I'm here to help...

[1day at a time 2]

Janet,

What did you say so take in on calories. I can't remeber what you said. I am writing now so I am trying to stay inbetween 1200-1500 is that good? I am usually about 1200-1300 so far.

Remember I am over a year out.

[phyllser 3]

Two weeks home from the hospital and

THE GRAMINATOR

walked around the entire condo complex two days in a row!

Love my new bionic knee.

Pain is decreasing, activity increasing, cut way back on pain pills!

Should be declared no longer "house bound" by the end of the week. PT intends to release me to outpatient PT so I've visited two facilities right here in our neighborhood, "interviewed" receptionist at both places and looked over the equipment, etc. So now I know which one I want to use. I'M READY! The sooner I get this rehab over with, the sooner we can head south to "Janet Land"! I will LOVE getting back to our RV park and the hot Water pools/hot tubs. We have excellent work out room where I can use the treadmill and hope that this year I can get on the recumbent bike!

YAY!

Sorry... hope my enthusiasm doesn't knock you over but I just had a 16 oz latte with FOUR shots of espresso, and used it to wash down a Vicodin... which I needed after my exercise routine, long walk and scooter ride over to get my latte! My knee is hurting some after all that, but pushing through!

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Hello Ladies,

I found this post in the list a while back. I decided to read every post until I was caught up. WOW it has taken me about a month. You are busy ladies....

I am going to jump into this group and try to post. I don't have as much activity in my life as you do.

I feel as if I know all of you so I'll tell you a bit about myself.

My name is Laura (I guess I'll have to be Laura K. I'm from Michigan. A very small town north of Meridith. I have 2 kids, one of each, both in college. I was banded on 7-20-09 just like Phyls. I'm a Master Gardener, so I enjoy my gardens and volunteering.

In one of group meetings we were told to lose 5% of our weight before we could have surgery. So the night before my first appt I went back to my weight loss group. The lady that runs it used to be a WW leader for 20+ years. I lost 25 lbs before banding. I have had one fill of 2cc's so far. I'm at 53 lbs lost now. (Don't know how to change ticker) I tend to eat the same thing a lot. I can't seem to figure out how to cook for just me without a lot of leftovers, don't tend to eat the stuff if I freeze it. I am setting up to journel next week I know this helps me keep track of were I'm at each day.

Take care each and everyone of you, you have made this journey easier for me and you didn't even know it.

Welcome. Great job.

The pic’s are gone – but it is what it is - I got a click it disk and have all my computer pics now backed up..

Janet, When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I evacuated with a overnight bag expecting to come back in a few days after power was restored. Of course we ended up with my entire house emerged in Water for 2 wks. All my immediate family lived in the same area and also lost everything. I lost every single photo I had. Both my parents are deceased and my sisters and brother have no photos of them at all. My daughter is 30 and I have no photographs of her life before 25, no baby pics, no school pics. Before Katrina, I had started scanning pictures into my computer to help clear up and clutter and also to keep older one's from fading. It was huge job and I had only scratched the surface. Of course I didn't take my computer hard drive with me when we evacuated. A company in Florida graciously offered to try to recover them from my drive for free. They said even though a hard drive gets wet there is still hope. Mine was underwater 2 wks, I think that was more than wet.

Today, I scan every single photo, I back them up on 2 external harddrives that I rotate AND I back them up on DVD. Overkill now...but I learned the value of photographs and will never evacuate again without taking every single one of them with me! :wink:

So keep up with your photos! It's a good thing!

So sorry about your pics. Must have been a horrendous experience.

Two weeks home from the hospital and

THE GRAMINATOR

walked around the entire condo complex two days in a row!

Love my new bionic knee.

Pain is decreasing, activity increasing, cut way back on pain pills!

Should be declared no longer "house bound" by the end of the week. PT intends to release me to outpatient PT so I've visited two facilities right here in our neighborhood, "interviewed" receptionist at both places and looked over the equipment, etc. So now I know which one I want to use. I'M READY! The sooner I get this rehab over with, the sooner we can head south to "Janet Land"! I will LOVE getting back to our RV park and the hot Water pools/hot tubs. We have excellent work out room where I can use the treadmill and hope that this year I can get on the recumbent bike!

YAY!

Sorry... hope my enthusiasm doesn't knock you over but I just had a 16 oz latte with FOUR shots of espresso, and used it to wash down a Vicodin... which I needed after my exercise routine, long walk and scooter ride over to get my latte! My knee is hurting some after all that, but pushing through!

Good going Phyll.

Thought I multi'd more of you. Doodle, was that you with DD returning? Breathe, girl.

Julie, glad Mimi's better.

Janet, sorry about your pics. Lesson learned. I gave all my family pics to my daughter who scrapbooks. She also scans and is the one who cares about pics. They'd all be a mess if it was up to me.

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

Hey guys~

Busy busy day today! I am exhausted. We had Nelson's class "social" from 10-1. One of his classmate's family hosted the pool party at their house. I couldn't stop thinking I would go NUTS if there were 25 messy kids in my house. I can handle 5-10, but 25 is too much. They had fun playing all together and not having to be in a classroom. 2 of his 3 teachers showed up. It was funny- many of the parents had not seen me since June. To my knowledge only 2 know of my surgery. Everyone noticed and said something on the side. food was not that good so it didn't tempt me too bad. They had wraps that I didn't dare try. There was a bean salad and fruit. The rest was sweets, chips, or hard veggies/dip. After that we had plans to meet a friend of N's that was in his class the last two years and just switched schools. They were best friends last year and had not seen each other since June. We always had our play dates evolve around food. When I told her (the friend's mom) I was going to have surgery last Feb., she made a rude comment and we hadn't talked since. We made plans to meet at 2, and I figure she'd know that were weren't planning on eating. We met at Chuckie cheese (the things we do for kids)!!! She had ordered a LARGE pizza before I got there. I politely declined but offered to pay. Nelson ate one bite and left to play. My friend was visibly shocked when she saw me. (she is overweight and her son is too. I would guess she is about the same size as I am now- maybe 10 lbs more). Normally she would have eaten 4 slices of pizza and today she had one and never ate more. It was nice to see the boys together again. I hadn't realized the depth of their friendship, they had really missed each other. I was glad I put my anger aside for the boys.

Nelson was in bed and asleep by 8 tonight! DH is on call and at the hospital- home away from home.

Janet~ Do you have windows 95? That may be the problem. I would be happy to try and work on the CD. Let me know and I will PM you my address. DH is a self professed computer geek and is great at recovering my stuff. We have two back up hard drives as Nawlinz stated. I probably have 5000 photos on here. I keep meaning to scrap book but now the number of photos is just too overwhelming. WTG on the gym!!!:tongue2: 480 calories is a workout!

JulieB~ so glad mimi is better. Sorry you were up early. : ( I have never eaten Rhubarb in any way shape or form. I can't imagine that it would tempt me either..LOL. I hope you have fun at your reunion.

Phyllser~ I am so proud of you! Great job on all the hard work!!! Easy on the espresso! LOL... too much of that and you will be jogging around the complex.

Doodle~ <hugs> with your DD coming home. I pray for you and your family, especially Eli that all works out. It must be hard on him. He is so blessed that he has you in his life!

Nawlinz~ I can't imagine losing everything or going through Katrina. Those of us who only witnessed it through a tv have no idea what you guys went through. I hope that you and your family were safe though.

LauraK~ Welcome. This is a great place for support! That's so neat that you got so much from this thread and we didn't even know you. 53lbs is awesome! WTG!

ok all, hope everyone is having a good weekend! TTYL! peasout, Laura

[llkb4me 1]

Morning........... I was hoping to sleep in today, but woke before 7:00 anyway... Oh, well......... TV is terrible on Saturdays... I finished my book and talked to DH for a bit and now trying to plan my day.. I decided on rhubarb pies to take to the picnic tomorrow.. Got those done last evening... It's not my favorite so not a big temptation for me... Will do a Pasta salad this afternoon and be ready to leave by 8:00 am in the morning.. I asked my mother for rhubarb for 3-4 pies... She has a plant in her backyard...Well, she brought enough for 8-10, so need to deal with the rest today.. Freezer is what I'm thinking!!!!

My loss held this morning... I usually try not to count on it until the scale says the same thing at least 2 days in a row... So, I'm hoping that much is gone again forever... Janet and Great.......... I think we all worry about regaining... It's a fact that many do gain back after a while. I think it's that feeling of "I'm feeling good, looking good, and I don't have to think about this anymore" that gets us... If we let up our guard this damn sickness (obesity) can jump up and bite us... You both have done so well, and I'm confident you aren't going to be one of those who goes backwards... Like I said before, we all fluctuate on a few pounds and this is just yours.... Keep up the good work......

Sharon, gosh I feel for you with all your mixed emotions.. Gotta be very hard for you... Just keep praying and trusting the things will be the way they are supposed to be..... I envy you your scrapbooking talent... I'm just not creative that way and don't enjoy it.. My pictures are just on my computer, too... I have them set to slideshow when my computer isn't active.. So I see them all the time.. Works for me.. I try to back up on a disk often...

Nawlinz, I'm just amazed at how you could relate that story about your pictures without losing it... It must have been so hard for you... But I'm hoping all you lost was possessions and not anyone you loved... The rest can be replaced or remembered......... Are you all back to normal yet.... Bless you.....

Laura K, welcome.. Yup, we're a busy bunch... But it's a great place to be......... Congrats on your success so far.. How far do you have to go to goal???

Well, time to get dressed and do something.... You all have a great weekend... TTYL........ Julie

Julie,

I would like to be at 130 or less. I am only 5'2". I told them when they said 150 " well that would still make me overweight for my height. So I still have 51 lbs to go. I have been down to 145 but could not maintain it. I feel I have to tool and will power now. Tonight was the first time that I had to talk myself out of eating something because of emotions. Still adjusting to my son moving to college. I need to find something to get me out of the house more besides work. This is my long weekend, I get bored after awhile.

Janet, sounds like it could be root rot, roses can be fickle and they don't like there "toes" to be to wet. Stick your finger down in a ways first to test if it needs to be watered. This coming from a person who has no luck with roses.

Laura K

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Hey guys~

Busy busy day today! I am exhausted. We had Nelson's class "social" from 10-1. One of his classmate's family hosted the pool party at their house. I couldn't stop thinking I would go NUTS if there were 25 messy kids in my house. I can handle 5-10, but 25 is too much. They had fun playing all together and not having to be in a classroom. 2 of his 3 teachers showed up. It was funny- many of the parents had not seen me since June. To my knowledge only 2 know of my surgery. Everyone noticed and said something on the side. food was not that good so it didn't tempt me too bad. They had wraps that I didn't dare try. There was a bean salad and fruit. The rest was sweets, chips, or hard veggies/dip. After that we had plans to meet a friend of N's that was in his class the last two years and just switched schools. They were best friends last year and had not seen each other since June. We always had our play dates evolve around food. When I told her (the friend's mom) I was going to have surgery last Feb., she made a rude comment and we hadn't talked since. We made plans to meet at 2, and I figure she'd know that were weren't planning on eating. We met at Chuckie cheese (the things we do for kids)!!! She had ordered a LARGE pizza before I got there. I politely declined but offered to pay. Nelson ate one bite and left to play. My friend was visibly shocked when she saw me. (she is overweight and her son is too. I would guess she is about the same size as I am now- maybe 10 lbs more). Normally she would have eaten 4 slices of pizza and today she had one and never ate more. It was nice to see the boys together again. I hadn't realized the depth of their friendship, they had really missed each other. I was glad I put my anger aside for the boys.

Nelson was in bed and asleep by 8 tonight! DH is on call and at the hospital- home away from home.

Janet~ Do you have windows 95? That may be the problem. I would be happy to try and work on the CD. Let me know and I will PM you my address. DH is a self professed computer geek and is great at recovering my stuff. We have two back up hard drives as Nawlinz stated. I probably have 5000 photos on here. I keep meaning to scrap book but now the number of photos is just too overwhelming. WTG on the gym!!!:tongue2: 480 calories is a workout!

JulieB~ so glad mimi is better. Sorry you were up early. : ( I have never eaten Rhubarb in any way shape or form. I can't imagine that it would tempt me either..LOL. I hope you have fun at your reunion.

Phyllser~ I am so proud of you! Great job on all the hard work!!! Easy on the espresso! LOL... too much of that and you will be jogging around the complex.

Doodle~ <hugs> with your DD coming home. I pray for you and your family, especially Eli that all works out. It must be hard on him. He is so blessed that he has you in his life!

Nawlinz~ I can't imagine losing everything or going through Katrina. Those of us who only witnessed it through a tv have no idea what you guys went through. I hope that you and your family were safe though.

LauraK~ Welcome. This is a great place for support! That's so neat that you got so much from this thread and we didn't even know you. 53lbs is awesome! WTG!

ok all, hope everyone is having a good weekend! TTYL! peasout, Laura

What she said!

The number of clothes that I can still wear is shrinking. Which means I have to do the laundry or I'll have nothing to wear next week.

I need to get back to the thrift store. Pick up a few fall things I can wear.

Cheri

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

Tried to post these earlier and the computer kept freezing. IYSOY~ I am having the same problem with clothes. Isn't it nice?! (in some ways!)

[1day at a time 2]

phyllser,

That is awesome on the Knee recovery.

peas,

Nelson is so cute love the cups with the faces on them.

Awesome on the weight loss. Trainers can really kick buts :tongue2:

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Great pics peas. It is a nice problem. I just hate shopping.

[Jenno2 0]

Thank you for your support. I was banded 9-2-09. My unusual question. I want to receive communion tomorrow at church. Will the host (bread) cause a problem?

[doodlebug11 0]

Good Morning Friends!!! WE MADE IT!!!!! The graduation was sooo special!!! She had a really large group of ppl show up to give her support, there were several that got up to say a few words and it touched my heart soo much b/c things that they were saying, I felt like God had already said to me as her Mother! The leader of the house where she stayed said that when my DD first came there to live , she had a heart of stone,and she did, but now God has replaced it with a heart of love, and He has!!! Now I just have to let Him continue to take care of her and try not to take over! But I want to THANK YOU,girls soooo much for all the kind words, hugs, and prayers that you have sent my way!!! You will never know how much they mean to me!! You guys not only help with my band but you take the time to listen to my heart issues and that touches me sooo much!! Thank you!! Thank you!! I love you all for what you do!! And so I'm going to do this part of my life like I do the band, one day at a time!! I had a good day yesterday, with the food and my DD, and today is a new day and it's going to be a good day today!! ( She's still in bed!! So far so good!!! lol) But here's hugs to everyone!!!!

Laurak~~~ you could NOT have picked a better place to join up with!! As you can tell in my post, these ladies are so special!! WTG on your weight loss, you are doing sooo good!!!

naw~~~ Bless your heart on all that you went thru!! I agree with who ever said, hope it was pics and possessions that you lost and nothing more!! It still makes me sad when I hear stories like yours!! I wish there was a button on here that we could push and send out a hug!!! Is there one on here, Janet, that I don't know about?

Phiy~~~ Go Grammy!! Go Grammy!! WTG on your marathon!!! You are doing AWESOME!!!!

Laura~~~ cute cute pics !!! Nels is too cute!!! You know I was talking to my DD last night about some old friends that she ran into, old drug buddies, they were making fun of her for going to church, not doing the things they used to do, they were calling her goodie 2 shoes, holier than thou, and I told her that they were just trying to pull her down to their level to make THEMSELVES feel better about what they do! The same thing goes for your friend, she didn't want you to have WLS and lose weight b/c it would make her better about her weight problem! But good for you for being the better person and letting the boys get together and have fun!

If~~~ I get you on the clothes!! I needed a blouse to wear last night so I called my oldest DD to see if she had one, she said "what are you trying to tell me I'm over weight?" ( Right now she's not that much smaller than I am!) I went to her house to try one on and of course, it was too small and I told her "you did that on purpose!!" We had a good laugh and she did have a blouse I could wear and I told everyone it was hers!! It was soo funny!

Julie~~~ WAHOO on you loss!!!! I just a kick start!!

Jenno~~ Welcome!! At my church, we use little unsalted crackers and they don't give me any problems. I love the little saying you have in your post!! I use things like that in my scrap booking!! I'm going to write that one down for future use!

Well, guys, I didn't mean to take soo much of your time but I just wanted to tell you how very special you are to me and I love you guys for what you do, everyone of you!!!

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Doodle, one day at a time is right.

Hey everyone, I knew I was going to drop a few lbs because my restriction isn't as good. The scale hadn't shown it yet but I figured the fat pad under the band had shrunk and my band had loosened. I was right. I dropped 2 lbs this morning. But now, with less restriction I'll have to work to not gain it back. I was definitely feeling hungry today.

I need to go in for my 3 month check up. I'll try to schedule another fill then.

[ocotillo 0]

Happy Sunday!! We just got home from Phoenix. Went up there yesterday for a concert. We saw Chick Corea with Stanley Clark & Lenny White. Oh my, what wonderful music. It was at the Orpheum Theater which is a restored old theater building built in 1919. It's gorgeous and has great acoustics. We were 3rd row center and could see their fingers. I really enjoy seeing a great live show in a smaller venue.

We also had FNSC (Friday Night Social Club) Friday, which is why I've been MIA again. I guess we can't complain when we are busy doing fun stuff.

Lori, what kind of place are you having the wedding in? It's still cold in Colorado in March so I assume it will be indoors?

Julie, I get most of my audio books from the library. One of the women I work with gets them and then shares. We pass them from one to another and download them onto our computers and then turn them in. The only problem with library CD's is they are scratched or damaged sometimes and you end up missing bits of the story. You can do free audio downloads from the public library also. You might want to check to see if your local library offers that service. Since you are in a rural area, you might be able to do that through the Bismark library system. CONGRATS ON THE 1 1/2 POUNDS!!!:wub: I grew up with rhubarb...it's the first pie I ever baked. I still like it once in a while.

Janet, yes, sometimes my mind wanders...especially right before I fall asleep...LOL. Most of the books I listen to are entertainment books and if I miss a little, I can go back and listen to that part or I catch up later in the story. When I fall asleep, I just go back to the last place I remember and start over and relisten to it. Audio books are perfect for me when I'm exercising because it gets my mind off the sweating. I don't do it when weight lifiting, just the mindless cardio. The eye thing is a pain because I have good mid range, getting worse close range (reading) and soso distance and do have a perscription for that but don't wear glasses all the time either. Janet.....I think we still have 95 operating somewhere here. Let me check with the DH and if we have the old operating system, maybe we can retreive your pictures. I'll PM you if we can.

Gitr....I think the head stuff is the worse in this battle. Seems to be where most of the battle is these days. Yep, if you miss a couple of days...they posts are almost overwhelming, but still fun to read and catch up on.

Laura, change the ticker.....then you can see the change and will work to keep it there. CONGRATS!!!!!:eek:

Cheri, have a great time on Sunday. Good plan on reaching your goal. It certainly helps when you see the scale go down in the "sticking with it" stuff. I hope that made sense.

Lori K...welcome! You've done amazing with your weight loss, WOW. I'm working on the freezing stuff too, but just started, so I'll see how that works. I want to be able to grab the frozen stuff for my lunch box so I can keep track of exactly what I'm eating. I took a Master Gardner's class several years ago, but where I live now, gardening is a challenge....weather, beasts, bugs, birds, and a eucaplytus tree with an extensive root system.

Dee, I'm so sorry about your pictures. You make a good point about backing up what we have now and not waiting. I think I'll work on scanning the old photos I have.

Sharon, best wishes for you and your family. I really hope your DD finds her way and figures out life is worth living without the "extra" stuff. Glad the graduation went so well. The job stuff will settle down and so will the stress. Hang in there and don't let the food demon get you.

Phyl....aka GRAMINATOR...great job on the walking!!! And yes you are funny on caffine and Vicodin....LOL. It's like motor mouth on happy pills (I take Vicodin at times too!!). I can't do the recumbent bike because of the arthritis which is too bad...it has a much more comfortable seat.

I am so distracted today....I just took a little break from posting to put the laundry in the dryer and walked away without starting the dryer....duhhhh. I was commenting earlier on how distracted DH was today...I think its contagious.

I bought a seal-a-meal thing a couple of months ago and haven't used it. So Friday, I had purchased a very large smoked salmon filet from Cosco and decided to freeze it. I drug out the seal-a-meal and made up 4oz packets of salmon....it worked wonderfully and I did turkey on Saturday. So now I'll grab one of the little frozen packages and throw it in my lunch box. I'm probably going to have to do the same for dinner too. It seems I am losing most of my control at night and keep snacking at night. I'll have to plan those calories as Janet does to make this thing work.

My sisters and I are going to San Diego next Thursday for a long weekend so I'm going to head down to Tijuana on Saturday and get my fill then. I have little restriction (some, but I can still eat too much especially later in the day). I'm hoping this will help with the will power too.

The most I've ever lost in any of my dieting attempts is 32 pounds and I'm just 1 pound past that. I really need what ever help I can get to move that scale down. I am feeling so much better about myself even after only 33 pounds and I really want to surpass my previous goals. I also want to get into a size smaller. I have dropped a size around my hips and waist, but am still uncomfortable around the top and am wearing the looser big shirts. I have a ton of t-shirts I'm just not comfortable in yet.

You know I really aprreciate you guys because I can write this stuff and each of you knows what I'm talking about. It helps. Thanks! :tongue2:

Eva

Edited September 13, 2009 by ocotillo

[llkb4me 1]

Today was a challenge for me I was shopping at Walmart and stupidly bought a big bag of Pork rinds. Well I let my brain say "there's protien in there." I am happy to say I had a few then threw them away. I so glad I did that, they weren't even good. I did buy gr turkey and made patties and put them in the freezer, so I will have them to just grab for work. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thank you all for the welcome, it really helps.

Laura K

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

Good morning everyone~

Just a drive by note to wish everyone a happy Monday! I am off to the ever lovely car line and then to the Y for a trainer workout! TTYL peas.