LeighaMason

I can, but keep in mind 4oz of fish or chicken has a lot less calories than 4oz of beef or pork, so try and go with fish and chicken as much as possible to keep your weight loss moving. When I have steak it always makes me cringe when I have to log it because of the calories.

I was going to ignore this statement because I know logic will not change your mind, but I am afraid someone who is undecided on health care will read this overly simplistic statement and draw the wrong conclusion. As an example of how you can provide the same service to more people look at the following scenario. If you and your husband were eating out at a restaurant every meal, you could stop doing this and go to the grocery store and cook your meals from scratch, by making this change you could feed a whole family on the same amount of money that it takes for 2 people to eat out. By eliminating the restaurants (insurance company) need to make a profit you can feed (provide health care) to more people and save money.

They are catfish, but I am not sure which subspecies.

I understand your loss and I am sorry it happened. I don't think it is possible to mourn a loss like that and have the brain power left over to make the commitment that the band requires. I believe you made the best choice, mourn first and then worry about working your band when you are able. It will be best in the long run. Now that you are feeling like you have the extra to commit it is time to start with your surgeon. I read this a lot, you don't want them to be disappointed in you, however we should remember they work for us. We are the customer, we are paying their salaries, that makes us the boss. If I chose to take a year off from my band journey that is my business, its my band. I paid for it either through self pay or through insurance premiums. I would recommend a total restart, schedule a fill, commit to a 2 week liquid diet to clean your system of bad foods, stock your fridge with proper food choices, start a food journal, start a exercise program (even if that means a 10 min walk when you get home from work) and build from there. You can do it, we are here to help you. ETA Plus I would like to point out that you are still down 25-35 pounds after what was probably the worst year of your life. I would bet that if you didn't have the band, you would have been up at least that amount. So you are probably 50-70 pounds ahead.

Good for you! I love to see someone report "I lost this amount and I am proud of it" I think this band is an individual journey and you can live it anyway you want to. I really respect the fact that you don't try and fool yourself into thinking you should have lost more. (I catch myself doing that sometimes) Way to go.

I think we all need to talk to ourselves in a way that is supportive. If you don't want to get your hopes up about being skinny then don't. This is how I managed my anxiety when I first started. I told myself, "I will just weigh less and feel better". Now I am 2 pounds away from having a normal BMI and being the lightest I have been in 16 years. Am I skinny? Maybe not to other people but I am to me. If I stopped losing weight today I would be happy (OK I really mean 2 pounds from now:tt2:) Positive attitude is everything in this and I like yours.

Here is why its really nice to have a hunter /fisher /gatherer husband. This is about 70 pounds of fresh fish for our freezer.

Elfie, Did the Dr say anything about the pain in your arm?

I eat all kinds of beef and pork to cook on the grill, pork chops, I usually have tenderloin if I have a steak, I buy 90/10 hamburger, when I do beef tips I just buy regular stew meat. My husband makes a good green chili that we buy cut up pork for but I buy it at a Mexican grocery store and the name is in Spanish so I don't know what the cut of meat is.

A study published in the latest New England Journal of Medicine shows that abortion rates declined during the first two years that Massachusetts implemented a near-universal health coverage program much like the nationwide plan currently before Congress. The most important reason the cardinal cited was the universal health care system. "If that frightened, unemployed 19-year-old knows that she and her child will have access to medical care whenever it's needed," Hume explained, "she's more likely to carry the baby to term. Isn't it obvious?" (Copy and paste selected paragraphs full article available at link below) Massachusetts Study: Health Care Reform Reduced Abortions -- Politics Daily Patty, The average abortion rate for our country is about 800,000 per year since 1969 (CDC) so the above study showed a 1.5% decrease in abortions, which would be about 12,000 babies that would not be aborted. Can you afford to help others if it helps save 12,000 unborn babies a year?

"They may not get a meal on some days." "Your not dead" I cant even respond to these comments other than to attack you personally, so I am going to let them stand on their own. Any self respecting human being will see them for what they are.

Welcome Larae, glad your here, congrats on the jeans! HB--I console myself on the boob shrinkage by saying "Well at least my stomach is shrinking under them!" of course, this really doesn't help but I say it anyway. By the way, if anyone finds my missing boobs my husband would like them back, maybe I should set up a reward for them? :cursing: Liz--In case I forget, have a safe trip this weekend. Besty--Is your new book a text book? Christy--I am with you on the grandparents thing, my grandparents were the only stable thing in my life and they get all the credit for me not being a complete nut case. NSV-- This morning when I tried to get dressed, nothing I had clean fit. So when I got off work I went to Academy (they have really good prices on clothes) so I found a pair of Capri pants that I thought would be my new size and tried them on they were too loose! I had to go back and get a smaller size. I cant remember the last time I was in a dressing room and had to go back and get a smaller size anything!

Yes, people die of starvation in America every single day. When I was a child, here in America, most days my ONLY meal was my lunch at school. (Subsidized by others tax dollars) I have lived in extreme poverty, you haven't. You are not qualified to talk about people starving to death.

"To argue that people have a right that imposes obligations on another is an absurd concept." I have a "right" to have a fire truck come to my house if its on fire, I have a "right" to have police protection, I have a "right" for my children to have an education, I have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This includes not watching my neighbors die in the street from hunger, from lack of health care, or from exposure to the elements. Taxes pay for all of these things. Some basic human rights have a monetary cost and to pretend this is the only one is irresponsible.

I assume you mean the article written by Walter Williams (economics Professor at George Mason University), in his own words, He is also occasional substitute host for the "Rush Limbaugh" show.

So I am eating and there are 2 or 3 bites left on the plate, my band is giving me the "almost pain" pressure in my sternum that says I am full, so then in my mind I am saying to myself "If I wait a few minutes I can probably eat those last bites." Why? I am full. Hello! Why do I still need to eat those last bites. Why cant I just throw them away? Its not like they are going to help me in any way. Nobody else wants them. So why does it take a conscious decision to put them in the trash?

This is also another point of contradiction in the Republican agenda that I can't understand. If sex education is taught and contraceptives are made available to young people there would be less unintended pregnancies which would result in less abortions.

The most recent American teen birth rate of approximately 51.1 births per 1,000 adolescent females is consistent with historical trends and matches the 1920 figure. Nonetheless, since the 1970s, American politicians, policy makers, and social critics have condemned the perceived "epidemic of teenage pregnancy." This label reveals that critics have little knowledge about the incidence of teen pregnancy and parenthood in America's past. The 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s included the twentieth century's highest teen birth rates (respectively 79.5, 91.0, and 69.7 per thousand). By 1960, nearly one-third of American females had their first child before reaching age twenty. Vinovskis, Maris A. 1988. An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? Some Historical and Policy Considerations. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hey Millie, I am in Texas too! I would be happy to help you, I was banded on 10/20/09. And by the way, I gained weight between getting my band and my first fill. So I understand the only reason I got the band is because I was always hungry. I could eat a full plate of food and then be hungry an hour later. The band really helps with this you just have to make it until you can start getting fills. Try and only eat a cup of food at a time even if you have to eat 5 times a day, this way you wont have to worry about stretching your pouch. You can PM me anytime, I am usually at my desk most of the day.:scared2:

I recommend use the 65% of heart rate rule for exercise, if you are exercising at 65% of your heart rate this is considered the fat burn type of exercising. Not cardio (cardio is 80%) so walk on the treadmill for an hour at a time (it takes 30 min for it to kick in then you get results the last 30 min. Plus make sure you are getting at least 1000 calories net. So if you are burning 180 calories walking on the treadmill for an hour you need to eat 1180 calories for the day. And my all time favorite advice, log everything you eat and all your exercise on a tracking spot, like daily plate on the internet or lose it on iphone.

I am under the impression that sleep study is only for helping to prove co-morbidity to help get insurance to pay for the band. I have never heard of needing a sleep study for a self pay patient.

Dr. Kim Colleyville, TX $10,200 with 6 months fills done under floro at hospital.

I noticed that I didn't eat a good dinner last night and now I am hungry today. This is the first time that I have made this connection but I am going to keep an eye out for it in the future and see if it seems to be a trend. Do you remember if you had a good dinner (3rd meal in Texas) on the days before you overeat?

My Friend told me last night, "You have lost a sack of flour!" I told him his age was showing. :wub:

I had foot surgery a few years ago, the pre-approval was denied so I agreed to self pay. Insurance cost was $1600 but they would do a "cash price" of $800. I paid, after the surgery I submitted the receipt to insurance and I was reimbursed. Apparently the insurance company also sent a letter to the doctors office about the reimbursement. They called and DEMANDED that I send the money to them, that if insurance paid it was $1600. Fortunately I had a letter stating that the total cost was $800 and after a few threatening phone calls they realized they couldn't bully me and they gave up. :wub: