kjeter

Holy Shamoley! What a difference! You look terrrrrrrrific!

There's only one thing I truly miss - Whataburger! Those of you outside of Texas probably don't know what that is, but it's the best hamburger God ever invented, slathered with MUSTARD as He intended burgers to be. God, I miss those. I used to be able to eat a double meat, large fries and a Dr. Pepper the size of a chicken bucket! That's okay... I'm down 3 dress sizes, and a guy a work the other day told me I'm "f-ing hot." LOL! I'll take that over a Whataburger anyday!

I admire your spunk, woman! However, whenever I plateau, I find that if I eat MORE for a day or two, then go back to the meager portions, I start losing again. Let me know how this strategy works.

You are just adorable, and you look so happy! Keep those progress pics coming!

Oh, I'm so sorry you went through so much pain, but so relieved it was not band related. I had my gall bladder out several years ago due to gall stones, so I can related. It's an up-all-nite-gnashing-of-teeth-moaning-groaning kind of pain. Just horrible! So happy you're on the mend now!

I was self pay, and never attended a seminar. I saw a commercial on TV, made an appointment for a free consultation, and BAM! Three weeks later I had surgery. Easy and worth every nickle.

I've finally done it! I'm down fifty pounds, ya'll! A weekend of hanging out with my "skinny bitch" sister pushed me over the edge! That chick never eats anything, so it was easy to drop two pounds over the weekend. I'm more than halfway to my goal now!:biggrin2:

Readysteady, you need to go in rompin' and stompin' and insist they give you a GOOD fill! I'm going in for my fifth on Wednesday! I would have broken some people's bones by now if they were being that stingy with my fills. Of course, I have absolutely no patience at all.

I probably will reward myself with something, but it's going to have to wait a bit. I have a good friend that's getting married in August, and I've been invited to a bridal shower luncheon for her at the most fancy schmancy hotel in dallas. (Needless to say, I've never been there before!) I don't have a single thing appropriate to wear to such an event, so I'll have to buy a new dress (what a SHAME!) I'll wait until the week before so that I can buy as small a size as possible! Rhapsody, I'm certain that June is your month for Onederland!! Just keep swimming!

Wow! You're one hot little chick! Keep up the good work!

Great job! I'm so happy for you!

Some of you have asked for progress pics, and since I never do anything in a small way, I thought I'd go big and bare it all (almost). Keep in mind that in January, you could not have paid me a million bucks to even put on a swimsuit, much less be in the same zip code with a camera while wearing one, so this took a lot of courage for me. Be kind! Before, 230 lbs, In progress, 185 lbs

In my lap band class prior to surgery, I was told not to use straws and not to drink anything carbonated. The reasoning for this was that both can cause uncomfortable gas. Because I'm a germaphobe, I refuse to drink from a restaurant glass without a straw. I was terrified to do it at first, but the earth did not stop spinning on its axis, and the sun still rose the next morning. Then, on a particularly hot day, I had a few light beers out by the pool, and to my great surprise, I didn't explode! Since I didn't have any distress from breaking these taboos, I'm wondering if there is some other reason that these things are bad for banders on a long term basis. (Yes, I know that even light beer has too many calories, but it's almost 100 degrees here in Texas already! Ice cold beer is necessary to sustain life!) Does anyone have any wisdom they can share? I do have a LOT of restriction now, so that's not the reason I can tolerate supposed no-nos. I just don't want to screw anything up. Unless I start carrying my own glasses to restaurants with me, I can't see giving up straws. There have been too many times when a glass I was served had lipstick stains on it. EEEWWWWW!!!!!

I'm definately going for the tummy tuck and boob lift. DH, who is very much a boob man, would love to see me with a 24" waist and 48" chest, but that ain't happening. I've spent too much of my life with parts of my body being too large! Crystal, that's heartbreaking, what your sister-in-law did to you! Where does she live? I'll go break her kneecaps! You will MOST DEFINATELY fit into that robe, and when it's too large, give it BACK to her the next Christmas. UGH! What a horrible person! Well, being a total knockout will be the best revenge against her, and the best gift you can give yourself is your good health.

Looking forward to the day, Queen....

And now that I look closer, I see that you've only had two fills. It took the forth one for me to get me where I am. Methinks you need a fill or two!

JDsmommy, something is definately not right here. If you have the proper amount of restriction, you should NOT be able to keep eating, unless you are eating stuff like ice cream that goes right through. I always had a hard time stopping, too, so that's why I got the band. Now it HURTS to eat too much. If you're not experiencing that, you really need to talk to your doctor. From your signature line, it looks like you're losing weight. Is this a recent development?

No need to be calm and civilized with me. I think my work clothes must be deceiving. I'm really the kind of chick that sits on the floor and plays with the dogs instead of hanging out with the "ladies." Civilized is no fun! Better to raise as much hell as possible.

Thank you! I think we look a little alike, too! But Crystal photographs much better than I do. I always look a little drunk or something.

Hey, Queen, it would be great to meet you! Anytime you're coming to Texas, please let me know. Crystal is trying to make it sound like she looked like yesterday's garbage - SHE DIDN'T! She is a very beautiful woman. And so friendly and outgoing. I wish we'd had more than an hour to get acquainted.

Dang, girl! You got those up fast! I'm not even through digesting my lunch yet! It was SUPER meeting you. You are a very sweet, interesting person, and I'm sure I could learn a lot from you. Hope we can do it again!

I agree, Crystal. He looks fab just the way he is. Meanwhile, I'm trying to convince my hubby that he needs to be below 200. His football weight was 180, and he looked GOOOOOOD! He was at 234 when I had surgery, and we made a bet. I say I can lose 95 pounds before he can lose 34. He quickly lost 16 pounds, but hasn't done much else since. Yes, I know I have an advantage, but I'm also trying to lose a lot more than he is!

Yes, by all means, post some pics of those new birthday clothes! I just can't bring myself to do a lot of shopping yet. I did buy a pair of size 16 pants to wear to my nephew's graduation. That was 3 weeks ago, and I put them on today, and I'll be danged if they're not already a little baggy. I'm going home today and try on some of the 14s in my closet. I am absolutely amazed at what a huge difference 5 or 10 pounds make in how my clothes fit. Is this cool, or what?

Well, I was banded almost four weeks before you, and I have had four fills, now at 7.4cc in a 10cc band. I didn't have much restriction until this last fill, but WOW! was it ever a good one! In fact, I'm thinking of cancelling my next fill appt. I can't decide... should I go in just to check in even if I don't think I need a fill? And yes, I mean I literally cannot eat more than a cup of food. Last night we had friends over for a cookout, which is my favorite thing to do. I fixed my plate, already telling myself that it was a holiday, so okay to be a little bad. I had about 3 ounces of grilled salmon, some cole slaw and 2 deviled eggs on my plate. I REALLY wanted to finish it because it was soooo good, but absolutely could not. I think that's the coolest damned thing ever. I guarantee you nothing would have stopped me before!

That is ONE HOT COUPLE! Woo hoo!