*susan*

Good grief, I just played for 15 minutes and couldn't get past 12 meters either. He is kind of funny though.

Carlene, your pictures are beautiful!

Here is ours. My daughter just put it up today.

Geez, my user name is so boring after reading how everyone came up with theirs. My name is Susan. My husband and son both are into kart racing. My husband drives the 47 and my son drives the 94.

Hey Sue, you look absolutely fabulous! I bet you look even hotter with a head!:biggrin1:

Ok, in regards to position while eating, I have actually noticed something. I do not need to stand up to eat. However, I do need to make sure I am sitting in a normal upright position with my feet planted firmly on the floor. For some reason, I really have noticed that if I am curled up on the couch with my legs and feet tucked under me, I get stuck. I never mentioned this before, because I thought it was just me being wierd.

Alexandra, I am so sorry to hear about your husband. My cousin went through testicular cancer 8 years ago and hasn't had any problems since. It sounds like your hubby is doing well and my prayers are with him. As far as the comfort eating, we all have our times. But, as others have mentioned, when you are ready, your band is right there waiting for you. It sounds like you are getting back on track, which is great.

When I first got banded, I also used baby utensils to help me learn what size bite I should be taking. It really worked well for me. I am now graduated back to adult utensils, but still taking baby size bites.

That's just nasty. Why would anyone want to put themselves through that? Just my two cents, by band works wonderfully and I have not experienced hunger since getting it. And, after reading this thread, I am truly, truly more thankful than ever for that!

Julie, I think you are doing great. If you don't feel like you have reached proper restriction, keep going for those fills. Are you exercising? I noticed we started out within one pound of each other. Everyone loses differently. The important thing is, you are losing and you are getting healthier every day.

When I had my consultation, he asked a lot of questions about what types of diets I had tried previously and how I had done on them. He did a general physical and asked a lot of questions about my health history. Based upon that, he decided what additional tests I would need. He explained all about the surgery to me, what would be expected of me before, during and after and then went over my pre-op diet.

Ok, I guess it is my turn to attempt to post some pictures of my work in progress. The "before" pictures were taken at my highest weight in April, 2 weeks prior to surgery. The current pictures were taken today, 46 pounds down.

Wow, Betty, you look fabulous! I am so impressed and love the new do too! Aren't doxies just the sweetest dogs? Winston is actually my daughters baby. He follows her everywhere. Max, the lab, pretty much goes where me and the hubby go. They are definitely our spoiled babies. By the way, I just posted some pictures on the picture thread.

Hey Julie, I'll race ya to the 220's! :biggrin1: Like you, I get so excited when I see the scale drop to a new number. Two weeks ago I was thrilled with finally getting in the 230's, now I really want the 220's in a major way.

4-3: JenRN - 263/257/223/150 - 40 total 4-3: jenn28 - 282/265/229/165 - 53 total 4-3: Picardy3 - 298/300/257.5/150 - 42.5 total 4-3: tipper - 300/290/259/165 - 41 total 4-4: Sugar1 - 311/289/231/150 - 80 total 4-4: Dak – 255/251/205/150 – 50 total 4-4: Angels - 264/255/235/? - 29 total 4-4: Harpseal Al - 327/295/220 - 34 total 4-5: Boo - 208/203/169/132 - 39 total 4-5: siestaqh - 180+/177/128/110 - 52 total 4-6: Disneynut - 290/287/260/125 - 27 total 4-7: Guysis - 234/180.5/134 - 53.5 total 4-10: JulieNYC - 358/244/180 - 114 total 4-10: DeltaDawn - 358/221/180 - 137 total 4-11: Vickie1177 - 320/297/267/137 - 53 total 4-11: tellymelly - 240/235/140/120 - 100 total 4-11: Fel0816 - 307/284/265/to get under 200 - 42 total 4-11: dsrjrr - 231/230/210/130 - 21 total 4:11: truckinmama - 262/234/160 - 28 total 4-13: Nursekathy2u - 358/356/335/175 - 23 total 4-13: NJgirl - 248/230/206/140 - 42 total 4-13: Miper70 - 217.5/196/145 - 21.5 total 4-17: Amourette - 22.5 total 4-17: Jeepergurrl - 242/192/140 - 50 total 4-17: MelAnne - 245/207/150 - 38 total 4-18: KAYBEE-284/209/180 -75 total 4-18: Danaclark2 - 270/260.5/245/150 - 25 total 4-20: TrustUfirst - 210/205/177/135 - 32 Total 4-20: Omamoon - 220/211.5/188/130 - 32 total 4-20: KimInMD - 288/288/228/156 - 60 total 4-21: Yoda - 273/257/212/150 - 61 total 4-21: kristielynn - 310/302/237/150 - 73total 4-22: alisonb - 286/270/176 - 16 total 4-24: Eficka - 125/117/98/69 - 27 kgs/59.4 lbs. total 4-24: Ceparano- 255/270.5/210/170 - 60.5 lbs. total 4-24: Kat - 289/281/210.5/165 - 78.5 total 4-24: hlj25950 - 262/257/216/160 - 46 total 4-25: momof2boys - 270/266/237/145 - 33 total 4-26: Bostongurl - 264/244/194/145 - 70 total 4-27: tinaj - 226/221/210/150 - 15 total 4-27: lookingout - 185/178/165/101 - 20 total 4-27: flowergoddesstn - 214/204/190/130 - 24 total 4-27: Dimples0323 - 284/284/241/145 - 43 total 4-28: Susan4794 - 283/267/237.0/140 - 46 total 4-28: bluehill - 333/243/145 - 90 total 4-28: Irish Girl - 225/214/158/135 - 67 total 4-28: MomofSixKids - 240/238/205/150 - 35 total <!-- / message --><!-- sig --> <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Basically, when you have the band, you need to be careful when you eat. At first, it may seem like a chore, but it will become second nature and you won't even think about it anymore. By eating like a bandster, you take very, very small bites. I actually used baby utensils to get myself used to doing this. You want to chew, chew and then chew some more until your food is mush before swallowing. Then, put your fork down and wait a minute before taking your next bite. It is also important to remember to not drink with your meals. By drinking, you help push the food through your pouch, so you do not feel full as soon as you should, and you get hungrier sooner. This one has been easy for me, because if I drink while eating, I have the infamous "pb". PB stands for productive burp. Basically, if you do not chew your food up well enough, you eat too fast, or you eat too much, you will likely have a pb. It is very uncomfortable. Your food gets stuck and there is pretty much no where for it to go but back up. It is not like traditional vomiting, because you do not have all the bile and acid in it. It basically comes up as the whole food, or as slime. But, it does come back up. Usually afterwards you feel better, but it is a good idea to do liquids for a while afterwards to give your tummy some recovery time.

Hi everyone, it sounds like are challenge is going well this month. I am sorry so many seem under the weather, I love this time of year, yet hate that it is always accompanied by the "sickies". My daughter ended up being out of school all week. For the first couple of days, her fever stayed around 102.5. She had strep throat and bronchitis. She is finally starting to feel better and is a bit annoyed with mom now because she wants to go outside and hang with her friends. But, it is pretty cold here and she stills has that hacky cough so I am making her continue to lie low this weekend and try and get the rest of it out of her system so she can go back to school on Monday. Thanks for the concern about her. I don't know how you guys stand the cold weather where you live, lol. I am in Florida and it is 48 today and I am absolutely freezing. Hi George, welcome to our challenge. Nice to have a man join us. Hope you don't mind hanging out with us girls, lol. 12/1: No exercise. 72 oz. Water 12/2: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. water. 12/3: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. water. 12/4: No exercise. 48 oz. water. 12/5: 1 hour walk. 72 oz. water. 12/6: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz water. 12/7: No exercise. 60 oz. water. 12/8: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. water.<!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Congrats on getting restriction! It is great when you finally feel the band is really there and working for you.

Hi Don, I am glad you are doing well. Take care of yourself over the next few days, let others wait on you and get to feeling better.

What you are feeling is absolutely normal. The time immediately following your surgery until you start getting fills is for healing, not dieting. Most people find that once the initial swelling goes down from the surgery, they are able to eat close to what they were doing prior to the surgery. I actually gained weight prior to getting my first fill, as many others have reported as well. However, once you start getting fills and reach proper restriction, you will definitely feel the difference and the weight will start coming off. Just remember, it takes some people 2-3 fills before they reach proper restriction, so you have to patient. But, it will happen and when it does, you will be thrilled with the results.

Hi Spruce, and welcome. I think you will find that most of us here at LBT have tried just about every non-surgical diet known, especially the popular ones such as Weight Watchers, Atkins and South Beach. I know I have and had some success with every diet I tried. However, something would always happen that resulted in my going off the diet, gaining all the weight I had lost back, including packing on a few new pounds as well. That is what led me to lapband surgery. I knew I didn't have what it takes to do it on my own and needed a tool to help me get healthy. I looked at several wls options and decided lapband was the best choice for me. I liked that it does not rearrange or cut apart anything on my insides and that it is reversible. I like that I do still have to take some responsibility for the food choices I make. When it came down to the issue of money, well, my husband and I are certainly not rich. We live paycheck to paycheck. However, we decided that by having the surgery and losing the weight, it would increase my life span, reduce future health problems and definitely improve my quality of life. We decided that is something you really cannot put a price on. So, we refinanced our home to pay for the surgery. It is a decision I have not once regretted. I am feeling better every day, have more energy than I have in years and my self esteem has improved greatly. Not sure if this will help you or not, but at least it will give you some insight from a banded person. I am sure others will post as well.

Hi Wendy! I am glad you found us. Feel free to ask questions, we are all here to help and support one another. Let us know when you get your approval and what your date is.

I have been following this thread for a while now. I think, had Sunta put her original post a little differently, it would have been a completely different story that would have resulted in an intellectual debate. If she would have said, "I do not feel it is environmentally sound for people to bring a large amount of children into the world" or something along those lines, it would have not been offensive. But to say people who have large families are "idiotic" or "uneducated" is offensive. Therefore, this thread has turned into an argument about that instead. It is fine to have an opinion, it is fine to voice an opinion, but do so in a manner that is respectful of others and incites intelligent debate instead of heated arguments. I have done a great deal of reading, watched numerous shows, etc. in regards to our environment and the problems we are facing with it. The people who do the research for this are "highly intelligent and educated" people, they are scientists, environmentalists, etc. Not once, have I ever heard them blame the state of the world on people having too many children. As humans, we have come to enjoy the many luxuries we have invented/discovered over the years. Unfortunately, these same things we all know and love have led to the deterioration of our environment. Perhaps, instead of looking to place blame, which solves nothing, we need to invest our time and money into looking for solutions. Instead of investing our money in researching the mating habits of strange animals, creating weapons of destruction, etc., we should invest that money, research and time into more environmentally friendly products and how to correct the damage that has already been done.

That is exactly what I am doing. Once I got my band, I said I refused to ever diet again. And, I don't! No counting points, calories, carbs or anything. It has been so wonderful and liberating to not do that anymore. I do make a point of make healthier choices, but that is it. If I want something, I eat it. My band keeps me in control and does exactly what I hoped it would.

Count me in!! :biggrin1: