BJean

Yes, Indio that's right. I just got back from a meeting with my dietician. There were three other people there who have been banded about the same amount of time that I have. We are all struggling with the same problem. I was supposed to get a fill, but dietician and I decided that I should wait another week because I am still not able to eat everything in regular amounts. I used to read about people who would eat sweets and cheeseburgers and fries and stuff like that. I didn't understand it. I wish I still didn't! I don't know of a sure-fire remedy yet. Although everyone saysthat exercise is the only way to get over this hump. :bounce:

I didn't realize that some of you are so soon post-surgery or haven't had surgery yet. If you get a fill where you are really restricted, it is much harder to leave the sweets alone - for me, anyway. That's why getting a fill is such a big decision. Too restricted and it's difficult to eat real food and not restricted enough, you can eat anything in any quantity. So finding a happy medium is the trick. Any little gimmicks you can use to keep you on track are great!

You bet! :confused:

Indio: My DH has a theory about fat people. They have learned to be very efficient beings. They can think up all kinds of ways to keep from having to move much. They are very creative when it comes to housework, walking, parking their cars, getting on an elevator instead of taking the stairs, etc. I started paying attention to myself and also started watching my slender friends. They all move more than I do. They are constantly up and moving around picking things up, rearranging this or that, cleaning their closets, changing the sheets, parking way out in the parking lot so they can "get some exercise" and the list goes on. Meanwhile I'm being a couch potato, putting off everything and planning my next meal. Thinking about an art project that would be so much fun, but planning another meal. Knowing a room would look better if I got off the couch and started painting, but instead I just think about it and go to the store to buy good things to eat. Lands it's overwhelming to think about all the "head" stuff that I need to work on. :phanvan

I don't do the flat dumplings. Mine are large and very fluffy. Melt in your mouth - not chewy. Btw, remember that we are supposed to realize that there are NO BAD FOODS. Indio I think you're right on about the head hunger issue. I am one of those people who has started obsessing about my next meal. I haven't been able to decide if it is because I am too restricted or not restricted enough. Or if it is simply that my head is so used to thinking up good things to eat that I have reverted to that since I've been so restricted that I can hardly eat some of the time.

I promise not to complain about the work that the ACLJ is doing if you'll lay off the ACLU. I think it is good that both sides have advocates.

Jackie a similar wake up call has happened to me. What a shock to hear yourself say something like that when you honestly do not think there is one reason in the world why a person's skin color should enter into the dating equation. But it does. Pure and simple. There are still many bigots in this country - from all sides. And I imagine your initial thought was governed by the motherly instinct of wanting to protect your son from all harm. That harm could include discrimination in your little town and by his own grandparents. No one can honestly blame you for wanting to protect your son. But if we were completely free of any racial discrimination, we wouldn't have thought it could bring him harm in the first place, right?

I have high hopes that when and if an organization like the ACLU has gone off the deep end, we the people, the judge and jury, will set it right. The ACLU doesn't really get away with much unless there is just cause. But if you get a biased group of people who are in power, like the judge, the police and D.A., for instance, and you do not have the ACLU on your side, you have little chance of setting the thing right. Thus the need, I think, for a watchdog group. And the ACLU isn't the only watchdog group, just probably the most controversial - except for maybe PETA.

L8BloomR: Yes, not surprisingly we do differ on this subject as well. There's no doubt in my mind that you and I are wired differently and this subject, the ACLU, is very complicated. I don't know what litigation you've mentioned that relates to the Boy Scouts. I do remember a while back that the Boy Scouts had a terrible scandal about some of their leaders being pedophiles. My point is, although I do not agree with every case that the ACLU pursues, I believe that we have a need for a "watchdog" as Green so appropriately calls it. Unlike you, I would trust the ACLU quicker than I trust Bush and many of our politicians who have extremely personal agendas. But there again, the ACLU is made up of people. People are not perfect. People display bias. That's why we need to study both sides to most issues and not blindly believe all the headlines and spin that is spun by either side. To make it more difficult, many times we can't just lump everything into a neat pile that is aligned 100% with one side or the other. Afterall, we're both reasonable people. If it were simple, we probably wouldn't disagree.

As far as I'm concerned all scorpions belong lifeless in a box. The beauty shop scene you two paint sounds marvelous! I can usually find good conversation without good skills or good skills with no conversation. I thought I had found someone a couple of years ago. I paid more for her services but she was fantastic with my very difficult hair. She was pleasant enough. But by the time I got to know her well enough to share any kind of real conversation, it was always all about her. She talked non-stop all about her church and how I needed to try it, how wonderfully faith-based her whole salon was, how difficult it was to meet eligible Christian men, blah, blah, blah. She finally took me on as a project to convert me both for a religious conversion and for a rigorous weight loss regimen. I gave her up for Lent.

thompson362: Can you give some hints on how exactly to go about facing the mental stuff?? I am sure a lot of my problem is in my head, but I have no idea how to begin to straighten that out.

nickanut I had meatloaf for lunch today. I made chicken & dumplings last week and had some of it for a couple of meals. I had to go very easy on the dumplings, and with the meatloaf no bread, but I did have a couple of small bites of roasted garlic mashed potatoes. I am one of those who can't eat most chicken. The chicken & dumplings dish was the first chicken I have had in months. It was extremely tender and cooked very well, but I still didn't eat much of it. I went for the broth mostly. Some people eat chicken often, I'm just not really one of them I used to never eat fish and now I order it a lot when we go out. It just is much easier to eat and it tastes much better to me now than pre-band. Good luck. I think you'll agree that the weight loss is worth any foods that you can't eat (like bread).

Jackie- Been there, felt that!! When we moved back to Texas, I called up a good friend from high school that I hadn't seen in 35 years. She too was flabbergasted and didn't hide it. Then she proceeded to insist that we go to her husband's office after lunch so her husband (who was also a good friend of mine in H.S.) could see me. I was in so much denial I thought she was just proud of his successful business. Well, his mouth dropped open and he said, OMG! Like you've hardly changed! And then roared with laughter! It really, really stung. I realized that she was just wanting him to see how big I had gotten. I caught my breath and said, yeah you haven't changed either... To which he said, well I HAVE put on a few pounds around my middle. I decided to retreat into my own bat cave and was there until the LB. Now if I could just get the rest of this lard off, I'd thumb my nose at those jerks.

Yay Kat! I love the point you made about any newcomer in a family possibly having problems fitting in - because we all certainly do have baggage! The other comment that I appreciated was you admitting that you notice that her skin is darker than yours. That's the kind of honesty that is going to help break down the walls of racism. So much more pure and real than hollow claims of not being a bigot. Things are improving, but we sure have a long way to go! Kudos to you for doing a good job of working through it, first hand.

I thank God for the American Civil Liberties Union! It has been horribly maligned over the years. They really do fight for civil liberties whether you agree with every single lawsuit they file or not. It is easy to read the headlines and declare that they have gone off the deep end, but if you do an impartial, in-depth study of their actions, you will find that they are seeking to correct a very real injustice. If it weren't for the ACLU, many acts of discrimination would have been committed by people who have the power and do harm to people who have no power. We need a counter balance to actions made by certain judges, district attorneys and law enforcement officials when they make decisions that are unfair and based on their own personal agenda. One of the most important persons right now that we need to keep in check is George Bush who is willing to utilize all of his power as president to employ a "faith based coalition" to ensure that his religious agenda is carried out, whether it is fair to all citizens or not.

There's so much I do not know and do not understand about racism and race issues in the world today. I would love for there to be an open discussion about it here. I know there would be a lot of widsom and truth in the postings if it is like every other topic I've kept up with. Anybody?

Green has good thought processes. I think there's a very good possibility that she has hit the proverbial nail on the head, IM.

When did we start having sex after LB surgery? Well, I remember when I woke up after surgery and they brought me back to my room, my DH was waiting for me.........just kidding. I believe it was at least 2 weeks. Maybe 3. Or could be 4, I guess. Well, now that you mention it, it was probably more like 2 months. But that's just me.

Bubble! That was one scary story!! Especially the part about the house shoes! :heh: Seriously if you hadn't called Poison Control, you might not be with us right now. Did the paramedics give you a shot of Benadryl? I can't believe you talked them out of taking you. I've had several encounters with scorpions in Florida and Texas, but I never saw one while we lived in Arizona. We were there for 5.5 yrs. I've never been stung. Once I went out to get the morning paper and walked back into the house through the garage, past the lawn mower, and I realized that something felt funny on the heel of my bare foot. I took a look and low and behold a dead, smashed scorpion was stuck to the bottom of my foot. I let out a bloody scream that was heard 'round the 'hood. Guess it came in on the wheel of the lawn mower or something. Eeeuuuu! Man, Green you have the best deal going with your hair did, er do. I can't believe you can git 'er done for 20 bucks! That's like a throw back in time! I have such lousy, fine, straight mousy brown hair, I have to really work at finding someone who can cut this mess. Count your lucky frizzy stars!

I like your attitude, Bitter! :eyebrows:

Amen again, sister Green.

Well Green, just so long as you tipped the bastards, that's all that counts on this thread!~ Bubble: That was a funny story! Was it a bark scorpion or just your regular run of the mill brown one? Anyway at least it made me feel better about the money I used to spend on Speigel catalogue stuff. I was sitting next to a man in Phoenix many years ago at a Mac Davis concert (yeah, that long ago) and he had his hand in a cup of ice. He had been stung by a scorpion in his yard right before the concert and he wasn't going to miss the show. Said it hurt like H - E - double hockey sticks!

future2bsn: I've noticed that many of my well-to-do friends who have never worked in a service job are the poorest tippers. I have never been able to understand how they can expect people to be nice to them with their attitudes. A former friend of mine (I finally got fed up too) used to embarrass me and my husband as well as her own husband every time we went out to dinner. Something was always wrong with the table we got, the food we were served, the drink, the dessert, the coffee or the after dinner drink. ALWAYS. It was like she just craved the extra attention or maybe she just liked to lord it over people. She definitely was a control freak. I always wondered if she was the type of person that the restaurant staff spit in their food. If I get good service I overtip a server. If I get poor service I try to figure out if it is from inexperience or because of a really bad attitude. I tip the minimum if it is attitude - and you have to admit there are servers with bad attitude, although they are few and far between. As for the hairdresser in Orlando who demanded a tip, I honestly was taught that the owner of a salon would be offended by the offer of a tip and that it was in bad taste to tip them. So I didn't tip him because I thought it was the accepted practice. This guy had become famous from doing several movie stars' hair when they were in town and he used to travel with one national TV news gal. He was a pompus ass, but he did my hair well and it was fun hearing all the gossip he blabbed constantly. As far as I was concerned, he could have asked me in a courteous way why I didn't tip instead of outright demanding one. Or he could have had his receptionist handle it, very delicately. Instead he chose to embarrass me and insult me in front of the other patrons and probably told the story to everyone througout the rest of the day. Frankly I don't put up with that kind of treatment when I am paying someone for a service. Know what I mean?

And Green, don't you think that because Christians do all they can to force others to "live by their moral code" people with differing beliefs are scared that if they don't make a stand for separation of church and state, those Christians will one day be able to make it happen. That makes it a very sorry state of affairs for so many of us who enjoyed the Manger scene in the town square and Christmas trees in schools and all the other things we grew up with, but that are now deemed politically incorrect.

Mark: I think you hit the nail on the head. I honestly have no problem with the use of those words on government buildings and on our money. I am rankled by the extreme right wing in this country telling everyone else how they should live their lives and even worse, that they are wanting to legislate it. :omg: Thanks for your easy to read and understand post, Mark.