chickadee81

BTW--Sorry if I missed you in my last post..it was getting rather long. I really did read everything. Glad to see everyone seems to be doing good!

Anne---Keeping my fingers crossed for you!! Keep us updated and yes PLEASE don't totally leave us for "that" board lol. Amy-Isn't it awesome??!!! My husband is finally happy that I "hoarded" all of my old only fit for a second clothes because now I need to buy less! :tt2: Of course I am having NO PROBLEM getting rid of these big one Michael-Welcome!!! Christie-Hope you had a nice relaxing weekend Dottie-wasn't it your daughter who had her surgery not long ago? How is she doing? Denise-I was ROTFL at A$$ GASKET! (that is such a helpful little tip though) :thumbup: Bobbie-Did you get lost in Bob's world? Bob-I do believe on at least one occasion I was guilty of calling you Brian (only because I think someone else did though!!) :smile: Oh and congrats on the NSV Hmmm life for me has been a non-stop stressor lately! I have come home from work crying like everyday! It makes me want to fall back on old habits. I haven't gained weight, but I haven't been eating as well as I know I should nor exercising like I should :tt2:. By the time I get home (cause putting in alot of OT) I am so physically and mentally drained that I just want to go to bed! I have defintly broken into ONEDERLAND now though and want to stay there FOREVER!!!!! I went to the store to buy a few new things and I didn't even have to go to the "Women's" section (since it's not PC to call it the Plus section anymore). They were just T-shirts though so I know if it was a button up shirt I would still be in the + section...the girls aren't budging for now. Oh well at least they stick out more than my gut :thumbup:. It offsets lol.

Crystl-glad to hear you got the unfill before Friday as well! Leigha is right...the fill can always go back in, but if you get dehydrated then it would just set you even further back. Christie-I SOOOOO know what you mean! I have been wearing shorts for the 1st time in about 5 years! And when we went to the beach I wore a bathing suit WITHOUT a big huge T-Shirt over top of it! My goal is to in the next 2 years...wear a bikini :biggrin:

My doc said as long as I don't gulp or get too gassy (burps) when I use one...that it is ok with him. The "not allowed" I was told was because it can cause you to swallow alot of air and give you discomfort, but this doesn't happen to me...so i use them all the time!

This reminded me that I forgot to mention what I did this weekend...We went to a nursery and the guy was getting out of the Fruit trees & plants....So we now have 3 grafted apple trees, 2 cherry trees, 6 blueberry bushes, & 2 elderberry bushes. Did I mention we only own between 1/4 and 1/3 of an acre? Maybe I can retire and sell fruit lol. I will have ALOT of blueberries soon, but I am sure the birds will get most of them because I am not going to bother to net them.

Karen-Sorry about everything that is going on with you! I do know that it is a fact that stress makes you up cortisol levels and makes your body want to hold on to the fat! Maybe just all this stress is the culprit???? And once things calm down you will lose that gain and then some . Anne-Good Luck! I have a FB friend who has had the sleeve. She seems to be doing well.

Anne--I'm so sorry!!! I personally don't think that I would go through with a bypass...maybe a sleeve, but even then it would take me a loooonnnnggggg time to think about it and weigh every option. Just my opinion though and only you know what is best and right for YOU. Please stay with us though...we are all here to support you no matter which road you travel! Denise-glad the heart monitor came back a-ok! Leigha-congrats on breaking through the plateau Bob-are you back for good?? Guess what....the other morning I stepped on the scale...and ONEDERLAND!!!!!! :smile2: (of course after this weekend...it prob won't be lol) I can't wait for the day I am permanently in ONDERLAND and not just 1st thing in the morning. I also went to Kohl's...and shopped out of the regular size dept!!!!! I did wander into the plus size out of habit I guess. Of course I still need to buy some big things. (guys cover your eyes lol) I was trying to buy a bra and even the DD was too small. I found a really cute sundress on sale for $10 and it fit everywhere perfectly cept there and it wasn't pretty. It looked all squished and was pouring out of the top and sides :thumbup:. I'd get a boob job once I am done losing, but it kinda scares me.

Big victory for me!!! I LOST weight on vacation (imagine Snoopy doing his Snoopy dance lol)!! I am now less than 4 pounds from ONEDERLAND!!! and less than 5 lbs from losing 50!!!! Bobbie and Karen-congrats on normal towels and too big swimsuits! Anne-thinking about you and will say a little prayer that everything goes perfectly tomorrow! Keep us updated Amy-my doc doesn't ENCOURAGE snacking, but told me to defintly eat one if I need it. I normally choose string cheese for conveniece and he said he has no problems with me using that as a snack. I find if I let myself get too hungry, thats the times I get stuck or PB. I guess eating too fast or not chewing enough because I am famished. And yes you will start to lose again. Jacki-Have you tried either using spaghetti squash or zucchini instead of pasta? I'll cook up a spaghetti squash now and then or if you thinly slice the zucchini and use it as lasagna "noodles" it is soooooo yummy! Hope everyone is feeling good and doing great!!! :biggrin:

Jeezle...I've been gone for a week and all this stuff happens! Welcome to all you Newbies! I am with the group of LOVING the smart ass element being back :thumbup:! Karen-Glad to here all is well! Bobbie-YAY you like your job!! Anne-Congrats!! It is gonna be here so soon!!! I was on vacation for a week in the Outer Banks. I kept telling my husband to leave me there....but he brought me back home anyways :smile:. It was the best vacation I can remember....and I think I even lost a pound while I was gone (I will know for sure tomorrow morning...that's my routine...first thing pee first and weigh naked cause every little bit counts). The beach was so relaxing and we did sooooo much walking. Now I am dreading going back to work on Monday! I have like a 20hr work day coming up on Weds. and I am really not looking forward to it. Have to fly from Pittsburgh to Chicago...work for 10hrs and then fly home in the same day. Yuck. Hubby already says he feels sorry for anyone who gets in my way that day cuz he knows how I get on too little sleep...esp. if I am hungry too :thumbup:. I have my Hematologist appt. on Tues am so I get to see if they want me to do anything for my problems...kinda anxious about that. To everyone I missed...Sorry it's too hard for my brain to collect the whole weeks worth of posts...maybe the sunshine at the beach fried what was left of it IDK. Glad to see minus the stress that everyone seems to be doing good though! We are AWESOME!!

Well...unless something drastic happened in the last 24hrs, I know I met my goal!! I'm not putting my weight in until Monday morning just to keep it consistant though!! Not sure if I will do the July 4th or not....if I do I am aiming low lol (going on vacation soon!!)

You guys are too funny! lol Katie-welcome & congrats on your surgery! I haven't been on here much because thanks to KAREN, I bought Just Dance and am now thoroughly addicted (and pretty darn sore I might add :confused:). I played for over 3 hours yesterday :sad:. My shoudlers and abs and legs and everything is feeling it today. I even talked the hubster into playing for about an hour (he is the competitive type so it wasn't too hard). I've been debating the BB. Just not sure if I want to invest that much yet. On a good note, I KILLED my Mother's Day Challenge!!

I had my surgery with Dr. Ramanathan also at Magee. I was totally happy with my experience there (except for my over night nurse...she needed some happy pills!). I was banded 12/16/09. Some days it wasn't easy...especially at the beginning, but as you get closer to that "sweet spot" it gets easier.

LeeAnne-Glad to see that you are doing well and healing well after your surgery! :thumbup:

There is 1 Lean Cuisine I LOVE. It's garlic chicken with a side of spinach in parmasen sauce. It's 180 calories and I think 22g protein. Plus no rice or pasta :thumbup:

I honestly looked like I had a kitten under my skin for a long time! There was this huge mass (about the size of a kitten), and I just kept thinking "Oh God I'm deformed!!" It went away, and just like another poster, my port is actually deep and takes some digging when I go for fills.

A combo of things for me. I was always the skinny person that could eat whatever they wanted :thumbup:. I hit about 18 and my metabolism slowed. I met my husband around then too and his mom loved to cook for me...that didn't help. 5 years ago I quit smoking...also didn't help. A few years back DH & I decided we would try to start a family. I had 4 miscarriages and was diagnosed with PCOS...which some of you may know, makes it sooooo super hard to lose weight! I also went into depression after the miscarriages. One day last year, after being at my endocrinologist and finding out that I am pre-diabetic also, I decided I wanted my life back. Got on a great depression med., found my surgeon who I love, and never looked back. I know it is only a "tool", but I find my band very empowering.

Karen-thinking bout you! Waiting is so hard. Never had a mammogram yet, but I'll never forget what a wreck I was when I got an abnormal PAP!! I myself have had a few cysts drained from there too. I'm only 28 and the girls are still a little dense and fibrous for a mammogram so they did a sonogram when I found lumps. Cysts aren't fun, but I got my fingers crossed for you that you have one!

Christie-sorry to hear that you are still tight..but yeah it prob is stress induced (I know that's what is up with mine) but CONGRATS on the 50lbs! I am inching up there too. In fact with this tight fickle band I may even make my mini goal of under 200lbs before my 5/15/10 vacation which 1 month ago I thought was gonna be impossible!

Welcome BobKat and Wayno! Leigha-Chickenberry smoothies is something I won't be trying anytime soon! :blushing: With this last fill my band is also VERY fickle. As per one of my last posts I thought it was too tight...but now I realize it is only sometimes tight. Other days I could eat way more than I am supposed to and some days anything that isn't the consistancy of pudding won't stay down. Darn thing! Karen-hope you bust through that plateau soon! C25K people-I am trying soooo hard to do this, but I can't even do the first week!! :thumbdown: I do the 5min warm-up walk then start with the alternating 1min jog and 1 1/2 min walk. When I am doing the jogging at first my calves burn (yes I stretch), but I recover during the walking. After about 10-15mins of this though I start to not recover during the walking and the pain (pulling and cramping almost like my muscles are too short) gets so bad that I have to stop because I can't even walk!!! Anyone else have this problem and if so does it get better???? I can just walk (3-3.5mph) with no problems, but when I add in that jog (4-4.2mph) wham-o theres the pain! Anne-you'll do great!

WooT!! Below my goal for the challenge!! Now to at least maintain it for the next week :thumbup:!!!!

Karyn-This happens to me too. I just live with it and it usually all falls away within a week after TOM

Congrats Leanne...Hope everything went smoothly and wishing you a speedy recovery!!

If you can find BOB somewhere on his Farm...I think he used one pre surgery and that is what helped him lose so much. I'm sure you will have to look for him on FB though...he doesn't luv us anymore :redface: lol

Mow-Congrats on just "obese". I was sooooo happy to get rid of the MORBIDLY...it sounds so morbid lol. Viv-that is a very good response..I'm gonna steal it if you don't mind. Tracy-Congrats!!!! IL-Your hubby sounds like a great guy! :thumbup: Me-I CAN EAT!!!!! YAY!!! (almost too much) I guess I was still swollen from the fill or maybe from the pills irritating me. Or it was also that special time of the month lol. Maybe a combo of all 3 who knows? So no unfill for me :smile: