HeatherA

Speaking of clothes... I just finished going through my boxed up things and have filled another entire box for our next get together. What I'm wondering is... would anyone be up for a size 24 swimsuit? I haven't tried it on yet, but I have a feeling it's going to be way too big. If it is, I'd love to bring it in too... I just wasn't sure if it was too personal of an item to share.

I am so excited today! The scale registers 233.7 and that makes me down a total of 50.3 pounds in 6 months and 1 day! OMG!!!! The last time I lost 50 pounds it took me ages... I just love my lap-band! In two days I will be at my 4 month bandiversary. So this milestone encompasses several things, initial weightloss was due to me following the nutritionists plans pre-surgery. Following surgery I took my surgeon's advice and dieted until I had restriction, following that advice kept me losing the first month or two. Since my second fill I've had decent restriction, enough to help me feel satisfied on less and keep me on track with my 1200 calorie daily goal. One thing I've done since October was journal nearly every bite that went into my mouth. I use a free tracker at Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate and track my calories, weight and exercise on a daily basis. I find it helps keep me on track and it's fun to use. The other thing I've done differently this time around is to actually add exercise into my life. I'm not quite as fanatical as I was back in January/February but I do get a good walk in 2-3 times a week and last week I started going to the gym to take advantage of my 3 month membership that came with my surgery. Last night I actually "thought" about getting out my "brand new" 5 year old rollerblades that I've worn one time and trying to learn how to stay up on the darn things. Who am I??? LOL

I lost 12 pounds the first week after surgery and then nothing for three weeks.

Here are my before pics: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/before-after-pictures-pix-only-4642/index18.html#post605980 I will have DH take some pictures of me this weekend and post some durings... I think I posted some a few months ago, but I'm not sure where they are. Thanks for the encouragement!

I'm always up for that Carole! The meetings are currently set for the second Saturday of each month. However, we can always add a second meeting and anyone that can make it can join us... The month between meetings seems so long for me... I miss everyone!

Hey y'all! Just bumping this up so it doesn't get lost. I can't wait to see you all again next month!

I'm so glad it went well for you Courtenay! I only regret that I didn't get the chance to spend more time talking with you. I hope you'll join us for another gathering... even with the long commute! Hi Darla, I posted a separate thread with the new date and info. I'll bump it up so that you can find it. I believe it's scheduled for May 10. I enjoyed speaking with your husband. I look forward to getting to know both of you better!

Hi MamaT! Congratulations on the great loss! I'm sorry that you can't make the meetings, but would love to invite you to join us LBT's at our Saturday meetings at Polaris. Our next one is scheduled for May 10. There's another thread here in the Ohio section with the details. We have a blast and it's a great way to network with other lap-banders.

Columbus Support Group 4/15 - Riverside Just a heads up for you Columbus bandsters there is a support group meeting next Tuesday at 5:30 at Riverside. It's located at the building at 500 Thomas Rooms H&I (Next to Riverside). This is a combined 2hr meeting with RNY and LB patients because there will be a special guest dr. attending to discuss plastic surgery for bariatric patients following successful weight loss efforts. Hope to see you there!

How are all you Riverside bandsters doing? Are any of you planning on attending the support group meeting on Tuesday? Special guest is a plastic surgeon that will be talking about plastic surgery following bariatric surgery. I hope to see you there!

What a great turnout today!!!! It was awesome meeting all of the new members that joined us and the fashion show was so inspiring! I can't wait to see you all next month!

Welcome home Carol! I'm glad you were able to get out of the hospital regardless of the scales. I'm thinking our next meeting will be on the 10th... we tend to do the meetings on the 2nd Saturday of each month... unless we have a blizzard :-) I'll post a thread after today's get together. Hope to see you there!

I've lost about 35 pounds since my banding in December... I can't open my spreadsheet to double check at the moment so I'm questimating based on my memory... so I'm sitting right around at the 2 pounds a week average mark. I am extremely pleased and feel that the pace is perfect and allows me to have time to adjust to each new change.

Kathy, I'll try to be there by one also to help you save seats! See ya soon!

We have a monthly support group meeting at a local mall and I take mine to give away there. I just packed up my box for tomorrow tonight... it's kind of freaking me out to have all of my "old faithfuls" going away. There are still some in my closet I can't bear to part with... but I'm working on it :-)

Well it doesn't look like I'll make my 50 pounds by tomorrow :-( Oh well... I did have an NSV today... went to try on some bathing suits at Wal-mart and was able to put on a size 16 bottom and if my legs weren't so ugly I would have said it fit! LOL I did buy a pair of size 16 shorts to wear to work out in, but they're stretchy cotton so I'm not as excited about the size as I was the fact that I could buy something from the "non-plus" section of the store. I feel that 16s should be in my future in the next few weeks... Not too shabby... size 24/26 to 18s in a little over 6 months! I'm in awe...

Hiya Angie! Can't wait to see you tomorrow!!! Don't worry... I'm bringing the name tags and pens again so that we can keep track of everyone :-)

That is so generous K! What a nice aunt you are.

That's so awesome K!!!! Congratulations!!! I have a huge box to bring with me tomorrow and lots more to go through for next month! I will just keep bringing my box with me as we get new people each month and hopefully someone can use them. I also have a girl at work that I will pass some things down to after our meeting. I LOVE giving my clothes away. LOL Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carol I am so happy you've joined the band wagon! WOO HOO!!!! Most of our un-banded members are now banded. How awesome is that! I'm only sad that we won't see you tomorrow... but look forward to next month when you can share all of your excitement with us!

Niki, Hang in there! Bandster hell will be over before you know it and then you'll have a hard time remembering what life was like before the band. :-)

Kathy, Even with restriction, I try to eat about 1200 calories a day and I'm averaging about 8-10 pounds gone a month. My aunt (a nutritionist with the state) thinks that I should actually be eating more than that. She warned that if I lose my weight eating at 800 or so calories consistently that I will have trouble maintaining it and will be restricted to that amount the rest of my life or risk gaining. She said it has something to do with slowing down your metabolism. I would recommend doing what I did... play with your calories a week at a time while waiting for your fills to start. I played with 1000 calories and found I was hungry and not really losing anything. I moved up by 100 calories a week until I saw that I wasn't walking around starving and wanting to eat a horse. At 1200 I saw the weight start coming off a bit faster... something that is hard for overweight people to grasp is that sometimes you need to eat more to lose more. With adding in exercise calories burned I sometimes fall below the 1200 in my "net" calorie column but there are also days I go over... so it all evens out. Another thing I do is watch my protein/fat/carb numbers. I strive for 60+ grams of Protein, less than 150 grams of carbs and around 50 grams of fat each day. Eating this way keeps me satisfied and I don't find myself going for the Snacks much at all. Just some things to think about as you try to navigate this place called Bandster Hell :-) I'm pulling for all of you!!!!

I lose about 8-10 pounds a month... but I typically have 2 weeks a month that I don't lose anything and 2 weeks that I lose a bit nearly every day. I'm happy with 6-8 pounds a month. However, toward the end of my 2 week no-loss period I start to doubt myself and worry that the weight will never come off again. :-) My only exercise at this time is 30-60 minutes of walking 3 days a week on average

Kathy, She's full of carp... I can't tell you how much trouble I'd be in if I did the same thing from my medical office... she must not pay any attention to the HIPPA laws... most places would fire someone for breaking those laws... that's how much trouble they can get in by leaving personal information on a message.

Original post has been edited to reflect the changes. I also tweaked the time to 1:45 because I figured that if the fashion show starts at 2 we might all want to be there and settled in before it starts. I will also try to be there early.

I so don't want to miss out on the fashion show! I just don't want anyone that can't make it to feel abandoned at Polaris... I am way too much of an enabler! *sigh Anyway, I think that I am going to not worry about it and go to the fashion show. I will edit the original post to reflect the changes. I will also bring name tags again so we can still see who our group is... and maybe afterwards we can move to the food court for some socialization? What do you think? Do you think 5 chairs will be enough?