LeighaMason

:thumbup::lol: I called my husband in to read him this post. I haven't done that since Patty's American Indian post. :lol:

Thank you, Congratulations on getting the band. I love to see people your age taking care of their obesity. I wish it had been around when I was 26, but like they say 40 is the new 30! :thumbup: (OK not where mini-skirts and bikini's are concerned but you know....)

I lost what I thought was a 10 year friend. My "friend" is very threatened by my weight loss, because she was always the skinny one. I am successful in my career, I have a nice home, I married a wonderful husband, and I have a great son and step children. She has not had success in most of these areas but apparently she was able to balance it with the fact that she was thin and I wasn't. Now that I have achieved success in the one area of my life that I have struggled with, she will not even address the fact that I have lost weight. Last time I saw her, someone complemented me on my weight loss and she mumbled something about "everyone is having lap band now" and walked off. My lap band, the great separator of real and fake friends. (Can that be called a side effect?):thumbup:

Every. Single. Frickin. Day. I weigh myself several times (my scale is a liar!) and forget averages, I go with the lowest number. (I close the door first because I would be embarrassed if my husband saw me getting on and off the scale. That must be a sure sign of addiction.):thumbup:

You know, I have always been offended when someone said I had "head hunger" because no, I was physically hungry. I could eat a plate of food and still be hungry. I would be physically hungry an hour after I ate. I think I had an abnormally large stomach pouch. Now that I am banded I eat my little bit of food and I am no longer hungry. I believe my problem was more physical than psychological. But maybe I am just fooling myself....:thumbup:

Laura--Some of my good friends are Republicans and I respect their opinions, if they are well thought out. But when someone just reposts outright lies and slander that they have accepted at face value because it came from Fox news or the like, I take offense. And on a side note, my stepson is a high school coach and my other stepson's wife is a junior high principal, and I agree that you deserve lots more money. You couldn't pay me enough to do your job. You spent the time to get a degree and you deserve to be compensated for it, unlike some people who just get some continuing education class and feel they should make as much as you do.

Patty, I am going to tell you a story, I know you are not going to learn anything from it but maybe someone else will. Its about my grandfather, he was a democrat. He was also born in 1920 and he lived through the great depression. When he married my grandmother in 1937, he had 1 pair of shoes, 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants. My grandmother had 2 dresses and 1 pair of shoes. They started working on a local cotton farm and saved until they could buy their own property. Then they started growing cotton. This was before tractors were widely available and my grandfather plowed and planted behind a mule, in west Texas where it is regularly over 100 degrees. During WWII he farmed his and his brother in laws land, 7 days a week, while the brother in law fought in Europe. Once the reaping crews came through in the fall, he didn't rest, he signed on with them and traveled north until all the crops were out of the fields and then he went back home. My Grandmother raised and sold chickens and eggs to make ends meet as well as taking in laundry from neighbors who lived in town. ( I know this because I have their tax returns from the 40's and 50's) My Grandfather retired in 1982. When he died at 87 years old in 2007, he still had over $300K in savings. He made every dime working his hands to the bone. He is the one who taught me that the democrats are out for the common people, republicans are for the rich. He actually voted for Reagan, and was bitter about it for the rest of his life. He retired earlier than planned because "Reaganomics" ruined the farming industry, as demonstrated by Farm Aid in 1985. Republicanism always ruins the small businessman in favor of big business. The moral of my story is this, to call democrats lazy and expecting a handout is wrong on so many levels. There are many democrats who's work ethic make your job look like a cake walk.

Its a display of arrogance. "Your religious experience couldn't possibly be as wonderful as mine, so you should worship like me because I know what God is saying in the bible and you don't."

When I went to get my LAP-BAND® I didn't plan on telling anyone but my close family (parents, spouse, siblings), but my mom told my sister before I did and she felt the need to tell almost everyone we know at a public function. So now everyone I know questions me on how its going. Its almost like being pregnant and everyone trying to touch your stomach. So I was wondering, what do yall think? Tell or not?

I also want to add that once you are a more average size person, you will feel more comfortable in public. I have anxiety issues also, they run in my family but I promise they will become less severe when you blend in better. You will have to give up food being your comfort, and you will need to start seeing a councilor to help you deal with your food issues but it will be worth it. Do something now, whether its the band or something else. Do not wait until your middle aged and have wasted your youth.

And they don't believe the American Indians deserve to have their land taken away because they didn't have a paper title to it. And they don't believe the sun is shrinking.

I wouldn't work for half pay, I am a quality worker who deserves to be paid properly. I would get a job somewhere else.

Patty, I am bumping up my challenge, name 1 thing that you disagree with from the republican agenda.

I have asked you in the past to name one thing that the Republicans preach that you disagree with. I am challenging you again, name 1 thing that you disagree with in the republican agenda. You can call yourself whatever......your true colors shine right through. Dem's have no morals? Now that might be the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say. And I have heard many.

You wouldn't know freedom if it bit you in the butt. Your so busy trying to make others worship like you, spend money like you, save like you, you never stop to think that others have the "freedom" to live as they please. Your way is not for everyone. That is why we have freedom in this country. And I choose to be free of tyrannical zealots running my country.

Of course you do, that is the biggest difference between a republican and a democrat. Republicans agree with everything they are told. Democrats listen to what they are told, think about it and then agree or disagree.

I just read this to my husband and asked if I looked older, he said yes but he also said even with the saggy skin my body looks better than it did.

I was self pay, so far I am averaging $188.88 per pound ($10,200). Worth every cent!

My question is why do we need to eat a large quantity of food to enjoy it? Now I eat a 3oz steak instead of a 16oz one, it takes me about the same time and I enjoy it as much or more than I did pre-band. So if I went somewhere I could still enjoy the experience of eating new and exciting foods just a smaller portion.

Lee Anne-- I'm glad your doing well, I will be thinking about you. Amy-- Come on second fill! I am through whining about my rent houses, sometimes it is just overwhelming. I ran for 20 min. straight this morning and finished Week 5 on C25K! Here is a pic of me when I finished. I hope everyone has a great day! And weekend!

No Patty, Bjean meant your original email post, the one that was full of lies and deceptions. The one you didnt bother to fact check.

Oh thats cool! Be sure and submit everything after the surgery as well. I had a surgery on my foot once that my insurance denied up front so I paid for it and then I submitted it and they reimbursed me for the whole thing. Even if they pay for some that would be good.

"I am also aware I am not ready to give up my favorite foods, and I am struggling with that." Maybe you just need to look at the band in a different way, Let me ask you this, would you be willing to cut down on your favorite foods? I have, I love steak, but I only have 3 oz now instead of 16. I have to eat it slower so it still takes me the same time so I still enjoy it just in a smaller amount. Another example is ice cream, now we only go get it 1 or 2 Sundays a month instead of having it in the freezer so I haven't given it up, I have just limited it. Would you be willing to do something like that? (Feel free to tell the truth here, because there are things I am not willing to give up. I have a glass or two of wine almost every night and I am not going to give it up. I could have probably lost my last bit of weight if I would but I wont so....)

Since the fills are the most important part of the band working, and you are postponing getting fills, do you think maybe your not ready to lose the weight? Or maybe you are afraid of change? Maybe your afraid to give up your favorite foods? When you postpone a fill what do you tell yourself? I hope you don't mind the questions.

All my tests were included in the price of my surgery. $10,200 out the door with 6 months of fills included.