Lucy

Thanks everyone for the support. It's hard to believe that I'm almost banded...I can't wait for Friday! I'll keep you posted Eddie, I always buy my Perfect food at Whole Foods. You can probably find it for a better price online, but I haven't really looked -- it's just more convenient for me to get it at WF. I always blend it in a smoothie with yogurt, frozen berries, Protein powder, flaxseed oil, and orange juice, so I can't really taste it. It smells like the country to me...like grass and horses. That's not really the best description, but I'm a city girl, so that's what it smells like to me. I have a friend who mixes it in juice and drinks it like that and he seems to like it OK, but I have never actually tried it. They also sell it in capsule form, but it costs more (of course). Julie and Kity both have a point, though. Maybe try drinking more Water and eating more vegetables and see where that takes you... good luck!

It's great that you have wonderful, respectful children. My feelings are, if you want them to stay that way, you will enforce rules, even if they only break them once. Your punishment isn't fun but that's not the point of punishment. It's reasonable and will stick with your kids -- I doubt they will pull a reapeat disappearing act anytime soon. And when they are older they will thank you for not just blowing it off. I was a stubborn child and was punished a lot for breaking the rules. I can't imagine where I would be if my parents had never punished me.

You could also try "Perfect Food". It's powdered greens and helps with digestion. I have a scoop of it in my protein shake every morning. I'm not banded yet (5 days to go!) so I don't know how it would go post-op, but I've been taking it for about a year and I haven't had any constipation problems at all.

Agreed with most here, it's great news that he is being released. I fully support the right for assisted suicide. "Dr. Death", which the news insisted on calling him, is way ahead of his time. I think everyone should be forced to see "The Sea Inside". Check it out, 396, you might have a change of heart.

"OW" does not express my thoughts right now! Glad to hear you are feeling better.

I'm not, actually. I know that I am having this done to motivate me. And when I come out of that operating room, I am going to wake up with a different mindset. The $15,000 payment is a HUGE motivation.

At my first visit with the surgeon he scheduled a date for a month from then. I had alreay started going to required classes. I finished those 2 weeks ago. I had my pre-op labs with my MD last Friday and will have surgery next Friday. It happens pretty quickly with self-pay. I didn't need to do any pre-op tests other than the labs.

<p>Congrats on the new job, Stevee!</p> <p> </p> <p>"TMP" is too funny. I have TMJ, but unfortunately it is mostly stress-related and not sex-related.</p> <p> </p>

And OHJuli, my condolences to you and your GF. I hope you are well and at peace.

Hope you all had good weekends. I just wanted to send my love to the LGBTers and wish you all a happy 4-day week (woo hoo!).

By that same reasoning, one could easily turn around and ask you, how can you support anyone deciding who gets to die at all? Because someone commited a crime, that makes them deserving of the death penalty? Only the "innocent" ones get to live?

I don't take it alone, but I do keep in the fridge. If you add it to your protein shake you won't taste it at all.

These are some of the best workout songs from my iPod gym playlists: Bitch -- Rolling Stones Lose Yourself -- Eminem How We Do -- Mt Sims Editions of You -- Roxy Music Anarchy in The UK -- Sex Pistols I Feel You -- Depeche Mode Once Again -- Handsome Boy Modeling School Killing in the Name -- Rage Against the Machine Slip it In -- Henry Rollins The Seed -- The Roots Orgasm Addict -- Ther Buzzcocks Glass -- Joy Division Good Head -- Turbonegro Hairdresser on Fire -- Morrissey Breaking the Law -- Judas Priest Southern Man -- Neil Young Debaser -- Pixies Hypnotize -- The White Stripes Sex Dwarf -- Soft Cell

Do whatever you want and your friends will be happy to come to any event you have to celebrate your wedding no matter how many years it has been since your civil ceremony. And if they have a problem with it, then they probably aren't really your friends to begin with.

Most of his work is unwearable -- he's an architect.

I always wear something, but not a lot all at once. The pieces I have are simple and modern. My wedding band/engagement rings are titanium with tiny diamonds inset into them. Most of my jewelry is from TeNo and Boccia, who specialize in beautiful modern stainless steel and titanium jewelry. Even though I'm not a huge Frank Gehry fan, I love some of the pieces he did for Tiffany's.

I've been aiming for 60. There's nothing scientific about my answer, but the nutritionist that works at my surgeon's office said that was what we should get. Maybe she meant as "a bare minimum" What do you know about flaxseed oil? I've been putting that in my Breakfast smoothie for the past few months since it's full of omege 3 fatty acids and is supposed to help with weight loss.

This is definitely the best thread on here. What, Stevee, this isn't enough of my face for you? I'm just a little shy... You are brave to head back to work so quickly, Eddie. I'm taking more than 2 weeks off. I have my own company and I work out of the house, so I don't have to deal with bosses/coworkers/etc., but I have clients. I'm not telling anyone that I'm having the surgery, but I've told all my clients that I need to dedicate those 2 weeks to another client's project, and they are all cool with that. And, frankly, it's the truth. I am the client and my lapband is my project.

I haven't been here in 24 hours and I'm glad to see all the Canucks who back me up. I looked into moving to Toronto at one point and I love Neil Young, so I feel a little camraderie here. Eh? Anyway, as many others have pointed out, there are ways to condone law-breaking without partaking. I am not interested in becoming a prostitute and weed is not my thing. There happen to be many laws that I don't agree with that do not directly affect my life. So I am pretty law-abiding, but I don't have a problem with others who choose to disobey some of them. I am with the previous posters who mentioned hypothetical situations about what if abortion was illegal or what if I was drafted. My point is that I don't think we should all go out and break the law Judas-Priest-style, but I believe in certain things that do not align with all of the laws this puritanically based government has created. In certain instances I belive it is important to stand up for your beliefs and not do what the government wants you to. I have morals and ethics and standards -- the laws that I agree with correspond with my worldview. For example, I think the "do not murder" law is a pretty good one and I would not condone anyone breaking that. So lest anyone take my previous statements to an extreme and say things like "so if you are for breaking the law, does that mean we should all go out and steal and kill and rape?". Because that's not what I'm saying and I think I've made myself pretty clear. Now, back to Canada, has anyone ever been to Grano on Younge St. in Toronto? That is my favorite restaurant in the world....

I will admit that I am wary of trying to hemp powder because I think it's going to taste like straw. It's not hard for me to "give up" junk food because I never really ate much of it anyway. The hard thing is finding a palatable Protein source. At the end of the day, we need protein no matter what, so I guess we will have to find it somewhere... Is your hemp Protein Powder flavored (chocolate or whatever)? I was looking at some of that at the store the other day, but it only had 14g of protein per serving. I thought maybe the taste wouldn't be that bad, but I'd have to drink a LOT of it to get the protein needed.

Thanks, Gayle, that's a good idea.

Understood. I would like to respond to what you said about not understanding how someone can be for something that is illegal -- in my view, just because the government has decreed something "legal" doesn't mean I am going to agree with it. "Legal" does not equal "moral" or "ethical" or even "in everyone's best interest". Thanks to Capitalism and the general corrruption of politics, most of our laws have been enacted to work in the favor of the rich and those who are in office. Guns are legal in this country, I do not agree with that. I think marijuana and prostitution should be legalized. The existence of the death penalty offends me. Everyone should be able to marry, regardless of sexual orientation. I am a progressive radical (I don't even consider myself to be a democrat) and I don't agree wtih many laws. That doesn't mean that I break them, but it does mean that I have a point of view that is different than our government's (and anyone, obviously, who has a different opinion). You are welcome to debate me if you want. I'm not looking for a fight (although I'm sure there will be people who read this and say "you want to legalize prostitution?!?!?!?!?). I am interested to hear what other people think. Being on this forum has shown me that most of the people I surround myself with in life have a simiar perspective as me, so it's refreshing to come here and meet people who have very different ideas on life than I do.

oops. editing problems in this post. see below.

Fine. No one wants it, so I'm throwing it away. I tried.

It has always bothered me that the censors go crazy over nudity, but all the violence slides through. I don't care if my (hypothetical) children see some boobs, but I am concerned about their overexposure to violence.