piercedqt78

We have all done the slow sipping, I will say I was NOT able to drink anything super cold the first 3-5 days. It caused my stomach to cramp and hurt. I did better on room temp Water, or warm drinks, like warm decaf tea (what I was served in the hospital) and warm chicken broth. It seems to sooth the soreness away, and also I felt like I was getting real food in me.

We are HUGE Nightmare Before Christmas fans in my house. We have an entire room decorated with NBC stuff. My husband has been collecting it for years, it's expensive but holds it's value fairly well, and he loves adding to his collection. If you really look at the pics of my tree there are several Nightmare ornaments, mostly from the parks, but some are homemade, and some were ordered from China/Japan on Ebay. This year I wanted to make him something special, but not another ornament. I have 3 rubbermaid containers of tree decorations, before we moved to Florida we lived in a fairly large house in Chicago, and I put up 4 trees, 1 formal, one with homemade ornaments, 1 with all Disney stuff and 1 in my daughters room (a tabletop tree). Now we are in an apartment (just starting to look for a house, ugh) and I only have room for 1 tree so it's a hodgepodge of my favorites. So this year my daughter and I went digging online to see what we could find to make for him, and we decided to make him the wreath that comes to life. I saw them selling for as little as $20 and as much as $150 online, so I figured I could make one fairly inexpensively, have fun making it, and he would be thrilled. Well I was right, it came out better than I expected, we had a blast making it, and it only cost me about $12 in materials. I had the supplies to add the arms, but he liked it without the arms, and said the arms made it too big, took away from the face. So here it is:

that's a beautiful tree, and I LOVE the reindeer made out of the handprint. That's an excellent idea. I will be making those with my 3 year old great nieces to attach to their parents presents this year. And that is a seriously cute baby in the picture behind the tree.

Any more trees/decorations to share? I just love the holidays.

I didn't read all the replies, but call the drug manufacturer. They ALL have programs that help uninsured people get meds. And look online for a place in your area that works on a sliding scale. They base it on income, and usually have samples of meds to get you through. There is ALWAYS a way to make these things work. I know it sucks, and it will be hard, but it's doable and you are worth the work to maintain your mental state. (((hugs))) I am willing to help anyway I can if you want to PM me, and I can get you more info on the programs for your meds.

I wish we could, but we have such different taste in foods that it's just not possible. I am able to share when I eat out with my mom and dad, or with my daughter. She is glad she has moved to the adult menu, and she is happy to share whatever with me, as long as I don't make her eat seafood, brussel sprouts, or green Beans. LOL If they are ordering something that's not a good choice for me, or something I don't want I will order ala carte, if it's a nice place, like steak houses, etc, I will do the add an order or shrimp, or lobster and that's my meal. I'm never affraid to ask about what is available but not listed on the menu, you will be amazed at how many things are not listed, but are in the system to order.

I'm still amazed when clothing that is hanging in my own closet fits me, and my family thinks it's funny that I do a happy dance when I can put on pants without laying on the bed, and doing the booty scoot to get into my jeans. I hold up my new sizes and still say "never gonna happen" and they do fit, just like the last time I wore them. LOL It's a great problem to have though.

Fantastic idea!

I'm not even going to try to kid you, the pre-op diet sucks, but most people see some major weight loss. Each and every step you take right now is leading you to a better, healthier and happier you. I know that the 114 pounds I have lost all started with my little pre-op diet so many years ago. And it's another milestone that you are passing, I think the youtube videos are a great idea! I did a written journal, with some pics at major goals, but nothing on video.

I have popcorn, without issue. I didn't have this surgery to deny myself everything that tastes good, or that makes me happy. When we go to the movies, I ask for a child size cup, scoop some popcorn into that cup and that's what I eat. My family still gets a medium, and the two of them split what is left over. I don't add a ton of salt, but I do add a small amount of "butter". At home I sprinkle a little bit of parm, or tajin on it. http://www.tajin.com/en-us/ The best way to describe tajin is lime, chili, sugar and a bit of salt. I also use it on mango, pineapple, and papaya. It helps give popcorn flavor without adding a ton of oil. And if it isn't sticking to the popcorn a drizzle of lime juice and then the seasoning is amazing.

Love the dog, I bet he is having Santa puppy dreams. We have 3 dogs, all from rescues, and 2 of them were added to our family this year, so this is their first Christmas with us. They are both doing great with the tree. The one is a Cavalier King Charles, and he is not sure of the blinking lights when we first turn them on, but he seems fine after a few minutes. My female, was a stray, in really bad shape when the rescue took her in, is just glad to have a home, and people that love her. She "helped" put the tree up, she had to smell every ornament, and then she would sit while we put it on the tree, smell the next and sit, it was really funny. I was worried that she would be in the tree when I wasn't watching but it went up Friday and nothing has been touched so far. And they didn't have a chance to sleep under our tree, I wrapped the gifts I bought on Black Friday and put them under the tree already, so there is no room for pups.

Those are lovely! From Halloween to Chirstmas is my favorite time of year. I love the fact that I can get pumpkin flavored everything, the way the leaves change color, the sights and smells of the Holidays. I get overexcited like a little kid for the Holidays. My husband says it's one of the many things that makes him fall in love with me over and over again. I really like to do different things each year for the holidays. This year our theme is lights, and I am taking my 12 year old daughter and her friends to several light shows/decoration events. We live in Northeast Florida so we are going to do St. Augustine (oldest city in the USA) they have 3 million tiny white lights up and twinkling. Then we are doing a charity event for our local zoo, also all wrapped in millions of lights. and finally we will attend a local boat parade, it passes under a bridge about 2 miles from my house, so we will each make a mug of hot cocoa, and walk down to enjoy all the decorated boats. And as you can see in my pictures, we love Nightmare Before Christmas, (there are several ornaments and even a nightmare stocking under my tree, it's hubby's favorite movie), so I am making the wreath from the movie today. I bought the stuff during the black friday sales, so now I just need to assemble it. I think we are replacing all the holiday baking with holiday crafting. My family is a bit disappointed, but we won't gain the 8-10 pounds most people do this season.

Our tradition is the tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving, and comes down New Years Day each year.

Also NEVER be afraid to inject rather than just marinade. The deeper the acid absorbs the more tender and more flavorful the meat will be. I also love adobo sauce, mole sauce, coffee makes a fantastic marinade, as well as wine, oddly enough yogurt works well too. With the amount of meat you have, you get a unique chance to play with flavors, and seasonings. If nothing else, try cutting the roasts into several smaller pieces and do a different marinade on each of them. I know they add some extra sugar, but I love orange juice concentrate, and the acid from coffee is amazing, don't underestimate the value of instant coffee. You can mix the instant coffee powder with olive oil and use it as a rub. Also remember that cooking meat in butter helps to make it tender, it adds fat, but the tiny amount that we consume means that I will eat things made to their best flavor, and texture. You can soften a few sticks of butter add several herbs and then roll them into wax paper and allow them to re-solidify and use them to flavor and help tenderize the meat. I'm a huge fan of using garlic, thyme, black pepper, parsley, and either a bit of dried lemon (I use a product called tru-lemon, it's just dried lemon crystals and nothing else),and I have been known to save out a bit of the butter before I let it get hard in the fridge, I add a few spoons of white wine and then use that butter to cook with the same day. Land o' Lakes makes several pre-made flavored butters, they are really good, and not too pricey for what you get. I use them in mashed potatoes, and have used them on chicken, and steak. http://www.landolakes.com/product/sauteexpress I have only found 3 of the 5 flavors so far, but they are all really good. http://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/2012/06/cafe-mocha-rub/ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/molasses-coffee-marinated-pork-chops-recipe/index.html http://www.members.tripod.com/rrgclub/marinades.htm Just remember, play with your mixtures, I take some basic notes just in case it comes out perfect, so that I can re-create it later if needed. I can't tell you how many times I have made something yummy, and then not had the ingredients to remake it, or I completely forgot what/how I did it. LOL

Moose Marinade 1 c pineapple juice 1/2 c honey 1/2 tsp allspice Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl; mix well. Brush on meat to fried or roasted. The longer the meat is left to marinate, the better it will taste. Marinate in refrigerator for one or two days. Apple-Sage Marinade 3/4 c apple juice 1/3 c canola oil 1/4 c sage cider vinegar 2 TBS fresh sage, minced 1 tsp salt In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. This marinade is excellent for bear, elk, moose and deer venison. Coffee-Molasses Marinade 1 c strong coffee 1/2 c garlic red wine vinegar 1/4 c unsulfured molasses 1/4 c Dijon mustard 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce Combine all ingredients in a heavy, nonreactive sauce pan, bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes.

These are available in the freezer section now too, for those of us not lucky enough to have a Boston Market near us. The closest one to my house is 2.5 hours away. I'm in north Florida and it's in Orlando. We ALWAYS have dinner there when we do a day in the theme parks.

I either pick off my family's plate, or order an item ala cart. We are going on a cruise and I plan on ordering a few Entrees, having a bite or 2 of each, and letting my family have what I don't eat. I will order a cheese plate for dessert each night. I'm not a sweets person to begin with, so I don't miss Desserts. When we do seafood places, I usually get a shrimp cocktail, or an appetizer or just order a piece of fish, no sides. I usually have a bite of my hubby's baked potato, or I will eat the tiny cup of slaw that comes with my daughter's plate. Another option is if my hubby orders a steak most places have the option to upgrade it with a skewer of shrimp, scallops or a lobster tail. (you can tell I live in a coastal region) That upgrade is easily enough to be my dinner. Sometimes I add a steamed or grilled veggies side, sometimes I don't. I go with the thought of quality over quantity now. We even do fast food, burger king has the low carb option. I get a whopper jr, low carb. The basically put the lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle with the grilled meat into a side salad container. I add some ketchup, and mayo on top and eat it with a knife and fork. I can't even finish a whopper jr. My dogs love meal time now. I have also been known to ask for them to make me a salad with no lettuce, and every place is happy to do it. It ends up being the grilled chicken, and the toppings. My favorite is from Wendy's, I get a half sized grilled apple salad, no lettuce. The container is 1/2 a grilled chicken breast, a few small chunks of apple, some blue cheese, a few cherry tomatoes, and a side packet of walnuts. It comes with a rasberry balsamic dressing on the side. It's the perfect lunch or dinner, and I can eat almost all of it, at one sitting. I save the walnuts for a snack later in the day. As long as you really look at your options you can usually find something to eat just about anywhere you go.

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-papaya-as-meat-tenderizer-3470371.html?cat=22 http://www.farawayfoods.com/wildeats-seasoning-rubs.html http://www.bbqbackyard.com/profiles/blogs/papaya-the-natural-meat I use this method, and freeze the meat in the brine, or just in some seasonings with the grated papaya. It's really good, and all I have to do is cut the bag away, and pop it into the crock pot, it continues to tenderize as it thaws and cooks. If you season it properly you don't taste the papaya at all. I use a really good redwine, or bourbon with some grated garlic, thyme, fresh ground black pepper, and I add olive oil before putting it in the crock. Just don't put it in the oven with olive oil, it will go rancid over 325. I have a few marinades, that are made with orange juice concentrate, or that have lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar. All of these are acid based, and help to make the meat tender, and also help to mask the game flavor. I also love venison made into chili, stew, meat pies, or even a shepherds pie. You can always get creative, and use it like really lean beef, just make sure to season it a little more than a beef recipe calls for, since the meat is a stronger flavor. I would check pintrest, and cooks.com both are great places to get recipes. Or if you want my marinade recipes just let me know. I married into a hunting family, and my daughter says that beef chili tastes funny to her, since she has always had it with wild game.

It was explained to me that fat stores estrogen, and as we lose fat our bodies start using the estrogen sometimes the body knows how to handle it, and sometimes it doesn't. I know that when I was first banded it took me about 6 months to get straightened out.It might be worth talking to your ob-gyn and see if they have any suggestions. Mine put me on Depo, and after 6 weeks of spotting I didn't have another TOM until I stopped the shot 3 years later.

I would hate to see things being deleted. I know there is a ton of great info mixed in with some of those threads. And just because the posters have gone off topic, or broken a few rules, that doesn't make the info less valuable. And when you start deleting threads, it can make a topic really jumbled and hard to follow. Not to mention when you start giving mods the ability to just delete posts, sometimes that ends in an abuse of power.

I had a lapbnad 8 years ago, but it had to be removed, do to my stomach prolapsing into my band. I was converted to a sleeve on May 8th. I went from 206 the monring of surgery in May, to 133 as of today. I am now 2 pounds under goal, not only for the challenge but for MY permanent goal.

I have a few pics in my gallery. And once I'm off my stupid knee walker I will take some goal pics. The only think I can say that I do, is I eat ONLY when hungry, and I don't get overly nuts on counting calories, or carbs, or fat. I make healthy choices, and drinks tons of liquids. And until I had to have foot surgery on Friday, I walked 3 dogs daily, and swam everyday that the pool Water was warm enough to not freeze to death.

Other than at meal times, I drink as much as I want without issue. I just can't chug liquids. I almost always have a glass of iced tea, or a Water bottle with me, and I drink from it all throughout the day. I was told that getting my fluids in was vital. I don't drink for 30 mins before a meal, and then again 30 mins after a meal. I will sip if needed for spicy foods, and the doctor was ok with that. He told me that the fluids would fill me up too quickly, and I wouldn't get my nutrients in at my meals. But I don't have to wait between drinks, but if I feel full then I just wait a bit longer before starting my next bottle of water or drink.

I am 6 months and 8 days post-op and I am officially at goal!! I had to have foot surgery, yesterday and when they weighed me at the hospital (same scale as my sleeve surgery) and I weighted 133. My goal was 135. I have gone from a size 22 to a 10/12. And now I have to figure out how to maintain where I am now. I talked to the intake person at the plastic surgery place that I am considering next spring and she told me if I am underweight they will NOT do a lower body lift on me. I have to be about 140ish for the doctor to be comfortable doing surgery. She explained that since I have 12-16 pounds of skin to be removed, that will make my underweight according to my BMI. I would only weigh about 120, and I'm 5'5. I couldn't be happier with my weight loss, and my surgeon is just ecstatic with my progress. I was a lapband revision, and was told I would be a slow loser, because of the revision, but that was not the cast at all. I lost 71 pounds in 6 months, and even had a 6 week stall in that time frame. I will be calling my surgeon on monday and giving him the awesome news! The nurses all came around in pre-op and congratulated me. They were all super impressed at how quickly I managed to lose the weight, and how in their words, how AMAZING I looked. I just moved the last of the gems from in my motivation jar. I swear even though my foot is hurting (I had to have a tendon repair with a graft, and a bone broken and reset) but moving those gems made all the pain go away. Today is the third best day of my life, after the birth of my child, and the day I married my hubby!!

If I click new content it shows me ALL the new content. I'm looking to get only my surgery related content.