SpecialK

Hope these pictures help to inspire all of us Shrinking Shamrocks to keep on going and polish off another great year.

A wee Irish shout out to all my March Shrinking Shamrocks on my 1 year bandiversary! Yes, banded on St. Patrick's Day and I truly feel lucky and blessed. Have a great day all! P.S. Speaking of Fenton and the Claw... where is our missing in action writer? Deep in thought on his latest novel I guess!

Hi friends. I'm celebrating my 1 year bandiversary today with an Irish jig... happily dancing along with my lapband now. Best wishes to SueCasb and GregW who shared my surgery date with me and to NurseNiki who blazed the trail a week before us.

Hi Shamrocks. This coming Tuesday will be my Bandiversary and I had such high expectations of myself - more than my doctor did and more than my family and friends did. I got kind of stuck at my 94 lb mark and hoped I'd make it to -100 in March sometime and it dawned on me that I probably do need a slight fill of maybe .5 cc because I am getting hungry and I'm looking for foods to eat that have more substance and something that will stay with me but it doesn't seem to last long enough. I finally realized it isn't the quantity I can eat, its how long it must be staying in my upper pouch before going on down the line and so the sense of being full isn't staying with me long enough. Will let you know if a tiny fill will help kick start my losing. That said, I am so proud of myself and I confess that I've been looking at every St. Patrick's Day decoration and toy that are in the stores right now since I was banded on St. Patrick's Day. I did get another NSV this week with this guy I work with who told me I'm looking terrific and he said some other guy in the department that works out in our company gym had told him that you won't even recognize Kathy when you see her. Whoa! That brought a smile to my face. This idea of a Thread on Lapbandtalk that is for those who got banded at the same time has been an incredible support to me because as we hit the same milestones along the way, we can Celebrate and commiserate with each other. One thing I think is interesting is that we experienced bandsters now are finding how to eat around the band or finding if we don't eat the good food, the bad stuff still calls our names and its bad when we find out we can still eat a quantity of something bad. I got into a bag of candy this past week and it was so unlike me from the past 11 months but I was feeling stressed, it was handy, and I thought I could control my emotional eating by just eating a few and I didn't do it. So, the Easter candy will be hidden away and I'll keep my self 'safe' by not keeping foods that tempt me in the house. Thanks!

I enjoy watching the show to see how hard they are all trying and I get frustrated by the ones you can see aren't trying when they have such an advantage being on that ranch and having the support they are getting there. So, it was disappointing to see the Black team go off and binge away on food, drink, smoke, etc. BUT.... I am tired of how many times the show is having to bleep off the language of the trainers and the participants both... seems to be alot more now than in previous seasons of Biggest Loser and the screaming of the trainers at their team members seems to be escalating higher and higher like they have an even greater incentive (maybe a salary bonus??) that NBC gives them if they are the ones that end up with the winner?? I understand that you can let out a cuss word here or there when you are angry and frustrated but the stream of this seems to be going downhill. I didn't know what to think about the rant (or should I say rampage) that the Blue Team guy went on at Jillian over not having had any personal training time with her when he felt he needed it. Why didn't he just go up to her and say Heh, are you ignoring me...hint hint, when are you going to work with me! in a joking but seriously let her know she had forgotten to work with him.

Best wishes go out to OhJuli on her upcoming plastic surgery on April 6th! Can't wait to see the fabulous results at one of our future mall get togethers. Please offer up prayers for her on success for her surgery and for the painful recovery this surgery requires. God Bless you and keep you safe Juli! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/oh-julis-plastic-surgery-87383/

Hi bandsters. Hoping to see a group of you out at the mall tomorrow. I can use some encouragement as I've been working alot of overtime, slipping into some eating that I am fighting back on, and not getting time to exercise, a triple threat to successful weight loss. I'm trying to get control of things again but it is hard. My bandiversary is coming up next week and I really wanted to be at my -100 at that point but I'm struggling to hold onto the -94 I have at this point so maybe I set myself mentally up for failure in a way putting stress on myself. I've now set March 31 as my goal for -100 and I do see my surgeon on Monday March 16 and I'm going to ask for a small band fill adjustment because I am finding it easier and easier to eat bits more and those little bits add up when you log them in. I haven't had an adjustment since about November I think so with what I lost since then, it may be time for a small adjustment to keep me at the restriction level I need. Congratulations to the other folks I shared my bandiversary date with last St. Patrick's Day and just before... its been an incredible year.

OhJuli -- I'm so happy for you with your PS date! Best of all results! Are you getting arms done? I am truly getting world class bat wings going at this point. hee hee.

What are the Best things to do in Hawaii for those who have been there??? My brother is planning his 50th birthday party to be there and we all fly from wherever we live, me in Ohio, and meet at the vacation spot of the birthday person's choice when we hit the big birthdays that end in a '0'. I've never been to Hawaii but I confess to being a huge Tom Selleck fan from Magnum PI days and I loved seeing the pictures of a helicopter flying over the beautiful islands and waterfalls, volcanos so I want to be sure to take a helicopter ride when I'm there. AND... drum roll please.... I'll be below the 250 lbs weight limit for not having to pay double fees to ride in a helicopter like they would have charged me in Alaska pre-band Fall 2007! I just didn't want the humiliation of paying twice the rate for a seat in a helicopter due to the fuel that it takes to fly my big butt around. So, what island is best for a helicopter ride? What islands other than Oahu has anyone been to and what did you like on those islands? If I go to Hawaii, is it worth it to stay 2 weeks and do 1 week on Oahu and the 2nd week seeing a couple other islands? Its a long flight from Ohio to get there and I want to make it worth my while in case I don't ever get back there. Thanks... Aloha! Hope you're having fun in Hawaii Fenton!

Fenton - yes thank you for honesty! Hang in there. I was so proud of myself for burning up about 3200 calories in yard work and swimming (per my bodybugg) that I went overboard with eating to reward myself - 2200 calories today and high in fat and snacking on the jelly beans I bought to stuff easter eggs for the neighborhood party coming up. Ugh! But the tale of the scale is that we are moving forward so for every two steps forward, if we take one back every so often, and we learn from it, keep focused on moving forward again. The candy is now safety packed away where I won't get into it, even I have a conscience about scarfing down the kids Easter candy I bought for them!

Congratulations Karen! You'll be a Lucky Loser which I understand is the March 2009 nickname for those banded in March this year. I was a Shrinking Shamrock banded in March 2008! Its hard to believe a year has gone by.

Gosh-- Happy Bandiversary to those who are already passing this milestone this month! I can't believe its gone by so fast. I had a fun NSV yesterday to share -- we've mostly been inside our houses in Ohio now since what October-ish and I invited my neighbors to a get together at my house April 5 for an egg hunt and spring renewal of friendships visit and it just so happened that when I got home a couple neighbors were out and I stopped to talk with them and before they could say anything else, they said OMG you have lost alot of weight! Yep, I'm working hard at it every day is what I reply back to people. I guess what I'm saying to us is we look in the mirror every day hoping to see results and sometimes it takes someone who hasn't seen us in awhile to say WOW for us to really believe in the WOW we are seeing. Congratulations Shamrocks-- keep on Shrinking!

This past Monday night's Mt. Carmel Bariatric Support Group monthly meeting was titled "Chat with Choban" and it was super. It really helped me to get to know Dr. Choban as a person as well as the respect I already had for her as a terrific bariatric surgeon. Some notes I thought I'd share included: I think it was Cindy who asked her "What got you into bariatrics as a specialty in the field of medicine?" and it was crazy because I was going to ask the exact same question to see if she had ever struggled with weight or had a family member that did or what got her going in the career direction she now excels at. Her answer was that both her and her husband were finishing their medical residency work and both were in the Navy or some branch of the military and thought they'd be able to do some medical work for the military and then get into practice later and it turned out that her husband got shipped overseas on a Navy ship for an extended time and she ended up a year ahead of him finishing medical residency so she ended up applying to work in research in the nutrition field for a year and fell in love with that and later got into surgery with nutrition research as a specialty, got invited to help with the FDA research on the Allergan Lapband, and found her way into bariatric surgery. She said she gets asked about why bariatrics and she said its because I work with patients who are incredibly grateful that I've given them their life back. WOW. She mentioned she is a pretty dedicated exercise person herself, setting an example for us, and says she tries to get at least 30 min of exercise in a day and its often at home where she can make sure she gets it in rather than going to a gym. She is a busy mom of two teen boys I think about 16 and 18 years old plus being a busy surgeon. We asked different questions about medical care for us as patients as well and one of the ones I struggle with is the subject of gas or flatulence and I know others do too. She indicated it is directly related to the amount of fat in our diet, that some of us are just less tolerant of fat absorption and that we should shoot to keep it under 30g of fat in a day when possible. Also, a sign you are eating more fat than you can absorb, besides the gas, is that your stools (poop) will float when you go to the bathroom because fat floats and what is left over at the end of digestion has to still come out. Anyway, I looked at my own food journals and I'm finding it pretty hard to stay under 30 grams of fat in a day. I do good and then it seems one thing blows me out of the water but at least I know something to try. She mentioned Beano as an option too and I think most of us know about that. I asked her a question about my eating habits at 11+ months out that when I haven't eaten for awhile and I do eat, in about 2-3 bites sometimes, I am so full I have to stop, give myself a few minutes for my body to realize I've started eating, and then continue on eating very slowly in small bites in order to finish my meal. She challenged me to look at my portion of food and make sure I'm not trying to eat more by taking more time to eat it (a way of eating around the band) but on the other hand, if I haven't eaten enough calories and enough protein, to then just take my time eating to get in the right nutritional content. She really emphasized again trying to eat solid lean proteins and veggies/fruits rather than rely on smoothies because you can eat that faster. She said you'll be much more satisfied with 'real' food and I believe that. She said beware of how many calories you can consume with smoothies. Last, they had the Allergan lapband account rep there his name is Dave Corey, and he demonstrated the My Lapband site info that you can get to off Mt. Carmel's website and they have a program now where we get free access to the full version of FitDay.com without the advertising and pop-ups so if anybody is looking to be able to have a good tracking mechanism of goals, exercise, diet, etc. go to lapband.com website. I think you put in what hospital and surgeon you are working with and that gets you a registered account and then you are off and running. I started this and then switched and use a different food and exercise tracker now. Okay, my last thing to share is Dr. Choban is a Quilter -- my favorite thing too. So she gets an extra ++ in my book just for that besides being a great surgeon. Take care. K

Welcome Bill. Nice to see new faces and user names joining us on the Ohio thread. I saw your signature says you were banded in December, were you self-pay or did you go to one of the Columbus hospital programs? Hope all is going well for you.

Last is a Nutrition factoid I learned from a "Chat with Choban" session at our bariatric support group meeting at my hospital where I had surgery. We all seem to ask on a fairly often basis about what can we do to eliminate or reduce gas, flatulence, etc. Our doctor said stay under 30 grams of fat in a day -- its the fat content in your diet that some of us are less tolerant to absorb and process fat than others but that we all need some fat in our diet. I went back and looked at my food log and was shocked to find I've been well over that limit every day and it seems to be just one crazy thing I did in a day that pushed me over. She lined the 30grams up to the same level that is tolerated if someone takes Xenical as a weight loss reducing medication and if you go over that daily limit, there is diarrhea and other consequences. So I am going to try hard to see if I can go for a week staying under 30g fat.

Crazy Shrinking Shamrock here confessing.... McDonald's was advertising Shamrock shakes and I gave in to the temptation and ordered a Small one and to be honest, it was NOT WORTH THE CALORIES. Basically a vanilla shake with green food coloring and mint flavoring and when I looked up the Nutrition info on McDonald's site even the Small Size was 500+ calories. So beware, find other ways to Celebrate being green this month!

Here are two jpg files of sayings I found on the internet I like. I used Google and looked for Poster web sites and also weight loss slogans and found Cafe Press and All Posters as two sources of ideas and then adapted my own. Congratulations on becoming Half the Woman you once were. You are Beautiful!

Congratulations to all the 2009 March Bandsters from a 2008 March Bandster. Gosh can't hardly believe a year anniversary is coming up for us. Best Wishes to all the Lucky Losers from the Shrinking Shamrocks of March 2008!

To A Beautiful Woman Now I lay me Down to sleep I pray the Lord My shape to keep. Please no wrinkles Please no bags And please lift my butt Before it sags. Please no age spots Please no gray And as for my belly, Please take it away. Please keep me healthy Please keep me young, ! And thank you Dear Lord For all that you've done. Did you know that it's Beautiful Women Month? Well, it is and that means you ! Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her 'beauty tips.' It was read at her funeral years later. For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others. If you share this with another woman, you will boost another woman's self esteem, and she will know that you care about her.

aJoneen........................+4 75 pounds LOST! Bandana.......................-2 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............-1 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000..................-2 Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl..................-2 80 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril.................0 Kpodski........................1 Lynnt1215.................+ 2 UGH!!! NurseNiki...................0 Nycm00.......................0 Potatie.........................0 100 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend..... 0 150 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK...................-3 Sugarbean..................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! Sharona......................0 stellabella...............-1.6 HALFWAY TO GOAL! Tess415......................0 Thin2bme............... - 2.8 100 POUNDS LOST !! WestCoastMom........0 Wishin4......................4 73 pounds gone!! Kpodski............-1

Welcome Kimberley-- nice to have ya! We have some folks who join us on the monthly Polaris mall get togethers we have in the food court who have either gone to Detroit or Cincy to Dr. Curry for self-pay. They seem to be doing great. Next get together for pre-band or post bandsters is March 14 2-4 pm Polaris mall food court and we sit in the area by the Chik-fil-A and Great Indoors. We usually try to have a balloon to mark our location but there usually isn't any trouble finding us. Bring a guest if you want the first time if you have any concerns about meeting strangers off the internet for the first time but we're all a good supportive group. Kathy

Way to go Niki! Yes, we are living life more fully everyday. I always said I didn't let my weight hold me back from doing things I really wanted to do, like going white water rafting in Alaska in September 2008, but the price I paid was the embarrassment of being the biggest person, not having a normal dry suit fit me, and struggling to get in the boat and up a really steep hill at the end. I loved every minute of it but I look forward to the day when a "normal" size of something fits me and I don't have to worry about being turned away from something fun due to my size. I also don't want to worry about whether my weight was holding me back professionally. You'd think in today's business and work world where Diversity and acceptance are promoted, weight or size wouldn't keep you from the ideal job or promotion you deserve but it does happen. I wish for our kids and the next generation to not have to face that because we tell them about healthy eating and model it ourselves. Study hard and take care! I have my MBA and I think Julie finished hers in the past year so now its MSN for you Niki! K

Hi guys. I am going through a super stressful time on my job right now, working incredible amounts of hours and I'm pretty exhausted but I know I can't eat to deal with being tired or eat to deal with feeling stressed so this really is putting me to the test of whether I've learned my lapband lessons or not. I slipped yesterday and saw a free bag of kettle potato chips and scarfed them down one by one, yes grease and all, and was then ashamed I'd done that. I did log it in and the calories went on paper in my bodybugg food logger so its not that it was mindless but it was surprising how fast those greasy chips slid right on down. Ugh! So it was a blessing this a.m. to see a new number on the scale I hadn't seen so far. I did do better this week of protecting my workout time, getting either to the gym at our work for my lunch hour or leaving so I had enough energy left to work out at the gym outside of work after work. I'm going to put in maybe 8 hours of work from home today on Saturday but I'm planning to hit the gym at the end of it to work out those stress things. My sisters had got me some new clothes for my birthday at the end of January and for Valentines and I took some pictures and emailed them to them -- they live in different states and haven't seen me in person since I lost 90 lbs, and they are so encouraging and so proud of my progress. They can't believe the transformation. I am looking forward to the day when I can see them in person and let them hug me and be able to put their arms all the way around me and give me a really good hug! Ahhhhhh Take care, SpecialK

aJoneen.......................075 pounds LOST! Bandana......................-2 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa..........-1 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000................-2 Desdemona.................0 Fenton.........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl..................-2 80 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................0 Lynnt1215...................+ 2 UGH!!! NurseNiki...................0 Nycm00.......................0 Potatie.........................0 100 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend..... 0 150 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK......................-1 Sugarbean..................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! Sharona......................0 stellabella............... 0 HALFWAY TO GOAL! Tess415......................0 Thin2bme............... 0 WestCoastMom........0 Wishin4......................0 Kpodski............-1 BRATZ98363.......0

Hi Amy and I join Barbarossa in saying Congrats for the wonderful positive things that are happening. Besides his advice on finding a diet that works for you I would add that Exercise is absolutely the key for me plus careful diet. I know, so many of us overweight don't like to exercise but if you get started with 30 minutes a day and work up from there, you'll be surprised and happy that it helps kickstart your metabolism and it does have positive mental effects too. I had my surgery at Mt. Carmel and I started October 2007 and had surgery March 2008 so yes, it took me about 6 months but that was my own insurance things too. I'd definitely investigate Riverside and OSU also to see if you can get things in the works faster than Mt. Carmel if that is critical for you. Good luck! Consider coming to the next Polaris mall get together and meet us in person. It is March 14 at 2pm in the food court corner by Chik-fila and Great indoors.