Julie - sure hope you're feeling better! I ate what you didn't!

Wore my BB band and logged calories used, but forget about the calorie intake - so hard when you're not home and eating out to log everything. Took the day off from "formal" exercise - just walked all around town with my grandaughter once again shopping.................today was it - I'm finished shopping for a while! Phew - teens and back to school shopping - they know Grammy can't say no! But today was it - I'm broke! Just kidding - I had as much fun as she did.

Wow! So much to say...

(I am on vacation, so it is hard to check in regularly.)

Where do I begin?

First of all, if Betty EVER invites us to her house, we should jump at the opportunity. Betty, you and Alan are just GEMS! I can't believe my good fortune to have found you through this banding process. Your home is lovely (a dream home set in a wooded fairy wonderland), your children and grandchildren are terrific, and you and Alan are just plain WONDERFUL!! I cried when I left. It felt as though I had known you all of my life. Thank you for welcoming me and for sharing your granddaughters with me. AND Betty looks fabulous! I really think you are just right where you are with your weight. But you know how you feel.

Eficka, you can do whatever you want! You have worked with your trainer for 90 MIUNTES and accomplished so much. The hour workout is excellent and far beyond a bronze. Keep it up!

Julie...Paris??? Oh yes, I am TOTALLY in! I studied French for 6 (?) years and have never been. I just celebrated a big birthday and wrote on my to do list a number of trips I must take. So, I am gonna push harder now to get to goal. And I better start taking a refresher course in French also.

Jumping rope sounds super hard to do!

Difficulty running is caused by two things (for me), lack of nutrition or dehydration. We need to keep our bodies fueled to run. That is one reason it is so much easier for me to run in the evening when I have had all of my meals. This morning I ran to a pier and along a rocky beach, then up a very steep hill. Can't wait for my Garmin so I can take new routes and not have to guess the distance.

AND, yes...massages are heaven! I have had two in the last week (90 minutes each...I AM on vacation!)

Tomorrow will be the sad farewell day, then home again for a week before the next trip begins!

Au revoir, abientot...

I think it was both -- I was dehydrated and undernourished. I still feel like I haven't caught up. I won't make that mistake again -- I'm going to drink all day and eat well-balanced meals before I meet with my trainer tonight.

Well, my Dad and I finally came to a decision about my remaining PS. I'm going to have an arm lift and lateral thigh lift over Thanksgiving week, then medial (inner) thighs over Christmas. Then nothing else for a year to see how my "new" body adjusts. I might not need anything thereafter, though I suspect I might need breast implants. Dad says I might be surprised as he sees WL patients breasts increase naturally once their weight stabilizes, particularly after a TT (because there are no fat cells in the stomach to plump up if you gain a few lbs).

Onward and upward (or downward, please, ScaleGods).

Peeking in on you August 06rs!

I've been doing well with my exercise goals this month and I have to say that your thread gives me much motivation! HOLY CRAP Julie your in the 150's size 8 & smalls????? I think the boxing class with your crush could be fun! I'm always interested in reading what your dad has to say. I think its very cool for you to have an inside scoop. I know an arm lift will be in my future... and not the little armpit incisions... flap flap!

My Labor Day goal is to button my well worn size 14 levis.... I posted a pic last week of me NOT buttoning them, so we shall see............ every morning when I'm doing my work out I've been visualizing those jeans...and I end up doing a few more crunches..... :)

Have a great day and keep on posting........ I love reading about your lives.

OK. I am fighting the Skittles Monster today. Here's the thing. I've never actually BEATEN the Skittles Monster when he's faced me with a challenge. I've lost to him by the skin of my teeth on some occasions (say 2 servings), and I've been completely blown away by him on others (we all remember the 9 bag incident in the airport last month), but I've never actually WON.

So, today is going to be my day. I'M GOING TO WIN.

Here's my plan of attack. First, I'm very busy at work, so I'm going to get absorbed in that for several hours. Second, I've got a Starbucks ice coffee in my hand and sugar free Ice Breaker Sours ("0" cals) on my desk. Third, I've got tuna noodle salad on hand for lunch, or whenever "true" hunger hits. Fourth, I emailed my trainer and asked her to email me all day today to check in and see how the battle was going. Fifth, I'm going to leave LBT up on my desktop all day. I might post obsessively about my battle with the Skittles Monster, but I'M GOING TO WIN THIS TIME.

BACK AWAY FROM THE SKITTLE's :eyebrows:

Tracy - so great to see you doing so well! Go Tracy!

Julie - Ick Skittles - you really do sound like my Grandkiddies now - they get Skittles when I take them to the movies - I love it - they don't tempt me at all! Now if it was nuts - I'd be nuts! OK, how are you doing?

NIA class today was awesome! Going to take my grandaughters to the Street of Dreams (6 multi-million dollar homes open to the public to drool over) and we'll walk and walk)! My Sacramento teen is going home tomorrow eve - I'll miss her, but watching my daughter's two kiddies from Friday noon thru Monday afternoon - she's going away for a long week-end - so it goes!

Boo - have a safe trip home! So when is your next trip to the NW? I miss you!

Tracy!!! This is so fun to see you melting before our eyes. Your headshots in succession really show off your work.

Skittles monsters?? Heehee. Julie, how much IS one serving of Skittles, anyway??? Do you get the little fun size Halloween bags or the economical Costco size bags, attempting to ration out servings. Just say NO!! You've lost again, anyway.

Boohoo! I just said goodbye to my mom and sisters. More goodbyes and then off to L.A. I go. I'll be here again in about 6 months.

Betty, your granddaughter will appreciate my boring day. My sister, the interior designer dragged me around the Pacific Design Center to try to convince me to redecorate. I was SO bored I could hardly stand it! Way too much work! I really didn't like anything. (My personality is more like a loyal labrador than a prissy poodle. I care way more about creating a home than a showroom. The Seattle scene is too modern and chic for my taste.)

Ran the waterfront this morning and looking forward to the night running so I can get into my zone.

Julie - are you ok? Just saw the mess in NYC on the news!

A "serving" of Skittles to me is one 250 calorie package. Lord, no, I don't buy the halloween packs -- though each bag is smaller, there are a zillion of them. No way! A Costco mega-bag might save me some money though. Just kidding.

There's still an hour to go, but I might have beaten the monster for today. We'll see if the craving is still there tomorrow.

In the meantime, got in a good workout with my trainer and am running with a friend in the morning.

Take care, Julie

Boo thank you now I got new energy for my weight loss and its thank to you guys. To celebraste my motivation I got a new haircut:-) lol

Julie, I love love Skittles but we cant get them here, its kinda good for me:-)But Im going to London next week and I know they have them there so Im gonna get a huge bag...and Im afraid even 1lb bag wont last too long:-)

Eficka,

Are you tall? You seem SO THIN that I'm surprised you're still fighting to get under 90. You must be tall. No matter what, you're HOT! New haircuts are the best, aren't they.

The Skittles Monster is still on my back. I woke up this morning thinking that if I ate Mentos instead of Skittles, I would technically have still won. Then I re-read the handbook and realized that Mentos and Skittles are the same damned thing and that was the Skittles Monster's little mean head trick. So, so far, so good. I'm eating a big healthy breakfast to try and make sure real hunger doesn't make the challenge harder.

I got in 4 miles this morning, so at least there's that. I'm having a massage tonight. My marathon book says to get them every week from now to the marathon, if possible, so I'm going to give it a try. I think I've only had one before in my life and it was when I was heavy, so I didn't enjoy it, simply because it focused on my body. Hopefully tonight will be better.

Efika! LOOK at those COLLAR BONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You look so thin.

Julie: you are a crack up.... yes MENTOS are the same as Skittles! I've had exactly ONE massage in my life... it was a valentines present from a guy that I was dating and he had just graduated from Massage Therepy school....... it was goooooooooooooooooooood.

OK, I think I won the battle with the Skittles (who wins the war has yet to be determined). I at least got him to go back into hiding. Here was my strategy -- replacement therapy. I held out as long as I could (about 30 hours), then, as I was walking to the vending machine, coins in hand, it occurred to me that I could leave the office and go get a tasti-d-lite (60 cal ice cream) instead. That seemed like something I could live with. So, I ate the fake ice cream and it really quelched the Skittles need. I think the important part was waiting until I was really on the verge of cracking. If I'd have eaten the tasti yesterday, I think I would have still wanted the Skittles today. We'll see how long he stays in hiding this time....

Hello Julie and Tracy and my loved fellow bandsters:-)
No Im not very tall only 5´7". I posted my before after on the Before after thread so you can see my belly and legs arent thin my face might look thin but Im not:-) (not yet:-)

Skittles are the best Im gonna buy ten pounds when I go to London, on the other hand would those ten pounds end up on my body? Damn it.

I excercised today again, for two hours:-)Im getting back on track, finally!

Love Eva