Re: To Bipley, my Inspiration

[Guest guest]

Hi Barbara...

You have lost 20lbs! That's FANTASTIC!!!! Have you had a fill yet? If not, you don't have a lot of restriction so I wouldn't worry about weight loss a huge huge amount. When you get your fill you'll be able to stick to bandster portions and feel full.

I work really hard, I stick to 600 calories daily (not what Dr. A suggests, he says 800 is ideal and not to go below 700) and I do cardio (treadmill) daily. I just bought a bowflex but I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it just yet. ;o) I cut out all white carbs (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes) and keep busy all the time. I think the two biggest things are cutting out white carbs and exercise. There is no excuse for not exercising. We have biological issues for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. I still don't like it but I sure like the results. ;o)

Hopefully it won't take this much effort to maintain a steady weight but for weight loss, I want to lose 102lbs and have plastic surgery all in one year so it's easy to keep an eye on my goal.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, basin151 <basin151@...> wrote:

I see your posts all the time and I just noticed that you have lost about 90lb in 8 months. Can you tell me your strategy and your diet? I was banded 6/21/07 and have lost about 20 lbs. but it is a struggle. I know I need to exercise and that is coming. Any other tips?PS I really enjoy the articals you pass on!Barbara

[Guest guest]

I just got my first fill last Sat. I do notice that I can't eat as much and I don't want too. So that is better. I would like to know the things you do eat. I lost weight after my second child about 20 years ago and was able to get to a place I ate very little, wish I could get to that place again and feel good about it. I do have an issue with the white carbs, but have been able to stay away from pastry. I am doing OK staying away from potato's and I have been eating the lean cuisine meals under 300 cals. for lunch or dinner. I need something new to munch. I eat cauliflower and peppers, cucumbers and those things, I like fruit but try to hold back on that. Do tell your menu. Thanks, BarbaraBipley <Bipley@...> wrote: Hi Barbara... You have lost 20lbs! That's FANTASTIC!!!! Have you had a fill yet? If not, you don't have a lot of restriction so I wouldn't worry about weight loss a huge huge amount. When you get your fill you'll be able to stick to bandster portions and feel full. I work really hard, I stick to 600 calories daily (not what Dr. A suggests, he says 800 is ideal and not to go below 700) and I do cardio (treadmill) daily. I just bought a bowflex but I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it just yet. ;o) I cut out all white carbs (flour,

sugar, rice, potatoes) and keep busy all the time. I think the two biggest things are cutting out white carbs and exercise. There is no excuse for not exercising. We have biological issues for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. I still don't like it but I sure like the results. ;o) Hopefully it won't take this much effort to maintain a steady weight but for weight loss, I want to lose 102lbs and have plastic surgery all in one year so it's easy to keep an eye on my goal. 252/164/150 Banded 12/06 On 8/13/07, basin151 <basin151 > wrote: I see your posts all the time and I just noticed that you have lost about 90lb in 8 months. Can you tell me your strategy and your diet? I was banded 6/21/07 and have lost about 20 lbs. but it is a struggle. I know I need to exercise and that is coming. Any other tips?PS I really enjoy the articals you pass on!Barbara

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Games.

[Guest guest]

Barbara...

I really like Matrix 5.0. I like it with water so I drink a Chocolate/Raspberry shake 120 calories, 23gms protein, 2 carbs - twice daily and a large meal such as a salad. I can only eat salad with an oil based dressing, otherwise it won't go down. I found Ken's Lite (it isn't light in calories!!) Ginger & Soy Asian Dressing that I love! But you have to love soy sauce to like that stuff. I can put that on anything and it will go down. My salad is huge, takes me a couple of hours to eat. Or tuna salad on lettuce/spinach with tomatoes, onions. Italian cheese blend (Quiznos, my own creation), etc. Any kind of a huge mega salad. But I'm kind of addicted to salads because for so long I couldn't eat them, now with specific dressings I can so I think I'm making up for lost time. ;o)

That leaves me 160 calories and I eat whatever I want. Veggie Chips http://www.jdfinefoods.com/ , dried/fresh fruit, Parmesan crackers http://www17.netrition.com/cgi/prices.cgi?manu_id=397 however, you can make your own quite easily. Or cheese, whatever I want.

As long as I only eat veggie carbs I don't get hungry so it isn't an issue for me. The only sugar I consume is in salad dressing but it's not enough to kick in the hunger for me.

I'm a great deal more strict with myself than most bandsters. Most bandsters shoot for 1-2 pounds a week. With that said, it is really impossible to stay at 1-2 pounds a week if you follow Dr. A's rules. 800 calories daily and 30 minutes of exercise. For someone that is 300lbs they will need to consume about 3000 calories a day (roughly) to maintain 300lbs. Add exercise to that and that is around 300 calories burned for hard cardio. That leaves -2500 calories a day and so they will lose about 3/4 pound daily. (one pound is 3500 calories.) The more you have to lose the faster it comes off. The closer you get to goal the slower it comes off.

Something that has helped me a great deal is simply doing the math. At www.thedailyplate.com it will tell you if you want to lose " X " pounds a week it will tell you how many calories you can have. Daily you enter your weight, type of exercise, length of exercise, etc. and it will tell you how many calories you burned. Then you add your food and it tells you how many calories you can have for the day depending on what you want to lose. Of course, this differs from Dr. A's instructions to stick to 800 calories daily. You'll lose faster his way. I did things my way and stuck to 600 calories daily, something he does NOT approve of, JFTR. But I used www.thedailyplate.com to help me calculate how many calories I was burning.

I do at least an hour of hard cardio daily, usually more. At my fattest I couldn't do 100-120 minutes of hard cardio but I can now. I usually break it up into two one hour sessions but sometimes I just suck it up and get it over with in one session.

You know what is funny, I bought a bowflex. The neighbor kids are going to come over, set it up, and show me what to do with it. Well, they aren't KIDS, they are 16, 18, and 20. But they haven't done it yet. (our very own Phoenix ) went to pick up the bowflex for me. I brought it in the house and I just can't budge it from the spot where it is. It is sitting in front of my treadmill. Since I can't move it on the carpet I can't get to my treadmill. It's HOT in Phoenix, I have little desire to go running in public yet so I walk only at night when it cools down. Since I've cut back on cardio I broke the plateau and I'm losing well again. Less exercise, more weight loss. Go figure. ;o) I'm sure that won't last.

I'd really encourage you to stay away from white carbs. They aren't necessary for a healthy diet, they encourage more carb cravings, they add pounds, and cut down on the number of better food choices you can have. Flour, sugar, white rice, and potatoes are simply not necessary. We are in this for a life changing opportunity, when you get away from white carbs after time you really honestly don't crave them anymore. The more you eat the more you want. The less you eat the less you want. When you cut out the crap from your diet the pounds start melting away and you feel like a Chocolate bar sitting in the desert sun.

Traditional dieting is hard, it's the kind of hard none of us can do or we wouldn't be banded or getting a band. But THIS is the kind of hard we CAN do. It's a whole different kind of hard. You just have to take it in steps. I really believe the #1 trick is exercise. When I first started on my treadmill I could only do 2MPH for 10 minutes. Now I can kick some exercise butt and I swear, I never thought that would happen. Some people LOVE exercise. Yeah, I don't get that. I hate it, always have and still do. But I keep telling myself I love it in hopes I'll start believing it someday. But I want skinny, I want it bad enough to do whatever it takes and with the band, I can now do whatever it takes.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, Barbara Asin <basin151@...> wrote:

I just got my first fill last Sat. I do notice that I can't eat as much and I don't want too. So that is better. I would like to know the things you do eat. I lost weight after my second child about 20 years ago and was able to get to a place I ate very little, wish I could get to that place again and feel good about it. I do have an issue with the white carbs, but have been able to stay away from pastry. I am doing OK staying away from potato's and I have been eating the lean cuisine meals under 300 cals. for lunch or dinner. I need something new to munch. I eat cauliflower and peppers, cucumbers and those things, I like fruit but try to hold back on that. Do tell your menu.

Thanks, BarbaraBipley <Bipley@...> wrote:

Hi Barbara...

You have lost 20lbs! That's FANTASTIC!!!! Have you had a fill yet? If not, you don't have a lot of restriction so I wouldn't worry about weight loss a huge huge amount. When you get your fill you'll be able to stick to bandster portions and feel full.

I work really hard, I stick to 600 calories daily (not what Dr. A suggests, he says 800 is ideal and not to go below 700) and I do cardio (treadmill) daily. I just bought a bowflex but I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it just yet. ;o) I cut out all white carbs (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes) and keep busy all the time. I think the two biggest things are cutting out white carbs and exercise. There is no excuse for not exercising. We have biological issues for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. I still don't like it but I sure like the results. ;o)

Hopefully it won't take this much effort to maintain a steady weight but for weight loss, I want to lose 102lbs and have plastic surgery all in one year so it's easy to keep an eye on my goal.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, basin151 <basin151@...> wrote:

I see your posts all the time and I just noticed that you have lost about 90lb in 8 months. Can you tell me your strategy and your diet? I was banded 6/21/07 and have lost about 20 lbs. but it is a struggle. I know I need to exercise and that is coming. Any other tips?PS I really enjoy the articals you pass on!Barbara

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.Play Sims Stories at Games.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the www.thedailyplate.com website. This is a great resource! I love that it calculates how much calories you burn and compares that to what you've taken in, etc.

Ally

227/156/140ish

DOB: 12/9/06

Re: To Bipley, my Inspiration

Barbara...

I really like Matrix 5.0. I like it with water so I drink a Chocolate/Raspberry shake 120 calories, 23gms protein, 2 carbs - twice daily and a large meal such as a salad. I can only eat salad with an oil based dressing, otherwise it won't go down. I found Ken's Lite (it isn't light in calories!!) Ginger & Soy Asian Dressing that I love! But you have to love soy sauce to like that stuff. I can put that on anything and it will go down. My salad is huge, takes me a couple of hours to eat. Or tuna salad on lettuce/spinach with tomatoes, onions. Italian cheese blend (Quiznos, my own creation), etc. Any kind of a huge mega salad. But I'm kind of addicted to salads because for so long I couldn't eat them, now with specific dressings I can so I think I'm making up for lost time. ;o)

That leaves me 160 calories and I eat whatever I want. Veggie Chips http://www.jdfinefo ods.com/ , dried/fresh fruit, Parmesan crackers http://www17. netrition. com/cgi/prices. cgi?manu_ id=397 however, you can make your own quite easily. Or cheese, whatever I want.

As long as I only eat veggie carbs I don't get hungry so it isn't an issue for me. The only sugar I consume is in salad dressing but it's not enough to kick in the hunger for me.

I'm a great deal more strict with myself than most bandsters. Most bandsters shoot for 1-2 pounds a week. With that said, it is really impossible to stay at 1-2 pounds a week if you follow Dr. A's rules. 800 calories daily and 30 minutes of exercise. For someone that is 300lbs they will need to consume about 3000 calories a day (roughly) to maintain 300lbs. Add exercise to that and that is around 300 calories burned for hard cardio. That leaves -2500 calories a day and so they will lose about 3/4 pound daily. (one pound is 3500 calories.) The more you have to lose the faster it comes off. The closer you get to goal the slower it comes off.

Something that has helped me a great deal is simply doing the math. At www.thedailyplate. com it will tell you if you want to lose "X" pounds a week it will tell you how many calories you can have. Daily you enter your weight, type of exercise, length of exercise, etc. and it will tell you how many calories you burned. Then you add your food and it tells you how many calories you can have for the day depending on what you want to lose. Of course, this differs from Dr. A's instructions to stick to 800 calories daily. You'll lose faster his way. I did things my way and stuck to 600 calories daily, something he does NOT approve of, JFTR. But I used www.thedailyplate. com to help me calculate how many calories I was burning.

I do at least an hour of hard cardio daily, usually more. At my fattest I couldn't do 100-120 minutes of hard cardio but I can now. I usually break it up into two one hour sessions but sometimes I just suck it up and get it over with in one session.

You know what is funny, I bought a bowflex. The neighbor kids are going to come over, set it up, and show me what to do with it. Well, they aren't KIDS, they are 16, 18, and 20. But they haven't done it yet. (our very own Phoenix ) went to pick up the bowflex for me. I brought it in the house and I just can't budge it from the spot where it is. It is sitting in front of my treadmill. Since I can't move it on the carpet I can't get to my treadmill. It's HOT in Phoenix, I have little desire to go running in public yet so I walk only at night when it cools down. Since I've cut back on cardio I broke the plateau and I'm losing well again. Less exercise, more weight loss. Go figure. ;o) I'm sure that won't last.

I'd really encourage you to stay away from white carbs. They aren't necessary for a healthy diet, they encourage more carb cravings, they add pounds, and cut down on the number of better food choices you can have. Flour, sugar, white rice, and potatoes are simply not necessary. We are in this for a life changing opportunity, when you get away from white carbs after time you really honestly don't crave them anymore. The more you eat the more you want. The less you eat the less you want. When you cut out the crap from your diet the pounds start melting away and you feel like a Chocolate bar sitting in the desert sun.

Traditional dieting is hard, it's the kind of hard none of us can do or we wouldn't be banded or getting a band. But THIS is the kind of hard we CAN do. It's a whole different kind of hard. You just have to take it in steps. I really believe the #1 trick is exercise. When I first started on my treadmill I could only do 2MPH for 10 minutes. Now I can kick some exercise butt and I swear, I never thought that would happen. Some people LOVE exercise. Yeah, I don't get that. I hate it, always have and still do. But I keep telling myself I love it in hopes I'll start believing it someday. But I want skinny, I want it bad enough to do whatever it takes and with the band, I can now do whatever it takes.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, Barbara Asin <basin151 (DOT) com> wrote:

I just got my first fill last Sat. I do notice that I can't eat as much and I don't want too. So that is better. I would like to know the things you do eat. I lost weight after my second child about 20 years ago and was able to get to a place I ate very little, wish I could get to that place again and feel good about it. I do have an issue with the white carbs, but have been able to stay away from pastry. I am doing OK staying away from potato's and I have been eating the lean cuisine meals under 300 cals. for lunch or dinner. I need something new to munch. I eat cauliflower and peppers, cucumbers and those things, I like fruit but try to hold back on that. Do tell your menu.

Thanks, BarbaraBipley <Bipleygmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Hi Barbara...

You have lost 20lbs! That's FANTASTIC!!! ! Have you had a fill yet? If not, you don't have a lot of restriction so I wouldn't worry about weight loss a huge huge amount. When you get your fill you'll be able to stick to bandster portions and feel full.

I work really hard, I stick to 600 calories daily (not what Dr. A suggests, he says 800 is ideal and not to go below 700) and I do cardio (treadmill) daily. I just bought a bowflex but I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it just yet. ;o) I cut out all white carbs (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes) and keep busy all the time. I think the two biggest things are cutting out white carbs and exercise. There is no excuse for not exercising. We have biological issues for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. I still don't like it but I sure like the results. ;o)

Hopefully it won't take this much effort to maintain a steady weight but for weight loss, I want to lose 102lbs and have plastic surgery all in one year so it's easy to keep an eye on my goal.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, basin151 <basin151 (DOT) com> wrote:

I see your posts all the time and I just noticed that you have lost about 90lb in 8 months. Can you tell me your strategy and your diet? I was banded 6/21/07 and have lost about 20 lbs. but it is a struggle. I know I need to exercise and that is coming. Any other tips?PS I really enjoy the articals you pass on!Barbara

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.Play Sims Stories at Games.

Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Autos new Car Finder tool.

[Guest guest]

I've been using that site since the day I was banded. I'm a pro at reading food labels so I don't use it for tracking food anymore although I did in the beginning, I used a spreadsheet for that. But I do use it for tracking weight and calories burned. I love that site. I have a graph on that site that shows my weight loss since Dec 06. I use it daily.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/17/07, Allygator <allygator1963@...> wrote:

Thanks for the www.thedailyplate.com website. This is a great resource! I love that it calculates how much calories you burn and compares that to what you've taken in, etc.

Ally

227/156/140ish

DOB: 12/9/06

Re: To Bipley, my Inspiration

Barbara...

I really like Matrix 5.0. I like it with water so I drink a Chocolate/Raspberry shake 120 calories, 23gms protein, 2 carbs - twice daily and a large meal such as a salad. I can only eat salad with an oil based dressing, otherwise it won't go down. I found Ken's Lite (it isn't light in calories!!) Ginger & Soy Asian Dressing that I love! But you have to love soy sauce to like that stuff. I can put that on anything and it will go down. My salad is huge, takes me a couple of hours to eat. Or tuna salad on lettuce/spinach with tomatoes, onions. Italian cheese blend (Quiznos, my own creation), etc. Any kind of a huge mega salad. But I'm kind of addicted to salads because for so long I couldn't eat them, now with specific dressings I can so I think I'm making up for lost time. ;o)

That leaves me 160 calories and I eat whatever I want. Veggie Chips

http://www.jdfinefo ods.com/ , dried/fresh fruit, Parmesan crackers

http://www17. netrition. com/cgi/prices. cgi?manu_ id=397 however, you can make your own quite easily. Or cheese, whatever I want.

As long as I only eat veggie carbs I don't get hungry so it isn't an issue for me. The only sugar I consume is in salad dressing but it's not enough to kick in the hunger for me.

I'm a great deal more strict with myself than most bandsters. Most bandsters shoot for 1-2 pounds a week. With that said, it is really impossible to stay at 1-2 pounds a week if you follow Dr. A's rules. 800 calories daily and 30 minutes of exercise. For someone that is 300lbs they will need to consume about 3000 calories a day (roughly) to maintain 300lbs. Add exercise to that and that is around 300 calories burned for hard cardio. That leaves -2500 calories a day and so they will lose about 3/4 pound daily. (one pound is 3500 calories.) The more you have to lose the faster it comes off. The closer you get to goal the slower it comes off.

Something that has helped me a great deal is simply doing the math. At www.thedailyplate. com

it will tell you if you want to lose " X " pounds a week it will tell you how many calories you can have. Daily you enter your weight, type of exercise, length of exercise, etc. and it will tell you how many calories you burned. Then you add your food and it tells you how many calories you can have for the day depending on what you want to lose. Of course, this differs from Dr. A's instructions to stick to 800 calories daily. You'll lose faster his way. I did things my way and stuck to 600 calories daily, something he does NOT approve of, JFTR. But I used www.thedailyplate. com to help me calculate how many calories I was burning.

I do at least an hour of hard cardio daily, usually more. At my fattest I couldn't do 100-120 minutes of hard cardio but I can now. I usually break it up into two one hour sessions but sometimes I just suck it up and get it over with in one session.

You know what is funny, I bought a bowflex. The neighbor kids are going to come over, set it up, and show me what to do with it. Well, they aren't KIDS, they are 16, 18, and 20. But they haven't done it yet. (our very own Phoenix ) went to pick up the bowflex for me. I brought it in the house and I just can't budge it from the spot where it is. It is sitting in front of my treadmill. Since I can't move it on the carpet I can't get to my treadmill. It's HOT in Phoenix, I have little desire to go running in public yet so I walk only at night when it cools down. Since I've cut back on cardio I broke the plateau and I'm losing well again. Less exercise, more weight loss. Go figure. ;o) I'm sure that won't last.

I'd really encourage you to stay away from white carbs. They aren't necessary for a healthy diet, they encourage more carb cravings, they add pounds, and cut down on the number of better food choices you can have. Flour, sugar, white rice, and potatoes are simply not necessary. We are in this for a life changing opportunity, when you get away from white carbs after time you really honestly don't crave them anymore. The more you eat the more you want. The less you eat the less you want. When you cut out the crap from your diet the pounds start melting away and you feel like a Chocolate bar sitting in the desert sun.

Traditional dieting is hard, it's the kind of hard none of us can do or we wouldn't be banded or getting a band. But THIS is the kind of hard we CAN do. It's a whole different kind of hard. You just have to take it in steps. I really believe the #1 trick is exercise. When I first started on my treadmill I could only do 2MPH for 10 minutes. Now I can kick some exercise butt and I swear, I never thought that would happen. Some people LOVE exercise. Yeah, I don't get that. I hate it, always have and still do. But I keep telling myself I love it in hopes I'll start believing it someday. But I want skinny, I want it bad enough to do whatever it takes and with the band, I can now do whatever it takes.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, Barbara Asin <basin151 (DOT) com

> wrote:

I just got my first fill last Sat. I do notice that I can't eat as much and I don't want too. So that is better. I would like to know the things you do eat. I lost weight after my second child about 20 years ago and was able to get to a place I ate very little, wish I could get to that place again and feel good about it. I do have an issue with the white carbs, but have been able to stay away from pastry. I am doing OK staying away from potato's and I have been eating the lean cuisine meals under 300 cals. for lunch or dinner. I need something new to munch. I eat cauliflower and peppers, cucumbers and those things, I like fruit but try to hold back on that. Do tell your menu.

Thanks, BarbaraBipley <Bipleygmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Hi Barbara...

You have lost 20lbs! That's FANTASTIC!!! ! Have you had a fill yet? If not, you don't have a lot of restriction so I wouldn't worry about weight loss a huge huge amount. When you get your fill you'll be able to stick to bandster portions and feel full.

I work really hard, I stick to 600 calories daily (not what Dr. A suggests, he says 800 is ideal and not to go below 700) and I do cardio (treadmill) daily. I just bought a bowflex but I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it just yet. ;o) I cut out all white carbs (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes) and keep busy all the time. I think the two biggest things are cutting out white carbs and exercise. There is no excuse for not exercising. We have biological issues for overeating, we have no excuse for not exercising. I still don't like it but I sure like the results. ;o)

Hopefully it won't take this much effort to maintain a steady weight but for weight loss, I want to lose 102lbs and have plastic surgery all in one year so it's easy to keep an eye on my goal.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/13/07, basin151 <basin151 (DOT) com

> wrote:

I see your posts all the time and I just noticed that you have lost about 90lb in 8 months. Can you tell me your strategy and your diet? I was banded 6/21/07 and have lost about 20 lbs. but it is a struggle. I know I need to exercise and that is coming. Any other tips?PS I really enjoy the articals you pass on!Barbara

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.

Play Sims Stories at Games.

Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out

Autos new Car Finder tool.

[Guest guest]

to bipley and barbara!

this thread is inspiring and wonderfully uplifting. 2 years ago, i was

370lbs and a chainsmoker. because i could not afford the band, i saved

and saved and while i did, i quit smoking to help save for the band

(over one year smoke free now) and became extremely commited to

changing my life and lost 60lbs...(telling myself that if i could just

stay strong until the band, i would be okay)

last week, i got my first fill and it feels like i FINALLY understand

how this band works and what i am doing.

i am walking 45 minutes a day and beginning a truly appropriate band

diet...(it is so hard when your stomach hurts and you are healing) but

now, it isnt that hard at all....its just i have to keep the white

carbs out of my house and really take responsibility for what goes

into my mouth for my meals.......i know i will be full, so it should

be healthy....its the first time in my life ive ever felt full. i

joined overeaters anonymous as well as to help avoid head hunger and

keep me in touch with people who struggle and sabotage success and i

feel it has really helped a little....just dedicating 1/2 hour or so

with people who share my disease of compulsively overeating to fill a

void....

so, now, i am 279, i have almost lost one hundred pounds and ive only

just begun (i was banded june 19) 2 months ago today...it feels like i

am living a dream....i am going white water rafting and hiking with my

sister next month to see all of the waterfalls that i can see....

and reading you guys helps me. it helps me know there are beautiful

people out there doing it and being dedicated and believing in their

lives and i want to thank you for that....sincerely.

love,

mina.

[Guest guest]

Mina...

People like you are who I truly admire. You do what it takes to lose weight. You have a goal, you focused on what it takes to reach your goal, you devote whatever it takes to reach your goal, and you ARE reaching your goals. If you want it bad enough, you'll do it. You are living proof. Everything from smoking to weight loss to white river rafting. Tell me something, could you have even considered white river rafting 100lbs ago? ;o)

The band is such an amazing opportunity. Yes, I 'get it' that it is a tool, but I see it more of an opportunity. I can't diet the traditional way, I just don't have what it takes that skinny people seem to have. Sticking to diets, eating foods I previously didn't care for, the works. I couldn't do it long enough to make much of a difference. With the band it is an opportunity to do the kind of hard *I* can do. Being banded is not easy, it isn't easy in the least and while it is hard I will maintain for the rest of my days that this is the kind of hard I can do. There are skinny people that could never handle having a band. We have different needs and requirements, we have different ways of doing things and looking at things as fat people and banding is the kind of hard we can do. We can all do it.

Dr. Aceves always talks about the band being a tool. It is a tool, it is also an opportunity to have a normal life being a normal size person eating normal size portions of food. With the band you get to a point where one day you suddenly realize you CAN do without white carbs and huge portions. Things you never ever thought you could live without... instead you suddenly realize you are reaching your goal. It's an opportunity for a typical, normal, average size body. For years we are the fat person walking in the room. I didn't want that kind of attention, I want to blend in with others and not have people think to themselves... " Wow! She's really FAT! " Now they don't see that when I walk in a room. I'm a person like everyone else now. When I go to a restaurant I no longer look at the menu trying to figure out what has the biggest portions of food. I look for the smaller portions. ME! *I* am doing that. That's a huge milestone right there! Food is no longer the #1 priority in my life, I don't think about it. Heck, I don't care about it in the way I used to.

One of my goals was to weigh less than my male surgeon. Now I do! Confirmed that one yesterday! HA! I was in Mexicali with a friend getting her fill and I talked to Dr. A. Not only did he tell me how great I look and how " pretty " I am, he wasn't even being his usual " gentleman " self. He was really, sincerely happy for me. I got a lecture on not wearing my usual baggy clothes but more " girl " clothes. I was wearing a tight tank top with a shirt over it covering lumps and bulges. He suggested that I don't need the 2nd shirt anymore. ;o) Let me tell you, when you start getting fashion tips from your bariatric surgeon to show off 'yer skinny self, that's huge.

I still have a LOT of head stuff to work on. When I look in a mirror I still see a very fat person. I don't see -88lbs at all. I see every pound still there. But that will come with time. I have two sisters. A fat one and skinny one. The fat sister is annoyed with me for losing weight and even suggested that I haven't lost a pound. I made it all up. Mexico, the band, weight loss, the works. Yesterday I got a photo of me with , me and Lucy, me and Dr. Aceves, and me and my friend . Plenty of photos to send my fat sister. Now... I just need the courage to send them to her! LOL My skinny sis called me this morning and all in fun, she's laughing about how she has to starve herself so she can maintain the position of being the skinny one of us three. But again, that was all in fun. She's been my best friend through this journey.

I have learned so much through all this. I thought my fat sis would be thrilled for me that I'm losing weight and getting healthy. Instead she's bitter and angry that she's fat and 51. I thought my skinny sis would be sincerely jealous if she wasn't the only small one of the three of us. Instead she's been my biggest supporter, laughs with me, she shares tears with me, she gives me great exercise tips, running tips, she's been my biggest form of support. I thought life would be a piece of cake after I lost weight, I thought I'd be thrilled. Instead I can't see the weight loss. I look at myself and swear I have AT LEAST another 100lbs to go. My brain hasn't caught up with my body yet and hopefully, it will soon. So many things I just never saw coming.

I never saw myself being honest about weight loss, how much I *really* weigh, I never thought a bunch of people on line could make a difference in my life. I am dead honest with you guys about everything. Writing down my weight and top it off with my REAL weight on posts? Nawww, never thought it would happen. I can be honest with you guys. The on line support is amazing and makes a huge difference. Sharing ideas and opinions, agreeing and disagreeing... it's all a necessary part of making all this work.

Okay, I wrote another book. Just my rambling thoughts that zip through my head on a minute by minute basis.

Suffice it to say, I am thrilled for you and admire you a great deal.

252/164/150

Banded 12/06

On 8/19/07, ferminadaza3 <ferminadaza3@...> wrote:

to bipley and barbara!this thread is inspiring and wonderfully uplifting. 2 years ago, i was370lbs and a chainsmoker. because i could not afford the band, i savedand saved and while i did, i quit smoking to help save for the band

(over one year smoke free now) and became extremely commited tochanging my life and lost 60lbs...(telling myself that if i could juststay strong until the band, i would be okay)last week, i got my first fill and it feels like i FINALLY understand

how this band works and what i am doing.i am walking 45 minutes a day and beginning a truly appropriate banddiet...(it is so hard when your stomach hurts and you are healing) butnow, it isnt that hard at all....its just i have to keep the white

carbs out of my house and really take responsibility for what goesinto my mouth for my meals.......i know i will be full, so it shouldbe healthy....its the first time in my life ive ever felt full. ijoined overeaters anonymous as well as to help avoid head hunger and

keep me in touch with people who struggle and sabotage success and ifeel it has really helped a little....just dedicating 1/2 hour or sowith people who share my disease of compulsively overeating to fill a

void....so, now, i am 279, i have almost lost one hundred pounds and ive onlyjust begun (i was banded june 19) 2 months ago today...it feels like iam living a dream....i am going white water rafting and hiking with my

sister next month to see all of the waterfalls that i can see....and reading you guys helps me. it helps me know there are beautifulpeople out there doing it and being dedicated and believing in theirlives and i want to thank you for that....sincerely.

love,mina.

[Guest guest]

Mina,WOW, what a story, thanks for sharing!! What success you have had, to quit smoking was HUGE but then just put a 100lb weight loss on top! You must feel like a whole different person! Thanks again for sharing! Cyrena