*susan*

Emy, I fixed it for you!

Girl, you are absolutely beautiful! Let us know when you get your date!

I absolutely love pickles, especially Clausen's Hearty Garlic ones! Although, I warn people not to get too close after I eat them, because boy do they mess up that fresh breath! At any rate, pickles have been one of my favorite snacks all along.

I was a diet coke addict up until 2006 when I had my lapband surgery. I quit cold turkey. I went years without drinking any soda. Then, a few months ago I was so thirsty and had a sip of my daughters coke. It made me feel completely uncomfortable and tasted sickenly sweet. And yet, I drank some more. Now, I am in the process of once again weening myself off of the stuff. I actually allowed myself to get back to where I was drinking several a day. Wise choice? Nope, but I didn't get fat by making wise choices to begin with, and it can be easy to slip into old habits. Fortunately, I acknowledge that this is a bad habit to allow myself to get back into. Yesterday, I woke up and decided my primary goal for this week is to once again eliminate all soda from my life. So far, so good. But I admit, even though they make me uncomfortable, I am seriously jonesing for a coke right now, but, I will not give in!

That is wonderful news, I am so excited for you!!!

You are doing fabulous and look amazing! I know you must feel awesome too! Congratulations!

Hi Steven, and welcome to VST. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I wish people understood more just how difficult it is to lose weight. Smokers can quit smoking, alcoholics can quit drinking, but we cannot quit eating. We have to eat to live, so in my opinion, we have one of the most difficult of addictions to conquer. I wish you much success with your surgery and look forward to following your progress.

You are probably out of surgery by now, or close to it. I hope all went well for you, and congratulations! Let us know how everything went as soon as you feel up to it.

First, I am a bit confused about why your doctor feels you could do better than 71 pounds in 5 1/2 months, I personally feel that is awesome. This isn't a race, and you are doing fabulous. As far as a stall, everyone experiences those at some point. Most of us experience several of them. I have found that doing the infamous "5 day pouch test" usually works for getting me back on track. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/ I have always strived for about 60 grams of Protein a day, and that has worked well for me. At six months out, I was averaging around 800 calories a day, and other than going for daily walks, no exercise. I admit, I was a pretty lazy girl, lol. At a couple of years out, I average between 1100-1200 calories a day and do try to get in my exercise, especially now that I realize the importance of it for long term weight loss and maintenance. At any rate, don't feel down about what you have lost, you are doing amazing, and don't let anyone, including your doctor tell you otherwise!

Good luck tomorrow! Nerves are normal, but you will do fine. Let us know how you are doing as soon as you feel up to it.

That is fabulous news! So happy for you. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using VST

Goodness, that is sad, crazy and so much more.

Too funny, I am well over a few years out and still do it. You should hear the obnoxiious, hiccup type sound my body insists on making when it decides I have taken one bite too many. It is quite embarrassing when dining in public.

Good luck! Keep us updated on how it is going.

Oh goodness, I am just now seeing this thread. So funny, I needed a good laugh today!

Yes, you definitely need to adjust your stride, it will make all the difference!

Ha ha, good luck with the protein powder dilemma. I am not sure there is one that isn't gross. Most of the time I try and get my protein from my foods. But, when I need a little extra, I have found I can tolerate Jillian Michaels vanilla whey protein when I mix it in with my strawberry/banana smoothie.

I actually found a huge different in what I am able to eat with the sleeve versus what I was able to eat with the band. With the band, I had to be so careful, I never knew from one day to the next which food was going to be a problem for me. I hated living in constant fear of how my body was going to react to the food I ate. However, with the sleeve, it is completely different. My stomach is just like everyone else's, it is just smaller, that is all. I am able to tolerate anything I put in it without a problem, I just can't eat as much as a normal person. If I do "choke" or something, it is because I simply ate more than I should have and that is my own fault for being a glutton.

It is a fabulous site, if you do a search, you will find a ton of people on here who are there also that would love to be friends with you.

A few words of advice, do your best to ignore the negative nannies. It doesn't matter what message board you are on, there are going to be some of those types. They believe they are right, everyone else is wrong, and they are darn sure going to make sure everyone knows that. But, don't let them chase you away from a great community where most of us appreciate your knowledge and experience. We welcome, cherish, and respect all of our members and the help they are able to provide each other, as well as the support. When you do come across someone who is being especially negative, or in violation of our forum rules, please don't hesitate to hit the report button. Our policy is we try not to rule with an Iron fist, and do our best not to. Sometimes, just a well written post from a moderator or administrator can help set the offending poster back on track, without our having to issue any type of punitive action on them.

I have never been big on logging my food either. It just doesn't suit me or my lifestyle, and isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life. But, right now, I am logging it because I got out of control with my eating for a while. In order to bring myself back to where I need to be, I know I need to physically log and see what I am putting in my mouth and how it is affecting me. But, once I get back into my good habits and am back on track, I will probably stop logging again too.

Welcome, we are so happy to have you join us! I am band to sleeve revision as well, and have never regretted it.

Congratulations on your revision, I am so happy to hear you are feeling well. I am also a band to sleeve revision, and have never regretted it. After the first year, my band gave me nothing but problems. I couldn't keep anything down, even with no fill in it. So, I lived on the one thing I could keep down, and that was ice cream. Not healthy, and I gained a lot of weight as a result. But, my trusty sleeve has not given me any problems. Much success to you, I look forward to following your progress.

While I would strongly advise anyone against the band due to my own personal experience with it, and all of the people I know that have had it, I would suggest you check out our sister site for information on the band. The link is: www.lapbandtalk.com

Wow, you are doing absolutely fabulous! Congratulations!