isaviolinist

Oh and Jachut - if you are pear shaped that gives me so much hope as I would kill to look like you do in a bathing suit!!! You are an inspiration to many, I hope you know

Elcee and Cleo - I'm a classic pear shape. Small shoulders, smallish boobs (getting smaller, thank goodness...I really dislike big boobs), big hips and a lot of fat around my lower abdomen/upper pelvic/hip area. "Spare tire" isn't really a medical term, thus I didn't really realize it was designated specifically for apple shapes. My spare tire (or what I think of as spare tire since it looks like I'm walking around with a tire around my hips) is the large amount of fat around my lower abdomen/pelvic/hip area. Jachut - I'm definitely going to have loose skin. I'm not sure if I have loose skin right now - it kind of still looks like its fat. I guess I'll find out as things progress. I agree with the cardio - I'm doing tons of it and its definitely helping things move along at a reasonable pace. Wren - thank you so much for that awesome link!! I do have a trainer, and I may talk to him about my body shape to make sure I'm doing all that I can to even myself out. AngryBaby - (nice username - I love it) thanks so much for that insight. You are right - guess I'll just enjoy the ride and see how it turns out Thanks again for all of the replies!

I had lost around 80 at 22 weeks, however I then proceeded to gain back 50 (but I've re-lost over 40 of that at this point). I'm not sure what to say but if your doc thinks you're on track, then maybe he's right. Slow and steady often wins the race. What is your daily calorie intake and what is your exercise like?

Ahh I'm so excited for you!!! You should be so proud. What do you plan to do to celebrate?! Congrats! Can't wait to be in your shoes

No problem! I love logging online - everything is just so much neater and more organized. And I love that I can see automatically how much of each group I'm eating. And I can budget my calories for the day very easily. Sometimes I put in a proposed plan for the day so I can see if it will work with my calorie budget...or if I want to have a snack at night, I can enter it in before I eat it to see if I will be able to have it and stay within my calorie range for the day. So helpful!

That is what I told my mother in law as well. She actually didnt ask how I lost weight....shes a doctor and very practical and in her mind, she doesn't think about the mental aspects or the challenges. She knows scientifically how a person loses weight (which is all that shes concerned with): you eat fewer calories than you expend. Which is fine with me - I'd rather not explain my entire weight loss routine to her. But we went to dimsum and she actually asked me why I wasn't eating very much. I just said Im watching how much I eat and eating better foods. That was pretty much the end of it.

I dont know if this is the right answer, but for me, looking back at my food logs, on average, my diet ends up being 1/3 fat, 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbs. Its pretty even. That seems to work okay for me. Two weekends ago I no carbed it for 2 days (I was trying to break through a plateau) and on those days, it was roughly 47% percent protein, 48% fat, 5% carbs. You should check out fitday.com to log your food. When you log your food, fitday creates a pie chart for your day showing percentage of fat carbs and protein (and also alcohol but I dont really drink alcohol so thats never a factor for me). They also have pie graphs for all individual foods (incuding foods that you custom enter) and you can also see pie graphs for longer lengths of time (like 1 month or 6 months...so you can so your overall trend). Its great, especially for monitoring your protein intake. If you're aiming for a certain number (say 65g of protein a day), it makes it really easy to track that. I log my food (literally everything single thing that goes in my mouth) on fitday and its been absolutely invaluable. When I don't log, I dont do as well. You can also track your exercise on there as well.

I agree with what everyone else has said but I just wanted to comment on your comment about not benefitting from the pre op diet. You have lost 13 pounds! That's amazing! You are definitely benefitting. When I was on my preop diet (it was 3 weeks of liquids only), seeing the pounds melting off was my motivation to stick to it. So think about how well you're doing and how much weight your losing and use that to motivate and excite you! Congrats on your success so far!

I haven't told my fiancés family and don't plan to. My future mil is very weight obsessed (my fiancé is from a weight obsessed culture where a size 6 is considered obese). She is a really good person and she means well but I don't want her to know. I'm happy with her just thinking I'm getting skinny all on my own It does help that they live on the other side of the world so I dont see them on a regular basis, but I don't think you need to mention it if you're not comfortable.

Good for you! If you lost 80 pounds before you can do it again. Start with you pre op liquid diet ( or post op if you didn't have a pre op diet) and go as if you're starting from scratch. I'm in a similar situation. I lost 80 pounds initially and then regained about 50 back. In the past 2 ish months I have lost almost all of the 50 I gained (less than 10 pounds to go). Regaining was certainly a learning experience for me and now I know I never want go back there. Use it as a learning experience for you too. Links to the thanksgiving and New years challenges are in my signature. Set a reasonable goal for yourself and sign up!

You could always volunteer to make something, and then just make something that you feel like you'd want to eat. I generally always help my mom out during the holidays with the cooking, so I just make something that I'd like to eat. The holidays aren't a huge deal for me because I don't eat poultry or red meat (so on thanksgiving I just make a piece of fish for myself and its like any other meal) but if you're worried about the holidays, making something could be an option. And as others said, the one day won't make you regain all the weight you lost. Don't overthink it.

When I'm focusing, I lose between 7-10 pounds a month. There have been some months when I've lost 4 pounds and some months when I've lost almost 20. I am really not compliant when it comes to taking pills, but I recently started taking my synthroid again. Not sure if its helping or not, but I hope it is. I also exercise a lot. But I haven't really felt the effects of my hypothyroidism in my weightloss and I'm happy with the way its going.

I picked easiest attempt I've ever made, but its a little of both. In some ways its the easiest and fastest weight loss I've ever had. Never before in my life have I been able to eat 800-900 calories a day and be satisfied. And I've never lost between 3-4 pounds a week (regardless of what I was doing). Its funny because sometimes I get frustrated with a 2 pound loss in a week, since I'm so used to losing 3 or more a week. However, in some ways, its really really hard (maybe not as hard as other weightloss attempts but hard). I have to carefully count calories and exercise and make good food choices. For a food addict, thats pretty hard (which was evidenced by the fact that I gained a lot of weight back when I stopped paying attention/caring about my choices). But when Im on track, its easy and I love it.

I was in the same boat as you. I had lost 80 pounds very quickly after getting banded And then proceeded to regain 50 of them back. I now have lost 40 of the 50 I had regained. All I can say is start getting back on track now. Don't say you'll do it tomorrow, don't wait for a fill, just do it right now. I swear, the starting part is the hardest. After you start, you get into a routine and it's much easier. I don't love exercising and I definitely have a food addiction, and I acknowledge those things to myself. And then I just tell myself that regardless I'll need to exercise and I'll need to watch my compulsive eating. It's hard but you can do it. I've been blogging about what I've been doing, so feel free to check it out. Also, there are links in my signature to the thanksgiving and new year challenges. Set a reasonable goal for yourself and join them.

You can try to maybe mix in some flaxseed with whatever you're drinking. Its a good source of fiber. Also, since youre not eating any solid food yet, often bms are less frequent. Although 4 days might be a little long.

When I was on the 2 weeks of full liquids I made some homemade Soups. Homemade always tastes more flavorful. You should try to make some homemade soups that you like!

I averaged a bunch of months with anywhere between 4 pound loss and almost 20 pounds and I got 9.5 pounds a month for me. I had a pretty lengthy setback where I gained a bunch back, but when I'm on track it seems to be around 10 pounds a month. But this obviously varies pretty greatly by person.

That's interesting. Why do you throw it right back up? Seems like it should not be a food that you would throw up. Essentially, after you put it in your mouth, its the same consistency as a Protein shake or other full liquids.

It looks like someone started a new Christmas Challenge in case anyone was interested: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ak2Ill9eR_EidG1WRTUyU0FXVkNqSXZPcnloVUtvSGc&hl=en And the weigh-ins haven't started yet so you haven't missed anything :eek: And don't forget to sign up for the Christmas and Thanksgiving challenges! Links are in my signature.

I posted this in another thread about the same topic, so I'll just repost it. Maybe it will help: I saw signs of a plateau coming on last weekend (scale hadn't moved for 3 days) so for 2 days I did super low carb (like less than 10 or so a day...before that I wasn't really watching carbs at all and I still dont) and REALLY high Protein and then I added walking to my exercise routine. After the 2 days of no carb was over I slowly added back some carbs and took 1 day off from my cross training and elliptical exercise and just did my walk. I also went running one of the days which I never do. Basically I was just trying to confuse the crap out of my body. And it worked! My plateau started around 222.4 last weekend and as of this morning (Saturday) I'm at 218.2. Just try to change something about what you're doing. If you're eating 1000 calories a day, how about doing 2 days of 900 calories and then 2 days of 1100 calories. I don't know what type of exercise you're doing but if you're only doing cardio, add in some weight training. Or instead of doing the treadmill, use the elliptical.

Yay! I love when that happens! Its the best feeling :-) Keep up the hard work!!

I also get hiccups if I eat just a bit too much. They're really annoying but its good because I won't over eat in order to avoid them :eek:

I probably felt the same as you. I was REALLY scared the night before and didn't get any sleep. I was probably mourning the loss of some foods, although to be honest, in hindsight it was silly. There are are definitely some foods that we can't eat with the band, like soda. But honestly, I don't miss it. Sometimes I can have a tiny little piece of bread (like a tiny tiny little bit). But its really helpful that I can't eat a loaf of bread - I can be satisfied with just a bite. I think many people on here eat steak. I don't have experience with it because I don't eat poultry, red meat, or pork but I don't think you'll have to give it up. Sometimes I have cravings for certain foods that I can't eat and it forces me to come up with more creative and healthy options that will satisfy the craving without getting stuck or packing on the calories. You'll be fine!!

Thanks Mimi! I'm feeling much better now that I'm dropping the pounds again - I think slider foods are the downfall of many of us :thumbup: Well after surgery, the level of restriction really varies person to person. Some doctors put in a small fill at the time of surgery (which I'm not a fan of, because the stomach is swelling and trying to heal, and if it swells too much, you wont be able to get anything down and you'll need to go for an unfill....and the thought of anyone sticking a needle in my port right after surgery makes me cringe...my port pain took the longest to go away). However, some people feel restriction even with no fill after surgery. For many people, there isn't much restriction after surgery. So will-power is definitely needed for the first little while. Sometimes the proper restriction isn't reached until 2 or 3 or 4 adjustments. That's why its called bandster hell :eek: It really isnt easy. But its worth it to see the pounds melting away!

I don't like fruity drinks so I'm not sure which ones are good but I know a bunch of the protein drink makers have fruit protein drinks that are clear, not milky. Unjury also makes a chicken broth protein powder which is really yummy. It's like a protein "shake" in soup form.