Wheetsin

Haha, I dated a guy with a Prince Albert. Based on seeing his reaction, I would have to change my vote.

Lots of questions here, I'll try to hit on the biggies. My responses in blue: When last fill occurred MD withdrew Fluid before putting in more so band must be in correct position and ok, right? Nope. being able to withdraw fluid just means the band had fluid in it, the person withdrawing the fluid was able to hit the port, and the port is still connected. It has NOTHING to do with whether or not the band is in the correct position. I believe I was at 8.?? full. He told me then no more fills, acting very annoyed and borderline angry. Definitely not supportive. I left feeling very very humiliated. What size band do you have? So now no insurance, MD that did procedure seems to thrive on the successes (understandably) but where does that leave the failures? The social worker of the program was very supportive and helped me by keeping e-mail tabs every so often. I re-visited dietician (my cost) at her suggestion and learned my Protein intake way way to low so I have tried to improve intake and have pro drink for Breakfast. I cannot get breakfast down at 6,7 or 8 am I am up around 4:30- 5 ish. Can drink a pro drink though. Dietician said better than nothing and increases protein. ** Hmm, they really push the protein, and I'm not sure why. A lot of the drinks they recommend, especially when mixed with milk or soy, have more protein than you can metabolize. We convert our extras into bad things, even extra Proteins. If you're a protein counter, space it out. I rarely post here, once I saw someone admit to slipping, and having a hard time and person was flamed and judged so harshly I chose never to write here. That's too bad. You should not let one instance paint the entire MO for the board. I hope many of your questions haven't gone unanswered because of this reaction. Why is it that it does not seem to work for some people? Most of the people it does not work for, are not using it correctly, or do not have their band adjusted to where it can do its part. This goes way beyond diet. We all know the band cannot do its job until it can restrict. You describe "occasional" restriction, not even on a daily basis, which probably means you are not restricted enough for the band to do its job outside of occasionally. The answer to this is get more fill. So you ask what I would do - I see three options. 1) get another fill, 2) assume more responsibility for the weightloss if you are trying to lose more weight (if we could maintain this, we probably wouldn't have bands), 3) do nothing (at which point you can't expect change). Of those three, I would do #1, but I'm not in your situation so take that with a grain of salt. Since you're self pay, shop around. Maybe some other providers will offer fills at a cheaper rate than what you have had in the past. I don't really advocate bargain hunting when it comes to health matters, BUT a cheap fill is probably better than no fill. I don't know what going rate is, but I know my surgeon charges $150. It's also open enrollment season. Any chance of switching to a plan that would cover the fills? (My fills, even now that I'm well past my first year, are 100% covered -- their coded as an office visit, but my copay is waived). Other than Protein Drinks at breakfast, you don't provide any solid info around what you're eating. Share an average day's intake and we can give you feedback on that. As for mornign restriction, I have it. My restriction is virtually 100% related to time of day. I've slimed over Water in the mornings, sad really. Lunches are a small (rarely finish it) Soup... if I even bother with lunch, and ifI do, it takes a long time to finish. Usually by dinner I can eat without too much trouble.

Yes, if it feels good.

Unfortunately I'm sure we'll do the whole big akward family thing. Yay. Another opportunity for me to be grossed out watching people eat.

Aye, as the others have already stated. A cc is a ml. Think of your average "doser" syringe, usually holding 10cc: 2 ccs of food would be whatever fit between the tip and the 2 mark. In terms of dosage, 1cc is about 20 drops. This is how the Lap-Band works: See the "Band Filled" picture? How the little blue ring is inflated, compared to the "Band Unfilled" picture? That's where the ccs go. Having 1cc in a 4cc band just means there's 1cc of Fluid in that blue ring. In other words, the part of your organ being restricted by the band (white circle in the pic) is made smaller by 1cc worth of extra space taken up by the blue ring.

Whether your husband's health or children's toys come first shouldn't even be a question. I'm not sure kids that age necessarily make connections between consequences and seemingly unrelated (and to them perhaps abstract) concepts. I think back to my cousins when they were at that age... I know they couldn't. You don't have any money? Well then write a check, checks aren't money!

BTW, "bigger" boobs does not = "big" boobs. All you Fs and Gs and QQQs and ZZZs. By "cup size bigger" I mean like... a loose C instead of a loose B. Y'all suck.

Ok - OMG - I had this for the first time the other day and it was SOO good. Nice and hearty, but more like a dessert.</. It was at our local organic grocery store. The listed ingredients were "pumpkin, heavy whipping cream" but there was other stuff in it, I could see the seasonings & seeds or whatever they were. I went back the same day and bought a big container to take home for dinner (it was the soup on the salad bar). They haven't had it since.

No need for a truce. I can wear the moderator hat quite separately from the user hat. I'm glad others can see them differently, too.

Oh - my waist is fairly high, too, and I hate jeans with a low rise. I tried the Daisy Fuentes jeans at Kohl's but they had a really low rise. My last round of progress pics shows my current figure. You can easily see - hippies everywhere, high waist. Makes for a VERY hard fit.

Jeans & pants in general are hard to find. If they fit my hips, they gape in the waist and I have to belt them. I thought I liked the fit of the new LB jeans - the ones designed for different body types, but I'm not so sure. (I bought the blue ones which I think are for hourglass figures). I've worn them 3 times now, and the do fit nicely in the hips and waist, but the butt sags, the crotch has those stupid folds of excess fabric, and the legs are really big. *sigh* So far I've had the best luck with buying tight jeans and just waiting for them to "break into" my body.

I'm not sure this is going anywhere, and I'm not sure what you're looking for from me. We're very aware of the situation now (all of us, not just the specific people who were PMed or alerted previously), and will do our best to keep it in check. At the same time, I think we can fairly request that everyone involved (directly & indirectly, whatever side, etc.) do their part to keep things as tame as possible. Things like not jabbing when you don't have to jab, not provoking when you don't have to provoke, etc. No one here is going to prove anything through their behavior, other than -- your own behaviors.

You might find the FAQ helpful as a place to start.

I'm between 5'10 and 5'11, and wear anywhere between a 10w and a 12, depending on manufacturer. I'm averaging on the low end of sz 20 pants but can't yet reliably get into any old size 18. Shirts I'm in a loose 1x, most 14/16s, some 18/20s. I'm hippy and have always been (even before getting fat) a larger size on bottom than top.

I thought it was under the Thread Tool utility - close to 100% sure, actually, but I don't see it now. Hmm, maybe it was a feature, but was then removed? I'm not sure. I know you can access ignored threads in your User CP, but don't see anything for adding to it. Good question! Maybe someone out there knows...

With all due respect, Wheetsin (and you know I do like and respect you), we did attempt to take the higher road. I don't think it's immaturity when someone actually responds to a post that specifically mentions their name. But responding to a post that specifically mentions someone's name isn't all that has been happening, either -- not by a long shot. There have been a lot of "pokes" and "prods" in a lot of different manners. WASa PMed you guys multiple times about sweethazel and Lizrbit, sending lists of the threads where she was harassed by them as proof, but nothing was done, not even in the form of a reply to her. In 100% honesty, I have my PM box opened in a window next to this one, and I do have PMs from both of you, but outside of the ones that have transpired very recently (last day or so) I don't have a single one that references this issue. At least not back thru... 9/19 (going back to around the time I accidentally deleted the post you started about the person on OH). I'm not saying the PMs weren't sent - perhaps they were and I didn't get it for some reason. I dunno. All I'm saying is that I do not have them. I don't know if the other mods are reading this thread or not, but I can't speak for what they did/didn't receive. You virtually confirmed to me that Lizrbit and sweethazel are the same person. If I did this, it was unintentional. I do try to refrain from putting too much information into PMs (easier to do than it might seem), and perhaps this makes my message ambiguous or vague. Looking back at what I sent I can see how you would interpret what I said as an unspoken confirmation, but I really didn't mean it that way. I think the members that are the receiving end of the harassment are entitled to react. No one said don't react. I would - and I may speak for the other moderators here but can't guarantee it - prefer that people react and take care of their own issues. Hence we will tend to let lots of little hiccups run their own course, as they usually do. The best part of being a moderator is when you don't have to moderate. I think both sides could have reacted in more productive ways. Obviously I don't think anything horrible has happened, hence you all still have accounts here. But I do think there has been a lot of immaturity and I do think the situations could have been handled very differently. Let me ask you this: Would you tell a person being stalked and harassed in RL to "just ignore it?" Eventually, something has to be done about the person doing the stalking. No, I wouldn't tell someone IRL to ignore it, but I see the two concepts as apples and oranges. If that much similarity, even. E.g. -- someone following me in a car, parking outside of my house, already being there when I went to pick up my children, etc. would concern me a lot more than someone posting irritating/pointless replies to my posts on a messageboard.

Alienware looks cool, but they've become a bit watered down and not as high-end as they used to be. They're also specifically geared toward gamers - high image processing, lots of memory, a fast disk, etc. Not a lot of stuff that your average user is going to need. In fact, I think they used to go through the Windows install and completely blow out anything you didn't need for gaming (Office apps, accessories, services, etc.) Dell, HP, etc. would be sufficient for a daily user. My laptop is a Gateway MX6445 and I think I paid about $700 for it. It's perfect for me. I can do all my school work, web work, and even the occasional game. Before this one I had a Toshiba Satellite and I didn't like it. Really what it boils down to -- what type of power do you need? What applications do you spend the majority of your time in? Do you need to render a lot of graphics? Do you need to store copious amounts of data? Etc. (DH is an uber-geek, I can only bow in his presence. he's a bit anti-Windows, but still knows much more about it than I do, so I will get his input too)

I'm a visual person and while not necessarily good at drawing, maybe this will help a bit. (Of course, this is just my theory). The picture below has two bodies, each body has the exact same boob. One body is fat, the other is leaner. Notice that as the abdominal fat shrinks the body actually recedes. The band of the bra fits farther back, and more of the actual boob is there to be covered in the cup size. I'm probably still not explaining this well. CLose your fist around a straw. You only see part of the straw. Now move your fist down the straw to simulate the body's recession. The straw was the same size all along, but now more of it is exposed because the bosy has receded. Blah, that's the best I can do.

It's an interesting topic. I hear (and have probably said) "I'm fat, but healthy." Obviously this is a bit of an oxymoron. When I say it, I use it as "I'm fat, but I don't have manifested health problems yet." But there are certainly people out there who think they can be morbidly obese & healthy. I kind of have to call BS and point to the whole denial thing, just like I do when I hear "fat and happy" or "fat and proud of it." That's a protective wall and serves its purpose, but I know of no morbidly obese people who don't wish they were thinner. I also don't know many overweight people who don't suffer from at least situational - if not clinical - depression.

Just call. You aren't comitted to a thing at that point. When I called, I was still undecided. Or so I told myself. But here's how I saw the situation: If I call now, I can begin the paperwork. I'm not committed to this if I decide not to go through with it. If I don't call now, I cannot begin the paperwork. If I then decide I DO want to go through with this, then there's all the extra time of having to get the paperwork/preliminary stuff out of the way. Which would I rather have? The prelim stuff out of the way so I can act that much sooner, or to have to start from scratch once I've made up my mind and am eager to get started? That made it really easy for me.

I own a small (as in - me, my husband, and a few recruited friends if we need help with the workload) web services company... designing/building websites, setting up network infrastructures, building servers, etc. We don't really network because we get more business than we can handle word of mouth (we do this outside of our regular jobs, and don't want it to become more serious), but I can offer a few suggestions: Use online networking resources such as LinkedIn. Do try to stay away from the more questionable sites such as MySpace. Remember that anywhere that bears your name can help build the impression of your company. If you can, join some local affiliate or professional groups. Most cities have organizations specifically for female/minority business owners, and organize conventions and socials for networking purposes... often, business can also set up booths to showcase their products. Doesn't AVON or similar organizations have their own networking conventions? Have you attended or had any luck? Can I give you some pointers on your commercial? (if no, don't read on) I would organize this more around the business. Make it more neutral. One of the first & hardest lessons many businesses learn is that by advertising some aspect of their personal lives, they're almost automatically cutting off some potential customers, especially when hundreds of people sell the same product. I watched a good friend of mine go through this with his business. He added a religious icon to one of his advertisements, right around the holidays... and suffered for it -- almost had to close. He found it was either a turn-off to people of other religions, people who preferred to keep religion out of their purchase, etc. "As a marine...you being a customer is my goal" doesn't, I don't think, read as you're hoping it will... the two don't have a business connection. Run your ad thrugh a rigorous proofreading and editing session. Hire a professional if you need to, it's one of those things that really does pay for itself. HTH

I'm kind of the opposite, if I love it. I'm very, very picky. It's hard for me to find something I "love" so when I do find it, the cost doesn't matter, I WANT IT. Sometimes I luck out and love = cheap, but not always. I'm also very spontaneous... walking down the aisle, not looking for anything, OOPs I love it, gotta have it, in it goes! Get it home and I don't even have a place to put it, but I love it... so do I take it back or hang on to it because just maybe I'll find it a place... I've gone with the cheaper things that I didn't love, and I always just end up replacing them because they don't make me happy. Wasted a lot of money that way. (Have a $3800 bedroom suite that's sitting in our basement... that I will never use... feel bad for wasting it, but I don't want it in my rooms... *sigh*) A few weeks ago I bought new couches for the great room (the ones in there were only 2 years old, but I didn't love them... see how that works?). I didn't even pay attention to what the price was, they were what I wanted. On our anniversary, hubby started the evening off with 10 roses and I was cringing because roses cost so much... Maybe it's just a matter of how we value things. One of my hobbies is photography and hubby wants to buy me the Canon Rebel XTi digital (a $800 - $900 camera). He's been wanting to buy it for me, but I won't let him. We would not miss the money, but I think it's too much to spend on me. I would spend the same amount on him in a heartbeat. And I'm sure each of those couches was more than that, but I didn't give a frip. Here's another example. The other day I bought some curtains at Target, about $170 total. I thought they were too expensive and took them back. (I didn't love them once they were hanging). My solution? I ordered about $500 in fabric that I loved, to have panels sewn. It didn't bother me to spend more because I loved it, even though I thought the $170 was too much because I didn't love it. The house and other people are pretty much my only carte blanches. Even my own hobbies I can't justify the $$$ on.

Sometimes the body just needs to take a break. You can't expect to maintain the same rate of loss you experience right after post-op throughout your weightloss journey to goal. Can't offer much advice on the elliptical, I don't like them. Monitor your caloric intake against your BMR, see if you're where you need to be. If not, adjust. If so, look to external factors.

Adding w/o an edit - I will buy clothes for myself, and things for the house. But I will not by "luxury" things for myself, e.g. jewelry. Our 10th anniversary was this week and my husband spent $$$$ on the dinner we had, the gifts, etc. and I felt bad enough that it took away from the enjoyment.

BTW, incidentally, really - I am an only child and both of my parents worked jobs that afforded a lot of extra money. I never wanted for anything - my parents bought me way more than I ever asked for. (Due in part to their guilt over me not having any siblings). I can show you pics of our tree from my childhood and you'd swear 8 or 9 kids lived there based on the number of presents under the tree. Yet I'm not spoiled in the sense you might think I would be. I will admit that I AM spoiled in the sense of -- value of a dollar... hard to describe, that may not be right, and I feel kind of bad telling this but I will anyway. I've never had a time in my life where there wasn't enough money. Even when I was in college and not making a lot of money myself, it was always there some how - parents paying my rent, buying me groceries, etc. I've never once had to say "I can't afford it" other than like if I forget my debit card and only have $20 on me... then I know I can only spend $20 until I go get my debit card. Anyway, that doesn't come from Santa or anything, but just lifestyle I guess. Anyway -- I do not enjoy it when people buy me things, and have a hard time enjoying things I know others paid for. And I have a hard time buying things for myself, even though I won't think twice about buying something that costs 5x as much for someone else. I sincerely tell my parents I want "nothing" when they ask, or I will ask for something handmade - for mom to knit me a throw, for dad to refinish a piece of furniture for me, etc. I do not want ppl spending money on me, not even my husband. It makes me feel terrible. Probably to an unnatural degree.