vinesqueen

Lastnight I had some very strong dreams, some pleasant, some not, but the one that is sticking with me, (besides the part about being feed shots of Senior Frog's green tequilla) was one of love and self acceptance. The scene was after a huge flood, the waters had receded and the clean-up had begun. A very large woman was being interviewed by a national morning talk-show, like Goodmorning or Today (I don't watch these types of shows, but you know the type). She was about 350 pounds, and a professional belly dancer. She finished her interview, than ran out infront of the celibration parade and started dancing. She wasn't wearing typical belly dancing costuming, but it was still very pretty. She started dancing, and suddenly she opened her costume and "gave birth" to two other large dancers, who were strikingly beautiful, even though they both weighed about 300 pounds. They were also dressed in skimpy costumes, but they didn't care what anyone thought, they just danced their hearts out, danced to show their joy and happiness that the flood was over and reconstruction was to begin. This was so amazing for me. I woke up with a sense of renewed determination. Here were these fat dancers who were out there for everyone to see, they didn't care what anyone thought, they just were out dancing their joy that the disaster was over, and time to rebuild. I have been so stressed lately, feeling like I'm treading Water and not making any headway in my journey. It's hard to face the scale when I gain weight on 1000 calories, but I'm not giving up. I'm dancing like no one is watching, whirling my way through the debre of my life. I'm a bull terrier, once I latch onto something I don't let go, even when common sense says to move on. But I'm not giving up. I'm not letting go. Never give up, Never surrender.

Well, It's sure been a wild week for me. I got all moved out of my apartment at Idaho State, and moved back with my husband and son. I've sure missed them. My MIL drove back with me, which is a good thing because I'm doing that "completely blind in the dark" thing. Hard to drive 14 hours, but we did it. I still have half a dozen bins to unpack, and re-integrate back into my family. I have to go through things and repack things that I don't need. I'll be saving them if I decided to go back to ISU, after everything is taken care of. Still haven't figured out what my husband did with my main pencil pod with my drawing pencils, nor my main sketch book, but I have a back up set of pencils and sketchbook, even if the pencils are not in a nice contained pod. One of the first things I did was find out if the local parks departments was offering bellydance. Joy of Joy! They are, and they are offering it at the new facility they built by my house. So I have bellydancing in walking distance! Today my husband took me down to a local Egyptian shop and I bought my first professional dance bra, I'm so excited! I got a gold beaded one, in the Turkish style. http://www.pyramidimports.com/bellydancing/bdbs1004.htm is a pix of the bra I got, but I sure don't have her body! :eek: I was amazed that they had a bra to fit me, but they did, and in stock! I'm so excited. I already have a burgundy and gold belled dance belt, so I didn't buy this one. I spent the morning clearout out our pantry, getting rid of almost all the grains and open pasta and bread mix types of thing. Some of the packages have been in there for ... gosh, 3 years, and some how, moths got into the flour products. So everything went into my neglected compost/worm bins. I was happy to see I still have some worms hanging out, neglected as they were. This week I got my date to go to OHSU for a complete test pass. Wow, what a week.

(((((((jess))))))) Sending waves of healing white light to protect and bless you! You will do just fine! I'm so excited for you, and I second Alex, you will be quite the bombshell!

Kelli, (pugmum) I don't want you to ever feel that you cannot question me. I was simply confused by why you had written. Sometimes lately I don't track well.

Well, It's sure been a wild week for me. I got all moved out of my apartment at Idaho State, and moved back with my husband and son. I've sure missed them. My MIL drove back with me, which is a good thing because I'm doing that "completely blind in the dark" thing. Hard to drive 14 hours, but we did it. I still have half a dozen bins to unpack, and re-integrate back into my family. I have to go through things and repack things that I don't need. I'll be saving them if I decided to go back to ISU, after everything is taken care of. Still haven't figured out what my husband did with my main pencil pod with my drawing pencils, nor my main sketch book, but I have a back up set of pencils and sketchbook, even if the pencils are not in a nice contained pod. One of the first things I did was find out if the local parks departments was offering bellydance. Joy of Joy! They are, and they are offering it at the new facility they built by my house. So I have bellydancing in walking distance! Today my husband took me down to a local Egyptian shop and I bought my first professional dance bra, I'm so excited! I got a gold beaded one, in the Turkish style. http://www.pyramidimports.com/bellydancing/bdbs1004.htm is a pix of the bra I got, but I sure don't have her body! :girl_hug: I was amazed that they had a bra to fit me, but they did, and in stock! I'm so excited. I already have a burgundy and gold belled dance belt, so I didn't buy this one. I spent the morning clearout out our pantry, getting rid of almost all the grains and open pasta and bread mix types of thing. Some of the packages have been in there for ... gosh, 3 years, and some how, moths got into the flour products. So everything went into my neglected compost/worm bins. I was happy to see I still have some worms hanging out, neglected as they were. This week I got my date to go to OHSU for a complete test pass. Wow, what a week.

Well, It's sure been a wild week for me. I got all moved out of my apartment at Idaho State, and moved back with my husband and son. I've sure missed them. My MIL drove back with me, which is a good thing because I'm doing that "completely blind in the dark" thing. Hard to drive 14 hours, but we did it. I still have half a dozen bins to unpack, and re-integrate back into my family. I have to go through things and repack things that I don't need. I'll be saving them if I decided to go back to ISU, after everything is taken care of. Still haven't figured out what my husband did with my main pencil pod with my drawing pencils, nor my main sketch book, but I have a back up set of pencils and sketchbook, even if the pencils are not in a nice contained pod. One of the first things I did was find out if the local parks departments was offering bellydance. Joy of Joy! They are, and they are offering it at the new facility they built by my house. So I have bellydancing in walking distance! Today my husband took me down to a local Egyptian shop and I bought my first professional dance bra, I'm so excited! I got a gold beaded one, in the Turkish style. http://www.pyramidimports.com/bellydancing/bdbs1004.htm is a pix of the bra I got, but I sure don't have her body! I was amazed that they had a bra to fit me, but they did, and in stock! I'm so excited. I already have a burgundy and gold belled dance belt, so I didn't buy this one. I spent the morning clearout out our pantry, getting rid of almost all the grains and open pasta and bread mix types of thing. Some of the packages have been in there for ... gosh, 3 years, and some how, moths got into the flour products. So everything went into my neglected compost/worm bins. I was happy to see I still have some worms hanging out, neglected as they were. This week I got my date to go to OHSU for a complete test pass. Wow, what a week.

I'm so sorry for your loss. You have my most sincere condolences.

Lastnight I had some very strong dreams, some pleasant, some not, but the one that is sticking with me, (besides the part about being feed shots of Senior Frog's green tequilla) was one of love and self acceptance. The scene was after a huge flood, the waters had receded and the clean-up had begun. A very large woman was being interviewed by a national morning talk-show, like Goodmorning or Today (I don't watch these types of shows, but you know the type). She was about 350 pounds, and a professional belly dancer. She finished her interview, than ran out infront of the celibration parade and started dancing. She wasn't wearing typical belly dancing costuming, but it was still very pretty. She started dancing, and suddenly she opened her costume and "gave birth" to two other large dancers, who were strikingly beautiful, even though they both weighed about 300 pounds. They were also dressed in skimpy costumes, but they didn't care what anyone thought, they just danced their hearts out, danced to show their joy and happiness that the flood was over and reconstruction was to begin. This was so amazing for me. I woke up with a sense of renewed determination. Here were these fat dancers who were out there for everyone to see, they didn't care what anyone thought, they just were out dancing their joy that the disaster was over, and time to rebuild. I have been so stressed lately, feeling like I'm treading water and not making any headway in my journey. It's hard to face the scale when I gain weight on 1000 calories, but I'm not giving up. I'm dancing like no one is watching, whirling my way through the debre of my life. I'm a bull terrier, once I latch onto something I don't let go, even when common sense says to move on. But I'm not giving up. I'm not letting go. Never give up, Never surrender.

Lastnight I had some very strong dreams, some pleasant, some not, but the one that is sticking with me, (besides the part about being feed shots of Senior Frog's green tequilla) was one of love and self acceptance. The scene was after a huge flood, the waters had receded and the clean-up had begun. A very large woman was being interviewed by a national morning talk-show, like Goodmorning or Today (I don't watch these types of shows, but you know the type). She was about 350 pounds, and a professional belly dancer. She finished her interview, than ran out infront of the celibration parade and started dancing. She wasn't wearing typical belly dancing costuming, but it was still very pretty. She started dancing, and suddenly she opened her costume and "gave birth" to two other large dancers, who were strikingly beautiful, even though they both weighed about 300 pounds. They were also dressed in skimpy costumes, but they didn't care what anyone thought, they just danced their hearts out, danced to show their joy and happiness that the flood was over and reconstruction was to begin. This was so amazing for me. I woke up with a sense of renewed determination. Here were these fat dancers who were out there for everyone to see, they didn't care what anyone thought, they just were out dancing their joy that the disaster was over, and time to rebuild. I have been so stressed lately, feeling like I'm treading water and not making any headway in my journey. It's hard to face the scale when I gain weight on 1000 calories, but I'm not giving up. I'm dancing like no one is watching, whirling my way through the debre of my life. I'm a bull terrier, once I latch onto something I don't let go, even when common sense says to move on. But I'm not giving up. I'm not letting go. Never give up, Never surrender.

dammit Lisa! Do not make me come down there to kick your bodacious butt, cause you know I will. You know what you need to do, and damit, you'd better start doing it. If the big picture is too hard to look at, look at one day, one hour, one meal at a time. I"m not saying you can't have cokes ever again, I'm just saying not right now. (((((((((DeCalarla)))))))))

I can still find them in the boxes or packets, as well as the little cups like Big Paul was talking about. Shackdog, you can eat CELERY????????

Butter Buds cannot be beat! You can buy a bottle, or packet in a box. It can't really be used for fat uses, you can't spread it on toast or cook with it, for example, you can't cook eggs with it, but it's made from real butter. I don't currently have any in my kitchen, but I haven't lived at home for along time, but BABY I'M BACK!!!!! (geeze, my son and husband lived like animals, no canned tomatoes in the place! How can they live like that???)

hippo birdies, two ewes!

Even if you are prepaired for this, but once you move from a liquid diet to a solid food diet you will "gain weight" because your colon which was empty now has mass in it. You have not gained fat, just matter in your colon. Sorry this came as such a shock. Relax and be kind to yourself!

Welcome to the Banded Gentry Kebeerah! May your healing be faster than mine! (I went shopping the next morning and was horseback riding a few weeks out...:confused:)

What negatives specificially are you refering to Paulax? For me, the only negative, if it can be called that, is that I can not eat as much as my head wants to.

okay, this is what i did with the Spudboy. I put him in underoos brand underpants. I don't know if they still have this brand, but I have to imagine that they do. You don't want to potty on Micky Mouse do you? NOOOOO! don't wanna potty on Micky Mouse! Or his favorite cartoon character. Don't wanna potty on Barney, or spongebob.... you get the idea.

Happy belated to both of you! So sorry I missed the parties! (I love parties!)

So glad you have found your resolve again Diane. One thing we need to realize is that we are human and we fall all the time. I think the clue is to make sure we get up again. Sometimes we can pick ourselves up, but othertimes we need to be dragged to our feet by the scruff of our necks. I know that LBT is so important for me, important to me because of the support. As for the Dove bars, as long as they are in the freezer, I don't need them. When I moved out of my apartment I had to throw out part of a box because I didn't want to eat them for breakfast. I know, what in the hell is wrong with me!?

Wow Susan, You sure have a tough row to hoe, as my cherrished Grandmother likes to say. I'm sure you will get some folks asking what you are eating, but they are just trying to help you analize your diet, or trying to get get an understanding of what it is like. I know know if we have anyother full-time vegies but I think we have some part-timers... You poor thing! I was overfilled for a month and it was so miserable! Towards the end of the month I was getting so weak from lack of nutrition that I would have a difficult time walking up a few flights of stairs. And all my hard work that month paid off with a 1.5 pound loss, which was completely errased when I went back to 1000-1200 calories and gained 10 pounds in a week. (yeah, I'm really that messed up.) Being overfilled will not help you lose weight faster, even though we think it will, and should. But it's a tricky thing. You should be tight enough, but not too tight that you cannot have protien. And you must have protien. I try to eat veggie once or twice a week, and really enjoy the bocca brands, as well as eggs and dairy. Being in chronic pain is so terrible. You really have my heart-felt sympathy Susan. I lost about 5 years to pain (((((susan))))). Do you know if you are a candidate for a tens unit? I don't have any answers for you Susan, I have more questions, but that's what i'm good for, asking questions. But I tend to push for answers too, part of my strength I suppose. I am currently pushing for answers to my problem, and I'm pushing others to demand answers as well. I know you are seeing a naturalpath, have you considered talking to an Endocrinologist to talk about your metabolism? Have you had your cortisol levels checked or your thryroid checked? Because you are ovbiously a special needs person, you will have to probably push harder for answers, since your weight can be pushed away. I know what you mean about some of the other boards, especially when you are trying to find answers and all you get are reciminations. I have found this board overwhelming supportive, and I think you will find the same here.

Poodles, this is an excellent question, but unfortunatley, I don't know if you will know you are a Turtle until you are one. When I was banded, I just knew I was going to be a rabbit, I was going to be a weight loss superstar. But things didn't quite turn out that way for me... :confused: There is of course, the possiblity that you will be a Turtle, but more likely you will be a rabbit, most people lose the "average" 1-2 pounds a week, very few actually don't. And like Cashley said, it is important to look at the average loss you have, not maintaining a weekly loss. I think a lot of poeple have unrealistic expectations of their band and expect to lose 100 pound in six months, or nine months. And that simply isn't realistic for bandsters. I think that 50-70 pounds a year is much more realistic, so don't get discouraged if you don't drop like a Bypass patient. Don't get discouraged when you hit those plateaus, since everyone seems to. They seem to be one's body's way of regrouping, and recompacting for the next weight loss push. I know it's easy for me to tell you to not be discouraged, but hey, that's what I do. I really believe that if you follow the plan, learing a new lifestyle that includes a sensible diet and excersize, you will not be a Turtle. But you know what? Even though I'm a Turtle, I think i have the most amazing list of NSVs, but only because I capture and hold onto each of them like they are some precious gift.

Wow Kellie. I'm amazed and astounded at your courage and generosity in sharing this part of your journey with us. I am deeply touched that you would do this for us. It just goes to show your kind and generous heart. I showed my son your before and after pix from this thread (the fully dressed ones) and the was amazed at the difference and how happy you look in your after pix. He said you fairly glowed, and he's right. You are glowing in the after pix.

Probably the number one thing I won't give up is moving to non-fat milk. I was raised by wolves and had to drink powdered non-fat milk mixed half strength. I won't drink non-fat milk. But I modify my calories to accomidate the one cup of lowfat milk I drink.

Rachele, we are very lucky that you have decided to stick with us at LBT. I can only guess at you frustration with some of the opionions. I know that my situation is fairly unique as well. I do know that at this point in my life, no WLS is going to do anything for me. I'm just happy that I had the band, and not a bypass. But that is me, and the best choice for me. It is quite likely that once I have everything sorted out and have my "cure" that I won't have any need of WLS. I'm sure that didn't make much sense, but anyway, I'm very glad we have folks who've had other procedures here willing to educate us on their procedures.

Thank you Darcey! I still can't get anything from the Endo, but my surgeon is going to write the referal I need to be seen at OHSU, and while the labs won't send me the lab results without 2 forms and picture ID, they faxed the results of the test to OHSU without any question. I am hoping to be seen by the docs in Portland next week, but I really don't know when. Because I look like I"m on a high dose of steroids (and feel that way) they want to see me sooner than later.