Northernsun

Hi All! I am interested in how other folks banded as long as I have been are doing. I am down 130 lbs and have about 50 more to go to make me happy- don't get me wrong - I am very happy with my results now but want to get to my ultimate goal. It is winter in Minnesota and I am not a winter person. I powerwalk my dog every morning ( when it is above -10and the sidewalks are not solid ice!) do 3 days of strength training with bands at home and 3 days of the dreaded exersize bike but no matter what i do it does not near the exercize i get in the summer so I am stalled. I was too tight for awhile and had some removed a couple months ago and I seem to be able to eat more. Also around Christmas, i discovered or should say rediscovered cookies. Never ate them when i was low carb but actually baked this year. Big mistake! So, I have gained and relost the same 6 lbs a few times. I am back on track now and am trying all different things to get moving again. I still find it hard to believe how much of a difference this has made. I have a neck! I am down to an 18/20 and it still amazes me that I can shop in stores instead of just the catalogues, and I have a ton of energy:biggrin:. So, i am curious, how is everyone else doing?

One day i was cleaning the shed and saw my daughters bike there and wondered if I could still remember how to ride. Took it out, filled the tires and got on in the driveway. Ran into the house once - nice scrape on me - ran into the truck once- nice scratch n it - and away i went. I am now hooked. Ended up buying a walmart bike for me and my DH rides my daughters bike. We started last fall, gave it up for the winter and just started again. I am totally addicted! We ride every day that it is above 40. We have trails everywhere here and after i get rid of my winter stiffness ( even tho i did excersize) we plan on trying as many as we can. I love being out on the trails! The biggest problem is other bikers and we have a lot of them here.

I have been on synthroid for years and am in my 3rd yr post banding. In the first year, after I had lost about 50 or so lbs i started getting dizzy spells occasionally. Had my thyroid tests and needed my dose adjusted downward. I don't think i will ever be totally off it but it pays to be tested regularly.:biggrin:

Lapbandster- You have done great and should be proud of yourself for coming this far! I think we all keep that thought of failure in the back of our minds. Everyone where I work knows what i have done and compliment me on my progress and I don't think i could handle the looks if i do start gaining again. Living in Minnesota I don't get out much in the winter- the walk with the dog in the morning - and in house exercize is not the same. I need to work harder on watching what I eat- I spend too much time in the house! When spring comes i am outside all the time and get much more exercise. It bothers me also that I am holding but I have come this far i WILL go the rest of the way! It might just take me awhile....

little tiny roach clips?!!! Laughed so hard I about lost my lunch! What a great picture! Think maybe someone should check and see if she has one captive at home she is using......

Toes are right out there and it is amazing how many times we bump them but patience and it will heal but as they say, you can't fix stupid and it makes you wonder how some people get out of bed in the morning... I had the opposite reaction- I am on blood thinners so bleed easily and caught my finger on a grocery cart. It was bleeding so i did what I usually do and wrapped it in a kleenix till I could get a bandaid from the truck. The cashier sees this and says- oh my you are bleeding- ( well, duh I thought!) and gets on the pa - manager to lane 5 with the first aid kit. The manager and head cashier come running and about this time I wanted to crawl under my cart I was so embarrassed- you would have thought I cut off my leg by the reaction. I thought they were going to call an ambulance! I did get a bandaid and with my face bright red I paid and left. I go there every week and the cashiers now all know me which I guess can be a good thing.....

After the overnight in the hospital and then home I was not taking much pain meds and started moving around right away. I was planning for a much worse time then it was. I thought I would have to stay in bed for a few days but other then the lifting restrictions and the mid day nap I learned to love, it was pretty much business as usual! But that was me and everyone reacts differently and has different pain tolerance. I found it much easier then my 18 hr labor!

Congrats on the big step! I had mine done at Fairview University with Dr lederer and couldn't be happier. I was more excited then scared- my family was more scared then me - I just wanted to get started and get back to doing the things that made me me. Good luck- you are startintg on a great adventure and I hope you have as much fun along the way as I have!

I wear rings on every finger - I just like rings! I have 2 really nice ones- my mothers wedding/ engagement ring that i had to have fused together and an opal that my dh and dd gave me for mothers day. The others are inexpensive ones i've picked up. I have lost 2 of the inexpensive ones- they just flew off somewhere and i never did find them. It hurt but I also got to pick up a couple more! Walmart has these ring things called ring snuggies that fit on the rings and make them tighter- no more lost rings. I am waiting till I am at goal till I have the 2 good ones resized. My DD gets all the other ones i shrink out of.

Congrats! it's a great feeling isn't it! On to the next goal!

GET A SLEEP STUDY! If you have apnea, you will be amazed at how much better you feel when you start with the cpap.

haven't been on scf/fi for awhile- tell me more about this new star trek movie! When is it set to be filmed?

My prayers and thoughts also- there are some things in lift that happen that bring it home just how fragile life is and just when you think all is going well, something happens. An hr earlier and that could have been me........

He has an office at Fairview also so i still go to him for fills and checks. I am glad cuz i don't like changing drs in mid stream and i do like him. I never did a support group- this is my support group! Like that i can attend in my pj's if I want! Yes, he is direct and to the point but there is no bull there and he tells you the truth about what to expect. I was lucky- from deciding and going to the first meeting till my surgery was only about 2.5 months, and it seemed to go really fast. I would have to second thougts about doing this again with Dr Lederer. Good guy!

I went through fairview system with Dr Lederer and was more then satisfied. Don't know about the HCMC program but all the people at fairview are great and I liked dr. lederer a lot Good Luck!

Apples are great but I also have to peel them. Found out about that the hard way! Other fruits that are easy - watermelon and blueberries are my favorite. Strawberries go down well also. Anything with a thick rind of any kind needs to be peeled.

GNC has a pretty good tasting chewable vitamin. Easy to chew- just an fyi- don't try their liquid vitamin- the smell is enough to gag you and the taste is worse!

I have had to learn to ecxept compliments never having recieved many before. That was really hard! I have one person who calls me the incredible shrinking woman! It seems when ever I plateau foir a bit or doubt my progress, someone compliments me on how good I look and it always makes me smile and gives me a boost to continue.

ckbw- I am on coumadin for life- had blood clots in both lungs. Dr just had me quit the coumadin for a week before surgery and I started right after surgery again with the shots and the pills till i got to a decent level. The only problem is you will need to test regularly because with the change in eatting it is hard to stabalize and i seem to be going in a lot. Just when I thought I had it down and went 5 weeks between appointments my inr dropped to 1.5 which is no protection at all. So I am back to weekly tests for awhile.

As much as i like listening to Sean Connery, I would love to have Sam Elliot read me a bed time story......... Ok, so that dates me!

I have been a Heinlein fan for mny many moons and actually just reread a few of my favorites- Job and Friday are two of them.and the Lazarus Long stories.Someone mentioned the Postman- one of the best book i ever read but the movie....... It is one that my DH brings up when he wants to laugh as my eyes flash and I go on a tirade about bad book to movie translations! Like Starship Troopers... Oh please don't get me started.....!

Hi - My name is Gayle and I am a cheese addict! Being low carb for so many years before banding, cheese was our chips and main snack food. My DH still comes home from work and eats 4-5 pieces of cheese. He eats no lunch and that is hs lunch and before dinner snack. I have one. Unless it is the really expensive extra extra sharp chedder that bites back when you bite it, then I might eat 2 or 3........ Good thing that is for special occaisions! I eat chedder cheese rice cakes as a snack and a treat is a piece of cheese with it! Yes, I love cheese.....

I have been doing the bodylastics resistance/cardio dvd since January and other then one morning when I was up half the night with a sick husband I have not missed a morning and I do them 6 mornings a week.I just don't have the time or the guts to go to a gym. At home I can wear what I want and look like I just got out of bed ( which I did!) and no one cares. I really like the resistance bands - I know i have gotten stronger in the last 6 months.

I think this is fairly common. i have been stuck for about 6 weeks. i was hoping along with the excersize, the added activity during the summer would help but so far I am still stuck. i have been loosing inches tho - pants fit better it is just the scale that does not move. I also hold water so the scale can fluctuate 5+ lbs in a day. Not good for ones confidence!

You know one of the best things about this forum is on matter how you feel about somethng, there is always someone and usuallu many someones, that feel the same way and understand what we are feeling. I alsoi never looked in mirrors if I could help it. I hated trying on clothes at store because of the evil 3 way mirrors! Tended to shop a lot on line or just buy and return if it didn't fit. No matter how many time my DH and DD tell me how good I am doing and how much better I look, I still see in the mirror, fat. There seems to be a short in my brain somewhere that can see the changes and process the sizes I have grown out of but still see me as fat. I am well aware that I have a long way to go yet but I have a hard time seeing where I have been and congratulating myself. I have noticed that I am slowly reaching acceptance for the way I look now and smiling with the NSV that happen along the way. My latest smile- standing in the grocery line and I had to move my cart to the end of the line and I was able to pull it right past me without having to step into the next door cashiers space to do it! Did make me smile!