Road Queen

I moved out of the US at 49! When I was 42 or 43, I decided that I wanted to work internationally someday. Even if it meant at retirement that I opened a humane society in a remote country. I went back to school for my masters, started on a second masters, began teaching college classes at night, increased the organizations I belonged to, volunteered abroad, started reading books about peace corp volunteers, etc. I could not have handled this 20 years ago. Even at 30, I don't think I had the skills to deal with situations like this - heck, I struggle now. If you truely want it and work for it, it will happen. Good luck.

When did this occur? You don't want to be overfilled. That can cause problems. Also, some peoples fills kick in a few weeks later. I am much tighter right now than I was a couple of months ago. I am also tighter at 1.5 than I was at 1.7 because I react to heat. Give it time. Take it slow. We didn't put the weight on overnight and should not expect to lose it overnight. Good luck. Celeste

Yes, you may have pain from the port side. I think it was a couple of months before I could even sleep on that side. My port still irritates me at times. Use a heating pad. Walk. You have the after effects of anesethesia combined with a foreign object in your body. They also use some kind of gas during surgery that gave me should pain for weeks afterwards. You just had major surgery. If your dr gave you pain medicine, take it. Good luck. Celeste

just had a great salad - 4 pieces of spinach torn up small, a grated carrot, little bit of onion, 3 Tablespoons black Beans, One slice summer sausage cut up into small bits, 1 Tablespoon cheddar cheese, 1 T reduced calorie thousand island dressing - I know its heavy in fat but it only clocks in at 220 calories on fit day. I had Protein shake at 90 calories this morning so I'm still going to struggle to get close to 1000 calories today.

Pisces here -

I am not an expert but here is what I have been using for guidelines. If I hear alot of gurgling, I know I am tight and/or irritated (this happens in the morning if I eat too late or too much at night). Then I do shakes. After liquids, I would go to smooth things (mushies) yogurt, egg drop soup, If that works, try things like mashed potatoes, refried beans, etc. I don't really have an answer cuz I don't know what you like. I know my tastes changed after surgery and have changed again since. If you read threads, you will notice that what you can eat changes over time. One day I can eat rice and the next I can't. I couldn't eat the lean healthy luncheon type meats but I can eat summer sausage. Give yourself time. You will learn your body and your band. And will still make mistakes. I end up sick a couple of times a month - from not listening to my body when I'm full, eating the wrong foods, or drinking too soon after I eat. Good luck and give it time. Celeste

good job - you are doing great. My dr wouldn't let me have egg drop soup but I did get won ton soup and just had the broth. It was a great diversion. This will pass and life will be great. If someone told me I would be this small, I never would have believe them. Hang in there. Celeste

If your dr told you mushies, that would be a good idea. Initially, my dr used to say mushies for 1 day. Later, he switched to liquids for 2 days. I tried the same thing as you - on my 2nd fill, I went home and ate a sausage. I ended up getting an unfill 2 days later when I couldn't even get water down. Since you are having problems, you are probably inflamed. I would try liquids for a couple of days to settle everything down. Good luck. Celeste

I have always like to cook but am a slug after work. So I crock pot alot and use Sundays to plan foods. Usually, I set up something that will work for a few meals. Last week, I cooked up a batch of black Beans. I have made black bean Soup, nachos, and black bean burgers with them this week. And froze some for next week. Another thing that works for me is having things ready to go into a recipe. For example, today, I will take some bread and make it into croutons and put some in the food processor (for bread crumbs). I am also thinking of cooking some bacon for bacon bits. I also have frozen containers of cooked ground burger and crockpot shredded chicken to add to a quick casserole. I have to quit this thread for now. I'm making myself head hungry.

Thanks for sharing.

Protein shake for breakfast Black Beans with salsa for lunch fresh Green beans, baby corn, and fake crab for dinner.

tuna burgers have become my latest addiction. I fry them up with my green Beans ... tuna, green and red peppers, onion, mayo, mustard and fry them up. The flavored tuna packets are really good with this.

This is a great place to come for info and support. Search the forums and read old threads for good info. Ask questions and enjoy losing weight and getting healthy. Celeste

DonnaB - how did you know I always wanted to be Wonder Woman? Since I lost weight I have no breasts so that metal bra might be the way to go. Vines - if you pm me your email address, I will add you to my monthly email of life in Malawi. It usually has some good entertainment. I am in a better mood. Today, I went and changed my ticket and am staying in the US for 2 extra days. I did not tell my Malawi counterparts because they are unhappy that I am leaving at all. I will just blame the airlines (I know I shouldn't lie). But the extra days will take some of the stress off and give me a couple more nights to get together with friends and family. I realized tonight that I overcome a major roadblock. I have not turned on the windshield wipers (instead of the turn signal) all week. Yeah!! Driving on the left is not difficult but the windshield thing was.

Oh, I forgot, the toilets at work have been partially repaired. For that I am grateful. Not having a bathroom available at work was difficult. Dawg, is it okay if I have 6 items I am grateful for???

1. Internet - my first two months here, I had none. With the internet, I have email, skype, and lbt. I can order foods I like from netgrocer, amazon, food coops, etc. I can order stuff from Target, Walmart, and drugstore.com. I get dvds of my favorite tv shows. 2. reliable electricity and household appliances - when I first moved into this house, my stove and microwave did not work. You could not run the washer and dryer at the same time without blowing the main circuit breaker. My generator did not work and the electricity went out regularly. 3. household help - my gardener and housekeeper may not be the best but they are well intentioned. They don't steal my money or jewelry. I sometimes say I would like to live without help since it seems an invasion or privacy but it really does make life easier. And my gardener does grow great vegetables. 4. good co-workers - both the Malawians and the Americans I work with are nice. There are always challenges but almost everyone is trying to help the country and do the best job they can. (there are always a couple of lazy ones!) 5. great friends and support - without my friends and support system (like lbt), I could not survive. I truly admire people who can move and do it without relying on everyone. I have been single for 12 years now and without everyone's support I couldn't have gotten through loss of loved ones, job stress, band surgery, etc. Dawg, thanks for reminding me to be grateful.

My house has a security gate that seperates the bedrooms (and office) from the rest of the house. That gate has to be locked and the security system set for it to be closed at night. That means if I need to get to the kitchen, I have to set the security system for a different setting, unlock the padlock on the gate, go to the kitchen, leave kitchen, relock the lock on the gate, reset the security system. This is a great incentive to stay out of the kitchen at night!!!! Okay, so there are advantages to living in a guarded place. Honestly, I have been trying to find a thread from last year. It was from a mexican dr who said the main meal of the day should be at noon. When you eat later in the day, it did something that made you tight in the morning. Then you started loosening up during the day and because you haven't eat, you eat late in the day and start the cycle over again. I know that when I reduced afternoon and evening eating, I was able to eat more in the morning. The problem is that I usually don't have an opportunity to eat during the day now. Celeste

I re-financed my house. So when I sold it to move, I had no equity. But my equity is being repaid by the fact that I am healthier now and plan to live longer. Celeste

Thanks for the support everyone. I am starting to feel a little better. From what I understand, I will go through periods of this as part of the adjustment to living abroad. In addition, I am going through the normal stress everyone has with their jobs. I am the resident budget advisor to the Minister of Finance for Malawi (in other words, providing advice on the country's budget). My focus is to provide technical expertise to help them improve their budget process, funding requests from ministries, budget recommendation to parliament, and tracking the expenditures to ensure compliance with the approved budget. For this project, I am also part of a large team (about 20 people) who are here to fight corruption, improve the lives of Malawians, work on long-term economic stability, etc. If the country meets the project objectives, there will be alot of funding available to improve the plight of this place. I actually work in the country's Budget Office. I am the only 'white woman' on capital hill. During a typical day, I will not see another American. Heck, during a typical week, I won't. And my only friend I had met here finished her assignment in Africa last week. So thanks for being my support group. Celeste

Vines, you were a little doll. And with gorgeous thick hair....I am jealous. Celeste

Jodee, this sounds good - although I will cut out the potato. I'll try it this weekend. I haven't seen any postings from you for awhile. I hope everything is going well for you. You were such an inspiration for me after the hurricanes. I kept thinking that if you could adjust to everything you were going through, I should be able to adjust too. Good luck. Celeste

I can eat a plain hamburger but put a sauce or gravy on it and I get sick. For about two weeks, I pbd on coffee - now that seems to have passed. Some days I can eat rice, some I can't I can usually eat bread but I don't cuz I think its gross. But I do like homemade croutons.

Pattycake, thanks for explaining crisps. For 4 months, people here have talked about crisps and I had no clue what they were talking about. Any other British phrases you can help me with? Celeste

Our fickle bands. Yesterday I went to a restaurant and ordered one of my favorite meals there - a burger (no bun) with pepper sauce. I ate 1/2 of the burger and an onion ring (usually I eat all the rings). And pb'd. Then, I came home to pick up my laptop and got sick again. That is really unusual. I usually only throw up the excess food. My stomach still hurts this morning. I just ate a little junk last night - I was only going to have broth but I am out of canned broth and the boullion I had was full of fat. I have to be well by tonight. I am taking a couple of visiting college students to dinner and I want to eat! No more Malawi burgers for me. But I did my bi-monthly measurements today and I am down 50 1/2 inches!!

Nana, I was stuck around 180 for over 4 months. I just assumed my body needed time to adjust and get used to my weight loss. Then I did a quick 28 pound loss - quick for me - 3 months. Now, I'm losing 2 pounds a month. I think my body is telling me that it needs to lose slow so I don't wrinkle so much (lol). Our bads are fickle and are bodies are used to being fat so its a training and retraining thing. I think you will lose the rest. Just hang in there, practice good habits, and if nothing else, move to Africa (it worked for me)....Celeste