TerriDoodle

:usa2:Good Morning Violets! Please take a moment today to remember our troops who sacrifice so much. My nephew is in the Air Force.:cool: Do any of you have friends or relatives that are active? Well I think my 3rd fill is doing the trick very nicely. It's been a week and so far I'm not feeling it loosen up as much as inthe past. This is a very good thing. Yesterday I had to remind myself to eat dinner!! Remember those post-op days?? So for those of you that are struggling with hunger and eating too much....take heart!!! What they say is true!! It's ALL about good restriction and it does come in time! I've gotten so much good information from LBT. I can't imagine going thru this experience without it!! Can you? All these nice folks smoothing our ruffled brows, reassuring us over and over from the very beginning of our anxieties about making the decision and then surgery, post-op, weird pains, liquid diets, restriction, etc. How wonderful this has been to have their support and wisdom! Makes me sad for those that have decided to quit posting. I hope they're still reading at least. So THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS Without you there would be no LBT. Kat?? We're worried! ....How's your baby?

Oh, I'm SOOOOO happy for you Ashley!! It's so worth everything and Dr. Spivak is the BEST!

Have any of you read self-help books on the subject of men being this way? I guess there's as many reasons as there are men, but I just can't imagine! Every man I've ever been with is always ready, day or night. I suppose it's gotta be psychological....some trauma or madonna complex or other Freudian thing. Got wood but not interested in sex. Hmmmm. I did see a Dr Phil thing one time that was on this subject. The man was a model father and husband in all ways, except that he had been caught with a hooker! The family was mortified, as he was. When Dr.Phil got to the bottom of it, turns out the guy is overweight and was ashamed of his body....didn't want his wife touching him or getting near him because of his shame. I'm sure many of us can relate. Men are sometimes so lousy at verbalizing their feelings or even knowing what they are....maybe they don't even know why they're like that. Have any of you asked them to go to a psychologist or sex therapist with you?

OMG Tracy!!!! YOU'RE MELTING AWAY!!!!!!!! Eat, girl...EAT!!! (old Italian joke)

Take as much Gas-X as allowed by the directions on the box and walk or move as much as you reasonably can. The Gas-X really helped me, but I had to take it every few hours. Kat - we're thinking of you. Hope your baby is much better by now.

Yeah, my libido crashed and burned when I hit menopause then got on Lexapro! But before Lexapro I was a raving BITCH and DH probably didn't want anything to do with me anyway! Poor DH, he just can't win. It's getting better now though.

May I ask why you're driving to California? We have some of the best surgeons right here in Texas! Is it the cost difference?

Slime is not really all that 'disgusting'... to me it's just like thicker saliva. it has no taste or anything. It's just an annoyance and it reminds you that you've done something wrong!! So you just learn from it and try not to repeat that behavior (or food) again. If you're banded you WILL slime at some point....almost guaranteed.

The first thing that comes to mind is that you may just need to eliminate lettuce - many people have problems with it, especially iceburg. Was the chicken dark or white meat? And have you maybe gotten 'sloppy' about chewing really well and eating slowly? I can get more food in if I eat slower, letting each bite settle before taking the next one. I haven't noticed any connection to my workouts and restriction. You don't seem to eat many calories, Jenn. Do you count them? I'm wondering if maybe you've stalled a bit because you need MORE. Have yourself a bit of a pig-out day for a couple of days and see what happens. Not on junk, of course, but just up your calories to 1500-1800 for 2-3 days then back down. It works for me sometimes. Your body adapts to the same ol thing and you need to shake things up from time to time. I know you know all this already....feel like I'm preaching to the choir!

Gosh, I haven't been able to get to this journal for the longest time! Ever since we went to the new "skin" the link didn't work. Found a work-around. so, it's July 3rd and I feel like I'm doing great!! Had my 3rd fill 6 days ago and am loving my restriction. If it could stay just like this I'd be real happy! Hopefully I'll start losing like a good bandster now. I'm exercising 5x a week: working with a trainer (Rory), trying different classes (they all kick my butt), swimming, cardio, etc. This morning I will try spinning for the first time. Last night I tried a step class (fun!). WHO IS THIS PERSON? Feel great and have no plans to stop, that's for sure. I think this is the longest I have consistently worked out and am really feeling all the benefits. It's incredible and I'm hooked! Richard is working out too and I noticed this morning that his biceps are really getting BIG! I'll have to check out the rest of him a little more closely!! :car: Today I weigh 194. Seem to be averaging about 1 lb/week...maybe a little less. But that's pretty good because I'm not "dieting" per se. Eating things I enjoy, just less of them. I've had to get rid of SO many clothes but hated them anyway! LOL Gave them to Holly and hopefully she's getting some use out of them. She'll get more! Making great friends here on LBT. It's been a wonderful source of support and my sister Violets are all doing very well. This is an incredible journey and so much fun to have others going thru the same experiences and sharing our victories. What a positive place! Hopefully I'll be posting here more often. I'm so pumped and this is a good place to write where people won't get tired of me. LOL I LOVE MY BAND!!

Gosh, I haven't been able to get to this journal for the longest time! Ever since we went to the new "skin" the link didn't work. Found a work-around. so, it's July 3rd and I feel like I'm doing great!! Had my 3rd fill 6 days ago and am loving my restriction. If it could stay just like this I'd be real happy! Hopefully I'll start losing like a good bandster now. I'm exercising 5x a week: working with a trainer (Rory), trying different classes (they all kick my butt), swimming, cardio, etc. This morning I will try spinning for the first time. Last night I tried a step class (fun!). WHO IS THIS PERSON? Feel great and have no plans to stop, that's for sure. I think this is the longest I have consistently worked out and am really feeling all the benefits. It's incredible and I'm hooked! Richard is working out too and I noticed this morning that his biceps are really getting BIG! I'll have to check out the rest of him a little more closely!! Today I weigh 194. Seem to be averaging about 1 lb/week...maybe a little less. But that's pretty good because I'm not "dieting" per se. Eating things I enjoy, just less of them. I've had to get rid of SO many clothes but hated them anyway! LOL Gave them to Holly and hopefully she's getting some use out of them. She'll get more! Making great friends here on LBT. It's been a wonderful source of support and my sister Violets are all doing very well. This is an incredible journey and so much fun to have others going thru the same experiences and sharing our victories. What a positive place! Hopefully I'll be posting here more often. I'm so pumped and this is a good place to write where people won't get tired of me. LOL I LOVE MY BAND!!

My doctor gave me a laminated card (his business card) and on the back it says: Patient Name: _________________ Please permit the above named patient to purchase a child's plate. He/She had gastric surgery which limits food intake. Of course it is still up to the restaurant mgmt. as to whether or not they will allow it, but maybe it helps. I've never used it.

Thanks, Angie. We just have to wait and see. The doctor said that sometimes they can discontinue them once they've past all that hormone craziness....maybe like his early 20's.

Here ya go, Roslyn....I re-sized your before photo. You look FANTASTIC!! Keep it up girl! You're gonna make all the boys cry!

Well, it IS something you could try....following a few of the bandster rules. Before I was banded i did wean myself off of drinking with meals and made a serious effort at eating smaller portions, more slowly and chewing well. It DID help me to lose 3 pounds ....but I was hungry much of the time. I'm sure that over time I would have resorted to my old habits, however. The band prevents that from happening....and that is the beauty of the system!

You didn't sound preachy at all, Tracy. It simply illustrates the difficulty of the decision and that in the end each parent has to decide what is best for their child in their own set of circumstances! For my DS, his symptoms didn't really start until puberty hit, then the depression followed and our world was suddenly in massive turmoil! His situation is totally different than yours. I would definitely have a difficult time medicating a smaller child just beginning school. If it were me I'm sure I'd try everything else in the book before resorting to medication. With my son we were running out of time and his future was at stake. Flunking out of high school was not one of the options were were willing to mess around with. I just thank God every day that he is better.

My 16 year old son was diagnosed last year with 'borderline' ADHD (i.e., he's not a severe case). I went thru all the research looking for any way to avoid putting him on medication (Adderal) but in the end we decided to try it just to see how he did. At the same time he was also diagnosed with depression and was put on medication for that as well. You can imagine how freaked out I was!! I did NOT want my son on these medications!!!!! But the doctor talked at length with us and we were convinced to at least try it for a few months and she assured us she would keep a very close eye on him. I am happy to say that he has done a complete 180 degree turn around. He was failing school, doing drugs and being VERY defiant and combative. Our lives were a living hell for several months. When treatment began we also got him into a drug treatment program for teens based on the 12 steps, so that was good too. He is once again his old self and his second semester grades were a B average. He doesn't do drugs or drink. I can't even imagine what our lives would be like now if he weren't being treated. In hindsight, his drug use turned out to be the catalyst for getting some serious evaluations done and discovering his illness. I think he's gonna be OK. WHEW. Bottom line about the ADHD drugs.... you can try other methods but if things don't get better don't dilly-dally. Precious time can be wasted as the school year rolls on. As they fail at school their self-esteem gets hammered and starts a cycle that's hard to break.

I've seriously got tears in my eyes.... It's so wonderful to hear the sweet sound of VICTORY!! God bless us all as we move farther along this path. Thank you for posting. I hope to hear from many more!

Faith -- trust me.... you won't care anymore. You'll just be glad you can be satisfied on a cup of food and want to do a happy dance after every meal! Yes, paying $20 for your dinner would be a huge waste of money!! Maybe you could make some kind of deal with the manager since you are good customers.

Our home remedy for hiccups is either a tsp of sugar or to eat a banana! The banana trick we just learned about recently...and it works! Sorry Haydee :eek: That would drive me nuts too!

Aren't we just paragons of virtue all of a sudden?? :eek:

I have been having real issues with this lately, too. DH and I used to eat out a lot. I just hate to cook! Anyway, DH misses that social time we had so we still go out to eat every few days or so and I always am so amazed at how much food is on my plate!!! Yesterday I ordered a taco salad and that thing looked like a MOUNTAIN! I had maybe 1/10 of the thing. Simply amazing. But the thing that is really getting to me is watching my DH shove food into his mouth....it almost grosses me out. He takes huge bites, chews a few times, takes a big swig of drink WHILE he's still chewing, then swallows.....followed VERY closely by another big bite..... OMG!!! He hasn't changed. I HAVE. I have tried to gently suggest he TRY smaller bites, slower eating and cutting back on his drinks during meals. HA!! I might as well be talking to a brick. It just took me 30 minutes to finish 1/2 c. of cottage cheese. I'm very happy I've been banded.

I was self pay so I didn't have to deal with the insurance headaches (Thank you, God!)....but as I understand it, one of the things the insurance companies are looking for is whether or not you can be disciplined enough to lose weight. The statistics show that those who have the most success with weight loss surgery are those that have lost weight in the past (but not necessarily are able to keep it off). Comprende? So maybe a conversation with your insurance representative is the one you should be having....to find out what happens "if"... Best of luck to you. I feel your frustration

There's something that drives me nuts. I've belonged to weight loss boards before and now this one. I don't understand how somebody can weigh the same amount as me, be essentially the same height as me and FIT INTO CLOTHES 4 SIZES SMALLER than me??? Saw a girl posting that she wears a size 12, but other stats are the same as mine. I wear a 14W for cryin' out loud!!! How is that even possible? 1) She's exaggerating (or lying) 2) She's been working out and has rippling muscles of steel (NOT!) 3) She carries her weight differently (maybe, but 4 sizes??) or 4) She has to use tools and winches to get into her clothes ?????????????????????? I just don't get it.

Oh, wait! Does it make me a perv if I have a deep desire to (one day) post my pic on the B&A thread so people can check ME out??? Now THAT gets my motor goin'!!