Jessiebear

I'm just beginning to notice some of these same things. Our lives are changing in many ways.

Congrats! What an awesome opportunity! Keep us updated. If you go, will you still come play with us?

:pray2:You got it Vines! If there's anything I can do, you just let me know! :hug:

I'm one year out this month & I have lost 60lbs.

I was able to eat bread in small quantities up until about three months ago,right after my third fill. Once you start getting fills it becomes harder, if not impossible, to eat bread without PBing. A lot of people can eat it if it's toasted. To me it's not worth the pain. Congrats on getting your band!

:whoo: :whoo: :whoo: :whoo: I don't think I have ever been in a size 12! That's got to feel good! Congrats!!

do I still qualify as a turtle? I have lost 58 lbs. in a year. If so, I'm here!!

I'm afraid of snakes in the toilet! I saw one of those shows & there was this man who sat on the toilet & a snake tried to eat his ganuggets! I think he was in Guam (sp?). Not that I have4 ganuggets, but still! I have to be completely covered up at night because my MIL told me she had a ghost lay on top of her one night while she was in bed & home alone, & when she rolled over there was nothing there (she lived in an old farm house). At least she thought it was a ghost. She didn't have any other explanation for it (Budweiser maybe). But I'm not taking any chances! Panthers! I live in the boon docks & when I was a little girl I was with my Dad at deer camp & I heard one scream. I have been frightened ever since! I will not go outside at night without my dogs or a gun! I'm really not crazy! I live way back in the woods on a mountain. I'm not taking chances!

This is a good thread! I guess I'm really addicted to sweet tea. & since I know not to eat sugar I have replaced it with Splenda. Now my DH comes home & says he heard on the TV that tea causes ovarian cysts! I already have those (PCOS)!! Sheesh!!! What's next??!!

I got these off the cooking light website. Just type in slow cooker in the search box.

Slow-Cooker meat Loaf 1 1/3 cup italian style bread crumbs 3/4 pound ground round 3/4 pound ground turkey 1 1/2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms or mushroom of your choice 1/2 cup grated fresh onion 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons ketchup 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper Combine the crumbs, beef, and next 6 ingredients (beef through garlic) in a large bowl, and shape meat mixture into a 9 x 6-inch loaf. Place loaf in an electric slow cooker. Combine ketchup, mustard, and pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a fork. Spread ketchup mixture evenly over top of loaf. Cover with lid; cook on LOW for 5 hours. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 4 ounces) CALORIES 265(43% from fat); FAT 12.7g (sat 4.2g,mono 5.1g,poly 1.7g); Protein 25.2g; CHOLESTEROL 152mg; CALCIUM 41mg; SODIUM 545mg; FIBER 1.9g; Iron 3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.7g

Slow Cooker Beef Stew 2 tablespoons uncooked granulated tapioca 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt 3 (5.5-ounce) cans tomato juice 4 cups chopped onion 3 cups chopped celery 2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices carrots 2 (8-ounce) packages presliced mushrooms 2 pounds beef stew meat Place tapioca, sugar, garlic powder, salt, and tomato juice in a blender, and process until smooth. Combine the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and beef in an electric slow cooker, and add juice mixture. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours - until beef is tender. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 3/4 cups) CALORIES 345(29% from fat); FAT 11.1g (sat 4g,mono 4.7g,poly 0.7g); Protein 34.1g; CHOLESTEROL 95mg; CALCIUM 81mg; SODIUM 811mg; FIBER 5.9g; Iron 5.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.8g

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice 3 cups Water 1 cup dried red kidney beans 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped green bell pepper 3/4 cup chopped celery 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon paprika 3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 (14-ounce) package turkey, pork, and beef smoked sausage, thinly sliced (such as Healthy Choice) 1 bay leaf 5 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice 1/4 cup chopped green onions Combine first 12 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high heat for 5 hours or low heat for 8 hours. Discard bay leaf; stir in salt. Serve over rice; sprinkle servings evenly with green onions. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup bean mixture, 3/4 cup rice, and 1 tablespoon green onions) CALORIES 413(5% from fat); FAT 2.5g (sat 0.7g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.5g); Protein 21.1g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; Calcium 102mg; SODIUM 749mg; Fiber 10.1g; Iron 6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 76.3g

When I was first banded, my Mom bought me some Ham soup base & chicken soup base (powdered in a jar) that was out of this world! I also can't say enough about the Knorr boullion cubes. The chicken flavor is awesome!

FUNNY STUFF! A BAD DAY AT WORK >> If you don't laugh out loud after you read this you are in a coma! This is even funnier when you realize it's real! Next time you have a bad day at work...think of this guy... >> Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an e-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to radio station 103.2 on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest. Needless to say, she won. >>Hi Sue, >> >>Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all. Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. >>As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wetsuit. This time of year the Water is quite cool. So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose. >> >>Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wetsuit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi. >> >>Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. >>Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my butt. I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically. >> >>Needless to say I aborted the dive. I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression. >>When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut. >> >>So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt. Now repeat to yourself, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job".

Would honey make you have the same cravings? :hungry:

Hmmmm..... I've never heard this before. That does explain a lot of things though. I live on Splenda. When I had my last fill a week or so ago, I was sitting on the gurney with the drapes drawn around me, & I heard my doc talking to the nurses & they were asking him about artificial sweeteners & he said that they were all crap that was manufactured & just not good for your body. Help! I think I'm addicted to Splenda!!! :hurt

After going through all you went through, I think I would have had it removed too. We're all here for you! :hug:

OOPS folks! It's not my Birthday! It's my 1 year Bandiversary! LOL!!! My Birthday was January 3. LOL!!

Good for you Jess! Sounds like you're on the right track!

Yep Vines, that's a great idea! What a better way to honor my 1 year Bandiversary than with my top ten NSVs! So, here it goes...... 1. Sex has never been better! & it just keeps getting better! 2. I can paint my own toenails again! 3. I can wear jeans again! 4. When I look in the mirror, I look different to myself (I just noticed this today)! 5.I have cut my BP meds in half. I need to get in to see my doc cause I think I could probably come off of them now. (I promise I am monitoring it myself. I won't let it get too low!) 6. When we took a trip to Branson before Christmas, I was the only one who was able to climb all the stairs at the Branson Belle without stopping & without getting out of breath! 7. At Christmas my little cousin proclaimed that "Jessie now has a lap" cause she was sitting on it! 8. When I went for my last fill, I had room on both sides of me on the gurney! 9. When I take a bath, I now have Water all the way around me! 10. I have lost 12.25 inches from head to toes since January 5, 2006. I really wish I had been keeping track of this since the very beginning. I'm gonna have to dig around cause I think I took some measurements before the surgery.

:whoo: :whoo: :whoo: :whoo: :whoo: :madgrin: Cool!! Can't wait to join you!!!

That's awesome vines! Tell him I said Congrats!

Oh Geez! I have been looking forward to this day & then I forgot!! Thanks ladies!! Tell y'all about my year? Where do I begin? I'll make this as short as possible. First of all, I went into this expecting to lose all my weight in the first year. Wrong!! But that's okay! I have lost 58 lbs. that will never come back again! I feel great! I'm looking a lot better & my self-esteem is getting there. I believe part of the reason I lost slow was due to my port flipping & not being able to get a fill for a few months. By then I had become depressed & was binge eating. I had no restriction what so ever! By the time I was able to get a fill & have a little restriction, my bad attitude had already set in. I can honestly say that if it had not been for you guy's support & advice (especially the turtle tribe), I probably would have been a banded failure. But in the last 4-5 months I have finally got my head back in a good place & with the help of 2 good fills, I am finally losing the weight that I expected to lose in the beginning. I am under 300 lbs. & I am working to get to my next mini goal of 250 lbs. I have come to appreciate the fact that I did not put this weight on over night & I will not lose it over night! My little silicone friend is here to help me do this. Thanks to everyone for being there when I needed you! You all ROCK!!!

Yay!! Welcome to Band Land!! Hope you have a speedy recovery!