Llyra

No jumping on a trampoline? Really? Wow. My doctor hasn't said anything about limiting my activities and he knows I ride horses on a regular basis, which is a constant fall risk. One thing about skydiving, if the chute doesn't open the last thing you are going to have to worry about is dislodging the band. I think sky diving sounds wonderful and I hope you get to do it, Jessica.

Rainy, I think we're kind of talking at cross purposes here. Do you understand the difference that I'm making between sheer will power and working a program? Recovery begins with the realization that will power is not enough. I also know addicts who are afraid to take so much as an aspirin, but there often comes a time when a person needs painkillers for an extended time in order to heal from a particular physical ordeal, say spinal surgery. It can be done without a relapse. I'm not saying it is easy to deal with any addiction, I'm saying it is possible. And it is not a matter of will power, it's a matter of having tools to deal with the situation and an understanding support group who can help you use those tools if necessary. To keep telling ourselves that it is harder to recover from overeating than from other addictions where the substance can be eliminated completely is not helpful and may even enable us. What I want to get across is that difficult or not, it can be done, it has been done, and will power has little or nothing to do with it. I'm really not just being argumentative. I'm trying to share the experience, strength and hope that I learned during the last decade and a half as a member of a twelve step program.

Honey, it's not that I don't see your point because I do. I used to think that way myself. But the point doesn't stand up well under scrutiny. More than one heroin addict has been faced with needing medically prescribed painkillers to deal with a physical condition and has managed to take the medication without overdoing it and sliding back into active addiction. That's no easier than needing to eat while learning to not compulsively overeat. What I want to convey is the defeatist attitude involved in bemoaning the unfairness of our particular challenge. It is what it is. By all means, spend what time you need to feel angry about the situation, but then move on and learn how to deal with it. You are nineteen pounds down a long road to good health and ultimate triumph over big challenges. You can do this, but if you find it is too difficult to do alone, the twelve stepers are always there to lend a hand and a time-proven method of moving yourself down the line.

Fiber Choice Plus Calcium chewable tablets. I keep 'em next to my computer and nibble on a couple while I'm working.

Hurray for everybody!!!! My goal is to fit into my daughter's size 11 Wrangler jeans. I can actually pull them up over my hips now, but would need a pair of pliers and couple of strong men to get the zipper up.

I confess I still eat sugar and expect to continue eating it in the future. Moderation works better for me than complete elimination. I've had to give up bread and other foods I really loved, and it is nice to be able to give myself a treat that doesn't get stuck. Moderation is the clue, of course- those six Oreos, one ice cream cone, and a candy bar days are guarenteed to not only kick my butt but pad it as well. I also don't feel so good with that much sugar raging through my system. But knowing that I CAN have it if I really want it keeps me from feeling deprived and sorry for myself.

My heartbreaker is no bread. I make an attempt periodically and it is usualy not successful. I find drinking a cup of hot black tea helps a lot when my stomach gets irritated by something I shouldn't have eaten. I suspect the tannic acid as well as the warmth are soothing; the oral surgeons I used to work for had people use warm tea bags to sooth pain from extractions.

Okay! Now I get it. Different strokes for different folks, yes I agree with you on that. Sorry, I'm a little slow on the uptake at times. I thought you meant we agreed about method and that didn't make any sense at all!

Name, real or screen~ Llyra Age~ 56 Weight on April1st~ 186.5 Goal Weight for April 29th~ 178 Exercise Goal for April~ daily horseback ride/hill walk/ dance practice Dietary Goal for April~ reduce consumption of processed foods Personal Goal for April~ complete final rewrite on novel Date Banded~ 3-3-10 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 53.5

Food is not the addiction- overeating is the addiction. Overeating is one's own choice and one does not need to overeat to live. That's why it is called "Overeaters Anonymous" and not "Food Anonymous."

Well, bless your heart, honey, I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, but okay. A child's logic is not the same as adult logic, but it is logic all the same. As far as my seven year old self was concerned, that spaghetti looked like bloody worms and nothing in adult logic was going to convince me otherwise. Where is the wisdom in forcing a child to eat something that to her eyes is so disgusting just because it isn't disgusting to an adult's eyes?

Hey, there, back up a minute. Do you really consider a problem with food somehow superior or more socially acceptable to a problem with drugs or alcohol? Addiction is addiction. Some of the finest people I know are veterans of twelve step programs, and yes, I met them while sitting in the rooms myself. The lap band is not a miracle worker; it won't change your attitude, your mental processes, or your addiction. You have to do that yourself and a twelve step program gives you a plan to follow and support along the way from people who understand exactly what you are going through. Give yourself a break. Don't knock OA till you try it. I wish you the best.

My sentiments exactly, and if someone wishes to be offended because I wouldn't dream of adopting their parentlng practices for my own children, well, okay. I assume they also would not adopt my practices so we're even on that score. I am appalled by the idea of forcing children to eat a particular food, whether you physically shove the food in their mouths or give them the choice of 1) try it or 2) do completely without food already on the table that they do like until the next time they are faced with the same draconian decision. Introducing fresh fruit and vegetables at an early age is one thing; forcing someone to eat two bites of lima Beans before they can eat something more appetizing is another. My children grew up to be healthy adults who eat a wide variety of good food, including some things they despised earlier in life. When I was a child, I had a genuine horror of being forced to eat something that repelled me for reasons I generally kept to myself. My mom always managed to have at least one food at every meal that all of us liked. I may have dined on potatoes and green beans one evening while my brother chose to eat only the meat, but both of us were happy with what we got. I actually fled a Brownie "cookout" once because the leader was determined to make me eat canned spaghetti which looked like bloody worms to me instead of the lunch I brought from home. Being punished for not dining on sphaghetti did not make any positive impression on me; it just made me realize that the world was full of people with control issues and I needed to work harder to avoid them.

You've lost 36 pounds in about six months. That's great. It really is, and worrying about not doing it faster might sap any satisfaction in your accomplishment. This is a journey, we take it one step at a time. Some folks have longer steps than others, but sooner or later we can all reach our goals. After losing 50 lbs, I hit a plateau that lasted months. I'd like to be one of those folks who hit their ultimate goal in nine months, but I'm just not. I practiced biding my time, enjoying the freedom that my weight loss brought me, and kept faith that when it was time, I'd come to the end of the plateau. And I have, coming down another four pounds in the last few weeks. A pound a week is not crazy at any size. What is crazy is clinging to unreasonable expectations of rapid weight loss and allowing yourself to become discouraged because you aren't meeting unrealistic goals. Regroup, reorganize, breath deep, and enjoy the journey. After all, you've got to make the trip one step at a time; may as well smell as many roses along the way as you can.

It is comforting to know I am in good company! Sometimes it's too tight, sometimes not tight enough, but mostly I am getting long with the band. I, too, sometimes wish I could undo a button once a month and eat a greasy hamburger and french fries like I used to, but that kind of behavior got me up to 240 pounds with no upper limit in sight.. Even after a year I am still looking for things I can eat without trouble, and I miss being able to eat an orange fibrous membrabes and all. I get frustrated at times, but even so I am grateful for the restriction because otherwise I'd balloon right back up like I have done every time I've lost weight in the past. Losing weight was less of an issue than keeping it off, and I know I can't keep it off without the mechanical restriction of the band.

I'm also cautiously returning after an absence of several months because it was such a pain to figure out the new format. Glad to see others creeping back a well. Good luck with the baby plans, Laura. I went down 50 pounds between 3-3-10 and 3-3-11, and am very happy to see the scale moving down again. I had half my thyroid removed in November and began thyroid replacement therapy, which I think may have helped. I am now at 186 instead of 240 and am also "merely" overweight. Can't tell you how thrilled I am with that, but suspect you all can relate. I've tentatively set my goal at 158 in order to drop into the normal weight category, but we'll see what happens in the next year or so. I am so much better off than I was that I didn't even mind (much) the long plateau I hit this fall and winter. It's a journey, after all, and one should occasionally rest on a long journey, hmm?

bump

Made it with a pound to spare. I'm pleased. Now: on to the next challenge!

There is no way in hell I could get up at 5:45 for anything without being cranky, resentful and miserable. I'd barely be coherent. Could you go for a walk in your neighborhood instead of going to the gym and save yourself enough time for a little more sleep? And so you ate too much candy. Oh, well. As long as you don't do it every day it's not going to kill you. Beating yourself up vigorously is likely to cause substantially more psychic and physical damage in the long run. Halloween is over. Toss the candy (it is stale anyway) and go on with your life.

How funny! You will learn to cherish this story and share it with everyone who loves you! My "ah-ha" moment came when I was standing in line and my half-slip fell off. I picked it up, stuffed it in my purse, and acted like my slip falls off in public all the time.

Thanks for the post, Bob. You give a wonderful meaning to the word "loser."

The fifties beat the hell out of the forties, with the possible exception of a few aches and pains that weren't there before. :smile2: I took up horsebackriding again after a 28 year hiatus, I quit my legal job and started writing for a newspaper, I started teaching dance again, I made a committment to a healthier life, and I got to be a grandmother! Welcome to your fifties, Cheri, and an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY!:thumbup:

Good grief, Nova, take a break! Enjoy where you are, buy a new pair of jeans, look at how beautiful the world is as you run through the fields and down the streets. Sixty pounds in not quite four months is phenominal; perhaps your body just wants to take a break and adjust. Running and eating a reasonable amount of food are part of your new life, right? Not something you plan on changing once you hit the magic number? Relax, enjoy yourself, it'll come, though maybe not on the timetable you originally planned. :smile2: Perimenopause strikes many of us in the early to mid-forties. It doesn't run on any schedule we try to force on it either, darn it. See your gynecologist, read the literature, and welcome, sister, to the next phase of womanhood.:thumbup:

Well, you'd win that bet, Phranp, because here I am. I gave up hamburgers, french fries, pizza, soft bread, and any number of foods I once thought I could not live without, largely because the band makes them damned uncomfortable to eat. I find that while I sometimes miss the idea of being able to eat exactly what I want, I don't miss the reality. I ate a bite of pizza this week and honestly- it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered. My weight loss is slow, about 4-5 pounds a month, but since I gained all that weight at about the same rate, I'm not surprised. I am happy with my progress and hope to progress even further with both weight loss and adjustment to a healthier way of grazing. I wish you well, Fred. May I suggest a counselor or psychologist to help you work through your food-related hang-ups? I have a standing appointment with my counselor every five or six weeks just to check in and make sure I'm doing okay. It helps, it really does.

I'm 5'7", weigh about 195 and just bought a pair of 15-16, 34" inseam Wrangler jeans. I like the Wrangler Jet style- they have an elastic reinforced waist that looks like a regular waistband and they're a little bigger in the waist than some of the other styles. I bought them at Boot Barn. I also buy western shirts there- an XL usually fits pretty well unless the shirts are a brand that runs smaller in the chest. I used to be an hourglass until I had children and the sand all settled around my waist. :laugh: