Jachut

I wouldnt have thought it would be a problem, but its not like you can ask these questions of your doctor because all you'll get is a lecture on premature skin aging and skin cancer.

Can you come over and sort my scales out now? They're misbehaving badly!

I have a terrible tendency to do exactly that - I take a real dislike to someone I see often but dont know based entirely on their looks. There's one lady I see at school when dropping the kids off. she really really gets up my nose. Anyway she was standing talking in the street and my son came out of school and went up and took her hand (she was facing away from him). Then he realised it was the wrong mum. He finally saw me and I said "what did you do that for" and he said "I thought it was you, she looks exactly like you" Bingo! the reason for my dislike suddenly became clear - she DOES look like me, all the things about me I happen not to like!

You caught me just after I've finished having a tantrum! My husband. Good lord, he is SUCH an accountant. It drives me insane. I account for every single bleeding cent I spend, right down to a newspaper. It all gets computed, entered on the spreadsheet, he's forecast 10 years ahead exactly how much money we'll have etc. I dont buy a coffee without him knowing about it. He's a control freak. Its good because without him I'd be broke. I'm terrible, I dont plan, I just spend when I feel like it and he's reigned me right in and I'm a lot more responsible now. But we need to move house, we need a bigger house and we need to live in a more convenient area. We've needed to do this for about five years now. But he overanalysies it, he does it all on Excel, he works out every possible permutation and the end picture of taking on a huge mortgage (Melbourne is a very very expenisve city) looks too scary when you see it all broken down to the nth degree. He works out that if we stay in this house we'll have say $300,000 more in 10 years time. He works out whether it would be better to rent, keep both cars, sell one car and use public transport blah blah blah. He works out the cost over our entire lifetime of paying for private education for our kids and then considers it in that light. We never flipping well do anything because he's worked out exactly how much its going to cost extrapolated over 20 years. He knows that if I go and buy an ice cream today for $3.00 it will actually end up costing us $145 over the next five years. It is insane. We've just again had another HUGE fight over housing because I insist that its got every much to do with needs, wants and our kids education (not good options for secondary school in this area), he thinks its all about dollars. I think if we can afford it week to week and its what we need, I dont care to know that we'll pay an extra $400,000 in interest over the next 20 years, to me that's the cost of moving to a bigger house in a better area. And he totally neglectst the fact that while we live in this house, we have no mortgage as we own it outright, we spend our money on lifestyle factors - nice cars, holidays, etc. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

Im 38, almost 39 and married, with two boys 10 and 8 and a 3 year old daughter. I live in Melbourne, Australia. I dont work but am a part time university student, doing a Bachelor of Primary Education, with 3 years to go. I havent had any age related band issues, but I have had age related fat issues, lol. I didnt have a weight problem really until I hit my 30's. Is there any other decade in your entire life where you will be stretched as thin and have as little time for yourself as you do in your 30's? You may have found this earlier having had your kids 10 years younger than I did but that five or six years where your kids are little, not in school, its deadly for your figure. YOu just exist day to day, often with little sleep and diet and exercise go out out the window. I got my band late last year becuase honestly, its the first time in 10 years I feel as if I've been able to come up for air and actually put myself first.

My doc just says to eat normally - basically 3 meals, eat till I'm satisifed, eat a snack if I"m actually hungry in between meals. Most days I eat 4 times. It can be all over the shop though - I do have to work at not just grazing all day long and never eating a proper meal - or days like today when I've been out to a playcentre with kids and their friends. I've had about 8 cups of coffee today and only just now ate half a sandwich - its 4pm here and that's the first thing I've eaten all day. Most days are good days though.

Wow, it sure LOOKS like a tonne of weight! Slow is good though. Its healthy and easier to get your head around and when you know you're going to get to goal sooner or later, the pressure to do it fast kind of disappears.

It frustrates me. Take Australian Big Brother at the moment. There was a mother daughter pair went in there, both had had recent boob jobs as a mother/daughter thing Big fat bouncy plastic huuuuuuuge boobs on the pair of them, stick thin as they were. The mother has been voted out - but she was fake tanned, hair extensioned, acrylic nailed to the max and the daughter, who is still there spends most of her day putting on make up and lying in the sun. Lets not even mentioned the mother looked like old shoe leather, the oldest lookign 36 year old I have ever seen, and is encouraging the 19 year old daughter in this behaviour. Lets not even mention skin cancer! What bothers me is my stupid husband ogling this 19 year old. She's 19. Where's the respect for the beauty, intelligence and experience of a more mature woman? Apparently that's all worth nothing if gasp, she has a bit of cellulite. He scoffs and makes derisive remarks whenever any woman near normal looking comes on the television screen. There's been a more normal looking girl in there and her whole experience in the house has been about how ugly she is (and that's been the boys main topic of conversation). She's actually gorgeous! Just not blonde and big boobed. What my husband fails to appreciate is how much time and money goes into looking the way these women do and bitches and moans about the fact that I spend money to cover my grey hair and get my nails done. What mixed messages! I know he loves me for who and what I am now but it infurates me when he behaves like this in front of the kids. Especially our daughter. I do not want her growing up thinking she has to fit a mould and that she has a useby date. I never want to see that kind of neanderthal behaviour in my sons. It doesnt affect my self esteem. I'm no barbie doll. And just personally, whilst I dont judge others for doing it and certainly not where its truly warranted, there's no way I'd go under the knife again for cosmetic surgery when I really feel I"m good enough. Ive talked about a breast lift but I wouldnt actually do it. I feel there was a strong element of vanity in my band surgery and I think I've used up my quota. More power to those that do it FOR THEMSELVES. I struggle with this too, sometimes wanting to do stuff like go in a tanning bed to look nice and brown. But overall I value being healthy more than being beautiful. I just see around me how much misery and disappointment people feel in themselves because they're not perfect enough and I just wanted to say I think they're valuing the wrong things! Its not wrong but look around you, nobody's perfect. Go easy on yourselves, you're all beautiful in your own way.

I had that feeling in my throat after surgery but it only lasted about a week.

Jeez, I couldnt trust my kids to do that. I went beserk at Fraser the other day as Eliza went to sit on her little padded toilet seat (which was sitting on the toilet) and came out crying because it was covered with pee. I was so mad, I made Fraser put down his Breakfast, glove up and head in there with bucket and bleach. I told him to make sure he SCRUBBED the floor all around the toilet too - it collects in the tile grout. What do I find when I get back? Dried up pee still all in the toilet lid (because he didnt even lower the lid to clean the top of it) and puddles of Water behind the toilet with the spare toilet paper sitting in it, the toilet brush left on the floor and the old towel I gave him to dry it all off danging into the toilet. He wanted pocket money to clean out my car but he did such a crap job I gave him none. He's most affronted that he carted all the junk in and got nothing for it. I'd asked him to bring the stuff in, put it all away properly then vacuum out the car. He thinks carting a few bags and shoes in and dumping them in the middle of the lounge room amounts to the same thing. They get their clean clothes to hang up, the hang them all upside down, twisted, half on the hangers, it all falls off and gets shoved in the back of the wardrobe to appear in the washing basket the next week. Theoretically they get pocket money, but they never get it because they're pigs. I'm thinking corporal punishment needs to make a come back in this house, stuff supernanny.

I need a shot of that too. Honestly my life is chaos and its all because I'm sitting here and talking to you, not doing what I should be and getting the lunches made for school. I just hate the day to day drudgery. Oh for a cleaner! Siiiiiigh. But with 3 kids in the house there's always so much stuff I would have to clean anyway before he/she came. I used to pay a lovely lady $24 a week to do a once over, and it did keep me slightly more organised by having to have the house ready for her. But the kids would just come running on through, dirty feet, smearing handprints along the walls as they went, shedding schoolbags, clothes and socks on their way. Out would come the crackers, the spreads, the fruit, before long there'd be crumbs, butter smears, drink spills etc (oh, and they cant get their pee in the toilet for love nor money, I swear they just wave their willies in the general direction as they run by). The clean lasted literally 3 hours. I'd never find someone else so cheap, it'd be more like $50-$60 a week now. I also used to have a really nice local ironing lady who charged me between $10 to $20 a week, and Mr Accountant made me give that up too, now he bitches that his shirts are never ironed. It'd cost double now!

I dont know about the throat pressure - although after surgery I got weird feelings like I had a foreign object stuck in my throat. But the burning at the port, yep that lasted a few weeks. Especially if I moved a certain way I got a twinge from it.

Another vote for reflux here. YOu're right, when you're really "vomiting" you know about it. It doesnt just happen while you're asleep.

I've had more than a week off because of my eye but today I ran 4kms. I want to build up to 5 again, there's a 5km fun run I want to do on the 18th, I think I"ll be ready. The 4kms was a little harder than normal but that's to be expected after a break

I play hookey from uni, because the time when I have no children is way to precious to waste on what I should be doing, lol. I'm only part time at the moment and doing one unit off campus, and the other unit is one of those filler unit, give an academic a job type things that is ridicously easy. Next semester is going to be the same. So I just work at my own pace at home and barely ever actually physically attend. I take myself off to the movies - only chance I ever get to see a chick flick, go shopping, schedule haircuts and nail appointments and sometimes I muck around on the computer for hours on end. But I do study too.

I've lost over 50% of my excess weight and I havent noticed any yet. My excess weight was 80-90lb in total though and I'm pretty tall.

that's why I take the Omega 3-s. Nothing makes my skin, hair and nails good like taking the supplements - and eating lots of fish and nuts. Biotin is supposedly good for hair - and zinc and protein are important. You could take a hair, nails and skin supplement.

I just take a multi and a mix of flaxseed oil/fish oil because most people in the western word are Omega 3 deficint/imbalanced - and since I noticed what a remarkable difference they made for my son's eczema, vanity keeps me taking them. I think they do more than the most expensive face creams ever could. I probably should take calcium and Iron as well. But its too many pills, lol. But that would pretty much cover all bases for me as I have no health issues.

Actually you look rather gorgeous! Those scars dont look so terribly bad to me. I would show off that stomach regardless, its better than 99% of people's. I think the biggest thing you can give yourself, that you could never pay for is to learn not to care what the heck others think. Everybody is beautiful in their own way and that's the truth. It is so totally true that confidence covers a multiltude of sins. And a bit of fake tan never hurts although you look nice and brown too.

Beans are really really really good for you. Like nuts, they may be a protein/carb combo but they're such valuable foods.

It was very easy, but for some reason I was absolutely terrified going into surgery. I've only ever had elective surgery before, a rhinoplasty for a deviated septum, heel spurs removed, a broken hand pinned, wisdom teeth removed. So I know I handle general anaesthetics well and recover quickly. But this operation seemed much more "unecessary" in many ways - it wasnt done to relieve an immediately painful physical problem. I have 3 kids and I barely slept the night before, after we left them to sleep at mum and dad's house. I kept thinking I might never see them again. Anyhow, I got there, sat for ages waiting in the reception at the hospital, but once admitted, I was told to get straight in the shower and I was barely out before they were coming to get me. I was wheeled in and the usual happened, they couldnt find any veins to put the needles in, and had to insert a tiny tiny needle. I dont know what it is with my veins, apparently I dont have any. I was given a pre-med which I never have been before so I vaguely remember hopping across to the operating table myself, but I dont even recall being anaesthetised. I woke up in recovery and had a huge thumping ACHE in my stomach, right below my breastbone and I was shivering like mad. They immediately gave me some morphine and I got them to put a pillow under my knees which helped a lot, and they covered me with hot blankets. After a while I was taken to my room and got across to the bed myself, and as you do, I just slept on and off all day. I spoke on the phone a few times, my surgeon came to see me and in the afternoon (I went into theatre at 8.30 am) I was asked to get out bed and was wheeled off to have the barium swallow. I had visitors that night. I had a bad night after that. I was given painkillers regularly but I'd laid on my back in that bed all day and I just couldnt get comfortable and I couldnt sleep because I'd been asleep all day. I kept pulling myself out of bed, walking around, trying to get comfortable on my side etc. In the end I was going nuts becuase there was nothing on television at 3 am so I asked for some sleeping pills. I did get to sleep till about 7.30 am, at which point the surgeon came back to see me, check my tummy etc. I felt good the next day, they were just giving me paracetamol every 4 hours by this stage. Doug and the kids came in at 10 am to collect me, I walked out to the car, and came home, and we went for a short walk later that day. I never took any more painkillers once I left the hospital. I went home pretty much to normal light activity. I had a little discomfort from gas, not much though, just a stitch like pain above my hip every now and them. The main problem I had was passing out on the liquid diet, I had to thin down heartier Soups with some meat and carbs in them and I was fine once I did that. I stuck to the rules, never had any pb's or discomfort and went back to the surgeon at 6 weeks, by which time I'd lost 9kg.

I did at first - I lost over 20lb before I had a fill but I dont think I'd be losing now without a fill. I'm not tight at all, but I feel I would be returning to my old habits somewhat without something stopping me.

What's ironing?

That's what I took slime to be. I hope I'm not missing out on an even more wondrous experience than producing buckets of saliva!

Balled up lump in this house. I hate laundry. I am so over it. We are currently in the process of fitting in a second washer and dryer, because I jsut cannot keep up with it. Australian houses dont have basements and laundries tend to be tiny, ours is 2 metres x 3 metres, so very very little room. I just dont flipping care anymore. The boys dont hang up their clothes properly, I put clean stuff in their room to be put away and next thing I know, its all back in the washing basket. Eliza changes clothes 75 times a day. I get spit on, snotted on etc. Can you tell you've just caught me after another interminable few hours of putting darn clothes away?