Great2BThin

Barb, Thanks for your posts today, very timely for me. We lead a small group in our home on Wed. nights. These are the first folks I should've told about my band so they could pray for and support me but instead they are about the only ones I haven't told. I was thinking of 'coming clean' tonight. Well depends on if the opportunity arises. unfortunately there are a couple of very, how shall I say 'strong vocal aka opininated' women in the group 2 of which are former WW leaders. Most folks I've known through WW are very anti surgery so I have felt afraid to tell them. But have come to the same line of thinking you mention in your post lately and am no longer going to feel like I have to keep it quiet. I'm not going to broadcast it from the roof or anything but if anyone asks I will be truthful instead of dodging the question. It makes me feel like I did something wrong when it's the best thing I've ever done. I truly felt God led me in this direction as the doors just kept opening wider and He has blessed me with such tremendous success since.

I'd love to shop for new clothes, but Colorado is good for me too!! Vegas is a easy place for most folks to get to as well. We could lounge at a pool and gab all day (in the shade). or a cruise! well a gal can dream can't she?

Welcome home! Yes I was in Burlington. We flew in Sat. evening and left Sunday morning. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn which was a couple blocks from Christmas Tree Shops. We wanted to walk down to a restaurant called Ninety-nine or something like that but it was raining and we didn't want to get caught that far on foot if it poured harder. So then we went to Longhorn and the wait was 90 min. so we ended up at Ponderosa. It was a buffet!! Like I got my money's worth. They wouldn't let me order the kids steak but compromised and let me get the senior one. Glad we got out before the snow flew. We were expecting possible snow yesterday but it never happened, sunny out now.

Not sure why so long, though I think Dr's vary on this. I only have to do liquids for 4 hours and can have soft foods that evening and normal the next day. Maybe it depends on the size of the fill?

Allie, Congrats on making it up that mountain!! I wanted to hit 100 by Christmas too but think it will be more like by Valentines. I have 20 to go in just over a month, don't think so but will keep vigilant and see what happens. As for casinos we have some in Blackhawk which is in the mountains about about a 90 min beautiful drive it's fun to go to sometimes. Apples, Whew, glad you caught that fire. My husband's family is from the farm in SD and think he is getting in some corn now too but he also likes to leave some for pheasant hunting. he has lots of hunters that pay to come hunt every fall. We are going back there for Thanksgiving the whole extended family. This year I will be in much better shape if I want to trek around the corn fields with them. I am so not into hunting but love to watch the dogs. I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the whole group there will be 26-29 of us. YIKES! That's family and about 6 hunters that pay to be there for the hunt. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! We've been married 29 yrs too, 30 in April.

Apples, well FL isn't that from from ATL. :eek: Are you still going to go to FL??? We are still tenatively thinking of going down for a few days in Jan. or Feb. Thanks for the feedback on sizes. I was getting too hung up on numbers and I know that so that's why I did go ahead and get the pants that I liked better (and were cheaper) vs the 14's. But I now know they fit and 14's fit in a couple stores too. COOL!! I might have to unsubscribe from Lane Bryants email list! :eek:

Good afternoon. I am still tired out from my jaunt out east this weekend. I planned to sleep in this morning after 2 days of getting up at 3am but my daughter had an early appt for an ultrasound trying to get to the bottom of her stomach pain. She was such a trooper to go with me to all my pre op testing and surgeries this summer, I felt I needed to be there for her. Afterwards we went to the mall. AND.....I just tried stuff on for the most part and a few 14's fit!!! One at the Gap and 2 others at New York & Co. never thought I could shop there. I did get a pair of pants off the clearance rack (at an additional 60% off) but they were 16's. I know I tend to get too hung up on size now. I liked these better than the 14's and it's weird they were they same style pant just different colors and in this color and fabric I needed the 16. Odd. but I need some pants to wear to my volunteering at the hospital I only have jeans now as all my casual and dress slacks were too big. So now I have one pair to wear my day a week or so I go down there. LOL I'm not going to buy a variety until I get to a size and stay there. tonight is my bariatric exercise class, i haven't gone in a few weeks, think I'll go tonight. But I just hate going out in the evening now that it's dark so early. I can't go the next 2 weeks so better go tonight.

I hit 80 lbs on Friday!! WOO HOO!!! And Saturday I left for a quick jaunt to Vermont. I am on a quest to get to all 50 states so we flew to Vermont for the night and had dinner. I wanted to do 50 by 50 (yrs old) but refused to fly (I fly free) because of panicking about seatbelts fitting, middle seats (I go standby and many times it's a middle) at my highest weight. So now my goal is to do 50 during 50! I want to finish them by May and I have 4 states left. It was so freeing to me to find out on this trip that I have no worries about seat belts anymore they all had big tabs left over, the armrest stays down, my butt doesn't squish under it and push it up. I didn't get the look of dread when I sat next to someone, etc. etc. I am starting to feel 'normal'. I am not a normal BMI, far from it yet but am in 'normal' size clothes, and can sit in 'normal' seats w/o a problem. Allie, Enjoy that mountain. I live in CO and this summer we took a drive over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park at the summit is this staircase up to the top of the mountain (it's about 13,000 feet). My goal is next summer to climb that staircase. Strike, I really don't track my calories much anymore so can't give an answer on calories, but when I did it was about 700-900 a day. I try to focus more on 'the rules' eating 4 oz of protein, don't eat for 2 to 3 hours, etc.

Yep I was, I made it to Vermont. I landed as it was getting dark and took off this morning as it was getting light and didnt' see much except drizzly rain. I forgot how the dampness makes it so much colder back east too. It was 60 degrees when we got in and here that would be shirtsleeve weather there I froze in my winter coat! Walking to dinner in the rain didn't help matters. The coolest thing was there was a 'Christmas Tree Shops' store near the hotel, I used to love that store when I visited friends in Boston. Unfortunately I had only a small carryon since we stayed only one night so not much room to bring anything home. Congrats!!! I cant' wait to hit Onderland, have a ways to go yet

I hit 80 this morning!!!! WOO HOO!!! I love my band!!! Congrats MissMeliss on being in 'onederland'.

Well I am not really retired but would like to think I am. I just haven't looked for a job in the 2 years since we've been back in Colorado. I plan to soon though. I wanted to take this time and focus on me and getting to goal weight. After yesterday, I'd love to do something in a hospital. Just not sure what, nor am I sure I want to go to 2 to 4 years of schooling either. Maybe just a nice clerk job or something. I loved the environment though. Most of my career was airlines (before and after my stay at home mom years) and I know I don't want to go there again. The flying public has just gotten too nasty and the airlines aren't the same to work for either. I got yelled at enough for making it snow and cancelling a flight, or for not making the flight late so a late passenger could get on etc. It was too all my fault you know! :eek: I got spoiled with my QVC job back east, I could work when I wanted to and about as much as I wanted to. Those jobs are hard to find.

I hit 80 lbs lost today!!! WOO HOO. I call it virgin fat territory as I haven't been this low since my son was born. Twice in the past I lost 60 only to regain about 65 so this is new territory and a really big deal to me.

One more, I hit 80 total today!!!! Name_________StartWeight___CurrentWeight______Goal________ToGo *****<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = V /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f" filled="f" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600">:w00t:</v:shapetype>***********:cool2:*************:tt2:**********:frown:****** :thumbs_up: * agreatknead........204............190...........180...........10 areellady..........189............189...........159...........30 BIGB...............342............342...........300...........42 BellaPerdente......253............217...........195...........22 Boos02.............258............226...........200...........26 Brandy.............221............208...........191...........17 BrownBear..........240............235...........200...........35 Bunkey1965.........194............177...........170............7 Cadets71...........223.4..........220.4.........189...........31.4 Charlietuna........210............167...........150...........17 Claudine...........250............231...........225............6 CubsGirl17.........172............161...........150...........11 Cutiew/booty.......251............236...........220...........16 cQQlgirl...........195............189...........175...........14 crzytchr...........276............265...........246...........19 Donna113...........199............191.5.........160...........31.5 Ekat...............527............172...........152...........19 feefee57...........262............212...........180...........32 FeliciaLevy75......240............218...........190...........28 GillieBean.........304............296...........264...........32 HeatherO...........150............143...........130...........13 Hollie ............l54............154...........125...........29 janesays ..........244............244...........225...........19 Jeni85.............182............182...........160...........22 Jillbeme...........235............205.5.........185...........20.5 Josie74............260............255...........215...........40 klmsilva...........216............212...........190...........26 legster............183............183...........160...........23 linksmom...........251............236...........200...........36 Liquidbluegal......225............214.6.........199...........15.6 Liz_hager..........161............158...........130...........28 Long2BThin.........253............225...........215...........10 lotzasunshine......292............283...........250...........33 Luu2008............230............199.5.........153...........46.5 Lunabeane..........244............197...........187...........10.0 Mamanmidwife.......295............276...........260...........16 Melissa Aguirre ...266............233...........160...........73 Melody2006.........223............223...........173...........50 MiniPearl#2........???............???...........???...........?? Minxz..............299............287...........270...........17 neefam.............238............189...........158...........31 newby23............242............242...........212...........30 odizzzydori........242............242...........199...........43 paige65............252............238...........220...........18 rainer.............236............231...........210...........21 Redtulips3.........180............175...........160...........15 reif78.............294............195...........140...........40 RichardCranium.....338............276...........200...........76 soontobehottie.....201............186...........165...........21 srknepler..........285............249.2.........255..........(5.7) squale.............353............353...........325...........28 Sunshine2..........177............167...........160...........07 Suzzzie............305............305...........285...........20 stevegoad..........370............341...........267...........74 Terilynn112........240............227...........199...........41 Truediva...........299............285...........235...........50 thininside28.......255............255...........215...........40 Turler.............219............213...........194...........19 youcandoit!........196............185...........165...........20

Thanks Donna and Janet. This was a big milestone to hit as I am into 'virgin fat' territory that I haven't seen probably since my son was born 25 1/2 yrs ago. I guess they will all be big milestones now huh? One thing I am doing to celebrate is flying to Vermont for the day/night. (we fly free). I have this quest, it was to get to 50 by 50 (all 50 states). However, I didnt' make it as I refused to fly anywhere any more as I was panicked about middle seats and seatbelts (we get the last seats available on the flight if any and many times they are middles). So now I revised the goal to 50 during 50 and want to complete by my 51st bday in May. Vermont is one of the 5 states I have left and the furtherest/hardest one for me to get to. We get in at 3 tomorrow afternoon, will have dinner and have a room reserved and then leave at 6am Sunday morning. My other states are Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Hmmm what to order for dinner in VT tomorrow???

80!!!!!!! I hit it today!!! 80 pounds lost! 5 mos and 2 days since my band!! I am so thrilled. I hadn't lost for over 2 weeks then lost 1 yesterday and another today. I do that though when I lose, I will lose nothing for 2 weeks then have a week of losses every day. It feels so good to say that number! Never would I have thought I'd lose that much. Heck, I thought I was going to be that statistic that lost nothing, then when I did lose something I thought well maybe this thing will work nad I'll lose 50 lbs. I am smaller than I have been in many many years. Twice in my life I lost 60 lbs. and both times I had bought that next size down for incentive for them to never fit. For some reason I have hung on to those 2 pair of slacks all these years. Funny thing is they now fit but look so funny and out of style. They have tapered legs and the big pleats in the waist and the waistband is so high. They look like clown pants, both pairs. My daughter (Miss Fashionista) said I shouldn't wear them, of course DH is seeing $$$ signs and says couldn't they do in a pinch til you need the next size down. So my daughter and I agreed they'd pass if I wore long shirts over the tops of them. I haven't worn dress slacks in a long time since I am not working I mostly wear jeans, but now that I am volunteering in the hospital need something to wear once or twice a week. AS great at 80 lbs lost is, I still need/want to lose 55 more. That gives me a normal BMI but we'll see as we get close, right now I just want a 1 in front of my weight and that is 25 1/2 more.

After two weeks I'm finely down another lb... Me too, I was stuck for 2 weeks and was down one today!! One more makes 80 total! Name_________StartWeight___CurrentWeight______Goal________ToGo *****<?xml:namespace prefix = v /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f" filled="f" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600">:tt2:</v:shapetype>***********:tt1:*************:eek:**********:thumbup:****** :rolleyes2: * agreatknead........204............190...........180...........10 areellady..........189............189...........159...........30 BIGB...............342............342...........300...........42 BellaPerdente......253............217...........195...........22 Boos02.............258............226...........200...........26 Brandy.............221............208...........191...........17 BrownBear..........240............235...........200...........35 Cadets71.........223.4............220.4.........189...........31.4 Charlietuna........210............167...........150...........17 Claudine...........250............231...........225............6 Bunkey1965.........194............177...........170............7 CubsGirl17.........172............161...........150...........11 Cutiew/booty.......251............236...........220...........16 cQQlgirl...........195............189...........175...........14 crzytchr...........276............265...........246...........19 Donna113...........199............192.5.........160...........32.5 Ekat...............527............172...........152...........19 feefee57...........262............212...........180...........32 FeliciaLevy75......240............222...........190...........32 GillieBean.........304............296...........264...........32 HeatherO...........150............143...........130...........13 Hollie ............l54............154...........125...........29 janesays ..........244............244...........225...........19 Jeni85.............182............182...........160...........22 Jillbeme...........235..........205.5...........185.........20.5 Josie74............260............255...........215...........40 klmsilva...........216............212...........190...........26 legster............183............183...........160...........23 linksmom...........251............236...........200...........36 Liquidbluegal......225..........214.6...........199.........15.6 Liz_hager..........161............158...........130...........28 Long2BThin.........253............226...........215...........11 lotzasunshine......292............283...........250...........33 Luu2008............230..........199.5...........153.........46.5 Lunabeane..........244...........197............187.........10.0 Mamanmidwife.......295............276...........260...........16 Melissa Aguirre ...266............233...........160....... 73 Melody2006.........223............223...........173...........50 MiniPearl#2........???............???...........???...........?? Minxz..............299............287...........270...........17 neefam.............238............189...........158...........31 newby23............242............242...........212...........30 odizzzydori........242............242...........199...........43 paige65............252............238...........220...........18 rainer.............236............231...........210...........21 Redtulips3.........180............175...........160...........15 reif78.............294............195...........140...........40 RichardCranium.....338............276...........200...........76 soontobehottie.....201............186...........165...........21 srknepler..........285............249.2.........255.........-5.7 squale.............353............353...........325...........28 Sunshine2..........177............167...........160...........07 Suzzzie............305............305...........285...........20 stevegoad..........370............341...........267...........74 Terilynn112........240............227...........199...........41 Truediva...........299............285...........235...........50 thininside28.......255............255...........215...........40 Turler.............219............213...........194...........19 youcandoit!........196............185...........165...........20

Thanks gals!!! I had the most amazing morning. Yesterday when I was at the hospital volunteering, myself and the other volunteer were given the opportunity to come this morning and observe a lapband surgery in the OR. OMG it was fascinating. The patient knew we were going to be there. I was so nervous this morning not knowing how I'd react. I got there early and met the other volunteer. Then we went to the womens locker room and changed into scrubs and awaited the call that they were ready. We put on hair thingies, booties over our shoes and masks and off we were. Now I know just what happened to me. And it didn't bother me at all seeing it. I missed my calling I should've been an OR nurse or something as I was fascinated. This afternoon I got an injection in my knee. I have tried these injections (series of 3 each one week apart) before and they helped a tad. I am hoping now with the weight loss (79 today!!) they help even more. He said my knee was really swollen today so to take it easy the rest of the day and let the injection work it's stuff. So here I sit playing on the computer.

Oh I had the most amazing morning. Yesterday when I was at the hospital volunteering, myself and the other volunteer were given the opportunity to come this morning and observe a lapband surgery in the OR. OMG it was fascinating. The patient knew we were going to be there. I was so nervous this morning not knowing how I'd react. I got there early and met the other volunteer. Then we went to the womens locker room and changed into scrubs and awaited the call that they were ready. We put on hair thingies, booties over our shoes and masks and off we were. Now I know just what happened to me. And it didn't bother me at all seeing it. I missed my calling I should've been an OR nurse or something as I was fascinated. This afternoon I got an injection in my knee. I have tried these injections (series of 3 each one week apart) before and they helped a tad. I am hoping now with the weight loss (79 today!!) they help even more. He said my knee was really swollen today so to take it easy the rest of the day and let the injection work it's stuff. So here I sit playing on the computer.

Congrats!! That is awesome. I can't wait til I can say I lost 100 lbs. Blubird, good luck with your surgery!! I too struggled with I should get it, if I was being weak, etc. But it's been such a blessing in my life, I am so glad I did.

I had trouble getting here today too,just because it signed me out and I had to sign back in and couldn't remember my password. But I got it eventually. At my support group last night our leader was the nurse practioner for the bariatric program at my hospital. I was going to be starting to volunteer there and got word my background check was in so I talked to her and went in today. It was so much fun. I set up a classroom for the preop nutrition class and greeted those folks as they arrived and gave them their notebooks. I did some copying, delivered those to the surgeon's office and visited folks in the hospital recovering from bariatric surgery. I really enjoyed it and think I will do that at least once a week now while I am not working.

The election is over, let's stop the attacks too! There were negative comments both directions. I will celebrate a first black president. I will not celebrate this man's views and time will tell how much 'good' he does for this country.

I actually had a splurge tonight. Our favorite Mexican restaurant was having $2 burritos tonight. I wanted to eat so much more of it, but only ate about a third of it and then only ate the innards, no tortilla. But what gets me is the chips. I had some of those. I stopped myself though, it was definitely a case of head hunger. As I was very full and knew if I ate more I'd be in trouble, but oh how I wanted to. DH took the rest of my burrito home for breakfast in the morning, he loves that kind of food for breakfast. And then ordered another to go, but we left the chips on the table! Well I am off to my support group tonight. I just hate now that it's dark so early and i have to drive in the dark though, but it's important to me so I will. It's about half an hour from my house.

I haven't seen any political ads on here. After today they should all be gone. I am really tired of the commercials on TV that I've started recording everything I watch so I can fast forward through them.

Lynn, I hope you are feeling better soon. I have no advice as that's not happened to me for that long of time either, but I am curiously reading your responses just in case it does. My band seems to be fickle too. Lately since I was sick it's much tighter but not like it was. It seems to be loosening back up as I recover. I almost got an unfill but think I am going to be okay. Not sure now though about wanting a fill in a few weeks when I go in for a check. Especially since my appt is a few days before I go out of town for the week of Thanksgiving for a week. I may wait til my 6 mos post op appt which is the first week of Dec. Can't believe tomorrow will be 5 mos of banded life for me.