wynn

Oh thank you so much for that, susan. I didn't realize there was a difference.

Why doesn't my profile picture show when I post visitor messages and join social groups?

Hi everybody, happy mothers day. I hope all mothers had a great day. Is everybody ready for the new challenge? This one is a revisit to a prior challenge. I've had lots of requests to do this one again, only for a longer period of time. Are you ready? NO SNACKING FOR FIVE DAYS You can eat as many meals as you need in a day (providing you are not violating your doctors' orders) but each meal has to be a complete meal, eaten at the table or wherever you usually eat your meals (not standing at the sink, or eating in the car). And, each meal must be eaten with silverware. Good luck everyone, and keep posting your progress.

I was also a little surprised that you're already eating solid food the next day after a fill. But, by what you describe, it doesn't sound like you're too tight. My doctor gives me this rule of thumb to go by, and I think its a good one: If you are unable to eat 3 ounces of solid (meat, fish, chicken) protein then your band is too tight. If you do eat 3 ounces of solid protein and you are still hungry, or get hungry again right away, your band is probably too loose.

Hi Everybody. Today is the last day of the protein challenge. How did everyone do? I actually found this one to be slightly more challenging than I expected. What I came to realize, is that I was not being as vigilant about eating my protein first as I thought I was. Once it became a priority in order to comply with the challenge, I realized how often I was eating other food first, even when protein was available. So far, because of the challenges, I'm more aware of snacking, drinking my water, making sure I have all of my exercise done and of being sure that I eat my protein first. I'm trying to keep up with all the good habits I'm forming as a result of the challenges. I hope you are too. Are you ready for the next one? Here it is: STRENGTH TRAINING: For the next five days, you are challenged to do some form of strength training every day. Strength training are those exercises that, instead of raising the heart rate and sustaining it for a period of time, are designed to build muscle mass. The more muscle tissue one has in ones body, the faster the metabolism. Now, this challenge will definitely be one that you will modify to suit your needs and capabilities. You can lift weights at a gym. You can do sit-ups at home, and lift filled milk jugs instead of weights. Also, an exercise ball can be used for many muscle building exercises. If you do an internet search for Strength Training exercises at home you will find a variety of sites to help you pick some exercises that are to your liking. Good Luck, and please let me know how you do.

Angelnurse, thank you for your idea. It is a very good one. I did not think of that, I'm ashamed to admit. But yes, those of you on liquids I apologize for omitting you. Please join our challenge by making sure that you get the required amount of protein each day. Since that varies so much from doctor to doctor, I will not set a minimum amount as we did with the solid food. We will just say, to meet the challenge daily you need to drink the amount of protein that your doctor suggests each day. Angelnurse, if this is not what you meant, or if you can improve upon this in anyway, I'll appreciate further comments. Thanks again.,

Hi Everybody. Today is the last day of the exercise challenge. I got up first thing this morning and met two girlfriends for a 4 mile walk. It was a beautiful walk, we had great conversation and great exercise. What a way to start the day. Is everybody ready for the next challenge? This one will be for three days. This is a protein challenge. 3 ounces of protein for each meal, to be eaten first. Think we can do it? If you are newly banded, and on liquids then you will not be able to do this one, but if you are on mushies you still can. You can use refried beans, cottage cheese, and anything else that you can think of that is soft protein. Lets hear from you. And if you have any ideas for challenges, let me know.

Hi everyone. How is everyone doing with the exercise challenge. Well I found out it is a lot easier to get my exercise in if I do it first thing in the morning. So as soon as I pick up Joseph in the morning I meet a friend at the local park and we walk for either an hour or an hour and a half, depending on what we have going on that day. Today, I had to leave after one hour because of other commitments. It starts my day with some fresh air, sunshine and exercise. What could be better. Everybody keep up the good work.

Hello everybody and welcome to the first day of exercise challenge, how did you do? I did one hour on my recumbent bike. I'm pretty tired, i usually only do 40 to 45 but i was pushing myself for the challenge. Hope all of you are too. If you have any concerns, please put it here so we can help you. We have tons of supportive people on this thread. (no pun intended lol) And please remember, do not exercise unless your doctor has released you to, and do not start a new exercise regimen without talking to your doctor first. If you have been walking all along, don't start running until you know its ok. You get the picture. Good night to everybody and good luck for tomorrow.

Okay guys, we just completed day 3 of the journalling challenge. How did everyone do? It was a bit of an eye opener for me, cause I have a tendency to be a little lazy about journalling. But I did notice I was a lot more careful about what I ate when I knew that I'd have to write it down. My daughter, who is not banded and who does not need to diet has joined in on the challenges as well, just for the sake of good eating habits and health. She has realized just how much sugar and calories she takes in when she drinks soda. She tells me that she had just 4 oz of rootbeer today because she knew she was going to have to document the calories and she didn't want it to add up to too much. Now that's the power of journalling. Let's all try to keep it up. Tomorrow starts a new challenge, and as I stated in yesterday's post, the credit for this one goes to Mi_Illusion. This is an exercise challenge and it is for 5 days. Thirty minute minimum doing the exercise of your choice. If you are newly banded, please do not exercise without asking your doctor if it is ok, and please do not start a new exercise regimen without checking with your doc first, also. Please let us know what you do, and how you do by posting. Love you all, Wynn

Hi Everybody, how are you doing with the journalling challenge. I want you to know that Mi_Illusion has given me the idea for the next challenge. It's a surprise, though, I'll put it in here tomorrow. I want everybody just to be concentrating on their journalling for now. Just wanted to give her a little shout out for her good work and great idea. Today is the 2nd day of journalling and I ate 888 calories today, and that would have been a lot less except I drank Raspberry Iced tea and I thought it was diet tea, turned out not to be, and that was to the tune of 200 calories. Next time I'll be sure. Yesterday my calories really added up because i was on liquids and those calories can really add up. Now I can really see why they want us to be able to eat that solid Protein with each meal. Boy you can really pack the calories away when you're not filling your pouch with food that will stay there a while. Well good luck everybody. I'll be back tomorrow to announce our next challenge. And don't forget to journal tomorrow, its the last day of the challenge.

Hi chatters. Day three today and I'm done with 7 glasses of water so far. I have plenty of time to finish that last glass, in fact, looks like I'll go over today. Before I give the next challenge, please leg me encourage you to keep up the good habits you're developing through these challenges. The first was no snacking and I know we only did that one for one day, but perhaps it will help us if we come back to it again from time to time. And the second was the water. So if you are not snacking, and you are drinking all of your water then you'll be getting super skinny in no time. OK, ready for the next challenge: Journalling. This will also be a three day challenge and it is to write down every single thing you eat. There are some online places that you can use. I understand thedailyplate.com is a good site. I use sparkpeople.com because it is a complete weight loss website where i can get a lot of different kinds of support just like lbt. Plus they have a yuma team so I can actually exercise with members etc. But please, if you don't like these then find your own or for that matter you can journal on a piece of paper (old school). Good luck everybody. See you in Chat!

Okay everybody, last day of the water challenge. Lets finish with a big success ok. I'm just getting up, it's not quite 7:30 a.m. here and i'm planning a nice long walk at 9:00. So I'm only going to have a little water right now to avoid any major bathroom breaks during my walk. I'll be checking in the chat room from time to time to see how you are doing. Good Luck.

Today is day two of the Water challenge. Yesterday I managed to drink 72 ounces of water. Today I'm doing fine also, a little slower than yesterday but I'm working on glass number three and its only noon. I slept in today,so I've got a late start. How are the rest of you doing? Anyone having a hard time getting the water in by the end of the day? I'd love to hear from you.

Hi all, how did you do for the first challenge? Did you make it through the day with no snacking. Well I did, and sometimes it was a little bit difficult. I'm hoping that now we know we can go without snacking that this will help motivate us to continue with our new improved eating habits. And, hopefully each challenge will work that way. If we see an improvement in the way we feel after a successful challenge, lets try to continue in that vein. And if you begin to lose momentum again, please let me know and we can do another challenge. Sound good? Ok here's the next challenge. This will be a three day challenge and it will consist of drinking all of your Water everday for the next three days. If your doctor has not directed you to drink more or less, then all of your water will include 8 8 ounce glasses. Water will be described as whatever your doctor lets you call water. Mine allows me to drink Vitamin water if i dilute it half and half with clear water. He doesn't let me count crystal Lite or Ice tea, but yours may, and if he does, then by all means so will we. So good luck to all of you. I'll be back in the chat room in the morning to remind us of the new challenge. Love to all of you.