Gibson

The "best/worst" backhanded compliment I ever received was from a hillgrit customer when I worked in retail. He said, "I like you. I don't like lil' skinny women. Yore real. Yore real like a bowl of Beans. You'd look good in my kitchen." God, I wish I was making this up. (Did I mention that I worked in West Virginia at the time?)

lololol Oh man, you are too funny! I had a similar thing happen to me with a doctor, "Have you tried dieting?" "Dieting? Wow. No, I would have never thought of that! Hallelujah I've had a revelation!!!!!! "

Can I add my pet peeve here? Ok, I haven't even been banded yet, but this is my gripe and it isn't really directed toward the posters but more towards their (in my opinion) incompetent surgeons. How can people who have ALREADY BEEN BANDED come in here and ask questions like, "What is PBing? What is sliming?" I mean, geez, didn't they get any information at all from their surgeons/dieticians? It scares me for them.

I'm also going to find For One More Day, that sounds great. Are any of you members of paperbackswap.com? It is the best (FREE!) website for voracious readers! You post your books and get credits and then you can order books from other folks with your credits. It's only $2.13 to mail a paperback book so it's a great (and cheap) way to find new reads. If any of you are interested in joining, if you don't mind, would you PM me and give me your email address so I can send you an invitation? You don't need my invitation of course, but if you sign up I'll get a free credit if you use my name. *greedy Gibson* =)

This is my favorite thread EVER! I've found more avid readers. Yay for me!!!! bitteroldhag, (love your user name!), I second your recommendation of The Kite Runner. It was one of the best books I've read in years and I recommend it to everyone I know who reads. I've picked up some great ideas here, I'm going to get: Fighting Weight, Shoot the Moon, Stiff (my family owned a funeral home when I was growing up and my dad is a mortician!), and something by Anne (Ann?) Rice. I finished my master's degree this spring and the first thing I did was cancel my television service because I wanted to read, read, and read...FOR PLEASURE, instead of for school. I've read around 20 books in June and these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head... White Oleander, Prep, Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, Infidel, A Lotus Grows in the Mud (Goldie Hawn's autobiography), The Book of Ruth, Geek Love, Good in Bed, and A Virtuous Woman and all of the Hannibal books. I've been in a joyous book reading frenzy! Oh yeah, in case you didn't catch it the first time.....READ THE KITE RUNNER! =) :clap2:

We are blessed. :eyebrows::clap2: I'm glad you felt OK about the neighbors' comments. I obviously haven't lost weight yet, but I got a haircut a couple of years ago and it seemed like strangers on the street were saying, "Oh my god, you look so much BETTER!!!" constantly. Instead of taking their comments as compliments I kept thinking, "Wow. I must have looked like total sh*t before!"

green, how did that make you feel? Good or like an animal in a zoo? I don't like for people to look at me or especially to make comments about me so I have a feeling I'd better practice taking compliments graciously before I'm banded. Back on topic, I like big, chunky, tall, burly men. That's what I've always been attracted to all of my life. However, my boyfriend is 5'5" (I'm 5'7") and he is thin. Not skinny, he's built great actually, muscular without an ounce of fat on his body. My boyfriend has always been attracted to tiny little petite women. I am 5'7" and weigh 330 whopping pounds. We met online so we had the advantage of becoming irresistible to one another before we could be thrown off by our looks. =) We have dated blissfully for five years and while I go through lots of periods of self loathing because I am so big and he is so normal (especially when we are out in public and I get that "What the hell is he doing with her?" look. I know you all know the look I mean.) I try to remind myself that Hey, I might be fat and not be his idea of the perfect physical specimen, but I wouldn't have special ordered his body type out of a catalog either. Thank GOD we didn't put each other in boxes based on our physical appearances only. Funny thing, I recently found a list of things I wanted in a man that I had written when I was in my early 20's. My amazing boyfriend met every single one of the criteria except (At least 6 feet tall.) See what I would have missed if I'd been too picky? I dare say that I probably meet all of his dream woman criteria too, except for the height and weight wishes. =) This week I told him, "You'll be so glad that you stayed with me all these years after I lose my weight and you'll have a beautiful girlfriend." He said, "I already have a beautiful girlfriend and don't you forget it." God, I love that man. *end of rambling* =)

Hey ladies, I haven't even been banded yet but I'm going to lurk on this thread to try and ground myself in the reality that weight loss won't cure all of my ills. Since I'm currently at 330 pounds and dreaming that weight loss will make my life perfect, I need the truth! =) Great posts so far and GUYSIS....did you type out that entire article?? Bless you!!!

Of course you should buy it! I mean really, it's not like you are going to be DEPRESSED if spring comes and you are too small for it! =) And if you love the dress that much, don't take a chance on skipping that size. Wear that baby in your house in the middle of winter if it makes you feel that pretty and feminine! =)

Whew! I've been following your ordeal and am so happy for you! It would have been just too cruel for a lapbandtalk moderator to not be able to get her band back! HOORAY!!!!

Yay for you!!!!! I'm not banded YET, but from the majority of the posts I read here I would say that it will have been worth the wait for you! =)

Yay for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *does happy dance*

Being at goal a year later is a powerful testimony to your commitment to making the band work for you! I hope I can say the same thing in a couple of years!!!

hahahahahahahaha!!!! Pacomomma, I'm glad you are doing well! Thank you for posting that picture of your excess skin. It was very enlightening!

=) I have no idea. But, I figure between getting up and down from the couch and peeing a dozen times today I'm getting my squats in one way or the other. =)

Thank you so much for posting! You look wonderful!

Hmmmm. Better photos, you say? I'm not quite sure how you are going to get better pictures than those. You look incredible!! Congratulations!

Congratulations! I'm jealous! =)

Oh Lord. I live on Ibupropen right now and Tylenol does nothing for me. I think I just read about my first huge problem I'll have after I'm banded. Uggh. On a brighter note, way to go on that grueling workout! You know, I've found that sitting at home on my ass is a great way to avoid pain. Just a suggestion. =)

Oh how terrifying! You'll probably be nervous about driving for weeks now. Thank GOD you are OK! I know that a lot of people die here where I am when they hit deer with their cars. Wow. :omg:

Zannie, I just read that you aren't a big cook. Well, neither am I and this is sooo easy. I have about four recipes in my very limited cooking repertoire and this is one of them!

Hmmm, well, if it doesn't have to be fat free I might have a winner for you! This is loaded with fat, but is low-carb friendly. It seems like it might be band friendly, too! This is sooooo delicious, and my non low carbing friends loved it too! PammyJo's Mexicalli chicken Bake Preheat oven to 400 degrees base 1 1/2 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast tenders (I cut mine in bite size chunks) 1 can (4 oz) of diced green chiles 1 can (10 oz) of diced tomatos w/green chiles (I used the Rotel brand) Salt & Pepper (whatever amt. you're used too) In a 8x8 baking dish lay the chicken tenders and top with the diced green chiles and the diced tomatos w/green chiles. Add salt and pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes (I like mine well done...but you can adjust to your preferred doneness, just make sure to drain off any excess liquid before adding topping) . While chicken is baking...prepare the topping below. topping 4 oz of cream cheese (softened) 2 large eggs 1/4 cup of sour cream 2 Cups of Shredded Cheese (Mexican 4 cheese blend variety) 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin Mix all the above ingrediants well After about 40 minutes, remove chicken from oven and drain off any liquid. Pour the topping over the top of the baked chicken and spread evenly. Bake for another 10-15 mins. or until topping is set. Optional: Garnish with chilled sour cream, chopped green onions and or avocado wedges. For the whole recipe: 2396 Calories; 144g Fat (55.2% calories from fat); 236g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 1156mg Cholesterol; 3654mg Sodium.

Congratulations! These are my favorite posts! I can feel your excitement through my monitor! =)

I am 37 and just went to an informational seminar last week. I took my Mom with me. =) I did it because, while I didn't NEED her approval, I knew that she was very nervous about the whole process and would feel better once she heard all the things I'd been spouting from the actual surgeon. It helped. She liked the surgeon and his talk put her mind at ease. If you are really close to your parents, educate them. Print things out from online. Don't make it one sided, either. Throw in some of the "good, bad AND uglies" like someone else said. Then they will know you understand the pros and cons and still want to go ahead with it. Give them info on gastric bypass too, so they will know you have chosen a safer route. And most importantly, when you are banded, when you have bad days (which it seems everyone does sometimes), come here and vent about it. Don't tell your parents or you'll hear " I told you so!" =)

*sniff* That made me tear up a little. I hope that self esteem starts sneaking in on me someday! I am certain when I am banded that I will miss the full mouth, stuffed to the gills feeling. You'll get there!