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Here is a quick and easy favorite at home. -4 chicken breast boneless, skinless -1 jar of your favorite spagettie sauce. (there are some very good low fat ones out there.) -1/2 cup of grated parmasan cheese -1/2 cup shredded motzerella Put chicken breast into a pyrex (or any glass dish baking pan). In a seprate bowl mix parmasan cheese with spagettie sauce. Pour mixture over chicken. Bake at 275º for about 30 min. Sprinkle motzerella cheese over baked chicken and volá all done. *there is usually enough sauce left in the pan that can be spooned over Pasta. We usually serve this with a nice italian salad (kinda like they serve at olive garden) Bom apetite! (Portuguese not Italian!)

opppps..... Sorry I made a mistake. I was translating from portuguese to english. (its cebola de frances in portugese) It's not french onion but rather Scallions that go in the soup. The white part at the end should be used. I'll edit the recipe. Thanks for the question, or I never would have caught that! :doh:

ohh , thanks guys, I was wondering about that too....thats gonna be a hard habit to break.

Hey Magic, Since your coming to Europe you should just get it done in Portugal and come stay with me! :clap2: I haven't found out the cost yet but I should know on Friday, if its 8,000 in France it should be cheaper here. I'll keep you posted.

Hey thanks for the input! I'm not exactly sure how it works, but here in Portugal it's a big thing for people who have lost a lot of weight to get massages to help tighten the skin. I'm not exactly sure how its done or what they do, but I will make sure to check every thing out before i have any thing done.

Yeah I think my hubby is just mostly worried about the surgery, and about what eatting in this house is going to be like after I'm banded. (hes such a big baby! ) But he want's me to be happy and if this is it then he's in for the long haul. He is going to the appoinment considering that the Doc doesn't speak english and, while my portuguese is good, understanding medical jargon might be a bit difficult. So he is coming in case I don't understand some things. I did tell my sister that I was thinking about doing it and i gave her the before and after thread to look at. Well, she blabbed and my mom called me all freaked out telling me I better not have any surgery done and that it was to dangerous etc.... *sigh* :phanvan I knew there was a reason I didn't tell her. I just said no mom and yes mom to whatever she wanted to hear. Good thing I'm like 50 billion miles away and she cant stop me from doing whatever I want! :heh: The one thing I hear on the forum a LOT is that people wish they had had it done sooner. I'm 25 and almost 250lbs, and I don't want to hit 40 and be 300lbs wondering why I didn't do this sooner. I will never know what's going to happen unless I take the chance. Any way, Thanks for all the support I'm really finding this forum helpful. If any one wants to chat with me personally please e mail me at: heather.pascoa@gmail.com I check my mail daily and love to talk!

My hubby only eats what I buy, but when I stop buying the things he likes to munch on he will start asking where it is as if hinting I should pick some up the next time I go to the store. :tired I tried switching from white rice to brown and he bitched. And if I cook a smaller (smaller=normal) portion for him instead of his usual (his usual=2 normal portions) then he starts complaning he's still hungry after the meal and goes looking around for some munchies. (its a never ending loop isnt it! ) This is going to be a big step if I get banded, and I have a feeling he might be running back to his mommies house to eat because that stuff isn't coming in the house after I'm banded. I'm not going to spend all that money just to sabatoge myself in the end. :clap2:

let me know how it turns out! :hungry:

Hey guys, I was told by my doctor ( my family doctor, not a bariatric doctor) that after I get the band I should get some deep tissue massages around my tummy area after I loose some weight, and that I should continue to get them as long as I'm loosing so that the skin with tighten up again and not sag. They usually use a lot of pressure with these massages and I was just wondering if it will damage or move the band around in any way since it will be on my stomach. Any one know any thing about this?

How about hubby eatting McDonalds in the car when I'm driving, I made him roll down the windows! :biggrin1:

Yes, I heard a case of another women who was allergic, but it was the type of band she had. She was able to replace it for a diffrent model and she was fine. But if your allergic I think it has to be removed as soon as possible.

Good luck and a speedy recovery!! Were all thinking of you! :clap2:

Not to be a downer or any thing but I think I read a post some time ago with some negative feedback on Dr.Kuir. You should do a search on threads with that name and see what comes up. Good Luck!

hehehehehe :clap2: u guys crack me up with ur coffee. Fortunatly I don't have a coffee addiction. In fact, I'm a social coffee drinker because here in Portugal, most people have an expresso after their meals as sort of an after dinner drink. Sometimes I'll have one too, but not often. My problem is going to be giving up soda I LOVE my diet coke. :nervous (of course when you read they wash blood off the highway with the same active ingrediants as in coke it makes u wonder what it's doing to your insides :ermm ) Any way, I have a feeling I'll be drinking flat coke if I can get away with it!

Let me know how they turn out, or if you need any help, they can be a bit tricky, but once u get the hang of it, they are very filling and yummy, and get u all those vitamins that we need.

Thanks guys for all the replies! I'm feeling loved!

Hey guys, Thanks for the support. I'm feeling a bit better already. I saw your other post Veritas about the surgery, I'm glad your doing better. Well I'm from Portugal. I'm American and orginally from Florida, but my husband is Portuguese, so when we got married we moved here. So far I haven't done anything. I had a general check up the other day and the docotor suggested that I think about band surgery because of my history (I have been overweight since I was about 6 years old and my bmi is 40.3 and I have been on yo yo dieting for a long time) so I made an appt. with the bariatric(sp?) doctor for the 24th. I can't find much info on the procedure here in Portugal so I'm really anxious to find out the cost and the facilities where they do it. If it's any thing like the rest of Europe I'm guessing I'll pay between 3,000€ -5,000€. I could go the insurance route, but they put you on a waiting list and some people have waitied up to two years for procedures. I was hoping to get it all sorted out and do it over my Easter vacation. I'm a teacher so I have a week then. It should be enough time to recover so I won't have to take any sick days. Any way, I haven't told any one, not my mom or grandparents or my sister who I'm really close to. I'm sure they would disapprove, and they won't see me until summer, so I was hoping to loose some weight before then so I can show them its working. My husband has been less then supportive because he thinks surgery is a "last resort" and I'm not really "that fat" (242 at 5'5 bmi is 40.3 ahem, thats pretty fat) and that I should just try harder to diet and exercise. He's also a baby when it comes to food and wants me to cook him all the stuff his mother wouldn't let him eat. He has put on some weight since we got married and his parents blame me and my "American" cooking. piff. I don't shove any thing down his throat. Any way, I've babbled enough, but these are just the kind of things I need to get off my chest to some one. Thanks for listening and I can't wait to see how things go for you. good luck!

Hey guys, I have been around here for a week or so and every one seems so great. I have commented on a few threads and I think (hope :nervous ) I was well received. I guess now I just need a little one-on-one support. I feeling a bit nervous and anxious, and I was hoping some one would be my band buddy. I am going for my first appt. soon and I haven't told any one but my husband (who is a bit less then supportive) and I really just want some one to talk to about this. Feel free to e mail me or add me to ur messanger list so we can chat from time to time. I would appreciate it. Obrigada pela todas!

Hey all, One of the healthiest and tastiest things that Portuguese people eat is their Soups. Their creamy and filling and full of Vitamins. This is a Soup for people who hate to eat vegetables and who don't get enough minerals and vitamins. There are many variations so I will start with the basics. The base for any Portuguese soup: -1 cup cubed pumpkin or acorn squash (Portuguese use pumpkin but I bet you can use any variation of squash and it should be nice, I know it sounds weird but trust me these soups are great!) -2 cups carrots cubed -1 medium onion chopped -1 cup scallions chopped -2 medium potatoes cubed or 1 can of Beans (your choice they usualy use navy or butter beans) (use ONLY potatoes OR beans but not both) -1 tablespoon of sea salt -4 tablespoons olive oil Bring a large pot of Water and salt to boil. Add all ingredients and boil until soft, add water as necessary. When all the vegetables are soft, add the olive oil and blend with a magic wand (hand blender) until smooth. This is the base. Soup Variations If you used beans: -1 cup chopped artichokes or 1 cup chopped cabbage or any other vegetable you like to eat with beans. Add to the pot, and boil until soft. If you want chunks the soup is ready, if you want it creamy, blend again. If you used potatoes: - add whatever vegetables you want, green beans, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, peas add as much or as little as you like, all chopped into smaller pieces. You can even add more potato or carrot if you want chunks. -If you want a creamy soup, add these vegetables and boil until soft (always adding more water as needed) and then blend again when all the vegetables are soft. The more water you use the thinner it will be, the less, the thicker it will be. -If you want chunks in your soup, add the vegetables cut to your desired size and then boil until soft. -Small chunks of white meat chicken can also be added for extra Protein. Options: you can always add herbs for different taste like thyme and parsley. I sometimes use Mrs.Dash for extra flavors and fresh ground pepper; it’s a taste choice so have fun with it. Also you can use bags of frozen mixed vegetables that are already chopped up to save time and to get a better variety. Note: These soups freeze well, I often freeze individual portions and then thaw and microwave on the day I eat them. If you make a big pot it will usually stay in the fridge for about a week, frozen about a month. I know it sounds like a lot of work but 1 pot usually makes a weeks worth of servings so if you make it on the weekend it will last all week. Most Portuguese people eat these soups for dinner because they generally have a big lunch. I also like to eat a bowl of soup with some wheat crackers and sliced lunch meat like turkey or chicken. It makes a very filling and healthy meal. Let me know if you have any questions, or how your soups turn out!

I've been fat since I was like 6 years old, so I blame my mom. Of course I guess she hasen't had much to do with the last 7 years of my life in which I make my own eatting decisions....:faint:

I was a bit freaked out to when I started reading about the diet and stuff. But there are hundreds more sucess stories on here then there are stories about problems. I think I'm willing to take the risk to be ride of this weight and be "normal" sized for the first time in my life. (well, since I was a baby :nervous ) My first appt. will only be on the 24th and I can't wait to see what he tells me. I need to find out how much it cost etc. I live in Portugal. I am American (from Florida) but my husband is Portuguese and I moved here when we got married.

I don't think you were to hard at all. My hubby does something similar except its not as nice, instead of joking he just outright complains. When I switched to brown rice instead of white it was bitch bitch bitch. And when I cook him one steak instead of two (he could stand to loose a few lbs himself) he complains he's still hungry. And when I just don't feel like cooking because I'm not hungry, he won't fix himself any thing, he just goes around the house pouting until I go in the kitchen and cook something. (which I end up eating any way):faint: He's a big freakin baby, and I can't wait to see what happens after I get banded and I'm on liquids for 2 weeks. He really needs to learn to cook for himself.:cry

Hey Zoe, Thanks for the help. I know that they perform it here in Portugal, I just haven't found out where. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what the doctor says on the 24th. Hey nice Portuguese by the way! Thanks for the support.

Thanks that was helpful!

Welp, I must be a lot lazier then the rest of you, I just bought a program to input all that stuff instead of making an excel sheet (which I'm perfectly capable of doing) and the kicker..... I don't even use it.:faint: