NewBeginnings2018

I don't know about anyone else, but this week has been tough for me. Between all the holiday parties and the such I'm scared to step on the scale! lol. It's funny how my vision of what's overeating has changed though. I am eating maybe 1/3 of what I used to but I still feel guilty like I'm eating too much. Ugh! Anyway I have decided I'm not weighing myself until Tuesday, and will deal with the consequences after that. lol. The best thing is I know, even if I have gained weight, it will only be a pound for two and it will come off. My next goal is to lose another 20 lbs by my birthday in mid-February. It's an ambitious goal, but I'm determined to get there. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their holiday! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

NJ Chick tonight I'm making a Spinach & Cheese Calzone for our work party tomorrow, and I made a homemade sauce w/meatballs and sausage. I'm cooking the sauce tonight, and then I'll cook it for a few more hours on Saturday while I'm frying my eggplant. (Can you guess that I'm cooking Italian for Christmas?!) Yum!!

Puddin - I always joke that I love pleasures of the flesh. food, sex, perfumes, bubble baths - anything that makes me feel good I love! I broke up with my boyfriend of five years a little over a year ago and have not had sex since. I oogle men and sometimes feel like a guy myself. But while I have had a handful of opportunities to have sex, I have always turned them down. My reason - if I do it once, I'll have to start over getting used to not having sex. It's like detox. lol Sounds silly, I know, but it's really how I feel. The first few months of not having sex is SOOOO difficult - I don't want to waste it for a one night fling that might not even be any good. I'm waiting until I'm dating someone so I can do it 10 times a day. That's the fun part of a new relationship! Good luck with the "detox"!

Hi everyone! Just popping into say hi. I started my cooking tonight, which will go right through until Monday. haha! I love it though. Cindy - I wanted to make sure to congratulate you on your retirement! I'm sure it has been an emotional week, but what a great week to retire! Congratulations!! Well off to continue with my cooking. Happy Holidays!!!

Kat what a lovely picture! You look BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Doesn't my girl Sherry look GREAT!!! I only hope I can do half as well as she has done! Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!

Bostongurl I saw your pics posted on the Before & After thread. You're looking great!! You should be really proud. Any advice you can offer? I see that you only have a 1cc fill, so I know that you have been doing most of the work yourself. You should feel even more proud about that!

Congrats Shellybeans, that is great!! Drewslou, don't get down on yourself. This is the holidays after all. On a side note I'm surprised that people are already getting second fills. My doctor said he wouldn't even consider giving me another fill for 4 months. It's so funny how differently the docs treat us all. It would be so much easier if they all said/did the same thing! lol. Anyway, I'm at 240 and 1/2 pound away from the challenge goal. I have a few parties this week so I am going to try and be on my best behavior so I can make the goal!

Beanie I am so sorry that you are still feeling sick!!! I'm glad you are going to the doctors. I agree that having a fever for two weeks is not normal! So the good news everyone - I passed my exam! Yeah!!!! I checked my work email from home this morning and got the message. What a relief! Now just a million things to do before Christmas........

I hear what you're saying Kristi. I know what I'm attracted to, and it's not always an overweight guy - not on first impressions anyway. I know I'm not shallow, so I'd like to think the guys aren't either.

Congrats Pinky! I'm glad the date went well. It's a scary thing getting back out there. As long as you share pics and are honest up front (as you were) I would have no worries! Go out and have fun girlfriend!!

Way to go Jimboss!! It is hard to resist those treats. Good for you!!! Kimberly - I am so shocked they completely filled your band on the first fill. No wonder you PB'd!!! Just watch yourself and make sure you're able to get food down ok. So I am 1/2 lb away from our Christmas Challenge goal. Yeah!!!! I'm hoping I'll lose it between now and tomorrow morning so I hit it by this week's weigh in. lol. If not, I still have another week!

Hi everyone! The test is over - thank GOD - and I should know by Monday or Tuesday if I've gotten this new apt I like. It's two bedrooms and much bigger than what I'm in. Sorry for the confusion Cass! lol Anyway, I'm off to finish some shopping and to catch up on things I have neglected for the past week. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Susan I don't think your questions would have hijacked this thread at all. The thread is for discussing issues that us single bandsters face, and those certainly are issues we have to deal with. I will visit and post in the other thread you posted though, becuase I think it is an interesting topic.

Hi everyone! Just popping in to say hi during a study break. For those of you wondering, I'm studying for an exam related to work. It's for an insurance designation, CPCU (Chartered Property Casulaty Underwriter). So exciting, huh? It consists of eight 3 hour exams, all based on two large text books full of insurance info. Even MORE exciting! lol. The designation basically earns me instant credibility in the industry. This will be my fourth exam, and I am absolutely dreading it. There is just so much to memorize and my mind hasn't been in it. But studying today has gone fairly well and I will do the best I can tomorrow. In the meantime I'm looking for a new apartment. I'm not sure if I mentioned my story to you guys (Sherry knows all about it), but Sunday night the guy downstairs from me went on a 40 minute tirade about how he was going to come up and "beat my f-ing face in". Apparently he doesn't like it when I walk or change my trash. Yeah, reasonable guy alright. Anyway I filed a complaint with the police dept and spoke to my landlords. I don't feel safe confronting this guy because to me, he's a lunatic. Normal people don't respond that way to normal apartment noise. My landlords have agreed to let me break my lease without penalty and I've been looking at some nice places over the past few days. This is NOT the time of year I want to do this, but it is what it is I suppose. I no longer feel comfortable or safe here, so that's not going to work. Ok, enough of a study break for me. I'll check in tomorrow night after the exam. Hope everyone is doing well!!!!

Missy - my latest kick is melon-tinis. mmmm... KLM3hrt - first of all, you have done FANTASTIC with your weight loss. Congratulations! I understand exactly where you're coming from with wondering about the guys you would date now versus your highest weight. My guess is, unfortunately, they would probably not be the same. I struggle with how I feel about this too, but I guess the reality of it for me is that I didn't like how I looked at my heaviest, so I can, in a way, understand if others didn't either. Sure I've always been the same, great person and I agree with supergenius that I want to be with someone who will love me no matter what. And I do believe that I will meet a guy that will love me for who I am, understand my past, and give me the assurance that if (god forbid!!) I were to gain weight again, he would not leave me. I think this is probably at the root of why we are concerned about men who would date us after the weight loss and not before. But this new guy sounds nice, and like a really good guy. I think the jerks are pretty easy to spot and weed out. Good luck with this one, and let us know how it goes!

Sherry glad to hear your apt w/Dr Jones went well! You are doing fantastic!!!! I can't wait to Celebrate Onderland with you!!!! Congrats Laphappy, and welcome to bandland!!!! My incisions looked a little funky for a while. Just keep an eye on them if they seem oozy after a full week or so. I didn't like the look of one of my incisions so I went in to see Dr Jones towards the end of the second week post-op, and he re-opened and drained my incision a bit. It's been good ever since. I was very sore for about a week and a half. It was much harder than I thought, but it gets better every day. The gas pains were the worst for me, so consider yourself lucky!!

Raynie hon, there is nothing wrong with being able to eat a slice of pizza or a sandwich. Both of those things can be part of a healty diet. I have had one fill (1.5cc) and have found that I can eat most things as well. Don't get down on yourself and think the band won't work. It will! Remember that we need to do as much work as the band does. If we ate nothing but junk, we could and probably would gain weight. The band helps us by keeping us full longer, and making us able to eat less (I bet you could have eaten waaay more than one slice of pizza before - I know I could), but it is our job to make sure we do our best to put healthy food in our body. My suggestion is to use a program like Fitday to track your daily calories. This will allow you to see how many calories you are eating and where they are coming from. Also, make sure you're following the bandster rules of protein first, then fruits & veggies, with carbs last. I'm not saying the occassional cookie or slice of pizza won't slip in the mix, but try and follow the rules most of the time. And lastly, remember that these changes we are making won't happen overnight. You are doing a GREAT job!! Keep working at it and you will get there!

Congrats KristiB! Losing 21 lbs is fantastic! The boys will be knocking down that door!! Woo Hoo! I say we need to make some kind of pact to not be down this New Year's Eve. Instead of being bummed about what we don't have, we should focus on what we do have, and what the future holds for us! Either that or I'll end up drinking waaaay too many martinis. lol

Thanks JDru! Just one fill. 1.5 cc in a 4 cc band. I lost about 7 lbs in the week after my fill. I had to go back on liquids for 3 days, then mushies for another 3, now I'm on regular food. I get full much quicker, which is nice! You recently had a fill, right? How did that go? Also, remember that I have more weight to lose than you so it will tend to come off quicker. Being down 2.6 lbs is awesome!! You're doing great!

You know TexasRose, I struggled with something similar not too long ago. There was this guy I met before I had surgery. We kind of hit it off, but not really, and to me, I blamed it on my weight. I always do. If I was thinner he would have liked me more. What I need to know is that this is NOT true. So we've still been talking and a while back I wanted to tell him about the surgery and about losing weight and then, thankfully, I stopped myself. What I realized is that if someone really doesn't like me because of my weight, then they don't deserve the chance to like me when I've lost the weight. I think I need to start accepting myself the way I am before anyone else will accept me. You have been very honest and have shown plenty of pictures. When you meet he with either be attracted to you or he won't. If he's not, if very well may have NOTHING to do with your weight. And if it does have anything to do with your weight, he is not good enough for you anyway!! So yes, I think you should wait and let him see you and "make judgement without any explanation". If he's going to judge you solely by the way you look, he doesn't deserve a wonderful woman like you! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Sherry what kind of Burberry perfume is it? I have Burberry Brit (the bottle has plaid on it). If it's that same one you can try mine.

Ok folks, here is my check in for our Christmas Challenge. I was down 4.5 lbs this week, which brings me to a total of 8 lbs gone! Wahoo!!

Jodi - that is great news! Get your rest and you'll be back in action in no time!

Hi everyone! I'm alive, I'm alive!! lol. Sorry I haven't been around much this week. Between work being absolutely insane (this is my busiest time of the year), the holidays, and studying for an exam I have to take next Friday I barely have time for anything else. I did have time, however, to go shopping with Sherry last night. It was a lot of fun. I bought some for me too, but I don't feel guilty. lol. Sherry my love - keep the perfume! Give it to John to wrap and put under the three! So I'm doing absolutely great! I love this fill. I have enough restriction to not be able to eat a whole ton, I stay full for quite a while, and have not yet PB'd. I know one will eventually happen, but I'm hoping it holds off for a long time! No men in the picture right now, but I'm ok with that. I have no time for them right now anyway. I'd love a New Year's date but hey - what can you do?! lol. I'll probably venture back online after the holidays and then I'm sure I'll have no shortage of stories for ya all. Well I should get to studying. It's 4pm and I haven't opened a book yet today. That is bad, bad, bad! I hope everyone has a great weekend!