Penni60

Here are my current pics too by the way. Well old pre banding and current as of today. Old pic I weighed 298 New pic I weigh 265

Today's plan accomplishment: I will follow my Nutrisystem meal plans. (I am just waiting for my shipment of foods. In the meantime I am committing to eating healthier and making better food choices.) I will exercise for a minimum of 20 min a day 4 days a week. (Danced at a wedding does that count?) I will lose at least 1 lb a week. (Not even gonna stress over this one for a long long time. Just gonna walk the walk for now and whatever I get is gravy.) I will drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. (Getting in the water is easy.) Positive reinforcement mantras: I will continue to eat healthy and hope to lose weight. I will continue to exercise and hope to lose weight. I will continue to be proud of myself with all the accomplishments to date. This has been a long hard struggle being without the band. I have fought back and lost ground so many times I can't even begin to tell you. I recently read a GREAT and highly recommended book by Rhonda Britten called, "Do I look Fat In This?" WOW!! Eye opener can we say. First of all I love Rhonda. She is one of the life coaches on Starting Over. She is just a doll and so sincere. And let me just add what a life she has had. What obstacles she has had to overcome. She is my hero. She watched her father shoot and kill her mother then he turned the gun on himself. She was only 15 when this happened. She is one strong lady let me tell you. Anyway, this book enlightens us to our attributes and how we should be thankful for what we have and not wish our lives away on what we don't. That is an over-simplification of the books message but you get the drift. Anyway, I loved it. Here is my RE-COMMITTMENT to gaining self instead of losing pounds. If those lost pounds are an end result then HOORAY!! If I never lose another pound I will be happy in who I am. I love all you guys. Can you feel the love?

Linda: As soon as you can get thee to your band surgeon. Most likely it could be superficial but without seeing it I can't make that assumption. Also, I am not a doctor so please do contact your band surgeon and make an appt to go in. That said, draining it was a good thing. Personally my opinion is you should be on antibiotics but others might disagree. I do hope it is superficial. If you start running a fever you should call your doc back.

Jess: The only way to make it "real" for me is to journal and count calories. It is there in black and white and you can't get away from it. One other thing you might want to do is to jot down the "emotion" you are experiencing when you eat something. This might help you to understand why you are eating? Just a thought. It has helped me to better understand myself and my eating habits. I had to have a complete hysterectomy at the young age of 27, I already had 4 kids by then so I was happy about that. I have major fibroid tumors and a raging case of endometriosis which was precancerous. I went into a surgical menopause and let's just say I wasn't someone you wanted to be around for a few months. LOL!!!

You guys are the greatest. I felt so good today in that Black outfit. And the Jewelry I made with my own wittle hands. So I am especially proud of that. I see what you guys are saying about me looking better now than in the pic from a year ago. I can see that too. Thanks for pointing that out. LOL!! We never see ourselves in the same light as others do we? Weird isn't it? MUCHO HUGS!!!!

Yeah I just decided the last time I went to the salon to have it chopped off. I also have golden highlights but it is hard to see in that pic. I love my new do. ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!

Sherri Please find a doctor in your area or close to your area that will take you on as a patient before you have surgery. I assume you are having the surgery in Mexico since you asked this question. You can get a list of doctors from Inamed for your area. www.inamed.com They don't usually recommend a particular doctor but they will give you a list of docs. Where are you located in the country? If you are in the Los Angeles area then I can recommend a GREAT doc for follow up. If not then I am sure others will chime in and offer suggestions. Good luck.

To get a perspective of what I looked like before banding at all. Here is a often hidden pic of me, with the pic from today side by side.

Ok about this same time last year I went to Maryland to attend a close friends wedding. I wore this cute blue outfit. (SEE PIC) I was stalled in my weight loss and had stabilized at 245 lbs. I was not happy with where I was at and wanted to lose more. Instead just 6 short months later I lost my band instead. So today, I attend a wedding here in Pasadena. Beautiful bride and groom exhuding love for each other. Makes me puke. LOL!! No really it was very touching and sweet. They are so cute together and so meant for each other as well. So I took some pics in my black outfit (SEE PIC). I am at 265 lbs now. That is a 20 lb gain since I lost my band. SIGH!! I am still not happy with where I am but I am learning to cope. Take one day at a time and try to make better food choices. Enjoy the pics.

Couldn't see the pics!!

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must pay full salaries to exempt employees who are absent from work for less than one week to perform jury service. It seems this section you quoted Alexandra says that he should get paid. I am so confused.

Hey diddle diddle the cat ate my fiddle and called Miss Muffet to catch a falling star and put it in a bucket so Jack and Jill can take it to Little Jack Horner's Mom and stick her finger in the pie and four and twenty blackbirds will be baked in the witches oven along with Hansel and Gretel. WOW!! I am on a roll. LOL!!!

Let me just say that I am so happy Taylor won. I really wanted Chris Daughtry to win it but he was booted off. BUMMER!! Can we say the Idols were better tonight than the veterans? WOW!! WHat was up tonight. The only ones I think were actually good was Prince and the group LIVE that sang with Chris and Al Jarreau. Dionne was good up till the last note. Mary J what was up with her. She was way off key. Toni Braxton should not have tried to sing In the Ghetto with Taylor. All I heard was a deep voice with no direction. And she is usually really good. Meatloaf WOW!! He looked really really bad tonight. I have seen him LIVE before and tonight was not a good night for him. He rocked when I saw him on his storytellers tour in NYC. I saw him with Cindy Lauper too and he rocked then. But tonight he was just god awful. I love Meatloaf too. I will miss Idol. On to next year. OH how about those Golden Idol awards? LOL!!!!!

EH??? :faint: :hungry: Time to eat!!

Yes it can happen but that is up to the people that have the disagreement at the time to explose PRIVATE conversations. I personally don't like to see or hear two people having a disagreement in a public forum whether it is here or in a restaurant or wherever. I chose to ignore the disagreement as a lay person. But as a Moderator I do not have that luxury. I have to try to referee the disagreement so that the forum is not uncomfortable and things stay on track. All I ask is in the future if you (Collectively LBT) have an issue with another member PLEASE take it to a Private Message first. If you feel attacked then let a moderator or the owner of the board know and please give us some facts to work with not hearsay. Ok I am going to go to lunch with my sweetie and enjoy his company as I neglected him most of the day yesterday. HUGS TO ALL YOU GORGEOUS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes it can happen but that is up to the people that have the disagreement at the time to explose PRIVATE conversations. I personally don't like to see or hear two people having a disagreement in a public forum whether it is here or in a restaurant or wherever. I chose to ignore the disagreement as a lay person. But as a Moderator I do not have that luxury. I have to try to referee the disagreement so that the forum is not uncomfortable and things stay on track. All I ask is in the future if you (Collectively LBT) have an issue with another member PLEASE take it to a Private Message first. If you feel attacked then let a moderator or the owner of the board know and please give us some facts to work with not hearsay. Ok I am going to go to lunch with my sweetie and enjoy his company as I neglected him most of the day yesterday. HUGS TO ALL YOU GORGEOUS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pituranus Pitasaurus Tumeric (although I like the herb Turmeric this is a play on the word) Tums TumORus Let me think of some more

That is what Private Messages are for.

That is what Private Messages are for.

Wheetsin (sorry hijack) I cracked up at your sig line. That is too funny. OK back to program.

Telly I am impressed with all the languages. I have a hard enough time just to speak English at times. LOL!!!

OK Let's define foreign language? LOL!!! Because I was born and raised in the SOUTH people assume I speak a foreign language. Especially if they are from the NORTH. Hence John my s/o. LOL!! "git to church on sunday marning er God is gonna git ya." That was my grandmother's mantra growing up. I learnt that early on. I have been on the WEst Coast too long cause now I am integrated into this mecca of all manor of languages out here. Farsi is the Saudia language and you spelled it right. I have a friend married to an Iranian and she speaks fluent Farsi. She even spoke some curse words in Farsi but I can't remember them now. Here is another weird word from my southern grandmother. "HOPE" sounds simple right? Here is how she used it in a sentence. "I need some hope over here chillins". Can you guess what she meant?

I think Taylor's has it in the bag. He was just awesome last night. Katherine was good too but I think Taylor was just better. I still want a recount on the Chris thingy.

Marimaru you crack me up. Thanks guys

Hey Jessie: I am so thankful that you caught it in time. Take care of yourself. Come and post when you can. My prayers go out to you and your family for a speedy recovery.