michellelei

Hi everyone! I have not posted for a long time but I visit everyday! I enjoy reading everyone's "mostly" success stories and encouragement. Congrats to all of you, keep it going! I guess I am a "success" so far too but SLOWER than some,grr. The scale is just not my friend. I am smaller because my clothes say I am,lol. My pants are baggy and my tops fit better. I feel alot better physically. I have been working out at the gym 4-5 x a week for about 45min-to an hour. I always finish with the eliptical for a total of 8 min. (1/2 mile) That may be easy for some but it is killer for me,:wink_smile:. I went to a huge Christmas craft show Saturday and usually I can't walk too long w/o getting very tired. I walked for hours and did great. The thing is, I started at a really high amount so I expected the weight to fall off pretty fast at first. It's been 6 weeks and only 25 lbs. I had my first fill 11/25, 5cc's. It gave me some restriction but not enough. I am calling tomorrow to ask for another. I don't THINK I am overeating but I do eat 1 regular plate full in evening. I am eating a full plate of salad with some kind of protein(shrimp, chicken, tuna salad,etc) for lunch almost everyday. I am now reading "LAP-BAND Companion" to see if there is anything I should change. With all the above being said, I am very happy I got the band and I thank God for giving me the strength and ability to finally beat this demon inside of me.:cool2: Good luck all.

From Windsor PA (York County) here. I am surprised by how few people are from PA. I have tons of weight to lose and was looking for some local peeps to share the journey with.

I had my first fill yesterday(11/25). My doctor put 5ccs in. I gurgled when I drank the water, that was weird. I have restriction now but still not enough. It was hard to eat anything today. I had a 2 deviled eggs(party at work) for lunch and that was it. Then had a protein drink and cottage cheese a little later that I had packed for my lunch. Now tonight, I had baked ziti(overcooked noodles) and it went down very easily:(, I ate a little over a cup. I am still hungry so I am going to see if I can eat a salad. Good luck all. Happy Thanksgiving!

See? It wasnt as bad as you thought,lol. How much "fill" do you have altogether? I just went today for my first fill and my doctor put 5cc in. (I told him I WANT RESTRICTION!! I had none) I gurgled too as I drank a small cup of water! Now I am kinda scared about drinking(not suppose to eat rest of day) anything tonight. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!

It's great you got yourself back to the gym! I hope 3rd time's a charm!:thumbup: No matter what you weigh at the docs, it is still LESS then prior band! I wish you the best of luck.

Hi! Lookin for other bandsters out there to help keep me sane,:smile2:

I checked out that site, I need all the help I can get! Thanks for the tip.:cool:

Hi everyone, or should I say anyone:frown:? (Doesn't seem that anyone reads my blogs.) Oh well, they are still good for me to reflect. I am having some difficulty with having NO RESTRICTION! I didn't feel that I was overeating, although I haven't been writing every mouthful down, and when I got on the scale this morning, well, it says I gained 7 lbs.over the weekend!:willy_nilly: I KNOW EVERYONE'S FIRST THOUGHT. It is water retention. The problem with that theory is I have had VERY SWELLED ANKLES ALL THE TIME, in the past. I have not had this problem ever since surgery which has been an unexpected, wonderful surprise. One would think that if water retention is back, so would the swelled ankles. They are not. Soooo, let's do some self examination. On the positive, I joined the gym and I am committed to it(worked out on Friday& this morning):thumbs_up:My diet...uhhm, ok.... I enjoy social drinking on weekends. Haven't had any since surgery, until... Stayed home Friday night, had 2 white russians(with 1% milk), just looked up the cal count~each were 350 cal:sneaky:. I made spaghetti for supper~homemade sauce using splenda to sweeten a little/60, low carb noodles/190cal, and venison hamburg(its low in fat/180cal). I have no restriction, so I ate probably much more than should of but still less than my old self. Saturday>I made eggs and bacon/240cal(I had my granddaughter overnight & she doesnt eat much but LOVES eggs&bacon), then had spaghetti leftovers for lunch/430 cal. I ate a baked chicken breast for supper/200cal, then we went out to our club with friends and I drank. Trying to keep cal/carbs low, I first had a diet coke&rum(1st time since surgery that I drank soda, no excuses, just forgot)70cal. My hubby reminded me then and I was glad because I HATED the drink. Next I drank a Bay Breeze(coconut rum, pineapple jc, cranb jc), I love sweet drinks and thought this 1 would be kinda good for me. Because it's sweet, I also thought it would be extremely high in calories, looked it up, only 160 cal. Then my g/f bought me 2 "applesauce" shots:crying:, 150cal ea. By this time, I was really in the drinking mood so I had my hubby go to Rutter's(a mini mart)to get diet iced tea. I asked and was allowed to bring in our own drink to mix with the clubs alcohol. So I had "diet" ice picks rest of night(about 6 shots of vodka)=around a whopping 500 more calories. So, now that I do the math, I added 1030cal just from drinks!:sad:Before we left, I ate 2 hot dogs they had on the grill(because they looked sooo good and were a buck/300cal)2200cal all together. On Sunday, we went BACK to the club for a "shrimp feed". I got a doz steamed shrimp/60cal, shrimp salad/220cal, potato salad/160cal, 1c shrimp bisque/240cal and a red beet egg/80cal. Then I got 1 drink because someone had it and it "looked good", a dirty girl scout(coffee liquer,cream de menth, baileys& vodka with milk)/340cal.(It was delicious) It makes the fact that I drank 2 full glasses of lemon water not mean much:sad_smile:. Later that night, I had more of my leftover spaghetti/430cal. And for snack, I had another pop/100cal. WOW! Not to mention the things I may have eaten & just don't remember. Ok. I get why I didn't LOSE. But really. Is all the above 7 POUNDS worth??! Actually, I am soo embarrassed when I write down my calorie intake. I did not realize what I do to myself. I go back to my job after 3 wks off on Wednesday. I go for my first fill on 11/25, 2 days before Thanksgiving. I NEED the RESTRICTION. That is soo obvious. Drinking may be out of the question. Maybe I will "reward" myself with a drinking night out after every 50lbs lost. I am not sure yet. But I MUST GET MYSELF back on track...even before the fill...I cannot afford to go backwards. Do I intentionally sabotage myself? I am sooo good at analyzing everyone else(they always come to me for advice) but am HORRIBLE at it for me:embaressed_smile: Any advice?

I somehow hit the button that posts my comment before I am done, HATE THAT!!LOL The committment that must be there mentally as well as physically. Thank you for sharing. Ok, I am done :cool:

Hi sunshine. Posting where you are at weight and mind wise monthly is brilliant. I think I am going to follow your lead if you don't mind. This coming Monday will be 1 mo po op for me. Reading your month to month journey reminds me of the committment that MUST