j.s.

Oh my god, the shopping is just the best. Buy clothes off the rack and trying them on and them just fitting! I love that! And not having to try on a zillion things to find out they just dont fit right or they dont look good! Now I can try on a zillion things and cant decide what to put back when I am over my limit. Last weekend I went to a fair and just wore my sandals, walked around all day long in them and my feet felt just fine. My ankles were not swollen. Being able to go up and down my stairs without wanting to keel over! Running to the phone and not being out of breath! So many things are good. Painting my toenails! So many things.....

I would love to get a trampoline!! Asked hubby about it but he poo-poo'd the idea. My brother got one, I guess I will have to go to his house to use his but then I will have to fight off the 4 kids to get my time in. Another thought, his daughter fell off theirs so he got this kinda netting thing that goes all around it = keeps the kids from falling off it. (I told him it was a kid cage!)

I used to read constantly and the past year or so has really gotten away from me and I have not read anything. Then just recently I read James Frey's Million tiny peices and that was a very quick read, then I read some Romance story (read one, read em all) but I enjoyed it all the same. Then a couple days later I read Secret Smile by Nicci French. I have Jonathan Kellerman's Rage waiting for me. I would like to start the Harry Potter books. I have not read any nor watched the movies but they have been highly recommended and they are on my list of "must reads" to get out of the library. I have enjoyed getting back into the reading. I dont know why I stopped, musta needed a breather. I also just love the jonathan kellerman books and the Patricia Cornwell books, they are great!

Hey Kathy, I looked at all those garden pics. My gardens are truly an embarrassment! I could post a picture just to shock you all and let you truly see I am not kidding when I say I am pathetic. Just a couple weeks ago I ripped out all my dead rose bushes and planted Hostas (apparently those refuse to die, but we shall see now, wont we, they never had to grow in my yard).

I also had no problems telling anybody and everybody what I have done. I have not had any negativity at all from anybody. I find it helps me to be able to say, hey Im feeling like _________ or like _______- and people will try and help me keep it in perspective and keep on the right track. For me it works having support at every turn.

I am 5'3" and would like to get down to 150 pounds.

Way to go Josephine, that is Wonderful! Congrats!

I also think Jack hit it right on the head. Its out there now, now you dont have to worry about who you told or didnt tell..... like you said, "now everyone in town knows", so that is no longer an issue. It also sounds like she got pretty straight forward information is she understands the restriction and told you all about the surgery you are having. I also told everybody I know (and some I dont know) and never, not once, had somebody say to me anything negative. If you look for negativity you are sure to find it, same as if you are positive about what your doing, You will also recieve positive feedback from others. You dont need to defend or worry about your decision, just be happy and go with it, you'll see others being happy for you simply because you are! Good Luck

Im 15 months out and I have had no problems what so ever. Even the sliming I read about is not anything closely resembling my slime episodes. Mine is not "ALOT" or even a moderate amount but just a little gurgly sounding (usually no spitting involved) and is usually gone within a few minutes if I just sit back and take a few moments for whatever to go through. My slimes times also rarely result in anything more than that, just a little slime time. I also agree that you read the "problems" on this board because people are looking for answers or support or just want to say hey... this is happening to me, so it SEEMS like there are a lot of problems out there, in actuality it is probably a very small percentage.

I just had to post this today as I read this thread just yesterday.... Tonight while watching the national news I was shocked to see the reporter lady and her HUGE head. I think she wins the prize of the biggest head on the littlest body! I could not even concentrate on what she was saying because I couldnt get over the size of her head. I dont know if it was the camera angle or what but somebody better tell them to change the way they film her! I was embarassed for her!

Keep your fingers crossed everybody my scale may move again! This morning after a very long (5-6 months) excruciating plateau my scale finally moved!!! WHOOOOHOO :clap2: I hope I am not jinxing it by saying this. I have been bouncing between 215 and 213 all this time, now it finally moved to 210! I hope this is the end of a long hateful plateau! I tell you I was just giddy this morning! So keep em crossed and lets hope this downward trend continues! Happy July 4th!

Thanks everybody for helping me keep everything crossed. Ericsmom, Congrats on your surgery!!! Ralheit, I really hope yours is not as long as mine was, I wish this on nobody! It took everything I got not to get discouraged at times, but hopefully it is gone for good!

I totally lied on my driver's license for about the last 15 years. Funny, I had to renew my pic on my license for ID purposes and it just so happend that I finally weighed what my license had said. So I go up and sign the stuff and the girl looks at me (I had explained why I was there, I dont think she was listening all the way) and she says, oh, you didnt change the weight on it, you lost 70 pounds, then I had to reiterate, yes, I lost 70 pounds but now I weigh what it says. I just need a new pic! I was glad it was a girl, she understood. We got a little chuckle out of it. As far as my husband goes, when he went to my first nutritionist meeting with me and she weighed me before surgery, when we got to the car he said it really shocked him, he had never heard exactly how much I weighed. Now I tell anyone what I was up to - because I am going down.

When I finally hit my goal I am taking me and my husband up for a hot air balloon ride. It is something I have always thought would be cool but they have a strict policy about "you must be able to get in and out of the basket by yourself". I could not see hefting my almost 300 pounds into that basket and didnt want to face the possible humiliation. So I decided that with 140 pounds less of me, there would not be that humiliation and I am very excited to reach my goal and go up in a hot air balloon to see my world!

Shellyj, You have me inspired to get that bike off my garage wall and go give her a whirl. I have been "thinking" about it for quite a while now but other things seem to get priority. My question is, do you all ride your bikes alone? My husband has a bike but really does not like to ride it and I get bored when I go alone, any suggestions?

I have a shoe question. I walk on the treadmill at a pretty good clip (3.5 to 4.0/hr) and I have the incline up on 5 and work it to 7. I recently had a sore big toe, on the top of it by my nail it was red and sore, this was like this for several months. At a recent doc appt, not my personal doc, was fitted in that day this doctor told me it looked like the start of a blister so I should buy shoes a half size larger for walking on the treadmill. Do any of you do that? Have you heard of such a thing? Would my foot slide more in a larger shoe? any help?

Congrats Babs on THREE YEARS!!! WOOHOOO! You are such an inspiration to us all.

I agree with that bone structure stuff. When I did a "diet" many years ago my goal weight was 125 (I'm 5'3"). When I got down to 135 lb my doc had me stop. I didnt look good, worse tho was... I did not feel good. So my goal weight is 150. That was where I looked the best and felt the best (was a size 8). If the numbers dont match the "ideal weight" that is just gonna have to be too bad.

I am into alternative rock, classic rock, at times big hair bands (they take me back to the good ole days). The only thing I totally loathe is country especially that whiny cry in my beer stuff, I am a happy girl and just cannot tolerate that. My total favorites are U2 (bono loves me, he just dont know it yet) and Ozzy Ozzbourne.

"This is about respecting each individuals right to make a very personal decision," Amen to that!

My doctor allowed me childrens liquid Ibuprofen and now that I was a year out, he said I could take regular ibuprofen tablets when I need to. But as others have said, Ask your doctor what he would prefer you use for pain relief. You can also call your docs office, they will find out for you and get a message to you.

Drifter, I also am a meat eater! Nothing like a big ole steak on the grill to make me a happy girl. I have no problems with any red meat, I do on the other hand have problems with chicken sometimes. Also if a pork chop gets too dry, that will give me issues. I just can't eat as much steak at one time but I can eat it every day if I wanted to. I personally prefer a tenderloin but I have eaten T-bone, and rib eye with no problems at all. Today I ate some steak that was very well done (I make mine med. usually), I just cut it quite small - dunked it in some A1 sauce and chewed very well. It went down just fine and stayed there.

I have been banded for over 14 months now and have pb'd 5 times, 3 of those times on chicken. That is one of those weird things for me, sometimes I can eat it, sometimes I cant.

I had a great surgery experience. Me and my husband got to the hospital about 2 hours before surgery. They put me in this little "pre-surgery" room, we talked and watched tv. They started the IV there and had me change and put those silly orthopedic stockings on. I dont know if they ever caught on but those are pretty much impossible to keep up on a very fat thigh that goes down to a v at your ankle. They kept rolling down. Went into the recovery room/before surgery room. My doc come in and said hi, the anesthesiologist came in and said hi. Just laid there until I went into surgery. Scooted onto table and was put out. Waking in the recovery room was fine. I did not have pain per se but felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, that kind of squashed feeling. That was uncomfortable but not painful by any means. I spent the night in because they make you. I had slept a full night before and pretty much dozed after surgery so by about 7pm I was awake and awake for the entire night. I did also have to pee about every hour on the hour. The nurse finally unhooked me from as much as she could since I was up and walking around so much that night. I had absolutely NO gas pain. By the next day that squashed feeling was starting to go away. I have only one other surgery to compare to (open gallbladder) and that was just awful compared to this one. I had some discomfort which is expected so all in all I would say I had a great experience. Nothing suprised me except for that squished feeling and that didnt hurt, more annoying than anything else.

Oh my, such beutiful gardens you all have! I am ashamed to say that my little planted areas (after seeing all your gardens) is a pathetic sad little attempt to have a flower garden! This year I have a new WOW to my list of plants I can kill.... yes I am in the process of killing marigolds.... who kills a marigold? Between me and the stray cat and a cute little yellow bird who keeps eating the flowers off.... it is a joint project. Maybe I should try to grow a rock garden, bet that would be hard to kill.... even for me.