Sometime I don't know what to do with myself when I would normally EAT. The weekends use to consist of food.....where ever I would go, I would have some type of fast food. We won't even discuss going to the mall......I dare not say the treat because then they will be in my head.

What do you do on the weekends besides clean up?

That one is simple...I come here! Just now I opened my fridge and thought "No, you're not hungry" and then I came here to see what's going on. It helps a lot in the house. Outside ofcourse not so easy but then I guess I give myself a focus before I go out and then try to stick to it.

I scrapbook or rubberstamp. I love all kinds of crafts and now I have a TV in my craft room, so at the end of the day, I try to stay in there scrapbooking or making greeting cards while I watch TV, keeps my hands busy and me away from the kitchen and fridge!

If we don't have any special occassions such as bdays or parties, we take the kids and go to the zoo, Disney, the mall - sometimes just to walk and look around, g'parents house - park - the smaller kids are into picnics, play games - or just sit and play on the pc's

oh wait, does my post count since I am not banded yet? lol Ive quit living my life around food and going out to eat until may, does that count :bananadoggywow:

Well, right now I think my family is having to put the fridge under lock and key. I have been on my liquid diet since the 10th and just want to CHEW something, anything! :hungry:

But, I do like your idea about doing crafts and such to keep your hands busy. We just had a Hobby Lobby open up the street. I have never done any crafts, but maybe now is a good time to take one up. I might do that after I recover, my surgery is tomorrow, WOO HOO!

Lisa...when do you get banded...

Susan...tomorrow is your big day!!!!!! You'll do great.

Actually, I kinda feel about food the same way I felt about cigarettes when I quit them. After you are free, you realize how limited you were...I always had to make sure I had enough cigarettes, I always made sure I had them with me. I had to find places to smoke. When I quit, I had more time and more money. I decided to live.

I think food is like that, too. Remember you are in a transition period, and don't expect it to be cut and dried and perfect. Find something new to enjoy at the mall...maybe smells or people-watching?

I forgot that I learned how to do a basic crochet stitch and I did that while I was home recovering. Yeah I took off extra time just to baby me. I guess I should take up something for home.

I've never been obsessed with food nor have I been a grazer. However, I do get bored every now and then. When that happens, I pick up a Dean Koontz novel.

I've started spending more time with my grandson. We took him to the park the other day and had such a good time with him! I've also been doing a photography workshop on Saturdays. Dawg and I go for drives, spend time on the computer together, watch movies, visit friends, etc.

I have found that while I'm doing these other things it's still important to think about food. Why? Because to get caught away from home without good foods is dangerous! I consider where we are going and how long we'll be gone and pack accordingly. Bottles of Water and Starkist tuna lunch packs are almost always in our car.

Also, just because I'm feeling so much better now that I'm getting some of this weight off, I have more energy so I enjoy doing things I dreaded before. Today I went walking with LindaV, then came home and cleaned out the car. Ran in to check on LBT and now I'm on my to get the car washed and do a big grocery shop. Everyday becomes more and more full of things to do... and it's just happening naturally!

Shopping! I am a major shopaholic - funny b/c my surgeon just mentioned the other day that I always look like a bag lady when I come to see her (I have to take a train to NYC to see her, she is in uptown Manhattan, and I usually have a hour or two to kill b/f my appt - LOL) but she was glad that I found something to replace my food habits. Needless to say my DH isn't so happy with my new habit, but he does like he new me, so he doesn't grumble too much.

Hey Yoda, I was supposed to be banded the day you were.

During pre-ops from my PcP they found a mass on my kidney from problems I was having - so I had to reschedule - now my date is May 26th IF my urologist releases me on May 2nd :grouphug:

I spend lots and lots of time with friends, which is my passion in life. I go out after work, I run a movie club once a week, and my weekends are always packed! I also go to the gym for about an hour every day and have recently started lifting weights. Believe me, if you need to kill time, the gym will suck that time away real quick! Between getting changed, working out, showering, washing my hair, and then trying to balance my clothing so that nothing touches the gym bathroom floor (I get a bit germ-phobic at the gym), I use up nearly two hours! It's also fabulous for helping us lose weight!

I also spend time with my darling husband, watching movies, our favorite tv shows, cooking. I love going online and sending long emails to friends too. Me and my husband also love flea markets, shopping, unusual events around town, broadway shows (my favorite!), and traveling.

Wow, it's such a nice day outside, after listing all my favorite activites, I can't wait till work's over so I can go out and have fun!

I started going to the gym during my lunch hour two years ago (a year and a half before I was banded) and have just kept it up. I enjoy working out and feel guilty and bad if I don't go. Most of the times when my husband is having a late night snack, generally popcorn and I use to eat a whole bag for myself, now I just take a handful and be done with it. It is much easier now to just say no to the stuff.

It is really hard to go to friends houses for dinner or over to relatives because even though they know I am banded they traditionally don't think about that when preparing meals. I always love to go visit my inlaws in OK for a weekend because I usually come home about 5 lbs lighter. Same way if we go out of town and are forced to eat out. There just isn't much there that I allow myself to have. However if I cook, then I know the things I can eat and usually make them.

I get busy with stuff I normally would ignore, with a household of five people there is mountains of "stuff" to get through. If I think about it too much I might kill myself. Washing, folding, putting clothes away, picking up a million socks from outside (my middle son, grrr, just runs round outside in his socks and ditches them in spots through the garden), tidying up bedrooms, keeping cupboards tidy, cleaning out the car (does anyone else's kids seem to leave a mountain of crap in the car), going through school bags finding notices, keeping our budget updated on the computer. I'm also on a computer diet though, too much time on forums has given me a typists behind.

During the afternoon between picking up the kids and dinner, I only have one afternoon where I'm out for a long time, I used to eat a lot at this time of day, now that I have a treadmill and some basic weights equipment, its workout time for me then followed by another tidyup (will it never end) and dinner. I never had a problem with eating after dinner so that gets me through the danger period of the day. Weekends for us are so busy with 2 of our 3 kids playing various sports, its never a sit around and eat type of weekend here.

I got a new puppy. She's adorable and needs lots of attention. When I feel like eating out of boredom I play with her or take her on a walk.