Hi everyone, Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving and not eating too much. We will celebrate Sunday when everyone can be together. I am scheduled for my heart surgery (mitral valve replacement) on December 14. I will be home for Christmas. It is open-heart surgery, but is quite common place any more. I have had 2 heart caths within the past 3 weeks and it was discovered that my valve is much worse than previously believed. I am so tired all the time and the least exertion exhausts me and makes me very short of breath. I will be in Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA (in the San Francisco Bay area). I am still losing 29 months out from WLS. My cardiologist tells me that I will lose more after my valve repair. I had really hoped to be in the onederfuls by the new year. Just might make it. I now have 47 lbs to lose to my goal. I can't remember when I was less than 50 lbs. overweight. My daughter is investigating lap-band surgery. She just can't seem to lose her weight and feels the gastric bypass is too drastic for her. Her wake up call came when she applied for life insurance and she had to pay a higher rate because of her BMI. Monna 389/206/159

HI ya girls! We are having two Thanksgiving celebrations because my sweetie has to work. So we are going to my parents and I'll bring the pies. Then I'll cook a turkey for us at home. We LOVE turkey left overs. This time of year is just plain hard. It's so totally focused around eating. Argh!!!! My plan is the same as everyone's stuff myself with turkey and maybe a nibble of the other stuff. Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Turkey dinner will be at my niece's house. I'm bringing mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole. I'm going to try and concentrate on the turkey and just taste the other stuff. I'm also going to try and avoid sugar entirely because lately it's been making me so sick - terrible abdominal bloating and unbelieveable gas. It's actually so miserable that it's finally a deterrent! This week I'm going to try and stay on the liquids during the day and a high protein meal in the evenings. Lately I've been eating Graham crackers and (uh-oh) snacking on Cheetos... Got to get them out of the house..... I'm going to my last tap class tonight until it resumes in January. I've also been learning Cape Breton style Celtic step dancing, so that's great exercise too. I'll be stopping by the board every day just to help keep myself in check... Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving week! Hugs, Nancy

I'm just going to post this one MTL thread, as I know everyone is going to be busy. My plan for the week calls for extreme willpower at work. Tomorrow, we're having a Thanksgiving potluck. There will be turkey, of course, and too many side dishes and deserts to count. I hope to avoid any of the appetizer-type foods, and I know that too much sugar will have me dumping...not good when I have to work with kids! Usually the homemade side dishes aren't very good, so I hope to keep my indulgence to a minimum. The lousy thing is that the food will be in the lounge until it's gone, which means Wednesday. On top of that, we're giving a pizza party in our class on Wednesday because the kids met their reading goals. Thanksgiving at my house will be a small affair. I am making the traditional dishes...stuffing, potatoes, green been casserole, rolls, and a pecan pie with a turkey breast roast. I'm only cooking for 3, so I'm planning to cut the side dishes in half so that there aren't so many leftovers. Exercise this week...I REALLY need to commit myself to it...on a permanent basis. Why is it so hard? I'm doing fine in the water and vitamin departments. I hope everyone has a great holiday! Pamela

Of course the third time's a charm!! Fingers, toes, eyes crossed that it happens this time! I know how stressful it is and how it consumes your whole life - been there, done that and the happy news is that it works! Hang in there Pamela and try to stay as stress-free as possible.... Hugs, Nancy