Jill_S

Me: Wisconsin Hubs: Virginia Yea, so. No, not since New Year's :couch2: Hitatchi is a girl's best friend. (Not to say Slumber Party's aren't but...well, Hitatchi is *my* best friend.)

Anyone have any experience using self-bronzers, or those new lotions that are supposed to add color gradually? I am such a pale girl this year. I'd like to have a little bit of color.

There are some people who want to be cuddled and coddled when they fall down off their roller skates. There are others that push people away who try to help. And there are still others who say "I can do this on my own." On the other hand, if you took three people who watched the person fall off their roller skates, they'd have three different reactions: Running to help, berating, and asking if any help was needed. Support for anything - be it the band, an addiction, or an injury - runs the same course. We all bring different life experience to this board. We all have our own ways of supporting and being supported. The absolute worst thing anyone can do is take that personally. It saddens me that people do. I have a sister who is a perpetual victim. Everything that has gone wrong in her life is someone else's fault. There is no doubt that 41 years of that colors the way I address issues. Everyone has that color - be it white, yellow, red or blue - we all have color. When I screw up, it's all on me. I do not berate myself (anymore - pre-band, I certainly did). I do not run those horrible tapes that a few people described (and could have been mine). But I do take responsibility for it, and I own it. I didn't see anyone judging anyone else on this thread, and I'm sorry folks felt judged. But the next time you read something and you feel that way, take into account how *many* people there are here who share that experience, and how many *other* people on this board do not.

Oh, no doubt. I didn't mean to imply that it did. I can only speak from my experience, because my experience is all I have. I still look longingly at cheese. I love cheese. Cheese is like nirvana to me. But I know that if I eat it, I will pay for it, either in weight gain or in pain from the band. Does that mean I never eat it? No. It just means it's a treat, and not something I'd eat often, or much of. I don't even buy my favorites (salami-cheese or cracker barrel extra sharp) because it goes to waste. There's no sense spending 3 bucks for a package of cheese that I'm going to eat less than 1 ounce of before it goes bad. This band surgery doesn't make *anything* magically go away. I don't think I, or anyone else here implied that it does. As I've said a few times, you have to work with the band. If you don't, you're just killing time. I wasn't speaking in absolutes. No one - and I mean no one - eats perfectly from the time their band gets put in, until they reach their goal weight. Working with the band doesn't mean forcing anything for everyone. Working with the band, for ME, means giving up many of the foods I stuffed in my mouth without really tasting, enjoying or thinking about before. It means stopping when I feel full. It means that pizza is a treat, not a weekly dinner. It means that if I am committed to seeing the scale continue to drop, I can't eat many of the things I enjoyed before /shrug. I don't consider it deprivation. And I do occasionally (seriously occasionally - once every few months?) indulge in something that I enjoyed weekly before. But in much smaller portions and in much fewer instances. Really. I'm not being preachy. I know that sometimes fast food is the only option for folks. I know that sometimes, your body is screaming for ice cream. I know that sometimes it pays to give in to a craving in a small way rather than over do it by putting it off. But I also know that the less I give in, the better I feel. And right now, at this stage of my banding progress, I'd rather feel better right now than order from Pizza Hut because I'm too tired to cook. It's a personal thing. Everyone has to do it *their way*. Banding: The Burger King of Weight Loss Surgery. (Have it your way!)

Oh now that's supportive, yay! :eek: I'm nearly six months out. I haven't eaten any fast food. I tried pizza - twice. It no longer holds any attraction for me, at least not to the extent that it used to. Tough love, babes - tough love. Rather than reacting maliciously as the quoted post, why not try reacting with the compassion you expect to get when *you* *do* screw up? Have I eaten things that I shouldn't have? Yes. And I pay the price for it each and every time - either on the scale or in pain. The fact is, you either work WITH the band, or you work against it.

Ditto. Although I do pamper myself, just not with food. Replace bad habits with good habits. Replace a quarter pounder with a facial. Replace a Hersey bar with getting your nails done or your eyebrows waxed. Replace eating that bowl of ice cream with a Protein bar (The Southbeach bars are so damn good...) This is my issue. This is my body. I did this, no one else. I am not diseased. I am simply unable to eat anything I want. And that's okay. It's my responsibility. Not the band, not my parents, not my friends.

Easy? As an (almost) 41 year old woman, who has been obese her entire life (with short moments of just being chubby) - who comes from a family of morbidly obese people - who comes from a family of diabetics, high-blood-pressure kings and queens - who comes from a family of brand new knees and hips and a host of other weight related health problems.... - who has dieted off and on since she was TWELVE years old; lost and gained, lost and gained, lost and gained - who is staring at her future every time she looks at her 425 pound aunt and her 400 pound father... Easy? HA. ONLY way. Not easy way. Only way. The band is not losing this weight for me. *I* am losing it, by making sound food choices, exercising, and using the band as a *tool*, as it is intended. In the end, the band isn't doing anything but telling me to STOP EATING, or risk an hour sliming and PBing myself into tears. If I *had* an internal mechanism capable of learning that, don't you think after 41 years I would have learned it? I'm a pretty smart woman. I learned how to cross the street and look both ways, don't they think I could have picked up something as simple as stopping eating? Easy way, my big fat butt. Pffft on those who say this is the easy way. A big sugary raspberry to the nay-sayers and the perpetually skinny who cluck their tongues at us. To quote a favorite song of mine: "Everything easy has it's cost." If this is easy, and the cost is being *healthy* - I'll go along with it being the easy way out. Otherwise, I'm sorry. I can't agree.

Professional geek. Okay, I'm a systems analyst. Same thing :puke:

Banded 9/19/05 Dr Paul Huepenbecker, Madison Wisconsin, USA Filled to 1.75cc No problems at all.

I'd been stuck for a couple weeks between 259-258, but this week, I started adding a Protein bar (210c, 19g protein) after I work at in the evenings, and today, I'm 256.5. Also, last night, rather than 30 minutes @ 17.5 mph on the bike, I did 20 minutes @18mph on the bike. I dunno if that's part of the change or not, but I'll defintely take the loss! My daily calories had been between 800-1000 a day. I added 210 calories. I also burned 200 less last night. /shrug Maybe that's just a kick start. Maybe that's what you need.

They want you to quit befor surgery because of the anesthesia, and because supposedly, it takes smokers longer to heal. I cut down from 2 packs a day to less than a pack before surgery and now since I started working am at 22 cigarettes a day. I consider this a vast improvement. I haven't had any band related problems due to the smoking.

My dad's Chex Mix he makes at Christmas. Not because it got stuck or it made me PB or anything. But because after eating a bowl of it, I gained like 2 pounds (salt and Water retention anyone?) and i HATE it when the scale goes the wrong way.

I have to agree - Nykee, you should get some of these and keep them at home. They are a lifesaver for me. I have them, along with a couple low-cal slimfast bars and my Protein bars - in a huge basket on my dining room table. I want something? I don't even go into the kitchen - the dining room has everything I need.

Garlic hasn't bothered me yet. But anything Soy? Oh my. Unfortunately, the Protein bars I eat are mostly soy based (South Beach). Good thing I have my own office :target:

I'm going to throw my scale out. I've gained and lost the same 2 pounds now for 2 weeks, and I know that I have been ultra-good :target: I just ordered a Tanita scale. If it says the same thing, well - ok, but I hate getting on the scale and not seeing it budge from 258 when I am doing everything right. I'm so frustrated. I really wanted to hit my first goal by my birthday next week, but that's not gonna happen. At least, not according to THIS scale.

I've only had 2 fills, but I'm at 1.75cc and I'm plenty restricted. Maybe too much, as I only eat about 900-1000 calories a day, and I burn off 500-600 of those at night. My weight loss was great right after the last fill on 1/17, but has now managed to slow, then stop. I defintely don't need another fill, but I may need to play with my calories and up them some.

If you're comfortable eating mushies while you're gone, I say go for it. You never know how fill is going to affect you, so you should be prepared for that. I've flown since I had a fill, and it hasn't bothererd me at all. What bothers me is airport security I can take a big ol' honkin' screwdriver on an airplane, but they take my bic lighter? bah.

Grats to you !

Several years ago, i was on Zoloft, and yes, it was a HUGE help for depression. For anxiety, though (I've had a couple panics attacks - 3 in ten years now), I have an emergency bottle of Xanax. I get ten pills a year (at my own request. If I had more...ugh.) and last year, I only took 2. I've also been on Paxil, which was *awesome* for PMS. I'm seriously considering going back on it, because my mood swings lately have been horrible.

Right now, I'm doing cardio 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. I'd like to add in some strength training, but as I'm moving closer to work later in the spring, I hesitate to join a gym right now.

I read, or I write. I light a candle and stare at the flame until I can find a good thought. I cry. Seriously. Crying helps. Crying has gotten a bad rap through the years. You need a release when you're stressed. It's either cry, or...uh...well, you all know another kind of release.

Calories just confuse the hell out of me :/ If I'm eating 1000 calories and exercising off about 400-600 calories a day, shouldn't I be losing a lot more than a couple pounds a week? Isn't that logical? I have come to the conclusion that nothing about weightloss is logical. You roll the dice, you takes yer chances. Hang in there - stick with it - it'll get better (at least, that's what I keep telling myself!)

I'm getting a new one for my birthday! I have one on my right shoulderblade, and this one will be on my left. The one I have has not changed with weightloss or gain, so I figure another in the same area won't hurt :Banane23:

On my second fill, the surgeon who is partnered with and assists my surgeon actually did the fill. The first time I went in, my surgeon zipped the needle right in and I was in and out of that office in 10 minutes! With the assistant, it took much longer and after almost 2 weeks, it's still a little sore :/ I don't think I'll go back to the other surgeon I went to him to save a little time cause his office is closer to where I work, but for peace of mind and sanity, I'll take an hour off and go to my own surgeon.

This is all coming in very handy for me, too. My stepdaughter is getting married in May and I need something that looks very "too young to be her real mother" and makes her dad wish we'd never split up