ifyourstomachoffendsyou

Just read up on dumping syndrome. Didn't think you could get it with the band, just with all the bypasses, but I think I get it. When I eat sliders that are high carb, I get very uncomfortable pressure and bloating below my band and my heart races. I don't have it as severe as many, but I'm pretty sure it fits into that category. The pressure on the band from the intestines can actually radiate upward and make my shoulder and neck uncomfortable. More reason than ever to avoid carbs and stick to Protein. Cheri

Thanks Linda. I'm going to check Kaye Bailey out. chocolate has been calling my name really loudly lately. Particularly M&M's. I just can't find a comparable no carb product to satisfy that particular sensory experience. But I know what road I'm heading down when I give in to it. The chocolate chip soy Protein breakfast bars from Atkins come close. I'm out of them and need to go stock up for when those urges hit. You and Kaye really said it well. Calories are not the key. You can actually eat more and feel less hungry when you increase your fats and Proteins and cut the carbs. And you burn more. And your pouch works better because it stays full with solid dense protein. We need to follow the guidelines for working with our pouch and not against it. For weight loss, if you're carb sensitive, you just have to do it. For maintenance, increase the good carbs but be careful or you'll find yourself back in jeopardy. Keep the protein and fat high to control cravings. Like me, you may also have exercise limitations. What happens if you are injured or get sick and can't continue exercising at the level you were? Some become exercise addicts in order to stay in their carb addiction. So they've never fully dealt with it. So glad, Linda, for the back up. Sometimes I feel like the lone voice crying out in the wilderness, but, like you, I'm a reader and a researcher. I'm not saying I completely avoid carbs. I have my relapses.And I think occassional indulgences keep you from feeling deprived and ending up binging. But I don't fool myself into thinking it's OK to eat carbs. I know I need to be careful even with good carbs. Cheri

Wish I could afford any kind of retirement place. Doubt I'll move out of the area with so many grandkids and both our families here. I'll just have to deal with the cold like my parents and grandparents and most people we know. We will, I'm sure, downsize. Most trailer parks around here are, unfortunately, not retirement communities but are for the poor and dispossessed. The uneducated, addicts, alcoholics, drama specialists, etc. Not fun and relaxing. Most condos are priced out of our range. They cost more than our house. I'm kind of leaving it in God's hands because I have no clue what life will bring. Great ideas on Chicago. We do need people's input. The Segway tour could be wonderful for those who can't walk distances. What a great idea. I'm thinking we should have "It's a beautiful day outside" plans with alternate "The weather sucks" plans. There's as much to do indoors as out. Gotta get going. Student coming for tutoring at 9:30. Lunch with my friend at 12:30 at Panera. I love their chili. We may go on to Borders after that. I also have $10 in Kohls' cash to spend and there's a Kohls there as well. Have a great day. Cheri

I, too, am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in June. I've been thinking that my house can serve as the center for get-togethers in between activities. People can stay in nearby inexpensive hotels, but, if those who like to cook want to take over my kitchen for a few of the meals or for providing healthy Snacks we can have a great time in-between outings and have a nice place to stay up late and talk. There are also plenty of restaurants at all price ranges near me, grocery stores, etc. I'm close to expressways and trains. Sandi, you and I should meet and plan itinerary choices. We have those who are more mobile than others. I'm available evenings but Sat. afternoons or Sun. aft. are best. Tomorrow I'm meeting an old friend for lunch. We raised our kids together and she is now a chaplain at a hospital. She interned at a church in Roseland with close ties to my school, so I know we have a lot of the same passions. It's hard to make friends when you work all week and try to see grandchildren on weekends, so renewing an old friendship seems like a win/win. I'm trying to fullfill that resolution to get myself some girlfriends this year. Babysat my grandsons tonight. That's always a wrestlemania event. Favorite game--tickle zombie. They're the zombies; I catch and tickle. Read them a few books. Gotta call my sis and see if they're back in their home. They had an oven fire when they put the oven on clean and left the house. Soot everywhere. Burned out stove and some cabinets destroyed. Insurance company took over and put them in a hotel while they clean the house and clean or replace all objects in it. Cheri

Meredith, congrats on your decision and on acting on your decision. I have a challenge for you with your weight stall. Try 3 days of Protein only, not even fruit. Same amount or even more calories. Then go back to some carbs. See if it jumpstarts your weight loss again. Spent over an hour with the new principal and her daughter today going over Title I and Title II grants and how my program works. Her daughter lives a block from me and does grant-writing and is planning on sending out a ton of grant proposals. The new principal has pledged to bring in 100 new students by next fall and she is calling in favors all over the place. I felt a great deal of relief actually, after talking to both of them. I think we're heading in the right direction. They both are coming over to my house next Friday after work because they live so close and we'll work together on getting the grants off the ground. Cheri

Happy Birthday, Janet. At a meeting till late tonight. Gotta go. Cheri

Hi everyone. Thought you might enjoy this. Had an eighth grade male student tell me today I was a "beast" (aka: winner) in my skinny jeans today. Actually they were my leggings but its the thought that counts. African-American tutor who was in my room just cracked up. Also had to scold a few sixth graders. One of the girls asked if I didn't love them. One of the boys reassured her, "Mrs. Flory loves all of us. She just gets irritated with us sometimes." He should know. Posted a very naughty looking group of grandchildren on FB today. Hope you all saw it. Otherwise go to my profile. Cheri

Only game I watched all season and the Bears lost. So its my fault. Had a great time with my granddaughter, Gracie. She's 21/2 and loves when we come over. She keeps hugging me and saying "I love you Grandma!" She's my DH's GD but doesn't matter. It was his DD BD and we celebrated mine as well. They gave a donation to RCS in my name for my BD which was so sweet. Haven't written my article yet but its running through my head. Gotta go to bed, now. Gotta get up at 5 to get ready for work. I've also got a few irons in the fire at work that I've got to turn the heat up on. Not quite sure how I keep ending up in charge of some of these things. Hopefully, next year, with a new principal, I won't. Cheri

Hi. Nobody responsded to going out suggestion but you can e-mail me at cherifl@comcast.net for get-togethers.

Hi all. Just vegging this weekend. So cold out. Hot bubble bath this morning. Am reading second book for the day. Got a bit of a frog in my throat. Makes me sound like Suzanne Pleshette. Anyone remember her? I agreed to write an article about the deaths of Joi and Mikey and the impact on the school for our school newsletter. I may attempt to start that this weekend. I'm already thinking about it. I am still constantly telling my students I love them. So glad i can give them hugs and let them hug me. Couldn't do it if I was in a public school. I still see heartbreaking messages to Joi and Mikey on FB from my students. One of the teacher's commented during devotions on Thursday that Elizabeth Kubler Ross had it wrong. Grief doesn't come in stages, it comes in waves, and you'll never know when it's going to hit. He was Joi and Mikey's teacher last year. He talked about how he cried like a baby as he was waving good-bye to his grandchildren who were on their way back to Michigan after a weekend visit. The reality is, you never know if you'll ever see those babies again. For all of you with children and grandchildren, biological or "adopted," hug those babies and tell them you love them. Cheri

Apples, congrats on passing the stone. Only had it happen to me once. That was enough. Laura K, you can do it. My DH quit a 2 pack a day habit when he married me. I couldn't stand being around him after he'd smoked. He decided he wanted to be with me. Now he can't stand the smell. He did gain but eventually lost most of it. He can dance for hours now. Linda, I don't even know what to say. Your husband can maybe do the mandatory reporting since he heard the Dr.'s report. Or he can ask the Dr. to report it. Heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking. Joyce, I know you have similar issues. My parent involvement games night went well. I'm beat, but it was worth it. I'm getting tougher as I get older. Not nasty, just not afraid to say when this is not the way we're doing things. Kept things running smooth with children not running around wild. American Idol is actually quite good. Love the new judges. Showed mostly good singers and not so many horrors. Not nearly as nasty without Simon. Some tearjerker stories. Just about the only reality show we watch. Gotta go to bed. Temp is dropping as I write. Tomorrow we'll be in the deep freeze. Night. Cheri

Jessica, what bone is broken in your groin? Your pelvis? Hip? Ouch! Hope its just a strained tendon. I'm prone to wierd injuries so I stick to things I know won't hurt me with all my arthritis. I'm always afraid for people who are still overweight, especially women, who take up a sport like running, which is known to be so hard on the joints--for women especially. I'm glad Sandi has a trainer, who hopefully has moved her along very slowly. My daughter has gotten into running. She took running classes and is now helping to run them. Fortunately, she has much solider legs and ankles than I do and isn't knock-kneed like I am. However, she has trouble with her back and neck, and I hope she's not jarring them too much. Once you heal, maybe you should try jogging in the Water to build back up without straining things. Sounds like your muscles and tendons need to be very slowly stretched and not overstretched or overworked. Not everyone is built the same. I have overly stretchy tendons and have to avoid any stretching because my tendons don't return to normal once they're stretched, leaving me prone to injury created by destabilized joints. I never stretch before or after exercise. Puts my back out, leaves my ankles unstable, etc. You sound like yours are very rigid and stiff and cause injury. The trouble is, once you're warmed up and in the middle of exercise you may not realize that you've overdone it. You're feeling good from the exercise, a "runner's high" kind of feeling, and don't realize you're on the verge of injury. Sure hope they can fix what's wrong and that you're back in the swing very quickly. Cheri

Going to get hit with the extreme cold Thurs. nite and Fri. Yuck. Linda, so sorry about your DSD. Give Aylah lots of hugs. Crazy about the hospital. Didn't know they could do that. Gonna watch IDOL tonight, see if its any good. Have a big thing tomorrow night at school. We were already having an open house for prospective parents, teachers are required to stick around for it, and I needed to have a Parent Involvement thing as part of my NCLB with funds to do it. So I proposed getting the whole school involved since the teachers had to stay for the open house anyway. Each room is having games set up and kids accompanied by an adult family member will be allowed to play the games and fill out a Bingo card stamped as they go from room to room. When done they bring their card to a room where I'll have pizza and pop waiting, paid for by the vendor who is supplying games as prizes for participating students (prizes paid for with my NCLB parent involvement funds). Then at 6:15 the PTA is having a Town Meeting where teachers and parents and students can meet our prospective new principal. We've had a retired principal serving as temporary principal while we searched for a new principal who can, hopefully, pull our school out of constant crisis and get us thriving again. I've got to go shopping yet for plates and cups for tomorrow night, Other than that, I'm all prepared. I'm not running any of the games myself, I'll be guiding parents and policing the halls and then providing the pizza and pop. That's enough. Cheri

Linda, loved the info. Laura K, great avatar pic. Jessica, I'm glad you're trying out a new Dr. Your old one always puts you in a tizzy. Donkey's Rearend is too good a name for him. We've had people coming to the school to pray for the school with all that's happened. An old friend of mne who is now a chaplain came with a group of pastors she'd invited and read the following Franciscan Blessing. Brought tears to my eyes as it was exactly what I needed to remind me why I do what I do. May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy. And may jGod bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a diffrence in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen. Cheri

Happy Birthday Melissa. Have a great day. Laura, fantastic pics. You must somehow have got them posted later. Glad I was glancing back and saw them. You go girl! You have come unbelievably far. Meredith, I hear you on the cost of all these life events. Can eat up every extra dollar leaving little for treating yourself to something outside the budget. I've been putting all my $ into the European tour with my choir and now my niece is getting married in July and wants us all to rent cottages for a week in MI. My kids and I can hardly afford it. Plus I'm looking at a very very downsized retirement if I don't save more money. If I were better able to go spartan on a daily basis I'd be in better shape but sometimes a girl's just gotta shop. Retail therapy. According to Jessica's Dr.'s logic, we should all stay out of the stores so we can "feel our feelings." Balderdash. Julie-hugs. Cheri.

Laura, tried the link but it said I didn't have permission to go there. Wierd

By the way, if you want to laugh till you can't catch your breath, watch "It's complicated". The scene where Alex Baldwin is lieing in bed naked in front of the computer I literally thought I would die. I had laughed so hard I had no more air in my lungs and had to consciously unclench my stomach muscles to let my diaphragm expand and let in some air, whereupon I proceeded to whoop with more laughter. I'm going to have to watch that one again. Cheri

Jessica, your Dr. sounds like some of the extremely controlling rigid food Nazi's who took over OA around these parts. I do believe we use carbs to take the edge off our emotions; I certainly use carbs to medicate my ADHD. I used them so much I gained 80 extra lbs just so I could sit still and stay in one place. LOL. However, many carbs are low glycemic and fruits and veggies contain flavenoids and micronutrients that are very good for us, and even white potatoes have potassium (if not much else). Unlike alcoholics and drug addicts, we can't just eliminate food from our lives, not even carbs. Frankly, I can eat turkey, one mouthful after the other, until I'm "stuffed." And its not a carb. We do have to be vigilant because we are never "cured" of this disease. But with the help of the band, I can stay on top of it. Knowing my trigger foods I can stay away from them most of the time. And when my food is threatening to get out of control and the weight is coming back I go to the tool that helped me lose weight, which was several days of almost no carb eating followed by a few days of maintenance low carb eating. And guess what! Exercise takes the edge off our emotions and helps us deal with them. So is that something we shouldn't do in order to fully feel our emotions? Going to church and participating in activities and participating in a community are all supposed to help us stay positive and fight depression and live longer. So should we stop doing that in order to fully feel our feelings? Psychotropic(?) drugs have enabled many people to live much more meaningful lives rather than staying stuck in manic or depressive or paranoid or aggressive or obsessive thinking and feeling. So should we take everyone off those drugs so they can fully feel their feelings? Balderdash! (Great word isn't it?) Oprah has had every food, lifestyle, and feel your feelings guru on her show and emotes frequently in front of national audiences. She can pay people to manage her food and train her body. Guess what? She still has an eating disorder that keeps her fat. Let me tell you, most of those food nazi's in OA could have used a little more chocolate in their lives. Maybe they wouldn't have been so nasty. Nasty nazi's. LOL. Some of the most judgemental, controlling, paranoid people I've ever met. They weighed and measured and counted everything, carbs, calories, fat grams. They decided they were allergic to this and to that food and that everyone else must be too. And if you weren't doing things exactly like them then you weren't "sober." You had to have a food sponsor to whom you reported your food, preferably twice a day, and they frequently had spiritual sponsors and program (12 step) sponsors to help them work the steps. Balderdash! Anyway, your Dr. sounds like he's fallen amongst these theives of common sense and proponants of fuzzy logic. So, that's my rant for the day. LOL. Felt good. Cheri

I freeze the Rotisserie chicken with sauces or add after taking out. If you put celery in it or uncooked veggies they might not be very nice after thawing out. Maybe leave those out and add after you thaw the chicken? Meredith, so glad you're getting some Protein in those salads. Do you do Protein drinks? Some are made with soy not whey so its partial not whole protein, but it's still protein. How'd the shower go? Jessica, I thought it was you with the protein-promoting Dr. He's the one who doesn't eat all day and only eats protein at night, right? So that he'll stay in ketosis? Hardly anyone can do straight protein every day for the rest of their lives. As long as you're losing steadily and happy with yourself, good for you. Great is right, all protein, no or low carbs, is great for breaking a plateau or getting yourself losing again if you've been gaining, but maintaining it all the time is not realistic. Frankly, I think showing no affect around your Dr. is probably self-defense against how controlling he seems. I pull on that no affect mask with certain people with whom its not safe to show what I'm really thinking or feeling. I will simply refuse to react to people who are trying to make me react or who seem determined to control me. I can see where you're very scared to reduce your medication. You have good reason. You know where it can lead. I'd be cautious, too. You're doing so well, you don't want any setbacks. Wierd about the teeth thing. Ouch. Cheri

Meredith, you have to get the word "failure" out of your head. We all have days when we are unexpectedly faced with the food we love and crave the most. If we completely deny ourselves we end up setting ourselves up for a vicious cycle of guilt and overeating. You need to change your thoughts to how proud you are of limiting your treats. Just a salad? I could never do that. Unless the salad had some meat or cheese, some nuts, some real stick to the ribs food in it. Just eating a salad would set me up for failure also. These are the kinds of situations where you figure you're going to eat some things you normally wouldn't and its OK. Otherwise you walk away feeling deprived and with a raging hunger. Instead choose a few things and eat just a bite of them. Doing so can actually boost your self-esteem and take the fear out of social gatherings. I have to ask you, are you semi-vegetarian? I frequently wonder if you're getting enough Protein, especially whole Proteins found in meat, eggs, or dairy. I would feel too weak to exercise or feel well if I ate what you do. Also, some of your food choices would give me acid reflux. Grapefruit, wine, etc. Maybe after a fill you need to avoid any foods that cause reflux till you lose a few lbs and the band isn't as tight. Look it up on the internet. You would be amazed at the foods and drinks that contribute to reflux. I'm proud of the way you're losing weight. A few tweaks and it'll be more sustainable. Cheri

Hi all, Went out to eat to Panera Bread tonight and had their chili. Gave my DH the cornbread on the top of the chili. Tasted so good. Kidney Beans and tomato sauce do have carbs but good for you low-glycemic ones, so staying on track. My cravings are so controlled by eating meat frequently. I don't feel physically hungry for a long time and if I do I can just eat some more meat. I fried a package of fresh breakfast pork sausages and refrigerated them and took 2 to work each morning where I would nuke 1 and eat it and then another 1 mid-morning. Bought a spit-roasted chicken and just kept stripping it for my lunch (froze some in baggies) and a few of my suppers. Put it in a salad last night. This week I ate it plain or put tobasco sauce (red or green) in with it. Today I had green Tobasco sauce in it with some low-fat cheeze. I totally enjoyed that lunch. Next week I think I'm going to get some spicy guacamole and mix that in some of the baggies and some basil pesto and mix that in others. It's amazing how you can make chicken taste differently without a lot of calories and with almost no carbs or with good low-glycemic carbs like hummus and pesto. Those keep the chicken from getting stuck, too because of the olive oil in them. Also had burger with mustard (no carbs) and Filet Mignon, no need for condiments. Easy to fry up in a pan, done in 5 minutes. Eat slowly and chew well while on FB, LBT and watching TV. Takes me an hour to eat. I do usually eat more than 3 to 4 oz. If I'm doing Protein, I eat more like 6-8 oz. to stop the cravings and feel "full." I just eat it really slowly. Since I work such a long day I also had Protein Bars or an Atkins shake to see me through the work day. After supper I would have SF pudding or an Atkins Endulge candy bar. So I ate plenty and still lost weight. I would be weak as a kitten if I ate Meredith's food. And hungry like Arlene if I had carbs. So, for me, this works. I'll probably get some carbs this extended weekend and work on moderation, keeping my protein high. Then, back on the train when I go back to work on Tuesday. It's such a relief to be back on track. Being back at work really helps as it makes it easier when my life is scheduled. Last week I just couldn't get into it. Was fighting that cold and really grieving over Joi. We were also using up gift cards to good restaurants. But I know that I can get back on track and the weight comes off easily. So, once I'm at the bottom of my weight range, I'm going to do the two lb gain, back to no carbs till its off thing. This month is my 1 yr. bandiversary of reaching goal. And then I went on to lose another 7-9, so I'm making sure, after going through all that, that I have something to Celebrate. Eva, you really are a goal-oriented project person. I really admire how much you accomplish. I know you want to lose more weight and I know you're quite the foodie. Now that you're working at home, maybe you should make creating and finding great recipes that are lapband and weight loss friendly a project. Design your own cookbook. I know that when I figured out all the great and easy things I could do with a spit-roasted chicken from the store, my outlook on eating the way I need to eat really shot up. I can manage stripping a delicious, always tender chicken cooked elsewhere and just adding good tasting condiments to it to keep it from getting boring. Fits my ADHD, fits my lifestyle, fits my tastebuds, fits my need for high protein low-carb whole foods. Throw in mixed green salads, or medium cooked broccoli, or a can of Italian green beans for veggies and a few berries into the salad (dried or fresh) and it's actually pretty healthy. A little low-fat cheeze or Feta cheeze, some milk or half and half in my coffee and some low-carb treats around and I can maintain that most days. Just gotta get my DH to remember to keep some fish fillets in the house and I'll actually have a well-rounded diet. The fact is, as Jessica's (?) Dr. or nutritionist said, you do not need carbs to live. You will not die without them. Tomorrow morning, if I don't wake up to a flat tire, I'm going to sing with my big choir in a ceremony celebrating Martin Luther King's birthday. I have to be there at 8:30 a.m. for rehearsal. If the tire is too low again in the morning, I may just walk there if the weather is decent. It wouldn't take me more than 45 minutes and I frequently walk longer than an hour. TTYL Cheri

Hi all, Hawaii, the Caymans, can't even imagine myself there. Not as cold here right now. Almost 30. Heat wave. One thing about Illinois, if you wait long enough you'll experience every kind of weather. I'm still thinking the June date for our Chicago get-together. Were we talking June 11? That really works the best for me. I'm really excited about seeing as many of you as can make it. Janet, if you can't make it that would really suck. Unfortunately, I can't afford the cruise thing. At least not this year. A number of you can drive here. I actually thought the Apples road trip idea sounded wonderful. There's nothing like driving together to get to know each other. Stop off at interesting sites. Thought it might be worthwhile to fly somewhere so Apples could pick me up too. LOL. The secret to avoiding entitlement and refusing to grow up comes from making our kids earn things. They can have things--they just have to earn them. Chores. He who does not work, does not eat. If you're a part of the family, you're expected to contribute. Emphasis on getting jobs as teenagers. Refusing to bail out. Not without pay back. However, some of the not growing up comes because of the availability of good contraception and, unfortunately, abortion. Nothing like wanting to have sex and believing it wasn't right to have it outside of marriage (another huge change in societal values) that made you wait for sex, at least till you had a ring on your finger, but marry early in order to scratch that itch. Getting married in our late teens and early 20's and popping out kids made most of us grow up much faster than today. The sexual revolution is hugely responsible for the fact that our kids don't grow up. They don't need to. Most of us did. Haven't heard more from my parents on any final decisions. I got the ball rolling with my mom which triggered her going to MI with my dad and my baby sister. We'll see what happens. But my parents were very loving, involved parents, though my dad was very rigid religiously. We had firm structure but no real abuse. So the kids are all very involved with our parents as are the grandkids. My parents travelled to all their children's homes and would take care of the grandkids so my siblings could do things. I lived close as does my baby sister so my parents were very involved in our kids lives. But parents do get wierd in old age. My mom has been very secretive about her finances and has had to be confronted with the fact that someone needs to have power of attorney because if something happens to her, my dad is not capable of handling the finances. They've been tight all their lives which is why they have enough to move into that retirement village. They never made much, but my mom was a phenomenol money manager. Giving up control is extremely hard. They knew how to live within their means but were always hospitable. They always had newcomers from church over for cake and coffee, had people over for Sunday dinner, helped sponsor and host Ethiopian and Morrocan refugees and immigrants, and exhibited incredible interest in all kinds of people and their lives. I may complain sometimes, but, overall, they've been wonderful. This is my fourth day with almost no carbs, just a few veggies and what was in my Nyquil and in my zinc. Started Monday morning.This morning I was down 6 lbs after only 3 days. Back to my range but 4 more to get to the bottom of it. Cravings are pretty much gone. I've eaten a lot of meat and a few Atkins products and a small amount of veggies. So, right now, my train is chugging along quite well. It's amazing how little you can eat when you stick to dense Proteins first. Cheri

Caught up again. Whew! Such prolific writers. Feel like my cold is letting up. It never got bad. Just felt weighed down and draggy and medicine made me loggy. Maltitol and other sugar alcohols can cause gas. Wish more high Protein low carb products used splenda. Hadn't had an Atkins shake for a few days. Had one this afternoon and had terrible gas a few hours later. Sometimes it hits me, sometimes it doesn't. TMI LOL. Watching It's Complicated. Love Merrill Streep. Gonna get to it now. Cheri

Sort of caught up. Skimmed. Had back to back meetings after school today. Need to go to bed early. Still getting over this cold. Not sick just dragged down. Half the school is sick. Trying to not relapse from constant exposure or catch some new bug while slightly under the weather. Eva, I know what it is to have my life touched in a personal way by evil. My prayers are for all those impacted by the hatred of one human being. Cheri