gadgetlady

Thanks, maryb. I will try this. Hopefully it'll work!

Thanks, Elisabethsew. I really would like to eat less at dinner (and after dinner -- I usually snack). But I don't want to not be able to swallow during the day! :angry

(emphasis added) And I would know this, how? It seems from the above posts and others on this thread that you at least have some level of vindictiveness. If you read carefully, jboy, I did not claim you were vindictive. I said I didn't know if you were vindictive or not. For that matter, I still don't. I was not trying to divert attention, but rather to redirect the attention where it belongs -- on Misfortune's misfortune. wannabelean just jumped to a conclusion that Misfortune and I were the same person because I was the last poster on a thread that she started. My guess is she confused the "Thread/Thread Starter" with "Last Post" information on the summary page. You could PM her and ask her if that satisfies your curiousity. I realize all of my information may be "out there" in different places all over this board, but to have it staring me in the face in the middle of a very weird accusation made me nervous. Forgive me for trying to protect my privacy a bit. I don't know what wackos are reading these boards and I have a lot of things in my life worthy of protection.

Ketosis, yuck. Just keep flushing yourself with water and get your protein in. And apologize to your friends and loved ones.

For the record, this is the PM I sent to wannabelean asking her to delete her post: Please delete your post I responded to your post confusing me and Misfortune, but I would like you to delete or edit it. I'm sure someone could get all of that information about me (gondola business, father is a doctor, etc.) by looking through all of my postings, but to have it all in one place makes me a little nervous. jboy seems vindictive and I just don't want him to . . . I don't know. It just feels weird. Would you please delete your post? Also, I don't know where you got the impression that Misfortune and I are the same person. But we're not. I have no idea who she is and whether her story is true or not. Thank you. _________

Well, jboy, for the record, what I had to hide is obviously available to all now. What I have to hide is: I run a gondola business, I live in Orange County, and my father is a doctor. Not that this isn't information you could have gleaned from reading all of my posts throughout the board, but it was quite weird to have them all posted in one place. And the reason it was weird is . . . drum roll please . . . I don't know who the hell YOU are and I didn't want to have that information out there for YOU to see. I don't like you, I don't trust you, and I don't know whether or not you're vindictive. So there you go! Now stop the MUD!

Thank you, hootiebelle. For the record, for anyone else who take a flying leap to an unfounded conclusion, I am gadgetlady, not Misfortune. I was banded in the US in February of 2005. I don't know Misfortune and I have no vested interest in her story (although I do believe her). wannabelean and I PM'd many times around our surgery date and because of those PM's we got to know each other. She had some personal information about me that she posted to this thread, along with a wild accusation that I was the same person as Misfortune. I asked her to delete her post, but of course neither of us could figure out how to do that. So she edited it and her apology to me, and I edited my post asking her to delete the post. Then hootiebelle reposted the original post which she had received via email. I asked her to edit hers (at least edit out my personal info) as well, which she did. There are no "holes in Misfortune's boat" due to this random, unfounded, incomprehensible theory about me. Misfortune, I am truly sorry about your experiences and I apologize that what's going on here has detracted from your original posts. CAN THIS PLEASE STOP NOW??? No more conspiracy theorists! Sheesh! Talk about pack mentality . . .

Turn off your conspiracy theory warning bells. There's nothing weird going on here. hootiebelle, wannabelean for some reason assumed I was Misfortune; I know not why. But she posted personal information about me, my family, my business, my location, etc. And because of that, I asked her to delete/edit her post. She did, but now you've reposted it. Would you please edit yours too? I'd really appreciate it. There's nothing weird going on here except that a member jumped to a very odd and wholly incorrect conclusion that I, a poster/responder in a random thread, was the author of that thread.

Good to see you, Michele. Glad your surgery went well.

jboy, you're just being rude. Don't assume you have the corner on brain cells because of your profession. Oh, and the space bar is the long bar below the lowest row of keys, in case you couldn't find it.

I can feel mine but it doesn't generally hurt. The other day it was very sore and it took me a while to figure out why. Finally realized, when I climbed into bed, that I had slept on my left side that night instead of my usual right side. Somehow and for some reason that makes my port ache. Go figure!

's ok. I had to check myself 3 times before I posted to make SURE it was 2006! Often I'll see a movie or something from, say, 1993, and I think to myself, "that was made just recently" (DUH!). Would that it were still the 1980's. My favorite decade!

Donna, I think you're misreading here. Banded 1/05 has been banded for a year and 5 months, not just 5 months. Much more realistic, even with ice cream involved. lizziegrace, what I absolutely LOVE about the band is that when I'm in a position where pre-band I would have really packed on the pounds, post-band I just don't! I've been on two cruises since banded and I ate whatever/whenever I wanted (meaning, of course, that I ate the foods I that agreed with my band in limited amounts) and -- here's the best part -- within 2 days of being home I was right back where I started on the scale! Pre-band, I could easily have gained a solid 5 or more pounds on a cruise that wouldn't come off that easily! I figure if I hadn't been on two cruises since being banded, I'd probably be about 5-10 lbs lower than I am. I'm bummed that I'm not 5-10 lbs lower RIGHT NOW, but I'm totally thrilled that the scale moves in only one direction. I know I'll get there. I am not a perfect bandster by any means. I eat more carbs and sugars than I should. So when I'm not being a great bandster, I only lose a little bit of weight. When I am being great, I lose a decent amount. But I don't gain! Woo Hoo! The other thing is, of course, as you lose weight you are more excited to lose more and faster and then you WANT to exercise. I am quite lazy and I hate exercise, but tomorrow I'm going out and buying an elliptical. Just over 20 lbs down I feel more comfortable being active and I WANT to lose faster so I'm willing to do some mild activity to get there. I was concerned with all of the "eat around the band", "pouch packing", "drinking your calories" issues that everyone warned about pre-band, but they're just not issues for me. When I'm full, I'm full. That's it. It doesn't matter if I filled up on salad and a steak is on the way. It won't go down. So as long as I'm eating food rather than JUNK (I still eat some junk) -- i.e. eating something like chicken or Pasta or salad or whatever for dinner rather than choosing a chocolate bar for dinner -- I lose weight. OK, this is officially a novel, so I'll stop now

No, I don't. I'm just really careful afterwards

I love my Magic Bullet! The blender takes up so much space on the counter, and the MB doesn't. I also love blending in the cup I drink from -- less cleanup -- and I take it with me on trips so I can blend in my hotel room.

Where are you located?

I'm not regimented either. I have a proten shake for mid-morning (Lean Body for Her -- 30 grams of protein), then usually a piece of cheese or scoop of cottage cheese mid-day. Then we usually go out to dinner so I eat off everyone else's plate <grin> and then I have some snack-y stuff at night. I'm not the best bandster in terms of eating what and when I should, but I'm getting in all my protein and vitamins and water and I'm losing weight. Yay!

I'm trying to find some high-Protein, low-carb Snacks. Pre-band, I used to snack on fruit (my all-time favorite, summer fruits -- peaches, apricots, etc.) or raw vegetables. But, sadly, neither of those seems to sit well with my band (as an aside, I told my mom today I knew I wouldn't be able to have bread after being banded, but if someone had told me I couldn't have my precious summer fruits I likely would have reconsidered the surgery). Anyway, I can't come up with any high-protein or even healthy snacks! I'm not a yogurt eater and can only take so much cottage cheese. I love cheese but know it's high in fat. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I'll try the bagged salad. Lettuce is one of the only vegetables I can get down. Go figure.

Roni, you and your dd are in our prayers tonight. Please keep us updated. You might ask her what kind of feathers the "bird" had.

Amen, Elisabeth! :clap2::clap2: And given that the absence of co-morbidities and pre-existing conditions doesn't ensure a flawless surgery, I personally believe it always wise to have the surgery performed in the US.

I wasn't self-pay but my insurance is so awful I might as well have been. When I first scheduled the surgery I didn't know if my insurance was going to cover me or not; I moved ahead as self-pay in the US. Mexico was never an option for me (I come from a medical family and it's a "standards " thing). Finding out my insurance would "cover" (as they called it) was a bonus but really they covered virtually nothing so I was self-pay anyway.

Hmmm. String cheese is a good idea. I like my fruit whole, fresh, or not at all (I'm such a darn finicky eater; I won't eat cheesecake if it has fruit/jam on it and I won't eat cake if it has a fruit/jellly filling). But the string cheese might be a really good idea! Nuts . . . that's a good one. I don't have those too often but I do like them. I'll try some puddings or custards, too. Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks for all the ideas. I don't think I could get beef jerkey down. I've never really liked fruit slushies (always would have rather eaten whole fruit) but maybe I'll try them again. Protein pudding -- good idea! I'll try it. Protein Bars always seem to have too much sugar. I guess I'm looking for good, whole foods, but there really aren't any, are they? Something like a beef cookie LOL! Maybe popcorn's a good idea. Thanks for the help.

I want to be able to get a hotel towel around me, buckle my seat belt without feeling squished, run around the park with my kids, and live long enough to see my grandchildren.