Carina

Hi all, I haven't been too active here recently (busy + weird login problems), so I wanted to say hi. As some of you know I am following a placement program after being laid off in a reorganization. (Grrrrrrr!) That is taking up a lot of mental energy. ATM I'm investigating starting a small business by myself, kind of scary, but there are lots of resources available. As far as WLS is concerned, the honeymoon is definitely over. I may even have had the shortest honeymoon in WLS history. I'm back to fighting for every ounce lost, kind of a bummer. Not complaining about the weight I've lost; I'm very happy about that, but I need to press on (about 20-25 more pounds) and that's moving like molasses in the winter... I still need you guys, so please don't let me down!

Thinking of you, Punkin. Still hanging in there?

Jah, they are cool. The last game wasn't so sparkling, so hoping for a better one tomorrow! Edit: I don't live in Iceland, but that team is amazing. Worth reading about. And the Rekjavik Grapevine has a great site, plus hilarious tweets. Worth checking out.

Agree with you about a lot of stuff, as usual. :-) I can definitely imagine puking after eating meat. I haven't eaten any since about 1985 (!), with the exception of a couple years when I ate some fish. I really think I would hurl if I had to eat any. But it isn't always easy to refuse, I get that. And I don't imagine the French doing protein shakes, but: did you see any there? Just curious. Agree with the body size obsession. I think that's part of the process. I don't "get" my own body size (yet?), and I scan others all the time. Also think "Get the surgery, dude/girlfriend!" a lot, lol.

Oh, Punkin, I sure hate to see you beating yourself up about this. We all slip up *raises hand*. And I think this situation would drive ANYBODY to slip up. Try not to be too hard on yourself. I hope the worst of the feelings will diminish and you'll soon be back to taking care of yourself. You're so worth it. (((hug)))

"Oh, how nice of you to ask! Let's talk about YOUR body next!" I actually said this to someone when she just wouldn't quit. She p***ed me off no end.

Iceland all the way! Húh!

Agree.

You had to take your BRA off?? (Hope you're feeling better by now.)

So happy for you; that must really feel great!

With you on this. I'm not at goal yet, but still, the changes are plain to see. I am still trying to get used to what I see in the mirror (and coming to terms with the sagging as well).

No problems here. (As long as I don't chug it.)

Chiming in with my program's way of keeping tabs on the long-term bone calcium thing. (I posted this before, but I don't think anyone saw it.) Might be useful to someone. Since blood calcium doesn't tell us anything about calcium in the bones, that's useless for this purpose. My program uses two blood markers to check on decalcification. They are vitamin D and parathyroid hormone. Both are checked yearly, so any deviations will be caught pretty quickly. That said, I had a dexa scan a few months ago through another doctor. It was great, but its real value will be as a baseline for any future tests.

I know the feeling. Kind of a mixture of being amazed that things are better and not being able to shake the negativity that's been part of us for so long.

Jerks.