secretstolen

I'm a dork and since the best gifts I've ever received have been fun, childish things (like when friends give me rare Hello Kitty trinkets for my birthday or Christmas), I tend to do fun things like that for guys. If the guy I'm currently seeing makes it until Valentine's Day, I plan on going to the Lego Store at the mall and buying him one of those awesome "Star Wars" lego kits (and I'm hoping I Am Legend will be announced for a DVD release date 'cause I'm going to pre-order it for him on high-def since it was the movie we saw on our first date and he mentioned how much he loved it). But seriously, the suggestion about fixing him a nice steak and wine.. oh that's a good one. I can't think of any guy who would turn that down. Oh yeah, and that one implied thing from your own post. Yeah, that's another good one to throw in there. :biggrin:

Oh man, "I'll Tumble For You" is a good one, but I can't do it when I'm working out. My best friend and I always sing it and mock Adam Sandler's dance in Billy Madison where the song starts playing and he dances on the staircase. If it came up on my iPod, I'd probably fall off of it laughing. :biggrin:

Heehee! If we only ended up as friends, I would be satisfied with that. I mean, I've got feelings for him and I really like him. He's just such a great guy. If we were only friends, I'd settle for that, just having him in my life in some capacity. (However, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it goes past friendship.. he's just so awesome. During our last date on Wednesday, we were hanging out after bowling in this diner in a corner booth, all 6 of us packed in, and I was drinking my iced tea and he was sitting beside me. I looked over at him and had to resist from grabbing his face and just giving him goofy little smooches all over 'cause he was so adorable and so sweet to me all night.. but man, did I want to!)

I just spent an hour and a half on the elliptical today and this is what I used: Shiny Toy Guns, "Le Disko" Rhianna, "Shut Up and Drive" Lupe Fiasco, "Little Weapon" Jay-Z, "99 Problems" Blake Lewis, "Break Anotha" Roisin Murphy, "Movie Star" Goldfrapp, "Ooh La La" Foo Fighters, "Best of You" AC/DC, "Shoot to Thrill" Van Halen, "Panama" (thank you, Superbad) All American Rejects, "Move Along" Jay-Z/Linkin Park, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You" The Donnas, "Fall Behind Me" Craig David, "Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)" Kanye West, "Stronger" Lily Allen, "Knock 'Em Out" Punjabi MC and Jay-Z, "Beware of the Boys" Rilo Kiley, "Portions For Foxes" (my theme song.. heh) Jet, "Cold Hard Bitch" The Hives, "Hate to Say I Told You So" Maroon 5, "Wake Up Call" Fall Out Boy, "Fame < Infamy" Gnarls Barkley, "Transformer" Fort Minor, "Petrified (Los Angeles Remix)" Kylie Minogue, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" Janet Jackson, "Feedback" M.I.A., "Bucky Done Gun" Spice Girls, "Who Do You Think You Are" (forgive me for this one) Metro Station, "Shake It" Cobra Starship, "Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mister DJ)" Weezer, "Hash Pipe" Seether, "Remedy" Teddybears, "Cobrastyle" Shooter Jennings, "4th of July" Paramore, "Crushcrushcrush" Robyn, "Crash and Burn Girl (Jasper Dahl Remix)" Sean Kingston, "Take You There" Lupe Fiasco, "Go Go Gadget Flow" Ashlee Simpson, "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" Linkin Park, "Bleed It Out" Fall Out Boy, "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs (The Lindbergh Palace Remix)" Editors, "Munich" Camera Obscura, "If Looks Could Kill" Breaking Benjamin, "Breath" NERD, "Rock Star (Jason Nevins Remix)" Annie Lennox, "Little Bird" All American Rejects, "Night Drive" Jay-Z, "Can I Get A.." Nelly Furtado, "Maneater" Pink, "U + Ur Hand" The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights" The White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army" Gwen Stefani, "Now That You Got It" Gym Class Heroes, "Clothes Off!!" And that's about it. It's incredibly long and the reason for it is because I get bored sometimes with a specific song and I'll listen to it half-way through and then skip to the next one. I made it lengthy so that it would last me a long while without having to search my iPod for something else to listen to it.

I just don't know about PeTA. Those stats are disgusting. I will say this: Their whole "I'd rather go naked than wear fur!" campaign with Eva Mendes irks me. Yeah, she's gorgeous and all, but it seems like the only reason she agreed to do their campaign was because PeTA called her out for wearing fur years ago to movie premieres. Whenever I see celebrities backing them, I wonder how many only did it to avoid getting trashed in the media by PeTA.

I met a guy the week before my lap-band surgery. He's a close friend of someone I was casual friends with in high school. He's a year older than me and he's a total gentleman. When I met him, I figured I had nothing to lose and I wasn't looking for a relationship so I told him I thought he was cute. We exchanged numbers and a week after my surgery, we went on our first date. Since then, we've gone out 4 times and we talk on a regular basis. On our first date, we talked briefly about our last relationships. He was dating a girl for 5 years and they were living together when he discovered she was cheating on him. The break-up happened last spring. I had just broken up in November with a guy that I was with for a year who moved in with another woman and got her pregnant during the duration of our relationship. Finding out all that is what initiated the break-up. Both of us agreed that we weren't looking for new relationships, but because we had such a great time together he suggested that we take things very slow and get to know each other as friends first and let a relationship just naturally happen. I thought it sounded like a great idea. On our third date, we were walking through a residential area of downtown, looking all the pretty historical houses, when he said to me, "I really enjoy spending time with you." I blushed. Then he said, "I know we agreed to take things slow. I just feel like I've messed things up in past relationships by rushing and not being friends first, and I want to do things right this time. I think you deserve that." That pretty much sealed the deal for me: I'm totally crazy about him. Still, we agreed to just stay friends and let things happen on their own. So, we happen to go to the same gym. I had been considering joining this branch of Gold's Gym when we first started dating because my mom was raving about how much she loved it and how she had signed up for a membership. One conversation he and I had was about working out and I admitted that I didn't want to join that particular gym in case he felt uncomfortable running into me there. He assured me that he wouldn't feel that way at all. "I think it would be cool! You could come say hi if you saw me!" After he asked me a week later if I was going to join, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge. On Friday, I got there after work and noticed my crush on a treadmill next to my step-father and my mother. What a coincidence, huh? I hadn't introduced them and I hadn't planned on doing that for a while, figuring that if we ever did end up in a relationship it would be more appropriate then. I worked out on an elliptical for a little while and when I finished, my mom was the only one left on the treadmills. We talked for a moment and she asked me, "Have you seen that guy friend of yours?" and I replied, "Yeah. He was on the treadmill next to [my step-father]." My mom asked if I had talked to him yet and I said, "Nah, not yet. I figure I'll catch up with him later. I don't want to interrupt him." I figured I had kept things vague enough. I hadn't pointed him out or anything. Later Friday evening, I got a call from my crush. He was laughing but he called to tell me that he met my mom and my step-father. Apparently while I was in another area of the gym, out of sight, he was back on a treadmill finishing up his work-out when my step-father approached him to ask, "Are you the guy dating [secretstolen]?" and when my crush replied that yeah, that was him, my step-father told him, "I think you need to turn the treadmill off so we can have a little talk." How humiliating. How embarassing. I was so sorry and while he laughed and told it like a funny story, I kept telling him how sorry I was for the fact that they had done that. He said, "Don't worry about it! It's fine. It's kinda funny, really." Still, I was incredibly embarassed. I called my mom Friday night and asked her what she thought she was doing, letting my step-father approach him like that. My mom believes that she was just being friendly and no harm was done. I tried to explain to her, "He and I are not formally dating. We are not boyfriend and girlfriend. It's just a friendship thing right now. When it was appropriate, I planned on introducing you guys. Don't you think I should have at least been there to mediate the situation? Do you realize how uncomfortable that might have been? He's laughing about it and reassuring me that everything's cool, but I'm angry that you did that because it's pretty disrespectful to me as a grown woman." She said I was being irrational and she hung up on me. *Sigh* I tried to figure that things were cool. My crush and I talked Friday night before we both went to bed and it was a cool, fun conversation. No worries there. I thanked him for being so understanding of everything at the gym and he assured me, "Hun, it's no problem. Really." I went to bed feeling okay with what happened. Then, today, my mom and my step-father are at it again. This time, they get to the gym and they spot my crush on a piece of cardio equipment. They're walking by and they wave to him and he doesn't return the wave or say hello. My mom called to tell me about it, insisting that my crush is rude and that he dissed them. I tried to rationalize with her that most likely, he was just not aware that they were there. Hell, I passed him on the treadmill the day before and although we've been out on 4 dates, he didn't outright notice or recognize me. I told her I was sure it was nothing personal. Still, the whole point of the call was for her to tell me that my step-father thinks he's rude. I called my crush today and was like, "I really feel bad about my mom and my step-father. They're idiots, really. If they make you uncomfortable or anything, please let me know. You're a nice guy and I don't think you'd be the type to come out and say so, but I hope that you'll let me know if they do." I explained what my mom had said and he interrupted me to say, "Honestly, I didn't even see them. I was watching a movie on my iPod and I wasn't paying attention to much else. Please tell them that if I offended them or insulted them, I certainly didn't mean it and I'm sorry." I felt bad then because I didn't want him to apologize. I really wanted to go bash pinatas in the likenesses of my mother and my step-father for being nosy in my life, but make him feel bad? No, never. I explained that and he said, "Here's what we'll do: I'll be polite and friendly with them, and that's no problem. If they ever do offend me or cross a line with me, I will come and talk to you about it. That sound like a plan?" and I agreed it was cool. He assured me that he wasn't weirded out by them and that I shouldn't be sorry about it. So, I've gotten about 4 different opinions from friends. Both of my girl friends say that the fact that we've since then talked on the phone and sent text messages back and forth - with him initiating - is a good thing. "If he was uncomfortable, he wouldn't be calling you." Both of my guy friends say that guys deal with that on a regular basis. Guys are used to a girl's parents confronting them or intimidating them and it's expected to some degree. They also said, "If he likes you enough, your mom and step-father aren't going to stop him from liking you." (Oh and I've already decided I'm going to pretend it never even happened and not mention it ever again. I've apologized, we've agreed that we'll talk about it if it becomes a problem for him, and that's that.) I'm sure that everything's cool, really. I'm just still mad with my mom and my step-father for doing that. I called my mom tonight and explained what he told me about how he hadn't even seen them. She was flippant with me on the phone and the conversation was short. I don't want to offend her and make her think that I don't want her in my life, but at the same time, I'm 23 years old and I haven't lived at home for 2 years. I'm not even formally dating this guy. Neither of us had talked about introducing our parents into this and I felt that it was way too soon to have him meet mine, anyway. I mean, we just met each other's friends this past week. I just don't know what to say to my mom or my step-father to have them understand that although my crush isn't mad about it, I am. They should have been more respectful of my private life to not intrude on it like they did. My mom, especially, should have known better than to say anything to my step-father since I've asked her repeatedly not to talk about my dating life with him. I told her tonight on the phone, "I have to censor everything I tell you now. I can't confide in you like I should be able to because I don't know what will come from it." She wasn't really hearing any of it. Instead, she rushed me off the phone and was like, "Okay, okay, bye! I've gotta go! Bye!" Argh. I don't know whether I'm over-reacting to this.

Dude, I went out with my friend over the weekend to a steakhouse and that's what I ordered, the loaded baked potato. She had ribs, baked macaroni and cheese, steak fries, not to mention the salad beforehand. After eating my potato, I was so stuffed. It's not only totally yummy and feels like you're cheating, but it's also filling and like you said, not too bad. :welldoneclap:

Dude, I went out with my friend over the weekend to a steakhouse and that's what I ordered, the loaded baked potato. She had ribs, baked macaroni and cheese, steak fries, not to mention the salad beforehand. After eating my potato, I was so stuffed. It's not only totally yummy and feels like you're cheating, but it's also filling and like you said, not too bad. :welldoneclap:

I've started eating a little of real foods here and there. I'm still on the pureed phase but I've felt comfortable eating tuna fish without pureeing it on a saltine cracker (2 of those for lunch) and it goes down without a problem and fills me up. I also had a (teacup) saucer plate of spaghetti with a tablespoon of marinara sauce a week ago and there were no problems with that, either. I went on a date Friday night and ordered a grilled chicken salad with the dressing on the side, no croutons, and the chicken and romaine lettuce went down perfectly well. I was a little surprised, but I made sure to chew thoroughly. Yesterday I went out with a friend and she ordered a big meal from a BBQ place and I had a baked potato. Over the hour that we were there chatting, I ate the whole baked potato (which was regular sized, not some gigantic version of one) and I felt stuffed afterwards, but no problems with that either. I haven't PB'ed on anything yet. It makes me wonder if my band's actually in there. *LOL* I don't have any problems, but I really haven't tested the waters too much. I figure next week when I go back to regular foods, I'll try to have a little bit of pot roast from the crock pot and maybe a little bit of Italian food just to see how I tolerate it. I also don't have any restriction, but I get full much sooner. I think it's also because I'm aware that there's something in my stomach that wasn't there before and overeating like I might have done in the past could damage it, so I'm a little more careful now to listen to when my body starts saying, "That's enough. Put the fork down."

Awesome news! Keep us posted on your progress!

You know what bothers me the most about the idea of WLS being "the easy way out"? I don't think people who say that have any idea what it entails. I mean, even I didn't know how hard it was going to be. It's truly a life-long commitment. On top of that, to me it seems incredibly stupid to stay fat and risk your health because you don't want to take "the easy way out." That was one of the reasons I gave people who didn't seem all that supportive of me having the surgery - I'm young, I'm in great health with nothing wrong with me aside from my weight. How stupid would I be to continue to be fat for years and years, waiting until I develop diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and such before deciding to intervene? Even for people who have those problems and who are struggling to overcome them - Why not do something while you still can, while you're still courageous enough to make a huge commitment like WLS, and while your body is still permitting you the chance to turn things around? To me that makes more sense than staying fat and yo-yo dieting for the rest of your life.

Wow! That's pretty cool. I just happened to stumble upon "Big Medicine" yesterday while I was flipping through the channels. I watched back-to-back episodes and was really impressed with them. I like the way both Drs. Davis tease and joke with each other. It seems like it would put you at ease to talk to them about things. Good luck to you in your surgery! You're gonna do great!

Just a question - it's kinda relative. :eek: I was just banded on 12/13/07.. and on the morning of surgery, I was 248. About 1.5 weeks later, I weighed 236. In the past couple of days, though, my weight's gone back up where it lingers between 240-244. Is it normal to have such variety of weight fluxuations at first? I'm a couple days into the pureed foods stage and I figured my body is just adjusting to everything, but it does discourage me a little. I'm hanging in there though! Just wondering if anyone else had experiences similar to these? (PS - No restriction yet. My surgeon is going to wait until mid/late January for my first fill once I'm through with the 2 weeks of eating solids again.)

Dear Mom, After everything that happened when Dad died 3 years ago, you and I had plenty of differences and lots of distance between us. When you started dating your husband, you were never home and you would disappear for weeks and not answer your cell phone. I felt rejected and as if you didn't care. That feeling had lingered up until the last couple of weeks. These last 2 weeks that I've been out of work recovering from my surgery, you have actually spent time with me. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you call me in the mornings just to chat on your way to work, or that you call me around noon to make sure I'm okay. We've been out shopping more in the last 2 weeks than in the last 2 years. Even just being in your car with you and chatting like we used to makes me happy. I wish that we could run errands after work like we used to before you got remarried and I was still living at home. I miss the inside jokes and the funny stories and all the mornings fighting over the blow-dryer. I can't tell you how much I've missed having my Mama around. But if all I can have is car rides and phone calls, I'll take it. I miss you that much. Love, Sunshine

Hey Boo Boo Kitty! I think the pin-up girl photos are an awesome idea! I have a photographer friend who has taken pictures of me before who's been talking about doing some Bettie Page-ish photos this summer. It's so much fun. I'm waiting until I'm at least down 40 pounds before I do it, so I can understand why you're waiting until after your PS stuff. I thought maybe you would be interested in this photographer, Anne Ruthmann. I'm a fan of her work and I read her blog, ANNE RUTHMANN PHOTOGRAPHY, all the time to see what new engagements/weddings/etc. she's been photographing. She works frequently in Michigan, which I thought would be convenient for you! Check out these photos she's done.. Pin-up girl style: ANNE RUTHMANN PHOTOGRAPHY: Krystal: Pin-Up Girl And for the girls who were into the boudoir shots, check out her variation on them: ANNE RUTHMANN PHOTOGRAPHY: boudoir I love her work. Her prices seem very fair, too.

I was just banded and I have no restriction currently. I get little pangs of hunger from time to time, but that's usually a sign to have a Protein shake and then I'm good. I've been tempted to drink/eat things that I'm not supposed to what with Christmas and all the goodies this time of year, but what's kept me from doing it is the reality that now it's not as simple as saying, "Oh, I messed up today. I can be good tomorrow." There's a real health risk involved if I mess up and sabotage the band. Even though I probably could eat a cookie, the reason why I won't touch one is because the risks of that cookie coming back to haunt me later are greater than ever before. *LOL* (And even if having one cookie wouldn't hurt me, don't tell me that. I'm happy and content believing that it would be my downfall. Haha!) Plus, I have this irrational fear of being scolded and shamed by the surgeon and his staff for not following their instructions.

Hey there! I had a horrible headache on my pre-op diet, too. I decided to go cold turkey on coffee which is what set off the headache. After 2 days of fighting it, I fixed myself a small cup of coffee with a little bit of cream and sugar and sipped it for a few minutes. The headache went away. I didn't have to drink coffee for the remainder of my pre-op liquid diet, either. I also used to suffer from migraines.. at least one a week or one every 2 weeks. I was banded on 12/13 and in the 2 weeks since then, I haven't had a headache/migraine at all. I'm thinking maybe they were triggered by my daily caffeine/carbonated beverage intake. Good luck to you tomorrow!

Oh, I love the squeezed lemon. I actually found this great recipe online somewhere for roasted cauliflower topped with squeezed lemon and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. It tastes so good! As for pasta, I'm praying that I'll be one of few who can tolerate pasta once I'm back to eating solids in about a month. We'll see. I don't want to down a whole plate, but just a taste or two would be fantastic. Only time will tell!

I'm with you on the Sandra Lee thing. I'm not buyin' it. Plus, the fact that her kitchen changes colors every episode is fine - but that she has a matching KitchenAid Artisan mixer for every kitchen color scheme irks me. I've wanted a pistachio one for about 2 years now and every time I get the money together to buy one, something happens and that spending money turns into emergency money. I have mixer envy. As for the brownies for the troops, I would gladly whip up a couple hundred batches of them.. especially for some Marines in digital cammies. I'm a Marine Brat, so I'm partial to Jarheads. And whipped cream? That made me giggle.

I had 3 things make me do it. -In May, one of my great aunts died and when I went to the funeral, another great aunt was so morbidly obese that she was riding on a motorized chair and she had a tank of oxygen with her that she couldn't breathe without. She had developed diabetes in the last couple of years. All I could think was, I don't ever want to get to that. -In July, I started becoming envious of my best friend (not in a mean-spirited way) because she could wear the clothes I could only dream of wearing. I wished I could rock the Famous Stars and Straps tees and the cute tank tops, but I knew they wouldn't be flattering on me. She was always so supportive of me pursuing the lap-band, so her support was a big factor as well. -Sometime around the spring, I came across a show on TLC or A&E where they profiled individuals who were so morbidly obese that they were unable to leave their homes and care for themselves. The one story that really scared me was this man who laid in bed all day it seemed and his family would come over to cook for him, and they said they couldn't cook healthy and reasonable portions because he would refuse to eat it and then just order take-out from his room. It was just eye-opening. Those were it for me.

Congrats on your band! I'm so excited for you! How are you doing a week out?

Hey, just a question for you guys about drinking.. I was banded on 12/13 and for the first couple of days I was taking small sips of fluids, but now, I feel as though I could take bigger, large gulps. I haven't because I'm afraid that this will ruin the pouch/band. However, is it normal that I'm not having difficulties drinking more than itty bitty sips? It's just one of those things that I'm contemplating.

Hey, no problem! That's what we're all here for. That's a very good point your mom makes. Like you, I'd be hurt if my friend didn't tell me he was having surgery. Maybe, in that case, it would be a good idea to just let him know. If he's anything like my friend - the type who doesn't sugar-coat anything and he's brutally honest - I'd tell him, "I am merely sharing this with you out of respect for our friendship, but I am not looking for you to persuade me out of it or address it as if it's a problem I need a solution for." My friend would probably go, "Okay, gotcha." And that'd be the end of it. So in that case, yeah, I think it's good that you feel comfortable enough to share it with him. Hmm.. I feel pretty good! I won't lie - the day of surgery and up until about Sunday afternoon I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I've never had any health problems or any surgery before, so the whole experience totally drained me. For most of the week, I've felt pretty good. Still, I can understand why the doctors suggest that you take time off. I've taken short naps for most of the week. Tonight I met up with my best friend to go shopping and it was the first time she'd seen me since the day before surgery and first thing out of her mouth was, "You can already tell you're losing!" The day of surgery I was 246 and today I weighed in at 238 or 239.. so I think I'm doing pretty well. No cravings, no hunger. In fact, I'm having to force myself to drink the protein shakes and sip on soups and broths because if I didn't, I'd spend the whole day sipping water and diluted juices and not think twice. *lol* As for the cousin's girlfriend.. I hate to say it, but she's a really hateful person and it didn't surprise me that she ran her mouth. However, she's been doing things like that to family members for years and no one's ever stood up and told her to knock it off. That's why I pursued reporting it, and of course, I got backlash from her, her boyfriend, and even some other family members because they felt I was stirring up trouble, but I felt it was the right thing to do. Even now, I'm glad I did it. So your surgery's on 1/7? Are you getting excited? Have you started your pre-op diet yet?

That's awful that that happened to you. The sad thing is that situations like that make us not want to share our personal experiences with WLS, and I'd like to think that by talking about it, it helps dismiss the stigma associated with it. Plus, you never know who else could be quietly wondering about it themselves and could consider your experience the inspiration to pursue it on their own, y'know? It sucks when closed-minded and judgmental people have to open their mouths and be mean.

When I was going through the pre-op stuff in October, I sat down with my closest friends (who are mostly co-workers) and told them about my decision. Everyone was pretty supportive. I hadn't planned on telling my boss, but when my surgeon wouldn't bend on wanting me to take 2 weeks off, I had to discuss being off with her and when I danced around disclosing what for, she shared with me that she had had liposuction a couple years before and I felt comfortable enough to tell her. She was very sweet about it, even asking me to have a family member call me after my surgery to let her know that I was alright. I also hadn't planned on telling family outside of my mom and my younger brother, but that plan went downhill when one of my mom's cousins' girlfriend came across my paperwork at her job working for my surgeon's billing company. She blabbed her mouth about it to family members back in November and I had to report the HIPAA violation and privacy act violation to the surgeon's office and her employer. She and my mother's cousin, her boyfriend, ran their mouths some more and threatened to take me to court to sue me for harassment for complaining to her employer. It didn't go anywhere, obviously, because the lawyer they talked to advised them that they broke federal laws, so they didn't have a leg to stand on. Triflin'. comepickmeup: I know exactly what you're going through when you talk about your friend. I dated a guy last year for about 10 months and we've remained very close friends. We care a lot for each other, but we're too different which is why the relationship didn't work. He's very blunt and straight-forward with his opinions and that's the reason I chose not to tell him about my surgery. I figure that if it comes up, I'll address it then, but I chose not to make a statement and "come out" about it to him. He'd most likely take it as an opening to give me his opinion about it, and I'm not sure about how he feels about WLS. As for dating, I was with a guy in a somewhat serious relationship when I started doing the pre-op stuff and I didn't tell him about it. It was a long distance relationship and although I mentioned some of my pre-op stuff, he never asked what it was for. It was a good decision on my part because our break-up was ugly and he threw a lot of things back in my face, so the fact that I didn't give him this as ammo was good.