Frustrated

Just after Halloween last year I picked up number of snack plates just because they were on special. These are plates that are only meant to hold nuts or candy, but I looked at them and thought "hm, that's about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup". So I ended up buying half a dozen of them. They may not be the most elegant set of plates I own, and they don't go with anything else, but for now their function is to help me control my portions. They do that perfectly. I've even considered buying plate sets designed for babies and toddlers because they were a better size. Whatever works, right? :biggrin2: I'll never be accused of being a fashion guru, so it doesn't bother me that my plates aren't as grown-up or matching as everything else in my cupboards. SpongeBob doesn't seem to mind either. :thumbup:

I make something similar, but instead of grinding the chicken, I put a chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound it flat. I season it with salt and pepper. Then I cook it in a little olive oil, remove it from the pan and then load the pan up with diced vegetables and add a little spaghetti-type sauce towards the end to bring it all together. Then I pile it on top of the chicken and sprinkle grated parmesan on top. My son prefers mozarella, so I'll usually put the chicken back in the pan, put the veggies on top, pile on the mozarella and pop it under the griller until the cheese is melted and crispy like he likes it.

I'm up for the Secret Bandster idea. But I have no idea what $$ limit to put on it. :thumbup:

Good morning everyone, I just got back from my pre-op appointment at my plastic surgeon office. Everything's looking good and on schedule for the 12th. I was booked to have surgery for 1pm, but there was a cancellation earlier that day, so I get to go in at 10am instead. That's good! I don't have to starve myself the entire day. :biggrin: I also asked a question regarding tummy tuck and whether or not it is covered by insurance because of the under tummy rash I've inherited since losing weight. His nurse said that it *can* be, but most often there's only one insurance company that they deal with that they've not had too many problems with. She asked which one I had, I told her UHC, we just switched to that in Nov after being under BCBS, and she said "It's your lucky day. That's the company that very rarely denies our claims." :thumbup:So that's good news for the future. I'm certainly not ready to get it done now. I want to lose at least another 20lbs and get within 10 of my goal weight. But it gives me something to shoot for. :biggrin2: I made the spaghetti squash recipe that Phyl posted in here last night. It was yum! I think I'll add a little something to the recipe though to spice things up. Since being banded I've noticed that I want things with heat and spice in them. Hubby and son enjoyed it too, and they didn't even realise it was good for them, lol. Well, off to do house chores. *sigh* See you all a little later.

Mine came out soft. I cooked it for an extra 10 minutes. It was kind of big so I thought I'd give it a little longer. I took it out of the oven and let it sit for a little bit and one half sank in during that time. I was surprised how easily it came out of the casing. It's the first time I've cooked spaghetti squash but it certainly won't be the last. :drool:

I made this tonight and it was delicious. :cursing: I'm going to think of different ways to switch up the recipe. Perhaps use ground turkey, or add spinach, or some hot sauce to give it a bit of a kick. Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration georgia girl. :drool:

1. Did anyone suffer from depression after the lap band, just because? I don't think I did. I was depressed leading up to it because I was dealing with the stress of the weight, what it was doing to my body and dealing with various doctors and insurance companies. I didn't just pick this user name out of the sky. :cursing: It fit my mood. So I would say I was more stressed than depressed, which is different to what you and others suffer from. 2. I live with my son and fiance who are both big eaters, and some times I feel envious that I just can't chow down like they do. Esp. in the mornings when they are eating bacon, egg and cheese on English muffins. I'm happy I'm losing weight and the praise they are giving me is wonderful. When does the psychological aspect of wanting to eat - seem to subside? Or does it ever really go away? For me I know things have changed a lot. I will still occasionally be envious when I watch them both sink their teeth into a burger or sandwich. But I know what will happen if I were to attempt to put that much food in my mouth in one bite. I'd never be able to eat a whole burger right now even if I starved myself for a week. It's just too much. I don't know what the side-effects of overeating are for someone who has had the gastric bypass, but I use my knowledge of my own, like feeling like I've swallowed a golf ball and the pain associated with that, as a motivation to NOT eat. My hubby and son got cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon this weekend and I watched them eat them. At first I was imagining what it would taste like in my mouth - the sugar, cinnamon, frosting - and it seemed appealing to me. But the more they ate, the more I realised "hey, if I were to have more than one bite of that, I'd be in serious trouble." But I watched them the entire time and believe it or not it helped to put me off. I've done this a few times with my husband. At first we were both uncomfortable, and I think to some extent he still is. Nobody likes to be watched while they're eating. :scared2: But eating vicariously through him helps curb my appetite for whatever they have. I've told him it helps me. He doesn't understand and I don't think I really do either. But you have to go with what works. :thumbup: 3. I also wanted to know about everyone's goal weight on your tickers. I am 5'3" tall and according to my doctor she would like to see me reach a goal weight of 147 lbs. So, are your goal weights what your Doctors set for you or are they your own personal goals? My doctor didn't set my goal weight. He told me what the healthy range was for someone my height, but he also mentioned that not everyone who is 5'4 has the same frame. I would consider mine in the larger range. The "big boned" theory isn't simply an excuse I fell back on the be fat. I was always bigger built even when I wasn't really overweight. I need to be 145 to *just* get into the healthy BMI range. I don't think that's realistic and set my own goal to 150. Now while that's only a 5lb difference, when you're 100lbs overweight, losing 99lbs seems so much more attainable than 100. Illogical, I know, but not a lot of things make sense to me anyway. :w00t: Maybe as I get closer to my goal I might consider changing it. It never even entered my mind 7 months ago that I could be 60lbs lighter, and yet here I am. So I'm just going to carry on and see where things take me. :thumbup: I'm sure I'll have a million more crazy questions before my journey ends, so bear with me. I'm the new kid on the block now. I like questions. As Karri said, it helps me reflect and consider things that haven't crossed my mind yet. It often makes me turn things around so that it's all about me :drool: , but I don't know how to sound it out any other way that might be helpful to someone else. It's usually how I feel or how I think. :crying:

MsPris! :thumbup: I was just thinking about you the other day. :biggrin2: I'm so glad to hear that things are working out well for you now. You're SO close to Onderland too! It's good to have you back and posting. Don't be a stranger.

I wanted to thank lindaa, Karri and Janet (rubs butt from spanking) for your encouraging words. You're all right. One pound is a reason to celebrate because it came OFF! I wonder if I'll ever stop beating myself up. :confused2:

I loved your story Jackie! :thumbup: Sucks that you got so angry, but great that you used it as a motivator. Even better that you recognised your bad eating habit BEFORE you buried your face in the cake. Terrific NSV. Go you!

So for my official weigh-in today I only saw a loss of 1lb. for the week. :eek: I have mixed feelings about that. It was nice to see the scales drop like they did prior to my unfill despite the fact I was too miserable to fully enjoy it. I'm feeling a lot better now and probably a lot of the weight, or lack of weight loss, is because I've managed to hydrate myself properly since Monday. Still, 1lb lost is 1lb closer to my goal. Can't complain about that. :biggrin2:

I didn't see it as a rant against teaching. To me it was more a rant against the politics that go along with the education system these days. It just seems to make a tough job even more difficult. I know I couldn't handle being a teacher myself. I just don't have the patience. :eek:

That's great Janet. You have a good time! These past months have been hard work for all of us. I'm glad you're ready to relax and enjoy life again. I'll bet you'll get loads of compliments while you're out too. :confused:

As I said before, I have the greatest respect for teachers, so my rants are not directed at any of you, but rather the "system" that we are all so caught up in. My son is 10 and doesn't really have an official learning disability, but he does have to work a lot harder at "getting it" than most kids. Once he does, he's like a runaway train, but getting there takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. And that's just me. :biggrin: There are certain parts of the curriculum, like spelling, that I feel he just regurgitates each week, only to disappear from his memory the following week. It's been like that for the past 3 grades despite spending extra time in Reading Recovery and speech therapy. And I certainly don't blame anyone for that either. In fact his teachers, the principal and the counsellors at school have all gone out of their way to help me get him on track. It's just taken a lot of time to get him there. I know his teacher's hands are tied with regard to what he has to know and how he has to learn it and there can be deadlines that have to be met. This year he has TAKS tests in reading and math that he has to have a passing grade of 70 in order to progress to 4th grade. He's worked so hard this year and last to get his grades up and he's done an excellent job. But in spite of all the effort we all put into it, he's still on the border of pass/fail. :confused: What I find frustrating a lot of the time is that they're being taught to memorize and regurgitate, they're not taught how to find answers. Again, not the teacher's fault. Using his spelling tests as an example, when he's at home and is trying to figure out how to spell a word, he knows how to use spellcheck. In my day we were given a dictionary. His weekly spelling tests only have him holding that information for a week. Is it not better that he learn how and where to find answers than to spit out information that disappears over time? I think that if I were a working mother, it would have been SO much harder to get him to where he is now. I'm (or more importantly he) is lucky that I'm home when he gets back from school and have the time to spend with him to go over things. So many working parents don't have that luxury. And so many others as mentioned just don't give a damn. I recognize that I'm not always the best person teach him. I just don't know how to explain things in a way he might see or understand. Mostly because we see things in very different ways. Learning came naturally to me, but he has to work hard to attain knowledge. He can read a question to himself over and over again and just not get it. I can read it aloud to him and suddenly the light goes on. :hurray: So that can be frustrating. He's not going to have someone read the questions in a test. And that's perfectly understandable. So once again my undying respect to those of you who put yourselves out there and go the extra mile for kids like my son. It's just so frustrating that there are others who really don't want to be there make it so much harder for those who do. And even more troubling is the fact that it's businessmen that make the decision for education standards and not educators themselves. :sad: :rant:

It sounds to me like ale just doesn't agree with you any more. You'll also discover over time that there can be some perfectly healthy foods and beverages that will have the exact same effect. It doesn't always mean certain things are bad, they just don't work for you. Your ale problem might be a temporary one. It might not. When you get closer to your target weight and the maintenance level, you won't need as much restriction as you do in the early stages. Until then you should abide by the rules your BAND decides to put in place or suffer the consequences. But I wouldn't start thinking that you'll never be able to enjoy a beer with the lads again.

I think that's perfectly normal and you have nothing to worry about. You're only 3 weeks out from surgery. It takes time to heal. Give yourself plenty of that.

That's terrific! And quite the boost to the ego too, no doubt. I think people look at me differently now. When I was fat I wanted to be invisible. But people always notice when a fat girl walks in the room. :tt2: Now it feels like they look at me but don't judge me. I would always scan a room when I entered to see if there was anyone bigger than me. Hoping there was. I still kind of do that now. The difference is, there are many more times when I'm NOT the fat girl. :biggrin2:

"Get fluffy" I like that. One thing I'd like to mention is that not all of my treats are food ones. I'll buy myself something new and a little indulgent for my wardrobe or take the evening off in the kitchen (I'm a stay-at-home mother, so that's a treat for me) or spend an extra half hour or so soaking in the tub with a trashy novel. I focus on the fact that I'm rewarding myself, not on the fact that I'm eating or drinking something naughty.

This is very good advice. I get my fills done under fluoro and it doesn't really matter what it feels like while I'm at the doctor's office because things can change at any time. I can be fine for a week or more and then the tightness will hit. Or I could wake in the middle of the night after a fill with reflux because it's tightened up. My menstrual cycle also plays a role in my restriction. Very tight for a couple of days before my period, then almost non-existent for a day or so while my body craves sweets and carbs. But I've read other women say their experience is totally different. You have to learn to become tuned to the messages your body sends out. It's not going to be the same message I get. The guidelines your doctor gives you are just that, guidelines. They're not firm and fixed rules. There could be a number of reasons why there was only 1cc in your band when everyone was expecting 2. Don't let this one inconsistency weigh too much on your mind. There could be a simple explanation, there could be no explanation. Worrying about it won't change it. See how your following fills go before jumping to any wrong conclusions. Don't go looking for things to stress over because the chances are good you'll find them or make them up yourself. You're just starting out on this journey. Remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Take time to get used to your band and to learn how to listen to the messages it sends you. Don't expect everything to happen immediately. Hope this helps. :tt2:

Wow. I'm very familiar with all those stages.

I couldn't agree more! I have the upmost respect for anyone who goes into the teaching profession. They're Saints in my eyes. And I also had no idea what kind of pressure they are under. I knew there was some, but not to the extent that Steph explained. The "no child left behind" is an excellent concept in theory, but the practicalities of it are obviously far more complex than people realise. Yeah, what if the child and/or the parents just can't be bothered to learn? Why blame the teacher?!?! My husband is also in the IT business and during a recent conference he was asked why he didn't teach the things that he's so knowledgeable in to others. His response was "Why would I take such a huge cut in pay and increase my stress levels exponentially?"

I don't have free days or free meals, but I do work for a treat once or twice a week which I can take at my leisure. I think if I were to try for total abstinence I would fail. I need something to look forward to. Knowing I can have a Starbucks latte on Sunday will stop me from trying to bargain with myself that one latte today, and then tomorrow, and then the next day won't do me any harm. I'm very goal oriented so that type of thing works for me. Finding what works for you is the key to success. :rolleyes2:

Congratulations!!!!! That's fantastic news Janet. Good for you. I'm so happy for you and proud of you too.. :thumbup:

You can be out taste tester. :biggrin2: It sure looks like pasta. I don't think I've really missed pasta. I miss rice because I used to eat a lot of it with sushi. Now I can only manage a couple of spoonfuls.

Yes absolutely it could be called a reduction! You should make an appointment to talk about a reduction and mention the lift as an afterthought. Or better yet, wait until the surgeon does. Any PS worth their salt isn't simply going to make them smaller, they're going to make them look as good as they can. You can talk about back pain associated with them and how that seems to increase when you exercise. The more weight you lose, the more loose and out of control they become. Whatever you need to say to get to where you need to be. :blushing: