Donna113

When I was growing up, I had several friends who were Southern Baptists. Their particular church said women had to wear skirts that fell below the knees (ankle length being ideal) and dancing was banned. I don't know if this applies to all Southern Baptists.

Having the right level of fill really helps with the self-control/head hunger issues. When you are not physically hungry, you're much less likely to think of food. At least that's been the case for me. Exhausted. I'm bored with winter. I want to get back in the pool.

I still eat pizza on occasion. If it's thin crust, I eat the whole slice, if it's any other kind of crust, then I just scrape the top with a fork and eat the toppings only. I used to love dipping bread in herbed olive oil but now I just do it with the crust (and just a couple of bites). Also, I find if I toast the bread to a crunchy consistency, I can still eat 1/2 a sandwich. I have no problems at all with eggs any style. Lest I give a false impression, I rarely indulge in the above items but when I really want a slice of pizza, a sandwich or find myself at an Italian restaurant, I do not deny myself either those items. I find now that a little bit goes a long way. I have been on a weight loss stall for the past couple of weeks so I really need to switch something up. I feel my restriction has lessened quite a bit but am reluctant to get another fill as I want to be able to eat solid foods comfortably. I think I'll hold off for at least another month and see if I can break through this plateau. I was at my current weight for a couple of years so I'm thinking my body just wants to rest at this weight for a bit before it breaks through the fat barrier.

I find it ironic that people talk about "supporting" a war. How can anyone support a war? You can support a cause or a person, but if you support war, doesn't that make you a war mongerer? I support freedom and the pursuit of freedom. Being an Army brat, I ALWAYS support our soliders. Sometimes supporting our soldiers means insisting on bringing them home. I flip flop on the Iraq war but my support of our soldiers never waivers.

<channeling Jack Nicholson as Joker> This whole thread needs an enema!

Whoa -- what happened? Way too quiet on LBT tonight.

That's awful. I mean, yeah, it's kinda bad to lose your cool like that but hey, it's not like she attacked him with a knife or anything. It certainly doesn't warrant a 2 month jail sentence. If she wasn't a "reality TV celebrity", this would be brushed aside as a misdemeanor at worst and certainly wouldn't be national news.

I think when Filipe (Blue Team?) loses the weight, he's going to be a major hotty. He has a gorgeous face. :thumbup:

Shrink - I second that! I didn't get a fill but I feel blah... Still haven't started back on the workouts and don't feel any motivation to start. It's that TOM! Blah!

Guilty as charged. Not much to say except I'm feeling very unmotivated about anything. Way too much work to do and no motivation to get it done.

I bet Joelle's regretting not taking the $25K when she had the chance.

PattyGreen, I meant it as a compliment.

Good morning. Susan, I wondered where you were these past couple of days. Hope your MIL is on the mend. Confession - I'm the opposite of most when it comes to heels. The first time I put on heels, it felt perfect! I've completely stayed away from flats (even when they were all the rage). Now, if I wear flats, I feel extremely clumsy and awkward.

Makes you wonder if the producers of the show "influence" the votes. Joelle is the one everyone loves to hate and she puts out a lot of drama whereas the engaged couple were nice and sweet, but not much drama. The show is about ratings after all. Do you support those that need it or those that earned it? Keeping someone there because they need it and making someone who earned it leave doesn't seem very fair to me.

Thanks for the laughs, sweetie! :thumbup:

Watching Idol right now and wondering why friends and family don't stop some of these people from auditioning?

PJTP: Watching Idol right now and wondering why friends and family don't stop some of these people from auditioning?

Wow. Unless your wife is already disabled, she shouldn't need a nursemaid after the surgery. In fact, the doctor wants his patients to be up and about to get the gas moving post surgery. I had my surgery on Wednesday and was back at work the following Monday. My husband took the day of surgery off so he could drive me to the hospital and stay stay at home with me for the remainder of the day but by the next day, I was perfectly fine. The first few days post surgery, she can only have liquids anyway so there's no cooking necessary.

Cubs Girl, thanks for the info. Very helpful.

I posted this on another thread, but I thought it would fit in equally well here. I didn't feel much restriction until my 4th fill about 4 months out; that wasn't quite enough and my 5th fill about 5 months out finally gave me enough restriction that I began to understand what people meant by the "sweet spot". You will stay hungry for about the first 2-4 weeks until your stomach gets adjusted to the new limited amounts. After that, you will still have head hunger issues and/or desire to eat larger portions than you should until you reach the "sweet spot". Once at the sweet spot, even if you crave something and give in, just a small amount goes a long way. Of course that doesn't apply to "liquid" food. I had a lot of questions and doubts initially because I really did think this was the easy way out prior to surgery. I was self-pay so I didn't have to jump through all the hoops and go through all the classes, etc. Had I done so, I might not have gone through the surgery. Now, I am so glad I did go through with the surgery but I admit I went through it blind. In looking back, I realize the first 3 months were the toughest because the band isn't working at its optimum level (at least for me). Don't fool yourselves into thinking you can get bigger fills to get more restriction early -- that's a dangerous road to band slippage or even worse, erosion. Let your mind, body and band have the time it needs to get to know each other and become a healthy team.

Even comfortable heels hurt like stilettos when the air temperature is cold - on pavement, no less!

Why would it go away in a year? What kind of helium do they put in our bodies that takes a year to subside? I think docs say that just because they don't want to tell you that if you have severe gas problems post op that continue long after the healing, then they are going to continue for as long as you have the band. My doc says the placement of the band is just in the perfect spot for trapping air bubbles so it goes to reason that it will either come up or go out. Perhaps after a year, people adjust better to the new chewing, swallowing, etc. and swallow less air which may decrease the amount of gas.

Do your cysts make you feel like your entire uterus is ripping away from you? I had a pain like that a couple of years ago and it was so bad it bent me over double. I could hardly breathe. I went to the emergency room and they ran every single blood test, gave me an MRI scan and an ultrasound and found absolutely nothing wrong with me. I then went to my gyno a couple of days later and she also could find nothing wrong with me. She said I had a small cyst but it was so small it hardly showed up at all in the ultrasound so she didn't think that could be it. I've had that pain a couple of more times since then but they have been extremely brief episodes (less than 5 minutes) whereas the first episode lasted for 2 days. To this day, noone knows what it is or what's causing it because all my tests and scans keep coming back negative.

Prior to being banded, I used to drink lots of diet soda. My doc said no carbonated beverages because they cause too much gas. I'm now 6 months out and haven't had any soda in all that time. I don't miss it at all. I did try the Special K Protein Water when I was first banded but decided the extra 10 calories per serving didn't justify the 1 gram of protein. Now I mainly drink water. I do still drink coffee in the morning.

You are not normal--you are hawt, baby! I've seen the b/a pics.