Shinyhappymommy

Hi Everyone. I've been on vacation for almost a week, so haven't been posting. I'm at my sister's in St. Louis and having a great time. I ran a 5k this morning in the rain! It was crazy, but fun. I improved my time from last fall by about 4 minutes! I was completely soaked. It's so odd to be freezing cold on the 4th of July in St. Louis! I have another week on vacation, during which I am meeting up with Jaime and StLouisGal. I'm very excited to meet them. Is anyone else here in St. Louis that I didn't realize? Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Jaime, that's awesome. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to meet you.

That's a little better!

Hi, Everyone. Angie, you scare me with running in that kind of heat. Knock it off! It's dangerous. Seriously your shoes were melting? That's crazy hot. I'm doing pretty good. I'm frustrated with my weight. It goes up and down the same few pounds over and over and over again. I think it's time to change my ticker back up because I haven't seen 187 since the day I weighed that and changed it. I guess I probably need a fill. Not getting one in July, so it'll have to be August. I am able to eat a little less carefully and larger quantities than before. I'm heading on a trip to St. Louis in a couple of days. My sister and I are both doing this health challenge I've mentioned and we're running a 5k together on July 4th, so it shouldn't be a bad thing for my weight loss to be traveling. Hope you all have a wonderful day! Melissa

I'm doing well. Struggling to get any more weight off, but I'm down more than 100, so I'm not complaining. I may go for a fill in August. Life is good. I'm running a 5K on the 4th of July. It feels so great to be able to do that.

Angie, I ran 6 miles once. It was the longest distance I have ever run. It was about a year out from my surgery. There's just something amazing about a formerly obese person running those kinds of distances. My hip started bothering me and put an end to the long runs, but maybe I'll work back up to it eventually. Keep up the great work! Jaime, I don't think it's nice for your doctor to scold you. Can you find anything helpful in what he said if you peel away the hurt feelings? Some people don't have that empathy filter when they speak, but maybe he said some true and helpful things somewhere in there. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws. Hang in there. I'm feeling really down after having a rough week eating-wise. Well, really it was just Saturday. I ate a whole lot of crap (birthday party food) and just felt like a slug. I haven't weighed myself since and am probably not going to for a while. I just don't want to see those numbers in the 190s. Maybe I can hold off until I'm definitely in the 180s before I weigh again. Yeah, right! I'm not a good judge of how much I weigh. At the end of Saturday, when I was feeling disgusted with myself for eating crappy, I looked down at my thighs and I swear to you they looked bigger. I know there's no possible way that's true, but it surprised me that they honestly looked bigger to me because I hadn't been making good choices that day. I'm really feeling fat the last week or so. I even asked my husband if how I look to him fluctuates from day to day. He didn't even understand what I was trying to ask it was so silly. I just feel so differently from day to day and honestly a lot of it has to do with what numbers read on the scale. If I'm down two pounds then I actually feel skinnier. Like I said before, I'm tired of this battle sometimes. But I'm not giving in. I had a good day yesterday and plan on having a good day today and tomorrow and the next day. . .

Hi, Guys! (Well, Ladies for the most part.) We've been busy. I've been doing pretty good. Sometimes I do get so tired of the constant struggle to be a healthy person. It's easier than being fat, though. I am thinking I might run a 5K on the 4th of July. I'm not quite up to the distance yet, well haven't done that far for a while now, but I think I can work back up to it. We'll see. My weight is back up a few pounds and I can't bring myself to change my ticker back up. :sad: If it stays much longer I'll have to do that. I only saw 187 that one day, never again. I'm at 192 today. We have a birthday party tomorrow and only one kid RSVPed, so it may just be a play date. We'll have to see. Hope you have a great weekend. Melissa

EileenMary, Your restriction will come bit by bit with your fills. Unfortunately I won't tell you that you'll get well restricted with your first fill, because many don't. I would get some restriction with each fill and then it would taper off. Eventually you get enough restriction that will stay for a good while. I just thought I'd post a picture of my family that we took yesterday. Enjoy!

I'm not hopeful to ever be fully rid of the struggles to eat well and exercise. I think it's part of the human experience. I feel like the band has helped me get to the level that most non-obese people struggle with it and not the huge insurmountable amount of struggle I had been dealing with. One day at a time and we'll get there.

Ooh, Tap, good luck with family visiting. Are you on good terms with the ex? I'm guessing you must be since she is staying with you guys. Our walk to the library was good. My 11 y.o. daughter kept complaining that we were walking too fast. She said she wouldn't mind walking to the library if she was just strolling. LOL I tried to slow down for her, but she said I was still walking too fast. My kids are soft. I need to help them get more fit. We also went to the pool for a couple hours yesterday afternoon. It felt really nice to not be humiliated by being so exposed in my swimsuit. There was even a man who said hello to me and then exchanged a couple of pleasantries a little while later. I wouldn't call it flirting exactly, but he was definitely interacting with me. Such an exchange just doesn't happen when you're very overweight and very insecure. I have to admit that I really enjoyed that attention. I am completely devoted to my husband, but it's nice to get some outside feedback, even if it's unintentional feedback, you know? Stlouisgal, I love the support from this forum and this thread as well. What a great group of people we have here. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Okay, I finally caught up on all the back posts. How wonderful to see everyone posting here. What I'm seeing is a lot of us settling into real life and trying to figure out how to incorporate the changes we made from having a band into what our daily lives hold. It is certainly a process and I am glad to have the support of you all during it. Crystal, if you truly think the band can't work with your stomach properly have you looked into other options like a gastric sleeve? I've read quite a bit about that on this site. I have had virtually no problems with my band, but if i ever did have complications I would seriously consider revising from band to sleeve. I think a sleeve would eliminate the being-too-tight thing. It's funny, but at first I wanted the band because it was reversible if needed. Now that I've lost so much weight, there's no way in the world I want this reversed! So a more permanent solution is a more realistic option. On running. It surprises me that it's something that I've gotten into. I hated running. Couldn't figure out why someone would do that on purpose unless a large animal was chasing them. But as I started walking I felt empowered. So eventually I tried running a few steps. It freed me from this pre-conceived notion that I couldn't run and was too weak to ever do so. I was strong enough to do that little bit and strong enough to add to it day by day. I used the couch to 5K and thought it was pretty challenging. I didn't know any couch potatoes that could do the amount of walking/running that it prescribes to begin with. But eventually I got there and was able to progress a bit at a time. Like Angie said, I don't know if you'd really call what I do running, it's more what most people would consider jogging, but I call it running because to me that's what I'm doing. I'm not sprinting, but I'm running at a pace that I can sustain for 2 miles or more. Sometimes, though, my workouts fizzle out. I went to the gym yesterday, having had a great run on Monday, and just couldn't do it. I ran for about 5 minutes and just didn't have the oomph to keep going. My goal is 45 minutes of exercise, so walking counted. I got tired of doing the walking eventually and moved to the stationary bike for the last 13 minutes. :biggrin: Today we are going to walk to the library for our exercise. I think it's about a mile away. We'll see how long it takes with the kids in tow. There's a mom and toddler group, followed by a mom's group with free babysitting. I'm looking forward to it. I hope you all have a fabulous day!

I don't have time to read the last three pages this morning, but I wanted to pop in and say hello. We got moved, finally got phone and internet and I've lost 5 pounds in the last week! I'm pretty happy. I found a book about drinking Water. It said that we should drink 1 ounce per 2 pounds of body weight and then 1 ounce for every 2 ounces of soda, alcohol or sugary drinks that we consume. That makes my water intake about twice what I had been doing. I think that plus the extra physical activity of moving plus sticking to my challenge plan has really made a difference. I plan on keeping it up with everything else I'm doing. I finally got to do some specific exercise, rather than just moving related exertion. It feels great and I'm so grateful to be able to do it! The move was so much easier this time around and I feel like I was able to be an active partner for my husband and not let time do most of the work like last time and the time before that and the time before that. . . My weight was 187 yesterday. That is lower than I've been in at least 12 years. Some of my size 14s are getting loose. (Others are still just fine.) So it's a good day. I'll come back and read what you all have been up to the last few days when I have a little more time.

Breakfast has become my most-dreaded meal of the day because it takes so darn long to eat. I'm sitting here waiting for my first couple bites of Cream O' Wheat to pass my stoma. Cream O' Wheat? Seriously, this stuff should go right down. It is day old, reheated, so it's not as smooth as it is at first, but I miss being able to eat food in the mornings without so much concentration and stress. On the plus side, I'm down another pound. At this rate of a pound every two weeks it's going to take me a long time to finish up this weight loss. Oh well, as long as it's going down and not up, I can deal. Have a great day, VVs!

Here are the pictures. (longer hair is January, shorter is May) I didn't include the bottom half because it hasn't changed much. My calves need to change, but really haven't much at all. I know the name of the first picture says it's October, but I just mistyped it. It was January.

Just taking a break from packing to pop in and say hi. I'm amazed at my stamina this time around. I haven't had to sit down once because of physical fatigue. Mental, yeah, but I'm hanging in there physically. So grateful. My husband weighed more than me yesterday morning for weigh-in. Yay for that! First time since I met him that I've weighed less than him. We took some progress pictures and I think my face is starting to look too thin. My neck is getting a bit too saggy. Comparing it to the last ones from January, I think I look better then. Maybe I'll post them later and you guys can give your opinion. Catch you later. You are all an inspiration to me!

I may not be posting much over the next several days. We are in full pack-and-move mode and won't have internet access for a few days in there as well. (What am I going to do?!) My weight is back down to 192, my lowest since surgery. :thumbup: I'm doing well on everything but getting deliberate exercise in. I'm just having to count the moving and packing as my exercise and it's not a stretch to do so. It's a lot of work. Have a great day!

We had a great garage sale this morning. We got rid of a whole bunch of stuff and made just over $200 in the process! :wink2: I made cinnamon rolls and let my kids sell them for $1 each, which was awesome. Still have 2 1/2 dozen left, so they'll have to go in the freezer. I didn't even eat one of them. Only a little icing on my finger. I need to go for a walk this evening. It's been raining a bunch, so it should be pretty as long as I stay on the pavement. Have a great weekend and hope you enjoy every minute of it!

Tap- That's rough. It never feels good after so much indulgence. It's a huge reality check, isn't it? You are so determined, I know you'll bounce back fully. I know you already are. I had a not so great moment yesterday. I ate dinner and then tried to eat my dessert (cantaloupe with slow churned, sugar free butter pecan ice cream). I was too full from dinner, but under a time constraint for my challenge, so I tried to get a couple of bites down. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I got stuck and was terribly uncomfortable. I had to spit in a cup for more than a half an hour. It just wasn't resolving at all, so I went in the bathroom and for the first time in my whole life I made myself throw up. Well, made myself pb, anyway. I realize the possible danger of that move, but I needed (and got) relief right away. Other than that, my second week of the challenge has gone well. I didn't have any pig out days. My weight isn't moving as much as I'd like. But you know, as long as I know I'm making good choices, it doesn't bother me as much if my weight isn't moving. Because I know it's not because of what I am or am not doing. I know it's just what my body needs to do right now. Not that I'm not anxious to keep losing, but I have to realize that plateaus happen and will stop happening again at some point. I am finished with cakes for now. The latest set for the wedding are on my blog. Our garage sale is tomorrow. We have the garage mostly set up. The task now is to keep finding more things to purge and sell and fill it up as much as we can. The ad said that items remaining after 11:00 a.m. will be free. I figure if I've already decided to get rid of it, why bring it back into my home if there is someone who can use it? Or even someone who wants to sell it on ebay! :thumbup: Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day and that you're able to make choices that help you feel victorious when it's all over.

Hello, All. I should be sorting and pricing items for the garage sale, but here I am on the computer. I'm getting off, soon. :cursing: I have been doing well. My weight is up and down so much I think I'm going to go back to weighing once a week for a while. I went running today. It's been a while since I did that. I went two miles and it felt great. (Hard, but great.) I've got a wedding cake and sheet cake to finish up today and then I'll be done with cakes until at least after we move. Hubby had a job interview yesterday (over the phone) and so we're waiting to hear if a long-distance move might be in the near future. Happy Birthday in a couple of days, Rhapsody. Jaime, good luck with your restart. Lil Miss is a great example of restarting as many times as you need to in order to get going again. Tap, how was the Y?

Congrats on your engagement! A size 2? Wow, I can't even imagine. I'll be surprised if I'm ever below a size 10. That's wonderful success you've had.

Hi, Guys. Had a great week last week. Lost 4 pounds and then gained it all back on my "free day" on Saturday. Seriously, that sucks. I learned a lot, though. I'm going to do better this week. I put new pictures of my cakes on my blog. They turned out cute. I am doing a wedding cake and matching sheet cake this week. Also preparing for our garage sale this Saturday and our move next Saturday! Eeek!

I saw a new low of 192 this morning! Woo hoo! I gained a couple pounds over the weekend last weekend, so when I started this challenge I was 196, so I'm down four pounds this week, but two of those were re-losing pounds I didn't have last week. Oh the craziness. I've got one cake almost done and two more to do today. I'll definitely post pics, at least on my blog. The one I've done is turning out so cute. It's a character cake of a graduate. Hope you all have a great day.

I'm doing two graduation and one confirmation cake. None of them in fondant. :smile2: I'm going to be so busy in the next couple of weeks with packing and moving, I don't know when I'll be able to get official exercise in. Last night I walked/jogged/danced in place while watching American Idol. Wish I had a treadmill, but that worked. I got my heart rate up. The challenge is going well. I'm behaving much better with the rules I'm following for it.

Tap, If you need an entire batch of one color, you should add it right after melting the marshmallows, then as you knead the sugar in, the whole thing will be colored. Otherwise, you add it after refrigerating it overnight. You microwave it in small intervals (10 seconds) until it's soft and then you can knead it in then.

Hey, Guys. Still hanging in there. I started the challenge today. I'm thinking I haven't been getting enough Water because drinking my required water today has me in the bathroom more than usual. I had a rough exercise on Saturday. I went for a walk, tried going three miles and for some reason it was awful. I was very cold, didn't take a jacket because it was nice out, but the wind made it too cold. My back was hurting me like crazy and I just wanted to be home. I did it though. Didn't really have any choice since I had walked 1.5 miles away from home I had to walk the rest back. Most of my runs have been easier than that! I think we have a place to rent. It's smaller and more run down than our current place, but it's at least something. Sorry if my posting pictures of cake on this thread is too tempting! I think of it more from an art-form perspective, but it is truly fattening food. Here's my blog link: Cakes by Melissa That way you can go there if you want to see them, and avoid it if you'd rather not. :thumbup: I did make a couple of great cakes last week. I'm proud of them. I have three more to do this week.