Hey all.

So there's a bunch of us in this group, all split up into our different banding days. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have one master thread as we move through the month, in which all of us could post as we go, from the pioneers going on March 1st to the finalists on March 31st.

I'd love to talk about our anticipation and any worries as we approach our banding date, for people to talk about exactly what happened from the moment they walked into the hospital door until the second they walked out, about how recovery is going, about weight loss and plateaus, about non-scale victories and challenges.

I was thinking that if we all contribute to one thread, it'll form a more substantial channel for information and support. At the moment, I was thinking that we might be too spread out into individual date, and that a central thread would be a really good backbone for the group, in addition to the date-specific threads.

What do you think?

Fenton

I think we all want to come and join you, the cabin looks fantastic..

enjoy your time

And I also like the 3:1 rule... good way to keep booze to a low consumption and also great idea about having something in your hands..

Great Advise!!! I am going to a surprise birthday party tonight and it is in the theme of wine tasting! I am going to try to 3:1 Water / alcohol tonight!!!!! I am hoping I don't over do the food!!!

Harley that cabin looks fantastic! My family is going to Gatlinburg in a few weeks and we rented a cabin in the Smoky's... I can't wait!!!! I just love being out in nature!!

Tess

Fenton- Glad you're back on your horse! :smile2: Way to go on your 3 pounds off!

Tess

Wow Harley, sounds like a fabulous time! The cabin looks amazing! I hope you have a wonderful time.. I am super jealous:)

When I read your post about drinking it made me think, and I just wanted to share..

I had a big bash a few weeks ago and made 325 Jello shots with rum, vodka, and tequila (with 3 wonderful helpers). What people didn't know was that more than half of the jello shots were sugar free;) Everyone loves jello shots, right? They're fun, help you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and these were super low cal. They are also easy to make ahead, and to pack. We had 2 coolers full:)

I used Barcardi, Jose Cuervo, and Absolut which are all 69 cals/1oz.

We got about 20-25 shots out of one box of jello, which had one cup of alcohol and 1+1/4c Water.. I'll attempt to translate that?:

8oz/cup= 552 calories, divided by 20 shots/cup= 27.6 cals/shot. I think.. lol

We found sugar free pina colada jello which was fab, and also did tequila with SF lime jello. They were surely a hit! I think there was a total of 22 left over out of the original 325:)

Also, when we have people over I drink diet barqs, or diet coke and rum. The soda only takes a day or 2 to flatten with the cap off in the fridge. I have one of each on hand now, ready to go:)

Hope some of this is helpful..

Edited June 18, 200818 yr by k_podski

Hi Shamrocks!

Tess - thanks for the well wishes!

Christine - thanks for the well wishes as well! Have a great trip. Just think how wonderful it will be when you come back. Especially if you are 240 something!

Harley - have a great vacation. I love the suggestions here. As for the bitch slapping.....well, I have 2 comments.......1. Do you want to loose your oneunderland status? 2. didn't you pay for this all yourself? Get back on the horse. I do quite often! :smile2:

Fenton - "Alcohol is a gateway drug to chips" I LOVE it! As always you make me laugh out loud in front of my computer. (hey, doesn't laughter cause you to use calories as well? YEAH)

Nope, don't want to loose my onderland status......

and YES, I am a self-pay.....I make my "gut" payment every month....so I do have a great deal of motivation to do this right.

I had a long talk with my BF who is going on the trip with me......she assured me that we'll walk/hike every day and that she'll give me subtle reminders if I'm out of control.....and I did give her a green light to be not so subtle if necessary!

Thank you for the so gentle bitch slaps......hardly hurt at all, just enough to pop me back in to reality.....

and yes, I am having visions of Cher in "Moonstruck".......

"SNAP OUT OF IT"

Harley, have fun on vacation and enjoy your friends. The cabin is beautiful!!! Make the jello shots, (sugar free of course) and remember what your goal is. Believe me, walking, hiking, and the great outdoors will drop some lbs.!!!!

Tess - I went to Gaitlinburg about 4 years ago. It is beautiful. We stayed up in the mountains at Summit of Gaitlinburg.

have great vacations everyone

Whoa, Tess! Nice work on the fitty, there!

(That's how we say "fifty" in NYC. And in L.A., and anywhere in the country where the rap music has penetrated...)

Ah, K-Pod! I admire your life of kayaking and Jello shots!

And hope's right, Harley: we're all going to be watching to see how you do. My money says you're actually going to LOSE over the next week - sure, you may have a splurge or two, but you've got game, and I know you'll push yourself to burn it off on the trails...

Personally, I sinned liberally today. (Not, like, sinned as a liberal (which I clearly am), but I sinned profusely.)

I got trapped by a neighbour who wanted to have dinner with me; I'd promised it some time ago, and the time had come to pay up. We went to a fish restaurant, but I ate too much. They brought all sorts of extra stuff - bacon cheddar biscuits, tuna terrine with toasts, shrimp done like Buffalo chicken wings complete with blue cheese sauce - but worst/best of all was that they brought three Desserts, and petits fours AND green apple candy floss.

SO I ate too much. I'm going to relax for a little, then write for a while, then go for a long walk to try and do some damage control.

And I feel icky.

Personally, I sinned liberally today. (Not, like, sinned as a liberal (which I clearly am), but I sinned profusely.)

If we are confessing, alas, I also have sinned. Watching the grandchildren tonight, so we baked double chocolate chip Cookies. So I ate one and walked away. But I came back and nibbled on another. Later, talking with hubby, I found another one in my hand. I grabbed the boys and we walked to the school playground about 10 minutes from my home. I called my hubby and told him to put away the cookies he wanted and to wrap the rest up to send home with the kids. Bad..bad..bad!!!:cursing:

Wow, you guys sure know how to make me work! A few days gone, and I feel like I have been reading posts for 316 minutes! See, that is just more incentive to read every day right????

Lynn, I am on the bandwagon with everyone else. I am anxiously awaiting your arrival to 'Onederland'! That is my personal Narnia, and I am pretty sure that it does not actually exist......

Hope, I think about you all the time and pray for your med issues. You are in my thoughts!

HarleyGirl, Welcome Back! Bandster Purgatory sucks, don't it? You can do this! And thank you for letting my constantly doubting self know that she is not alone.

Fenton, hmmmmm, custom snowboard. Really? There are many a teenage boy right now hating your custom boarding guts. Remember tho, a custom snowboard does not a Shaun White make. Feel free to email me if you want me to wait at the bottom of the Bunny Trail with Ace Bandages and instant ice packs. Bottle of impeccably chilled top shelf Vodka optional. Triage, stat!!!!!

And, last but surely not least, 'Bitch, eat a twinkie'. K Podski, seriously, that was out of bounds. I am pretty sure that I pee'd a little when I read that, and I do not appreciate it, lol.

And may I just say 'Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww'. I was reading posts on the front page, and I saw 'Help! I had surgery two weeks ago, and I am soooooo hungry, what do I do??' I must say that I remember the time that we were all in the firm grips of Bandster Hell. I read these posts, and remember what was. Then, I marvel at how far we have all come. Why do I feel that we have been at this for 8 years? We are still so new really, but yet we are seasoned veterans, battle scars and all. The mind just has to wonder....

What battle will we fight tomorrow?????

Edited June 19, 200818 yr by BrandNewLisa
I spell like a re-re!!!

BLT fish?

to quote my horoscope again

"The hardest part of making changes in your life isn't thinking up ways to change -

- it's putting that change into action! You need a lot of self-discipline to get started"

I see a pattern here, ya need to work on the restaurant thing.

OMG, Amanda! Impressive!

I'm ambivalent about working on the restaurant thing. Sure, it'd be nice to lose weight faster, but I'm losing at a good clip, and I don't really feel any privation.

I'm not even a third of the way into my journey <tm>; I was realizing the other day that LONG after you guys have hit goal, and gone on about your lives, I shall still be plodding away here - eek!

But I know I will have - and FEEL - privation later in the process, and for quite a long time. So I'm OK with my periodic induglences, for the moment.

I do know that eventually I'll have to give them up.