beversman

I cant stay off the scale... im soooo addicted. I wish I had a pool here somewhere to exercise in... i love swimming. Although, I haven't done it in public in over 11 years. ha. I have two spots that I am most praying for the skin to tighten up. My face, and my underarms.... Bye bye double chin! and I don't want "bat wings" if I wear a tank top this summer... YUCK. I'm working my triceps like a mad woman.

30 minutes on the elliptical at Level 3... whhheeewww, i kicked it up from "2" to "3" yesterday... and boy the added resistance kicks my ass. Then, I did 45 minutes of weight training and ab work... I swear... this sucks. Confession... ive never taken my measurements... sucks becuase I'd like to know what I used to be -VS- what I am right now. Im sure it would help boost my morale... I've been recording everything else in detail... i just never got into that. yeah, im a procrastinator... You know what... my left arm is SOOOOO much more out of shape than my right... it is funny. I keep doing extra reps on that side to try to "catch it up"... the damn thing has 1/2 the muscle the other one does. How odd I am. (Also on my "odd" list) I say the magic "shrink my skin" prayer every night and do high tech examination of my entire body in the mirror each night to see if it is keeping up with my weight loss... man, despite the exam, i can't tell. hence the prayer night ladies, luv ya long time

I've lost a few pounds... and I cant say anyone has noticed that ive lost weight. If anyone has noticed, then they haven't said a word. I thought for sure that somebody would see something, but nope... they haven't I think Im getting smaller, but I still look the same size in the mirror (to me). I don't know if it is becuase I cant see it, or becuase I am not really getting much smaller. frustrating. Im going to go get my big butt on my elliptical. God knows I need it.

Here's something I figured out... If you feel something going down "slow" get a drink of Water and reach your arms as high as you can straight above your head -- then swallow. Thats how I moved the one last night. It helped open things up. Even if I did look a bit stupid.

Wow, big difference with the fill (so far) I can only eat 1/2 cup of food at a time... maybe a tad bit more. A cup would be impossible. I HAVE to chew about 30-40 times to make it smooth enough to go down. I HAVE to wait at least 2 minutes (or more) between bites. This is taking a bit of getting used to. It is like testing my boudaries. I thought I was going to get something stuck again a few minutes ago, but I think it was just going down slow. So, I stopped and waited 5 minutes before I tried to take another bite. Then, I was ok. I've heard that someimes you have to take the first few bites and wait for the band to open up... I think I may be one of those people.

Ha! and you KNOW how i said it too, girl. damn that was some horrible, nasty sh*t I don't recommend tryin' it.

piece of a pork tenderloin.... it was dry, but i figured "i will chew really well" Yeah right! This was my first attempt at eating anything of substance after my fill too... soooo thats probably part of it.

OMG -- just experienced my first "stuck" food oooooooooooooooo, shit I thought i was having a heart attack... my saliva wouldnt even go down I didnt PB... i got hot water stat and it finally passed after 5 min. oh... man... i can NOT stress enough how much that sucked. Girls, dont eat anything dry... that was absolutely horrible

Hey Kristen... ive just been working out at home so far. I bought an elliptical from Walmart... a cheap one. It was about $225 The Image 8.25 -- it works just fine... no problems with it at all. I go for 30 minutes + at a time now. When I began using the thing, it was only about 10 min. So dont get discouraged when you first get started. I LOVE IT though. I also use weights to work all the major muscle groups on my arms and shoulders. I usually do 20 -30 min... (on the exercise ball) while watching TV at night. I also do about 40 to 50 "baby" crunches. I am still afraid to really work those abs just yet. (even though the doctor said go for it) I ALSO bought the "biggest loser 2" DVD. Now THAT thing will kick your ass. I can sooooo feel it the next day. (and the day after that for that matter). I am trying to take it in baby steps, just like i did the elliptical. ------------ mistique -- im so sorry to hear about the problems. I hope that everything turns out ok. that must be frustrating BK - 5 lbs that quickly is probably water (is it close to that time of the month?) I wouldnt worry. Like you said, it is going to come off. I can fluctuate that much in a 24 hr period to be honest. I always have to take the average weight from the middle. You just need to focus on the protein. and water. dont worry about the calories. I talked to my nutritionist and she said that counting calories will not really help a whole lot. As long as you are getting the majority of your calories from protein you will keep losing. You are certainly getting enough exercise with all the running around. So, deep breath girl. You're doing great.

The fill was so easy!! I didnt feel a thing. The doctor had this spray numbing stuff ... and he told me to close my eyes becuase it sometimes splatters. The little fibber!! He tricked me. I closed my eyes while he sprayed the numbing solution and he did my fill in about 3 seconds... I didnt even know he did it!!! He said open your eyes, and I asked how long it took to numb and he said... "It is already numb and you're fill is already done" Piece of cake! ---------------------------- Side note: I got hit on in the waiting room!! by this guy who had brought his dad in for a consultation for the Lap Band. I came in and sat down. There was a room FULL of people. He kept looking at me and I kept trying to look at the floor and prevent the inevitable. Dont get me wrong he was a good looking guy and all.... in fact, he was very good looking, but it just is NOT the right time for me. and THERE of all places @ my surgeons office... how strange. Apparently, he didnt notice me trying to avoid eye contact (or he didnt care, HA) He just gets up and comes sits down next to me and starts talking away! Asking me all kind of questions... Where im from... and then making small talk -- the nurses were all smiling and giggling in the back -- and would peek around the corner (and wink at me when he couldnt see them)... they made me blush 50 shades of red. Which he totally noticed... becuase I saw him smiling about it. He was very nice. I finally got over the blushing and talked to him for about 30 mintues while I was waiting to get in... He did start asking me all about my having the surgery and he wanted to know ALL about it. I kept making it in reference to how good it would be for his father... if it was something that his dad truly wanted to do (trying to revert the subject from me) thank god he didnt ask for my number or something. It was flattering, but I definitely still feel very much married when it comes to that kind of thing. I am not comfortable with strange men showing interest. Oh well, i figured you guys would get a kick out of it anyway. Night everyone

8 pounds!?!? That's awesome! Which leads me to... What am I doing wrong!?!?!? Ugh... Ive not strayed about 1000 calories in over a week... I am eating 80+ grams of protien. I am working my ass off for 50 mintues a day. The damn scale just laughs at me.

thininde - Yes, until today, i definitely felt like I could eat way more than a cup of food. I was not hungry anymore after eating about a cup, BUT I wasn't full either. (if you know what i mean) Today, it been funny... i think that I had something go down a bit "hard" for the first time. I think I must be bloated or something. I've never noticed any restriction, and then today... I could tell that there was a band there. Not a big deal, but a difference. (strange, Huh?!) I too cant wait to start have this thing working like it is supposed to. But I was banded on the 22nd... so it seems like things are moving awful fast (with the fill) it has me nervous. i dont want a slip, or eroding problem. Claud -- Ive been ranging from 25 to 50. I just am trying to find that Carb sweet spot. I dont want to cut them out, but I sure have cut down on them, and I want to make sure it is acutally helping and not hurting becuase this is a pain in the butt.

I'm suppossed to have my first fill on Thursday... but it seems a bit early to me. Everyone else's Dr.'s are waiting longer. That will be my 4 weeks mark. I guess he knows what he is doing... he claims to never have had ANY patients "slip" before. So, I guess Thursday it is. I was going to the YMCA yesterday to join too, but it was pouring down rain here. So, I opted to work my ass off at home and I have 1/2 day off work tomorrow... I think I will go sign up then. Smithkr -- im so jealous of your 220! I'm fighting like a woman possessed to get there. You've done such a good job girl :-) Question to ALL: Does anyone here have a "magic" number of carbs that they stay below? I know that for Atkins it is less than 25. I really am not wanting to go that low if I dont have to... if I have to, I will. BUT is it still effective to just drop below 50? I think I need at least a few to help with all the exercise. I am just trying to find the right formula to maximize weight loss. Anyone have any info?

I'm up to 52 minutes on the treadmill in a day. (on level 2) I did 25 minutes this morning and 25+ tonight... Plus I did arm/shoulder work (lifting weights) 20 minutes Also did 20 minutes of "the biggest loser" DVD workout. That thing will kill ya. :faint: uugghhhh, time to sleep I'm so freakin impatient... i want this weight GONE!

hey my ladies... i dont know if you've all checked it out or not, but www.fitday.com is awesome for keeping track of your calories/carbs/fat/protein I never thought I would really like web site like that, but you can find ANY food and create your own custom ones (by entering the nutrition labels in and naming them yourself). You get and exact count of what your eating. Then you can go in and get charts of what you eat Vs. what you burn. You can see what your eating in what proportions. So much easier than writing it down on paper. Just thought I'd pass it along since I was a skeptic about it too. :-) bkwalling -- so glad your dad is doing a bit better Kaydot -- i am going to join a gym today, well the YMCA anyway. (no joining fee for the month of January) and "hugs" back to you. That must have been really neat to meet all of those other bandsters as well. I wish I had something like that around here Steph -- "I'm counting on dr dreamy to stick it in the port the FIRST time!" DAMN girl... Freud would have "fun" with that one... hehe I bet he could hit it the first time too... ha ha ha ha VAbandster -- yep the Water retention and "natural" bloating with make the band tighten up for many people. Ive read about it on a bunch of other threads jill -- conrats on the weight loss!! GO! GO! GO! Just imagine us in 6 months... a bunch of hot mamas transformer -- good luck with your classes. It might be a blessing in disguise... something else to focus on and take your mind off of the "scales" smith -- congrats on keeping your wits about ya on your big night out. I wish I had your will power when I comes to that. I try to stay away now, becuase I like to have just a bit too much fun :-) Nat -- hey baby girl... i know what you mean about your sister. my family is kind of the same way. my mother especially. She always seems like she wants to just stay smaller than me. Even if it isnt "skinny" at least I am bigger than she is. She annoys me becuase she was totally unsupportive and now she tries to jump in and say "you shouldnt be eating that!" Well, if she would have found the time to particiapte and educate herself about my procedure, she would have learned that I can eat many things... just not much of them. I feel like she is just watching and waiting for me to screw up. She does it to my younger brother too (he is only 15) she is always talking about how she tries to slip on a pair of his shorts or borrow a shirt to go outside... and his clothes are SO BIG on her. Its sick. I think she likes keeping us big on propose becuase she cant lose the weight.

Telly, how doon did you start your ab work? I am a little over 3 weeks out... i am currently doing at least 30 min a day on the elliptical and usually add a 1 mile walk (with my dog). I also weight train for my upper body, but aside from working on my arms./shoulders... I am afraid to do much of anything with my abs at this point. I would love to be hitting the gym like you do in a few months. I figure you've done it so... you'd know best about the time line. Any good suggestions for someone who is about a month out?

I'm ok ladies. Thank you for the kind words :-) I've had some horrible things happen to me the last 5 months, and sometimes they all just catch up. It was something that I could never have imagined. My finance moved to the US from York, England last April, and we planned to be married. He was a complete part of my family, and even asked my father's permission to marry me. I was married on July 1, 2006. a Beautiful outdoor wedding. Everything seemed to be better than I could ever have imagined. He told me all the right things and seemed to be nothing short of amazing to everyone he met. He got a job through the police department here, and we bought a car. We were in the process of buying a home of our own. It seemed that I'd found the person I was spending the rest of my life with. on September 2, 2006 I went to work for four hours... only two blocks away from our home. When I came home, I found a note on my bed that said I would never see him again. There were no signs... we didnt even have a fight. He was just gone... I rushed to the airport making it there before his flight left. I bought a $800 ticket just to make it past security and ran all the way to the gate... trying to stop him. I got there 5min after they boarded. The plane was still at the gate.... and I couldn;t get to him. He called me the next day from France to tell me that he'd made a horrible mistake, and even if I hated him, that he would come back to me. (This was the worst part of all) becuase two days later he stopped answering my phone calls and I've never heard from him since. I discovered that he'd been lying to me since the beginning, and he was lying to his family and friends in the UK. I spoke to his father, and found out he was ok... but none of them would help me. So, here I sit... alone. It was not over for me. I do not even know to this day why he left. He gave no explanation. When I did talk to him, he told me that I was absolutely perfect and had done nothing wrong. It would have been easier if he'd just told me the truth. You don't leave your wife two months after being married if there is not a reason. I was not going to tell my story here. I'd promised to be nothing but supportive to everyone and keep it to myself. But... when you all see me gone for days at a time, and wonder why I'm quiet... Now you know what is going on. I had this surgery to focus on something... anything else but the life I was leading. I'd thought about doing it for years, and had been spending all my time and money on someone that left me without a backward glance. I decided that I had to do something for myself... spend all of my time, money, and attention on me. It was all I could do to keep moving forward. I had to have something to focus on. If I didn't do something drastic, I was afriad I was going to lose it all together. So, I booked my date, and thats when all of you met me. All of my days are spent with that weighing me down. I know so much about all of you. I just feel like this is a huge part of who I am. I decided you all could have a peak of what Brandi's world is really like. It is so hard reading the posts from our UK girls. I talk/think like that too. I know all about how many "stones" you weigh... your "bits"... "no worries" ... all the "puddings" you eat -- I still have "tea" every night, not dinner. I "nip" to the store... instead of run. "spaghetti bolonaise".. been there done that -- I have a whole family over there that I will never know. There is not a thing that I can do about it. It just really hurts seeing anything that reminds me of him. Even though someone so manipulative, selfish, and heartless is surely no one to still be so distaught over. The person he turned out to be... was not the person that I'd known for so long. The person I knew ceased to exist in the course of meer minutes. So, I still have to file for divorce (which I still have not done)... I still have to pay for the car. I still have to live each day in the house we lived in together. Without a single word from him.... Sorry it is so long... but you all would have started wondering what was wrong at some point. Today was as good as any other day to tell you. Thank God for my band, and my new start at life. --Brandi

I've been eating: Breakfast -1 "Shot" of Protein (17g protein) Yes, I acutally mix up some Any whey and shoot it out of a shot glass. & 3/4 cup of Protein shake (matrix) (23g protein) lunch - 1 "Shot" of protein (17g protein) 1 cup of egg/tuna/mediafast oatmeal (10+g of protein) dinner - 1 cup - meat (chicken/pork) and a veggie no Snacks except for the occasional spoonful of sugar free Cool whip. I FEEL like Im eating too much. but then again when I THINK about it... it sure doesnt look like much.

I get that same funny smell too. I've asked my family doctor about it a million times. ive never got an answer. They seem to just ignore it. I have a feeling it has something to do with the Ketosis too.

thank you guys... i was not having a really good day... then i just saw all of your posts and you all made me cry :-) thank you for being such wonderful, gorgeous people... love ya all

yeah, steph - mystique... i know the "slow" frustration. I turned down a porkchop dinner last night for low sodium tuna and FF miracle whip. I excersised my little tushy off on that damn elliptical (which I still love). I still stayed right there at the same weight. I keep trying to tell myself that this is a good thing. I will be able to tone the muscles up as I go, and hopefully wont have so much "extra" skin hanging around. I also know even at losing 2lbs a week... it will seem soooo slow now, but in 6 months that is 48lbs. So, that is even the pessimistic view point where we lose the minimum each week. Everyone will probably be doing even better than that. It will seem like alot then. BUT I am just freakin impatient right now. (sigh) Love ya girls and I feel your pain :-)

You need warm/hot water and lots of it. Do NOT continue eating mushies. Chances are you could have already passed the blockage. If you are able to swallow water and your own salivia without "sliming" aka the saliva NOT going down (kinda staying in your mouth)... that is a pretty good sign that nothing is completely blocked. Things are going down. (liquids) However, your esophagus is going to be very irritated and swollen because of the food AND becuase of the throwing up... So, get yourself back on liquids as of NOW and I would wait a few days before trying anything mushy... You have to give your body time to allow the irritation and swelling to go away. That in itself can sometimes feel like a blockage. :-) You will be fine. But if the liquids are still a problem in a couple of days. You need to call teh doctor. I think you will be fine, but I in NO way want to keep you from getting a professional opinion. Dont let yourself get too worried over it though. Just stick to liquids.

Welcome Madden! Hows life treatin' ya post op? bkwalling -- thank you :-) im pretty much over it; it just bummed me out Steph -- yeah, I saw that "joke" thread... sad part is... im the shot girl Thankfully the stereo type does NOT apply. Sweethot -- thanks for the kind words girl! Nat- now ive found something we disagree on... ha. I LOVE my memory foam matteress. dawnae -- I wish there was something I could do. I know it must be very hard when you get that tired and there is nothing you can do except keep on movin'. At least you've got your babies there with ya though... they can cheer us up as quickly as they stress us out :-) Levi - dont worry about it; trust me... ive had my bad days too :-) Im sure you didnt hurt anything. It is repeated bad behavior for day after day that causes problems thininde - you dont have to worry about your shelf!! we all have a shelf somewhere on our bodies OR we wouldnt be here. hehe -- we need to be proud of the shelf we are gonna lose! VAbandster - i know what you mean about the "feeling like your just on a diet" thing!! amen sista. Ive felt like that since about 4 days after surgery. I keep doing the whole mind over matter, but right now... aside from instilling the "fear of God" in me that I might hurt something, this band isn't doing much. I know how you feel :-) My fill is on the 18th thats at four weeks from my surgery date. So, I sure hope that isnt true about the ripping; eek!

"Putting ur fatness back up on it..." hehe! You RIDE it girl! Love ya too. Yeah I think we both have a bit of the same kind of stuffins. jillrn - dont give up!! mine didnt move for two weeks... and now she is starting to move down... slowly but surly again. Just remeber it has only been a month since most of us started our pre ops... and only weeks since we had surgery. It is easy to forget how short of a time it has been. You are perfectly normal and doing fine baby girl!! Carol -- HA! I hope you got clean pants now! Kaydot -- I want a Christmas Party Grand Total! you must be one popular chica my friend. You went to about 4,592 Christmas Parties. hehe Steph - -Size 16!?! awesome! (With all the family around I see how you disappeared awhile.) You're right though. We talk alot. ha. that why you love us!

No one left. I don't know what you are talking about. Old Timers? nope. Ive been banded 3 weeks. Check out other threads; some of them have been here for years. We are a group of people that wanted to discuss certain things. That is what a Thread is. Read the posts. They clearly said we were still posting in BOTH locations. So' date=' what is the problem? The point is... this is a [b']support BOARD[/b]. No one was being left out. You can post anywhere you choose to post. There are multiple threads in multiple areas that we all post on. Low BMI, High BMI, Slow Losers -- they are all threads that we could choose to belong to. The beauty is...that a board is designed for people to go anywhere they need to go. I found out about all the name calling because I came to THIS thread to POST comments, and when I got there and started reading, I saw all of the negativity taking place directed at the people who started the thread in the first place. Honestly, that is not the way to get people to continue posting on ANY thread. I am a very nice ecouraging person. Look at my posts. You wont see me being negative anywhere. I don't appreciate anyone implying that I or anyone else has done anything wrong. Now can we please continue discussing our positive successes instead of having to respond to irrational negativity? Please. Enough is enough. We came here to help each other. I personally am frustrated by what has happened. We are all adults here, and this whole discussion needs to end now. There is no more reason to draw anything out. This is all the explanation that anyone should need. I thank you in advance for being postive and respectful in the future.