JulieNYC

I don't think I'll ever be completely happy with my body, but I don't really mind. I think it's normal on some level -- like you're all saying, "normal" women all want to change something about themselves. For us, it'll be loose skin here or a stretch mark there. It's not going to get in the way of me feeling fabulous most of the time. Only if it does that will I worry about it. What I'm struggling with right now in the world of "passing for thin" is wrestling with how much male attention it takes to make me happy. I HATE relying on others for my happiness. I HATED the concept, when I was heavy, of women who are all "do I look fat in these jeans" because to me it's a sign of needing compliments from men. Yet, here I sit in those exact shoes now. I want to love myself enough that I don't need so much attention. I wonder if that day will come.

nmgrl, I think you should stay where you are. If you're only 20 lbs from goal and you're still slowly losing, I think that's just perfect. You want to keep a healthy band long term and you don't want to get too tight over 20 lbs. Kick up the exercise instead if you need a boost. Congratulations on your successes!

Go Losing! Go Losing! Go Losing!! You can do it! Come on, 269!!! You're going to be below 250 before you know it. I'm going to stay on plan tomorrow because I want my choice of boys to kiss. Wink.

Happy Anniversary to Betty and Alan!

I'm vegetarian. My doc told me he'd only had 2 vegetarians prior to me and "one didn't lose very much weight." Whatever. You can totally do it. I'd been completely veggie for 15 years when I got banded. At my doc's encouragement, I tried to eat fish for a while once I got banded. I ate it maybe 10 times. I'll still try a bite or two -- I even cooked some last week -- but I'm just a pure vegetarian at heart. To answer your question, I eat a lot of (1) cottage cheese, (2) TVP (nutri system makes a fabulous veggie sloppy joe that you can order a la carte and works wonders for travel), (3) LF cheese (I eat at least 2 babybels a day), (4) soy chips, (5) greek yogurt. I have no probs getting in 50 g of Protein a day, which is what I need for my height/target weight. As for ameno acids, I have no idea! I'm probably seriously deficient.

I'm staying on plan because I'm on day 2 of the 5 days a month where my body actually has a shot at dropping numbers if I can just do the right things! Come on, scalegods!

I'm hesitant to suggest this because fixing food issues with food is probably controversial, but here's what has worked for me and since you're in the City, I thought it MIGHT help you too. When I get in binge mode, I've learned I can't stop it. I'm going to eat something off plan no matter how hard I try -- even if I make it 24 hours, the binge will ultimately still come. So, now, I give into it when I can still control it with a couple of hundred calories instead of a couple of thousand. What I do when binge head hits is pick a tast-d-lite that is 30 blocks away, walk there, order a medium (120 cals) and walk back. I feel 100% like I had a binge-worthy treat (it's a lot of quantity for 120 cals and for those not in NYC, tasti is a low-cal ice cream place), but I walked 3 miles to and from, so I burn more than I ate in the "binge." I tried for so long, even with the band, to not give into the binge. It didn't work for me so I had to find a different solution. If you can fix it without food, I so, so, so support that, but if you can't, minimize the damage.

losingjusme..........273......................273. .............238................35 faithmd................303......................30 3.............283.................20 mpalen.................229......................22 9.............200................29 want2beme...........225......................225.. ............195...............30 mcgreen...............236..................... 236.............210................26 wombat712...........179..................... 179.............155................24 Suzzzie. ...............346......................346....... .......315..............31 Chris_NJ...............284.......................2 84.............250...............34 Cherrybomb...........311......................311. ............291..............20 legster..................261.....................2 61..............235..............26 Desertbunnee.........232......................207. ............180..............27 areellady...............232......................2 32...............212.............20 sweethot143..........197......................197. ............175..............22 gweniper...............253......................25 3...............223.............30 Jeni 85..................237......................237.. .............207.............30 dacer123...............243......................24 3...............223.............20 momlambert..........207.......................207. ..............185.............22 Rainer..................295....................... 295..............255.............40 glindab.................277....................... 277..............250..............27 Soniacan..............198.5....................198 .5.............175.............23.5 ladydi..................233....................... 233...............208..............25 argon...................162............... 162..............142..............20 jazzystouch...........246...............246....... ........220...........26 BabygotBack..........164...............164. ...............145.........19 Denise...................170.............. 170............155.............15 marcar35...............277...............277...... .......257..............20 Ariel ....................207................207. ..........182..............25 lisa_in_toronto.......180................180...... .......160............20 josiebies...............188................188.... ..........165............23 DonnaD...............185...................185.. ..........170..........15 hf2havefun...........240..................240.. ..........210..........30 Amelia40...............270.................270 ............240..........30 METALBAND...........187................187........ ......167..........20 luvinke..................225...............225.... ..........195..........30 wen.....................288................288.... ..........255...........33 JulieNYC...............155.................154..............136...........18

I was a serious, full-fledged binge eater pre band, so I truly estimate I eat 15% of the quantity I ate pre-band. I could eat 10 pieces of pizza pre-band. Now I might eat one (more likely 1/2 of the slice, then finish the toppings off that slice and throw away the crust). When I run the numbers, they suggest I eat about 25% of my pre-band calories (i.e. it took me 4,000 cals to maintain 350+ and now I eat about 1000 cals/day). But I don't think I even eat 25% of the bulk. More like 15%.

Halitosis is a common side effect of being in keytosis -- at least that's what I've always read. I think it's an off-product of your body burning fat. As for solutions, I really don't know other than the norms (tongue scraper in addition to brushing, for example).

Quote: Originally Posted by want2beme I was just banded a week ago. I am on stage 2 foods, non-clear liquids. I'm tolerating oatmeal, yogurt, creamy soups, fruit smoothies, you name it. I am only eating about 1/2 to 1 cup of these 4 times per day. I did add a SF popsicle to my diet today. I feel like I should have restriction, but I don't. Is it because these things are more liquid? I'm totally confused! I feel full after eating, but hungry again 2-3 hours later. Today I was able to have a can of Cream of Broccoli Soup, 3/4 yogurt, 1/2 cup Cream of chicken Soup, Popsicle, Water and coffee. This seems like a lot. How much should I be eating? Want2beme, Please take what I'm going to say with the tone of kindness and support that I would be able to inject in person, but can't really get across in a forum post! I want only the best for you and don't want this to seem like a negative post. This is the section of the forum for bandsters living at goal. You might want to ask your question on the food forum or on the main forum to get a wider range of responses. It's not that we don't want you to be included here -- everyone is welcome and we encourage new bandsters to read about issues people have when they get closer to goal. That said, we need to keep the topics here solely to those for bandsters who are dealing with the issues that come up when we're at or approaching goal weight (for example, Angelator's question about fill levels for a bandster 15 months out). This is the only outlet those of us at this stage have for these topics. You'll find later in your journey that you just can't keep up with all the questions new bandsters have when you get to a later stage in your own journey, which is why we asked for a separate forum for these late stage issues. We try to all participate in the main forums as well and I know most of us would welcome a PM from you if you want to talk to an advanced bandster -- we just want to keep this specific forum on topic. I hope that makes sense! All the best,

Thanks for all the kind words. I got in 4 miles this morning. It's a light running week because of the half marathon on Sunday -- woohoo! I'm looing forward to it. I feel like it's my first "real" race. Dawn, don't worry about your time. It's amazing that you ran at all while sick. I read somewhere that it doesn't hurt you to run with a cold and that you usually feel ok once you get started. I ran 16 with a cold a week ago Sunday and it was pretty miserable (and very slow). Good for you for hanging in there. I don't use facebook -- should I? Happy September all. I'm trying to be upbeat about the change of seasons, though I must admit, summer is my favorite month....

Ugh. That sucks. Dad did tell me it's just as big of a surgery as the TT. Maybe not quite as much as an extended TT, but close. I'm not looking forward to the pain, but I do know how fortunate I am to have a PS for a Dad, in terms of the $$$..... You'll get there if you need it, Diane. It might take some saving, but what I will tell you is as much as I can't wait for the thighs, the stomach was so much more important to my body. A part of me will miss being "super curvy girl" when I lose my thighs because there's lots of male attention at this shape. If you stay curvier through the thighs, you'll still love your body sans pannus.

There's a good poll about this somewhere -- if you use the search feature you might find it and skip a couple of steps waiting for people to answer. My sweet spot is somewhere in the 9.0 range. I was at 9.5 for most of my weight loss, but I don't need that much to maintain and I'm trying it at 9.0 for a while. I got to 9.5 in week 9 post-op. In week 7 I had my first fill (6.5), in week 8 I knew I wasn't restricted enough, so I went to 7.6, week 9 I STILL knew I wasn't restricted enough, so they filled me while drinking Water until I felt it backing up (10.0), then they backed just a little out to 9.5 where I stayed for almost a year. Keep going back as much as possible until you KNOW you're at your sweet spot.

I figured it was time for an update....

Here's the suit....

Thought I'd give yall a photo update since there are so many of you about to have TT/BL. These were taken a couple of days ago, right at the 5 month mark. I'm pleased with the scars, particularly on th breasts -- they don't bother me at all. The TT scar will pretty much get opened up again for the thigh lift I'm having in November, so it'll get to heal all over again. Oddly, the heaviest marks are still from the compression garment (high stomach)! I'm promised they'll fade completely in time, but that it takes about 10 months. It's weird -- it's not a scar at all, just some discoloration from where the garment was too tight. Anyway, I guess I got less modest along the way, given the "real" shots. Guess you can also tell why I'm so excited to have my thigh lift and finally get this body in proportion!

I'm having a little bit of a problem saying "no" to myself with new clothes. I have this rule that if it's a single digit size and I want it, I can have it. I'm going to have to move to a new rule, or I'm going to be in the poor house. Even though I'm not to my final size (even if I don't lose more weight, my thigh lift in November will have me changing sizes), I keep spending and spending and spending. It's not TOO big of a problem, meaning, I'm not going into debt or anything. It's just a little irresponsible given that these aren't clothes I'll wear for all that long....It's just so nice to look nice and feel as good as possible about yourself, you know? It helps with the "passing for thin."

My doctor has me do an esophogram every year to check band placement, fill level, etc. I had one back in April and will every year, just as a precaution.

GO BETTY!! You can do it! I ordered the wrist thingy for the BB. I'll let you know how I like it. I must confess, I don't use my BB all that much, but I do still log my food on their system -- I like that part of it. I'll probably use the BB again this month too -- THIS IS OUR MONTH! I just got back from a major shopping spree. I intended to go to Home Depot and buy a new sink, but I stopped at Ann Taylor (where I bought a suit for court this week because nothing I had fits -- size 4P jacket and 6P skirt!!), Bebe, Arden B, the list goes on (as will the credit card bill). I seem to be picking out a lot of hot pink these days. Guess someone wants to be seen. Wink.

I'm headed out for my run in just a few minutes -- just 8 miles on the training agenda for the day because of the half marathon next weekend. I know Dawn -- I don't know how we are doing this but we are! Go Team April! I'm going to set my challenge very, very high this month, at 25. I don't want to maintain that for the long term, but this is my big marathon training month and I need motivation to get in the cross training I need in addition to the 4 days of running. Plus, I've got to get in advanced credit for November and December where I won't be working out at all, after the PS. Happy September everyone!

Tomorrow I'm going to stay on plan because today life threw both a business breakfast and a business lunch at me with no warning and I didn't have a low calorie day. I'm trying not to feel guilty because that's life and I made reasonable choices for the circumstances, but tomorrow I want to feel great about my diet and exercise, so on plan I shall be.

When I started running, I used the "couch to runner" program under the "training" tab of coolrunning.com. It worked great for me -- I'm running the Chicago half next weekend and the full NYC marathon on November 4th! You can definitely do it too -- I was a non-runner 8 months ago....

Boo, if your rear is fitting into smaller pants, the numbers on the scale should be coming any day now (knock wood). That's the way it happens for me, at least. Size first, then numbers. WOOHOO! Go Dawn on your extra lbs down this week too. We are all doing great! At least, I was until I agree to a lunch date with my office flirtation and had 3 courses at a fancy greek restaurant. I didn't make awful choices and the portions were small, but it was still 3 courses and a glass of wine. He's cute enough that it's worth the cals though....Wink.

Another pound off this morning and on the first day of my cycle too -- so odd. OK, ready for the scream? NINETEEN POUNDS TO GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!