kim2bhealthy

Hey Guys!! We Can do it!!! Happy New Year!

I'm with you Alicia, I took a few days away from the gym over Christmas, and when I went back on Tuesday it about killed me. Its all about Water and exercise!! I'm going back tonight and I hope to do 45 minutes on the EFX (eliptical) machine. I've drank two bottles of water this morning. GET TO DRINKING GIRL!!!

Victoriana- I have also noticed that my band seems less cooperative when its time to eat if I haven't had enough water to drink. My band is also tighter immediately after exercise. With my weight loss I no longer take blood pressure meds, but my doc still has me taking the diuretic that I used to take with the BP meds. If I forget to take my diuretic, my band is tighter and I have trouble eating. I guess the amount of fluids in our bodies definitely makes a difference with how the band will react when it comes time to chow down. The water is sooo important, its just that some days its a real struggle to get enough in. You are not alone!

You will do it Drews!!! Best of luck on giving up the cigarettes, I know that a difficult thing to do. You are just around the corner from your goal of 170. Keep up the great work!! Thanks for always keeping our Maysters thread going!

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas! I'm with you Drews.. back to work today and not happy about it! Wow everyone, we are doing sooo great!!! Good luck Drews on the testing, what an exciting process! Myra - congrats on the teeth! Duckie- sounds like you've raised a caring, generous young man, congrats! Oh, and congrats on the plasma too! Ous- You rock! Keep up the awesome work! Well..... I weighed 229 on Christmas Eve which puts me just below my Christmas goal of 230!! ANNND I now weigh less than both of my older brothers! I haven't weighed less than them since birth, literally!! I am so excited!!! Also, a couple of NSVs.. my brother bought me a coat for Christmas in a Extra Large, and it fit!!! I can zip it and everything!! Also, I did a little shopping for myself a couple of days before Christmas and I bought one of those cute little wrap style dresses in a size 16 ( in the Missy's Department)!!! I haven't worn a 16 since probably Junior high school! I haven't ventured outside the Plus Size or Womans World Department my entire adult life! It is a stretchy material, and I will need to lose about 20 lbs more to be comfortable with the way it looks, but I love it! It is brown with red and white stripes. I almost cried in the dressing room when I was able to wear it. Life is good! I love my band! I can't believe all the compliments that I received from family and freinds over the Christmas holiday! I'm even more inspired to reach my goal now!! So what is our next weight Challenge? I'm thinking about setting a goal for Valentines Day (a single girl like me's most despised "holiday"). That's it -15 lbs by Valentines day! That will put me around 215. Anyone else interested in a Valentines Day Challenge? Again, I hope everyone's Christmas was merry and please have a safe and Fun New Years eve!

Thanks for the info Drifter. I have noticed that I am even tighter after I do a lot of ab work. Drinking something hot, for whatever reason before I eat, after having exercised seems to help me to eat. Give it a try if you are having this problem. Thanks everyone!

COOL Thread!!! I used to weigh 317 and now I weigh 234!!! I'm no longer Morbidly Obese!! No More Blood Pressure Meds, and no more CPAP machine when I sleep! OOOOOO YEAH!!!!!!

Hey guys! Congrats to everyone one on meeting and coming really close to your goals! Myra - So glad that your slip has been resolved! Well, I missed my Turkey Take-off goal by one pound, but I'm happy with that! On to my Christmas goal! Good luck everyone!

Hey Missy! Congrats to your man, I guess! I usually try to watch some of it, but it is on December 1st this year, and that's when my company's Christmas party is. Maybe I'll get home it time to catch some of it. I don't think it starts until 9:00 PM or so... Later!

Hey Katgirl! Welcome to the Nascar thread! Do they show all the NASCAR races in Canada? That's awesome! I thought NASCAR was mostly just a US thing! Well, Jimmy Johnson won the Chase to the Nextel Cup, GAG!!! At least we wont have to hear all next year about how he is the "greatest driver never to have won the Cup". I swear to goodness the coverage here lately about him has been sickening.. I think Wally Dallenback is secretly in love with JJ... I didn't even know who was leading the first 10 laps of the race at Homestead cause they were too busy blathering on about him... JEEZE! On a less nasty note, at least Dale Jr. made the Chase and finished in the tope 5! I think next year is gonna be his! Paladin... MR. 3loves.....where are you guys??

Hello everyone! I had my second fill a few weeks ago, and my band is pretty tight. Since getting back to solids, I find that I have to drink hot tea, crystal light, coffee(whatever hot liquid I can get my hands) on before I eat, or my food will get stuck. Anyone else have this issue? I think it may be a mucus thing.. Thoughts?

Wow guys thanks for the responses! I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that has a fickle band. I too, am learning to keep tea bags in my pirse and to ask for hot water when I'm at restaurants... Do you think that this will lesson or go away over time? I'm assuming that the band loosens as I loose more weight and my stomach shrinks more... The hot liquid really seems to work before my meals. I feel like I can eat "normally" this way, just bandster portions. I even had a little bit of a bread stick at Olive Garden the other night. Thanks for the info everyone!

1. What is your occupation? Network Administrator at a small Engineering firm. 2. What color are your socks right now? Black 3. What are you listening to right now? Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels) by Jim Croce on the local radio. 4. What was the last thing that you ate? chocolate Slim Fast and a Teaspoon of Peanut Butter 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yep, but not since my last designated driver fiasco. 6. Favorite Color: Purple 7. Music Preference: Country, rock, pop 8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My Mother 9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yep, Penny is cool! 10. What song do you want played at your funeral? I'll See You Again Someday by Mcbride and the Ride. 11. Favorite drink? Non Alcohlic: Water w/ Crystal Light Alcoholic: Amaretto Sour 12. What is your favorite sport to watch? NASCAR Go Dale Jr! 13. Have you ever dyed your hair? Um Hello? Just last week! 14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Contacts 15. Pets? 2 dogs 16. What will you stay home to watch? Desperate Housewives and Nascar Races 17. What is the best movie you have seen? Forrest Gump 18. What is your favorite day of the year? My Birthday, Its all about MEEE! 19. What do you do to vent your anger? Yell and drop some cuss words! 20. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Mrs. Beasely Doll and my Barbie Dream House 21. Fall or spring? Spring, 22. Hugs or kisses? Both (As a single gal, I'll take whatever I can get, he he!) 23. Vanilla or Chocolate? chocolate, DUH!!! 24. Do you want your friends to email you back?? Yes 25. Who is most likely to respond? LBT members bored at work. 26. Who is least likely to respond? People not at work. 27. Living arrangements? Living with parents while saving money to build my dream home. 28. When was the last time you cried? While watching Desperate Housewives 2 weeks ago during the market shoot-out episode (not sure what made me cry, possible PMS related) 29. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and dust bunnies 30. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Mel and Susan since 8th grade. 31. What did you do last night? dinner with family and walked treadmill and stationary bike for 5 miles. 32. Favorite smell(s)? My mom's perfume, Miracle by Este Lauder, it will ALWAYS remind me of her. 33. What inspires you? God, my family and friends. 34. What are you afraid of? Disappointing others and being alone. 35. Favorite food? My mom's homemade cornbread dressing, cant wait for Turkey Day! 36. Favorite car? My BMW 325i 38. Least favorite person right now? O.J. Simpson, what a slug! I can't believe that he is coming out with a book titled, "IF I did it". That man needs to banished to Siberia! 39. How many years at your current job? Working on number 8. 40. Favorite day of the week? Friday 41. Where you WANT to live in? I'n my dream home that I am about to build, surrounded by family and friends. I'm also open to a little shack near Megan's Bay in St. Thomas or Hawaii.

Wow Drews - I'm with you, I'm still amazed at people that have the band and aren't better informed. I have to admit that I learned A LOT from this site, but the Weight Management Program that I went through for my surgery really prepares people. Every time I go for an appointment I'm bombarded with information both verbally and on hand-outs, they are really into educating us patients on what we should or souldn't be doing, experiencing, etc. I feel bad for people who don't have that support system. GOOD LUCK ON THE INTERVIEW! I'll think positive thoughts for you this after noon!

Okay... I have ALWAYS had more hair than I know what to do with, very fine, but alot of it... About 3 months after my surgery I started heavy shedding of my hair.. this has gone on for a couple of months. Now at almost 6 months past surgery,the hair loss has dramatically slowed and hopefully stopped. I have always gotten in at least 70 - 90 grams of protein in, so it wasn't that for me. I think it just boils down to the anesthesia and rapid weight loss. Hormones are stored in fat cells and when those fat cells go bye bye, the hormones are all out ot wack... My periods went crazy as well. I think that my body has now adjusted to my new diet and recovered from the shock of anesthesia and weight loss. I've had the same hair stylist for years, so she "knows" my hair. She only noticed some thinning around my face, and she said that I didn't loss much if any hair when she shampooed and combed throught it, so I feel better about it now.... It did freak me out when I combed through my hair after showering and the comb was covered in hair, and that I noticed hair all over my clothes at the end of the day.. As my boss said, "your hair may be shedding, but at least you know it will come back, I said goodbye to mine forever"... (He has a ummm.. significant receeding hair line). Chin up ladies, this too shall pass!

Welcome back Linda, I was wondering where you were! I know what you guys mean about people's reactions to my weight loss.. I find it falls into three categories: 1. people completely don't act like that they can tell that I've lost 75 lbs and I later find out that they told someone else who told me that they couldn't believe how great I look and how much weight I've lost. 2. People, especially my co-workers that tell me on a daily basis how "skinny" I'm getting, and that I'm "melting away before their eyes", and 3. People who are like... there is something soo different about you, did you change your hair? All responses bring a smile to my face and encourage me to work my band even harder... After having dropped 10 pounds in 2 weeks after my last fill, I haven't lost anything yet this week. I figure my body is still trying to sort everything out. I'm still trying to get in more than 1000 calories a day. Since this fill, it takes a lot longer to drink Water, so I gotta try to get more down... Still working out hard! I gotta drop 4 more pounds between now and Thanksgiving to meet my Turkey Take off goal, and that might be a little tough to do, but we'll see.. Welcome to the May Bandster MissyC! Just remember, even if the weight los is slow, its a LOSS!! If you think you need a fill, go for it! May I suggest early December? That way you can eat a nice Thanksgiving meal, and should be back to normal eating before Christmas rolls around. Good Luck and please stay in touch with us Maysters! Have a great day everyone!

Thanks so much Drews! I received a box full of goodies from Bath and Body! Delicious smelling Cherry Blossum scented body wash, bubble bath, lotion, etc. Thanks again Drews for being my substitute Ghostly Giver! Thanks K@t for making sure that I wasn't left out in the cold! You guys are awesome!

Okay.. we should get together! Any thoughts?

Wow. Thanks for the responses guys. Glad to see its not just me.. I might just try to eat a snack before I exercise this evening that will keep me from wanting to eat anything afterwards. I gotta say this band is a fickle biotch. Anyone else?

Okay people, prior to banding and my better food attitude, I was a Sour Patch Kids junkie (sour-gummie candies). I have now discovered Flinstones Sour Gummies Mult-VItamins! They are yummy and easy to chew and get down. I chew about four of those a day and I feel like its a treat. Give them a try!

Misltoe- Hey! Never fear, you have plenty of support here from people who know what it is like to struggle your entire life with weight issues. Are your parents or hubby overweight at all? It is really difficult for people who have never struggled with a weight problem to fully understand the desperation and despair that we often feel after a lifetime of weight loss failures. This is ALL ABOUT YOU! You have to focus on what is best for YOUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING. Just remember, those feelings of guilt will quickly turn to feelings of amazaement, relief and happiness after the weight starts falling off! Please, if you feel that surgery is right for you, do it! You are the one having to carry all that weight around, not your parents or hubby.. I think you will find that the guilt is still lighter than all the extra weight is... good luck! Keep your chin up, we are here for you!

Karen - glad you had a great time! I really did hate to see Carl get tangled up in that mess... and Scott Riggs had an awesome car.

Good luck Myra! I pray that your band slips back into place. Please keep us posted. You fly right over those potholes, girl!

I heard and read about the Harvick thing too. I read somewhere that Delana Harvick twisted her ankle when the Rigg's crew "War Wagon" or pit cart rolled over her. Also, I read late yesterday that it may have broken the ankle of the NASCAR official who was involved. I think he may have tried to stop the War Wagon from rolling over Delana. Evidentally there is a hill in the area they were going down during the incident. Evernham will fire the crewman, I bet. Supposedly there were several NASCAR officials that witnessed the entire thing. Evernham seems to be having Karma biting him in the butt. Maybe he shouldn't haved dumped his wife for a girl half his age (Erin Crocker). You know what they say, Karma is a B*tch! For example at Texas: Kasey Kayne, top three car, blows an engine with just a few laps to go: Riggs top three or five finish with a few to go: and Elliot Sadler struggled all day with oil leaks and engine issues, and Erin Crocker blew her engine in the truck that she drives. Ray needs to watch "My name is Earl". I mean, and what is Erin Crocker thinking, that would be like me dating someone my dad's age.. yuck!

Thanks Heather and Drews!