I'm here to help...

[IndioGirl55 32]

Hi ladies. Just wanted to check in and say "hi". I had an annoying day today. I found out that I did not do so well on my test that I had on Monday. Oh well, it's Philosophy! Ick. I have a 3.9 and I'm nervous that this class will bring down my GPA. Just had to complain. I need to keep up good grades in order to get into Physician Assistant school!

Ok, thats about it. I made some chicken salad tonight. It was delicious. I found this organic FF vegan mayo and it is sooo good. I even like it better than regular mayo. I also added some dill pickle relish. Delish. I figured that the chick salad is 105 cal per 1/2c. serving.

Good night all.

~Meredith

Meredith - I would love to take philosophy for fun - If I ever get to retire - I would go to our local community college take a class in theroy or phylosophy and a painting class. But it would be for fun not a grade :0)... Been there done that :0) 3.9 WTG !!!

Mornin' All...

Meredith...I LOVE chicken salad. I slice cucumbers and plop it on top of them instead of crackers. What a great job to get into for a career (PA). Wishing you luck.

Well, ready to run out the door and up North to the lake. The dog is already by the door saying "Hurry up, Mom....time is awastin'" This weekend includes: new cafe with the GF's tonight, beach and party barge tomorrow along with dinner on our deck with friends tomorrow night. Saturday planning a bday party for a close friend. Everyone brings something to throw in a huge fryer (not healthy). I am cutting up whole porkloin into strips and putting a homemade rub on them. Figured this is healthier than soaking up fat with breading. Sunday is a pot luck picnic with the entire resort and Monday I pick up our Aussies at the airport. My kind of weekend!

You all have a wonderful and safe weekend. Talk to you sometime next week.

CHARLENE....I AM LEAVING NOW AND WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!

Apple - sounds like a great weekend - but you have more energy than me - I am looking forward to a quite one - do some cleaning etc - but being the introvert that I am - I need to recharge my batteries this weekend !!!

Morning to all.... Apples, sounds like a full and fun weekend.... You must do as much cooking there as when you're at home.... have a great time... We'll look for you back when you get here....

All the rest of you sound like you are doing so well... It's a wonderful thing.....wish we had thought of this lap-band thing a long time ago!!!! I had a bad day yesterday.. Didn't feel right......slight upset stomach, a little headache, a big backache and just plain blah.... Went to Bismarck with DH to get new tires on the car and just sort of limped through it... Didn't sleep well either.. I'm on this mega dose of Vitamin D from the doctor and those are some of the side effect symptoms.. Have a call in to the doc before I take anymore... don't like feeling this way... I'm hoping to get a few things done today, but am going to go easy.. We have a big weekend coming as DD is in a wedding of the daughter of one of my best friends.. Need and want to be at my current best... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.... DH just took the little one to my mother for a couple hours until DD is up and ready for her... So, I'm going to go slow and try to shake this whatever-it-is off.... You all have a great day.. Julie

Julie - Hope you shake the ickies - Remember you have just had surgery and I doubt that you are going to be at 100% within a few weeks - your poor body has gone thru so much in the last few months..

Good Morning Gang

Just cking in - another day at work :0)... Ended up just having some veggies little rice and ck for dinner - then my usual popcorn to feed the head hunger issue.

CBL

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

G'Afternoon guys~

Went to the gym this a.m.. DS was supposed to go with me- after my workout was his "kids exercise" class. He said he didn't want to go and I left. Apparently 3 sec after I pulled out of the driveway he had a meltdown and wanted to come with me. My cell wasn't working and my DH ended up bringing him to the Y. I put him in the playroom and DH did his first workout in a LONG LONG time. I had to go get him a Water and a towel. : ) Then when we were done with ours we went to the kids. It is sooo cute seeing all these kids exercising!

I got a call from my mom after the gym. My Dad's in the hospital! They live in Charlotte, NC. Going to see what the doctor says today- i might be flying up with Nelson tomorrow. My Dad is diabetic and only has one kidney. He's on Byetta and has been doing very well with blood sugars. His last A1C was 5.8 (non diabetic!). His one kidney has been so so- lately trying to act up. He started retaining fluids the last week or so and yesterday he just felt lousy. We spoke to them last night and DH knew what it was immediately. He was the one who told him he HAD to go to the dr this a.m.. I am hoping the tests are ok and they give him an IV with some diuretic and he goes home. I guess the worse case scenario is some temporary dialysis. Here's the clincher. One of the motivating factors in me and my sister getting surgery was a conversation my dad had with his attorney/best friend. He had told him that he was sad (not mad) that both of his daughters were so unhealthy, b/c he knew that no surgeon would ever let us donate a kidney for him. His friend told me this in confidence. I still doubt they would do surgery on us, as we are still morbidly obese and not quite healthy. Let's pray his kidney is still hanging in there. This tugs at my heart in more ways than anyone knows. My parents have done so much for me in my life! I would do anything for them.

Time to attack some house work and wait for a call from my mom.

Edited July 30, 2009 by peascorps

[IndioGirl55 32]

G'Afternoon guys~

Went to the gym this a.m.. DS was supposed to go with me- after my workout was his "kids exercise" class. He said he didn't want to go and I left. Apparently 3 sec after I pulled out of the driveway he had a meltdown and wanted to come with me. My cell wasn't working and my DH ended up bringing him to the Y. I put him in the playroom and DH did his first workout in a LONG LONG time. I had to go get him a Water and a towel. : ) Then when we were done with ours we went to the kids. It is sooo cute seeing all these kids exercising!

I got a call from my mom after the gym. My Dad's in the hospital! They live in Charlotte, NC. Going to see what the doctor says today- i might be flying up with Nelson tomorrow. My Dad is diabetic and only has one kidney. He's on Byetta and has been doing very well with blood sugars. His last A1C was 5.8 (non diabetic!). His one kidney has been so so- lately trying to act up. He started retaining fluids the last week or so and yesterday he just felt lousy. We spoke to them last night and DH knew what it was immediately. He was the one who told him he HAD to go to the dr this a.m.. I am hoping the tests are ok and they give him an IV with some diuretic and he goes home. I guess the worse case scenario is some temporary dialysis. Here's the clincher. One of the motivating factors in me and my sister getting surgery was a conversation my dad had with his attorney/best friend. He had told him that he was sad (not mad) that both of his daughters were so unhealthy, b/c he knew that no surgeon would ever let us donate a kidney for him. His friend told me this in confidence. I still doubt they would do surgery on us, as we are still morbidly obese and not quite healthy. Let's pray his kidney is still hanging in there. This tugs at my heart in more ways than anyone knows. My parents have done so much for me in my life! I would do anything for them.

Time to attack some house work and wait for a call from my mom.

Oh GF hugs and prayers for your Dad - you and the whole family !!!!!

[Great2BThin 5]

Laura, sorry to hear about your dad. I hope it isn't anything real serious. How lucky he is to have daughters so concerned for him they'd consider giving him a kidney. He must be a very special father.

Apples, hope you are destressing at the lake! All that cooking though would stress me out!

I put in for a screen name change, but it hasn't happened yet, but any day hopefully I am changed to Great2BThin

[doodlebug11 0]

WTG, LONG,!!!!! It must be awesome to be at goal, and one of these days, I'm going to get there!!!

Janet, good to have you back home!! Glad you had a good time!

Laura, sorry to hear about your Dad! Hope everything goes o.k. with him!

Apples, have a good wkend, YOU DESERVE IT !!!

Meredith, I love chicken salad and I ate alot of it after I could eat real food.< /span>

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Hey guys, I thought I'd post a video of one of my students who graduated this year. He has an incredible story and I was a big part of it. I taught him to read and do math. You can see me teaching him in the video.

I helped interview him, although you can't hear me.

Here's the link.

http://cltv8.com/rcs/micro4v2/

[Mrs. Bubba 0]

If, what a wonderful testiment to your profession.... you and your school are making a difference.... Bless you...... Julie

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Thanks Julie. The way I was going I was going to end up retiring early from a job where I could really make a difference. This is part of the reason I went for the lap band.

[Meredith2424 0]

Hi everyone.

Laura~ I am so sorry to hear about your dad. Hugs. I will pray for him. Please keep us updated on his status.

Apples~ Thanks for letting us know that you are going to the lake! At last this way we won't have to send a search party out for you this time!

Janet~ I need some advice! Well, this goes to everyone actually. I have been sticking to the 800 cal/day plan extremely well. However, I got on the scale today after not having stepped on for 5 days and I am UP 1.3 POUNDS!!!! What the heck?!?!?! I am furious and now scared to eat anything! I am working so hard to lose and here I GAIN!!!!! How is this even possible. I've been keeping busy with school and work. I've been parking further away from class on purpose just to get some extra exercise. What is going on here and why is this happening?!? So discouraging.

~Meredith

[Great2BThin 5]

Meredith, I know you are scared and frustrated right now seeing that gain. But hang in there. This too shall pass. Same thing happened to me at about the 6 week mark. My non scientific explanation is that your body is in shock. It just had major surgery, now you are feeding it very little. It dropped lots of weight for you but now is saying whoa, what is going on here and fighting to hang on. I called it a correction week. But just keep on doing what you are doing and the scale should start being kind to you again. I tended to settle into a pattern after about this time where I'd lose big one week, then stay the same or lose or even gain a fraction for a couple weeks, then WHAM! a big loss again. I settled down and stopped panicking as much when I figured out my pattern. I think Phyl on here also said she loses like that. As long as you know you are following the rules of your tool, just keep on keeping on and it will start moving for you again. In the meantime, vent away.

[Meredith2424 0]

Long~ Thank you. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes wondering what I did wrong. You have a great point. Actually, tomorrow is exactly 5 weeks from when I had my surgery, so perhaps I am experiencing what you experienced? I am just so disappointed. And, I just started eating "meat" and other foods on Tuesday so I thought that maybe I had sabotaged myself by eating or something. I know this sounds absolutely bonkers, but I am sure that you all understand what I mean. Lets just hope my body doesn't stay in shock for too long. Its so frustrating. Thank you for all of your help. You have no idea how much this OCD person appreciates it! I think I would go crazy without this site. Really. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

~Meredith

[Meredith2424 0]

Oh, If~ I watched your video. Excellent! That reminds me of my mom! Especially at the half circle table! Very nice.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Hi everyone.

Laura~ I am so sorry to hear about your dad. Hugs. I will pray for him. Please keep us updated on his status.

Apples~ Thanks for letting us know that you are going to the lake! At last this way we won't have to send a search party out for you this time!

Janet~ I need some advice! Well, this goes to everyone actually. I have been sticking to the 800 cal/day plan extremely well. However, I got on the scale today after not having stepped on for 5 days and I am UP 1.3 POUNDS!!!! What the heck?!?!?! I am furious and now scared to eat anything! I am working so hard to lose and here I GAIN!!!!! How is this even possible. I've been keeping busy with school and work. I've been parking further away from class on purpose just to get some extra exercise. What is going on here and why is this happening?!? So discouraging.

~Meredith

Don't freak it could be Water - scales are never our freinds - one day down the next day up..

Vary your calories - 800-1200 - you would be shocked to find out that after 1 day of eating higher calories you will have a loss -

Don't get discouraged by the scale - as long as you do the work the lbs will come off.

It will be ok - you are doing excellent and don't let that stupid scale dictate your life - just keep on doing what you have been - in the end it will work out...

Good morning Gang

Laura - How's your Dad...

I got the wii resort last night - thought it would be more exercise - really just a game - but gotta say it does work the arms a bit and you are standing and moving so that has to count for something :0)

Got gym tonite - make up from Monday - just finished paying bills now gotta hit the shower

TGIF !!!

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Laura, How's your dad?

Meredith, Have you considered that the food you were eating before passed through you very quickly, often before it even got to your intestines? You've started eating food that takes longer to digest. Your intestines are filling up again--which is the way God meant for them to be. But your body fat weight loss is the same. Remember also that muscle weighs more than fat. In addition you lose and gain Water easily. Real food has varying salt content, and, of course, PMS is notorious for causing Water retention.

Janet is right. Vary the amount of your calories. It keeps your metabolism from getting stuck. I'm ADHD and can't keep track of anything. You're OCD and and keep too close a track of everything. I have to make weighing part of my morning routine everyday or I'd forget to do it. You, on the other hand, may be better off weighing on the same morning once a week. You don't want your perfectionism to sabotage your recovery. Discouragement and beating yourself up can lead back to overeating.

[ljv52 2]

Hi everyone, just a quick post to say I am alive. Have been super busy this week with DGD in hospital and driving back and forth 1-1/2 hours each way each day. She's doing okay -- her blood pressure is way up from treatment and they kept her overnight an extra night to keep an eye on that but are releasing her today. She's having some swelling in her hands and knees. She's been a trooper. It will be great having her back home again. Laura, hugs and prayers for your dad, hope all is well there, will be keeping him and you in my thoughts and prayers. Long, congrats on goal!!!! Julie, hope you are feeling better today. If, loved your video -- and thank you for devoting your life to teaching. Janet, loved the pics and Phyl looks so pretty in all of them too. Your lucky 7 group is a great inspiration to me, congratulations to you all!! Meredith, I really agree with Janet. If you'll look at my progress click on my tickler and then press show all data and you'll see that I stay the same weight some times for several weeks and then I lose 3 or 4 pounds in one week -- usually I lose those 3 or 4 pounds when I've had a few "off days" where my calories were up a little higher than normal and when I've maybe exercised a little less. It sounds strange, I know. In truth, our bodies just do what they want when they want and we don't have a lot of control except that if we stay on the program the weight does come off! The key is to never give up! My surgeon and his office are very very strict when it comes to Snacks and they say to NEVER EVER EVER eat snacks. Well, I'd rather have a little 100 calorie bag of light popcorn to stave off my head hunger (or real hunger after I've worked out 2 hours that day) or have 1/2 cup of fat free ice cream occasionally than to go completely bonkers and eat something really bad for me. What I'm trying to say is that in MHO we need to figure out what works for our own bodies and not that you should disregard what your weight loss clinic is saying, but you need to experiment and figure out what keeps you happy, satisfied and still losing weight. I hope you can figure out what it is I'm trying to say -- I know previously you mentioned you are "following doctor's orders" and I agree with that most of the time, except only to say that some times we need to experiment and figure out exactly what we need to make ourselves successful. Hope that makes some sense. I had a really nice day yesterday. A dear gf who moved away a year ago was in town and a few of us met for lunch and then visited our friend who has lung cancer. Afterwards, several of us went to another friend's house and swam in her pool and then had a bonfire and talked and drank wine and had a fun night. We never did eat dinner (I didn't even think about it until I was going to bed after midnight) but did have some 100 calorie popcorn with our wine. LOL. What a nutritional disaster that sounds like. Oh well, it was fun. Hope everyone has a great day -- I need to leave for the gym. Linda