Okay....I just need to vent a little bit. I don't need anyone to agree with me or flame me. You can if you want, but I don't promise to be swayed Feel free to click off if you don't want to hear it. It won't bother me.

I have a diet. I always have a diet. Whatever I eat is my diet. What a lion eats is his diet. What a bacteria eats is it's diet. If we're going to survive we need a diet. No one can subsist on nothing.

Now, common usage of the word makes it a 4-letter word. I get told to "take the word diet out of your vocabulary." Just because it is a 4-letter word for some folks doesn't mean that when I say it, it is. I need to control my diet. Which means control what I eat. I'm not ON a diet. I HAVE a diet that must be controlled. When I need to "change my diet" I'm not talking about WW vs. Atkins, I mean I need to change what goes in my mouth.

Regardless of what everyone says about "this is a lifestyle change," to change my lifestyle I have to change my DIET! If I don't I won't succeed.

This just seems to drive me nuts when someone says something about their diet and they get blasted for using "that word!" To me it's the connotation that needs adjustment, not the word. It's not that saying the word is going to make us fail. It's the thought of this being temporary that is going to cause failure. This is forever. We need to change our diets permanently.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm totally shocked.

I hope everyone is doing well today. I'm starving today. There's no way around it. Just STARVING. I have stayed strong since I am at work and have no other choice. Maybe I'll stay here all night and only go home to sleep, because once I start feeding tonight I think I'll be grazing until bedtime. Here's hoping you're doing better than that.

Steph

Hang in there Steph! When is your first fill? I'm soooo wanting mine . . . I have to go to my first mandatory support group tonight . . . and then my first mandatory exercise group on Saturday . . . so that's a couple things that will keep me from thinking of food. Now I just trying to decide if I'm brave enough to sign up for belly-dancing classes for the month of February The fills are coming . . . but NOT SOON ENOUGH!

Chris

Oh Chris!!!

I'm so excited. Tell me what you learned and how the support thing goes. I go to my first one tomorrow night. I'm a little nervous. I don't want anyone looking at me with that.....you know....look that says "Why haven't you lost since surgery, look at how wonderful I've done!" look. I know, just in my head I'm sure, but I'm still nervous.

After reading my little temper tantrum above I realize just how hungry I must have been when I wrote it. I was sitting at 2 on the hunger scale obviously! Now that I'm finished preparing for my sub tomorrow and writing my semester tests I finally got to come home. 7:30 am to 8:30 pm was just TOO long of a day I guess. I had some yogurt down in the kitchen I should have gone and eaten, but I didn't want to take the time. Shame on me!! I'll have to be better about that!

I came home and had a bowl of cream of wheat and a couple handfuls of soy nuts. Did you know they have a TON of Protein in them? I chewed really well and after about 1/4 cup things were looking up. Enough so that I don't think I need to midnight graze tonight.

I'll be on the road tomorrow to go to get my first fill, my first dietician appointment and my first support group. WOW it sounds like a lot to take in tomorrow. I'll be popping in and out in the evening. Let me know how tonight went and how the exercise one goes too.

Steph

Hi Steph,

I'm starving, too. :rofl: Can we have a b**tchfest together??

I hate the diet thing, too. I feel like telling people to get another issue.

I'm starving too, but as I am going to the Dr tomorrow, hopefully for a fill and for sure to be weighed I am trying to be strong tonight. I am really hoping that he will give me a fill tomorrow so that I can go back to not being hungry.

Danna:hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry::hungry:

Support group last night . . . well . . . besides being LONG .. . :rofl: . . . there were like 18 people there (she said the first group of the year is always bigger) . . . with both bypass and lapband . . . about 1/3 of us with lapband and 1/3 of us brand new (both types). It was a lot of "how did you feel when you ate" . . . "did you use your 5 senses as you ate" .. . how everyone did over the holidays . . . and stories of mothers pushing too much food at you . . . and how to deal with it . . . and then we each had to have a goal for the next month . . . mine was to be better with the water and protein on the weekends because I'm not sitting at a desk with a clock in front of me that tells me "tick tick, drink drink" . . . one lady was SUPER losing her hair from not doing her protein. Another RNY has to be infused with iron because she wasn't taking it as needed and her body can't absorb it anymore. There is experience sitting there .. . and stories to be told and heard . . . and networking to be done. It is a good thing (I complain a lot I know) . . . but just a little to long for me . . . it ran past my bed time lol! Good luc with all your stuff today Steph!

I'm off! I complain a lot too. Like right now I'm really irked that I have to drive 5 hours to get anything done! That irritates the peanuts out of me!

I'm hoping that I learn something positive at the support group tonight. There are two lapbanders (including myself) and two RNY's here in my itty bitty town and I guess there has been talk of forming a little group here, just to get together and share.

Bert, you can ALWAYS join me in my rants. The more the merrier I say! I think it's easier to bitch here. It's easier to let it all out because no one is standing there "but-ing" you. You can have your say and feel better about it once it's done. Sometimes all we need is to spew forth....and as long as the spew isn't something about sabatoging your sucess, I think it's okay to spew. And once you've spewed like Mt. Vesuvius, you are ready to take some constructive criticism or listen to differing opinions. It's just nice to have somewhere to say it all! I hope that makes sense.

I'll go into today with a better attitude. My coordinator is the sweetest thing. I love her! She's like a big sister and so supportive. When I told her I was really nervous about today she said to relax and remember to only take about 20 percent of anything on line to heart until you have experienced it yourself! Oh...and I love that she calls today my first "adjustment"....now I'm going to go adjust my stomach AND my diet....and then I'm getting my attitude adjustment too!!! I don't know why but it just sounds better than my "fill". I know that's what they are doing, but I like the sound of it better.

Well, I'd better get a move on or I'll be running late and then my attitude will REALLY need adjusted. Thanks for sharing Chris!

Steph