive in it!) and we walked for about 6 or so hours today. I was trying to find the Biggest Loser Workout DVD, but couldn't find it anywhere, so I came home and ordered it online. I will be making up for my eating mishap tonight with an extra long workout on the ball. And Janet, I hope you don't stop the straight talk anytime soon. It was actually the thought that "Oh crap, Janet would be chewing my butt out if she was standing here", that made me put down that wheat thin with bean dip!:angry(<-- what I figured you might be looking like!) I am counting down the days until I can get my fill back. Up until about 3 days ago, I hadn't really been having a problem with actual hunger (just head hunger), but the real hunger has come roaring back. I am getting that light headed, nautious (sp?) feeling about every 2 hours now. I am eating a lot of salad with my very low cal caesar salad spritzer that I found. It helps, but couple that with head hunger and WATCH OUT! In a way, I think it will really help jumpstart my weight loss again once I do get the fill, because I will be even more thankful of the band. Since being banded I haven't felt intense hunger, so while frustrating it shows me even more that the decision to have this wonderful little tool is worth the $$ and the work. Well I am off to have a very HEALTHY and SMALL dinner tonight. Will check back in later. And Janet, if you keep dreaming about me, my BF might get jealous!

I eat 70 - 80 grams of protein a day without any protein drinks. I eat a protein bar for my afternoon snack and then just make sure that every meal is very high in protein. I eat few, if any carbs per day, because I just don't have room. I don't intentionally cut them out, I just follow the rules my doc gave me. When I do have carbs, they are the "good" carbs from veggies and whatever I get from my protein bar. I think that it is individual for each person. If you are losing weight and the protein drinks satisfy your hunger then I think they are probably fine. If you are not happy with your weightloss or the protein shakes don't keep you full for long enough, then maybe that is something that you could look at. I can't STAND protein drinks so once I was off of them after the first 2 weeks, I never had any desire to go back. I start gagging as soon as I try to bring one to my lips. When I have to be on liquids after fills, I add unjury protein powder to my liquids so that I don't have to go back on protein drinks.

That is one of the reasons that I am buying my brother's house (the other is that he has one of those jumbo adjustable rates and hasn't been paying on time!) I am buying the house for more than he owes on it so that we can get cash out. Then he is going to pay of the surgery and I am going to pay him back by paying the mortgage at 5.5%. I know the % is outrageous, but I was at a desperate point when I decided to have the surgery. I couldn't fit into any clothes and was starting a brand new job. I do have terrible credit caused by my now deceased mother racking up tens of thousands of dollars on cards that I didn't even know existed. So instead of spending thousands of dollars on legal expenses I just declared bankruptcy, so I have that going against me. However, once the houes closes and the medical loan gets paid off, the money situation will be better. Right now I only have 1 credit card with a 300 dollar limit, so it won't really work right now. I don't have to put a down payment on the house because my brother is going to do a "gift of equity" of 25000 from the house instead so that is the ONLY reason that I can buy the house. However, if things fall through with the houes, I will definetly pm you and get some advice. I am currently paying 667$/month for 3 years. :faint: I got the loan through Capital One Healthcare Finance, so they do have it set up so that you actually do pay it off.

Got in my workout last night and the scale finally moved this morning. That thing has been so stubborn lately, but finally down a pound. Don't know if it will last, but that will be a problem on a different day. Today, I am celebrating. :whoo:

That is exactly what I do!! I had to be unfilled early last month because I didn't chew well enough and caused a lot of irritation. I know that I can eat almost anything now and so when I get my fill on Dec. 21 that is exactly what I am going to tell myself. That is what I did when i got my first fill. I just told myself that I was not going to be able to eat very much or be able to eat certain foods so I didn't even try. Gosh the mind is a powerful thing!

Thanks for all the great replies. As for battling the head hunger I haven't tried any foods. I have just not allowed myself to eat. Like I mentioned earlier I am afraid that I will start out doing very well with low cal and healthy items and then slip up and head right back down the road that I was on before. For right now, I am just going to add an additional mid morning snack (like low cal string cheese, or half a Protein Bar, or some of the other suggestions made here) and see if that will help. When you all eat Snacks throughout the day, how does that affect your Water intake? I have been terrible at this for the last week, and I can feel it. I normally get a gallon of water a day but barely got 20 oz yesterday. As for the venting and frustration, I literally don't have a moment to myself. My boyfriend and I work the exact same hours, though I rarely get to go home right after I am done with work. Most high school teachers don't work 7:00-3:00 as the public may think. Yesterday I got to work at 5:25 AM and left the building at 7:45 pm. Another reason I want a different job. I was back here this morning at 6:00am (late for me, but it is a work day without kids). Anyways when I get home, my boyfriend is home and then we hang out together. He really is a great guy and I can talk to him (he has a degree in psychology), but I don't want to burden him with everything. I am feeling better today. Most teachers get frustrated at the end of the term because there is soooooo much work to do. At our school we have to accept late work, but we are on strict deadlines for when our grades have to be turned in, so it causes us to work very long hours to get everything done. The kids get a little unruly at this time of year too, because they worry about grades AND winter break is just around the corner. Top all of that with trying to buy my brother's house and that the stinking scale WOULD NOT MOVE (but it did today!:clap2:) and I just have had a bad few weeks. I start with a new bunch of kids on Monday and a new program that we are going to try at the school that I am very excited about and things are starting to look better. Thanks for all of the support. I truly don't think I would be a successful if it wasn't for everyone here (and my BF, he really is great!).

Yeah I just don't feel into Christmas this year either. I think it is because I am so far away from my family and we have to cross mountain passes to go visit. We are going over to see them on the 21st since that is where my doc is, but we won't be staying for Christmas since my BF has to work on the 24th. Plus I think that Christmas has been so much about food and we can't/aren't going to gorge ourselves (RIGHT?!) so it just doesn't have the same appeal. I totally skipped Thanksgiving because we moved, but even that didn't seem to be all that interesting. I just told my BF when we were at the store tonight that I feel like the grinch because I don't want to spend money this year. Things are really tight with my monthly surgery payments (24% interest is killing me!) and that fact that I am trying to buy my brother's house so that it is not forclosed upon (my Christmas gift to him!) But I am excited that for the first time I am not going to GAIN weight at Christmas time. I may splurge a little and Janet, I want that recipe for the sf pumpkin dessert that you made for Thanksgiving! Well I am off to bed. No kids at school tomorrow! Just a work day.:clap2:

Do you know how many calories you are eating? Right now I could eat a truckload of food if I wanted to. I am forcing myself to quit after about a cup (though ate waaaaay more tonight, though it was just salad). My doc and the nutritionist said to shoot for a cup of total food. When you say that you are not satisified, does that mean that you want to eat more just because that is normally what we have done OR you are not satisfied because you do not feel that full feeling. I have never had the full feeling since I have been banded and I am still having to get used to it. I rarely have actual hunger either so when I sit down to have dinner I have no feeling in my tummy and then after I eat, I have no feeling so I don't feel like I have actually accomplished something by eating. That wreaks havoc on my mind. When you are not sick do you usually eat food for breakfast or do you still drink. My doc told me absolutely NO liquid calories because they are not stopped by the band. It sounds like you are doing things right, but you have to make sure that there are no hidden calories that you may not even think of. salad dressings, oil to cook food, excess sodium (though it has no calories, but can slow weight loss), licking your fingers during cooking, excess sugar substitutes (again, no calories but can slow weight loss in some people LIKE ME!) Hope something helped!

Kathy, You are not letting any of us down. You really should check in here as often as you can though, because everyone here is great and we really do support people through the tough times. I am not sure I would have been as successful as I have been if it wasn't for the wonderful people here. Let us know what you need and we will do it. If you need some one to give ya tough love I am here to do that (Officially trained as a teacher, so you will be getting certified help!) or if you need gentle, calming help, there are many people here to do that too, and even I can do that. We really do want to help!!!!!! Besides if I am helping others I don't feel as bad that my stinking scale hasn't moved in the last week and a half. It is as good for us as it will be for you. Hang in there and have you contacted Dr. Neal's office to see if there is something they can do to help. We both know how wonderful they are. I am going back on the 21st to get my refill. I had to be completely unfilled about a month ago because my teeth forgot their job was to chew. See we all make mistakes, but the next day is new and we start again. Keep in touch!

So I guess I have been looking at head hunger wrong. All of the suggestions (with the exception of gum chewing) on both the boards that I post on. It seems that people actually eat (low calorie only) when they have head hunger. I have just battled it by not eating at all. I literally only eat 4 times per day and don't allow myself to snack at all. Maybe I am setting myself up for misery! I am just afraid that if I start giving to my head hunger that I will end up on a very slipper slope and go from low cal/sugar free to high cal/ sugarful! I am hoping that the head war calms down this weekend. It is funny.. I do much better on the weekend than I do when I am at work and supposedly distracted. As you can tell from all of my posts lately, I absolutely hate my job. I had this surgery for physical and mental health. Now I need to find a new job to help the mental health. Last year by this time I was on some high powered anti-depressants because of my job (a different school) and I refuse to go back on them. I went through terrible withdrawls when they were weaning me off of them and I won't go through that again. I am going to try to make an appointment with a psychologist/therapist to help with some of the issues. See Phyll you are not alone in your sadness. I am right there with you. Too bad I can't cry in front of my classes, cause I could really use a good crying session right now.

Aaaaaaaagh! I need some major motivation. All I want to do is eat. It is seriously consuming all of my thoughts. I can't concentrate at work and it is just head hunger. I am not actually hungry. FRUSTRATING!!!!!! I have not given in so far and I don't plan on it, but I just can't get the thought of eating out of my head. I think it is because of the stress at work. We are at the end of the trimester so I have all these kids turning in work from September and trying to calculate all the grades, but I have not had this much problem with wanting to eat since before surgery. I would think that it would have something to do with being unfilled, except that I AM NOT ACTUALLY HUNGRY!. So besides venting, I am asking what you guys do to battle MAJOR head hunger.

Aaaaaaaagh! I need some major motivation. All I want to do is eat. It is seriously consuming all of my thoughts. I can't concentrate at work and it is just head hunger. I am not actually hungry. FRUSTRATING!!!!!! I have not given in so far and I don't plan on it, but I just can't get the thought of eating out of my head. I think it is because of the stress at work. We are at the end of the trimester so I have all these kids turning in work from September and trying to calculate all the grades, but I have not had this much problem with wanting to eat since before surgery. I would think that it would have something to do with being unfilled, except that I AM NOT ACTUALLY HUNGRY!. So besides venting, I am asking what you guys do to battle MAJOR head hunger.:help:

So I didn't get my workout in last night like I hoped, but when I got home, my boyfried was in a foul mood, started cooking dinner and then forgot about the chicken in the oven and it burned. We spent the rest of the evening trying to clear the house of smoke. Fortunately with some beer for him we were able to laugh about it and it actually put him in a better mood. I did get my exercise tonight, but there is a funny story to go with it. I laughed really hard. I just got done doing my workout routine with the exercise ball and weights. I was doing push ups and I go until my arms just won't lift me any further. Just as they gave out and I kind of ungracefully rolled off the ball, my boyfriend turned around to look at the tv and there I was sprawled out all over the floor. He said "when you claimed to be a beached whale in the past, I didn't think that you ever looked like one, but seeing you laying there all sweaty and flopped over, I think I finally see it." He was just kidding of course but I told him that I was going to have to post that he called me a beached whale. Then he said "well, more like a beached guppy, there is just not enough blubber left on ya." How sweet. I will take it as a compliment. Chat with you tomorrow, you guys are all doing great. Dave, sorry to hear about your dad, but you are one dedicated guy!

Phyll- Sorry to hear about your son. It has to be frustrating, I have a teacher that I work with that is going through the exact same thing, but I don't think that bond was quite that high. As for the crying, I have been the same way lately. Mine is mostly about hating my job, but I will see a sad commercial or show or hear a sad song and I get all choked up. Here is a funny story that might get you to laugh a little bit. I just got done doing my workout routine with the exercise ball and weights. I was doing push ups and I go until my arms just won't lift me any further. Just as they gave out and I kind of ungracefully rolled off the ball, my boyfriend turned around to look at the tv and there I was sprawled out all over the floor. He said "when you claimed to be a beached whale in the past, I didn't think that you ever looked like one, but seeing you laying there all sweaty and flopped over, I think I finally see it." He was just kidding of course but I told him that I was going to have to post that he called me a beached whale. Then he said "well, more like a beached guppy, there is just not enough blubber left on ya." How sweet. I will take it as a compliment. So here is an NSV for the day. I went in to the copy room this morning to make a few copies. Then I left and quickly remembered that I forgot to check my mailbox and turned around to go back in. I heard another teacher say "Holy crap she has lost a lot of weight". I knew that they really meant it, because there is a wall between where I was and where they were, so they weren't just saying it to make me feel good. :clap2: That makes me happy because the stinking scale went up a pound today. But that is okay because the jeans that I just bought 2 weeks or so ago are getting loose!!!!!! I am starting to think that I will be really happy when I get my fill on the 21st. I am still staying at the same amount of calories, but I am having to eat a lot of salads to even get satisfied anymore. I found this great new caesar salad dressing spritz that has 2 calories per spray so that helps with my wanting to eat. I have wanted to eat, eat, eat in the last few days. My will power is being tested. So far I would give it an A, and since I am a certified, legitimate teacher, that should be an accurate grade. Good night all, chat with you tomorrow.