JanetC

That's so awesome!! Congratulations!!

Shhh!!! Be vewy, vewy quiet! We're hunting bandsters! Hope ya'll are having a great weekend! Miss ya!

Taken from the DFW Bandsters Yahoo calendar: Band Buddies Saturday Lunch: Date: Sat, May 6, 2006 Time: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Type: Lunch Location: Aparicio's Restaurante Mexicano & Tequila Bar 1001 E. 18th St. Plano, TX 972-423-6980 Aparicio's Restaurante Mexicano & Tequila Bar is located 3 blocks east of Central Expressway on 18th Street in Plano, TX (or 1 block west of Ave "K". Restaurant sits on the immediate east side of the DART railroad treacks. food is delicious and the service is accomodating and efficient. The fellowship is the best!!! Let's get a count of how many we're bringing & I'll warn Charlie (the coordinator for DFW Bandsters group). I'm excited, they're a pretty cool group... tons of fun & support. See you there!!

NSV = non-scale victory. For those days when the scale is not moving, you can focus on other things to stay motivated. Mikey & I have been chatting about our NSVs, so I thought I'd start a list. These are the things we've noticed so far (approx 30 pounds lost each): We get up from the couch without help (Mikey used to push me up, then I'd pull him up) We can now "exercise" for 20 minutes at a time (we started at 2 min) Steps at church are easier (we sing on the praise team, so have to walk up steps in front of the congregation **shudder**) We're saving money on food. We're neither at perfect restriction, but we're eating SOOOO much less then we used to! Our wedding rings are fitting better -- our fingers aren't turning blue, heh. Janet: My pants are starting to fall off if I don't use a belt. My eyes almost show now when I smile. :eek: My knuckles feel skinny, lol. My knees don't hurt as badly. And they only swell on Sundays now. I can stand for 2 services & hardly notice. Monday's aren't as painful now. (After Sunday, I used to just stay in bed on Monday. Guaranteed sick day, period.) And the kicker.... I got my arms ALL the way around Mikey!! My fingers touched!!! (This is a function of both he & I losing, heh, so there's not as much "girth" in the way, lol.)

Man, Kel, what a bummer!! The important thing is to regroup. Cry a bit, but know that this is NOT the end of the journey! Look at how far you've come... you're looking awesome! Now, turn your mind to keeping your band. Let's get that reflux under control. Try all the stuff folks talk about on here: aloe vera juice, washing out the pouch before bed, not eating late, avoiding acidic foods (including orange juice & tomato products), etc. Keep us updated! Hope you can beat it without the unfill! (( Hugs!! ))

Wow Gwendolyn!! Great stats!! You're going to see Onederland in no time! Keep it up! Cashley, I've been using the Campbell's Select (I think). I won't say their restaurant quality, but at least they have their own bowl! One thing that ticks me off, though... that "bowl" = 2 servings, so keep it in mind. They're still not terrible for calories, but why on earth would they package 2 servings!?! Awwww Tammy-J! Sounds like you're going through it, girl! Hang in there!! If you can, get outside & in the sun for at least 15 min a day. If you can't stand to walk that long, go out & sit on a bench or something! And seriously, get the effexor if it'll help -- we're going through a TON of changes, and when you lose weight you release hormones, like we don't have enough of those already! Talk about mood swings! On the form, if you want to, go back to the post where you put your score card (it's back a page or so), edit your scorecard post & then put a point value for your weight. You get 1 point for every half pound... so it's 2 points a pound. (Example: I somehow lost 3.5 pounds on Tuesday, so I got 7 points that day. The other days I haven't lost, so I get 0 points). But seriously, this is just for fun & motivation... if it's not fun or motivating, if it puts stress on ya, then please, please, please, don't do it! We're here for you, girlie! Love ya! Feel some bandster hugs heading your way!! ((((( Tammy-J )))))

Nevermind... found what I needed in the forums. Amazing how frustrated I can get in such a short period of time! Back to smiling... lol. Think I might just be hormonal!

Ok, so I do believe I'm ANGRY!!! LOL, how do you change your background color, etc to customize your page? Their help section is less then helpful, lol. "You have to know HTML... then ask others for help." WHAT??? Anyone point me in the right direction? I know HTML... but you have to put it SOMEWHERE! Thanks!

Heh, I think caplets are candy coated -- at least a lot of them are red, lol. (Don't ask me why red = candy!) Hopefully everyone can find capsules instead of caplets. I haven't tried it yet -- so far I've done all liquid. But I just can't stomach liquid Vitamin B, so I may just have to try a capsule! Yesterday was not a good band-day. I, um, ate all day. Funny, even with restriction, if you try REALLY hard you can overeat, lol. Of course my new definition of overeat is a lot smaller then it used to be... but it's still more then I need. I tried to rationalize & say that it was because I've done so well... that my body somehow NEEDED to eat. Pft! We know we don't believe it, lol. So back on the wagon today!! While one day won't kill me, it does reinforce the wrong set of habits, so I have to fight hard to not let them come back full time! One side note, lol, I did manage to drink 12 - 8 oz glasses of water!! How on EARTH does Mikey drink 16? Heh. He does sweat a lot (Texas & summer, yeck), so I guess he needs it. JerseyTammy? You doing ok? Been thinking of you & missing you & hoping this week's better for ya!

Oh my word, that's awesome!!! You must be flying high!! Congrats!!

Wow Vines! I was so excited to see a post from you! And great job on the interview!! Way to be! I'm thinking of you & your feelings & journey ahead with your mom & tests & possible surgery, etc. Hang in there, girlie! You're a fighter! Never surrender! (((( HUGS!! )))) Oh, and on the bellydancing, lol, tell them that you were kidnapped by pygmy cannibals who only ate your arms!

Heh, we'll be glad to have you, Tammy! Glad you found us!!

Awesome! Can't wait to see you guys!

Wow, Audra! What a week you've been having! I hope today's going better for you!! (( Hugs!! ))

Sarge, my numbers are off a bit... no biggy though. :eek: I do try to be a problem child! (Not really.) LBT Boot Camp Spring Training: Start: 277 pounds, 546.25 inches, 5'5", small frame, bmi: 46.1 Week of: 1. 4/10 275 (-2) 2. 4/17 275 (-0) 3. 4/24 272 (-3) inches 537.25 (-9)

Oh my goodness: :clap2: :hippie: :peace: :flame: Congrats Teresita!!!!! :hail: :first: :cheer2: :eek: That's so awesome!! We're proud of you!!

Woohoo!! Glad to see more of you in the challenge! I gotta tell you, it's working for me. I wanted to cheat, MAN! I wanted to cheat! But Mikey said, "You'll have to write that down on the challenge & not get your 'choices' points." GRRRRR!!!! So I did good. **SIGH!!** And then I didn't want to take my vitamin... but I wanted the point, lol. Hope it's kicking your collective booties into gear like it is mine! Go Diane! I know you can make 10 pounds! Get to drinking that water & moving that bod! You can do it!! Michelle! I love your new icon! Tres chic! And grats on the weight training, that's awesome! It'll help shape your new bod! I'm jealous! Wow Stacey! Awesome with the exercise! Walking AND Gazelle? You moving ok today? Heh. Ouch!! Tamyrn: Welcome to life with no chocolate! First you have to cut your finger, then mail us your blood... just kidding. :eek: Our pact is that we can have a small piece of cake on our birthday & ONE serving of chocolate during that time of the month, heh. Of course some of us have one serving for each other's birthdays & times of the month as well, to support each other. I love your idea of a "food divorce"! I'm getting there... we threw out all the bad stuff. So now we HAVE to eat well, lol. It stinks! But I think I'll be happy in the end. Hi Nanster! To "download" the scorecard: 1. Highlight the blank one with your mouse (I think it's on page 39, depending on how you're setup) 2. Right click & select "Copy" 3. Scroll down to the quick reply box 4. Click inside the box so it has the focus 5. Press Control + V to paste (Or, go up to the Edit menu & select Paste) 6. Click on the "Post Quick Reply" button. Then, when you want to update your numbers, click on the "Edit" button of your scorecard & fill stuff in. That way you can use just 1 card for the entire month. It is a little confusing to find the correct blank, but we'll get the hang of it (I hope). If you can't get it to work, let me know & I can do a scorecard for you. Wow, sounds like you're going to be having a blast when your family comes to town! That's awesome! And I'm glad you're not PBing as much! It sounds like things are going great for you! I'm so glad! Someone, I think it was DonnaB, said something about soaking the pill in water to get the surface to "loosen". Hopefully she'll read this & let us know what she does. I'm pretty sure she's still taking things in capsule form. Oh, and nice ticker!! Wow, Stacey! Congrats on exercising 2 days in a row! I'd give yourself a point in "activity" as well! For breaking through when you didn't want to! Oh my word, Michelle exercised 2 days in a row too? AUGH!!! I'm so behind!! I'm so glad folks are doing well & are using the challenge as motivation! Note: each day is 1 column... it's hard to see when you're in edit mode, but Monday = the first blank for each challenge, Tuesday = 2nd blank, etc. Also, for things like "water" or "exercise", if you get 8 points for the day, just put an "8" in the slot for the day. So for water & exercise, the number can be just about anything. For food choices, it can be a 0, 1, 2 or 3. And now... for the update!! (Drum roll please!) For those that have updated all their numbers: Mikey: 50 Janet: 46 Stacey: 38 Diane: 13 Mikey's killing us with water!!!! He drinks at least 128 oz of water daily. I'm trying to keep up, lol, but haven't made it yet! We can catch him! We just have to exercise more! Or make good food choices... he & I have been falling down on that one this week. Have a great Wed! Half-way through the week!!

Ya know, there's a DFW Bandster lunch on the 6th... would anyone like to hook up with me & crash their party? They're a nice bunch... I went to their Burleson dinner. And then we can do our "official" one on the 20th? StrawartS? Would that work for you? If so, I'll look up the info for the DFW Bandster bash.

Congrats on your band!! Welcome to the journey! Glad your trip went ok!

There was a study that said it's recommended to wait 3 months post-op before filling... something about there being less incidence of slipping with the greater healing period. (I read it when I was researching... but ignored it when it was time for my fill, heh.) I know that study doesn't help you with the will-power diet, but at least you can soothe yourself by telling yourself your surgeon's being safe & you'll be very unlikely to have complications. (( Hugs!! )) Hang in there! Soon this will be behind you!

Congrats!! What an awesome day!! Can't wait to see the pics!

Oh wow, that's awesome Tricia!! Congrats!

Heya Becky! Good to hear from you! Sounds like you had a great weekend! Yeah, I'm starving during that time as well. I hate it! And I seem to get more restricted, which is strange & irritating! :rant: Though it helps me stay on track, so I should be thankful! 25 pounds is awesome!! And with the weight training you'll compact, you're gonna look great! Congrats on your restriction, Ms Vicki! Glad you got some more fill! Remember to slow down & give yourself time between bites! Be gentle to yourself & feel it out. (I repeat that to myself after each fill... actually, I say it before each meal, lol, Mikey must just love living with me! )

I love that poem, J-Tammy! It is so right about there being many friends instead of one best friend! I'm so glad I found you guys & that we're all along for our weight loss journeys! I'm so excited for us!! We're going to be new people & next year is going to be better then this one!!! (Been a long time since I could say that!)

Wow Jamie, way to go on the 100 pounds loss!!! That's awesome!!!!!!!! Reporting in with a 3 pound loss. I'm excited by it because it just changed me from a turtle to a rabbit, heh. I'm now averaging a touch more then 1 pound a week, woohooo!!