Ammi-Next time you put sun screen on the hubby, spell something out, that way at least he’ll have something interesting to look at when his skin starts peeling. I’m glad you got your bike figured out.

Heather-as to loose skin, at least your husband doesn’t call you his Sharpei.

Gagyrl-I always say that you can’t die of embarrassment, but you can die from obesity. Trying wearing a Carman Miranda hat. They will either only see the hat, or will think you are a little crazy, and give you a wide berth.

Annie-Where are you?

ammie i have seen you online one time but you must have been getting off it was on a friday here i think... i will get you soon i am sure. way to go on that long walk!yes i did see where had left amessage

Nancy - LOL that cracks me up. I totally had to spend the day with Mr Mitzvah. he is just like that in person. other than that, just casting for an independant feature, and doing a bit of makeup. fun stuff :)

Jill - the clinician that gave me the shot said that on average women only gain about 5 lbs a year on it. and thats not with being on a weight loss plan.

Ammi - you also look amazing! yeah i got myself into some trouble. its pretty rediculous. the double blind doesnt bother me. i just pretend that im getting the drugs. so far its working because i lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. and i really havent changed my eating all that much either. so its pretty cool. other than that, im just trying to piece back together my life.

basically, i got involved with an old friend who happened to be married. we started fooling around. long story short, i ended up pregnant. i decided that it would be for the best not to keep it, and after several trips to the dr and several arguements with the dad (he was not trying to convince me to keep it, but the dr's wouldnt go through with the procedure because my blood pressure was too high). as a result, hes getting a divorce, and things are just a total mess. so im just trying to feel my way back to something that looks like normal. ive been pretty depressed, but im working through it. food is the last thing i think about right now, because its only food. i have too many other things to think about, and im not much of an eater anyway.

so thats my story. ive missed everyone.

Violet - I had a friend who just lived in the drama zone. I finally had to break with her. She sucked to much of my life energy out with her need for attention. TOM was last week for me, but since I'm early menopausal it's kind of hit or miss if I'll get a visit. This was the first in 3 months. (due entirely because I bought new white undies) I still get the pre TOM symptoms every month, which kinda sucks, even though I don't miss the actual visits very much.

John - sorry to hear about everything you've been though. You have a great outlook, especially for someone dealing with pain. My dad took predazone for his RA and he put on quite a bit of weight. Congrats on the 16lb weight loss, you have to fight extra hard when you're taking those kind of meds.

BattleAx - I'm glad you found support when you 'outed' yourself. It's hard to judge how people are going to react.

GaGyrl - Hi! I used to live in Athens. I miss GA sometimes. The icky red clay was sooo good for growing tomatoes.

Ammi - The walking trip sounds great. Congrats on it taking half the time! Also, enjoy the 'new' bike.

The new car is wonderful and I'll post pictures of it soon. I'm pretty sure the truck was to blame. After riding in it I would be headachey and nauseous. I would also be totally exhausted. My DS(16) had similar problems. Today after not being in the truck I felt much better. I'm still a bit tired, but no vomiting and no headache. I think I can convince DH to fix the exhaust now.

I'm going to have to speak to my DS(16)'s band directors. They are putting too much pressure on him. DS(14) reported that they were mad when DS(16) chose not to do marching band. They apparently chose the music based on him participating. The directors for the jazz band also "need" him, and the school symphonic band is the same way. Too many people who want all of his attention. I realize that he is amazing at his instrument. I also realize that he's only 16 and has to focus on his school work too. It's not fair for them to make him responsible for holding the band together. That's what the directors get paid to do. DH talked to one set and I'll talk to the others. Our stance is that he will only be able to do what he can do while maintaining his grades. It's good that he's not a stress eater. Planning out his schedule makes *me* want to dive into the oreos.

Hi All,

I have been sooo busy with appointments and stuff getting ready for surgery and I sure have missed you all.

Brenda: Wow on those amazing pics. You look great!

Donna: Love the new car. Hope it is fun for you to drive.

Xena: Hi sweetie.

Catherine: Yeah and a huge congrats to you on your acceptance in the Master's Program. I always knew you could do anything you set your mind on. I am so happy for you that your ticker is almost to the 370's You are doing so well. Hugs.

Amy: Hi sweetie.

Bbabybear: I think exercising early is much better because you feel so proud of yourself all day and you have the exercise out of the way for the day. Good job.

Ammi: Sorry you saw a 7 pound gain. I know you will get back on the right track soon. You can do it GG.

Patty: You can do it to sweetie. Come on now and jump back on that treadmill hun.

Peggy: Hi girl.

Battle: Great job getting and eating good food.

Heather: Hugs. Sorry you are alone a lot right now.

Nancy: Love your new avatar photo. You are such a doll.

Luan: Hi hun. Hugs. So glad you are back. I hope everything works out for you sweetie.

Viki: Hugs to you too. You ladies better hang around this time. We miss you too much when you are MIA.

Cris: Glad your DS is feeling better now.

Leslie: Hope that things settle down soon. I am a worrier to but it won't do any good to worry sweetie. Hugs.

JIllybean: Hi hun. Sorry that your AC is not working. That could be miserable.

Balloonlady: Congrats on a new car. Hope you enjoy it.

John: Please don't worry about tooting your own horn. We are here to support, encourage and listen to the good and bad. So sorry you had to go through such a hard time but glad you are doing better now.

Body: Glad you will meet your exercise goal. That is such a wonderful feeling.Sorry that the scale isn't cooperating with you but I bet you are making muscles.

Gagyrl: Welcome. This is such a wonderful place to come to get and give support.

Well, I had tons of appointments today and the one with the cardiologist was great. He told me that he feels like I am absolutely fine. He said that all of the things indicate it was just a bad reading. He is so happy about all the exercise I am doing and the weight I have lost since I saw him last. I have lost 60 pounds since I saw him last and he is happy. He said I made his day because he usually doesn't see people making much improvment when he sees them in the hospital and I am almost a new person to him since seeing him in early May. I was pleased as punch to say the least with his prognosis. So, onward toward surgery.

Thanks tons to you all for your prayers and warm thougths my way. I am soooo tired after getting up the past two days at 4ish. lol. I need my pillow and my bed now. lol. Hope you are all doing wonderful and staying safe.

Blessings to you all,
Annie

Annie -- Glad to hear you had such a great visit at the docs. :woohoo: When is the surgery going to be again??? And have you talked to the people in the WLS forum? They seem to have lots of answers for people getting ready for this. Oh, and what kind of surgery are you going to have? (I'm sure you've said before...)

Heather: It will be on August 29th and I will be having RNY Gastric Bypass.

Blessings,
Annie

Hi All,

Well I can’t believe it, it’s another :sunny: day here :cp: Now I’m just looking for stuff that needs washing :rofl: because I can dry it outside for a change! I don’t know how long this lovely weather is going to last, but I’m definitely going to enjoy every second of it.

Heather - Yeah I was pretty amazed when I realised we did the walk in half the time, I just wish I had worn my pedometer because I could have seen exactly how many steps I did and the distance we walked. I’ll have to wear it next time because there will be a next time weather permitting :yes:

Well if hubby loves his job then there’s no chance he’d want to leave it. Hmm, shame you can’t give up yours and go with him whenever he goes away :D

I hear you on the flabby skin thing, and I have more to come too, ick. If I put my hands either side of my thighs and pull upwards, like I’m pulling up a sock, all my flab rises and my legs look so nice :D It makes me realise how horrid they look when I’m not pushing the flab out of the way! As for my tummy, I am just really looking forward to one day having no overhang to have to wash and dry under. I so HATE to do that. With that in mind I really do want to go for a tummy tuck and leg lift when the time comes. I would have my arms and boobs sorted out too :rofl: but I have scars on my tummy and legs already, so new ones might improve on the old ones. But I don’t want new scars on my arms and boobs, so I’ll just leave them hang :dizzy:

John - you are so lucky you never got and don’t have a ‘moon face’. I went into hospital for IV steroids to try to control a really bad bout of the UC and it was then, in a matter of 10 days that my face ballooned. It was quite shocking to look in the mirror and see that strange big face peering back out at me.

As for your moods and depression before the meds, I hear you :rofl: I wasn’t depressed, but I sure as heck have always been a moody person :crazy:

Hope you are having a good OP day :D

Catherine - Hey I didn’t put the sun cream on Daren :rofl: If I had he wouldn’t have had any sunburn :D I like the idea of threatening to put a word on him with it as punishment for him not putting it on properly yesterday. He thinks I’m a nag bag and that a bit of sunburn won’t matter, so he always huffs and puffs when I make him use sun cream. I just remind him that every time he gets burned he increases his risk of cancer!

Patti - sorry I missed you that time you saw me online. Sometimes I do only go on MySpace to see messages I’ve been emailed that I have. I’m glad you got my offline message, at least I know now that that works :D

Luan - oh boy, it’s like something you would see on a soap opera! I’m so sorry things have got so messed up for you. I can’t figure out though, did you have the abortion or not? If not, is it safe for you to be trialling those diet drugs?? I don’t know what plans you have for sorting things out, but I am glad you are trying to work through it all. Things will have to come good in the end :hug:

Stacey - what instrument does your oldest son play? He must be really good for him to be in such demand. I don’t blame you for not being happy about the pressure the band directors are putting on him and I hope things calm down a bit after you and hubby have chatted to the people in question.

I am glad you are feeling much better now that you don’t have to ride in the truck, just goes to prove that you were right about the exhaust problems being the reason why you were feeling so bad. I’m just glad you figured it out before you got even worse :hug:

Annie - :woohoo: :cp: :cheer: :bunny2: I am doing the happy dance for you that all went well at the cardiologist and that you are going to get the all clear for your surgery. I get butterflies just thinking of you having the surgery and how it’s going to help you turn your life around :hug: :hug: :hug: Not long now til the surgery date, I bet you are counting down the days :yes:

Well it’s lunch time now and my nice plate of beans on toast are calling me :rofl: Take care all and I’ll try to post again later.

Hugs,

Ammi :chicken:

Annie you are doing awesome i am so proud of you! Ammie i will try to catch you soon on my space!

Good Morning Everyone!! :coffee:

I have been lurking but not MIA. I am very grumpy, lazy, totally bloated, and not feeling like myself. :( I am still exercising in the pool everyday, but while I do great at breakfast and lunch, have been easily led astray at dinner :cbg::jeno:. My stupid foot is still killing me, and I haven't heard from the Dr about the orthodics yet. :mad: I am also getting the run around from our contractor for the windows, siding, and roof we are supposed to be having done as we speak. Says he is 2 weeks behind because of "mother nature". (I think he means because he was in Greece for 2 weeks!) And when I told him we would be on vacation in 2 weeks, he wants to do the windows before we go and then the rest while we are away. I don't think so. :tantrum: Does he think we are so stupid that we will let anyone touch our house while we are gone?? It's not like it's a small job...we are paying a fortune! Sheesh. Why are all the contractors so damn shady?? We really thought this one was going to be different. I hate being so naive. I am so sick of putting my trust (and money!) in people and always being let down. {sigh}

Sorry no personals...too hard to keep up!! And also I don't want my grumpiness :mad: to rub off on any of you!! Congrats to all the "losers", a big :hug: to all struggling, and :welcome3: to all newbies and returnees!


Have a great OP day!:cheer2:

PS-Thanks for letting me vent!!;)

August Exercise Reminder
 

Goodness-- I forgot to mention the exercise thread!!!

This is for everyone! We are trying to make exercise a regular part of our lives. What we are doing is coming here and reporting how much exercise we do (in minutes) and tracking that as a group. The exercise can be any kind you like!

Our goal? To exercise 200,000 minutes this year!! That's pretty amazing if you ask me. And, while we ARE on track to meet that goal, we need everyone who is interested to participate! (We tend to lose steam the last 2 months of the year, what with the weather and holidays...)

Many of us set goals for the month (I personally don't do well unless I have one), but others just report. So, it's really really easy!! And I officially invite each and every one of you to find the thread stickied at the top of the page and report your exercise minutes!!! You'll help yourself AND us!

yay me i exercised today!

Hi everyone,

Another successful day yesterday in the face of a challenge. I went out to dinner at my fave Japanese restaurant. I dream of their food--it's that good. I wrestled with what to order, and settled on my old favorite bento box, which had rice, stir-fried veggies, tempura, sashimi, and salmon teriyaki. I was craving the tempura (of course) and only ate two pieces! I also left most of the rice. First time ever, the waitress asked me if I wanted to bag up the leftovers. Usually there is nothing left to take home. I said no.

I was tempted to take the scale out of the car, but so far, so good. The great part about locking the scale in the garage is that I live in an apartment building, and my assigned space is way in the back, and the floor is sloped. The scale probably wouldn't give a good reading there, so I'd have to take it back up into my apartment. There is just enough inconvenience involved that I have time to think and get a grip on myself before acting.

The last time I seriously underwent a diet program, there wasn't much information about the idea of adjusting calorie intake to a person's weight. Mainly it was one calorie level for men, and one for women. This is a new concept to me, and after reading some on this site and others, I've decided to increase my calories to about 2000 a day.

Boy, these personals are hard to keep up with. I hope I don't miss anyone in my notes.

Ammi: I'm impressed with your progress in walking. It is such a wonderful feeling to notice increased phyical fitness. I'm happy your dh was able to determine there was a problem and fix the bike. If it's too difficult to use, it's not a good tool.

Annie: I'm excited about your great appointment. No more worries about heart problems! You must be so anxious to get the surgery done.

MamaB+: Sorry you are feeling crappy. I hate dealing with contractors. It is a complete nightmare. I don't understand why most of them are shady and unreliable.

Luan: You have been through a lot. I hope things go in a more positive direction now. Btw, I am also involved in the film industry. I write business plans for films/entertainment companies, and and involved in two independent feature projects.

Bootytoo: Good for you for not being a slave to the scale. I'm working on getting to the same place.

Nancy: your new avatar is smashing. Your face looks much thinner.

Jill: Hurray on saying no to the drive through! Every little decision adds up.

Heather: I can relate to being ok with settling into a weight that may not be "ideal" on the weight charts, but is a vast improvement and you feel healthy and able to maintain it.

Hi John, toofat4u, Catherine, and balloon!

Have a great day everyone.

BattleAx -- I'm glad you're finding good info and are adjusting calories. Let us know how it goes.

As for personals -- don't worry about trying to keep up with everyone all the time! We'd rather have you post some and not do all the personals than never posting because you feel you can't!

Ammi - yes, i did have the abortion. it just was too much drama. and i regret it every day.

BattleAx - thats awesome! i may be hitting you up if you want some extra work... lol