Well, I must have been the luckiest bandster ever, or the doc just managed to deaden some nerve in my tummy - because I have had so little pain that it hardly bears mentioning. The gas has been present - occassonally a little pressure, but not painful or problematic. I have been reading about new bandsters with pain for a long time and I was quite surprised NOT to be one of them.

I am generally such a wuss!:knockedou

I went on Tuesday (2/21) to my two week post-op visit with Doctor Fox. While I haven't lost any weight officially, I know that my measurements are still catching up to the 16 pounds I lost on the pre-op diet. My clothes fit again - and my face is visibly thinner. I forgot about that pointy chin I have...

While this makes me happy, I still need to get up and get back to the gym. Work has been so crazed lately that I have been very bad - I haven't been to the gym since prior to surgery! This weekend - it's the Treadmill or Bust.

I have not been very compliant on the food side, either... I started eating things consistently a day or two prior to when the doc's diet said I could... Bad me. I have currently eaten everything except steak - including bread. I had a fish sandwich for lunch.

I have the Vanguard band - and while I have some limited restriction during the day, I have little or none at night. So far, though, this has not distressed me too much. I am practising my chewing skills. Knowing how much I have to concentrate on this act, now, I guess I spent the last 40 years swallowing my food practically whole. Considering how fast I used to eat, that's not impossible. :yuck:

I have to guard against getting hungry - since that is when it is very difficult for me to get the food fully ground up before swallowing. There have been several times when I knew that some not-quite-well-chewed bit got past me - and I was waiting for the pain - but it never came. The big band means that the food is pretty much just Pausing - and then moving right by. So far, I haven't had any major portion control issues - maybe just slowing down is enough that the stop signal gets hit.

I am on the fence about getting a fill. My doc says I can have one after my one month visit on the 7th - but I am afraid. I mean, geez... I have no pain and I can eat anything I want if I chew it well. My bathroom scale said I was down a couple of pounds today - so do I really want one?

But, on the other hand - I have already said that the food is only pausing - the big band is mostly worthless without a fill... and the danger of being able to eat anything is that I will eat everything. No restriction is too much temptation. I think I will have to get a small fill - whether I want to or not. I got this surgery for a reason, and no matter how nice it is to be spoiled, I better take the next step. *fear* I hate pain and I don't want any PB's!!!

I really am in this for the long haul, though. I don't want to lose weight so fast that my whole body sags and I get that big wattle under my chin.

I am doing what I can to stave off the panni problem - I wear a girdle 24/7. A comfy one to sleep in and a tougher one during the day. I started wearing it about 2 days after surgery. My belly flopping around was way more uncomfortable than wearing the girdle! I wish I had started doing it 10 yrs ago when the panni first started to hang!! I know I will have to have PS if I ever want to have a flat belly. It's just a fact. I am wearing a sports bra to lounge and sleep in, too. I don't want the girls getting bruised on my knees!! It's an adjustment to sleep with garments on - but I guess it will be nicer if I ever have to run from a fire in the night or anything. LOL!

Thank goodness for Bestform. They make a lovely cotton-spandex sports bra that slips on over your head in big-girl sizes. No tags, no hooks, just soft support. Again, I should have started sleeping in one when I was 14. Oh well... I will never mess with the girls - not even if I have to roll them up to get dressed in the morning....:mad:

So far, this thing is working... I have evolved a little bit now that I have the official ok to eat real food. I was eating yogurt & cheese and soft things all day at work and then eating a little bit of whatever DH cooked for dinner. These last couple of days I have just been drinking my breakfast shake (min. 40 grams of protein + vitamins & calcium) and eating some small thing for lunch. Yesterday, I had a cup of Chili. Today I had the fish sandwich. I am pretty sure that my calories have gone DOWN by doing this... I was parcelling out about 800-900 calories worth of protein shake, SF pudding, cheese, yogurt, etc and just nibbling all day long - which was GREAT for keeping me from getting hungry - but with just the shake and one thing for lunch, I am probably at 700-800 calories instead - depending on the day and the phase of the moon. But DANG - you could eat a lot of stuff, if everything comes in under 70 calories!

I think that I will never properly count calories - I mean, I hate that crap - but I need to keep in mind what the calorie counts on my food are. I imagine after my fill, everything will evolve again - which is fine, too. Ruts are bad. I don't ever want my body to "get used" to anything, except for exercise! I think I will have to boil myself up some chicken breasts and do like I used to do when I did Atkins - low carb during the week, anything on Saturday. Maybe banded, I can carb on Sundays, too. It's hard being pure around my beloved. But, I do lots better when I don't have to worry that I have the right foods. Chicken & cheese sticks with dipping sauce were a staple during the Atkins days. I just need to make them up again. If the food is here, and easy access, I will eat it... most of the time.

I also know that, even with no fill, exercise would make the difference. It takes A LOT of calories to move my beautiful bulk... Now, if I could just get work under control again, so that I could consistently get to the gym, life would be good. The biggest problem is that before I was banded, I would work until 7 - get home at 8 - run to the gym, come home and eat at 9:30 or 10:00. That won't fly any more. Not only will I drop from low blood sugar; but I have to eat before 9 so I can go horizontal without a pouch full of food. I *might* have to try going *GASP* in the morning before work. (ICK!!! Did I just type that?!?)

I am going to have to do SOMETHING - cause I have to get to the gym at least 3 times a week - and there are only two days in the weekend! LOL. Maybe a snack in the late afternoon and coming in a wee bit earlier to work. Hmmm. A little earlier to work seems easier to accomplish than actually working OUT before work - and the whole showering in public thing has never really worked for me. Yeah, that's the ticket. If I get in earlier, SUPPOSEDLY I can leave earlier. We'll see how that goes. I got here just after nine today. For me, that was early - by almost an hour!

If you are not me, and you have read through all this blather, I love you too. I figure you must love me to read through all this personal sorting out. Hope you are having a great day, and that something more exciting than this entry happens to you, soon. (in a good way.)

:]