MamaMichelle

Congrats on your progress, the numbers don't lie but the proof is in the pictures... You look great sweetie!!

We stayed at the Catamran Resort and Spa, it was about 4 min from Sea World and 20min from downtown SD/the TJ border it's geat for kids they even have camps for them in the summers.. We got a rate of $100/night using priceline.com even though they don't list the hotel's name we chose the un-named property with a spa (it's the only spa/hotel in the small sea world area) and knew that was the property we were going to get! Here's their website: http://www.catamaranresort.com/

Wow guys, I have been out of town with the hubby so coming home and seeing all of your sweet posts is so wonderful... I love that everyone here is so supportive and I feel very honored that many of you guys look up to me!! You guys are the best!!

I read about your 4hr hike that turned into 7hrs and my hubby and I just got back from a moster hike ourselves! It was his birthday on the 4th of July so I agreed to take an outdoor/camping trip for his birthday weekend so we headed up to sourthen Utah... This morning we woke up at 6am to take a 2hr hike but we never came across the turn off to go back to the road and instead of turing back we just kept searching! When we finally reached the road it was a 3 mile trek back to our car (and that was the "short cut" not through the forrest) I think with the walk back we walked a total of 10miles and it took almost 6hrs. So anyways I am totally feeling your pain, the sun burn, dehydration etc... Maybe when I weigh tomorrow I will have dropped a pound but I'm thinking all I will get is sore legs and bad blisters... lol P.S. Congrats on being almost 100 days SMOKE FREE!

Glad to hear you and Z are both doing well, and I saw Lisa's pics reecently so she's working the band also!! Good luck with your get together can't wait to see the pics, if you need help call me and I can walk you through how to post them!! P.S. When is your daughter's baby due? It's getting close right?

Super cute as always Kim, I still want those skinny legs of yours!!

Kimmy you are doing great so celebrate that!! Lisal is right you need to mix things up a bit I know from your sparkpeople page you do the same shake for breakfast and same bar for lunch everyday, so maybe that's some place you need to switch things up. At the lake Evette told me she replaced the scrambled egg she had for breakfast every morning with 1/2 cup of fruit and lost 2lbs in 2days!! Here's a great article about busting through plateaus!! By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS When you're trying to lose weight, the question isn't whether or not you'll hit a plateau, it's when. Plateaus are like bad weather on a long hike: it's inevitable that you'll run into it, but knowing that in advance won't make it one bit less frustrating or annoying when it happens. Cheer up! Since plateaus are as common as rain, we have a pretty good idea what to do about them. At least one of the following techniques should help you break through a plateau and start losing again. 1. Be a Calorie Detective When clients tell me they've stopped losing weight, the first thing I ask is this: how many calories a day are you eating? Calories have a way of creeping up while we're not paying attention. Be brutally honest with yourself: how much are you eating? Using a food diary for a while is a great way to monitor this. And yes, sodas and alcoholic beverages count! A good calorie goal for dieters is your target weight times 10, so if you would like to weigh 130 pounds you should aim for 1,300 calories per day (10 X 130= 1,300). 2. Change It Up When you're not making gains in an exercise program you change your routine. Same holds true with your eating plan. Low-carbers could go higher carb for a few days, high-carbers might switch to a plan like Atkins or South Beach. Varying calorie intake may have a positive effect: If you're averaging 1,500 calories daily, try dropping to 1,200, going up to 2,000 and then dropping back to 1,500. You get the idea. Your body's gotten comfortable, so it's time to shake things up. 3. Try a Temporary Ban Food sensitivities can cause weight gain and bloat, and the frustrating thing is that most of us don't always know which foods are the culprits. So play the odds. Highest on the list of "usual suspects" are grains (wheat in particular), dairy and sugar. Temporarily ban all three and see what happens. 4. Take Your Workout Up a Notch Forget the "fat burning zone." High intensity intervals -- 30 to 60 seconds -- are the wave of the future. If you're accustomed to level three on your cardio machine, ramp it up to level 6 for a minute then slow down, catch your breath and repeat. Ever see a sprinter with love handles? Training like a sprinter will lower your body fat faster than any technique I know of, plus it'll boost your metabolism and lower your weight. 5. Strength Training If you're not strength training, start now. And if you are, ramp it up a notch. Muscle is your greatest ally in breaking a plateau. Unfortunately many women train with weights too light to produce the metabolic boost they need. Don't be afraid of heavier weights. They should be heavy enough that you can only do between 8 and 12 reps. 6. Up Your Protein Studies show that higher protein diets make it easier to lose fat. Protein boosts the metabolism (in one study as much as 100 percent for 24 hours), and increases satiety, making it more likely that you won't overeat. A higher protein diet could be just what you need to break that plateau. 7. Try a Detox Unsupervised fasting is a really bad idea, but the idea of giving your system a rest makes sense. Try a "smart fast" of nothing but fruits and vegetables for a couple of days. The added fiber is always helpful, and the massive amount of nutrients and phytochemicals is like "spring cleaning" for your metabolism. 8. Take Inventory Other things besides diet and exercise could be stalling your weight loss, such as stress, lack of sleep or medication. Take a look at what else is going on in your life that might need attention. Sometimes when you clean up the problems in one area of your life, problems in other areas just naturally take care of themselves.

Great Post!

I know there have been some questions about protein and I thought this article explained everything well! What are proteins? Proteins are essential in everybody's diet. They are complex substances found in many foods and are made up of thousands of small units called amino acids. Proteins contain about four kcalories per gram, but the body prefers to use carbohydrate and fat as energy sources. What do proteins do? It is vital that we eat enough protein. Proteins are the building blocks of the body. The different amino acids that make up proteins are important for growth, tissue repair and replacement. Bones, muscles, the walls of hollow organs - in fact almost every part of the body - needs a supply of amino acids in order to keep healthy. Where are proteins found? Meat and fish are excellent sources of protein. However, you can also get protein from cereals, dairy products, nuts, lentils, pulses and some vegetables. The proteins in meat and fish provide all the amino acids the body needs, and in approximately the right proportions. For this reason, they are called "complete proteins". In contrast, the proteins from plants are called "incomplete proteins" because they do not contain all the amino acids the body needs. In fact, no single plant contains all the amino acids the body needs. However, it is possible to obtain all the amino acids the body needs from a vegetarian diet, provided a good variety of grains, pulses, cereals and vegetables are eaten. How much protein should we eat? Experts recommend that each day we should eat roughly 0.75 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. You can use the table below to act as a guide to your protein requirements. MMnote- I couldn't get the table image to show up so here's a link: http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/h...nutrition4.html Or if you want to do the math 1 pound = 0.45359237 kilograms So multiply your weight X 0.45359237 to find your weight in kg then multiply that by .75 to get the total number of protein grams For me that is 184lbs x 0.45359237 = 83.4609961 X .75 = 62.5957471 or 63 grams of protein per day. My fill doc said WLS patients need more protein than normal people so I am to aim for 90 so check with your own doctor to be sure end of MMnote From a kcalories point of view, about 15 percent of your total daily kcalories should come from protein. If our diet is too low in calories (from all food sources) the body will begin to use protein as an energy source. It will take the protein in our muscles to convert into calories. This is not good because when this happens important muscle mass is lost and our bodies become weaker and flabbier. People who are dieting and severely restricting their calorie intake run this risk. Too much protein, however, should also be avoided as this can cause problems in people who have liver and kidney problems. These waste-removing organs become overloaded and have difficulty in coping. Furthermore if the main sources of protein are meat and dairy products - which can also contain a lot of saturated fat - there is a danger that blood cholesterol levels might increase.

I can't wait to see everyone too Linda, so glad you're feeling the restriction after your second fill... I've had 3 and while I still don't get the "full" feeling if I eat anything too fast (even just 1 cracker in 2 bites instead of 4 bites) I will slime it back up so I am eating slower and smaller bites for sure, just making sure to stop myself when I reach 1/4 to 1/3 of what I used to eat! Not sure about Zulma, I saw her picture on myspace and she looks thinner but that's about all I can offer maybe Miss Hanna knows more!!

First off don't beat yourself up, it's silly to get down on yourself over 5 little pounds, you will get there the band makes sure of that! From what you said you've been eating it seems pretty clear that your body is STARVING!! Since you are about to go on solids things should even themselves out (just don't go too crazy). EVERYONE should be aiming for 1000-1200 calories per day, and while momonamission is right you shouldn't compare yourself to others I can only offer myself as an example of somone that stuck to at least 1,000 calories per day and lost 16lbs in my first 3 weeks and a toal of 24lbs in my first 6weeks before my 1st fill... There is no reason to starve yourself and be miserable at any point in your band journey when a little bit of effort into calorie counting and self control can get you to your goals at the pace that YOUR own body determines! For those still on the liquid diet and who aren't getting enough calories here are some of the tricks I used to make sure I was staying in that 1000-1200 cal range when I couldn't or didn't want to "drink" more... Again these are ideas only for those that need MORE calories to get them into the right daily range- 1. Peanut butter- add a scoop of peanut butter into your protien shake for an extra 200 calories and 5-8grams of protien 2. Shredded Cheese- again good for an extra 100-200 calories depending on how much you add to your HOT soup, make sure you get the finely shredded so it will melt totally into the soup, remeber you should be able to drink it through a straw! 3. Protien Powder- this is one trick I still use today I am a big fan of the Unjury protein powder, it's 80 calories and 20g of protien I mix it into my slimfast sometimes or even into soup, pudding, or my sald dressing if I'm not meeting my goal for 90grams of protien per day... While it's "unflavored" you can't mix it into something like iced tea or propel without tasting it, but I use it in all the more creamy textured things that I mentioned above and can never tell that it is in there! Best of luck on starting solids, and congrats on the 10lbs lost just think of it as 10lbs you will never see again!!

You know I never asked dr Miranda what she thought my goal weight should be. I was around 145 in high school and college so that's where I set my goal though I would be happy in the 150's or even 160's as I am comfortably in a size 12 and those number shoul get me down to about a size 8. I am not chained to the scale I was home from vacation for 2 days before it occured to me I need to weigh myself, I am just going with the flow working the band even though I've never had great/perfect restriction. If I want a treat like ice cream I have it, but instead of a large blizzard with double toppings I get a small cone or kids sized cup and I don't feel guilty about it!! Congrats on meeting your goal of 50lbs gone by the 4th, you'll be sailing into onderland before you know it!

Here's my new size 6 goal dress, I only got it on the 14th so there's not a lot of progress there in just those 2 weeks but I can see some changes!

I was finally able to get my new camera working and the pics uploaded so here they are... I lost 10lbs this month (I think my week of boot camp helped me eek out 2lbs more than my past average of 8lbs a month) I guess the smaller I get the less I notice the changes but one thing's for sure my new camra takes a lot better pics than the old one! Jan 1st 2008 – Highest Weight/Start of Pre Op Diet Weight: 246 lbs Chest: 48″ Waist: 46″ Hips: 51″ Arms: 16.5″ and 16.5″ Thighs: 30″ and 31″ Feb 28th 2008 – Date of Surgery Weight: 226 lbs Chest: 46.5″ Waist: 43″ Hips: 48.75″ Arms: 16″ and 16″ Thighs: 29.25″ and 30.25″ June 28th 2008 – Current Weight: 184 lbs Chest: 40″ Waist: 34″ Hips: 44″ Arms: 13.5″ and 13.5″ Thighs: 25″ and 25.75″

My hubby's birthday is the 4th and our son is gone for another week so we will probably be going to do the BBQ thing with some of his work friends and maybe out for a nice dinner that night!

Right before vacation I did a HUGE closet purge, I tried on everything is my closet and got rid of 5 trashbags of clothes that were too big or that I didn't like anymore. I was happy to find most of my tops fit and some old favorite pants I was able to squeeze back into!! Oh happy day!

Sorry I am just seeing this here's a link to my 3rd fill post, http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?show...amp;#entry35777 I will be posting my 4month progress pics sometime tomorrow!

3 fills for a total of 2.35cc