salsa1877

So lately I have gotten very bored with my food. :tired I have found that the only way that I can get it all the protein is by eating primarily protein based foods. For example, my meals yesterday were a hard boiled egg for breakfast, 1/2 cup of of fajitas for lunch, a protein bar, and taco meat with 1/2 tortilla for dinner. My problem is that we are only eating 1 dish meals. When I do add veggies or heaven forbid a starch I get too full and can't eat all of my proteins and then fall short. If I eat my protein first, I am too full to eat my veggies/carb. Do you see my problem? Any suggestions? Should I cut down on the amount of protein that I eat. I consume about 70 grams a day. I have been hesitant to change anything because I am losing weight very well (avg 2.8 lbs per week), but I am afraid that I am going to fall off the band wagon soon if I don't start mixing things up a bit. Since being banded I have never eaten more than 1000 calories. I did have a small piece of apple pie, but even then made sure that I did not eat too many calories. So is it okay to eat less proteins as long as I stay under the 1000 calorie mark, or should I just keep on doing what I am doing for the next 54 pounds? What are you doing?

More determined than ever to exercise. I am 4 pounds away from wonderland. Walked and jogged home yesterday after work for 35 minutes.

Now that I don't have my treadmill I am walking home after work everyday. It is only a mile and a half so I am going to jog at least half. I walked, walked, walked all weekend to make up for the days that I missed.

Indio - I teach 10-12 grade. It is a lot of fun most days and a struggle on others. Kind of like the band! I was excited the other day when I was teaching and realized that I could actually cross my legs. I understand what you mean about my clothes being to baggy. I wore jeans to our homecoming game and about lost them when a student accidentally stepped on the back of my foot and caught the bottom of my jeans. I had to go buy some new ones yesterday at Goodwill. I can actually fit in regular sized 18. Jeans sizes are so bizzare. 16W are too big, but 18 regular are just right. They need to do something with these sizes. I don't want the number to increase while in my mind I know they are smaller.

So I was so inspired that I decided to post my pictures 6 days before my bandiversary. I have to explain the before pics. This was at our outdoor school last year so the reason my tongue is sticking out is because we were singing funny camp songs. This was not even at my highest. I think I gained an additional 10 pounds after these pictures were taken, but you get the picture! The other pics were taken tonight. That is the same blue san francisco shirt in both pics. I had to take another after pic in a better shirt, cause the t-shirt is now way too big and has been demoted to a weekend only shirt!:whoo:

kirajh - congrats! So here is what I do when it comes to the scale, because I am addicted to food and numbers. I am a chemistry teacher so for us it is all about the data. I weigh in every morning and record it in my excel chart, but I don't look at the daily weight, but rather the average weight loss between weeks. By doing this I can see that I have been steadily losing even though the daily weight may stall or vary. So for those of you who are like me and must weigh everyday, this has really seemed to work. I will weigh every day and be mad because it doesn't seem that the scale is moving very much. But the when I compare my average weight for this week to my average weight from the week before, there is usually an 2.5- 4 lb difference. For those of you number junkies, maybe this will work for you too.

Ok, I am in for the 2 lb a week challenge, but I have will have to report in on Wednesday for this week because I will be out of town Thurs-Sat of next week. I may not make it this week because I have 1 less day, but heck, I'll give it a shot. Starting 205.5

So I know that I need to do more exercise, but this month is going to be really tough, for actual legitimate reasons. We are moving Thanksgiving day (don't have to worry about over eating I guess!) and I had to sell my treadmill because we can't take it to the new place. Then we had to plunk down a chunk of change to move so I can't join swimming this month. So I am going to have to get creative or walk outside (which I really hate). However: Name: Karri Goal: Exercise a total of 20 times in November.

Wow, you gals look great. My bf took a picture while we were sitting at dinner the other night with his cell phone, and I couldn't believe it. I know that my clothes are getting really, really baggy, but the fact that I could actually see the difference in the picture was amazing. I promise I will post pictures as soon as I get back from our mini vacation to see my family next week. That will put me just after my three month bandiversary! It will be the first time that they have seen me since my surgery. My brother is brutally honest, (that is what you get from a redneck, macho 21 yo) and I think he will be shocked. He is the one that took care of me right after surgery so he knew what I looked like right before I went in to get my lovely little band.

I would, but I have to find a before pic. Plus I am going to wait until my 3 month bandiversary, which is in 7 days. I will try to figure out how to do it by then.

LadyBug - I didn't realize when I replied to you that you had not had a fill. Yikes. I was blessed with a great doctor who managed to place that band perfectly and I am rarely hungry, so I haven't had a need for my second fill. But you can do this. The walk away the pounds is actually a very good exercise. I did it while I was on Atkins and it seemed to help. Good luck.

LadyBug, We have about the same amount of weight to lose to get to one-derland. I know we can do it. I am really going to ratchet up the exercise the next few weeks, becuase the next time I am eating turkey and stuffing, I WILL BE a one-der! We can do this. Good luck and people really are inspiring around here. Candle - nice job on the 50 pounds. I am ALMOST there. 6.5 pounds to go 6.500000000001 to onederland!

I have noticed that I am losing in places that I never lost in before. The first time I was on Atkins I lost a lot of weight (down to 185) I just seemed to lose a little bit everywhere, but when I gained it back I gained it all back in my upper torso area. Now that I am losing again that is where I am noticing it most. Also in my thighs!! Huge NSV: Today I was lecturing to my students and noticed that I could completely cross my legs like a proper lady. So while they looked like they were ready to die from boredom, I was super excited because for the first time since I could remember, I could actually cross my legs and not look like a man!!! Now if I could just get rid of this pesky double chin. I really only need one!

I agree with all of you. I have only had one fill and that is just because my doc does it under fluoro and I wanted to be sure that everything was looking alright. I really didn't need the fill at all. Fortunately I am not very restricted. I needed something that was going to prevent me from eating three supersized meals from McDonalds. I am very glad that I can still eat all of the foods that I want in moderation. For the most part I follow the bandster rules of protein first, veggies and then carbs. I was a profound Atkins dieter so that way of eating is more natural that carb loading, so it wasn't a big deal. On the other hand, if I want a piece of bread or a biscuit I can have ONE not a dozen, but one. As for the head hunger I have mentioned on another thread that when it comes to real hunger I can ignore it for hours, but when it comes to head hunger I feel like if I don't eat RIGHT NOW, I am going to starve to death any minute. In order to get over that, I only allow myself to eat at specific times: breakfast, lunch, after school snack, and dinner. If those are the only times that I can eat and I rarely feel actual hunger than I can determine the difference. If I do feel a lot of hunger i reach for my crystal light because then i KNOW I can't eat for at least the next half hour! Gotta love these rules. That is my trick. 42 pounds is fantastic. That is what I have learned and it has all been after the banding. I didn't have to do a pre-op diet and believe me I DIDN'T. I pretty much ate everything in sight. We won't even talk about my "last" meal. There is probably a reason I can't eat ice cream any more. Good luck, and imho you are doing great.

I am 7.5 pounds away from One-derland. My original goal was to get there by Christmas. I had my surgery on Aug 9. I am going to see my family for the first time since I had the surgery next week. I was hoping to be down to one-derland by then, but I don't think I am going to make 7.5 pouns in 9 days. But who knows, I have been steadily dropping 3-4 a week. Congrats to all of you that have made it already. I remember seeing it when I was on Atkins several years back. I didn't stay there very long. At least now I know once I am there, I am there for good. Oh I just love this little band!

One thing that I have found that I have to do is to make sure to portion out my food on my own plate. For example, I went to a Greek restaurant with my boyfriend and we shared an entree. We both just ate from the same plate. I didn't eat very much much because I wasn't certain how much I had consumed. After we finished eating I realized that I had only 5 bites of food and I felt totally jipped. Now if we go out to eat I always ask for a SMALL plate for me and portion out my ~1 cup of food. Now I don't feel jipped but don't over eat either. The other thing that is helping me succeed is eating the right kinds of food and if I want something sweet I eat a protein bar that I found that is high in protein and lower in sugar than most!

So I have been a bit of a lurker on your sight, becuase I was banded in August so I am actually a crazy ate! However, I check in on this site to try and see what is coming up for me. I haven't been reading much lately because I have been really busy, but I was reading through the last several weeks of posts and came across IndioGirl's rant. HOW TRUE HOW TRUE! Everyone in my family was convinced that I had some sort of medical problem that made me gain weight because they never saw what I ate. It started when I was young (8 or 9 yo) that I would go into the kitchen before I went to bed and gather up as much food as I could put under my night gown and have it not be obvious. Then I would go to my bedroom and eat it all before I went to sleep. It wasn't that my mom underfed me (goodness knows she died weighing 350+ lbs), but I just was addicted to food. It got worse and worse as I got older. When I went to college I would order pizzas from several different restaurants and gorge myself with all of them. However, I was always the one when we went out to dinner that barely ate any food and was always exercising, but always just seemed to keep getting bigger. I remember my mom forcing me to go to the doctor and yelling at the doctor that something must be wrong. It certainly couldn't be me eating that much, I barely touched anything for dinner. This pattern continued all the way up until August 8, 2007. The day before I got my band. This little tool has drastically changed my life. I have not snuck 1 piece of food since I have been banded. Doesn't mean that I haven't been tempted, but I have lost 42 pounds:whoo: and am rarely hungry. Not to mention that the 17000$ bill is a bit of a motivator. It is funny that I am able to share this information with total strangers but never did share it with my parents or any of my family. Thank you all for your stories as I really do learn a lot from them and realize how NOT alone I am. You are a lot chattier than our group from August, so I may pipe in now and then with any questions/comments that I might have.

So I have to update my goals, because, well... I am going to hit them a lot sooner that I had ever anticipated. With only 7.5 pounds to go, I WILL BE IN ONE-DERLAND BY THANKSGIVING! I should be out of most hideous flower patterned, jumbo sized print, plus size clothing by the begginning of the year. I am still working on the exercise goal. Now I should say that I will swim 3-4 days per week for at least 30 minutes. When I said that I didn't know if my original goals were realistic, it was because I thought that I wouldn't reach them in time, not that I would reach them a whole lot sooner! Crazy Ates, we are awesome!

Yeah! 2 more days of exercise. It is much easier when you are on solid foods again! We are moving to an upstairs apartment so I am going to have to say goodbye to my treadmill. However, I am going to get a swimming pass so that will be my new exercise starting Tuesday. It is a lot cheaper than a gym membership and right next door to my work, so I can go first thing in the morning.

Nana, I hear you! I mentioned that in another post, that when I am actually hungry, I can ignore it for a long time, but if I have head hunger FORGET IT! I feel like if I don't get food RIGHT NOW I am going to starve to death any minute. One of the things that I have to make sure I do when ever I am sharing a meal with anyone is to get my own small plate and put what I am going to eat on it. That way I can see that it is a legitimate amount, and then I will eat it and feel like I got a decent meal. If I just pick from a shared plate or bowl, I won't see how much I had to eat and no matter how full I feel, I will feel jipped. My brain is crazy, which is why I am proud to be a Crazy Ate!

Melissa, For the first 4 weeks after my fill I did not feel any restriction. I am feeling restriction now, but the nurse said it could be because I am under a lot of stress. In fact, I have been on and off liquids because everything was getting stuck. In my opinion, I would rather be able to eat anything in very small portions that not be able to eat much. I eat about 1000 calories a day and usually don't eat more than 1 cup. My actual hunger has all but disappeared since I got the band. I am actually glad that I don't have terrible restriction. I like the fact that I can eat pretty much anything I want, just not much of it. I make really good food choices and just use the band to make sure that I don't over eat. I still battle head hunger but am getting much better and realizing the difference. It is funny, but when I am actually hungry I can ingnore it for a long time, but when I have head hunger I feel like I NEED TO EAT RIGHT NOW OR I AM GOING TO DIE! Hang in there. You are doing great if you are only eating 1000 calories. Eating too few calories can actually stop weight loss.

I am feeling better and back on solid foods. Things still seem to get stuck, but as long as I eat really slow and chew a bizillion times, I seem to be okay. There are some days that I just can't eat solids so I just do liquids. At least I know my 17,000$ is working:clap2:. I walked last night for 35 minutes. I MADE THE CHALLENGE!

Worked out Saturday and Sunday for 40 minutes each time.

I think I am going to actually make the challenge. I haven't been keeping up on documenting but I am getting in a workout at least every other day. It is hard now that I am back on liquids again. I just don't seem to have any energy now.

I had my first fill on Sept. 4th. I never felt any restriction but I am rarely hungry so it doesn't matter to me. However now everything I eat seems to get stuck. I had this problem at the end of last week and went back on liquids (talk about no energy!) and then progressed to mushies yesterday and everything seemed to be fine. I thought I had just irritated my tummy with some REALLY spicy food. However, when I went back to solids today it is the same thing. I don't PB, i just feel like I swallowed a golf ball and now my stomach just plain hurts. I emailed the doc, but haven't heard anything. I left work early so I could call him. That is what I am off to do now!