SpideyMom

Wow, you are all doing sooo awesome. That is great -- keep up the good work! :thumbup::w00t: LOM, welcome to size 12. I just got there this week. Now you and I both have something in common with Marilyn Monroe. :mad2: I don't blame you a bit for waiting for your regular doc to come back for your next fill! Linda, good job on the loss! I totally understand about wondering if you're just a little too filled. That was me last time. It is so tricky. You do wonder if it's going to be this hard when it comes to maintenance. ugh. It's frustrating. But, don't hesitate to call your doc if you start feeling like it's just not right -- or if you get acid reflux. I've had to have two unfills now, and that was my big red flag. Hang in there. You are doing great! :smile:

Wow, John, you sure had a harrowing ordeal! I'm glad your on the mend now. :w00t: Everyone is doing so well! I'm so happy for all of you! :rolleyes2: I put on 2.5 pounds this week (eeek!) thanks to my monthly visitors, "Aunt Flo" and "Uncle TOM." lol. Seems like lately this monthly visit is really setting me back. I get a lot of PMS munchies for salty foods. :frown: But, I got into a size 12 this week, so I'm not sweating it! :smile: Now I have something in common with Marilyn Monroe -- did you know that she was a size 12 for most of her life? Yep, it's true! When she sang Happy Birthday to President Kennedy, her dress was a size 12, and she looked damned good, IMHO. :w00t:

Thanks, reneek! You know, I'm also taking better care of my skin now, too! Lots of moisturizer every day, all over... :eek:

Absolutely, RaeAnn! You came to the right place. Congratulations on making the decision to get healthy again. I definitely think you should go back to your doctor for a fill. If you're eating too much, you're not going to break through your plateau. My PA told me just recently that it makes her sad that so many people will stop coming in because they're embarrassed that they've gained weight. She said gaining weight is very common, and there's no reason to be embarrassed. You have the tool inside of you to help you! You just need to make the decision to go back and get back on track. So, good for you, you've made that decision! We're here for you!! :thumbup: Let us know how it goes. :ohmy:

I finally got a pixie haircut this summer, which I've always wanted, but was afraid my face was too fat to pull it off. You can see a picture in my profile. I love it now! :thumbup: I'm also wearing heels again for the first time since my 20s. :sneaky:

I'm still doing low carb also. The carbs I do get are good carbs from beans, lentils, a few fruits, dairy, etc. So I guess my diet is more like South Beach. I don't do bread unless it is a slice of Ezekiel bread; I occasionally will have a small bit of whole wheat pasta; and I sometimes will have a little brown rice. Other than that, I take in no refined white sugar and no white carbs. It has done wonders for me! :thumbup:

John, aka Santa, that is so funny! What a great story, though. :tongue2: Elaine -- size 10 --woohoo!! That is awesome!! :w00t: I hope to eventually get to that size.

Erin Marie, your post made me smile. :thumbup: Aren't all those things great??!! :tongue2: AWESOME, OTW! :w00t:

Wow, you all have done wonderful! I lost 4 lbs. myself this week, which really surprised me, considering I had to get a slight unfill on Monday. I've reached 90 lbs. lost and am so excited! I need to go buy new jeans, too -- hopefully size 12! :w00t:

Mmmm... now I want some of those chips with hummus!! That's one of my all-time favorites -- hummus. I'm with you jollygreen, I could eat a whole big container. Lately I've been finding more "food flops" than "food finds." lol I can definitely save you money by telling you to stay away from Walden Farms whipped peanut spread. It has no calories, fat, carbs, gluten, or sugar. Now why in the world did I think it would taste ok? If it has none of that, what is it made of? Plastic? Sure tastes like it. :tongue2: lol

Congratulations! I hope to be where you are very soon! :smile: You look fantastic!!! :tongue:

OTW, I love that story about your son's comment! LOL:tongue: And isn't it wonderful to go clothes shopping now? :smile:

Hey, all, it's time for more NSVs! Especially if you're feeling down after the holidays. Good time to remember the non-scale victories. I went to have a medical test done recently and the nurse gave me a regular size gown! I was so happy!! :frown: I always hated how the nurses would look me up and down, then go to the other shelf to get the big gowns. And then, even worse, if the big gowns didn't close... ooh. Also! I have very fat hands and big fingers (look at Rosie O'Donnell's hands, and those are mine), but I can now see the bones in my hands!!! For years, if I made a fist, my knuckles didn't stand out. Now I can see them again! Wheee! :frown: This is a very big thing for me, because I got teased about it when I was in grade school, and it always stuck with me. So... let's hear some of your good news!

Hey, Sarah, glad to see you! :smile: I got some turkey stuck right away on Thanksgiving :frown: and for the rest of the weekend, everything I ate got stuck. This morning I woke up with reflux, so I called my PA, and she squeezed me in with the surgeon for an unfill. :frown: He wanted to take out .5 cc, but I convinced him that I wasn't vomiting, just very uncomfortable with everything I ate, so he only took .25cc. I hope that does the trick. Ugh!!! This is the second unfill I've had to have because of food getting stuck and causing swelling. This is no fun! And I'm angry that I let it happen. When will I ever learn???! I hope I don't lose a month of progress this time like I did with the last stuck experience. That should have taught me! But, we are quick to forget when we are hungry that we need to eat teeny tiny bites all the time. I hope your Thanksgiving meal went down better than mine.

A good suggestion from our fearless leader, John337, who has already hit the 100+ pound mark! See his cross-post below: .....Congrats to all.......Everyone is doing great. :scared2::biggrin: Collectively, how much has the Mayo Banditos lost ????? We need to figure it out. __________________ John - L/B 5/11/09, Fill -8/26/09 - .25cc = total 6.45 cc So, come on, Mayo Banditos, let's find out! Tell us how much you have lost total since you started your weight loss journey. Round to the nearest number, please. (0.5 and above go to the higher number) So, if John has lost 105, and I have lost 70, that makes a total of 175. So, now add yours! :mad::thumbup:

Wow, mamadot, our pouch is the size of a walnut? Really? Yikes. I had no idea! :Yawn:

At my last support group, my PA showed me a rubber replica of a band that was at approximately 80% restriction. It was amazing to see how small the little hole was for the food to go through! I could just get the tip of my pinkie finger into it. Take a second to look down at the top of your pinkie (or, men, look at an average woman's pinkie finger) and see how small the circumference is. That is how much room there is for food to pass through your top pouch to your bottom stomach. No wonder food gets stuck so easily!! And the height of the band was probably just shy of an inch long, so that means the whole stoma is this very tiny narrow tube that can so easily get plugged up with a bite or two of chicken and other problem foods. It was very enlightening... more so than just seeing a band wrapped around a stomach, like the doc showed me before I had surgery. Made me realize that I need to cut my food even smaller and chew even more! :bored:

I'm thrilled to have lost 2.5 lbs this week! Congratulations to everyone on getting through Thanksgiving, loss or no loss! And I think it's great that we can all come here and discuss our week, or like Sassysara said, "confess" to things. lol :Yawn:

Glad to hear that you are okay! Be sure to keep drinking that water. :thumbup: We can't having you fainting on us all the time.

Elaine, congratulations! You are so close to goal now! Way to go! :biggrin::biggrin:

If it helps, my PA said she got it from the Realize rep at a conference. But she said the rep comes into the office also, and she was going to ask the rep for more. I'd like one myself!