minidriver

Hi loverly ladies. Long-lost Mini here. I was out of town for a couple of weeks . . . gained three pounds but then lost two. I have no idea where I am in terms of the challenge cuz I can't remember where I started. Blegh. Marie, I am REALLY happy to hear about your new job/living situation. That's fantastic. And congrats to all of you on your weight loss. You guys rock. Well, I am scheduled to have my tummy tuck and breast lift on September 9th and I can't believe how nervous I am. I remember being really nervous before my band, so I guess this is just more of the same. Anyhoo, if I have enough guts I'll post before and after pics on here. YIKES!!

Let's see - i was a big fat ZERO again two weeks ago (forgot to report), and then down 1.2 this week, so that's a little better. Patty- I am sorry to hear about the Hep C diagnosis. I REALLY hope it's a false positive. Marie - sorry about your flappy arms. My boobs are really flappy right now. I could definitely achieve flight with these things. And my upper tummy flap has now covered up my belly button, while my lower tummy flap hangs down and covers, well, other stuff. Yuck. BUT, I am scheduled for surgery on Sept. 9th. Paid my deposit today. YAY! Deb, love your cash for chemo sale. That's fantastic. What a grand idea! We could have Loot for Lipo, Pesos for Panniculectomy, Bucks for Boob Lifts . . . yeah, the possibilities are endless. wow, maybe I've had too many adult beverages this evening . . . So my poor little 10 week pregnant daughter and her hubby were rear-ended quite violently on Saturday. Jess was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The ultrasound of the baby looked fine (s/he waved at us!), and her neck x-rays were negative. She's having a lot of pain and stiffness now and has some tingling in one arm. Yuck. Their car is totaled, and they owe more on it than it's worth. What a mess. I will be leaving Wednesday to take a group of students to Berkeley to present at a research conference, then get to go see my grandson in Chico for four days! yay!! Then home to prepare for my surgery. Wild!!!

Miss dee, you can put me down for a big fat zero this week. I think I'm retaining water (I have cankles) so hopefully next week will be better. Marie, I am so sorry to hear about your hubby's layoff. That must be incredibly stressful for both of you. Hugs . . . Deb, is your eye okay? Stupid bee.

I am excited. I was actually thinking that it was a good price, and that it might be worth your while to talk to my doctor. Salt Lake is certainly a whole lot closer than Mexico. Not sure about the anesthesia stuff though.

Oh, I'm not having it with Dr. K. It's a plastic surgeon here in Salt Lake who does quite a bit of work with weight loss patients. I'm paying $9600 total for the two procedures. Not bad, in my opinion.

SURGERY DATE!!!! K, I made an appointment for my tummy tuck and breast lift. The momentous event will occur on Sept 9th, and I'm already nervous! I wish I were closer to my goal, but this is the only time that's going to work with my schedule, so it is what it is. I have decided not to get implants. Since my mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, I now have it on both sides of my family and I really don't want to do anything that might interfere with early detection in any way. My mom's tumor was small and difficult to detect, but came back from pathology as "highly aggressive". Not worth the risk for me. I'm so excited! And nervous!!

K, I'm gonna' try for 10 lbs. Gained 1.5 over the weekend . . . so we'll see :-(

I want to be in the challenge!!

Yay deb! Yeah, low-carbing seems to be the only thing that can help me get past a plateau.

Hey Munchie! You know me, I never shut up. I'm glad you're back. Let's get back into the groove, yes? I don't know so much about vitamins and migraines . . . I know that B12 can be a big deal . . .

I bought them at Whole Foods.

Wow, dee, I am thoroughly disgusted by what the airline did to you. Are you going to complain? Stories like this infuriate me. What an ass. Whoever offered to give the dude a beatdown . . .count me in!!!!! Where, in Mexico, is the doctor you want to see? That would be so fantastic if you could do that. And deb, you are a wonderful woman.

Okay, a further update on the shiratake noodles: The ones I had for lunch today were fettucini shaped. Tonight I used spaghetti shaped noodles in my faux Pho. It was fantastic!! Loved it! Didn't taste totally like noodles, but a pretty decent facsimile. So the noodles are packed in water and have a funky smell when you open it. You rinse them in a colander really well to get rid of the smell. Then you either cook them in the microwave for one minute, or parboil them for a few minutes. I put them in beef stock, and added a little bit of leftover beef and some asian hot sauce. It was great! Really filling. And, since I only ate half the package, the noodles were a whopping 20 calories. Woohoo!!!

So I have discovered something new to help us in our low carbing. I was looking for some recipes and came across a reference to tofu shirataki noodles. They're made from tofu and some sort of yam root and have 3 g carbs, 2 g fiber and only 40 calories per serving. I kid you not. I made some today and sprinkled gorgonzola cheese over them. They're kind of a weird texture (slippery and chewy) but I didn't mind them. I am going to try them in a vietnamese beef noodle soup recipe. At least it got me through a major pasta craving.

Thanks, sweet Deb. Sorry you're getting discouraged. Local fills may not be a bad idea. I have been low carbing the last two weeks and that seems to be jump starting me again. Don't give up! We can do it!!

Thanks, Marie. Have a wonderful time.

Thanks, sweet Mal.

Today is my one year bandiversary, so I wanted to post some pics. My weight loss isn't nearly as impressive as many of you, but I'm still pretty pleased.

Thanks! I was hoping to have lost about 15 lbs more by now, but my rate of loss has really slowed down. Oh well. I'll just keep plugging away at it.

and one more set . . . btw, click on the thumbnails to see them in a larger size. wow, can't believe I'm posting pics of my big old butt on the internet.

HAPPY BANDIVERSARY TO ME! K, it's my bandiversary so I figured I'd post some progress pics. the "befores" are right before surgery, the "afters" are tonight - down 54 lbs.

Well, I think it's okay to be scared, and very normal. I remember I was really nervous that last week. Surgery has risks . . . so does driving a car, walking on the sidewalk, taking a shower, etc. And being obese REALLY has a lot of risks. I had one of the more unusual complications with my surgery (long story) and still came through with flying colors and have no regrets whatsoever . . . except for the fact that I waited so long to do it. You have to just turn a deaf ear to the naysayers. They mean well, but it's not their life and it's not their body. You will be so happy to have taken this important step in your life. Enjoy!!!

I'm gonna have a breast lift and tummy tuck. I thought about having some small implants as well (my boobs have totally deflated) but my mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer which means that I have it on BOTH sides of my family and I don't want to do anything that might make it harder for early diagnosis. So I'll just have little, perky ones. I'm really excited about getting this pannus gone! I should probably wait longer, but I am on sabbatical this fall, so it's the perfect time to get it done! And we're going to the Southern Caribbean the end of November, so I want to be healed by then.

Julie, that's absolutely absurd. And I'm with Deb. Young'uns think we're all old and we think they're all children. So I went in today and had what is, I hope, my last fill. I got .8 cc's - the most I've ever had at once. But since I've only lost 4 lbs in the past 4 months, I'm ready to be a bit more aggressive. I plan to have my surgery in about 9 or 10 weeks. I would like to lose 15 lbs by then. I figure I'll probably lose 5ish lbs of skin. I'll be fairly close to my goal by then!! Woohoo! It is my bandiversary tomorrow and I've lost a total of 54 lbs. Not where I wanted to be after one year, but I'm okay with that. I caught sight of myself in a mirror today and was actually quite pleased with what I saw. Yay me!!

Hey everybody. Mal, I'm so impressed that you're running 5Ks. I seriously can't imagine running 50 feet. And I'm not kidding. Dee, you are such a stud! I can't believe how much self-discipline you have to work out so much and eat right all the time. You go girl!!! Deb, have a great time at your property. Have a drink or two for me. Lotza', I'm so sorry you have that stupid flu. Several of my students have it right now. Luckily, they seem to get over it pretty easily . . . hopefully you will as well. And, on the bright side, now you'll have immunity when the scarier version of it evolves in the fall and winter. Oh, and my students have all lost weight while they were sick!