justduckie

Hey Maysters! I figured I'd start the May chat since today is my Bandiversary!!!!! Yep, one year and 80 lbs ago I was banded. I was hoping I'd hit 100 lbs by this time, but hey, I'll take what I get and 80 lbs is nothing to sneeze at. Well, I am having the same problem that many of you stated from last month.....junk food.:cry It's surprising how little junk food it takes to really screw up your weight loss. But I've been stress eating and of course when that happens, junk food is the food of choice. I probably need a fill but I'm having problems convincing myself to go have one done because it HURTS! Not the actual fill, but after. The acid, the sliming, the golf balls! Most of it is my own fault for eating too fast but the acid reflux is the worst. And taking acid reducers just gives me UTI's......I don't know why, it must throw off my body chemistry or something and allows bacteria to grow. Ick! Anyway, on the positive side, I ordered me a Fluidity Bar (Celebrate a year being banded (mine was the BAR!) and how it's changed your life. I must say, my life has changed so much in the last year it is hard to describe. I've had more people walk up to me in amazement and exclaim how good I look. And I feel so much better. I can move, I can do stuff I haven't done in years, I have stamina, energy and my attitude is so much more positive. I'm willing to try new things and not give up so easy. I'm just a happier person! Have a good day!

Oh, Myra! I wish I could just have a body transplant, too! We went out on the bikes this weeked and put about 500 miles on the bikes. I'm down to 182.5 as of yesterday, too. I think the hot weather has something to do with it since I'm drinking a whole lot more and not hardly eating. And riding the bikes is harder than it would seem. My body is sore and my butt ACHES! But it was a nice weekend to go out and ride. Hope everyone else's weekend was a good one!

Yeah! I'm here! Now lets hope all the other great Maysters make it. Oh, Kim, I was stuck around 190-194 for MONTHS! I refused to get another fill, so I just started to move more. Then Poof! another 4 lbs, gone. So hang in there! Drink your water!

Hey Maysters! I noticed the new section for support groups and have been watching to see if us '06 Maysters showed up there. I'm sorry Mvpo about your second slip. It must really suck. I hope you get some resolution soon. Does the drs. give you a reason why you keep slipping? I understand your depression. ((((HUGS)))) After being in Atlanta for so long and going to my son's wedding....I don't know what I really did different, but when I got home and weighed myself, I was down to 186.5. :clap2: Yippee!!!!! Size 16 is comfortable now and 14's are a bit snug. My 18's hang off my butt. :whoo: But they are still the most comfortable for work. Here is a picture of me and my grandson from my trip last month. Not thin......but much thinner!

How many of you have terrible acid reflux? When did it first develop? Have you figured out a way to control it? What does your dr. say about it? I've had terrible acid since the first of the year. I just passed my bandiversary May 1st. I've lost a bit over 80 lbs. and other than the acid, feel great. I've never had acid before, so it's terribly annoying. I have little restriction and I'm still slowly losing, so I don't want the band removed. I've tried acid reducers, but for some reason it gives me a UTI every time I'm on it for a while. Doesn't make sense.....maybe it's just coincidence? Rolaids control it most days and I really have to watch what and WHEN I eat at night. How are you handling it?

Hey everyone! Thanks, Neal for the the new thread. I'm in Atlanta for the next two weeks and man is it HOT! It was 45 degrees when I left Wyoming yesterday and when I got off the plane last night at midnight it was 80 degrees here. Oooooh, tooooo hot! It is storming right now, so maybe it will be cooler this evening. Eating is going to be a challenge this next two weeks because my DD is vegetarian. She eats lots of protein, just not the way I'm used to eating. Maybe my loss will continue with this type of food. Today I've had a thingy of no fat yogurt for breakfast and some spinach ravioli for lunch. Both good, both filling, just not what I usually have. But that can be a good thing. If I could lose another 5 lbs. this month, that would be great! Just breaking the 190 mark - where I've been hanging this last week - would be great. Of course while I'm here, I'm sure I will swim alot, walk alot and go up and down my DD's stairs A LOT! So that will help, too. Well, I'm sure the babies are on the verge of waking up and my DD will have to get up from her nap, too. The babies are just sooooo sweet! And very good too. Not much crying out of those two. Let's see if I can post a picture of them. Hudson and Sawyer - 2 weeks old. Hudson - two weeks old Sawyer - 2 weeks old

Hello Everyone! This Memorial Day weekend has been very memorable. My oldest DD delivered the twins on Saturday. They were 6 weeks early. Hudson was 5lb 7 oz and Sawyer was 4 lbs. 13 oz. Both have had breathing problems with Sawyer getting the worse of it. As of today, Hudson is off any breathing help, no lines attached and eating normally. Sawyer is on a resperator, still in NICU but accepting food and keeping it down. They have a line into his belly button to give additional calories because he is working so hard to breath. When they put him on the resperator this morning, they upped his oxygen and that seemed to help him breath much easier and he isn't working so hard and has calmed down a lot. He doesn't like to be touched and because he's in NICU, my DD isn't allowed to pick him up. It's so hard for her. I've found that being 2000 miles away and not being able to be there for them has been rough on me. I've been throwing myself into yard work and tomorrow it will be housework, to get ready to fly to Atlanta on June 7th. I have this week off..... my scheduled 7 days off.....but have to work nights this weekend before I can fly off. To keep my mind off of the babies, I've worked myself into the ground, but my yard is looking down right spiffy! The weather is starting to turn, so I will concentrate on the inside. And on the bright side, I'm down to 190.... a loss of 5 lbs this month! Though it's not a way I would recommend to everyone. Myra -- I know how you feel. I decided to give myself a break. No one ever said that this was a race and I feel good. So if I don't lose another pound in the next few weeks, so what?! And it seems like when I don't "work" at it, I do better. I just concentrate on eating good food choices, give myself a treat every now and then, life is good! So don't beat yourself up about it. Drews -- how did the surgery go? Hope you are feeling better. The pictures look faaaabulous! Everyone looks soooo good! Hope your long weekend was great.

I'm so glad to hear from all of you Maysters! My internet has been down for almost a week....something burnt out on the roof in our dish.....and I didn't get to read all your posts. It's kind of neat to be able to read them all at once. Hooray for all of us! Even if you've "only" lost 50 lbs, that is a WHOLE LOT! Think about where you were a year ago and how much you've changed. Even if I lose no more, I'm such a happier and healthier person. So we all need to pat ourselves on the back. Drew! I love the picture from the Ball. You are so cute! OU - you look amazing. It's great to see what a change you have made. For some reason I've been getting a ton of people asking me about my surgery here lately. Of course, I gush when I talk about how my life has changed and how it's the best thing I've ever done. AND I tell them how it is different from bypass. Now....I'm not against bypass -- it was my first choice before I researched the Band -- but I think a person who is looking at WLS should know about the Band and it's benefits. So I've been a walking commercial for the Lap Band. Have a great week and keep up the good work!

Yep, that's kind of what I'm doing, too. It's weird, sometimes I can everything, other times, nothing. I did find out that a cold will cause enough drainage that mucus builds up around the band when you least expect it.:rolleyes I got sick and had sooooo much restriction it wasn't funny. And that's what I finally figured out what it was. As long as I would drink hot liquids slowly before eating, I was fine. It's constantly a learning process!

Whoohoo Drew!!!!! Mine was yesterday and I about forgot about it. Yeah to all of us Maysters! I hope your knee heals quickly.....that way you can get back to smashin' and dashin' in the roller derby.

Darn Sharron, I'm in NE Wyoming. It seems there are very few people in my area that have the lap band, too. I tend to get my support from here and other message boards like this. Hope your spring is warming up!

Hello Everyone! Hey, Kim, I live in NE Wyoming. March and April have always been the worst times for blizzards. But when the snow melts, it is so GREEN! I had a NSV on Sunday. We went up to Billings, MT (about 3 hours away) and since we were up there and they actually have a mall and clothing stores, unlike here where all we have is Walmart, I decided to look for a dress for my son's wedding. I found a beautiful skirt that was a large that actually fit without being tight or anything. Then I found a shirt that looked good with it. The sales lady brought me the shirt and another one with a bit different style. I tried on the one shirt and it was too tight across the chest and they brought me back an XL in both. I tried on the one and told the sales lady, "hmmm, no, I don't like it...." and she said, "well, no wonder, it's too big!" Too big??? AN XL too big???? It made my day. Needless to say, I found a nice white shirt to go with my pretty sage green skirt and I'm set for the wedding. The wedding theme is "a casual summer picnic" so the skirt and shirt are perfect. Now I just need shoes. We have to go back to Billings at the end of April and I will find my shoes then. I didn't do my walk/run yesterday because I was building a chicken cage for my 6 chickens I bought last week. My DH isn't very happy with my chickens and they are getting too big to keep in a large tub in my laundry room much longer. They'll go into the storage shed in thier new enclosure until all the snow melts, then I will build them a chicken house. I wonder how long that will take since just building a 3x3x7 cage took me all afternoon and into the evening and I'm STILL not finished. I have to make a door for it still so I can get in and clean it out. I just read back a few pages (I missed some with my internet down) and saw that we have a new challenge! I'll join in. May 1st is my bandiversery. That's about 6 weeks. So a pound a week will be 6 lbs. Sounds doable! That would get me under 190. Have a great day!

Hey everyone! Haven't been able to get online because our 2.5 day blizzard has knocked out my internet. I'm stealing the neighbor's wireless signal right now. I tried to get a hold of my internet company, but they, along with the rest of the town, have been shut down since Wed. Hopefully I can get a hold of them to come fix me up before I go crazy! Right now I have to hold my laptop in the right angle on BOTH my kness and hope and pray that I don't lose the signal. Anyway, my week has sucked. I haven't lost anything, haven't gained anything, but today I had a terrible PB out of the blue. I had a small piece of New York strip along with a small salad and some ice tea for dinner and all the sudden......oh, yuck! It all came back up! And the SLIME......not good. I don't know why, I've actually been feeling pretty good lately. Maybe it's just a reaction to all the stress from the storm this last week that finally caught up with me. (working where I do, snow...especially a whole lot of snow...is very, very stressful - especially when I had to run roadblocks to get home the Wed. and Thurs. -- I imagine they close roads for a reason??? LOL!) Anyway, when I get my internet back up and running right, I will check in again!

Hey, Maysters! My weightloss has slowed to a snails pace, too, so I've decided to quit focusing on poundage and start concentrating on being fit. And to that end, yesterday when I did my three miles, I ran about a mile of it. Off and on, with a whole lot of walking between the running, but it was more than I've done in, well, forever! So each time I go out and do my three miles, I'm going to try to do more and more of it running. As far as my St. Patty's Day Challenge went, I got down to 191 -- a lb. from my goal, then shot back up to 194. Ughh! I guess I don't go to the main page of the forum, so I don't see the R&R's going on. I don't come here to argue, but for all you Maysters great support. But it seems that no matter what board I go to, there are always rabble rousers who think that because it's a forum --- no matter what the forum is for -- they can spout all kinds of garbage. I tend to stick with the posts that stick to what I'm there for. My walking forum....we talk about walking. My mom's forum.....we talk about parenting. My LBT.....I stick with the Maysters! So the best advice I can give is SOB (Scroll on BY!). Keep up the good work!

Big NSV today! I pulled a pair of size 14 jeans out of my closet just to see how far I need to go to fit into them and I got them on......and zipped! :faint: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: Now, I wouldn't wear them out in public because they are a tad bit tight and they give me a serious muffin top, but just the fact I was able to zip them was amazing. Now, I'm working on getting into the size 14 levi's too. They are a bit smaller than the generic Walmart jeans. And not quite as stretchy. But I'm getting there. All that walking/jogging and working on the treadclimber has paid off. I also went and got some stretchy cords from Walmart today to start working on my strength training. It's cheaper than going to the gym and just as effective. I have all the stuff here at home to get a good work out, so why am I paying for a gym membership? I think I'm going to cancel it since I'm not using it. Myra!!!! Man, girl, you are doing awesome!!! Just amazing. Keep up the good work!:clap2:

Yeah! Drew's got her wheels back! 3 miles yesterday - 54 minutes

Oh, my body hurts! My DH and I've been taking advantage of the nice weather and walking. Yesterday it was 2 miles.....not much but more than I've been doing lately and my body is protesting. For some reason my back hurts. Of course, I've been helping my DIL make invitations to the June wedding.....cutting paper, stamping, folding, embossing. That gets to my back too. But, a little pain isn't going to stop me! I have lost nothing since V-day and St. Patricks Day is quickly approaching. I've got to kick it in gear if I want to wear a size 14 dress to the wedding. Would hate to be the mother of the groom wearing a mumu! Ha! Hey Drew....thanks for starting this month's thread. I hope your knee is feeling good enough soon to get back on those skates!

Well, it's March but I haven't been able to post for a while because of work. When I'm on my dayshifts, I just don't get a chance to get on the computer because I just come home, eat a little and go to bed. Then everyone in my house has been sick with the flu....my youngest son sounds like a comsumption patient.....and I have been trying to deal with that. Luckily, all I got a running nose and a bit of a cough, but that's about it. I did have a GREAT NSV this weekend. I decided to "Clean Sweep" my bedroom. And in the great purge I found a set of chaps that my DH had bought me last summer in hopes that I could wear them this summer. So I got brave, slipped them on, buckled up and they fit!!!!! They are a men's size M and a bit long (everything I own is a bit long anymore) but they fit in the legs and around the waist. So now I can be a WARM biker babe when the snow melts enough to go for a ride. It's funny, clothes still catch me by surprise. I put on a pretty salmon colored sweater the other day, thinking it was a nice spring sweater and it was just hanging on me. Made me happy, but also a bit sad because I REALLY need to get some new nice weather clothes. Marz - I'm so glad to hear about your nephew. Hopefully things will continue to go good for him. OU - you look great! Linda - you have lost an amazing amount and you do so much more exercise than I do! You are my inspiration to get "back in the groove" with my walking. For all of you that are still sick.....Get well quick!

OK, since I FINALLY made it to Onederland, I had my husband take my pictures last night and made it into a slide show on my MySpace page. And since I really don't know how to put a slide show HERE, here is the link to my page so you can check it out! http://www.myspace.com/justduckie5

Well, one good thing about not keeping anything down is I made my Valentine's Day Challenge. This morning I weighed in at 196. :mad: My co-workers are noticing my loss again lately. My favorite comment is that "you're melting away!" I told them, yes I am and I'm so happy! My doc says to go on liquids for a while and see how things go. If it's not any better in a week or so, I need to come in and see her. So I bought myself some protien powder and I'm digging out the ol' bullion and sugar free Jello and see if things get better. Drew! I'm so sorry about your knee. Just take it easy and let it heal and you will be up on those skates before you know it.

Help! I'm having a hard time keeping anything down and I don't know why. It's been 4 months since I've had a fill but I have suddenly gotten restriction like crazy. I get acid all the time and I've been PBing almost every day. I've tried to think what I did before this started and the only think I can think of is I ate some chinese food that didn't agree with me at all. And since then I've puking daily. I'm going to call my dr. tomorrow and see if I just need to go on liquids to get my stomach to calm down or if I need to go get an un-fill. I've even been waking up in the middle of the night and have so much acid I end up throwing up what little is still left in my stomach. I'm starting to feel bulimic!!!!!! And I'm SO HUNGRY! I'm afraid to eat, though, because I hate bringing it all back up. I'm tired of this! I want my stomach to go back to the way it was before my last fill. I didn't have the terrible acid then and the heart burn. I suppose I should go see my dr. and see what she thinks. It's just so weird.......it's been 9 months and all the sudden I'm having problems when I haven't had any before. It's just stupid............

Oh, Drew! I did the same thing last year this time......well, I wasn't roller derbying, I was running across the den....... But those stupid knee braces suck! I wore mine for all of maybe 4 days before I ditched it. I ended up using a knee brace from Walgreens that had a metal insert on both sides and was made out of stretchy stuff that stayed on my knee better than the brace. At the time, my big ol' fat legs didn't want to stay in the brace. Actually, it was the last thing that made me determined to get my band. Do what the dr. says and try not to twist. It will feel a whole lot better soon.

Hey Maysters! I had something happen that hasn't happened in a long time. I had a small piece of ham last night along with some green Beans and some tatertots. This morning I woke up retaining so much Water my rings almost fit the way they used to. And I can feel the water in my face.....strange, I know, but my eyes feel swollen. Must be the salt or something that was in the ham, but I feel like crap. Guess I'll have to take ham off my "can eat" list. Thing is, I used to love ham but yesterday, i wasn't all that impressed. It's funny that after all this time, I still come across food that just isn't the same. So, I have a question for everyone. By getting the band, I'm presuming everyone wanted to get their weight and their lives under control. What else have you changed that has nothing to do with your weight or your health that has improved your life? For me it has been to do a "Clean Sweep" of my house and get things more organized. I did that this summer. Then here lately my DH and I have been going thru the book "Smart Couples Finish Rich" and we are getting our finances under control and trying to plan for the future........near future like vacations and extended future like working on building our 401(k)'s. I honestly believe that if I hadn't gotten the band, I wouldn't have even thought about how I needed to change other things in my life. My life would have just kept going the way it had for the last 25 years. I guess the band has forced me to grow as a person as my body has shrank.

Whoo hoo Linda! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: 100 lbs is such an accomplishment. You deserve a huge pat on the back. Now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I'm starting to think about how low I really want to go. My dr. has set my goal at 160 and I know I can do that. But really, I would like to get down to 140/145. I would be more than happy to get to 160, but............:paranoid I figure I've already lost almost 75 lbs, what's another 60? Anyway, I probably shouldn't worry about it now. I think I should concentrate on the next 10 lbs. Keep up the good work, Maysters!!!!!!!

I can't wait for the February thread to be started......... I did it! I did it! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: I am in Onederland!!!!!!!!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: 198 and losing............