“You want to eat healthier but your family wants their old favorites. Here's how to comfort them.”

Comfort foods don't have to be banished from your menu - at least not completely. You may not eat them quite as often, however, when the family is clamoring for their old favorites, you can take it on as a challenge. Be creative by making swaps they may not even notice. Try low-fat cheeses in lasagna, reduce the amount of butter in mac-n-cheese, replace some of the fat in cakes with applesauce, and use olive oil instead of butter for hash browns. Even eliminating a few calories, saturated fat, or excess carbs can make a difference in your waistline without altering the taste of family faves.

“You feel really motivated and you're excited about all the possibilities. Here's how to cash in before you cash out.”

We all know that, like money, motivation comes and motivation goes. Embarking on something new, learning about something exciting, and realizing that things are possible for you is exciting. While all that excitement is empowering, unless you take the reigns and giddy-up your motivation could be all for nothing. Take motivation as a kick in the pants and "do" instead of simply dream, plan, or reflect. Once you get some work under your belt, you're far more likely to continue as results of motivation breed future motivation.

“You plan to work out after work but you just want to chill. Here's how to heat things up.”

It's a fact that if you're burned out, you will pick the easiest choice available - good or bad, easy is what you'll go for. So, if you're typically used up and worn out after work, planning a workout then isn't going to work. You're more likely to hit the drive through and eat your easy meal doing something low-key like watching TV. Instead, plan your meal ahead (have salad fixin's ready to go in the fridge, or put something in the crock pot in the morning). Go home, eat your dinner and veg for a bit. Once you've recharged, then head to the club and you'll be ready to give 100% again.

“You want to break out of your shell to have a renewed life. Here's how to make a serious crack.”

Changing your life is easier said then done, but you can do it. Once you've defined problem areas that need addressing, making a plan and starting slowly may be the difference between success and failure. You need time to make sure changes fit your lifestyle. For example, you may try to schedule your work out after work with the idea you'll go home to make a healthy dinner for you or your family. If you find you are completely spent after your workout, caving into the lure of more convenient (and unhealthy) foods may happen too often. You need to have the flexibility to regroup. Perhaps that isn't the best time to workout, or maybe you need to prepare dinners ahead or get someone else in the family to handle dinner. Breaking out of your old life and into a new one takes work. By working around obstacles, you'll be able to battle your way through that tough shell.

“You are working on a healthier life, but you find yourself obsessing about calorie counts and food foes. Here's how to think outside the food box.”

If you constantly think about food, what you can or can't eat, how you'll manage at your sister's wedding dinner, and if eating a Twizzler will blow your diet, you need a reality check. If you have this much time to obsess, maybe you need to find something more constructive to think about. Think beyond yourself. Get some food perspective. Go volunteer at a food bank, women's shelter, or online to sponsor a needy child. Realizing that your excess can actually turn someone else's life around can be very liberating, and motivating. Look at this as an opportunity to not only change your life, but someone else's.

“You want to do more, be more, but you are waiting until you feel more prepared. Here's how to gear up.”

Okay, sorry but sitting out in life isn't going to cut it. Sure, you could wait until you are completely on top of your game in life (whatever that means to you). Or, you could start living it now. What do you want to do? If you feel your weight, or your age, or your personality is holding you back, it is. If you feel nothing can hold you back from your dreams, then they won't. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." If you decide to succeed, and actually move toward that success, you will either succeed or be able to know why you didn't, instead of wondering if you could've or just writing off that you can't.

“You want to eat healthier, but it's such a chore. Here's how to clean up.”

If you've said (probably in a whiny voice), "Eating healthy is more expensive," or "My family doesn't like eating that stuff," or even, "I don't know what to make that's healthy," you are not alone. All of those statements SEEM true, until you overcome them. You are probably just not USED to thinking that way. Start by trying one healthy recipe each week. Yes, there will be some that you or your family doesn't like. You've probably tried new, unhealthy recipes that they didn't like from time to time too. It's okay. Chuck it and try again. There are plenty of very good recipes that will be successes. You may believe that healthy foods are expensive. Depending when produce is in season, and your location, prices will fluctuate. But you can usually work around these issues. You might feel your grocery bill is higher too, if you are buying fresh ingredients in ADDITION to what you normally buy. Once you start REPLACING the processed, pre-packaged foods (and probably a few trips through the drive thru), you'll see that eating well is healthy for your pocketbook too.

I am. Chesapeake. Sleeved 12/11.

“You want to feel inspired, but there's de-motivation at every turn. Here's how to run it off the road.”

Television, family members, so-called friends, magazine ads, a look in the mirror. There are plenty of things that make us feel bad about ourselves. Things that make us doubt that we'll ever succeed at our goals. So, what are we going to do about them? Eleanor Roosevelt had a great quote, "In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." We know outside influences will occasionally bring us down, so how do we spring back up? What motivates you? Music? A particular movie? Thinking about God? Standing in the sunshine? Reading uplifting quotes? Exercising? Find what motivates you and keep your goals on the road to success.

I had to respond to all of this.  I *didnt'* have Dr.Pinnar do my surgery.  I had an appointment time, but before I met him the nice lady in billing explained to me that I had been told incorrectly,.... my insurance wouldn't pay.  I knew there was no way I could pay the cost, so I said I would leave.  No no no, they said... come talk to the doctor. 

I tried to talk to the doctor, but kept getting distracted as he was checking messages on his phone and texting.  At the time I wondered if it was because he knew I wasn't going to be a patient after all, but, in the end, I just think he thought it was okay to do.  I told him office manager, who told him, and he called, very defensive... he only checked his messages twice, and only wrote a text once, and it was important, blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say, I'f I'd won the lottery, I still wouldn't have let him do it.

Fast forward 2.5 years, and I get a bill for that visit.... over $400.  At first, I didn't even recognize the name, and then, when I did, I laughed.  I'd changed insurances, and this was 2 and a half years later.  Wasn't gonna happen.  But, I called the office just to explain that, yes, I got the bill, no, I wouldn't pay it... I'd tried to leave after we knew that insurance wouldn't pay for the surgery, and was told to just meet with the doctor.  Surprise!  The good doctor wasn't even in town!  He'd left, very abruptly, leaving many patients without support for their lap bands.

IMO, this guy is a real piece of work.  I saw on the front page for this forum that he is back in town, and drumming up business.  Be very careful .  IMO, he is rude, arrogant, and totally lacking in morals... and apparently sense, if he thought he could charge me for a visit I tried to end, 2.5 years ago.