pizzicato66

Sounds like we need a PS thread, but I'll dive in here for now. I'm a little confused. I'd always heard you should hold off on PS to see how much skin recoil you have before going for surgery. Has that recommendation changed? I give you credit for considering it - the whole pain and healing thing scares the bejeezes out of me! I'm nowhere near ready for it anyway but I think I'm starting to see more loose skin and less fat now (my legs and lower body have a ways to go yet). I did hear a radio ad in LA for a tummy tuck and b**b job for under $7k. Wonder if it's the surgeon from the Simpsons at that price...

Thanks! One of the recruiters emailed today that the hiring manager in SD really thought i was great but wants to interview a few more before deciding (she just started interviewing for the opening). They're trying to push a decision, but I have a feeling they won't move unless I get an offer on the other one. I need to distract myself a bit... hmm... I DO have a job....

Still no word as of last night, but I'll do my best to be patient till hey do call. I had my annual review yesterday and it went really well, but I felt weird talking about goals for the coming year, knowing what's in the works. I love my current job and boss, so it's certainly not about getting away from it, so I felt some pangs about leaving. Then I looked at some online photos of San Diego and got excited again. Talk about mixed feelings! I know it's all for good reasons, and I can always return in a couple years once I've gotten it out of my system.

I WISH I were as fit as my dog. He's the perfect size and shape, lean and muscular, with flowing black hair (my own Antonio Banderas dog). True athlete, and naturally small appetite. Lucky beast! I'll do my best to catch up with him though!

Good job, gang! I'm not doing the gym membership (trying to get the rest of my life nailed right now, but I've made a new commitment to get walking at the dog park every night after work and every morning on the weekends (my pooch appreciates it). Now that it's daylight till 7pm or so, we can go every night! It's a nice walk out in the country and we both feel great afterwards. :-)

Big post coming - you get a prize if you make it through all this! I have a few suggestions on the yoga, if you're having problems. - As Frangi suggested, find a good teacher. I find that the yoga classes at most fitness centers are too "fitness focused" and get into pushing stretches, which actually goes against the philosophy of yoga. It should NEVER hurt, and you should never feel pressured to go into postures in a way that hurts or makes you feel uncomfortable. It should be challenging but never painful (in fact, it's supposed to be spiritual). A good teacher knows this and will help you make modifications or give you alternatives when postures aren't working. There are also a lot of flavors of yoga out there. Make sure you find a good Gentle Hatha or restorative yoga class. Hatha is the oldest form and actually is about resting and being gentle on yourself. Forms like Ashtanga Vinyasa, flow and Bikram will probably be too challenging for you. This is just my bias, mind you, but "Fitness yoga" "power yoga" and the other newer forms have lost the point of yoga and go against the tenets and traditions. My teacher put me onto a great video from the Yogananda center that is very gentle and healing. It deals with opening the chakras, which is a tad spiritual, but also really gets into very slow, gentle movements with great instructions. This site has it at a pretty low price too. Yoga to Awaken the Chakras, by Gyandev Rich McCord, PhD – Crystal Clarity: Resources to Relax, Uplift and Inspire.

Ses and Hip, how are you doing? Have you seen the doc?

OMG Frangi, you brave soul! I would have clobbered the salesladies! Good for you for getting through it. I feel like my sizing is still weird on the bottom. I have a smaller waist and wider hips and thighs, so the misses size pants look TERRIBLE on me most of the time, gapping off my butt in the back and really tight in the bum and legs. Yuck! I can still wear the lower "w" sizes (I'm about a 16W right now on the bottom), but I'm not sure what will fit well once I get officially into the lower sizes, unless that hip to waist ratio gets more in line. Has anyone else found any pants in misses' sizes that fits the waist and the hips? It's really bugging me! Thank goodness for long tops that cover the waistline.

Good job, Val! Congrats on the new suit! I wound up wearing some items that fit for the most part, but the pants are baggy other than the waistband (I don't want to spend money on pants if they're not falling off yet). :-) I did break down and buy another pair of jeans last night at Target ($20 is easier to swallow). The Lame Giant jeans I have were starting to look like baggy jammies in the butt - yuck! It's just not flattering in jeans (works okay with dress pants). I'm just 3.5 lbs from the 80 lb mark, and 10 lbs from onederland! I should be able to get to the 80 lb mark in 2 weeks, if not sooner. I lost that much in a week last week, but I think it was mostly because I was too busy to eat most of the time I was on my trip. I'll just have to keep myself too busy to eat while I'm back home too, I guess. In the end, as long as the scale keeps going down, it's all good!

Well, no offers yet as of this morning (although it's just before 8am there right now). I did get notes from both recruiters that the feedback was really good but no decisions yet. I'm really pulling for San Diego (actually, Del Mar which is northern SD County), but I'd be pretty happy with El Segundo/LA too. Most of my time was taken up with the interviews (4 hours each - ouch!) and driving around to see potential apartments, but I did also have time most mornings to get Breakfast with a nice view and wander by the shore. I also got to 2 missions (I have a thing for the CA missions) - San Luis Rey and Capistrano. I even had a bit of a powerful experience at San Luis Rey, which floored me a bit. I walked into the sanctuary, and between the gorgeous old church and the lovely music they were piping in, I got all choked up and spent a few minutes soaking it all in. For a staunch agnostic, it was a rather amazing experience. Whatever/whomever it is, I definitely felt it and it was a good way to start the day. I was amazed how "at home" I felt in Southern CA. I really didn't feel out of place, and in fact, it felt good. Maybe I found the place where I'll fit in. From what I saw, the majority of people aren't "from" CA originally, so maybe that's why! So, now I wait. I can't do much more packing at my house without it getting in the way of everyday life, so I'll just have to focus on my current work and other parts of life until things kick into gear again. It's a good lesson in patience for me!

Wow! I was just htinking about doing the totals on this but you beat me to it. Outstanding! That comes out to about 73 lb average. Niiiiiiiiiiice! Regardless of how far you are along, just think how much the total GAIN would have been if we hadn't gone for surgery?! Go team go!

Update - you were all correct - no problems at all. I'll fill my doc in next time I go in for a check. It kinda sounded like hogwash to me, and it was. :-)

Go Candle!!!!! I'm pushing hard to get there myself, but you DID IT!!

Judi, I thought I'd tell you that you really made an impression on me with this post, and it stuck with me this weekend on my trip! With traveling, you'd think I would have gained this week, but I wound up losing 3.5 in a week. Happy me!!! I ate what I wanted, and stopped when I was ready. I even had my ritual trip to In-n-out burger (best burgers and fries on earth, I tell ya!), and ate the burger, part of the bun, and a nice taste of the fries, but left most of them in the tray. I had a taste of dessert after a meal, and was able to get a half glass of wine with dinner. I really have great restriction right now, which helped immensely. And, I finally had my first official PB - ouch!! I didn't throw up, but I did have a good 20 minutes of major discomfort until it passed (was tempted to throw up just to get it over with, but stuck it out). I really have to be careful with chicken these days! TINY, well-chewed bites. Phew! Anyway, I digresss. Judi, thank you for your post. It really helped me keep things in perspective and I didn't feel the least bit deprived all weekend on my trip! :-)

Name: Frangipani Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 87 lbs Name: Candle Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 95 lbs Name: Salsa Weight loss from day of surgery: 81 lbs Total weight loss: 81 lbs Name: Pammycakes Weight loss from day of surgery: 84 lbs Total weight loss: 86 lbs Name: Ceradad Weight loss from day of surgery: 80.5 Total weight loss: 100.5 Name: KarenG. Weight loss from day of surgery: 74 Total weight loss: 74 Name: NanaRenan Weight loss from day of surgery: 45 Total weight loss: 65 Name: TexasBecky Weight loss from day of surgery: 88 Total weight loss: 98 Name: SPEBSQSAlady Weight loss from day of surgery: 55 Total weight loss: 55 Name: Brandottie01 Weight loss from day of surgery: 20 lbs Total weight loss: Name: Bergdorfblonde Weight loss from day of surgery: 28.5 lbs Total weight loss: 28.5 lbs Name: Gometros Weight loss from day of surgery: 52.9 lbs Total weight loss: 74.9 Name: Pizzicato66 Weight loss from day of surgery: 74.5 Total weight loss: 76.5 76.5 lbs as of this morning - FINALLY, F-I-N-A-L-L-Y got under 210 (by half a lb)! So, two mini-goals today (beating the 75 lb mark and getting under 210. Onederland is finally coming into sight! I'm back from CA, but will post it in a more appropriate thread. It went well! But now we wait to see if an offer (or TWO) come in...

Here's a link to the green zone chart... Lapband.com - Optimizing Your Weight Loss Through Adjustments

I'd say if you're sick and your doctor tightens you again, you need a different doctor. That goes against EVERYTHING the rules say with bands. If you're getting sick or stuck, you're too tight - period. I'd suggest going out the the lap-band website and pulling one of those nifty red-yellow-green charts with the symptoms for too loose, just right or too tight, so you have it for backup with you. Good luck and feel better!

This is a GREAT thread! I'll have to re-read all your stories again, because I think there are a few "a-has" hiding in there ready to pop out at me. Thank you for the sharing!

Argh!! I can feel the love...

Oh - and what will I do when I get there? - act like a big geek for a good half hour or so (right after that weigh-in) - ponder whether I want to go for plastic surgery (I'm hoping I won't need it) - Figure out a great new tattoo - I kind of want to get my surgical scars tattooed with a pretty vine design or something. - Pierce my navel - shop for TONS of gorgeous normal clothes! - get scuba-certified (i'm waiting till I won't need a ton of dive weights to stay under) - get a really gorgeous sparkly Bedlah (belly dance bra and belt set)

Come to think of it, I'm getting there - my initial goal of 180 is 32 lbs away, but in the long run, I'm shooting for a bit more (ideally I want to hit 160, a total of 126 lbs lost). That final number will really be about getting to a place where I feel comfortable in my skin, even if I'm still a little heavier than "normal" (and a little baggier, probably). They say it takes about 2 years total to really settle into your final weight, so I'm going to enjoy the ride and see where it winds up. I'm already much happier with things than I was this time last year!!

Outstanding attitude!

Absolutely! After all, the rules are really what YOU make for yourself - we're all just on the same path! I got to thinking about it the other day - at this point, I'd need to lose 26 lbs in about 24 weeks. Dang it- I'd BETTER lose that much! :-)

Ouch - sorry to hear your fill was so troublesome! Did they at least numb you up first? I'm in awe that you've gotten this far without a fill - that's a testament to your resolve!

Go candle! looks like you can nail 2 milestones in the very near future!! I'd better get moving so I can catch up! Salsa, you hit the 80 lb mark - right on! Val, let us know how your appointment goes - congrats on the new puppy! They can be incredibly healing, can't they?! Not only are they full of unconditional love, but all that cute cuddly neediness pulls you out of your head and back in with the living when you're down (at least it does for me). I'm already feeling pangs of guilt that I'll be leaving dearest Bungee-dog with my sister for 5 whole days (the longest we've ever been apart). He's in good hands, but he's a little lost soul when Mom's gone. Fastpitch and Nana, your losses are FAR from small!! I'm at about the same spot as you (74 as of today), and you just need to check around a few other boards to see the people who are in that range after an entire year (or even less loss). You're doing great! I'll be busy packing tonight, then work tomorrow before I catch the train to the airport - looking foward to a few days of sunny weather!