faybie

LOL no jeans in my clothes... sorry that I couldn't help, I would so much like to help one of my fellow ABC'ers. Funny, your mom broadcasts from her living room too? LMAO. My mom needs her own talk show. I can't remember the last time I told her something private because I have distrusted her for so long.

I don't mean to assume you are female, however your time of the month can cause bloating, that is why I don't use the scale necessarily to judge my success. I am going through menopause due to cancer treatments so my hormones go haywire daily. I use measurements and the way my clothes fit to judge my successs. I am 4 to 6 sizes smaller than when I started but not a LOT of pounds down necessarily. Don't rely JUST on the scale...

9.75 cm but 4cc and I was also told that was the average. P.S. your husband is a cutie!!!

I went to a family reunion and was prancing around in a strappy sundress that I thought looked stunning in... I later looked at the pictures and looked absolutely horrendous. I had no idea!!!!!!! I looked vulgar in my strappy dress and I thought I looked all cute and sexy (in my mind). I will send you the picture if you wish, but it was the straw that broke the camels back.

Cathy, It took me two years to mull over information and decide, so I know exactly what you mean. It was the best decision I have ever made for myself. I had type II diabetes with my second pregnancy along with hypertension. My blood pressure went from 150+/98 to 112/88 since I have lost weight. My PCP is very very happy with my results.

I am a lot more active than I have been in years and pull all sorts of muscles in my abs. It takes a week or so to heal each time I do this. Not sure if this is the same, but I just think I havent used the muscles in so long they are very weak.

I don't think so. These are all food choices we all ate before, however now we eat much much much less of them. If you live on milkshakes full of calories then yes, if you enjoy one every now and then ... then no. I hardly "diet". I still eat many things I did before and still lose weight, I just eat so much less. I do crave vegetables and fruit more, which I have NEVER done before now.

super genius, My late father was the same way, but my forcefulness and hard assness NEVER phased him, he would have sat there in traffic for a week... Your father made a big step imo, even though he is terribly, terribly wrong, but for him to admit and not do it if he was/is that type of person is impressive to me. It's him not you, always remember that and forgive... Forgiveness is a choice. My apologies for the hijack but this hit home with me...

One of the best things to do is go to the "search" feature which is in the middle of the blue title bar at the top of the page and type in "slippage". Slippage isn't common, it can be caused by poor placement in surgery or several self induced reasons. It is best to search the forums so that you can read mulitple posts so you get different points of view. Good luck!

I was self pay because my insurance doesn't cover WLS under any conditions. It was less than a month between consult and surgery for me, however insurance avenues I am sure you need to be much more patient. Three months compared to a lifetime seems very short however, this surgery WILL change your life and give it back to you. Good luck and it is worth the wait no matter how long or short!!

Most of my family is "large". I can't say we all were 20 years ago, but through the years we have just all continuously gained weight. I watch for ques from my family to see if any of them are interested in losing weight and they all ate 2 over stuffed plates of Christmas dinner and tried a large piece of EVERY dessert. If they acted like they wanted to lose weight, I might tell them, however, I have learned over the years that if you want EVERYONE to know something tell my mom... add "this is a secret" to the story and she puts an add in the newspaper. LOL.

Do you need any work clothes Libra? I have 2 or 3 boxes of 22, 1x and x that I boxed up.

t a g Isn't that a great feeling? I went and bought one of those shirts that you add on a piece to your shoulders and tie under your breasts. I have thought that was the cutest look since it came out, however I knew it wouldn't look cute in a size 22. LOL. I wore that to a Christmas party and got many compliments. Without my band, I wouldn't have been able to do so... I know I sound like a broken record, but I LOVE my band! Oh, and btw, I wasn't taking my Vitamins like I was suppose to and started having mystery bruises the size of dimes show up on my legs. By Christmas morning I had over 250 bruises. If you aren't taking your vitamins use my horrible experience as motivation to NEVER skip!

Happy Holidays everyone! almost time for a new thread. We barely got this one going. Pat, Josette, Robin, Steph, Libra, you all look like you are doing great! I am a scale addict too, however I don't plan to change, LOL, I don't really get depressed when the scale goes up because I can't eat very much so I know its not me. It could be Water weight or so many other things that it doesn't bother me. Pat, my mom doesn't know either. I am wearing a size 16 pant and size 14 top. My mom brings out this sweater that was a 2x and asked me if it would fit me and if I wanted it. I was looking at how big it was while trying to think of something to say, then my mom goes, it would probably be too small for you anyway and she took it back into the bedroom. I didn't really know what to think of what she said. I guess she hasn't noticed that I went from a 22 to a 16 either.

I didn't go to the dr. today, because I just had blood work done at my Oncologist Dec. 13th and nothing was out of the ordinary, it does everything from platelets to vitamin K. I took two multivitamins yesterday and drank 2 glasses of OJ, plus had no carbs, all veggies and protein. My bruises were more healed today than the first one I spotted 2 weeks ago. I also took pictures. If I have new ones I will go immediately to the dr., however for now I think it is vitamin and iron deficiency. My father-in-law who is a Dr. thinks it is a vitamin C deficiency, kinda like scurvy, LOL! I knew I should be taking my vitamins but wasn't seriously doing so, now I know I shouldn't ever skip. I learned my lesson. Thanks guys for the support, I promise I won't ever skip again.

I have over 200 dime sized bruises all over my legs. Two more clusters of 50 bruises showed up this morning "Christmas Day". I am a bit freaked and have been trying to decide if I should go to the emergency room today. I have not been taking my vitamin, nor do I take any other vitamin/minerals. =(

Well everyone, I couldn't be happier today. I have been wearing size 18 pants that were too big. I knew they were baggy but I just bought them a month ago, so I wanted to get my wear out of them for goodness sakes. Yesterday they almost fell off, they are so baggy. So this morning, I decided to put on a pair of 16s getting ready for work. I guess I didn't really believe I could wear them because I haven't been able to for more than 5 years. I can't believe it, but the 16s are baggy too! No wonder I almost lost my size 18s! the coolest thing is I haven't really given up any food that I love. I may only get a bite or two of it, however I still get to have it and loose weight. Cheers everyone! I just thought I would share my happiness...

Ok, I don't really hate it however I wanted you to look. What I do do is have the intention of exercising everyday when I get home from work but it never happens, something always comes up. Then I feel guilty and the cycle starts all over again the next day. I was reading a Weight Watchers magazine at the Dr. earlier this week, it was full of success stories. This one lady was giving tips on how to start exercising. She suggested that "when you get home from work before you do anything at all, go change into your workout clothes".......BAM ! That hit me like a ton of bricks. Such simple advice. Such common sense. It was exactly what I needed to hear to get me out of my "cycle". For 3 days this has worked. I am so amazed. I realize now, I would sit down in my recliner and get comfortable and tell myself I would exercise tomorrow... That's the best advice I have gotten about exercising in a LONG time so I thought I would share it with you.

I feel like I can feel my band around my stomach too all the time. I have always thought I was hyper sensitive to my body with a low tolerance for pain. It doesn't bother me, because I elected to put it there. I would say that once a day or more I have a feeling of "I can feel it is there". Honestly, I expected it to be that way. How about you Gabi, have you always been hyper sensitive about your body?

Mine poked out the first month and a half or so. Now I can only find it if I look for it. I expected the opposite like Wheetsin.

This is so true angel bear. I see so many people complaining that they have "no restriction" and then claiming they aren't losing weight. When you suggest a fill they completely disagree. I see that as trying to get around the tool that you elected to have implanted. If you don't want to get a fill to be restricted not to have a second helping then you are going against what you elected to do in the first place. Sorry for the hi-jack.

Welcome! Getting the band was the best decision of my life. This is a wonderful site with lots of wonderfully helpful people!

I read about the gas pains and was terrified about it before my surgery. A post popped up one day about two weeks before my surgery that a lady was told by her Dr. to use an enema the night before surgery to cut down on gas pains afterward. Use up to two if needed. (you can get them at the corner drug store). I did this and was very glad I did. Even though I had been on a liquid diet for weeks, there was more in there than I expected. I didn't have any of the gas pains that people talk about. I am not 100% that the enema is what prevented it from happening, but I would tell anyone who asked what was the best advice I got before surgery and this would have been it. Good luck!

Diane, There is still hope that your 3rd fill will have restriction. My restriction came on suddenly 2 weeks after my second fill. You should start taking measurements too. I stalled for a month and a half and still went down a pants size. I haven't lost any weight in a week, however I lost another inch in my hips. 54 pounds is quite a bit since pre-op and you might be "compacting". The best thing that you can do if you want to get to 225 by next summer is walk as much as you can. Just try to go a little bit further every day. I know what it feels like to be dissapointed with the start of the weight loss. I wanted to be where I am now back in October. However, I am happy to be where I am. I am much better off then I would have been without the band. You will get there Diane, I promise, just do what you can do to help kick start it by drinking lots of Water and walking.

I know what you mean. That's why I didn't even know I was down a size because last time I put them on they were too tight.