kennethsch

I have flown at nearly 400 lbs, with seat belt extenders, and they have never charged me for an extra seat. I am over 80 lbs down now, and flew last week for the first time since starting this journey. No extender, and I had about 6 inches to spare once I snugged up the belt. Wow what a good feeling. I think you will be fine, based on your ticker stats, and just think of all that you have to look forward to. Best of luck, hard work, and have fun on vacation.

It has been years since I have gone to Cedar point, but I actually would prefer to try the seat out front, than wait in line all the way up to getting in the car, and having the attendant ask me to leave. I had that happen, and I would much prefer the seat out front from now on. The good news is I am down almost 80 lbs, and my kids are asking if we can go this summer. If the trend continues, I will schedule something in Aug I think. :thumbup:

I don't know your background, and although I am a Christian, I am not suggesting that you "find religion" as your solution. But many, many churches (you may have to check around) have good, kind, caring people who will reach out to you in tough times like you are going through. Some churches many even have a counseling pastor/staff member who you can talk to, work through the emotions of the loss, and what to do next. As suggested above, we can try and be there for you, talk to you through this site, or PM, or email, but sometimes, there is nothing like someone reaching out to you, and just comforting you, listening as you cry, hand you the tissues, and then helping you to the next step in life. As for the fill, well, keep checking more doctors, in a wider circle around where you are, to see if you can find a more favorable situation. If you can't find any other options, then focus on maintaining. Now may not be the time to "get back on track" or try and loose the short term gain. But maintain, control portion sizes, make better choices on what you do eat, clear out the comfort food/junk food that creeps back in. Walk 10 minutes, 3x a day, if you can't get started on the 30 minutes + kinda of exercise. Once you are back into the 3 ten min walks, see if you can stretch one of them into 15, and then 20 mins, etc. Just put on those shoes, and do it, friend.

If you are eating a balanced diet, and loosing weight, and you don't feel like you need a fill, then I think you are doing the right thing and waiting a few more weeks. I called my Dr. office before my last fill, to see if they had one two more weeks out, and they were full up, so I kept the one I had, and only got a tiny (.5cc) fill this time, and booked my next one for 6 weeks out instead of 4 weeks. We will see how I feel at that time. Two lbs a week, you go girl, keep up the good work.

As many people have said in other posts, it is a sliding scale of how much is the "right amount". It varies from one person to the next, it varies with one person from one month to the next. It varies for many people, you and I included, from morning to evening. PB'ing, or being too tight will not help you in the long run. But being afraid of getting a fill, because you don't want the momentary pain, can work against you, in the mind games we play with ourselves, blaming your desire for no pain, on not getting a fill. Both, and sometimes, neither. We all know, at least I have been there, and working hard not to go there anymore, that you can have a really "bad" food choice that you manage to get into 1 cup or less. And tracking just calories, leaves out the whole spectrum of that part of the discussion around food quality, food nutrition, balanced diet. Many Dr, and many people here on the forums say eat your Protein first, your veg second, and then whatever else fits into your meal without making you uncomfortably full. Nowhere in that guideline do I read how many calories that should come to. It is talking about stopping before you are uncomfortable, so I guess that falls in the "amount consumed" gauge. But you know, intellectually, that you need to plan your meals, and work toward balanced, good choices, whatever that looks like in your world, let the band help you limit the amount of food you are eating, and then look at the big picture. If you are eating small portions of good quality, balanced food, and still not loosing weight, then maybe a fill will help you eat less. You also need to keep your food journal handy, and review with your NUT/DR/friends who help you stay accountable, your food choices. That is where the calories side of the gauge comes in. There might be ways you can cut out 100 cal here, or there, and stay within the balanced, eat a comfortable amount, and the weight will start/keep coming off. This whole discussion is not taking into account exercise, but we will leave that for another post, since that is not what you asked about. Just my 2 cents, worth about $.01 in today's economy.

I love seeing my scars every morning. It is a constant reminder, every day, to eat right, chew, take small bites, plan my meals that day, plan where I am going to get the exercise in that day. And, as others have said already, they are fading, and healing nicely, and are way better than the body that I am leaving behind. There is a great song, by Point of Grace I think, Heal the wound, but leave the scars. I know, that song is not talking about surgery, but I somehow apply it to my situation anyway. "the wound" being my head hunger, the mental games, the over eating, the late night eating, and even now, when we sometimes eat around the band, all of those things I need "healed". The scars are a reminder, both to me in my situation, and in the song that they sing.

I used to drink 7 liters of Water a day, now I drink 2-3 liters a day. Yes, I still "drink all day long", but more sipping now, where I used to guzzle/gulp/consume alot more at a time. :thumbup:

Congratulations, great job on the 75 lbls lost so far. I don't care how you lost it, that has to feel good You are doing great. Most doctors, and even people here on LBT will agree, that loosing weight slowly is healthy for you, probably good long term results, etc. But as far as him not giving you any additional fills, you might have to explain that to us. Is there any additional information behind that? If you feel that the band is not working for you, and you talk with him about how you feel, why you feel that way, I think most of us would agree that ultimately you are in charge of your body, and your band, and unless there is other information, or extenuating circumstances, you should be able to request another fill. If it is just this doc, then are there other options where you live, something where you can talk with another fill doc, maybe see about changing doctors? I think many people are in that boat, that they realize that they own this body, and that they want, not just numbers on a scale, but a new level of fitness, and a lifestyle change for the better. I am so proud of you for "owning your body" and for going down that path, both with the band, and with healthy choices. And for all the people in your local YMCA area, you should be a hero, for helping them "see" that sometimes, it is more than just joining a gym, it is about making the program MO friendly, staff training maybe to help them, help us. Keep up the great work, and hopefully, soon, you will get some fills, getting to the point where you band is a tool that you are able to use as well.

Oh, that was good for a chuckle. But seriously, some people need a catch, motivation to pick up those weights. And as long as you were not using them where others would see you, and be cracking up, it might actually work. It does represent actual weight, and the PRINCIPLE behind the shaking, where your muscles are contracting etc, is probably valid. I just can't imagine people using them in a gym setting, where other people might be around. I like your idea Btrieger, make a video that way more people will smile, and be happy

That looks much easier than the way I have been manually looking up and creating playlists based on BPM. It looks like that software is just for the MAC. In my searching, I found this link (below), which has several other 3rd party type applications that might get the same results (with some effort it looks like on some of them). I will have to check it out, and come back here with my thoughts/opinions on the various software available. BPM Detection information

I am pretty new to this as well, but for me, it helps if you stand up. Sometimes raising my arms above my head helps. Bringing your arms back down sometimes increases the pain, but if you raise your arms back up and down and up and down, it seems to help the feeling go away after a bit. I have read on LBT that other people have used an papaya enzyme, but I have not picked those up yet. Once I get closer to restriction, I may have to give those a try. It did not take but one or two stuck episodes for me to learn to chew better (like my doc and NUT told me to do in the first place), and to cut my food up on the plate into smaller sizes, and to take smaller bites. Sometimes I hate it that I have to learn for myself what I should have done in the first place. Best of luck to you.

Ice cleats, boot chains, or just shoe screws? I have now worn out my second pair of boot chains, similar to: Quest for stability on the ice. Oh, by the way, I always use walking/hiking poles, and during the winter, they have the ice spike tip.

I don't have any kettle bells yet, so take my reply with a large grain of salt. :thumbup: I want to get some, and have looked into some beginning/basics that would work for me. Use, modify, or ignore at will. For me, I need to start with some very, very basic stuff. Sit in the chair and press it over your head. Lay on the ground, and push it up in a press. Stand, with legs apart, weight in front at arms length, and bend knees, back as straight as possible, going into a squat. Depending on your knee and leg strength, it may only be a 2-5 inch squat, not the full chair squat. Hold the ball in front of your chest, close to your body, and rotate left and right. Repeat for weeks, as you build strength, add reps, then add new moves. Take the moves on the dvd that you said were intense, and modify them down to an easier move... Don't hurt yourself by doing too much at first! Let me know how it goes, and if you enjoy them. I am looking forward to adding this into my routine.

For me it was about endurance, walking longer and longer distances and longer time. My main goal was to complete a marathon, no matter how long it took that day. It was only after about 5-6 months of training, when we were in the 16 miles on a sunday, and 5-6 miles a day weekdays, that we started walking faster, and faster on the weekday walks. I felt very self-conscious about how I looked as I tried to do the "race walking", with the hips swiveling etc, but my knees/shins hurt if I tried doing too much of the "shuffle/jog". In the end, we did the marathon in 7:32:00 which equals about a 3.6 mph pace. Not bad pace for walking for seven and 1/2 hours. I am currently average 3mph on my walks, and after loosing some more lbs, will pick up the pace again once my knees can handle it.

Short answer, "It depends". I am sure there will be many replies to your question, cautioning you about "drinking your calories" and you are not using your band/tool properly when you do slider or liquid meals.... But honestly, I think it depends on what you are juicing, and the volume we are talking about. If you are juicing fruit, and getting 300-500 (or more) calories out of Apple, orange, name your fruit juice here, or even a whole bag of carrots, you are definitely going outside of what you know you should be doing. But if we are talking about juicing vegetables, and doing a 3-4 oz shot of greens, with 1 (maybe 2) carrots, or quarter of an Apple for flavor to whatever you are juicing, and you are TRACKING, journaling, whatever works for you, and not exceeding your Doc/NUT's recommendations on total calories etc. As long as you are not doing this INSTEAD of a meal with Protein first.... You have to live with this long term, and if this is part of your "lifestyle adjustments", then work it into your day. Don't be afraid to try a little here or there. Just make sure it is "a little" (Caution: Speaking as someone with a juicer, who has tried the "juice fast" and other not so healthy diets in the past, pre-band, I can tell you, it is a pain to constantly be running to the store for more fresh fruits and vegis, and to constantly be cleaning the juicer, and of course, the ahh, ummm, practical side affects of drinking lots of juice and how it "goes through you".... You don't want to go overboard on this. )

Also, we got started on the idea of walking a marathon via a magazine called prevention. Walking: Walk to Lose Weight and Get Healthy - Prevention.com It had great ideas, and an article on how to train for that goal. I can't find the prevention article online, but here is another great site with schedules and ideas about getting started. Marathon Walking Training Plans - The Walking Site

We walked the Columbus Marathon in 2004. We were told that the walkers had to finish in under 8 hours, so we trained for 9 months, and we were on pace to finish just under 8 hours. Well, we got there, the day of, and they told us that the walkers start 1 hour before the runners, and that the finish line closes at 7 hours for walkers, and that we were welcome to move to the sidewalk to finish if it took longer than that. We finished in 7 hours and 32 minutes, and they keep the finish line "open" and setup for us, I think primarily due to my parents sitting there at the finish line, saying wait, wait, our kids are just around the corner (they had driven to several points of the marathon course to cheer us on, and then waited at the finish line) So we have the "official" pictures with us crossing the line, under the timers, at 7:32:00. I am telling you, it was a very powerful feeling, so motivating, and very unexpected for me, also very emotional to finish something that big. Since 2004, I slowly added 100 lbs to my Weight Watcher success, but now I am banded and back down 60, and walking every day (5-6 days a week). I will walk another marathon, maybe in 2010, and maybe, just maybe I will run one someday if my knees allow it. I can't stress enough, the training, finding where your "wall" is, taking the energy gel with you, even on your long training walks, staying hydrated. and getting the right shoes, several pairs, and making sure they are well broken in before race day. (about 2-3 months of use is about perfect I am told) Go for it!!!

I did the Columbus Marathon in 2004, walked it in 7:32:00. It took 9 months of training to get to where I could walk that far. Sadly, I am way out of shape from that point, and and just getting back to the point where I can walk an hour each morning. I think Marathons are in my future again, just not in 2010, and the first few will need to be walking marathons.

I am new at the band, but a long, long time gamer, going way back to Ultima on the Commodore 64 in the early 80's. Everquest 1 and 2, and WoW has consumed many hours of time. Talk about addiction, I used to "Raid" all by myself, with quad-boxing 4 accounts, sometimes 5 or 6 with borrowing friends accounts. So I am saying this, to establish my credentials, I FULLY understand gaming, and the addictions that it CAN represent. As I look back, and chart my gaming against my weight gains and losses, there is a correlation, due to the time I had available. No, playing games does not make you overweight. But for me at least, it had a huge correlation to the time I put into games, vs other things in life. So in the end, your choices are completely up to you. But I think you have come to this forum asking for help, asking for advice, or support. I am "down" to one WoW account now, and play alt's most of the time. You may want to try that, create another character that you can casually play, here and there, without the "pressure" to perform, or Raid. Try another server, the other faction, horde or Alliance. Try a different game like Age of Empires, or Civilization. Sometimes you have to go cold turkey, sometimes you can scale back. The bottom line is, that you are looking for time to exercise, and you can't cut work out. I try and get 5 min here, 5 min there, I walk down the hall to the farther bathroom when I need to go. I get 10 mins of hall walking in at lunch time. (I work with a really big complex of offices) You can try leg lifts while sitting at your desk. 100 leg lifts per hour. Some workplaces will let you bring in one of those giant ball to sit on instead of your desk chair. Not much difference, but you are using your core muscles to sit, instead of slouching in a chair (like I do ). I park in the farthest lot. I know, people use that excuse alot, but for me, it is 3/4 of a mile (according to my pedometer) from my car to my desk, each way. That is 1.5 miles a day just getting to my car. Now it sucks in winter, and Michigan winters can be brutal, but bring boots, heavy jacket, hat, wrap, gloves, even snow pants. You are worth it. I have found that if you look, you can find a few minutes here and there to increase your activity level. Sure, 30 min of cardio is the gold standard that we shoot for per day. But sometimes, we give up on exercise altogether, because we don't have the hour available to exercise (and then shower, change, get back to work). Three, 10 minute walks is not the same as 30 minutes of cardio. But to your muscles, it is activity, you are burning SOMETHING, it is better than just sitting doing nothing. And I found that it got me into a better place, where now I walk 1 hour each morning. (Ugg, I am NOT a morning person, but I set that alarm at 5:30, and drag myself out) You can do this, we are here to support you, but it is up to you to commit. Send me a PM if you want to chat more about games, and ideas for limiting their influence on your time.

If it were me, I would fly, just because it is shorter, you get home faster. Be sure to take your pain meds before, either way...

First of all, so sorry for your family's loss. It is always difficult, depending on how close, and the circumstances (pain, cancer, whatever), I am praying for strength for your MiL, and spouse, your family. But, and I apologize here, I was laughing at your post, just the way you described things, your title, and I was envisioning an 80 Y/old, kicking but and taking names. Good for her for getting out, into her routine, instead of sitting at home. Everyone deals with grief differently. And you are a fantastic person for going along, keeping her company. Just curious, was it the first circle of hell, because it was a hard class, or you just don't like the aerobics, or you are in a different place in your exercise routine, or the company, or....?

I don't know about everyone else, but I am using an Omron Pedometer, and it uploads to software on my PC, and I count all miles walked through the day towards my challenge. The Omron software can distinguish between Aerobic miles, and just walking around your day miles, and if you wanted, you could record just those aerobic miles each day. Right now, it is motivating for me to get 3-4 aerobic miles walking in the morning, and then see how far I can walk to the far side of the parking lot, leave for meetings 10 min early and walk past the conference room, down the hall and back, get 15 min in at lunch time. It all adds up. I was actually surprised to hit 122 miles for November.

My December goals are 100 miles walking total, mostly aerobic/cardio in the morning, the rest through the day. I also want to start lifting weight (other than my own) and doing some bike riding, both outside and stationary.

I just found this challenge, did not get my goal in at the first of the month. I am a walker, aerobic in the morning, and then track with my Omron pedometer through the day. I started parking at the far end of the parking lot at work .7 miles from my truck to my desk, and another .7 back in the evening. So far, I am at 91 miles so far, well on my way to the 100 mile goal I have for the month. I am going to hold it to 100 miles for Dec also, but may have to get some "mall walking" in if the weather turns cold.

I have always been a "walker", even at my heaviest (398). I have flat arches, and so I always buy an aftermarket or 3rd party arch support to go into whatever shoe I buy. That usually means I need something with long shoe laces, and lots of shoelace holes, so I can adjust the fit of putting an arch into a shoe. That being said, I always go with a hiking type shoe for support. Any cross training or "running" shoe always breaks down, the outside breaks down and roles out within 90 days. I have tried almost all of the top brands, and have spent a small fortune buying shoes that roll out or break down. I have taken shoes back to complain about it, to be told essentially "you are too heavy" for any sort of "normal" wear pattern, just get used to buying lots of shoes. So that is why I end up going with a hiking shoe or boot. Sure it is heavier, but when you weigh in the 390's, what is an extra lb or two on your foot compared to comfort, and support. I am looking forward to the day where I can buy shoes off the shelf, and get a years worth of use out of them. I long to wear holes in them before the shoe itself breaks down on the sides. That someday is coming for me, thanks to my band... :biggrin: