phyllser

Christmas dinner tonight here at our RV park. Going to try to upload pictures.

Good Morning Lucky #7's! Where is everybody?? Looks like a beautiful morning here! Glad we're not back east with all that snow! My Mom & sisters are in Buffalo NY and probably getting hit. I'll have to call them later.

Sometimes we have to "fake it 'til we make it"!! Maybe this is one of those times! It's okay. We'll make it! We've spent our last few Christmases in an RV park with no family around. It was hard at first, but it's okay. We get in to the activities going on here and we keep in close touch with our family by phone and we end up having a nice Christmas. We had to adjust our expectations. Am I making any sense??

Christmas card exchange would've been fun. We are all too busy to think of these things until it's too late... like Secret Santa, too. We could take Janet's suggestion and do a Summer Secret Santa! I can't imagine making handmade Christmas cards! I'm having enough trouble just writing the addresses! I'm up to the "J's" now!! Think I'll get them in the mail before the end of the week???

That's great, Jackie! Congrats!!

:eek:No rumbling or tooting, but a lot of burping here! LOL:eek:

Wow! I didn't know teachers could be so mean!! LOL You're right... no dumb questions, especially not here. Sometimes I think there is no rhyme or reason as to why the scale just won't move sometimes. My routine seems to be to drop 10 lb in a couple of weeks and then the scale doesn't want to move an ounce for a couple of weeks. So many other issues come in to play... hormones, water retention, etc. I get to thinking I'm to old for hormone fluctuations, but, notice when my depression lifted last week the weight started dropping off... 5.4 lb in one week. So, who knows!!?? Thanks for your well wishes, gals. I've just ignored the crud today and kept on keeping on and I'm doing pretty good. Definitely a little congestion and slight headache, but I think my flu shot is fighting it off because whatever it is, it isn't getting a grip on me thus far! Janet.. I'm washing it away with a glass of wine instead of chicken soup!! But your one pot wonder sounds "wonderful"! I love cabbage. Used to make those huge pots of cabbage soup when I was in WW. Read about your new grocery store in the Desert Sun today. Might have to go check it out! Will be great to get together after the holidays. DH will bring some two buck chuck!! LOL. And you'll have to come out here and hang out with the senior citizens some time soon, too! We're among the youngest, so that's kind of nice!! But then I have to keep up with these 70-80-90 yr olds who are doing water aerobics and playing tennis, etc!! Neat group of folks out here though!

Secret gift exchange sounds fun. Wonder how they managed that. Sounds a little complicated, but fun. Yeah, July will be expensive whatever we do probably. I was looking for a cruise for us for right after school starts because that's when the prices go down usually. Sounds like you're going to have another busy day! I'm going to lay low today as I feel like I am coming down with something. I think I'll go to water aerobics anyway, but take it easy after that.... stuffed up head, achy, etc. i had my flu shot, so maybe I'll get a light pass! Oh, on the portion size again..... DH asked if I'd like some shrimp cocktail yesterday afternoon... snack. I said yes & I see him get out these two huge bowls! I said "No! No! Smaller" so he got out a much smaller bowl for me, but I still could only eat a few bites and had to finish it in the evening. He hasn't changed his mindset on my portion sizes yet. And he still doesn't get it that I'm not feeling all that great!

Wow! You had a busy day. I'm glad your dog is feeling better. Vet bills are outrageous these days. DH gets mad every year when we have to take the cat in for her shots and checkup. If that's a routine med you need for him all the time, I wonder if you could get it on the internet cheaper. So you're down near where that Super Target is going in. Lots of development down there I guess! We went shopping today, too. DH can never resist buying some steaks! He got some really big rib eyes. I just rolled my eyes and told him ONE will more than feed both of us for one meal. He bought two. But he did buy some seafood, too. Shrimp and scallops, which are my favorite. Wasn't very hungry all day, though. Feel like I might be coming down with something.

Yeah, I thought we'd hear from Dini after her trip to NYC. Many of those who were so active here back in the summertime are now among the missing most of the time! I'm assuming no one is really interested in the cruise idea anymore? I think I'm still going to keep watching for a good deal on an Alaska cruise for next fall. DH and I have gone twice, but I found a little different itinerary.. and he loves the Alaska cruises! Especially when we can find one out of Seattle.. no airplane trip! It's such a hassle to fly these days.

Your new picture is great! I thought your suggestion about taking a plate/tray of your favorite fresh veggies to a social gathering was a really good one and I used it in my TOPS lesson today! We have to learn these survival techniques and that is a good one. I've been keeping a bag of beef jerky handy for some of my hungry moments.

Hi, You're too kind. I didn't exactly "run" the meeting, but just did about a 15 minute lesson on social eating. I got lots of thank yous & compliments, so I guess it went pretty well. I really like that "THREE BITE RULE" thing I found so we talked about that, and I brought an issue of "Nutrition Action" newsletter that featured an article on the calories, sodium, etc. of menu items from Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill. How many of us "fluffy" people consider Italian food our very favorite??!! Spaghetti and Meatballs from Olive Garden... the same calories,etc. as two Big Macs and a 21 oz. Coke! Yikes!! Also, I was down 5.4 lb for the week!!! Woo Hoo!! I was very excited about that. The scale is moving again. DH was only down 1.8 lb. How did the dental appt go?? Next time we need a dentist in the desert I will call you! DH had a dental emergency last winter and it went okay, but could've been better!! He ended up having to go to an orthodontic surgeon. No fun!

I agree. I haven't been sick yet either, but feel some resp. symptoms coming on today. Think I have a low grade fever. Not a good time of year to get sick, huh! Too much to do! Sorry about your BD dinner.

:welcome: :welcomeB: :welcome2: Welcome! The following website is a good source of information and will help you find a board certified bariatric surgeon in your area: ASMBS - Patients

DH is rushing me to get off the computer. How is the weather on your side of the desert, Janet?? He's taking the coach for an oil change in Thousand Palms so I'm going to be homeless in about 20 minutes until he gets back. So I'm off to the pool in a few minutes and I think it could be a little unpleasant this morning.... chilly and intermittent winds. At least the sun is out. He says it was quite miserable an hour or so ago. I hope he's back by noon time!! Good job with the cookies, Janet. I had to do that when we were visiting our friends in Three Rivers. The goodies were all stacked up on one side of the kitchen and even though I knew they were there, they weren't bothering me because I couldn't really see them. Then someone brought a zip lock bag full of homemade cookies and another of brownies and placed them on the china closet.... closer to where I usually sat in the kitchen and where they were clearly visible to me. I kept sneaking a crumb or two out of the bag. After about a day of nibbling away at them, I moved them over to where the rest of the goodies were! It worked. Not only that, but they disappeared quicker when they were with the other stuff. I was the only one paying any attention to them until I moved them.

Maybe I'm just afraid to eat a whole piece of anything! Afraid of losing control? Test coming on Friday.. our big Christmas dinner here and there will be lots of food on our table... ham, scalloped potatoes, etc. Scarey! I'm giving the lesson at TOPS tomorrow on how to survive the holidays with all the food temptations!

Absolutely! Had my birthday a couple of weeks ago. We went out to Sunday Champagne Brunch and someone told the waiter it was my birthday. He brought an absolutely decadent piece of chocolate cake... huge, with a candle on top. There were six of us and each had a small slice and it still lasted for two more days. Three of us had another sliver that night. And I had a couple of bites each of the next two days until it was gone! But... that was a big treat for me. So, I'm not disagreeing with you, but I can't eat a whole piece of anything and I'm trying very hard to be satisfied with a couple of bites so I won't be tempted to over indulge.

If that works for you, that's good, but I have worked hard for all these months to train myself to be satisfied with a few bites. I heard someone refer to it as the "Three Bite Rule". I wouldn't trust myself to eat a whole piece of cake. I agree that we need to allow ourselves an occasional "treat", but for ME... I can't do more than a couple of bites.

:welcome::welcomeB::welcome2: Welcome, Newbies! We have a teenaged grandson who lives in Ford. Do you know where that is? About 20 miles north of Spokane, off Hwy 2, out in the "boonies" near Reardon. When I was looking for a doctor/facility who were Medicare approved I talked to an office in Spokane. I wonder if it was the one you're going to. I don't remember the doctor's name, but office staff was awfully kind to me. I was having trouble finding what I needed in the Seattle/Everett area and they were quite helpful and accomodating. I almost had them persuaded to take care of me over there in Spokane if we'd come and stay in our RV for a while! I wish you the best of luck!

I seem to lose in spurts... lose 10 lb in a couple of weeks and then nothing for a month, then another 10 lb. Last month I was down 5 lb. for the whole month. If my scale is correct, I've lost 5 lb. just in this past week. Anxious for TOPS weigh in on Wed. for confirmation of that as I don't quite trust our scale. It generally seems to be weighing about 2 lb. heavy.

We have a digital, too, that I think we paid around $30 for. We've discovered that when we go to TOPS, or even when I go to the doctor, our scale is weighing about 2 lb. more with no clothes on than the TOPS/Dr scale weighs fully clothed. So I'll probably get a pleasant surprise when we go to TOPS on Wed.

Weighed this morning & finally passed the -50 lb mark!! Woo hoo! My BMI down 10 since I started the pre-op diet. Oh, happy days! Oh, Janet... I think I see the sun peeking out!! And the rain has stopped on this side of the desert. Don't know what the outside temp is because the sensor is under the RV and undoubtedly underwater because it's reading --!

Weighed this morning & finally passed the -50 lb mark!! Woo hoo! My BMI down 10 since I started the pre-op diet. Oh, happy days! :whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo:

Nah, you didn't scare anyone away. We need your pep talks and prodding! Stay on your soap box, please! I haven't done much today either... inside the RV almost all day! did go to a craft fair at a resort down the road.. our "sister" resort. It was pretty good and I bought a couple of things. I got there a little before noon, planning to have lunch there. They sell hot dogs w/or w/o chili, bratwurst, chips & pop combo for $3.50. So I got the chili dog without a roll, had them put my chili in a bowl. Then I cut up the hot dog & put it in the chili, added a little cheese & onions, saved the pop & chips for my DH. So I left feeling good about my choices. Hot dog not the best for lunch, but not too bad w/o the roll & chips. And one of my friends from our park was there having lunch, too, so I had a good visit with her as we ate. Yeah, we get pretty spoiled with the weather down here. Today seemed so COLD, but it's much colder in most of the rest of the country!