Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum

[GreenChrysalis 1]

Deb ~ I am sending healing thoughts to your sweet Tucker. :thumbup:

Dee ~ Congrats on those NSVs, girlie! You are so inspirational to me. :biggrin:

Lap ~ I am definitely thinking of those states in the path of Gustav; we already have some evacuees here in Georgia. And now we have to worry about Hanna...:thumbdown:

Michelle ~ I know all have missed you around here, I hope you hang in there and find your happy medium. :frown:

Happy long weekend to those of us fortunate enough to be off tomorrow. I never associated fireworks with Labor Day but apparently some of my neighbors do...good thing I plan to be up for awhile. :wink2:

[deboregon 0]

there are so many responses I want to give to each of you, but emotionally am drained.:thumbdown:

tucker had LAR-PAR surgery this afternoon. He came out all right, but postop problems of bleeding and infection are still possibilities. Unfortunately, he is not out of the woods. They found he has a hiatal hernia (between esophagus and stomach...probably all u nurses already know that:closedeyes:) and he would be at high risk of regurging into his lungs and getting aspiration pneumonia. so he will have abdominal surgery on tuesday to correct that. so please, once again, cross all those appendages for the boy...god bless him, he is the sweetest guy and is being very stoic through all this...not so much for the mother. I am a mess.

hello to you all...congrats on losses, tatts, nsv's, etc. glad to see some lately absentees back....i will update in a couple of days.

[minidriver 0]

there are so many responses I want to give to each of you, but emotionally am drained.:thumbdown:

tucker had LAR-PAR surgery this afternoon. He came out all right, but postop problems of bleeding and infection are still possibilities. Unfortunately, he is not out of the woods. They found he has a hiatal hernia (between esophagus and stomach...probably all u nurses already know that:closedeyes:) and he would be at high risk of regurging into his lungs and getting aspiration pneumonia. so he will have abdominal surgery on tuesday to correct that. so please, once again, cross all those appendages for the boy...god bless him, he is the sweetest guy and is being very stoic through all this...not so much for the mother. I am a mess.

hello to you all...congrats on losses, tatts, nsv's, etc. glad to see some lately absentees back....i will update in a couple of days.

Deb, I'm so glad that the initial hurdle is over. Tell him I had hiatal hernia repair during my lap-band surgery and it was just fine!:wink2::smile:

Give him big sloppy doggie kisses from Keeley and Gracie May and tell him that he has people (furry and non) all over country sending him lots of good vibes.

[minidriver 0]

Okay, so this may be unwanted advice and, if so, take it for what it's worth: Mal and Dynamo (Dynamo, we've never "met" but since we both have mini in our names, I feel an instant kinship . . .) do you think it would be helpful for you to go on some sort of eating "plan" for a few weeks to get things jump-started again. South Beach? Atkins? WW? Or something? I know when I've had a "bad-eating" relapse in the past, the only way I could pull out of it was to do something very structured and specific. I can't be trusted to make good decisions on my own. I can rationalize with the best of them when it comes to having a milkshake or something, and I know, in my case, that I just have to bite the bullet and follow the guidelines.

Just my 2 cents . . .

[marcyinak 0]

I am back and realize that I need this support. I am at the same weight loss that I was 6 months ago. Maybe more fit, and definitely happier (in my heart with my new man). But I realize when I read the postings that I wanted that lapband to make me NORMAL, so my approach to food has been from an obsessive perspective and not a nutritional one. I decided not to really focus on food, portions and eat whatever my body wanted, like a NORMAL person would. Which was ice cream, cake, etc. Which isn't like a NORMAL person would. I chose foods that would go down easily without much of a chew. So the result was probably less food, but more calories.

I keep fighting the concept of what I consider "rigid" dieting, yet my alternative is lousy nutrition. Is there anyone else out there with this dilemma? It is really crazy thinking. Or like AA calls it Stinkin' Thinkin'.

Hugs to all,

Michelle

Michelle - I've missed you! I remember meeting you and Mal and Anita right after surgery and you were all so hopeful for me AND for yourselves! I, too, have chosen crappy food lately because it goes down easy (I ate more than a handful of Cookies today - for dinner!). I/we have to get back to the thinking we had last year (as cheesy as it sounds) that the Band is a TOOL! I know that I probably won't GAIN any weight back, but I MUST diet (yeah, that word again) and exercise (yeah, the other word) to lose more. My problem is that I've become complacent...I'm actually quite satisfied with where I am, even though I get jealous of others. Take it easy on yourself and just get back in the game! Love you tons! Hey, I'd love it if you came to visit...we could get a plane and go flying?!?!:thumbdown:

Do you have any ideas as to what would be a good gift to take to my friend in the hospital? I am nervous about bringing the wrong things. a hat, a shirt...I just din't know. My son says to bring a CD of his fav band. I just thought you would have some good ideas. Thanks

quote]

Mal - get him something to do. Something to keep him busy, but not boring. Like even something silly like a paint by number or some other crafty thing from a craft store...heck, you could get him something he could USE, but it needs to be "finished" first. Even teenagers like this stuff so don't think you're just getting "baby stuff" for him. Teach him to knit or crochet...I've got some very "manly" men out here (trappers, hunters, etc.) that are excellent crocheters. Just a thought. Miss you too!

Lap - like I said before...get your arse outta there and come visit me...no natural disasters here!:wink2: If you choose not to, make sure you have a 72 hour kit (stuff you may need for a few days - Water, food, granola bars, sweatshirt, undies) in a backpack by the door so if the sh@$ hits the proverbial fan (well, in this case...the fan throwing the sh@$) then you can just grab the bag on the way out. Take care sister!:biggrin:

[ShelbiCallie 0]

I celebrated my birthday this week. Hubby got me a 24" IMAC computer (I LOVE IT!!!!!), the girls got me perfume, mil got me a family ring and I got myself a tattoo (it's butterfly, when my mom was sick the nurse kept telling her that when she was finished she would be a beautiful butterfly and now she is on my ankle). I will post a picture later.

Glad you're back and I LOVE the new tat, especially the story behind it!

I hiked my first 14er (Mountain higher than 14,000 ft) yesterday. It was supposed to be one of the easier 14ers...but it's the craziest, hardest thing I've ever done. THere is no air up there. I was amazed at how well I was able to climb to the top...the guy and girl I was hiking with were having a very hard time. I didn't have any problems until I got to the top and was sitting on the summit for a few minutes. Started to feel really dizzy....so we headed back down and I was crazy dizzy and shakey all the way down and for several hours afterwards. So I basically think I just got altitude sickness. I am so proud of myself for completing the hike and I am excited to do another one. I thought I would be crazy sore today but I'm just a little sore in the calves...I guess all of the hiking I did this summer paid off and was good conditioning. I'll post some of the pics from the hike soon.

WAY TO GO, RENE!!! You did it and I am so proud of you, too!

But I realize when I read the postings that I wanted that lapband to make me NORMAL, so my approach to food has been from an obsessive perspective and not a nutritional one. I decided not to really focus on food, portions and eat whatever my body wanted, like a NORMAL person would. Which was ice cream, cake, etc. Which isn't like a NORMAL person would. I chose foods that would go down easily without much of a chew. So the result was probably less food, but more calories. I keep fighting the concept of what I consider "rigid" dieting, yet my alternative is lousy nutrition. Is there anyone else out there with this dilemma? It is really crazy thinking. Or like AA calls it Stinkin' Thinkin'.

Hugs to all,

Michelle

Hi Michelle, I am so glad you're back! I am struggling with this food issue too. I want to be NORMAL, but my NORMAL choice this weekend was to eat a half-gallon of Rocky Road ice cream. I can't belive I just typed that, but it's the truth. No chewing, no PBing and in three attempts over 2 days I had reached the bottom of the container. :frown: There is nothing normal about my choice, but it gave me so much comfort at the time. I also drank regular Coke. Why, why, why???

there are so many responses I want to give to each of you, but emotionally am drained.:frown:.

Deb, my thoughts and prayers are still with Tucker. Please rest and eat healthy, mom, and keep us posted.

Okay, so this may be unwanted advice and, if so, take it for what it's worth: Mal and Dynamo (Dynamo, we've never "met" but since we both have mini in our names, I feel an instant kinship . . .) do you think it would be helpful for you to go on some sort of eating "plan" for a few weeks to get things jump-started again. South Beach? Atkins? WW? Or something? I know when I've had a "bad-eating" relapse in the past, the only way I could pull out of it was to do something very structured and specific. I can't be trusted to make good decisions on my own. I can rationalize with the best of them when it comes to having a milkshake or something, and I know, in my case, that I just have to bite the bullet and follow the guidelines.

Just my 2 cents . . .

I'm taking your 2 cents Mini! Your advice is very timely for me. I need the structure and some guidelines in my choices right now. I'm heading down a slippery slope without them. I'm thinking I might do Dr. K's pre-op for awhile.

______________________________________

Well, friends, 2 days ago I was plugging right along. Making some head way in my Fall cleaning when -- BOOM-- intense family gathering and I didn't have time to emotionally prepare. My dad moved with my brother Monday (went well), but there's a buyer for the house now (in this economy/market?) and the collective decision was that THIS WEEKEND was the time to go through what was left of the family pictures, letters, mom's "treasures" that made the first cut after she passed 3 years ago. The drama was in overdrive and I was a complete mess every evening when I got home. (Please see the above reference to the Rocky Road ice cream.) My mom kept EVERYTHING -- celebrations, tragedies, valentines from the 1930's, whatever. Most of the junk stuff was already been gone and most of the stuff that had personal connections to an individual child was already claimed. But there was so much more. My oldest brother committed suicide when I was 15 and my mother (naturally) never recovered from that. She painstakingly held on to everything that she could about him. Too many memories of bad family times and too many drama queens vying for pieces of paper and too many (supposedly) adults trying to re-create a personal connection with mom that was more special than the other one's. Enough, enough, enough. I'm not going back today. I can't take it. I told my dad I'd be back to help with the yard sale in 2 weeks.

So, I'm up a pound and I didn't make my Labor Day challenge. Only 3 pounds total lost, but it's a new day and I'm taking Mini's advice to get on with an eating plan. Feeling better already!!!:smile:

[lifesaver 0]

Shelbi...My heart goes out to you! My brother also committed suicide and I know my mother never recovered. When my mom retired last year, all of us kids went home to help her clean out her house so she could move and it was tragic! Every single one of us had a major melt down at one point. My mom wouldnt let go of anything....she was like your mom in that she kept everything!! Let me know if you need to talk.

Deb...thinking about Tucker. How is he today?

Michelle, I have never met you but I have to say that you are one of the bandsters that was posting regularly when I came on board. You are very inspirational to me and I love it when you come around. I also have problems choosing the wrong foods. The rebel in me says "I wanna eat what I wanna eat" which usually looks like some form of sugary or creamy substance that goes down easily. I justify it by saying that "it's a small amount"....but I know I am not getting the nutrition I need sometimes and even more than that...I know that I am not really creating the relationship with healthy food that I want. We are all in this together girl. I'd love to meet you at RR sometime.

Dee...I have done Body for Life several times and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! If you are looking for structure and something that really works, BFL is it. The workouts are great because although they are 6 days a week....they are short! 20 minutes of intense cardio (interval training) 3 x a week and 50 minutes of weight training 3 days a week. My body changes dramatically when I am doing BFL. Which.....maybe I should start again. They recommend 5-6 small meals a day (might be 4-5 for us) that include a lean Protein and a good carb. Then you throw veggies in for a couple meals each day and you are good to go. If you decide to do it and want a buddy, I'm in. I need to focus a lot more energy on being consistent and getting good nutrition in.

Denvergirl....I love Designer whey mint chocolate Protein powder. So So So yummy!!! You can buy it lots of places (Vitamin World, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, etc). The other thing I like to do is go to some of these supplement stores and see what brands/flavors they have in the individual serving size packets and buy those to try em out. As far as Ready to Drink shakes go....the Safeway Brand low carb high Protein shake is the best i have ever had! They have 20 grams of Protein (Atkins and Slimfast have 15g protein), 170 kcal and I drink one every morning on the way to work. The regular price for a 4pack is $5. On sale they go down to about $4 for a 4pack. I buy a couple 4packs a week and keep them in my fridge for whenever I need some protein or want to splurge on chocolate. Honestly...I think they are very very yummy.

Adorkable....for the weigh in this morning I am down 4 lbs to 171 (Since I gained last week I guess it evens out). For this challenge I am down 7 lbs....which is not 8....but I will take it. Is someone going to do another challenge? What about a Halloween challenge? It will be scary to see how much weight we can lose by then!!! Tee Hee! I don't feel like I'm on the website often enough to be able to track everyone's progress, but I would love to participate if someone wants to track. These weigh in's help to keep me accountable and conscious.

Going to the Rockies game today! Have a fantastic Labor Day everyone!

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Rene,

I'd love for you to join me on the BFL challenge. I have read through all the material and I am pretty confident it is totally doable with the Band. I have a friend who was on it for 3 - 12 week sessions and she is so buff and beautiful. She just had her Tummy Tuck and breastlift done. The girl went from a regular housewife to Miss Fitness!

I'd love to be Miss Fitness, but I'll be happy to be toned!

[Sidann 0]

Hi all - I'm sorry to be posting so infrequently. Trauma at home and at school have kept me preoccupied. But I did lose a pound this week - I'm at 218. That is 5 lbs for the challenge and I wanted 8 but like everyone else, I'll take it.

Lap - I'm praying for all of you suffering with Gustav and after effects.

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

I'm taking your 2 cents Mini! Your advice is very timely for me. I need the structure and some guidelines in my choices right now. I'm heading down a slippery slope without them. I'm thinking I might do Dr. K's pre-op for awhile.

______________________________________

Well, friends, 2 days ago I was plugging right along. Making some head way in my Fall cleaning when -- BOOM-- intense family gathering and I didn't have time to emotionally prepare. My dad moved with my brother Monday (went well), but there's a buyer for the house now (in this economy/market?) and the collective decision was that THIS WEEKEND was the time to go through what was left of the family pictures, letters, mom's "treasures" that made the first cut after she passed 3 years ago. The drama was in overdrive and I was a complete mess every evening when I got home. (Please see the above reference to the Rocky Road ice cream.) My mom kept EVERYTHING -- celebrations, tragedies, valentines from the 1930's, whatever. Most of the junk stuff was already been gone and most of the stuff that had personal connections to an individual child was already claimed. But there was so much more. My oldest brother committed suicide when I was 15 and my mother (naturally) never recovered from that. She painstakingly held on to everything that she could about him. Too many memories of bad family times and too many drama queens vying for pieces of paper and too many (supposedly) adults trying to re-create a personal connection with mom that was more special than the other one's. Enough, enough, enough. I'm not going back today. I can't take it. I told my dad I'd be back to help with the yard sale in 2 weeks.

Shelbi, My heart goes out to you. I can totally understand why you had the Rocky Road. I would have been stuffing all kinds of things in my mouth. Families can be so overwhelming at times. My family put took the fun out of dysfunctional. I love them with all my heart and soul, but they can absolutely drive me crazy. I can't imagine the pain your Mom went through when she lost her son to suicide. Bless her for struggling through that hardship in her life.

Okay, so this may be unwanted advice and, if so, take it for what it's worth: Mal and Dynamo (Dynamo, we've never "met" but since we both have mini in our names, I feel an instant kinship . . .) do you think it would be helpful for you to go on some sort of eating "plan" for a few weeks to get things jump-started again. South Beach? Atkins? WW? Or something? I know when I've had a "bad-eating" relapse in the past, the only way I could pull out of it was to do something very structured and specific. I can't be trusted to make good decisions on my own. I can rationalize with the best of them when it comes to having a milkshake or something, and I know, in my case, that I just have to bite the bullet and follow the guidelines.

Just my 2 cents . . .

Mini, I think that advice is worth more than 2 cents. I agree with you. I have done that many times in the last 7 months. I can easily slip into old habits. I love Cookies and ice cream, but more than that I love my carbs. I need structure and planning or I end up failing.

there are so many responses I want to give to each of you, but emotionally am drained.:frown:

tucker had LAR-PAR surgery this afternoon. He came out all right, but postop problems of bleeding and infection are still possibilities. Unfortunately, he is not out of the woods. They found he has a hiatal hernia (between esophagus and stomach...probably all u nurses already know that:closedeyes:) and he would be at high risk of regurging into his lungs and getting aspiration pneumonia. so he will have abdominal surgery on tuesday to correct that. so please, once again, cross all those appendages for the boy...god bless him, he is the sweetest guy and is being very stoic through all this...not so much for the mother. I am a mess.

hello to you all...congrats on losses, tatts, nsv's, etc. glad to see some lately absentees back....i will update in a couple of days.

Deb, I'm praying for little Tucker and for you too. I know how much you love that little guy and how hard it is for you to watch him suffer. He sounds like such a sweet baby. Let us know how things go.

Dee ~ Congrats on those NSVs, girlie! You are so inspirational to me. :frown:

Happy long weekend to those of us fortunate enough to be off tomorrow. I never associated fireworks with Labor Day but apparently some of my neighbors do...good thing I plan to be up for awhile. :smile:

Greenie, you're my inspiration too. I love your blog! I'm picking up extra shifts this weekend. We've been pretty slow lately and I've lost some shifts, so I'm doing what I can to get back on track financially.

I hope everyone has a good holiday. I'm still doing the Detox diet. Adorkable, I'm not going to weigh until after the 21 days, but before I start the Body 4 Life, I'll weigh. Sorry! Just count me for total loss of 11.2. Didn't make the 20lb goal, but I'm okay with that.

I gotta get back to work!

Prayers and good thoughts to you Lap - stay safe and warm!

[lifesaver 0]

Rene,

I'd love for you to join me on the BFL challenge. I have read through all the material and I am pretty confident it is totally doable with the Band. I have a friend who was on it for 3 - 12 week sessions and she is so buff and beautiful. She just had her Tummy Tuck and breastlift done. The girl went from a regular housewife to Miss Fitness!

I'd love to be Miss Fitness, but I'll be happy to be toned!

Cool. When are you complete with your 21 day detox? We can start then. I am traveling this week so it's not a good week for me to start BFL anyway. Anyone else wanna join us?

[minidriver 0]

Oh Shelbi, Shelbi. Wow, I don't blame you for finishing off the Rocky Road. What a tough few days for you.

I'm so sorry that both you and Rene have suffered a suicide in your family. It's such an horrific tragedy and something that can scar a family forever.

Deb, how is Tucker doing today?

Sid, it's good to here from you. I hope things start looking up.

dee, wish I had a tenth of your drive. Man.

Well, final challenge weigh in: 197.6. Not the ten lbs I'd hoped for but I'm pretty pleased to be firmly out of the 200s. I'm up for the Halloween challenge if anyone else wants to play along!

[BellaPerdente 0]

Adorkable: I weighed in at 248 this morning. I think that makes 11 pounds for the challenge. One over my goal!!!!!!! Losing weight is the best gift to myself. Today is my b-day!!

Well, TOM is visiting right now and I am having a hard time eating. I feel like EVERYTHING is going down hard. I know that you feel tighter during this time, but does it affect how you eat? I have pb'd several times. I hope that it means that I will need an unfill.

[BellaPerdente 0]

I mean't to say I hope that I WON'T need an unfill!!

[minidriver 0]

Happy b-day Bella, and congrats on your 11 lbs! That's fantastic!!