Maggie76

Canoie - Congrats on starting the program! It will become addicting as you will try to beat your time each week! I know it will be hard to start and make this a routine; however, as a suggestion, you should download some great music, and only listen to that chosen music when you're working out. That way, you can look forward to working out so you can hear your favorite tunes! There are a lot of great suggestions on music on here – once you find your favorite music that gets you want to move, it will really help! With some of the music on my iPod, I can’t wait to run! Good luck!!

I don't think there is a magic number for a good walking/running pace, especially because I think this is dependent on height. But, that said, I'm 5'10 and when I started this my good walking pace was 3.2/3.5 and the running pace was 4.8/5.0, depending on the day. This is a great program though; I can really see the difference in my calf muscles!

This must be one of the first trolls I've seen on this site. Interesting...:biggrin:

If he isn't reading because he doesn't enjoy it, then I suggest having him listen to audio books. Once he learns how he can loose himself in a story, it may be easier to get him to pick up a book so he can read at his own pace. When my mother had several strokes she had to relearn how to speak, read and write. Also, her short term memory was shot. I bought her an iPod and loaded a bunch of books on it. You would never know that three years ago she couldn't speak, read or write. And, she continually learns new words and is always looking them up. The audio books have also helped her short term memory incredibly! This may be a bit off topic, but perhaps they audio books can help. Also, I recommend the Harry Potter books as they are great for the imagination, which in turn will hopefully want to help the little boy want to read more books.

Yes, you can wear them under your clothes. Today I have a short sleeved shirt on, and I don't think my BB is noticeable at all.

Walking quickly, I do burn a fair amount of calories in my 20 minute (or so) walk between the train station and my office, but I do walk quickly enough that my "activity target" of thirty minutes each day is met by the time I arrive at my office. I suppose it's sufficient since on the days I go to my office I don't have time to work out at home... Yes, when I'm working out the BB tells me how may calories I burn just from working out, as long as I remember to reset the trip on my digital display. I've comparied the readings of calories burned between my BB and my treadmill, and I'm happy to report that the readings are fairly consistent with each other. I have my coaching session set for this Thursday. I hope the session will be helpful...

The last post is interesting, although I don't agree with the “problems”, especially the last “problem” of not using it for multiple clients. I don’t think this tool is meant to share with others – it is meant for individual use. As such, I think the BB is a helpful tool, and I personally benefit from having the information it gives me each day. Without it, I wouldn't have a clue how many calories I've burned as my days vary in activity. I've had my BB for 2.5 weeks now and I'm very happy with it. I put it on as soon as I get up in the morning and I take it off right when I'm going to bed. Also, you do need to take it off when showering - sure way to kill it if you don't. For the two days I thought the BB was very annoying with it being on my arm. But now I’m so used to it that I don’t even feel it’s on. There have been a couple of instances where I thought I didn’t put it on or I lost it, only to realize it’s still there… In answer to your questions: - Calorie tracking: You enter the food you eat, not just the total amount of calories. BB has a lot of foods in its database to choose from, but I have had to enter some things manually. This is very easy to do, and once something is entered once, you do not have to enter it again. I have been able to find calorie & other nutritional information online. I just search “calories for x” and several sites pop up. Usually the information I find on several sites is fairly consistent with the other sites. To enter a food, it probably takes 10 seconds if you have the nutritional info handy. - I put my BB when I get up in the morning and I take it off right when I'm going to bed. Also, you do need to take it off when showering - sure way to kill it if you don't. I keep it on when I’m working out. I reset the trip when I’m working out to compare the calories burned info to my treadmill’s reading, and the readings have been very close, which I’m happy about. - I thought that the expected weight loss for the week was accurate, but I’m still on the fence on this one (which is probably one of the key questions asked here.) Last week I lost four pounds (I only intended to lose two pounds), but this week I’m back up four pounds. My goal is to keep a daily deficit between calories burned and calories consumed at 1000 or more, which I have done but for two days this week. But, in actuality, apart from those two days, my deficit has been about 1500, so my weekly average is still 1000. So, I don’t know why I’d be up four pounds, unless it’s new muscle… I will update next week to see where I’m at on this. - If I work from home and don’t work out, I burn about 1700-1800 calories a day. When I go to the office, I burn 2500-2600 calories (I work in the city so I walk to get from the train station to my office). If I work from home and work out, I burn over 2600 calories. I would say your calorie burn rate is accurate. If it helps, I’m 33, 5’10, 236 lbs and a female. Feel free to ask any other questions! Good luck!

Second story (long post): At the beginning of my second year in law school, my parents divorced and my mom moved to Illinois where I was currently living. We decided to get a house together, so we bought a newly constructed home. When I graduated law school I moved up to Michigan to begin a judicial clerkship. My aunt and uncle let me stay in their cabin they coincidentally had in the same town as my new job. I was a bit lonely, so I brought one of my dogs, Lilly, to live with me (my mom and I had three German Shepherds). After driving the 5+ hours to the cabin, I brought Lilly into the cabin and I went about putting my things away. After a few minutes, I wondered what Lilly was up to… She was sitting in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at the ceiling, moving her head around as though she was watching something move. All the while, she was growling and her hair was raised on her back. I had no idea what was bothering her, but I figured we let in a moth or something, and that perhaps it was buzzing around the bathroom light. I walked closer to her and realized the bathroom light was not on. Turning the light on, I didn’t see anything, so I just laughed at her and took her outside for a quick walk. During the time I was in Michigan, I often found Lilly watching the ceiling and moving her head around, all the while growling and being uneasy. After my clerkship I moved back to Illinois and moved back into the house I shared with my mom. Once I was back, weird things started to happen in the house. Mind you, we had lived in the house for over three years without incident. My mom would say to me that at night when she’d stand in the kitchen, she felt that she was pushed none too gently into the cabinets. She said had happened several times. I honesty thought she was cracking up and didn’t take her seriously. She then said that at times at night she’d see her recliner chair (that can rock too) start to rock by itself and then stop. I’d always say it was probably just one of the dogs walking past that probably bumped it. She’d reply that the dogs were always asleep at the time. Next my mom started to tell me that at night when she was in bed, she’d feel someone sit down on her bed. The first few times she thought it was me, and thinking I was ill or whatever, she’d sit up and turn her light on… only to see no one was there. Then I began to experience some odd things- always at night. There were times I’d be watching tv in the family room, alone, with one dog asleep next to me on the couch and the other two on the floor in their dogs beds. There were several instances where I’d feel a light breeze and then I felt as though someone leaned against the back of the couch. The first couple of times I thought it was my mom. When I looked over my shoulder, she wasn’t there. I then figured it was one of the dogs, only to realize they were all asleep. I then started seeing the dogs all looking up at the ceiling at the same time, with their heads moving back and forth in unison as though something was moving Again, no bugs or anything I could see. Then some really weird stuff started to happen to me. I can’t believe I’m admitting this – I promise I’m not nuts!! I’d be in bed and as I began to drift off I felt myself levitate from the bed and spin around really fast, as though I was drunk (I was sober each time this happened). While spinning, I’d always move beyond my bed and I was always afraid that I was going to fall to the floor and/or hit my head on my dresser or something. When this would get out of control I’d try to yell, “stop!” It always took several times for me to actually get the words out – it was hard to find my voice. If I could say “stop” loud enough, it would stop. Then, I’d always find myself back on my bed, but always positioned at an angle in the bed. I suppose this was just a dream, but it felt so freakin’ real and it happened several times! I finally told my mom what had been happening to me and she then told me some other things that she was also experiencing. We have also taken several photos while in the house, usually of the dogs being cute or whatever, and we have more photos with what appears to be wisps of smoke in the picture. We have one picture that is the most clear – and the “smoke” looks like a mans face with an old fashioned hat on. We realized that whatever was in our house was not a happy spirit – it was very mean. After a couple of years I transferred jobs and had to move to New York. We happily put the house for sale, and although it took over eighteen months to sell, it finally sold. I would love to ask the new owners if they ever experience anything, but of course, I don’t want to sound nuts. So luckily, after almost two years in our new house in New York, we never experience anything of a similar nature. We were honestly concerned that if I brought whatever from the Michigan cabin to the house in Illinois, that we would also bring it to New York. Luckily, it seems to have remained in Illinois!

I have two sets of stories, but I'll break them up into two separate posts. When I was 16 I was driving home at night from a friends house. I lived in the country, so there was almost always a cornfield on one or both sides of the road. I was driving at 65 or 70 and it was a really dark night (obviously, not a smart move, but I was 16 and stupid). Anyway, all of a sudden I had a premonition that a deer was going to jump out in front of me. In my premonition, I saw the deer jumping in front of my car, as I tried to swerve to miss it, but ultimately hitting it and running into a ditch. Mind you, the premonition was only a couple of seconds - it was just a flash, like a quick thought. Well, it freaked me out so I slowed way down; I think I slowed to 15 mph or so. As soon as I slowed down and let out my breath, a deer jumped out exactly as I seen a few seconds earlier. Luckily, because I was going so slow, I was able to slam the breaks and not hit it. I also remembered not to swerve. I remember going home and telling my mom about it - she said out loud, "thank you for watching over her!" She thought I had a guardian angel. I laughed it off... I have lived in the city for several years and 19 years after that incident, I am back living in the country (different state) and have since had two similar premonitions. Each time I slow down (although I'm never going more than 40 mph!) and sure enough, a deer jumps out but luckily I've slowed to about 10 mph so I can stop. Very interesting!

In answer to your question, I've been burning between 2500 - 2800 calories each day. Last week I worked out three days, running and walking on my treadmill for 40-45 minutes in order to go 2.5 miles. I only run .25 - .50 miles at a speed of 4.8 and at an incline of 2, but I've also been walking at a speed around 3.5 at an incline of 4. I also lift free weights for my arms when I'm finished on the treadmill. My treadmill and BodyBugg ("BB") both provide the amount of calories burned, and I am happy to say that my BB is right on target, if not a tad more, comparied to what the treadmill reports. This 40-45 minute workout shows that I've burned around 420 - 440 calories. Walking the dogs for 15 mintues adds another 125 calories burned. On Saturday I primed and painted my kitchen and hallway. I wore my BB and hoped to goodness I'd be close to by goal for calories burned as I was exhanusted! I was happy to see that by 6pm I had burned over 2800 calories! I'm seriously digging this helpful little tool!:biggrin:

I just purchased a BodyBugg as I've been stuck in a 3 month plateau. I started using it seriously on Tuesday of this week and I weighed myself today (a bit early), but I'm down four pounds already. I'm really happy with it because after I work out if I think I'm not going to make my "calories burned" goal, I'll walk my dogs after dinner. Each day I've made or exceeded my calories burned goal and each day I've fallen a little short on the calories intake goal. Interestingly, the BB website starts you at 1800 calories to eat, but I can barely make 1200 -1500, so I adjusted my program to reflect a 1500 calories intake. I've already been contacted by a BB coach, but I told them I want to use it for a good week before we speak. The nutrional content where you imput your calories is pretty good. I've had to manually enter some information, but it's very easy to do that. Let me know if anyone has any questions on this. So far I'm very happy with it. There are other Threads on the BodyBugg and other similar devices; that is how I learned about it. It seems a lot of folks have good success with this.:crying:

I feel your pain, although I've been at my plateau for three months now!! I lost 40 pounds in 4 months then blam – nothing. Not any movement on the damn scale. I just bought a BodyBugg so I'm hoping that will help me understand where I'm at as for calorie intact v. calories burned. I read some interesting posts on the BodyBugg discussion forum about plateaus, and it was suggested that if we eat the same thing everyday (which I do, for the most part) and if we have the same exercise routine (which I also do), that our body gets into rhythm and we need to shock it out of that routine. For example, change the exercise routine or have one meal a week that is whatever you want (granted, this suggestion was not directed at a lap band person). I'm trying this out and am hoping for the best. Next week I'll know if I've finally broken my plateau. Be sure to search "plateau" on this forum though, there were some great posts in the past.

Unfortunately, I too noticed you cannot reduce one particular spot. I run and walk at an incline on my treadmill and I also lift weights for my arms. I've lost over 40 pounds, and I've dropped four sizes in my pants. Oddly enough, although my arms have tightened up a bit, my top half of my body is still the same size. I haven't been able to get into smaller tops and my chest hasn't shrunk at all! But, I suppose we just need to keep working at it and soon our entire body will show the effects of our hard work!

33 year old single female - work in Manhattan but live in upstate NY. Haven't been banded yet, but have lost 35# since February of this year, so will try to keep going on my own for now...

I am a soft IP (copyright) lawyer & I work for a large international publisher.

In all honesty, I don't know if it has anything to do with the band, but simply loosing weight. I have not had the band yet, but am on a roll loosing weight since I received the nutritional guidelines (lost 35#s since February), but I have been having the exact same symptoms you ladies talk about! I thought it was just my body out of whack, but now this makes sense!

I am starting the process, and Dr. Tvetenstrand is the doctor I've been referred to. Anything I need to know?

Don - how about making an appointment with the doctor. Tell the Dr. you're there to answer any remaining quesitons she may have and to pick up the letter personally so you may deliever it to your surgeon's office...

I was concerned about the same thing – will I be denied because I hadn’t tried enough programs. I hadn’t ever tried medications from my doctor (never knew that option existed!), but several years ago I had great success on Natural Trim (with ephedrine), before the ephedrine (the good stuff!) was banned. I looked into weight watchers and joined for a week, but I thought the point system was stupid because it essentially meant I had to guesstimate on foods I made at home. I also tried Slimfast for a time, but nothing else really. So, I filled out the paperwork sent by the surgeon’s office and in it I had to list all of the weight loss programs I’ve tried, my successes and failures on the ones I tried, etc. So, essentially I only checked three boxes out of 15. I was very worried it wouldn’t be good enough, but last Friday I received the call from the surgeon’s office, telling me that I’ve been approved to proceed to the next steps to have the surgery. The next step is to meet with a nurse from their office to pick up a binder and fill in some additional paperwork, and then on February 11 I have to attend a 2 hour mandatory seminar. Basically, just be forthcoming to the doctor about what you have tried (and perhaps embellish a couple of points?) and go from there. I hope everything will work out for you!

Hey there - I am new to the forum but am in a similar phase in the process as you. I also live in Binghamton, if that helps. My goal is also to loose 100 lbs, I’ve been approved to proceed by the weight loss center and my first mandatory conference is February 11. I'm looking forward to attending and to determining how soon I can have the surgery done. I've spoken with my insurance company, and everything but the nutritional counseling is approved, so that is a relief. Feel free to email me anytime – at least we can complete the journey together!