CrazyKoKo

I used to do Inhale.. a high energy yoga show that was on Oxygen. It's been off for a while now.. but I remember enough of it to make my own routines of the poses and do 20-30 minutes of yoga most mornings before my girls wake up. It's a great way to start the day, for sure. Does anyone else remember that Inhale show? Or know if it may be on a different channel? I miss it.. Thanks, Kortni

We have a black lab and he is my walking buddy. We live on dirt road out in the country and one of my favorite things to do after a long work day is grab my music and my dog, Duke, and head down the road for an hour or so. I always take a leash in case I need it.. but rarely use it.. he usually just walks right next to me!

A little over a year ago my weight had started to creep up until before I knew it, I was 15 lbs heavier. I had missed an appoitment with my lap band surgeon and thought I could just wait until my next one. Thankfully, like you, I came to my senses and called my surgeons office and got a fresh fill. I was able to lose those 15 lbs pretty quickly and even a few more. Just had a check up last week and didn't need a fill.. but going to make sure not to miss my next one.. so I can make sure to maintain my fill level. Good job getting back on track & good luck!! Kortni

I've found that putting scrambled eggs and meat, veggies and cheese all together in a freezer bag and cooking them in a pot of boiling Water makes them just right for me. I was having a hard time with eggs too and read a post about doing this several years ago and have been able to enjoy eggs ever since!! Also.. I have an easy crustless quiche recipe.. it makes a 13X9 pan.. and the ingredients are easily changed to whatever you like.. this is just the stuff I like in it =) 12 eggs, scrambled 3 oz. diced ham 1 med. onion, diced 1 can mushrooms, pieces and stems 1 tomato, diced 1 green pepper, diced 1 8 oz. bag cheddar cheese, divided 1/2 cup light sour cream Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, saving half of the cheese. Spray pan with cooking spray and pour the mixture in and top with remaining cheese. Bake 30 minutes, or until not jiggly in the center. Let sit for 5 minutes and cut into 12 servings. Enjoy! HTH, Kortni

I'm always amazed at how long some of the newer banded people are instructed to wait to eat food.. It's been over four years for me.. but waiting so long for food seems horrible to me.. Anyway.. I love mashed cauliflower. Sometimes I mash them with just milk then put them in a baking dish with garlic and cheddar.. delicious. Very similar to cheesy garlic mashed potatoes at the popular restaurants!!

Nah.. nothing like the surgery over again. An adjustment is just a fill or an unfill.. no big deal! No problem on the answers. Just keep in mind that they are only from my experiences.. everyone has a different journey Kortni

A little more about the TT (and/or breast reduction).. My lap band surgeon gave me a referral to a plastic surgeon for a breast reduction. After losing over 100 lbs.. the only place I didn't lose was my breasts. So, I saw the plastic surgeon and he said because of the size of my breasts, he was pretty sure the reduction would be covered.. and since I had a lot of excess skin in my tummy area and got rashes frequently underneath.. he was pretty sure that would be covered too. So, he wrote it up and submitted it to my insurance company. I found out two days later that BOTH were covered and had surgery a week later. I had the TT and reduction at the same time.. was quite painful for a few days.. but totally worth it! Definitely worth a try to get your insurance to cover it.. especially if you can find a surgeon that will help! HTH, Kortni

Thanks! Yes, I'm still very happy I have it. My weight sometimes goes up or down 1 or 2 pounds, but I've never put any back on, so to speak. I have also heard that it happens though. Even though I've had my band for over four years, I still go to my appointments with my surgeon every six months to make sure that my band is at the right level. So far I've needed to have it adjusted yearly because some of the saline evaporates over time. I'm not always the best about exercising, but I do enjoy cooking and eating healthy.. so I think that helps me a lot. HTH.. let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer Kortni

My insurance covered my TT and breast reduction about a year and a half after being banded!

I love love love the Vanilla Ice Cream flavor by Syntha 6. I get it at Vitamin World or order it online at Amazon. My favorite way to mix it is one scoop, one cup skim milk and 1/2 cup frozen fruit. I don't use ice.. for me the frozen fruit gives it plenty of flavor and thickens it up perfectly. I have one every morning when I'm taking my girls to school.

No regrets.. not for one moment. Getting banded is quite possibly the best thing I've ever done for myself.

Very cool, Jenn!! You'll have to post pictures!

This isn't my greatest NSV.. but my most recent. Over the weekend my daughter and I were looking at pictures of a wedding that we were both in back in 2005 (maid of honor and flowergirl).. and I was over 300 lbs. My daughter was almost 4 in the pictures and she's almost 10 now.. so she doesn't remember me being that big. She asked a couple questions about it and said she thought I was pretty then.. but thinks I look so much better now. It was really sweet.

I get full quickly when I stick to healthy Proteins, carbs and veggies. If I eat junk, I can always eat more.. however, not like before being banded. Since being banded, I've not been able to eat 4 oz of Protein along with veggies and/or healthy carbs and fruit. I usually eat between 2-3 oz of lean protein and a small salad with lots of chopped veggies or some steamed veggies. I eat every 3-4 hours though, where I know some people that can eat more, eat every 5-6 hours. I think that depends on band size and amount of restriction though. HTH, Kortni

Sometimes I miss spagetti and garlic bread. When I make it for hubby and kids, sometimes I'm dumb enough to try a little, and always feel miserable and regret it right away. Pasta and bread are two of the main reasons I got to the point where I needed the band in the first place.. so it's definitely a good thing I can't eat them anymore.. but I do get nostalgic sometimes..

I love SF chocolate pudding.. so that's what I go for when I'm craving the stuff. Sometimes I just gotta go for the good stuff though.. I just try to keep it in moderation!

YAY!! Congrats!!

I have a bit of a Sweet & Low addiction.. and it goes way back to my chubby days when I was constantly dieting.. now I still just like it

Last summer I strained a muscle close to my port playing volleyball. My surgeon recommended taking motrin (I know, some surgeons say no NSAIDS, but mine says they are fine and I haven't had any trouble with them) and trying to avoid movement that irritates it. It was tricky and annoying, but in about a week the area was feeling better. Thankfully, it hasn't happened again since. Good luck, Kortni

So sorry to hear I haven't been wearing mine for a while because it won't stay on. I know I need to get it sized.. just need to make the time to do it. We don't live near the jeweler that designed and made it anymore.. and for the warranty, it has to be resized there. I do miss wearing it.. gotta get it done soon!

For me no amount of exercise in the world mattered when it came to my stomach. My arms and legs seemed to shrink down in proportion with the rest of my body.. but all the extra skin on my lower stomach just hung there.. ick, it was so not pretty. Having two pregnancies and c-sections may have also been a factor in the extra skin after the weight loss.. I'm not real sure. What I am sure of is that I'm so, so, so happy I got the tummy tuck.. totally worth it!!

I'm just a few pounds from goal and mine sticks out and can be quite sensitive as well. Last summer I got nailed by a spiked volleyball right where my port is and it hurt for a few days. I didn't even think that it maybe could have gotten broke.. eek.. but I've had a fill since and that went ok.. so I'm pretty sure my port is ok. Also, my six-year-old's head is right at port level and she bumps into it sometimes when she's giving me hugs.. so I just try to remember to shift her to my other side and squeeze away! Maybe you can talk to your doctor about the location of the port.. maybe he or she has a few tricks to make the site not so sensitive. I didn't start to notice mine being so touchy until I was within about 10 lbs of goal.. before that I could feel it when I looked around for it.. but it wasn't at touchy. Good luck.. HTH, Kortni

The classes are by far the best way to go. It may take a few classes to find your groove.. but once you start getting the moves down it gets to be easier! My sister, who has MS, has been a Zumba instructor for a little over a year now and she benefits a ton from it, as well as her students. There are all types of people that go, with all types of skill levels and body types.. and noone really pays attention to what anyone else looks like while they're doing the workout.. they're all too busy keeping up. If it's available near you.. definitely give it a try.. I'm betting you'll love it!!

I tried sipping some at a wedding that I was a bridesmaid in and it didn't go so well. I ended up making a beeline for the bathroom and felt a little embarassed to bolt like that during toast time. I would suggest maybe having a "trial run" before the big day. However, if your band is like mine, it's not finicky all the time.. so ya never really know. Good luck and congrats on the upcoming wedding!! Kortni