ericsmom

Welcome home Sherri! I'm so sorry to hear you have to go through a fourth surgery :cry Way to go on the weight loss! You're doing an awesome job!! I forgot to weigh this morning (I didn't even realize it was Wednesday!) so I'll weigh tomorrow. Get some rest and take care of yourself

That's so funny that you thought of me!! I bet we'd be great scrapbooking/stamping buddies yes, I'm in my room tonight - I put together some new craft modular drawers for my craft room, and now I'm here. I may start something, but I'm not sure. I'm waiting for my son to call for his ride from Confirmation. Is anyone watching the Biggest Loser?

Beth - try your picture links again...We'd love to see you, but they didn't work!! Off to work - I'm by myself tonight as DH has bowling and DS has confirmation and band practice. I'll catch up then!

Leona! Looking Awesome Chica!! So proud of you! Just checking in to say hello before I head to work - then I have a 3:45 appt. with my nutritionist. After that I'm taking my son and his friend to dinner at Applebee's. I am hoping my friend can give me a perm tonight, but if not tonight then Thursday. My exercise lately has consisted of walking around the school I work at...I need to get on my bike this week and for sure this weekend. Have a great day!

I'm off to bed - another busy week ahead!!

Sherri - my doctor said he'd like to see me losing 3-4 a week at this stage...so when I was only losing 2 for two weeks, that told him I needed a fill. I still think it's amazing how different doctors and their advice can be!

Pizza (the topping) doesn't sit well with me anymore - tried it once and that was enough for me. I haven't had soda since I started my pre-op liquid. My last one was 8pm on June 20th to be exact. I LOVED Caffiene Free Diet Coke, but since carbonatoin is a no-no, I'm not even going to try it. I'm afraid I'll go back to drinking just that instead of water. I had a hard time with pea pods, although I love them...I also had heartburn from my friend's meatball/italian sausage spaghetti sauce yesterday. Otherwise, everything is fine. I'm afraid to try popcorn as I've never pb'd and don't want to!

Congrats on entering bandland! I am sorry to hear you're having such a time of it with the gas. I, fortunately, didn't have that problem. It will get better...We're all here for you :confused:

My friends would say I collect scrapbooking supplies, as I have WAY more than I need. I "collect" ribbon and paper :confused: I used to collect tea pots for a while until I ran out of room to store them. Same for the wicker baskets with apples on them (made by a certain person and bought at the Apple Festival every year). Again, no more room to get more... I used to dabble in stamp collecting when I was a kid, too. Otherwise, nothing really.

My favorite shake is Slim Fast Chocolate Royale powder, a scoop of Chocolate protein powder (Body Fortress), 8 oz of milk, and ice zapped in my Magic Bullet **licking lips** YUM!!

:omg: I'm so embarrassed!! I didn't even see that one! Nope - no physical shakes, just liquid ones :confused:

Congrats on the NSV! I'll bet those jeans look fabulous!! I can't wait to wear mine!

No, I'm not diabetic. The reason I am still having shakes is because I like them - milk, Slim Fast Optima Chocolate Royale powder, Chocolate protein powder (10g) and ice, zapped in my Magic Bullet. I think it's my way to get my chocolate fix. I don't crave chocolate and I don't have any desire to reach for ice cream (which was a big thing for me pre-band). I have one every morning for breakfast. Then I have a SF pudding about 10:15am...then at 12:30 I have lunch and I usually have 4 teaspoon fulls of cottage cheese and a snack size of diced peaches. Then I get home from work about 4:30 and we have dinner at 6:30 if we're all home. If we aren't eating together I usually have another shake. When I'm home alone all weekend I tend to do shakes because they are easy. Thanks for the ideas and suggestions Tonight I had about 4 bites of chicken breast and some mixed veggies and a scoop of cottage cheese. That was plenty. I also like smoked string cheese for a snack - I was so bummed that Walmart didn't have any in stock today :confused: I don't eat bread and if I do have any pasta, it's not very much.

My update wasn't posted on page one yet, but here is my stats as of 9/27/06 Ericsmom - H 337/ S 322.5/ C 280 / CBMI 48.1 (-57 lbs total)

I've been having shakes all day except dinner the past three days. Yesterday I had homemade spaghetti at my girlfriend's. Meatballs and sausage were in the sauce. It went down just fine, but afterward, I needed my TUMS, so I know that stuff bothers me. Tonight I had some chicken breast, rice & veggies, and some cottage cheese. It feels funny right now at my band. I'm sure it will subside after a while. I'm at 5.5 cc's now for restriction. The scale hasn't hardly moved in two weeks and I'm having shakes mostly...do you think my body is rebelling and I'm at a plateau?

Hello everyone - it feels like forever since I've been here to check on you all. Although I can't say specifically what I've been doing to be busy, I just know I've been busy... Kari - glad to hear you're feeling better! Beth - I definitely think walking in stores counts as exercise :confused: Way to Go! Leona - sorry to hear you're still having pains, but congrats on the loss Sherri - I hope you got some great pictures at the pageant so you can scrapbook them!! Hello to everyone else

Just checking in to say hello! I have to work - then I have my Card Club tonight - I'll come by for catching up and updates tonight. Thanks for all the kind words!! You're all the best!

Stetsi, way to go on the workout! And Mary, I have a recumbant bike, too...it's great for exercising during the cold weather! I have it in my former office with a tv, too, to make the time go by faster. My knees can't handle much walking, as in outside, so I opt for the bike. As long as we're moving, that's all that matters, right? Yes, my pants are a tad baggy - I have new "real" pants in a drawer. I tried them on yesterday again. They fit and I can get them on, but I don't like how they feel when I sit in them yet. I'll try again in a week or so. I'm off to work - have a great day everyone!

I'm off to bed as well...have a good night everyone!

Thanks! They say my eyes are called "Norwegian Blue Eyes" because I have a dark ring around the lighter blue. And braces and a permanent retainer behind my front teeth give me a good smile. I've been so unsure about posting pictures, but I feel I know you all well enough to get over the anxiety about it. Arcael - Sorry to hear your wrist band broke :cry But I'm proud of you that you went to the gym!!

Can you see I have on my "I'm with the band" band on in the third picture? I couldn't get my pics smaller - if someone can do that and put them side by side, that would be great! Thanks!

I have never posted pictures, so I thought I'd give it a try...be gentle... The first one is July 21st - two weeks post op...down about 25 lbs The second one is Sept. 7th - down almost 50 lbs The third one is today (Sept. 18) - down approx 55 lbs.

That doesn't sound right, Beth. Make sure and ask your doctor about that. My fill didn't really hurt because I had a local anesthetic injected in the area (4 times) as he tried to find the port (7 times). I thought for sure I'd bruise, but I haven't yet. It's tender if I push on it, but otherwise I'm totally fine. If that is the worst thing I have to go through, then I'll take it.

I went to the doctor on Friday and got a second fill. Boy, was it a traumatic thing, though! Nothing like last time! I guess when you lose weight things shift around and even though my port is sewn in, it had shifted, so the doctor couldn't, for the life of him, find the spot to get the needle in. He stuck me 4 times with number stuff and 7 times (yes, you read that right) with the needle trying to find the port access. :omg: When he finally got in, he put another 2.5 cc's in. I guess I have the VG band that holds 10cc's, so now I have 5.5cc's. I am going to look like he sucker punched me in a day or two. You should see all the poke marks on me! The physician's assistant who does the follow up care and fills felt so bad. I told him not to beat himself up over it and it was fine. If this is the worst thing I go through in my journey, then it was well worth it. I told him of the flouro fills you speak of and having to swallow the barium and he'd never heard of that. Anyway, he just has me push my stomach way out and he feels around for my port. The first fill I had he hit it right away, but now that I'm losing, it's more difficult to find the small access point because even though it's sewn in, it still shifts around. Even though it was more difficult, it won't make me shy away from having another fill.

I see I forgot to update last week...this is as of this morning Ericsmom - H 337/ S 322.5/ C 282.8 / CBMI 48.5 (-54.2 lbs total)