TommyO

Lisa, Interesting comments, I commend your passion and applaud your fearlessness. One of the things that has strikes me about this forum is that what brings us here is a single commonality and that is the band. We are all likely to be overweight as well but the band is what caused most if not all of us to surf to this site. After that the participants of this board may have nothing else in common and as a matter of fact may be quite opposite in our beliefs and our wants. I am 47 years old and this is the very first time I have been involved in an online discussion forum, it has been challenging to say the least. I much prefer to talk to people face to face. It is really hard to understand the intent of the words when there are no verbal or visual clues. I know that my words can come across as very certain and possibly condescending. This is not my intent but if my words have been interpreted that way I apologize. Some people have been on-line in this sort of forum for much longer than I, hell I have even noticed a married couple here that talk on line and they live together. I am not nearly as internet savvy as that, I prefer to talk with my wife, we go sit in the living room and chat. Where I come from PM stands for Prime Minister so I don't know what that's all about with any luck I haven't offended anyone with PM's I believe more than anything that people should feel comfortable discussing whatever they want and it is up to the individual to choose the topics they want to view. If someone is offended by sexual content then they should read one of the hundreds of other threads. Finally, it's good to know that so many people are enjoying so much sex and in so many different ways. When I was very young and I discovered, for the first time how much pleasure my thing could bring, I secretly decided to do as much of that as possible for as long as possible and as many ways as possible. It's good to know that the secrets out and other folks were able to discover the same thing. Maybe the folks who don't want anyone to talk about it haven't figured it out yet.

If he were caught speeding would you have thrown him out? Speeding is illegal and it not only endangers his life it enadngers the lives of those with him and anyone else on the road around him. I have also heard that it's a known fact that Murderers start out as speeders then move up to pety theft then the sky is the limit. My nephew hung himself because he had a disease (Schyzophrenia) he smoke pot he drank and he had violent episodes but he always had a roof over his head either at home or with one of his aunts and uncles. He's gone now and I miss him very much.

Your story may at first seem like a bad one and I understand your frustration but on the other hand you can know feel comfortable that the weight loss will once again begin. Also please make sure to give youself a big pat on the back for the 50 pounds to date with little or no restriction. Cheers

I also use excel although I am less likely to enter the data, I find the fun part is building the spreadsheets and learning new functionality. I am not well versed in using complicated array formulas but I do a pretty good job on pivot tables and love to play with things like Lookups and using graphing. I think I need to go to the Dawg school of array formulas but ultimatley no matter how complicated the array it doesn't seem to make me lose weight any faster

I weigh myself almost every morning, I travel with work so I don't weigh myself when I am on the road. I have the scales in my ironing room so I get up everymorning grab the shirt I plan to wear and head off to weigh myself and Iron my shirt. I only weigh myself on those scales and refuse to step on any other scales. I wonder how everyone else feels about using different scales, Maybe I'm a a little crazy, who knows.

I love music, I play Acoustic Guitar so anything acoustic I love but I like to think any music is worth a listen. Heres a list of artists I prefer Classic James Taylor (# 1 song Carolina In My Mind),Simon & Garfunkle,Paul Simon Gordon Lightfoot (Song For a Winters Night, Wow), Elton John (Prefer the early years Honkey Chateau etc), Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Niel Young, The Eagles, Cat Stevens, Dan Fogleberg, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (# 2 song Racing in The Streets), Bob Seger (Turn the Page), Beatles (Of Course), Marc Cohen (Walking In Memphis, "Ma'm I am Tonight" thats a song), Joe Cocker Also Like to listen to roots country or Texas Country Jerry Jeff Walker (Even though he's from Upstate New York), Guy Clark, Gary P Nunn, Lyle Lovett, Also a big fan of John Prine Really Like some Female Singer song writers especially Sarah McClaughlin and Mary Chapin Carpenter Finally Celtic music mostly Canadian stuff Great Big Sea, Spirit of the West, The Irish Descendants and the man with the big voice Stan Rogers. I am currently playing songs to get ready for St Patrick's day, a few Traditional Irish songs along with some traditional Newfoundland songs (Canada's version of Ireland) Great Big Sea has a new CD out with old Newfoundland folk songs. If you like celtic music you'll love this. It's called "Great Big Sea, The Hard and the Easy"

Vines, I understand, so I have removed my numbers from my signature. I admire how hard you work and the rest of the turtles you speak for. I also understand how feeling discouraged can have an impact. So I will only post updates in the challenges I sign up for .

I have had 2 fills 3 cc's then 2 cc's My second fill was the day before yesterday. Both times I have had to return to a full liquid diet. This time it was hard to drink Water at first but today I was able to eat Soup (Tomatoe only) and a bit of Peanut Butter (Peanuts Only) I took a bit of a risk but my first fill worked for about 3 weeks then stopped working and I actually went up and down. I decided not to worry if I felt overfilled for a few days this time. If after a couple of weeks or so I still can't eat solids I will go back and get a un-fill. This may be wrong but I want to use the band as a tool that increases my rate of loss now and then use it as a tool to maintain my wait once I have lost all my weight.

I need to ask a question that I fear will make people upset but I can't help myself. Please do not take this as a condemnation, but rather a sign of my ignorance. How does it happen that one person can Marry another person that is so uninterested in the other persons needs. I could not have married someone who knows how much I like something and then refuse to do that thing for me. I don't mean to judge, I believe that we choose our partners and they are who they are from the get go. You learn who they are after only a few dates. My wife and I have changed somewhat over the course of our 20 years but we are still largely the same people when it comes to our belief structure and our moral code. I am sure you love your husband and that he has many good qualitys that made you fall in love with him. If that is true then what happens on Valentines day should be immaterial.

In my relationship it is my wife who is more likely to forget things like Anniversaries and valentines day. We love each other very much, every day of the year. We are not perfect we fight and get mad at each other but I have no doubt that she loves me and she has no doubt that I love her. I laugh when she forgets because I know this to be true. If you expect different results do things differently, as I have said in the past, the only person you can change is yourself. So go out and bye some flowers and give them to him, if you like to get them he probably does too. I have a sign over my desk that is reads "Insanity - Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result" If you plan to sit and wait for someone to do something you want versus them doing someting they normally do, plan to sit and wait for a long time

Pat yourself on the back, you have lost 42 pounds, you will lose 100 lbs one day but you need to tell yourself what a great job you have done so far. The cup is half full, if it takes 2 years to lose 100 lbs it doesnt matter does it. Focus on the positive and you will find you have a lot to focus on, congratulations on your success to date and keep up thye good work.

It appears you have a communication problem, from this perspective both you and your DH spent the day waiting for the other one to do the right thing but you bothe refused to tell the other person what the hell you wanted. He obviously had something on his mind and he was waiting for you to ask him what the problem was. You obviously were in the same position. You both chose to sit and stew about your issue, I bet he is now discussing how his DW was completely un-interested in him last night and how she paid no attention to his strong signalling that he needed support. Both you and he need to say whats on your minds and get things on the table. If you are waiting for your partner to be able to read minds you will be waiting a long time and so will he. Make February 15th your special day this year and start it off by communicating.

I need to put my 2 cents in here. I don't care if this is the easy way or the hard way or the sorta easy sorta hard way. I had a heart attack 3 years ago. I have a wife and 2 children and I want to spend many more years with them. I have been on a million diet plans I have walked/ran thousands of miles and I have lifted more weights than most could imagine. I know that obese people spend for more time trying to get healthy then most non obese people. I know that there are many factors that come in to play that have made me obese and I know that the reasons people are obese are very unique to the individual. I want to live for many more years and I was willing to let someone cut me open and wrap a band around my stomach so I would have a better chance of survival. If anyone tells you this is the easy way you tell them for me that they can kis my Big Fat (Soon to be less so) ass

I don't know what to say anymore, the last few days on this board have been strange. More than a couple of things have happened that have made me re-think my participation. It seems to me that a board like this should be a place were people should be able to expresss their opinions openly and honeslty. I have read posts recently that have become personal and I think we need this to be a safe place to land. It's okay to disagree, as a mater of fact it's good, hearing differing opinions helps us learn and makes us understand the other side. Second I am seeing some cliquey type stuff happening and it appears if you are part of the team you get great support and are considered one of the good bandsters. If you are not part of the good bandster team you might as well participate just as a reader but not as a full member. This thread made me finally decide to express this, my thoughts may not belong here but I think that the misinterpretation of the word "you" has led people to react the way they have.

Lisa, We take this ride together, all of the names and words written by those names on this site have been an important part of my journey and we all take this ride together. Everyone chooses where they sit on the bus and everyone interacts on the bus based on who they are but we take this ride together. Some sit at the front some sit at the back some walk up and down the aisle and some take turns driving but we take this ride together. We live in an age were we can interact within or between continents and we are able to share thoughts from around the world and around the corner and we take this ride together. My point is I am glad that I have found this site and I am glad that I have been able to read the words of these good people and I am gald that I am fortunate enough to be able to learn from people who know. You are one of those people and you are a person who sometimes drives and sometimes walks the aisle and sometimes you sit at the back or the front but what you bring to the bus is invaluable. But the best part of this for everyone is that we take this ride together, not alone and not without worries but with support. So thanks to you and everyone else here for being on the bus and staying on the bus and allowing me to be able to share this experience and to Take This Ride Together.

Okay, I'm going to tell a great NSV that relates to this thread and one that I thought I would never share in a forum such as this. Here goes, many of you have been discussing the Dog style position, which by the way is my favorite. The ultimate though is Dog Style with me standing and at the side of the bed with DW on the bed. To pull this off you need to be in relativley good shape so if you can go for a while before the legs give out you are doing well. Finally it is quite a work out especially if you consider vines stat of 1 inch for evey 35 pounds. Eventually after significant weight loss it will also become a nice walk (3 steps forward 3 steps back) The other day because of the height of the bed at the hotel we were ate I was able to do it all on my tip toes. Try that for a significant period of time. Not a bad NSV at all

Mellissa, you may want to consider a Celtic Cross this is great icon, that I think meets with your requirements. It is Celtic and contains a ring which in your case could be a symbolic representation of the band along with thhe other possible circle and ring interpretations. I am not religious but this symbol has meaning to both Christian and non Christian denominations and the great part about the Celtic Cross is you can add you own life story through the symbolism you decide to adorn the actual cross. It's kind of a traditional Icon that has the ability to be modified to represent the bearer through their chosen symbols. Just so you know I do not have a Tatoo so my views are based soley on my interest in symbolism and have no foundation in Tatoo artistry. Cheers

My DW would pronounce it Tommy Ohh!! Tommy Ohh!!! OOOhhh!! Ohhhh!! Tommy ohh!!. Just kidding hope, I didn't offend anyone but I thought it was in keeping with the spirit of this thread.

I had my first fill on Jan 16th, just over 6 weeks from my banding. I was given 4 cc but had 1 removed because I couldn't swallow the water. I get my next fill on Feb 22 although I could use it right now. Before my first fill I had stopped losing weight for two weeks and after I lost 10 lbs quickly. Now I can eat almost anything so weight loss will probably stop until my next fill. I have lost all of my weight in bunches so I get a little impatient when it stops. My goal is to become more patient and use the slow periods to learn how to manage my band. Hope everyone is happy with teir results Cheers

I want to remind everyone of the old saying "sex alone isn't everything, but sex with someone else know thats a different story" Just wanted to say congrats to all of you, I think an improved sex life is a sign of a higher self confidence levels. You all need to know that you are as good as it gets with or without the weight loss. Just reading this thread makes me feel certain that getting banded was the right thing to do. Keep on Trucking (If you know what I mean)

The time leading up to your banding can be very stressfull, you probably have some internall conflicts that you are dealing with and because of the marital problems you are faced with, things are compounded. For me personally, I was required to lose 20 lbs before my Doc would set a date. What would have seemed to be th easiest weight to lose in my life actually was the hardest. I think the reason was that I was actually, deep down inside, afraid to get banded just incase I failed. Once I started reading this forum I began to lose my fears and the weight came off. The good folks who post hear made me realize that my biggest failure would be if I did not follow through on my plans. These fears did however make me irratable at times and my DW had to put up with my changing emotional state. A long time ago I was told by a wise person that only person you can truly affect is youself. So go to your DH and tell him you are going to work on yourself and try and improve your relationship and ask him what He thinks you can do to get this done (You will likely be surprised by his response) Then tell him you need to get through this incredibly important time of your with him, side by side as freinds and as mutual supporters. Once done, feel positive you have made the right decision and know that you will succeed. Good Luck

One of my favorite comedic stories is the one about the guy who is in great shape and decides to stay home during a major hurricane despite of the fact he lives in the path of the storm. He is certain that he will be fine because of his superior level of strength and fitness. The punch line is "It's not "THAT" the wind is blowing but rather "WHAT" the wind is blowing that makes hurricanes so dangerous and being hit by a flying Volvo will kill you no matter what shape you are in. I reverse this line to fit my work out philosophy as I say it is not "WHAT" you do that is most important but rather "THAT" you do it. I work out between 5-7 days a week and have for about 3 years now. I spend about an hour on cardio (30 minutes running on the treadmill, 15 minutes walking and 15 minutes on the bike) Then 3 times a week I add in some Upper Body weight lifting (Chest, arms, Shoulders purely for vanity) and that's it. My suggestion is that you start doing the things you know you will have success doing like walking. Then set some realistic goals, this will ensure success and you know what they say success breeds! Good Luck

Sorry I have been not keeping up I am down 10 lbs since the start of this challenge I have not kelp track of the waist size but I have lost 8 inches since the start of the journey (Dec 9th) and I believe 2 inches since the start of the challenge. I have no idea about body fat %. Cheers to all

Tricia, please be honest and tell this person about your solution. The Lap Band is a tool to help in weight loss and weight mantenance, you have taken advantage of this tool and the results have been great. I would suggest that you ask this person to keep your words in confidence, but be honest. I have told very few people but I am not hiding the surgery. most people who ask about your weight loss are making casual conversation and those people don't need to know the option you have chosen. Some people however may need your help and who would be a better person to inform them of the options then you. Cheers and good luck

Thank you C grrly