lizrbit

oh, i gotta chime in here... the thighs rubbing together is my biggest pet peeve righ tnow. I wear out EVERY pair of work out clothes i purchase. the only thing that works for me now is wearing leggings with shorts on over them. it s a pain in the arse but it keeps the friction down to a low roar. HEY..if you suffer from this too, i found something to get us through until this doesnt happen anymore and i want to share it. I found this place downtown galveston and they say its a chain. its called Bath Junkie and you can choose your own scent and they mix the products right there in front of you. They make this stuff called liquid powder, and its made from tapioca. it goes on as a lotion and dries to a powder! INSTANTLY stops chaiffing and helps aborb sweat! I love the stuff. im totally hooked. (sentwise i totally dig sweetclover, waterlilly and lemon verbena)

well..yeah... i had a day off. I have massive mean joe green thighs and can leg press hundreds of lbs, but my sissy little pansy arsed arms cant even do three reps of 25 at 10 lbs on the strength training machine. so i didnt even go today. i was supposed to go in and do cardio but i just didnt feel like it. im having a hard time staying on task these days. ill go in tomorrow and try again.

Dr Speigel has good stats in terms of surgical successes and i respect him however, it was MANY of his patient posts on various websites that pursuaded me to keep looking, and i found Dr St Laurent who once was in the same practice as Speigel but now is not. I love my surgeon and hes exceptionally patient oriented. He listens intently, answers his own email, has a nutritionalist working in his practice and his staff are exceptionally knowledgable and friendly. A lot of them are banded themselves. When i researched him, he had performed over 1500 of these. his website is: http://www.nwendosurgical.com/ to find out more. His office is in North Houston. I like him so much that i fly down from Maine to get my fills and for checkups.

so i got home and even though the scale says i should celebrate, the old clothes dont so much. im workin out daily. hey...have any of you had energy level problems too? RIGHT after i work out im exhausted and just want to sleep for three hours. My arms are weak too and i have trouble finishing long sentences (breath runs out) any one else? is it just me?

well i think we will have to agree to disagree on that one. It pisses me off when people come up and decide its their business to tell me how i deviate from their sense of normal. Makes me want to smak em around. Isnt that another thread? "whats the worst thing people have said to you and did you get arrested when you smaked them around?"

musical right on! smack those rotten kids!!!

okay...laurend, i usually agree with you on most issues..but the reason i think its not supportive to talk about how "bad" you think she looks is because i dont see it as supportive when people have done that to us. Do you consider it supportive when people tell you that you could "lose some wieght" because you "dont look healthy"? Is it supportive when people talk about youre likely going to die from obesity realted diseases even though they know NOTHING about your actual health? It doesnt matter if they are right or wrong, its not supportive to even go there. no. its not. and i dont blame her for not wanting to be a "spokesperson" for the surgery. its her own personal choice and shes been very clear about not wanting to share it. I think reality shows (god knows i love em) have made it so we believe that people who recieve, and pay for a great deal of media coverage are not entitled to a private life. i disagree. since im seriously famous myself, i insist on it!

Ireland!!!!! lunasa, how wonderful!!! motorbikes are for sissies..im talking a real peddle to make it go bicycle!! I go back to galveston to get my fills in houston (i love my surgeon and i love going back) maybe we can trade travel one day? wouldnt that rock!? is it green there? is it warm there right now??? Jack, i love you. You are my hero.

susanne! My stats and yours are really close! i started at 330 and when i left texas i was at 298...im now at 289 and had been feeling bad because i thought id stopped losing, the scale isnt moving as fast, then i realized i had lost ten lbs in one week! (this last week) i joined a gym the MINUTE i got home, one i can pay monthly instead of contracted for a year or whatever. I go every day. Every other day i start out with strength training excercises on the machines (the people there show you how to use them properly) and then i follow that with fifteen minutes on a treadmill at a fast pace, then stand in front of a fan drinking a sip of water while i practice shooting sweat at people. then i do fifteen minutes on the bikes, sometimes more if i can. it REALLY does help you just FEEL BETTER and move better. Without the gym, my regular activity is huddling on the couch with many blankets waiting for the heaters to kick in and provide my four foot bubble of warmth to function in. i hate winter here. anyway. go to the gym. if you do nothing else, do the treadmill for fifteen minutes. Listen to an ipod or something while walking. dance a little. its kinda fun. Plus... i like using the showers there. Its cleaner than my bathroom and i dont have to share it with three men. (my grown boys) these days, im all about the luxury of it.

lunasa, i totally understand. while i was down in galveston i felt FREE, all while being banded and recovering, the minute i could get on a bike i did, and suddenly i found myself with all kinds of things to do that i enjoyed!!! I met friends easilly, i went out daily for bikerides...i loved it. Some of mine is geographical too. when i came back to maine i found myself fighting to keep active, to keep going out, and keep my promises of increasing my activity. I think its a very complex situation that isnt just a) what we think about who we are and what we do and dont do...and our environment (is it 20 degrees outside or 22?) and c) our emotional state. I have LONG thought that many obese people are more sensitive than the 'average joe'. Its one reason why i like them better than normal people. im starting to think the reason WHY isnt so important anymore as just understanding what is, and being able to hop on that bike and get some more air. (and palm trees)

speaking of what shes went through to get here.... did you see the special last night on tv called "the shrinking woman"? they followed this one woman through a body life where they cut all the way around and pulled everything up. I thought of puddin, and how much agony that poor woman must have gone through. its quite amazing ...they showed the whole surgery.

OH my gosh....id take the camera back while he was at work, then rebook the vacation for myself...mail him a letter after ive arrived. man. seriously..whered she go! i wanna find out how that one ended. seriously, id take the piece o sh$t right back, rebook THAT day, even pay for it with the money from the camera. man. if that isnt a NSV i dont know what is... and i agree with you that its actually two. ONe for not killing her husband and two for not going directly to the all night deep fry cafe. holy criminies, that would tick me right off. I think id even lose my sense of human blessed forgiveness or mercy too. dang.

is there a replacement for sugar cookie dough? i had a dream last night that i was eating it. i could literally feel the sugar crunch between my teeth and could taste the vanilla. funny though, i dont like sugar cookies...just the dough. oooooo

yeah me either. i entered twoterville, then stopped at a bar to tie a good long one on, it seems. im working out daily, doing cardio daily and strength every other day, watching what i eat and eatin a lot of fish, and it just wont budge. Im sure its SOLID LEAN MUSCLE though...rock solid. yeah...yep....

Smack those heathen children! I would have benifitted from a little more disclipline.

wait, one more thing.... i dont know why its bad for women to say "i need a sexual life" too. I do know that the more women come out and own their sexuality, the more other repressed women can find bravery to come out too. Its as if we accepted the situation that men may "spread their seed" but women arent supposed to like it. I'll stop here...i just wish you so much happiness and hate to think you might be repressing yourself when youve been through so much. ill go away now...

okay ive sat quiet here...i dig puddin alot and shes been inspiring to me on many levels. You rock on shaka khan! But i have to say it. I am having a low energy day and ive not read everything but I just cant keep quiet on this one anymore. Here it is. I know there are very strong moral components to your personality that you wish to keep in tact. Im not opposed to that, but there is something going on here. You are rediscovering your sexual self and trying to not conflict that with your Moral self and thats tough business! My official advice is to go directly to your church and grab a councelor or priest and really talk to them. These days they are more open than before..usually, but it depends on your church. Having said that, let me pose this: I am almost forty years old. I was beautiful at 18, and had a LOT of fun then that i cant post on here. Ive been married for almost 20 years, faithfully. Yeah its great and all that. IF I KNEW...that the last time i rolled around in the muck was going to be the last time, i would have rolled around harder, or longer, or just enjoyed it more. Love my husband, no doubt. but theres been MANY long long nights where ive lied awake wondering "what if..". Doesnt mean that will happen to you, you will have a very fulfilling and long flurishing life. Its just that you are so young. Youve done SO MUCH work to get yourself where you are, and you know GOD LOVES YOU. i cant believe he would want you to suffer or be alone or deny yourself pleasure when you have gone through so much pain. If it were me, id totally have fun with it. But you are you, and you gotta do whats right for YOU. You are still a great inspiration to me, regardless of how you progress or if you choose to give the good looking guy a tumble.

um..i like honey.

Hey i know something about this one!! woo! i weighed too much when i arrived in houston at my surgeons. I went on liquid diet to get down to 40. My surgeons office handled my insurance. I called a few times and got in on things but mostly i just got in the way. I got a case manager and that helped significantly because she was THE contact person to talk to regarding this case. I was denied twice. It wasnt a big deal, they addressed each issue and reapplied each time. but yeah, alot depends on your insurance. Mine had the same requirements regarding BMI. You dont want to be over. ive seen people approved just under and you wont lose so much from this point that you wont qualify, especially if you have other premorbs. You will need to shrink your liver. (by losing weight) preop to make it easier for your surgeon to see things. They wont have to use so much gas if your liver is loose and able to be moved aside. ok...thats all i know... i hope it wasnt a lot of useless hooey.

nate! its part of the phase i think...what goes out is like what goes in...it should pass as you progress to more solid foods. You might try adding oatmeal to your breakfast if you can, get some fiber in there, or call your dr and ask if you can take metamucile too.

hahaha..right on! you are the first person ive heard about who didnt have gas pain!!!! and i think they did punch you in the stomach for five minutes straight! Welcome to Bandland!

txbecca! It changes!!!! your liquid diet only goes on for so long, your food phases only go on for x amount of time too, before you know it you will be eating wonderful solids just less of them. I was banded by Dr St Laurent in Houston, I went over everything with him regarding "can i have this" or "should i avoid that" and he very patiently went down my entire list and suprisingly i can have much of what i was afraid of not having, and i dont even want some of them. The support group told me "dont drink my calories" during my full liquid phase and i asked dr st laurent about that too. Id added isopure once a day in addition to the high protien advantage shakes because i felt weak...and he said it wasnt a problem. CALL your doctor, and if he isnt available...call mine, or email him. he answers all his own emails too. There should be a nutritionalist in his office to help you out too. Ill be thinking about you FRIDAY!!! good luck! post what happens!!!!

and opinions are like bumholes, everyone has them and they dont smell pretty. I thought this forum, as well as this entire board was for WLS support.

Hey Annie, My husband coaxed me up here in 2003. Ive been 'around' mt katahdin but not actually to it yet. Theres a great book you can get on audiobook (i like to play them at work, while i work, its like having someone read to you) called "a walk in the woods" and its all about the author's hike along the apalachian trail, and quite funny! I Love this place in spring and summer, but i cant get out of here fast enough in the winter. Today was a perfect example. Cold and even snow this morning while i was working out at the gym. GREY ALL DAY EVERY DAY. i find i have no energy and just sorta lay around. Do you work out?

well...personally, i dunno why women would bother paying for surgery to have it done. it grows back after a while anyway. after...a long while...a long long long while...