robbynnoel

(((((((((((((((((Ashley Marie)))))))))))))))))))))) Congrats on your one year band anniversary. You look amazing. I'm so proud of you. xo

(((((((((((((((((Carrie and Brown Eyed Girl)))))))))))))))) Thank you both so much! Now I just need to get focused to get into my teens. I'm taking baby steps, but it will be okay. xo

((((((((((((((((((Hugs Everyone))))))))))))))))))))) I'm in. 223

((((((((((LittleRoo27)))))))))))) Hugs to you. Let me congradulate you for keeping your weight stable for 2.5 years and for getting the band. That IS not a decision any of us took lightly. I was banded in late May of 2009. I work for one of the weight loss programs you mentioned. I was shocked when I found out that my consultant had been banded and even more shocked when I learned my band isn't a conflict of interest AND there were even people in my new hire class that had been banded as well. You are not alone, not at all. What you are going though is completely normal. Different people need different tools and strategies. Hang in there. xo

(((((((((((((((((Hugs Everyone))))))))))))))))))) My weight started moving again at the first of the month and I've noticed I have a little bit of acme. At first I thought it was a change I made to my skin care ritual and the fact that I have gone to sleep once or twice without washing my face in the past couple days (but that does happen every once in awhile) and then a light bulb went off above my head, and I thought "toxins". Because I'm losing weight, my body is releasing toxins...my terminology might be wrong. Anyway I guess what I mean to say is that now that I'm losing again, I need to pick something up for hair/skin/nails...an antioxident. My light bulb moment was the thought that this might also clear up the acme as well. I work at a place where I can purchase a good one (called Protect+) but I also was currious if anyone else noticed increased acme. I'd also love to know if taking the antioxident for hair/skin/nails cleared up the acme or if I need to consider a change to my skin care system. Happy Tuesday.

(((((((((((((((((Angie))))))))))))))))))) Good points. I've noticed my taste buds are changing. I used to be a little frustrated that bread and pizza didn't work anymore but once I moved to Texas I got over that quick. Bread (sour dough) and pizza were my two favorite things, and in San Francisco, that is yummy food. Here in Dallas, omg bleck. I mean they "think" they know what good pizza is. Everything tastes like frozen. Don't even get me started on sour dough bread. What sour dough bread? They've never heard of it. Okay, I'm sure I'm exaggerating to some extent but you get the idea. And no Italian unless it's a chain. A hole in the wall Italian place here doesn't compare. But when I thought of a cowboy, I never pictured some mafioso on a horse, so it all makes sense. I'm sure there are exceptions and if I didn't have the band I'd be knocking on every door to find the place that is, but in the small sampling I've had, that is what I've found. What they do serve out here is Tex Mex (love love love love love --- did I mention I love it?) and steak houses/bbq. Well, steak/bbq first, I can't do it, I can't chew the meat. I guess I don't have the patience so although that is my favorite food in the world, I've learned how to order around it. We went to a beautiful elegant restaurant about a week ago. The old Robbyn would have ordered Filet Mignon, instead I ordered a side of mashed potatoes. That's it, no appetizers and no bread at the table. I know I should have ordered protein but I wanted to have something I really liked and I didn't want to spend the night being stuck or jumping up from the table every four minutes to bp. Tex Mex...another story. I love it but I can't do the tortillas. Give me crunchy and I'm fine so I can do chips. Weird. I've learned a chip or two with tortilla soup does well for me and I feel like I'm part of the group. Plus Tex Mex is the mushiest food around. At least the way I slop everything together. Ahhhhh I love food. Which helps me remember that when I lived in San Francisco I worked at the gateway to China Town...literally. I ate chicken fried rice/chow mein 2 or 3 times a week, and pizza because North Beach (which would be like New Yorks Little Italy) and China Town border each other. After having Chinese food of that quality I haven't found that I miss Chinese either now that I've moved. Of course rice doesn't agree with me. Almost sounds like I could have solved my problems without the band by moving to Texas but that's not the case. The steak/tex mex/bbq/burgers would have kept me big big big and when I'm hungry, it wouldn't have mattered that the Chinese and Italian isn't the quality I'm used to...thank god for the band. I finally can understand "if it doesn't taste good, and it's not good quality AND IT WON'T feel good after I've eaten it...why eat it?" Hugs to you. I've missed you.

(((((((((((((((Kelly))))))))))))))) I'm so happy to hear that you are at your goal weight. I'm throwing confeti and blowing horns. Can you hear them from Texas? I'm so pleased for your success. Thank you for this post. xo

(((((((((((((((((Margaret))))))))))))))) It's good to meet you! You are right, this is a great forum.

((((((((((((((Sawdawg))))))))))))))))))) Thank you so much for your post. I really appreciate it. It's good to be back. xo

(((((((((((((((((Angie))))))))))))))))) Thank you for your post. Do you find your eyes are still bigger than your stomach? Once, a few months ago, I decided that even though I had difficulty with breads and pizza and it was all in my head, so by god, I was going to order a pizza and eat as much as I wanted. 4 or 5 seconds later (maybe I was able to throw a half of a slice down my throat) I was like...ah yea...I have this band and even though my eyes think I can eat a whole pizza, and my head wants to eat a whole pizza, it won't let me. lol I'm getting better at that. Better about fixing entire meals at midnight only to take a bite or two. Slowly oh so slowly I'm getting better about preparing too much food. The good news is that while I was at work today, I was learning some new material and I felt like I was trying to "digest" a bit of information so to speak. Suddenly I "HAD" to have chocolate. A must. (I'm not a sweet person, I'm a salty person) I knew I really just wanted chocolate because I was studying something new but after 30 minutes I still wanted it. The difference is, since I was at work and not at home (and at work I have access to an entire room of food) I was able to go into the food room and pull a chocolate chip snack bar and because of the band, I honestly felt okay afterwards. If I would have been at home...at least a few weeks ago, it would have been different. So different. I'm so proud of you Angie. You are doing a great job. We're in this together. xo

((((((((((((((((((Shelby))))))))))))))))) Good for you to scale back on dairy. I purchased a copy of Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover a few years ago. Excellent book. It's one of the first books I'd ever read that spoke about how dairy affects the body. You look fab. We will do it! xo

((((((((((((((((((Shelby))))))))))))))))))) I am so proud of you! How did you start running? Was it always something you enjoyed or did you start to train after becoming one of us banditos? xo

((((((((((((Bogiesmom))))))))))))))) Hugs to you. I can so relate to your post. (I love ww too btw, I've been trying to find a calorie/point tracker that compares to theirs...nothing comes close). I wish I would have stayed on the boards and not taken a nine month break. (Well I think I came back and posted 3 or 4 times...but basically I took a 9 month break.) If I wouldn't have taken a break, I would have known that I wasn't alone. xo

Sorry everyone...I posted this to the wrong link: http://www.occforum....showtopic=12012

I wanted to post my food log: Breakfast 3/4 yoplait blue label yogurt Coffee with sugar free creamer, lots of coffee... Lunch 3/4 Jenny Craig Chicken Fettuccini 1 Jenny Craig Chocolate Walnut Brownie (yumm) 1 green salad with baby carrots and Jenny Craig baslamic dressing (I added extra salt and pepper to the dressing) Dinner Dinner with family 1/2 serving Jenny O Turkey Roll w/out extra gravy 1 cup veggies including green beans and red potatoes (recipe to follow) Wine (I decline to disclose how much) Snack(s) 1 string cheese (while cooking) Ritz combo pretzel/crackers munchers I think they are called with 1 wedge low fat laughing cow cheese 1 banana *I know...it's time for a fill, but I'm stalling. Green Beans and Red Potatoes - Serves a family of 4 (with growning teens) 5 Slices of bacon 2 Cans of green beans 5 large red potatoes 2 Chicken broth cubes Salt Pepper 1 cup water Optional* 1 tbsp margarine (butter is better, but tonight I used margarine) Prepare 5 slices of bacon in dutch oven. After 10 minutes on high, add 2 cans of green beans (drained) with margarine and reduce heat. Slice and 4 large red potatoes into bite size slices and add to pot with 2 chicken broth cubes and 1 cup of water. Allow to boil until potatoes are tender. Add extra water if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste.

((((((((((((((((Hugs Pammie)))))))))))))))))))))) Thank you so much. I am proud of your success.

(((((((((((((((Sabrina)))))))))))))) You look wonderful! I'm so proud of you. xo It's good to be back. I missed y'all and I assure you've all brought me so much strength. Even when I felt as if I was eating garbage just because it felt more comfortable to be heavy. xo

Wow. Today is a big day for me. Not because I realized I'm half way to my goal, but because (if you can believe this) I was too stupid to figure this out until today. Believe it or not, I was halfway in my journey a few years ago as well. My highest weight is 294 (recorded on a gym scale in March of 07). That was three years ago, almost to the day. Today I'm 222 on my home scale. It has been an interesting 3 years. I think the thing that has me sobered is that when I first reached the halfway point in my journey (September 07 - July 08) I never gave myself credit! I honestly believe since I didn't reflect and give myself credit for all of the work I had done, I then suffered lapse after lapse after lapse until finally I was in a full relapse and by the time I went into a lapband surgeon's office, I had gone back up to 257. I dread to think of what would have happened to me if I wouldn't have taken that first step. The step into the surgeons office to stop the diet cycle. Interestingly enough, my surgery was scheduled for March 09. Two years from the exact date of 294 on the gym scale. Well, for those who have read my posts, the first surgery didn't go...literally and I switched doctors and went to the OCC. Thank you all for this group and this blog. You all gave me the strength I needed to change doctors and go to the OCC. So I had my surgery in May of 2009 and before I was on solid foods, I was 224 on my home scale. Yep...sure enough I was halfway to goal, but did I notice? Do the math? Ahhhh I just had this beautiful entry about how for 36 months of my journey I was halfway to goal for 15 or so months and I never gave myself credit until TODAY but I accidentially deleted far to many paragraphs and I'm too tired to start over. So to make a long story short. I'm halfway today. Celebrating TODAY~because of this forum I updated my ticker tracker calendar thingy and that's when I saw it. I'm HALFWAY there! Time to throw confetti!

(((((((((((((((Painter)))))))))))))))) Thank you so much for sharing your story. I agree with you. I waited a long time for my first fill because I was moving from San Francisco to Dallas. I waited close to 3 months for my first fill so I gained a little not from my surgery weight but from my lowest weight...and then I started to gain weight after my 2nd fill because I didn't schedule my next fill apt. Hugs to you and thank you so much for sharing your story.

(((((((((((((((((((((Mindy))))))))))))))))))))) Thank you thank you thank you for posting this. Congrats to you. You look amazing. I can only imagine what it feels like to be 155. I am so proud of you and your success.