Gina,
Mr Goodbar is a weakness for me also. Anytime I am at the store and I see one I feel my port and tell myself "You've had surgery". My other weakness is Lays Classic Chips. I know if they are in the house, I'm going to eat them. So I don't keep them in the house. Now, are you getting in your protein? Try having healthy snacks with you at all times or drink something when the craving hits. If push comes to shove, get some of the little bars and limit it. Or set a goal and reward yourself with one when you meet that goal. I know that food rewards should be a no-no, but sometimes it helps. I also find that if I deprive myself of something that I am craving, I go overboard and eat way too much of it.
You are down 87 lbs!! You must be doing something right, Way to go and keep up the good work.

Gwen,
I've got the black hat on and running under the finish line all by myself in one shot. Look for the same clothing in the other one! I've got a blue jacket on with a white stripe across the front.

Thanks for checking them out.

My sweetie was there and my Ex brought my DD and they cheered me on. Also, a friend from work who started to train with me but pooped out showed up to support me. It was great to accomplish something I never thought I'd be able to do. I was actually very emotional a bit after the fact. Like, wow, I've got my life back. There was a time when I was ready to be done. I was too heavy and depressed to really think about the future as anything positive. Now you can't stop me from being positive. Losing weight has transformed me in more ways than just the size of my clothing.

Gina,
About the candy, IMHO there's something going on that's bigger than craving candy and sticking it in your mouth. Are you seeing a therapist? Can you talk about this with someone? There can be all kinds of reasons from fear of being successful to I don't know....Good luck. I feel for you.

Juli

268ish pic # 1

207lbs pic #2

WOW i actually have a neck!!! and i really need a tan... lol... But i think its time i retire that shirt... you cant tell in the pic but it is hanging a lot around the tummy area!!!

Hi everyone,
I've been away...grad school has been kicking my butt! It's hard to learn how to be a student again 11 years after graduating. Things are going pretty well though. The weight loss is going well, I've been holding for about a week since my last drop. I believe this is partly because TOM should be like, now, and partly because I'm rebuilding muscle. For some reason I stopped resistance training about 3 months before I had surgery, when I switched gyms...wtf was I thinking?? I just never got around to signing up with a trainer at the new gym to get me hooked up. Totally lame excuse. I'm sort of paying for it now, I've been back to training for a couple of months and have been sort of reshaping and definitely putting on some muscle, so I'm pretty pleased. Not recommended, though! Doh!

Juli, I'm totally impressed that you ran a 5k! That must have felt like such a great accomplishment. It's amazing to go from having this surgery to running in an event like that less than a year later! Kudos to you. I have started running intervals a bit. It's not much, I can only run about 3-4 minutes at a time so far before I have to walk for a while. But I'm working my endurance and fitness up pretty well, I can tell a difference from one session to the next. Mind you, I am NOT a runner, never have been. I have never enjoyed running, although this time I don't HATE it. But it's such an efficient way to kick up the workout, and I'm finally at a weight where I don't think I'm going to totally wreck my joints running (on a treadmill!). Although I know a lot of people are fine at heavier weights running, maybe that was just an excuse? LOL. Anyway, I'm totally impressed, WTG!

Today was our first day in the operating room (I'm studying to be a nurse anesthetist) and I spent 6 hours in a room with my CRNA watching him do 3 cases...before I started finally getting hungry. My last fill was 1/3 and it's been doing the trick. I'm good to go for probably at least another month, maybe longer?

Jeni, you look great! Congrats on getting your neck back! You have totally kicked a$$ this year, wtg!

Hey, anyone showshoe? I'm going for the first time this Saturday. I took a beginner's intro class tonight and I'm pretty excited. Any tips? They told us not to dress too warm, as it's a pretty aerobic workout.

Ok, off to study...

Thanx.... i never really see it in myself until i go back and look at the old pics... makes me kind of regret not taking full body pics pre-op (hated the way i looked and absolutely refused too) But am thrilled now....

By the way... congrats on that fill and that must have been so cool being in nthe operating room doing your stuff.. (well almost....) Congrats on that as well... so how much do you have left in your program???

I felt the same way about full body pics, but I did take them and I'm glad I did. I didn't have any otherwise...of course! I'd been avoiding the camera like the plague! In fact, in December 06 my hubby and I took pics in front of our Christmas tree, thinking maybe we'd make a nice little xmas card...until I downloaded them, and holy pannus Batman! No WAY did we make a xmas card...but they make good "before" pics.

It was pretty cool today. It will be much better when I feel like I know a little bit. There is SO much to learn...we are cramming in the cellular biology, physiology, pharmacology, chemistry and anesthesia principles, and I just can't believe we'll actually be talking like we know something in a year or so. But I just started in January, the program is 28 months long. So, 26.5 months left?

I have to say, I do kind of hope I work in a facility that does bariatric surgery eventually. Usually it is (we are), I hate to say it, an anesthesia provider's nightmare, because it can be so difficult to intubate and ventilate bariatric patients. (We all know this! That's why we had CPAP, and, um, surgery.) But I'd like to be able to get good at managing "difficult airways" (i.e. like mine was last year) and be able to put patients a little more at ease having had the surgery myself. I'd feel like I was "giving back" a little bit. Does that make sense? The hospital where we do our training and clinicals is a Center of Excellence so I should get some experience with anesthesia for bariatric surgery before I finish my program.

gina1959, Congrads on losing 80lbs you've come a long way, with a little more to go. I agree w/ Mrs Husker, you may need to increase your protein and or fiber. Do revisit your calorie intake, protein and fiber. Like Oh Juli says, you may going thru a fear of being successful and may want to give some thought to seeing a therapist. Don't dismiss the idea. We had to see one to be approved for the surgery and see your nutritionist also. My nutritionist helps me out a lot in balancing out my wrong choices of foods. I remember also that we may crave/like foods that we didn't before the surgery. So hope this is one of those new cravings for you. Since you've recognized your problem, now it's time to take control... Reverse your control over Mr. Goodbar.

Oh Juli, I didn't realize you put up 2 pics. The picutre puts in my mind, that you've gotten off the porch and are running with the big dogs now. Good for you. What's next to do?

Jeni 85, your eyes to me are the only thing that I see in the 2 pics. You look so different in the two. Keep the shirt. For your before and after pics. I didn't remember to keep anything to show my before and after weight loss. After awhile, you can put a belt around it and call it a dress.

gkert, Congrats on your new career. I like what you said about being able to feel like you're giving back. For any patient, it's nice and comforting to see a nurse or doctor who has gone thru and come out of a surgery you're about to go through. I know I would. And too your new sport. Have fun and give details when you come back.

Well, time for me to get ready for work. I'm the sound booth person in a play we're giving at my job today. The actors think they're nervous, I'm in the booth by myself working the controls.

Have a good day everyone and get what you can out of it. And make it work.

Jeni,
Girl, you look fantastic! You have a nice neck and cheek bones! You're doing so well!

gkeyt,
I'm in grad school too. I'll tell you what, I feel for you guys who took a long pause between undergrad and grad. I took a long pause between starting undergrad and finishing it...but I'm happy to be rolling along straight into my MBA. My countdown is 16 months at this point.
I love how you want to give back. I too am thinking on this. I don't know how, but I'm going to find a way. I joke about writing a book...we'll see.

Gwen,
I have to say I look foward to you nearly daily notes on here. You are always positive and so supportive. Thanks for being a ray of sunshine so consistentanly.

Everyone else...I'm happy to be a Marchie. We are on our way to our one year anniversaries. Amazing isn't it?

XO

Very true... If celebrities can do it.. i can too!!!

Lol, i didnt realize that i had cheek bones until you pointed it out.. I was too amused with the neck... But thank you... another nsv to add to the list!!!

And with the Bandiversary approaching i am pushing myself hard to hit 199... i only have till March 15th which leave me at 24days. about 3.5wks to lose 8lbs... 2.5lbs a week... that may be slightly difficult with this dang plataeu... But ill try anyway....


And ladies thank you for your kind comments...

Funny my goal is 199 by my anniversary. It was 199 by January 1st, then by Valentine's day, now it's March 8th!

I saw 202 this morning, and I got a fill last week so maybe, just maybe I'll get to 199 in two weeks!

Me too.... but hopefully it will work for this time.. i really have been going to the gym a lot a trying to watch protein and water the past week and the scale didn't budge!!! but hopefully it will this week im going to try to count the calories and make sure im not going overboard with those...

Hopefully, we will both make it, and i definitely know a lot of us are anxious to hit onelander.... I told my mom i was throwing a party when i did reach it finally... LOL

I got my fingers crossed for ya

Hi Marchies, it's so nice to see everyone progressing well & posting great before / during pics to keep us inspired! Totally impressed with the 5k run, too!

I think I need an unfill - having trouble with solid foods, even mushy ones. I am thinking maybe a .1 removal. Anyway, calling the nurse tomorrow for some solid advice. I read some old posts about unfills and sounds like this is not uncommon. I thought it would be nice not being able to eat as much, but not being able to eat at all is really weird.

Marg,
Thanks.

When did you get your fill? Maybe you can baby it a little longer? But if you been uncomfortable for longer than a week go get an unfil.

Not being able to eat at all is not good.

J

Hi Juli, it's been three weeks since my last fill. I am becoming dehydrated now which I *think* is causing me to get even tighter. Anyway, have scheduled an unfill. When liquids are a problem, it's time for an unfill.