Manatee

Believe it or not, Ducati used to be owned by Texans. It's now a publicly traded Italian company with no ties to Ferrari I really want to pick up a Duck, but the morons in traffic around here are just too bad. I quit riding after dodging one too many Sedan de'Villes

See, that's kinda the problem right there. First, that particular car isn't mine (mine was out in the sun). Second, I do want to find a gearhead/race fan, but don't really care for the kind of people who are always thinking about the cost of other people's things -- if ya know what I mean.

I was a Dr. Pepper freak I recently had one, and it was NOT a pleasant experience. You can't really burp the gas out, so guess where it goes?

Ok, online dating gurus.<br /> <br /> Here's a recent pic of me at a car show. Should I use this as a profile picture? I'm a bit concerned about the baggage/implication of the location/clothing, but maybe I'm overthinking it? It's really the only recent picture I have<br /> <br /> <br /> edit: oh yeah -- I'm now officially "overweight." That still sounds bad, but not as bad as "obese" or "morbidly obese"

Had a NSV today (and officially, down 70 lbs!) Went to take my first flying lesson today, and part of the drill is setting the weight and balance for the plane. I tell the instructor I'm at 205 (throwing in clothes etc), and he just kinda stops for a second. He asks me if I'm sure, and I said "yes" (thinking -- damn, I'm still a fatass). He looks again and says "Ok, but I had you pegged at 185" Hurrah!

I'm not 'experienced', but for me the third fill was the one that really kicked in. Your mileage will vary

I run Firefox on both my PC and Mac. On both, the bar that says "Home UserCP, Gallery", etc has gone blue-on-blue. I can't see the text any more, because the text is down in the lower dark blue bar instead of on the light blue one. On Safari on Mac it's fine. I haven't checked on IE. Can someone in charge take a look at this? Thanks

Well, the weight is just kinda staying at the same point for the last month, but my size is changing. Today I bought new pants -- 38 inch waist! I started this in April wearing 48s. Wahooooooooo

Sorry, but this just flat out isn't true. Dating is easier for women. If you ask a guy out, most will say yes no matter what. Why? Because guys are pretty simple, and we're hoping that a "forward woman" is someone fun to be around. On the other hand, when a guy asks a woman out, he's just the latest in the long line. The woman knows she can pick and choose (look at this thread for exactly that mindset). If a guy's short, or overweight, or maybe a bit shy, a "nice guy" or worst of all a combination of all that, then he's pretty much guaranteed to be shot down. After years of that, a lot quit looking and just go play World of Warcraft

My latest fill was like that. I contacted the doc and he said that as long as I was taking protein and water to ride it out. It took a week, but it did finally loosen, and the weight/inches are starting to drop again. Be VERY careful and make sure you get lots of protein. You don't want the organs to swell and tighten the band. Talk to your doctor

Minor NSV today....I had a chance to climb through a B-17 bomber today. That thing is VERY tight, especially the walkway above the bomb bay. The gentleman in front of me in line was not allowed in the plane due to his size -- which was pretty much the same size I was just before surgery. Thanks goodness for the band, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see the inside of the plane

Why does anyone "change" later in the relationship? Why do ladies suddenly develop month-long headaches and a taste for expensive accessories? Dating is the equivalent to a job interview -- everyone's on their best behaviour, trying hard to charm and be pleasing. Later on when the deadline's crunching, the TRUE personality comes to the forefront. Nobody's perfect, everyone needs their own space, and everyone farts. Know that going in, or every guy's going to end up disappointing you. I know I'm going to suck at this dating thing, because I've never been able to disguise my real thoughts and feelings. What can I say, I'm a geek

It's a tool. You can get around the restriction by eating junk, refusing a fill, not exercising, etc. There's lots of folks on this site that always have some excuse about why the Lap-Band isn't working for them. As for me, I've been aggressive with the fills and have lost 60 lbs since May! One thing to check with your docs about is the 11 pills. You'll likely need to find alternatives to those, as the pouch/restriction will affect your ability to take them. The HUGE advantage of the band is that even when I want to binge, I really can't. Portion control was my big problem, and now if I try to eat like I used to I get massive pain (without even getting close to the old volume). Aversion therapy

So, pool party, new swim suit and I did indeed get in the hot tub Still kept the shirt on, NOBODY wants to see my bare flab Strange thing I noticed is that except for the gym rats I was actually the thinnest of the guys. None of the normals had any problems stripping to just trunks. I guess those who have never been REALLY big just don't have the body image issues that put the brakes on my thought processes. Just more stuff to work on. Had a great evening, got to know a few ladies from friends-of-a friend. Nothing clicked but I'm not really trying right now anyway.

Dibaby, I think you're probably better off without someone THAT into gaming. I watched EQ and WOW and CoH destroy my brother's marriage. Both he and she got so deep into gaming that they would chat with each other through the games while in the same physical room. When he almost lost his job due to the games he quit cold turkey, and she stayed in there. 9 months later, they went their separate ways.

Nifty toy, JC. If it can do IPSEC and has a vnc client, I'll have to get one Pool party/BBQ tonight. Depending on how many of the Pretty People show up I might even get in the hot tub

Hurrah! According to the scales, I'm now O-Fish-Ally halfway to goal! :Happy dance: All in all, life's pretty good right now

I'm O-fish-aly halfway to goal. Huzzah

I have obstructive sleep apnea, and had the surgery in May. Just make sure your doctor knows about it, and they'll take care of it. It's not an uncommon situation with weight loss surgery.

I gotta say, you're really an inspiration when it comes to the exercise thing. When I don't want to get up, I think of your daily triathalon and move my lazy butt :huggie: WWJCD?

Hi all No changes for me on the dating front, but at least I'm finally off my weight plateau. The weight is starting to drop off again, and the new jeans are loose. Hurrah! Got another pool party coming up next week, I think this time I'll bring swim trunks and a Tshirt. I took a real good look at the last set of pictures and took a look around, and finally realized that I'm almost "normally overweight" now. For some reason when I look in the mirror I still see Jabba the Hutt, hopefully the pics are telling the real story. In other news, I decided to change vehicles. I bet this thing will piss off a few Prius owners

I've found a weighted rolling average helps me deal with the ups and downs. Go search for "Hacker's Diet" and the author explains the concept and why it's useful. There's several places online that can track the weight in that manner rather than the instantaneous method the tickers do.

My coworkers know (small shop, scheduling required they know), but most of my friends don't. To them, I simply laugh it off with "eat less and work out...who knew?" and a smile/shrug. And yeah, only 3 months out people have noticed.

You can get a replacement manual with the exercise info here: Bowflex® Power Rod® Home Gyms | Assembly Manuals

3 Month pics Start, May 17, just before surgery -- 263 lbs, 48" waist pants and 3XLT shirt <--and I was DOWN 20 lbs from my heaviest in February. Today, August 20 -- 221 lbs, 40" waist pants and XLT shirt Still got a WAYS to go.