Malaika

RB2 went to Dr. Aceves, just like we are going to :confused1:

Okay, the marshmallow mud pie are bars and they're great -- got them at WalMart. The Protein drinks do not have sugar alcohol in them -- 1 g of sugar, no sugar alcohol listed. Got them at Target

I think the two of you are GREAT debaters and that Alex should make a new section entitled "DEBATE - Mac & WASa" and the members pick a topic for the two of you to debate on ... between the two of you, everyone definitely gets all sides of the topic. BTW - not being facetious (sp?) or trying to be a smart ass -- being totally serious ... I enjoy reading what both of you have to say and have learned so much I can't believe it. Alex - what do you think?

When my oldest son (first child) was a baby -- he went through a phase where all he would eat was applesauce. I was concerned, so I took him to the pediatrician. He told me not to worry about it - when he was hungry he would eat. He said that if everyone ate like young children did, there would be no overweight people -- that overeating was a "learned" behavior. I believe he is partly right ... dieting should never have been invented, IMO

That seems to be the answer to everything for me these days ... age and hormones ... that's what my gyno tells me, my PCP, my dermatologist ... grrrrrrrrr :biggrin0:

I was going to finance my surgery; however, certain things happened and I was able to cancel my loan. I went through SurgeryLoan.com ... they approved me; however, the interest rate was high (15.9%) and they wanted to charge me a "service fee" of almost $1800. I was glad I didn't have to get the loan; although I would have done so if circumstances hadn't happened as they did. I have heard that ChoiceCard (?) or something along those lines is pretty good and reasonable ... I've even heard you can use it for surgery on your pet! Not sure if that is any help or not, I hope so. And good luck to you with your surgery.

Well HELL -- I couldn't call you OLD WISE ONE anyway ... I'm 4 years older than you ... okay, we'll stick with YOUNG WISE ONE ... I think VERY YOUNG WISE ONE is pushing it a bit at 47 ... :biggrin0: Regardless, you have been a wealth of knowledge for me during this journey, and I applaud your success ... I hope you stay around for a VERY long time.

This is the first time I've ever been on anything like this ... you very well have a point ... perhaps I will remove my photo and replace it with an avatar ... I never get too much information about myself - just generalities; never specifics

Should we call her "OLD WISE ONE" ? :thumbup:

Be sure to keep us posted on your knee replacements... I'm going to be having to have bilateral knee replacements down the road ... I'm pretty much bone-on-bone and once the cortisone quits working, I'm sure that will be the next step ... my ortho is trying to keep me going until at least 55 ... that's 4 years away ... so hoping that the weight loss will help; I'm sure it can't hurt. Fiance and I went bike riding tonight for about 30 minutes ... I had to quit due to the fact that my knees were hurting so bad; other than that, I could have continued 30 minutes, maybe more. May have to stick to walking and pilates.

Ah, well that said, I totally understand. Sorry.

I don't consider the way you eat with the sleeve to be a diet ... I consider it to be a new lifestyle with a new way of eating and I don't plan to ever be on a diet again the rest of my life. I intend to use the sleeve for the purpose it was designed for -- a tool to help me lose all this weight and I plan to do whatever needs to be done to make that a reality. I don't know that I've ever been skinny ... however I know I have weighted a WHOLE lot less than I do now and I intend to work my butt off (as well as other parts) to get back to that point. I am not going to let ANYONE tell me I can't do it! And if they did, I'd prove them wrong ... PROVE YOUR DOCTOR WRONG AND MAYBE HE'LL QUIT THROWING OUT NUMBERS HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT!

Just red I wouldn't mind, I get small hives and they itch like crazy.

Definitely colder up that way ... I lived just south of Indianpolis for 27 years and saw my share of cold Indiana winters ... have to say I don't miss them at all. My nephew will graduate from Purdue this year.

Curious Serious -- where in Indiana? As to the calling up CNN being equal to telling co-workers ... I'm right there with you!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WASa!!!!!!!

Well once you lose all your weight you'd BETTER post some pics

I was going to ask who you were talking too...I will be going down there on the 10th if you want me to pick you up some ... and IF there isn't a limit to what you can purchase and/or bring back across the border. WASa any idea?

OH ... you just brought to mind something I need to talk to Dr. A about .... I'm allergic to the adhesive on that tape ... when I give blood and they tape it, you should see the rash; heck, you should see what my skin looks like if I use a bandaid ... okay esteemed RNs ... is there an alternative to the surgical tape or am I just going to look like a red mess once I am allowed to remove it?

Definitely worth the time to view. I'm happy to say that the schools around Las Vegas have finally removed the McDonald's, pizza Huts and Vending Machines from the school cafeteria. It's sad the number of obese children there are in the US. As a child, I wasn't heavy - that was because I was always outside riding bikes, skating, playing baseball, etc. There were no computers or video games and we only had 1 TV in our house and my dad controlled that. I can't stomach fast food ... gave it up years ago ... occassionally I'll have a "craving" for a Wendy's burger or Arby's and I'll give in ... huge mistake. Don't know if it's all the fat or what, but let's just say, generally within an hour of eating it, it's left my body. Then I remember THAT's why I don't eat the "fast" stuff.

Oh heck yeah ... the more the merrier ... join the (June) conga line :laugh0:

Hey Mac - I was born in No. Cal if that counts? My dad lives in Sebastopol and by brother and sil in Benecia ... I get up there a few times a year.

I am already lactose intolerant, so I avoid milk, ice cream and definitely whipped cream ... I can eat cheese and yogurt no problems and limited SF pudding... if the milk is heated - like tomato soup, it doesn't seem to bother me. I've even tried soy and rice milk with the same results as regular milk. Needless to say, I'm not EVEN going to be trying any milk products for quite some time following surgery. The gastrointestinal issues I have from dairy products is enough of a deterent to even consider trying anything along those lines. Whipped cream is the absolute worst ... I ate it one night and thought I was going to have to go to the ER I was in such excruiating pain. Once my g/f stopped laughing at me for the "self-inflicted pain" she told me a holistic remedy to help alleviate it. Also discovered a heating pad on the belly helps immensely ... I will be bringing mine with me to the hospital.

Hey - maybe he can give us a quantity discount ... Ruthi ... you want to join in and RB2??? :laugh0:

Wow, that's too bad ... you're REALLY missing out SteveO!