OH Juli

Holy Cow we are a day away from Marchies in July! I'm plateaued out like many of you and I'm not losing like I want to be. I thought doing all the right things would be second nature by now, but it is not. There are too many calories going in some days. Yesterday, I felt horrible at the end of the day for having eaten too much so I grabbed a few crackers to absolutely blow the day. I've not had that kind of behavior in over 6 months! What the heck was that about?! Certainly I'm celebrating more than being distructive, but holy crap. yuck, yuck, yuck....I'm very blue about things at the moment. Here's to digging a little deeper and finding the bright spot in the journey. Maybe it's the rain that has be down... Juli

Hello my little gay lovlies. Who has plans for the weekend? I don't. I've got Zoe this weekend, so of course we will be at the pool. I have laundry to wash, a yard to tend (which I HATE doing) and homework to read. Aside from that no plans! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh That will be fantastic. So, I'm on a plateau. It's been 10 days and I've not lost an ounce overall. I hate this. I see the doctor on July 9th and might get a fill then if this weight doesn't move. And yeah, I've had some high calorie days...I'm hoping to dig a little deeper today and the weekend to see if I can make the wieght budge, but sakes alive, I thought it'd be second nature already. Thanks for listening to me bitch, I know there are others on the board who are dealing with bigger frustrations than a plateau, it seems a little petty on my part. Take care everyone, XO

Yo, I'm a Marchie too....I just caught this thread. I thought they'd kick me off that thread for being a lesbian. Hasn't happened yet. I'm not so much Pagan, but I was raised that way. My mom, sister and 22 year old niece have their "3 generations" workshop stuff they do in at different events. Really you could call me a humanist, all the gods and goddesses of the multi theistic paths only confuse me. But MM ya'll. Glad you have a place to call you own. Juli

Yeah, my flashing ass. Scary thought. It goes either on the back end of you shorts, the waste band under your seat, or for me it goes on the pouch under my seat. BTW, check your tire pressure every time you ride, make sure it's at the right PSI. As for skinny biker bitches, watch out you're talking about me! (okay this time next year) and yourself! If I have to go up a hill to speed down one, I'll do it! That was such a rush!

Deanna, You're cracking me up! Yes, I wear the very ugly shorts, but they make the booty feel so much better! I don't have a top yet, but it's next on my list. I have gloves, shoes, helmet, blinking light for the back end... My hands don't fall asleep but my wrists hurt a bit. My feet DID fall asleep last night. It was suggested that I ask the bike shop people about where my foot hits the peddle. I dunno. Tonight's ride is shorter, I'll see how I feel. My back and shoulders are painfree since I bought the new bike. It really fits my body. As for going up hills, use a less resistance and peddle the hell out of it. They more you do the easier it will get! Juli

As far as workouts go, I've laid off a bit of the strength training due to being on a bike many hours a week. But I reworked my plan. I intend to strengthen my arms and core and not so much with my legs...they get enough attention with the riding. I read that about every 30 days you need to shake things up and I am finding that to be the case with me too. I don't work out at Curves, but I hear it's a good program for getting started and for social butterflies (not me). Janine, are you doing Curves?

There were about 40-50 riding. My little group there were 7. We were on the tail of it. They had three routes: 25, 35, 42 miles long. My group did the shortest one. Mostly we are on country roads and past some subdivisions. It's not super rural where we rode, but two lanes no gravel. There was one busy intersection. Tonights ride in primarily in a park. They said we might leave the park depending on the mood of the group. Thanks for all your interest! J

Hi Cindy Welcome to the group. You're right there with us on the lapband time line. How's your the process going for you? Where are you writing from. We are from all over! I'm in Ohio. Tell us more. Juli

Deanna- We rode in pairs and singlefile, depending on what was coming from behind. You call out to the people in your group the cars or other bikers coming at you. I was basically told my only responsibility was to ride in a straight line! Which was about all I could handle. The other bikers, were pulling the paint off the road they were going so quickly. Holy Sh!t! But I want to be like them! Lee, you are so right! You will lose wieght based on your calories burned. It's all about effort. One bike isn't going to be better than another for that. But if you have additional goals about speed or distance specifically designed bikes will better help you meet those goals just because they feel better and you'll keep your butt in the seat longer. Xo ya'll

I bougt a Giant (te brand name) Road bike. It has the skinny tires and the curved handlebars. When you know what kind of riding you want to do, go to a good bike store and look around. Ride three or four bikes before you buy one to make sure it fits your body. Thanks for the props. Juli

WOOT WOOT I just did my first group ride on the roads of central Ohio. We did 23 miles, up hills and down hills (I went 35mph down a big one!) I kept up with my group and they were so encouraging! Oh my goodness, I'm hooked. Absolutely and without question. I so want to go again and again! I learned so much too! The rules of the road, how to peddal efficiently, etc. That's right, I rode that bike!!!

Hey Lady, I know you didn't ask me, but I'm going to give you my opinion. I feel like we talk a bunch anyway because we are on many of the same boards. I don't have a fill and I snack, just a bit. I was told 3 meals and 2 Snacks by the nutritionist. She just wants me to stay away from simple carbs and liquid calories. As for the fill, my doctor said he'd give me one if I really insisted but he said that I didn't need one. And there is a finite amount of room in the band so to save it for when I do. Also he said it works on negative reinforcement. Most people, 90% actually, need to be close to vomiting before they actually begin to eat healtily. As he put it, I'm making all the right choices now, why would he smack my hand? It took some reframing in my head, because we banded folk get so psyched about the fill, the fill, the damn fill. I wanted my fill. But come to think about it, why would I mess with a good equation. I eat about 1200-1400 calories a day. I exercise 5 times a week. I lose on average 3 pounds a week. I'm not hungry and if I am I eat more. The other thing he said, (And I love the man now) is that the potential down side to a fill is that I may not be able to eat enough to have the engery to execise like I do, and I back off of the exercise...which is a step backward. He also called me a rock star. I pouted and kicked his chair, but really, going fill less if you don't need one is a sound medical decsion. As for no snacking, it can be a slippery slope. Just make sure you use common sense. :eek: Juli

Denise, I sent you a giant email yesterday, Tuesday. I got your PM today...did you not get the email??? I'll send another. J

Janine Plateaus really are the work of satan. They are evil. But what can you do aside from work through it, because it's not like there's that old turning back, falling off the wagon we used to be able to do when we dieted. I'm plateaued right now too. I'm hoping the scale is kind tomorrow and tells me it's over. I've been getting all kinds of comments about my weight loss. You can REALLY see it in my face. I can see it, which is amazing. For the body in general I get, "you're looking good" I don't think people are going to say, "Your big ol' belly is looking less big." Once the comments start they won't stop. Promise.

Shoot Monica I just saw you got your surgery in Groveport. Are you a Columbus girl? I am! I nearly had my surgery done by Viglianco, but my insurance said no, so I had to go to OSU! I'm so glad to hear you're going to exercise. And you need to email me off this board so we can encourage each other! I'll be your own personal cheer leader!!! juligirl01@sbcglobal.net

Hey there Sweetie, Juli from lbgt here. You poor thing. I wish I could make you feel better. It literally blows right now, your stage of post op surgery. Everyone above has said some great things to you. Listen to them. I'm glad you're making an appointment for your mental health too. Much of this, I believe is more about what's going on in our heads than what goes into our mouths. I'm fill less and losing. I eat lower calorie foods, but I've not come across anything I can't eat. If I go too quickly lunch meat sends me, but otherwise there's little I avoid due to making me PB or slime. I like your idea to heal then pause before getting a fill. Sounds like a good idea. In the mean time start visualizing all the new clothes you'll be buying.... Kisses, J

I'm going to chime in too. Think of losing weight as repelling calories. Sure you can reduce the calories that go into you mouth with surgery. But you can get rid of many too by burning them off. There is added benefit, like being muscularly stronger, increased matabolism, looking firmer, the endorphin rush, the sweaty cleansed pours making your skin prettier, and making your skeleton stronger. Reversing the damage of beign obese on your body ASAP is a benefit too! Also, the few people on the bell curve who actually hit their goal weight are exercisers, and I would wager that had been from even before surgery. And for one last kind of negative comment, sounds like you're looking for excuses not to exercise. You're having surgery to change your life. So change it, start exercising. Also, you'll be in the company of some of the most positive people on this board. Juli

The only thing I can add is that is a good idea to eat something after you work out. Something small like an apple. Your matabolism is reved and it's a good time to fuel your body. Not much help about the cravings. But if you go with whole grains and not fried and not too much and are getting your Protein, where is the problem? :confused: Juli

I forgot about the momma dinner thing. She canceled and was so happy!! The GF was pretty funny about it too. She knows I'm not all that comfortable with the whole thing. Happily the SIL and niecie poo were cool. Thanks for asking.

sunshine This is great and it reinforces exactly what I'm doing (with different lingo). But yes, I've been told by my therapist that I need a different image of myself in my head, the one there was long out of date. I've thought of myself as a quitter when things get tough. But with a little insight I see I am persistent. That's this month's new self image bit for me. There's so much more....but really good stuff in the piece you printed. I really appreciate you posting this. Juli

Hi Family. Tell me if I'm redundant. It happens all the time. Did I tell you that I hooked up with a group of Lesbian cyclists? I'm going on my first ride this week with them! I'm up to 25 miles now. I do think I'll be able to hit 50 by August, when me and the GF go to PTown. About the GF, we were at Pride this weekend in Chicago and had a FANTASTIC time. We danced :dance: in the street on Saturday and watched the 3 hour long parade on Sunday with her newly out lesbian 22 year old niece! (Niece's momma and other gay auntie and uncle were there too!) We ate some fantastic food. Tapas, which I've always loved but find that being banded they really do the trick. Not too much food, but lots of flavor! Sangria too. hehehe Needless to say, there was drinking involved. But it was FUN! I'm so happy to have this thread. I love my marchie's thread too, but it's here where I can talk about GF, vacations together, food, my kid and exercise. It's very much where I feel the love and feel I belong. :love: But wait, there's more! As for the people who do so much for us you have my thanks. From the military folks who serve our country at the expense of their personal expression, to the people who marched in some of the first marches paving the way for me and the babies coming up and out now, you did/do so much to make my life easier and better. Thank You. God love ya! Juli

Lady- Yes it is a club. There are many where I live, but I hooked up with a women's club that hooks up with the other regional club for week night rides. The Women on Wheels (WOW) get together every weekend and ride. I've not gone with them, but one of the WOW leaders met me at the bike shop and helped me ask all the right questions about my new bike. She's been really great. Cherry- I was allowed to do anything that didn't involve my abs at two weeks out. I had to wait 6 weeks for strength exercise. I would say depending on how you ride, you might want to wait 6 weeks for the off-road, jumping puddles kind of riding. But if you just did some time on the seat, on the road you should be able to start at 2 weeks. Just my opinion. Juli

Mcgreen Good for you! Getting to the gym like that! I love the elyptical machine too. I could marry it, I love it so much. It's my opinion that when you are doing strength training you need to give your muscles time off between working them. So if you did all over weights, you wouldn't do that everyday. But if you break the body up into upper/lower for example and only did one routine on day one and the other on day two, you'd be fine. As for cardio, if you've got the time everyday then hit it! I have to say I am a 5 to 6 times a week exerciser. I almost always take at least one day off. I've gone upwards of 10 days without a break and then really felt like I "needed" one. Good Lucky, Juli

Hey Biking Buddies. I'm going for my first group ride this Thursday. It's a short one, only 10 miles, but I'm excited to go and get enculturated to the whole thing. I did get out today, on my own, and did 25 miles. I can't go every day because I have a 5 year old at home with me half the time (shared custody). I can be gone for hours when she's with the ex, and I ride with her on a tandum tag along, but only 4-5 miles. JC- you are looking good. Great photos.

I drink. Not a ton, never have. I just avoid the bubbly stuff. I drank heavily for me this past weekend, I was in Chicago. (I waved TammyJ, did you see me?) I had two drinks each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think the scale will yell at me in the morning, but it all went down easily and I was a quick drunk.