Ezma

Wow! 14s?!!! You must be really tall. I'm only 29 pounds heavier than you and I'm psyched I can fit into 26s now. Sadly I carry almost all of my weight in my gut. My legs are pretty skinny though.

39.6 - And I believe that's just obese so you probably reached that one too. :crying:

Welcome back Lil! Looks like we're at the same spot - I'm 9 away too. Hope things have been going well for you. I'm gonna pop over and read your blog soon. Pop in more often, missed ya.

I don't know the answer for sure and I'd definately suggest asking your doctor. However, I do suspect you're going thru a situation similar to mine. Body fat produces estrogen and when you lose body fat your estrogen level drops. This can correct itself over time but you may need some kind of temporary help. I had a hysterectomy about 8 years ago and was stable until I lost weight. Now I get hot flashes like a fiend. My doctor and I think it will stablize itself soon.

I went in this morning for my third fill and the doctor wasn't able to get any saline in or out of my port. He tried 6 times and we both know he was in the port. He said that lately they have seen more port malfunctions. And he thinks it's that or that scar tissue has kinked the tubing. Either way, I get to have surgery to repair it. He says he should be able to do it without anesthesia, just heavy sedation. It will only take 30-45 minutes. Even though it's just outpatient surgery, it still sucks. I'm a little scared and upset. Anyone else have this happen? What can I expect? Thanks.

I'm so glad to hear everything went well for you too. It's such a relief that they didn't have to take any saline out and we could keep on track. It seemed to take me about 2 weeks before I felt pretty normal again but it was never too bad. Keep it going, you're doing great!

I'm so jealous! Fresh veggies! I tried to grow a few things this year but it's so hard to keep them alive here. The heat just beats em down.

When I first started this journey I could barely walk around our small block and was wiped at the end of the day. Now I easily can walk that and regularly shop for hours. I also do a cardio workout for about 20 minutes each day. Well, I'm getting a bit burned out on it and know I need to switch it up a bit. I do start a free 1 month gym membership at our old gym on Saturday. But I know we won't be able to keep that going since funds are very short since hubby is still out of work from brain tumor and no idea when, if ever, he will go back to work. What do you guys do for your daily exercise? I just want ideas and I'm kinda curious about everyone's exercise capacity at the 4 month post-op point. Thanks.

Congrats on the restriction! And yep, that's what mine feels like. Like a lump in my throat but it's the upper part of my stomach.

Hope you can get on the exercise band wagon soon. I'd say it is one of the top two things that have made the weight fly off for me. Of course, the band at restriction helps, healthy foods that nourish you and keep you full of energy and exercise. It was so hard for me to get started but I'm so very glad I did.

You can do it Ready! Anyone with your spunk can do anything they want. Just forget last month, forget last week, forget yesterday. Today is the start. Yay Ready!!!!! You rock!

Keep in mind that some of us are counting more than just since we were banded. Mine is from the time I first visited my surgeon. I've lost 90 total and 54 of that is since the band. You're right there in the ballpark with many of the VVs. You're doing great!

Me too Jaime. I really, really want to hit 100 total gone by my 6 month with is 8-18. Have 10 to go and I think it's do-able. Yippee!!

Well I have 90 reasons I love my band. The pounds I will never see again. I actually turned down a fill yesterday. I'm just barely starting to have some slight sticking sensations and can't still eat most things but I'm losing weight at a really nice rate and don't want to lose that by not being able to get enough calories in a day. It has been really quiet around this board. Makes me sad too. But I realized that we are all getting to a point where band life is becoming just life. It's not new, very few surprises and most of us aren't to the next stage of reaching our goals and possible plastic surgery. Pretty sure many of us still check every day and would love a chance to post.

Queen - You're such a sweetie. Thank you. It's great to see your posts again. Rhapsody. you too. Welcome back. I've missed all of you guys. This place is the one place I know everyone really understands what I'm going through right now. Addjoy - I can send you a few days of my meals but they aren't perfect. They are working well for me right now though. Seems if I stay between 1000-1100 and keep it pretty balanced between Protein, carbs and fats I do well. I am really trying to eat healthy and the carbs and fats are mostly from healthy sources. Though I do admit to splurging on a dessert every day. I can't seem to break my ice cream habit. I keep it a small amount and try to make sure I balance the calories out. If I've been bad it has to be a low cal skinny cow kind of thing. If I've been really low on calories it's Tiramisu - mmmmmm. Check out the Clean eating threads here or Clean Eating Magazine and Eat Clean Diet stuff. I love that magazine so much I should get paid for advertising it - lmao. Basics of my diet - Breakfast - 4oz lite yogurt or Fage Total 0% with a few berries -during the week I also have a large sf vanilla iced coffee from McDonalds Snack - 1/2 to 1 cup fruit or 2 tablespoons of hummus with about 5 soy crisps or mini rice cakes lunch - pouch of tuna or some of the meat left over from dinner and some kind of veggie thing Might snack of a few pieces of dried veggies or fruit, soy chips or something like that during the afternoon if I'm hungry Dinner is usually meat, veggies and good starch but in much smaller portion size than the rest of the family. Dessert later on. Keep in mind this isn't what my nutritionist recommends or the program from my doctor's office but my doctor is good with it since I'm doing well and it's healthy. Only part he wants me to get rid of is the dessert and wants no food after dinner. We'll see.

We went for the first gym visit yesterday. Met with the guy, did the weigh in and measurements, then did a bit of cardio. Two things happened that pleasantly surprised me. First off it took 8 minutes of walking at a moderate speed and a 5.5 incline to get my heart rate to 138. That is fantastic for me since I used to get to 140-150 in about a minute at 2.0 speed with 1.5 incline. Those cardio workouts I've been doing must be helping - well, that and losing 90 pounds. The next thing was when the guy was measuring me he said "Wow! You have a skinny person's legs." I know, kinda of backhanded compliment but he said it nicely. And since I have always felt really embarrassed in shorts it made my day. In fact, I had hubby take me to Trader Joes in my shorts on the way home. :party: I also found two new workouts that I downloaded. One is a kick-boxing workout and the other is belly dancing. They both look real fun.

My favorites by far are the apple/melon and the blue raspberry. Next would be the punch and grape. The others are not so nice particularly the teas - ewwwww.

I was looking for those old Richard Simmons ones but haven't found them at the secondhand bookstores or garage sales yet. I sure I will one day. They look like they'd be the perfect level for me. And definately something I'd hide away while doing. Sorry to hear you guys are at one of those spots. Ewwwwww. I get the icky shivers just thinking about it. Hang in there though and it will pass. I'll be wishing it goes away for you soon.

Some really great ideas guys - please keep em coming. I'm starting to look at things differently. I do love dancing and I want to learn to belly dance. Figure it will be good for the abs. Definately won't be doing anything outdoors until after October. It's 110+ here everyday and I don't think it drops below 90 even at night.

Is there something that you've always wanted to wear but couldn't see yourself in it before Lap Band? This is mine, boyshort undies - I still have a ways to go but at least I'm dreaming now.

We have Cox Cable and On Demand sounds really familiar. Is it pay-per-view or are these free? Very curious here. :biggrin2:

Wow! You're doing fantastic, especially with no fill.

Just wanted to let you know that her surgery was done back in February. She doesn't even need time off now, it's been over for 4 months now. They are just worried that something might happen in the future which is so highly unlikely at this point.

Congrats Karen!!! That's such great news. You've been working so hard on this and it's good to see you getting the rewards you deserve. Can't wait to hear how everything goes. I'm so curious about the plastic surgery end of it but since I have quite a ways to go I'm not even looking at it seriously yet.

Okay, you need to nip this one in the bud. It sounds like a small company but I could be wrong. You have a few choices on how to handle this discrimination. Personally I'd calm down first, maybe wait until a day or two passes just so I can remain professional. Then I'd speak privately with the manager, the one that is supposed to make it official. I'd explain that you were told that it would be 3 months and you're very happy with the job and wondering why it's been 5 months and nothing. Casually advise her that you had heard that it was due to the Lap Band but you're sure that it couldn't be that - that you know a company like this would never discriminate like that, it must just be that crazy office talk. Basically let them know you know the shit they are pulling but give them an out. Give them a way to gracefully correct the situation. The other option is to take it to HR or her boss but that could cause you more problems in the long run. Hugs to ya and hope things get better soon.