beckymein1021

Renewedhope: I'm right there with you! I (UNFORTUNATELY) discovered how to 'eat around the band' this weekend. :tongue: So now, instead of being 6 lbs. away from my 'mini-goal', I'm sure I'm up. This journey is going to be harder than I thought...the bad stuff goes right now and it's the 'good stuff' that can get stuck. When will I learn? Sign me, Stupid but trying to get smarter...:eek:

Mine did turn out to be a pinched nerve (she said as she stood typing this), so I am working through that now. Interesting about the kidney, Lizziee, I didn't know iced tea was bad. Glad I don't drink it. If I do have any Crystal light, it's maybe 1 a day (which I put in the BIG arrowhead bottle because it's too strong for me otherwise). Good luck everyone! -Becky

Hi Lizzie, I've been drinking the lemonade (pretty good stuff) or the fruit punch. It helps me get my water in every day when I get sick of drinking just water. What it is is a little package of flavoring you put into your bottles of water. It comes in different flavors and really helps to get the water down. Here's a link to the fruit punch: Buy The Case: Crystal Light On the Go Fruit Punch Soft Drink Mix Boullion is concentrated chicken or beef stock, you put a cube into a cup of hot water and VOILA! you have 'soup'. It's very salty, but when you are on liquids, it can be quite satisfying! Good luck on your banding the 9th, you are going to LOVE IT!! Keep us posted how you are doing.:biggrin2: -Becky P.S. Are you in the UK? :rolleyes2:

I'm losing words too. My short term memory is shot. I used to joke that I couldn't remember what I had for lunch yesterday and now that's becoming a reality. It's pretty frightening, esp. here at work. People ask me questions about something that happened 2 weeks ago to find out the status and I give them a blank stare and they think I'm getting stupider and stupider. I hate this. :rose: I'm wondering if part of my memory loss is the medications I'm taking. I know that anti-depressants can affect your memory. I'm on quite a few right now. Would love to taper off, esp. if it would help the memory issue... I feel like I'm getting wiser with age, but with a faultier memory. Oh to be 20 and know what I know (or think I remember) today!!! -Becky

Breakfast: Carnation Instant Breakfast w/Skim Milk Snack: Cottage cheese with fruit (banana or pineapple) Lunch: Tuna salad lunch kits (w/out the crackers) or deli turkey & cheese Snack: 6-10 Cashews or a glass of skim milk Dinner: Whatever is leftover from the night before or a Carnation Instant Breakfast I try to eat more in the morning and get a lot of protein in. My doctor said to eat fish every chance I get and to not eat more than a palm full of food. If I get hungry between snacks and meals, I have a glass of skim milk (or drink more water). -Becky:behindsofa:

Kat, your story really struck a chord with me. My hubby is the same way and now we weigh about the same (I can hardly wait to weigh less than he does). It's nice to have someone to share it with (he too needs to lose weight), so we are in a healthy competition. He's so excited about my milestones (getting under 230 was a biggee for me, haven't done that for 10 years). I make him weigh with me now and tease him if I'm still more than him. Isn't it funny how we don't mind sharing our weights with strangers and yet feel shy when it comes to the ones we love (like they would love us less if they knew?) -Becky

Hi Little Nan, welcome!! Well, I have weighed the same for the past week, so I'm not progressing as quickly on the challenge, but I'm going to keep plugging away. Went to get my 3rd fill yesterday and the doctor didn't want to give me a fill because he said I'm losing weight just fine without another one. I was surprised, but since I'm leaving the country in 2 weeks, he didn't want to take a chance. How are the other challengers doing? I'm still at 228, but drinking Water like crazy! Here's to success!! -Becky:wink2:

Diane, I've been following your PS story with great interest! Great job and I wish you continued success!! -Becky

Sherrylea, you are an inspiration to all of us! You are making it look easy! Good luck and keep up the good work! -Becky

Alex, thanks for not only listening to our suggestions, but acting on them. I'm SO tickled my lil smiley faces are back!! I love this forum...so happy I found it. -(Happy Again) Becky P.S. The lil red devil cracks me up!!

Alex, Thank YOU, THANK you, THANK YOU! That makes me SO happy, isn't it funny how little things mean a lot?? Hope this doesn't muck up the editing feature again! You've made my day (and I could really use that today). Thanks again!! -Becky

Ditto what they said! I hope we can get them back! -Becky

Hi Alex, I LOVED the old smileys we had...and I know others do as well. Could we have them back in addtion to your banana people please? I'm not terribly fond of the banana people, but the other smileys really represented my feelings when posting on this board! Thanks for considering it! -Becky

I'm in (I'd like to lose 14, but I'll shoot for 10). First challenge: Drink 84 oz. of Water today!! 34 oz. down and 50 to go!! -Becky :eek: P.S. I want the old smileys back! :cool:

Excellent advice from everyone....up the calories!! I've found that when I'm REALLY cold (can't seem to get warm), I'm dropping inches (not lbs. right away) and am not eating much it translates into lbs. on the scale 4-5 days later. I've started doing 5 days really low calorie (and lots of water) days and then 1-2 days a little higher calorie intake. I just don't want my body to get used to the lower calorie intake. Also, not that this would happen, but a long time ago, I did an 'Optifast' medical supervised fast for 4 months. I was taking in ~ 600-800 calories a day. When I went OFF the fast (and yes, I was working out too), anything I added above 800 calories a day, I started to gain weight. I learned (the hard way) then not to let my body get TOO accustomed to a daily low calorie regime. Mixing it up a little keeps you from going into 'starvation' mode. Just my $.02 worth...everyone is different and others may have different successes different way. Here's to US all being successful!!!! :smile: P.S. One last thing. When I'm on a plateau, I figure the scale is about 2 days behind what I'm really doing at the time. Weight gains and losses (at least for me) usually show up a day or 2 later... -Becky

Hi Everyone, I'm 51 (until October anyway) and have 2 kids (24 & 20), no grandkids yet. I was banded in October (3 days before my birthday) and I have 4.6 in a 10cc band. This is a great thread, glad you (re) started it, Janet! Good luck to everyone here! Ciao! -Becky

Good for you! What a great feeling! I can hardly wait until I'm in ONDERLAND as well. You inspire me to keep going. And yes, isn't it funny how the more weight we lose the less likely we are to put up with other people's BS? I call it the 'new lean, mean me'. And I like IT!! Good luck and keep up the good work!! -Becky :eek:

I've had good luck with taking the tiny bites, eating slow, chewing a lot and taking the rest home in a doggy bag. I had my mom and dad visiting for 3 weeks at Christmas. For every meal I had to sit down and 'eat' with them, I would postpone and then eat VERY slow. If they questioned why I didn't eat more, I just said my stomach was bothering me. People won't usually push you to eat more (if at all) if they think you are going to be sick. Good luck! -Becky

I am staying on plan today because I am tired of all the time I've wasted telling myself 'tomorrow I'll be "good" again'. If I could have all those days back to enjoy as a thinner person, what a joy that would be!! NO MORE wasted days for me!! -Becky

Kat, sorry to hear your hubby joined the ranks of esophigial 'hell'! It's really frightening when things like that happen. My son is doing great - he has no problems (except for sticky rice, which he just doesn't eat anymore) -- he's 20 now and blowing and going. We thought we were going to lose our little guy, so he's like our miracle kid. Hope your hubby is doing well and you are so right about the pineapple juice (I could easily get addicted, as I like pineapple juice anyway!) Ciao! -Becky

Butterball, I'd liike to join you in that mini goal...it's 14 lbs. for me in about a month's time, but that is something really good to shoot for... and what a treat for yourself for Valentine's Day!! 14 lbs by 2/14!!! Let's do it!! -Becky :eek:

{aragirl, I agree with Suzanne - I bet you are losing inches. Are you also drinking your Water? Remember, you can 'lose' the fat, but until you drink the water and 'flush' it out of your body, it has no where to go. Sounds like you're doing all the right things...hang in there!! -Becky

I have been having some back pain the last couple of weeks, but I think it's a pinched sciatiac nerve; but I was worried it was a kidney infection. Maybe a string around our finger to help remind you? Or a timer? I find I get a lot of Water in at work (I count the number of bottles I drink), but at home and on the weekends, I'm terrible with the water. If it weren't for work, I'm afraid I wouldn't be doing as well. Maybe carry a bottle of water around with you..whatever you are doing, then you will see it and it will remind you? Good luck! -Becky

My son has a unique problem in that he swallowed a battery when he was 2 and it got stuck in his esophagus (it was a disk battery, not a barrel battery). Long story short, (he was a very sick little guy and almost didn't pull through) - he had to have a 'colon interposition', where they brought part of his colon up to replace his esophagus. As a result, he would get food stuck quite a bit if he didn't take little bites and chew, chew, chew. He had to learn that since he was 2 years old. Well, sometimes things would get stuck and he would cry and I would go crazy trying to 'fix' it for him. I was terrified of him throwing up, I was afraid he would damage the repair they did to him internally. Once when he got a little piece of hamburger stuck, someone recommended meat tenderizer to me. I used it and it worked! However, when I mentioned that to the doctor, he told me to use it VERY sparingly (or not at all if I could help it) because meat tenderizer breaks down the Proteins of the meat, basically making it fall apart, which makes it go down easier. It will also have the same effect on your esophagus and thin it out over time and repeated use. I'm sure using it once in a while is not dangerous, but I'm scared to death of using it at all after hearing that from his surgeon. Someone may have a different opinion, but I would just recommend if you have a consistent problem getting meat stuck to consider other options before using meat tenderizer. -Becky

Bandster 1007: Any luck in the downward spiral of the scale yet? Well, look at it this way, if you aren't losing lbs., you're probably losing inches! Hang in there, thinking of you (we are both October Bandsters)! -Becky