Apples2

Katy....we all have our experiences and give our advice which is usually tried and true. But, I do think your should listen to Denise on this one. She speaks from experience and had troubles until her unfill. It's truly scary to be having the problems you are and I think that Denise will verify just how much damage being too tight could cause for you. See what an unfill does for you...let it rest and then try the fills again. Denise.....I LOVE the Fiber One cereals. They have a great amount of fiber and as I said in previous post, they are my Snacks. I don't eat an entire serving for a snack...depends on serving size and calories. I do eat plenty of veggies also and think that helps to keep things the way they should be. It's really tough getting an adequate amount of veggies in though with trying to keep the Protein amounts up there. Phyl and JoAnne...I love vinegar and always have it on my cooked spinach. I will have to try it on other veggies in the future. Will have to try the fish chowder also. Sounds good. Hope everyone had a good day. One day closer to going south for us. Cold and windy today....just makes us lust for that warm weather even more!

Hey Kids...Hope everyone had a good day. Analysis day for us (our farm management guy does an analysis for us on our farm and business books). Just stressful till it is over. I am one of those people that "need" to balance to the penny in every account. I did, so I consider it all good. Hey you Southern Ladies.. what you tolerate as far as the weather is concerned is all what you are used to. Your cold most likely feels as cold to you as our freezing does to us. Hang in there. The older I get the less tolerant I am of our winters. Heading south for a little over a month and will enjoy every minute of it! Got my UPS shipment today from Amazon. I never thought $4 capris could be sooooooooooooo cute. Had a style show for DH tonight. And, what's great is that I have tops to match all 8 pair that I bought. There are some great jean capris that I got for that price also. And, four of the pairs came with cute beaded belts (think those capris were $8). Anyway, I should be all set for the trip. All packed and ready to go. Just have to make sure my large case is not over 50lbs. I'm sooooooo excited to order things on the internet and just slip them on. Everyone have a great evening. Going to go sit in the recliner and snuggle with DH and do my daily LA Times and NY Times crosswords. I know that b/4 long well will have the 100lbs black lab on top of us!

Sorry you are struggling so much right now, Mimi. Get through till Sat. with taking care of yourself and your family and then sit down and make a plan for yourself with your dietary intake. Stress can make such a difference in a persons life. As far as the Miralax...everyone reacts differently to products. I do have Miralax in my medicine cabinet but only have used it a few times. For me, it's way too harsh. The bottle states that it will work in up to 3 days. That's a true statement but I'd better be as close to a bathroom as I can be when it hits! I buy Fiber One cereals and eat them for my Snacks every day. It really helps to keep me regular daily. I will not give up the Cereal because I refuse to go back to what it was b/4 eating it. I would go two weeks without "moving". Anyway, incorporated the Fiber One into my diet and it works wonders for me with no side affects.

I only started taking Viactiv two weeks ago. My doc insisted on it. I was told back in 1994 when I first started with stones that I was not to take any supplement with calcium in it. My new gen doc wants me to try cuz of a bone scan I had three weeks ago. Came back with a score of "T" which he stated was not too great. He also talked about Fosilmax? I need to make an appt. to visit with him on all of it.

ITeach...thanks for the prayer...it got rid of BOTH stones this morning. Over 40 hours laboring. Have fun in Denver. Meet with Long if you can swing. Wish I had the chance to meet ALL of you girls. Sorry to hear about your father's job. I LOVE Pampered Chef! Alli...so sorry about the job pay cut. I hope that in the end there is not a difference in the $$ you make (with your profit sharing). My 25 yr old DS commercial pilot moved to Atlanta for a job a month ago and resigned from it over the weekend. Paycheck bounced? Pretty bad. He quit on Sat. and found another job on Sun. I was soooo worried. He is a flight instructor also and has high security clearance which helped him in finding this new job. He lucked out. The place where he resigned from made some pretty big promises to get him to move there and when he did, he had half the pay they baited him with. Nasty man! One thing my DS will do is stick up for himself. Thank God. Try to not stress about it all. Hope everyone had a good day....mine was busy to the extreme....long story but don't think I will be in bed b/4 5am tomorrow morning. I just made a pot of coffee and I'm sure I will make more. A clue....men cannot write anything on the calender! DS told me tax appt was next Monday...not...it's early morning tomorrow!

I totally agree and with the great platform Oprah has, she should be more empathetic and open minded to the plight of others.

I do like the Jack Links also, Mindy but found the World Kitchen a couple of months ago and like them a little better. Think it's the sweet taste. This afternoon I ordered quite a few different flavors from Amazon. I break them down into smaller bags to carry with me and to have in my truck. Congrats on being a few pounds from goal. Great job!!!!:wink_smile:

Well put...she has disclosed that she has a thyroid problem. She's all for treatment for that but so against someone treating themselves (with WLS) for obesity. Maybe if she would have thought of it first????:wink_smile:

Janet.........birthed my first and barely felt it. Stones are much worse, I think. I have had too many to count. They used to stick me in the hospital but I believe that drugs slow the system down and takes longer to pass. Hate the affects of drugs. I have learned to deal with them in a (more or less) out of body experience. I am quite tired and sore after each one I pass. I tend to tense my entire body for many hours and I come out of it feeling like I had a full body workout for many days.

Livin..how true...would have loved to have a sweet little package after my 40 some hours. Thanks for the thoughts, girls but back to normal and on the run. Charlene...so good to hear that your mom is handling things. We worry so much when they are elderly. And, always good to hear comments from those we have not seen for awhile. Makes a person feel good!:wink_smile:

I will admit that I have sympathy for anyone that struggles with weight loss issues. I am a foodie myself. I do not watch her show but caught one a few months back where she openly berated young people who had weight loss surgery. She touts that she has an open mind? Me thinks not. I turned her show on today to see what she had to say about her recent REGAIN. All I got out of it was what my original post said................

Blah...blah...blah....blah...blah...

I buy World Kitchens brand at Walmart. 16oz bags are usually about $11.50, 80 cal, 11g protein. There's many different flavors. I also order it on Amazon when I cannot get to a Walmart (yes, I live in the sticks!). I eat it daily for a snack and sometimes for a meal. Love it.

You know that feeling after giving birth? You kind of learn to forget how bad labor was!:wink_smile:

Don't be blue, Janet. We miss you when you go MIA!!!!!

Can't remember if it was this thread, the fifties thread or the Daily News thread that I told about the kidney stones. Finally passed (2 of them) this morning. THAT WAS A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG 43 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice one the Aleve but I take NOTHING besides Flinstones chewable, biotin, vit E and viactiv which I just started taking last week. Have been turned inside out and upside down and they say there is nothing they can do. Just have to live with the inconvenience. Have not passed anything yet. Just be patient on the shape thing...you'll be surprised how your tummy will shrink. I never thought I would get rid of mine but now I can tuck shirts in and not have to suck in at all. I feel very comfortable in my body. I lucked out and don't have much for extra skin. Nothing that really bothers me. I decided that if I could take this weight off and the extra skin was not too bad, I would accept. But, was ready to do PS if I had to..... just dreaded thinking about yet another surgery and am thankful I can look ahead without it. Hope I pass this thing by morning...have a big day tomorrow. Sleep tight everyone!

Long...we will be flying. Had some airline miles to use. Have the opportunity to fly first class round trip so we will fly. Only bad part about that is that we won't be taking our dog. DS and GF have two and DS says we can have his black lab puppy to train while we are down there. I think momma will take him up on the offer but only for two of the weeks.

If you go under the clearance items in Amazon, you should be able to find soooooooooooooo many things for under $10/item. Thanks for the sympathy on the kidney stones thing. Such nice girls we have on our threads.....It's just part of my life since 1994..at least once a month. They are a killer (not literally but at the time they feel like it). Longest I have every gone with stone is 11 days. Docs have had to go grab them many times (have to be put under). Have had them pounded and took care of them for a bid. Welcome to the new people and to the ones coming back to this thread. I LOVE the positive people of the this thread and the other threads I am subscribed to. I attribute a lot of success to LBT friends. Just to have someone to open up to...talk about struggles, life, etc. Always someone to positively guide a person in the right direction. Life is good!

Hey kids! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Time for all of us to get back into the routine, I think. VZGH...I found great deal on Amazon.com on capris, shorts and t shirts. If you are unsure of your size, you could always just order capri yoga pants and dress them up. Elastic waist was the way I had to go until I got closer to goal. I lost around my waist at the very last. I swear I started at my ankles and head and the weight loss met in the middle. Allie...love your new photo with your girls. They are very pretty. Oldest one looks just like you. Younger must look like DH? Have had a kidney stone since yesterday. UGH. Hope it passes soon. Got all my Christmas stuff down and put away though. Forced myself. 8 days till we leave for FL. I imagine you can all tell I am excited to get out of here. After 4 weekends of blizzards...hell ya!

Treatment basically sounds just like my DS's friend is going through. They did not wait one minute to start mega chemo on him. Your story is encouraging, JoAnn. Have had a kidney stone since yesterday. It's a bitch (sorry). But name it like it is! I get them about once a month. They are calcium based and just have to deal with them. When my doc suggested I take Calcium supplements, I freaked. Had a bone scan and he made the suggestion. I decided bone health is important and will just have to deal with it if supplement causes more stones. The stones have nothing to do with hydration as I get way more liquid than suggested daily. God just decided that they were mine to have. I have been getting them monthly (or more) since 1994. Fun times. Had them pounded in 1998 and told DH this morning that it's about time to go and have them looked at again to see if I should have the procedure again. Even though I had a stone, I got all my Christmas stuff down and put away. I have such a huge collection but love every bit of it. I enjoy putting it up as much as I enjoy looking and admiring it when I put it away. Bought a new pre-lit Christmas tree a few days ago with 1000 lights on it. Mine is ten years old...has 1000 lights also. Will put the old one in the family room and the new in livingroom. Also ordered one for outside. I am a Christmas girl!!!! Hope everyone is have a nice and relaxing weekend. I will be as soon as I pass this sucker.

I like the way Jachut put it....1/2 a size from fitting in her skin. I feel the same way. The few imperfections that come with the weight loss I have had do not justify plastic surgery for me. Someone else might feel totally the opposite. For the age of 53, I feel very lucky to have come through this and get to goal and beyond without a lot of hanging skin. Just a little. None on arms, butt's OK and tummy is flat. The place I notice it the most is on my upper thighs. I did work out during the entire weight loss process and continue to. I am not sure if working out helped with less sagging skin but the definition of my muscles makes a difference in how I look and feel about myself.

Sorry you have to deal with a gas problem, Denise (Well, guess I feel more sorry for your daughter LOL). It's not funny and I know you have mentioned it b/4. I had gas the first three months and then it just went away one day. I truly believed during that time that I could have self-propelled myself anywhere I wanted to go! I don't think I could function without my protein bar at least once a day. It really fills a void....I feel like I'm getting a real treat and it incorporates protein into my diet at the same time. Have you checked with your doc about being gassy? I guess the first few months it is expected but not continuously? I could be wrong. :tongue2:

Hey Janet...our hotel stay was fun...nice to see everyone from our lake resort. Ready for a new year and ready to get the he!! out of here and head to FL. We leave on the 13th and get back on Feb 16-18. Will be doing a lot of my guards volunteer work from my lap top but that's OK. Has to be done. I have packed already for our trip except for some internet deals I got and waiting till they are delivered. I should have plenty of warm weather clothes now. Ready to be stormed in for yet ANOTHER weekend. Fourth in a row. Crud!!!!!!!!!!! It is actually nice being stormed in sometimes but too many times is a pain. We have a great movie collection and I still have some year end things to do so it will force me to get them done. Everyone have a great weekend and stay safe!

A couple of years ago I gave all of my dishes to my son when he set up a household after coming home from Iraq (In fact, think I gave him most of my furniture too). So...off I went to find a nice set of dinnerware that I could use everyday AND for special occasions. I found a fairly reasonable priced set. Sorento dinnerware is what I ended up with. Bought a set of 36 (when we entertain, we entertain on a large scale). Anyway, what I am getting to is that this set has ramkins which I use for some of my food. Also, the square little dessert plates are just the right size for other things. At first I was embarrassed using these plates in front of others. Now it's the norm. They work perfectly for me. You can get Sorento online and can order one piece at a time. I got the ruby and mixed it up with the celery green also.