Sophie248

OH Juli - You look Marvelous! Tia - The picture of you and your daughter is precious, and I love the new do! I can really tell the difference in both of your faces. Congratulations on the NSV Kaelin's Gma! Stay strong and keep the faith everyone! We will all do this at our own pace. Our bodies (and minds) will want to revolt at various times. Working with our bands will be a learning process and will take time. I like the fact that I am losing slowly....I think it's way better for our health and skin and mental adjustment. I was talking to someone who had bypass and lost 100 lbs in 5 months......that is SO not healthy!

You are my hero! I started at 221. My initial goal is 180......then I would be at my lightest weight of my adult life. I hit 185 once.....stayed there about 1 week and quickly gained 10 lbs back. If I were 180 at my 1 yr anniversary, I would be elated. Congratulations!! :clap2:

What is omnipaque??

Juli-My scale MOVED! I lost the pound I gained, plus one! I burned 1584 cals exercising these past 3 days, and I've been doing the eating/drinking protein more regularly and before and after my workouts - great advice! I actually do have 1cc in my band. I would be proud if I could lose 49 lbs with no fill - that is awsome willpower - great job! Josiebies-I had not been doing well with my water. I've been working at getting 6 glasses in the past couple of days - should be at least 8 though. It is wonderful to know we have a tool to keep us from gaining it all back - that has always been my problem and biggest fear. My faith has been renewed! TammyJ - 6 lbs is amazing! Your fanny doesn't need an extender anymore - too cool! I think you should celebrate by burning your extender - or flushing it - or sling shotting it into a bottomless pit. Momlambert - I don't know how you do it. You are an amazing woman! Make sure you take time for you! Sandy - I'm sorry your port is flipped. Hang in there - you are doing well without the fill! TCTX- I've heard from other people that bands hate breading. My band likes it ok still - wish it didn't though. What flav of Isopure do you like? I have a don't like the aftertaste of the ones I've tried. AfrykanV-Salsa dancing sounds like a blast. I love my yoga - it really does something for me mentally as well as physically. Hazelbunny - How's your fill? Rosi - Have you checked your blood pressure? I take bp pills and have had to really cut back due to lightheadedness caused by low blood pressure. I hope to be off them soon! ps. gardening = exercise (that's hard work). Have a lovely evening everyone!

Congrats on getting the good fills guys! I have 1cc and can't get another fill until the end of May. I was planning to wait as long as possible, but I bet even just .5 cc would help a lot. I will definately go in when the 6 weeks are up. -Bandstar, I'd wait a couple of weeks and see how it goes.... -Hazelbunny & Denise, Are you guys too filled to full? -Thanks for the encouragement, Momlambert. How are you doing? -Ms Husker, That sucks re: the flipped port. Do you have to have it fixed? -Welcome home Josebies!

Thanks straightening me out Juli & Tammy! I really needed that. Today was a little better. I came home from work and just had a small serving of Boca chicken and potato, then went golfing with DH. It was a really nice night. I will try the eating before/after the workout thing, and I guess I will always need to track my food intake. I did a comparison of yesterday's food consumption (approx 2300 cals) - which has probably been what I've been eating daily for the past week. I'm surprised I've only gained back 1lb! Today I had 1360 cals - and feel much better. I was thinking of doing the liquids for a while, and eating one meal per day, as I'm affraid I'm stretching my pouch with my overeating. I've got to get a handle on this. I would like to be 180 by the end of July. I have a wedding and DH's 20th reunion in August, and 180 would be the lightest I've been in my adult life. I can not let myself slip back into my old binging patterns and yo-yo dieting. I WILL NOT!

I really need a kick in the butt. I've had a week of not following bandster rules. What is it with exercise that makes me eat junk? I do get hungrier when exercising regularly, and I've been eating too much.....and cookies, ice cream, and chips have made their way back to my diet...ugh! I ate a whole hamburger last night. Then was hungry a couple hours later. My tummy has never really revolted with this eating, but it is a little sore in the mornings. I hope I'm not stretching my pouch all out. Is it head hunger? or am I really hungry???? Anyway, to turn this around, I've just had protein drinks today. Of course I'm really hungry now, and hope I can control myself this evening. This seems all too familiar....(as in pre-band diet attempts). I took a break from doing my food diary in Sparkpeople for the past week, and look what happened. I haven't lost recently, and now I'm scared I'm going to gain it all back!!

I take one flintstones chewable and one citrical creamy bites calcium. I have some natural herbs I take sparingly as well.

Trina, Sorry to hear about your incident. I had one similar related to a Nyquil dosage. Passing out from pain is really scarey. They sell colace over the counter, and that could be helpful. I've never tried the colonics. Hope you feel better soon. Congratulations on your loss! It's so encouraging to be able to put on those old clothes, plus thinking about those new ones we'll be able to get soon. Some of my 16s are getting looser. I wonder if I should try 14s yet?? I'm a little scared to try....

I really like the fruit drinks, cappucino, chai latte, hot chocolate, puddings, and the cream soups (tomato, cream of chicken, and cream of broccoli). I use them lots when I need a protein boost. They are very low cal/fat. I don't care for the bars, shakes, chunky soups.

I had a rough TOM this month also. Glad I had some left over pain meds as I don't think liquid tylenol would have done a thing. Good to know that the weight loss is what could be affecting it. I wonder what's going to happen this month??? Maybe when the weight is off, we'll have normal hormones! My scale finally moved today.....minus 1 lb! Exercise challenge starts tomorrow! That might just get the lbs melting away again, I hope.

I had 1cc on April 18. I've noticed a little bit of difference. I can't go back for another fill until at least 6 weeks.

TammyJ, Thanks for setting up the challenge! I'm adjusting mine to 10 30min and 10 40 min sessions. I try to do my cardio at least 40, but my circuit is only 30. Did my circuit for the first time today since before surgery, and it felt good. I'm Ready! OHJuli, You are kicking but already on your exercise! Thanks for giving me something to aspire to. I have two exercise balls, but don't know what to do with them. One I have at the office and when I get sick of sitting on my but so much, I'll work at my computer while bouncing on my ball. :bounce: Congratulations Medge on your NSV (non-scale victory). It's really mind blowing to me seeing these sudden changes to my body. Sometimes I just have to look in the mirror and think....wow, 2 months ago..... Mary, I've heard that some don't feel the restriction until a week after their fill. I think that was the case with me. I'm feeling pretty good restriction now and had my fill last Wednesday. I didn't have it right away. Kind of weird, huh? Mrs. Husker, I definately think you should count a day of cleaning or gardening as a session in the exercise challenge! That's hard work! Guns&Roses, Glad you are joining in again! I think you'll find that the format has changed a bit in our group from before. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Kyethra, Good to hear your surgery went well! Hope you feel better soon! Josiebies, I'm glad you found some answers and hope you feel better soon also. My hubby is quite impressed with the fact that I am now such a "cheap date", since I only need an appetizer and two drinks on date night. That's quite the perk for him, for sure. Aprilmarie, RESTRICTION ~~~~~WOO HOO :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: . That's awsome that you are getting rewards for all your hard work. How wonderful for Joe to be able to gain independence. I bet he is thrilled!

I'm happy to say I've never had the PB/hairball experience. AprilMarie, I went out about a week ago and had one glass of red wine and one vodka cranberry. That worked fine. Warning: The alcohol affects you more when your calories are reduced. I was going "WOO HOO" after just 2 drinks. Enjoy your evening! TammyJ, I think we are bound to stall and go to the 1-2 lbs/week losses now. That is so hard to deal with, though, after the initial quick weight loss. After my TOM and the swelling had gone down...I took measurements and was happily surprised! Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Aprilmarie, I can really relate to your post. My youngest son is now 16 (sniff). I was a case mgr for adults with developmental disabilities for 5 yrs and totally understand the work stress and pressure you face. I also worked as a foster/adopt social worker for 8 years. Please focus on nurturing yourself through your grief. Your foster children were part of your life for 2 years. You have invested much of yourself in them, and are facing a major loss. The weight loss should be set aside for now. Don't pressure yourself with that on top of all you are going through. It will take care of itself later, when you have the propper fill. You are not in a rut. You are taking the steps that will cause you to be successful in the future right now. Be patient, and try to nurture yourself with healthy things for now. You deserve those things because you give so much to others. If you are really struggling, you might want to talk with you Dr. about something to help with the stress and depressed feelings. Even if it's only needed short-term. You have a lot going on now, plus if you have used food to cope in the past....your coping mechanism has been taken from you.

Sue, When I look back, I'm sure my incident wasn't due to the fill or a nerve in my stomach. It had to be the Nyquil. I had been on only liquids that day, so had nothing in my stomach when I took the Nyquil. I remember that in the past I have had some stomach pain on occasion when taking cough meds at night. Nothing this bad, but with all of the factors combined, it caused the severe reaction. I wouldn't worry. I'm feeling great and the fill really helped!

demsvmejm, I had that sensation in my port area too. I stopped noticing it after a couple of days. My Dr had a hard time finding the port, so I just thought it was from all the adjusting of the needle. That area is already tender from the incision anyway. I'm happy with my fill. It's nice to have that full feeling back again. synicalchick, I swear I could live on just cheese too. I really have to watch that I don't OD on the cheese. At least I like cottage cheese....laughing cow light is good too. Congratulations on your loss! lala3000, Doesn't it feel good to move! Way to go on the jogging! You'll have to get on the list for the exercise challenge and hopefully motivate me to try jogging again. Bandstar, Rock on Man! You are doing the right thing! The fill will help you out of bandster hell. Be patient with yourself. I was worried about the scale not moving, but took my measurements and had lost 9 inches in the past 2 weeks! That's 20 total inches gone!

Hazelbunny - WOW, I can totally see the change....41 lbs is a great accomplishment! TammyJ, Sign me up for the exercise challenge. I'm ready to get moving! I kicked off with a 1 hour hike today, and it felt really good. I've been walking, but want to get my circuit training, eliptical, and yoga going again consistantly. I was scared about eating again after my first fill too, especially after the incident, but I've had no problem with solids today. My next fill can't be before 6 weeks....hope that works. Josiebies, glad you are feeling better. I'm feeling great. Haven't had any more problems. I can relate to the leftover issue. I've been filling up my freezer with little ziploc bags of leftovers. I might have to give up and learn to start throwing food away :omg:.

Hi Sharon, Sorry to hear about your knee surgery. That has to be tough when you're layed up. Be patient with yourself in your recovery. Choose foods that will help you heal and be healthy! How much fill do you have? I just got mine on Wednesday (1cc in 4cc band). I was starting to eat too much that week before my fill, as there was a sudden change in hunger and volume that I was able to eat. The fill has helped me cut down again. I had a scarey incident the night I got my fill....took some nyquil and went to bed that night, and woke up an hour later with horrible pain in my stomach. I ended up passing out a couple of times because of the pain, then spitting up some acidy liquid. Jovan the bariatric nurse said it could have been either a nerve in my stomach irritated by the fill and lying down, or not flushing the nyquil down with Water and it sitting in my pouch. Haven't had any problems since then. Brenda, how's it going with your fill? Shawn, How are your exercise goals coming along?

Don't let my little episode scare you. As you can see by lack of people saying "yah this happened to me too", it was very out of the ordinary. And in hind sight, it wasn't so bad. I was mainly scared because I didn't know what was happening to me. People pass out all the time...it was a first for me though. I'm feeling wonderful. I haven't had any more pain at all, and haven't PB'd or thrown up ever. My fill has helped decrease volume of my food intake again, and I measured today and have lost 20 inches! The gas is annoying but walking and Gas x helps post-op, plus I take BeanO now with every meal, which really helps. I was very nervous and an emotional mess pre-surgery too. I woke up from surgery with this huge sense of relief and happiness. It was like....finally.....I have the tool I need to be successful at obtaining my life-long goal. Best wishes, you'll be fine!

I had a frightening episode last night. My Dr. did my first fill yesterday at 2:00pm (1cc in a 4cc band). I was drinking liquids fine the rest of the day. Had Nyquil and some hot tea before bed as I had a fever and sore throat since the am. I was sleeping about 1 hour and woke up with pain in my stomach. I got up and went to the bathroom and the pain became unbearable. I ended up passing out twice (I've never done this). I'm thinking it was due to the pain. I truly thought I was dying. When I woke up the 2nd time I spit up two batches of yucky saliva. I'm waiting for it to be 8:00am to call my Dr. I'm affraid to drink anything or even swallow. I sat up most of the night in my recliner with a heating pad. I've had some pain since, but only short waves. Has this happened to anyone else??

Josie, I've been thinking the same thing. That this is more like documenting a journal rather than interacting with others. Thanks for speaking out on the issue. I want to encourage anyone lurking to please post. Lets be a support to each other! Do you feel ok with liquids? If so, I'd be sipping on protein drinks all day to keep your strength up. Take it slow on getting on solids. The fact that you were able to have a bite of food yesterday and your fluro looked good is encouraging. My Dr. gave me liquid medication for nausea (promethazine). It really helps. Hope you feel better soon!

I ended up with little red bumps all over my stomach. They itched a little bit. They lasted about 2-3 weeks. I just thought they were due to the yellow stuff they put all over my stomach, or the Lortab I was taking for pain.

Hey, Nice to see another thread for us Marchies. Can I join you guys? I'm 6 weeks post opp, and just had my fill Wednesday and am happy to say I am full on just liquids again. I was starting to have constant hunger again, but the fill has actually helped! Hope it lasts!