siyah

My cure for food bordom today was to buy a magic bullet blender. I have to say- it's awesome! Great portion controlish cups, easy to clean and it chopped ice REALLY well. I'm excited to try out new recipes and thin out some of the great bean Soups I bought, too. For dinner I made a smoothie: Trim strawberry yogurt Ice Soy milk frozen raspberries plain Protein powder highly gound flax seeds for Fiber and Probiotics It's fantastic and not too sweet. Sue- welcome! Hope you like it here!

I was really nervous for a week prior to surgery. It began after meeting with the surgeon and he went over all the risks- including death. Finally I had to rationalize that if I keep gaining I'll die prematurely anyway. I'm about 2 weeks out now and steadily feeling better. We all have our food addicitions here and we all have a love affair with food. Food is a companion for me and I understand you not wanting to give up certain items. The good news is that you don't have to give them up forever. You'll learn moderation and be able to eat real food again down the line. In the meantime, being on liquids for so long now has helped me break a few habits and curb my sweet tooth. So fear is normal, but you're gaining a life in the long run. Congratualtions on deciding to do this and feel free to ask me or others here questions as they arise. Take care!

I stumbled across a recipe for Protein pancakes a few minutes ago. I am going to start a file on my computer and catagorize them according to when I cam eat them. These have 10 grams of protein, 2 servings @ 139 calories each: Ingredients <TABLE style="MARGIN-TOP: 5px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px" cellSpacing=3 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD align=right width=50>1/3</TD><TD>cup oatmeal</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD align=right width=50>1</TD><TD>banana</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD align=right width=50>4</TD><TD>egg whites</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Directions Mix all ingredients together. Fry with little oil for about 5 minutes.

SKinnymom- definately something I bet we've all done or will do on some level. For me, I keep accidently gulping water and last night I realized how bad it is to watch TV when you try to concentrate on chewing and portioning. I totally overate cottage cheese last night by bringing out the carton instead of portioning it out in the kitchen. In other words- we all live and learn! Personally, I had a tiny 1/4 piece of tylenol stuck for three days- painful and scary! I can imagine how an onion would clog things up. Don't worry about calling your Dr. I guarantee he's heard it before! And always beter safe than sorry. I doubt waiting a day will hurt anything except for what it feels like, but I'm no expert. Let us know how you are doing and what works because like I said- if we haven't done it yet, we will.

Welcome hisnhers! Hope you like it here.

So my day is done...house is clean, dog is fed, papers are graded and I want a drink. I'm staring at a well-stocked liquor cabinet and umpteen bottles of wine given to me as Christmas gifts. Ahhhh...for a red zin! Instead, I'll distract myself by telling you all my story before anything good comes on TV. As I have mentioned before, I live in Seattle. I love the Pacific NW for all it has to offer in terms of the great outdoors! I grew up camping and playing outside all the time. I even spent about 7 years as a camp counselor during my college and beyond years. Seattle is great for food, nightlife, cultural activities, sports, water activities and more. I love everything but the blasted rain right now- much more than usual. We had the wettest November EVER! And December is no better. Despite loving Seattle, I left after four years of teaching in a Catholic school to teach 6th grade at an Americal school in Brasilia. I absolutely loved the people I met there, but try being the fattest person on Rio's beaches! Still..., good times. After 3 years there I went to the other side of the world for two years in Istanbul. What an amazing part of the world! It was so rich in history and I left many good friends behind. I adopted my dog when she was a puppy living on the street outside my school. Her name is Siyah (black), hence the handle. She's a great companion and comes to school with me every day. Five years abroad was enough. I came home, bought a house and decided it was time to date. My on-line adventure was fun. Despite being a big girl, I have a fair amount of confidence so dating was not a bad experience. I used to keep track of guys on a big white board in my office so when I was talking with them I wouldn't get confused. My friends would laugh at me. I met my husband on Match and we married a year and a half later. No kids. Unfortunately, after 3 miscarriages I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition and learned that was the cause. Who'd have known? Sad, but now I have a new shot at a healthy life with the band. Our plan is for me to loose weight, making it easier to carry, and get pregnant in a year and a half to two years. I'll be pushing 40, so fingers crossed. Now the house is on the market and we'll move to North Seattle to be closer to jobs. I'm back in a great Catholic school and hubby works at microsoft. All-in-all, life is good and hopefully getting better with the band. Now if only the scale would move again... SO that's my tale. Thanks for reading (TMI???) Whew! Over the liquor craving and time for tea. Jeri

MIne said it would be fine to go back on. I'm just waiting until I can swallow them.

Siyah--have you noticed that since your surgery you are cold more often? I have noticed this alot lately, however, I'm in Denver, Colorado and we've have four feet of snow in December. It's still laying out there on my lawn and we're expecting more this Friday. You know- I didn't make the connection, but you're right! I am colder post surgery! Hum. What so folks make of that? Denver is crazy right now! I feel for you guys!

Ladies- don't worry about starting your own thread. I enjoy reading about your successes and learn from you since you are about two weeks ahead of me. I think no matter which thread we're on we can find the support we need. I hope to bond with some folks on the December one, too. So best of luck and we'll see you all here and there on this great site. Peace!

Well, I had the mani-pedi today and it felt sooo good to soak my feet in hot, bubbling water. I even came home and topped it off with a long, hot shower. I have felt cold and damp in Seattle for days now. I even cranked the heat up in my house another 5 degrees. I managed to walk the dog in the park today- nothing major, but it got me off the couch. And I have almost finished 64 ounces of water, so it's been a good day. Kristin- I like the calorie count site. Thanks! Nite all! I am watching Nacho Libre and finishing my water then off to bed.

Good afternoon, Ladies (and gent?) I've decided to hire a nutritionist to help me sort out all the vitamins, protein, ..., issues that are so confusing. We'll meet next week after I have my first follow up appt. with the doc. She's very wholistic, so I'll let everyone know what she says. One interesting tip was hydrotherapy. She said that while showering, set the stream to hit your stomach and turn it up as hot as you can take it for a minute, then to cold, and so on four times, finishing with hot. It will improve digestive circulation and promote healing. I'm waiting until the steri strips fall off and then I'll try it. Goal for the weekend- drink water. I have not dropped in days and I think this is why. It's hard to push fluids in between meals, but I vow to be better! Take care, all. Do something good for yourselves. I'm thinking mani-pedi...

Great idea to do this! I am out of the 30's and into the 26-28's so I doubt I have much to pass along yet to you "skinny" girls, but down the line I can certainly donate. Until then, I can be a happy recipient following you all down the scale. I am 5'8", BTW and need business/casual wear primarily (teacher duds) with a few jeans thrown in.

Well, I say bullshit to the snacking. If you are hungry-eat. Just make wise choices and yes- keep it small like they say so as not to stretch the pouch. There are great snack options for either high Protein or very low cal. (Jello, SF pudding,...)

I just bought a ton of stuff at bariarticeating.com Really good site! Originally I bought from supersuplements discount store. They have a huge selection.

MIne said the shakes were fine, just to make them really thick so they's stay in there longer.

Hi! I am ten days out and was really weak for the first few days. I realized at one point that I really had not eaten for four days. Nothing the night before surgery, then my surgery was really late the next day, day three I slept a lot and had to dring a ton of water, day 4 i managed some broth- i think. So no protein whatsoever. I would get really dizzy, too. After I began to try and push the protein and drink warm things I started to feel better. I bought some of the really good-for-you organic chicken broth in those soy-milk type cartons from the healthy section of Fred Meyer. They tased really good, despite having a lot of sodium. I figured all the water would take care of that. Now I am fine. I returned to work on day 7. I did feel weak and it's been a REALLY long week with pain and tiredness (I teach), but each day got a little better. I still can't sleep on my side or belly (preference), but I am hopeful that will happen soon. If I can answer anything else, i am happy to. I've found this site to be really helpful myself.

I had MAJOR gurgling for the first 3-4 days. Really loud at first, then they lessen. Not painful at all, a little uncomfortable, mostly embarassing if you care about it. My husband was more amused/concerned than anything.

Ahhhh... good to know it's not just me, but I'm not looking forward to being plugged up if that's the normal course. I'll have to do some planning ahead. Thanks for sharing, ladies! This site is truly helpful, and often entertaining.

Plugged up?!? Good Lord, all liquids in and all back out within hours (in liquid form- ug!) Anyone else like me or should I be concerned? My first Dr. appt. is next week so I can ask him, too.

skinnymom- I had to start work on Tuesday. i teach middle school and while I couldhave used another couple of days, I HAD to be there. The day after surgery i felt great. I walked for 45 minutes, drank what i should,... It went downhill from there. That's when the pain and muscle soreness really kicked in. I think I also started trying to do things again too quickly. At least pre-work I could nap and sit. Going back was really hard and I still can't bend over to get things. I couldn't even put on lace-up shoes until yesterday, and even that was amusing. As for eating, I did 10 days of liquids pre and should do 4 weeks of the same post. Today i added a bit of peanut buter (eaten slowly off a spoon) and a thicker soup because the shakes are just not appealing. I'm a hot-food junkie anyway. I need to schedule my 2-week appt. tomorrow, but I think I am healing just fine all around. it's tough going, but it does get easier every day and i keep thinking about how great it will feel in a month. I started at 317 ten days out and have lost 15 as of 2 days ago. I keep wondering how many calories people are eating because I am at about 600 and keep trying to get up to 8-900. (Hence the peanut butter.) I'm also wondering when some of you felt good enough to resume sex again. (Care to share???)

skinnymom- i was banded by Dr. Shrikanth at St. Francis hospital in Federal Way, WA on the 27th. So I am only 9 days out myself- 9 longggg days! How are you doing?

Whew! You miss a couple days and MAN there's a lot to read! Good stuff though. A lot of times I'd get ready to reply, read further and someone had posted what I wanted to say. My GF was eating a salad over the phone yesterday and I can't get a big crisp salad out of my head today. For the past three days since starting back to work I get this horrendous back pain and stomach pain around mid-day. It's all muscules, but it was dreadful. This morning I woke up and put on a girdle-type undergarment that comes up under my bra and that was the ticket! My muscles were just tired of carting "me" around and needed some support. Now if I could just stop having to sleep on my back so my neck wouldn't be stiff each day! Oh- I am down 15 pounds!!! What a great feeling to have lost over the holidays this year. Thanks to those who posted the links to "food" sites. I spent a small fortune yesterday, but I will soon have more variety of the liquid proteins. My only "cheat" this week was blending up tomato soup with kindey beans and soy milk to thin it out. I'm supposed to be all clears & protein still, but the shakes are killing me! It's gone down fine and finally I have some fiber to add some bulk in the bowels. (better!) ***How's that for honesty! Cheers to all from another Pacific NW girl drowning in Seattle.

Yes- I was a total grouch for a few days. I was also banded on the 27th and today is the first day I have started to feel more normal and less tired.

OUCH!!! I came off of the horrible codine yesterday that makes me queasy and went to the liquid tylenol. But last night, in desperation for sleep, I took a tylenol PM capsul and cut it into 4 pieces. I thought they'd be small enough to pass, but I WAS WRONG!!! Now there is one stuck at the opening of the band and it won't pass. i thought for sure it would have disolved by now! Anyone know what to do? I can get water to pass and the tea went down. I even managed a thin protein shake.

So I was banded Wed. around 4:00PM and spent the night resting a little in between drinking Water and a very painful first trip out of bed. I loved the morphine drip and did really well in the hospital. i walked a lot, got all my water in and only felt nauseated once. The nurses were wonderful and massaged the gass pain from my upper left shoulder/arm/chest area. (Common) I now do it and it works great to get rid of the pain. THursday I came home, played scrabble with a friend and then went to bed for four hours. I got up, made dinner for my husband, stayed akake until 11:00 and then slept until 6:00. This morning I made him breakfast, puttered a bit and managed to walk to walk the dog for 45 minutes! I was pretty tired after that so i watched a movie, took the narcotic pain killer and slept for 4 1/2 hours. now I am up and think we are going out to a movie. The pain lessens each hour. Getting water in today is hard. I really have to practice not gulping and not taking air in with each swallow. I've gotten one Protein (23 grams) in today, and all the supplements, though I have bad diarrhea. (normal?) No redness and the pain seems normal. I haven't been able to bring myself to peek under the bandages yet- maybe tomorrow. Thanks for all the kind words! Siyah :clap2: