voiceomt2002

Like most of y'all, I can't eat much bread or starches. Toast would be out of the question. I can have maybe 1/4 cup of grits if I eat it very, very slowly. Then all that starch sits like a lead balloon just above my band. Blech! Not worth it for me. Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee with 2 T each SF liquid creamer 2 deviled eggs, eaten at my desk over the next two hours Lunch: 1/4 lb ground beef patty, served with a deglazing sauce. 1 slice of cheese like pepper jack or colby 16 oz Crystal Light Dinner: 3-4 oz Cornish game hen, roasted (I gave the rest to my roomie.) Dessert: 1 oz diet cheesecake Late Night Snack: 1 pc. string cheese 1 cup decaf coffee with 2 T SF liquid creamer I'd planned a spinach salad to go with the hen for dinner, but I couldn't bear to even make myself a bowl, I was so full. Total Calories: 851 Total Carbs: 18 Total Proteins: 57

Thanks, Olivia. We're all putting one foot in front of the other and holding hands with our LBT friends, aren't we? I don't feel fabulous yet but I do feel pretty darn good right now. I can't wait for my husband to come home and see the new me!

Can you think of a better way to grill out than kabobs and a cool salad? Try this set now, then save it for hot weather!

Can you think of a better way to grill out than kabobs and a cool salad? Try this set now, then save it for hot weather!

Wow, I can see why you'd have your Moment then.

I was banded January 2, and I've only lost 40 pounds. I'm in awe and envious. I'm battling head hunger and habit. Those are my personal demons. You've inspired me. Good luck, JA!

Congratulations on perseverence paying off for you! You can get back on track now! Yay for you!

I haven't been able to get on the bike much, but I've been keeping up as best I can. Still haven't made that 30 minute mark yet, but I did manage 27 before I pooped out. LOL! I'll keep trying.

I've skipped the wild rice and substituted Cauli-rice with no loss in flavor, or done without it entirely. I've also changed out the corned beef for other sliced deli meats to create different flavors. With these little guys in the fridge, safely stowed in a storage container, I have no fear of the mid-afternoon or late night snack attack.

I've skipped the wild rice and substituted Cauli-rice with no loss in flavor, or done without it entirely. I've also changed out the corned beef for other sliced deli meats to create different flavors. With these little guys in the fridge, safely stowed in a storage container, I have no fear of the mid-afternoon or late night snack attack.

I knew it was coming. I knew I hadn’t lost any weight, or not nearly enough to be pleasing to myself. Sure enough, I’d lost a mere 5 pounds in the past six weeks. Despite the reassurances of the nurse taking my weight that almost everyone had the same difficulties due to the weather being so cold, I knew I could do better. My appetite had been on the increase, and consequently, my caloric intake on my FitDay.com report showed a gradual increase. So, I went in today for my visit, determined to have maybe a couple of cc’s just to nip that trend toward weight gain in the bud. Nope! Once these pounds come off, they are not going back on by golly! See ya! Buh-bye! I’d only lost 5 pounds, but about 4.9 of those pounds was pure fat! Now, that’s a reason to Celebrate. I might have lost more, but Dr. Baptista’s nifty machine said I had Water weight issues. Yes, I did, mostly in a swollen left ankle from doing too much this past weekend. Told ya it was a nifty machine. Finally, that incredibly handsome doctor with the soulful brown eyes and the talented hands (Get your minds out of the gutter! I’m talking about his surgical skills, thank you!) appeared. He seemed to agree that I needed a nudge toward the sweet spot. Thoughtful man that he is, he also remembered I’m needle phobic. He took the time to reassure me while swabbing my port area with alcohol. It was somewhat painful, but more weird than uncomfortable. I hate needles. I am a certified needle phobic with a tendency to faint when shown a hypodermic, much less have one coming at me. Sure, it stung. I expected that. I didn’t expect the second stab of pain when he found the port. I think he used a butterfly or something. My tits were in the way, and I have the good sense not to look down in case I do see a needle. (wry grin) Whew! No matter what, I was glad that part was over. Yes, I’d do it again, if necessary. I knew that immediately. It wasn’t THAT bad. He put some saline in. I was okay with it, and I could feel the change in pressure a bit. That was cool. Then doc had me drink some water and tell him when I felt “full” and when I felt the water go away. I never really felt full, and never really felt it go away. He said I needed more restriction. By the time I drank close to 16 oz of liquid, I had a whopping 4 cc’s in the band. Apparently, I needed more restriction than I’d guessed and that explained why I hadn’t lost. All my loss up to now had been low carb diet and habitual dieting, not a restriction. What a shame. I really thought I’d been close to my Sweet Spot. Oh, well. If millions of others can fiddle with their band until they find bliss, so can I. Well, I’m on liquids for the next couple of days. Fine by me. I’ll pop by Wal-Mart and get some more Meal Replacement shakes. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when I’m allowed solids again. I don't feel anything much when I drink a meal replacement shake, but I'm burping like an adolescent boy with a carbonated soda. :laugh:

She started out looking pretty good. I'm already likely to need plastic surgery as it is, and if I'm lucky I can persuade them to fix my boobs. One has been larger than the other all my adult life. Would I like a tit and butt lift as well? Oh, yeah! Am I likely to get them? No.

I talked to my nutritionist about beans, and while she was somewhat disapproving because of the higher carb count, she did reluctantly say a few beans during the mushie stage wasn't so bad a thing. Do you know the Depression-era recipe called Pot Liquor Stew?

Aw, c'mon BG! I can't be the only one with A Bottom Moment. Pweeeeeze? With Splenda on top? (grin)

I still want to be Barbie. The b*tch has everything, including the cool houses, cars, and a boyfriend she doesn't have to lay. (Yeah, I'm crude.)

One of my best bean soups is here: Fat Frog Diary: St Patrick's Day- Green Chili Stew I'll try to find you some more. I can't have too many bean recipes because they're higher in carbs. For me, well cut up meat easily passes the stoma. During my mushie phase I ate a lot of tuna, salmon, and canned chicken recipes. I did not have any trouble making a minimum of 50g of protein a day, and only drank the shakes during my liquid phase.

Hehehe! I adore you, BG. You keep me going. While I was okay with the liquids phase, admittedly by the end of the mushies phase I was ready to actually chew something with taste. LOL!

I know I'm warped. I make my living off being warped.

A friend (Thanks, BG) just mentioned on her blog that Moment in time when she hit bottom and realized she needed weight loss surgery. I had that moment when I hit the rocks at the bottom of a very long fall off a cliff. Sure, there'd been times when I saw the jagged rocks below and tried to stop myself, but the slow-motion downward spiral was inexorable. I was going to spatter, I just didn't know when. The day finally came when I realized I'd begun to stick a finger down my throat at odd times, hoping to --I can't believe I'm saying this now-- make myself into a bulimic. Was that a sick plan, or what? You know you've hit bottom when you would prefer to have a life-threatening mental condition rather than live as you are now. I would throw up any time I could find time and privacy, just hoping I'd either lose weight or maybe at least get to need to do it. Maybe there should be a new mental illness with a long name that means, "being desperate enough to wish you had X, Y, or Z illness." When did you hit bottom?

A friend (Thanks, BG) just mentioned on her blog that Moment in time when she hit bottom and realized she needed weight loss surgery. I had that moment when I hit the rocks at the bottom of a very long fall off a cliff. Sure, there'd been times when I saw the jagged rocks below and tried to stop myself, but the slow-motion downward spiral was inexorable. I was going to spatter, I just didn't know when. The day finally came when I realized I'd begun to stick a finger down my throat at odd times, hoping to --I can't believe I'm saying this now-- make myself into a bulimic. Was that a sick plan, or what? You know you've hit bottom when you would prefer to have a life-threatening mental condition rather than live as you are now. I would throw up any time I could find time and privacy, just hoping I'd either lose weight or maybe at least get to need to do it. Maybe there should be a new mental illness with a long name that means, "being desperate enough to wish you had X, Y, or Z illness." When did you hit bottom?

Doggone it, BG! Post a spew alert with your images! (wiping my monitor again) ROTFL! I have been feeling like a Shar Pei Puppy lately! I'm so stealing that picture. Lena

I have slightly less than 100 pounds left to lose. I don't feel necessarily thin yet, but I do feel healthier. There are a whole lot more possibilities when you feel healthier. I didn't realize I felt so very bad until today. Now I can bend over and tie my own shoes, cross my legs, put on my pants standing up and in a hurry, work out in the yard, and even walk over a mile to the store for a recipe ingredient. Suddenly, there are more possibilities. Now I see how weight loss could become permanent, because the doors fling open wide. I feel like Dorothy when she beheld Oz for the first time. Every week I find I'm doing something I couldn't do before, and I'm feeling so much better because I did do that thing, whatever it was. Then the next activity comes along, and because I gained that smidgeon of confidence from the previous activity, I go for the gusto once more. I'm still taken aback a bit at the way people treat me now that I'm out of the chrysalis. (Mixing my metaphors, aren't I?) I might have said, "I haven't changed," but I suppose I did. Wow. The fat, sluggish catapillar that did nothing but eat and get fatter has suddenly become a social butterfly. How profound. I have a new self image: a butterfly.

Blood and Magic is the new one coming out next week. I also have two other books there already: Yule Fire and Blue Rose. Blue Rose is not what everyone thinks! I satired everything from Dante's Inferno to modern politics. (snicker, snicker)

Dante and I were invited to go to a musical at the theatre the other night. Since I've lost well over 40 pounds already, and can wear my pretty evening clothes again, I was thrilled...and nervous. I hadn't been in public much for the past several years, other than conventions where I was surrounded by other women similar to myself. Last time, I was nearly 300 pounds, brunette going gray, and in such poor health, I walked with a cane. The other night I stepped out as an overweight but healthy blonde wearing a cool outfit, makeup, and had the ability to not just walk unaided, but step lively. Imagine my surprise when, instead of being ignored or treated like an invalid, I was greeted and smiled at like a real person. Several folks complimented me on my clothes, hair, and jewelry. I was...suddenly human. Weird. Hadn't I always been?

Dante and I were invited to go to a musical at the theatre the other night. Since I've lost well over 40 pounds already, and can wear my pretty evening clothes again, I was thrilled...and nervous. I hadn't been in public much for the past several years, other than conventions where I was surrounded by other women similar to myself. Last time, I was nearly 300 pounds, brunette going gray, and in such poor health, I walked with a cane. The other night I stepped out as an overweight but healthy blonde wearing a cool outfit, makeup, and had the ability to not just walk unaided, but step lively. Imagine my surprise when, instead of being ignored or treated like an invalid, I was greeted and smiled at like a real person. Several folks complimented me on my clothes, hair, and jewelry. I was...suddenly human. Weird. Hadn't I always been?