puddin

Have I got a shake for YOU! The Apex Chocolate Fit drink mix tastes exactly like a milkshake - no kidding. I have always hated protein shakes, so has my sister. But she likes these for desert! Apparently the orange cream one is to die for, too. You can get them online at www.myapex.com.

Oh you guys are FUNNY!!! Seems like these things have a lot to do with body parts. Mine came as a senior in high school. I was on the diving board during swim class, the entire class looking up at me, waiting for me to jump, when one of the boys in class yelled "Hey cupie doll! Can I pull your string?" Yeah, I was on my period at the time and the really fun string was sticking straight out and the nice boy happened to notice it and point it out to everyone. I just quickly dove in and then stayed underwater as LOOOOONG as possible.

I felt like this, too, when I first got the band. Let me just reassure you that yes, you will enjoy eating again. The first few weeks really... suck. But you'll eat normally again, I promise. I can eat ANYTHING, if I eat it slow enough. Sometimes it's just not worth it, though. Like a tough steak, the time it takes to chew is just not worth it. So I choose other items and don't even miss it. But FYI, I haven't had any problems at all with MOST steak, if that's your fav food. My problems are with, believe it or not, Peanut Butter south beach Cereal bars, and sandwiches. The cereal bars I still eat because i love the taste, I just eat them slow. I never cared for sandwiches, so great, who cares if I can't eat them easily. There's light at the end of your newly banded tunnel. I hardly ever remember that I'm banded now, except that I visit this site sometimes.

I felt the same way. I'm 28, too, and single... but once the weight came off the men came out of the woodwork. Randomly. I date a lot. Like at least 2-3 times a week (see my tri blog, it has doubled as my dating blog, I swear). So don't lose hope, even in Utah we can find someone.

Gosh, head hunger is still a big problem for me, you guys. I'm truly not the model bandster and I'll tell you why: The reason I've lost so much is not because I only eat 1,000 calories a day or anything like that. I actually probably eat around 2,000/day. I just work out all the freakin' time. I replaced obsession with food with obsession with exercise. Sorry y'all. Wish I could give you more. I am passionate about exercise, however. If I have a free minute I'm either biking, running, swimming, playing soccer, or traveling. I suppose having something to do every spare minute keeps me from eating by default. But since I can eat a lot, I do, and I need to in order to keep up with the physical activity. But see, I'm not married, don't have kids, and broke up with the boyfriend 3 months ago, so I have all kinds of free time for the physical activity. But you can reach that goal through calorie deficit, whether it be through food or through exercise. So if you don't have time for tons of exercise, keep on top of those fills and have low-cal snacks around that fill you up. A few triscuts always filled me up when I had good restriction. That restriction has since gone since I've lost quite a bit more since the last fill. Funny how weight loss affects your fills.

Hey! Just noticed this thread. Word up, Utah. I'm curious to know how many of us were banded at SV Surgical. Love those guys.

I've been thinking about this post for quite some time. I'm just about at goal (within 10 pounds, at least), and all of a sudden I have body image issues. Well, perhaps less body image as overall self-image issues. I really do not understand it. I'm starting to think that this whole time these issues were simply latent and so, subconsciously, I created the bigger issue of having too much excess weight, so I didn't have to deal with the OTHER issues, like will men like me for ME? I'm sure this has been exacerbated by a recent big breakup where I was told by a man I thought I was going to marry that he still had strong feelings for another woman who was, essentially, more 'attractive' than I was. But I wouldn't have so many issues with that statement if it wasn't my worst fear in the first place. Okay, any psychoanalysts out there? Am I crazy, or what? I have certainly turned to God for help, but I think He helps those who help themselves. What is it that we can do to overcome some of these issues? I have been thinking of finding someone to emulate who displays those self-confidence qualities (especially around men), but I'm not sure how to find this person or even know what to look for in their behavior.

Oh Brenda, you are on the road to recovery! Sounds like you're rockin the treadmill and the other workouts. You're just about to what I'm doing. I'll usually do 3.2 miles on the treadmill every day. I do 5.3 miles per hour with a 1 minute rest at 3.5 mph every 10 minutes. Did it scar you to read your daughter's myspace? What is she doing in SLC? Going to the U of U? I may be working there pretty soon doing web analytics. So how does the whole upstairs without a bedroom door work? That would certainly scar a child LOL. But it's good to know my mom may just forget what she's read. Honestly, it was a stupid, stupid thing to put up. It's essentially my diary online. I don't care if total strangers read it, in fact, the thought is somewhat liberating to me. But my MOM can't read it! Anyhow, yes, I am LDS. I actually served a mission for my church a few years ago in Canada, same area where I'm doing the triathlon and where my ex is from. Ahh, those were the days when I was a good girl... I think subconsciously I may have kept the weight on, and kept gaining, because I knew this would be an issue for me if I was skinny and I didn't want to deal with it. Please don't get me wrong, I love my church with all my heart, and I love God with all my heart, but the flesh is weak, especially right now. I'm not making any excuses for my behavior. It's GOT to change or I'll never progress, especially with Jacques, if we keep doing what we're doing. This can't continue. Maybe my mom finding my blog is a wakeup call for me. I didn't post the really bad stuff I did with him, THANK HEAVENS! But she may have just figured it out. But yes, sex before marriage is a big deal in my religion. And having sex multiple times before marriage is an even bigger deal - especially when you've been on a mission. If I don't stop I'll get excommunicated - my worst nightmare. And Jacques will, too, so we need to quit this business before it ruins us. My ex was excommunicated and it DID ruin his life. He's working really hard to get back, but screwed that up with me, too. Set him back very, very far, and me too. So can you sense the internal conflict going on? Whether or not you believe in sex before marriage, you can't keep doing something you dont believe in doing or it destroys you from the inside. So that's where I am toady. Happy day! But really, going out of town this weekend with friends will help me to clear my head and get my priorities straight again. Have a fantastic weekend, y'all!

Alright, Brenda, my MOTHER has found my blog. Oh sh*$ is all I have to say! There are secrets there. Deep, dark secrets! That's what I get for posting my damn name in the title LOL! I'm such a dork. Why did I think she was too Internet dumb to find it??? I'm her virginly daughter. Guess she knows now. THANK HEAVENS I never blogged about doing the really bad things with Jacques. But I think the talking dirty stuff was enough to scare the woman. And now she knows about the Canada incident, too. She calls me on the phone today and says, "Hey, I showed my colleague your porn pic." I'm like "which one?" LOL, thinking she'd gone to my flickr site (which is mom-safe). She says "You know, the one on your triathlon site." I almost threw up. She had showed her colleague my tummy-tuck pics, but amongst the tummy-tuck pics are the dirty, internet-voyeurish secrets, ones that MOMS shouldn't see! It's like walkin in on your parents. She DID say, "Yeah, all I showed her were your pictures. I can't handle reading the rest of it." Oh my. That means she freakin' read it. She handled it well. I am an adult and I make my own stupid decisions and she respects it. But I really wanted my mom to see me as the GOOD daughter. Oh hell, maybe she can relate to me now. After all, she's got a past, too. So I faced it head-on (after looking like a deer in headlights) and posted a "Hi Mom" on the site. Of course, I also went through the blog and deleted all references to sex (well... most. I figured I couldn't take out Canada). So no more references to boys, making out, Jacques, or sex. I'll save that for the PRIVATE blog, which shall always remain nameless and under password protection. Sure glad I won't see her for the next two weeks!

Girl you will GET THERE! You're a pusher (not a drug pusher), and I know you'll reach whatever goal you set. I can tell. You're a high achiever, for sure. And your boobs look good too LOL. I'm jealous. Mine are small. Like a small B. Good to know yours are a "c" because they look about how I want mine to look. Yes, the new guy is a good one, I think. Here's the thing, though: We're both religious people, but we can't seem to be good together. It's the same damn problem I had with my ex. It causes internal conflict. On one hand I don't believe in sex before marriage, on the other hand I can't seem to stop! He feels bad about it, too. He's gone until April for work so I'm trying to take this opportunity to move our relationship out of the sex realm and into reality reality. We were there once, we can get there again. Oh my, I'm honest with you people. It's because you're all anonymous LOL. But anyhow, he does have it all. I'm attracted to goal-oriented men, and money usually comes with that. I'm not attracted to money, but they seem to have it, only because they're all goal-driven. I'm somewhat independently wealthy and I don't really need a guy for his money, I'd rather have him for other qualities. He's DEFINITELY got looks! But what I love most about him is that he likes the same stuff I like: Road cycling, hiking, swimming, running, kayaking, traveling, culture, dirt biking, etc. He's got this hard body like you wouldn't believe. It's beyond a 6-pack. He's 6'1", looks like a greek statue. But in addition to that he's so sweet to me, very caring. He's also got a british accent. BRITISH ACCENT, people! He's some kind of trainer for the British Royal Army in Denmark, but he's here about half the time for the army. I have to admit, his preciseness bothers me a little. But he's a real gentleman. Okay, I'm going on and on. I'll stop now. FOR SURE let me know if you come to SLC in April. We can go shopping at the Gateway or go for a bike ride, if you like that and have time. It'd be a treat. We could even go to the Rocky Mountain chocolate Factory (shhhh, I didn't say that). I hope I can eat SOMETHING there. These braces are driving me crazy. I got them yesterday. I have to have them on for the next 4 months!

It can TOTALLY be done! Look at how many people on this thread have done it. You CAN reach your final goal. It's very exciting.

Brenda I just love you. You're so real. Luv the real. I think you already look fantastic and you're going to look even more fantastic in a few months. You'll get there with the cardio. It takes awhile to build up that muscle endurance again, too. I bet you're very surprised at how quickly you pick back up. It's like an exponential curve, truly. The belt lipectomy sort of tightened my legs, yes. They didn't specifically work on my legs, but by pulling up my butt and abs, it smoothed out my legs quite a bit. Plus I lost like 15 more pounds after I got the belt. Yeah, they don't touch any more - crazy! I fit (tight) into size 6's today. SIZE 6!!! Holy hell, I couldn't believe it. I haven't been that size since I was 2 years old. They were short shorts, though. Could never have done it with jeans as my legs are not a size 6, just my stomach/hips. My legs are more like 8's or 10's. I need to update my ticker. I'm like 150 pounds now. Just 10 more pounds, I swear it. No more after that. Promise. Brenda, hun, you don't have to fess up that you were once the fat girl. I don't mention it until like the 3rd date anyway. The new fella I'm dating has seen old fat pics of me, and guess what? He doesn't care! Shocked the hell out of me when he kissed me after saying, "you were still beautiful." Boy, I could fall for this guy. Anyhow, just live it up. You're hot, girl, and you can strut it once in awhile. Hey, do you just love your boobs? I'm thinking of having mine done. They're not saggy because I just never had any, but I'm thinking of getting implants. Smaller ones - like a C or something. Do you have any implants? Love the personal trainer, girl. He's going to get you looking even hotter. Just do what the man says with a smile on that beautiful face of yours.

Hey, maybe if you have gallstones when the doc goes in, you can write off part of your surgery to your insurance - that is, if you're self-pay. I was HOPING to get gall stones so I could get banded at the same time and save myself $6,000 for the anesthesia, operating room fees, etc.

LOL. Did you have a mental breakdown? Don't do it! I was a little upset that I super sucked with my workouts after the lower-body-lift. It took me a good 2 weeks to build up to where I was before. I think I was about 7 weeks out before totally being back to normal. Just pace yourself, girl. Everyone's different. I'm sure I overdid it when I first started jogging again. It probably set me back. What I want to know is when this damned swelling is going to go away. It's cramping my style. When i sit down I have a pooch on my upper-stomach. I know it's the swelling. I have heard it can take as much as 9 months to go away. PuhLEASE don't tell me that! I want it to be gone by next month when Jacques (new guy) comes back in town. He's got no body fat on him, I swear, the dirty bastard. Just rock-hard, beautiful abs. Beautiful, beautiful abs.. ahhhhhhh.. okay daydreaming over! We'll get there, Brenda. Just stick to that routine and you'll bounce back, I'm certain! Hey, when are ya coming to Utah?

Lisa, you're hot!

Lisa! Are the pics on your computer? If so, you can click on the Attach Image icon at the top (this little icon ) From there you can select your image on your computer and then click "upload". The images will appear in your message. If you show me where your before/after pics are located, I'll attach the images to this thread, if you'd like!

My words of wisdom would be to consider that it is YOU that makes the band work. Some people ask "What if it doesn't work for me?" It'll work for YOU if you work for the band. Keep on top of your fills, don't eat foods that go down too easily, and don't try to use the first month as a weight loss period. It's a healing period. You'll have more energy to do what you need to do if you get calories in during the healing period. You'll do fantastic! Use positive self-talk and remember that the band has no "magic period." I lost the majority of my weight during the last 9 months, when I really started to enjoy exercising. So don't get caught in the "I've only lost 30 pounds in 5 months" trap. Just get back on the horse and do it. Good luck!

Flabuless, girl, watch out! This sounds similar to my own situation about 5 months ago with my now-ex. He told me within 3 weeks of knowing him that he loved me. I think, rather, that he WANTED to love me, so desperately, so he could cling to someone again. I was infatuated to be sure, as well. The relationship moved far too quickly from there, we ended up making big mistakes, and our once-perfect relationship had a chemical reaction and exploded. TRY to pace things, truly. I know it's hard. But it's better to take it a little slower so you know that his love isn't truly infatuation.

HA! It's becoming a serious problem, to be honest with you, because I'm not married. You don't want the sex addiction. It's causing a lot of internal torment. But Jacques (one of the new guys I'm dating) says whoever I marry will be one happy man because of my crazy animal drive LOL! I'm convinced it's not about low self-esteem any more. It's just about the pure physical desire for it 24/7! I knew that focused personality would come in handy one day. I did nothing special. A couple of the scars were taken out during the tummy tuck, but the others have really faded. Took about a year for them to fade somewhat. I'm not concerned about it. I'm not going topless or wearing a bikini anyway.

Did anybody catch that Oprah show? I missed it! I think I replaced food addiction with exercise and sex. Anyhow, here's a Before/After that my lower-body-lift doc took yesterday. Oh, by the way, this is 8 weeks post-op. I was a size 12 before and a size 8 now:

I do tons of squats and presses and do lifting quite a bit. I'm a girl, so I'm not doing as much as a guy, but it should be okay for you after awhile.

I typically eat 1.25-1.75 cups in a given meal. I am aware that I eat more than the typical banded person, though.

Here I go again. I'm not used to the new me yet. My 8's are getting loose!!!

I heard that quote at institute last Thursday! Our problem is that the flesh is weak. You're right about perspective. I lose that. Sundays are the absolute worst for me and I really don't know why. I get a little sad on Sundays for some reason. Sad that I'm still alone here. Knowing that we had talked about getting married in March, and now March is here and no wedding and no man. I need to be patient! It has been a whopping 2 months. I need to remember that. So much has happened so quickly - for a lot of us! Keeping perspective is a great key to this moderation business. You helped me today, girl. Thanks!

Kyethra I'm medium-large frame. My dad has very broad shoulders and I inherited them. So broad-shouldered, but the rest of me is about medium. I'm tall, at 5'9". It's possible that 140 is too small, but in looking at pictures of myself, I think I could stand to lose around 20 pounds. People look at me funny when I tell them that (usually when they ask if I'm all "done" losing weight). Most of them say, "Where will you lose the 20 pounds???" So perhaps what I'll do is let my body decide where it wants to be. If I find that my energy levels decrease at a certain weight, I'll bring it back up again. I'll do a little energy inventory in about 10 pounds, how does that sound? I truly just want to be at optimal fitness level. It's very important to me to be able to be competitive at my sports. I do think, though, that with your large frame at 5'8", 150-180 is definitely ideal. I always thought when I was 300+ pounds that I'd want to stop at like 185. Perhaps that's because I was around that weight in junior high/high school and was okay with it. Funny how what I used to be okay with isn't okay with me any more. Okay, I'm going to wax therapist on you guys again. I apologize. I've been introspective lately and you guys have to pay the price for it. Heck, even my triathlon blog has become my friggin online diary. But I digress... I see patterns in this board, patterns I see in myself: We are obsessed, focused people. Maybe not all of us, but I see this pattern in a lot of us. We become very focused on something, such as eating, and we can't get it out of our heads. It's a lack of moderation, in a sense, that we sort of embrace. In my case, the lack of moderation comes in the form, now, of exercise and self-beautification. It seems to be my goal in life these days to turn the heads of all men, and then totally ignore them. WHY??? What am I trying to validate in doing that? I'll tell ya what: I'm trying to validate that I am actually attractive to men. My entire life was spent as the fat, funny, happy-go-lucky girl. No man wanted that. And it seems like I've been using men lately, too. I'll get the good-looking guy that would have never taken a second look at me before, use him, and then never respond to his calls. So my new quest, people of bandland, is to be the best ME that I can be - and be totally happy with it. It's funny to relate, but I reached that enlightenment about 3 days ago. My sister says that if you reach total enlightenment, beer shoots right out your nose. LOL. I don't feel the need to date the hottest guy I can spot now. Believe it or not, this is a huge step for me. I sorta stopped grieving for that lost, dysfunctional, crazy sexual relationship I had with the man who broke my heart for the 'better looking' woman. It's as if I was turning around and doing exatly what he did to me. But I think it's out of my system now, and I feel terribly for having used these men. I tried to get them to fall so hard for me just so I could say sianara. Alright, back to my point: At what point do we learn moderation? How does one learn moderation? Are there moderation exercises out there? I've been doing NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) lately, and that's helped with many things, like getting over this guy and truly believing that I don't need a good looking man to validate me. But can NLP teach you moderation? I'm afraid that I'd become obsessed with NLP in that quest for moderation! In many respects, the lack of moderation has proved to be worth a lot to me. There are things that I'm very good at, as I suspect there are some very, very talented people on this board. Comes with the focus. So how do we learn moderation while still focusing on our goals, just not with crazy tenactiy? Okay, I'm done introspecting on you. Anyone have comments on this or am I just spitballing?