anonemouse

Oh my god, you guys do that too? I never met anyone before that did that. I always got made fun of by my family because I can't eat my food if it touches. And textures and flavors get to me, too. I can't eat ketchup, mayo, mustard, creamy dressings, or anything like that because of the flavor, smell, and texture.

If I ever use dressing, I use just a smidge of regular Italian. If it is a restaurant salad, I prefer to just get them with a little cheese on them and leave off the dressing entirely. I only use it on the bagged salads that you eat at home, because I think they have a little bit of a chemical taste that needs to be masked. And when I do use it, I only use a small amount. I like to taste a hint of dressing, but still be able to taste the lettuce, carrots, and other veggies in the salad. I can't eat ANY creamy dressings. I am extremely sensitive to tastes, and the taste and smell of creamy dressing really bothers me. Heck, I can't even use condiments like ketchup, mayo, or mustard because of the taste and smell. They literally make me gag.

I know it's pretty likely that I won't be able to tolerate bread after surgery, but at the moment it isn't even imaginable. I am actually looking forward to the reinforcement of PBs. My biggest problem with diets is that I can't stick to them. I don't have the willpower. I eventually get hungry and binge and then give up the diet entirely because I ruined it. But if I have something that will back me up and make it physically impossible to eat something, I think I can succeed.

Yeah, but it is supposed to be really easy to make. I think you just grind up basil, some pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil to make a paste. Or at least, that's how they've always done it on food network. I really think it would be one of those things that would be cheaper to make than it would be to buy. Has anyone tried making hummus? I've never tried it, but I think I might try making some eventually.

Are they dried or baked, or are they fried? If they are dried or baked, it probably isn't too bad for you, since you probably wouldn't be eating that much of it.

Ooh, pesto's wonderful. Bubble, you could also finely mince some garlic, roasted red bell pepper, maybe some sun-dried tomato, herbs, and stuff, and put it in the olive oil. That would probably be yummy.

I think extra virgin olive oil is good with black pepper in it. I think you could probably add some oregano or basil (fresh, if you have it), fresh garlic, or even some red pepper flakes, if you like zip.

I can't believe I forgot to put Ashes to Ashes by the Tarbox Ramblers.

What are everyone's favorite songs? I have recently gotten into classic rock. Right now, my favorite songs are: Don't Fear the Reaper (acoustic version) - Blue Oyster Cult Pretty much anything by AC/DC Renegade - Styx Pretty much anything by Creedence Clearwater Revival

I am SO freakin' jealous, Wheetsin! My leg hair is super-coarse. Hell, all my hair is super-coarse. It's also very dark, which, in combination with my fair skin, makes me look like I need to shave even when I'm freshly shaved. I am just so afraid to shave something I can't see. I've tried to shave my pubic hair while using a mirror, but I am horribly coordinated when it comes to stuff like that. I get my directions mixed up and wind up cutting myself. I'm too self-conscious to try a bikini or Brazilian wax. Maybe when I lose this weight, I'll find a place to have it done.

Darn her, Carlene! Tell her to straighten up or you'll take her tests for her! She may take you up on the offer, though!

I think the brown stuff is Taro.

Hey, I also have First Health. They literally approved me within 2 days, once they had all the documentation. That is what took the longest. I finally got the rest of my documentation sent to them on a Friday and I was approved the following Monday. They are good about approvals, but they require you to jump through hoops to get it. I did my documented weight loss diet in 2005, long before I ever considered getting the lap-band. What took longest was getting the rest of the documentation. Between getting appointments with all my doctors to have them write letters for me, I had to make appointments with a pulmonologist, psychologist, and nutritionist, and have an upper GI done. You really need to check with the insurance company to see which surgeons are in their network, though. There were only two in my state that they would pay for.

True. I didn't think of that.

First, check with your insurance company to see if there are surgeons that they will or won't pay for. That was my biggest hurdle, since there are apparently only two bariatric surgeons in Tennessee that my insurance would pay for. Second, check out their experience. Anyone that has done more than 100 lap-band surgeries is considered to be an "expert" by the manufacturer of the band. Third, check out their complication rate and reputation. There are some doctors that some people will say are wonderful, but if you dig, they have massive complication rates and pretty horrible reputations. If they are experienced and you can't find anything negative, that's a good thing.

I've wondered that before, too. I think the Wishbone diet Italian tastes pretty similar to the regular, but in most cases, I use so little dressing that I just go ahead and use the regular. Unless you are absolutely drowning the salad in it, I don't see a problem with it. And I really hope I never have to eat protein bars. I can barely stand most regular bars, I REALLY don't want to eat fake chocolate crap.

They are currently trying to get me moved up ahead of some other people (supposedly), but the earliest that I will get in would be mid to late July, regardless, just because the surgeon won't come back from maternity leave until then.

I'm not a moderator, but I can help you. Go to your control panel (the "UserCP" link at the top of the page. In the control panel, there is a link on the left called "Edit Email, Password, and Username." You can change your password to something you can remember when you log in from your new computer.

I might like them. There is a little brand of cheese straws that I can occasionally find that really isn't much more than flour and cheese. I love them, but the rest of my family thinks that they are absolutely disgusting. I can go through a box in an hour or so. They're one of my guilty obsessions, so I hardly even indulge myself. I think the brand is called Geraldine's.

That's exactly my problem. I eat a lot, and I eat way too quickly. I LOVE pasta, though. In fact, I just had No Yolks egg noodles with shredded parmesan cheese for lunch today. I am not a massive desert eater, but when I do, it is generally a not-super-sweet dessert, like Key Lime Pie or something like that. The only chocolate dessert I can remember getting is Applebees volcano cake with ice cream or Outback's sinful sundae (both were not super-sweet). Bread is my downfall. I literally rate restaurants based on the quality of the bread they serve. In fact, the only reason I go to some IS the bread. Red Lobster, for example. I don't eat anything that comes from Water, but I'll go to Red Lobster and get the cheddat biscuits, and either just a potato and salad or grilled chicken. LOVE bread.

To prove this, I just found the bag of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Nuggets with Almonds that I bought several months ago. With 2/3 of the chocolate still in it, no less. And, I've got half of a column of Girl Scout shortbread cookies from 3 months ago sitting on my desk. I finally threw out the box of Girls Scout caramel delights, after it took me two weeks to eat all but the last three cookies in it (there were only 15 in the entire box). If it had been a bag of cheddar and sour cream chips, they would have been gone in a day or so, depending on my self-control (or lack there-of).

Oh, I agree with you, Green. One of my friends had her first child when we were freshmen in high school. I saw her again at Wal-Mart last year and she had four or five kids with her. Another of my friends that I met my freshman year of college found out she was pregnant at the end of the school year, by a guy the rest of us didn't even know she was dating. She was intelligent, in the Honors Program, everything you could think of. I think the responsibility of birth control should lie on both people involved in the relationship. I think that some girls must feel that they are lacking something emotionally, and that they think a baby would fill that gap. Either that, or they just don't think that they would be so unlucky as to get pregnant.

Does your screen have a [More] link at the bottom of the list of emoticons? Mine does, so all I have to do is click on it and a new screen will pop up with the entire list of them.

My brother found out that his girlfriend was pregnant about two weeks ago (she had a miscarriage this past week, but that's beside the point). I don't think he knew what to think about it. They were (and may still be) going to get married this summer, because of the pregnancy. My parents and I never said it to his face, but the comment was made amongst us that, "If he didn't want a baby and didn't want to marry his girlfriend of less than 5 months, he knew how to avoid it."

To be honest, I have very little sympathy for people who should have known better. I have always been taught that, in cases like birth control, you don't trust the other person. If you want to protect yourself, you protect yourself. You can't expect other people to look out for your own best interests. Personal responsibility is a wonderful thing. If you don't want to risk getting a woman pregnant, wear a condom or get a vasectomy.