tonya66

Sheri, For the most part, people need to be at least 1/2 of their fill level to even fill the slightest bit of restriction. This all depends on each of us though. I've got the smaller cc band, which holds 4cc's (actually 5 cc's) I'm 3/4 way full and still need more. Some are totally restricted at 2.0 cc's, or even less. You must have the 10 cc's band that I hear actually will hold 13cc's? But not sure. Anyhow, the slightest bit could make a difference, just .2cc's could put you to your sweet spot. I've actually had 4 fills, and will be going for my 5th fill 8/17. Hopefully he will get me to restriction because last night, I was a mad cow! I really didn't eat most of the day yesterday, I had a handful of nuts, a slice of laughing cow low fat cheese, a cup of coffee and thats about it for the day. I got home last night HUNGRY. I had to go to a viewing of my friends mother, by the time I got home last night it was around 7:30 pm. I was a starvin marvin. I ate about 3 oz of filet mingion steak, 2 or 3 slices of tomatoe (home grown), a few slices of cucumber (home grown) and some corn on the cob (cut it off the cob). Now, that was a big meal for me. I usually can't eat that much, but last night I did. I then went and tanned, I worked out, and came home STARVIN AGAIN! So, I ate 1/2 sandwhich with ham salad on it - on whole wheat bread. Then ate a 1/4 cup of flan. I was out of control last night. I think it was all the stress, I felt like I was WIDE OPEN. I guess I was, because I ate like I was and had no problems what so ever. Usually, I will get full pretty quick, but not last night. grrrrrr. I didn't dare step on the scales this morning, I just said I will be back on track today and eat right.

Debbie, You have done great too! 70 lbs you have lost. Tell us what you do? Do you exercise? Do you eat low carb/low fat or just smaller protions? My stomach has shrunk but I know that it probably never really will go flat, I've had 2 kids, I'm over 40, and I've been fat a looooong time, so the chances of my skin bouncing back is slim. I noticed last night that I have a little sagging skin around my lower butt area and upper thigh. This is the place I've carried all my weight, so I imagine I will need a lower body lift when its said and done, whether or not I will get one is another story. I'm sure they are very pricey. It all depends how I feel when I lose all my weight. I've already warned my DH that if I feel like I have to have one, I will get one. Even if I have to take a loan out of my 401K!

Thank you for your kinds words! I don't live too far from you, one of these days I would like to take a road trip to Worlds of Fun, if I do, I'll let you know and maybe we could do lunch. 70 lbs are gone forever! You should be so proud of yourself, and I know what you mean about doing things you would have not done 70 lbs ago. Isn't life so wonderful! Keep up the good work!

Gigi, 57 pounds is GREAT! 57 lbs gone forever! Thank you for the compliments. I am no where near where I want to be, but I know that I am improving everyday, its just going to take some time. I agree with you, the band is the greatest gift I could have given myself.

Your my new best friends for saying I look younger!!! lol. Thank you!

Oh man, I totally forgot to post this - but here it is Buy a small container of FAT FREE small curd cottage cheese, in the morning, before you eat anything or drink anything, you eat the cottage cheese fast (you eat it right out of the container), and eat until you feel full (usually takes about 5 min - 10 min according to test), no need to chew well because its the small curd according to the book. Anyhow, once you feel full, you stop. You then take a measuring cup, one that you can tell how many ounces are in there (maybe one of the pyrex clear ones), you fill the measuring cup up with water. Now your container of cottage cheese that you just ate out of will have a thick milky mark where the cottage cheese started at, you pour the water out of the cup until it reaches that mark. Whatever amount of water you had to pour into the cottage cheese container is how big your pouch is. I got this from the book "Successful habits of Weightloss patients". Its a really good book. I hope I made sense in my instructions.

I had my 6 mos band anniversary 7/18/07 and was down a total of 74 lbs. I am less than 30 lbs til I reach goal so the weightloss is slowing down A LOT. I exercise 6 days a week, and eat small meals throughout the day. I have PB/slimed 1 time on a bite of a french fry and since then, no problems. I expect to reach my goal weight by my 1 year anniversary. If not, soon after!

I leave in 5 days for my cruise!!! I need mommi-hammi to post so I can hear all about her cruise! She just got back I think yesterday from the same one I a m going on, so I am waiting on details........... Tried on my formal last night, it fit like a glove, so I better not gain any weight. lol.

Your too kind, but thank you so much for your sweet words. How are you doing? I hope you are doing okay.

Scales don't always give the true picture. Yes, stay off the scales. A better way to measure your success, are you feeling better? Are you shrinking dispite what the scales say? Are your clothes getting looser? I know we are all trained from our very first diet to watch the scales, and it is a hard habit to break, we all want to see that number go down, but it truly is not the best the way to measure our success. I too am working daily at not focussing on the scales but instead I'm focussing on what activity I did today, what did I eat, and how do I feel. Hang in there, you will get there and your doing GREAT!

Shawn, Yes, me in a bikini is pretty scary. lol. However, I have had this bikini forever because i went to a spa retreat (girls weekend) and I just felt uncomfortable laying on the table naked, so I bought this bikini to wear underneath my towel. Not sure why I just didn't wear my bra and undies? I will keep on striving to improve and lose the rest of my weight, I know I won't look perfect at the end, but I will feel so much better. I'm almost 41, I have 2 kids and have been married almost 20 years, I don't need to look like a swimsuit model, I just need to feel younger than 60! DH tells me I'm perfect and if I didn't lose another pound he would be happy. He tells me that I'm way too critical of myself and I need to lighten up. I'm such a perfectionist in every part of my life, I'm not sure why I let myself get so far gone? Anyhow, thank you all again for the compliments. I posted some before & after shots on the before & after forum, of course I was clothed and not in my bikini. lol. I've been taking pics every 2 months so I can compare my progress. Sometimes I feel discouraged and then I compare my pics and I know that I am improving.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to post a pic in my journal, anyone know? I want to post my pre-op pic and my 6 mos post op pic.

The first one was taken the night before surgery, the 2nd one was just taken, it is my 6 mos post op pic. Still have some way to go, but I'm seeing my colar bone for the first time in YEARS!

Thank you for your kind words. I am still amazed at how unhealthy I was in January vs. how I feel today. I'm not where I want to be but I am getting closer and closer. All the books I've read state that the stomach is the last to go, so I'm hoping as I continue to lose and exercise I can firm it up more and not need a tummy tuck, but the veridict is still out on that one. Right now, I'm not going to worry about a tummy tuck and just focus on losing as much fat as possilbe.

Oh my, I can't believe I just posted pictures of me in a bikini on the internet - lol. I am glad I took a picture in a bikini, not because I think I look good, but you really can see where your improving in a bikini vs just regular clothes. I notice in my before pic, my belly kinda hung over my bottoms, it doesn't do that in my after pic, I wouldn't have been able to see that if I was just in regular clothes. Well, its late, I'm off to bed...................

Okay, Now for the back shots. I can tell a big difference in my butt, my bathing suit bottoms are saggy at the end of week 12. I still have cellulite, but I think it is shrinking? I hope it goes away, and my belly tones up?

Okay, I'm going to do something I never thought I would do, but only because I know my January bandsters won't be judgemental or laugh at me, . I've finally downloaded my 12 week result pictures. So here it goes. The first pic is the night before surgery, the 2nd pic is 3 months after surgery and the beginning of my BFL challenge, the last pic is the end result. I know I am no walk on the beach, but I am making progress! I'm ready to start my next challenge and see what progress I can make! (right after my cruise). So can you guys see a difference that exercise has done?

Girl, BRAG! We all should Brag, No matter how much we've lost, whether ist 5 lbs, or 50 lbs, or whatever, we need to be proud of what we have accomplished. We deserve to be proud! We've waited a long time for success. I too think the NSV are the very best. One of my NSV is I weigh less than my DH. I am so proud of that. He got on the scale last night and he was up to 188 lbs (he's 6'1") so he's not fat, and I've always hated the fact I weigh more than him. Well now, I'm almost 20 lbs lighter, 16 lbs to be exact. Its just so nice to know that I weigh less than him, makes me feel more like a woman. Another thing I am happy about, I tuck my shirts in now. Thats another NSV. I would have never dreamed of tucking my shirt in at 248 lbs, my belly hung over, I had to leave them untucked to hide my fat (or so I thought I was hiding it - who was I kidding, everyone knew I was fat!). Now I proudly am a tucker! Yes, I'm a shirt tucker I admit it!

Hang in there Renee, I usually don't see movement for 2 to 3 weeks (and it seems the further I am post op, the longer it is getting), then one night I will drop 2 or 3 or sometimes 5 lbs, then I will sit there for weeks, and the same thing happens again. OUr body has a mind of its own and it will decide when we will lose. I know that you get frustrated, but you have lost 60 lbs, that is awesome. The thing I have come to appreciate is, even when I'm not losing, I'm not gaining, in the past I always gained. I'm learning to just live with the results and live my best life. Changes are happening, but slower and I'm learning to just deal with it. If I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, eating right, exercising, then it has to come off, right? So hang in there! The cottage cheese test - well, I don't have the book with me to type out the instructions at work, but I will over the weekend to everyone. Its a way you can tell how big your pouch is. Its neat, but I want to be correct when I give the instructions, so I will type it word from word from the book when I get home, either today or this weekend (I rarely touch the computer at home, I'm on it so much at work, but I will get on this weekend).

Woke up this moring full of energy, and loving life. Stepped on the scale and holy moly, down 2 more pounds, YES, I love life! Weighed in at 172!!!! Only 3 more pounds until I reach the 160's! I haven't been there in freaken YEARS! Menu yesterday was pretty low, but doing a cleanse to help jump start the weightloss again before the cruise. Todays menu a little more to eat than yesterday: Bfast Bfast burrito from Taco Bueno, except hold the flour tortia, they just put the insides in a bowl for me of the borrito. So good. Only ate 1/2. Lunch Cleanse drink Dinner Not sure, its our night to go out to eat, will share something with my DH I'm sure. Exercise Circuit training and working my Lower Body. I am getting called skinny minny today. I'm in my size 12 shorts, that are a little baggy, and I have my shirt tucked in and no belly fat hanging over. lol. I can't believe I have my shirt tucked in!

Woke up this moring full of energy, and loving life. Stepped on the scale and holy moly, down 2 more pounds, YES, I love life! Weighed in at 172!!!! Only 3 more pounds until I reach the 160's! I haven't been there in freaken YEARS! Menu yesterday was pretty low, but doing a cleanse to help jump start the weightloss again before the cruise. Todays menu a little more to eat than yesterday: Bfast Bfast burrito from Taco Bueno, except hold the flour tortia, they just put the insides in a bowl for me of the borrito. So good. Only ate 1/2. Lunch Cleanse drink Dinner Not sure, its our night to go out to eat, will share something with my DH I'm sure. Exercise Circuit training and working my Lower Body. I am getting called skinny minny today. I'm in my size 12 shorts, that are a little baggy, and I have my shirt tucked in and no belly fat hanging over. lol. I can't believe I have my shirt tucked in!

The scale has moved - FINALLY. Lost another 2 pounds, weighed in this morning at 172!!!! Yay! My goal since the day of surgery was to get to 169 by the time Ileave for my cruise and I'm getting really close, however, I leave for my cruise in 8 more days! So, I'm not sure I"ll make it, however, I will be close! I'm taking an appetite suppresant right now to help, its just an over the counter and I only take 1/2 the dosage but it is helping. I also still measure my bandster portion size, I sure don't want to over eat and over stuff my pouch, i'm scared to stretch it. I've been reading the book "Habits of successful Weightloss patients", its an excellent book. I don't have it with me at work, but I over the weekend, I will try and post some of the biggest things it recommends. ONe thing I though was interesting, it gives you a "cottage cheese test" you can take and by taking the test, you can see how big your pouch is and then you eat only that amount at every meal in order to avoid stretching and to make sure you eaten enough. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to. I will post how to do that as well.

My advice is "Fake it until you Make it!". Just force yourself to do 10, 15 or 20 min of exercise everyday, hating every minute of it. Eventually you will find yourself doing more and more and then realizing you don't hate it. This is what I did and it really did work.

I weighed on 7/18 and weighed 174, then I bounced back up to 176 or 177, then down to 175 and today I was back down to 174. I want to keep track of my progress so here is what I've done so far. I'm happy that 74 lbs are LOST FOREVER! My results below Beginning Weight = 248 1 mo post op - 206.8 2 mo post op - 198 3 mo post op - 193 4 mo post op - 184.2 5 mo post op - 178.0 6 mo post op - 174

I weighed on 7/18 and weighed 174, then I bounced back up to 176 or 177, then down to 175 and today I was back down to 174. I want to keep track of my progress so here is what I've done so far. I'm happy that 74 lbs are LOST FOREVER! My results below Beginning Weight = 248 1 mo post op - 206.8 2 mo post op - 198 3 mo post op - 193 4 mo post op - 184.2 5 mo post op - 178.0 6 mo post op - 174