Kristi

Congrats on your 1 year Bandaversary! I agree with Michelle about the journey, She is so right! Hugs, Kristi

Shelby, Congrats! Congrats! Congrats!!!! How awesome. 7.5 miles is fabulous, I am jealous! Hugs to you, Kristi

Robbyn, I am so proud of you. I read your blog that you posted the link on another post. It is great! You have a way with words that makes it easy to read. I also was noticing the difference in the pics you posted from May last year to June this year, WOW, you look awesome!!! BTW, You have a beautiful family. Congrats on your success this far. I know in my heart you have it in you to do this. Keep up the good work. and what is that phrase, oh yeah, You Go Girl!!! Hugs to you, Kristi

Robbyn, It is awesome that you have decided to get your fill. You can do this, I know you can. You are really an amazing lady and I have seen and read your very supportive posts to others as well as myself. As you said, Get'er done. LOL... Hugs to you, Kristi

auggie1959, You may not have restriction as of yet. Don't be hard on yourself, and Debbie is right, get back on the horse and learn from mistakes. This process with the band can be so hard. Tomorrow is a new day and make a pledge to start fresh. I realized you posted this a few days ago. How was the last couple of days? Hugs, Kristi Sabrina, LOL you crack me up. hugs to you.

Congrats on your surgery. Let us know how everything went. Sip sip sip and walk walk walk....

Congrats! The surgery is a breeze and you will do well. Keep us posted on how you are doing post-op.

CONGRATS! 100 pounds lost is awesome and you should be so proud of yourself. You really are Rocking your Band! Keep up the good work. Are you working out at the gym? Have you hired a trainer? I feel so grateful for the trainer I hired last year in the end June. It made a huge difference in my weight-loss as well as how and where I lost it. Best money spent, & my hubby feels the same way.

Debbie, You look like your healing excellently. Congrats. I know I have told you this in the past, but you really inspire me. Thanks for posting pics and giving us your update. Hugs, Kristi

Good Afternoon, After reading this thread, all I can say is WOW. I can relate to each persons post. Mental attitude towards food and eating definitely does change at different times in the weight-loss process as well as the banded process. As for quality of life, after 14 months, it is amazing. I feel and look like a whole new person. I was a lot like B2010 in that the heavier I got, the more I didn't want to socialize . Now I have a self confidence about me that I haven't had since I was 20 years old. I feel like me again. It is an amazing feeling. Best of luck. Hugs, Kristi

Debbie, Glad to hear from you. I agree with Pammie, totally. Relax & heal. Hugs, Kristi

Hi Dewrob, I had Hashimotos for years and did not know it until I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer the end of 2006. I had to have a thyroidectomy so I will always be hypothyroid. However, weight loss was constant as long as I ate healthily & exercised. My mom also has Hashimotos and was diagnosed with it in 2006 as well and she was banded April 8th of this year and she has lost roughly 60 pounds total, 50 with the band. Good luck with your decision, I know for me it was the best thing I have done for myself and I know many others who feel the same way, including my mother.

Debbie, Sending you warm wishes and prayers for a quick healing. Congrats on your ps, I have been thinking about you all day. By now you should be in recovery and resting. Looking forward to finding out about your progress. Hugs, Kristi

CONGRATS & Welcome to the Banded life!

Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, Omigoodness,Omigoodness,Omigoodness, You look incredible! Way to Go! I am still amazed by you all the time. You really are inspiring and to have watched your transformation has been wonderful. I am so very happy for you and proud of you. Hugs, Kristi

Congrats, 12 pounds lost for far is wonderful. Keep up the good work. Keep us posted. Good luck on Monday, you will go Great!

Shelby, Congrats on both of your races. Pete is a cutie. I am so proud of you. Such an Amazing accomplishment! Plus raising so much for Alzheimer, Wow, that's AWESOME!!! BTW, I thought I posted before, eeekkk... sorry. Hugs, Kristi

I understand and remember too. I wasn't a big soup person before, but now I love getting a nice cup. Although I still don't care for straight broth, ugh... LOL...

Sabrina, Congrats! What a great way to start the day. Hugs, Kristi

Shelby, CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This news has cheered me up today. I have told you before and I will tell you again, you are and you look fabulous! You are right about the #'s on the scale. They don't always reflect what is really going on with our bodies. I have seen inches melt away and the #'s on the scale stay the same. I have also lost 2 pounds and dropped a whole dress size. Never really could understand that, because in the past it took 10-15 pounds to drop a dress size. It is an amazing process. Hugs, Kristi

Good morning, Sorry I went MIA for a while, but I am back. Erica, thank you. Working out with the trainer seemed to change regularly. But a couple of the things I had done on a very regular basis was my warm-up routine, which consisted of 5-10 minutes of the row machine or elliptical. Then we would either work on upper body or lower body. After I would do 12-16 minutes on the elliptical, doing the walk,jog, sprint in intervals. (1 min of walk mode, 1 min of jog mode and 30 sec of sprint mode & repeat until time is up.) Then I would get on the stationary bike or the treadmill for 25 minutes. If you go to a gym, you should be able to ask a trainer for some guidelines without paying for it, plus they can teach you how to use the machines properly. The only thing I wish I could have had was a work-out buddy. But I moved to a new area a few years ago and most of my friends that I used to workout with live in San Diego. Workout buddies are great motivation. Angie, Thank you Sweetie. I feel very fortunate to have learned so many things from you & I still learn new things all the time. Shelby, I haven't always felt like a rock star , but I have I definitely felt supported, thank you. Last 10 lbs or not, you look fabulous! Well, about my accident, my hubby is doing better, which I am thrilled about. We are both still getting treated. I am not as good as he is, but I am trying. I have hated that I cannot go to the gym and workout to alleviate the stress of it all. You really do notice when your routines are all messed up and cannot do much to change it. It all has been slow, but it is what it is. It has depressed me a bit, but I have been trying to keep my chin up. Hugs, Kristi

Good Morning All, Today is my 1 year Bandaversary. I am so shocked at all the changes that have taken place in one years time. The changes: Weight: was 238 pre-op and 221 day of surgery. Now 127 Waist: was 38-39 and now 26 Clothing sizes: Jeans: was size 18(tight) & now size 2 T-shirt Size: was XL-XXL & now Sm-Med (depending on the cut.) Dress size: was 16-18 now 2-4 (again depending on the cut) When I started this journey, I really did not expect to be where I am now or lose the amount of weight I have lost. It is hard to explain. Well I had come to the conclusion early on, that I would follow the band rules as much as possible and exercise and maybe this time in my attempts to lose, maybe this time would not be as difficult. I gave up all sodas, rice, bread, pasta and fried foods almost a month before my surgery. I figured since my Doc said I shouldn’t or couldn’t have them, and gaining 4 pounds after getting the approval and then seeing myself at my best friend’s wedding on wide screen I was done. That was probably one of the most humiliating times I had ever experienced and even though no one made me feel me feel like I was as heavy as I was….. I was DONE! You know when you decide enough is enough, well I called out ENOUGH. When it has come to eating, I still eat all my proteins first and then eat my veggies. I have always allowed myself a splurge here and there because I thought if I didn’t I would go a little too far one day. As soon as I was given the OK to go to the gym, I was there putting in as much effort as I could. I found out early on that if I didn’t work-out, I didn’t lose weight. The band is a tool and I learned that I had to put in the effort. Band restriction is great and after a fill I would maintain my weight but to actually lose, I have had to exercise. So, I hired a trainer at my gym and I feel it was one of the best investments I have ever made. I have had the trainer since the end of July and my work-out schedule has kept changing all along and I know that it has helped. I haven’t been on as much lately because I was in a bad car accident that totaled my vehicle. Sitting at the computer has not been easy at all. I am still here, still trying to respond when I can get online. I am now below goal, I think because I have been so stressed since the accident. Eating the past few weeks, has been difficult because I just have not been hungry. It used to be when I was stressed I would eat and eat, and now it is the opposite. I am no longer living to eat, I am eating to live. It does make a difference. Stress really can cause weight-loss because my husband was also in the accident and he is down 5 pounds from it all. He told me the stress diet helped him get under the 200 pound mark he had been trying to get past, but its not really how he wanted to lose it. I just want to say, this group has truly been my only real support from the beginning. So many of you mean so much to me and you are my friends. I feel so lucky and so fortunate to have found this forum because I would have been very very lost. Hugs to all, Kristi One last thing, CELEBRATE the little victories. Whether they are scale related or not, they are WORTH celebrating. Losing inches are just as important if not more than a number on the scale.

LOL....LOL....LOL................. you all crack me up. The funny thing is that the panties really do fall off your butt or you look in the mirror at your back view and it looks like there is a load in your britches cuz they are so saggy.... Kinda embarrassing, haha... Kristi