Lucy

Count me in. I've been doing really well since a week ago and that's when I lost it. Now I'm snacking on things that I shouldn't be. My name is Lucy and I'm a Junkfoodaholic.

Try ice, not heat. Heat can actually make it worse (even though it feels good at the moment). I'm not a doctor, but I've had back pain since I was 14. Is your chiropractor any good? Try finding one who has an affiliation with a wellness center -- i.e. a place that does acupuncture and holistic medicine. They tend to be the best chiropractors. And although I always seem to disagree with Derrick in the other threads, I do agree with him here. If you strengthen your core muscles, you will have more support.

Hey everyone, hope you are all having a great summer. Things here are pretty good. My weight loss seems to have stalled, so I think I need another fill soon...I'm still so hungry all the time! Nothing really to report, just wanted to say hello.

I swim laps (with my waterproof ipod case!) and lift weights.

There is nothing "unchristian" about making money. If it's done illegally, then of course that's a different story. But I really don't think Tammy Faye had a clue. I'm certainly not defending the concept behind PTL, but you need to understand how most conservative Christian marriages work -- the husband is the head of the household and has full control over the money (and pretty much everything else). Yes, your wife would know if something like that happened because you respect her and I assume you share knowledge of your finances. Tammy Faye probably never saw a single bank statement and had absolutely no idea what was really going on. I'm sure she was well aware that they were making a lot of money, but if you were on television and investing in real estate, wouldn't you expect to be making money, too?

That makes a lot of sense. Here in Miami, where you can find more Bentleys than parking spots but not a single recycling bin anywhere, I am hard pressed to find a place to recycle plastic bags (much less anything else). So I try to avoid using them at all costs.

There is nothing elitist about getting your point across clearly. No one here is asking for correct MLA format or proper punctuation. Although your posts will be easy to read when your grammar is correct, I hardly think spelling and syntax problems are Lee's stumbling block. George W. Bush is a blubbering idiot but he makes himself loud and clear. Please do not conflate clarity with snobbery.

Tammy Faye had nothing to do with the scandals -- it was all her slimebag husband's doing. She truly did epitomize what Christianity should be -- she loved everyone and really wanted to bring goodness and love to the world. It's just too bad that she was surrounded by greedy assholes.

No milk in plastic bags here. That's actually always bothered me because one would think that paper cartons or glass would be more easily recycled than plastic bags. Canada is so pro-environment that I've never understood why you would sell milk in plastic bags. Any thoughts on this, Canucks?

As I have ankle and knee problems, I am unable to walk long/hard enough to bring my heart rate up. I am allowed to bicycle, but it's so hot where I live right now. I've thought about joining a water aerobics class and wanted to know if any of you have taken one and what your thoughts are? I'm concerned that since they are often geared toward senior citizens that it won't be very active (i.e. yoga under water).

Yep. Most of us keep our shoes on. There are a few exceptions, but the only people I know in the States who remove their shoes at the door are Brazilian, so that doesn't really count. When I was a little kid we used to vacation in Canada and I always thought the shoe thing was odd. But not as odd as the milk in plastic bags and the ketchup or pickle flavored potato chips. Toronto is one of my favorite cities in the world. If I could stand the cold, I would move there in a heartbeat (and I might even get used to removing my shoes in the doorway).

None of us can crawl into Lee's head and read his thoughts. If he truly just wanted to have a conversation and a little friendly banter, then his intentions were lost on most of us. In any situation where people are reading your words and not hearing/seeing you, it is your responsibility as the writer to be as clear as possible. If your words offend this many people and that was not your intention, then your writing style is clearly lacking in coherence. Of course, it's just as easy to write something racist and then turn around and cowardly blame the reader for "misunderstanding" your words after you've been attacked. Whatever the case may be, if you are unable to rant and rave without coming across as a racist jerk, then maybe you should avoid bringing up topics that will obviously hit a nerve with many of the people who read here. I'm not suggesting that we censor one another. But a little self-editing never hurt anyone. If you don't want to do that, it's cool with me, but don't get defensive when people start to express their discomfort with your writing.

Fun and entertainment? Are you kidding me? This is the Rants and Raves section, but that doesn't mean we entirely lose respect for one another and resort to Lord of The Flies. If deliberately trying to offend others with sexism, racism, and pedophila is your idea of fun and entertainment, then I think you're just as sick as Lee.

This is a lot different from removing your shoes at someone's home, but I'm actually really glad someone brought this up. I hate removing my shoes at the airport. I never protest because I don't want to be carted off by security, but it completely disgusts me to walk through security barefoot where who knows what has gone through there. At the very least, they should supply booties to people. (I did ask once to go through without removing my shoes and they took almost an hour to do a full body search, test my shoes for explosive matter, and dig through my suitcase)

Conversely, don't make your guests remove their footwear.

Huh? Not sure I follow...

Maybe you should see the movie before you comment on it. If you don't want to see it, then don't engage in a conversation about it because you won't have much to discuss.

We have stone floors and I am recovering from 2 ankle surgeries, so I never go barefoot. At my home I wear crocs (god knows I wouldn't be caught dead in those ugly things in public) but I would never ask someone to remove their shoes at the door. I loathe removing my shoes at someone's house. Even if I am wearing socks, I think it's rude to ask people to take off their shoes. If you really want to keep your floors pristine, then cover them in plastic and don't invite people over. Besides the fact that carpet, no matter how few shoes have tread on it, is always filthy. How many other organisms and diseases are in that absorbant sponge on the floor? I don't want my feet touching that. I especially love dog owners who require guests to remove their shoes. Right, like I want to put my bare feet on something that your dog ran around and sat on after playing outside in the same place where he relieves himself. In the states, it's not usually an issue -- I only know one person who asks people to remove their shoes. When I'm in a foreign country, I'm usually a little more considerate. But I'll Purell my feet when I'm back in the car

Or maybe it's time to lay off the meth.

Previous mistaken post corrected. (...sorry if I offended you, TommyO, it was a mistake)

Maybe it's time to start a thread called "Why is Lee4Love starting so many inane and intentionally controversial-sounding threads? Does he really think this way? Or is he so starved for attention in real life that he has to try to push strangers' buttons on an online forum that was designed to help people with the LapBand?". Yeah, that's right. Remember what this site was designed for? That's not to say that this isn't the "Rants and Raves" section and you are certainly entitled to post whatever you want here. Far be it from me to question your right to the first ammendment. But the point is that you don't really have one. I think you are just posting this shit to piss people off. Unfortunately for you, most of us on this site are: 1. women, and 2. intelligent You aren't pissing us off because we can see through your idiocy. Get a life.

I couldn't have said it any better.

You need to give exercise a good 4 to 6 weeks to show results. It might take even longer than that. The best motivation is not only losing weight and toning your body, but you will also have more energy and sleep better and you will be doing good things for your body overall. I don't mean to be rude, but if you wanted overnight success, you should have had gastric bypass. With that said, I think the elliptical machine is a very effective way to work out. You need to spend at least 30-45 minutes on it and you should aim for 5 days a week. I've had a lot of ankle problems, so I've been swimming 5 days a week.

I've been a gym member for almost 4 years. Even before the surgery I used to go on a regular basis. They have every piece of equipment that you could ever want so that if you get bored there are other options for working out. Jacqui made a good point -- join a gym that has a lot of exercise machines so you don't have to wait in line to use them. It's also nice if you join a gym that offers a lot of classes -- doing an aerobics class in person is much more stimulating than one on TV -- plus there are instructors there to make sure you are doing the exercised properly and not injuring yourself. Also, I live in a very hot and humid climate. I can ride my bike and take walks in December, but it's 90 degrees outside today. There's no way in hell I'm going outside to exercise.

I just had my first fill. It was a weird feeling, but it didn't hurt. I am VERY glad to have a fill as I have been STARVING over the last week and have been able to eat way more than I should. I've lost 20 lbs since surgery, but 18 of those were during the liquids and mushies stages. Once I hit real food, the loss slowed down a lot. My goal is to lose 2 lbs. a week, so hopefully with the fill I will have less hunger!