Betsyjane

Hey, thanks for the info on the meeting! That was helpful. Guess I don't have to worry about first bite yet. Not much restriction yet.....

LOL TommyO. I certainly did the best ones, back in the day...lo those many decades ago. In my heart, I believe there are major truths in both the conservative and liberal positions, on each topic. Gotta have a yin and a yang. I think which way we lean has less to do with who has more truths than it does with our individual circumstances and experiences. I lean to the left. And I'll engage in open discussion about anything until somebody argues in a personal attack format, and especially personal attacks coupled with outrageous overgeneralizations that imply prejudice. Nothing to do with age for me..... Nothing to do with which side of the fence a person is on. Just has to do with the sort of courtesy I'd like to see humans have with each other. The only way in which I see age coming into play is that with idealism comes fanaticism, and without that idealism of youth, there are lots of things that wouldn't have improved in this country. I WAS a know-it-all in college. Now I'm a pessimist by intellect and an optimist by spirit. (Can't remember who said that, but I take it to mean that despite evidence to the contrary, I will keep trying to make it better and hoping it will happen.)

Don't give up dearie. What's the first bite syndrome? I suspect the answer will help me!

Fat because my Mother lives to feed people (and she lives with us!), fat because Prednisone for Lupus causes disgusting weight gain, fat because I eat when bored and homelife is dull, fat because of bad habits carefully honed over the decades, fat because post menopausal, fat because over-eating disorder, fat because force fed as a child just like a goose being force fed to a fatty liver and great foie gras...OK maybe not that extreme, fat because food is easy and fast, fat because it takes no creativity to go out to a restaurant for something to do with hubby, fat because never was an exerciser, fat because I choose TV and internet over action. Ah, I could go on. Going to be thin because: I'm going to the gym and doing treadmill at target heart rate, I turned off the TV (sometimes), Mom is not in charge of food anymore except for herself, I'm forcing myself to go out and do things, and I'm banded!

Welcome Mailady2. Go to the home page here and look down near the bottom for lap band support across the USA. You may find fellow bandsters near you.

I'm in my late 50s... Marys, are you exercising? I'm horrible about it, but I find that I plateau when I hide from the gym, and then I get jump started again when I go back. I know it's not that simple, but that's ONE of the things I've found. I also found that I just can't eat carbs or I stall out :-(. or mushy foods. It has to be rough tough protein mostly and then a few veges. Even had to say goodbye to my dear yummy Muscle Milk Light. But there's another thing... If I am on some of the medicines I have to tak periodically, I will gain weight no matter what....... and then have to take the same weight off again later. Best wishes for you with your testing.

I know the feeling. Has your pain changed when you eat well? I've been really interested in how different foods affect me. Seems like when I'm in a flare-up, nothing but meds will do. When I'm not, I can go without meds, but exercise and diet fluctuations make a big difference for me. Carbs just kill me emotionally and physically, and so does lack of exercise, although I will probably always hate it. Before the surgery, my lap Dr. hooked me up with another Lupus/prednisone patient who is banded. She basically said that overall, the lap band is fabulous, but there will be periods of illness and prednisone, and you just do your best. She also had diabetes, as do I, and she talked about retriggering it during prednisone binges and then it settling back down later. She really didn't have any quick fixes, just to know it's a temporary glitch. For me with Lupus, taking placquenil seems to hold me so I have fewer times of taking prednisone, and placquenil doesn't seem to affect my appetite or weaken my bones. No idea if it works with RA.....

I hear great things about both. I chose Spivak and I would again.

Stay warm, dearies. See you tonight!

Happy Monday, dear bandsters. Try to stay warm!

The Donald needed better ratings on The Apprentice. It's not doing as well as before. Barbara needed to turn The View into more of a tabloid show to get ratings, so she got Rosie. Everybody benefits from a high profile feud. It worked for Paris and Nicole.....

I want that new band......

I told my doctor that I got the band a few days AFTER I got it. His response was to tell me that he loses weight by eating small meals. Thanks, Doc.

Tha'ts nuts.

Sandie-Maybe you need a little of your fill out? I frankly think you need more calories to lose weight...If you lose now, you might be losing muscle mass anyway.... Call your Dr. for an opinion.....

Tom: I hate prednisone! I gain more weight on that drug! I have Lupus. I guess for me I've resigned my self to some weight gain when I'm on it, and then back to losing. I'm trying to think of is as a little blip in the game plan and then right back at it. And it sounds to me like you know all the right moves in the meantime....getting to work for distraction purposes, getting back to the gym even if, like me, it's harder to do it when you feel yucky. I too know about that stack of dishes....and you know it's a temporary thing. Maybe if you're off work again today, you can think of somewhere to go for part of the day to break the grazing...movie? library? My thoughts are with you. It's just temporary.....

I have always found the Heritage Foundation articles to be interesting. Very right wing point of view, well articulated. I just read their article on Martin Luther King promoting the ideals of conservatives. I'll bet he's rolling in his grave. I think it would make an interesting research study for Poly Sci class to study a town where all but one impoverished student turned to drug dealing. What are the odds? I don't think you're a know-it-all, but when you again start by saying at least you had an article to back you up, you give that impression. I think people will react to the put down more than to your point of view. As to leaving the LB website because you find yourself arguing all the time, please rethink that, Jodie. You might be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. You might want to think about sticking with the areas of the website that have to do with support for your courage in making a life changing decision to be banded. You can always stay out of the rants and raves section and still get your support. It's a major life improvement that you're making and you deserve both support and cheers.

It's a funny thing.... I've only lost 20 pounds, but I think I may find I was a Bored Housewife. In anticipation of better energy, etc., I want to go and do, and I don't like to be at home! It is probably also that now that I'm not spending my days eating, I just need to get a life! Not enough to do...big open times to be filled! I used to think of all the things I want to do in life. Now I have all that time that I used to be out of energy and only able to waltch TV or eat more! I imagine hubby will begin to get nercous about the change soon. He comes home from working long hours and wants to veg out and recouperate. He may be doing that by himself sometimes now. Funny how things evolve.....

Now that's a milestone....... Way to go.

You're also welcome to attend the first meeting that's a bit more northeast...in Humble...tomorrow.

Also worried about Nigeria, while we're at it. They may have more power over us than anyone, oddly enough. But again...where did it begin? when we make massive dollars in the delta while the indigenous population has no clean water and dies of cholera and every other disease we know how to prevent, eventually, somebody's gonna get, er, really mad! They are our 5th largest supplier of oil. If they are able to stop production, the price of everything here will skyrocket to almost unmanageable. then all it takes is one more source to disappear, and we will go into major recession or worse. That's a direct attack hitting us where it hurts. Changes of policy, diplomacy, a bit less greed and a bit more investment in the locals would have helped that situation...instead of waiting, calling them unreasonable,a nd going after their country to secure our interests.

I'll bet you're even getting a waist!

I went to a doctor once who did nothing but blast every other kind of doctor's opinion and actions. I never went back. Might be worth thinking about as you start a career helping people.

Yeah. Thanks from me too. Actually, the fill is even less traumatic than the film because you aren't watching. It's just poof and done.

It'll be interesting to see if your Dr. will still treat you. What's the deal with the needle? Does the other kind leave too big a hole?