StephC

You all are doing so good! Sweet wtg on the no longer obese. And the size 7's! Good job! I didn't do bad yesterday - oh btw - was that not the BEST superbowl game ever! And my Steelers weren't even playing! I like the Manning boys, they just seem so nice. Eli married his college sweetie and I just think thats nice, none of the Giesel/Jessica Simspon ego for him. Back to food - I got Subway and ate 1/2 of a 6" - threw most of that up - damn if I can't get it into my thick head that I can NOT do bread! After that I ate shrimp and crablegs - which are great lowfat proteins but of course I had to dip in butter so .. oh well. I only ate a few chips and salsa and my new thing is sherbert. Geesh I love it. Its so lowfat and low cals! Nat - I know exactly where you are coming from. I get that in my head at times too, just want EVERYTHING, but then all I really need is a bite or 2 and I'm satisfied. I think thats the coolest thing about this band. I really don't deny myself and still don't gain. I don't necessarily lose by eating whatever I want but I don't gain either. As for BK - her and dh adopted a cuddly little boy. Isn't that the best! So needless to say we don't hear from her too often. Well - its the beginning a busy week for me. The family are coming on Friday - my house will have an extra 7 people and a baby. I don't know why I put so much effort into cleaning house, its not like my house is dirty, but of course I do all this deep cleaning stuff and they could care less. I went to church yesterday and theres 2 of my friends who are overweight and I was darn near close to their size when I got banded so we talk weight and diets all the time. I wore a size 10 pair of slacks and sweater to church and it must have looked nice bc I had several compliments. Anyway they were in the kitchen with me getting a drink and one asked me how much I lost and then what I weighed when I started. I said 231 and now I'm around 166, then the other one laughed and said isn't it funny how when we're overweight we would never tell someone how much we weigh and then when you lose you can. Which is true, and then the 1st one told me she was up to 225, she's only about 5' tall, so I have a few inches on her, actually all 3 of us are between 5" and 5'3" (shorties) so they were just so interested in what I weigh bc they think I look perfect. HA! I said noooooooo... geesh I still have at least 15 lbs to lose. But truth is it made me feel so good and I am really happy with what I've lost so far. Just need to get that tt and I'll feel alot better! :eek: Have a happy monday.

Hi all! BK - we missed you ((((BK)))) - hows that new baby doing! Its so good to hear from you, come back more often. I know with a new baby finding extra time for anything is hard. Well we went to Richmond for the Jui Jitsui fights. Or whatever they are called - I guess its mixed martial arts. Anyway - my son took 1st in his division, tapped out all his guys. Then in the Open Division he won all his matches, tapped everyone out and the last guy he was fighting he lost by disqualification, he had already submitted the guy in the other division and was winning with a score of 8-0 and then my son did an illegal move (for amateur levels) and got dq'd. So he REALLY won every match. it was ok tho, just one of those things. It was kinda uncomfortable for everyone. The guy who took first knew he didn't deserve it and kept coming up to ds and saying he was sorry it ended like that and the ref's were both kinda like shrugging their shoulders and saying its just one of the rules. BUT after the fight the ref told him he's too good to be in amateur division, if he would move up to the next division (which gets paided fights) he could use those moves. So all in all it was a reallly nice weekend. The bad news is daughter in law got her period, Friday! She told me she had gone into the doctor, bc of being late and they said no she wasnt' pregnant and if she didn't get a period by Feb 15 they were going to start it for her. She's been on the pill and just went off in Dec, so I guess its kinda a good thing to give her body a little break before she gets pregnant. BUT the good news is they are still trying!!! Superbowl today - have fun, don't eat or drink too much!

Jill - 1st - CONGRADULATIONS!!!!! 2nd - girl you are too tight! Even if you weren't pregnant I'd say call and get an unfill. Your fainting episode could be due to baby but I have a strong feeling its bc of not eating, and low blood sugar (you know that, you're a nurse). Boo - that car needs sold and you need a new Jetta. Some cars do have bad karma. I had a car that I hated from day one. It was an "r" title car, meaning it had been totalled and then repaired. That car had horrible karma, I who had never even slide on ice before, put it in the ditch 3 times and my son put it in the ditch, my daughter was stopped out on the highway to turn onto our road and another guy rear-ended her. That finally total'd it. I believe in cars having karma. I know you love your Jetta but if I were you I'd be taking this as a sign and start looking for a new Jetta. Nikki - sorry to hear you are getting horrible heartburn. Icky, do you chew on the papaya? they really do help. I hope you feel better today. Nat - its so good to have you back with us! Sorry to hear the little bear has got the poops. Doesn't it always seem like just about the time you try to potty train they get the poops! Claud - you got a place in Chicago? wow - thats a step of faith! I hope you get the job you're after. Did you have fun at Chucky Cheese :thumbup: Bman - girl we're here for you. Va - sounds like you're doing ok with the guy. You'll know what to do and how far to go. Have fun this weekend with him. We are going to Richmond tonight, we were going to wait and go up tomorrow but geesh its a 4 1/2 hour drive! It'll be fun. I love watching my son compete in anything he does. He's so athletic. I'm pretty proud of him, now lets just see if he can make babies. LOL No news on the Nana front. My birthday is the 12th and my mom, sis, neice, great neices (2 this year) and the new great great nephew are coming in on the 8th. So I think (or hope) they are planning on telling everyone on my birthday. My dil said she wants to have everyone over to her house for cake so maybe. So I think thats like the 5th time I've told you all that. Little excited :party:

Jill and Nikki you girls are so cute! You both look beautiful. I guess I should add Nat in there too but I already told her that on yahoo. You all look so good and beautiful I'm just so proud of you all! And YES Jill I can tell! And BABIES!!!!!!!!! ohhhhhh I love babies, I'm still crossing my fingers for my grandbaby. I think they are holding out on telling me until my birthday, its just something I think they would do. Give me the little hint and then the big hoorah as a present. Jill if you can wait to tell him until Valentines day that would be sweet. They have those m&m's that have messages on them. WWW.MYMMS.COM > CUSTOM PRINTING You have to order today to get them by 2/13 and they are expensive I think the cheapest ones are $60. OHH I just thought of another idea!!!! You could get the other kids t-shirts that say "I'm the big sister" and "I'm the big brother" and have them wear them when he's coming home. Then see how long it takes for him to notice. Its so exciting to hear you may be pregnant without taking fert.drugs. Thats one for the band! woohoo! Nikki I agree you don't look prego at all! I was the biggest pregnant woman you ever saw. Seriously at 6 months people were telling me that I looked like I could deliver at any moment. Huge. Which I guess is why I have this extra skin flapping around. Even if I had kept small I still would've had that extra skin hanging. BTW the dress is beautiful and I love the shoes! And it wasn't the bouncing around when I'd lay down, it was the hiccups! My oldest son had the hiccups every night - drove me insane! Sweet - hon, keep off that knee! If walking is bothering it you need to let it heal. I know its hard and you've done so good with all your exercising, but you really need to take it easy and let it heal. You don't want to have surgery which would mean alot longer healing time. Are you wearing a brace? Just be careful. Boo - your pics are beautiful - as always - you have to feel wonderful with your weight loss. You look marrrrrrrrrvolous. Va - keep us posted on FWB - I think even if you don't push the benefit side of it to the "max" you could still enjoy it in a limited capacity. Like the snuggling and stuff. That can be just as nice as the whole deal. (((((((((((((((BMAN))))))))))))))))))))))) - thinking of you.

Joyce I was also hungry, not the first day but by the end of the week I was wanting to eat. I was so happy to move to mushies, it was Christmas eve and I mushed EVERYTHING! and then by the 4th week out I was begging my surgeon for a fill. I could eat everything by then but had to wait the 6 weeks. It took me 6-7 fills to get me to the sweetspot - the place I am now. I went to my ps appointment. It went really well. He sounds like I will be a very good canidate for the insurance to pay. He wants me to come back in 4 weeks and try to lose as much as I can between now and then. I had wanted to lose 10 lbs in Jan and that didn't happen. In fact my scale hasn't moved this month. So I decided to go back to the pre-op diet, Protein shakes and one frozen dinner. I'm hoping that it'll kick start me again.

My ps appointment went really well. He sounded like insurance would approve me but first he'd like me to try to lose as much as I can in the next 4 weeks. I said like 10 lbs? And he said wow that would be great! He is submitting it as an Abdominoplasty and see if the insurance will pay for that, he sounded like they will, and if not that then the Panniculectomy. He said the main thing we want them to do is pay for the hospital stay bc you will be under general anthesia. He had asked me all the questions and I had told him I get like an athletes foot fungus and blah blah and he said that was all good bc we want to prove to the insurance that its not just a cosmetic thing that I need it medically. This dr was way better then that other one I had gone to see. He was all about the money and this guy today never once brought up money, today he was all about insurance. Afterward I ran to the store and bought a bunch of frozen dinners - and I plan on doing the pre-op diet as much as I can this month to get my scale moving again. I go back on Feb. 25, I feel good about this.:tt1: Va - sorry to hear the job fell through. Bummer :frown: I don't know about the guy, friends with benefits isnt' so bad kidding! Did you have fun skiing? And wow - to have ex's comment on the wl is the best!! Good for you!

Hello everyone new! This 40 thread is so nice. I'm off to the ps surgeon this afternoon - wish me luck. I'm feeling pretty nervous. I guess I need you all to say a prayer instead of wishing me luck, I feel I have more hope with a prayer. :eek:

I went to a big wrestling tourney. My dh and I go every year bc its sure to have the best wrestlers in the state there. I guess once its in your blood its always there. I can't wait til its my grandkids wrestling. We are going down to Richmond on Friday (we decided to stay the night) for the mission submission tournament. My son is competing in that one. Sunday we laid around after church - I read a book. I mean I read the whole book. I was about 100 pages into it and started reading and just kept reading until it was done. I had asked my dh what he was going to do since there wasn't any football on tv, of course he had chores around the house but I didnt' do a darn thing, other then make blt's for lunch and burgers for supper - left the dishes pile up and did all that this morning. It was kinda a nice lazy Sunday. Well ladies I go to the ps today at 3:00. Say a prayer that he'll submit me to the insurance. I have a feeling he's going to tell me I need to lose 20 more pounds. I hope not. I was really hoping I'd be down to 150 by now but I guess I didn't work at it hard enough. :eek: I'll check in with you later and let you know how it went. Jill the waterpark sounds like a blast in the middle of winter! What a cool idea! Boo - sorry you caught my cold. Oh I saw a friend at the wrestling, he was the chef at the club a couple years ago. He had gained weight and he said wow steph you lost alot of weight, you look great, and then he points at his belly and says I found what you lost. I said well it looks like married life agrees with you. He's just a young guy, maybe 26 or 27 and just got married last spring, which was the last time I saw him.

Bman - well girl it sounds like you're doing ok, hanging in there and taking the punches. Sucks I know but you'll come out of this ok and all the better for it. I think it wouldn't be such a bad thing moving in with Gram for a while. My first reason being that you would have something and someone else to think about instead of your own problems - and I don't mean that in a bad way, just that when you have to put someone else first then its easier to forget whats bothering you. And it also sounds like she needs you, even if for a little while. It may be the most rewarding experience of your life, in 20 years (when you are my age) you'll look back on this time with her and cherish it. I hope you find the perfect job, and until then something that will pay the bills :rolleyes2: We love ya hon and wish you the best. As for the advice you gave me about my band needing a fill? I do believe you quoted me from an earlier post. LOL you are right about that! No time to write, dh is home and we are going to watch wrestling - woo hoo

Sweet - I'm beginning to think I need another fill too. Its been a while but I really felt I was at my sweetspot and wouldn't be needing another fill - in fact I really thought I was too tight at one point and I worry about the same thing, I hope my band is ok and I haven't slipped. You know I was pretty bad when I was too tight, I would pb pretty often. But I haven't pb'd for a few weeks now and so I wonder if I've loosened up. Sorry to hear the knee is hurting again. Take it slow. Nat - I guess I'd start out as Gramma and if they throw in a little nickname that'll be ok too. We were in Walmart last night and my youngest dd said I should just buy her a test and take it to her. LOL I guess we are all looking forward to this baby - IF there is a baby. I'm proud of you too - 87 pounds is awesome! You need to post some pics again. Sassy - welcome back girlfriend! Up date us on life. Va - I'm not really a Chargers fan, I'm from Steeler Country. But with my boys out I was rooting for the chargers. I'm sorry to all the NE fans but after they cheated I can't cheer for them anymore. I actually used to like them, but they brought my respect way down. I hope the guy moves forward - he's a friend now? Thats the best way to start, if you like him as a friend then the romantic feelings won't get in the way of who he really is. (does that make any sense?) I'm sick again. I had this blowout cold on Sunday - felt better Mon, Tues - last night I started feeling crappy again and today its even worse. I don't even know what to take, I kinda feel like I may as well keep the nose blowed so I don't get congested so I guess I'll just take tylonel for the head ache. And I'll lay around all day, as if today is any different then any other day. And why is it that we can have 500 channels on tv and theres not a movie on that I want to watch? Yet I'll watch Gilbert Grape again for the 20th time? Have a good day :frown:

Southms - glad you are feeling better. I also have the middle belly fat - I'm an apple shape - I'd die for an hourglass! I even envy the pear, with their flat stomaches. I have a ps appointment next monday but I'm afraid he'll tell me I need to get to goal before they will do the pannectomy. These last 20 lbs are a killer. I hover around the same 2 pounds for a month and then go down and hover around the next 2 pounds... its irritating! I guess I should step it up and count the cals but I don't. At least I'm exercising again. I think if they would just cut off that flap I'd be at goal!

they are all BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait for grandbabies!!! I talked to my dil last night, she's a week late!!!! WOOHOO! She just went off the pill in Dec. so its too soon to tell but I'm hoping and praying!

VA - yay! I'm happy you got a job - and I'm happy its a good commute! Anything more on the man front? Bman - Hon, whats up? Fill us in. Boo - hang in there baby, we're all praying for you. Claud - have fun in chicago - guard your heart sweetie, just remember you've been hurt before, so guard your heart. Sweet - hows the knee? Does the swinging hurt it? Ok - my big big big news - ok its not actually news yet - more of I'm hoping and praying. I was talking to my dil last night, she's a week late!!!!!!!!! I might be a gramma!!!! I could barely sleep last night, I was so excited, and dh didn't sleep well either so I bet he was dreaming about that grandbaby too! They'll be married 2 years in July, and had said they were going to wait until August to try to get pregnant, so we were :biggrin: but its the way they are, they plan EVERYTHING! Then they told us that her sister was planning to get pg the same summer and its always all about her so they didn't want to get pg at the same time. So I crossed my fingers and on Christmas day my dil told me that maybe we'll have a suprise next Christmas - but she didn't go into it anymore. So I've been thinking maybe they're moving up the plans, and then last night when she was telling me all this she said she went off the pill in Dec. so now she's not sure if she's really pregnant or just messed up from going off the pill. Either way, whether she is or not at least I have the hope that it'll be soon. I'm so fricking excited!! Back to band related issues. VA it does feel good to get back into the exercise mode again. I've been walking everyday now that I got back into it, sometimes even 2 walks. It really does a body good.

Claud - I was bummed about the chargers too

Boo - try to find someone to talk to - maybe a minister? Can you get away while at work and go see a therapist? This isn't abnormal - the whole lose weight and new problems thing - they warned us about it in the shrink visit pre-op. Obsessing over your weight may become a problem in itself. Try try try to go see someone who specializes in weightloss therapy. We love ya and you are in my prayers. Jill you nut - pureed hot dog? LOL too funny! I guess my worst was in the liquid phase when I chewed up a dorito and then spit it out. Although I do that every now and then, think I want something and then when I get it chewed up realize it isn't worth the calories.

Hi Joyce - I cheated on my pre-op diet and was sweating the same thing. Whats your bmi? Some people have fattier livers then other and I think that goes with the higher bmi. I started at 40. Do like Val said, try to be very careful between now and Friday and everything will be ok. Take care hon and keep us posted.

Yeah I watch the new gladiator show - and YES I'd love to be in that kinda shape. Theres a 47 y/o woman that going to be on it next week. More power to her! I'm beginning to wonder if I'm needing a fill again or if I've just slipped back into the horrible eating habits again. Ugh. I felt like I snacked so much yesterday - well I know I did, I guess I need an attitude adjustment. The winter boredom has set in. BUT on the positive side, I took 2 walks yesterday - so that was good, it got me out of the house, burned a few calories and made me hungry :tongue: I actually woke up hungry this morning. Whats with that? I'm never hungry in the morning and usally don't eat until after noon. Geesh - Somethings wrong. I'm going into work today - figured I better get the quarterly taxes done - fun fun - its always so nice to be done with that chore. Where is everyone? Stop in and say hi.

Monday morning - have you seen that new commercial where they try to push Monday back? hehe cute. Doesn't look like anyone was around over the weekend. Jill - hon you are too tight. Just be careful. And make sure you get an unfill before the cruise! I feel like I did terrible yesterday. I ate chili and soup and tortilla chips and chocolate and licorce and ginger snaps - and I told myself it was ok bc I'm sick with a cold and that was what I felt like eating. The chili and soup were ok, but all the chips and junk were'nt. Of course I didn't walk, its so cold here, another excuse. I didn't even get on the scale this morning - I'm scared it'll be up 5 lbs!

Dev - Where about in Minn? I was born and raised in the Grand Rapids area. Brrrrrr I remember the cold - my family all still live there. PA has some cold weather (we're in a cold snap now) but not like Mn! Dawnita - I'm glad to hear you recovered so well from the prolapse. I'm always afraid I'll wait too long or not know I've slipped, but hearing your story makes me feel alittle more assured that I'll know something is wrong. Nice to meet all you other Fancy Forty Ladies!

Hi Dawnita - the tatoo'd belly sounds too funny! You and I are the same height and starting weight. I can't imagine getting down to 130 - I have my goal set for 150 I figured I'd see how I feel there. How long did it take you to hit goal? I love having someone on here whos a vetern.

hey Natster good to read ya! Sweet - take it easy on the knee and let it heal. What is spinning? I woke up at 6 this morning - a Saturday morning! Pisses me off.

Char - I'll remind you of the next meeting. It is good to hear from others. And our group ranges from 2 years out to the first consult. We usually have a little lecture of some type and then its like an open forum. Its good. They just said that they are going to start advertizing bc alot of people from our area don't know of Dr.Marley. I found him when I was researching bypass, at that time I had never even heard of the band so I felt very fortunate to find someone so close.

Scrappy_friend, My screen name is, sh_childers. I'm not sure if I keep it on or not - I only chat with my mom and its on windows messenger. But I'll turn it on and if you see me say hi.

Hi Cherie! My doc put me on a liquid diet for 2 weeks pre-surgery and I lost about 8 lbs. It was liquids (protein shakes) and one 300-400 calories frozen dinner. He does it to everyone to shrink the liver, but it works.

wow Claud - that was a nice compliment from the boss. I hope things work out for you in Chicago. Va - our kids got out early yesterday but its a beautiful sunny day here today. But cold. I went for a walk this am and didn't wear a hat, it looked so nice and I thought it was warmer then it was. I about froze my ears off! They were burning for an hour! WTG on the scale moving! I just said how when I make that step down into a new 10 it feels more like a victory then if I drop 5 in the middle. It just feels so good to see it move on down! This last fill you got is working girl!