B-Man

I know the arguments against lifting weights. I don't want to bulk up, or I just want to tone. Well of course being a guy I have maybe a skewed opinion on the matter, but just remember the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. The other thing I want to mention is how much a difference in my overall body composition lifting has made. Its clear which areas I focus on, and which areas need attention, and the self confidence it has given me is absolutely fantastic. I now have two motivating factors to reaching my goal weight. 1. Just accomplishing what I thought was the impossible and 2. The work I have done developing muscle will finally show, instead of being covered up by fat. I can tell you for me there is nothing more frustrating than to know I have a rockin build being covered up by a bunch of fat. :biggrin:

I keep complaining to my dw about being stuck at the same weight forever, but in reality i have lost 10 pounds since December 1st. Starting at the beginning of the year I have been making a big push in the Gym. Not just cardio, but fairly significant weight lifting. Although my weight has stayed relatively steady, I have lost 4 inches in my waist in just over a month. Kinda dorky of me, but now I want everyone to feel my arms. I have developed pretty significant muscle development over the past month. If only the remaining fat on my arms would go away women could start swooming over my impressive physique. :crying: I am still 40 pounds from goal and I get down sometimes because the scale is not moving. Also don't buy into the the concept of loosing fat and gaining muscle. I kinda know its true, but my typical self doubt keeps me from believing it.

Yesterday was my bandiversary, and I have lost 90 pounds or so. One of my passions in life is flying, and I had gotten so heavy that finding a plane that I could fit into was getting difficult. I quite flying for almost 5 years because of my weight. Yesterday as a reward to myself I booked a plane and an instructor and went flying. What a wonderful time I had, not having to worry about would I fit, or is the plane over weight. In a small airplane there is usually only 600-700 pounds of useful load. Fuel takes about 250 pounds leaving only 350-450 pounds for passengers. Well when one of those passengers weighs 340, then the other better be dam skinny.

My wife is a very strong beautiful person who happens to have a similar weight problem as I do. When I was banded in January she also went on a strict liver cleansing diet, and for awhile actually out lost me. Now after almost a year I am down 90 pounds, and she has gained back 10 of the 40 she lost. She goes to the gym with me, but is not doing well with the eating. She is getting really disappointed in herself because she has put back on some weight. I made the suggestion to her that maybe she could consider the band, and how it was the best thing I ever did for myself. My question is do I continue to push her towards this solution, or just encourage her to eat better and continue to work out? Her BMI is currently at 32 so she is still lower than me 34.8

Ok thank you for the advise. I will just continue down the path I am currently traveling.

I Have been stuck on a monster plateau. Same +3 -3 pounds for the last two+ months. Finally I decided to cheat. I went to a fat Dr and got a prescription for phentermine. I used to take this stuff all the time, and usually showed a decent result for a short period of time. I am getting sufficient exercise, but my appetite has been really bad lately. I went to the doc to get a fill, and was told I was where I needed to be, and the rest was upto me. DOH!! So anyway after about 1 week on the phentermine I have lost 7 pounds. I am pretty sure over the next month or so I should be able to drop 10 more. Then I just have to work to keep it off. Still have 40 pounds to go till goal.

I asked my Dr about this very issue, and he said he has never heard of it being a problem, but I know that unless he is an AME what they think / say is worthless. I just got my third class done in October, and I choose the don't ask don't tell approach. I would image a class 1 is far less easy to sneak it past them. I haven't tried Scuba Diving since being banded. Wonder if it will be a problem.

I went in yesterday to discuss with my Dr if I needed another fill. I was not 100% sure that I needed one, but I wanted to talk to the doc about it. I can eat considerably more than I think I should be able to, and I always have been. That being said I constantly experience pain when eating so I figure the band is probably tight enough. After weighing in the Dr suggested the following. 1. I am not chewing my food enough, and the food is scratching the lining of the stomach as is goes through the band. Long term this could damage the lining and will require medication and an unfill to correct. 2. He felt that the band has done all its going to do, and the rest is up to me. Basically he said I need to eat less and work out more. So not that this has ever been easy, but the easy part is over and the really hard work begins. I am ok with that I guess. He did do a fluro (x-ray) and I could see the actual opening through the band. It really is pretty small. He said it looks exactly how it should.

I yawn a lot myself. I did some research and its not related to weight loss, there is a lot of chatter about yawning while working out. Its not that uncommon.

VPX's NO Shotgun is very low calorie, and almost no carbs. They make a big deal about creating Insulin without using carbs to do it. I have tried several other precursors, and nothing else has worked as well. The problem with NO is a lot of them cause severe cramps / bathroom problems. NO Shotgun can upset my stomack, but not to severe.

right, lifting weight increase. about 15% increase across the board over the past month or so.

any of you guys using a NO supplement? I started using N.O. Shotgun mixed with whey before my workouts and have seen significant weight increases over the past month or so. Of course it has not helped me get my lazy butt to the gym more often. the stuff taste absolutely horrible, but I believe its worth it.

Hmm Slime. Unlike you lucky people, the slime is at least a once a week occurrence for me. I am actually pretty used to it by now. Yes before you ask, I know I must be doing something wrong for this to happen so often, but I have always been heavy on the saliva. Most of the time I can get to the bathroom in plenty of time, but not always. I was ridding back from lunch in a buddies car and had a bad experience. I had PB'ed at lunch before leaving, but apparently I wasn't done. Thank God it was a Rental and he was returning it that day.

Well Halloween kicked my butt. I fell off the wagon so bad, that for a week or so I even stopped feeling guilty about all the candy I ate. Now I am pissed off, depressed, and having a hrd time getting back to the gym and a healthy eating pattern. I gained three pounds as well. @#$@%!# Work suxs right now for me, so I am really fighting to regain control. Two things I do when I am depressed. Eat and Spend money. I went out and purchased a new tractor. That made me feel better, at least until the first payment is due.

I am doing ok, I guess. I have been stuck at the same weight for over a month now. Of course I know why. I am still going to the gym, and feel my workouts are really helping to tune my body, but I just have not been able to curb my appetite lately. I have been debating getting another fill, but I still struggle a lot with the fill I have now. I have just gotten much better at finding cheater foods. Also I think I have hit that "can I be happy at this weight" stage where I am not as motivated to loose. I still have 55 pounds to go till my goal weight, so I really should not be so complacent at this point.

part of the equation should be not if, but should you be eating those foods. If we all continue to eat the way we did before the band is only going to be partially effective. Yes you can eat smaller quantities and chew it better, but then your are not getting the nutrition your body needs to have energy and be healthy. Another consideration is eating spicy foods that would normally require drinking something to tame the heat. Remember no drinking during meals. This has been the hardest thing for me to overcome. Now I still drink Water or Tea when I eat, but only small amounts because drinking during a meal will almost guarantee a PB when you are at proper restriction. You will see this statement a 1000 times on this board " the band is just a tool, not a miracle" and if you do not change the way you eat, you will be very disappointed. I don't want to discourage you, and maybe others have done just fine continuing to eat the way they did before, but don't count on it.

I am in a very similar position, but I am a lot further from my goal. I work out / exercise quite a bit, but I do not believe I am eating as well as I should. The problem is right now I am ok with that. I still have 60 pounds to go till I reach my goal, and I know I should be working harder at it. I think the thing that is causing me the most problems is that since I do work out so much, I believe that the weight staying static (or even going up two pounds) is ok. My clothes continue to fit looser, and my muscle definition is deffinately picking up, but the scale refuses to move.

I have asked this same question 10 times on this board, and I always get the same answer "its not supposed to hurt" but I can't remember the last meal I had that did not hurt to some degree or another. I am not to tight, because I can still eat way too much and I can drink Water as fast as I want to. I need to go to the Dr and ask them, but I expect to get the same answer about chewing and smaller bites. I have never felt as if the food sits on top of the band in a small pouch. To me the food enters the band immediately and either goes down smoothly, or gets stuck for a short period of time. Last week I was getting a little worried that the band had slipped, but I have none of the symptoms of a slip (reflux, vomiting, ect) I have just learned to live with it. :smile2:

Question for you guys, I am constantly having a debate with my dw about weight lifting. She feels I should not by building at all, but just trying to tone and burn fat. I feel that the more I build the better I will be in the long run. Besides I am a guy and when I get relatively skinny I want to have significant muscle. She keeps telling me that the additional muscle will just keep me looking fat. How much truth is there to the statement that more muscle burns more calories? What approach are you guys taking to the weights? Another thing Is I am working out quite a bit more lately, but my weight loss has all but stopped. I am not sure if it is my diet, or what is going on. I am probably taking in about 2K per day, but I should be burning at least half that everyday in my exercise routine alone.

I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and ended up donating three huge garbage bags worth of clothing to Purple Heart. Anything larger than a XL went in the bag. Lots of 3XL and 4XL and even several almost new 2XLs went to a new home never to return to mine.

I have no intentions of looking like a body builder, I already went through that phase in my twenties. I am most concerned about what I can do to encourage the most fat loss. My typical workout starts with 30 minutes on the elliptical followed by my weight lifting routine, and then 10 minutes on the bike to finish off the workout. I am not trying to build excessive muscle, but when I am doing my weights I prefer 4 sets of each muscle group at the highest weight I can mange. My wife suggest a lower weight and higher rep count. Besides, I love the look I get from those dam gym rats (the guys that are clearly there to be seen) when they walk up to a machine I was on and have to lower the weight by half.

I can understand your frustration, but at the same time I would say you are punishing yourself more than the moderators by no longer participating on the forum. I don't like a lot of the privacy related stuff that occurs on these boards, but I guess I have just gotten used to it since it happens almost everywhere now days. I think the physical and mental help that I receive by visiting the forum far outweigh my privacy concerns. Besides I would love to go for a ride in your Cirrus once we both get down to size. (hows that for pitching for a free ride) :Banane37:

For me its a relatively simply thing. A Good burp / cough and it comes right out. Less than a 5 second ordeal, with no after effect. I usually go right back to my meal remembering to slow down a little.

I did. I went to the seminar, had the consultation, and started down the insurance path, and then just lost interest. I was not ready. I did not want it bad enough. Its like being in a bad relationship, food is a bad relationship. I turned to food as a solution for all my emotional problems. You hear all the time about domestic violence and how these people keep going back to the partner that is beating them. Well how is being in a bad relationship with food any different? The same broken promises, lies and abuse, but for some reason we keep going back to food thinking it will be different next time. Well after six more months of domestic (food) abuse I finally did what I knew all along was the right thing. I Borrowed the money and made the most selfish decision I have ever made. You never know just how bad a relationship like that was until you get away from it. My only regret is that I waited so long.

We as of today's visit to the Dr Office I am halfway to my goal. So I started at 330 pounds on January 11th, and today I was at 265. 65 pounds in just under six months. I actually went in for a small un-fill because I am leaving on a 14 day Alaskan trip and I wanted to be able to eat a little bit. I almost kissed the nurse who was weighing me in. Boy that would have been a awkward moment. You know there have been many times I have felt like a complete failure, and so frustrated because I work so hard at times, and sabotage myself at others. Lately I especially felt like the scales were not moving at all. But when I got on the scale and realized I had lost 20 pounds since May 14th I finally felt like i really could succeed.