Apples2

And, would your DH wash your face for you???? Eat something you dropped on the floor???? Get a kick out of going to the mailbox with you???? Bring you a dead snake???? Drink out of the toilet???? :smile2:

Great...Magic Bullet is a small high intensity blender. It comes with many different sized cups that screw on and you can use them as your drinking cup. I have one and like it but use my blender more because when I make a Protein Drink I usually make one for DH also. Magic Bullet cup is not big enough for that. How exciting. Hawaii again. McNuggets on the beach planned???:smile2:

One cup of acorn squash has 83 cals, 3 gr protein and 28% of the daily fiber needed. I eat squash as a snack instead of at a meal. I want that entire cup of it and cannot fit as much in after eating protein.

Just hate to see anyone undo the hard work. Those tasty, salty, non-nutritious treats and not worth it. If you really need to snack, open up a can of green Beans or stewed tomatoes. Speaking of opening a can...Janet is going to open up a can of whoop-A$$....I can just hear her now!:smile2:

Arlene...you would think by now that your niece's doc would want to go up and get that stone or blast it. I laid for 9 days back in 1994, got transferred and they went up with the basket to get it. Nope, couldn't find it. Got home and the hospital called and said they missed three stones on exrays. Well, needless to say, went to a different hospital and they found three stones sitting in the V of a double uretur that I have. (Can't remember which side). Anything over 4 days, they should be thinking of another game plan. Stones can really wear a person down. Damn Cheetos....no more to come into your house, Arlene. Remember, if they are a temptation or a trigger food....even if the grandkids like them, do NOT bring them anywhere near you. If you cannot stop with a couple of them, then don't buy them. Things like that are so not worth undoing the hard work you do on a dialy basis. Lecture for the day. Done. Love ya

Just googled Bolt salad dressing and came up with nothing. Janet???? What is the name of your favorite that you are always recommending???? I think all of us would like to know and it might be something Chris could use.

Great...Woohoo on the pound lost...and....on vacation besides. I sooooooooo cannot wait to have you post each and every pound till you get back to where you want to. You are on your way!!! So lucky to be included in the ultrasound. What an exciting time for your family with the first granchild and hopefully more to come. Julie....goodness....your wedding guests are going to have a lot of dessert choices. How many different kinds of bars are you making?

Chris....you would be better off with no salad dressing than using up your entire daily carb intake in one shot. I know, I know....boring. I sometimes use a little salsa as a salad dressing. Janet has a dressing she uses. Think it is Bolt dressing. I have never seen it in our supermarkets and I do not know the carb content. A lot of companies have the individual packets of dressing you can carry with you. Walden farms has a number of different zero cal dressings but high in sodium. Maybe one of the other girls has some suggestions. I would say if you have to eat out, go more for the Proteins and veggies where you don't have to worry about dressings. From your first post on here and following posts, you sound so determined to make this all work. Just by being on the board and asking questions it shows that you are very serious about all of this LB stuff. :smile2:

Good Morning...was somewhat MIA yesterday. Just trying to catch up around here and started my fall house cleaning. This may sound sick but I find cleaning and organizing very theraputic. There...I said it again. I am happiest when I am doing these types of things. Feels kind of like I'm organizing my life. Got a ton of stuff done....may sound annul to some but I have this thing....I alphbetize my spices (can you name 400 spices)? LOL. I just feel better when everything is in it's place. I spend so much time away from home from April thru Oct that things get neglected. Home for 2 days, hurry up to get the important things done and on the run again. Went through closets and have some for Salvation Army again. If I didn't wear it in a year, it should go. Janet...will be thinking of you tonight at boot camp. My A$$ will most likely be on the couch with a good book. Admire you for the committement you make to your body. It shows. Those cute little sun dresses you wore last weekend were perfect on you. And, BTW, your arms look great. Happy you are finally showing them off. Sandy...I love the Dog Whisperer. Have tried some of his techniques with our baby. I should order the book but will wait till our next dog. This one we have is close to perfect. Brag. Arlene... I get what you are saying with losing sleep when it comes to the dog. We spent a few sleepless nights with ours. This summer we had way more thunderstorms than usual. If his calming meds did not kick in right away or we did not see a storm coming, that big ole' guy would get in bed with dh and I and just shake. Of course, no sleep until he slept....hours later. Never had pukey toes though. Also admire you for your committment to exercise. Good going! Laura....those skinny divorced guys either left their wives because they weren't getting fed or they got skinny after divorce so they could hook a new one! Your weather sounds just like ours during the day. 85 during the day. dips in the 50's during the night. We feel so fortunate to be having this weather last for so many weeks. Fingers crossed it stays during corn harvest.....pretty soon now. End of the week harvest will start again. Do NOT buck out on the gym at 11. I will give you kudos now cuz I KNOW you will head there, right???? Jodi....good going on the cooking ahead. Whatever works to be prepared and preplan....helps to head off getting sloppy with what a person eats. Plan, plan, planning is the key. Not having crap around is another thing I think most successful banders are aware of. So easy to look and eat something we shouldn't. Good Girl! Sending the love to all....even if I didn't "talk" to each. Just got done making a big pot of steel cut oats. Have been getting up at 3am to eat and have been craving them. They go down better than a lot of things at that time of night. Have been doing cold Fiber Cereal with milk. Not very comforting. So tomorrow morning at 3am I will be sitting in front of my computer catching up and feeling all warm and comfy with my oats, raisins and dates. Back at it..will talk later.

Wow Sld21...congrats on the weightloss. You look amazing. Nice smile.

You're welcome!:laugh:

msampson....sounds like you need to make a recommitment and also take the step to cleanse your systems of sweets/carbs. The more we have, the more we crave them. Get rid of any of your trigger foods....toss them in the garbage. Try to bring those feelings back of what brought you to being banded to begin with. How you felt just prior to and after surgery. Restart by going back through the first stages after banding if necessary. Just each three meals a day with 2 small non-carb Snacks. Protein first at meals and then followed by only veggies or a fruit if you can fit it into your meals. Come back here for support. Post what you are eating on a daily basis. Get back to keeping a food journal.

Head to a convenience store or supermarket. Muscle Milk Cottage Cheese Greek Yogurt

Makes sense to me, Cheri. I do understand where you are coming from with your statement about being well-rounded and mostly sane even though you are faced with challenges on many different things. Growing up I had horrific/terrifying things that I had to endure. I made a promise to myself early on in life that I would make my adult life, my children's lives, our family life as normal as possible. It was very difficult at times to keep it all going and felt extremely overwhelmed at times. But, I think I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. We all have our challenges in one form or another. Not letting them get the best of you, positive thinking and setting your sights on the future (and faith) is what gets a person to where they want to be....maybe a little frazzled...

Cheri...no one here could have said it better. For being ADHD, you sure have your thoughts in order. Melissa....print off Cheri's post and keep it with you. She was tough, yet kind and so many things for you to think about. You gotta hit that point where you start to work with your band again. Janet....no problem with DS's stuff. Got it all figured out and in the house. We were able to find places for it where it is out of sight, out of mind. I am working on washing all his bedding, towels and some of his clothes. Tuck them all away and when he is set up in his apt., we will move it all his way. Have a nice date with Andrew. He loves his GM! In between the moving I found time to do the dusting and vacuuming and sweeping of the entire house. Even got two of the bathrooms spic and span and got a few windows cleaned. Even found time to do something I have been wanting to do for awhile. Since oldest DS owns his own home, his bedroom in the basement has been sitting empty for 5 years. I had a friend that had a clothing store and went out of business. I bought a few of his racks and today I made a HUGE walk-in closet out of that room. It's so cool. I'm so happy with it. And, no, I'm not doing speed, just a lot of excess energy today. I am happiest when I am working. So, I'm very, very happy today. Julie...your questions...DH helped me moved all the furniture and belongings to the house. Took us about 5 hours but got it done. A good workout and feels good to have it all in place without junking up our living space. Yes, it's a beautiful day here today. Has been for the entire week. I am hoping it holds. Even have had the air on this last week. Could it be that your tens machine will do the trick for you????? Would be so nice if it gave you some relief. Well, better get back after it. DH ran up to the lake with a happy dog beside him to take the awnings down and drain the Water heater and finish the winterizing. We will be back there b/4 we know it. Corn harvest to come, after that prepare for the holidays, heading south earlier than normal this year and might just stay till mid-March. We are able to open up the lake place (usually) by the second or third week of April. Depends on the snow and cold. But, most years it works. Back at it. Want to finish up a few things b/4 I drop to the couch. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

As you stated "Can't rush things". Congrats on the weight that you lost pre-surgery. Good job. The time after surgery is to heal, follow your doc's orders as far as nutritional intake and exercise. Just my 2 cents, but I think that first 20lbs or so comes off the fastest and then the body kind of levels out. If you are taking off and average of 1-2lbs a week, then you are the norm. Take a breath....relax....eat healthy......follow the orders you doc expects and you should be on the road to a steady and healthy weightloss. Good luck!

Good Morning All.... Jodi....so busy...so much interesting things in your life. My poor house. Moving DS's furniture from trailer to house until he sends for it or whatever. He had a four bedroom house full of furniture. My job today is to do some "creative cramming" and figure out a spot for everything. We have three storerooms so much of it will go in there. His childroom bed is 4 mattresses high. Hope you all have a great Sunday.

Laura...sad that you made a connection with this person and it isn't in the cards for going anywhere. But, at least he was kind enough to tell you about his situation b/4 you were involved. Kind of nice, when dating, to be with someone that can at least be able to afford to go Dutch.

No Phyll, my son is out of the monster truck stage. Now he is into monster tractors. I will have to take a photo of them when they are finally moved back to the farm and the tiling jobs are done. Walmart and other pet supply stores have the calming meds and we have found they work better (not so drugged) than what the vet prescribed. And, thank you for the nice face comment. I'm fine with my face. Since I feel so young and have so much energy now, I forget that I have aged when Il look in the mirror. I will grow old gracefully and except it all as it sags. At least now I have the smile I have always wanted and it will distract from it all.

Phyll....those photos look like the smaller version of what is sitting out in the front of our shop. You should talk to your vet about calming meds for Zoey when she gets her panic attacks. Tanker comes unglued before, during and after rain and thunder storms. Poor baby spent part of the summer on valium. It works and vet said it is safer than letting them deal with the attacks.

Arlene...with a beautiful face like yours, I am sure you will look FABULOUS DAWLING.

Linda...I bet that health report just floored you. That is such good news. You have such a great attitude to just ignore or "not see" your favorite foods, such as rolls. That's what it takes. Trigger foods can be the downfall of many a bandster. Making them off limits if you feel they have control over you is the trick. Joyce....love your new mantra. I have a wish. That is that you will post by the end of next week and say you have broken that plateau.

Cleo's Mom....this has to be one of my all time favorite posts in the last almost three years I have been on LBT. You put it all in a nutshell. I cannot tell you how many lapbanders I have visited with that are so NOT informed. Some due to tunnel vision but truly believe there are a lot of ppl out there with a plastic ring around their gut that left that hospital with that ring and no guidlines provided by their surgeon.

LauraK...hope you have a nice visit and this turns into someone you feel like spending time with. Sending the Jujus your way.

Linda...so funny about the John Lennon/Ben Stein comparison. LOL. I am sure you looking at the age enhanced John Lennon was about the way I felt some mornings looking in the mirror after my weightloss. My fat filled out all the sagging and wrinkles. I had to remind myself that I was 38 when I started gaining....15 yrs of aging and losing the fat makes quite difference in a person's face. Have fun with your family!