ifyourstomachoffendsyou

Julie, I once jumped in a lake with my cell phone tucked in my swimsuit between my boobs. Top that! Cheri

Saturday, January 30, 2010 A Balanced Life and Reaching Goal I wanted to be a missionary Dr. when I was a kid. Or a writer. But I had this tendancy to round up all the kids (and sometimes their mothers) to play circus and kick-the-can and put on little shows (wrote plays), taught them songs to sing, played a little piano and had the mothers invite each other over for tea to watch our perfomances. Most of them closely resembled church services (without the sermons, thank God) or school programs (I went to Christian schools). When I moved from my neighborhood after 5th grade, one of the other kid's mothers told me the other children didn't know what to do with themselves after I left. LOL. In high school, other kids started asking me for help with their subjects. In college I gravitated towards English and history and because most woman from my background were encouraged to go into nursing or teaching (if they went to college.) I ended up teaching with some forays into public relations and fund-raising. Although I'm certified to teach secondary English and history, I sort of fell into the tutoring field and teach supplementary math and reading from grades 1-8, at which I am very gifted. Just yesterday a mother told me her daughter always tells her, "I don't understand the math until Mrs. Flory explains it." I think I'm a puzzle solver and I see children's learning problems as a puzzle to be solved. Where is the breakdown in understanding occuring? Is there an underlying learning disability? Are they ADHD? What method of instruction works for this child? Do they have better comprehension if they read out loud? If they wear noise-blocking headsets? How can I explain this and demonstrate it so they'll "see" it and remember it? How do I keep their attention and minimize their distractive behaviors so that they can learn? What materials would best suit this child? Is it a comprehension or a computational issue? Etc. I really fly by the seat of my pants with a lot of this. I just get a sense of the child and leap to an intuitive understanding of what makes them tick and how best to break down the information for them. I think the fact that I love each child and establish a relationship with them also accounts for why they respond so well to my teaching. Frankly, I'm a self-taught teacher in many ways. I've certainly never sat in a workshop or class that taught me to teach the way I teach. I do continuing ed. of course, but I like to take workshops and classes that give me practical tools that I can then modify to fit the needs of various children. Lesson plans are guidelines that might or might not be followed. I really don't even write them anymore. I have an overall plan in my head of where I want to go and I modify it on the spot or abandon it totally if the need arises. Amazingly, it all seems to work and my kids make great progress. I get my exercise in the mornings. I get to school early (7:15-7:30) and climb the stairs and walk the hallways and circle the gym for 30-45 minutes. I usually have a couple of kids already on the computers who are in before school care and I keep checking on them during my rounds. By 8 a.m. I'm already teaching kids who come before school and I teach an after school class till 4 and then private tutor a child till 4:35. It's amazing how confidant I am when teaching children. I'm truly in my element. It is a stressful job, but mostly its good stress. But I do need to unwind when not teaching. At first, when I come home, after quickly cooking or putting together the meal my husband sets out, I tend to sit like a zombie in front of the TV, slowly eating my dinner. I only take in about half of what my husband says and tend to mostly grunt. I start checking my Facebook, writing my blog, or go on lapband thread reading posts and responding, and looking up to watch TV when it interests me--and I pretty much do this till bedtime. I do go out for choir practice one night a week and once a month I go to the school that is the vendor for my services and meet with other Discovery room teachers. We share teaching techniques and ideas as well as provide support for each other. One night a month I meet with the promotions committee for Roseland Christian School and generate ideas for raising money. I'll write some stories for them about some of the children we serve and their struggles and accomplishments. On weekends I love walking-especially outdoors, gardening, playing with grandchildren, hot bubble baths with diet hot chocolate and a good mystery to read , singing in church, and maybe having a good long talk with one of my sisters or brothers (don't get to do that often, I should call them more.) I love to dance, did that last night a little. I need to do that more often. Unfortunately, food has always been a big de-stresser that led to other forms of stress--like being fat and unhealthy and in pain. Living without it isn't easy. I still turn to it occasionally, but then the band gets in the way of it becoming a total foodfest.In fact, right now, I've been way into the carbs. Three colds in two months and no sun have really gotten to me. Hadn't gained but hadn't lost the last 3 lbs either. Getting a fill on Tuesday. That should kick me back into restriction. But surprisingly, this morning when I got on the scale, I was 167 lbs. My goal. Now I did get up a few hrs later than usual and I danced last night so that might be a temporary aberration. I was surprised but I have been cutting back on the meals to make up for the carbs (read Candy). I do know that if I keep eating candy, eventually I'll start eating more period and I'll gain the weight back. The new fill won't stop the candy. It'll slide right through. And it doesn't make me feel very good. But now that this cold is subsiding, I should do better. I've gone back to doubling my multi-vitamins and Calcium. As my weight loss slowed, and I had fewer prescription pills to take, I was only taking them at night and not in the morning. I think that's why I've gotten sick three times in a row. But despite my set-backs, God is good. The weight is off. Surprisingly, that isn't the focus of my post. Having a relatively balanced life is the focus. Maybe the two are related. Ya think? God is good all the time. All the time God is good. :

Saturday, January 30, 2010 A Balanced Life and Reaching Goal I wanted to be a missionary Dr. when I was a kid. Or a writer. But I had this tendancy to round up all the kids (and sometimes their mothers) to play circus and kick-the-can and put on little shows (wrote plays), taught them songs to sing, played a little piano and had the mothers invite each other over for tea to watch our perfomances. Most of them closely resembled church services (without the sermons, thank God) or school programs (I went to Christian schools). When I moved from my neighborhood after 5th grade, one of the other kid's mothers told me the other children didn't know what to do with themselves after I left. LOL. In high school, other kids started asking me for help with their subjects. In college I gravitated towards English and history and because most woman from my background were encouraged to go into nursing or teaching (if they went to college.) I ended up teaching with some forays into public relations and fund-raising. Although I'm certified to teach secondary English and history, I sort of fell into the tutoring field and teach supplementary math and reading from grades 1-8, at which I am very gifted. Just yesterday a mother told me her daughter always tells her, "I don't understand the math until Mrs. Flory explains it." I think I'm a puzzle solver and I see children's learning problems as a puzzle to be solved. Where is the breakdown in understanding occuring? Is there an underlying learning disability? Are they ADHD? What method of instruction works for this child? Do they have better comprehension if they read out loud? If they wear noise-blocking headsets? How can I explain this and demonstrate it so they'll "see" it and remember it? How do I keep their attention and minimize their distractive behaviors so that they can learn? What materials would best suit this child? Is it a comprehension or a computational issue? Etc. I really fly by the seat of my pants with a lot of this. I just get a sense of the child and leap to an intuitive understanding of what makes them tick and how best to break down the information for them. I think the fact that I love each child and establish a relationship with them also accounts for why they respond so well to my teaching. Frankly, I'm a self-taught teacher in many ways. I've certainly never sat in a workshop or class that taught me to teach the way I teach. I do continuing ed. of course, but I like to take workshops and classes that give me practical tools that I can then modify to fit the needs of various children. Lesson plans are guidelines that might or might not be followed. I really don't even write them anymore. I have an overall plan in my head of where I want to go and I modify it on the spot or abandon it totally if the need arises. Amazingly, it all seems to work and my kids make great progress. I get my exercise in the mornings. I get to school early (7:15-7:30) and climb the stairs and walk the hallways and circle the gym for 30-45 minutes. I usually have a couple of kids already on the computers who are in before school care and I keep checking on them during my rounds. By 8 a.m. I'm already teaching kids who come before school and I teach an after school class till 4 and then private tutor a child till 4:35. It's amazing how confidant I am when teaching children. I'm truly in my element. It is a stressful job, but mostly its good stress. But I do need to unwind when not teaching. At first, when I come home, after quickly cooking or putting together the meal my husband sets out, I tend to sit like a zombie in front of the TV, slowly eating my dinner. I only take in about half of what my husband says and tend to mostly grunt. I start checking my Facebook, writing my blog, or go on lapband thread reading posts and responding, and looking up to watch TV when it interests me--and I pretty much do this till bedtime. I do go out for choir practice one night a week and once a month I go to the school that is the vendor for my services and meet with other Discovery room teachers. We share teaching techniques and ideas as well as provide support for each other. One night a month I meet with the promotions committee for Roseland Christian School and generate ideas for raising money. I'll write some stories for them about some of the children we serve and their struggles and accomplishments. On weekends I love walking-especially outdoors, gardening, playing with grandchildren, hot bubble baths with diet hot chocolate and a good mystery to read , singing in church, and maybe having a good long talk with one of my sisters or brothers (don't get to do that often, I should call them more.) I love to dance, did that last night a little. I need to do that more often. Unfortunately, food has always been a big de-stresser that led to other forms of stress--like being fat and unhealthy and in pain. Living without it isn't easy. I still turn to it occasionally, but then the band gets in the way of it becoming a total foodfest.In fact, right now, I've been way into the carbs. Three colds in two months and no sun have really gotten to me. Hadn't gained but hadn't lost the last 3 lbs either. Getting a fill on Tuesday. That should kick me back into restriction. But surprisingly, this morning when I got on the scale, I was 167 lbs. My goal. Now I did get up a few hrs later than usual and I danced last night so that might be a temporary aberration. I was surprised but I have been cutting back on the meals to make up for the carbs (read Candy). I do know that if I keep eating candy, eventually I'll start eating more period and I'll gain the weight back. The new fill won't stop the candy. It'll slide right through. And it doesn't make me feel very good. But now that this cold is subsiding, I should do better. I've gone back to doubling my multi-vitamins and Calcium. As my weight loss slowed, and I had fewer prescription pills to take, I was only taking them at night and not in the morning. I think that's why I've gotten sick three times in a row. But despite my set-backs, God is good. The weight is off. Surprisingly, that isn't the focus of my post. Having a relatively balanced life is the focus. Maybe the two are related. Ya think? God is good all the time. All the time God is good. :

Woke up this morning, got on the scale, got off the scale, jostled it, got on again and woke up for real. Lost 3 lbs and hit goal! Woot! Now for the lifetime part-maintenance. Scares me more than losing the weight. But for now, hip hip hooray!:thumbup:

Got on the scale this morning and had dropped 3 lbs. Which put me at goal!!! 70 lbs lost. Woot! Came when I least expected it. Fill on Tuesday which should help me maintain as I'm able to eat way too much again.

Thanks for the congrats guys. I'll probably be going up and down for the next week before the new weight settles in. Thats what usually happens. Jessica, as a Christian who went to Christian schools and sent my kids there and as one who teaches in a Christian school, I gotta say your SIL is nuts. She'd rather do the most unChristian thing I've heard of than get the child the help he needs from a public school? He's probably ADHD with a learning disability and now the hormones are kicking in. And she's too busy and tired trying to raise and homeschool the rest of them to give him the extra help and attention he needs. So she'd rather get rid of him than send him where he can get the help he needs and admit that she's failing him. What misplaced pride. The most generous interpretation I have is that she's having pregnancy psychosis. What a message she's sending to the other children. Screw up, don't measure up to our "Christian" standards and we will get rid of you. Where is her DH in all this? Why isn't he getting her the help she needs? Including psychiatric. I would have the boy thoroughly evaluated before fostering or adopting him. He may be very damaged already from his first home life as well as the second. He may need special placement in a therapeutic setting, particularly if he has bonding issues and PTSD as well as academic and behavioral issues. Reactive Attachment Disorder can make adopting an absolute nightmare. Some of these children are too damaged to be placed in a regular family. If that is the case with your nephew, then we may be judging your sister too harshly. Sometimes these children are actually a danger to their parents and siblings. But like most sociopaths they can present really well to outsiders who don't see them on a daily basis. They can be very charming but never actually bond and feel no remorse over doing wrong or hurting others, only over getting caught. They can be highly manipulative and you end up feeling crazy and not knowing why. I think what you are offering is tremendous and I truly hope it works out. Make sure you have state funding and medical care for this child and payment for any therapy and extra tutoring he might need. I would initially go foster care with him because once adopted you might not have access to funding to provide for his needs. My brother and his wife had to give a young child back to the province because the local social services refused to diagnose the child as having rad and provide them with the support services they needed. They had the child privately evaluated and found out she not only had RAD and PTSD, she was ADHD and had Fetal Alcohol Sysndrome. It killed them to do it but they did not have the training or the access to funds to provide the child with the care she needed and this was the only way they could force the province and social services to provide for her. The two or three years they went through all that were some of the worst times of their life and they felt like total failures. Cheri

I keep forgetting to tell you all. This morning I stepped on the scale and was 167 lbs. Granted, I slept late so it wasn't my usual time to weigh, and I went dancing a little last night, but still, after the sugar I've had the past few days, I never expected to see a 3 lb. loss. I did cut back on my meals to make up for the candy, but I didn't expect to lose. Now my cold is subsiding and I've had that psychological boost, I think I can get back on track with the food. Especially with one, hopefully, final fill on Tuesday. Just a tweak. So, doing the happy dance.:biggrin::glare: That's my goal, by the way.

Apples, you go on vacation and still find work to do. I'm convinced you have a bionic chip in you somewhere.

Laura, A nurse practioner is a wonderful thing to be. They didn't have that option when my sister was in med school but I think she still would have become a Dr. not a nurse. She doesn't want to follow anyone's orders--especially not a man's when she knows she's smarter and more knowledgeable and capable. Her nurses love her. She works in TN and in the south its very male dominated (as you probably know) and she's ended up with an independant practice because so many male Drs there tried to sabotage her. Linda, sorry about the dog and the loss of your mom. I guess the pain is always there. Also sorry about your DSD. Sounds like she wants to die. Are they treating her for depression in addition to all her physical stuff? Wow. Going back to work and taking on DGD! We do love our little ones don't we? My heart belongs to my grandkids and I would take any one of them if my kids needed it. Julie, the way you help your daughter by taking your DGD is also a wonderful thing. For a few years, I spend a lot of time driving to my daughter's to help her with her two boys. As David has gotten older and his autism and health have gotten under control, and Joshua is older and not so sick all the time, I'm not chasing nearly as much but I miss the little boogers. Also, Rachel quit her job after Josh was born because her own health, after two toxemic pregnancies, was not good and she couldn't give David the highly structured environment and sensory stimulation he craved . Her back was totally shot from wearing the gun belt and sitting in squad cars. She doesn't regret for one moment staying home with her kids. In fact, except for taking the boys to the Y and to Dr.s appmts, she doesn't go out much anymore. THe more she stays home, the better they do. She even orders a lot of her groceries through Peapod, so they get delivered to her home. She also gets her step-daughters frequently which means four kids in the house. Her husband is on a gang unit and works a lot of overtime. He's receiving all kinds of awards now for the work he's done, and that wouldn't have happened if she'd been working. It really makes you wonder about those mothers forced to work by circumstances, not by choice, and the long-term consequences for the children if they can't afford competent child-care or don't have willing grandparents to step in and help. I've had so many students actually being raised by grandparents, older siblings, aunties or even uncles, who stepped in for dead or incompetent parents. God bless all those with a heart for the children and the compassion and wisdom to help raise them. Cheri

Hi, I'm Cheri, also gratefully recovering though no longer attending much Alanon. But, 17 yrs, of faithful attendance brought a lot of recovery, and now I'm tackling the biggest part of my recovery, my weight. Band June 18, 2009. Lost 67 lbs, 3 lbs from goal. :thumbup:Been slipping a little this past week:thumbdown: so looking to get back on track. Final fill (I hope) next Tuesday should do the trick.:biggrin: Also have a blog: IF YOUR STOMACH OFFENDS YOU, TIE IT OFF I don't post as frequently lately, but you might be interested in the posts I did when I began my journey. Hope this becomes a good thread. Cheri

Julie, sometimes I help put a chapel together at school and I'm usually mic'd in the choir. I'm the lead alto but not a soloist. I hear parts as well as read music and can give the director big sound when needed. I used to be in a praise team or two but now the choir leads twice a month and other singers not in the choir do the praise teams. I led a praise team for a while-a thankless task-and put together the liturgy. Too many people with too much to say. I was just holding the team together while we searched for a new music director. My team became the base for the choir which does a lot of gospel numbers under our new director. For a while, we were the only praise team singing Gospel or at least some old Negro Spirituals. You said you sing, too, at church. For me, although I do enjoy our pastors, its the best part of worship. Cheri

Seriously into the carbs. Fill on Tuesday. Gotta get back into the routine. Know what I need to do, just got to do it.

:thumbup:Happy Birthday Janet!! Many more healthy ones to come!

Welcome Telly. I wanted to be a missionary Dr. when I was a kid. Or a writer. But I had this tendancy to round up all the kids (and sometimes their mothers) to play circus and kick-the-can and put on little shows (wrote plays), taught them songs to sing, played a little piano and had the mothers invite each other over for tea to watch our perfomances. Most of them closely resembled church services (without the sermons, thank God) or school programs (I went to Christian schools). When I moved from my neighborhood after 5th grade, one of the other kid's mothers told me the other children didn't know what to do with themselves after I left. In high school, other kids started asking me for help with their subjects. In college I gravitated towards English and history and because most woman from my background were encouraged to go into nursing or teaching (if they went to college) I ended up teaching with some forays into public relations and fund-raising. Although I'm certified to teach secondary English and history, I sort of fell into the tutoring field and teach supplementary math and reading from grades 1-8, at which I am very gifted. Just yesterday a mother told me her daughter always tells her, "I don't understand the math until Mrs. Flory explains it." I think I'm a puzzle solver and I see children's learning problems as a puzzle to be solved. Where is the breakdown in understanding occuring? Is there an underlying learning disability? Are they ADHD? What method of instruction works for this child? Do they have better comprehension if they read out loud? If they wear noise-blocking headsets? How can I explain this and demonstrate it so they'll "see" it and remember it? How do I keep their attention and minimize their distractive behaviors so that they can learn? What materials would best suit this child? Is it a comprehension or a computational issue? Etc. I really fly by the seat of my pants with a lot of this. I just get a sense of the child and leap to an intuitive understanding of what makes them tick and how best to break down the information for them. I think the fact that I love each child and establish a relationship with them also accounts for why they respond so well to my teaching. Frankly, I'm a self-taught teacher in many ways. I've certainly never sat in a workshop or class that taught me to teach the way I teach. I do continuing ed. of course, but I like to take workshops and classes that give me practical tools that I can then modify to fit the needs of various children. Lesson plans are guidelines that might or might not be followed. I really don't even write them anymore. I have an overall plan in my head of where I want to go and I modify it on the spot or abandon it totally if the need arises. Amazingly, it all seems to work and my kids make great progress. It's amazing how confidant I am when teaching children. I'm truly in my element. As far as de-stressors, writing my blog, or on this thread, reading, watching TV, walking-especially outdoors, gardening, playing with grandchildren, hot bubble baths with diet hot chocolate and a good mystery, singing, dancing, having a good long talk with one of my sisters or brothers (don't get to do that often, I should call them more.) Unfortunately, food has always been a big de-stresser that led to other forms of stress--like being fat and unhealthy and in pain. Living without it isn't easy. I still turn to it occasionally, but then the band gets in the way of it becoming a total foodfest. In fact, right now, I've been way into the carbs. Three colds in two months and no sun have really gotten to me. Haven't gained but haven't lost the last 3 lbs either. Getting a fill on Tuesday. That should kick me back into restriction. Well, enough about me. But without a lot of Apples or Janet the last few days, someone's got to fill in the space.LOL Cheri

Went to choir tonight, bad voice and all. Need to learn the songs and get out of the house. Been holing up at night. Right now Nyquil is my friend. I'm going to start a 12-step group called Nyquit to get off of it. I had stopped taking 2 multi-vitamins a day and I think that's why I'm getting sick. I'm going to double up again. My Dr. agreed that my immune system is probably down from losing all the weight. And, of course, my job exposes me to every passing virus. Laura, hope Nels gets rid of the cast. Julie, traction didn't really help me, nor did any therapy, I still needed surgery. But they didn't fuse me they removed a lot of bone to relieve pressure, remove spurs, allow my vertabrae to spread out a little and the herniated discs to retract. So I still have a lot of mobility but my discs can ooze out again and I can have compression on nerves. So the inversion table relieves both. It might have helped prevent surgery if I'd known about it 10 years ago. But maybe not. My bones were so tight together they couldn't insert a needle into the spine to give me an epidural. So it gave me no relief. That's when I went to a neurosurgeon. Very glad I went there. Ortho's almost always want to fuse. The neuro created room for the spinal column, discs, and nerves without fusing, leaving me with a lot more mobility in my neck. Fusing can start a chain reaction in nearby vertabrae and discs where they all end up needing fusing too. So the inversion table has helped me recover from damage I did with a bad fall that jammed my neck (and destroyed a knuckle.) Also allows me to continue to swing and use my arms without pain radiating down and across my back and shoulders. But if you use one, be very careful. Slowly increase the rate of incline. Wear good walking shoes that cover you to your ankle or higher. Pressure does get put on the top of your foot. I used a towel at first for extra cushioning. Only hang for a minute at first and work your way to longer. My daughter swears by hers. She's actually running every day and in mini marathons when the Drs. were insisting on her having a discectomy and possible fusing. It even helps my hip. Have a great night everyone. Cheri

Apples is in Illinois! So near and yet so far. We are in the deep freeze. She brought the cold weather with her. Grandson story. Lately, whener I, or anyone else, would complement my grandson by saying something like, "You're such a nice boy" or sweet boy or whatever, he would reply, "No, I'm selfish." My daughter finally asked him what he thought selfish meant he said, "You know, Mom, sell fish!" When she still didn't get it he said, "Like-buy fish?" Ah the literal mind of an autistic child! Welcome to any newbies. Veterinarian-horses. Cool! I've learned so much about farming in Minnesota. And about surviving small towns and ferociously freezing temperatures. So now I'll get the view from the horse's....oops, better not go there! LOL! Should be fun! Cheri

Stay safe everyone. Have a great time Apples. I'm so glad you're finally off the farm. I've decided that you are the bionic woman. You were secretly implanted with a top-secret energy/metabolism disc. It seems to be working, so, hopefully it will be on the market soon. Cheri

Third cold in two months. I did cut back on my Vitamins to one a day but I think I need twice a day again. I'm sick of Nyquil. It's just about the only thing that stops the cough that comes from drainage as well as drying me up. Still, hard to stop coughing when I start teaching. Making me crabby. Been cracking down on the kids really hard. Not that they don't need it. LOL. Testing is already first week of March. I wish my kids were farther along academically, but there's a reason they're seeing me in the first place. Food's been off. This cold is really kicking my butt psychologically. Craving carbs. Craving sunshine. Craving uninterrupted sleep. (coughing waking me up). Exercising feels like a drag--combination of Nyquil and cold. Not that sick, its just the constant coughing and drainage causing the coughing and having to control it with meds. Misery me, lac-a-day-dee. (phrase from song learned sometime in the distant past--have no recollection of the rest of it) I hate election years. Promises, accusations, falsehoods, twisted facts, vicious attacks. Doesn't matter which party, each wants to win at any cost. Usually the people lose. Why does it take an unbelievable tragedy to make people take the wreck that is Haiti seriously? Why does it take the possible closing of Roseland Christian School before people acknowledge what an impact it makes? We are a ray of hope, a bringer of educational justice in a benighted area of the USA. This community has one of the top three murder rates in the city of Chicago. Rant for the night. Cheri

Linda, I'm sorry you're struggling. You've done this your way and been very successful. I'm going to just say that when I'm stuck I eliminate almost all carbs, including fruit and popcorn, and up my protein and I start losing again. Laura, Hope your Murphy's law streak is done. Thinking about your dad, too. Julie, I think your therapists are on the right track. When I hang upside down it stretches out the neck muscles as well as relieving pressure on the discs. Also, the younger Mimi is the better when it comes to treating her various issues. I'm glad they're taking everything seriously. I hope DD stays the he!! away from baby's daddy. It's not worth the risk. She should be able to get govt. aid of some kind with her financial situation and her daughter's group of problems. Both may qualify for disability and medical coverage. Let Big Daddy be the daddy. I hope I'm not confusing her with someone else's daughter--she's the one whose ex beat her? She has physical problems? We've got some similar stories running through this thread, so please don't be offended if I'm mixing things up. I'm also with you on the shopping. Physically I can handle it now but psychologically I can only handle a limited amount. I get bored watching other people shop. I refuse to spend much money myself because I don't want to go into debt. If I were able to go I'd rather do Epcot Center cause I've never been to it. When I was heavier and before my knee replacements I had the best time going through the Art Institute in a wheelchair. I'd be looking for art shops and street fairs and cool museums. Looking for benches to sit or outdoor cafes to have a cup of water.I can't stand laying out in the sun, but I would be in the water (if its warm enough) with a hat on and sunglasses if treading water and dogpaddling and sunscreen on all exposed surfaces. If doing laps I'd have on goggles and I'd swim forever. Intensely jealous of those of you going. Interesting stuff on the Beck solution. I'm a a little concerned about this woman only ever needing to lose 15 lbs. herself. She knows her cognitive theory since her father invented it, but does she have the inside understanding of the disease? As always, I'll take the 12-step advice to take what I like and works for me and leave the rest. But I'm a bit of a cynic. And everything sounds a bit rigid and that has never worked for me. I do have my own forms of self-talk and affirmations. Somedays they win and sometimes the disease wins, but overall, with God's help, I do believe I am over-riding old messages and rewiring my brain. Change your thoughts, change your brain, change your life. I work on thinking about whatever is good, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. Phillipians 4:8. Humor is one of the things that's good. So are children. That's why I post about grandchildren and students. They frequently combine the lovely, the pure, the not-so-pure but humorous. That's why I hang out with my grandchildren. That's why I love art. That's why I garden. That's why I prefer to walk outdoors along the edges of the forest preserve and down those blocks with cool-looking architecture and nice old-fashioned landscaping. That's why I go to church and stay involved in the music ministry. It absolutely fills my being with gratitude and joy. For me, gratitude and joy are huge keys to controlling my disease. I also practice being content whatever my circumstances, so that those circumstances don't drive me back into the food or other self-defeating behaviors. I know that I can get through positive and negative circmstances through Christ who strengthens me. That doesn't mean I don't try to improve those circumstances, but it does mean that I don't obsess over them. The other thing I'm working on is balance in my life. Balance between work and play, home life and church life, enjoying food without pigging out on it, staying at a healthy weight and fitness level without getting sucked into rigidity or back into the food. I try to see life clearly, without blinders, and accept it for what it is. I look at what I can change and work to change it. I look at how I can contribute within my sphere of influence, to improving the lives of others. I am becoming the person God created me to be, not always successfully, but I look at my progress and try for attainable goals and I keep taking baby steps to reach them. So, that's my epistle of Cheri to the lapbandsters of I'm Here to Help. The Lord bless and keep you all. Cheri

Most seeds and nuts are good for you. Their calories can add up fast but added to lean meats and veggies and a little fruit they help balance out the diet. Good fats like olive oil and sunflower oil are good for your brain as well as your heart. They can help control appetite. They usually have very complex carbs which break down slowly in the system so do not raise glycemic levels and frequently have some protein in them as well. They work great as a between meals snack or as a small meal. Cheri

Just wanted to encourage everyone about to get a band. I've had mine since June 18 and have lost 67 lbs and am 3 lbs from goal. Going in for one more fill in the band on Feb. 2. I'm now a very happy 5'9" 170 lb woman who fits in size 12's and larges which I never thought I'd see again. I'm off almost all meds and supplements and walk 30 min to an hour each day. I've incorporated climbing stairs at school into my before school walk so I've got some good aerobic and muscle strengthening weight bearing stuff going on. I'm going to be checking this thread more often. Hope you all post frequently. I also have a blog started last June where I journal about dealing with all the head and heart issues that accompany food addiction. You can find it at: IF YOUR STOMACH OFFENDS YOU, TIE IT OFF If you're just starting out you may want to begin at the beginning. I talk a lot about my fears of judgement by other Christians and so on. Not many posters on this thread and I'd love to hear from more of you.

I do lean meats, and other than frying them in olive oil Pam, I don't eat any other fats. A little Promise margarine and lemon juice with a touch of seasoned salt and garlic on my veggies, which I don't eat large quantities of. Most fat comes with your carbs which is why they stick to you. Fortunately, I can easily live without bread, potatos, pasta, or rice. None of them tastes good without something fatty on them, anyway. Some of those make me pb and some of them slide way too easily so its way to easy to eat a lot of them. Especially if I eat those lean proteins first the protein stops the carb cravings. Cookies, cakes, candy, pastry. I just want to pig out on so I know I can't have those except for an occasional treat because they really trigger cravings. As long as I stick with mostly lean proteins I don't have to weigh, measure, or count anything. I don't have to write meal plans. Food is simple, easy to fix, doesn't require shopping for a lot of ingredients or having to follow recipes, which I hate. Just lean meats and some veggies. I supplement them with Atkins protein drinks which I love. For lunch I frequently have one of those peel top cans of tuna or chicken, 3 oz. Don't have much time for lunch so that works well. I also will have a teaspoonful of dried lightly salted sunflower seeds throughout the day. Protein shake for breakfast. Decaf coffee with lots of 1% milk and splenda throughout day and evening. Continuous supply of milk and seeds gives me good fats and protein, and such complex carbs that they don't raise the glycemic index, so don't store any bad fats.

Whenever I stop losing i know its because of the carbs again. As soon as I go back to mostly protein and some veggies, I start losing, even if I need a fill. Cheri

Keeping up with your fills is very important. But so is sticking with high protein low carbs. The protein makes you feel full much longer than carbs, even whole grain carbs. The protein just plain stays in your pouch longer, especially if you're not washing it down with liquids. I try for half an hour before and half an hour after without drinking and even then its sip, sip, sip. I use a very skinny stiff straw that doesn't allow me to gulp at all. If you're not losing, go back to the high protein and get off the carbs to jump start your weight loss and to curb your cravings. At least that's what I do. If I find myself plateued I know I need to eliminate the carbs for a while, except for small amounts of veggies. Hang in there everyone.

Hi all. Caught up on reading this thread. Got a funky throat--not quite sore--maybe choir practice and a lot of teaching. Not sleeping real well the past few days. Hope to catch up this weekend. Laura, sorry about Nels fingers. When grandson David was three he broke his arm in a wierd way that required putting him under to set and a fall could make it unset. She was supposed to keep him from running and riding his bike which he'd just learned to do. She just looked at the Dr. and said, "Are you nuts? He's autistic, it's summer, he's three, and you want me to keep him still?" He could no longer swim, jump on the trampoline or ride his bike. Well, he made it through and so did his arm, but he was far from still. That boy started running at 10 months and never stopped. Linda, loved the biatchy mormon crack. Apples, I hope you beefed up the springs and tires on your truck. Pots and pans???? LOL! Wore my new Apt.9 skinny jeans today to work. Love the way they fit. It's called the Maxwell fit. It was Freestyle Friday today so kids and I were all checking out each others skinny jeans. We've also been chanting, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin' like a fool wit' your pants on the ground." Saw it on Idol last week and lmao. Kids have all seen it too since it went viral on U-tube. Had a 5th grade girl ask me yesterday if I knew my shoes, socks and pants all matched (they were khaki/beige). Gonna chill and see if there's any good music on hopeforhaitinow.org. Then I think I'm hittin' the hay early. CBL Cheri