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?

Janet, sorry, even though I reread you post, I STILL said Back Street Boys instead of New Kids One The Block!!! Must have been some subliminal thing...

Had popcorn last night, didn't have any pain. So I will save the calories for that at night. I am also a evening snacker, okay, I'm an anytime snacker.

Have given up my Cafe Vienna....drinking coffee with skim milk & SF flavor...NOT the same thing. But I figure I am losing a lot of calories to coffee. This is one thing that I will add back when the weight is gone. Who knows, I might not make it with it now.

You all have a good day.

Well let see if this post - I just posted on another thread and the page just keeps flashing... And looks like my post is gone - so I reloaded - lets see if it does it again.

Karla - I'm a total bad boy girl - all my bf's & Dh were bad boy types no wonder never of those relationships ever worked out - well gotta say one wasn't Chris the Artist but that didn't work either

Plus I was 38 when the BSB came out!! May have thought they were cute - but way over the boy bands by then :0)

I can't say there are any singers out their who I think are handsome/cute - Oh well ya one TRACE Atkins :wink:

Told you to try the popcorn !!! It's a life saver for me...

and you gotta make this work for you - I try and ignor my hunger real or fake - but when I can't - Popcorn !!!

Well after telling you I get up at 6-6:30 last night - I didn't get up til 7:35 this morning - I stayed up late last night and I thought I set the alarm for 6 - but I guess I didn't - so no gym this morning...

My GF who's coming over today teaches water arobics - so we will be doing that this afternoon - it's suppose to be 110 degrees today !!!! Hell the pool is going to be hot..

Doggies groomer @ 10 this morning - may go do some wii in a bit - but my tummy is acting up - tmi (runs)... But love the scales this morning 137 !!!

Well off to surf the net - Have a great day ladies - CBL:wub:

Oh forgot - Karla - get the sf hazenut or whatever flavor you like of the creamers - that's what I use - I tried the SF hazelnut syrup and didn't like it - the sf creamer has like 35 calories - I have never counted those calories cuz I only have one cup maybe 2 a day - and I have never counted down to the itty bitty calories like some (lol my dd )

Good Saturday Morning, Friends!

Things going okay here. Busy day yesterday. Well, I slept a little late... 8:15 a.m.... about an hour later than my usual. DH was at DD's cutting lawn until SIL came out and stopped him because he wanted DGS to put in some manual labor for a change! LOL

So he got back earlier than usual with a plan for the day.

He wanted to go see "Up" in the afternoon and then go out for early dinner. Then DD called on her way back from working out (with weights) and wanted to go for a walk with us. We took our lake loop... which takes about an hour, and by then it was time to go to the movie!

"Up" was fun..3D... cute. Dinner was okay, but I'd been wanting to try the carne asada expecting thin strips of grilled steak but it came in bigger pieces and was quite chewy. I gave about half of it to Earl. Served with black beans, a little rice and chopped lettuce and tomatoes. Not huge portions like Mexican is usually served, so that was good.

Feeling better.... 5th day on Rx.

Sunny day today.. supposed to take ferry ride and go out to dinner with Primetimers but Earl does not sound too enthusiastic about it so he may want to bow out on those plans.

Janet, sorry, even though I reread you post, I STILL said Back Street Boys instead of New Kids One The Block!!! Must have been some subliminal thing...

Had popcorn last night, didn't have any pain. So I will save the calories for that at night. I am also a evening snacker, okay, I'm an anytime snacker.

Have given up my Cafe Vienna....drinking coffee with skim milk & SF flavor...NOT the same thing. But I figure I am losing a lot of calories to coffee. This is one thing that I will add back when the weight is gone. Who knows, I might not make it with it now.

You all have a good day.

Well let see if this post - I just posted on another thread and the page just keeps flashing... And looks like my post is gone - so I reloaded - lets see if it does it again.

Karla - I'm a total bad boy girl - all my bf's & Dh were bad boy types no wonder never of those relationships ever worked out - well gotta say one wasn't Chris the Artist but that didn't work either

Plus I was 38 when the BSB came out!! May have thought they were cute - but way over the boy bands by then :0)

I can't say there are any singers out their who I think are handsome/cute - Oh well ya one TRACE Atkins :wink:

Told you to try the popcorn !!! It's a life saver for me...

and you gotta make this work for you - I try and ignor my hunger real or fake - but when I can't - Popcorn !!!

Well after telling you I get up at 6-6:30 last night - I didn't get up til 7:35 this morning - I stayed up late last night and I thought I set the alarm for 6 - but I guess I didn't - so no gym this morning...

My GF who's coming over today teaches water arobics - so we will be doing that this afternoon - it's suppose to be 110 degrees today !!!! Hell the pool is going to be hot..

Doggies groomer @ 10 this morning - may go do some wii in a bit - but my tummy is acting up - tmi (runs)... But love the scales this morning 137 !!!

Well off to surf the net - Have a great day ladies - CBL:wub:

Oh forgot - Karla - get the sf hazenut or whatever flavor you like of the creamers - that's what I use - I tried the SF hazelnut syrup and didn't like it - the sf creamer has like 35 calories - I have never counted those calories cuz I only have one cup maybe 2 a day - and I have never counted down to the itty bitty calories like some (lol my dd )

Well i just want to check in and let you know that I haven't fallen off the planet or the wagon. We have been moving and been without internet for the last few days. I am incredibly sore today. DH couldn't get the day off of work so I packed the ENTIRE moving truck myself with the exception of our dresser, our bed and the couch. I cleaned out the entire storage shed, and most of our apartment. Some of my former students came over and helped us move the stuff into our new place (Which I LOVE!). But today I am paying the price. Yesterday was NO good for food and the scale is up because I had WAY to freaking many carbs. So I am "meat"ing it up today and tomorrow. I can't run because my knees and legs are so sore from the moving, climbing (stairs at both places) so I don't need the carbs right now. I am retaining so much water from the carbs that I can't wear my ring today. The "carb detox" as I call it helps me reduce the water. In fact I have already lost 3 pounds today (scale was up 5).

Well I need to go...hope everyone is doing well I haven't had a chance to read posts. I want to get my office set up so that I can work.

Home from work, I had to rebuild the nursery pond. not my idea of fun. Dug out, filled in, dug out, tomorrow, I will dig out again., i can't seem to get it right. So tomorrow we will try again.

I am going up to my dad's next week. hopefully we will be able to get him to the 4th of July parade. We are hoping that will help him cheer up and give him some feeling of normalcy.

calories were good today and I probably worked everyone of the off. I'm to tired to eat tonight. I will try some left overs when I have the energy.

Karri, hope your move went well. I hate moving, I just have tooooo much crap.

Janet, I don't necessarily go for the bad boys, I just usually pick control freaks. I usually lose myself trying to become what they want. Which is why I have been single for 15 years. It's easier that way, or so I think. I have been using the SF syrup, I will try the SF creamer. I'm not thrilled with the syrup, but it is better than nothing.

Here is a document that contains a lot of the recipes that I use. I have a few more that I am putting together, but I haven't had time between moving and working. This will get you started however.

Recipes.doc

Kari--Thanks so much for the recipes! Love the format you used!

I'm having major mother and DH issues this weekend! Mother: Now realize that she was once quite overweight (obese?), but through sheer will power, she's managed to lose it and more or less keep it off since my youngest sister's (the doctor's) wedding 20 years ago. None the less, she never complements me on my weight loss, and when I mentioned that I was considering a tummy tuck, her response was something about "Vanity."

OK, with that background, my mom is always baking stuff, and then because SHE doesn't want to eat it, she gives it away. Yesterday at noon, when I was all alone, starving and sick and tired of the whole garage sale, she and my dad come over with delicious (but greesy) hamburgers from the best hamburger place in town and a plate of brownies and cake. She expects all kinds of gratidute, and I just wanted to throw it all in her face. I did not need that! But instead, like the "good" daughter that I am, (of course, never good enough, you understand) I ate the whole hamburger and a brownie. I can't throw the sh__ away, because they're "really" for DH as a thank you for fixing their leaking kitchen faucet earlier that morning, so technically, they're not mine to throw away! Of course, DH will eat them S L O W L Y over the next couple of days until they are stale.

DH: he's another story. Let's just say that he had lots of other things that were more important than helping out with the garage sale this weekend. So basically, I was alone most of the day with all this stinking food, and the brunt of the work. No, my parents weren't there to help me, just to bring food, (and sit down to eat with me) to thank DH for spending 1/2 hour fixing the faucet--and DH had already left for the day to do his own thing!

Janet--living alone sounds so good!

Kari and others with "mom" issues: I'm with you. Mine isn't an alcoholic, but you need to know that when I was in therapy, my psychiatrist used to say that God consults my mother before he makes a decision. Here I am a 50+-year-old professional woman with advanced degrees, four great kids that I raised pretty much alone, (DH always has more important things to do) two successful careers, and I still have "mother" issues! How sad is that?

Do I sound angry? Guess so.

Karri, THANK YOU FOR THE recipes. They all look delish, you are a gormet cook. My idea of cooking is BBQ. I have a fabulous enchelada casserole that I will send you for remake. About the only good thing about it except for the taste is that is has chicken, everything else is fat.

Linda, isn't it crazy that our mothers have to 'work' on us. I would love to tell mine to take a hike, but as you said we are all still trying to get their approval. My mom too is obese, except she has never tried to lose it during my life time. My mom is extremely selfish & self-centered. She would never think to bake something for someone else. Actually, she had an affair for many years, my sister and brother actually 'caught' her, but that didn't change anything. I am sure that dad knew, but dad stayed for us kids. I don't have any respect for her. I am somewhat closer to my dad, mainly because he stuck with us. But I was never the 'favorite'. When I was young, dad favored my sister, & mom favored my brother. I was just left on my own, many times I was literally left alone. I still remember the night that I had a concert or something and no one picked me up. We lived about 20 miles from town, after wondering the streets until midnight and checking all the bars for my parents, I finally asked one of the bartenders for the coins to use the pay phone to call home. No one even noticed that I wasn't home. Linda, we need to learn to let things go. We will never get our mother's approval, we need to accept that. The question is: what is the worst that would happen if you told you mom not to bring baked goods over? Or if she does, it needs to be 1 portion for you DH. Give it some thought. I will also give my relationship some thought.

Linda, for the most part, I enjoy being single. I no longer have to ask for someone's approval. I know that I will be doing everything alone, but at least I don't have to deal with anyone letting me down. This is probably NOT the best attitude. I have a tendency to focus on the negative, this is what I need to work on. I try to look at the glass 1/2 full, but I struggle with the glass 1/2 empty. Oh, and I do miss sex, but only in the spring.

Well need to get ready for work, I don't think I have a muscle that isn't in pain this morning. You all have a good day, and tomorrow I have a day off!! Only the 3rd since school got out. I am going to sleep in, then park myself in the shade of my willow tree and work on a quilt or read!!! I will deal with all the summer chores on Tuesday.

Feel free to send me any recipes you want and I can remake ALMOST anything!

As for mother issues...I am glad that mine is dead (biological...not my good mommy) because I dont' have to worry about pleasing her anymore. I know that sounds cold hearted but Janet can attest to the fact that she was a REALLY rotten person. Fortunately for me it happened when I was young so I can live the rest of my life free from her.

Okay I have a bunch to do today so I will be back later.

Kari--Thanks so much for the recipes! Love the format you used!

I'm having major mother and DH issues this weekend! Mother: Now realize that she was once quite overweight (obese?), but through sheer will power, she's managed to lose it and more or less keep it off since my youngest sister's (the doctor's) wedding 20 years ago. None the less, she never complements me on my weight loss, and when I mentioned that I was considering a tummy tuck, her response was something about "Vanity."

That is NOT vanity Linda. Hey if you want the surgery and have the $$ for it... I say go to town girl!!!! What a psycological LIFT it would be for you... Why shouldn't you look good, after you've lost all that weight... and IMHO you need to not look to your mother for acceptance, you will never get it.. Trust me girl, you only have to worry about acceptance from ONE person, and THAT person is "YOU"!!! Your opinion of yourself is the only one that really matters.

Someday, your Mother will be gone and the acceptance you Feel for yourself will be the only level that will make you feel comfortable.

WE have to stop railing against our MOTHERISM's, they do love us in their own imperfect ways. I beleive that my Mother just plain lacks the capacity to LOVE me as much as she loves HERSELF... plain and simple... when I don't expect more from her, then I am not dissappointed.

Does this make any sense? I am feeling very introspective today on this subject...

WE are raised for maybe 18-19 yrs with our parents ,yet we spend the balance of our lives worrying about how to please them...:smile2: I for one don't want to waste anymore energy on that.:frown::cool::smile2:

OK, with that background, my mom is always baking stuff, and then because SHE doesn't want to eat it, she gives it away. Yesterday at noon, when I was all alone, starving and sick and tired of the whole garage sale, she and my dad come over with delicious (but greesy) hamburgers from the best hamburger place in town and a plate of brownies and cake. She expects all kinds of gratidute, and I just wanted to throw it all in her face. I did not need that! But instead, like the "good" daughter that I am, (of course, never good enough, you understand) I ate the whole hamburger and a brownie. I can't throw the sh__ away, because they're "really" for DH as a thank you for fixing their leaking kitchen faucet earlier that morning, so technically, they're not mine to throw away! Of course, DH will eat them S L O W L Y over the next couple of days until they are stale.

DH: he's another story. Let's just say that he had lots of other things that were more important than helping out with the garage sale this weekend. So basically, I was alone most of the day with all this stinking food, and the brunt of the work. No, my parents weren't there to help me, just to bring food, (and sit down to eat with me) to thank DH for spending 1/2 hour fixing the faucet--and DH had already left for the day to do his own thing!

Janet--living alone sounds so good!

Kari and others with "mom" issues: I'm with you. Mine isn't an alcoholic, but you need to know that when I was in therapy, my psychiatrist used to say that God consults my mother before he makes a decision. Here I am a 50+-year-old professional woman with advanced degrees, four great kids that I raised pretty much alone, (DH always has more important things to do) two successful careers, and I still have "mother" issues! How sad is that?

Do I sound angry? Guess so.

Linda,you are a remarkable, LOVING, intellegent, accomplished woman... be proud of YOU! I am proud of you just knowing you! and i am only just beginning to know you (2 yrs) just think of how much we;ll all know of each other after the Lucky 7's visit in July...

whoo-hoo we;ll have fun.

France update: Our guests just left this afternoon to drive back to their home in Geneve, Switzerland.

Jan(the boy) was our Exchange Student son when he came to live with us in highschool. He is married now and his wife is expecting their 1st baby in NoV. He says "Mirium is carrying our little shrimp in her belly"... Isn't that cute? They are a sweet couple, oh yeah, I already told you that he brought me 2 boxes of Swiss Chocolate as a gift right??? Ha,ha,ha...:thumbup:

But alas, I am still on vacation... went touring Wineries yesterday, we bought 6 differnt kinds and now we'll sample some ea day.

Jan took 6 cases of wine back to Geneve with them... good prices in France and the quality is awesome...

I don't think I've drank this much in over 3 years!!! Hope my BAND dosn't erode!!

DD is starting to get on my nerves a tad... I'll do some deep breathing later

Here is a document that contains a lot of the recipes that I use. I have a few more that I am putting together, but I haven't had time between moving and working. This will get you started however.

Karri, I LOVE the recipes... I can't wait to get home to try them... I'll have to resume my cal counting and exercising and these recipes will be great for getting be back ontrack after

vacation.

Thanks for posting them here.

Quiet day today , well except for my snoring DH who is sitting next to me while I type... he's been catching flies while he sleeps... his mouth drooped open and its kinda funny :thumbup:

I have to admit I wouldn't trade him for any other... he treats me like a Queen! :smile2:

Tonight we are having Paella for dinner, albiet a French version this time. Last night we had FIsh (yuck) and Cassolete(really French) it was quite good, its like a hodge-podge of White Beans, sausage meat(brats for Linda ha,ha), duck, all baked in this little clay pot... divine... I will sure try to re-make it once home in Canada. THe fish we bought at the fresh market in the a.m. but here it comes WITH the head, tail and skin and bones intact!!! :w00t: and YOU have to deal with cleaning it and cooking it...

BLECKT, I like my FILLETS of tilapia from COSTCO.... already dressed and NOT resembling the original creature.

They sell DUCK, HORSE and a few other things here... that I don't ever want to try. Can you imagine eating HORSE??? The French love it, very tender apparently.... and get this... the horse meat is imported from CANADA...!!:frown: how horrible is that?

If Canadians knew we were exporting horsemeat I think there would be an outcry...

My DD is still 'organizing' all the photos so I'll be sending up some soon.

:smile2: Love C

I think this is a pic of my DD???

Meaghan is Blonde, Bryan is next to her in the GREEN shirt, MIRIAM is in a ROSE coloured top(and with a little shrimp in her tummy), JAN is in a Brown Tshirt(He was our adopted Swiss Son from the Exchange program), Peter and I are obvious I think.... Peter is the Greying Bearded one.

One shot is of us all having a FRENCH Lunch in the Solarium of Car`s France Beach house..note all the wonderful wine and cheese. Jan was awesome to pick out about 8 kinds of French cheese for us to try!

One shot is of us all having Dinner out in a restaurant( a short walk to St. Pierre de Mer), note the black pots in front of us on the tables.... these are MUSSELLS (divine!) The Lady that owned this restaurant was a character.... she told us all the best Wineries to visit.... huuummmmm, having some White right now as I type

:thumbup:

Edited June 28, 200917 yr by peaches9
more stuff to put up

Nice pics, Candace. Looks like you're having a great time. Gorgeous daughter. I see a lot of you in her. Are you bringing some of that wine home with you?

Okay I wanted to post this before everyone goes out and starts making plans for their 4th of July BBQ/Picnics. These are some calorie saving tips for the holiday. Please note that ALL servings are my sized servings so yours may be considerably less depending on your restriction. I attached the recipes to anything that I mention.

1. First and foremost...if you are going somewhere with people who don't eat healthy...TAKE YOUR OWN FOOD.

2. Salad Options

a. Green salad - be careful of the dressings. Try Bolthouse Yougurt dressings (80 calories per serving and you really only need one serving. Or try the spritzers (good if you like sweeter salad dressings). They are found in the salad dressing aisle.

b. Potato Salad - Try Fauxtato salad. I just ate some for lunch and it is pretty good. NO, it does not taste exactly like potato salad, but it is still pretty good. The entire bowl has 280 calories.

c. Macaroni salad - I can't really think of a way to make pasta healthy, so this ight be something you want to avoid. If this is a MUST have, make the dressing healthier with FF stuff instead of the full fat stuff.

d. Fruit salad is good if it is not made with real whipping cream. Also, be careful of the FF or SF cool whip...yes it is only 20 calores but there are 25 servings in the container so it is actually a pretty high calorie food.

Meat:

a. Hot dogs - Hebrew National makes a 97%FF hot dog that is pretty dang good and only 40 calories per dog.

b. Hamburgers -Go with the leanest you can find. If you have a store where you can buy it out of the butcher's case that is going to be your cheapest option. If you are just buying it for you, then you can specify the amount of hamburger that you want. I just got 10 pounds of 7% hamburger for 2.99$ at Albertsons so it is on sale. We have a local store that sells 4% fat ground beef. Yes...it is more expensive but if you don't have to buy much of it, then it is worth it.

c. Steak - Obviously find the one that is least fatty and trim off all fat that you can find.

d. Chicken - This isn't a calorie suggestion but a cooking suggestion. Pound the chicken breast flat and cook SLOWLY. This will keep it more tender and by pounding it flat you don't have to cook it as long and therefore it won't dry out as much.

Side Items -

a. Buns - If you need to eat your burger on a bun, Oroweat has a new bun out that is 100 calories. It is pretty thin and they are pretty good. Don't fall for the WHOLE WHEAT, EXTRA FIBER, WHOLE GRAIN trap...check the calories. Another good bun to use is the Double Fiber English muffins (only 110 calores compared to 160 calories for buns). These extra fiber ones did have the least calories.

b. Chips - If you need something crunchy, you have 2 really good options. Quaker rice crisps are only 70 calories per serving and are really good and come in a variety of flavors. Or soy crisps are 110 calories (but the serving size is twice that of the quaker cakes so they are pretty much equal). These again come in different flavors. The soy crisps are harder to find but check the health food section of your grocery store.

c. Cheese - Use the 2% cheese if you can't bear to use the FF. However, I can't tell the difference so I save the extra 30 calories.

Fruits and veggies -

a. Veggies are good...DIP is bad. Ranch dressing averages about 150 per 2 TBSP and I read an article that when you dip your veggies in it you consume that serving size in about 6 dips.

b. Melon is your best bet! Though be careful because I have gotten stuck several times. Watermelon is the best, but cantaloup and honeydew aren't much worse. It is about 100 calories per pound (and yes...I eat watermelon by the pound...but I can eat WAY more than the typical bandster).

c. Strawberries are VERY good. I think 1 pound of strawberries is 140 calories.

Dessert -

a. A GREAT dessert is to take mixed berries (1 cup my serving size) and mix them with Dannon Fit and Lite yogurt. You dont need the entire small container, but you could use it if you would like.

b. If you NEED cake, then try the SF Angel Food cake and put your berries over it.

Drinks:

a. There is nothing I can do about the calories in alcoholic beverages. I just am thankful that I don't drink!!

b. The obvious is crystal light.

c. Tea - Use Splenda or Truvia or other sweetner to sweeten.

Alright I think that is about it. I know that most of you already know this, but we have a LOT of lurkers and some new folks so I thought this could be helpful for them and a good reminder for us!

Fauxtato Salad.doc