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First Post LB Visit

I had my first follow-up visit yesterday all went well. Signed up for a Vemma Program it is super shot supplement drink, my doctor suggested it. I had lost another 1.5lbs since Thursday. I still have no hunger and only eat one meal a day with two protein shakes. Life is good. Oh, my scars are looking great , been doing the Maderma. I discussed my belching, the doc said I am an air swallower and since the conversation, I have caught myself doing just that. I will try to break that habit. Also I discussed my lack of energy and exercise with him. He told me I was still healing and not to worry about it at this point. I go back in 3 months unless I begin to get hungry. He thinks I may be one of those who won't need a fill, or at least not much as he explained one of his patients has lost 111 pounds in 6 months with no fills. I should add he put in some fill when he does the surgery and if I eat anything close to a cup I get a very bad feeling.I still have about a week and a half before going back to work and am glad to have the time off, I am amazed of the ones who go right back to work. You are better than I, guess some don't have a choice. But my advice to anyone having the LB, if you can take some time, please do. I know I also had hernia surgery but still I have needed this time. On a brighter note, I bought a new kitchen canister to put my shake mix in and have all my supplements lined up in the spice cabinet. So what I am saying is I have Incorporated LB into my life. Also I still refuse to let anyone make changes to their life because of my LB, I carry enough guilt without having that to shoulder. So eat what you want, invite me to dinner, or a party. I can cope, this is all about me so don't try to make it about you. :thumbdown: I will be giving you my fat clothes on the way to a better me.   If you read my blog, please leave a comment, so I know this is helping someone other than myself. Even though if no one reads it I am ok, since this is about me:thumbup:
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

10
 

First day back at work

Today was my first day back at work after a month off due to my LB and hernia surgery. All went well, went to lunch with friends and was not tempted, came home and had my turkey burger, but I must admit I was a little hungry when I got home, more head hunger than actual hunger. So I will have to come up with a plan for that, I think it is because I had my first protein shake at 5am, just made it seem later. Also, I am tired so I will be going to bed as soon as Big Bang Theory is over. Back to the grindstone. The positive note is everyone could tell I had lost weight even those who did not know I had surgery. I thought about my goals for weight loss, so I am hoping for at least 10 pounds a month till I get this baggage off me. Hope everyone else is doing well. Oh I should mention the shirts I usually wear to work were TOO big so, I wore a shirt I have not wore in a few years :w00t:
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

7
 

Did I mention I turn 52 later this month, so what to do

Just more of my rants, I turn 52 later this month and by the way I don't look a day over 42 (you will just have to trust me, no pictures). Anyway the other half and I always go to dinner (usually Doe's Eat Place) and a movie for my birthday and I buy myself something nice. The dilemma is if I go to Doe's it won't be the same since I can't order a 5lb Porterhouse and the movie, I have already done that no coke and popcorn just a nice bottle of water. So how do I celebrate my new life, which trust me is better than the old one and I might actually live to the next birthday. My favorite thing to do now is work in the yard and walk... I am open to suggestions.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

7
 

I cheated and it felt so bad

Well it was the 4th of July weekend. On Friday I took a nephew to see Transformers, did good had water while he sat there eating his popcorn. After the movies he wanted to go to Maggie Moo's and ice cream shop right outside the movie. Cool we went in and he ordered, and before I knew it I ordered one scoop of dark chocolate ice cream. It really was not as good as I had imagined, not saying the ice cream was not good, I am sure it was great, just one of those self expectation that did not live up to the expectation. Wish I had stuck to my meal plan, notice I did not say diet, I don't diet anymore. Then later that night, it was a BBQ and a home made lemon maraign pie. The BBQ went down fine, I guess I had about a half cup. The pie I took home and over the weekend I consumed about a quarter of the pie. Not good, since I am going to Vegas this month and wanted to be down another 15 pounds. For Sunday I had bought a steak, decided I was not hungry Sunday, remember I had eaten pie. So I cooked to tonight. I ate maybe two bites and stuck tighter than you can imagine. I slimed and PB'ed for over an hour, just plain nasty. I swore this is the last steak I will buy...anyway, I don't feel like I failed, just feel like I could have done better.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

7
 

I was so stuck I thought I needed to call a plumber

last night I cooked a turkey medallion, one of those you get from Sam's Club, I have not had any issues before with them, so I was quiet surprised when I got stuck almost at the end of my meal. Guess a took a bite without chewing it the way I know I need to chew or it just went down the wrong way. I was not too bad at first but it just kept getting worst. It took over two hours of slimming and puking before I got any relief. You know it ti bad when you are so stuck you drink water just to try to get it up, since as soon as water went down, it came right back up. I was so exhausted when after two hours it went down, that I had to go to bed. While it was going on I walked and did anything I could think of short of calling a plumber to snake it out. NOT MUCH FUN AT ALL. today I ate another one with out an issue. It is so odd that what you can eat one day you can't the next and vice versa. But even with all that I would not trade my band for anything. This morning I was down another two inches in the waist. I am now in a size 40, begin with a 46 that was tight. I have cleaned out my closet, as soon as they fit the other size is out of the closet never to return. I did this with a big smile on my face. :thumbup:
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

7
 

It's a lie

The Lapband works, if anyone tells you different they don't have a clue what they are talking about. I post this since some people get discouraged and hear people saying it's just a gimmick or it's too hard once you get banded. October the 16th will be 7 months for me and I am doing great, I took a vacation from the band while I was on vacation (extended which really lasted almost two months). That means I ate whatI wanted too, not always what I should. While I did not lose weight during that period, I did not gain. Thus the band works, it controled my eating even it it was not my intent. Well I am back from vacation and had a fill the day after I returned. I am back to losing. I did walk in the Little Rock "Walk for Obesity" and now I am back to working my ban. I know I will be in "onederland" soon. Get the band, it works.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

5
 

Your Fired

Friday I came home from work and my yard was not done, see I am the last yard of the week. So I am thinking after years of having my yard done, because I was too FAT to do it myself. I figured if I can walk 2.5 miles, I can mow my own yard. So I fired the yard crew and got the mower out and mowed. This may seem like a simple task to many but since I was so FAT I could not do it without it taking me hours since I would have to mow a little and rest a lot, mow a little and rest a lot. When I mowed I edged, fertilized, and killed the bugs while I was out there. I did everything in 2.5 hours on a Friday night after working all day and walking 2.5 miles at lunch. Boy I love the LB. More money saved since I was spending $200 a month for yard care, add this to the $400 I am saving in food and I will take a nice vacation this year.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

5
 

DON'T GET A LAPBAND if....

I read a few entries today and want to make sure you have a very clear understanding. LB is not a miracle, you can't continue your bad habits of before and expect to lose weight. If you are getting the LB and think you can set on the couch and eat bonbons all day and then whine bitch and moan because your not losing weight DON"T GET A LAPBAND. You can't drink that beer as one guy complained, or I am still drinking cola as another complained and don't understand why after a year she had lost only 20 pounds. The LB is a lifestyle change not a cosmetic. If you are unwilling to follow your doctors orders for eating and exercise save your money, go on a cruise and stuff yourself at the buffet. The LB for me is a great tool, it gives me more control than I had before, I can eat, sleep, and exercise to become a better and healthier person. Eating, follow your doctors directions, follow the good advise on here ask your nutritionist when you have questions, find what works for you and do it. Exercise, you have to do it, get off your butt, walk, mow the yard, do your honey do list, whatever it takes to stay busy. The more you do the more you feel like doing. It gets better everyday, not easy but better. Sleep: this lets your body recharge, if you are not getting sleep you are not losing weight. Make a plan and stick to it. Last of my rant is don't compare yourself to anyone else on here, what you lose is what you lose based on what you ate, slept and exercised. Sorry I just had to get this off my chest after reading a few post from those who whine bitch and moan and won't get off their butts. Exercise is the hardest thing I do, but I do it. Pushing myself away from the table is hard, but I do it. Making myself go to bed at 8:30 at night so I can get 8 hours sleep is hard but I do it. The reward for this is that I feel better, I look better, I have more energy, I am alive again and I might just live a few more years.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

5
 

Just when you think life returns to normal you are attacked by PB's

OMG I thought I was going to die. A little background first, I love chicken, I ate chicken almost daily before the LB. Well I am 3 months post OP and have had a second fill that has me very tight, now your caught up. So yesterday I go to Sam's and buy a rotisserie chicken, like a have done a few hundred times before pre-LB. I got it home and took it off the bone and in the fridge it went. I am thinking I can eat this, the ground turkey is getting old and I needed something new. Now the gross part. I am setting at lunch today have a very small plate of chicken approx 3 ounces and I take a bite chew very well and a nice change from the ground turkey. I few more very small bites go by and then it happens. I get stuck, it is so painful and just down right nasty. I stand at the sink for at least 30 minutes foaming at the mouth, coughing up nasty and every time I think I am done, I am not. I chew papaya enzyme pills trying to get unstuck while I am in pain. At one point I thought what am I going to do. It just keeps on....then one last painful puke and it's gone. Boy did that suck. I thought I was past this..... I was so tired afterward I layed down for a while. Now the good news, when I got up I had a brainstorm as opposed to the brain farts I usually have. I wanted ice cream, so I broke out my ice cream maker and turned my chocolate protein shake into ice cream by adding a little splenda and some sugar free Hershey's chocolate sauce to my protein shake milk and soy milk. It was great, I don't have to feel left out.. I can live with my LB. Oh the chicken was finely copped and added to chicken broth, orzo, corn and pea dish that I had no trouble getting down at dinner. I should also note that I did not walk this weekend it was just too hot, it's time to Wii.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

5
 

I had my FIRST FILL today, much to do about nothing

I had my first fill today 8 weeks post-op. 3.4cc in a 10cc band. It was a piece of cake other than laying on the table with the pillow ( I would call it a pain pad) under the small of my back. I did the fill on my lunch hour and most of that was drive time. I pulled up my shirt, Dr. Luttrell, told me he would be pressing, never really had much pressure, maybe since it is easy to feel my port. He wiped something on my port area told me I would feel a pick then some burning that was the deadener for the fill. He got the port on the first try, took out everything if there was anything then had me set up so the Fluoroscope could be used, had to drink some strawberry barium just a sip, he could see as well as I could see it went right through, then he added saline, drank some more which showed it was slowed down he made another adjustment then had me drink water to flush it through. I was good to go. But now I am back on fluids for a week then mushes for a week. The issue with that is I will be on mushes for my birthday.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

5
 

Another good weekend

I did not get to walk today because it was raining this morning so that put a damper on the whole day. I was not as motivated as usual on only Biddle around, really did not accomplish anything other than I was able to eat my steak today. It is odd how the LB works sometimes I can eat other times not so much. It did take a while, but was worth it, good protein. So the rest of the day I will only have two protein shakes. I did brown some ground turkey for my meals though out the week. It just makes it easier when I don't have to give much thought to the food I eat.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

4
 

Good News

I went to my first group support meeting last night at my doctors office. I was able to weigh and had lost an official 24 lbs. Group was a nice collection of people in different stages of LB. But it was good information the doctor was there so we could ask anything and got some great advice. I will plan to make these monthly since I know people lose more when they have a peer structure. I am feeling even better today and went to a movie, setting in the chair was a little uncomfortable. I actually made myself eat 3 meals today, two protein shakes and one cream of mushroom soup thinned with beef broth. I still have no hunger. My wounds are looking better and maybe in another week they will be healed.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

4
 

After 14 months two insurance companies and much headache I AM APPROVED

I started this journey years ago, but started the Lap band Journey as my 2008 New Years resolution. The year was trauma and drama, I fought BCBS of Arkansas all the way to the Arkansas Insurance Commission, who would not even acknowledge I existed, much less assist me. Moved my insurance to United Health Care and changed my Lap band doctor and today I got the call that I have waited 14 months for, I AM APPROVED. So here I am 51 years old male at 320 pounds. I go to the Shrink on Monday, not a insurance requirement but a doctor requirement since he had to remove a band from someone who was not prepared. I will then go on two weeks of liquid diet and Monday we will set a date. This may sound odd, but I am excited that someone is going to invade my body and implant a foreign device,but I am. I appreciate all of your entries since that has got me though this process. Thanks to all....:cool2:
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

4
 

I slimmed and PB'ed

I have been doing great, sticking to my less than 1000 calories a day and have lots of energy. The weight is coming off slowly, but better than it going up. I still have not had a fill, but think I might ask for one...Anyway to the point. If you read my blog, I am treating myself well, I can afford to since I eat so little. Well Saturday night I cooked the two lobster tails I had bought at the first of the month (by the way lobster is dirt cheap right now due to the economy), I digress. Anyway, yesterday I worked in the yard all day, I mean all day, then came in and got a shower. I decided I would eat the second lobster tail, they are only 6 ounces out of the shell, yes I weighed them, I weigh everything so I can track my calories. So I popped that bad boy in the microwave to heat it up and since I had been so good I also heated up a turkey patty. So I sat down in front of the TV to eat, with my small fork and my surf and turf. I get most of the way through it and I get that feeling that you get when you are suppose to stop. I thought what the hell only a couple more bits, who is going to throw away lobster. That is when it happened. This horrible pain mid-way down my chest, OK, I jump up run around the house for a few hoping it will go through, not so lucky the pain get worst, then I start the sliming, all a sudden I am spitting out slim, a lot of it. Then I belch a few times, it continues on for several minutes and then the food goes down which is way better than up. It made eating very unpleasant. I even thought about just doing shakes, that was how bad it was. But man can not live on shakes, so tonight I bakes 6 ounces of flounder and it went down without issue, of course I was very slow eating. I did not want to repeat that ever again. You may also remember me mentioning my new toy the Magic Bullet, which I mix my shakes in, well, now with the vanillas Chike and some fruit, I have tried, cherries, mango, blueberry's and raspberries (blueberries are the best). It is a great treat like a dessert. I limit myself to one a day since I still have to come in under 1000 calories. I have done so well I tried on my 42 waist pants today, wishful thinking, still a ways to go. But it did start my day out more determined. I go to group on Thursday and will update my ticker after I get an official weight. Stay the course.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

4
 

Twp Months Post-Op and the old jeans are now in the garage sale

I had my LB on March 16th so it seems fitting on May 15 to let everyone know, I have gone from a tight 46inch to a comfortable 42inch. I have added my 46's to the garage sale pile along with the belts I can no longer wear. Life is good going down. I am so much more active, I have not had a migraine since LB, I have not even taken any headache medicine, pepcid, rolaids, etc. Maybe the LBer's are contributing to the global recession. less food, less clothes, less everything. Life is good going down.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

The immersion blender is my new "Best Friend"

I have struggled since my fill last week getting any solids down. You read where I tried steak. Last night it was ground turkey, still had major issues, took me an hour to eat then an hour at the sink getting it back up. Not much fun. So today I turned my ground turkey into chili, then hit it with the immersion blender till it looked like red apple sauce. At that point I had no issues consuming about a cup, maybe more. Since it was the first real food I have had in days I did not mind going over a little. I know this tightness will loosen up, but for now I will say I can't imagine having another fill. It is all about working the tool and I would say that is what I am doing. Best to all of you for reading my rants, Greg
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

It gets better all the time

I have not posted in almost a week, but that is a good thing. I have been so busy. I am walking 2 miles at lunch and 5 miles each day on the weekend. I took a 5 pound weight to work and now do a routine while I am on those long calls. I also took an exercise band to work and have a routine for that as well. After work it is straight to the next project, I am getting so much done. I had a garage sale over th weekend and yard work and it just keeps getting better. The task I use to dread, I can do at a run. On Sunday I was at the park walking 5 miles at 6am, then did my shopping on the way home and came straight home to mow the yard. I could have never done that before I had the LB. I went to the Bonefish Grill on Saturday night and did not feel like people were watching to see how much I ate, then took most my meal home. I am on a routine on what I eat daily since food no longer consumes me, the same thing each day because I have placed so little importance on it. I still have a ways to go, or quiet a ways to go, but you can't believe how much better I feel. When I think about cheating, I just look in the mirror or get on the scales. When people look at me now it is not because I am so fat but because I am beginning to look good. Another point I should make is find a support group and go, Group keeps you encouraged. The support I have found on here is also great, fabby50 Bernadette is always there for my support. Try to do the same for others...
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

New Toy must have for the LB and it's free

Last week in group one of the ladies talked about The Daily Plate which is now located on Livestrong. I had been tracking my calories manually in a spreadsheet, not much fun. Well on The daily Plate you can track what you eat, when you eat, and your exercise. It is just awesome, since I am trying to stay around the 1000 calories a day. it is so easy and has food by the brand. I will soon be adding a link so you can see what I eat. Also I still continue to walk when it is not raining. Will write again soon, gotta run.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

Well, I am at a standstill and I know why..

It has been too hot to walk like I was walking and it has slowed down my weight loss.I really need to be down another 15 pounds by the last week of July for my Vegas trip, self imposed goal. Anyway I will continue on and I am not discouraged, I know it will continue to come off if I don't cheat and work my band like my company works me (not a complaint, glad to have a job). The 4th of July will be different, instead of me grilling, drinking and eating. I will be chill-in. I did buy a brisket for a friend to cook for me, don't know if I can eat it, but will give it a try. Chopped up in the food processor a quarter cup at a time. I have just now begun to get a little solid food down since my tragic chicken episode last week. I also bought another chicken today, took it off the bone and chopped it to shreds, then shredded it with a fork. Maybe and just maybe I will be able to eat some of it. No worries if I don't eat no big deal. I also think my lack of food has stalled my weight loss. Happy 4th of July to everyone.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

Found a new toy

You know Iam doing the two shakes a day plus the Lean Cuisine, or fish, or turkey. Anyway I bought a Magic Bullet, ya like the ones you see on TV. It is like a mini blender, but has two separate blanes and more than 4 cups. So here is what is cool, I can but my 10 ounces of Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk, with my Vanilla Chike (protein supplement) and a few Blueberry's and about 10 ounces of water and I have a great shake, you would never know it is diet food, this summer I can add ice instead of water and make a smoothie. Anyway I worked in the Yard the past two days, maybe a little too much, sore back. But I feel great, look great and losing weight. What more can a man ask for (don't answer that).
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
 

5 Days Post Band

I put away all my pain medicine today as I have not used it in a few days. I tried to return to normal. Also I begin to add back in my protein. I had one 20gm protein slim fast this morning and then broth for the rest of the day. I was able to do a little around the house, but by afternoon I was exhausted. It gets better everyday. Still no hunger and the dull headache has begun to go away.
Gregnlr

Gregnlr

3
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