Gibson

That is wonderful news! I'm happy for both of you! =)

I voted for do it now AND later! I'm so jealous!!! You'll love it!

Geez, I never really took a good look at her before. Does she have a phantom fat arm? I think we should call her Ilean Phantom Fat Arm, if I'm not hallucinating. =)

<p>Band Chick, this may seem silly to you but I've been doing it lately. Since I'm severely addicted to the Internet (specifically, THIS site), I've been listening to super high energy music while I'm online and when I'm reading posts I just move my arms up and down, round and round, back and forth and I can already feel some strength returning to my arms after a totally sluggish summer. Good luck!</p>

Oh my lord, I cannot breathe. That is the funniest thing I've ever read on the Internet!!!!! :clap2:

Oops, I said all that and didn't answer one of your questions! No, I don't have a surgery date yet. No where near it, unfortunately. But I'm not giving up!!!

Thanks for the reply, Marcy! Nope, I don't live in Ashland, I live around two hours south of there but since I live thick in the sticks Ashland is the closest surgery center. I'm glad to know that you have a lot of faith in the hospital! I talked to the wife of a man who had lap band surgery there a couple of years ago and she said it was FABULOUS! I feel so much better now. =)

I'm bumping this because it looks like this is where I'm going to have to have my surgery after all.

I'm bumping this because it looks like this is where I'm going to have to have my surgery after all.

losingjusme, I wanted to tell you that I just went to your blog and looked at your pics and read your posts and....wept. Your progress is amazing. The smiles on your face in your after pictures say it all. Keep up the AMAZING work!!!

Thank you for the welcomes, Losin' and Ridin'! =) (Hey, that sounds like a great username for someone else!) =) I am very disgusted with myself right now. (Like that's anything new? Ha!) I've come to the painful and depressing realization that if I don't low carb there is no way in Hades I'm going to be able to lose that 30-40 pounds I need to lose before insurance approves me. I'm sure you've heard it all before, but I cannot CANNOT feel satisfied when I restrict my calories and do a Weight Watchers type diet. I binge every single night after being "good" all day. (Not really sure if you'd call a trip to a fast food place for a double burger and fries a BINGE or not, but that's what it takes to feel that full feeling.) I lost 70 pounds in five months low-carbing once. That's the only successful diet attempt I've ever had in all of my 37 years on the planet. Now, you are probably thinking, "What's she whining about? If low-carbing works for her then she should just do it!" Well. I'm whining because I'm selfish and piggish and want to eat what I can before I'm banded. I know that the band will pretty much force me into a low carb lifestyle later, and I'm prepared for that, but do I have to suffer now???? *whine* =) It is time to "poop or get off the pot" though. (What a pretty saying!) If I haven't lost weight by the time I go back to my dietician and physician the first week of August, I'm screwed. Thanks for letting me vent here.

Hey guys, can I join this challenge if I haven't been banded yet? (I will go back and read all the previous posts tomorrow but I'm jumping the gun now!) I weigh 330 and it looks like my insurance won't approve the surgery until I've "complied" with the pre-diet enough to lose 30-40 pounds. Geez. Oh well, I'm committed to this banding journey so I'll find a way. I sure could use the support! Thanks!

Jachut, that's great! It means that you pay your waitresses, etc., a living wage without them having to rely on tips! Thanks everyone for your input, I guess I've been right on the money! =)

The "best/worst" backhanded compliment I ever received was from a hillgrit customer when I worked in retail. He said, "I like you. I don't like lil' skinny women. Yore real. Yore real like a bowl of Beans. You'd look good in my kitchen." God, I wish I was making this up. (Did I mention that I worked in West Virginia at the time?)

lololol Oh man, you are too funny! I had a similar thing happen to me with a doctor, "Have you tried dieting?" "Dieting? Wow. No, I would have never thought of that! Hallelujah I've had a revelation!!!!!! "

Can I add my pet peeve here? Ok, I haven't even been banded yet, but this is my gripe and it isn't really directed toward the posters but more towards their (in my opinion) incompetent surgeons. How can people who have ALREADY BEEN BANDED come in here and ask questions like, "What is PBing? What is sliming?" I mean, geez, didn't they get any information at all from their surgeons/dieticians? It scares me for them.

I'm also going to find For One More Day, that sounds great. Are any of you members of paperbackswap.com? It is the best (FREE!) website for voracious readers! You post your books and get credits and then you can order books from other folks with your credits. It's only $2.13 to mail a paperback book so it's a great (and cheap) way to find new reads. If any of you are interested in joining, if you don't mind, would you PM me and give me your email address so I can send you an invitation? You don't need my invitation of course, but if you sign up I'll get a free credit if you use my name. *greedy Gibson* =)

This is my favorite thread EVER! I've found more avid readers. Yay for me!!!! bitteroldhag, (love your user name!), I second your recommendation of The Kite Runner. It was one of the best books I've read in years and I recommend it to everyone I know who reads. I've picked up some great ideas here, I'm going to get: Fighting Weight, Shoot the Moon, Stiff (my family owned a funeral home when I was growing up and my dad is a mortician!), and something by Anne (Ann?) Rice. I finished my master's degree this spring and the first thing I did was cancel my television service because I wanted to read, read, and read...FOR PLEASURE, instead of for school. I've read around 20 books in June and these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head... White Oleander, Prep, Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, Infidel, A Lotus Grows in the Mud (Goldie Hawn's autobiography), The Book of Ruth, Geek Love, Good in Bed, and A Virtuous Woman and all of the Hannibal books. I've been in a joyous book reading frenzy! Oh yeah, in case you didn't catch it the first time.....READ THE KITE RUNNER! =) :clap2:

We are blessed. :eyebrows::clap2: I'm glad you felt OK about the neighbors' comments. I obviously haven't lost weight yet, but I got a haircut a couple of years ago and it seemed like strangers on the street were saying, "Oh my god, you look so much BETTER!!!" constantly. Instead of taking their comments as compliments I kept thinking, "Wow. I must have looked like total sh*t before!"

green, how did that make you feel? Good or like an animal in a zoo? I don't like for people to look at me or especially to make comments about me so I have a feeling I'd better practice taking compliments graciously before I'm banded. Back on topic, I like big, chunky, tall, burly men. That's what I've always been attracted to all of my life. However, my boyfriend is 5'5" (I'm 5'7") and he is thin. Not skinny, he's built great actually, muscular without an ounce of fat on his body. My boyfriend has always been attracted to tiny little petite women. I am 5'7" and weigh 330 whopping pounds. We met online so we had the advantage of becoming irresistible to one another before we could be thrown off by our looks. =) We have dated blissfully for five years and while I go through lots of periods of self loathing because I am so big and he is so normal (especially when we are out in public and I get that "What the hell is he doing with her?" look. I know you all know the look I mean.) I try to remind myself that Hey, I might be fat and not be his idea of the perfect physical specimen, but I wouldn't have special ordered his body type out of a catalog either. Thank GOD we didn't put each other in boxes based on our physical appearances only. Funny thing, I recently found a list of things I wanted in a man that I had written when I was in my early 20's. My amazing boyfriend met every single one of the criteria except (At least 6 feet tall.) See what I would have missed if I'd been too picky? I dare say that I probably meet all of his dream woman criteria too, except for the height and weight wishes. =) This week I told him, "You'll be so glad that you stayed with me all these years after I lose my weight and you'll have a beautiful girlfriend." He said, "I already have a beautiful girlfriend and don't you forget it." God, I love that man. *end of rambling* =)

Hey ladies, I haven't even been banded yet but I'm going to lurk on this thread to try and ground myself in the reality that weight loss won't cure all of my ills. Since I'm currently at 330 pounds and dreaming that weight loss will make my life perfect, I need the truth! =) Great posts so far and GUYSIS....did you type out that entire article?? Bless you!!!

Of course you should buy it! I mean really, it's not like you are going to be DEPRESSED if spring comes and you are too small for it! =) And if you love the dress that much, don't take a chance on skipping that size. Wear that baby in your house in the middle of winter if it makes you feel that pretty and feminine! =)

Whew! I've been following your ordeal and am so happy for you! It would have been just too cruel for a lapbandtalk moderator to not be able to get her band back! HOORAY!!!!

Yay for you!!!!! I'm not banded YET, but from the majority of the posts I read here I would say that it will have been worth the wait for you! =)

Yay for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *does happy dance*