EmeraldCoastPhotog

Since there seems to be more people still showing up, I think we should wait at least one more week, if not two. Or maybe we should take the top 4 or 5 vote getters, and make it a single vote poll for a week or so.

MommyJD, Welcome aboard! Since you are so close, I for one would love to have you sailing the skinny ship with us. :eek:

I would have to agree with you, Carol. He would make a wonderfully adorable Slender Snowflake. Perhaps we could be "Slender Snowmen" and Pete (and myself and all the other southerners) can melt away in the warm winter sun. :rolleyes2: Fran

Hello to all the Panhandlers! I am up in Crestview and will be banded December 10th at Sacred Heart. I am glad to there are others upstate. I look forward to getting to know others in the area. Fran

Chris (shrink), Welcome to the group!

Hi Trina, Never too early to form friendships with others who will be traveling the same path as you, who will be supportive of you, who will cheer you on, be there to support you and who share the same dream as you. Welcome to the group! I see you are from Gainesville. I am over by Pensacola.

Glad to have everyone aboard, Fanny congrats on your one year bandaversity -- you have had wonderful results. I look to you for inspiration. I love to have others to make this journey with. Thanks! Fran

Hi Mommy, Welcome to the December group. I'm with you on the C-Section thought. Though I only had one C-Section it was done without anesthesia. I am relatively there isn't anything a medical professional will do to my body would ever feel worse. As far as your relationship with food. Have you read the "The Beck Diet Solution". It was recommended by the person who did my psyc evaluation and I have seen several people on Bariatric Surgery websites refer to it. I love it and feel in the few days I have been reading it, that I already am seeing a change in the way I look at food. Fran

Hey Everyone! I must weigh in on the flu shot discussion. My seven year old son (who I homeschool) and I got our flu shots last Wednesday. I wasn't planning on getting one but there was a nurse at my husbands office giving shots and we happened to stop in to see DH for a minute. DH of course didn't get one as he never does. My son who has asthma issues got one and I who will be banded December 10th (yippie!) didn't want to get sick and not be able to have surgery.. or worse yet get into a situation where I was throwing up right after getting the band. Well, I don't know if it is coincidence or not but the very next day, just about 24 hours later, I started feeling like crap. My son also told me he felt terrible and had sore throat and headache and diarreah. Sadly the poor little fellow was feeling poorly for Halloween but we did a little trick-or-treating. We are still battling it. This morning he seemed fine. Mondays he goes to a half-day challange class and right after we came home from that he took a blanket, laid down on the floor and went to sleep. I have never had a reaction to the flu shot in the past but this seems to contrary to my past experiences. I have spoken to several other people and they have also said they have gotten sick after the flu shot this year. Maybe this year the vaccine is worse that the virus? Fran

Chastity, Welcome and good luck with your surgery. I am also in Florida. My surgery is December 10th. Where are you getting banded?

Pete, I am sorry for the tough times you are going through right now. I have said a prayer. As you stated, God has a plan for you. What size is your son wearing? Maybe someone who reads your thread has some children's clothes that might fit him. I am sure with a growing child what he is in now won't last long. I personally would rather donate to someone I "know" than to just some random stranger, but my son is seven and long ago those clothes were given away. Let us know. Fran

Welcome Jecca, I don't think you are alone. I too am nervous. Like you I am SO ready to do this. Failure is not an option for me. I know I am ready to do this and to follow the diet to the letter. I have been reading the "The Beck Diet Solution", based on recommendations for the Psyc who did my evaluation. I have also read on various posts that this is a must read for anyone who has struggled with keeping off weight. Good luck to you and welcome to the group!

I completely agree with you Joann that there are reasons why certain names which won't work for everyone. I am the type of person who likes change so I hope I won't be offending anyone by changing my signature as the mood suits me. (Of course I have to figure out how to make a signature first, but ...) I just love the thought that there are a group of people who will forever have something in common with me and people who I can do this journey with. So whatever is decided by the group is fine with me. My ADHD was causing all these things to bounce around in my head, and I put them down in a post. I am glad that some of these ideas brought a smile to some faces. As far as Winter Wisp -- I hope someday someone will say to me "You are just a wisp of your former self", man or woman that wouldn't be the worst thing we can hear after we reach goal. Fran

Im glad there are so many suggestions... I love to see everyones creativity. I had suggested Christmas Cougars and I still think it is funny. Other ones I thought of and might or might not have thrown out there are Reindeer Rowdies, Slender Snowflakes, Running Reindeer, Winter Wisps, Merry Minis or December Divas. Of course, Holiday Hotties is a good name but since I was on a roll I thought I would throw those out there. Fran

I haven't been banded yet either. That will happen December 10th. Ten years ago I successfully lost a bunch of weight and was down to size 14. Knowing someday I would get back into those clothes, I put the clothes in boxes. Thats where I plan to do my shopping for a while. Now of course, I don't know if my clothes will be SO out of date 10 years later but... I know I am sure looking forward to finding out! I have friends who have had gastric bypass and they tell me they shopped the Goodwill on their way down the weightloss slide. Then they just donated the clothes back to the Goodwill when they were done. I will definitely look there but I don't know how successful I will be since I am six feet tall. These are all good plans but I have a different lifestyle than I did ten years ago. Then I worked as a Network Engineer, now I am a Mom and have a Photography business. So if I need to look snappy for some particular reason, I'll just have to go purchase something.

Carol, If you aren't comfortable with Holiday Hotties, I guess "Christmas Cougars" would be entirely out of the question? :thumbup: Fran

Rosey, I grew up in Central Jersey. I live in Northwest Florida now. I have been down here for almost 10 years. Received an email from my husband after I placed a personal ad on the internet exactly 10 years ago today. :thumbup: Wow, time flys! Fran

Goose and Rosey, What part of Jersey are you all from? Fran

Hello, I speak with God regularly so I know pray definitely helps, so I will say a little pray for you. Please forgive me for being cynical but does such a Doctor exist that will not accept a patient who has either a) insurance plus the co-pay or :thumbup: self-pay? Fran

I just wanted to say hello. I will be banded Dec 10th after over a year of jumping through hoops. I am glad to see other 50s here as I know we have different weight loss issues than the ones I faced when I was last "really thin", back in my 20s. Forgive me for not reading every post to this thread but you are a very prolific group, but the ones I have read have been enlightening. I do hope to add to the group. Fran

I will have to agree with Julie, I was at one point in my 20s around 160 pounds. Since I am 6' tall, I was very thin. Actually I didn't see it but I can remember seeing my pelvic bones. I also remember my now ex-husband saying I was too thin and it hurt to lay against me. My Mother who is and has always been very critical of my weight, thought I looked fantastic at 160. My doctor thinks I should shoot for around 175. Even though I own a scale, I don't plan on weighing frequently and am sure I will know when I have lost enough weight. Like Julie, I imagine it will be a feeling of healthiness and well-being. Maybe when you were weighing 165-190 in high school some of that had to do with your physiology and it might just be that your body can't get down to 140. You will know when you are approaching your right weight and it just might be that yours may be higher than the numbers on the charts. Fran

I haven't been banded yet. My surgery is Dec 10th. Have you tried Protein Water. The protein helps to quell that hunger between meals. It is made by Special K. It comes in dry powder and premixed. I found it near the Protein Bars at CVS. I saw it online at Amazon with free shipping. Personally, I hate Walmart and refuse to shop there on general principles but I am sure you can find it there as well.

Good for you guys! I was one of the lucky ones as well except I didn't realize it until I finished the six month diet. Too bad for me.... I should have checked on that myself but .. personally, I would have thought the insurance people in the office would have done some pre-authorization. Oh well. Bitter party of one. Thankfully, surgery is finally scheduled for Dec 10. Best of luck to you all. Fran