Hi there. Just wanted to see if I could build a new home with some new (and hopefully old) friends. I do not wanna be 'homeless' anymore so here I am! This is gonna be a place for friends to meet (hopefully) and talk about anything & everything.

My name is Tracy and I live in Deer Park, Texas. I have been married for 6 years. I was banded in April '07. Got 4 pounds away from goal, quit smoking and gained 46-50 pounds back so I am on my journey again. This time as a non-smoker :w00t:

This is a life change and with it comes lifelong friends...wanna come along for the ride? :blushing:

Kat-Thank you. I knew I could count on y'all. I went walking the other day when I said I would and my hip was screaming! I guess maybe I need to just slow the speed down instead of just not going. I wish I had a dog to walk. Hug Izzy for me :laugh:

Debbie-the extra hundred must have been pretty nice, right?! That is awesome! So was the gift card to a speceific store? If it were me I would hope it wpuld be for Wal-Mart or Target.

Suzanne-2x2 of just cake? now THAT is what I call self control. I saw the Gusher For an Eye yesterday and thought of dd telling you both the story. LOL good times!

Jenn-your day sounds like it is gonna be rough! Hang in the girlie...you got this! :thumbup:

Cindy-do you have anything planned for halloween? My plan is to take Macy trick or treating (and for me to stay away from her candy). lol

Shar-how long have you been a nurse? I admire you. It takes special people to do what you do AND what teachers do. As far as an emergency response person....I could never. I am the type that would be the 911 caller :tt2: lol

Angela-macy said to tell you hello. I got macy one of those animal pillows she told you she wanted. I got her the ladybug one. (for Christmas) AND she wanted a guitar and I got her one of those too. Did you ever get the ipod? My dsd has one and she loves it.

Terri-i am happy for your new found energy and your weight loss. When I get some a chunk of mine back off, I will be SO happy!! It is great, right?! I have not gotten stuck once since I started following the "rules" again. Go figure...lol

Plain-wassup?

hey...where did neenornina go?

I hope you all have a great day. Make good healthy choices and take care of yourselves!

(P.S. If I missed you...forgive me. Lets blame the Celexa, k? :mad:)

Tracy, I read an article today in Prevention Magazine, about weight gain and debt. Wrote by Suze Orman, about how we gain X amount of weight in correlation with stress over debt, especially those that have hidden debt from their spouses.

Made me think of you---not that you have hidden debt from Frank!!! But how you stress, and it all hits you at once! When you had to move back after the loss is when you began gaining again....made me think that maybe the stress and expense of moving might be related in your case. Then as DSD moved in and out, and the stress and expense of the bigger house, and the unneeded bigger house hit, the weight come on faster.......seeing the connection?

I KNOW it was part of my weight, the stress made me search for comfort, and going and doing was not an option, yet I felt not deserving, but not guilty about spending money at the grocery store, so what did I do? I ate, and not much of it was very good for me! Wierd!

Anyway.....I would have liked to have seen the article when it was happening. I mean I know from back in my single days, that unhealthy food is far cheaper than healthy. I mean I could buy a whole case of Ramen noodles for $3, and if need be it would feed us for days----I could not buy ingredients to make one single serving salad for $3.....single, and poor, raising a child, you do the math!

But the emotional ties to weight----she predicted (meaning Suze Orman) the winner in The Biggest Loser, based on their FICO scores---and level of debt!

I don't know if they have a website you might see some of the article in or not.

Rick is about 70 miles out, and they have been out for 12 hours already, and have not even pumped the job yet. It will be middle of the night before he gets home.....ick

Soon as the kids leave, I am headed to the dollar store to buy dog bones and such.

Will be back when I get back!

Kat-I have heard her talk about that very thing. Stress is a definite factor of my eating. I started gaining after I quit smoking, then I quit my job to be a stay at home mom, then moved a FEW times, then dsd, well, you know, LOL. Here I am explaining this like you are NEW or something. :frown:

There is alot she (Orman) said that I totally agree with.

I am really glad I started taking my antidepressants again. They really have helped me in my whole outlook. Things are evening out now, we are finally getting over some of the debt related to the other house and moving and all that entails. Things are coming up roses....so far so good. :tt2:

I have done really well today with my eating. Today is day #6. :smile2:

Bringing dd to Girl Scouts tonight...so I gotta run.

:crying: HiYa Michelle

:mad2:

Hi.

All of you who have done so well, and I believe that's just about everybody but me, should be really proud of yourselves. You've lost tremendous amounts of weight, based on what I've read, and only started regaining after you'd lost so much.

The reason I say you can all be proud of yourselves is because you worked hard and can do so again. And will.

But I understand the struggle with food. That's my problem. I didn't want to have a bypass because it felt too risky for me, but I love sweets, and I've heard that people who get the band have less success because of that.

That's me. I do great for a while, but cookies always call to me. I read about bandsters who've lost weight in a year, and I'd hoped that would be me, but I know I'm just kidding myself. Yes, I walk every day. Yes, I eat much less than I used to. I even have restriction, and it hurts if I eat too fast, but I've never slimed, or had a PB, so I guess I'm lucky there.

But I know there are reasons why I just can't let go of sweets. I eat less of them, too, but I still eat more than I should. I tried OA, and was off sugar for two years--and by sugar, I mean dessert type stuff. I ate sugar free things, but I still over ate. Then I went the other way, and the rest, as they say, is history. I regained the weight I'd lost and then some.

I know it's emotional. I've pretty much given up on having a relationship, but that doesn't mean that the desire doesn't rear its ugly head sometimes. I feel like I should be doing more, playing more, publishing my poetry, making more money, yet I don't have the confidence. I feel better about my body, but I'm still not good enough.

Tracy, that $100 sure did come in handy! It went for bills! LOL!

The gift card I could spend anywhere I wanted to, and I bought groceries, took myself out to breakfast one Sunday, and still have a little left.

Sorry for the novel, folks. I do have a journal, and I actually write in it, but reading everybody's posts made me want to share a little--Little?! about myself.

If you've gotten this far, thank you all.

Debbie

Debbie~ we LOVE long post around here. lol I love sugar too, so you are definitely not alone on that one!

The gift card...Iwould have bought groceries too LOL

When I gave up on a relataionship, I met my husband. That is in Gods hands, which I am sure you know.

I listened to your sample songs on the cd website. What talent you have! I love soothing music.

Good morning everyone! Today is day 7 and I will weigh tomorrow. Part of me wants to get on the scale and the other part is scared. Isnt that odd? I am just worried i have not had a good loss. I know Rome wasn't built in a day but...

Anything that is a negative is just that....a negative! I have not followed the rules like this since I lost the weight last time. That was 2 years ago! Can you believe? Time flies. Anyway, I plan on getting back on the treadmill today. I need to get back into a routine.

I hope you all have a fantastic day! :grouphug:

Anglea-YAY on your fill today (i didnt forget :smile:)

OH....stay away from the peanut butter pumpkins everyone!!

Stay away from the peanut butter pumpkins??????

A lady at work was telling me that Hershey's has a Pumpkin Kiss. I've been looking for them but thankfully I haven't found them, and hope I don't.

Went to the gym this morning and then went to Wal-mart. I will be so glad when they are done remodeling that dang store.

Debbie, Thanks for the post. It gives me a lot to think about.

Kat, I've never listened to Suze. But I will go to her website and see if I can find that article.

Tracy, keep up the good work. I know it's really hard but we are all rooting for you.

Pumpkin kisses? :smile:

pumpkin kisses----if only they tasted like pumpkin I would be ok! It is the peanut butter pumpkins that tease me, and call to me.....but....I can promise to try to stay away. No guarantees. No sense in setting myself up for failure---I see a trend of myself doing that, getting all gung ho and promising myself all kinds of good things, then when I fail, and I do! I feel guilty and shameful on top of feeling gluttenous!!! LOL, one serious heavy emotion at a time please!

Work was good, busy, busy, busy! Lots of voters in! There is a guy working for the county in charge of the elections, that my Dad hired to work for him (used to be his dept.) 21 years ago. Well he turned 40 this week. They had signs with his picture when he was in 6th grade all over the building, they met him at his car, with a wheelchair, and wheeled him all over the building with a birthday hat saying he was the birthday boy and a t shirt with a big 40 on it! Today they had a birthday dinner for him, pot luck Navajo Tacos. A hard thing for me to eat, with the fried bread! I ate mine minus the bread. Most of the women in the office are maximum size 10----most well under that! So they watch it closely, no one looked oddly at me not eating it! LOL Was fun anyway.

I come home, got the baskets and sorted laundry out of the hampers, went out to start it, and I had forgot sheets in the washer---they had not got too bad, but were begining to smell kind of sour, so I am rewashing them, then hope to get my real laundry done, so I have clothes to wear to work in!

Izzy has decided to try digging some in her dog run, thinking this weekend we might put a bottom on the run with wire fencing. it is the best place to keep her when we are gone, so better safe than sorry.

Any suggestions for Halloween treats for Kinsey's kindergarten class? Manda rec'd notice of it yesterday---she had signed up to help, so wasn't surprised. We have the gloves if we decide to fill them with popcorn, but are wanting something different-----help!

Well, think the washer quit, time to get busy.

Debbie I am queen of the long post---I just think away and type away! Welcome to the long post club---it helps us know you!

Hi everyone

quick check in, I went to work yesterday at 6:30 and well... just got home for the first time in 2 days

I'm so tired, struggling to stay awake

hope to email in the am.

night all

get some sleep jenn!!!!

Hey Peeps. Home from our shift at the hospital. It was very interesting. Darrell got on our boss about us not having badges to get in the dept.. We haven't had one since one of the summer kids made off with it. So everytime we leave the dept. we have to ring the bell to have someone open the door to let us in. It has gotten real old with us and is a pain to the other people who have to stop what they are doing to answer the door. So he kinda got in her face about it and was asking who her boss was so that we could go to them to get his settled. She got on the phone and called someone to find out about get regular badges. We can't have those, they cost money. She has made attempts to get us one, she is just running into brick walls. So Darrell said he was not having anymore of it and whenever they got the badge situation figured out, that we would be back then. He turned around and walked out of the dept. They were all shocked. I told them we would be back and I took off after him.

I told him we couldn't leave because he had to go do his TB test. So we went upstairs and realized that I hadn't had mine back in June so I had to get mine done also. While we were there the nurse was asking questions about my surgery and the Doctor who did it. By the time we finished, Darrell had calmed down and said he would go back to work. I sent him to the car to take a break and I headed back to talk to our boss. I explained to her that we had worked there for over 3 years and by now we should be trusted to come and go. I also explained to her that the place where Darrell had worked for over 30 years was the same place where he learned to negotiate with Corporate and if you didn't get what you needed, you walked out. Everyone walked out. I got everyone calmed down and we went back to work and everyone was relieved that we were not leaving. So for right now we have come up with a solution that fits all of us until the higher ups decide what they want to do.

Right before we headed to dinner, our boss came back with a big huge plastic pumpkin filled with halloween candy. A peace offering to all of us. Oh great, now she's pissed me off. LOL.

Gonna chill now.

Evening!

Suzie...you guys should stand your ground! Three years? That is plenty enough time to establish some trust.

I did get my fill today (thanks, Tracy!). I had gained 9 lbs. since my last visit. I was shocked that he put 1.2 in my 4cc band. I was experiencing GERD at 1.5 (I believe), so we will see how this goes. Easy does it...

One thing's for sure. I HATE dropping $120.00 a visit. HATE IT!

He told me a couple of things that I pondered tonight. I was telling him that the fill prices for us went from $30.00 to $120.00 and that I almost wished I had gotten the by-pass at this point. He told me that his most successful patients (with the LAP-BAND®®) were the ones that had only had 1-2 fills total (ever!!). Wow.

Hmmm...probably those that kept their head in the game...learned the value of good food (bowing to Kat) and did not rely on their band to do all the work. Ya think?

Confession: What happened?? I was that way for the first 6-10 months. After that I got lazy...and learned to cheat. Then I wanted my band to do all the work for me. I was in a dangerous cycle of swelling my band too tight and then getting unfills and later going back in for fills and starting over. I have probably done this 2-3 times now :smile:.

Truthfully...even though I still needed to loose 30 lbs. at the time, I was happy with where I was at...proud to have lost the 60+ pounds that I did. I just got too comfortable. Period.

I'm frustrated and fed up with myself. The money spent, the time away from my job....something's gotta give. I have walked at the park every day this week. I had two slim fast today (liquids for fill) and then some soup for dinner. I am praying this is a new start and that I can begin to think about what I am eating and why. Like Kat said, if you are limited to how much you can eat...make the food you are putting in your pouch count.

Another thing he told me (and please don't shoot the messenger...it took me by surprise too) was that he no longer does lap bands Monday-Friday. He now does mostly by-pass surgeries with his band patients being done on Friday's only. My doctor is one of the top two band doctors in Houston.

Why is that? My first thought (again...don't shoot) was that the band might be phasing out. That by-pass is becoming the new (now that it has been revised) tool. I hope that is not the case. I still love my band...I just need to prove it.

So, that is my rant (and long post...'cause you love 'em, right??).

Have a good one,

Angela

Edited October 14, 201015 yr by AngelaW

Kat...

A fun suggestion for Kinsey...(and a cheesy-easy one) is the tootsie roll pops wrapped in kleenex's and decorated as ghost.

Another little more complicated one is the cake balls that you decorate like little pumpkins. Too cute!

And another...probably not appropriate for Kinsey's school party, but have you seen the litter-box cake? It's a hoot!!! Tootsie-roll turds!!

Here's a link: Kitty Litter Cake for Halloween - - FabulousFoods.com

Also, I had a co-worker one time bring fruit punch (in a punch bowl). She took a rubber glove and filled it with water, tied it and froze it and then ran it under hot water (to loosen the glove) for a few minutes, cut the glove away and put the "hand" in the punch! I wonder if you could attach some spider rings or something to make it look even cooler.

Anyhow, just some suggestions. I miss those days!!

Edited October 14, 201015 yr by AngelaW

Thanks ladies, for your support and for making me feel like it's all right to vent.

Suzie, I hope you and Daryl --hope I spelled it right--get badges. You certainly deserve them after three years!

Angela, I love the suggestions you gave Kat. guess that makes me a big kid! :grouphug:

Tracy congratulations on your seventh day! I feel like my eating wasn't so much out of control today. I made good meal choices, but I had a peanut butter cookie! And thank you for what you said about talent. :smile:

Plain, where are you?

Michelle, hope you're all right.

Kat, I always love reading your posts. I can picture everything. Sorry you had to rewash the sheets!

Jenn, hope you're resting!

Shar, hope you're not working too hard!

If I missed anybody, slap me! LOL!

buenos Noches!

Debbie!