puddin

Scott's WAAAAY too into himself and can't carry a conversation.

HELLO, I just called and left him a message and invited him to something tonight. I don't think he'll call me back. It's okay. Just thought I'd give him a shot. I keep telling myself he doesn't know what he's missing LOL. As for now, I'm not going to stalk the boy. If he wants to call me or text me back he will.

Okay, okay, okay. I'm just... dumb. i wrote back to this guy and said "Well, a lot has changed since we went out. You were a cool guy and just popped into my head. This is Georgia, by the way... what's crackin?" Uh... yeah, he hasn't written back since. I swear I want to force him to talk to me and SEE me, because he just has no idea who I am now. Anyhow, whatever. He might be a punk anyway. I mean... he WAS good lookin. Good lookin = punk. Plus he was really into his cars. So no biggie if he doesn't text back, I guess. I just liked his warped sense of humor and his bulging, beautiful muscles and his chiseled features is all. Is that too much to ask for???

I have no idea what you just said LOL. I haven't had to do any of that. I had my surgery 18 days ago, but I haven't had to put on any telfa pads or anything like that. Actually, I asked about the compression garment today and they said, "well, you're almost 3 weeks out already, you don't necessarily need it, but if you want it you can buy it" LOL. You know, I sorta look like the bride of frankenstein naked, too, but it STILL looks better than before, and it'll look a heckuva lot better in about 3.5 more weeks! Yeah, I guess vanity's nice for once. But it's taken hold of me. I'm trying to get rid of it again. I actually friggin texted this guy I went out with about 5 months ago before I met my ex. I really liked him, but he was hard to date because of his schedule, AND I was about 50 pounds heavier than I am now. Plus, now I still feel like I'm even a different person than I was 50 pounds ago, a bit relationship wiser, more physical, etc. Anyhow, he was really good lookin and successful and I couldn't figure out why he wanted to go out with ME (shutup all you self-esteem queens). So today I texted him and just said "Hey, what's up with you. Haven't seen you in awhile." And he writes back "Sorry, who is this? All my numbers were erased out of my phone." And now I have no idea what to write LOL! I'm texting retarded. I KIND of want to say something like "Well, Ben, I've lost 50 pounds and I finally look cute. Ya, I have a little more emotional baggage on me now, but I think you'll like how the baggage looks with my new belt." No, I'd never say that. Crap. What do I type back??? I didn't think this thing through.

Well Brenda, our system really sucks when it comes to kids, sometimes. I'm sorry about your nephew, but I'm sure you'll always have a bond because of your unselfish desire to help him! You're awesome. I've been called f'in nuts before. Each time I get called that it just eggs me on to do crazier and crazier things. Come on! Give it a chance. If you die, what a freakin awesome way to die, eh? Hey, I want a new compression garment. The girdle sucks. Do you wear the tights-like kind? My spanx sort of push some back fat up on me and I end up getting back crack. Not pretty. Then I end up having to get like this top compression thing, which flattens out my boobs, upon which I have to stuff my bra with something substantial. The lengths we go to for vanity... uh, I mean beauty... uh, I mean normalcy.

Brenda B., you are freakin awesome. What an amazing person you are to take care of this wonderful baby... one that must have been difficult to handle with all the problems he was born with. You deserve the weight loss and the plastic surgery! You're just so awesome and my new hero. We could definitely hook up in March if you're visiting. I'll probably be moving to SLC shortly as my sister is getting married and we have to sell this house that I love. But heck, the equity's payin off lower body lift, the laser hair removal, and the boob job...so BRING IT! Hey, you wanna go skydiving? I was going to go skydiving in March sometime with some friends. If you're interested let me know and maybe we could do it while you're here.

Thanks for the awesome advice and inspiration you guys. In 4 weeks (mark these words) I will take some 'after' pics of my whole self. I HOPE to be back into those 10's by then. for now, the 12's are what I'm in, and they're TIGHT from the swelling. Hey woman, my doc told me to stop wearing the compression girdle because it was cutting off circulation to my lower-stomach. So I have no compression going on right now. Maybe he'll change his mind tomorrow when i see him again and I can get those spanx-like compression garments. YEEE HAAAW! Then maybe I can actually have a butt again. The RUSH about men is that I'm 28. Yes, I'm 28 and in Utah. This is a problem. I don't want to get any older and date the ones who aren't so normal any more. But in reality, for a few months at least, I'm taking the break. And as crazy as it may sound right now, I'm going to re-contact my ex-boyfriend, and if he's been baptized again and gotten his act together and IF he's still interested, I'll think about getting back with him. Yeah, I still love him. But I need to work on my own belief system right now and so does he. We both don't believe in doing before marriage what we did together, and I think we sort of both hate each other for it right now. Like I said, it changed things immediately. It's just so not worth it. And you guys are all right, I'm going to try not to rush it, but still do my part.... WHERE do you meet men, anyway (and don't say online)???

Hey y'all, sorry I've been gone. Went to idaho for a little while to clear my head and see a friend! I'll do my best to answer some of these questions: Dr. Brzowski in Utah did my surgery. I picked him because he was rated one of the top 100 cosmetic surgeons in the nation. He just HAPPENS to have an office 2 blocks away from my house. Handy. I am happy with him and his staff. Very awesome. As far as the drains go... I had them in for just over a week. But once they came out, boy am I SWOLLEN! In the morning my stomach is flush, but in the evening I look like I have a teenie ponch over my incision, and swollen hips and my pants get tight again. Yeah, I'm still super swollen. But I'm not really taking things easy, either. I'm not exercising yet (it's only been 2 weeks), but I'm going, going, going all day. Can't stand to be inside any more. And with my schedule that used to be filled 100% of the time with either physical activity or the boyfriend, well, that leaves me with zippo right now. So I'm trying to fill the time with doing things with friends or some kind of service activity (mostly because if I can focus on someone else for awhile I can forget about my stupid breakup). Mypov, they cut me ALL the way around, lift and lower skin, and they did lipo all around the place. I'm afraid they lipo'd my butt LOL! I have no butt any more!!! I want the butt injection too, now. Nah, it'll look better once my hip swelling goes down. And hey, we were banded by the same doc! I love those guys. Efficka... why did you lose your band??? Brenda B. - I wanna hear your story, too!!! And see pics. Have them posted anywhere? I really don't mind pain, believe it or not! I was doin okay a few days after surgery. And yeah, my back hurts like a motha, but not where the incision is. The back incision is NO BIG DEAL! Honestly, very, very minimal. It's the tummy tuck part that I've had to be bent over. I am NEARLY standing up straight. I've been de-evolved for two weeks now. By wednesday I'd better be standing up straight cuz I'm going dancing LOL! I'm a glutton for punishment, I tell ya. ALL: As far as men go, you guys, I'm taking a serious break. I'm not kidding you. There's no school for once you've lost the weight and there seem to be no books on the topic. It's all about LOSING the weight. But how do you handle yourself after you've lost the weight? It's almost as if my identity has completely changed. I've become this very outdoorsy, sporty, outgoing girl who hangs out with a lot of guys and takes pride in her personal appearance. This is a 180 from who I was a year and a half ago. Nobody recognizes me who knew me from before. Nobody. I saw my aunt in Idaho, who I haven't seen since I lost the weight. She answered the door and didn't recognize me. I was like "it's me" and she just about fell over. I was never the pretty girl. Never. This is a whole new experience for me and I don't know how to handle it. I can't seem to control myself around men, and I seem to be going out with the wrong ones. Sounds funny to say this, but I keep getting these really good looking guys who are so into themselves it almost makes you sick. But I can't get past it! I'm sure it's a reflection of how I'm feeling inside. For so long we have been judged on our personal appearance and weight... and it sucks, and we hate it and it's not fair! But then I turn around and do the EXACT same thing! I won't date a chubby man. I want an athletic man. I won't date men who are 30 and never have been married because there must be 'something wrong' with them. So I keep going after these 32-year-old divorcees or the 25-year-old players. How terrible is this??? I'm sure the ex did some emotional damage to me in this department. So... as hard as it is to admit... I'm getting some therapy for this right now and doing some serious praying. I've never felt as close to God as I do now and never felt so much personal direction as to what I need to do. I realize now that my feelings of hopelessness about finding a man who 'understands me' and yet I'm still attracted to is a futile concern. I WILL find that man. For now, I need to focus on being the kind of person who deserves a good man who will not love me just for my looks. I just have to trust that I can work at doing all I can do, trust in that direction, and that the rest will be taken care of. So right now, the guys I'm dating know that I'm not going to kiss them (at least for awhile) and that I'm not looking for a serious relationship right now. They seem to respect that. Stop me now... please. I swear this is my online diary - LOL! You guys are great... really. I am so flattered by all the wonderful, sweet words you have said. And I'm not an anomaly, y'all. You ALL CAN DO THIS!!!

Heather That guy's thing sounds strange. Mine is one incision that goes all the way from just above my crotch area to around my butt area. They "lifted" my butt by pulling up ALL the skin (front and back), then pulling it down (front and back), removing the excess skin, and then suturing the new skin together. One of my steri-strips came off on its own today. I am AMAZED at how it already blends into my skin. They used a new laser cutting technology and EVEN NOW you probably couldn't see the scar line in a pic. Amazing! But I'm not real concerned about the scar. Even WITH the scar I still look better dressed AND naked. My next attempt will also be a breast augmentation. I don't need a lift, I just need a fill LOL. They've always been small, even when I was a big girl. So I'm getting the "return customer discount" and getting some silicone implants once I sell this house in a month or so. It'll cost me $4,500 for the silicone. It would be $3,500 for the saline (normally $500 more if you're not a returning customer).

Hey Kellie As far as what workout I did RIGHT after my band (about 2 weeks after I was banded), it was pretty much 30 minutes of elliptical. I hated it LOL! But I did it because I had to and my gym has TVs on every workout machine, so it made it easier. But as I progressed I learned more and more what I like and didn't like. Now, if it's too cold outside, I'll do 40 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the arc trainer. Otherwise I'll jog for an hour outside EVERY day. I also have a personal trainer that I work out with 3 times a week doing weight training/calisthenics. Because I'm a summer road biker, I need to keep myself in road bike shape, so I also have a spinning class 2 days a week. I NEVER miss some type of workout each day. I'll typically get in like 3 kinds of workouts a day by default LOL. I'm addicted now. Of course I'm not working out right now because of this surgery. But I'll be at it again in about a week and a half, I'm sure. In the summertime I learned that I LOVE LOVE LOVE road biking, and joined a road biking club at the university I work for. I road biked everywhere I went... and I mean EVERYWHERE! Then I learned that I loved hiking. Since I live in Utah the mountains are RIGHT next to me, so I went hiking every day, too. About 5 months ago I learned that I just love soccer and volleyball, too, so I joined an indoor soccer league and volleyball league. I started to date a guy about 6 months ago who loved motorcross and ATVs, so I kinda got into that, too (which, believe it or not, can be a workout). Now it's pretty easy to get that workout in each day because I know I love to jog outside. I look forward to it. And I LOVE the other sports I'm into. One guy I'm sorta dating right now is a runner and he'll run with me (albeit, I won't be able to run for another few weeks, though). Now I just WON'T date people who aren't incredibly physically active, because that's what I love to do and what I want in a partner. But you know, you don't HAVE to do all that physical activity to lose your weight. I had my band loosened quite a bit and can eat just about as much as any other "normal" person so that I COULD keep up with all the physical activity. I find when my band is tighter I just don't have the energy to do all the activity I like. Here's another thing (oh damn, you got me on a soapbox)... make SOME kind of physical goal! I'm not talking weight. For me, my friends who are active were going on an adventure trip to Guatemala in a year. I knew it would be very intense and I knew I'd have to get into some pretty good shape to be able to do it, but I friggin paid for it a YEAR in advance and then knew I had to get myself there. Guess what? I got myself there and I was in better cardio shape than most of the people there! I think it surprised them a bit because I was still like a size 14 or 16 at the time. But my size didn't matter, it was the cardio shape I was in. Now I've started training for a triathalon in June, which I was supposed to do with my ex-boyfriend... but I'm still doing it. And even if he's there, I don't think I'll see him since there will be a lot competing and they separate the men and women. So no temptation, I think. But anyhow, it's another goal I HAVE to achieve. Even if you decide to just run a 5k, make that goal and GO FOR IT. Then pretty soon you'll up your goal to a 10k, then a half-marathon, then maybe a full-on marathon or WHATEVER! This summer I organized a road bike trip to Spain (courtesy of another man I'm dating who's from Italy but loves Spain). SOOOOO.... anyone interested??? I'm serious about this! Who wants to road bike the coast of Spain?!! C'mon you guys!

Yup yup, Chrispy. I am ALREADY saying it's the best decision I've made. Best, $8,500 credit card purchase of my life LOL. You wouldn't believe the interest rates if you shop around. I got a 3.5% first-time purchase interest rate LOL. Suckers. jk Aimee, and ALL y'all, you can do it for sure! Work your ass off and start saving that cash!

I had a stone about 2 weeks after surgery. I KNOW that anesthesia and pain meds can dry you out. I have a feeling that's what caused mine, maybe that's what caused yours, too.

I love it, this thread is like my diary. Thanks for hangin on with me and my addiction with talking, talking, talking while I'm home recovering. Okay, here's today's update. Got on the doc's scale: 160!!! He even told me I probably still have like 8 pounds of Fluid in me because I'm still freaking swollen. SOOOOO, I think once this swelling is gone, I'll be around 150 pounds. I'll probably up the ante again once I reach 150 to be 140 pounds, just because I'm freakin addicted to losing weight now, but I shouldn't go lower than that for my height. It wouldn't be healthy. Yay for surgical intervention!

Hun, you can do it! I remember the first time i learned that you don't just 'break' bad habits or relationships with food - you replace them with new ones - good or bad. That was the day I chose to replace food with activity. Anytime I craved something - out for a walk I went, or I took a fiber capsule and downed a glass of water. It was one thing replacing another. You can do it! You're going to do great!

k, since I'm addicted to these before/afters. Here are some more for ya's. Keep in mind I'm still incredibly swollen!!! But no more cellulite on legs/sides/butt/anything! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7518&stc=1&d=1169498594

Julie, I took 1 week off work, but I think 2 weeks would have been better. I should be at work today, but really can't do it, so I'm working from home this week. The drains I got removed today (10 minutes ago, actually), Yippeeeeeeee!!!

My lower body lift cost me $8,500. The TT would have cost me $4,500.

Here's how I posted pics: I clicked on the "attach" icon then uploaded my photo. Then in the list of attachments, I clicked on my uploaded photo, copied the URL, then clicked on the "add photo" icon and pasted the URL of the attachment. That was probably the hard way to do it, but whatever. I WANT TO SEE YOUR BEFORE AND AFTER!!! What exactly do you mean by "garment"? I only have to wear compression socks that go up to my thighs. Is there something else you have to wear after the drains come out??? My doc told me to stop wearing the girdle because it was causing a lack of blood flow to the bottom part of my stomach and it was causing bruising (you can see it in the photo). Hey, I tried on some size 10 pants today and they FIT, even with my tubes inside of them! I can't believe how small I've gotten! As far as size goes, though. I really don't think I want to be smaller than an 8. I'm a woman with curves. I like curves! At a 6 the curves would be GONE!

I feel the same as most people here. I joined curves and just didn't feel a great workout from it, plus got really bored with the routine. Once I joined a regular gym I LOVED it (mostly cause they have TV's on every machine LOL). But stick with what you love! And BTW, the thing I love the most is an hour of jogging every day outside - doesn't even relate to the gym!

I see what you mean. Well, really, sounds like it was just HIS deal to scar like that. There's not a lot of difference between TT and belt lipectomy. The belt lipectomy is just like a TT for your butt and thighs, only without the muscle repair back there. My scarring is just like a TT all around.

Jacqui, I just love you. Did you know that YOU were one of my main inspirations in this whole thing?

The doc kept my bellybutton but just 'moved' it LOL. It's okay. he sutured it so it the sutures won't show once it heals. It doesn't look bad. It was included, just FYI. As far as men go, you know, I've sorta had my pick of men for the past few months. But hun, in Utah at 28, the men come few and far between. I don't know where to find the good ones. I used to be frumpy and ugly. I REALLY came into my own just recently. I've been dating some really hot guys recently (I got em posted on my flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/puddinpie LOL), but with this ex... it wasn't his looks that I loved. It was the fact that we "got" each other so amazingly well. It was almost freaky how we got each other. The fact that he was so good looking, manly, seductive, sweet, and loved doing the same sport activities as me was icing on the cake. My fear for the future is never finding anyone like that again. But it'll take time. I think many of us go through this when we are banded and lose a lot of weight *puts on therapist glasses* I have undergone MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR changes in the past year. It has been so quick! I just can't expect to find my eternal companion within a month of breaking up with the one that I thought I was going to marry. Yeah, we were going to get married in March. It has ONLY been a month since the breakup. I let down my moral standards with him and he did with me, too. So we sorta hated each other. The sex changed EVERYTHING. It ruined our otherwise perfect relationship. It just aint worth it! But single people of the banded world - it's so VERY easy to fall in love once someone begins to show affection for you after you've lost weight. It's this psychological thing for us. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't change who you are inside, or let down your standards for ANY man. You be who you want to marry, okay? You BE those qualities. I'm working on it right now. I am slowly regaining faith that I'll find someone. And EVEN if I never find someone that I 'clicked' with as much ever again, I'll be a happier woman because I can trust that he'll never cheat on me.

Holy freakin cow, Mindy, thanks! It did take a lot for me to post these. The tube is coming out just above my kooch (as we call it). I used to have two there, but one was coming out on its own and they removed it. I have 3 right now. I think they'll be removed tomorrow *insert Hallelujiah chorus here*. They've been a royal pain in the ass. I went out to dinner last night with friends (which, by the way, was too much to do after 1 week of surgery) and totally hid the "balls of liquid" that the tubes lead to in my bra LOL! It was awesome. Small tummy and huge boobs. As far as the bikini to the ex goes... gosh, you know, I loved him for him even though he was so gorgeous, and he loved me for me. But, you know, men are visual creatures. And I KNOW that the excess skin bothered him when we were intimate. It played a part in his desire to go back to another woman who is 'very attractive.' It's a LOOOONG story, and he didn't end up going back to her, but I did tell him never to call me again when he asked if we could just 'take a break for a little while' (which is so easy to do when your heart is being broken). We're supposed to do a triathalon together in June and we have a business trip with a conference in the same hotel in March. It's inevitable I'll see him again. Him seeing me now will be revenge enough. He can't ever have me again. But dear Lord, I hope he doesn't seduce me again. He's just a master at it and it's so hard to resist!

And JUST for fun, I'll include another pic from before I lost this damn weight (oh, this is so embarassing and yet addictive):

Alright, y'all. Here you go! Here's the SWOLLEN, nasty pics from about 2 minutes ago with my camera phone. I do have some before pics, but the computer that has them won't turn on for some reason. Anyhow, I'll find it and post it, too. I PROMISE it'll look 4,000% better in 5 more weeks, then I'll put on the bikini and send it to my ex. I'm totally kidding. I'm not vindictive like that, but for some reason I really want to be right now. I wish I didn't still love the dirty bastard... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7515&stc=1&d=1169450071