Twilight

Hi ladies. Hope everyone is having a great day so far. I have had an okay morning so far. Got my mess of a house picked up....at least all the public areas. They are grouting my new shower so hopefully tomorrow I can have my own bathroom back. They don't know when they will get back to get my floor done but as long as I can get out of the 3 foot by 3 foot cell that my dh calls a shower I'll be happy. I don't know how he does it. I decided to do the 5 day pouch test. So far I've had 1/2 bottle of Water and an 8 oz Protein Shake. Sitting here looking at another trying to talk myself into drinking it. It's one of my atkins ones that I have left from surgery. It makes me gag just looking at it, but I'm hungry so I'll probably bite the bullet and it won't be too bad. I'm counting today as the second half of first day since I didn't eat anything after 10am yesterday. SIL is having a birthday party tomorrow night for my nephew so I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that. Probably take some liquid and tell them I'm still on liquids from after my fill. Then I'll not be tempted to start with pizza. I didn't get on my wii this morning so I'm not changing my weight until tomorrow morning. May change my weigh in day to Wednesday too. Monday's just seem to be so crazy around here. Just got my hair cut so I'm almost ready for the trip! Having a pedicure on Saturday and then I'll be all set. Phyl, don't let other people get you too down. When we are frustrated with ourselves it is so much easier to attack someone else than take their advice. You have never treated anyone here with anything but respect and given sound advice. I've never thought of you as a "self-proclaimed" anything. I've never thought of anyone on here as anything but someone that was trying to help me be as successful as I can be. I'm sorry you felt bad. I hope it feels better today. Okay...going to go do some website work. Talk to you all later.

Ladies Ladies Ladies!!!!! I missed you today! Peaches, glad you are home. I still have laundry piled from my 3 week trip a few weeks ago so don't feel bad. You're doing better than me. Karri!!!!! OMG you look amazing. Holy Cats!!!! What a tummy! I'm soo soo sooooo sooooo jealous. The smile on your face speaks volumes. You're dh has got to be dying to get his hands on you! You are beyond hot! I just can't quit looking and saying wow wow wow wow wow!!! It looks like it was very quiet here today. I didn't see anything from Phyl. I don't remember, did she say something about not coming on today? hmmmmm..... Well....went to Minot this morning. Tired tired tired....because my darling Jai decided she wasn't going to sleep last night. Of course!!! So I was beat....but ate a bunch of sunflower seeds and made it. Went to my support group. It focussed on relapsing. That was funny since I was thinking about talking to her about the pouch test. It just all fit. She thought it was a good idea (btw, she is my NUT). She said the important thing to remember was to only do a high protein diet for less than 2 weeks and make sure to increase vitamins to compensate. Then went to my fill. I had dropped almost 10 pounds in 2 months so that wasn't too bad. Her scale said 155.8 which isn't bad since wii has said 154.2 in the morning....so I guess I can count on my wii for a scale. Nice to know. She also said she was impressed by how little extra skin I have on my belly. She said that if I concentrate on my abs for the next couple of months I may be able to forgo a tummy tuck. How amazing was that to hear? Now my most amazing news.....I bought a size 8 pair of pants!!!! They were the only 8's that fit but I bought them none the less. I didn't buy any 10's because I can make the 12's I have work until MofA trip. I didn't want to go overboard. But I did buy the 8's....I couldn't pass them up. And they were on super sale at Christopher Banks....less than $5!!!! Oh...and did you see that? Christopher Banks....not CJ Banks!!! I'm in their NORMAL store. Oh my gosh.....I had a fantastic day. Tomorrow....day 1 of the pouch test. I'll see you ladies tomorrow. Sleep well

Wow Beth!!! You look amazing! How terrific must you feel!

Forgot to mention..... Karri, maybe your blood sugar is too low when you first get out of bed in the morning. Maybe a glass of apple or orange juice before you try to get up may help. Be careful. I remember after my c-sections the worst part was getting out of bed each morning. It was very scary to get the light headedness. I was told to sit up...wait 30 second, put legs over the side of the bed....wait another 30 seconds, stand....wait 30 seconds and only then try to take a step. Be careful Peaches, it looks like an amazing place. I'm sure it's spectacular! Maybe I missed it, but when are you coming home? There was one more I wanted to say something to but now I can't remember what. You all have a good night.

Good evening ladies. I hope you all had a great day. I had a good food day, great exercise day....pretty good water day. All in all I'll have to say success. I'm nervous about my weigh in tomorrow at the dr's office. It's been two months since I've been there and I don't know how close my wii is going to be to their scale. I have been giving the 5 day pouch test a lot of thought and I think right after a fill is as good a time as any to give it a try. I really see the need to do it. I need to reconnect with the rules. I'm struggling with being home all day everyday and having the kitchen at my fingers. And with the MofA trip looming, I need something to push me into size 10's so that maybe I might make it to the size 8's before we go. Did my 4+ mile walk/run. Ran about 1/2 mile of it. I'm going to google earth it and see how far I actually ran. I'm guessing at the 1/2 mile....we'll see. Well....I won't be on tomorrow until later because I'm going to dr. We'll see what happens there. Have a great Monday ladies.

I haven't had a chance to look at your yet but I plan on getting to it shortly. My address is Steph's website there is no www in front. It is still in construction phase and I'm looking for a great background and that's why everything has different backgrounds right now. Enjoy it.

good afternoon ladies. Just a quick check in since I needed a lbt fix. I fixed my curtains for my bathroom. The tiler is coming Monday so that maybe by Tuesday I can have my bathroom back... or at least my shower. I can't wait to have it all done. I'm trying really hard not to go to the store and buy new stuff for it until Monday when I go to Minot. Janet!!! How awesome you are! That is absolutely amazing. To think you went to the gym more than you didn't go to the gym. And you didn't even have a trainer for most of the year to keep you accountable. Just yourself. How great you are!! You will be in great shape when you get ready to do your ps too. DH is talking more and more seriously about banding. He called the new insurance lady to find out about whether the new insurance would cover it or if we wanted to cobra the old insurance. Then he said something about how exciting bed would be when he is skinny too. Okay...tmi I'm sure....but he's really getting there!!!! Well...I better go get something accomplished. I've only had one bottle of tea today so I need to get on the ball there. I hope you all are drinking like you're supposed to. Talk to you later ladies.

In about March I had to really ramp up my exercise routine. If I hadn't I would still be where I was then. I also had to really get on track with tracking my food. I thought I was being really good. I was eating good for me but I had no idea how many calories I was consuming a day. I still have trouble judging. I've been stuck for about 3 weeks but I know I quit tracking and that's my fault. Take a good look at your routine. You may have gotten into a rut and your body has gotten used to what you have been doing to it and it's just maintaining.... On the plus side my NUT said that plateaus are a good thing because you are resetting your bodies "set point" where it used to be way up there, you're lowering it...so a few plateaus can be a positive thing. If you tell us more about what you are eating, how you are moving, what you are doing with liquids, maybe we can be more specific.

Phyl, I was going to ask. What is the pouch test supposed to accomplish besides jumpstarting a plateau? Where did it come from? My book about the success habits of weight loss surgery patients talks about testing pouch size with cottage cheese but this pouch test I haven't heard about before. Just wondering what the idea behind it is....

Good evening ladies. DH and the boys went to the drive in and us two girls stayed home. Jai went to bed at 9 and then I did a half hour of wii fit again. Not enough to count it as a second session. The strength training kicked my butt today. It was the first time I'd tried to do them. I did lunges and they KILLED me. I got through it but it was working me to the dead point. I tried them tonight and there was no way for me to go 45 minutes tonight. It was still very windy tonight so I didn't walk. Did everyone get their Water in today? I got 4 bottles in so I'm good for the day. Will probably get another bottle in before bed since I'll wait up for the guys. Kids drove me bonkers today. I don't know how I'm going to be a stay at home mom. Maybe it was the wind and that they couldn't get out. They were screaming all day. Jai didn't sleep well last night. I was tired because of it, so maybe it was a little of my own problem. I just know it was nuts at my house. The quiet now is wonderful. Watching qvc and just enjoying it....except I want to buy!!!! But I'm waiting until we go to the qvc store instead. I really want to smell this philosophy stuff. Good night everyones. I will talk to you in the morning.

When I was pregnant my tums always counted for my daily calcium. I don't know why they wouldn't for you....but then I'm not a doctor so I would ask when you have your next appointment. I have wii fit and I love it. I don't always get a chance to workout with it. With a 18 month old who wants to perch on the board and a 4 year old who always wants to join in and take his turn it really doesn't get to be much of a workout. However, I did get an hour on it today and it was a serious workout. I think it can be as much of a workout as you want it to be. Between running, hula hoops, boxing, and lunges I was beat. I think I'll try to get another half hour in tonight while dh takes the boys to the drive-in though. Hope these answers help.

Candice (peaches) emailed and I thought I would post it here for anyone who didn't get it..... Hi Gals; First, I've missed the boards!!! I am up at my Sister's camp in Northern Ontario.... She has DIAL UP @#%#@*%$@#*$#! and it is slower than the second coming! So KARRI: OMG I am so worried about you!!! Did you get to ahospital to get checked out? You could have had a small stoke... Vision problems with passing out... that is very serious... PLEASE PLEASE get checked out. and Do as you Hubby tells you!!! He loves you so much. you are a VERY lucky girl.... O.k. here's were I do some bragging. TODAY is my ONe Year Band-i-versay. And I just realized it now!! Do you know how I spent myday? Hiking up a mountain!! yup that's right. We took a small boat across the lake, put in then Hiked up and across a rocky knoll to another lake where we took another boat to the bottom of the mountain. Then my BIL the "GUIDE" walked our asses up the CLIFF MOUNTAIN... all tolled it took 6 hours there and back. My sister is 62, me 53 yrs(almost) well it was a trip of a lifetime... the vista's from the top of the mountain were awesome. The bugs were really bad. My DS and I wore Bug nets over our heads and faces.. (I'll send pix when I get home) It was a hoot, we never stopped whinning the whole time... we kept begging the guys for rest stops and pee stops.... but nope, not until we got to the summit. My BIL just kept saying "it's o.k. you can make it, just a wee bit farther, it'll be worth it , I promise".... Well when we got to the top I layed down in a blueberry and Lichen patch (so soft) it was the best little bed i ever layed down in... ANYWAys, I ramble... but it was my ANNUAL N.S.V. for sure!!! More later, Love Candice (peaches9)

Awesome progress Pam! Congrats on over 100 lbs lost. You're looking great!

Okay ladies. I have a couple of minutes while the kids settle down to sleep before I wii fit. I wanted to say a few things about what I read this morning.... Marcy, You look fantastic. 50 pounds is a great loss in one year and you should be celebrating it. It does look like more than that from your pictures. What a whole new you! Congratulations on your Bandiversary. I hope you are going to do something spectacular to Celebrate your success. Kari, what a great NSV!!! I'm happy I did the surgery before the diabetes became an issue but I can imagine how exciting it is to be coming off your meds. And lowering the BP is a great success! Wow for you! Karri, I hope you are enjoying a quiet day in the a/c. Let the coolness lull you to sleep. Did your doc give you any suggestions on what you could do to help you sleep since she took away your narcotics? I'm really hoping the cooler air will do the trick. I hope you got a good nap in this morning. As for the bacon issue, I wish I had your taste buds. It all still tastes fabulous to me. Except maybe ice cream....that's too sweet. I can live with a bite or two of dh's every now and again....but all the other bad for me stuff still tastes so darn good. I wish I knew how you did it. You are amazing. Have a great day and drink drink drink, eat, eat, eat!!! To add cals have you thought of that powder that weight trainers put in everything....I think it's just Protein but I don't know for sure. I know you have trouble with milk products so I don't know what to suggest....what about a nice hearty meat, bean, and cheese enchillada? Add some salsa and that could be good. Adding protein to oatmeal or hot granola might be good. I don't know. Okay. I think I need to wake dh up from his lunch time nap so I can kick him out and get fitting.....see you later ladies.

Good morning ladies. No walk for me this morning. The wind would blow me over. It's horrible out there today. So when the kids lay down for nap I'm going to wii fit for an hour. Then hopefully this evening the wind will have died down to a miserable roar and I can go for my 5k+ walk up the long hill. Weight was down a bit this morning but it's not an official weigh in day so I don't count it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on Monday. I have an appointment. I'm getting that stuck feeling every now and then but know it's because I still am trying to inhale my food. When I eat slowly and enjoy I have no problems and can eat more than a cup. I think I need more restriction but am afraid I'll be stuck more often. I just don't know. My loss has slowed to a crawl in the last month though so I'm really debating. I hate being so undecisive. Big problem with being stuck too often is that it discourages dh from wanting to have this done. I try to explain to him that it is more me not doing the right things but he is very iffy anyways. He doesn't think he can learn to eat the right way and when he sees me stuck after three bites he wavers even more. In a lot of ways he needed the surgery a lot more than I did, but I'm the one who was willing to say enough is enough. I try not to push and only bring it up occasionally and think I am getting through to him. I wish I knew the magic words that would make him come to the conclusion that this is best. But I also know that it is an extremely personal decision and not the best one for a lot of people.....so I'm stuck yet again. Okay. I'm going to go play with the kids. Have a great day all. See you later.

Well ladies. I had a pretty good day. Taco salad for lunch. Mahi Mahi for dinner. It wasn't great because I had some granola for snack and it's more cals than I needed today. It would have been fine had I walked tonight like I had planned but dinner with family took longer than I had planned. tomorrow morning I'll get up and go for a long walk to make up for it. Didn't get dh anything but LOVED Ruby's idea. I'll have to keep it in mind for next year because THAT WAS HILARIOUS!!! Karri, I'm so appalled at your medical care. I would be insanely crazy at this point. I'm so glad you have such an awesome plastic surgeon. Between her and your wonderful dh you have people to take care of you. Janet, glad you made it back to us. We do worry about you when you disappear. I'm sure it's tough to watch your family leave. But they are on to bigger and better places. Okay....I'm off to bed. I'll talk to you later. See you all in the morning.

Yeah...where is Janet? Maybe she decided to get a head start on the rest of us and is already on her way to MofA. Went to lunch with DH. It's his birthday. don't know what to get him. He never wants anything and if he does say he would like x he goes out and buys it before I have the chance. So I'm frustrated and feeling like a lousy wife. Offered to make him a fantastic meal but he said that he wanted to go out instead with his family. So now I'm stuck again. I don't know. grrrr..... Working on my website and have a page for each of the kids up now. Trying to figure out how to do a dropdown menu but can't find the instructions because I really don't know what they are called. You know, where you roll your mouse over a link which drops down a box of 4 or 5 options to choose from. What do you call those...and no...not a drop down menu. grrrrr frustrating day.

Oh Phyll!!! You have my sympathy. I couldn't go back to liquids for two days without a danged good reason. I hope you get the results you want. I haven't stepped on my wii fit for two days because I didn't like what it told me last time but I suppose I should buck up and get it done. You are so good for me. I'll be thinking of you today.

Way to go Losers!!! Katie, I hope you find you enjoy shopping a lot more now that you have more options. As the pounds drop the choices get more and more. It's very amazing how that works.

On the 4th of July I walked in a 5k! I was in the middle of the pack too! Then on the 7th I rewalked the course only I ran about 1/2 mile of it! How awesome is that!!! Cerrin I'm so excited for you! The wonder that this weight loss has opened for all of us is amazing! And I agree....no settlin!!!! You're worthy of a great guy!

Good Morning Ladies!!! Phyl, no Target near-by. I'm going to Minot on Monday for an appointment and will see if it's still on sale then. I did pick up some papaya enzyme that you suggested and have used it once. I was afraid that they would taste awful but was pleasantly surprised. I'm not so worried about my long day being alone, but rather what I will do with my stuff all day. I'm sure it will all work out one way or another. Ssankofa-- great job on the jumpstart! It's amazing what a little more focus will do for us. I need to focus back on the rules a bit this week. I'm going to start journaling my food again. When I had to write down what was going in my mouth I was a ton better about thinking about it before I ate it. About the cereal and milk. I eat mine with milk but very little. A cup of cereal to about a half cup of milk. The kashi absorbs a lot of the liquid so it's not the same as drinking. My nut said it was a great way to add fiber to my diet. And with the fiber cereal it actually puffs up in your stomach with the milk and is filling because of it. Ruby -- glad you are happy with your decision. That's the important part. And once you have partials you will be able to chew so much easier. Karri -- I hope all goes well at the doctor. I would guess that the heat and the low carb diet are the culprits. I know it's a scary situation. I'll never forget that horror feeling of not being able to see and hearing from a distance. It is very very scary. Okay...off for a shower and to get everyone ready for the day. Today is a "work" day so the kids are going to daycare and I can focus on my website learning. My goal today is to learn how to make a drop down list of links. I'm hoping it isn't too over my head. Talk to you ladies later in the day.

Okay all. Trip is booked. Only problem is that my train doesn't leave until 11 pm on Monday. I'm not positive what I'm going to do alone all day....or what I'll do with my luggage. I'll have to think hard about this. What time does Phyl's train leave? Forgot what time Janet's plane leaves. I'll figure out something. DH has a cousin who lives out there that would probably be able to handle me after work that day. I guess I'll have to do some fiddling. Okay. I'm off to bed. Talk to you all in the morning.

Hi ladies, I tried to post this this morning but got interupted so I'll continue it now..... Yesterday was a better food day in some ways but in others it was just hell. We rode Jeff's bike down to another town to get serviced and look for a different bike for me. Mine now is really a piece of something or other, but when we bought it I wasn't sure I really was going to like riding so I didn't want to pay a lot for one. Well we got what we payed for. Anyways it's time for a better bike and my best friend lives the other direction so we meet in the middle for lunch occasionally. Okay...so I ate a bit of kashi and blueberries in the morning so that I had something in my tummy. Didn't drink any water because I didn't want to stop to pee all the time. Then by about 11 I was starving but my BF hadn't made it to town yet so we waited....and for some reason I didn't even think about drinking. Well we didn't get lunch until almost 1 and then I didn't drink because I was eating. Well I rode on the back of my new bike for a bit and really jarred my neck on the back since Jeff was driving around. Had a bit of a headache but didn't think much of it. We then drove home and by the time we got here it was definitely turning into a migraine. Came in and took some tylenol and prayed that it wasn't going to get worses. My prayers weren't answered. By 6 it was full bore and I couldn't hardly see. It was a rough night. All in all I had the kashi, blueberries, some salad and a couple tops of pizza. I might have made 16 oz of fluid but doubt it. I don't know. The headache was probably a big combination of not enough liquid and too much banging. Today was pretty good. Some kashi and blueberries for breakfast, a couple bites of a cheeseburger before I got stuck feeling and quit, some sunflower seeds for a snack and a hamburger patty for dinner. I made sure I've had at least 80 oz of liquid today. Went for a walk. All in all a good day. Karri, that does sound very scary. I had a similar experience once when I was out. It can be very frightening but my dr said she suspected it was because I did too much and didn't eat. I hope it is as simple as over exhertion and under nourishment. Glad dh is being your shadow. What a great guy you have. Phyl, great size victory! You should be so excited. I'm so happy for you. Who went to the dentist??? I can't remember. Hope it went as well as it could. I don't know which way I would go. Implants or dentures. Hard decision. Money is always a huge consideration for me. I don't know which I would pick. Good luck on making that decision. And whoever was going out for the long weekend with the puppy....I hope you have a great time. Relax and enjoy the world. Janet, I'm sorry you were hating your job today. I hope you enjoy it more tomorrow. Okay...I'm off for a bit. I'll be on and off the rests of the night. Oh...and I have a new host for my website... it's at Steph's website no www. in front. I haven't done a bunch of more work on it but I will be working on it tomorrow a lot. I will check in later. Night

Hi ladies. Horrible day today. Food wise all i wanted to do today was eat. I didn't make good choices and I'm very frustrated. I don't know what the problem was. I've been trying to find it all day. I want to get to the bottom of it so I don't repeat it again. But nothing seems to be driving it. I just don't know. Tomorrow I'll be out of the house all day so I think it will be better tomorrow. I just don't know. Maybe it will come to me in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping. Now....my mom cancelled out on me. She won't be coming with me. That bums me out. I'll be going to MofA on my own. I will book my room and my train in the morning. I am getting a king suite and will not have anyone to share it with. If anyone is still on the fence on whether they are coming but would if they had someone to room with...I'm willing to share my room. Okay, I'm not following what I'm thinking anymore so I had better close this. I'll talk to you all later. Night all.

Hi all. Just checking in. Nothing new to report. However, I was going to call and make reservations for our MofA trip and now can't find the info I wrote down. Is it July 25, 26th, 27th? Homewood Suites? grrrr Phyll, do I need to make reservation for the train or just show up? I've never done the train thing before? Janet got me thinking it's only just around the corner and I haven't done all that yet. I'm afraid I'm not going to be in size 8 that soon. I'm trying but I just don't think it's going to happen. We'll see. Gotta run. Have a good day all