1unknownperson

Yay me. Last Saturday I ran my first 5k and completed it. Yay. I wasn't speedy gonzalez but I ran the whole thing and finished. I think my time was 49 minutes or close to it. I actually was so excited at the finish line, and since this was my very first race, I didn't know I was supposed to turn in my bib tear off thingy to stop the clock and I spent a good 5 minutees jumping for joy and visiting with my friends, family and colleagues who showed up to support me. According to my cardio trainer app on my Droid, I was clocking about 15 min 40 seconds a mile. Which beats my former best time of 18 minutes plus... 15 years ago!

Good luck Dk. You will do okay. It doesn't matter if you finish first or last as long as you finish. Cocoa! <hugs> it has been a while. I sent messages to you and Leigha a few weeks ago but everything disappeared and never went through. It was during that time when the site was down for a couple days. How are you? I don't get on here much and its all different so I can't figure out ho to find everyone again. Email me JensGems1217@gmail.com

YES! I just completed my 2nd 5k today. It was more difficult as there was more uphill stretches and the first mile had me running in a downpour and it was 52 degrees out. So I was cold, wet and running uphill, but I made it! Bring on the next one March 12th 2011...

Good Luck Maggie that sounds like fun. I've always hated walking or running for sport and only did it for necessity before but since losing weight have discovered I actually love it now that my body doesn't reverberate with every step I take. I'm hoping to work up to a full Marathon within a year and would really be interested in doing a triathalon someday. Maybe summer of 2012 I'd be ready??? I don't know what is a reasonable amount of time to prepare for these things. What's a warrior dash? Sounds like fun!

Hey all. I was banded on December 5th of 09 and am currently down 67 pounds. It's been a struggle and I've had to be unfilled slightly a couple times but otherwise things have been good. Its not magic and I have had to put a lot of concious effort into making this work for me. The biggest boost was once I started working out at the gym on a regular basis in June 2010. I still plateau for weeks at a time but then usually following a plateau I will lose steadily for a few weeks. Swimming and cycling seem to be the two best things and in Jan 2011 I began running. Funny thing, I hadn't lost any weight since early December and still haven't according to the scales, but everyone at work has been commenting that I'm getting thinner or losing more weight since I started running. Haha.... I think its a change in my posture. My running coach was really helpful in teaching me better posture so I can breath more efficiently and I feel like I am standing straighter and taller. I started out on 21jan11 being able to slowly run/walk/walk/walk/run for barely a quarter of a mile but I am now up to 5 miles! That's less than a month. I've always hated running until now. Tonight I go to my first meet with the local running club. Tuesday nights is interval training so maybe I can pick up some speed. Oh, I run barefoot and my knee and everything feels great. I had reconstructive knee surgery the same month I was banded and thought Id have problems all my life. I guess learning to run and being able to go the distance has been my biggest and proudest NSV! Good luck to everyone and feel free to email me anytime. I'm always happy to receive of offer support. JensGems1217@gmail.com Jennifer

Woo hoo L12 on the half marathon. I just got a coach and started training for a 5k so I can work my way up the marathon ladder. I haven't ran enough to have any experiences with band tightness and it hasn't happened from working out either and I'm at the gym 5 days a week for 2-3 hours at a time.that's not to say I've never expeerience being too toght though. I've had to get slight unfills 3 times in the last year... I tend to wait too long until I'm severly dehydrated and they end up putting me on an iv drip and putting in 2 1/2 bags of fluid before sending me home. When I am tooo tight, even sips of water won't go down. Not even my own saliva will!

I wear a girdle panty to hold everything still otherwise I'd have way to much movement happening while running. I started wearing them about 3 weeks post op and I'm now 13 months out. The other benefit is, they make me look like I lost about 15 pounds more than I really have. They also minimize muffin top since they go up under my boobs.

Cheri I'm a grandmother of 2.5 wonderful little boys (number 3 is due May 22nd) and I have always hated running, but since losing all but my last 20-30 pounds towards my goal weight I have become a runner. The key for me was finding a great Coach! He taught me proper posture and form, taught me how to run light and not stomping like a mad cow haha, and he taught me how to listen to my own body. I went from barely being able to run/walk/run/walk for a quarter mile to going over 4 miles. All in three weeks. And because I live almost 100 miles from him (yes, he is worth the drive, which by the way was always the other thing I hated... driving...), I only see him on the weekends for training. Before he started working with me, I felt like I was dying after about 10-20 SECONDS of running. It took me 5 minutes to recover from every 30 seconds of running (and slow running at that!). Now I can keep going and going and going. Its my legs that get tired and cause me to quit long before I am out of breath to terribly bad. Coach calls it a conversational pace which is okay while I am still just learning everything and building endurance. He said eventually I'll be ready to pick up the pace and will breath a little harder but it won't be the "side aching, chest exploding I think I'm gonna die kind of out of breath" like I'm used to. I started training on January 21st 2011 so it didn't take long to see the difference and All it took was a great coach! Oh and a side note is that I had reconstructive knee surgery 13 months ago AND I am running barefoot! Barefoot running has taught me to run lighter and will help prevent injuries to my knees since I'm not running so hard and jolting my bones and body. Congratulations to anyone who takes up running and keeps with it! I discovered a new passion and I have some pretty lofty goals! RUN ON!

Oh and my new favorite dessert when everyone else is enjoying ice cream??? A 4 oz scoop of low fat cottage cheese with a tablespoon of Pineapple Sundae topping on top... I was hatin on Cottage Cheese until I made this one night. Now I actually enjoy eating cottage cheese.... I bought plastic disposable souffle cups at smart n final in 2 oz, 4 oz and 5 oz sizes with lids and I pre package all my snacks and lunch foods for the full week on Sunday, and everything is very easy to grab and go with for work... Everyone at work is trying to copy me because they thought it was a cool idea for portion control but they don't understand why they are still feeling hungry and I'm having trouble finishing what I have.... But I still don't want to tell them about the surgery. Oh and because I'm cheap... I wash and re-use the cups and lids several times. In fact, I'm still using the same weeks worth of rotation after a month... So that $20.00 investment for packs of 125ct will last me a year! IF I ever get literate enough to figure out how to post pictures here, I'll show you what I'm talking about!

Hey Everybody! Good Morning and Happy Easter! Man, it took me three days to read all the posts since the last time I was here... Haha.... Work keeps me busy and when I get home, the last thing I want to do is turn on my computer... Glad to see everyone is doing well/persevering through losses and plateaus.. Loved Lizzys post about Plateaus from Jillian... Makes sense to me! Bob, Sorry about the stuck... Aren't you glad you can really "relate" now... I was getting used to that be a daily way of life and then my Dr. Said "Oh Hell NO!" Haha... After my last .5 Fill I was only keeping about 30% or less of my food down so when I saw the Dr. After 2 weeks he insisted to remove .25 no matter how much I begged him not too... Come on, I was HAPPY! I had lost 5 pounds in that two weeks! But he said this is not about being bulimic this is about proper eating habits... Boo... Its not like I was Spitting it all back up on purpose.... Well, it will be two weeks on Tuesday and I've actually lost 3 pounds as of this morning and thats with my TOM starting yesterday, so I might be down another pound or two... I go back on Tuesday.. Oh and let me add that when I went in for the dreaded unfill, I wore a cute dress with boots, (Was on my way to work afterwards), and all the nurses were whistling and commenting on how great I looked... I was wondering if they do that to everyone who loses a few pounds here and there just to make them feel good becasue man, I felt like a million bucks, so if thats a plan to make you feel good about your decision, it worked..... Sorry for not posting individually to everyone but I forgot whose done what by now... Betsy, Praying for you and Mark that they can help him somehow... Illuminnlady, Congratulations to your daughter (Hope I got the right person... Haha... I told you I forgot whose done what), hope she is successful.... Cocoa Good job on controlling the blood sugar... Leigha Hope your Allergies pass quickly so you can enjoy the beauty of the warm weather, Juliansmom Congrats on hitting the goal for the Easter Challenge... According to my weigh in, I have fallen short however, yesterday my TOM started so I may weigh in next weekend for a more accurate count...

Happy Hump Day Every body..... Betsy My Prayers are with you and Mark that the Dr's can fix him up good as new.... Elfie: My Youngest is 19... I know where your coming from... Been there done that with 3 kids... I enjoyed working from home for the last few weeks however, I need the structure of getting up and getting dressed and going to work to keep me motivated... Hell, I was working in my pajamas unless I had to get dressed for Dr appointments or Physical therapy... Bob, Hows work going for you? Any pain or problems? When I conferred with my Dr about going back to work, I purposely had him write me back on a Thursday so I'd have a short work week to get me started.... Last week was my first FULL week and it wasn't too bad... Well, speaking of work, its time for me to get out the door.... I think this weekend, I am going to figure out how to post pictures... My Daughters have always done that sort of thing for me, and keep my FB and kept my old Myspace updated, however, I can't ask them to help me with this... Baahhhh. Me and my secrets.... Have a wonderful day everyone...

Hey Ya'all... Now that I'm working I have no time to go online. I'm on the computer at work all day so I hardly turn on my laptop when I get home. I do keep up by reading your posts on my New DROID phone, however, even though I log in on my phone, it won't let me post. It keeps telling me I'm a guest and I need to register to post. Anyhow, Work is good. Our Bosses decided we couldnt have the raises we were promised last year but instead gave us a 50% increase in work load... Hope they show appreciation when the economy turns around... I didn't post my Monday Easter Challenge weigh in yesterday. I'm Up two pounds because yesterday TOM got here... I'll check in on that again next Monday.... Bob, I was home for 3 months with My band and Knee Surgeries and rehabilitation and I completely understand how you felt going back... I had such mixed emotions... I wanted to be back in the action and talking to real people again, but I liked working from home in my Pajamas and having peace and quiet to do my job! Hello to all the new folks who posted over the last few days... Leigha, I know how your feeling with the plateaus... i've been tracking my food on Dailyplate for the last two weeks and the last 3 or 4 days It's been real hard trying to hit even 1000 calories and I feel like I'm having to constantly eat.... It's a lot of work.... Okay, I say constantly eating but I consider drinking my shakes and V-8s eating too.... Mornings are hard. I can't eat anything. Shakes even get stuck so I drink a Nice cup of hot Broth... Its actually a 2 cup thermos that I fill and sip all the way to work and for the first hour at work.... Then By 10 or 11 I can get a shake down but so far, I had had problems with my lunches. I made Egg salad and it got stuck. I made Cheddar Potato Soup and it got stuck.... I hate hiding in the bathroom stalls urping up slime for 1/2 my lunch break or more.... After lunch at about 2 or 3pm, I drink my V-8... All Day long, I'm also sipping on Crystal light.... Dinner, I can usually eat about 4 ozs of whatever I made for dinner... Ohhh I did buy a container of almonds and I take about 15 of those to nibble on throughout the day and I have not had any issues with those getting stuck..... Oh I've also been having a Protein Shot at work. They are too sweet so I mix it with equal part pater and am able to drink it... Thats my life for now... I hope everyone has a good week and that things only get better....

I actually loved the broth part of all this.... I was freezing all the time and I loved nothing more than a steaming cup of broth to warm my hands.... I switched between, chicken, vegetable and beef flavored.... I still enjoy it... Think I'll have some for Breakfast..... I can't eat food at all for breakfast anymore... I can'tn even drink a shake for at least 2 hours.... It gets stuck... Imagine that. Getting stuck on a thick drink....

Ohhh... I had to do broth and clear liquid for the first 5 days, then moved on to full liquid including the shakes and Thinned strained cream soups, yogurt, Which I hate and bypassed... In fact after hearing so much about Greek yogurt, I just got some this week and tried it.... GAAAROSSSSS!!! Very chalky tasting... And it was supposed to be blueberry but I didn't taste any hint of blue berry... I'll go with cottage cheese instead....... After 5 days of that... HEAVEN... Mushies.... LOL.....

Thats great Bob... I felt lousy for a week or more... Well, I felt great except my tummy where it felt like I had been sucker punched.... I had so much trouble bending over, or going from a laying position to a sitting position to a standing position... Any Exursion was excruciating... Plus, I was trying to "hide" it since my Boyfriend doesn't even know... AND I live with him..... ANyhow, I am so happy you are bouncing back so quickly... Hows your broth and jello? So I have a share.... Non related to anything at all... Just gossip really... Theres a girl at work who gave up food for Lent and she just drinks this Gross looking high calorie concoction of water, maple syrup, lemon juice and chili pepper.... She said she drinks about 2 gallons a day and it's about 2000 calories... I was like, why would you give up nutritious food for that??? I guess lent is for giving up something you totally love.... So thats why.... Plus, she "allows" herself one bite of this and that all day, so at lunch break she will go by all our co workers tables and take a bite of everyones lunches.... Haha... Crazy...

Hey All Good to hear from everyone and glad to see how everyone is doing. I don't have nearly the time to catch up now that I'm officially back at work full time plus still going to physical therapy... I had a great day... They catered in a bunch of them 5 ft sub sandwhiches at work today, so I took my slice of the turkey sandwhich, tossed the bread and onions and ate the turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato with mustard... It was soooo good and I barely got through it all. They really pack the stuff in there. And to think I used to eat two of them slices including the bread pre-band....

I have one of them big Dr type scales with the weights on top... You know, the ones we all used to dread... it sits in My Kitchen right by the light switch and I weigh myself several times a day... practically every time I walk past it... I know I'm in a downward spiral and gaining weigh with out even looking if I refuse to go near a scale, so I use it to keep myself accountable daily rather than being oblivious for a whole year and then acting surprised when it says I gained 40 pounds since I last looked...

Yep, it's pretty much a fact of life now. But it's not like a gut busting stomach wrenching deep from the pits of your belly Puking... It's kinda like it stays up in your throat and just rolls back out kinda thing... I just grab a wad of paper towels and let it roll out and I'm on my way... There's usually a lot of slimmy goo with it and even after all the food is out, I'll continue sliming and spitting goo out for a while like 30 or 40 minutes... Not continually, but like every five or ten minutes for a while... You can eat super careful, and chew chew chew but sometimes it just happens... It happened to me a lot after my second fill with stuff like runny oatmeal or one of the protein shakes even.... It's not that bad and you definately feel better afterwards.....

Waaaaaaa.... I'm so technology illiterate that I can't figure out how to find your photos or post my own!!!! But I know you're Beautiful... I can tell by your caring and sharing with us... Betsy: Prayers for yu and Mark... Cocoa: Hi, how are you doing this week? Bob: Whoop Whoop you made it... You had such high expectations for pain and trauma from our stories... Hehe... We all fooled you... Our reverse pyscology worked... Oh Hell, I really spelled that wrong.... Haha... Guess you have a higher pain tolerance... Leigha: Glad you are able to eat better and thats a great weight loss considering you were starving your body and it was trying to hoard the weight... Gloria: You are an inspiration and I did figure out how to get to your blog... (Since it has a little click on me link) Hehe.... To Everyone: HAPPY HUMP DAY! Have a lovely day, the week will be half way over by lunch time.... Oh and I have a NSV today... The Jeans I bought with hopes of fitting in nicely by Easter.... Well I decided to pull them on today and see just how "STUFFED" like a sausage I looked in them and they FIT perfectly.... Snug like a normal snug should be without a camel toe!!!!! (Oppps, did I say that out loud....) By Easter, I will need the NEXT size down.... WOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!

Ditto for me... I sits in my throat and hurts... I have learned how to just make a vacuum in my throat and pull it back up and spit spit spit..... Today, at work I had two slices of cucumber, which I have been enjoying all weekend long and bam.... Stuck.... I had to run to the ladies room 3 times over a 20 minute period.... There was nothing comming out but slime all those times, but it just wouldnt stop.... It's like a burp bubble stuck in your throat... Ahhhh miserable.... Especially at work... Hiding in a stall trying not to be heard.... Or noticed, running to the bathroom so many times in such a short period of time... They probably thought I had diarears which is even worse.... I don't want them to think that! Haha.... This too shall pass...

Bob/Brian Hehe... Good luck... I'll be working and thinking of you while your having your surgery... Elfie... Glad to see your Patches are helping... Everyone else... Hi! Good to see you all here and checking in!

I fell off the wagon for a whole week during Valentines day... I Made Fudge for my BF for V-Day and had two nice sized chunks everyday for like 4 days!!! Plus, I went away two weekends in a row and picked and snacked a lot... In a three week period between Dr. appts, I <gasp> GAINED a half pound.... Sooo last week I went in for a .5cc fill and since Tuesday at that appointment I have lost 3.5 pounds (3 pounds since my last ticker change since I didn't record the half pound increase).... "Today is a new day so put your past in your behind... Errr... Ummm... I mean, Put your Past behind you!!!" Have a great week everyone! I'll update my ticker when I get home from work....

Yes! It is Monday Morning and I was down THREE POUNDS since last Monday.... I'll update my ticker when I get home since the code link is saved on my laptop. ALSO a second victory, when I got dressed and ready for work, with my "lighter" shoes on, I was 189!!! YES!!! No more bouncing into the 190's.... Okay, well probably by the end of the day If I get on the scale still fully dressed, it will say 192 or 3ish.... But in the morning fully dressed it's NOT.... Woo Hoo.. I'll take one victory at a time....