Betsyjane

Hi Cyndie Tell me about the rice cakes. How nmuch do they have of saturated fats? Sugar/sweetener? How many carbs and protein grams? They sound interesting. I looked at the Activia yesterday. I can't remember why, but there was some reason i couldn't do those, but I got some of the Dannon Fit & Light Smoothies and they are good.....

Is anybody else stuck by how incredibly unhealthy some of these reports are??????? What are we doing to ourselves in the long run if we lose the weight and screw up our bodies in other ways with an unbalanced diet and lots of processed foods?

OK. In my neverending quest to overobsess about bandster life, I have a new idea. I threw all my veges in a pot with water and made vegetable broth. Then I blendered it all. I have a broth, but just a tiny bit thicker...I used alot of water so it's almost thin enough to be a broth. So...I figure if I alternate between this and water to get my fluids, I'll be getting a whole lot more veges in my diet, and I'll be drinking something flavored without sugar or artifical sweetener. What do you think...or what flaw am I missing?

I had never been either. Then my back cratered. I went in totally skeptical, and he made me feel like a million! I'm amazed. Michael Davenport on FM 1960 in Atascocita. Go past 24 hour fitness, and look on the right for the Vietnamese Noodle Restaurant. He's a few doors down. I understand other chiros have fancier equipment. But he has magic hands.

Remember to deduct your travel expenses to Dr. appts too.

Breakfast Slim Fast Carb Control shake 190 calories Snack sugar free fudgsicle 40 calories 11 AM LunchDannon Light & Fit smoothie 60 calories 1:30 PM Slim Fast Carb Control Shake 190 calories (Just goes to show 60 calories for lunch isn't enough, and neither is a liquid lunch!) Total so far: 480 calories dinner will be fish and veges, and probably later will be a SF popsicle..

I might go to that OA meeting. If I do, I'm not telling them I'm banded, per your advice. Lana-I'll bet it was more like 3/4 of a cup. I ate all the cheesy sauce around it too....all the fatty stuff! :-) I'm going to change something in my home. I get tied up with paperwork and dogs and whatever other excuses I have, and I don't get to the gym as often as I think I need to to make it a well ingrained habit. I'm going to go to classes so I have a specific time and activity planned, and on the days there is no specific class, I'm going to build my daily schedule around a specific gym time. I'll look on Sparkpeople and on the 24 hour fitness site and look for other ideas too. I really want the gym to be a daily thing, on weekdays. Anybody have any ideas to help? Should I bring the lap band recipe book to a meeting? Anybody want to see it?

A therapist is gonna want to "get heavy", I think. That sounds more like a personal trainer. We could invite one of those sometime too. I'll look for the therapist. Ya know, we could set our own goals too. We're a bright group!

Barbara's husband mentioned Overeaters Anonymous. Do you think somebody from there might also be interesting? I buy all of this because I know I gained weight when I quit smoking lo those many decades ago.

Why not both? We can begin to build a support team. Maybe invite some people as a one-time guest at our table, others for ongoing relationships. I can look for a therapist. How about if do nutritionist whenever Barbara finds one, and I'll start looking for a shrink for us shrinking folks. May take awhile. My old profession includes brilliant people and goobers too. Do we need a shrink at a meeting, or names of relevant people we can go to individually in the area?

Yeah. Bulimia probably isn't much of a stretch either. I'm thinking about doing classes for awhile at 24. Water Aerobics, stretching, weights, yoga, pilates, etc. All the classes are included in the membership and I'd like to learn about all of them without paying a personal trainer......I'd love for exercise to be a habit. It's still a conscious struggle..... I came home today to find that the camp dogs had eaten several of the blinds. That's a first. At least they chose the cheap miniblinds. They need to work on their eating habits. I may go band them myself.

For what it's worth. There's a TV show on this morning...I usually use TV as background noise, but this one made me stop. It's about women who have had bariatric surgery, stopped their food addiction and picked up substitutes...mostly alcoholism. Some also now anorexics..

angela-That was such sweet comforting advice. And the soup sounds lovely.

Hmm. There's a difference between legislating about smacking or about "disciplining in any other way". I believe that children don't learn the right think by being hit. I think they learn to be ashamed, afraid, and sneaky. I believe logical consequences can help a child learn while not hurting self esteem. But I think legislation should be reserved for child abuse, and I wouldn't consider spanking to be child abuse, just poorer parenting.

I've never had Activia, but it sounds like a nice change from protein shakes. By the way, I finally got off those lucious Muscle Milk shakes and onto Slim Fast Carb Control. As much as I loved those Muscle Milks, the Slim Fast really did seem to have all the right stuff in the right proportions.... Think I'll pick some up on grocery day Thursday. Anybody else have favorite something or others? I'm not looking for snacks....just nonsolid breakfasts and real solid other meals. Can't do TV dinners (whatever they are called in the 21st century). Too processed tasting for me. Unless it's a good old high fat Stouffers........Ah, remember the good old days of eating like a porker? OK. Here's a weird tip. One of the dog boarders is an MD who does all the aesthetic stuff....botox etc. She says cocoa butter or something similar and also light massage in the shower will help the belly skin shrink. I'm gonna go to work on my moose lip.

Oh dear! I do think the band can get tight from illness, especially one that causes inflammation anyway. Sounds like you are doing everything you can to keep going. do you need a bit of an unfill until you feel better? Would a protein bar work...the chocolate kind that kind of melt as you chew them? Feel better soon!

Good grief! Have been doing so well, and then today I have been drinking high calorie protein shakes all day...sort of liquid grazing. I cannot figure out why....I must be subconsciously bored or something! Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day. Fiddledeedee.

Interesting. 5 protein shakes a day....with Slimfast Low Carb, that would be 950 calories, 100 grams of protein, 30g carbs, 45g fat, 1300g sodium. Plus whatever food you eat. So basically, you eat every hour in the order of water-shake-food. Have you tried it yet?

Oh Boo! You poor thing. Well, at least you can blame phlegm and assorted bodily fluids for your 2 pound gain! Take care of yourself. You were sure a trooper yesterday at dinner! Remember that old point system where you rate the good and bad things that have happened to you recently...I think it was called the Life Change Index, and if you had very many points, you were at risk for getting sick? I'll bet a band, starting Jazzercise and seeing your son would give you enough points to have been at risk....We probably all are in that category. I think I also remember a thread about increased risk of pneumonia with the band, but I don't remember why....

I was reading this article about how bandsters can get over plateaus. This guy says basically either cut carbs or do alot of exercise. (I remember Spivak telling me that I should only eat carbs if I'm training for a marathon.) Anyway, he says any sugars, fruit, pastas will slow down weight loss. And he says any snacking on anything will slow weight loss. And after the first year of banding, you are SOL without exercise. He also says anything except meat and veges will raise your blood sugar to some extent, leaving you hungry 2-3 hours later. Oy.

Ha! He can't be too thrilled to see me with my bill for $2.95. OK. It's 5:30 unless we hear from someone that that doesn't work. Why did we meet the 4th Monday this month? I don't recall. So it's semi-official. First and third Mondays at 5:30PM at La Villa in Atascocita. Dates: 4/2, 4/16 5/7, 5/21 6/4, 6/18 7/2, 7/16 8/6, 8/20

Ha! I ate 2 bites of leftover fish, and that settled me for the evening....except for 2 popsicles later. How about you?

Ya know, you hear a half cup, a cup, a cup and a half. You hear nothing through a straw, straws are OK, protein powder is fine...no, only the liquid shakes. Shakes OK-no liquid calories. I really think it didn't make sense to me until I had enough months of feeding myself with this band and knowing what works for me...and that what works for me changes alot! I was at my Dr's support group meeting and the 3 people who were role models for us eat 600 calories a day. I think I would die! all I can say is that I eat less volume now than I used to because I'm more sensitive to what it feels like to be full, and because I'm losing interest in food....sometimes.

That was fun! From now on we'll be meeting at La Villa the first and third Monday of each month, and not at Humble City Cafe. Er, I'm confused on times. 5:30? 6:00? What do we need to do? I can do anything as long as it's not so late I'm sleepy!

I think it's just past the intersection of 1960 and Pinehurst. We'll be at a table in the front. One or two guys and 3 or 4 women would be best guess. I'll take my blank sign for the table...so if you are sensitive about being "outed", we won't.... I'm hoping I stay awake long enough to be there. I'm fading fast after my trip!