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Please come and Join us! We started this group a couple of months ago, and we love seeing new faces. Here are the notes from last sunday's meeting: Good Morning Beautiful Bandsters! It was amazing to meet so many fabulous people at the Banders meeting on Sunday. You all are looking amazing! I wanted to through out an objective for our group as an idea to discuss. *Objective: * *To gather together in support with other lap banders, to Celebrate our successes, and find solutions to our challenges. These meeting will be focused on our physical health, mental well-being, and continued fitness as we transform into our true selves.* ** Let us all know what you think of that as a group objective. We can refine it at the next meeting and post it as our affirmation. I have put together an email contact list I will be sending out seperately to each of you, so it's not on a public groups forum. It would be great if each of you could write out your answers to the question I posed for the meeting. As you know if you speak it you affirm it, if you write it it becomes a reality. I encourage each of you to at least write down your affirmation, and if you would like to share with this group, that would be great for us to be able to support you with. Next month, Connie has graciously offered her home for our meeting. The topic of this meeting will be "Book Reviews" Please bring a health focused, or inspirational book that has inspired your continued weight loss success and could help others in our group continue on their path to full health and fitness. You will each get a chance to talk about your book, and what you have gotten from it that is helping you as you loose weight after being banded. Speaking of fitness, several of us committed to trying the *Run/walk for the Zoo* this year. It is on Sunday, May 3rd with the course down along the river and around the zoo. They have: 1. 8:30 am a 5 k fitness run/walk 2. 9:30 am a 5 k fitness walk 3. 10:45 am a 1 mile fitness walk When you register you get a t-shirt and free admission to the zoo afterward for the day. Admission is $25.00. Here is the link http://www.bioparksociety.org/runforthezoo/ I encourage you all to think about participating this year, it is a great way to get a jump start on your 10,000 steps for the day. I would like to do either #1 or #2, so please let me know if any of you will be joining me. We can make it our first support group event! Until next month. Stay focused and get your 10,000 steps a day in! Please forward this message on to any one interested in joining our group. Thanks Cheryl

We have started a group here in Albuquerque. The latest update is below: Please join us! We are growing every month! Good Morning Beautiful Bandsters! It was amazing to meet so many fabulous people at the Banders meeting on Sunday. You all are looking amazing! I wanted to through out an objective for our group as an idea to discuss. *Objective: * *To gather together in support with other lap banders, to Celebrate our successes, and find solutions to our challenges. These meeting will be focused on our physical health, mental well-being, and continued fitness as we transform into our true selves.* ** Let us all know what you think of that as a group objective. We can refine it at the next meeting and post it as our affirmation. I have put together an email contact list I will be sending out seperately to each of you, so it's not on a public groups forum. It would be great if each of you could write out your answers to the question I posed for the meeting. As you know if you speak it you affirm it, if you write it it becomes a reality. I encourage each of you to at least write down your affirmation, and if you would like to share with this group, that would be great for us to be able to support you with. Next month, Connie has graciously offered her home for our meeting. The topic of this meeting will be "Book Reviews" Please bring a health focused, or inspirational book that has inspired your continued weight loss success and could help others in our group continue on their path to full health and fitness. You will each get a chance to talk about your book, and what you have gotten from it that is helping you as you loose weight after being banded. Speaking of fitness, several of us committed to trying the *Run/walk for the Zoo* this year. It is on Sunday, May 3rd with the course down along the river and around the zoo. They have: 1. 8:30 am a 5 k fitness run/walk 2. 9:30 am a 5 k fitness walk 3. 10:45 am a 1 mile fitness walk When you register you get a t-shirt and free admission to the zoo afterward for the day. Admission is $25.00. Here is the link http://www.bioparksociety.org/runforthezoo/ I encourage you all to think about participating this year, it is a great way to get a jump start on your 10,000 steps for the day. I would like to do either #1 or #2, so please let me know if any of you will be joining me. We can make it our first support group event! Until next month. Stay focused and get your 10,000 steps a day in! Please forward this message on to any one interested in joining our group. Thanks Cheryl

They are a killer, especially the classics, the thin mints and the plain sugar kind. I can't resist buying them from those cute little girls, but now have an outlet for eating them. I send them to the troops in Iraq or Afganistan. You wouldn't believe how well recieved the Cookies are by the troops AND the locals. It feels even better than eating them to give them away to a just cause!

Hello All Buzy Bandsters, I am closing in on over 30 lbs lost, and two months banded YIPEEE (only 100 more to go!!) I have more energy and love the way the pounds are melting off. I am walking my 10,000 steps/day (equivalent to approximately 4.7 miles with my stride) and am looking for more energetic and exciting routines to add to my day. If anyone has any great routines that you can share that would be fab. If they are easy to adopt that's even better.

Hi All, I was wondering if you all had established an exercise routine yet? If so, what are you doing and how is it working for you? I heard from someone that the Greatest Loser contestants are able to loose 5 times as much weight in one week doing 2-1 hour intense workout exercise vs. just walking. I'm getting in my 10,000 steps a day now and will soon be ready to advance my routine. Anyone willing to share their workout routines, thanks in advance! CSB

Teri, Congrats on the size 16! I'm still afraid of trying on my jeans, of any size. It's great to hear peoples good news stories!!!! I went to the doc yesterday, and came away with no fill. I am happy about that, still struggle with the food challenges, but I'm getting the eating down. 1st rule: eat the sliders first. The dietian told me that if your meal has soft foods like yogurt, soft fruit, anything that will slide right on through, eat that before the chuncky Protein. That way the soft won't push the chunky through, thus making you hungry. WOW it works, I tried it today and no worries. I have an appt in 3 weeks, by then I will probably need a fill. CSB

Hi Mom, We are looking at Feb 8th at 3:00pm at the Flying Star in Corrales. So far there are three or four of us. Hope you can going in! Cheryl

Hey all, Any of you know any good exercises that help reduce the loose skin too. I'm finding that I have loose "flags" of skin on my upper arms and was wondering if there is a weight exercise that tones muscle AND gets rid of that ugly skin as our weightloss shrinks us. Is there any hope?

Oh yeah and mothers rule about chewing a bite 25 times is impossible! I don't know if any of you have tried it, but if it's not a really really tough piece of shoe leather, you can't make it to 25.

Thanks Heartfire, I appreciate your advice. Your right if I let myself get really hungry I do eat much faster. Is there a certain number of hours apart you eat? I have a band friend that says she eats every 4 hours on the clock. I can't do that. Great advice, and I'll try it. Always open for more suggestions from others

Help! I've been at this a month now and still find myself eating to fast. It's a killer, and I have come close to frothing a couple times. I was hoping for some tips on how to eat more slowly. Anyone out there who has found something that works for you, please share!

Yes the weight loss does seem slow, doesn't it? I was thinking it would go faster too. One way to keep myself from getting depressed about those 2 to 3 pound/week loses is I have charted my lose so far, and then plotted them with a target line so that I can physically see my progress. And I can look forward to where I hope to be in a few months. If your interested I can tell more. My first appt is next week, so we'll see what they say...

Hi All, I was banded Dec 18th, no problems, no complications. Two weeks after banding, I had to go off my BP meds....didn't need them anymore. How cool is that. Now looking at my first appointment 21 Jan. I'm down 23 pounds now hoping for another few before weigh in, still getting things stuck (especially chicken). But I have so much energy, I'm walking my 10,000 steps +! Couldn't be better. Hope everyone of you is doing well. This is the greatest thing we can do for ourselves! Can you imagine our Bandiversary stories????