Marimaru

I can drink down a 24 oz bottle pretty quickly. The trick for me is to make sure I don't puff out my cheeks, I can swallow as much water as my mouth can hold without my puffing out my cheeks full of water.

I love sushi and it goes pretty well. My favorite way to have it now is to have the pieces of fished over a bowl of rice (sushi bowl). Then I can eat the fish, and nibble on the rice if I want.

Wow, I also missed this at first. Please continue to let her know we are thinking about her!

That's great!! Keep up the good work!

Thou needst a belt!

I was on depo for a long time, and when I wanted to get off of it I asked my dr. about having an IUD, even though I haven't had any kids. She said that the gyno would do it if I asked, but it's not generally recommended, because it can cause some scaring on the cervix, which can make child birth more difficult (but perhaps not if you've already had a kid?).

Dr C is great . I don't know him personally, but I've seen him giving advice on another forum. Gotta love anyone with obsession to help us!

Both the TT and the boob lift should have no effect on birthing and pregnancy, the only reason (that I have found) why it is not recommended to get these before having kids, is that the pregnancy and the breast feeding can kind of undo the effects. But like I said before, the effects of pregnancy and breast feeding on a flat stomach and perky boobs is still a better turnout than what I've got goin' on now.

I think that I would definately contact an attorney to find out what you can do, even to get financial compensation for all of the debt you are in now. It's been a year, but for a good portion of that year you were getting treatment to help with the original incident. I'm not sure I would try and contact the doctor again myself, because likely he wont give you anything, or call your back or anything, but if you could get the law envolved you might be able to get some relief. Many lawyers will talk to you over the phone and tell you whether they think you have a case or whether they think they can help you. If you wouldn't mind, would you keep us updated if you are able to get anywhere?

I'm 24, and was banded almost 2 years ago (July 2nd). I've been on and off of diets since I was about 8, maybe younger. The first few diets weren't too bad (healthier food, no seconds, only healthy snacks), but when my parents divorced and my dad had custody for a while, he put me on slimfast and weighed me every day. It's really humiliating to take a slimfast for lunch at school. I'm down 65 lbs, which is pretty slow, but downward is downward. I'm getting married in a year, and if I can lose another 65 lbs by then, I'll be ecstatic. If nothing else, I know I am going to have a breast lift. I will probably have any plastic surgery done in the next couple of years, even though I haven't had kids yet. I don't want to be in my 30's by the time I have the body I want, and if things sag a little bit after having kids, it still wont be as bad as it is now, lol. I've gone from a size 24 to a size 16. I would LOVE to be an 8, if only to say I'm in single digit sizing, lol.

2 pieces of deli turkey as a snack is no big deal. Deli meat has made many a meal for me, with a little cheese or on a salad. If it hurts to eat, you are too tight. You should be able to eat decently comfortably, but get satisfied more quickly. You may be a little swollen from the fill, so I'd suggest giving it a little time to settle down, or do whatever it is going to do, but if it hurts to eat, something is wrong.

I just have to second what leatha said about being full. If I have a big bowl of soup, I can get that "I ate too much" feeling and it's really horrible now. It hasn't happened very often, because I try not to serve myself that much and I try not to have liquidy soup as a meal too often.

Lindsay, Have you read the "Why are YOU Fat?" thread? I think it will help you feel not so 'exposed', as you read those stories. All the stories are different, but the same, you know? As for head hunger, if you figure it out, let me know. I KNOW I want to eat when I am bored. Other than that it seems random, but I haven't been doing the journaling where you write down times, moods, what's going on, what you want to eat, what you end up eating etc. I have heard that can be helpful. I only write down that I DO eat and the calories of it. On the days I work, usually after lunch I will plan everything throughout the rest of the evening so I know what I can eat when I get home, it's just a matter of when I do it. If I spread that out over the evening, I don't find myself scrounging the fridge looking for something else. If I eat it all early in the evening it's a struggle to not go get something else later. I also try and have small meals so that I can have Snacks. That sounds awful outloud, but if I plan for it, I feel like it's alright. A "Snack" could be a salad or a bowl of veggies, or lite icecream or any number of things. Some of them could be considered 'small meals' so you might say some days I have 4 or 5 small meals instead of 3 meals and some snacks.

I didn't have one, and would almost wish I did, just because I had to pee SO BAD when I got to my room. Other than that, it was a little painful to have to get up and go every now and then, but at the same time, it had me up and walking, which is good.

For me, when I find myself snacking like that I have to just make myself STOP. The quickest way to do this is for me to count calories. Most of the time I'll go for something and then say "Man, I really don't want to have to write this down" and so I don't eat it. Even when I am counting calories I have some Snacks, but I count them, and usually they are planned. 3 4oz meals a day wouldn't cut it for me, but if you can do it with restriction, that's great! I don't really measure my food, I just count calories. Restriction helps a 'serving' be 'enough', whereas it never was before. There are times I *could* eat more, but I'm not hungry if I don't.

There are a good number or people who don't feel restriction with just the band, and still don't have much after the first fill... or two... or more. But there are also a number of people who either don't need a first fill for a long time, or don't need a second fill for a long time. That's awesome for you!

Ok, here's me, 2nd grade, ready for a sock hop that was being sponsered for a bunch of homeschooled kids.

I called on my neighbor a while back after I heard what sounded like her beating them. I told CPS that I wasn't sure about the physical abuse, but that I knew that they were mentally abused. This woman was always screaming at her kids calling them nasty things. I know they came and checked up on her, but I don't know what came of it. I will say that I hardly ever hear her yelling at them anymore. If he's done it more than once, there's a good chance he has or will do it more than twice. Probably it can be dealt with by counceling and anger management classes, but someone will probably have to make him do it.

There's a Dr. Owens in San Pedro that I know will take Mexico Patients. I haven't seen him yet, but talked to his staff, because like you, I can go across the border, but might not want to later. Let me know if you are interested and I'll get you his info. As for Fill Centers... I've been told by them for the last year an a half that a place was opening in Torrance "soon", so I really have a bad taste in my mouth about them. Just commentary.

I hope you get this resolved and get to feeling better. I would think if it was placed wrong you would have had problems from the beginning? Or right when you could eat solid foods? Either way, it's good you can get a doctor closer to home!

I can understand your frustration, but without restriction there's nothing to do but diet to lose weight, or not diet and wait for the restriction. I think you need to at *least* wait until you have restriction. Or maybe get the process started but don't let up on getting restriction with the band. What are you eating now that you are worried wont go through?

I haven't had this problem, but I think you might want to see your doctor. The thing that comes to my mind is maybe a hernia of some sort?

That's great! Congrats!!

I don't really have any advice, but wanted to let you know my thoughts were with you and your cousins. I think that if at any point she actually told you "I cannot take care of my baby", that really should be it. You don't really get to decide what days you can deal with your kids..

Hookie huh? My hookie is usually when my mom (who is my boss) says "You should stay home tomorrow". Usually I sleep in and play on the computer, may or may not get any house work done. Working for my mom, it's easy for me to pop out and run errands and things like that. More often than not, it's HER messaging me (yahoo), saying "I need to run errands want to go?" which translates into "Come pick me up so we can run errands". I love my mom.