TerriDoodle

I'm not banded yet, BetsyJane....so I'd like to hear what YOU think!? From what I understand so far, what the good doctor said seems reasonable to me....but what do i know?

WELCOME MARGI!! :welcomeB: Thanks to everyone for the support...I do appreciate it. I dunno what's going on or what's gonna happen. It's pretty dreary around here. Oh well. I spent the day with my mom and we had a great time. She's been disabled in the last 6 months or so but she wanted to get out of the house. She can't walk very far AT ALL, so I suggested we go goof around at WalMart and she can ride the electric buggy thing. IT WAS HILARIOUS since she's never ridden one before and it was Saturday at Walmart (need I say more?).... we laughed so hard and it was so good to see my 'old' mom back again. Then we went back to her place after lunch and cleaned out her closet...LOL...so many of my 'skinny' clothes were in there that I had outgrown. (My mom has always been 5'8" and 140#....obviously I did not get her genes!!) But I pitched them anyway....I've got plans for ALL NEW clothes. Man, I wonder how many thousands of dollars in clothes I've bought & thrown away in the last 6 years?? Now, I'm an executive sec'y, so when I buy clothes they have to be fairly nice ones...and lots of them!! UGH. Here's a recent weight history to give you an idea: 2000 160 (dating, going out and eating up a storm) 2001 170 (got married to DH #2 -- still eating!) 2002 182 (threw away all my skinny clothes :tired ) 2003 156 (lost weight and threw away ALL my fat clothes :rolleyes ) 2004 185 (need new fat clothes) 2005 200 (need bigger fat clothes) 2006 215 (need even bigger fat clothes) Like I said.....thousands and thousands of $$$$. Aaaaackkkk!!! So here I am again....looking at buying and throwing out more and more clothes. Hopefully these new ones will last a while. :nervous We defiinitely need a clothing exchange going on!! I'm in 18W's & 2X now.....who wants 'em when I start pitching? bwaydiva --That's a dancing LLAMA I'll have you know!! :biggrin1: I can't even begin to describe my dreams....they're either too weird or just too sick. But I can tell you there's a lot of fat people in them!! 18 days 'til surgery! AAAck! That's just 2-1/2 weeks! We're getting so close!!!

I went back to visit my old Low-Carb journal...and sure enough, those things DO come in handy later on. I certainly don't remember the weight coming off so slowly. I was a paragon of patience!!! I was working my a$$ off with BFL and tennis and still not losing...but I plugged away...and eventually lost 26#. It was a pound here and there....gain and lose, gain and lose, but I had the support of a great forum and a diet that I was happy with (read: wasn't hungry all the time). I rarely cheated. I was faithfully keeping my #'s on fitday.com. Apparently that's a formula that works for me. Remember that. Been having the strangest dreams EVER the last few nights. On a totally unrelated note, I just wanted to pat myself on the back here. I just finished a week-long project at work where I created the absolute Picasso of Powerpoint presentations for our Chairman to use when he's at investor conferences, one-on-ones, etc. Everyone was ooooing and aahhhhing over my maps and color choices, etc. I have to say that it was very good work and a 900% improvement on the one they were using before. They finally broke down and gave me the opportunity to create one, and VOILA!....I did real good. Everyone is happy! (Except the other secretary who USED TO do them )

I went back to visit my old Low-Carb journal...and sure enough, those things DO come in handy later on. I certainly don't remember the weight coming off so slowly. I was a paragon of patience!!! I was working my a$$ off with BFL and tennis and still not losing...but I plugged away...and eventually lost 26#. It was a pound here and there....gain and lose, gain and lose, but I had the support of a great forum and a diet that I was happy with (read: wasn't hungry all the time). I rarely cheated. I was faithfully keeping my #'s on fitday.com. Apparently that's a formula that works for me. Remember that. Been having the strangest dreams EVER the last few nights. On a totally unrelated note, I just wanted to pat myself on the back here. I just finished a week-long project at work where I created the absolute Picasso of Powerpoint presentations for our Chairman to use when he's at investor conferences, one-on-ones, etc. Everyone was ooooing and aahhhhing over my maps and color choices, etc. I have to say that it was very good work and a 900% improvement on the one they were using before. They finally broke down and gave me the opportunity to create one, and VOILA!....I did real good. Everyone is happy! (Except the other secretary who USED TO do them )

Ok, so who is having REALLY REALLY STRANGE DREAMS lately??? :whip: :) :kev::flypig: :spy: :llama:

:welcomeB: Pull up a chair! Stay awhile!

You're worried because you've only lost 41 pounds in 4 months!!?!??!! I wish I had your problems!

I posted a poll a while back that asked "would you do it again?" and out of 137-something respondents, 97% said YES. Most of those said YES, YES, A MILLION TIMES YES!! You can see the comments if you go to the general discussion forum and look back about 3-4 pages.

It's kinda strange to me to hear the wide variety of things that we were each told. ??? You'd think he'd have his speech memorized by now!! LOL

OK girlz (no guys, huh?), I'm just gonna ramble here most 'cause I'm bored with nothing better to do. First, confession time: I went out and ate a 1/3 basket-full of tortilla chips and some enchiladas verdes for dinner. I got on the scale this morning and had dropped a couple of pounds, so I figure, "Hey, why not? I'll never get to eat this again." It absolutely IS my favorite dinner in the world, but jeez.... this last supper thing is hard to shake!! The other thing is that earlier in the week DH and I had an argument and we basically haven't spoken to each other since. (It had to do with a long-standing problem about money that I thought was being resolved, but apparently isn't. The problem is that he doesn't share info with me 'cause he's the big $$-winner ...?? doesn't make sense to me...I'm his WIFE). Anyway, I'm wondering if he's feeling a little insecure about my losing weight...he said something about me 'taking 1/2 the money and leaving'. Huh??? Oh, I dunno where I'm going with this. I guess I'm just upset that this issue is never going to go away and I'm all obsessing about the surgery and I guess just trying to tie the two together. I'm loo-loo. I don't know how or when we'll ever start speaking again. Could be days. Lovely, huh? And speaking of telling family and friends....I don't know what to tell my sister and mom. My mom is pretty feeble and I help to take care of her on the weekends (running errands, keeping her company, taking her to lunch, etc.) but obviously I won't be able to do that after my surg (Easter wknd)...so I gotta figure out what to tell them. I don't want to worry mom about this at her age. She wouldn't understand it in her state of mind. No way...she'd confuse it with bypass and would freak out. So I have to tell my sister something so she can cover for me that wknd, but can't tell her the truth either. She DEFINITELY could use the surgery herself, but has always been so....petty...or jealous....or something with me. I dunno. She'll think it's the dumbest thing in the world and tell everyone we know "what an idiot" I am....only because she's so embarrassed about being so FAT herself. She's gonna come unglued when I start losing weight. GAWD I hope I weigh 130 someday!! LOL I've only told my hubby (of course), my 2 kids (sworn to secrecy), and two girlfriends (also sworn to secrecy). I think I can get away with that. I hope. I really don't want to tell anyone else. Wow, can't believe my ticker says 19 days 'til surgery. Yikes. Gotta start seriously getting my ducks in a row!! I am WAY sick of being fat.

I'm sorry, but I canNOT imagine going thru a tummy tuck!!....or whatever! But then again, I'm not there yet. I suppose it's possible....with enough morphine! :success1:

Hey Kimmie -- That's ALL good information....especially about your great weight loss!!! I'm proud of you, girl!!! :success1:

Interesting article about food addictions and obesity.... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/why-am-addicted-t31405.html?p=415992#post415992

Does anyone know why these gas pains settle in the shoulder area? That seems very strange to me. Betsyjane - I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed your meeting!! I wish I could go but it's impossible for me on Tuesday nights . I think this board will have to serve as only my support system....but hopefully that will be more than enough.

Sheila -- Don't you realize that each and every one of us are 'beating ourselves up' because we don't have the 'willpower'? Yes, I feel quite sure that we are all doing that. For me to do what it takes I literally would have to stay hungry 80% of the day and exercise my butt off 5-6x a week. Do I have the 'willpower' to stay hungry 80% of my waking hours for the rest of my life?? Hell NO. Who does??? My genetic makeup is what it is...yours is too....and we are just lucky that we have this tool to help us. Do I wish I didn't have to do this? Yes. Am I absolutely GRATEFUL that this solution is available to me??? Oh, GAWD YES!!! Am I concerned that I won't be able to stay on the LB food plan? Yes, a little....I'm sure we all are. It's a big, big change. But, for me, I know that if a plan succeeds for me and I'm losing even 5#...I'm on a ROLL baby and I stay motivated like crazy. It still doesn't get me to the gym like I should, but I stick to the plan otherwise. My BIG thing is avoiding hunger and the band should help with that. I think I will do alright. I don't think I'll be losing 20# in 2 weeks like so many do, but I think I'll lose enough to keep me moving in the right direction....slowly but surely....moving toward my goal. And look at ALL THIS SUPPORT!! We're all going to be doing this together and that is going to be a huge help. Tracy - That list is surely not updated for all those users, right? So what I'm saying is that only reflects the loss for the last time those users 'checked in'...and in reality their total losses at one year could be much higher! Wooo hooo!!! :biggrin1: Terry

....on Atkins or other low carb plan, fruit is avoided, with the exception of a few berries 3-4x a week. I mix them with cottage cheese and splenda and have that for breakfast! My favorite! I'm eating lunch at my desk right now...low carb...and I have zucchini, cauliflower and chicken breast that is smothered in a cajun creole sauce. :hungry: No roll, no rice!! You want to keep your carbs below 40-50/day. Atkins starts out at 20g/day, but that's tough to do. I like to use www.fitday.com for counting carbs and calories. Good luck to ya!!

Here ya go. This website appears to contain very comprehensive information: http://www.leakygut.co.uk/index.htm Best of luck to you. I do hope the band will help you in lots of ways! :clap2:

Well Jenn, it certainly sounds like you are on the right track. It is such a healthy thing that you are doing!!! I am sure it is painful for you (whatever it is) but you're OK now. You're safe and you're taking care of yourself and that is probably a HUGE step for you. KEEP GOING!! We're here for you.

I've been a b*tch all week, feeling down and wondered if it had anything to do with my upcoming surgery. I can't put my finger on it. And yes, I feel like crawling into bed, too. :phanvan Guysis, thanks for checking up on us and for your insight. Do you mind holding our hands just a few more weeks?? C'mon guys.... GROUP HUG!!! :eek:

Well, I'm glad I don't have your doctor!! I know I couldn't do that. No way. that's precisely why I'm getting the BAND!!

Leaky Gut is a very interesting "theory"...I don't know if it's recognized formally in the medical field but in the natural medicine field it most certainly is. I think you'd be amazed at seeing yourself in the profile. If you'd like me to find you some links, I'd be happy to do that. If you're a carb addict and have leaky gut....you surely will have those problems. Maybe after you get banded and stay away from bread & Pasta, you'll see some improvement. Although I think it's recommended to avoid ALL wheat gluten...period. Best of luck to you.

Well, I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it!! Thanks everyone.

I have back problems from time to time...I can tell you that Tyelnol is NOT going to cut it next time my back goes out. I wonder what my alternatives will be??

I'm just curious...have you ever done a low=carb diet? When I was die-hard LC, I knew a lot of people who had your symptoms and were helped when they cut out wheat products. Have you ever tried that? You may also want to look up "leaky gut syndrome" and see if anything rings a bell for you. Just my 2 cents.

:bump: Bumpin' on up!