Apples2

Oops...forgot Melissa...she was a telemarketer for a company that sold time shares in FL:biggrin:

Hey, Laura, are you there??????????? I have 15 minutes to kill b/4 I need to deliver some seed. Let's have some fun with this and do some guessing ahead of time on the first jobs that our friends here had. Let's see how close we come. LauraK...I think I might be cheating here cuz she stated last week she built bins....I'm sticking with that one. Great...I'm going to say she most likely worked as a clerk to a store similar to Hallmark. Cheri....tutor Janet...waitress Eva...cleaned hostels to pay for her keep...and her travels Arlene....worked on the ranch Phyll....nurses aide Linda....did filing for the school secretary Joyce...smiled for the camera and worked as an aide to a documentary film maker Jessica...worked in an assisted living home Debra....worked at the Tasty Freeze Julie...worked on the farm and also waitressed Who am I forgetting?????? Deb...teller at the local bank Jodi...koshered kitchens

Laura...white eggs. We grew up with pickled pigs feet, pickled gizzards, pickled herring in the frig at all times. I didn't get close to any of them and had to put blinders on when opening the frig. Know exactly where you DH comes from with the gagging thing. Also, what a fun "topic of the day" you started. We haven't done this for awhile and very interested in hearing all the responses and how you all started down the road to success.

Laura...my first job was also a butt wiper and dietary aide (not at the same time, LOL). I started working at our local hospital/nursing home attached at the tender age of 13. I will have you know that I was proud to earn that 83 cents an hour! School would let out at 3:20. I would ride my bike the mile home, whip a meal up for a family of 10 and into the oven, (way b/4 crockpots came into existence), change into my white uniform, ride my bike 1.5 miles and be to work by 4pm. Would help with meals for the 30 bed hospital and 40 bed nursing home. Prepared the patient trays in the food line, filled the tray carts and then delivered the carts to the floor. We would go to the patient floor with a list of patients that were unable to feed themselves and spoon feed them. 2 weeks after I started this job, I was sent to feed Mr. Pikert. He was propped up, eyes open, and the soup just ran out the corners of his mouth. Decided that Jello might work better for him. That wouldn't go any farther than his tongue. About that time the head RN walked in the room with a mortified look on her face and said "Poor Mr. Pikert passed away about 15 minutes ago...so sorry" and promptly closed his eyes and covered him. Now, remember I was 13. Oops! After getting done with running the dishes through the dishwasher for hospital and nursing home, I worked as an aide on the patient floor. That's where the butt wiping came in. At 8pm I was done and on my bike (or hoofing it) another mile or so to help my brother clean the local bank 5 nights a week. No pay with that job. Boy was I stupid. He got the paycheck and laid on the floor and watched TV in the bank president's office and I cleaned and scrubbed. He's an A-hole to this day. Terrible thing to say about a sibling, but, will say it again. He's an A-hole to this day. I also mowed with my brother during the summer months. We mowed the bank, the cemetary, the church yard, and many yards in town. My mother had a dept. store so I was the housekeeper. Good ole Johnson paste wax was applied every Sat. by me to EVERY floor in an 8 bedroom home. All of the above pretty much took up 24/7 and no time for socialization. Pssst...I've made up for it!

SNACK ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!! Found a new snack. Some of you might turn your nose up at this but this is something I've been eating lately and maybe some of you might take a liking to it. Pickled eggs. 75cals per egg. You can eat them plain or slice and eat with mayo or FF mayo. Melissa.....I'm going to put a challenge out there to you. Try to eat like you are eating today for one entire week. See how you feel about things at the end of the week. I will bet that you have more energy and a better attitude toward getting everything back on track. Just reading Laura's last post on how she did her shakes for a week and it got her to thinking straight again about her food plan made me think of you and the struggles you have been posting about lately. Do you think you can do it? I bet you can...Good luck!

That Leigha is a girl after my own heart. Been a believer in non-starvation since I started this process. Throwing a body into the starvations mode only hinders weight loss and causes those nasty plateaus. Good healthy food choices at 2-3 hour intervals makes for a healthy bod!

Good Morning to All... Eva...wishing you luck with the job situation. I went through hell in my last job. I always say it was the best job in the world that turned into the worst job in the world. Long story short...I went from being hired to do a 60 hour a week job and two years later working 90 hours a week and doing the job of 2.5ppl. Time and a half for over time and double for working weekends. Pay was good but I was working every weekend and some holidays in an office job (lead grain accountant). They could not have paid me enough to compensate for the added stress in our lives. Tried negotiating, got many promises for change but ended up walking in one morning with my resignation letter, cleaned my desk out and walked away. 11 yrs later, here I am wishing to be back in the working world. Would one of you just reach out and give me a cyber slap? After hearing what you and Janet have been going through the last few months, I think I need to take time to count my blessings that I am so fortunate to do what I do. Yes, I have stress some days (yesterday was one of those) but then I just have my little breakfast meeting with the "boss" the next morning and discuss the fact that being a little better organized would do it for me, give him a kiss at the door, a promise for later and tell him to shape up. LOL. You stated you really like your boss but I bet you could not get away with a "business" meeting like I had this morning. As far as the job search...good luck. Change is good. Good morning, Janet....miss you...no guilt though. I know you are super busy. Wish I could be your assistant for a couple of months till your load eases. Julie...so happy you got an earlier date for your appt. Good luck with your remodel project. Makes me look around the house and be thankful that I will never have to do another one. Linda...I have had the same feelings about my house and have said the very exact thing to DH as you did to yours about not liking the house. We had house plans and right on the verge of building a cute 4 bedroom log cabin on our farm site. This site was so nice. It had 75 huge evergreen trees just in the front yard alone. That log cabin would have been my dream. But, the place we live on now went up for sale. It was Keith's grandfather's place. Been in the family since the mid-1800's and there was not way that I could dig my feet in and not give him his dream. The house was a split level (3 sets of steps) boring, boring 6yr old house. Well, we have remodeled every inch of it and I can still say it is not the dream house but it is home and lots of good memories here. It all worked out for the better. I am one that never wanted to be married to a house and have extreme payments, etc. We have a modes 5 bedroom and it is all ready to go when DS is ready to settle down and move in. At that time we will be heading out to find something smaller and less maintenance. Great....Home yet? Did you have to sit and wait for a flight this time? Hope it was not too long a time for you. DH and I have often talked about once we move off this farm, we just want a townhouse or condo. There are some lovely ones in our town about 15 miles from here. Lawn maintenence is included along with plowing snow. We have a huge yard and I have spent many years maintaining it along with flower beds, trimming shrubs, etc. We want to do a motorhome (I will be Phyll, Jr.) and just have a condo for the summer or live at our lake place for the months we are back in MN. Carefree living. Jodi...awww...can you ship Boomer out here? No dog as loyal and loving as a black lab. Sounds like you are crazy busy. How about taking what you have learned from your trainer and setting up a time on you calander and doing it all on your own at a gym that does not break the bank? Or, get some good workout tapes and you and Dassi have some fun right at home. I live 15 miles from any gym and had to learn to set time aside for exercise at home. I did a variety and learned to love it. I get some in every day and notice it I don't, I don't have an outlet for my excess energy. When ppl would say that exercise relieves stress, I would think Blah, blah, blah...but now I now that it does. Joyce...lucky girl to get you windows done and not have to do it yourself. Have fun at the gym and if you read my above message to Jodi, it really does turn into something that makes a person feel better. Good Morning, LauraK. Speaking of Lauras....????? Arlene...good to hear that your mom is doing better. Also, good going on managing the plan and being so busy. Melissa...good luck with your fill. Hope it is what you needed. Froggie (Debra)...as Eva said....it's kind of a trial and error thing with the food. We got through tough stages in the beginning with "mourning" food. (At least I did). It all does ease as you go through the first few months and if you find a good food plan that works, it will become routine and it will all fit. There are just times that it feels like the band is not there but most times it reminds you not to over stuff. Good Morning Cheri...hope you have a stress free day at school. I know I am missing ppl, but, I'm doing this by memory and you all know I have a bad case of CRS and this is just what you get. Off and running today. I spend most of these days with the phone in my hand ready to run for whatever...giving rides to different fields, running for equipment repair parts, running water tanks, etc. Don't mind my job but never time to start anything around here....so I don't. Will check in later today. You all have a great day!

Debra...on your fill question. We are all so different in what we require and how many fills it takes to get to that "sweet spot". My doc required a six week wait b/4 getting that first fill. Wanted swelling and healing to take place. I have only had 2 fills. One about 2 months after surgery and the other about 2 months later. Some on this thread have had many. I guess the further out you get in this process, the better you will be able to judge for yourself. When you go to see your doc, visit with him on if you have hunger and how long after your meals you are feeling that hunger. I never have held back on letting ppl know about having lapband surgery. If they ask what method I have used to lose, I tell them. The willingness to share this information just might have something to do with age or maybe just not really basing things on what ppl think. As you stated, you did this for you and your health and I had feeling similar to that.

LauraK...some advice on the upcoming DD party and inviting ex and his wife. Make sure to wear something that shows off your new bod! I am sure you will make an impression with all the hard work you have done!:scared2::wink:

Hey Froggie (Debra)...welcome. Sounds like having taken the steps to have this surgery has been very adventageous for you. Off some of your meds and your weightloss thus far is really great and you are making an attempt to get in your exercise. Good going! There's a few here that are in the early stages of their journey, some a year out and a few beyond that. I admire you for taking the steps to put yourself on a pre-op diet even though your doc did not require it. Kind of sets the stage for what is to come and better for you in the long-run. Have any questions or concerens????

An important piece of advice I omitted from my last post...be very diligent to consume adequate amounts of Protein daily. I have always taken in between 75-100gr of protein along with a balanced/healthy diet since the beginning of the process. I truly feel this has attributed to the energy I have. Also, once you get a bit more weight off, you will start to feel that you have some energy. Take advantage of it and keep moving. I live 15 miles from the closest gym and work out of the home. I found ways just around the house to get my exercise on a daily basis...such as...running the stairs in our house, treadmill, weights, etc. Any exercise will fuel more energy and thus you will start feeling like doing more.

Froggie D...patience is the key. We are all so differnet and lose at different paces. Looks like you are doing great on the weight loss. I lost 54lbs prior to surgery during an 8 month wait for surgery. I reached my goal weight and my doc's goal for me 4 months after surgery. My metabolism kicked into high gear and I lost another 20lbs after reaching goal without trying. I now feel comfortable where I am at and can eat a good amount of calories per day which makes maintenance fairly easy for me. The key is not how fast a person can lose but just to have a steady loss. Most docs say 1-2lbs per week is about the norm. You are welcome to PM or email me with any questions you might have. I would be happy to share or help you in any way that I can. Good luck!:scared2:

Sandy...getting back on your thyroid meds can only be a plus for you. Sounds like you have turned a corner and not feeling so overwhelmed by getting back on track. Congrats on that. Also, really make an attempt to move 30 minutes a day...even if it is just a brisk walk. Break the exercise into 10 minute sessions if you are having a hard time fitting it in. Document your food to keep yourself accountable. If you are always on the go, keep a little notebook with you to keep track. Wishing you luck!

Great thread.... I have been at goal for over 18 months and I got way more out of this than I ever expected. Too many different changes in my life to list but so happy with the entire LP journey. I guess if I listed one that means the most is that I FEEL so good and healthy and that was what I was shooting for to begin with. I honestly feel and am as active as I was in college (at 54yrs old).

Sorry...junking up the thread again...Julie...when you google that site, it works best to type Plus size mother of the bride in order to get up the ones I was looking at. Just type it in and choose the onestopplus site

Julie...let me clarify about the not-so-fancy statement. I have no clue what your taste would be but just wanted to state that the dresses are dressy enough for a wedding but not all gobbed up with beads and sequins.

Julie....I just had the pleasure of helping a friend of mine shop for a MOB dress. I checked and double-checked so many different sites and I kept my notes. The BEST for not-so-fancy and affordable dresses was at OneStopPlus. Just google it and you can even choose the price range you want off to the left of the screen. They have so many in the $99-$129 price range and even some really nice ones that are between $50-$100 that are on clearance. They carry sizes 12W-44W and have so many styles and colors. Take a look at the site and see what you think.

Great...sorry to hear of your housing predicament...patience, my friend. There has to be something out there and, as you stated, one afternoon of shopping is not much. Have you thought of something like a condo on the side you want to live in???? With all the travelling you DH and you will be doing, the lawn maintence, etc. being taken care of might be what you will need. Do guys ever notice a new haircut? I came home a couple of years ago with my hair very, very light and DH did not notice until we went out and one of his men friends said he liked my hair blond. Julie...good news on the dr visit. Hope he has some answers for you. LauraK...hummmmm, sounds like you have many options for your DD's party. You could invite the whole gang and have a hair-pulling event? Are they that nasty??? You are right in asking DD who she wants there and I bet she would be considerate of her mom. I'll just wish you luck ahead of time and hope it's a wonderful time for her and uneventful for you!

Julie...sounds like it was a good thing that you had meds with you and didn't ruin the moment. Times like you are explaining with DD picking out her wedding dress, makes me wish I had a daughter to do things like that with. Enjoy every bit of the preparations. Her dress sounds beautiful. Nobody at the kitchen table until about 10pm. Packed my men their lunches. They are again 15 miles from each other in different fields so it works best just to pack a lunch. I was up early enough to get two different kinds of "guilt" cookies so they can find a special treat in their coolers today. My job today is to run between fields when they need a pickup or piece of equipment. Not a real taxing day but most likely on the run a lot. My big baby lab hear's the phone ring and runs for the truck b/4 I even say anything to him cuz he knows he's going for a ride with momma.

Hey Louise Marie...we missed responding to your post yesterday...sorry about that. With only having one fill, you most likely do not have a lot of restriction yet. And, congrats on the 12lbs lost....much better than a 12lb gain. Also, good going on the exercise and on the decision to get moving. It's half the battle to stay active and realize how important it is to do so. Without knowing what you are eating on a daily basis, how many calories, etc., the only advice I can give you is to really follow your dr's plan and stay in close contact with him regarding getting your fills and doing what he recommends. Try to get out of your funk and focus on the end result. The weight did not go on over night and it certainly will not come off over night. Once you have the right amount of restriction, this lap band journey you are on will seem so much easier. Fill us in a little about what you are eating and what kind of exercise you are doing. Maybe someone else here will have some good advice that you can follow.

Deb...all out of wet noodles but I do have a nice size 9!:scared2: Just REALLY make a good effort to eat slow. It seems you know why you pb. They say it takes 18 days to form a habit. Force yourself for the next 18 days to pay attention to the size of your bites, the time in between bites, set your fork down, cut eraser sized bites and try to relax in between. We all do it and the only way to break it is to have a conscious effort to do so. And, if that ice cream is a temptation...get rid of it. Make yourself a protein smoothy or shake when you need something soothing. Whew...it's hard work being the food police. Where's Janet when we need her.

LauraK...safe travels and congrats on getting your paperwork done. How far do you need to travel? By yourself? Also, congrats on getting the DD graduated and on her way to a "real life". Those college years do not come without a lot of work from mom and dad also, so pat yourself on the back. Also...good going on including her dad and his wife in your celebrations. Something that most likely will be important to her to have both of you there.

Linda....just keep in mind that you cannot do it for your 2 stepchildren. It's kind of like us being obese. We had to have that "Ah-Huh" moment and Want to take control of our situation. What's sad about their situation though is that with every episode they have, it deteriorates their health a bit at a time. I know you feel it is dire that they get it now...I would feel the same way. I feel your frustration. I'm sure it is very difficult to sit and watch them time after time not "get it". Hang in there. I have a friend that is 52 that has never really gotten it. She will do good for a couple of days and then right back to a diet filled with sugar and crap. A very self-destructive trait. It's almost like she has never gotten over her bitterness about getting diabetes. I feel for her but I am more frustrated with her than anything.

Gotta get my two cents in on the ironing issue...I find it very relaxing. Spent many hours ironing as a kid. Not so sure if I liked it back then, but now I find it to be relaxing for some reason. But, I'm not one to iron a pillow case these days or waste time getting the creases out of the boxer undies. When my oldest was in basic training and AIT for six months, he made a lot of extra money ironing for the other soldiers that just didn't want to do it. Arlene...wishing your mom the best. Hope she recovers quickly. Sounds like your lunch box is well-prepared for the day. Good going! Busy day here. Been at it for a few hours already. Looks like it is going to be a nice and sunny day with not rain in the forecast. Rain kept the guys out of the field since Friday night and they are anxious to get the last 1/3 of the corn planted b/4 the next rain that should be coming by Thurs/Friday. Hope everyone has a good day. I declare today "Janet and Eva's Sluff Day"! Yeah, right! By the sounds of what they have going on, that's not going to happen. Don't work too hard, girls!

Arlene...that's whats nice about the program you are on. You have to be accountable to your doc every so often. Helps keep a person on track. You can do it. Just really try to stick to the plan the rest of the week. Will be so worth it when you see the #'s on the scale. Be prepared. If you need to go to the hospital with your mom, or are away from home, bring a shake or low carb protein bar with you. There are ways to make things work if you are not at home. You've had so much determination lately. I have the feeling that we will be hearing that you are completely back on track tomorrow. I'm proud of you for how hard you are working at this and fully aware of how and when you get off track. Keep plugging away!!!!!:thumbup: