K@t

heheh thats totally cute, but hubby and i are arguing about whether or not its a real dog......he thinks its s stuffed animal....any one know?

Ok, I had a weird day, so I thought I would share. As most of you know I live in Portugal so fat people are a bit of a wonder here......however, I have noticed a lot more obese people in the last year or two. With that being said......I have probably put on a few more pounds recently, I guess since I found out about the band and since I'm on the list for surgery, I have kinda let myself go, eating things I usually restrict myself from. (I have to restrict myself all the time just to maintain my weight) but I'm up to 250 now from 225. (pretty much over the course of a year or so) Right well, today I went to the mall with my husband, a totally normal thing, I go to that mall all the time, by myself, with friends, etc. But it seemed like no matter where we went today, people were staring at me. On the escalator, in the hall, at the restaurant, in the electronics store. I know that sounds paranoid, and I'm not usually very aware of other people around me...but geez... I stared eye to eye with at least 4 different people who were staring at me....they didn't even have the decency to look away. I looked at my hubby and asked him if there was something on my face, or something on my clothes and he said no (being charming as ever he said that people can't help but stare at pretty things) so I'm sitting here wondering what in the hell was going on today....can it be that the little difference in gained weight has made me soooooo big that people are starting at me now??? Or am I just paranoid? :paranoid

hehehe......... I thought maybe it was my outfit, but it was just jeans and a baggy t shirt...normal stuff.... i dunno i think i was being weird....any way....ill try the make people think hes good in bed stuff next time

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss. Thats great progress. Second of all 53lbs is VERY noticeable, even on extremely heavy people....I'm 250 and most people can tell when I have lost lbs much less 50. If your husband is getting so upset, then I say there is some other issue here. Maybe he is insecure that you will leave him, maybe hes jealous of your success...there are a thousand different scenarios, but his behavior is totally unacceptable. I would try to get both of you into marriage counseling to find out what exactly is his problem. If you can't do counseling, then I think a frank talk with him would be in order. Some one who loves you and cherishes you would only want the best for you, which is to be happy and healthy. And they also give loving compliments with out having to be asked for them. I know you have been married a long time, but I don't think I could live with a man who didn't love and cherish me. Good luck.

I know I'm being silly, I guess it was just one of those days were I decide the world is against me....:loco: That's something I can say about my hubby, he always has a nice compliment for me....almost every day he tells me how beautiful I am...I know I'm lucky for that.....of course he evens the score by acting like a big 'ol baby most of the time...... so we are on even ground. Today he actually picked out his own clothes and he wanted me to tell him what a good boy he was for picking out a matching outfit!! :bounce: hehe...gotta love him though.....

As I have lost and gained weight over the years, I have had many responses..... and all of them were positive when I was loosing. I remember a teacher at the school I was working at told me if I lost any more I would be wasting away, she thought I was looking great and was afraid for me to loose too much!!! That was when I was 250 and down to 225!! Imagine...wasting away at 225! (I was doing Atkins) It was a great feeling. :biggrin1: As for others loosing weight when I can not (or have more difficulty I should say) I'm happy....I'm not jealous, I'm not upset and I don't wish it were me instead of them. I'm happy for some one else's accomplishments, and it just gives me that much more motivation to try harder myself, I love to read about and hear about others success stories, and I know that one day I will have my own success story to share. :clap2:

woooooohoooooo....u must be excited.....I know waiting is the hardest part!

Hey thanks for the tip...I haven't been banded yet, but I have problems holding water in as it is (it passes right through me) so I might have a similar problem when I have my surgery.....

My mom had the same problem, she bought a truck and then had problems making the payment, but because she was upside down on the loan she (she owed more then it was worth) trading it in wouldn't have helped and selling it she would have taken a loss. (she ended up selling it at a loss) What I would suggest is trying to make the payments until you owe about as much as the car is worth so you can trade it in with no negative equity......or you can refinance it to have smaller payments, however that would give you even more negative equity..assuming you are upside down on the loan. If your really desperate, try to sell it at a loss, and then just take ur loss with a grain of salt and try to purchase a cheaper car. There are sometimes situations where instead of selling the car out right, you can have some one take over payments....so they would essentially buy it for what you owe on it. That may be a possibility as well. Good luck this isn't easy, those sales men always like to get us in over our heads...poor guys, its their job though.

My sister was weeding out the tomato garden one day (this is when she was like 18 or so) and she threw some bad tomatoes out on to the lawn. Later my dad came by on the ridding lawn mower and blew out a tire. He blamed it on my sister saying the "acid" from the tomatoes had eaten away the tire and made it blow out....she was in her 20's when my dad told the story to every one and had a good laugh. My poor sister was so embarrassed because until that day, she really thought that tomatoes had acid and could blow out a tire.....

It means, she must be hungry because she's eating something ..the smoothie or yogurt as it may be. PS. If she has the lap band that means she has problems with her weight, why would she want to risk her health even more by smoking....i mean...there is no surgery for decaying lungs or any of the other nasty side effects from smoking.....

I don't think ads for any thing should be band, smoking or alcohol or any thing else for that matter. people need to have will power and if they don't, then thats part of life. I for one can say that food advertisement rarely makes me want to go buy something or eat something, I come up with that feeling all on my own. This reminds me of a story my friend told me...he's a heavy smoker and he said he would be sitting at home watching tv not even thinking about smoking, but then one of those adds against smoking would come on (I can't remember what the group is called but they make lots of tv ads with the bad statistics against smoking) and he said as soon as he saw the ad AGAINST smoking, it would make him want to smoke.... McDonald's is a business and their looking to make money. Their primary concern is NOT our health. And who can blame them, business is what makes the world go round. The make tasty food because thats what people buy and because thats what makes them money, and I don't think we should deny them that by cutting of their primary source of advertisement. Its just not fair business practice. (speaking as someone with an MBA in my pocket) Business have a right too, just as well as consumers. The women who won that coffee burn lawsuit was ridiculous (stupid... use cup holders don't put a hot drink in between ur legs), as were the people who sued the tobacco companies. (who cares if smoking use to be thought of as harmless, every day things we think are harmless are being shown to be harmful...are we going to go sue all those companies as well?) WE decide what to do with our bodies and we can't throw the blame on any one else.

One of the biggest things that sets humans apart from the rest of the mammal kingdom is our ability to make rational decisions. We should be able to control ourselves ads or no ads. It's like saying that video games prompt children to commit violent acts, or that because a man was molested as a child he will molest children when he is an adult. I don't buy it. Each and every one of us are responsible for our own actions and saying the billboard (or advertisement or whatever) made me do it is no excuse.

It´s better because most of us don't have the physical will power to eat smaller portions and to eat slower with out some sort of consequence. The band makes it physically impossible to eat more then we should and it gives our body a reminder when we are doing something we shouldn't, and the band never stops or goes away. We might diet for a few weeks but after that give up and go back to our old ways. The band physically will not allow us to do that. For me at least its what I need to make me eat proper and to stop when I don't need any more. Otherwise I'll just eat and eat until I feel sick and guilty. If we could eat smaller portions and slow down eating etc....then we wouldn't have gotten this fat to begin with.

I read an article the other day about the man who has had more plastic surgery then any other man in the world (currently) (Micheal Jackson may be in close competitions with him :biggrin1: ) Any way, the plastic surgery is his entire face, no other part of his body. He has Brad Pitt's lips, and George Cloony's chin etc.... And he said that he did it because society treats pretty people better. Well, I know it may open some doors for you, but $70,000 just to get a few doors opened.....

Hey Audra, I'm right there with you. This is has been a problem since my childhood, and I too am currently waiting for a surgery date. I can't wait to get banded and put a stop to this nver ending cycle of problems.

-Thinjen- I don't blame you for saying the name, in fact I'd like to know the names of all the doctors mentioned here so I don't go to them. My little story - I had been having some pain in my wrist so I saw my primary doctor, and he asked me what I thought was causing the pain, I told him that I work in an office and that it hurts when I have to push down on a hole punch or a stapler. His solution: stop stapling and using the hold punch!

I'm not an expert, but I think the most people eat around 12,000 a day or a bit less. But not to much less then that. You can click on the search button on the top bar and type in calories per day, and you can see the diffrent threads that talk about this issue.

I met my hubby online when I was 16 (I'm 25 now so that was almost 10 years ago) and we were good buddies. When I turned 19 he came over to the US to visit. I'm now living in Portugal and we have been married almost 2 years.

Well, I'm in the chat right now, and most of you are green which means ur around here....so why aren't ya on the chat?? huh?? huh??

I'm glad you called, its always better to err on the side of caution. Any way, just a thought, you said that she doesn't yell when the guy is over there.....maybe ur husband could catch the guy when he's leaving and do a little chit chatting, you know like soo.... you have adorable kids (if he says thanks, indictaing the kids are his,) then maybe ur hubby can mention all the yelling and spanking. Maybe the father is more reliable then the mother and isn't aware of whats going on with the children.

My mom tried to talk to me about it when I was younger, but I was embarrassed and I didn't want to listen. So she bought me a book. I can't remember the title but it was a story about a girl who got her period and what she did about it, in detail. I remember it was a nice story and I learned what I needed to know from it, and after reading the book I wasn't so worried about talking to my mom about it. Good luck.

Hey congrats!! That feeling is almost as exciting as going in for surgery itself! Keep us all posted.:clap2:

If you live in the US then there are other government subsidies for people in your situation. And if you have enough money for a computer and for internet access, then I say your not saving hard enough for your operation.

Hhehehe, I guess it must be a dynamic of our relationship. I'm always over excited and want to do things now, NOW, NOW! While he is more level headed and patient. But I know he's just trying to do what he thinks is best for me. (he says he doesn't trust France, he thinks the doctors in Portugal are better) We haven't even found a private doctor here yet that does the procedure. I had an appt. with a surgeon on Wednesday but when I called to confirm the appt, I chatted with the nurse and found out he doesn't even do the procedure :eek: (now I have to bitch at the other doctor who sent me to him) so I'm sort of at a loss right now. I have never had to have any thing done by the state system before, I just always went to my husbands uncle who is a private doctor. But I can't imagine that the service here is any worse then France. The hospital where I would have it done is like 5 min from my house so thats really convient, and my students have all told me good things about the hospital. My plan of action as of right now is, I talked to my husbands uncle who is a private doctor and explained the situation, and he said he would talk to some one at the hospital. So I'm waiting to hear from him. In Portugal it's all about who you know, so maybe his uncle knows the right people. I'm keeping France as a back up option, but most of you are right. There are so many other cost associated with this like after care, fills, new clothes (when the old ones get to big) and I don't know if I'll need any plastic surgery, but if I need it that will have to be out of pocket the govt won't pay for that. To be honest my situation is better then most of yours because your insurance companies put u through hell with doctor vistis and 6 months of diet etc. All I really have to do is just......wait. So I'm putting my patient hat on and I'm gonna sit back and wait to see what happens.....:eek: Thank you all for such wonderful support!:rant: