Bea1128

I use fat free ranch or lite vidalia onion sometimes. It's pretty good, but not as good as mayo in my opinion. I've also done low-fat plain yogurt with a chutney of some kind like mango. That's yummy!

Whosya - yeah, I know what you mean. We have a mixed league, "boy-girl-boy-girl". Some of the "boys" try to be bossy, but I'm an extremely outspoken southern woman and I don't let them get away with that. Everyone that loves me knows that about me and they just laugh it off. I've already ticked a few people off because they don't know me very well nor do they get my warped sense of humor. Our "coach" is a woman. She's played for years so she's fair. We have tall people, thin people, fat people, short people. And most important, we all suck compared to a competitive league and we all make mistakes. Now I will say that some of the "boys" can knock it out of the park, but most of them missed balls last night. I may not be fast, but I didn't let anything get by me, so they can just all lump it if they don't like it!!! LOL I may suck, but I have a lot of heart and I don't quit. Amen and now I'm done with my sermon, Ill get off my soapbox, check in next week for another episode!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!! :lol: :lol: :smile: :lol: :smile: One thing you should know about me is that nothing makes me madder than someone being excluded because of how they look or what they have or whatever!! Sorry...I always fight for the "underdog" so to speak. I'm extremely lucky to have found my church home. We've only been there 1 1/2 years and before that we were at a church where appearance was everything. I don't play that game. If I like you -I like you, it doesn't matter if you live in a mansion or in a cardboard box. I really am sorry that you've had that experience. Your church should be your sanctuary and you should feel at home, everywhere.... which includes softball. Those people are just ugly and it's their loss, not yours. Find a league if that makes you happy or just keeping triathaloning (is that a word? Ha!). Life's too short to deal with crap like that! Hope to talk to you soon!!

That stinks Whosya! I can't believe that a church team would be so blatant about not calling you. I mean, really, what happened to accepting all people? Yeah, the hell with 'em, you are awesome. I'm playing on my church team as well. We are just playing for fun too, but we have a couple of @$$'s as well. They think they can tell me what to do in the field and then those people were saying "wow, you are a great player, I had no idea". I was like "do you have to sound so surprised?". Sheesh! Just because I'm bigger than when I used to play doesn't mean I've lost my ability. It just means I'm a little slower than I used to be. Besides, I'm one of the younger players on the team. Most everyone else is either pushing 40 or already past. We've already had 4 injuries and last night was our first game. At least I haven't wimped out yet!! LOL Besides that, my butt is on the treadmill almost every day! Just keep doin' your thang, my friend! It's their loss!!! Tell em to kiss your much smaller butt!!!

Okay, I know this is a running thread, but I'm really pumped and I had to share with people who will understand. We had our first softball game tonight. Now realize that we are a "just for fun" team and play in a league of other non competitive teams. Anyway, I wasn't sure how we would do and we did awesome! We didn't win, but we went into overtime. I had two hits!!! The first one I made it home, but the person behind me got the last out. The next one I would have made it (and it would have been the winning point, by the way) if I'd had 10 more pounds off!! LOL. It was so close. I realized as I was running home (all the way from first base mind you) that the other guy was going to beat me to home plate. I momentarily thought about sliding, but was afraid I'd really hurt myself! LOL. Anyway, it was close! We had a blast! The best part is that I'm playing sports again and I didn't embarrass myself! I've dreamed of doing this again! I played sports since I was 12 and for the last 10 years I've had to give it up! Not anymore baby!!!! Sorry to go on and on, but I'm so stoked!!! Running the bases, whoop-whoop!! :blushing: Anyway, thanks for listening!!!

Thanks Whosya! Wow, 28 minutes! That's great! You must be really proud of yourself as you should! And a 10K to boot before 8 a.m. You rock!!

I think it depends on the person when it comes to gas pain after surgery. I have friends who didn't have any probs at all. I thought I was going to die for a few weeks after surgery. The surgical pain was almost non-existent, but the gas pain was excruciating. So, I know how you guys feel. The bright side is that it does eventually get better. I still have some probs with gas occasionally, but nothing like the weeks following surgery. I do however have really bad bloating and gassy feeling for a couple of days following fills. Again, most people don't have any probs with fills. I guess we are just the lucky ones who have those kinds of probs. Try not to get too frustrated, it does get better!! Congrats on your surgery. Even with the gas pains, I would do it again and again if I had to. It's been the best thing I've ever done!!!

WooHoo! Two more pounds gone!! Name..............Current.....Goal.....Lost...Still to Lose by July 4th atallen06...........231........215.......0......16 Bea1129.............231........200......11......20 BigBandFan..........296........270.......0......26 Cgailee ............208........200.......11......8 darr5380............170........165.......0.......5 Epm316..............218........200.......12.....18 erikadawn...........207........190.......0......17 faithmd.............297........300.......12.4...-3(by6/21) Hastings............248........228.......5......20 Jennypoo............174.5......170.......4.5....4.5 jrob281.............212........190.......0......22 KarenG..............168........160.......6......8 kathystrick.........308........288.......10......20 kellygirl0520.......236........220.......0......16 legster.............188........180.......9......8 Lenore1890..........263.4......247.......4.3....15.7 Leslie2Lose.........225........208.......8......17 LessNLess...........147........140.......4.......7 Lilmissband-aid.....242........239.......0.......3.4 losingjusme.........244........238.......6.......6(started 5/30) Luu2008.............215........185.......0......30 luvinke.............217........190.......11......14 Marissa's Mom.......388........358.......20.4...30 MollyMolly..........185........188.......19......-3 nancy52.............197........170.......0......27 Nettie..............193........170.......0......23 Newhope4me..........168.8......160.......8.2.... 8.8 njudono............ 298........277...... 5......21 NukeChik............227........222.......15......5 nurse7263...........244........150.......0......24 renewedhope.........179........180.......17.....-1 Sades...............194........185.......3.......9 Stacy73.............209........204.......3.......5 Sunshine2...........179........160.......4......15 (by6/29) Suzzzie. ...........273........260.......0......13 Tess415.............314........299.......13......15 TexasFire67.........170........145.......0......25 Wombat712...........128.2......120.......6......8.2 Bunkey1965................215.............205..........1..........9

That's awesome whosya! I have to get my rear back in gear. I went to camp with my DD this last weekend and I've been so swamped this week I haven't had a chance to do much exercise. It'll be painful when I start back up again. I did however have a chance to hike a really steep trail over the weekend and was very proud of myself for not only making it up, but doing it without stopping or having a heart attack. Ha! I have a softball game tomorrow (our first) so at least I'm doing something. Keep up the great work. I want to be just like you guys when I grow up!! LOL!

Yeah, I too can't eat in the morning. I have to have several cups of coffee first thing before I'm even hungry. It's normal to be tighter in the morning. FYI: For those of you who are allergy sufferers, you might not know this. I had to go to my doc’s office yesterday morning as a work in. The day before I couldn't keep anything but liquids down. Things I eat every day were getting stuck and I was throwing everything up. That night I had the worst heartburn I've ever had. It was still there in the morning and I panicked thinking I had done something to my band. Over the weekend my DD and I went to camp and were outside the entire time. On Sunday I started having really bad allergies to the point where I would sneeze so much my nose was bleeding. I had a lot of mucus and it turns out that it was draining into my pouch and irritating my stomach. It was just sitting there and making my band tighter. This is evidently a common thing for allergy sufferers. My doc told me to take some Zyrtec and Musinex for the next week. I already feel better and was able to eat more today. I still had an "episode" at dinner and had to back off a little. I've been doing pretty much just liquids since yesterday, but no more heartburn. So, if something like this happens to you think allergies if you have them. By the way, my doc looked at my band with fluoro and there's no problem there. Hopefully this will get resolved and I'll still be able to have my third fill next week before the July 4th holiday. It's a weird story, but it's true.

This past weekend my daughter and I went to camp (she as a camper, me as a counselor). It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. This camp is situated on a small river as well as a couple of man-made lakes. At some point, they built a huge cross on the top of a pretty steep mountain. Now I say mountain because I live in Texas and it's bigger than a hill, but not as big as the mountains in say Colorado. But still high and steep. One of the really cool things they do is offer a hike up this "mountain" to the cross which has a phenominal view of the valley and river below. I really wanted the experience and my DD decided she wanted to go as well. She's only 8 and I wanted to share this experience with her. I was fairly confident I could make the hike as I've been jogging almost everyday for the past month on an incline, but you have to climb up this rock shelf (about 6 feet high) from the river which means it's slick and very smooth from past flooding. There were two big guys standing at the top pulling people up. Now my first thought was "OMG, what if I jerk them off that shelf?" But I figured they both weighed more than me or at least that was what I was praying. Turns out I didn't jerk them into the river and I climbed up just fine. The hike was very steep, muddy, and rocky. I'm only 5'4" and have very short legs. Some of the rock ledges along the trail were up to my chest which means pulling myself up on more than one occasion. I made it to the top, winded, but I made it just the same!! I would not have even tried that a couple of months ago. It would have been something that my DD would have missed out on as well because she wouldn't have gone if I didn't. I said a prayer of thanks at the top for beng able to experience something that was so beautiful. I felt such a sense of accomplishment and I finally felt like I could live my life the way I wanted. I still have a long way to go, but at least I'm trying new things with less fear. I also went down the infamous "Wet Willie". This is a huge slide that you have climb up several flights of stairs to get to and slide down into the lake. I'm terrified of heights, but again my DD wanted me to do it. Once you get to the top you can feel it swaying in the wind and it took all of my power not to panic. There was a very large group from my church and all the adults went up. No way I would have done that before. I had no problems getting into a life jacket and no problems swinging into the slide. Yes, you have to swing from a bar to get into it. I screamed like a girl all the way down!! :thumbup: I probably wouldn't do it again, but at least I can say I've done it once!! I didn't particularly care for the atomic wedgy that I received when I hit the water either. I feel like I'm finally living my life again. I can be the fun person I am and hold my head high because I'm more confident and feel good about myself. That alone was worth having surgery! My journey may be long, but I'll finally get to where I want to be. I feel great and am looking better each day! What an amazing gift I've been given.

Thanks for all of the info! That's good to know. I now know all of the running I'm doing is paying off. I went to camp with my oldest this weekend and we hiked up an extremely steep trail to the top of a "mountain" (I'm in Texas so anything higher than a hill is considered a mountain here! HA!). I would never have been able to do that a few months ago. My booty was really sore the next day but I made it up just fine. You guys are all doing so great! Congrats on getting your time below 30 min! I know you feel great about yourself. Keep up the great work and keep posting as it is very inspirational to those of us just starting out!!

WooHoo! That's just around the corner.

This past weekend my daughter and I went to camp (she as a camper, me as a counselor). It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. This camp is situated on a small river as well as a couple of man-made lakes. At some point, they built a huge cross on the top of a pretty steep mountain. Now I say mountain because I live in Texas and it's bigger than a hill, but not as big as the mountains in say Colorado. But still high and steep. One of the really cool things they do is offer a hike up this "mountain" to the cross which has a phenominal view of the valley and river below. I really wanted the experience and my DD decided she wanted to go as well. She's only 8 and I wanted to share this experience with her. I was fairly confident I could make the hike as I've been jogging almost everyday for the past month on an incline, but you have to climb up this rock shelf (about 6 feet high) from the river which means it's slick and very smooth from past flooding. There were two big guys standing at the top pulling people up. Now my first thought was "OMG, what if I jerk them off that shelf?" But I figured they both weighed more than me or at least that was what I was praying. Turns out I didn't jerk them into the river and I climbed up just fine. The hike was very steep, muddy, and rocky. I'm only 5'4" and have very short legs. Some of the rock ledges along the trail were up to my chest which means pulling myself up on more than one occasion. I made it to the top, winded, but I made it just the same!! I would not have even tried that a couple of months ago. It would have been something that my DD would have missed out on as well because she wouldn't have gone if I didn't. I said a prayer of thanks at the top for beng able to experience something that was so beautiful. I felt such a sense of accomplishment and I finally felt like I could live my life the way I wanted. I still have a long way to go, but at least I'm trying new things with less fear. I also went down the infamous "Wet Willie". This is a huge slide that you have climb up several flights of stairs to get to and slide down into the lake. I'm terrified of heights, but again my DD wanted me to do it. Once you get to the top you can feel it swaying in the wind and it took all of my power not to panic. There was a very large group from my church and all the adults went up. No way I would have done that before. I had no problems getting into a life jacket and no problems swinging into the slide. Yes, you have to swing from a bar to get into it. I screamed like a girl all the way down!! :cool: I probably wouldn't do it again, but at least I can say I've done it once!! I didn't particularly care for the atomic wedgy that I received when I hit the water either. I feel like I'm finally living my life again. I can be the fun person I am and hold my head high because I'm more confident and feel good about myself. That alone was worth having surgery! My journey may be long, but I'll finally get to where I want to be. I feel great and am looking better each day! What an amazing gift I've been given.

Guy - I don't think 23 is too young. I wish I'd been able to do it at 23. Your an adult and why not nip this in the bud now instead of waiting another 10 years until you do have health issues? I would suggest going to a few free seminars in your area. That will give you a good idea about what the docs are like and give you some good info. Go to LapBand.com and you will be able to put in your zip code to find docs and seminars in your area. This website is also a wealth of information. I thought about having surgery for a year before I took the plunge. I read books, I talked to others, and read as many posts as I could here. It's the best decision I have made for myself. I'm working my way into nursing school and I knew I had to get this weight off to meet the demands of school and raising a family. Not to mention once I'm done standing and running around for 12 hours shifts. I would do it all again and again. It's been great. However, I know there can be complications and I made sure I knew what those were and educated myself before hand. So, good luck to you in your journey! Keep us all posted!

pb- I am so sorry to hear about all of the probs you are having with your docs. I know this has to be so frustrating and depressing. My heart goes out to you. I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, but just know that we are all thinking of you and hoping this gets resolved very soon. Keep us posted! We are all rooting for you!! Good luck!

I used Dr. Adam Smith in Fort Worth. I had my surgery at True Results in Hurst. I'm very happy with my surgery. I had no complications. The nurses on the morning of surgery were awesome. My friend had Dr. Ferrara who is in the same practice and has said how sweet he is. Dr. Ferrara is also a vascular surgeon and has another practice just for that. So I think he is only in this office a couple of days a week. I make a point to schedule my fills on Wed mornings because that is when Dr. Slicko (yes, that's right ) does fills. He's very nice and very gentle. He talks to you and answers any questions you might have. Sorry, got side tracked by the hottie, Dr. Slicko. :grouphug: I had my first fill at 3 weeks post-op and then every 4 weeks after that. They are pretty aggressive fillers to help you get to your sweet spot, but I have never been over filled. Anyway, Dr. Smith is very nice and funny. I like him just fine. I've only ever seen him twice though, at my initial visit and for a second right before surgery. Most of his staff are banded which is nice. I did not have any complications so I couldn't say how good they are in emergent situations. I will tell you that the day of surgery I started running a low grade fever. During the night it spiked a little (102.9) and so I called the next morning to report this. The nurse didn't call me back at all that day. She called me the next day after 5. I happened to be home alone and napping so I missed the call. By that time it was on it's way down and was controllable with meds so I didn't bother calling the after hours number. When I went back in the nurse said "your name looks familiar did you call needing something?". I told her the situation and she said and I quote "oh yeah, I remember now. I figured that since you didn't call me back you were either over it or dead, so I didn't worry about it any more." It rubbed me the wrong way a little. The other nurse in the practice who does the pre-op and post-op counseling is great. I really like her and she takes her time to answer any questions you might have. I had a good experience in the long run, so I would recommend his office. He's one of the best surgeons in the country for LapBand and he's been doing it for years. He himself is banded which was a huge selling point for me. I went to a free seminar and he was the one who did the presentation. He's great at what he does. And because of this he is extremely busy. He's been in several local magazines for many years. I also hear him on the radio as a few local radio personalities have had the surgery. As I read back over my post I realize that it sounds kind of like I'm giving a negative view of this practice. I really don't mean to, I'm just trying to give you the whole picture so you can make the choice that is right for you. Again, I didn't have a really emergent situation so I can't tell you how they would handle that. I'm only letting you know my experience which all in all has been good. The psychotherapist I had my eval with was also banded by Dr. Smith. She told me that she would trust Dr. Smith, Dr. Ferrara, or Dr. Marsden any day of the week. All are excellent docs. So, good luck making your choice! I would do it again and again. It's been the best decision I have ever made!!!

Over the years DH and I have talked about WLS as being a negative thing. I thought that it was something I would never be willing to do. I was afraid I'd have to give up too much. He didn't think it would be a good idea either. Then last year a friend had it done and I finally started looking at it seriously. I thought about it for a year and did my research. A friend of DH had it done in January. It was when she was getting ready that I finally broke down and told him I was seriously thinking about it. Up until then I had been afraid to tell him because I knew how he felt about it. His first reaction was "are you serious?". I explained to him that the benefits of loosing my weight for good far outweigh the sacrifices. I finally decided that if I had to give up soda (or anything carbonated) it was a really small price to pay for health and happiness. I told him how much I despised myself for not being able to keep the weight off and that I was miserable. I finally admitted that I needed help and could not do it alone. I think he was skeptical for a while. He got on board though and has been 100% behind me. He's been wonderfully supportive. He always makes sure I can eat whatever it is that he's about make or before going to the store. His mom told me that while telling her about my surgery that he said he just wanted me to be happy and if this is what it took, then so be it. :crying: He also sees that it's not such a sacrifice. Sure there are certain things I can no longer eat like chicken and french fries, but I can live with that. He always got tired of chicken anyway because I was always trying to diet! :ohmy: All in all, it's been the best decision I've made for myself and I would do it all again! I'm blessed to have friends and family who are so supportive of my decision.

I'm really tight after every fill so far for about 3-4 days and then I have pretty good restriction until about the 7th -10th day. Then it's gone; however, I'm full now after 1/2 - 1 cup and I'm not sure if I'm just used to eating less now or if I have more restriction than I think. I'm very rarely really hungry so I'm happy with it so far. I think I probably could eat more right now, but I choose not to. I'm scheduled for my third fill on 7/2 and am hoping it lasts longer this time. Third time's a charm, I hope. Congrats on your weight loss you are doing great!!!

Holy Cow you guys! You are all awesome. I love this site. You are all so inspirational. I get so motivated reading what you all are accomplishing. Hey Wombat, great question. I have the same problem. I'm only 5'4" and my poor legs just can't stretch that far! :smile2: Did yall follow some sort of training schedule or did you just make it up? I'm running every day but really have no idea what I'm doing. Any advice?

I'm down another 3 pounds this week! Making myself get on the treadmill everyday is finally paying off. I also noticed at softball practice last night that catching grounders was a lot easier than it was in the beginning. Plus not being so winded is excellent!!! I feel the old me emerging. I'm starting to remember who I used to be. I've missed the old me. I know I have a long way to go, but feeling better about myself is the first step to reaching my goals. It's so nice to be so active again. Before surgery I used to dream about running and playing sports. I would wake up so disappointed that it was only a dream. For the first time in many, many years I'm enjoying summer. Well, at least as much as you can enjoy summer in Texas. :biggrin: Life is good! :cursing:

I'm down another 3 pounds this week! Making myself get on the treadmill everyday is finally paying off. I also noticed at softball practice last night that catching grounders was a lot easier than it was in the beginning. Plus not being so winded is excellent!!! I feel the old me emerging. I'm starting to remember who I used to be. I've missed the old me. I know I have a long way to go, but feeling better about myself is the first step to reaching my goals. It's so nice to be so active again. Before surgery I used to dream about running and playing sports. I would wake up so disappointed that it was only a dream. For the first time in many, many years I'm enjoying summer. Well, at least as much as you can enjoy summer in Texas. :cool: Life is good! :tt1:

Since July 4th is in only two weeks, I'm thinking I'm probably not going to hit my goal. It was probably too lofty, but I thought I'd give it a try. Besides I didn't start at the beginning of the challenge. I'm happy with my weight loss as I'm loosing about 3 pounds a week. That'll work! I'm hoping my next fill on July 2nd (my 3rd fill) will help a little more than the last two. Congrats to all of you losers!!! :smile2: Name..............Current.....Goal.....Lost...Still to Lose by July 4th atallen06...........231........215.......0......16 Bea1129.............231........200.......9......22 BigBandFan..........296........270.......0......26 Cgailee ............219........200.......0......19 darr5380............170........165.......0.......5 Epm316..............218........200.......12.....18 erikadawn...........217........190.......0......27 faithmd.............297........300.......12.4...-3(by6/21) Hastings............248........228.......5......20 Jennypoo............174.5......170.......4.5....4.5 jrob281.............212........190.......0......22 KarenG..............170........160.......4......10 kathystrick.........315........288.......3......27 kellygirl0520.......236........220.......0......16 legster.............188........180.......9......8 Lenore1890..........263.4......247.......4.3....15.7 Leslie2Lose.........225........208.......8......17 LessNLess...........147........140.......4.......7 Lilmissband-aid.....242........239.......0.......3.4 losingjusme.........244........238.......6.......6(started 5/30) Luu2008.............215........185.......0......30 luvinke.............217........190.......4......23 Marissa's Mom.......388........358.......20.4...30 MollyMolly..........185........188.......19......-3 nancy52.............197........170.......0......27 Nettie..............193........170.......0......23 Newhope4me..........168.8......160.......8.2.... 8.8 njudono............ 298........277...... 5......21 NukeChik............227........222.......15......5 nurse7263...........244........150.......0......24 renewedhope.........182........180.......14......2 Sades...............194........185.......3.......9 Stacy73.............212........204.......0.......8 Sunshine2...........179........160.......4......15 (by6/29) Suzzzie. ...........273........260.......0......13 Tess415.............315........299.......12......16 TexasFire67.........170........145.......0......25 Wombat712...........130.6......120.......3.6....10. Bunkey1965................215.............205..........10..........10

I can't eat fries at all. They cause incredible pain, even just a few. I can't eat chicken no matter how moist except chicken salad. I do fine with regular salads. I can eat bread sometimes. It depends on what kind of bread and what time of the day it is, so I generally just stay away from it all together. I love cornbread and can do it in small quantities as long as I eat slow and crumble it in my soup. I thought I was okay with rice until yesterday, but it came up almost immediately. :sad: I hadn't tried it since my last fill. Guess my rice days are over. I can do some pastas like penne or elbow, regular spaghetti causes problems. I do okay with apples as long as I eat small bites. Fresh strawberries can cause a problem if I don't chew well enough. I'm still learning and trying new things to see if I can eat them or not. I'm always amazed at how different it is from person to person.