Foofy

Wow. 15 pounds is a lot of skin. I bet you are going to look great. Happy healing!

Phooey. All I've been able to do since this challenge started is to gain a pound! Ah well. Patience....

Goodness, the before shot looks very similar to what I see now when I look in the mirror. It's great to know that such fabulous results are possible!!!! What a difference!! How can you possibly wrap your mind around that?

You know, when I empty my spit cup into the sink, I have to run a lot of water to clear the clog in the DRAIN. It's easy to see why it comes up out of us, rather than going down through our tiny stomachs. I think I could hang wallpaper with that stuff!

Apart from the first month of this process, my weight loss has been really slow. It comes in little stair steps. I lost 5 pounds the week after my last fill, and I haven't lost a thing in the last 5 weeks. My theory is that the big jumps are water weight, and then the lulls are the water coming back while the fat is slowly leaving. So, while it looks like nothing is happening on the scale, I am actually losing fat. That story keeps me sane, so I am sticking to it. I'm still trying to figure out how to work the band optimally. If I let myself, I could eat over 2,000 calories in a day - band or no band. However, the slowness of eating with the band lets me stop myself at around 1200. I wish I could put that mental break on a little sooner, but, that's life. In the big scheme of things, it will not matter that it took me two years instead of one to get the weight off. For me, the accomplishment is in getting to a reasonable weight and staying there.

I have a 10cc band and have had three fills for a total of 3.5 cc. On the last fill, the nurse tried to put in 1 cc, but it sealed me right up, so she took out a little until the Water went down. She said she thought 1cc was going to be too much because she felt a little push back on the syringe when she was pushing the saline. I still seem to eat about the same number of calories (1000 to 1200) but it takes me longer and I usually have at least one "fur ball" incident a day. I never thought I would be able to throw up at will just by thinking about it, but I can now. My weight is stuck AGAIN, but I am just accepting that I am a stairstep kind of loser. Down five pounds and then nothing for a month or so. I am still giddy about weight loss and am wearing the smallest size I have worn in 18 years. All things in good time....

You ARE lucky! I worked with a woman who had untreated Lyme disease and she ended up with awful neurological problems. Be happy and thankful that your doc and friends were on top of it!! Speedy recovery! Also, you can buy a pill cutter at the pharmacy that works great, if you can't get liquid medication.

Denise, I'm curious. When you skip the periods, do you still get Water retention and other period-type stuff, or does that go away?

Linda - it's OKAY! It's a long-term journey. Relax. You'll be fine. Be happy. Steph Co - Holy cow. Where have you been? Welcome back. How was police academy?

My liquid tape came off after a few weeks on its own. I don't think there is any reason to hurry the process. Just relax and leave it alone.

Fairy, No idea on G'mom. She died when I was little (and they didn't speak of such things them). Mom had total hysterectomy at 40, so no clues there. Thanks for the ideas. BTW, fabulous work on that weight loss gal.

Pretty amazing!

Do you mean your LOWEST weight ever? ;o)

Thanks for the input Rhonda. Like anything, having a sense of humor about it is the key to getting through it!

I'm already saving for my TT. After looking pregnant for 25 years, there is no WAY this skin is snapping back. Sadly, I live in a state where the number of plastic surgeons is veeery small - especially those with bariatric experience. I think I may have to travel for mine. Bother.

Sacrecrow, I see this infomerical a lot when I am in hotel rooms. It looks very interesting, but has always seemed too hard for me. I bet YOU would be able to do it. They mix weights (which I love) with cardio (hate), yoga (love) plyometrics, martial arts, and core work. It might be just what you need. You can be our guinea pig and let us know how you do. Money back guarantee. I suspect you could be in one of their ads when you finished the 90 days! For some reason I can't get the link to paste, but if you google "P90X" you'll see their stuff.

Scarecrow, Wow. What an impressive loss! Plus, very admirable that you can stick to such a low calorie diet. I am afraid I have no first-hand answers to your questions. I would assume the answer for both is related to how fast you lost the weight. I suspect it's easier to retain muscle when losing weight slowly and eating more calories. I've been lifting for years and my lift weights have not decreased since surgery - but I am a turtle in the losing department. Also, to lose that much weight (even though you are young) you are bound to have some skin issues. I'd post a skin question on the plastic surgery forum. There are some guys over there (OUsooner, for one) who have faced the same thing. Also, Dr. Schulman is a plastic surgeon who answers questions over there and seems to be a reasonable fellow. No matter what, nothing is ever perfect, but you are to be congratulated for your acheivements. Also, good for you for doing it so young. That's so much better than waiting until you hit middle age. Bravo!

Nine Years!!!!!!!!

Name............Start........Current........Goal.......To Go CindyG...........195...........195...........185........10 Momto1plus1..........193..................193..................185............8 Foofy....................226..................226..................216............10

My doc had no rules about SF. The nutritionists stress lean protien first, followed by vegetables, fruit, and complex carbs. If there is any room, that's the time to think about sugar. As other people have said here, I think the idea is to get patients eating healthy foods as a rule. Especially people who may have subsisted on fast food, soda, and sweets. Occassional lapses are okay and part of life. What matters is what you do day after day after day. I LOVE Dove dark chocolate. I find that eating a small portion (less than half an ounce) at the end of the day brings the same satisfaction as eating something with 10 times the calories. Now, I enjoy the whole experience (smell, texture, taste). Before, I would have eaten 2 ounces without even knowing they went down. Dark chocolate has lots of antioxidents and is beneficial to BP. The same is true with nuts - lots of antioxidents and monounsaturated (good) fats. The key is moderation, which is where the band (and some will power) comes in. I read somewhere that you should never do something to lose weight that you are not prepared to do for the rest of your life to keep the weight off. I thought that was wise. I am not prepared to live a life without chocolate (or other yummy things), so I am thankful each day for my band!

Just wondering where my doc stands in the crowd when it comes to protien. I am supposed to get 90 grams per day. It's doable, but it certainley takes preplanning. I am just curious if other people have the same goal.

Okay, I was thinking about the swimmers and wondering what Dara Torres does to get that fabuolous shape and all those muscles - so I Googled it (I love the internet). I share below (even though I appear to be accidentally tresspassing in the Men's Room - forgive me). BTW - she's 6 feet tall and 150 lbs. It's not something any of us folks with day jobs are going to be doing, but it shows that she has a great mix of cardio and weights work. What's your workout routine like now? I do a lot of core work, and I work out on a Swiss balance ball. I train with a coach from the Florida Panthers hockey team, and my body has completely changed. It's a very Fluid type of training, which is great, since swimming is a very fluid motion. In the weight room we concentrate on equipment that works a lot of different muscles at once. As for swimming, I'm now in the pool 5 days a week from 8 to 10 a.m. And I'm in the gym for an hour and a half, 4 days a week. Two days upper body, two days lower.

Name............Lbs Lost........% of wgt lost.......BMI QatarPhil...........55......................19%................32.2 (39.6) Foofy................48....................17.7%...............36.4 Sades...............44.8..................19.5%..............33.7 Shalee04...........68.....................27.4.................30.0 Bandpal.............92.07..................32.1%...............31.8 (47 ) Skinny_Jill..........59.5...................26.8%..............30.8 Stephanie..........60.....................26%.................27.1 Hollyberries........113.....................31%.................36.2 linda.................52......................23%.................29.9 5 Abbisgood..........53.....................23%.................?? want2lose..........91.8...................32%................31 kandiceb............63.....................26%................27.6 Momto1plus1......75.8...................28.1%..............30.3 MollyBrown.........36.....................12.5%..............36.5 TxArcher............103...................25.75%.........52.8 to 39.2 Cindyg...............58.....................23%.................35 Close.................50.....................20%.................33.1 Tmusicmaker123..73.....................19%.................60.1 to 48.7 plump_princess....57.....................22%.................36 Mariegabrieleee....73.....................24%.................51.3 to 39.1 gabeekeeper.......101.....................30% ..................40.2 strangeratx........50......................21.7%.................31.9 Shortgal..............44.5...................20.5%.................32. 9 Robin_Bird............103.....................33.8%................30.7 Staysee..............70.....................20%................48.4 Hajohnson1..........49.8....................18.2%..............39.8 lindseyann2u........70......................?%.................? Cherlita...............44.......................20%...............65 to 57.5 BandChick64..........94.5.....................31.5%.............33.2 tyman311..............61.....................31%...............41 to 28 (so far) BarbBee................80......................26%.................37. 5 Huskerette............54..(i gained)..........22%...............30.5 Firebolt.................45.....................19%..................3 3.5 Rachel.................63........................?%................28 .3 Teresajo..............93........................36%................27. 3 Aubrie.................65........................?%................31 TOTAL..............2413.47 (Lets Keep this TOTAL on the list) Adding my big one-pound loss!