Ditto to what Angela said, Robyn. I love coffee, and am usually always up to go get some.

BTW Cate, did you end up getting your fill Friday? (BTW - we'l set something up to get your bag back to you, I had it Friday but had to leave at 2:30 to get to another appointment in time.)

Yeah I walked in Friday and the waiting room was totally empty! And they said I just missed you. We will set something up - maybe something during the week after July 4th weekend?

I did get a fill - 2ccs. No restriction that I know of yet. (Total 6 ccs)

I ran into Holli on her way out and she said she was in/out. I figured - maybe she got lucky (not in THAT way). But when I walked in there was only one guy there. Usually it's standing room only!

So I was trying on some of the clothes I got from Cate, and had DH take some more pictures. I think there's a big difference in my profile. I used to see myself and think I had the profile of a rubber duck - literally!

I have to take these pics, or I will never believe there's any difference.

Hi girls! Hope everyone has had a good weekend. I have worked some but haven't gotten called in as much as usual. Cate your doing great I am really proud of you. You all are fantastic. Robyn no one could whine more than me this weekend. I wasn't going to exercise today either but seeing that you are I'll have to make myself get on my treadmill in a little bit. I have mad some bad food choices this weekend. Maybe I shouldn't know my band slipped because now I'm fighting the urge to eat bad cause I know it would go down. I do have a question though. Everyone uses all this abbreviations for things and I don't know what they are I finally figured out PB but what is LOL ?

Cynthia - LOL is laughing out loud.

Exercise is good! I know its a pain and annoying, but it's good for you band or no band, losing weight or not. And it'll put you in a better mood, I bet. Always brings me up.

Angela - How did the clothes work out? That profile shot is amazing.

I'm going to go walk my sister's dog in a bit (she bruised her rib - doesn't know how), and pick up a pilates dvd to try before I go to NOLA.

Angela - I daresay you have skinny legs! I feel like I'm dragging tree stumps around most of the time :)

The clothes are great - I really appreciate it!

My legs are far from skinny - they look much better from the side than head on! Plus I'm knock-kneed, which just makes it look 100x worse.

Cynthia - here are some others you might run into:
ROFL = roll on the floor laughing
ROFLMAO = roll on floor laughing my ass off
BRB = be right back
IMO/IME = in my opinion/in my experience
IMHO = in my humble opinion
FIL/MIL/etc = Father in law, Mother in law...
AFK = away from keyboard

No problem, I'm glad they're getting used!

Cynthia - another one I see a lot DH/DD/DS etc = Dear husband/daughter/son.

Thanks you guys that helps me out a lot. You guys are my life savers right now.

Angela, those pictures are amazing! You will be happy to have the pictures of your journey.

When I hit one year, I had a hard time finding a before picture because I did not want any pictures taken of me when I was so heavy. I still sometimes feel funny about people taking my picture. I guess I still feel like the "fat girl" most of the time. I wonder how long it takes for your head to catch up with your body?

It will happen as soon as you give up those baggy twinsets! :p

We have got to get together again, I had so much fun. Not to mention it's SO nice to go eat somewhere and NOT be the only one making all kinds of customizations to the food. And I really "love" it when I ask for the box, and the waiter looks at me like - "Yeah, like you're going to have anything left!"

So what's for dinner? You guys make some foods that sound great! We're having Hawaiian grilled chicken breasts (chicken in a marinade I make w/ pineapple juice, orange & lemon zest, garlic, powdered chile peppers, sweet basil and thyme), vegetable kabobs, and baked apples for desert (which means 2 or 3 apples for DH, and one tiny bite for me - I just want to smell...yeah right...). Remove the apple skin, core it with a melon baller, fill with butter (I use "Can't believe it's not"...), brown sugar, raisins, a dash of honey or maple syrup, chopped pecans and a dash of ground clove, bake about 15 mins or until apple is soft.

BTW, since dinner is cooking and I have time to waste...

I now have - and have had each time I've lost good chucnk of weight - no ability to really see what I look like. I look in the mirrow and I see same old fattest I've ever been me. But when I dream, I'm always normal me - before I gained the weight. I don't think I've been "fat me" in my dreams ever... at least not that I remember.

Sometimes when I put an outfit on, the mental picture I get is of me wearing the outfit before I gained the weight, and I'm disgusted when I really see what I look like. And sometimes, though really only once I've lost a good chunk of weight, it's impossible for me to picture anything but the "at my fattest" me... and when I see a picture I'm like - hey, not bad!

If we visit my parents and I go out somewhere with mom and see someone who I think looks like me, I will have to ask her, "Do I look like her?" And anytime she says, "No - maybe before your surgery, but not now" I have a hard time believing it - a real case of it being too good to be true, I think! On Atkins, when I lost a big chunk of weight, I kind of obsessed over comparing myself to others, and I know it was a drag for the people I was with - but I was in a sort of frenzy to find someone of similar size, so I could see what I looked like.

Dinner with Freud would be really interesting to have right now. ;)

I do that too! I thought I was the only one. I am constantly comparing myself to people I see. I ask my hubby, "Am I bigger or smaller than her...or her?"

Btw, I thought my sweater sets were almost too tight. You know I wear them to cover up my arms. Maybe we all need to get together to do some shopping. If it is hard for us to evaluate how we look in clothes...it might help to get other opinions.

I definitely want to get together again. I had a ton of fun, too!

I have to tell you... on Friday night we went out to dinner with some neighbors to The Yard House. I, of course, could not finish an entree if I tried! These particular friends don't know I have the band and I think they thought that I did not like the food. I ate until I was full and then got a to go box. I was the only one at the table not to clear their plate. How strange...

You dinner sounds awesome. I love baked apples! I have only made them once or twice because my husband and daughter don't like them as much as I do. Tomorrow, I am making some grilled shrimp. Any ideas on what to make with it?

This is a collection of before & after pictures. I was walking by my parents computer and saw some pictures of what I looked like 60+ lbs. ago. Yikes! I suddenly needed to be SURE i dont look like that anymore.