Barb

Please share how much water you drink in a day.

Weight: Waist: 44.5 inches Hips: 55 inches Upper Arms: 16.25 Wrist: 6.75 Bust: 44 inches Calves: 16 inches Mid Calf Thighs: 25.5 inches CHANGES (Since last measurement) Weight Loss: Waist: 3" inches Hips: 3 inches Upper Arms: 3/4" Wrist: .25" Bust: 3 inch Calves: 1 inch Thighs: 1"

Weight: Waist: 44.5 inches Hips: 55 inches Upper Arms: 16.25 Wrist: 6.75 Bust: 44 inches Calves: 16 inches Mid Calf Thighs: 25.5 inches CHANGES (Since last measurement) Weight Loss: Waist: 3" inches Hips: 3 inches Upper Arms: 3/4" Wrist: .25" Bust: 3 inch Calves: 1 inch Thighs: 1"

I have been thinking for some time now that I want to get permanent makeup (tattoo) for my eyeliner and lip liner. I personally only know a handful of people who have had this done and out of them one person had a very bad experience and had to have corrective cosmetic surgery. The others all love it. Do you have it? Good, bad or indifferent.

Friday marked one year for me and what a great year it has been. On Saturday I went to the walk in clinic where my PCP is and asked the nurse to weigh me........................ I am 7 pounds below my goal weight. I am ready to stop loosing and work on maintaining now. Thanks to you all for the year of great support and encouragment.

Yes, I felt normal and many times forget about the band......except when eating.

I also use fitday.com. It helps me know for sure that I am doing what I think I am. I also like having the history to go back to. If I stop loosing I can go and see what is different. Here is the link for my before picture. I will post the "new" me before long, at least for a little while. :-) http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7729&page=17&highlight=Picture+Page

I don't have any advice but just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and wish you the best.

Hi all, I do not know my weight prior to banding. I know that seems odd but I wasn't weighed the day of surgery. So, the closest I can get for a starting weight is 231.5. That was my weight at my follow-up appointment. I was very surprised at that I though I weighed more, and actually probably did, I suspect I lost about 20 lbs. the months prior to deciding to get banded. I was the definition of yo-yo; I was always going up and down and not just 5lbs. either. I honestly thought I was close to the 260 range but I don't have a scale (still don't) so I weigh very seldom. I am 5'7" and my original goal was to get under 150. I then decided to set it at 145 and not let myself get above 150. I am 138 lbs. right now. To answer kabeerah's question - I am not sure how to put the breaks on it. I posted about maintenance a couple of months ago when I knew I was getting very close to goal but I didn't get any responses. My fill Dr. is on vacation until September 5th, but I will be gone from September 4th -14th. I won't be able to see him until after the 14th. I don't know exactly how he is going to feel about me being under my goal weight, but I hope he is happy for me. I am ready to stop loosing; I haven't weighed since the 12th but I suspect I have lost a couple of more pounds. I am not filled to tight. My average over the year is right on the mark of 1-2lbs. per week. However, that is not actually how I lost it. I lost fast initially after surgery and then it really slowed until after my second fill. I was filled to much on my second fill and had to have an unfill the same day; I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I was fortunate and hit a very good spot with my second fill and went to goal with it. In general I followed the band rules. I ate protein first and then whatever until I was full. I drink at least 48oz. of water each day. I do not drink any sodas and I really really watch my alcohol consumption. I have never been much of a snacker or sweet eater. But, sodas were a big problem for me. As far as pictures go; there is a picture of me somewhere on here from about a year ago. I think it is somewhere in the lounge area but I can't find it. I tried one day to post a picture but it wouldn't upload from my cellphone. I may try again next chance I get, but again I will probably take them down pretty soon afterwards. My reason is that there are only three people in my life that know I am banded, my husband, my brother, and my best friend. Notice that my mother, other family and coworkers, etc. are not on that list. They DO NOT know, I have never lied about it, I have just never told them. So for those of you who wonder how I have managed to keep it a secret, it hasn't been to hard, they are used to me gaining and loosing weight. I was at my highest all time weight when I had surgery but they don't have a clue that I have the band. So, I will likely post pictures before long, but I worry about it because I don't want them to find out over the Internet. Even though I have never lied to them I haven't been upfront about it either. I hope I don't get the award for the longest post in LBT history. My fill Dr. and I discussed maintenance a few months ago. I am very worried about maintenance. While our discussions are very professional we have very different points of view. The first time he ever saw me he flat told me he would have never banded me. His reasons included the fact that I didn't go through a psych evaluation, I told him I already knew I was crazy but he didn't find it humorous. His other reason was that I had been to my goal weight twice before in the last 10 years. The problem was no different than many others, I gained it back and it was always more. He and I agreed on the following for my maintenance. He will begin unfilling me about 1cc at a time (I currently have 7.5cc) until I stop loosing. If I start gaining (get above 150) we will put more in, until we find the spot where I can maintain. I hope he will still agree to this when I see him the middle of September. I don't think either one of us expected me to be below goal. Best wishes to you all and I hope I answered all of your questions. Just always know you all have been the BEST.

I am a Pisces married to a Pisces. Hmmm, what was I thinking?

Hi Julie, Never loose hope!! You will be successful with the band. Take it one day at a time and enjoy each and every day. Best wishes on your journey.

I just reached goal, but I am not planning on any plastic surgery. I am still having to work hard on my upper arms and I do have some excess skin on my upper thighs but I think I will give it a little while and see how it does. Everywhere else my skin seemed to return to normal.

That's the best NSV of all. Best wishes with the rest of your journey.

Hi Poodles, I haven't had to many PB's but yy experience with those I have had is that I am not hungry for several hours. My Dr. told me to do liquids after a PB for the rest of the day. Hope this helps.

Well Kat, there are so many "best" things, I will tryt and keep it short. I feel great. I can wear anything I want to. I only eat when I am hungry. I went to speak to a group the other day and I was introduced as beautiful and charismatic. And probably one of the best things for me is that I am in control of many things, the given is probably food, but the other is alcohol. I don't drink much now because I stay to full to drink. This is a good thing for more reasons than one.

Gotta love those Levi's. Congratulations!!

I will stay around. I am trying to be at my goal by one year mark, I only have a week but I may already be there. It has been a while since I went in and weighed so I am not exactly sure, but either at or very close. I am worried about maintaining so I will be around. I have gone to goal more than once before only to gain it back. With the band I fully expect this to be it; but I think it is going to be a lifetime committment. This has been a great journey; the best, and easiest, for me. And note that I said easiest not easy. Best wishes to all!!

Disclaimer: I am likely to delete this later this week. This is not a good thing but it is bothering me to the point that I can't sleep. I don't think it is a good idea for me to call anybody and discuss this so here I go. I have been working out of town, not unusual for me, but I have had several staff with me at different times over the past few weeks that don't regularly travel. Today we worked until 7:30PM and then went back to the hotel. Decided to go to the bar and have a drink. I had one drink and went to my room and ordered dinner from room service, got online checked my e-mail, came here, etc. My telephone in my hotel room rings and it is the wife of one of my male employees. She asked for her husband. I stated that she had the wrong room and said let me get his room number for you. She starts screaming at me and says I know he is in there; I know you are explicit my husband. I was stunned and I didn't know what to say, so I just said you are mistaken and I think you should call him. She demanded that I put him on the phone. I again calmly told her I can't put him on the phone because he is not here. She called me a few choice explicit names and hung up the phone. I just sat on the bed for a few minutes thinking to myself; what the hell.... I honestly didn't know what to do and still don't. I went down to the bar and he was still down there so I just told him he needed to go call his wife. He looked at me very confused and I just walked away and came back to my room. He is my employee (I am his direct supervisor), and he is very young, in his late twenties...........I am 39. He came to work for me around March. I had never met his wife until a few weeks ago and we attended a scholarship gala. My husband was out of town so I picked up another coworker (female) and we rode together. When I was taking her home she said I don't think xxxx's wife likes you. When I asked her why she said she didn't think she liked the idea that he was working for a women. I just blew it off. I will be meeting him and two other staff in the lobby at 7:30; isn't it going to be a fun day.

I hope you all have such a wonderful tiem that you want to do it again. I would love to do it, but already had a cruise booked for the fall.

Oh, and I did call HR and tell them to do a referal to our EAP for him.

I still can't believe I posted this; I knew I might later regret it when I did it. I just wanted to talk to somebody so bad! I thought long and hard about calling my husband before I posted it but decided that might not be a good idea. I didn't want it to make him start to wonder, I know there is some of that anyway. Sometimes I just feel like I don't have anyone to talk to. That is especially true when it comes to the band because only my husband, brother and one friend know; no one else, not my mother, co-workers, etc. But, there are a few other situations like this one where I feel all alone out here. I worked so hard to get here and sometimes wonder if it is really worth it. I am rambling I know but I am just feeling really low right now; being extremely tired isn't helping either. I did talk with him this morning; and I put him on the early afternoon flight home. Not as punishment but so he could go work out his problems at home. He has only been married a little over a year and he told me she (his wife) is pregnant. I also called the Executive Director and told him after I put him on the plane. The Executive Director, CFO, and I all report to the Board of Directors so he is not technically my boss, but he used to be my boss before I moved up. I don't intend to take it to the board at this time and the HR Department is directly under me. And no, he does not work in HR; I have several departments I oversee. He is in a department without a Director at the moment which is why I am his direct supervisor. It is a different situation to deal with when the accusations are directed at you. And, I did document it all. I am going to let it be for now and see if we can get finished tomorrow now that we are one person short. Thanks for being my sounding board.........it is always nice to know I have LBT.

I just cleared out clothes a few weeks ago; but I will look again when I am home over the weekend and see if I can find some things still around. I am 5'7" so not petite but maybe I can find some things and if so I would be happy to ship them to you.

Congratulations on being banded. It was the best thing I ever did. Can't help you on the tumor question, but hope you see the Dr. on it very soon. Best wishes.

Vent and cry here all you need to. It will be better tomorrow. (((hugs)))

Sounds fun!! You have gotten great advice. I think Carlene already gave you great advice on buying clothes ahead of time. I used to alway do it and have started again. After Labor day you can get some great buys on summer clothes. I always take a Little Black Dress or two, the go everywhere, dress up or dress down. Black goes with everything and works in any season. I always splurge when buying these because I get several seasons of wear from them. When traveling I almost always use a credit card, but I also get some travelers checks, I keep one or two in my wallet all the time for "emergency money", I also get a $50 pack of one dollar bills from the bank before I leave.