Daisalana

I was signing my Xmas cards in a hurry, and I think it's Tracy's.. I spelled my name wrong hahaha.. I even put "I forgot how to spell my name". Hehe! I did something different for cards this year. Every year I end up with extras, and I store them. This year instead of buying new cards, I took a mix from the ones I've used before. And in our group, I used 3 different styles. I picked them out according to your personalities, so that was kind of fun :eek: Now.. to get stamps.. I'm so lazy.

Whether you want others to enjoy Christmas or not doesn't bother me. But knowing how people are so bitter & tainted and take it out on Christmas as their reason, just makes me sad for you. Wish you knew what it was like to feel the magic of the season.

She is PRECIOUS!! What beautiful blue eyes!

My G'ma got the 2 for 1 deal with her room mate last year. They never opened either, and he died April of this year (I was banded in April). I heard we should get one, and low and behold she now had 2 and nothing to do with them..so she gave me one. I had hard time getting mine to chop up ice. Even with pulsing, then letting it go, etc. I always had to hammer the ice before putting it in, and then it still left big chunks. Maybe mine is just defect? But I did like using it to blend the smoothies regardless, it really blended it.. better than my stirring ever did. I mixed expresso, vanilla protein powder, and splenda, was drinkable. I like it now for chopping up soft veggies. I still can't get mine to grind up big stuff

Hah, maybe that's it. Your alcohol taste buds have to mature? I'm craving one now.. mmm

Funny thread you started here. I probably shouldn't say this, but I still don't think I'll ever be a 'normal' weight. If anything, I'm glad the band has gotten me to the point where I don't have all the back problems.. BUT.. since I have had a single minute of my life that wasn't overweight, I resigned myself to always being big the rest of my life. I can't fathom it. I don't see how anything could change that. I still hope, of course. But right now, I dunno. Hopefully a year from now I'll say Wow I can't believe I didn't think it would work. har har.

My guess is the airbubbles or travelling through the tubing.. and it finally gets there (or maybe sometimes doesn't). If you ever had a chemisty set as a kid or something similar, when you put liquid in thin tubing like that, it kind of sits there.. and there's air bubbles trapping it. I think from moving it breaks up the air or pushes it through. I never quite get how the fluid gets all into the band, I imagine it never all does?

I thought the same thing about Dorr, 290lbs in that second pic? WOW! Looks like 180 max. Kudos

I have no problem with salads. Most the time I use oil & vinegar, maybe it lubes it down hah hah. But deli meat turkey IN the salad.. oh god, shoot me. I won't ever try that again.

I agree, it is weird! Snow? what's that?! We FINALLY got a cold front right after Thanksgiving.. it was 70-80's till then. We're now 40-60's during the day, 30's-40's at night. But we don't get snow.. well, if we do it NEVER sticks and it comes end of Jan-Feb. I love those pics you guys have of snow, makes me miss it (for only a minute). I hated driving in that mess when I lived in NM. But it sure does look pretty.

I still eat red meat whenever I want it. I use the really low-fat ground beef when cooking, or I make slow cooked short ribs.. nice and soft. But I really truly lost my taste for fast food. It didn't take long.. We ate it like 2x a day pre-band. Post-band, when I was back on solids, I tried a BK Big Fish.. one teeny bite and it hurt going down and didn't taste very good coming up. I've tried chicken nuggets kids meal at McDonalds and slimed on the nuggets and then the fries. So anytime we're looking to eat out instead of me cooking (which is rare now), we try not to go to fast food. Anytime we have to in a pinch, we go to Wendy's and I get a small thing of chili.. or we go to Subway and I get a wrap with tons of veggies (amazing, I use to get all meats & cheese, no veggies.. now I love the taste of all the veggies on it). I have to eat this extremely slow and carefully and can't finish the whole thing. Lastly, a meximelt from Tacobell. Again, slow & careful and I pull off all the extra tortilla bread. But overall, I would MUCH rather make a full meal, than having a small amount of the stuff I can eat fast food. I really get pouty when DH suggests goin to Wendy's for example. I'd prefer to make meatballs & veggies at home. I was a fast food addict, and I have changed.. yay But I agree, don't deny yourself every once in a while. If you want a hamburger, go get one. Depending on your restriction, it may keep you from wanting to try one again for a while!

Haydee- Hah, I didn't know! I was just browsing scents, and I have a lotion (not B&:Banane48: that scent, and I always thought it was a nice neutral smell.. something most people can agree on (unlike thinks like cucumber melon, which I think are a personal choice kind of thing hah hah). I'm glad you like it, now keep it under the tree for a little longer!! Terry- Oh I thought you quit. Well, it's hard.. period! I have seriously tried to quit once.. it lasted for 2 weeks.. trying gum, patches, etc..and the longest I actually went without a smoke was 24 hours.. and I flipped my lid. I was bawling and shaking and said.. screw this, I can buy smokes.. and did.. and that was that. In my Atkins days I got to 260's. I've never been able to lose beyond 260's.. this is where I fall off the wagon and gain it all back + some. When I see 259, I'll just be delighted! Me & DH got sick last night.. I guess from the eggs.. only thing I ate, and he got some too. At 4am, I woke up with diarhea, and it was SO PAINFUL in my stomach, severe cramps and made me buckle over.. When I woke up this morning he said how around 2am he woke up throwing up. But we both felt fine when we got up this morning... well, I say that but I actually have a little bit of residiual pain in my tummy. Speaking of tummy though, last night in the mirror I was playing with my stomach trying to see what I may or may not look like when I lose more weight, where my loose skin is, etc. Ok if I stand straight and hold my gut in, I look almost normal.. but here's the thing.. if I bend over, and on top of that don't hold my gut in, I swear to God my stomach gets 5x the size it was. It's GIGANTIC. I'm wondering why that is, and if that will go away with weightloss.. or will I always have a crap load of belly that appears when I bend over???

Migraine finally went away.. took 2 advil too, which I felt get a little stuck. I am very glad to be tight than loose. I was way too loose.

Okay! Whew. This fill was JUST WHAT I NEEDED!! Went to our weekly cracker barrell, I didn't want to brave chicken.. so I got some b'fast with half a slice of ham, eggs, apples and biscuits. Ate 3/4 of the eggs and was stuffed! FINALLY! I took a teeny bite of ham just to taste, I mean like a sliver.. and it was tastey but I couldn't eat anymore. I'm happy again, back on the wagon I am!! Foamed a little bit.. I think from the tiny sliver of ham.. But it's ok. Back to not bein able to eat big bites or breads. Just so excited you guys, my mojo and gung ho self woke up tonight!! Glad your sister is ok Tracy! My sister is actually in the ER right now! She's fine I'm sure, she dropped a dresser on her hand and thinks she broke a finger or knuckles or something.. but no one is panicky, so it must not be a big deal. We won all 4 games of bowling tonight, we're tied in 2nd and 2 games from 1st. We are on fire. Our 4th (a family friend) who is our best bowler, broke his ribs playing basketball last week (gah!) so he's out 6-8 weeks. We're fighting hard to stay top ranking while he's out. Told him at his age he needs to stop playin b'ball. He got a staff infection in his eye months ago from b'ball. It was nasty.. they had to take his eye out, scoop out infection, pack it with gauze, put his eye back.. I can't even imagine what that felt like. My SS's stuff may have arrived today? I ordered something from there for my mom and it came in today. Hmmmm???? Kat check your PM, goin to write you now!

Hey ladies! I'll post more tonight. Just got back from my all-day venture to get filled. They added the .5cc back that I had them take out a month ago. 266lb on their scale WOOWOO. Pam & Terry you guys are friggin AMAZING to stop smoking with this. I have INCREASED in smoking since banding, it's such a bummer. I wish I rocked as much as ya'll did. Don't fall off the wagon Pam, you've come so far!! My heros! I'll catch up on more posts later.. I have a migraine, came back by work to catch up on any loose ends before bowling.. ends up I had a lot of loose ends, and my most chatty customer..My head feels like it's going to EXPLODE. Oy.. and now to go bowling (I took some migraine meds, and I ate a tiger paw (white chocolate turtle we are sending out to customers for xmas). Just 1.. hoping it helps the head.. I heard chocolate can help from the endorphins or..whatever. Ok I'll be back later!! And Kat, I think I'm going to go with plan B I was telling you about, I'm going to let lunasa know too, so we're all on the same page. I'll explain tonight!

Wowser tears? Only tears I bring myself are of frustration The tummy and upper arms aren't gone, they just went from bulging fat to flabby fat. My upper arm, is completely different consistency, and yet from pics I see the exact same size! (GRR) My belly is still pooched out over my puddin pop, it just fits under my panties now. So don't be fooled, I'm not flat tummied! there's a roll under there. I am pleased to see my face there though, I do feel prettier. I always thought I was pretty, but looking at B&A of my face.. I'm like wow, I wasn't pretty :x

The booklet I got from INamed says it will not set off airport security. Very bizarre! I flew in July with band, and had no problems (in Vegas & Atlanta airports)

There's a good thread about this somewhere in this area.. do a search. It seems the concensus is, even if you take all the zinc, all the protein, etc. etc.. some people just lose their hair..and it grows back eventually.

It was exactly 4 days post-op that I had excruciating pain! I went to the ER for fear it was a blood clot in my lungs. It's better to be safe than sorry, so I believe you should go in!!

Ok, I wasn't as excited about the pics as I'd hoped to have been (since I hadn't taken pics since August!!!). But oh well. Here's April Vs. December. My face got all normal looking lol. Didn't realize I had such a fat face..

Woohoo congrats Terri!! (lookin for dancin nanners....) that it? Hmm.. how about, No no, that's not it... How about this.. :clap2:

Oh, going to post new before pics tonight when I get home. Since I actually did my hair & make up today for the business meeting. Be on the lookout, been a while since I took pics.. please oh please let it be a noticable difference!!

Kat stop by Sandia casino for me. We use to live 2 miles from it, and I sure do miss it We use to entertain ourselves by taking $50 each to the casino on the weekend and play bingo or penny slots.. out here, there's nothing to do, so our weekends are spent at home being boring. I have to say, that's the ONLY thing I miss about ABQ though. My car kept getting broken into in broad daylight.. at home & at work (worked at UNM).

Oh and I know people mention not being able to eat pork, this guy proclaims they are 'melt in your mouth' pork chops, so thought I'd share this too. I don't like pork, so have not tried this myself-- Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pork Chops 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 cup teriyaki 2 1/2 cups Water 4 pork chops In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, teriyaki, and water. In skillet on medium heat, brown both sides of the pork chops in a small amount of oil. Then pour the mix over the chops. Chops should be completely covered with the liquid. Bring them to a boil then lower temp and simmer for an hour and 20 minutes, turning chops over 1/2 way through.

On another forum (nothing to do with banding or weight) I asked people to post recipes they like.. Even with ratings, allrecipes.com has a lot of weird (IMO) recipes, that people don't seem to just make for their family.. it's more specialty. Anyway, I didn't ask for healthy, just wanted to get ideas. Ends up some people eat healthy and had some good recipe ideas. Thought I would share.. not editing their grammar or anything. "Guilt Free Cake" this cake is dead easy to make Make a pot of tea - with real tea is best- then let it go cold In a large bowl put in a cup of sultanas- raisans or mixed fruit cover with the tea bout an inch over the top- dont forget to strain it. then cover and leave it to soak over nite. next day mix in selfraising flour some mixed spice - ginger - or whatever you got handy then mix it till its the righ consistency then grease a loaf tin put the mix in and bake till it comes out clean with knife test this has got no butter no sugar and no eggs but it tastes great ice it and its a cake- cut it into big slices and pour hot custard over its pudding -slice and butter and its fruit loaf . "Healthy Easy and Fast chicken Nuggets" When all your kid wants is chicken nuggets...gotta get creative! *Boneless Chicken Thighs (they are not as dry for this recipe) cut into strips *grind up oatmeal to a half powder half meal consistency, add paprika and salt and pepper to taste *roll the chicken in the oatmeal ...place in a baking pan and drizzle a couple tablespoons of oil evenly over it all. *bake in the oven at around 425f until done, usually around 20 minutes. these are moist inside....crunch crispy outside "OJ Chicken" defrost a whole chicken or get a fresh one then fill it with orange juice leave it upright in a bowl for bout two hours. Then chunky cut some mushrooms onions and any veges you got in the house. Drain the juice out of the chicken and save it for later. stuff the chicken with the veges and season with whatever you like plug the hole up with a big wedge of pumpkin or potato. Paint the chicken with melted butter and then orange juce wrap it in foil and cook for an hour slowly , take out the oven when ready cut it clean in half serve it with salad and its awesome. try experimenting with different fillings like bacon cheese- seafood well anything thats safe to eat or that you enjoy. (I would suggest stickin to veggies for LB!)