I just found out my surgery will be in July (granted my pre-op testing goes okay) SOOOOOOOOO

Here's a thread for everyone getting banded in July 07!

Does anyone have any good ideas for a neat name we could call ourselves?

So I went to the other extreme when I got older and was out on my own by using it as a reward. I ate what I wanted to eat, when I wanted to. But I've never been able to shake myself of the "empty plate" mentality that was driven into me as a child. We didn't have a lot of money, so we couldn't afford to just throw out what we didn't want to eat. And I just can't bring myself to do that now. Fortunately eating leftovers has never been an issue for any of us. I just need to learn to cook smaller portions and find smaller containers that will hold 3 or 4 spoonfuls of food. I don't HAVE to eat it all in one sitting like I've been doing all along. And I certainly don't need to be cleaning off someone else's plate.

That's exactly what I did. I can remember hiding in my bedroom and gobbling handfulls of grated parmesan cheese out of the can.

Hey Anna, Both my parents are Italian my father is 100% Italian and My Mom is 50/50 Italian/french. she was only born in france and lived there for a short while so Were mainly Italian!!

Where is te Italian in your family if you dont mind me asking! anytime i hear of anyone being italian or irish i get really excited!

Dini- you will be so excited to know that I am actually 50% Italian and 50% Irish- My mother made all of the decisions and did all of the cooking, so I always consider it an Italian upbrining (not to mention that we were very close to her sisters families)-my mothers family is from a small town in Sicily called Laderiit is on the east coast of Sicily- My fathers family is from Cork County Ireland. His mother's maiden name was McDonald. Im sure that is a popular name in Ireland

Dini--typo- the town in Italy is Laderia

Why oh why does EVERYTHING have to revolve around food? Saturday we went to a resort area to visit friends who have a summer home there. They took us out for lunch--I had chili--not bad, but then they wanted to go to a place that specializes in homemade icecream--VERY BAD. THEN, they took us wine tasting. . .well, of course there was other kinds of tasting to be had as well. And everything tasted SOOOOO good. But they weren't finished yet! For dinner they insisted on grilling steaks and served delicious home made pie for desert! I had a sliver without ice cream, but still way more than I wanted.

I'm not done. Yesterday the DH wanted to go to a another resort area near our home that closed up the streets downtown and all the local chef's had booths set up where you can go and sample their specialities. As hungry as I was, I succumed to the crab-artichoke dip on fresh french bread. Oh my goodness--I couldn't get enough. So today all I had was a protein shake for lunch, a bowl of split pea soup with protein powder for dinner and a glass of wine (that I bought from one the wine tastings)

My DH is just the OPPOSITE of yours, Anut Phyl. He went to Mexico with me and he knows what I've been through--the money I've spent, yet he still wants me to go with him and eat, eat, eat! I could scream!!

Dini, there you are!!! Hunter is better, he's asleep in the chair and I'm getting him ready to go up to bed now. Did you get my message about the powder??

lindaa, wow, that's a lot of food. We have a similar event here called the Taste of Cincinnati whee all the restraunts set up booths memorial Day weekend. It's been a few years since I've been to it, but boy do I remember all the yummy things they served up. There is so many social events centered around food. Another reason why the obese rate is so high.

Have a great night everyone. Heading to bed.

Lindaa- social situations can be very frustrating at this point. I am avoiding them like hell. Now this Friday we will have our before school burger cookout for teachers and spouses, I need to come up with a plan before I get there or else I am going to end up eating 3 burgers.

Only4me- I am cooking for an army also, or else I just did not realize how much I ate before. Like tonight, I made shrimp scampi with linguine, I only cooked 1/2 pack of the pasta, and after both of us eating, there is still enough for tomorrow's dinner also. While before I would cook the whole pack of linguine and it would all be gone in no time.

Clean plate syndrome- I thought I was the only who had this issue!!! I am so excited to find out my family is not the only out there teaching these habits, no offense to anybody's family. Every day I heard the third world country thing, and every day we were prompted to eat more and more for a healthy growth (!), and of course we all fought for fair share of snacks/desserts- not occasionaly but several times a day.

Also, I had issues with food like other people have with drugs I guess. I would hide candies in my closet and lock myself in there and eat, eat, eat all by myself. Not a little bit, but a lot of it, everyday. No wonder I got so heavy and needed this surgery. I am glad I found you all to vent with. It's such big help.

Kathy, my DH wants a bike too, and I just keep telling him 'no', but because I went through a bad ordeal with my ex and his accident. He wants me to ride on the back, and I just laugh. All I keep thinking is that he weighs about 150, and he probably can't even hold that bike up with me on it. Maybe things will change when I reach my goal.

Lynette, my DH is such a clutz that he would widow me for sure. I know this is a sensitive situation for you, and I'm sort of joking about it, but my joking is really based in reality. He is such a distracted driver, and has had many near misses because he isn't paying attention. He also doesn't always obey the rules of the road. He hesitates, doesn't turn when its his turn, then turns when its not, etc. It can be very frustrating as a passenger, not to mention as a passenger that likes to be in control of her own destiny! :omg:

So last year a friend of ours got a new bike. When my DH asked his wife what she thought of it, she said "I don't care, he had a $2 million life insurance policy, so what do I care" So my DH turned to me with a smile like "can I, can I, can I"

So when he saw Jeanie's picture and asked if he could get a bike, my answer was... "can you afford a $2 million dollar policy?" So I guess he won't be getting the bike. :whoo::whoo:

Clean Plate Syndrome: Seems to be a common thing amongst us. I know my parents both came from poor families, where good food was hard to get, so when I was growing up, it was expected that you eat everything. I can remember two meals my mom made that I hated: Sheppards Pie and Maccaroni & Cheese. I loved everything else, including liver. But when she would serve those two meals, I would be sitting at the table until bedtime and not eat that night. It used to infuriate her and anger me. But I'm sure it helped to shape my issues with food.

I can't blame my parents. It was certainly not their fault, as they were dealing with their own food and money issues. Plus, its not their fault I stuff myself with junk food.

Today, I don't push my kids to eat everything. Instead I push them to eat healthy choices. I like the fact my son is a bit of a graser. It means he is getting nutrition every few hours, which helps even out the calorie intake. My daughter, however, is a bit of a pig. She will eat anything and everything, and has no shut off valve. I'll have to watch her nutrition as she grows.

Hi there! It's just me. I'm still working at it, losing slowly. Been exercising regularly and tonight did 30 mins on treadmill, 30 mins on the ex bike, some situps and some reps with the handweights.

My flesh is starting to hang on my upper arms and thighs and I'm trying to do all I can to keep it as tight as possible. I don't won't to have to have any more surgery, but a breast reduction/lift will definitely be in order when I reach my goal.

I was also a picky eater. I refused to eat any vegetables, except for starches. Even now, I only eat potatoes, corn, lettuce/spinach, and onions. Didn't even eat pizza until ten years ago. No seafood, nothing exotic, no sauces, no gravies, no cheeses, no mexican food, no sushi, not many dressings, etc. Don't eat many sweets, etc. I'm boring, so the mushy stage has been real hard on me.

My parents used to threaten me and I'd take a whole piece of white bread and wrap it around one bean and still I couldn't get it down without gagging....branched out a little since then, but not much. Very limited diet!

I've got two more weeks until my first fill, but I'm still only eating between 550 and 850 calories per day and not really needing more than that. I don't know that I even need the fill. I just want to move on to the next stage of foods. DH is saying I could have done this all on my own as basically I have since the band isn't doing anything for me yet. Of course, I am very disciplined, but I think I needed the structure that this big expense and procedure brought me to.

Ok...so I am on my second week of cottage cheese and pureed soup. I past a restaurant today and smelled steak tips and I my mouth watered. I can't wait for real food! I can have mashed potatoes...but I am not a big fan of mashed potatoes. (I grew up first generation Irish, and we had potatoes at every meal.) Next week...egg whites! I am excited for egg whites! LOL That is crazy! I will close my eyes tomorrow and pretend that I am having steak tips. So I am venting here...so that I dont' eat anything I shouldn't. argh!!!

Bostonchic you are being so good!! It was hard to be on liquids for that long....I cheated here and there, then got news two days ago, that those that have the AP band only have to do liquids for one week, mushies for one week and then solids....after I had to endure the liquids for two weeks!! So I can empathize.....you are doing great!!

I have had a few bouts of loose BM's over the last week. Sort of comes on for an hour or so, and then resolves itself. Kind of weird. Anyone else having this happen?

Yep Kathy - I am right there with you - I had it happen about 1 a.m. this morning - but ok this a.m. baby poop as i call it. It's not as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago. Try some imodium i took one pill and it helped alot - as back then i was really just pooping water (tmi sorry)

:confused:

Whoo hoo.....I beat the 300 mark!! I'm now officially 299......I'm so happy, it's been years since I've seen "200" of any kind....:whoo:

Whoo hoo.....I beat the 300 mark!! I'm now officially 299......I'm so happy, it's been years since I've seen "200" of any kind....:whoo:

Congrats!!! Good for you Caolin. :clap2:

Hi Gang - just doing my morning catch up since i wasn't on the computer last night. Just want to share a NSV 3 miles in 1 hr last night. That's pretty good for a 52 fat couch potato who 2 wks ago could barely do 30 minutes :confused:

Lynette - I tried the hip hop abs - but my dvd had terrible audio and my knees just couldn't do it - but agan i am twice your age. I lwanted a dance excerise so it didn't seem too much like work..

Laurend & Ruby - OMG - I am sorry that your parents were so forceful in making you eat things you didn't like. I guess i was lucky - there was only 1 thing my mom ever made that i didn't like (baked tomaote w/cheese) and she was drunk and was very instance that i eat it - i might have taken a bite but that was it. I have never force my son or grandkids to eat something thing they don't like - The 3 yr old is the only one who isn't picky - my son & grandson - meat & potatoes kinda guys no veggies. I really don't understand people who force other to eat things they don't like - we are all individuals and we eat have different taste.

Anna - I too want to feed the world and ALWAYS over cook - last night was trying to make 2 portion of dinner ( 5 oz ground white turkey, onions, bell pepper, 1/2 small cabbage 5 tiny red potatoes - with some garlic & BAM Spices) weighed an measured every thing - but when i cooked it - it came out enought for 3 servings...

Dini - Congrats on the small - size 12 usa clothes - I am starting to fit into some of my 14/16's.

Lindaa - I feel your pain - all the gathings i go to have Food & alcohal.

Caolin - Congrats :whoo:

Jeanie - Sunny - Chim - Phyl - & all those i am missing - Have a great day - I gotta get to work... :nervous:rolleyes:rolleyes: - this site is just too addicting - i am not getting my work done:eek:..