TerriDoodle

Jenn - The best thing you can do in the meantime is keep your throat CLEAN. Gargle with warm salt water or Listerine (if you can stand it), drink hot tea w/ lemon, and stay away from dairy products. The strep bacteria LOVE the lactose! Do you have any Chloraseptic in the house? It numbs the throat. Not great, but it does help. ((hugs)) Ms Jen - Have you talked to your doctor about the possibility of depression? Lexapro saved my life .... and marriage! If you're already on something for depression, maybe it's time for an adjustment. Sorry you've got the blahs :woot: Been there and it sux. Kat - you and Rick make me ill. Get a room already! :waytogo: Oh wait.... TracyK - Cooler weather is coming!!....someday. Can't wait! I'm ready for some outdoor festivals and cleaning up the yard and cycling in the 'hood!!! Aren't you?? Pamela - Your moods sound to me like your hormones are alive and well!! You're pretty stressed out right now, too...be good to yourself. But NOT with chocolate!! I need to schedule a teeny weeny fill too. Can't for a couple of weeks though. <snarl> Denise - I'm kinda glas your DD decided not to move back in with you...that sounded like trouble to me! There's a special place in heaven for you! We're having a bit of trouble with my DS in that regard, too and it's so damn frustrating!! Just want to hit him over the head with an iron skillet! Oh well, I made stupid choices too and survived to tell about it! I guess they will too, eh? Judy - Where are you? Today was my official weigh in day and I'm back to 186.x since my Las Vegas debacle. That was a relief! I thought for sure I'd have to work it off for 2-3 weeks!! So, ONWARD! Love you guys. :love: Have a great Friday!!!

Does putting your clothes in the dryer on the "hot" setting hoping that they'll shrink count as an improvement??

Denise - The Mile High Club counts as its members only those people who have done "it" in an airplane or jet while the plane is in flight. Woo Hoo!!

Yes! I think many make a 'natural flavor' protein w/o sweeteners...just ask at the store! Here's an example of one from my favorite online vendor: Optimum Any Whey Protein Powder

Sara - Great to see you!!! I'm sorry the weight loss isn't going so well. Me neither...but at least I am NOT gaining!! Hopefully you aren't either. So wonderful to hear Dave is doing alright! How's your job? Still thinking of making a change? Move to Texas!! Haydee - Let's try to get together soon! I know you're busy...but let's try. If you're 'in town' let me know! I got an email from Josie; she sounds good. She won't be back to Houston 'til November. Is your beading class today? There's a killer bead show in October at Reliant Center, just FYI!! Michelle - You are having a ball, aren't you?! Things seem to be finally clicking for you. I think you believed this was just going to be 'like all the rest' of your diet plans and now you've even proved yourself wrong! I hope you spend a TON of money today! Pamela - :wave: I got your bracelet but prolly won't get to it 'til this weekend. You said it's just a 'smidgen' too small, right? You think 1/2" will do it or do you want it bigger than that? Ya'll have a great day!

Oh ....and I remembered that I ended up putting 3 cubes of beef boullion in at the end.

Everyone is just doing AMAZING things this month!!! I'm just so ecstatic for all of you!!! Makes me so proud!! There's this part of me that's jealous, but it's just a fleeting thought really. The part that's happy and proud of you is SO much bigger and louder!! You're all my sistas and your success is as important to me as my own is. I"ll get 'there'...........eventually!! I've decided that I'm going to make a big ol' crock-pot of vegetable beef soup (almost) every weekend. I made some on Sunday night and have been eating it every day for lunch and it's so good! I took the time to calculate the nutritional value on dailyplate.com and it amounts to 200 calories per 2 cup serving...and 22g protein, 3g of fat and 19g carbohydrate and 4g of fiber! And what a great way to get a wide variety of veggies and micronutrients! Getting enuf veggies is always my challenge. I eat salads but need more variety. I'll post my recipe just in case anyone wants it. CROCK POT VEGGIE BEEF SOUP 1.5 # lean stew meat 1 qt (32 oz) beef broth (I used Swanson's) 1 sm can organic tomato sauce 3 cloves garlic - chopped seasoned garlic salt to taste(I use Garlic Dude Dust) black pepper to taste 1 can chopped tomatoes (I use Rotel 'cause we like it spicy) 1 zucchini cut into bite size pieces 1 yellow squash cut into pieces 1 crown broccoli cut into pieces 1/3 crown cauliflower cut into pieces 1 can Green Giant niblets corn 2 white potatoes, quartered 1 small bag baby carrots 1/2 sweet onion, chopped I trim the stew meat of all visible fat and gristle. If I have time I brown it in oil..otherwise I just throw it in the pot. I just mix all this stuff together in a 4-5 qt. crock pot and cook on low all day (10 hours). I think you can get the same result by cooking on high for 4-5 hours.

This is YOUR body that you have to live with for the rest of your LIFE!! This is YOUR decision....not your surgeon's and not your co-workers'. Remember that.

Have you seen this sticky? http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/who-has-lost-over-100-pounds-16050/ Losing 100+ pounds has been done many times!

Oh, I'm with you all the way on this one!! HOWEVER, Dr. Spivak is an excellent surgeon who advertises 'heavily'...so that may not be the only barometer of how good a surgeon is. I'm thinking referrals from other good doctors. I'd be scared to death to get a lift overseas!!! Aaaack! Let's keep each other 'abreast' of what we find out, ok?

You can get the Isopure drinks at The Vitamin Shoppe. I bought a few for post op but I didn't like them at all. I would suggest just buying one or two before you invest too much $$!

Are you taking your class at Beadaholique on Louetta?? That is by far the nicest bead shop in town. Or are you going to that one in Old Town Spring? Auntie's (or something)? It's a blast -- you'll have fun!! Bring your wallet!!

Hi all. I think I'm caught up now! Dang!! A couple of illnesses, surgical complications, a wedding and a new baby on the way just while I was gone! Kat, you sound better!! Your mouth finally started healing up after you started the drugs? That sure sounded painful!! Laura - Hugs, girlfriend! That is all such a bummer but you sound like you are handling it real well. Glad you called Inamed....I had heard they are good about warranty so was confused when you said they wouldn't cover it!? How is your sister today? Denise - Congrats on the baby!! That is so exciting!!! Michelle - You are kicking ass on that elliptical!! Don't worry about not losing during this period. Your body is in 'shock', so to speak, about this change in routine and is adjusting by holding onto some water. Just keep doin' what you're doing...you know it's the right thing! Tracy - I love your pictures!! Thanks for posting them. Ya'll look so happy!!! Makes me all googley inside. TracyK - I'm glad you went with your 'gut' on the house. It didn't sound like you were really sure...and $2,200 is a LOT of money to ask for up front! Haydee - Hi! :wave: Well, as I said earlier....I gained 2+ pounds while I was on vacation. I am not very happy about that now but at the time I was perfectly content eating like a pig!!! I lost money, too...big surprise. DH came out a bit ahead. We loved Treasure Island ...great moderate hotel and a perfect location on the strip. However, they wanted $22/day to work out in the gym so I'm way behind on my exercise and have been busy since I got back. I can literally feel my body turning to mush and I DO NOT like it. I'll be happy to get back at it tonight. I'm glad to be back -- I really, really DID miss you all while I was gone! XO!!

Could ya'll just stop posting for about a day, please? I just can't get caught up and I refuse to skip over anything!! Work is so busy! So just can it for a while, k?? I do want to say one thing: :love: CONGRATS TRACY!!! :love:

One thing's for sure, Ghost, you can't go to Las Vegas without seeing a lot of skin everywhere!!! Even our room key had a naked lady on it (back view). There are vans that drive around town with ads to 'bring the ladies to you'...i think it's got a bedroom in the back! LOL Taxi's are carrying some ad that have 5 ladies bent over wearing thongs. Lovely. Nope...I don't recommend going to Vegas if you're easily offended.

Hi folks! Just wanted to report in that I just returned from Vegas and a stay at Treasure Island. This was my 7th trip to Vegas and have stayed at a different hotel each time...from the Luxor to the Bellagio. We loved Treasure Island! It's a wonderful moderate hotel with a fabulous location. The casino is a good size -- not too big, not too small with friendly dealers. You can easily catch the tram over to the Mirage (sister hotel) next door for the REALLY big casino experience. The Venetian is right across the street and the Fashion Show Mall is across the other street. I can't imagine a better location. We went to see Rita Rudner at Harrah's one night and she was excellent. But the absolute must see show is the Cirque de Soleil show "LOVE" based on the music of the Beatles. LOVE Mystere, "O", or Love are all excellent 5-star-plus shows. LOVE was just soooo cool and very, very upbeat because everyone is singing along with the music and the theatre is very intimate. Just awesome!

Good Morning Sweet Violets! I can't wait to get caught up on all the news! For right now I'm buried in work stacked up from my absence so will catch up later this afternoon. We had so much fun in Vegas, lost money (of course!), and thoroughly enjoyed the shows and FOOD! I gained 2.5# but had a blast doing it and am ready to get back on the wagon! I missed you all! XOXO,

I got one of the Tanita scales that measures body fat and Water, etc. I know, I know those things aren't accurate....so I thought I would just use it to trend my BF, y'know? I mean, it is pretty consistent from day to day, so whatever it IS measuring, it's measuring consistently. Ok, so I've been using this scale for about a month. And according to this scale it says my BF is going UP, my water is going down and my weight is going down. What this tells me is that I'm depleting muscle!!! WTF??? I'm doing it all by the BOOK!! :help: Any words of wisdom out there??

I think Judy went on an Alaskan cruise, didn't she? That's a 10 day-er i think. Well whatever she'd doing I'll bet she's losing weight while she's doing it!! Just got thru packing ...good lawd I'm taking a lot of clothes!! Something like 11 outfits. It's so hot there you have to change clothes for the evening, then the casinos are smokey....so you can't wear anything twice. For San Jose I have to take sweaters & jackets. What a mess. I'm just glad it's done. DH and I usually go for long weekends so I'm not used to packing for a whole week. Pamela -you deserve 10 closets just like that....and so much more. I had my tiny closet done last year and I can't believe what a difference it made. My challenge was storing all this jewelry and they did a great job. In my next house I will be getting a room for my beading (which is my dining room right now) which DD and i do together....so I can't wait to have the closet people help me design the perfect "studio". Yeah, you're right....I better start selling some of this stuff!! It sure sounds like you had a nice weekend. AND I'm very glad to hear you're going to let go of that other job and concentrate on your doctorate. It'd be good to get that done, wouldn't it?? Jenn - I'll bet you get some of your energy back when it gets cooler. Those ovens and tropical temps have to be brutal and exhausting. Are you SURE you're getting enough fluids?? Laura - We're all looking forward to our plastic surgeries!! I'll need about $40K,so don't go spending all mine. :eek: Good luck!! Well, I'll be signing off for the week, Sweet Violets. Ya'll keep doing what Judy does and take it easy! Michelle - good job fighting those munchies!! I didn't do such a good job of it yesterday. I had too many carbs and that just messes me up so bad. Today was much better. I have to remind myself that just because I'm hungry it doesn't mean I have to eat!! In the old days I did because of my blood sugar issues, which are almost all gone now. But it's a knee jerk reaction to eat at the first sign of hunger .... that'll take some undoing. So did you remove all the junk food from your house or you just need to make a trip to the grocery store?....is that why you were able to resist so well? It does make a difference when the house is "clean" of stuff like that. With two teenagers I have a hard time NOT having muchy stuff around. I'd have a revolt on my hands! They're favorite snack is Toaster Streudel (YUCK!!).

FINALLY finished my necklace....now to do the earrings! I've been running errands, cleaning, packing, etc and working on this whenever I needed a break. This is my favorite necklace I've ever made! I love working with this bronze wire, but man, it's hard! Nothing like silver. turq bronze carnel 3 strand.bmp

I was having a bad couple of days, plus I quit smoking(!) 2 wks ago, so I decided I was gonna go stuff myself with Mexican food last night. Sounded and smelled sooooooooooo good. So I sit down with the full intention of ordering the cheesiest fried thing I could find. But then I remembered that I was only 'hurting' myself by giving in to that temptation. I orded beef tacos instead and was just as happy. I somehow managed to NOT eat the chips, which I also couldn't believe! The tacos finally come and boy, am I gonna let them have it! I dig in with gusto, enjoy every bite....and only managed to eat 1-1/2 tacos!! LOL I thought that was pretty funny. So that's how I gorge myself into oblivion these days....on 1-1/2 tacos. Gotta love it! This must be the "progress" of which they speak.

Brian, I had to laugh when I saw this. I thought you were pretty darn creative to get the answers you were seeking! Glad we could help! It's hard to believe that something so "simple" really does work....but we are here to prove it! I hope your wife has great success!!

Ok, yes.....let's do stay iin touch. I will start looking in earnest in the next few weeks. I don't have the nerve or the money to do a TT and/or lipo. It scares the heck out of me. But I'm not desperate YET!! LOL Check me in another couple of years!

christine - have you tried the sausage lentil soup??? It's excellent as well! I love Italian sausage .... who doesn't?

Isnt that so true, Tracy? I so often wonder how I got so lucky to find LBT and especially to be a part of this group. Just 'kismet' I guess! Ah, I remember the days when my kids took bubble baths!!! Enjoy every day, Tracy.....they grow up in the blink of any eye. I've been beading most of the day...working on a great necklace to take with me to Las Vegas and the wire is so hard that it's making my fingers, arms and even shoulders hurt!! It's worth it though...it's going to turn out so pretty...kind of a bohemian look in bronze, turquoise, brown and gold. I'll post a pic when/if it ever gets done. I've got to start packing tomorrow...we leave Monday for a week. Vegas then San Jose, CA for the weekend to see some family. I am sooooo looking forward to getting away. Oh, and today is my 20 year anniversary with my employer! I have a wonderful work family, the greatest bosses in the world, good salary and benefits...and now 5 weeks of vacation!! :whoo: I am grateful for all of it!