~Trixie~

...how are you doing? Maybe we should introduce ourselves to one another...I'll start: My name is Trish and I was banded on December 17th in New York. I'm on mushies until next Monday, when I'll be starting Phase I of working in soft solids. As of yesterday, I am down 20 pounds from my surgery weight (32 pounds from my highest). My husband and I go to the gym in our apartment complex every day and walk for a half an hour. I can't wait to be able to vary my exercise regime more, but that will come in a couple of weeks. I hope everyone is doing really well! Please give an update of your progress!

Thanks, Shortgal! It's been tough with no restriction, but having goals has been such a motivational kick in the butt! We really need to keep this up. When the Valentine's Day challenge has ended we need to come up with more! I'm 5'2", how short are you?

Name.................Start.....Current....Goal....To Go TxArcher............360.......346..........345....1 Shortgal.............198.......192.6.......192.....1/2 (now I'm aiming for 191) Trixie.................264.......248..........244.....4

You forgot one: Mike Gravel. Not that anyone knows who the heck he is, but he's still running on the Democratic ticket.

Do you consider all people to be seeking attention when they post a thread stating something that you disagree with? Obviously I have issues. We all do. How else could we all become heifers?

You are the first person that I have ever come across that actually needs and uses a Hummer for it's purpose. I live on Long Island in New York, and there is nothing rugged about this place, even out east in farm country where there are some rural spots. The people who drive Hummers here have no business doing so. they use them as a status symbol as they cart their kids around to soccer practices and dance classes. It's ridiculous. Especially when they come speeding up from behind me on the expressway doing 85-90...How many miles a gallon do those things get at high speeds? 2?

I love this thread. Thanks for starting it. About a little over a year ago or so, my husband and I started making a conscious effort to have less of an impact. We stopped buying bottled Water, which the more I read about it, the more I find bottled water to be really evil on so many levels. We stopped driving so damn much, stopped accepting plastic grocery bags, started using eco and animal-friendly products, bought a hand-cranked washing machine and spin "dryer" so that we wouldn't have to rely on the water and energy guzzling machines at the laundromat, we only turn the heat on when it is absolutely necessary (usually when the thermostat falls below 58), we put insulation on the windows, and we rely on candles for heat and light. Not only are the changes that can be made great for the environment, but they have saved us a load of money as well. A few websites that I like to frequent are noimpactman.com, freecycle.com, and orionmagazine.org. I love how you guys can "live off the fat of the land." I so wish to be able to do that one day. It's a bit difficult to do now with a 5'x3' stoop, but I have grown spinach and herbs from seed in pots, but nothing in sustainable amounts.

You're thinking of studio photography or wedding photography. Of course when you PAY someone to take a photograph, you want them to make you look your best. That is their job. However, when you approach photography from the documentary vantage (which before and after, or during pics are..."This is me then," "This is me now." "This is a TRUE measure of my success."), an integral product is what one strives for; something as close to the real thing as possible, as it happens. Next time a Jenny Craig commercial with Valerie Bertinelli comes on, or any weight loss program's commercial for that matter, look at how her body position is different. In the before her legs are spread and the perspective is more direct. In the "after" her body is skewed with one leg bent in towards the other. Now do you believe that she is giving an honest impression of her weight loss? NO! She is doing it to SELL a product. I don't know about you, but I happen to distrust most people who try to sell me something using false imagery, which is exactly what one is doing when they post a true picture of themselves next to one where they stick their neck out and have the camera positioned over their head. And BTW, I'm not blasting all before and after pics. I am merely discussing the random few that make me say, "Give me a break. Who are you trying to kid?" It just annoys me when I see pics like that in a forum that was set up for healing, honesty, and educational purposes. I don't believe that these people are giving an honest impression of the power of the band with these pictures. They are cheapening it (and giving false hope) by pulling the same malarkey that weight loss businesses do to sucker people in.

Your words, not mine. I never even alluded to this. If you're going to attempt to shoot me down, please at least have the courtesy of quoting or paraphrasing me correctly.

Thank you Green for your sensitive and thoughtful replies to my post. I don't post just to shoot my mouth off. I actually appreciate other's points of view. An open dialog is one of the best learning tools available. You brought up many good points that I hadn't considered. Thank you for taking the time to gently and tactfully put me in my place.

Question: Is the behind region usually taken care of along with the Gina, or does one have to ask specifically for that?...OK another question...a little more graphic...do they, you know, spread 'em a little to get ALL of the hair? I've been too much of a p**** to get it done (pun intended), but would like to treat myself when I hit one of my future goals.

Maybe I should also mention that I have a background in photography, so my eye is trained to scrutinize photographs.

Never once did I mention specific people, though I could. My comment was not to belittle the accomplishments that people have made. If I truly were looking to do that, wouldn't I call these people out to their faces? I'm just saying that among the many reasons that most of us have become overweight in the first place is because we have misconstrued body images (whether we believe that we are fatter than we actually are, and continue on in our vicious cycle of weight gain, or we believe that we are actually thinner than we are, and become complacent and stop trying so hard to lose weight). I really believe people need to be honest with themselves. One of the ways is to take accurate pictures of themselves. And no, I am not an attention whore. I was merely stating my opinion, which I believed I could safely do in Rants and Raves. Thank you all for replying.

Dude, did you check out this one?! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqeAh_IeSrQ&feature=related]YouTube - Herve Villechaize sings![/ame] I love the little child-molester mustache...(no, I don't believe that child molestation is a laughing matter...it's just a phrase).

Just curious. What's your beef with Ron Paul?

What medication, if any, do you take? For a while I was taking Metformin (generic Glucophage), but I couldn't take the side effects. So once my periods were regulated, I stopped taking it for a couple of years. Needless to say, once I gained all of the weight back (and then some) that I had lost while dieting and taking Metformin, my periods became erratic again. When I saw my PCP in September, I asked for a prescription renewal. Instead of the Metmorfin, she gave me a starter pack of Glumetza. She said that it should be gentler on my intestinal tract. Well, I didn't start it until yesterday. I figured I would wait to see if my periods would regulate themselves with weight loss, which hasn't yet happened. I'm curious, has anyone taken Glumetza, and if so, have you found it to be as effective as Metformin? Also, did you have the same side effects that you experienced with the Metformin or were they not as severe?

Some postulate that we are indeed in Iraq for the oil, but for a different purpose. It's to keep the prices high in order to keep all of Bush's cronies' wallets fat. Question for you: Is being able to drive to work (instead of taking the bus, carpooling, or riding a bike) really so important to you that you believe that a people's entire way of life should be destroyed? It breaks my heart to know that Iraqis live in constant fear and TERROR. I know what that feels like just from one day. I couldn't imagine feeling that every single day like these people do. No human deserves that, and definitely not over a trivial resource that could easily be replaced by other forms of renewable power, just so that you can maintain your precious life of excess. That is so disgusting!

Katrina was a tragedy (to put it mildly) and exposed some despicable flaws in our government and also in some citizens, but why isn't anyone mentioning the personal accountability factor? Does anyone recall the news interviews from days BEFORE the storm where the people of New Orleans stubbornly stated that they weren't going to leave? As someone who has been at the heart of a life-threatening situation (9/11), I know that if there is devastation coming, you get the hell out of the situation. It's beyond common sense; it is instinctual. I think that Katrina also exposed why we as citizens have no control over our own government. We have become so complacent with having our government run the show, that we expect them to constantly bail us out and babysit all of our actions. People really need to start taking responsibility for their own actions.

I've tried the Ortho Tri-Cyclen and Yasmin route, but I don't think they really treat what is at the heart of PCOS: insulin resistance; the reason we can put on the pounds so effortlessly. Birth control really only helps with the symptoms; the cysts (if you're the lucky few who actually have them), the acne, and the period irregularity...not to mention that as we get older, we really shouldn't take BC because of the possible side effects. Mindy, I would suggest treating your PCOS or at least seeing an endocrinologist (which I have found to be better suited in treating this disorder since it is a pre-cursor to diabetes). Just from my own experience of not treating the PCOS, I can say that I wish I had kept up with it. I notice that when it is out of control, I am more apt to be mentally out of control. I don't know if it's the extra testosterone or what, but I know that I have a tendency to react to things irrationally. The jury is still out on the Glumetza. I lost five pounds last week, but I'm not sure if it's because of the medication or that I switched from the treadmill to the elliptical last Sunday. I haven't had any of the nasty side effects that I had with Metformin (although I have noticed an increase in the tooting :eek:). I have to say though, since being banded and having extremely infrequent BMs, I kind of miss the Metformin side effects...I'm almost willing to take it again to get things flowing more regularly down there!

That is an extremely sexist comment.

All the Clintons can speak of on THEIR campaign trail is a return to the way of life American's had in the 90s. Well, guess what? We can't return. The 90s are long dead along with the world that existed at that time thanks in part to the short-sighted treaties signed by the then Clinton administration. BTW, Transformer, you're not alone in the struggles that you faced in the 90's. My parents had to work their asses off to support us, sometimes having to work two or three jobs. And guess what, they were skilled, white collar members of the workforce. What kills me is that while we had to go without, the kids who lived in the welfare development down the road were riding new bikes and wearing new shoes paid for by the taxes that came off the sweat of my parents' aching backs. Recently, when Hillary proposed giving people $5000 for each child born, I almost lost my sh*t. I was transported right back to my childhood where the welfare mothers would keep spitting out kids for more money in their checks. That is when I was certain that if Hillary were to be elected to the presidency, disaster would ensue.

Thanks for letting me know. There are a lot of covert things going on in the White House, so I wouldn't put this one past the Bush administration. This is just another example of how important news is consistently being buried by the biased agendas of the liberal media.

i don't even know what to say. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHQ7Prwh7Gc]YouTube - President BUSH PARDON's HIMSELF against POTENTIAL WARCRIMES[/ame]

Jennie, I respect your opinion, but I just ask that you check into Huckabee a little more. Although he is a Christian, his past is a little shady, including infractions such as dipping into state funds to pay for trivial and personal items like Taco Bell and pantyhose, to not allowing a mentally retarded girl who was raped by her stepfather to have an abortion (something that under the laws of Arkansas is legal). I just think that because someone is a Christian, that doesn't necessarily make them a good person and worthy of becoming president...heck look at Bush and how he has completely disregarded the Constitution by illegally suspending habeas corpus, and basically has "disappeared" hundreds of people down in Guantanamo. Doesn't sound like a Christian thing to do to me.

How did everything go, Phil?