greytz

I believe I have just hit my sweet spot at 8.0 cc's as 8.2 was too much. I will still go in monthly as I tend to have some evaporation and I want to be sure I don't slip up and allow too much to evaporate. Once I reach my goal and find that I can mantain my weight, I will probably back off of that. It will just depend on how I am doing.

I go once a month like clockwork for each fill. The only exception was when I was too tight and had to re-adjust in December. Then it was two weeks. I am now back on my monthly appointment. I make my next appointment before I leave from my last.

Even though your boss has a great figure and is athletic believe me when I say, she probably looks at you as competition now. My neighbor across the street and I were always close. She is gorgeous and 10 years younger than me and has a body to die for. Now that I have lost a little weight, her husband started making some flattering comments. I think just to make me feel good nothing harmful in that. He doesn't have a thing for me just to be nice. Anyway, she didn't like it at all. So, I think your boss is probably jealous in her own sort of way and she is going to have to deal with it. But also, I do believe there are two dress codes. When I was working and over the years, I went from thin to fat. My dress changed signficantly. People just accepted what I wore because I really couldn't find a decent suit unless I had it made and I couldn't afford that. Congrats on your success and I agree with the poster that said ask for another copy of the dress code and just be sure you are dressing accordingly and you have nothing to worry about.

I want to be in this challenge because it fits right in with my plans. I want to be at goal when I go visit my Mom for her 76th Birthday on April 6th. The last 20 pounds seem to be the most difficult which is where I am at so I really need a cheering section everyone. I really want to be at goal by then.

I went from a size 10 to a size 8 1/2. I had such wonderful cute shoes that I loved. I am kind of a shoe aholic and it was really, really hard to give up my shoes. I had about 50 pair and some brand new. I'll never forget the first time I put a pair on and promptly walked right out of them. I hadn't even considered that fact that my feet and hands would shrink. So, I have given most of them away. I now own 3 pair and it is killing me. I turned my shoe fetish to purse fetish and I am now collecting purses. LOL.

It sounds as if something is definitely wrong. If he is eating that much he could have slippage. He needs to keep contacting the surgeon until they do something to help him, but on another note, I agree with cheri. He needs to try and show restraint until they figure out what is wrong. By overeating, he is just making it worse.

I know people who are banded that do karate and there is a pro golfer, etc. Just use common sense. I have the bigger ball that I got from Walmart also that I really like. It is by Danskin. It also comes in a pack with three size bands. Very reasonably priced.

You may be eating less but what are you eating less of? Are you eating protein solids and then veggies? Do you find yourself snacking in between? Do you have an exercise plan and are you doing it? These may all be things you want to check and see if you are doing. They could be the answer to why you are not losing weight. For me, particularly in the beginning, I stuck to small amount of protein solid (eat it first) then small amount of green veggie. Nothing else. Twice a day. Protein shake in the morning. Good Luck.

Noura, I don't think anyone can say with absolute certainty that they haven't done something that they thought was a screw up. I really don't think a cup of coffee with a little sugar in it is a bad screw up. There are varying thoughts about the coffee but as far as I know, it is not forbidden. Just the sugar part. Find a good sugar substitute you like and use it instead of sugar. There are lots of good ones nowa days. I think you need to find at least one good friend or family member and let them know so you have someone to talk to. As I told you before, don't hesitate to email me also. You are not alone in your journey. There are a lot of people here to help you. Stay strong and you will be fine.

Something to mention to you about the gluten intolerance. My Mom has it as well and has had for many years so it is something I am very familiar with. I did not inherit that but did however, inherit a horrible skin condition for which I was on oral steroids for three straight years so you can imagine what it did to my weight. Anyway, what I wanted to get at was the band will be very gluten free friendly since it is designed for few to no carbs. This would fit well into your eating plans.

Cheri, I am so sorry for you and your family. I will pray for his wife and son. That is such a horrible way to die. There is a valuable lesson in it as well. My sister-in-law was hooked on prescription drugs for many years and is now finally clean but it was a long hard road in which as her family we all traveled with her. She is one of the fortunate ones to have escaped it. Good Luck to his wife and son and you and your family. I will mourn for all of you and keep you in my prayers.

I don't make promises to myself either. It almost always leads me to failure. However, I can say one thing. I plan to keep doing what I am doing and never to go back to my old self again.

In the beginning, I chose to tell very few people. Just my Mom and my husband and two very close friends. Now, since I have lost so much, everyone notices of course and has the audicity to say, how did you do it? The first time, it happened, I was totally caught off guard and had to decide in a split second how I was going to respond. I just blurted out the truth. It was my gut instinct and from then on, I decided if people were brazen enough to ask, I would just tell the truth. Who cares what they think? Most of the feedback has been positive. Don't know and don't care what happens when I leave the room. Some have asked for a business card for my surgeon because they are truly wanting to change their lives and I have become a great advocate for the band. So, inadvertantly, I have not really sought support from others but hopefully inspired them in some way to help themselves. It has been a real boost to my own journey and weight loss efforts. I now go to seminars and tell my story and show my before pics. It is really good for me and keeps me focused.

I only keep my card in my wallet in case of emergency. Other than that, I don't even bother when I go to restaurants. I order what I want and then take the rest home and eat it for dinner. I then go back on my menu plan the next day. I just didn't want the hassle of trying to explain it to people and then trying to figure out what to order, etc. If I am going to splurge and go out, then I am going to eat something decent and not fried children's crap. I don't eat at buffets so I don't know how that works. That is my other no no. If I am gonna pay for it, then I want someone to bring it to me. I used to wait tables so it's not a snob thing, it's just a thing period. So far, I haven't gained any weight doing that. It works well for me.

I liked Spanx but they are very costly and I could not pay that much so I opted for believe it or not girls Walmart. They have a couple of brands that are very good. I have the same issue which is a little roll right at my mid section which my surgeon tells me will not go away for a bit. George by Walmart makes a sort of camisole thing that is really nice and very cheap. it has a cotton top so you can wear a bra under it but attached is a control panel type of bottom. The great thing about it is you can't tell you are wearing under anything and it smooths out your entire stomach area and you don't have to unsnap anything to go pee. The other brand at Walmart is called Sweet Nothings and they make a variety of slim wear compression type thing that I bought but same style with straps that I can wear with my bra but camisole style. There is one more I thought of at Walmart called Curvations with the bra built in. I wore it all day today and it worked very well also.

It's a down right shame these days what the world has come to. Anything goes for visual, audio or whatever effect. And we wonder why our kids are killing people in our schools, etc. It is an unfortunate part of our culture these days and I do my best to stay informed but not over-informed. I refuse to watch any TV that is reality based. In other words, I don't watch TV anymore. I listen to satellite radio because I got sick to my stomach listening to the trash talk DJ's and radio stations seem to find appealing. By the same token, I was a teen in the 70's and there were a lot of things my parents found disgusting in my generation. The world just keeps spinnning.

Hi Sally, first let me say that I think the mentality of starting over will be good for you. Drinking with eating and indulging in alcohol on a consistent basis and other indulgences while trying to lose weight with the band are as I am sure you already know are very counterproductive to your weight loss efforts. Maybe if you make a promise to yourself to begin anew and use your trip as your starting point you can begin to comply with your quest in ernest. Good Luck to you and keep us posted.

I did have some issues for about two weeks after I was banded. After that, I was just fine. I actually became part of my surgeons seminars and get up in front of everyone and tell my story with my before pics. No problems at all now of course. But, it was a good two weeks before I was comfortable being out anywhere without a bathroom for any length of time.

Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress!

It's a matter of calories and for me, once I got used to drinking skim milk I never looked back.

And just when you think you have conquered it like I thought I had something comes up and hits you in the head like what recently happened in my life. A good friend of the family has been given just days to live. She lives far away from my home and I cannot visit her right now. I am so upset about that yes, you guessed it, I turned to my comfort zone, food. I went in for a small fill day before yesterday because I had been overfilled and had to be deflated a small amount and then wait to get refilled until recently so I found out the horrible news and began to eat. The swelling went down and I wasn't restricted enough and I ate with my head. Fortunately, I didn't do much damage. I gained a couple of pounds but have lost them already. But, I got to thinking about it and realized I had turned to food without so much as a glimpse at the reason I got my band in the first place. I really had to shake myself out of it. It isn't easy and not a miracle cure for eating. Good Luck!

60 pounds in 6 months is a good goal and attainble. Also, be aware that there are some bandsters who posts a couple of tickers and some who post mini goals. They may put a goal on a ticker of 25 pounds by for example Christmas or something like that. I am hoping to make my final goal by my Mom's B'Day. I have 20 pounds to go. Hopefully I can get there. Good Luck to you!

T, get some professional help. You are in a deep depression.

You should never be in a position where you just constantly slime. It is not the way the band was meant to work. You definitely need to call the doc for a slight unfill. I got to that point a few weeks ago and had to go in for one. I didn't like doing it particularly over Christmas but I couldn't continue to pb and slime like I was with every bite. I waited two weeks afterward and just got a new fill last night with just a smidge less than last time and so far so good. Go get checked asap.