bigtom1948

I've looked through the cookbook and don't think that the difficulty level is too challanging, most of the recipes are straightforward and use ingrediants found in most kitchens. 8-10 ingrediants including spices isn't taxing for most folks. The book does have a chapter for what should be in the weight Loss Surgery patients larder or pantry and again I didn't find the food, spices or condiments to be very exotic. That said if you are a person used to throwing a meal together from whatever is at hand any cook book could appear intrusive. Personally I like to cook both ways and have created some real good keeper recipes and also the ones where every one said they liked it until I ask "do you want me to make it again?" Heh Heh So as a good guide for most Lap Band folks, I still think it's worth buying.

Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner. Yes it does include plenty of simple recipes as well as some more complex ones. It also covers recipes for all the post surgical stages liquids, full liquids, mushies etc. It offers menu guides as well for a wide variety of calorie levels 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600 & 1800. Here is one of the recipes in the book that I copied for you to see Home-Style Meatloaf with Tomato Gravy If you’re a meatloaf connoisseur, this recipe will definitely make your top five list. You normally wouldn’t find much Fiber in meatloaf, but thanks to the added wheat bran, Which has more fiber than other kinds of bran, you do in this one. The accompanying tomato gravy not only is easy to make but also perfectly complements this meatloaf. Stage: Regular foods Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 11⁄2 hours Yield: 8 servings (6 ounces each) 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 medium onion, diced small 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper 2 pounds lean ground beef 1 cup wheat bran 4 tablespoons ketchup 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1⁄2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 large egg whites, beaten Tomato Gravy (see the following recipe) 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. 2 Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme and pepper and saute for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool. 3 Combine the ground beef, bran, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, and egg whites in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the cooled onion mixture. 4 Fill the loaf pan with the beef mixture. Bake the loaf approximately 1 hour 20 minutes, until the internal temperature of the meatloaf reaches 160 degrees. Top meatloaf with Tomato Gravy (below). Tomato Gravy 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 cup chopped onion 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper One 16-ounce can no-salt-added tomato puree 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley 1⁄4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 1 Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 2 minutes. 2 Add black pepper, tomato puree, parsley, and fresh thyme. Bring to a light simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over meatloaf. Per serving: Calories 290 (From Fat 130); Fat 15g (Saturated 5g); Cholesterol 75mg; Sodium 210mg; Carbohydrate 16g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 26g; Sugar 6g.

Good luck with the surgery and I hope your weight loss goes as planned and further I wish you joy and happiness in your life.

From a guys prospective - I say you are asking for a lifetime of misery to stay with this man. There are better choices than to tie yourself to someone who thinks so little of your pain and feelings. It's so sad but he won't miss you when you'er gone and will never think he could possibly have been the problem. I wouldn't want my daughters in that situation and wouldn't wish for a marraige where both of you are in love with the same person, namely Him. It's horrible for any person male or female. My mom married three guys in a row like that and I watched her live a life of anguish. These guys are oh so charming to get what they want and know how to butter you up but they don't deliver on what we all need, love and respect, that they reserve for themselves. I feel that it's better to live alone than to empower an emotional leech. Good luck with the surgery and I hope your weight loss goes as planned and further I wish you joy and happiness in your life.

Gad's you are doing the triple career thing full time mom, housekeeper and a job too. You are squeezing in the exercise and run out of time when it comes to sleep. You must be exhusted. From what you wrote, you are on the go all the time. I don't care what anyone says living on less than 6 hours sleep a day isn't healthy it's worse than sleeping too much. It lowers your immune systems ability to fight off infections it saps away your mental resiliance and good humor leading to depression and with that a search for something to compensate and perhaps slip back into the comforting arms of food. I am sure that you can't step away from your obligations to family and work so take an hour in the middle of the day for a nap, if the kids are old enough ask them to help a bit more to relieve some of your stress. Talk to your doctor explain your concerns and how anxious it makes you when the progress seems so meager against the effort you believe you are expending. Have a real lovefest with the slow cooker its a life saver for someone as busy as you are. Heres a link to a really neat blog in that vein. You will have to be careful and watch the calories but dinner is in the pot. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ Check this one out too: http://lapbandeating.blogspot.com/ Good luck

Both my daughter and her husband went through the same frustration and doubts that you describe and they didn't lose much and occaisionally slipped back the first couple of months after surgery. He started out at 425 pounds and she at 380 pounds. They were lucky that they had each other to push them along and continue the exercise even when it appeared hopeless. My son in law found his sweet spot after the third fill and my daughter on her forth. My son in law has lost 150 pounds as of last month and my daughter's weight has dropped 125 pounds as of last month. They look great and they say that they feel great. They certainly have more energy than a year ago. As of now there weight loss has dropped to 1-2 pounds a week they eat modest quantities of food but don't deny themselves a taste of the good things (except for my son in laws problem with keeping down bread and lettuce). They both say its the best thing they could have done for thier future lives together and I believed them so much that I had the band put into myself on the 10th in the sure hope and desire to do as the children have done. I'm coming up to that mushies stage where everything will go down easily and the potential for taking in more calories than I expect will be high. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier and I am sure that the demons of dispair are near my doorstep. As said earlier it's bandster hell till the sweet spot is found on the band and I look to my kids for inspiration. I'll make it and SO WILL YOU. You were doing everything right pick it up again, don't quit the race for your life so early. You are important, you are a winner, you are loved by your family and friends and everyone here wants you to succeed too. Sorry but that is as bad a scolding as I can muster I am far too humbled by my own past failures and my hope for a thinner future to yell at anyone. I've offered you the inspiration of my childrens success and all of my encouragement...because if I doubt or stumble on this journey I too would want a kind hand to lift me up, plant my feet on the path and cheer me on to be the winner I always wanted to be in this the longest and hardest battle of my life. So, with our chins up our feet on the path and with tears of hope glistening in our eyes we'll both move towards the prize and ya know what I'm sure I'll see ya there. Good luck, don't lose hope. Best Regards Tom

Congrats on the decision to move forward with the surgery, I hope that you do super in the weight loss and look forward to hearing about your continueing success in that journey.

Wow, I can't cry about my experience since reading yours (I'll wimper to myself instead) Hope that you continue to feel better every day and that the weight you will lose will steadily fall away. Chin up, it will be better for you soon I am sure of it. PS they made you do a Barium Swallow, that seems really uncalled for. I could see it if you were having problems swallowing or there were no sounds in the stomach or unexplainable pain but as a routine follow up just to check your work and verify you did the surgery correctly seems strange to me...Well every surgeon is different. But I agree Barium = Yuk it's heavy, chalky and the sweetener they put into it is awful. It's even worse if the use a non barium contrast such as Iodine based liquid, now that stuff is just plain foul. I've tasted both and the Barium is gormet comparied to that stuff. Best wishes for your speedy recovery and success in the weight loss. Tom

I too have those mixed feelings. I may not need it but it is comforting so I spoke to my PCP and he said it wouldn't be harmful to continue with its use after my hoped for weight loss makes it redundent. He said that its a minor support at that point and I should be able to self ween from it as time goes on only if the sleep therapist gives to OK. So I guess that when I want to drop it another sleep study is in order just to verify that the apnea is gone and its no longer needed. He also stated that I shouldn't fret over it as the weight must be much lower before considering that issue. He was quite impressed with the 45# I have dropped since my last visit and told me that he was proud of my accomplishment and to keep it up. It's always nice to hear encouragement So I can really relate to the possible loss of sleeping with Darth Vader.

First of all great progress and attitude. I'm retired so I don't have to face the return to work good thing too because while the incisions dont particularly hurt the gas pains do. I had thought I was going to avoid them but yeaterday afternoon Wham there it is. For all those that had this from the begining of post op, my sincere condolences. For myself (whimper, whine) I'll just suffer in silence,(sniff.) Well I hope that you recover quickly and that the weight you want to loose comes off leaving you healthy and happy. Best Wises Tom

Glad your surgery went well and hope that the loritab keeps the pain at bay. Get plent of rest the next couple of days if you are like I was you won't be hungry for a while but keep hydrated sip, sip, sip. Good luck.

Major achievment note I was able to sleep on boths sides last night.:Banane21: finally got a good nights sleep and life is looking better every day. Still don't want to eat, thats really strange cause I do love good food. I guess I should count that as a small blessing at this stage and discuss it with my surgeon at todays follow up O.V. Hope that everyone else is recovering nicely and the optimism is high. Good luck to us all.:welldoneclap:

Yeah Tylenol 3 is better than 4-5 teaspoons of childrens Tylenol thats for sure. My kids Dr. gave them Loritab which is a much more effective analgesic. Anyway its day four and I am pretty much pain free except if a move in certain ways. I am not hungry at all and have been taking in really small amounts of food. I guess that will pass as soon as the stomach swelling goes down. How is your appetite nearly two weeks out? Do you find that food is becoming more interesting? I kinda like the 7 pounds in 4 days drop but I know this is coming from muscle mass as well as some fat so its not a winner in that light. No weight training for me for at least another 2 weeks per the doctor. By the time I get back to the gym I'll be lifting kiddie weights Oh well, It'll be OK in the end i'm sure. Take care and hope that you are now Rock'in On Tom

Thanks for checking in and i wish you a speedy recovery. It'll be nice when you (and I) can get to real food and watch the pounds fall away. Best wishes Tom

Two days post op and beginning to feel better now. Slept in the recliner last night and took the tylenol w/ codeen but havn't needed it since 7 am today. Felt up to taking a shower and that made me feel much better. Havn't eaten much but I have been pushing the fluids per the doctors instructions. No nausea or discomfort when drinking. Seeing the doctor Tuesday and will probably move onto full fluids and at last some real nourisment. Stepped onto the scale, couldn't help myself, 5 more pounds gone and thats at the end of the day after hydrating. So it might not reappear at least I hope that's so. To all the other tenth'ers hope you are doing well as well as all the rest of the Feb 2011 Bandsters.

Even before banding I noticed that. I really liked Chinese and all chinese resturants seem to be buffet style now. I saw folks taking plates piled high over 3" deep of fried food and make more than one trip most of these folks were not thin. I rarely took more than one plate and didn't pile on enough food for a family of four and you could still see the plate even with my food selection on it. It was sad & repulsive then I can nly imagine what I would think as a new bandster (1 day post op) observing that gluttony.

Thanks for the encouragement loozer2b and I feel your pain I am sure that the pain will subside as time goes by.It's just that the twinges of pain from the incisions whenever I move coulped with the general cramps suprised me in its intensity. I've been doing the walking and thats getting easier. Hope you enjoy the game tomorrow.

Banded, not hungry, tummy feels like its George Foremans punching bag.

Yup, it's been a problem here for the last couple of weeks, hope it gets better. Good luck on the appointment hope it goes well. I'm up today before the sun comes up for my surgery a bit later this morning. By this afternoon, I'll be a bandster.

Picked up a copy of Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook for Dummies at borders books for $19.95. It's great and answers a lot of questions in plain language that most of us have and some we hadn't thought about. It covers LapBand and Bypass issues and clearly keeps issues with each seperate. There are Nook and Kindle versions too at about $10.00. I think its worth having on the bookshelf. Here's a cheat sheet link to whats covered in the book in more detail: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/weight-loss-surgery-cookbook-for-dummies-cheat-she.html

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Sorry can't help you there but I can suggest that you get this nifty freeware program that will read most anything e-book wise and with that you can convert to any other format including the ever popular PDF. So if you run accross a page with a recipe you want, you can print it out using the adobe that's on everybodys computer, cause all the user manuals come in that format. OR just print out the page directly from the Nook book from Calibre itself. Pretty useful free tool i'd say. Purchase and download the book plug it into this program and you are all set. You can now read the Nook book without forking over $200.00 for the hardware.. The online news fetch tool built into this freeware program is really awsome too. :Banane37: Anyway you can read your Nook book or Kindle book or a host of others natively with this little gem. It does ask for donations but doesn't have a beg screen to deal with. I sent the author $10.00 it's worth more but i'm retired due to the crappy economy and living with a fixed income doesn't let me splurge as much as I once did. http://calibre-ebook...ownload_windows

I havn't seen the meaness that some of you have written about in this thread. I don't see flames or overtly devisive comments. I hope that I never do. If you do see someone being that preditory then it should be reported useing the little yellow triangle at the bottom of the posting. Because offensive, derogatory or hurtful posts really don't belong here. I do think that some folks are somewhat careless in the composition of thier responses. As said earlier in this thread its sometimes problomatic to convey intent in the text. This is especially true for the casual writer who may unintentionally offend the reader. I try very hard to write clearly and use the emoticons to support the intent. Even then, I sometimes make gaffs The emoticons, although not perfect, are useful. It's really unfortunate that most of us have fallen away from writing personal notes or letters to other folks. Its a skill honed with practice to a keen edge in hope that the reciever of the missive is not unsure of the intent of the sender. But, even with that there are players that like to lace thier prose with double meanings. I don't think that happens here. I believe it's just the lack of writing style and the use of sloppy syntax that we have nowadays. Most of the posts and responses are folks trying to be helpful and can be used or ignored at the will of the reader. I have seen some of the responses that appeared overly clinical while others seemed dismissive but all were trying in thier own way to be helpful I know I want encouragement and understanding when I am lost, afraid or need help and therefore I try to encourage and praise in my response to posts. I do not have the right to criticise other folks requests for help as failings when I have so often failed myself. It's just not right to do that. So to all of us in the journey, rally round, be brave, love yourselves and others and thus we all can move forward. God Bless Tom

I may be wrong here and if a nutritionist is monitoring then feel free to correct me if I am. Based on what you posted it seems that you greatly increased your Fiber intake and took in a lot of Fluid your gut probably hasn't seen that much fiber in a while and that combination (fiber and water) does swell due to the water retention. Just keep an eye on your calorie intake and stop getting on the scale every day. Mark where your weight is now in your food diary and over the next week or so see if a trend, in either direction, is apparent. A short term change in weight with a significant dietary change should not be a reason to shout "take it to the dump" and throw in the towel. Stick to it, you have done fantasticly well so please don't be discouraged by this little speed bump in your journey. If weight starts to trend back down 1-3 pounds a week, SUPER. If it continues an upward trend, then look at how many calories you are taking in more closely, there may be hidden calories in your diet that you may have overlooked. Also look at your activity level are you too sedentary could you benifit from the guidence of a personal trainer for a short period to honestly evaluate your exercise level and make suggestions for improvement. Finally walk walk walk, if you are physically able to. If you live in the frozen north drive to the mall slip on the ol' tennies and go up and down the mall to get a mile or two in a day, that's unless you decide to buy something. I live in Tampa and 9 months of the year it's too hot and humid to walk outside. You should see the large numbers of folks walking the mall we have one that is 1 mile long round trip from beginning to end. Sounds like you have a supportive husband and thats a great asset so keep at it and try not to get depressed about this, you'll do fine and good luck.

I also agree with Brad you have to increase muscle mass to up the metabolism rate I do not want to lose too much muscle mass while on this journey so the idea of a super low cal, low carb diet that would leave me thinner but weak and flabby is unapealing to say the least. I used to train in the gym 5 days a week (Wife wouldn't let me on weekend's ) I do 3 times a week now and have scaled back my weight lifting to 10 exercises of 3 sets of 15 with no more than 150# and don't rest more than 1 min. between sets. I alternate 1/2 hour on Track or Stationary bike for cardio. Thats enough for a 62 year old man with a bad back caused by nearly 200 pounds I have been hauling around. As I lose weight I don't plan on upping the weight training (except if the weights get too easy to lift ) but I would like to up the cardio by walking around my home on non gym days. I was eating well over 3500 calories a day and am shooting for 1500 non gym & 2000 on gym days This may sound like a lot but I am 6'5" tall and my goal weight is 200-220 and at age 62 my doctor says that this is a reasonable expectation. Heck I'll be 63 soon and the older we get the less calories we need. I just cannot picture myself as a tall old skinny but flabby dude, Yuk! Brad, thanks for the great advice and I think you are spot on about mixing it up but we can't have a feast day wo/ a work day attached to it, everythings gotta be paid for somehow. Cheers, Tom