I hear ya Dawn! I think you and I are the only ones here from the West Coast. I may be wrong I would love to go to the convention over there! Sounds like so much fun! Lori

Hi Joyce! I don't recall seeing you so much on this board- but KUDOS to you and keep up the great work! I know how it is- we prob both stared with BMIs over 50 ( mine was 55.5) and now its 35%! I went from super to morbid to obese..LOL whoever thought I would be looking to be considered "overweight" ? you know? lol But anyway- I just wanted to encourage you and I know its hard- cuzz Im tryng to get to 200 or UNDER by the end of the month and dont want to jinx myself..And anything after that will be gravy for me...so in the meantime I'm focused on my jewlery business and that will be a great earning potential ..so I will have new clothes and jewelry and look good without breaking the bank. ALSO*** Please send me your name, email, home address, so I can add you to our Xmas Card Exchange..we have have 2 lists- one for cards/ one for secret santa- that is Lori. If you wanna be on both lists- just email me and tell me. We have set a $20 & under limit for the santa bit. Hope you have a great day- and continue being consistent with your exercise. If we all got paid to exercise we'd spend hours doing it right? *grin* Hugs Donna 325/205/160

Hi I'm Happy, I think the problem you're having is that I don't know of anyone who is actually counting calories post-op as part of a doctor's plan that has that idea at its core. I know I went back to my basic program of 3 meals a day - and only protein - with a minimum of 8 glasses of water. That was enough to drop 5 lbs in 4 days to bring me back to goal. Instead of counting calories - haven't we ALL done enough of that in our lives? - go back to the basics of your early post-op program. Follow it for at least 2 weeks to reset your internal clock. No snacking, no starches, no sweet drinks, etc. The nice thing about being a year post-op - all proteins are a go so it widens that avenue for ya. If you're eating 3 meals a day you shouldn't be able to overeat (the key is WHAT you're eating - 3 meals of cheesecake will sink ya ) Good luck!! Dawn 258/135/132

Hi Tammy, Life is going fine. I'm back below goal and I actually got into the gym yesterday, plus my usual 1.5 hour walk today. Work is work... busy as the quarter is coming to an end. I should have spent the evening grading tests, instead I spent it loading/updating my Palm data to Outlook. I'm still having liver enzyme issues and had blood drawn to fill 9 vials for another round of tests. Good to hear that the girls are doing well. Nice to see folks on the site again... Dawn

Hi Mary- I don't think I got your email- I will check again - But jump on board!!! AND ALL YOU LURKERS should jump on too- its only XMAS once a year But our friendship is ALL year round!! Donna