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Heyas Penni! Crash, camp overnight, move in... whatever feels good! Except, be prepared - this group will be tough on ya. Tomorrow, no more self sabatoging girl! Tomorrow, you get back on your Nutrisystem and exercizing or I'll hand you over to the watch dogs of the club. Heather? You out there? Get ready to help me kick Penni's butt if she doesn't get back on track tomorrow! *grins* Love ya Penni - glad you came on over girl. I'm jealous of your date - but the boobies squishing.. you can have that. Yuck. *hugs*

Sounds like a near PB experience to me. Many people have problems with dry meats.. chicken and fish can be very dry. Try cooking your fish or chicken differently so its moist. Try some low fat dressings on them to make them more moist. Some people have to avoid chicken and fish all together. Breads? Mm.. usually bad news for most of us. Once chewed it gloms together in the stomach and forms a ball of stuff that doesn't pass the band easily. You have been irritating your stomach and esophogus (I still dont know how to spell that! :confused:) so you should put yourself on a few days of liquids to allow the irritation and swelling to go down. Then, slowly get back to soft foods and introduce more solid foods one at a time, paying close attention to which foods give you problems. Then stay away from them. But seriously, you wont stop having the problem until you give things time to heal. Get on liquids and rethink your food choices. I hope this helps, and I hope you feel better soon. *hugs*

3/4 Cup at a time is what you should aim for. Make sure youre eating moist meats. A lot of people have trouble with chicken if its dry or not chewed slowly. And some veggies like cauliflower and broccoli can cause gas. Try different types and see if it helps?

I love, love, love the Glad plastic containers! I bought the 7/8 Cup and 1/2 Cup ones and they are the perfect sizes. I eat out of the 7/8 Cup ones and use the 1/2 Cup ones to measure my food with! LOL No more having to wash that 1/2 C measuring cup every meal. They are so cheap that I just add to the collection or replace them as needed.

Yay Mini and Leener! That's so cool you'll both be on the same day. I'll be thinking about you two, and ready to bang on the cowbell in celebration when we welcome you both to Bandland! *hugs each of you* :clap2: :clap2: Try not to be nervous. You'll be fine!

I really relate with this. The first mushie I had after the liquid phase of the post op diet was cottage cheese. Oh my gosh, it was SO freaking good! LOL Something odd for me was my change in tastes. I used to be a coffee addict. At least 6-8 Cups a day.. all day. After surgery? Can't stand the taste of it. Can't stand yogurt or green olives either and I really loved olives. I miss my coffee, and keep trying sips of my husband's but YUCK. It's so foreign tasting to me now. Almost 9 week out now and I'm really struggling to remember to eat slowly, chew till it's goo, and enjoy the tastes. I have to sit with no distractions in order to fully achieve this. It's not easy. And without concentrating on it, it's very easy to go past that point of "Band fullness" before you realize it. Not good.

Sorry Penni! *laughs* Well the last two days out were good for me all except for forgetting to take my Effexor! Man I was sick today. Dizzy, sick to my stomach, tired.. blech. When I realized I was two days behind, I figured that's what was wrong with me. I took one and slept a while and feel much better now. I will walk a minimum of 1/2 mile every day. (None today. But 2 miles yesterday should count for four days in advance, right? *grins*) I will drink 64 oz. of Water every day. (Iced tea counts doesn't it? If so, then yep, 64oz) I will write down every bite I put in my mouth - quantity, calories, Protein. (Done) I will take on one achievable cleaning project in my house per day. (Did a lot of important phone call type stuff today.) I will NOT sit on my arse all day doing nothing but fighting head hunger out of pure boredom! (No problem, too naseaus to eat anyway)

Todays goals: Well my day was pretty much trashed due to nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, and fatigue. Lesson for the day? Don't space out taking your Effexor for two days! I'm feeling much better after taking one and sleeping for 2.5 hours. I will walk on a minimum of 1/2 mile each day. (Nope, couldnt walk 20 feet without sitting down.) I will drink 64 ounces of water every day. (Done.) I will eat my meals at the diningroom table and focus on chewing well and eating slowly. (Success.. every meal.) When I'm home, I will not sit around and do nothing all day. I will complete at least one project in my home per day. (Done! Sort of.. not physical stuff, but made Dr. appts, haircut appts, etc. Just one more thing marked off my list!)

Penni, you've been working out a lot this week.. could you have gained some muscle weight? Positive thinking here. *grins* Oh, and the *snickers* thing on the other thread was funny!! :) :mad:

OMG.. is this guy great or what?! Jonathan, you are so right on the money with your advice! You probably have nothing useful to offer? Gee whiz, I think you're offering the very thing that every one of us needs to hear. We all have everything we need to beat this thing, right here inside of us. We've just told ourselves for so long that we don't have the ability to make the right choices, that we've come to believe it. As long as we don't give up, we don't fail. Paula's reaching out for help, she's still trying, and she will get past this. I know she will! Sunta's post about the book - the amino acids? those are the building blocks of protein! Force yourselves to eat Protein, use some good old fashioned pissed off will power for a few days and you'll be surprised at how much you can eliminate the carb addiction. It's a slippery slope, but not impossible to climb back up. Especially when we are surrounded by people who are reaching out to help. I saw this bronze in an outdoor museum yesterday, and I stood there with tears in my eyes as I looked at it because it reminded me of all of us here - why we are here. I hope you don't mind me sharing it. To me, it seems to illustrate what's going on in this thread.

How did the scales treat ya this morning Penni? I'm planning on a day at home. I'm going to modify my goals today: I will walk a minimum of 1/2 mile every day. I will drink 64 oz. of Water every day. I will write down every bite I put in my mouth - quantity, calories, Protein. I will take on one achievable cleaning project in my house per day. I will NOT sit on my arse all day doing nothing but fighting head hunger out of pure boredom!

*snickers* Get her Penni! *hugs Paula* Ive been sending positive thoughts you way, Paula. Hope youre feeling them.

Oh my goodness, Razz and Lena.. I'm so sorry to hear about this with you both. I can't imagine what you must each be struggling with right now. Huge decisions. You'll both be in my thoughts and prayers.

*laughs* I think you're right, Penni, and it's doing wonders for me too! I shared the idea with the Gone for Good Club and am encouraging them to use that thread much the same as this one. You'll probably be hearing me asking you to wipe out some posts when the thing starts growing. And you should join us. Sweet folks that are all doing really well, very determined not to make excuses for themselves. Refreshing

Today: Ok, I think my friends have decided I shouldn't be left alone. I spent the entire day out with my girlfriends again. Had a wonderful time. I will walk a minimum of 1/2 mile on my dreadmill every day. (I walked 2 miles outside. Went through a walk-through museum of sorts. Beautiful gardens, whimsical statues, prayer gardens.. the entire place was Christian focused and so cool!) I will drink 64 oz. of Water every day. (done) I will take on one achievable project in my house per day. (I made the bed. *snickers* I was gone all day.) I will NOT sit on my arse all day doing nothing but fighting head hunger out of pure boredom! (Did very well again!) I will NOT eat while doing distracting things, which causes me to eat too quickly and not chew well. (I did much better today!)

*laughs and laughs* Poor FuelMan! Dody, leave his thingie alone! LOL Butch, is there anyone who would do this skin removal for you now and then let you continue on? You'd have to have it done again, and that would suck going through it twice, but if it enabled you to life your life without pain and be more active, which would ultimately help you lose more, wouldn't it be worth it? I don't know a lot about the Plastic Surgery (PS) stuff so I'm not sure if they would do this or not. Have you checked or would you even consider it?

Hi all you wonderful GFG Clubbers! We all did great last week! Now on to the new week.. I've been posting on a commitment thread that Penni started, which has helped me a great deal. I feel accountable for the goals Ive set each day and it's really helping me meet them. I thought maybe we could try that here too. Anyone who wants to join me, please do! Here's my daily goals for the week. Today: I will walk on a minimum of 1/2 mile each day. (Done - walked 2 miles outdoors today!) I will drink 64 ounces of Water every day. (Done) I will eat my meals at the diningroom table and focus on chewing well and eating slowly. (I did a lot better on this today) I will keep a daily food journal so I know exactly what Im eating. No more guessing. (Done) When I'm home, I will not sit around and do nothing all day. I will complete at least one project in my home per day. (Gone all today) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, lets save space by not putting our signatures on here every post. Weigh in days would be fine. When posting, look for the small option box where you can uncheck the "Show your signature" option. Thanks

Jen - Ouch, I can relate. Hang in there, the fun will start soon! Next week should look a lot better for ya. *hugs* John - Glad you joined us! I always enjoy your posts and good ole common sense advice. Welcome! Tricia - Thanks for answering that. I am familiar with Glucophage. A couple of folks I know are going to a local weight loss doc who has them on that.

Aww geeze Paula *hugs* They are so right about the Protein. You are in a carb spin. Think it through logically. Stop saying you can't stop eating. You certainly can. Take the control back over your choices and start listening to your body. You are hungry. The stuff you've fed your body isn't giving it what it needs and is now used to. It needs protein and it does need carbs - good carbs, fruits and veggies. But.. remember the rule, eat the protein first. Satisfy the hunger by eating solid Proteins. Once you aren't hungry anymore it will be easier to identify the head crap that's driving you to this. Listen to Jonathan too. Figure out what's going on. But FIRST feed your body so you can identify the real hunger from the insanity of carb addiction. You can do it. You have the power to make decisions that will benifit your health and not run you off the road. Let us know how youre doing -after you eat some protein!!

Get a second opinion. The surgeon might be right on with his/her diagnosis, but I'm hearing far too many stories lately about surgeries that turned out to be unnecessary afterwards. With something so permanent, get a second opinion! And if your hubby has to take synthroid, calcium and D forever, tell him its not so bad. I do it too! You both will be in my prayers as well. *hugs for you and hubby*

*laughs* I say this all the time, and it's so true! Do you think maybe you could give that new fill a few days, or even weeks, to let your body adjust to it? I've only had one fill so far, but I can see that with each passing day things feel differently. I was just chatting with someone about this very thing, and we both agree that even little things like drinking with a meal can throw off the real perspective of how restricted we are - which Ive been doing, all the while thinking "Why can I eat more after a fill?!"

Mychevygirl - So sorry to hear about your dad! He will be in my prayers for a quick recovery and long healthy life. He sounds like he really loves you and is very supportive. Thats awesome. Send him a hug from us! Great news on your surgery date! I'm excited for ya!

Laura - all that and you didnt gain anything? Thats wonderful! Lianna - What are Metformin and Actos?

Today: Spent the entire day out with girlfriends. Had a blast. I will walk a minimum of 1/2 mile on my dreadmill every day. (didnt do, ankle still sore. but was very active all day in other ways) I will drink 64 oz. of Water every day. (done) I will take on one achievable project in my house per day. (Vacuumed!) I will NOT sit on my arse all day doing nothing but fighting head hunger out of pure boredom! (Did very well.) I will NOT eat while doing distracting things, which causes me to eat too quickly and not chew well. (Dang it. I'm so frustrated with myself. I should be able to sit in quiet and eat. But I hate eating in silence. I hate eating alone, so I come on here and read while I eat. I know I eat too fast because Im distracted. I could really use some help in this area.)

LSasha - I'm thinking the same thing about wanting to know what restriction feels like. It's odd but since I got my first fill I feel like I can eat so much more. And I'm getting hungrier faster too. One thing I do know is that Im not letting my Dr put in more than .5 cc at a time. I do not want to know what an overfill feels like! Yikes! Cynthia - So glad to hear youre ok, and good for you for kicking butt at the gym! Like Dawg said, we got officially signed up at the gym.. now I just have to find some clothes to wear that won't make me feel like a cow. I hate my arms and legs to show.. I have such ugly fat on my knees and under my arms.. Yuck! Anyway, the 9 pounds was a great boost after that fill! And.. you are so close to 200! I swear, we are going to celebrate when our group members start breaking into Onderland! EmileeKaye - You beat me! LOL Great job to you too, not just everyone else. Silly girl. *smiles* Morsaille - I HAVE to know what that plan is! That grin of yours has me sooo curious!! hehe Heather - You are cookin' girlfriend! I'm so proud of you! Sunta!! Wow!! We told you that you wouldn't regret it, didnt we? Super! Tricia K - Thanks for the tissue, and if I dont make up for this next week.. I'll be needing a whole box of them! RHONDAKO - Dawg and I bought a Health o Meter digital scale and it is only one pound off from our Dr's scales. That's impressive! I was just looking at the lable and they have a web site: www.healthometer.com Ours is HDL109-60 on page three of the scales. We often shop online and get things way cheaper, delivered to the door. Hugs The Best Me's hubby for being such a supportive hubby. I love hearing things like that, Kathy! Enjoy Curves. I'll be thinking of you when I'm sweating at the gym! I am so stinking proud of this group! Everyone is doing so well. Look at all the reports of weight loss! And those of us who didn't lose this week, didn't gain either! Yay! As I was updating everyone on the main page, I kept telling Dawg how happy and excited I am for all of us. We are a KickButt group of Losers baby!