Oregondaisy

My arms are gross. I do all sorts of weight training for my triceps and there is muscle in there, but the hanging skin is in the way of the muscle showing. I won't wear short sleeves unless it's over 100 outside and that is very rare!

I eat the fiber one cereal too. I like it a lot. For the time being, I am going to go as carbless as possible to get rid of this yeast infection. Every book I have read in the health food stores and online have said that carbs feed the yeast. I really like the Kashi crunch cereal and it's pretty high in fiber. I will try to eat as many greens as I can until I can get this under control. I use the miralax too but not every day. I am so sorry about your dad Mimi. That is so sad. My heart goes out to you! That is so hard. Katy, you need an unfill. You're probably swollen inside and that's why even liquids are giving you problems. Can you find someone to have some taken out before your doctor gets back? That's a long time to go when you're having that kind of trouble, and it's dangerous. If you can't get an unfill, try sipping something like the Protein Water so you don't get dehydrated and let the swelling go down. The more you pb, it causes more swelling.

What a hassle. I don't see why he would need a colonoscopy. that isn't even related to the liver. My liver doc is a gastroenterologist. (sp?) He is the one that did my liver biopsy twice. I think there are liver specialist, but a gastroenterologist doctor would be good too.

I completely agree with the protein low carb thing. Carbs are so evil for me. Once I let them back in, I am craving them more and more. I have a horrible yeast infection that I can't seem to get rid of. I can't get into the dr. until Thursday. I read online all about it ( as I have many times) and the best thing to get rid of it is to get rid of sugar and carbs in the diet. So, now I have myself convinced that I am allergic to carbs. They are not worth the pain that I am in. So what is everyone else doing for fiber if you are limiting the carbs? That is always an issue for me. I can go back to adding the husks into my water but that seems to make my gas problems worse. One problem after another, it seems. Congratulations to Orea and Pix! And Lynn! I hope your date turns into something if that is what you truely desire. I know meeting my bf and having him in my life has brought me a lot of happiness.

Where in Walmart are these already made meatballs? Are they by the frozen dinners?

Thanks for posting the link to the 5 day diet. It's a big help to anyone who has ever done it. I am so glad the holidays are over. I did really good up until a certain point then went completely nuts. I am glad to be going back to the gym tomorrow and I was good and only ate Protein today. Once I do protein only for about 3 days, it makes it a lot easier to do the pouch diet. The hunger is gone and it's easier to drink liquid Protein just like the post op diet and I lost like crazy post op! When you read the site, it talks more about the gastric bypass but it works well for banded people too.

I sent you a private message. I really need help with this. Please let me know what you have done to help this.

Missy how is he doing? Did they get the problems with his liver straightened out?

I doubt if you stretched your stomach unless you have a really tight fill. Going back to the basics of Protein only will get you back on track. You can search the 5 day pouch test too. That really seems to get people losing again . Up on the right is the search feature.

I couldn't agree more. So many people think being too tight is the way to lose weight and it's not!

It's a very fine line between being too tight and being just right. If you can't eat solid protein, it's best to have some taken out. It's so difficult to get it just right. It seems sometimes that we can eat anything we want, and as much of it as we want, then get a fill, and can't eat anything. There is a place in between though, but sometimes it takes a fill and an unfill and another fill to get there though.

I had a 4 month plateau that I broke through by going back to the liquid diet. It was hell but I did it. 4 protein drinks per day. I can count calories until dooms day, but some how some extra calories manage to sneak their way in there. Somehow telling myself I am on the liquid diet, 4 shakes per day, gives me the willpower to not put anything else in my mouth. I need to do it again.

This was happening to me too. I never had problems in the day time.I would wake up from a sound sleep throwing up. I thought everything was fine. I had an esphagram and it showed the barium sitting in my esophagus for over 15 minutes and not going down through the band until they removed 1 cc. My dr. says this is very dangerous. I would recommend an esophagram. Even if you don't feel too tight in the day time, throwing up at night is a sign that you are too tight and it's dangerous.

Yes, it's better to come here and get it all out. That is a good thing, that you are thinking about his wife. If you could only realize, if the two of you could be together, it wouldn't be like you thought it would be. It's all exciting in the beginning, but that feeling never lasts.

I have to be careful of those protein bars. Am I the only one having GAS problems? I have horrible gas. I have started taking Beano. Most of those protein bars have that sugar alcohol in them. If I eat anything with sugar alcohol in it, forget it. You can't be in the same room as me all day or night. My daughter gets so mad at me. I tell her I can't help it. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, I have gas all the time, but I know that sugar alcohol or malitol makes it 1000xx times worse.

I wish the sugar free stuff would not make me crave sugar too. As I said, my doctor and nutritionist both agree that our bodies don't know the difference between sweet and sugar free sweet. It keeps the taste for sweets in our brains. I am going to try to just have a sf popsicle late in the evening when it's almost time for bed. If I have something sugar free right after dinner, then I am looking around for what else I can find even if it's sugar free. It makes me want to eat all evening long.

If there is anyone in Oregon that is a self pay, I do believe Dr. Steven Tersigini is the lowest price in Oregon. He is charging 10,000.00 for lap band surgery.

Give it a few days to see if it will loosen on it's own. Sometimes fills just get looser in a few days. When you get past what ever plan your doctor has you on after a fill, if you can't eat hard protein like chicken without throwing it up, you might consider having a bit taken out. You'll have to chew the chicken until it's liquid in your mouth though.

It might take awhile to get restriction. Some people it takes 3 fills. My suggestion is if you're hungry, eat Protein. That is how the low carb diet works. You can eat as much protein as you want, without counting calories, and you will lose weight. If you're in the mushy stage, stay away from mashed potatoes. They are carbs and will cause hungry. Eat tuna and mayo, egg salad, etc. If you eat nything that you can eat that is protein, you should get through bandster hell without gaining and being hungry.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 brings all of us exactly what we want for ourselves. I am really glad the holidays are over and I can get back into my routine. No more junk food at work, and people baking me goodies for gifts even though I told them not to. My mother in law baked me a loaf of home made bread and I brought it home and tossed it straight into the garbage. I am really going to try hard to get the cravings out of my system and go back to the way I ate during the weight loss stage. I know it's not easy, but I have done it before, so I know it's possible!

I can tell anyone that living with the band is a learning experience. It's not the magic cure that some people think it is. I thought I was fine. I could eat anything I wanted. Nothing got stuck. I got full on the amount of food I was supposed to eat for someone who has a band. I didn't throw up or pb as we call it. All of a sudden, I started throwing up in my sleep. I called my doctor and his office told me if I had a problem, I would be throwing up in the daytime. I insisted on a test. It turned out the barium sat in my esophaugs for over 15 min. without going through the band like it was supposed to. I had to have 1/3 of my fill removed and my surgeon said I can't have any more fill because I had no symptoms other than in the middle of the night. I wonder how long the food was sitting in my esophagus like the barium was? The entire time, I thought I was doing fine. If I had known about the sleeve, I would have gotten it instead of a band. I would never have to worry about having the right fill ever again. I was a self pay too, and now I worry that the band is going to erode my stomach, only because I know it has the possibiliy to do that. If I had gotten the sleeve, I would never have that worry.

Join us on the over 50's thread. It's a very supportive group and there are a lot of us there supporting each other. There are a lot of new people who haven't had their bands very long, as well as some of us who have had it awhile. Sometimes getting a fill is not the answer. If you can eat small portions of healthy food and not get hungry then you probably don't need one. I can relate to eating the junk that makes anyone gain weight. Unfortunately, the junk food goes down the easiest. Sometimes, people are just too tight and the junk food goes down the best.

If you follow the rules and do your part, that does not happen. The band is not the magic cure. It's not going to stop you from eating candy chips cookies and ice cream. It will help you get full from a smaller amount of food but it will not stop head hunger for junk food.

What are you eating? Eating a lot of carbs causes hunger. Are you eating hard protein like chicken? Also foods that slide right through the band will not keep you full for very long.

Vegas girl, if you read the beginning of this thread, you know that the reason the fill does not last is when you lose weight, you lose fat around your stomach. that makes the band looser. If chicken and turkey are getting stuck, you are probably taking too big of bites and not chewing enough. So many of those people who have had the by pass do lose weight fast, but they don't keep it off long tern. If you learn to change your eating habits, you will lose and learn to keep it off. That is the main goal, right? to not gain it back? Getting another fill and being so tight that you can't swallow spit is not the answer. Being too tight is horrible. People who are too tight end up living on ice cream, and that is not the road to weight loss. Getting full on hard protein is the way the band is meant to work. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I am not sure getting another fill is the answer for you if you're getting chicken and turkey stuck.