shrinknme

The almonds thing sounds like a good idea. Even though I do the SF thing I agree with what you stated it does make me crave more so what else do you do beside the Almond thing? I need some more ideas to get over these sugar cravings. I find that when Im hungry or craving sweets I make myself a cup of coffee with almond milk (and a little sugar if its the unsweetened kind) I usually heat up the almond milk in the micro and then add strong coffee to make it like a latte.. the almond milk has less calories than regular milk. something about the warm sweetness helps. you can do the same with a tea bag and a mixture of hot almond milk and Water. good earth has a red tea that also tastes sweet but has no sweetener or calories. fruit is always a good go to sweet thing.. Ill have to think of some more things I do..

Gosh I know some people try to mean well...but I hate that! I hardly told anyone about my band because I dont want people looking at me and shaking their finger when I eat something or do something.. as if they understand what its like. drives me crazy!

Hey all..geez I posted forever ago and then just was so crazy that I just caught up on the 3 pages I missed! How are you all? I just read up.. 1day and crzytchr I feel your pain about the non-supportive spouse with the garbage.. my hub is very supportive but I have a friend who has tried to lose weight several times and her husband always brings junk in the house and I know its so hard for her. I guess I just feel its either in your house or its everywhere you go and sooner or later you have to have a way to combat it. for me I know I just have had to change the way I think about food. for me knowing how hard it has been to lose this weight has made me equate that food that is "oh so good" with the fact that I am suffering to get the weight off..so I am turned off by it.. I look at it and think.. thats a lb or 2 there.. and its enough to make me steer clear.. and if I am tempted to give in and think its not that bad Ill just work it off tomorrow. I always have a go to food.. I find a high Protein filling food that is sweet enough to curb the craving.. but not too sweet to pack a ton of calories.. for instance I will have a handful of cinnamon and sugar crusted almonds. or a Protein Bar that is sweet. anyhow that seems to help me.. if I eat sweet slider foods..even if they are sugar free it makes me want more.. I tend to not use sugar free stuff because I feel like sugar free makes you crave sugar..so I have something with real sugar but much less of it. anyhow I thought I would share what helps me :thumbup: I had wanted to lose 10 more by then end of the year.. but I might join you with the thanksgiving challenge I have a question? I think I need a fill but Im not sure.. I will PB if I eat to fast or not chew enough or eat things with skins.. but I feel like at times I can eat more than a cup and feel like I shouldnt have to work this hard to lose a pound.. anyone have any thoughts? have a great week everyone

hey all! how are you! I havent been around in a long time..just so busy.. I have been working out with a personal trainer 2x a week.. just really wanted to be consistent and wanted a work out that would kick my butt.. well I get what I pay for.. I however feel like Im forever wrestling with the same 3-4 pounds.. this ever happen to anyone else.. Im eating the same.. and doing pretty well with it.. it may be because its been 2 months with the trainer and Im building muscle.. but none the less its really frusterating when you feel like your working your butt off and doing all the right things.. I feel like the pounds should be falling off.. but its not... I started up again in January after I had my baby.. and feel like I should have accomplished more in this time.. its been 10 freaking months and I am only down 36lbs.. well at least the baby weight is gone again.. I know its not about how fast it comes off but seriously this is frusterating..

oh ya Charlene.. I do the lunch meat too! especially the turkey.. you can eat quite a bit for such a small amount of calories! I think half this battle is having good things on hand.. and 1 day.. its good that your not doing only shakes anymore.. I am never a fan of anything you cant maintain long term.. its better to learn to eat correctly for the rest of your life.. than do something to lose weight that you cant maintain and then gain it all back when you have to eat normal! my mom lost 120 lbs doing liquids and gained it all back.. she then had the gastric bypass.

Hey all.. sorry Ive been MIA.. just truckin along.. been keeping up with some of your posts. I have been so busy with my 2 kids, my husband finishing up PA school and we are moving immediately after so its left me with all the moving preparations as well as looking for a job for my hubby and rentals to live in online! its nuts! anyhow.. 1day.. I watch biggest loser sometimes and one of the high protein snacks they recommended was greek yogurt.. I guess it has 2x the protein of regular yogurt. Ive never tried it as I have a milk allergy but some of my friends have.. I also eat these nut bars from nature valley. they are like peanuts and almonds and sunflower seeds and its kinda made like a brittle.. I however wouldnt recommend these if you have a desk job as they are GOOD and you could eat more than one if your just sitting around.. and I think they are like 190 cals.. but they work perfect for me because I am always running around on the go taking care of everyone else besides myself.. so its something quick I can grab thats high protein and gives me some energy if I have to skip a meal.. or am somewhere where there are no band friendly or milk free food choices for me. Lately I have been running crazy or cant find something that I can eat and so skipping meals and then I sit down to finally eat and I am so starving that I get stuck on the first bite!! because I am a moron and dont chew it slowly.. so frusterating to be sooo hungry and have something wedged just above your band! so I am definately needing to keep some good food choices around me.

As of today..I am down 20lbs since January and feeling great about it! thats 2/3 of my baby weight. :thumbup: small victories I guess. Hey all! thanks for the input! its so interesting how your life changes when you lose weight.. people just dont understand. I was talking to my husband about it and he didnt understand.. and I was like.. when your the fat person people feel more safe around you..but when you lose weight they somehow feel more threatened by you.. anyways.. its all a learning expierence I guess. This particular friend is always referring to us as "US Fat girls" and I get annoyed like.. I am not ok with being fat.. you may be. but I dont think its good or healthy and I am trying to change that about myself. I started weight watchers with her the beginning of this year and really tried to help her change her habits and eat right.. she invited me to keep her accountable.. well its April and she has quit.. and the sad thing is I kept telling her all along if she didnt change her mindset she would quit. Its just really sad to me.. Also I didnt not tell people because I was ashamed of it.. I had several reasons why.. 1st.. my parents had the stomach resectioning surgery.. and they told everyone!!! even people who didnt ask.. they would just talk non-stop about it.. and it got annoying to people.. they revolved their life around it.. so when they were fat they talked about food.. and now that they are skinny they talk about food! I personally just wanted to lose the weight and get on with my life. I have never really been about food and thats whats so annoying about the band.. before I would just eat something and move on with my day.. now with my milk allergy and the band I have to stop and think.. can I eat that? whats in that? where can I go to get something that I cant eat? 2nd is that I have always been defined at the chubby girl.. and now that I am banded I didnt want to be known as the chubby girl that had weightloss surgery.. in my younger years I made bad choices that made me who I am.. and I am changing that.. so I dont always want to be defined by what I weigh. I know someone that is a friend of our family and she had stomach resectioning.. and wherever we are that she is there my mother in law is always like look at "Pam" doesnt she look great? she had weight loss surgery.. how much did you lose "Pam"? I always felt embarassed for her.. like maybe she just wants to move on with her life and not be reminded of it. or tell perfect strangers that she was once a fat ass! LOL! 3rd is.. with weight loss surgery and the stomach resectioning there are alot of rules that they need to follow.. and also the weight just flies off.. well as you all know that is not the case with the band.. so people hear anything about WL surgery and they are looking at you like.. should she be eating that? or why is she still fat? didnt she have weight loss surgery? I just didnt want everyone all up in my business.. I kinda viewed the whole thing like my bra or credit card number.. its not like I walk around telling everyone my number or my size.. anyways.. maybe you didnt want to know all that but there it is :sad:.

Congrats!!!! way to go!!! I think the last time I was an 8 was like 6th grade LOL.. cant wait for the day that Im even a 12! Does anyone else have the friend (overweight one at that) that knows you have the lap band and then act like its not a big deal when you lose the weight cause you had "weight loss" surgery so its not like its a big victory or anything., man it drives me nuts, cause every pound I lose I work for.. I make good choices and I work out and it makes me mad when people act like this is the bariatric surgery where the weight just falls off because you are forced to eat only small amounts.. only a few people in my life know i have this.. and I am regretting telling some of them.

Okay any secret for getting rid of the sugar carb cravings we all get? It's emotional chocolate is like a sub for $ex and other stuff. I can get rid of my BF for a while but then it comes back with a vengance. I have not mastered the beck technique yet and no Janet I have not wrote my letter to my friend my food. Oh I walked during lunch today that is a plus but chocolate is not a reward I know that Hey 1 day.. I heard that eating proteins ONLY for a few days helps stop the carb/sugar crave cycle. I havent tried it. but Ive heard good things. good luck! I know that chocolate thing is a bear.. and Its so hard not to REWARD yourself with it.. bad habit! I at least cant eat most chocolate because of my milk allergy :thumbup:

Hey all. sorry I havent been around.. 2 small kids keeps me going.... :thumbup: I read all your back posts though.. sounds like its up and down for everyone. I am doing well.. I just hate when I feel like it takes so much effort to squeeze one pound off!! I remember once I went in to get a fill and there was this couple there who are patient reps.. they both had the lap band together and now they help counsel others with their journeys.. anyhow.. I remember telling them that I was having to work so hard and watch everything i eat in order to lose even a pound.. and they simply said.. you need a fill.. that if your watching your portion size and truely eating till you feel full and not pushing the limit or eating slider foods that it shouldnt be that hard to not feel hungry and lose.. well up until this last week I was pbing some and didnt dare get a fill but I was only losing like 1 lb a week and I was craving sugar like crazy!! I had to cut all milk out of my diet and that means there are so many things I cant eat. no milk, yogurt, butter, cheese.. and no milk products in anything.. so no baked goods with butter.. no nachos,pizza, nothing.. I cant have it in anything so as you can imagine milk is in almost everything! I was thinking this would help me lose weight since I can only eat pure foods.. meats, proteins like beans, and then only some carbs and vegs and fruit.. but the result has been craving sugar! I think because I stopped eating milk which breaks down into sugar my body is craving sugar in other forms. this week I noticed I could drink immediately after eating and thats a major sign that I need a fill.. if I take even a sip immediately after eating I will pb when I am tight enough.. so I made an appt for friday. hopefully it will help. anyhow.. my birthday was monday and I just wanted to eat a little piece of cake.. no such luck.. couldnt find a single cake without butter or milk last minute.. so I guess I am the better for it. :mad: anyhow.. I am encouraged by you guys who have lost so much weight.. even though I have had to start over I know I am getting there.. but its nice to see so much more is possible.. cant wait till ive lost 90+ lbs.. will be so nice.. heck 50+lbs would be wonderful at this point! anyone else have the problem with gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 lbs over and over until you get over the hump? its SOOO annoying.. I only weigh myself once a week.. and it would be like down 2... up 1.. down 3.. up 1.. its driving me crazy. and I have a good scale.

Thats awesome Charlene! I hope you will accomplish what youve set out to do! youve already done great so far!

thanks all! My baby boy is doing well.. He is almost 5 months now.. rolling over and such a good baby. he is so much more low maintenance than my daughter.. she is 2.5 and killing me! LOL Shes great.. just has a strong personality like her momma :thumbup: I guess I only have me to blame for that one! Charlene..thanks for the info.. thats an intense thing..I hope it works out for you. my mom did a Dr. supervised liquid diet once.. she was very successful but then gained all the weight back and ended up doing the stomach re-sectioning surgery. I cant do liquids because I am breastfeeding and need to have at least 1500 calories a day to maintain that. even when I got the surgery they had to bump me up off of liquids pretty fast because I was losing too fast and it wasnt healthy for my daughter.. I am doing weight watchers and its working out well for me. its good to have the accountability of what I put in my mouth. its great you have lost so much weight! I cant wait to get back to where I was before the baby.. I was fitting in clothes that I hadnt fit in since highschool and it was nice! Im almost half way to that point again!

Hey Ladies... sorry I have been MIA. I guess I have kinda felt out of place since my pregnancy put me on hold and you all continued to lose.. I got my fill back in January and I tried to hook up with the January 2010 bandsters and that wasnt happening because they are all in that fresh loss liquid phase and it was annoying when Im in my lost 33lbs.. gained 30lbs post babyness.. so now Im back. I have lost 14lbs since my fill.. but now the scale is just stuck.. I dont dare get a fill since I am pbing more than I ever did before.. just stupid stuff. life on the run with 2 little ones and my hubby in med school makes me eat too fast and make bad choices. Im not too tight.. I think Im just right.. I just need to cut out the high calorie foods,, I developed a milk allergy with this last pregnancy that hasnt gone away so I think I am allowing myself to indulge in sugary foods because I cant eat SO much with the milk allergy.. its like I have to suffer with that so I allow myself this little thing to reward myself for the pain and suffering of never eating cheese, milk, ice cream, butter.. you get the point.. I need to cut the crap and cut out the crap. I am just not being honest with myself that the little cookie here.. or the little dark chocolate there is adding up to more calories than I need.. I am Breast feeding too!! so I should be burning more.. anyhow.. I hope yall will accept me back.. and Kimaly.. I lost the diamond out of my engagement ring 2 weeks ago!!! prongs bent sometime through my day and it fell out!! it was so crappy! so I understand your pain.. I thought for sure it was a goner.. my cleaning lady found it while sweeping! so maybe it will turn up.. so sorry.. I know its such a bad feeling.. I hope you recover them! and you go girl with the friend thing.. I know its not easy cutting out someone youve invested so much with.. but you have made the right choice.. I had a friend for about 10 years that was bad news.. she used me so bad.. and I just kept her around because I felt bad for her.. but it got to be too much so I just cut her out.. I thought why am I this persons friend? a friend is someone that has your best interest in mind.. its so FREEING! hang in there.. its a good choice!

I have had no fill in my band since I found out I was pregnant.. I had some tightness throughout the pregnancy.. but now now 7 weeks post pregnancy I am tight and today I even pb'd! its crazy.. I can eat normally most of the time but get tripped up on the normal things like when i have a fill.. like bread.. so weird.. I hope everything is alright and its just hormones or something. I go in for a fill the 8th of Jan.

Thanks Heather.. I scheduled a fill for Jan 8th.. I think I am going to follow weight watchers because they give you extra points for BF and tell you how much to eat to lose a lb a week.. :biggrin:

Hey all you Breastfeeders out there.. I am dying to get a fill because I am wanting to eat everything in sight.. did anyone have any problems with milk supply after getting filled?? I was hoping to wait 3 months because I wanted the milk supply to be good and established before I got a fill.. but I think I am not going to wait because I dont want to gain more weight. I think as long as I keep my fluid up and can eat at least 1200 cal I think I am ok..

Danitra, I had my fill completely out because I get very sick with pregnancy and didnt want to throw up with the band. I think as long as your gaining and not losing .. and not sick you can keep your fill or adjust it slightly as you go.. congrats! I just had my baby 7weeks ago.. :thumbup:

whoops I misunderstood! well my first was a C and I think getting from point A to point B is the important part.. beautiful healthy baby boy to show for it! :redface:

Emj~ people dont know that I have it as well.. My husband knows, my parents, and one of my friends. When people notice I eat less I just say that I am doing portion control to lose weight which is not a lie. :w00t: when I have those oops moments when something is not going down well I just say I am not that hungry or not feeling well and that usually puts an end to it. Or I usually say that I need to use the rest room and excuse myself and wait till its resolved till I go back. I cant wait to get tightened. but I am waiting awhile for breast feeding reasons. I just want to make sure I have a good supply before I start cutting way back. I am going to try weight watchers because they give you extra points for nursing and I want to know how many calories I need to maintain BF and lose.. so once I know how much I can eat then I will get tightened so im not hungry. my advice is dont let worrying about what people might say about what and how your eating stop you from using the tool that you have. sometimes I think that I think people are thinking more about it than they actually are, you are becoming a healthier, happier you

Congrats!!!! what a beautiful little man!!!! glad you were able to avoid the "C" :biggrin:

Hey All.. here is a picture of my daughter and son and one of just my son :biggrin: thanks for all the congrats!

Hey all.. sorry for the delay in news.. my son Josiah was born on 10/28/09 after a 5 day labor!! it was insane but I was able to have him vaginally after having a c-section with my first! so it was a great thing! He was 9lbs and 21 inches.. I am doing well and almost healed. and my son is growing!! he gained 10oz in 10 days!! I am trying to attach a photo of my daughter and Josiah.. hope it works!

Hey Everyone.. Just wanted to let you know I had my baby.. its a BOY! he weighed 9lbs and was 21 inches.. His name is Josiah. anyways.. back to the losing game for me!! hope you all are well!