Small Talk: Only 2 Ounces Of Commenting Allowed

[Scratches19]

Sooo... I’ve been doing my Dr Now voice at home and repeating favorite lines like “salad free zone”. Now I made an iPhone Animoji of Dr Now so he can speak. Here’s a look. 
 

 

[Carboncat]

2 hours ago, nokat said:

I was 100 lbs at 5 foot nine. Not healthy at all, and still food obsessed.
 

Oh, goodness!  I was a Union Carpenter {Local #713) at 5'5. And buff.  Now am 5'2 from spinal degeneration. I'm really small, at 102lbs, but 100lbs at 5'9' is not good. 

After littlesun's birth in1993 I topped out at a whopping 153 lbs.  Lost a total of 4 lbs with a 7lb 7oz baby.  Stopped speaking to my mom for a year when she sneered "Are you pregnant again?"  It was the Christmas sweater, but shame, nonetheless.

I pray you have found some peace with food and yourself.  Hint:  Cheerios (or generic oat-i-os) are good for guilt-free crunchy snacking.

I  went shopping this afternoon on my lunch break for spring clothes.  Capris instead of shorts. Tops that skim my lack of waist...or  (butt).

Take care of yourself;  I know we are chatting and snarking about a TV show, but I do value sharing with Pounders across the country.  Thanks everyone, and hugs to Nokat.

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Carboncat
misspellig

[Caoimhe]

4 hours ago, Carboncat said:

I always try to peer into the chicken wing plastic bags to get the maximum 2nd wing joints, not the "drumstick" ones.  It's a mixed "bag". 

My mesquite BBQ wings are always gone before I get to the front of the line at potlucks.  (Secret not included)  Beauty is, you can cook them the night before, and reheat.

Back in the 60's when wings were sold whole, if at all from whole chicken, my mom and me used to love to crunch the burnt wing-tips!

Yummy chicken wings!  Yes they are what led me into trouble on Super Bowl Sunday.  Your mesquite ones sound extra delicious.  I have no off switch when it comes to food so when I see some of the pounders' huge meals I just think "yeah I could eat all that too but do I want to LOOK like that?!"  The upside of my brain never registering "full" is that I don't really tend to be "hungry" in the physical sense so fasting isn't hard for me.  Cravings are another matter entirely!!

 

[nokat]

3 hours ago, Carboncat said:

I pray you have found some peace with food and yourself.  Hint:  Cheerios (or generic oat-i-os) are good for guilt-free crunchy snacking.

Thank you for caring, and yes, I've found peace. We know food obsession can go both ways, you either shove in pizzas, or restrict yourself until you're overly skinny. 
 

[nokat]

Okay, I had an asshole of a boss who was always commenting on my weight. Apparently there was a ten pound window of acceptable. Too skinny, too fat, until I got obsessed.  
 

[AZChristian]

10 hours ago, nokat said:

Extra points if you had a cat staring at you.
 

Sorry, @NOKAT.  No cat.

[Carboncat]

4 hours ago, nokat said:

Okay, I had an asshole of a boss who was always commenting on my weight. Apparently there was a ten pound window of acceptable. Too skinny, too fat, until I got obsessed.  
 

Outrageous!  No one should have to need a job that bad.

[nokat]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

Sorry, @NOKAT.  No cat.

You aren't living your full life then, without a cat judging you. I actually don't have a cat at the moment so nokat is appropriate.

 

5 minutes ago, Carboncat said:

Outrageous!  No one should have to need a job that bad.

I was in the military. You can't just quit.

The sexual harassment though. I got a low performance rating because I wasn't "friendly" as in didn't have sex with someone.

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by nokat

[Carboncat]

6 minutes ago, nokat said:

You aren't living your full life then, without a cat judging you. I actually don't have a cat at the moment so nokat is appropriate.

 

I was in the military. You can't just quit.

The sexual harassment though. I got a low performance rating because I wasn't "friendly" as in didn't have sex with someone.

 

Oh, yes, now I get it.  Unfortunately.

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, nokat said:

You aren't living your full life then, without a cat judging you. I actually don't have a cat at the moment so nokat is appropriate.

Unfortunately, I am allergic to animal dander.  If we had a pet (anything with hair), I'd have to get shots a lot more often - and I'm not willing to do that.

I do have a stuffed spider and two stuffed dogs which I refer to as my emotional support animals.

[nokat]

9 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I do have a stuffed spider and two stuffed dogs which I refer to as my emotional support animals.

I have lots of spiders whom I've decided to call pets. You made me laugh though with the emotional support animals.
 

[Carboncat]

9 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Unfortunately, I am allergic to animal dander.  If we had a pet (anything with hair), I'd have to get shots a lot more often - and I'm not willing to do that.

I do have a stuffed spider and two stuffed dogs which I refer to as my emotional support animals.

Yes, today I found my "indoors" cats all have fleas, and there is flea "dust" all around.  Hard to spot on dark-furred cats, but really obvious on my tabby's white chinsie.  Errrggh!

At least you can launder your emotional support animals!

[nokat]

12 minutes ago, Carboncat said:

At least you can launder your emotional support animals!

I would get a flea bath along with my cats. I'd be coated in flea shampoo.

My one sweetie loved having a bath and getting wrapped up like a cat taco. 

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by nokat

[Carboncat]

29 minutes ago, nokat said:

I would get a flea bath along with my cats. I'd be coated in flea shampoo.

My one sweetie loved having a bath and getting wrapped up like a cat taco. 

 

Or a Purr-ito!

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, nokat said:

I have lots of spiders whom I've decided to call pets. You made me laugh though with the emotional support animals.
 

Seriously . . . when I had my knee replacement, two cataract procedures, and an ambulance ride, "Eetsy Beetsy" was right there with me.  She's gone ziplining with me, too.

[nokat]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

Seriously . . . when I had my knee replacement, two cataract procedures, and an ambulance ride, "Eetsy Beetsy" was right there with me.  She's gone ziplining with me, too.

I didn't mean to be rude by laughing. My mom bought me a support stuffed tiger before my first surgery.
 

[AZChristian]

3 minutes ago, nokat said:

I didn't mean to be rude by laughing. My mom bought me a support stuffed tiger before my first surgery.
 

I didn't think you were rude.  Most people who meet Eetsy laugh a bit - which can sure cut the tension in a pre-op area!!!!

[Carboncat]

2 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I didn't think you were rude.  Most people who meet Eetsy laugh a bit - which can sure cut the tension in a pre-op area!!!!

This makes my day!  Thanks!

[Hana Chan]

6 hours ago, nokat said:

I didn't mean to be rude by laughing. My mom bought me a support stuffed tiger before my first surgery.
 

I had bought my mom a black cat Beanie Baby when she had her first hip replacement done since I knew that she was going to miss our black cat, Luna. When I went in for my surgery this month, she bought me a Sailor Moon Luna plushie. You are definitely not alone!

[Hana Chan]

Update y'all! I had my follow up with my surgeon this week and everything is going well. I've got the go-ahead to start incorporating soft foods and celebrated with a pint of matzo-ball soup (which lasted me two full meals). Was so thankful because weeks of protein shakes and plain chicken broth was starting to wear very thin on me. Not only have I lost all the surgical bloat, but I've dropped five pounds this week, so yay!

The one downside so far - still cannot really sleep comfortably through the night. I'm able to lay on my side for a bit but there's only so long I can do that before something starts pulling. Am hoping that in another week or two that I'll go back to my happy side/stomach position. 

I'm returning to work tomorrow and I almost can't wait. Am so tired of being at home dealing with our numerous renovation projects. Thankfully they're almost done and I can start getting back to my normal routine. I'm looking forward to getting the clearance next month to start getting some real exercise in.

So far, so good.

[nokat]

Just now, Hana Chan said:

Update y'all! I had my follow up with my surgeon this week and everything is going well. I've got the go-ahead to start incorporating soft foods and celebrated with a pint of matzo-ball soup (which lasted me two full meals). Was so thankful because weeks of protein shakes and plain chicken broth was starting to wear very thin on me. Not only have I lost all the surgical bloat, but I've dropped five pounds this week, so yay!

The one downside so far - still cannot really sleep comfortably through the night. I'm able to lay on my side for a bit but there's only so long I can do that before something starts pulling. Am hoping that in another week or two that I'll go back to my happy side/stomach position.

I'm returning to work tomorrow and I almost can't wait. Am so tired of being at home dealing with our numerous renovation projects. Thankfully they're almost done and I can start getting back to my normal routine. I'm looking forward to getting the clearance next month to start getting some real exercise in.

So far, so good.

So good to hear!
 

[JunkFoodTV]

@Hana Chan The updates are great! It sounds like you are healing very well. And it's so interesting to hear from someone really going through this process. Hugs and prayers!

[Carboncat]

5 hours ago, Hana Chan said:

Update y'all! I had my follow up with my surgeon this week and everything is going well. I've got the go-ahead to start incorporating soft foods and celebrated with a pint of matzo-ball soup (which lasted me two full meals). Was so thankful because weeks of protein shakes and plain chicken broth was starting to wear very thin on me. Not only have I lost all the surgical bloat, but I've dropped five pounds this week, so yay!

The one downside so far - still cannot really sleep comfortably through the night. I'm able to lay on my side for a bit but there's only so long I can do that before something starts pulling. Am hoping that in another week or two that I'll go back to my happy side/stomach position. 

I'm returning to work tomorrow and I almost can't wait. Am so tired of being at home dealing with our numerous renovation projects. Thankfully they're almost done and I can start getting back to my normal routine. I'm looking forward to getting the clearance next month to start getting some real exercise in.

So far, so good.

Best of luck to you.  I so appreciate your relating your experience with this.  Hope you get back to side-sleeping soon.  Proud of you for going back to work so soon!

[Hellga]

13 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Seriously . . . when I had my knee replacement, two cataract procedures, and an ambulance ride, "Eetsy Beetsy" was right there with me.  She's gone ziplining with me, too.

My Mom has a stuffed rabbit (life-size and fairly life-like) that turned out to be perfect to support her ankle after her knee replacement (her heel would really hurt when laid flat on the mattress).   And she would hug it when sitting if she was in pain, too.   

6 hours ago, Hana Chan said:

Update y'all! I had my follow up with my surgeon this week and everything is going well. I've got the go-ahead to start incorporating soft foods and celebrated with a pint of matzo-ball soup (which lasted me two full meals). 

Yay for you!  Nothing's worse than same boring food day after day after day!  And hope your return to work goes well.

[AZChristian]

14 hours ago, Hana Chan said:

The one downside so far - still cannot really sleep comfortably through the night. I'm able to lay on my side for a bit but there's only so long I can do that before something starts pulling. Am hoping that in another week or two that I'll go back to my happy side/stomach position. 

So happy to hear that your recuperation is moving along well.  I'm also a side/stomach sleeper, so I understand how much you want to be able to get back into your normal sleeping position. 

Have you tried a body pillow?  They sell them at Walmart, among other places. They're about 4 feet long, and you can curl yourself around one so that you really are pretty much side/stomach sleeping if you position yourself correctly.

Keep on doing well!!!!!

[nokat]

3 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Have you tried a body pillow?  They sell them at Walmart, among other places. They're about 4 feet long, and you can curl yourself around one so that you really are pretty much side/stomach sleeping if you position yourself correctly.

I really need to try one of those. I'm a side sleeper, and my hips ache.
 

[Hana Chan]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:27 AM, AZChristian said:

Have you tried a body pillow?  They sell them at Walmart, among other places. They're about 4 feet long, and you can curl yourself around one so that you really are pretty much side/stomach sleeping if you position yourself correctly.

I have a wonderful, expensive Clone pillow that usually helps. The problem is that depending on what side I lay on, one of the incisions gets pulled. I'm just resigned to the fact that for the next few weeks, until everything heals up sufficiently, finding a comfortable position is going to be a challenge. *sigh*

[AZChristian]

10 minutes ago, Hana Chan said:

I have a wonderful, expensive Clone pillow that usually helps. The problem is that depending on what side I lay on, one of the incisions gets pulled. I'm just resigned to the fact that for the next few weeks, until everything heals up sufficiently, finding a comfortable position is going to be a challenge. *sigh*

You'll get there.  Just keep on healing !!!!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I sleep on my left side, and always had issues if I didn't used a pillow between my knees.     I found the best one for me is the cheap $5.00 or less store brand Target bed pillows.    They are so cheap that I always have 3 or 4 stockpiled, and if the current pillow gets lumpy, then it gets tossed.       I found the regular poly filled pillows from other brands start out too thick, and then flatten out to too thin, so the Target pillows work for me.  

[RoseGold13]

On 2/13/2020 at 1:27 AM, NeitherSparky said:

Tom: Aw, look, Joyce made it outside.

Crow: And without medical transport!

(I finished Tom last weekend, lol)

This is AWESOME! I love MST3K. 😃

[mmecorday]

My boss has the worst diet. He lives on pizzas, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs and considers a fish sandwich from McDonald's healthy eating. But he is skinny as a rail so he must have the metabolism of a hummingbird. It's totally unfair because if I even look at something loaded with carbs, my jeans are cutting my circulation off. 

Wednesdays are my favorite day of the week because I get to hang with you guys! Happy Hump Day, everyone!

[Hana Chan]

Well today I had to go shopping in my closet for something that fits. I, like many women, have an assortment of clothing in various sizes that are a mark of my weight struggles over the years. I got to downsize my pants to an 18 (and they are a comfortable fit so I don't know if they'll last long). I was told at my office that I can no longer wear the shirt I picked for the day because it was all but swimming on me.

The bigger issue is that all of my good bras are now way too big for me. I found one older bra that works so I'm going to be living in it until I can get over to the store to be fitted again. This is going to be a very expensive process, I see.

On the plus side, several dresses have been shifted from the "aspirational" side of my closet to the current side. Even if they don't quite fit me just yet, it's only a short matter of time before they do.

[OoogleEyes]

Well, Hana Chan, that's good news! Congratulations on all of your hard work. 

I guess the bad good news is when you have to actually go to a store and *buy* new clothes. 

Bras.....yikes!

[Hellga]

Congratulations, @Hana Chan!  Maybe get a cheap store bra for now because odds are whatever they measure today will not hold a month from now...  It must be great to be able to see and feel results of your hard work in a very meaningful way!

[ams1001]

In Live Chat, OoogleEyes asked about the Calm app:

Quote

 

Are these phone apps?

Maybe take this over to small talk with some suggestions? I need something other than tv to quiet my brain and allow me to fall asleep 

 

Calm is an app for meditation and stuff. It has a section called Sleep Stories where people read kinda-boring stories in soothing voices to help you fall asleep. Some of them are big names, too (Stephen Fry, Matthew McConaughey...). A certain amount of them are free but you get more access if you have a subscription (which I don't; Matthew McC is not one of the free ones, unfortunately - I really wanted to hear that one).

I also have three other meditation apps on my tablet - Insight Timer and the Ten Percent Happier app, and one called Meditation & Relaxation. (I was being indecisive and I haven't really used them enough to pick one, though I was using the Meditation one lately and it doesn't seem to give you as much without a premium subscription; I think it will be the first to be eliminated.) Headspace is another name I've heard a lot, though I've never tried it. 

Insight Timer seems to have more options with the free version, and was highly recommended in some recent googling I did.

Ten Percent Happier has an associated book by Dan Harris (of ABC News, who started getting into meditation after having a panic attack on live TV). I was looking on there recently and one of the shorter ones was this one, which I found on youtube and converted to mp3 so I could put it on my ipod. 🙂 It's nice to stop for 3 minutes and just breathe. I need to do it more often.

There are also tons of meditation videos on youtube (search Sleep Stories and you'll find a bunch of those), or podcasts on wherever you get podcasts (Ten Percent Happier also has a podcast, generally about an hour-long interview with someone, but they occasionally post bonus episodes of short meditations).

(And if you don't want meditation or people talking, I like the White Noise app by TMSoft. Sometimes some ocean waves or Rain on a Wooden Deck is just what I need.)

Edited February 20, 2020 by ams1001

[Wanda]

I’m at my heavy winter weight of 145 lbs and am on a 1000 cal diet now to lose 7. One day and I lost 2 lbs. now it’s obviously much harder proportionally to lose 2 lbs off 145 than 2 lbs off 600....you’d think. But Joyce swears up and down she stuck to 1200 calories for the six weeks where she gained 58 lbs and her body just can’t lose weight on that amount of food? And when Dr Now ain’t buying it she is apoplectic with his unfairness. The delusion is penny levels with that one.

[AZChristian]

10 minutes ago, Wanda said:

I’m at my heavy winter weight of 145 lbs and am on a 1000 cal diet now to lose 7. One day and I lost 2 lbs. now it’s obviously much harder proportionally to lose 2 lbs off 145 than 2 lbs off 600....you’d think. But Joyce swears up and down she stuck to 1200 calories for the six weeks where she gained 58 lbs and her body just can’t lose weight on that amount of food? And when Dr Now ain’t buying it she is apoplectic with his unfairness. The delusion is penny levels with that one.

Not to be crude, but it must be said.  12 to 20 pounds is just one good bowel movement for someone over 600/700 pounds.  So we can feel fairly sure that the sister and brother on the 2/19 episode must have pooped before they got weighed.  

[Guest]

 

[ilovebeaarthur]

13 hours ago, ams1001 said:

In Live Chat, OoogleEyes asked about the Calm app:

Calm is an app for meditation and stuff. It has a section called Sleep Stories where people read kinda-boring stories in soothing voices to help you fall asleep. Some of them are big names, too (Stephen Fry, Matthew McConaughey...). A certain amount of them are free but you get more access if you have a subscription (which I don't; Matthew McC is not one of the free ones, unfortunately - I really wanted to hear that one).

I also have three other meditation apps on my tablet - Insight Timer and the Ten Percent Happier app, and one called Meditation & Relaxation. (I was being indecisive and I haven't really used them enough to pick one, though I was using the Meditation one lately and it doesn't seem to give you as much without a premium subscription; I think it will be the first to be eliminated.) Headspace is another name I've heard a lot, though I've never tried it. 

Insight Timer seems to have more options with the free version, and was highly recommended in some recent googling I did.

Ten Percent Happier has an associated book by Dan Harris (of ABC News, who started getting into meditation after having a panic attack on live TV). I was looking on there recently and one of the shorter ones was this one, which I found on youtube and converted to mp3 so I could put it on my ipod. 🙂 It's nice to stop for 3 minutes and just breathe. I need to do it more often.

There are also tons of meditation videos on youtube (search Sleep Stories and you'll find a bunch of those), or podcasts on wherever you get podcasts (Ten Percent Happier also has a podcast, generally about an hour-long interview with someone, but they occasionally post bonus episodes of short meditations).

(And if you don't want meditation or people talking, I like the White Noise app by TMSoft. Sometimes some ocean waves or Rain on a Wooden Deck is just what I need.)

I've been a Calm app user since 2016, and it was incredibly helpful when I was having issues with falling asleep. My husband uses it each night, as well, and is pretty much snoring before he's halfway finished.

[crazycatlady58]

1 hour ago, ilovebeaarthur said:

I've been a Calm app user since 2016, and it was incredibly helpful when I was having issues with falling asleep. My husband uses it each night, as well, and is pretty much snoring before he's halfway finished.

Sometimes it helps me sleep other times it annoys me. Did you see/ listen to the new one about jazz?

[ams1001]

5 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Sometimes it helps me sleep other times it annoys me. 

Last time I used it it wouldn't stop playing music even after I closed it, despite the "play sounds outside the app" (or something to that effect) setting being turned off. I had to go into the app manager and force-stop it to make it shut up. It...did not help me sleep.

[ilovebeaarthur]

9 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Sometimes it helps me sleep other times it annoys me. Did you see/ listen to the new one about jazz?

I haven’t! I’ll have to take a look. I should also clarify my husband can fall asleep anywhere, anytime (he’s just resting his eyes). 

Edited February 21, 2020 by ilovebeaarthur

[Hellga]

23 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Not to be crude, but it must be said.  12 to 20 pounds is just one good bowel movement for someone over 600/700 pounds.  So we can feel fairly sure that the sister and brother on the 2/19 episode must have pooped before they got weighed.  

While I appreciate the humor, I would like to clear a couple misconceptions. 🙂 

Spoiler

That's a misconception that super-obese people have super-large bowel movements (just like it's a misconception that poop is mostly undigested food - not under normal circumstances).  It depends very much on what they eat - and how many of them were eating high-fiber diets?  Just about no one.  I would guess most of them have maybe double the size of an average bowel movement (norm is estimated to be half a pound to a pound a day).   There was a source that daily production of poop is an ounce per 12 pounds of weight but I am not sure how credible that is, and how it was estimated (which would tell me how it could or could not be extrapolated to different populations) as I was unable to find supporting publications in actual medical literature...  generally volume and not mass of stools are measured, as they are mostly water (even the hard ones). 

 

[AZChristian]

27 minutes ago, Hellga said:

While I appreciate the humor, I would like to clear a couple misconceptions. 🙂 

  Hide contents

That's a misconception that super-obese people have super-large bowel movements (just like it's a misconception that poop is mostly undigested food - not under normal circumstances).  It depends very much on what they eat - and how many of them were eating high-fiber diets?  Just about no one.  I would guess most of them have maybe double the size of an average bowel movement (norm is estimated to be half a pound to a pound a day).   There was a source that daily production of poop is an ounce per 12 pounds of weight but I am not sure how credible that is, and how it was estimated (which would tell me how it could or could not be extrapolated to different populations) as I was unable to find supporting publications in actual medical literature...  generally volume and not mass of stools are measured, as they are mostly water (even the hard ones). 

 

There was definitely a touch of hyperbole in my comment.  I used to be a LOT (over 100 pounds) heavier than I am now, and I recall that my toilet results were a lot different then.  I am not willing to get to 650 pounds, though, to see just how much my poop weighs.

There used to be a British TV show called "You Are What You Eat."  As part of evaluating diets, the nutritionist on the show would have people poop into a Tupperware container so she could evaluate the poop.  As I recall, the results from obese people were different (and much larger) than those of less-obese people.

But 12 pounds . . . yeah . . . not really.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I DVR the Friday night Supersized episodes, and for next Friday, the 28th, there is no supersized scheduled.     But that's according to my cable guide, which is often lying.    

Titan TV says there will be a supersized Friday the 28th, just like always.  

Edited February 22, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Carboncat]

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2020 at 9:12 AM, ilovebeaarthur said:

I've been a Calm app user since 2016, and it was incredibly helpful when I was having issues with falling asleep. My husband uses it each night, as well, and is pretty much snoring before he's halfway finished.

Oh, but husband-snoring is actually how I joined the Pounders!  Onto the couch, alarm clock set,  "Law and Order" is not actually on 24/7---there are gaps.  So....I discovered TLC, and you know the rest.

Long, long time ago, I was a big "Inspector Morse" fan.  I read the books, too, as well as watching the PBS series.  My husband (not a fan) used to joke that "Inspector Morse" was better than Nyquil for sleeping.  We chuckled and bantered this inside joke for years.

Was funny then; is poignant now....

Of course Morse was killed off by heart attack in the series, then the author died, then the actor died.

No more stories. The personal losses of those involved I'm sure  were painful and deep.  It's funny how all this wafts down on butterfly-wing air currents to a California housewife and alters her life in a way.

No more "Inspector Morse" jokes.

White Noise machines help. They are basically an entombed fan.  Or a real fan, like my bedside one.  I guess i'll have to fire it up soon.  Unfortunately we have had zero rain here this month, and are looking at drought again and temps are in the 70's.  Might sound good to some, but this doesn't look good for us.

Night time temps here are still in the upper 30's.  It's concerning.  As is the wind.  Still have flannel sheets on the beds.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Carboncat
added something

[ilovebeaarthur]

12 hours ago, Carboncat said:

Oh, but husband-snoring is actually how I joined the Pounders!  Onto the couch, alarm clock set,  "Law and Order" is not actually on 24/7---there are gaps.  So....I discovered TLC, and you know the rest.

Do you also live in my house? My husband likes to joke that Law and Order is on all the time in our house, but I said there are gaps...for 600 lb life and Hoarders.

[Carboncat]

20 minutes ago, ilovebeaarthur said:

Do you also live in my house? My husband likes to joke that Law and Order is on all the time in our house, but I said there are gaps...for 600 lb life and Hoarders.

Exactly!

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, ilovebeaarthur said:

Do you also live in my house? My husband likes to joke that Law and Order is on all the time in our house, but I said there are gaps...for 600 lb life and Hoarders.

And - when all else fails - you can always have Iyanla fix your life.

[Hana Chan]

Another update, y'all. I managed to strain a muscle in my abdomen/side right around my waistline on the left side that hurts like hell! Of course, I freaked out, thinking that I might have damaged something and made an emergency call to my surgeon. Fortunately, she reassured me that this is entirely normal since all my abdominal muscles are healing and as I feel better, I'll be pushing myself and sometimes a muscle will just go "Fuck off!" So I'm going to be a bit sore for the next week or so. Thank the gods for liquid Tylenol! 

On the plus side, I'm starting to graduate to some more foods and I'm able to tolerate things like chicken salad and well cooked, tender meat. Of course, my portion sizes look like that of a fussy toddler. Last night I had beef stew at our local dinner of which I ate two cubes of beef (maybe 2 ounces total), one chunk of potato and two bits of carrot that were very soft and tender. It was delicious and I was very satisfied but it's hysterical just how little it takes to satisfy me. Mom and I were already sharing entrees when we eat out, but a meal that used to give both of us a decent dinner now can provide us at least another meal for later. But at least I get to actually eat food now, so yay!

I decided to treat myself to something special after going through this, and made a reservation to go on a three day whale watch out of Montauk this summer. It'll be nice to get away for a bit and see some amazing wildlife and get a chance to do some nice photography. I can't wait! And I'll be considerably thinner when I go.