OH Juli

ZZ Like BG said, talk to your doc. Also what the hell are you eating? Tone it down like no caffiene, tomatoes, onions, peppers, vinegar and other acidic things. Enough with the praise the rest of y'all. Oh, and tomorrow night, I'm taking BG out to a Queer Country Line Dance Competition Fund Raiser at a bar. Should be fun. I'll try to take pictures. heeheehee,

That is laugh out loud funny. No offense.

Awe shucks, WYD. Thanks for the props.

BTW, Carol (Turler) is having surgery today. Keep her in your thoughts.

C- Sending you some good JuJu!

HP, 22 pounds in a month is impressive! Espeically nearly a year out from surgery! Congratulations. You must be kickin some serious ass and taking names.

What Lisa said. Go the biggest metro area you live near and find a running store. The will fit you, watch you walk, have you take a quick jog, will take your shoes back if they don't work and spend about an hour with you. Expect to pay ~$100. But a very good investment, indeed.

w00t w00t Gonna see you all on Saturday. I'm excited.

Go for the company of your family. And think about how you are not washing the dishes. Buffets typically serve the poorest quality of food available to make money. Just get what you can eat and don't worry about the cost aspect. Overall you're saving on your health by not eating too much.

What's the saying? "They can't smack the smile off your face!" You look good and have every reason to be proud. I love pictures, so post all you want!

I read this with interest because I have a 6 year old who is taller than average and thick. That's my way of not calling her fat. But she's muscular...but she's just not frail or tiny. She's never going to be. I try to call her strong and athletic because she is. I Celebrate her height, I'm 5'2". I say when she's as tall as me she can ride in the front seat of the car. She'll be 9 or 10. I struggle with letting her eat sugar and teaching her balance. I watch my friend with now controlled anorexia chide her daughter for wanting ice-cream on Tuesday, because she had a piece of candy on Monday, and how one must be mindful. I get the mindfulness but I also think she's setting her daughter up for closet eating. I dunno... This is tough.

I like your attitude as well. It is an individual's journey. Comparison against others isn't good in any way. Congrats. You're an inspiration.

We have evolved, we are hit with multiply messages about how to look, and we are not just primates running around with signals from our ganglia. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> The point of this thread is, are you treated differently on how you look depending on you size. <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> Yeah, to those who have not felt the sting of invisibility, the hostile disgusted looks, or the pity, like are you going to die huffing up these steps. <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> But most heavy folks have had something negative happen to them based entirely on how they were perceived. It stands to reason mild curtsies would be noticeable as the weight drops. <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p> Even as a woman who has charisma in spades and didn't let the fat bring me down, I'm still wondering when I'm going to get used to being treated normally, because now I am treated normally. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Kids don’t point and stare. Men are nicer, women approach me at sale counters. Go figure. I knew it would be a perk of weight loss. I’d be sad if it wasn’t happening. <o:p></o:p>

I'm in Ohio. Idaho/Ohio they're the same, right?

Five pounds a month isn't bad. It's where I'm at. But mind you I'm more than a year out of surgery, so w00t I'm still losing. It's the 0 pounds a month club that scares me.

Bebe, Where do you live? I want to come to your parties! I'm not a chef but I've worked in food service all my life, as a server, a cook, a baker, manager of an independantly owned restaurant. Now I'm the cafeteria manager for a state school. So, yeah! no weekends and evenings and state benefits, but boo, I'm still around food 45 hours a week while I work. I'm working on my MBA to get out of the part of the industry where food is produced. I can't walk away from food entirely because I've got 20 years in, but it's hard.

ZZ, I was told no ibuprofin because it's rough on the stomach. So I only do aceteminophen. My baby's momma is a RT and talks about sputum being the butter on their bread. It' grosses me out to no end.

Well the itty bitty head ache became a migraine. I've had worse, like I didn't have to go to the hospital this time. What a mess. I live a fully scheduled life and I don't have time for the innterrupptions. -gawd, that's really wrongly spelled- but I don't care. Needless to say, I did not ride. I would have been chuckin' on the side of the trail. My dog got a friend's tampon out of the trash at my house once, she was mortified, the dog was pretty pleased with herself and her tastey treat. Snakes creep me out, but worms are worse. I can't stand them, I can't fish, not like I have ANY desire to, but the night crawlers are GROSS!!!

What's cool is you can make fantasic things like (good) meatloaf and make them mushy! You will eat again. And be amazed that half a sandwich does fill you up. Wine is part of my life. It's all really great. The thing you'll probably not do is bother eating questionable food if you ever did before. Really if you only get a cup of something you're going to go for something delicious, not just available. Cool!

I suppose tampon conversations are not okay? Oh wait, we did talk about the Diva Cup. What's left? Really?! It's gorgeous outside. My babysitting gig for my pal was canceled so I'm able to ride. But...I have a head ache, ever so slight. Do I go or do I stay...it could get worse. It was worse, I took some tylenol (Who else misses ibuprofin?) and it's better, but it's not FANTASTIC. Dear me. What a cunundrum.

We are doing something called Woodstock. They have 30-50-100 mile routes. We are doing the 50. It's somewhere east of Columbus, so mostly flat. Columbus Outdoor Pursuits-COP, puts on the big mother's day ride, and they have many training rides before. This is one of them. This time next year C will be riding with us, training for the mother's day ride. Her DH and DD will be riding it this year. Maybe C will SAG for them and I'll get to see her. She's not riding for some reason, surgery or something...having a band put in I think...:thumbs_up: I might be down for something in July. Look and see what's out there.

I'm able to ride with a group on a ride tonight out on the streets so woo hoo. I thought I was going to be in the park again, but my evening opened up. Yee Haw. Yeah, I keep telling myself it was a victory that I didn't land in the mud. Funny about the potty and the .5 pound ZZ wants to be done with. When I was doing Weight Watchers, I used to strain to pee, etc. before weigh in. I'm so glad to be done with WW forever!

I know where you are coming from on many of your points. I saw the lack of fairness, I got over it. I did many things that "fat people don't normally do." Or as a co-worker says, "You didn't let it hold you back." I'm now also wary of unsolicited compliments and random kindnesses in regard to my weight. When I'm not feeling so generous I want to say, "When I was fat, I was more than my weight, now that I am not as big, I'm still more than my weight." Find something else to talk to me about. But mostly I just nod and smile. When people ask how much, often if they are the ones who only engage me in weight loss conversations, I say, it's just a number and I don't share it. But if you are a friend, and chat me up about my life in general, I'll tell you. Weird, I wonder what kind of power dynamic I'm playing there... You post was thought provoking and cool. Thanks for sharing it.

Lara, Nice to see you back here again. What's fantastic about the band is you CAN get back to it. And here you are. If you logged what you ate while you were losing re-read those logs to help remember and to get some ideas again. Make a plan to exercise, start with as little as you need to commit to, and get it done. Plan on increasing your exercise when you can. We are here for all the support and encouragement, hugs and butt kickings you need. Just let us know. XO

Awesome ZZ! Way to Go! TX, you so feel my pain, which makes me happy. I have a Giant and I love my sissy brakes. I'd rather have them than aerobars. And he did unwrap and rewrap my bars for nothin' to try a few different things. They look great now though. TIP-if you have white tape on your bars and they start to get dirty, Windex and paper towels makes them white again. Did I say, I got a loud ass bell for my bike though? I'm going to be ringing my heart out. BTW, I do say, "On your left" as I pass most folks, or I'll holler ahead at a gaggle of girls, "I'm coming at you, get over to your left." And BG, the "The" business is so ingrained, it can't be helped. And please do wear all the Michigan blue and yellow you've got. I'll try to keep it lower case t in the future. I am however going to The Whole Foods Market in an hour, for work. t-hee.