Lindsay

the medical system is horrible is many many ways ... i can't even find a family physician here in downtown Toronto, as no one is accepting new patients. a lot of people are going towards 'paid health care', just to ensure they find a doctor, before something really does happen.

cosmetic/plastic surgery is COMPLETELY different here in Ontario, Canada. it's treated as an ethical issue, rather than a cosmetic. VERY VERY different ..................... as are my opinions on it.

i find it alarming that none of these surgeons specialize. I would NEVER EVER go to a doctor that performs a facelift & tt's, arm lifts ... mole removal, botox, ear lobe reduction, etc etc etc ... To me, that's a total red flag. Going through these surgeons' websites, the before/after pictures weren't even impressive. I was shocked that the one doctor in WA does tt's on people still severely over weight. BTW, he isn't a certified PS - he's actually a Otolaryngological Surgeon. and he went to school at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. just sayin' people ... really do your research. these doctors aren't specializing, which makes me wonder WHY. $$$. that's why. And Dr. Manuel Gutierrez Romero: He has had horrible complaints, and he's not even certified! http://badplasticsurgeon.blogspot.com/2008...estheticos.html http://www.plasmetic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1443

you're so awesome! i'd NEVER have the nerve to do that!! Ps. where did you get your pole?

It sounds like an anxiety attack to me .... i used to get that exact feeling when I had anxiety attacks, and/or too much caffeine in my system (too many coffees ...) You're going through a very stressful situation right now. Don't worry about your food intake. Just take care of your mental & emotional state. Love to you, and godspeed to your little fur baby, Rocky.

completed today: 2.6 miles - dog walking .5miles - approx 20 minutes, walking to the further streetcar stop 1 mile - got off streetcar quite a few stops early, to walk a bit more ... Total // 4.1 miles = 452cal burned approx (HRM calculated)

Wonderful!!!

1. Muscle is the best fat burner. So if you want to burn fat, you need to do everything you can to maintain the muscle mass you have, and possibly even increase it. This means not changing your training during a diet to “etch in the cuts” or “bring out the separation”. Continue training for strength, with progressive resistance in mind (more weight and/ or more reps). Anything less tells your body it doesn’t need to maintain the muscle it has. Also, don’t worry about counting “calories”. Calories certainly play a role in fat loss, but not as big as you might think. Pay more attention to macronutrient needs (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) and how they each impact your metabolism and hormonal status. Leave the calorie-counting for the Weight Watchers folks who madly want to see the scale drop, even if its precious muscle they’re losing. 2. You can’t serve two masters (AND you need to be patient). I often get clients who come to me and say “I’m 180 pounds at 20% body fat – I want to be 210 pounds at 10% body fat – we’ve got 12 weeks – LET’S DO THIS!”. Ok back up for a minute. First of all, that type of transformation is HUGE and entails the loss of a very significant amount of fat as well as a very significant muscle gain. Such a task is going to take even the most genetically gifted individual at least a couple years to accomplish (not to mention that genetically gifted are never 180 pounds and 20% body fat to begin with). Be realistic in your time frame and realize that changes of this nature don’t happen overnight, or even by the next school term. They take years to manifest, and that’s assuming you’re doing EVERYTHING correctly (diet, training, cardio, supplementation, etc.). Second, it is much more efficient to focus on ONE goal at a time, i.e. fat loss or muscle gain. If you’re not very lean, focus first on losing the fat first, THEN devoting a period of time to putting on muscle while staying relatively lean. Trying to do both at once is a great way to accomplish neither. This is not to say that I don’t have clients who gain strength and even muscle while dieting, but the goal is always on fat loss (with muscle preservation) and gains are a nice “bonus”. 3. Learn to love the process. Make healthy eating and training a lifestyle, not just a means to an end. To do otherwise is a recipe for disaster and a pretty solid guarantee that any progress you make will be short-lived. Learn to love the work, and it won’t be work anymore. Make the realization that you’re making conscious choices and actions that lead to a better you. And a cool quote I read today: You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. -Joan Baez

We all know that it is easier and more gratifying when we can reach our goals and not feel that they are so out of reach! That is what makes having daily thins so helpful! They are the small steps we take that help keep us motivated while working toward our weight loss goal(s). The purpose of this thread: Set your cardio goal, and post your daily result! A vital part of our thread is encouraging and supporting others. We accomplish this by interacting with each other on a daily basis. Some of us are early on in our journey and have much to lose; some of us are much closer to goal. Let's get the ball rolling! My goal today: 30min walking.

that's a fantastic Wikipedia cut and paste, but it's unfortunate you didn't read the rest of the entry. Source: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/duringpre.../hcglevels.html Source: http://www.tc-cancer.com/dictionary.htmlIt is certifiably a hormone. and from the SAME Wikipedia Entry on Human Chorionic Gonadotrpin: The only organizations that tests for HCG is the Olympics & the MLB. anyways, you guys can google this crap as well as I can.

Yep. I had this for a few months, postop. I'm now 4 months out, and every so often I can feel my little incision scars hurting ... usually when I'm feeling run down, and my immune system is down.

I too, felt pretty crappy around that time after my surgery! I was getting random heartburn attacks that felt like literal heart attacks! Things to try: Heat- heating pad or hot water bottle - really works wonders. Antacid - The only one that i found even remotely beneficial was Zantac 150. It really helps with that chest pain, which is hard to identify if you're not familiar with heartburn (i know I wasn't!!) And keep trying to move. This will really help more gas build up in your system ... I had a lot of gas 'issues' that caused a lot of internal pain. I know how uncomfortable this is for you, especially when you don't really know why things aren't feeling right. But they will get so much better.

My eating disorder has nothing to do with my background in nutrition, and personal training.

I guzzle, even though you're not supposed to, according to the OCC. I am still getting used to not being allowed to, and still catch myself doing i every so often, especially when drinking out of a water fountain. Only after I've eaten, and I drink too soon do I feel anything uncomfortable.

That's just it. i can't find ANY research based 'positives' - only nurses and 'doctors' endorsing the product(s) they sell. Please find me research backing this stuff. That's all I'm asking for at this point! I would challenge your weight stand-still into the ground. With a very strong background in bodybuilding & figure nutrition, I would be more than happy to shed some light your workouts and nutrition. PM me if you're interested.

BANDDIVA - I'm sorry you're not seeing the much larger picture of my posts. I really wish you're read with the info I'm providing you with. Consistency will give you results in terms of a low cal diet. Again, it has nothing to do with HCG. PLEASE READ THE MEDICAL JOURNAL STUDIES I POSTED ABOVE. I got my info from US National Library of Medicine. & The National Institutes of Health. I'm not trying to argue this. I'm trying to find FACTS on this, which you're not providing me. Again, this is all factual based information. Weight loss is caused by a caloric deficiency. If you're really that baffled by your weight loss, please post your diet for 5 days. Adjusting your ratios is very simple, and the solution to your problem. A few things to remember: What everyone is complaining about in this thread is very easily solved, and very basic diet rules of thumb. Supplements aren’t going to “make or break” your progress with regard to dieting. Phenomenal results can be achieved with just the “normal foods” that can be found in any grocery store. The key is setting up the diet properly – meal composition, timing, etc – and being CONSISTENT with it for the long haul. Try tapering your carbs as the day progresses. The only exception is if you are training at night, in which case you would still have carbohydrates in their post-workout meal. I would typically recommend a meal of lean protein – the slower the digesting, the better, to keep a steady flow of amino acids throughout the night – green vegetables, and a small amount of healthy fat as the last meal of the day. i'm of the opinion that morning cardio should be done on an empty stomach to optimize fat-burning. When you eat prior, you end up using what you just ate for fuel, rather than stored bodyfat. Some say this is too catabolic, and cardio should never be done on an empty stomach, but my experience tells me otherwise. There are no “secrets” to dieting. Sure, there are strategies and principles that can definitely speed your progress and results, but nothing will ever take the place of hard work over time. To excel in any sport takes years of training, and to optimize that training, it needs to be supported by years of sound nutritional habits.

snake oil, my friends. lol. i could go on and on about the 're distribution of fat cells', which is scientifically not possible. but if it makes you feel better, keep believing. pubmedcentral - The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis Starling Fitness And the 'INVENTOR' of this 'diet': FTC: Marketer Kevin Trudeau Violated Prior Court Order

yeah yeah! definitely will get things goin'! How much cardio are you currently doing?

HCG is not a steroid, but a naturally occurring peptide hormone, produced by the embryo in the early stages of pregnancy and later by the trophoblast (part of the placenta) to help control a pregnant woman´s hormones. It's clinically used to induce ovulation and treat ovarian disorders in women, as well stimulate the testes hypogonadal (underproduction of testosterone) men. It is also used in the treatment of undescended testicles in young males. HCG offers no potential performance enhancement in female athletes, but does prove to be very useful in male athletes especially those that use AAS (which is where I've heard it being used ..) The only thing small doses of HCG may be useful (sublingually) for is reducing symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Yeah, that´s right, you can probably reduce some symptoms of an enlarged prostate with the use of small doses of HCG, but I`m guessing that`s not what you`re been promised! Since the powder of HCG is similar to the powder of somatropin often cheaper HCG is sold and marketed as the more expensive HGH (human growth hormone) on the black market. So. In otherwords, it won`t do anything for your `pleateau`. If nurses are selling it as a weight loss tool, that`s pretty much your freakin`red flag! IT'S BEEN BANNED FROM THE USA. Where are they importing it from? My guess - THAILAND. LOL! HCG Worthless as Weight-Loss Aid http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.shtml Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Ca...ht-Loss-/927641 IN OTHER WORDS, IT`S BULLSH*t. And it's not even readily available. Where are those 'nurses' buying it from?! THAILAND!!! Tweak your diet. Adjust your w/o's. That will help you with your weight loss hump ...

aww, it's okay - hang in there. you want this corrected, right? who did your initial surgery?

23lbs lost already?! girl, you're doing AWESOME! I had port soreness for up to 2months post-op ... it will go away, it just takes a bit of time for some of us delicate flowers ... lol!

hmm .... did you get banded by dr ortiz? if so ... you don't have staples in your stomach - so that's not the pain you're feeling. and i really don't want to sound nasty, but weight loss isn't easy. we're all in the same spot, and that's why we went this route, right? it's a difficult and tricky path, but it's so worth it. Isn't that why you had this surgery? Because you wanted to make some MAJOR life changes? Just make sure you follow your 3 week liquid diet .. and do everything you're supposed to. As for satisfying, it sounds like you're suffering from some psychological issues that the band will not be able to correct. I hope you're able to find the right path, that makes this so much easier for you. I'm not very good at the ((big hug)) replies, so I"ll leave it to everyone else. But I won't lie - it's really difficult figuring out your body for the first few months, but after you get over the initial hump, you'll be in a much better place. Hang in there, and don't EVER give up! xo.

thank you for this! i'm waiting for the day I don't feel it flare up! xo

That's awesome! That's EXACTLY what my SO caught me doing -- pounding on my shoulder to ease the pain!! LOL! I"m going to give heat a try - heck, can't do it any worse!

.....is it weird that i don't know anyone that has diabetes? Just a very obvious difference between the USA & Canada!