Gone4Now

I love it! :wub: A fellow dognapper! I called the vet's office a few days ago to get the scoop. They are bringing the dog back in for heartworm treatment, and have scheduled the vaccinations. I am happy that he's getting treatment, but still steamed that it took them getting citations in order for them to do that.

I had to chime in...I just love your posts and your honesty and have been reading what you've gone through in your journal. One thing I've noticed is that people don't know weight. They have NO IDEA. I do, because I've been there and obsessed over how I looked at each 10 pound interval. At the beginning of this journey, I never told anyone what I weighed. But, now I'm happy about it! I'm happy to tell people I'm 230 (I round because of the bouncing I tend to do.) People look at me in sympathy, or they get that look like they're trying to stifle a, "WOW - I didn't know people got that big!!!" Or, they actually say: You don't look that big. Huh...really? What does that big look like anyway? I think weight is a silly measurement. I weigh more than a lady at work but I have more muscle. She's much larger than I am in sizes. You signed up for the marathon, and you are on your way to becoming healthy. The weight you have lost and the amount left to lose is just a number. It's this whole journey that is worth celebrating. Also - and, sorry for making this so long - but I think in the beginning we count pounds since that's what we have to go with. We celebrate the 10 pounds, 20 pounds, etc., that gone. But then I think we should start focusing on other things. You have your lower jean size, your upcoming marathon, your treadmill time - there is so much that you have accomplished healthwise, and you should be as proud of you as we all are! You are a lapband success story. Please don't get discouraged. You are awesome!

I hear you! I'm the admin and have a counter on my desk. Every Tues, Wed and Thurs doughnuts and kolaches are brought in for meetings and guess where they go? Right on my desk! I move them to the kitchen when enough time has gone by. I posted a picture of myself that I'm not proud of, and I put it near the boxes (so that I can see, but visitors can't) and look at that. It has helped, but I definitely have moments of weekness! Yeah...and why not a veggie tray every now and then????

I think Ali voted for Brittany because of everyone voting her and her mom off before. Though, I can't remember which members voted the pink team off....? I love Ali, I love Brittany, too. Those are my two favorites. I hope Ali takes it (even though I think it's going to be a guy) and Brittany wins the 2nd prize.

Thank you, Jack! You are so RIGHT. Today is Tuesday - Fresh doughnut and kolache day. I've got my 300# picture posted. ...And now I'm chanting to myself: "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."

I only know one person who has has the gastric bypass, but she regrets the choice. I've seen her eat ice cream and go through the dumping afterward. She lost over 100 pounds in a year, maintained for about 2 years, and has gained about 50 back in the last year. Now, she eats anything she wants and has no dumping. I've seen her eat just like she used to with no problems afterward. I feel badly for her because now she is "stuck" with it. Although, like Wheetsin said, I'm pro-band. :biggrin:

Hi Redgirl - I was banded the same day as you! If your BMI was low in the beginning, that may be why. I have heard that lower BMI's lose slower. I am at 228 now, but I started near 300 pounds. I've started to slow...I was averaging about 10 pounds per month, but now it's slowing to 5 pounds per month. I think the "new fat" melted off pretty quickly, but the pounds I'm hitting now are harder to lose. And, keep going because a loss is still a loss! :biggrin: I keep telling myself it took me 20 years to pack all this on, it's not falling off overnight!

I am so impressed! I'd give anything to be detailed oriented like that...Great eye! What do you do that you deal with this stuff all the time?

I know what you mean. Although, she will yell at anyone who comes up to take one. She's the office "mother". But, it gets really annoying. It's really bad, because a habit of mine is to sneak food. If someone is cramming it down my throat, I can say "no thank you" just fine. But, when someone is telling me no and watching everything I eat, it makes me want to sneak it. I find myself waiting for her to leave, and then I'll stand up and look at the candy/doughnuts - whatever the bad stuff is TODAY. I'm 32 for goodness sakes! I have a child at home - I don't want to feel this way. I need a good mental shake and slap. And, it really irks me that she's right. Damn it.

Do tell? I admit that I didn't think it was real - I mean, c'mon! I had trouble finding fashionable clothes and shoes and I'm normal height! I'm sure those stilettos don't come in a size 20 - But what gives the picture away? I'm no good at picking that kind of stuff out. :biggrin:

What kinds of foods are you eating? I find that I am tighter in the morning and less in the evening. If I eat chicken or beef, then I can feel strong restriction. If I eat "slider foods" like Soups, then I don't feel that restriction and can eat more - even with good restriction. I bugged my doc's office every 10 pounds, just about. I've been good since January now, though. :biggrin: But the bad things will go down easier and easier and I can overeat on junk. I know I'm still tight when I have to chew - chew - chew the "good for you" foods and am full when I've only had about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of solid foods. Rambled a bit...sorry!

I took a short break and realized what was egging my mind on was the lady I work with telling me, "Don't you even think about it." That just gets to me, and for some reason I want to eat it more. So, the walk helped! :smile2: But, moving them to the kitchen probably helped more. LOL Thanks!!!!

Suzanne - that's funny! I believe the same thing and even had another girl at work tell me to pull out some papers so that I "look busy" to other people. I said, "I AM busy!" People don't get that I actually like it neat - it's not just something I do when I'm bored.

We were at Knott's Berry Farms about 3-4 years ago and I was asked to leave one roller coaster. Can't remember the name, but it was an older one. The belt wouldn't fit. I was so embarassed! I've been heavy forever and never had problems, but this was about 300 pounds. I'm 5'5", too...so that may make a difference on how I carry it.

I WANT CHOCOLATE! I have to sit here at work (at a new job I might add), every fricken Tues, Wed and Thurs and stare at doughnuts all damn day. I don't even LIKE doughnuts but I EAT THEM...WHY? WHY??? I even posted a pre-surgery pic of me on my monitor and wrote DON'T EAT THE DOUGHNUTS on it. People just gave me funny looks, but it did help. I've moved the doughnuts away and they're not used to that, and keep asking me: Where did they go? Um, hello? They went into the kitchen where food belongs. Doughnuts DO NOT belong on a fat girl's desk. But, now...it's after lunch, I'm settling down and I want CHOCOLATE. I want to drink it, I want to eat it, I want to inhale it - I WANT IT. It's bad, too, because I work beside a mothering type who is constantly telling me, "No. You can't have it." Which, of course, makes me want it more. Help me kill the craving!

I HATE their new jean sizes! I went in to check my size and it's all funky now. Totally messed up. I went to Old Navy instead. :smile2: The only thing I like there are the bras. Everything else is way too expensive for me, when Walmart or Target has similar stuff. I gave up on LB when everything became see-through, and you had to buy not one overpriced shirt, but two! Also, what's with the short shirts??? I want something a little longer than my belly button. The shirts are too short and the pants are too long. Who are they using as models??? So, yeah...I'm a little peeved, too.

K@t - Thanks for sharing your story. I hadn't personally noticed your ticker, but I appreciate your openness and honesty. And, it's uplifting to read what you're going through and knowing that you're hanging in there. You've had a tough break, and a lot of band mishaps. I wish you smooth sailing and easy losing going forward. Good luck! :smile:

We are Lap Band triplets! I also dropped a bunch on Atkins (only 50, though) a few years back and bounced right back up to 300 in no time! I know what you mean about the restriction. I've read on threads that people fight it or work around it - but I LOVE IT. It makes me feel normal. Yeah, the 18's fit, snugly and my butt looks better in 20's. I am trying not to buy too many new clothes, but I had to buy the 18's - just because they fit! :smile:

I hated the band the first few days, too. As a matter of fact, I told my fiance that if I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have done it. Now, that was after surgery, full of gas and the shoulder pain that came with it, sore from the surgery after thinking I'd bounce back like I did after the c-section 10 years ago - and just plain old depressed because I couldn't EAT. Eating was a passion and now I had to sip on some stupid 2 ounce cup every damn 15 minutes??? Are you kidding me? But, then...I lost weight...I got to eat real food again...I was full...I lost weight and lost weight....and all these litte great things started to happen. I completely forgot how much I hated it at first, and how I told fiance that I didn't want it. The other day, he was talking to someone and they asked him about it. He said, "Oh, I think she regretted getting it and doesn't recommend it." I said, "WHAT? No!!! I totally recommend it, I LOVE IT!" He looked confused - "But you said...." :tongue: God love him, he's just a guy and it's hard for them to keep up sometimes. Long story short - try to hang in there. Getting over a life change and surgery and then not being able to turn to what's comforted us for so long (food) is HARD. But, the rest is downhill, easy and wonderful! Please let us know how it goes for you. I hope it all works out for the best.

That kind of stuff makes me angry, and I'm sorry that you're upset by it. Try to roll with it. Maybe look at it as the opposing view for you to get further information. You have heard what she has to say, you can research what she says to find the validity of it in your research of WLS. Information is never bad. Unsolicited opinions - different story. I'd say thank you very much, and hand over some pamplets to her for her to read.

I thought about fostering (both kids and dogs) but after talking to my family, they have said no. If I were a single gal, though, my house would be full. I keep asking for a bird and both daughter and fiance have said: NO. He has 2 cats, I have 2 dogs...it's already kind of crazy. I think if I take in the occassional stray, get it checked out and try to find it a good home, I'll be happy with that service. It's when the strays have owners that are jerks is when I get in trouble.

I don't know...I'm tempted to, but I'm scared to. The week before last there was a pitt bull in my yard, she would squat to pee, but blood would come out. She had been pregnant, or was pregnant still - but severly hurt. I took her there and they put her down. I called later and they said that they put all pitt bulls down no matter what. They also said if the animal was too sick they put it down. So, I'm scared to find out that they put him down. At 4, with advanced heartworm disease, they may not bother. Although, I will probably find out if they got him or not. I'm in the report and was told by the police that I'd be contacted to give a statement. So, I think I need to let it go. I'm not good at that, though, and biting my nails! I want to drive down to their side of the street and see if the dog is out running around, and I keep looking for him in the neighborhood. But, I know I need to stay away, for legal reasons. I'm worried if I call the SPCA, they'll get annoyed, or get the impression I'm being pushy. And I don't want any of those types of human feelings to get in the way of caring for the dog. (See!? I am the crazy dog lady!) :blushing:

I'm really depressed from this weekend...and I feel like comfort eating, so instead I'll post a really long-ass post in the rants and raves section and sip on my Protein shake. In the middle of last week a chocolate lab came running up to me and my family as we were walking our dogs around the neighborhood. Very shabby, very skinny, no tags, and not fixed. But, very sweet natured - so I was silently hoping he'd follow us home. He followed us a little ways, then got preoccupied and left us. Then, Friday night the same dog ran out in front of my car. I was able to stop, and barely missed running him over. I got out, put a leash on him (yes, I'm the freaky dog lady that keeps an extra leash in my car for moments just like this). As I was walking to my car, a lady pulls up in her car and says to me, "that's my dog." I was angry at the condition of the dog and asked where his tags were, and when the last time she fed it was. She said it fell off, and she had just fed him this morning. Right. So, I said I was going to take him to the vet to get him checked out. She said okay, as long as she didn't have to pay the bill. I agreed to pay for him to get checked out. We exchanged numbers. I'll cut a lot out here: The dog was severly malnourished and had heartworms, worms..no ID, not fixed...BAD SHAPE. The lady's son called me while I was still at the vet and cussed me out for taking him...the vet said that as far as she was concerned it was a stray since they couldn't prove it was theirs. (This was a mistake, according to the police later, but I think she knew I would pay for the heartworm treatment and the dog would be better off with me. She went against what she was supposed to do to protect the dog.) Soo...the police were called that night by them, and by me...the police got the report from the vet and allowed me to keep the dog. I agreed to meet the people at the vet the next morning, and leave it up to her where the dog goes. (By the time all this unfolded the vet had gone and was closed.) All the while, the "owners" keep changing. First it was the lady, then the lady's younger son, then his brother, then the father. Good grief! Everyone I talked to in the family said it was their dog until I mentioned heartworms - an $800 treatment, then it was, "It's not my dog. I'm not paying that." ARRRGGGHHHH So, the brother's show up at my house with other stray dogs and keep dumping them off on Friday night, calling me the crazy dog lady. A term I've come to embrace. Saturday morning I have the "pleasure" of meeting the dad - the real owner? who knows. The officer that was called to the scene was a jerk. He showed up, not knowing what was going on and started threatening me with being arrested, and called me a racist. (I'm not sure where that came from, though he swears someone in my family said the word "Mexican".) I pointed to my daughter who is bi-racial and said, "Hello! We're not racist people." (And - point aside: You say Mexican to me, and I think food. I don't think Mexican is a racial slur, is it???) Anyway...they get the dog back and a bunch of tickets for animal cruelty and a report to the SPCA for the chocolate lab, and the pitt bull puppy they were carrying that wasn't registered or tagged...or treated for heartworms...or fixed. Anyway...I'm just sad over this dog. He was 4 years old, should have been 100 pounds, and was about 70. His bones were sticking out, but he was still sooo sweet. I don't know how quickly the SPCA works, but these people were just jerks. I'm worried the dog will die before they can get him. I'm also worried that the dog won't be there when the SPCA gets there, and they won't get his treatment in time. According to the vet the heartworm was advanced. The dad kept saying to me he'd let me take the dog to breed with mine - he was convinced that me taking him was about me trying to breed my dogs. He didn't get it that my dogs are fixed! At one point he was standing near me, yelling at me about what a mistake I made and I yelled back, "I saved your dogs life!" He just scoffed and said, "He's fine!" That kind of ignorance just kills me! I don't get it. This has all been condensed...it was really hours long, more cussing and threatening....more stress. And, lies-lies-lies from them. They said I didn't have the mother's permission, but then how did they get my number? They said the dog was there that morning, but I know he's been loose for several days. They said, they said. One brother said, "I was over in Iraq for a year, killing people. I'm not afraid of you." What?? What is that? I told him to go f%$k himself. Was telling me he killed people supposed to make me scared? I hate that crap. Kill me, then, if that's your intent. DO SOMETHING or SHUT UP. They also told me the mother was passive and would have been okay with me taking the dog. :blushing: Ha....they're used to passive women...funny. I'm not passive and WILL NOT be intimidated by bullies. Okay, thanks for letting me vent! I've been sad thinking the dog isn't getting cared for, and like I said - I've wanted to EAT my way out of the funk, but can't - won't do that.

He's a cutie! :sneaky: I love the rodeo, but haven't gone yet this year...hoping to make it this weekend (Houston).

I haven't read the rest of the replies to this thread, so forgive me if this has been addressed already. I find what you're saying, Wheetsin, to be very interesting. I never would have imagined that "normal" people are biased against, too. :drool: I've been fat forever, so I've never experienced that feeling of being overlooked and NOT thinking it was because I'm fat. Growing up, kids made fun of me because I was fat. My best friend's grandmother used to make comments...I was always in competition with my 3 size 0 cousins who were my age. SO - I'm wondering if I was programmed from an early age to think any discrimination was because of my weight, or if it was real. Certainly the fat jokes were. But, kids are kids....if you have a weird haircut, or scars that are visible - they'll latch on to those kinds of things to make fun of - basically anything that is different. Very interesting to think about. I do know that there have been instances where I know people thought poorly of me because of my weight. But, I'm starting to think that maybe not ALL cases were because of my being fat. Maybe it was my own perception of myself. The kicker there is - Does that mean I discriminate against fat people?? :sneaky: I'm anxious to become normal and see how much I get overlooked vs. being fat.