TerriDoodle

That is a hoot about 'not telling your mom' so it must be bad!! Oh, if only my 'wise' words would stick with my kids like that!! And YES, do eat some breakfast....protein is best. Even like Tracy...just a protein shake or a bar is better than nothing. I tried a good one yesterday, South Beach Diet Caramel Peanut Bar. YUM!!! Yeah, Schexy...it was YOU! I couldn't remember who it was that was from Houston. Oh, let's try to get together!! WHEN? Evening after work? Lunch on a Saturday? Coffee in the afternoon??? When is best for everyone? I'm easy.

This is me doing the "I'm-so-happy-Tracy-hit-the-230's" dance!!!

OMG!!!! TRACY'S IN THE 230'S!!!!! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::whoo: Bitch slap yourself some more!!!

Where is JUDY??? Is she mad at us? She's always here first thing! Where is PAMELA??? On vacation? NSV for the day: Had to wash jeans in hot water so they would SHRINK! Got into a great blouse that I haven't worn in 2 years.

Yeah, it's a hoot! I used to play in my 20's and always loved it. DH and I play (he's 61) but only for about 20-30 minutes before it kicks our butts. But it sure gets the heart rate up!

You will see this 1000 times or more on this board but I'm gonna say it one more time: This is the best thing I ever did for myself and I LOVE MY BAND! Just do it. You will not regret it.

The chest pain may very well be related to your breathing and lung capacity being impaired by the anesthesia. Your doctor should have recommended breathing exercises for you to do, so make sure you do them. If he didn't, then at the very least here is what you do. Every 2 hours or so take 10 very deep breaths. The first may be a little hard, but they get easier with each breath. This will help immensely. Doing these exercises will help prevent pneumonia. If the pain continues, especially if you are running any kind of fever or have a peristent cough, call your doctor!!

Sounds like you are progressing normally....BUT ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND GOING TO WORK!!????!??!?!? Congratulations on your new band! But PLEASE stay home for the next 3-4 days at least!!!!

I've added racquetball to my list now!

Josie -- we are pretty close to each other! I work near I-10 and Highway 6! We should meet for a drink some night...or uh....coffee! I live on the NW side, near Barker Cypress & West Road...but you prolly don't know where that is. Hell, we could have our own Violet support group in Houston. I think there's 4 of us here, right? Haydee, me, Josie and TracyK. Maybe Househuntress too? Who else? TracyK -- My husband would NEVER let me go to Vegas without him! I was definitely planning on bringing him! I'll bet our guys would have fun meeting each other too! Wouldn't it be funny if we went to a restaurant together?? The guys would all order meals and the girls would all be ordering appetizers! The waiter would think we're some sort of penny-pinching-coupon-clipping club! Oh, I hope we can pull this off!! Did Judy go to bed even EARLIER than usual tonight?

I'm definitely interested!!! Based on location and price, I can recommend Bally's, Flamingo or Harrah's. If you want more upscale then Paris or Mirage. If you're not worried about location and more interested in value, then I'd suggest Luxor or Golden Nugget. The Luxor or Bally's is probably a good choice based on all factors considered. If folks will be bringing their kids along, I'd suggest New York New York. I do know from previous calls that the Harrah's chain (which includes Ballys, Paris and Caesar's Palace & others ?) requires 21 rooms for a block. Otherwise you get the usual prices as found online.

So check out this thread, dawgs!! .... LBT in Vegas February '08

I am ridiculously picky about eating fish. If it has the slightest fishy taste I cannot eat it at all. Yuck!! But alas, I find that fish is about the only kind of 'meat' I can eat!! So I've been trying different things. I just finished a filet that I bought at Sam's and it was absolutely delicious! It's in a big package of about 12 filets or so, called Treasures from the Sea, Parmesean Encrusted Tilapia. Buy it!!! 18 mins in the oven, then sprinkled with fresh lemon juice and I wanted more!!

GALVESTON CRUISES : Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess Cruises from Galveston, Texas, Cruises to Mexico Click on the link above. 5 nights to Mexico, from Galveston (in April) starting at $366! If you want to check on flights, Hobby Airport in Houston would be preferable to IAH (Bush Intercontinental). TracyK can take HObby and I'll take IAH....we'll be waiting there with 15 passenger vans!! Let's GO!

Hi. I'm Terry. I've been banded 3 months and 8 days and I have only lost 19# since surgery.

I book travel all the time here at work, so I did this real quick... If we went to Vegas in April 4th for 3 nights, these are some hotel rates : Golden Nugget - $367 (downtown, not on the strip, but newly renovated and very nice) Bally's $517 (good location on the strip) Flamingo $520 (older hotel, good location) Harrah's $435 (a fun party hotel, good location) Paris $677 (upscale, good location, on the rail) I also did a sample airfare from Houston and it was $560. Normally we can get a fare of around $250-300. I assume it's higher in April because it's their peak season. So that's roughly $1100 for 3 nights! Ouch! We could cruise out of Galveston (Houston) on Carnival for way cheaper than that.

Terry hereby gives you permission to take ONE day off from the gym.

Can somebody tell me what the status of this gathering is?....or is it dead in the water?

I guess I haven't been paying close attention!! 12 POUNDS??!?!?! Good Lawd!! I think I've lost 1 or 2. <SIGH>Congrats, girlfriend!! Well, duh! I get on LBT!!! ...LOL this is always so funny to read a post saying, "I'm going to go for a walk (or to rehearsal or to the gym, etc)" and then 2 posts later.... "I'm BACK!" Like a time warp or something. Somebody say VEGAS??? Oh, I am SO there. Ve-gas, Ve-gas, Ve-gas, Ve-gas!!!! :cheer2:

Bump this up!! Keep the tilapia ideas coming! I don't generally like fish, but I'm not totally in love with Tilapia!!!!

TracyKS- Nope, never ate my nanner! I'll save it for tomorrow. I like it mashed togethr with peanut butter and eaten with a spoon for breakfast! Weird, huh? But oh so yummy. Mashed bananas is one of my comfort foods....from like when I was 3!! Yes, I honestly think you'll only be able to eat half of that. Jenn?? Don't you agree? (She's got good restriction) Today it took me 45 mins to eat a scoop of crab salad; it just had crab, dill, lite mayo, celery and green onion in it. My salad plate also had a scoop of chicken salad and fruit salad and a piece of pita bread. Of course, normally it would all be gone within 20 min (pre-band), but after the crab, I had to put the rest away. Later I had 1/2 of the chicken salad and 1/2 of the pita bread at about 4:00. After my workout tonight I had 1/2 banana and <1Tbsp of peanut butter. (Bkfst was 1/2 c cottage cheese and some raspberries; later was a SBD protein snack bar). That's it for the day. I calculate that to be roughly 1050 calories. Minus my workout, that's a net of about 800 calories. A pretty typical day here in bandland. Cool beans on the NSV, girlfriend!! I'm jealous! Not one single person has said anything to me. (except for those who 'know') Kinda irritating. I KNOW I look hawt! Hello!!?!?! TracyK - Feeling better?? So glad to hear about the work situation!! Maybe she was just jackin' with ya. Michelle - your fluids will feel the same. You may first notice restriction when you eat solid food...like tuna or chicken. Do yourself a favor and go slow between bites until you know how a food will go down. The very minute you start to feel pain in your chest...slow down, smaller bites, chew well. Wait for the pain to go before taking one more bite! Where is PAMELA?? I forget. I miss her.... and LAURA too!!! Haydee?? You 'round?

Boy, am I glad I asked!! Savin' my money!

Liz - I can tell you that all of us run through a whole host of emotions. You are perfectly normal. You are probably feeling a mourning process for food that you think you're going to have to give up....or beating yourself up for 'having' to take this step....or maybe a fear of the surgery or just the plain ol' unknown. What I did was trust the hundreds of people here who said over and over again, "I LOVE my band!!" I just kept putting one foot in front of the other trusting that all these people couldn't ALL be wrong! So here I am...3 months post-op and I'm here to tell you that I LOVE my band! Right after surgery I was like "What the hell have I done to myself?" I was really scared for a few days there. But once I got past th epost surgical pain and on my way ....especially when I started dropping the weight....I was fine. I have to tell you that LBT is absolutely an essential method of support. I don't know how anyone goes thru this without all the help of others who have gone before. Stick around. Keep going. You will be SO glad you did. Trust me.

I can't wait to eat my nanner! See my nanner?? That is, if I ever get hungry again!

TracyKs- you inspired me to learn the same skill. Behold! below is a photo I've taken of my pencil/pad/clip-organizer-thingy from my desk. Just wait til you get your next fill -- you'll only be able to eat 1/2 of that and it will take you 45 minutes!!