Angelica

Thank you guys, I really appreciate it. Eating soley Raw Foods isnt easy, and initally, when I started, I wasnt even THINKING about weight loss, I was thinking about the fact that I had lupus, and that after visiting a doctor who used a more holisitic approach, and hearing all the great things a diet like this can do for people with certian types of disorders, and cancers. Fanny - I totally agree with you about cooking foods, Raw isnt going to be forever for me, I have promised my doctor 3 months to determine how this diet will affect my blood work. Hes promised me that I can expect a complete turn around, and that hes had patients who have been affected by lupus for years, after 3 months, their affliction just 'disapears'. I feel like it could be a long shot, but you know, I'm going to try it. I'm sitting here drinking my red juice (beets, carrots, cucumber and raddish) happy as a lark. I could care less what those girls say, even after the email I recieved last night saying they all got together, talked about my 'eating disorder', and cannot continue to support my actions, so they are cutting off our friendship until my diet returns to normal. Whats normal? Greasy french fries, burgers the size of your head, ordering 4 pizzas for a group of 4 women? Is that normal? No, I think its them who have the eating disorders. I'm happy that I finally have gotten my issues under control, and can control what I am putting into my mouth, and dont have to gorge myself until my hands tingle and I have to take a midday nap. pfft, normal.

The sushi was actually awesome to me, because I have had issues with rice in the past, since this one was riceless, there was no getting stuck, but I still got my sushi effect. When I started I didnt think I would be able to follow the plan either, it was just sort of a shot in the dark, but the more you follow it, the better you seem to feel. I think my friends just want me to feel like I'm dying lugging around extra weight, and hurting my body, so they dont have to face the fact that they are hurting themselves as well. Its all projection.

So, the last time I went to go see my doctor, about 9 days ago, I told them something was right about my fill, I could basically eat whatever I wanted too, and my doctor said, 'I dont want to make you TOO tight, so we're going to do the next one under floro. That happens on Friday. I feel a little disenchanted with the band, but I understand its just growing (more like shrinking) pains. I started eating differently last week. A friend of mine wanted to 'go raw' and see how it felt for a few days. So I did, I started eating only raw foods, meaning, nuts, vegetables, fruits, making real juices in my juicer, coming up wtih creative ways to eat them, I did that for 4 days, after which, I decided that I would have a few 'free days'. The four days, I was bouncy, happy, my skin was better, and I felt like I dropped some weight, the 3 subsequent days, I did not feel that way. My only concern with raw eating is the idea that I am not finding a way to get the protein I need, so I am trying to figure out how to work that into a raw food diet, I might just have to buy some protein powder and throw it into my green machine juice that I make every morning. I am back on raw as of today, and wil be until saturday, when I will go off of raw for two days again. We will see how it works, its a very VERY interesting experiement. -A

So, the last time I went to go see my doctor, about 9 days ago, I told them something was right about my fill, I could basically eat whatever I wanted too, and my doctor said, 'I dont want to make you TOO tight, so we're going to do the next one under floro. That happens on Friday. I feel a little disenchanted with the band, but I understand its just growing (more like shrinking) pains. I started eating differently last week. A friend of mine wanted to 'go raw' and see how it felt for a few days. So I did, I started eating only raw foods, meaning, nuts, vegetables, fruits, making real juices in my juicer, coming up wtih creative ways to eat them, I did that for 4 days, after which, I decided that I would have a few 'free days'. The four days, I was bouncy, happy, my skin was better, and I felt like I dropped some weight, the 3 subsequent days, I did not feel that way. My only concern with raw eating is the idea that I am not finding a way to get the protein I need, so I am trying to figure out how to work that into a raw food diet, I might just have to buy some protein powder and throw it into my green machine juice that I make every morning. I am back on raw as of today, and wil be until saturday, when I will go off of raw for two days again. We will see how it works, its a very VERY interesting experiement. -A

I know you guys are going to know what I am talking about. I have had a hard time with fills, and lost 30 pounds since my surgery, and I remember reading a thread that stated that for people who are having a hard time with the typical Water approach, some of their doctors use Omniplauqe? I'm probably spelling that wrong, but when I asked my surgeon about it, he didnt seem familiar, (so I am probably calling it the wrong thing too) Can anyone give me some background info to share with him? -A

Musics got me feeling so free, one more time. So, since its the slower part of the month at my job, I have taken to walking around the building in the morning. I am guesstimating that each circle around the building is half a mile, I think, I mean, the building is huge, but I guess I need a pedometer to really tell how far I am walking. I build up a sweat, the first couple of days, it was only 2 laps around in the morning, and 2 at lunch. OKay, that was cool, but today I decided to step it up, and did 4 laps this morning, and I will do another 2 at lunch. It makes me feel fantastic. I really love it. I have read that exercising before you start your day is the best possible thing, because the exercise is more productive that way, and not to eat or take protein before you exercise because if you do, you'll only burn what you consumed. So I am trying to follow those two rules. Work is getting hard, because I get bored, theres really nothing to do, my daily tasks are finished by about 8 in the morning (I get here at 7), and for the rest of the day, I am just sort of waiting for something to happen. I get bored, I want to eat, I want to go molest the snack machines in the break room for whatever I can find to eat, but i know that I shouldnt. Now that all my friends at work are telling me that I look like I am losing weight, I'm more apt not too, I sort of feel like alot of eyes are on me these days, so thats helping me stay in line. I learned an interesting fact about the new dude, Armando, apparently (mind you, the dude is 6'3, hes tall) but apparently, he was close to 300 pounds, and lost 90 pounds so that he could join the military. I think he has an indication that I am overweight, but I am not completely sure. I am going to have the discussion with him about it soon, and the surgery. I am nervous! -A:angry:

Musics got me feeling so free, one more time. So, since its the slower part of the month at my job, I have taken to walking around the building in the morning. I am guesstimating that each circle around the building is half a mile, I think, I mean, the building is huge, but I guess I need a pedometer to really tell how far I am walking. I build up a sweat, the first couple of days, it was only 2 laps around in the morning, and 2 at lunch. OKay, that was cool, but today I decided to step it up, and did 4 laps this morning, and I will do another 2 at lunch. It makes me feel fantastic. I really love it. I have read that exercising before you start your day is the best possible thing, because the exercise is more productive that way, and not to eat or take protein before you exercise because if you do, you'll only burn what you consumed. So I am trying to follow those two rules. Work is getting hard, because I get bored, theres really nothing to do, my daily tasks are finished by about 8 in the morning (I get here at 7), and for the rest of the day, I am just sort of waiting for something to happen. I get bored, I want to eat, I want to go molest the snack machines in the break room for whatever I can find to eat, but i know that I shouldnt. Now that all my friends at work are telling me that I look like I am losing weight, I'm more apt not too, I sort of feel like alot of eyes are on me these days, so thats helping me stay in line. I learned an interesting fact about the new dude, Armando, apparently (mind you, the dude is 6'3, hes tall) but apparently, he was close to 300 pounds, and lost 90 pounds so that he could join the military. I think he has an indication that I am overweight, but I am not completely sure. I am going to have the discussion with him about it soon, and the surgery. I am nervous! -A:angry:

Okay, so, as almost everyone I know, knows, I am terrible at dating. Like, super bad. I met this dude, online, okay, and hes got my myspace, so hes seen my pictures.. I dont know, I feel so self concious about being overweight. Having said that, I look a million times better than I did before, but I just, I want this guy to like me, and I guess that fat girl is creeping back into my head telling me that something is wrong with me. Anyway, I have done well today, I had a soy protein shake this morning. I hate soy protein, its got this feel to it, like youre drinking sandy water. Smooth sandy water, but it works, and the shake is 25 grms of protein for 120 calories, and no carbs. Geez, it tastes like ass tho. I did the turbo jam yesterday, and I just did the 'learn and burn' part of the tape, because thats what youre supposed to do for the first two days, GEEZ. That was TOUGH. I mean, hard. Today I woke up, and I was in such pain throughout my core and back, and its lasted all day. Today I am going to get some muscle milk to help deal with the pain from working out. Muscle milk is protein, but it also has an ingredient that calms the lactic acid from the exercise that you do, which means, no more soreness. (or less, anyway). I am feeling a little lightheaded because I havent eaten yet, but I am not really hungry. Fighting head hunger has been the hardest part of this experiement for me. Its only about another hour and I get spung from work, so I will eat then, no harm, no foul. Other than that, I do have something big going on, which is only big to me, I realize. I have been taking cymbalta for like, probably 18 months now, and my doctor has decided its time for a medication change, which I agree with. So slowly, I am coming off the cymbalta and moving to a patch. I started last week moving from 60 to 40MG, and as of yesterday, I am down to 30MG, next week, 20, then none for a week so that I can clear my system and move to the patch. Its a big deal for me, as my anti depressants sometimes make me feel like a crack addict. I mean, you dont want to be around me when I dont have them.. In either case, I am sure it will be fine.. -A

Okay, so, as almost everyone I know, knows, I am terrible at dating. Like, super bad. I met this dude, online, okay, and hes got my myspace, so hes seen my pictures.. I dont know, I feel so self concious about being overweight. Having said that, I look a million times better than I did before, but I just, I want this guy to like me, and I guess that fat girl is creeping back into my head telling me that something is wrong with me. Anyway, I have done well today, I had a soy protein shake this morning. I hate soy protein, its got this feel to it, like youre drinking sandy water. Smooth sandy water, but it works, and the shake is 25 grms of protein for 120 calories, and no carbs. Geez, it tastes like ass tho. I did the turbo jam yesterday, and I just did the 'learn and burn' part of the tape, because thats what youre supposed to do for the first two days, GEEZ. That was TOUGH. I mean, hard. Today I woke up, and I was in such pain throughout my core and back, and its lasted all day. Today I am going to get some muscle milk to help deal with the pain from working out. Muscle milk is protein, but it also has an ingredient that calms the lactic acid from the exercise that you do, which means, no more soreness. (or less, anyway). I am feeling a little lightheaded because I havent eaten yet, but I am not really hungry. Fighting head hunger has been the hardest part of this experiement for me. Its only about another hour and I get spung from work, so I will eat then, no harm, no foul. Other than that, I do have something big going on, which is only big to me, I realize. I have been taking cymbalta for like, probably 18 months now, and my doctor has decided its time for a medication change, which I agree with. So slowly, I am coming off the cymbalta and moving to a patch. I started last week moving from 60 to 40MG, and as of yesterday, I am down to 30MG, next week, 20, then none for a week so that I can clear my system and move to the patch. Its a big deal for me, as my anti depressants sometimes make me feel like a crack addict. I mean, you dont want to be around me when I dont have them.. In either case, I am sure it will be fine.. -A

You look awesome, keep going.

wow sugar, you've lost 80 pounds? Thats INCREDIBLE. I am so proud of you. Having this surgery is really going to help you, I wish it was available to me when I was your age, but I had to wait until I was 25. Good job.

aint that the truth, now that the weather is getting better, we should all be taking advantage of it. There is SO MUCH you can do with your time in this world, why waste it being miserable and fat.

Oh, I'm sorry youre having a hard time at work, I'm dealing with the same bs. It will get easier.

Laci: there are two directions we can walk each day....one is toward our goals and dreams....we may tire, we may falter, we may even crumple in the dust.... Our success is not measured by how many times we fall but how many times we arise and take another step toward the Light.... We can choose our path....or it will be chosen for us; we can act in our own interests....or we can remain trapped by forces that hold us prisoner; we can move ourselves by discipline or we can be imprisoned by our old habits. The energy we lose bemoaning our fate can be better used to move us yet another step in our journey. Which do you choose? Jack posted the above message to a woman who was struggling because she seems to have lost her wind. Jack is one smart mofo. Its all a personal choice, isnt it? Its all about if youre willing and able to focus and if you truly want to change who you are. I have said to my bestie ray a few times, you know dude, if I had had the gastric bypass, it would have been much quicker, and much easier. Then I remembered why I had the lapband in the first place. I didnt want easy, I wanted to OVERCOME. I needed help slaying the beast of the fatness. I have gone from eating 10000 calories a day (believe it or not) to eating 1200-1500. I have gone from eating out every single day, sometimes two or three times a day, to cooking my own food (imagine that). I have gone from sitting down all day long, and being exausted, to walking around the building I work in (circle it twice and its a mile, I try to circle it 6 times a day), plus doing a work out tape in the morning. I have gone from not giving a shit about my apperance to actually caring, to painting my nails, and doing my hair, and taking care of myself in a way that I was almost embarrassed to do when I wasnt doing anything about my weight. Look, my weight loss has been slow, and it doesnt take a genius to figure out how to eat around the band, but it takes a helluva lot of will power to stay on track. Sometimes I stumble, sometimes I falter, but my LIFE is changing. I'm proud of MYself and this is causing a huge shift in my life, in the way I carry myself, in the way I generally feel about the world. I wake up in a better mood, smile more often, I dont always 'look mad' anymore. My band is the best decision I have ever made, and its been difficult, but I would do it again a million times over. Now then, speaking of cooking, I made a sort of low carb something last night, and its really really good. Okay, so I got 3 chicken breasts, threw them on the foreman, a decent sized can of green chilie, 2 tomatos, and about a half a cup of onions. I have this new awesome little vegetable chopper, I dont have to cry when I want to use onions anymore, and it minces it up really finely. So after the chicken breast were done on the foreman, I threw the can of green chilie, some cheese, the tomatos, the onions and the chunked up chicken in a glass baking dish and put that in the oven for about an hour. That stuff is SO GOOD. HA. Angelica, master chef. -A :thumbs_up:

Laci: there are two directions we can walk each day....one is toward our goals and dreams....we may tire, we may falter, we may even crumple in the dust.... Our success is not measured by how many times we fall but how many times we arise and take another step toward the Light.... We can choose our path....or it will be chosen for us; we can act in our own interests....or we can remain trapped by forces that hold us prisoner; we can move ourselves by discipline or we can be imprisoned by our old habits. The energy we lose bemoaning our fate can be better used to move us yet another step in our journey. Which do you choose? Jack posted the above message to a woman who was struggling because she seems to have lost her wind. Jack is one smart mofo. Its all a personal choice, isnt it? Its all about if youre willing and able to focus and if you truly want to change who you are. I have said to my bestie ray a few times, you know dude, if I had had the gastric bypass, it would have been much quicker, and much easier. Then I remembered why I had the lapband in the first place. I didnt want easy, I wanted to OVERCOME. I needed help slaying the beast of the fatness. I have gone from eating 10000 calories a day (believe it or not) to eating 1200-1500. I have gone from eating out every single day, sometimes two or three times a day, to cooking my own food (imagine that). I have gone from sitting down all day long, and being exausted, to walking around the building I work in (circle it twice and its a mile, I try to circle it 6 times a day), plus doing a work out tape in the morning. I have gone from not giving a shit about my apperance to actually caring, to painting my nails, and doing my hair, and taking care of myself in a way that I was almost embarrassed to do when I wasnt doing anything about my weight. Look, my weight loss has been slow, and it doesnt take a genius to figure out how to eat around the band, but it takes a helluva lot of will power to stay on track. Sometimes I stumble, sometimes I falter, but my LIFE is changing. I'm proud of MYself and this is causing a huge shift in my life, in the way I carry myself, in the way I generally feel about the world. I wake up in a better mood, smile more often, I dont always 'look mad' anymore. My band is the best decision I have ever made, and its been difficult, but I would do it again a million times over. Now then, speaking of cooking, I made a sort of low carb something last night, and its really really good. Okay, so I got 3 chicken breasts, threw them on the foreman, a decent sized can of green chilie, 2 tomatos, and about a half a cup of onions. I have this new awesome little vegetable chopper, I dont have to cry when I want to use onions anymore, and it minces it up really finely. So after the chicken breast were done on the foreman, I threw the can of green chilie, some cheese, the tomatos, the onions and the chunked up chicken in a glass baking dish and put that in the oven for about an hour. That stuff is SO GOOD. HA. Angelica, master chef. -A

I pondered this question last night, whist I was sitting on my couch, enjoying a TV dinner, and recovering from being punched in the port by a 5 year old cousin of mine (accidentally, she didnt know what she was doing, but GEEZ it hurt). Nothing tastes as good as thin feels... mmm, this is interesting. Food, in itsself to me, is instant gratification. I like it, it makes me feel better. It makes me feel even better when I can get a smoke after eating a nice big portion of food. I enjoy it. Theres a certain amount of satisifaction to it. Okay, so now I have my band, and I cant eat nearly as much, but I like the feeling of being full, its like saftey to me. It makes me feel comfortable. Last year, when I was in the process of having my surgery, I would have figured that by this time, I would be done, I would have lost the weight that I needed to lose, I was totally committed. The problem is that I didnt bother to think about the reprecussions of losing something that was so important to me. Food is very important to me. Its sort of ridicilous how important it is. I didnt think, Gosh, you arent going to have a coping mechanism anymore, you arent going to have something to help you erase the sins of the day. All I thought was that I will have this surgery, and everything will be better. It was a very young thought process. No foresight, at all. Well, now, here I am, dealing with these emotional issues. Its hard. But I realized two things. Number one, without a plan, Angelica WILL fail. Without little meals to take to work with me, I will end up in the vending machine when I get hungry. Two, if you dont move your body, you cant shake the weight off. DUH. Look, I will admit right now that I havent been consistent in my weight loss. I know its because I found ways to eat around the band when I want too, and its because I havent really committed to my exercise program. That stops today. Its time to be a grown woman, and face the issues in my life head on. This wishy washy bullshit stops today. -A :biggrin:

I pondered this question last night, whist I was sitting on my couch, enjoying a TV dinner, and recovering from being punched in the port by a 5 year old cousin of mine (accidentally, she didnt know what she was doing, but GEEZ it hurt). Nothing tastes as good as thin feels... mmm, this is interesting. Food, in itsself to me, is instant gratification. I like it, it makes me feel better. It makes me feel even better when I can get a smoke after eating a nice big portion of food. I enjoy it. Theres a certain amount of satisifaction to it. Okay, so now I have my band, and I cant eat nearly as much, but I like the feeling of being full, its like saftey to me. It makes me feel comfortable. Last year, when I was in the process of having my surgery, I would have figured that by this time, I would be done, I would have lost the weight that I needed to lose, I was totally committed. The problem is that I didnt bother to think about the reprecussions of losing something that was so important to me. Food is very important to me. Its sort of ridicilous how important it is. I didnt think, Gosh, you arent going to have a coping mechanism anymore, you arent going to have something to help you erase the sins of the day. All I thought was that I will have this surgery, and everything will be better. It was a very young thought process. No foresight, at all. Well, now, here I am, dealing with these emotional issues. Its hard. But I realized two things. Number one, without a plan, Angelica WILL fail. Without little meals to take to work with me, I will end up in the vending machine when I get hungry. Two, if you dont move your body, you cant shake the weight off. DUH. Look, I will admit right now that I havent been consistent in my weight loss. I know its because I found ways to eat around the band when I want too, and its because I havent really committed to my exercise program. That stops today. Its time to be a grown woman, and face the issues in my life head on. This wishy washy bullshit stops today. -A :thumbs_up:

They use your starting weight before the 6 month program. Having said that, I am a real life testimate to the idea that you can avoid the 6 month program with Horizon, pm me and I can let you know how I was approved, my approval only took 3 days.

My mom used to do this while she was working out, something about making you sweat more, or something of that nature, shoot, why not try it out, if it makes a difference, let me know. I also had a friend would would buy like plastic suits to wear under her work out clothes, again, designed to make you sweat more. I dont know what the validity of those claims are, but its very interesting. -A

Okay, so I havent eaten any sugar lately. By lately, I mean, probably for a week, I have been eating really well, fruits, veggies, chicken, and fish. so today, I figured, some variety, I will have celery with peanut butter. Oh mistake. about 10 minutes after I ate it, I crashed, meaning, i could hardly keep my eyes open. I ended up taking a lunch, which I normally dont do at work, (I just eat at my desk, since my meals are so small) and having to go take a nap in the car for an hour! I couldnt believe it. Even AFTER the nap, I was still out of it and exausted, and so I ate my little tuna fish cup (I found these recently, they are 2.8 ounces of tuna, 80 calories, 19 grms of protein) and I felt alot better and was able to keep my eyes open. Needless to say, I will not be eating peanut butter again at work. I couldnt believe how tired I was. Today, in total, I have had 2 tuna cups, 80 cal each, 38 grms of protein one grapefruit 4 strawberries about 2 tblspoons of peanut butter and one stick of celery. When I look at this, I realize the calories are really low, but I feel good eating this way. I know later today I will be slightly thrown off, because I am going to have bbq brisket for dinner. I am trying to stay away from everything white, having said that, I still really love eating my fruits, and I dont plan on giving them up. I know, the whole thing about the fruit and how you have to be careful with it. I am not really too worried about it at this point. Also, I have been adding juices into my diet. I have a Jack LaLanie juicer, which is awesome, I love it. So with that, I am making myself this juice cocktail called 'Green lemonaide' Its not the best tasting thing in the world to be honest with you, but its jam packed with nutrients, and good for you stuffs. Green Lemonaide 1 head of green leaf lettuce (whatever kind, just not iceburg, I normally use romaine) 3 stalks of kale 2 stalks of celery 1 lemon (this kills the bitterness of raw kale) 1 or two apples (for sweetness) I juice that all up and end up with about 24 OZ of liquid, to which I add a soy protein packet (25 grms of protein) and have that for breakfast/lunch, because its alot of juice and sort of difficult to get down. In addition to that, I also take 6 spirula tabs a day (super food) 1 multivitamin 3 omega 3's, 3 super fiber tabs (if I skip the fiber tabs, I can eat a helluva lot more than if I take them) and 2 cranberry capsuls (this is for urinary tract health, I tend to get a lot of urinary tract infections, so this helps alot) I realize this sounds like ALOT of vitamins, and it is, actually, but taking this cocktail of vitamins plus my daily antidepressant, and avoiding sugar seems to put my moods in a more even keel. I have more energy, and eat ALOT less. I am happy with it. I am also fairly happy with my restriction, but the more weight i lose, the more I look forward to my visit to the surgeon to have my next fill. Over all, I feel like I am finally getting this bandster thing right, I feel healthy, my skin looks better, my eyes are brighter, and my nails and hair are growing at an incredible rate. -A

Okay, so I havent eaten any sugar lately. By lately, I mean, probably for a week, I have been eating really well, fruits, veggies, chicken, and fish. so today, I figured, some variety, I will have celery with peanut butter. Oh mistake. about 10 minutes after I ate it, I crashed, meaning, i could hardly keep my eyes open. I ended up taking a lunch, which I normally dont do at work, (I just eat at my desk, since my meals are so small) and having to go take a nap in the car for an hour! I couldnt believe it. Even AFTER the nap, I was still out of it and exausted, and so I ate my little tuna fish cup (I found these recently, they are 2.8 ounces of tuna, 80 calories, 19 grms of protein) and I felt alot better and was able to keep my eyes open. Needless to say, I will not be eating peanut butter again at work. I couldnt believe how tired I was. Today, in total, I have had 2 tuna cups, 80 cal each, 38 grms of protein one grapefruit 4 strawberries about 2 tblspoons of peanut butter and one stick of celery. When I look at this, I realize the calories are really low, but I feel good eating this way. I know later today I will be slightly thrown off, because I am going to have bbq brisket for dinner. I am trying to stay away from everything white, having said that, I still really love eating my fruits, and I dont plan on giving them up. I know, the whole thing about the fruit and how you have to be careful with it. I am not really too worried about it at this point. Also, I have been adding juices into my diet. I have a Jack LaLanie juicer, which is awesome, I love it. So with that, I am making myself this juice cocktail called 'Green lemonaide' Its not the best tasting thing in the world to be honest with you, but its jam packed with nutrients, and good for you stuffs. Green Lemonaide 1 head of green leaf lettuce (whatever kind, just not iceburg, I normally use romaine) 3 stalks of kale 2 stalks of celery 1 lemon (this kills the bitterness of raw kale) 1 or two apples (for sweetness) I juice that all up and end up with about 24 OZ of liquid, to which I add a soy protein packet (25 grms of protein) and have that for breakfast/lunch, because its alot of juice and sort of difficult to get down. In addition to that, I also take 6 spirula tabs a day (super food) 1 multivitamin 3 omega 3's, 3 super fiber tabs (if I skip the fiber tabs, I can eat a helluva lot more than if I take them) and 2 cranberry capsuls (this is for urinary tract health, I tend to get a lot of urinary tract infections, so this helps alot) I realize this sounds like ALOT of vitamins, and it is, actually, but taking this cocktail of vitamins plus my daily antidepressant, and avoiding sugar seems to put my moods in a more even keel. I have more energy, and eat ALOT less. I am happy with it. I am also fairly happy with my restriction, but the more weight i lose, the more I look forward to my visit to the surgeon to have my next fill. Over all, I feel like I am finally getting this bandster thing right, I feel healthy, my skin looks better, my eyes are brighter, and my nails and hair are growing at an incredible rate. -A :biggrin:

Okay, so this morning, I woke up, and (I know, TMI) I am in the middle of a raging peroid. Normally, during my monthly, I'll eat just about anything I can cram into my face, but this morning, I woke up and thought, God, a nice salad with some chicken would be delicious right now. What in the hell. I have read things in the past that note that your body craves what you put into it. Am I getting there? Am I finally at the point that I am starting to LOVE the foods that I am eating? This is totally awesome. I started thinking about oranges, and how delicious they are, and about grapefruit, and avacados, and all the stuff that is GOOD for you. I was so excited. On another note, this pissed me off. I got into a semi arguement with a full blow retard who happened to think that I was attacking her, which I wasnt. Maybe my words were a little harsh, but grow the fuck up, your sn is GEEZER SUE. I am posting my response to her here, because I didnt want a full on flame in the forums, because thats sort of stupid. Shes in italics, I'm not. I read your blog. What else do you have to do? And, since you are so capable of changing your life and overdoing on exercising...why the hell have ANY surgery? Overdoing it? You mean, working out an hour a day, ONE HOUR, outside of the other TWENTY THREE that are available is overdoing it? You mean the rush I get after exercising, the way it makes my mood better all day long, thats a BAD thing? You live on YOUR side of 200 pounds and YOUR side of band experience and YOUR side of 30 years old...and somehow think you know more than I do. Maybe, someday, you'll know half as much. I never ever ever mentioned ONCE that I knew more than anyone else, but obviously, I THINK more than you do. Yes, I am over 200 pounds, YES, I am younger than 30. Great, fantastic. I'm going to hit my goal and have a LONG LIFE enjoying MY ACOMPLISHMENT. I had surgery in October with the UNDERSTANDING that it would be a process to lose this weight, and it wasnt a magical overnight pill. And I don't have charcoal panties...I have VS undies on right now. Maybe someday you''ll be there, too. Oh Sue, I doubt that you dont have to wear charcoal underwear, I doubt that you dont need spring drops in the toilet after you drop a bomb. What I did want to say is that not only will I be able to wear VS underwear soon, but men will actually WANT TO LOOK AT ME IN THEM. If you want to use age as a catalyst, then lets use age. If you want to be rude and mean, then lets be rude and mean, my GRANDMOTHER is your age. Sue Sue, you get the big tugboat for BOOORRRINNNGGG. In either case, my food intake is good, protein is strong. I am drinking a helluva lot of water. I am using the turbo jam workout tapes, still havent made it to the point where I dont feel self concious at the gym, but its coming, I can feel it. Down 2 pant sizes. I am excited to be alive today =) -A

My best guy friend! We went for wings yesterday and he kept trying to convince me to eat the carrot sticks first because he wanted me to get full so that I wouldnt eat the wings. He gives me the same answer everytime, I'm just looking out for YOUR band dude. hes hilarious

Charcoal panties are something that DS patients use after their weight loss surgeries because they have really bad gas. The charcoal helps reduce the smell of the gas.

This is going to sound so gross, but do you know what I am most afraid of when I have a fill? That the doctor will push on my stomach to hard and I will fart. Totally off the wall fear, I know, but everytime I go in, I get all nervous about it. Glad to hear it went well =)