gadgetlady

OH MY GOSH -- YOU'RE AWESOME! Thank you SOOOOO much!

I'm right there with you! I was just talking to someone today and she asked how much I had lost. When I told her, she said, "But you've lost that much before on your own, right?" I told her that the nice thing about the band is it makes it much more difficult to gain in back. Willpower always fails, and for me, even though I'm losing slowly, that's where I see the real power of the band. Last night my dh served me a small piece of chocolate cake. I looked at it with pre-band eyes and thought, "That's not going to be enough; I'm going to want more when I'm done -- about double what I have now!" Once I finished the cake, there was NO WAY I was getting any more down. WOO HOO! I know some would say don't eat chocolate cake at all, but for me it's a huge victory to only have a sliver.

Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick check-in because I'm leaving in a week and will be out of the country for a month. Our group closes on October 2nd, so we're going to be losing any reserved cabins that don't have a deposit on them at that time. If you're interested in coming along, please PM me or Jenna ASAP. Once I'm out of the country, I don't know if I'll be able to get to this site, so PM Jenna and she can email me. Once the group closes, we can still add cabins -- but the rates will likely be a bit higher and the deposits will have to be processed within 24 hours of booking. For those of you that are booked, as soon as I return from my vacation I will be getting the information on insurance that so many have asked about (we can't purchase it until the group closes). I will also follow up with cruise documentation at that time. Thanks, everyone, for participating, and thanks to Jenna for putting it together! This cruise is going to be awesome.

I've been deliberately staying out of the recent thread about Mexico vs. US, but this thought just came to me. Is there anyone on this board who had approval from insurance to go to a US doctor but chose to go to Mexico instead? I suspect the answer may help newbies understand the main reason why Mexico is often chosen, but now that I ask it I'm really curious myself. Please post your experience!

I miss my fruits and veges. I used to eat them all the time. Summer fruits were my all-time favorite. I used to live for the season because I would just eat peaches and apricots all summer long. Now I can't get them down. :-( I think if someone had told me before the band that I couldn't eat summer fruit I would have thought again about getting it. Now I have to depend on bran and pills to keep me regular :-(

I eat the chewable fiber tablets (yeah, the big chalky ones, 2-3 of them per day) and put a spoonful of bran into my morning protein shake. I have a salad with each dinner (for some reason, I can get lettuce down easily) and that seems to do it for me.

Funny, you have put very eloquently what I'm sure many of us have been thinking for a long time. I have never seen such a banding together of hateful people in my life. Do people really live like this? I was amazed at Susan's restraint; she never did get sucked in no matter how much she was slammed. I'm saddened that the "reward" for her restraint was being banned. How hurt she must be :think and I wonder if she wishes she had fired back since the end result was the same anyway. That being said, as much as we all have a sour taste in our mouths right now, LBT still is a place you can come for support and help and I hope you stay with us.

Is there any way to require a 24-48 hour waiting period for someone to join up? That way when someone is banned there's a period of time they have to wait to come back on and stir the pot. These are my thoughts. There are three kinds of people: 1. Ugly, bitter, hateful ones 2. Ugly, bitter, hateful ones who deliberately masquerade as pleasant 3. Pleasant ones Ban group #1 immediately, as soon as they show their ugly, bitter, hateful face. They're pretty transparent and you know who they are by their words. Ban group #2 after their mask slips and they show themselves to be ugly, bitter, and hateful. Banning groups #1 and #2 will hopefully allow group #3 to get back to the task at hand, weight loss. I've seen some pretty ugly faces in the past few days. I am, however, not convinced that all of the people who were banned deserved it.

I absolutely, unequivocally, will not be dragged into donating to a cause that I do not choose of my own free will. I am against any kind of forced charity (including welfare).

"Agenda" sounds a little sinsister. Clarification is more accurate. I am tired of watching people get beat up on other threads for saying they would not go to Mexico for surgery, and having everyone come back and say they went to Mexico because Mexico has the best surgeons. So I was asking for anyone who TRULY went to Mexico because of the quality of the surgeons. And I got my answer: people go to Mexico for financial reasons. They may be happy with the surgeons or hospitals after they've made that decision, but the ACTUAL reason for the decision is money, not quality.

Unless I hear from anyone who was approved by insurance but chose Mexico due to surgeon/hospital issues, it seems to me the question of why people go to Mexico to get banded has been answered: it's financial.

UNBELIEVABLE! I'm utterly speechless.

I was banded in the US. Insurance definitely wouldn't cover an elective surgery out of the country. I'd love to hear from some. Anyone?

The silence is screaming at me. I guess I have my answer!

OK, then, WHAT IS RIGHT? What should we, instead, be doing? How do we solve this problem? Go ahead, earn your Nobel Peace Prize. Tell us how to fix it. As Tony Blair rightly said (paraphrased), one of the best gauges of the success of a country is how many people want in, and how many people want out. I don't see a huge influx of immigrants into the Middle East. And I don't see a bunch of Americans running across the border into Mexico.

Of course, you took what I said completely out of context. You were the one who brought up the Bible in your discussion of communism, disparaging Christians by implying that if all Christians were as perfect (pure) as they purported to be, communism would be possible. It is quite common for non-Christians to misinterpret, misrepresent, and mislead others about Biblical issues, so I was clarifying what the Bible REALLY says (for anyone who might believe your implication). A theoretical argument about communisim and sin is wholly different from the reality that the terrorists are attacking non-Muslims because their holy book commands them to do so. Specifically, it says "fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them?" (9:5). Bush has never claimed, nor do I think he believes, that Jesus has commanded him to kill all non-Christians. He certainly wouldn't need to go to the other side of the world to do so.

Short, sweet, and to the point. Thanks, Mousecrazy! Would that everyone might earn an "A" in your class

Which Bible are you reading? Aside from Jesus, show me one pure person in that Book? The Bible CLEARLY indicates that we are ALL sinners and that we have no HOPE, other than through the blood of Jesus Christ, to be anything but.

Here's to silencing them :clap2: And the last time I checked, we couldn't "find" Bin Laden to have a discussion. Next time you chat with him, have him give the White House a call. It'd be nice if he didn't block his caller ID when he did it.

ROFLOL! Thanks for the laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that would be because . . . DRUM ROLL PLEASE . . . IT DOESN'T WORK! No one would collect the garbage. And there are too many corrupt people in the world.

Mousecrazy, the answer is no. We help and help and help and just get attacked for it, both verbally and physically.

OK, sorry, couldn't leave this one alone either. Do you, perhaps, think that the people on the planes that were taken down on 9/11 pled for their lives? That they didn't try to have a "discussion"? Have you ever tried to "reason" with a fanatic? Best of luck on that front!

I have so much to say on this topic but I just don't have the time to get involved. But I did have to laugh at this one: I think there may be some countries with bigger bridges . Perhaps you meant britches? :biggrin1: And I do have a comment about communism. How many of you who think it's not such a bad idea practice it in your own neighborhoods? If your neighbor came over and said he liked your new car and could he drive it around instead of you for the next month, would you agree? Or perhaps if he wanted your house? And for you students, this is a common analogy but worth revisiting anyway: if some students study hard and get A's, and others party all the time and get F's, would it be right for the professor to give them all C's? Communism isn't a good idea, even in theory.

Hi Caligirl - I assume you're posting to me? I think I'm the only Dr. Q patient on here. I'm happy to talk -- PM me whenever. Dr. Q has a new asst., too, who makes up for in personality what he, Dr. Q, is lacking

Hey, Pattman, just throwing in some thoughts here. There are many facets of love. One is the emotional, "woozy", "butterflies in the stomach", "in love" feeling you get (remember that from when you were first dating?). Another facet of love is the decision you make to love someone even when you're not feeling it. It sounds like that's what she's talking about when she says she loves you but doesn't have an emotional connection. There are, of course, other facets as well. The good news is you can cultivate the "in love" feeling. Here are some thoughts. Light candles in the bedroom. Give her a shoulder rub whenever you're close by. Touch her frequently. Find something she does on a daily basis but doesn't really like to do (emptying the dishwasher? -- whatever) and do it for her (without being asked). Surprise her with a romantic date. Start a conversation and then just listen to what she's saying. There are tons of other ideas and tons of books that can help you out. I strongly recommend the book "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman (see also http://www.fivelovelanguages.com). Maybe the way you're "speaking" your love to her isn't the way she "hears" love. Anyway, I hope I'm not offending you with what I'm saying here, it's just that I'm very passionate about marriage and I believe every relationship can be nurtured and made incredible.