sbmorgaine

before (both of us, surgery the same day in August, 2006) AFTER December 2006 not even close to goal, but still going

I have heard this from others, that during the 6 weeks between surgery and your first fill that you can easily gain weight. Some people refer to it as "bandster hell weeks". It is pretty normal. This stage is for healing, not for weight loss. (says me, who just got banded last week, and have not really been losing weight since).

We were supposed to do 2 weeks of liquids before surgery, but we didn't do that. we did all day liquids, and then south beach for dinner. It seemed to have worked. No problems with surgery and I lost 18 and DW lost 10.

I don't know about tipping, I always tend to overtip, so I don't give advice about it. But, if you haven't been to Mexico before, be sure you negoitiate the cab fare before you get in. Make sure you tell them exactly where you are going too. Also, watch the change they give you, because the cab drivers will sometimes not give you enough back. The cab drivers are really helpful, but they dont' make a lot of money, so they tend to try to take advantage of the americans. Also, remember that if you are buying anything, not much is priced. YOu have to negotiate. If you really want something, don't tell them how much you really want to pay. Go lower. Also, don't pay the first price they tell you. We bought a amber necklace for about $70, but the first price he quoted was $120. We just said "oh, no thanks" and he kept dropping the price.

I know that I did the same thing for a long time. I finally asked a nutritionist about it and she said that one reason people do that is they aren't getting enough calories during the day. I tried to add a few more calories during the day, and I didn't have the same eat a huge f;ing pile of food thing at night. Just an idea.

Man, I wish I had some of my old pictures scanned in. I remember when I was wearing a 34 waist jeans, and thought that I was the fattest in fat land. Yeah. Now, my goal is to be in 36 waist jeans. Hmmm.

We leave tomorrow after work to drive to Kansas City then Thursday morning we get on a plane, and have the surgery that night. Yikes! Seems like just the other day we had a month to go!

If anyone has an odd sense of humor, then I highly recommend "Strangers With Candy". I do not recommend it if you are easily offended...because, well, it could easily offend.

Our "kids" at a local lake going paddle boating.

I am not really nervous, I guess it helps that I have been working so much I can't imagine not being at work from 8am-10pm. Wow, I can't wait for school to start! First though, I can't wait for our surgery date. Less than a week. I hope you all are feeling good, and ready to start the New Life.

There are these 2 cook books, both by the same woman, and they are the absolute best for meal planning and quick meals. I am not normally a cook book person, but they are so simple and step by step (sometimes overly so. there is a recipe for how to cook a baked potato in the microwave) that they are wonderful. Almost everything takes less than 20 minutes, and they are all tasty. They are wonderful books for people who don't know how to cook. Plus, they have shopping lists and menu help for people. It is all around a great book. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962916013/sr=8-1/qid=1154614242/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2664382-2297500?ie=UTF8]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962916013/sr=8-1/qid=1154614242/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2664382-2297500?ie=UTF8[/ame] [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962916005/sr=8-2/qid=1154614242/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2664382-2297500?ie=UTF8]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962916005/sr=8-2/qid=1154614242/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2664382-2297500?ie=UTF8[/ame]

Once, I was standing in a bank, when I heard "Oh MY GOD, I didn't know they made pants that big." So I turn around, looking for the "fat" person so I could give them a "I understand" smile, and then realized this woman was talking about me. She was maybe 75 years old, and with an assistant, who looked like maybe she was a nurse. So I stood in line, my face RED thinking about what I was going to do. I was embarrassed, but also PISSED! How dare she say something like that! I finished my banking, then stood there and waited. She finished her banking, and started to walk by me...still talking about how big my pants were. So I stopped her, and said.... "ma'am, I heard what you said about my pants, and I wanted to let you know that before you make comments like that, you should think about the fact that maybe the person can hear you. I have thyroid cancer, and can't control my weight, so that was very hurtful". She started to stammer something about how sorry she was, she had no idea, cancer is horrible......etc. So I waited for a minute, and then said "see how you feel now? Embarrassed and not sure what to do? That is how I feel everytime someone makes a comment about my weight. I don't have cancer, I am just fat. But the fact is, if you feel bad about saying it now, you shouldn't have said it at all. Did you think the whole bank needed to hear about how fat I was? Do you think no one else noticed? You just needed to make yourself feel better? How sad is your life, when you have to make fun of someone to feel good about yourself." And turned on my heel and walked out. As I left, one of the bank employees who was a bigger woman said "you tell em".