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So Today is post op day 6. Almost a week into being band. I am getting the hang of things but I have not been counting my calories but I know I am going no where near the recommended amounts with what I am eating. I know I need to get better at that since when I get back on solids I will have to be vigilant on this. So anyway I am feeling okay have had a few bouts of nausea but phenergan and rest has made it better. I am tolerating liquids and most everything else on my diet. I am having a lot of trouble getting in the recommended amounts of protein and water however as I have always struggled with. I have tried several different brands of protein powder and have a bad reaction to the slightest bit. I have never been lactose intolerant so I did some research and it says that I may be allergic to soy and whey. I have tried powders for them both. My incisions are quite smaller then I expected and I do have a lot of bruising and swelling at my port site. As far as pain it is almost gone unless I do too much which is hard for me to just sit and not do house work. I have not felt hungry but once on day three and have to make myself eat. I did have my first episode of hiccups and man that did not feel good. I am still struggling with energy level so I have started taking b12 and going to try to move around a lot more today and get back in my pre surgery habits of walking I think I have rested long enough. Tomorrow I get to move to a pureed diet so I will have to start trying some new things. Nervous about advancing but I have tolerated everything fine. My follow up appointment is not until feb 14th hopefully I will have developed some good habits by then and get ready to go back to work at the end of feb. I find it still hard to watch my husband eat really good food or even something that I would not even want but now I do while I am sitting here sipping on soup but what do I do? He has to eat too. It is very easy in these first few days to sit here and get depressed I have found. But I constantly remind myself that I am doing this for a great change. Hopefully in the days to come when I get back to my old routine of doing things I will feel better. It is just hard to focus on this which I need to be right now deal with life worry about bills tend to everything else that you have to in life. Seems I am living from one meal to the next not living. But like I said I am going to try to start incorporating everyday life and find a balance with my band. I am determined to succeed at this. xoxoxo Rach

The form fitting clothes in my closet were disappearing. So were my heels and jeans. Somehow they were replaced with sweatshirts, sweatpants, and men's t-shirts and I couldn't stand the sight of myself. I was avoiding situations where my weight would possibly be an issue. I wasn't living any more, I was existing. Once my denial was completely drained out, I realized although I promised this time would be different, my dieting and exercise attempts failed over the past 4 years. I made the appointment to learn more about the lap band in October of 2010 and after the seminar I was sure it was for me. At times I doubted if I could go through with it, if I could say goodbye to overeating. But then I remembered how I felt after I overate, how I looked after I overate. How my health would continue on the downward path if I keep overeating. So, I keep remembering that "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". Yes, I can choose to eat that bacon cheeseburger, that steak, those fries. It's not that "I can't eat it because I'm dieting". Now, I think "I don't want to eat that because I want to live". I had a great surgery experience. My veins are usually very difficult but the nurse got the IV in on her first try . The anesthesiologist was witty and charming and the surgeon was eager for me to start my new life (and also let me know Mondays are great for him because he's well rested ). They gave me a drug to relax me then took me back to the OR. We were talking and next thing I knew I woke up in the recovery room. I was in pain, let them know, and started my pain medication regimen. Then I had an xray done on the same bed, I was glad I didn't have to move around. Then I went to another room, my husband came in and I was released within an hour. I was happy to go home and sleep! Today is day 2, I have no hunger for now and I'm so glad this part is over with! I will definitely find some terrible pictures my husband managed to sneak of me a few days before the liquid diet and post them . Thanks for reading!