Steady losers ;-)

[beversman 0]

Heck no girl!! Get your happy butt back on here... ticker and all! :-)

You never know... we may all be catching up to you real soon :-) Don't count us out. You may have some company up there realllllll soon... hehe

Luv ya honey! no hiding allowed! Be proud of yourself.

Just because we wish we had the same results doesn't mean we aren't proud of yours!! Keep rockin and rollin' sista...

[Nathalie 4]

Just had a conversation with my nutritionist. She said it sounds like I need a fill. She also has me keeping a food journal for the week. She said "Back to Basics" just like we did! (We're so smart!) I'm aiming to keep calories around 1,000 (no more than 1200), fat grams under 30 and Protein over 60. That's it.

I almost cried when I was talking to her. I swear I almost got teary eyed. I'm such a pushy. She said don't go from one extreme to another. So I'm feeling much better. I forgive me, I love me and I do what's right.

I'm going to get my boy and we're going for a walk.

I also see why ppl regain their weight when they unband. Cuz it's so easy to fall into old eating habits. So so so very easy.

[Banannie 0]

Thanks for the comments Brandi, I will promise to not leave! And yes, I WANT you guys chomping on my heals

Nat - Glad you talked to the nutritionist! This is way easier with the right restriction. I'm probably a bit on the loose side (had an unfill about a month ago after getting too tight) but I need to actually eat a bit more with the training sessions coming up.

[beversman 0]

Well, im back.... Good news is last time I weighed in at the Dr's I was 197 (6 weeks ago)... so I weighed in at 192 today. WHICH is up from my lowest of 187 but still 5 lbs down from the Dr. visit.

I went in expecting to have gained from my last visit. So, they all yelled at me BUT NOT for gaining. They yelled at me for being negative becuase "I'm doing great" -- They even asked for before and after pictures for their website. Sooooo.... they kind of made me feel better.

I just want to know when I got so much MORE critical of myself. I think it is worse now than when I was 80lbs heavier! Funny how that works. The nurse and the dietician said people tend to get really picky the closer they get to their "goal" -- and that many are just never completely happy. I sure hope I'm not one of those people.

I'm feeling good after my week of getting back down to business. Im about ready to go make friends with my new elliptical machine. I didnt make it on her this morning... So, we are having an evening date.

I know that most of us are going through a "funk" right now. BUT just know it is just part of the process. We are all going through it. Lets just keep after eachother!! Keep showing off all your hard work everyone. It inspires me to do better. I am so glad I have all you here to talk to.

[beversman 0]

Well, I thought I might die!! BUT I just got done with 30 minutes on my new elliptical machine. I feel freakin' fantastic. I was sweating and breating heavy and it feels wonderful now. I LOVE that burn.

SOOOOOOO glad I went and bought this thing. Ive missed it!

Good news... didnt aggrivate my knee at all!! I thought it wouldn't. Glad I was right. I can starting kicking my own ass again without worrying about my stupid knee!!

Watch out body, here I come! I think I am gonna go life some weights. and crunches... I feel inspired to tone!

[VABandster 0]

hey ladies!!! Just checking in...I hate the LBT doesn't send emails when there are new posts anymore :-( Grrr...

Anywhoo...spent a weekend away w/a big group of friends (and the new guy) visiting wineries and drinking way too much, but the scale still doesn't seem to want to budge, up OR down, which i guess is OK for now. I really do need to get back to the basics like you guys were talking about!

It's been a stressful 2 weeks.....my son and I got rear ended and now my car is being totaled so I have to get a new one and figure out if I want a car payment again or not and if so, how much, what kind of car to get, etc...and all by Saturday when my rental is up! UGH!

Work has been crazy, we're in the process of moving offices, and things w/the new guy are progressing, but I'm not sure that I'm actually ready for them to progress if that makes any sense?? Just too much going on, my head is spinning!

Hope youre all doing well and hanging in there!!

[beversman 0]

Another 30 minutes on the elliptical! Getting ready to hit the weights and do some crunches :-) Ive been keeping the calories super low and maintaining the Protein.< /p>

Ive got my Water intake very high... in fact, Ive been going back to a little bit of the liquid diet during the day. Drinking broths for lunch and Protein Shakes for Breakfast. I think this last fill is much closer to where I need to be. I feel much more full after 2/3 of a cup of food... instead of just using will power. I acutally feel like I cant eat anymore. yeah!!

We will see how long it lasts.

Im keeping the carbs super low. Trying to keep the fat lower. I am going to maintain this all week and see where it gets me.

OK, IM off to hit the weights and then will be making my lunch for tomorrow.

VAband -- hey honey!! Happy for you with the new man. It must be nice to have someone around that wants to spend so much time with you. There are good ones out there... so I hear. Maybe you found yourself one! I understand you being reluctant to move ahead with it. Once you've been burned, it is hard to try it all again. (this i know!) Good luck you you girl! Dont worry about the weight. Enjoy yourself, that is what life is all about :-) no sense in doing all this if you can't have fun with your new bod!

[Nathalie 4]

Hi Friends -

I'm having a really hard day. I had a negative encounter with an employee and feel as if I am failing in one aspect of my job. I feel beat down, and I am PMSing, so I'm emotional about this BS. While I was talking to a co-worker this morning, I almost cried when I was talking to her. I hate that. I've requested a conversation with my boss to discuss, but don't want to overload him as I know he has a TON of things on his plate.

On a positive note, I'm eating very well. I've not been on the scale since Sunday, but I feel thinner. I'm hovering at about 500 cal with <20g fat and 80g Protein. That's an estimated average. May be less fat (more like <15).

I bought a bicycle and am going to ride tonight when I get home. I'm going to pick up my baby and we're going to ride all over the neighborhood. I may even drive to a bike trail and go about 15 miles tonight. We'll see. (I gotta find a bike trail first!)

I know that in the scheme of things, this is not a huge deal. I was up at 3:45 this morning, not sleeping because of work crap. I hate feeling like I have failed, and I definitely feel that way right now. My stomach is in knots. I guess I need to change my outlook and my expectations.

So funny - last night we went out to the beach to take pictures for DS. He turns 2 on Friday. In one picture the photographer had me sit and hold DS close to me. I swear I almost cried. I just told him "You make it all worth it, baby boy. You make everything better." Talk about perspective!

I hope everyone is doing great.

VaB - I'm so glad you're having fun. When you're ready, you'll get back to basics. Good luck with the guy. I'm so over men right now! With everything else going on, I don't have the energy to devote on the "Get to know you" stuff.

B'man - work it out on that elliptical girlfriend! Congrats on the 5 pounds! Stop beating yourself up. Show yourself some of the love you give to the rest of us. You're awesome and have done a great job with your band.

I'll check in later.

Nath

[VABandster 0]

BMAn....glad to hear the knee is holding up!

NAT...I think I'm with you on the MAN thing....I just can't do it! I don't know if I'm just not ready for a serious relatoinship or if it's the new guy himself being too clingy, but I am just not feeling it and now I have to break his heart :scalesno: It sucks!!

My scale is actually moving...not sure what has changed, other than the past few nights I've been pretty tight at night and haven't been able to eat much, but I'll take it!!

Now I need to get back on MY ellipitical, but I'm going to Vegas on Sunday and then on Family vacation after that! YIKES!

[beversman 0]

Vaband - i had to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago. The guy that had been hanging around and had all of the family trouble. I finally had to be blunt and tell him AGAIN that there was not going to be a relationship with me. He got quite upset and I realized that being friends wasn't going to work with him either. So, I had to cut things off completely. I've never had to be in that position before and it felt horrible, BUT I could have allowed him to go on thinking that there was more there that what it was... or I could be honest ASAP and stop things from getting worse for him. I just did NOT like the guy that way. He had to be told. I did NOT want to get into a relationship with him. He was just the wrong guy.

Like you said, I wasn't feeling it. He was way too into the "lust" of it and not into me as a person with a heart and a mind. He was too immature and too into himself. We were just in different worlds.

I need someone who wants to make the effort to get to know me... and I need a person that makes me WANT to get to know HIM. He just wasn't that guy.

However, there is someone that I've been talking to since memorial day weekend. (when I went to the Indy 500) We met that Friday night before memorial day. We talked and had an awesome conversation and that was it.

He is college educated. Got plenty of money. Is completely into the same things that I am, but in a different way. He knows many things I don't and intrigues me to no end. About a week after we met, i got this text message that said - "I absolutely can not stop thinking about you. I can't get over your smile. It captivated me. You're all that Ive thought about for a week now."

Then, the next week... (now bear in mind he is a professional artist/poet kind of guy) said that he would love to get to know me better and that he'd fallen in love with my eyes.

He calls me bright eyes now. I've been best friends with many of his good friends for years, (my Eric and he went to high school together) but he and I never had got to hang out. So, he is already in my Indianapolis circle. BUT like you, VAband, I sure dont know if I want to do this whole thing right now.

So, I gave him my email address and told him that we could email each other back and forth to get to know eachother a bit better and he could then decide for himself if I was all that he seem to think I was cracked up to be. We are almost 2 hours away from eachother after all.

He has been emailing me a couple times a week ever since. One night we spent 6 hours on the phone talking all night. BUT we just did that once (a couple of weeks ago). And yesterday he asked me out on our first offical date :-) I really do feel excited about it. Which is good. I havent felt excited like this in a very very long time. However, I need to go hang out with this guy and see if I get "THAT" feeling about him or not.

This is definitely a take it very slow. Do the whole, dating, movies, concert, dinner kind of a guy. A NOT rushing into ANYTHING kind of guy.

I do find myself "wanting to know more about him" though INSTEAD of having that "eek, I dont want to deal with this right now feeling" --- so heck, I think I've gained a very intellectual friend if nothing else, and those are always very nice too!

--------------------

Heck, I know I want to stay single for a few months. So, i can enjoy all of the attention that I'm getting for the first time in my life. hahaha...

But dont want to pass up someone that truly saw something special in me that didn't have a thing to do with getting in my pants! So, I will continue to investigate this intriguing, professional, intelligent man. He is a refreshing change from the trolls that I generally attract. Much more mature and put together.... and not bad looking at all. He is such a cutey. BUT I am certainly making him work at it. haha. this is NOT going to be easy for him if he wants to get to know THIS brandi :-) We will see if he is up to the challenge.

[bkwalling 0]

B man so happy you are on track you are doing awesome keep us updated on the new guy

nat how sweet I love my boys they are my main motivation too

[Nathalie 4]

Hi bk! How is your progress? And yes, the boy touches my heart. I'm having to work through the terrible twos. He had his first full blown temper tantrum today. I was shocked and dismayed. I'd never seen him act that way, and I tried a few different tactics before I just dragged him up the stairs and inside. Little punk. HA!

b'man and VaB - All I can say is this: Isn't it wonderful being the one who is rejecting the men? I don't know about you all, but I'm the one who's been left in most of my relationships or romantic entanglements. It feels so totally empowering to be able to say "no." And to do it with respect and dignity, unlike so many men do when rejecting women. YOU GO, HOT MOMMAZ!

DS and I were on the bike for over an hour. I worked up a good sweat, and even wore the dorky helmet. He loved it! Like I said, he didn't want to come inside when we were back home.

I ate well today. 2 pre-op Protein Bars, a Protein shot, and ground turkey/brown rice. I estimate that was about 800 calories today. I am going to eat a sugar free popsicle before bed. AFTER my shower!

My day picked up, too. I'm over the drama and have moved on. However, I have a few loose ends to tie up before I'll feel 100% better.

I guess that's all.

Steph? KayDoll? SweetHot? Sassy? BooBoo? Jill? Maurdan? Claudia?

Thinkin' about you - and I hope you're all doing great! (Sorry if I missed anyone!)

Big Love!

Nat

[VABandster 0]

BMAN and NAT.....HUGS to you BOTH for helping me see that what is going on right now is NOT the end of the world!! You're both soo right!

BMAn...sounds like this new guy is quite intriging indeed!! Do keep us posted on how things go!! I'm really thinking that I need to just stay focused on ME for a change and not worry about trying to be in a relationship!

NAT...glad to hear you've got your eating back on track! I bet you're gonna see a huge drop in the scale this week! I'm hoping I can stay somewhat on track the next 2 weeks while I'm in Vegas and on Vacation w/my family! Yikes!

[Nathalie 4]

Home.

VaB - it hs helped that I'm planning my food and exercise the day before. And I stick to it for the most part. The ground turkey and brown rice is delicious! I put onions, green peppers, garlic and mushrooms in it. And I top it with hot sauce and salt free ketchup.

I rode my bike 2 days in a row. it was only 30 minutes, but it was a hard 30 minutes! Up and downhills with a trailer in tow! I'm going to try and hit the elliptical tonight for another 30. I'm like B'man! Now that I'm back on the good foot, I want to do it all!

I've also eaten well today. sweet potato and boiled chicken, watermelon slices, Water. I'll have a Protein shot and some more turkey/rice for dinner.

I stepped on the scale today (I know - I'm so weak) and I'm down to 238!!! I feel SO GOOD about that! And I've lost 1" off my thigh since the last time I measured. I'm going to try on some of the clothes I have in my closet tonight after my shower. I think it's time to retire some of those pants and move to a smaller size. On Monday when I check in with the surgeon, I'm not going to weigh again for 1 month (if I can do it). And I plan to work REALLY REALLY HARD this month at keeping on track. I bet after a month I will have lost 10 or 15 pounds. I'll do measurements as frequently as I'd like though.

Anyhow, I promised DS that we could go to the pool tonight, so I'm walking up there with him. (Even though all I want to do is recouperate from that bike ride!)

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Big Love!

Nat

[Banannie 0]

Nat - under 240 AND over 60 lbs down - YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!

You rock girlfriend!