Thanks! I get so pumped up when I do that. It is nice to see the numbers move upward. I am really starting to see more definition in the muscles too! That is way cool!

Sorry to hear about your husband, that is a rough thing to go through. As far as suppl. I take the Baraitric Adv. Calcium, very good. I use Optisource for my multi, and take a high stress b- complex and Co-enzyme Q-10, we spend about 60 monthly for my wife and I total.

Hi Brenda! I know how you feel! Man like you had wings and could fly! Isn't it awesome? I tend to be like that, want to try it all baby! If you have never done anything intensive at all, I would start small and work your way up. Why the rush? You have plenty of time to get ready for summer. Trust me. I would start off with 3 days a week on whatever interests you the most. Then move up from there. Do these classes cost anything? I would see if they had a free "trial" class so you can see what's involved before plunking down your hard earned dollars then realizing you don't like it. The folks on the Swan, etc. are doing only that. They aren't working, doing laundry, shuttling kids, or whatever, and they are monitored by specialist. I wish I could just do that all day. That would be way COOL! The more I learn about the Swan, the less I would want to go through that. Plus, they are filming over a 3 to 4 month period...so they don't just start into doing all that stuff right away either...ah...the miracles of modern filming and editing... I applaud your enthusiasm!! That's the biggest key to your success, that and CONSISTANCY!!! Keep posting, let us know how things are going and good luck!! Take care! Valerie

hehehe HI KRISTIE!!! We missed ya girl! Looookin' good! Yeah, I had to let Earl do the same. You are nicer than me tho. I went to bed, he had to get his own sandwich!

Have you guys used the Bariatric Advantage Supplements? I just placed an order as I thought I would try them out and I figured it couldn't hurt to start go get into the habit of taking these supplements pre-surgery to help with a faster recovery. This was my order: Qty Product Price Total 1 BA Multi-Form Chew Tropical - 60 Count 16.95 $16.95 1 BA Sub-lingual B-12, 30 count 7.95 $7.95 1 BA Chewable Iron, 30 count 9.95 $9.95 1 BA Calcium Citrate Lozenges - Cinnamon (400mg), 60 count 13.95 $13.95 Sub-Total 48.80 Standard Shipping & Handling 4.95 Total $53.75 How much do you guys spend monthly on these type of supplements? Where do you usually get your supplements? I use vitamin shoppe, GNC, and even the regular pharmacy to find whats on sale but have not looked to see whats out there for the needs I will have post surgery. Other stuff/questions............. If you are taking Glutamine is your body able to process it ok still? I took ZMA as well for a while (Magnesium: 450mg, Zinc: 30mg) 30 minutes before for healing, tissue repair, and muscle growth. Does anyone know if this is still ok? Believe it or not I think it also helped me sleep a bit sounder. I still have a bottle that I have not touched in a few months from GNC. I have taken creatine on and off but not really consistently lately. Do you think this is ok? My husband takes Bovine Colestrum from New Zealand and says its the best thing he takes. He believes it really helps with his Muscular Dystrophy. It is suppose to assists in regeneration and can improve normal growth of aged or injured muscle, bone, cartilage, skin collagen and nerve tissue. The growth factors in Colostrum may also affect the brain's mood. It does this by regulating certain chemicals inside the brain, which result in a better mood. It's also suppose to help burn fat for fuel instead of muscle tissue in times of diet, and build & retain lean muscle during a non-diet. And if all this isn't enough it is also suppose to help promote good GI Tract health, clean it out, and help you better digest and absorb other vitamins and minerals. More Info about it here: http://www.colostruminfo.com/basic_info/what_is_colostrum.html I have not taken colestrum just for cost reasons but was considering it as well and thinking it might help with the arthritis/joint pain. I'm just worried about starting something new prior to surgery in addition to all the other stuff. Any thoughts? I've tried to talk to my primary before about supplements but he really doesn't have any knowledge so I just do all my own research. He is good in other areas such as supporting me with the gastric bypass decision. I was hoping at some point for Dana and I to find a good Sports Nutrition Medicine type physician but so far we have not had much luck. I'll look again once I am more stable. My husband really needs to go to the local MDA clinic at Hopkins. I've been encouraging him to get a referral now the last few weeks from our primary. He has seen a huge loss of muscle over the last year in the typical areas that are associated with his type of MD and its getting him a bit depressed. Dana has Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy. More info about it here: http://www.mdausa.org/disease/fshd.cfm He asked me if our insurance covered psyc counseling last week because he is getting depressed which made me thirlled but also was a reality check to me at the same time. I knew he was having a hard time but I didn't know how bad. I figured it has to be pretty bad if he is asking for cousneling. Luckily our insurance does cover 12-15 sessions. I hope he follows through but I don't want to nag him about it. So far he has not. Just this week he made the decision to stop the triathlon training because its starting to do more harm than good but it really getting him down. I think he is scared with the recent period of rapid deterioration and newer symptoms like hip pain. He never let his MD stop him before in his goals but for his own health he has to modify them for now and he understands that. He is going to cut back to less running but stick with the regular biking and swimming. Thank god we have good insurance!! We are really going to need it over this next year. His goal of finishing the half ironman next year may need to be placed on hold for a bit. Again, I apologize for the long posts today. It's just so good to get all this out!! Hope you guys don't mind. I think he is getting tired of all my WLS talk non-stop with everything else going on. I want to spend more time listening to him and his needs instead of keeping the focus on me so much in my conversations with him. Sometimes I am so go hung about whats going on in my life I feel like I don't give him an equal focus if that makes any sense.