MeredithMcFee

JDI: good attitude you have. Own it, logged it and moving on! That's all you can do. HG: Thanks for the zucchini recipe. My thoughts once my DH {which the D stands for Dear, this week, but that can change at anytime haha} and I got through our surgeries and fills for the moment is to get my south beach diet book out and start pulling healthy grilling recipes out. He just had his second fill last week and now onto solids {I think I'm going to schedule our fills now for the same day which will make life easier}. Dear 16 yr old stepdaughter was visiting us for a week and is going back to Myrtle Beach this afternoon, so now I can make what we like. We went to a 95th birthday party where there was Italian food catered. I didn't want to get stuck so I had the eggplant parmiagiana which was sooo gooey delish and a slider food for me. I decided to have a second helping as that's all I had. But I did get up on the dance floor and danced away some of the calories.However, I did go for the carrot cake for dessert. Like JDI, I owned it, logged it and moved on. It was a treat, not a treatmen.t It seems from the consensus here, ice cream is the key word for this past weekend.I ate dinner with our in-laws and met up with my family last night after they went for Thai food. Ice cream is not my "crack food" but went for some Caramello flavor gelato. It was sooo good and wished I had asked for a medium size instead of a small but in the end, glad it was a small. HG, I have no plans on getting on the scale for the next few days either but will get on the treadmill. Sounds like we're all learning to think with our heads not with our stomachs and tastebuds to choose the wrong things on this journey we chose for ourselves. Are we going to eat some of those foods that we know are not the best for us, absolutely, but as a treat every once in awhile. And, that's ok.

When my long time {former}boss/Dr saw me in the office and didn't recognize me!!! {Among airplane seats, walking up the stairs, knees hurting, etc etc} He didn't say anything, it was written all over his face.Standing there in front of him wearing what I thought was a great poncho that hid a multiple of sins, all he could see was a big fat face! I even commented to him saying, "what, did I gain that much weight that you didn't recognize me"? He didn't say a word but just hugged me. Months later I bumped into his wife at the grocery store buying my pre-op liquid diet and told her we were having WLS surgery. She confided in me then what her husband had said about me when he got home. I've yet to see either one of them lately but even though I need to lose a good 35lbs more, I think they will definitely recognize the old me. And that was just one person. Now, after the surgery, I'm hearing from other friends & loved one's who held their tongues re: my recent weight gain and are my greatest supporters now!

Congratulations on your wonderful success! You are an inspiration to all of us here as are so many here on the site that I don't want to leave out.

Denise is so right on all of the above. I had my thyroid removed in 2004 due to thyroid Ca. The most important thing is to take your meds daily, best at the same time, never with your iron pills and always an hour before you eat or 3 hours after you eat and go for periodic check ups {blood tests} with your Endo or PCP to keep an eye on your levels. That innocent little butterfly shaped gland is not so innocent and can wreak lots of havoc throughout your body. And to add to Denise's comments, Medicine is not an exact Science in general, let alone on the individual. Good luck with both thyroid meds and upcoming WLS surgery.

First off, Kristen, congratulations on your success this past year. That's awesome. Do you have an account at Lane Bryant? If so, they're always having bra sales. Buy one, get the second one half off. I'm hoping to leave LB in the near future as I am tired of shopping in the big girl's stores. However, I love their frunctional bras they have with underwires. Whether you're still losing or maintaining, one thing for sure, good fitting bra's are a must have, no matter what. The girl's need support, it helps with our posture as well as our mental being. Nothing like seeing a woman wearing a bra that needs to be pulled up, let alone not fitted properly.Good luck!

Actually you don't need to be a member on SB. Just go on and pull up the recipes. I've done this and printed a lot of them out and made my own SB cookbook with tabs for all foods. It's amazing how many great recipes there are on there that one wouldn't even think about. My husband & I have been banded this year. Since our surgeries were 8 weeks apart, it always seemed like someone was on a liquid diet or mushie for the most part. Now we're caught up and I look forward to start cooking real meals from my SB diet cookbook.

I do. I'm out over 5 months PO and my red alert while eating is a hiccup. That's when I know to stop eating. Do I, sometimes what I'm eating so much, I have one more bite, which ultimately gets me in trouble.

Thanks Chrissy, who knows, I wonder if I didn't chew it enough. I think I did have some PO surgery and didn't have a problem. Maybe due to my recent fill. Seems like it doesn't take alot of fill to get me restricted. Such a learning process but a positive one at that.

seguing here, speaking of food re: Otaknam's post, are cucumbers on the "don't" list of veggies for lapbanders, if not, has anyone had any problems with them? I made a tomato/ cucumber salad with EVVO & vinegar last night and took a bit or two and ended up with the hiccups for a good hour or so as well as a few PB's. The cukes kept repeating on me and after that, I don't want to taste or even smell another one, and I always loved them.

Savannah, I'm not here to judge & I doubt the other's on here are either. The good thing is you finally found out why you're not losing weight. Wow, 900 calories for salad dressing? Yes, you are behind the rest of us as you say, but this is not a contestor competition, it's a journey and learning experience for us. How to bite, chew, swallow, enjoy without discomfort and enjoying what we do eat. It could always be worse as I always say. Start over, not sure about the OTC diet pills but that's just me, track what you eat, start slow on the treadmill, and think positive. We're here to support you no matter what. Good luck.

Anyone interested on here looking for a size 22W black and while halter top skirt bathing suit from Always for me website? I wore it maybe 2 times last season and looking to pay it forward to my girls' here. Free plus free S&H......

Caroline, good question here as I like a drink now and then. Prior to surgery I enjoyed a dirty martini or two on the weekends. Typically Friday and Sunday night. Sunday after noons in the pool I enjoyed a lemonade crystal light and vodka {no martini's those nights}. A month or so after surgery I tried red wine which I'll have in the winter once in awhile, and took two sips and just wasn't into it. A week or so later, I tried my go-to drink, d-martini and that too I lost the taste for as well as I felt it burned a hole in my stomach which made me eat a whole trader joe pizza!!!! {totally unrestricted back then}. Since then, I will have an occasional d-martini {two being my limit} but I eat some crackers and cheese beforehand. I don't get all worked up over it, as I am losing, as well as exercising. As they say, everything in moderation. Good luck to you.

Hi Chrissy, As promised, I checked and the black halter bathing suit skirt with turquoise trim is an 18W. Lucky you! Email me your email address and I'll send it out to you by this weekend. My email is mbsmith0823@aol.com.

Chrissy, I'll check this out later to make sure it's an 18W and get back to you. It's your's if it is. I would just be glad to give it to someone I know who can use it, and my first thought were my "lapband sisters'". It's all about supporting one another and paying it forward. The day my DH had his lapband surgery in March, on the way home I stopped by LB. I did not plan this so I had no coupons with me. I was in dire need for some new jeans since losing substantial weight in my pear shaped derriere. I eyed the Seven jeans that were $75, knowing full well, they were #1 extremely expensive and couldn't justify wearing them forever like my other less expensive jeans #2 wouldn't be wearing them for any length of time but they fit so good on me. I tried justifying why I wanted them {our food bill would go down considerably, especially now that the two of us have been banded & no more eating out and cocktails for us for some time} and so I ended up buying them with a few other things. I got to the counter and a woman beside me gave me her $75.00 coupon that she wasn't using which was so unexpected. I graciously excepted it and promised I would pay it forward over and over when I had the chance to. I got the jeans, have worn them alot and now ready to take them to the tailor for an adjustment. Paying it forward is a wonderful feeling, no matter what it is, it feels good.

Research the Bariatric practice there first.If you're going through insurance, find out what surgeons are participating with your insurance company. Don't always go with convenience. Research the Bariatric practices' who are covered by your insurance company. Are they board certified? Do you know other's who have had their surgery by this practice? After all this, once you choose a doctor, call their office to see if and when they have a seminar and make an appt. At that time, if you're comfortable, they typically have a surgical coordinator there who will make an appointment for you for an initial visit with the doctor and staff. Good luck.

Hi Gals, Just wondering if anyone is in the need of some bathing suits this summer while you're whittling down to a new you. I have two basically brand new suits that I would like to share with my bandsters before offering it to the general public. I got them lst year and the year before from Always for me website. They're made extremely well. They are the same suit with different color accent belts. One is a size 20W and I believe one is an 18W. The latter one I have to check for sure. They're free and I'll pay the S&H. Here is a picture of one of them. It's a black halter sundress style. One has a white belt and the other is a light turquoise color. Oops, just went to send and apparently this site doesn't all us to c&p. I'll send the site with the bathing suit{s} I'm talking about to those who are interested. The site is www.alwaysforme.com Style# l04519-08X Control Hilo Halter Sundress.

Onederland is when someone's scale hits 199 and is out of the 200's. That is a "Onderful" sight to see!!

Hi Meg, I've been on the SBD phase I a few times in my life. If you like eggs, I hard boil them, and take the yolks out and put some hummus, tuna fish, guacamole, in them. Eggs have good Protein as all the other "stuffings" here. I did this after I was able to start eating solids post op with the lap band. It stays with you for hours. lunch, was probably a boca burger with some salad, or tuna fish and a salad with oil & vinegar. dinner was mainly chicken, Chinese take out of steamed chicken/broccoli or steamed shrimp and broccoli or any other Chinese green veggies. Steamed. Go on SBD online and you can get lots of ideas in their recipes. Last I knew you didn't have to pay to be a member. Good luck to you.

Hi Gals. Glad to hear everyone had a good weekend all in all. Becky: Welcome to this wonderful group of women. Good luck to you in your journey. We're here for you. JDI: Does your ex know you had the lapband? Or have lost a considerable amount of wieght? That should be interesting. Otaknam: My DH and I {he had lapband in mid March but not restricted yet} go out maybe once a week. I need my red meat fix and get a med rare burger {10oz}. I'm lucky if I can eat a quarter of it, take the rest home and eat it the next few days. Chrissy: Glad to see your scale still said 60lbs yesterday after the weekend, that's awesome! When I hit onderland, I too thought it would be for the day and would go back up for some reason. I guess from my past, my weight always fluctuated and didn't stay in one place for too long. Going up more then going down. Since surgery, I can probably remember one time that I went up a few pounds. Kymie: a 12lbs loss in 5 weeks is great. Don't worry about your goal being 3lbs short, you still lost not gained. Always a great thing. July 4th it is. My goal is losing 50lbs. From experience, wondering if I can be at my sweet spot only having 3.6 cc's in a 10 cc band? A little back history: they took my 2nd fill of 1 cc out 5 days after the fill as I was so uncomfortable and couldn't eat or hardly drink water. My next fill was 6 weeks later which was this past Thursday. He gave me .6cc this time. Over the weekend I had liquids then mushies and now onto solids. For a late breakfast yesterday & today I am eating Hormel's FF turkey Chili. Yesterday I could only eat a half cup. During the day, I ate a little tuna fish on a wheat thin cracker, maybe 3 and I could feel a restriction and felt full. I didn't eat until 4 or 5 hrs later when I had a half of a grilled burger and was satisfied. I am slowly eating a few spoonfuls of the turkey chili now {maybe a 1/4 cup as I write this. I can actually feel the food going down my esophagus and into my stomach. I'm chewing and it's not uncomfortable like the last fill but I feel restricted. Can it be I'm in a sweet spot, or just because it's only a few days out from my fill?

Chrissy, Congrats on your loss, that's awesome! I love your comment hoping to maintain your weight. :-) When I did hit 199 I took a picture of it on the scale thinking it would be just for that day and I would go up but I didn't. I guess it's our nature to think this way. Even if it's a lb, we need to realize it's usually water weight so I don't get upset. I agree with Chrissy, we have an awesome group!!! Wonder if the other's are as supportive to one anothe as ours are? I went for my fill the other night and as I was leaving a young man came up to me asking me if I was happy with my decision on having the surgery. He was about 20 or so, large frame, and a good 350 I would say. He was so sweet. He's going for the sleeve next Friday and was scared if it hurt, etc etc. I told him it was the best thing I've ever done weight wise and also told him how he had to work with it, etc etc etc. I told him it was important to have wonderful support in his life,as well getting on here and read all he could to become more knowledgeable about this as I found it to be the holy grail of all websites! I suggested he hook up with his June Bandsters as well. After that, he seemed so releived. It was just nice to be able to pay it forward. I'm sure I'll meet up with him during post op visits. Can't wait to see how he does. :-)

Jen, love your comment re: your Victoria Secret stash! I just found mine, well I knew where they were, shall I say, I'm now able to fit in some of them comfortably and looking forward to the day when I can get back into all of those sexy undies!

Hey Gals, first I must say happy birthday Kymie. Don't worry about the 5lbs, 10 is better then nothing. We have JDI's birthday in July. Love the realistic goals we're shooting for. Keeps us in check and a healthy competition with ourselves. JDI, Kudo's on your goal and thanks for the info on the bra inserts. I never heard of them. I actually went to Lane Bryant yesterday and didn't cut up my card. Realize I love their Cacique bras so I'm going to keep it for those and those alone. I'm a 40B, went from a 42C. I found some nice ones, actually bought 6 in 3 colors! #1 I do this probably every 4-5 years as they last forever. #2 I got my $75.00 coupon off in the mail and #3 buy one, get the 2nd one half off. Great deal for the quality of their bras and they fit the "girl's", both of them! Yesterday, I went for my 3rd fill but really 2nd, since the 2nd fill of 1cc 6 weeks ago had to be removed. So, 4mths out, I'm probably the only one on a 2nd fill, but that's ok, I'm losing. He put in .6 cc {standard size 10 band} this time to see how things go so I have approx 3cc's altogether. So far so good. I need to mentally get back into working out 3-4 times a week. Since the weather has become nice out, I've been working alot in the yard so I've been using that as exercise but I still think I need to step it up and get back in the gym, treadmill, and my "personal trainer" Leslie Sansone. :-) We bought a house 4 yrs ago with a game room and pool table they didn't want. We don't use it and we finally found someone who wants it for free but needs to have some one come in and professionaly disassemble it. My husband has a rower, elliptical and an entire weight bench workout station in storage that we're going to put in there. I can't wait because I need to work with the weights as well as doing cardio. I've been doing push ups standing up on an agle on the pool table and kitchen counter. {do these in between 2 minute commercials} which has really improved my shoulders, back and arms. One of these days, I would like to do "man" pushups as my knees can't do "girl" push ups but I'm seeing an improvement this way for the most part. Chrissy, your DH is a smart man. Thinking about what he said re: your co-workers and lunch time, I think he's right. Sometimes we have to take a step back and look at things people do and say to us in a positive way. I have to say, for the most part, people have been very happy for me, albeit, I'm in between jobs right now so I'm not working closely with people on an everyday basis but I'm sure there are those who think I took the easy way out, {I know 3} and that's ok with me. They're entited to their opinion. I'll never allow them to wipe the smile off of my face feeling and looking so much better then I did before surgery. :-)

JDI, you're on! I'll go with your birthday and try for 50 lbs. Kudo's to you for surpassing your goal of 50lbs!! That's awesome. Funny you mention bra sizes as I just wrote above in my post that "the ta-ta's need a smaller bra size. The "ta" on the right is smaller and I have an indent in the bra and have to play around with it to "fill it" out! LOL Not only do we have losses, NSV's but we have to have a sense of humor on this journey. Forgot to mention I went for my yearly mammo and the Radiologist Dr came out to give me my results and asked me if I've lost weight recently? Not knowing her, I was confused but happy to share with her I had the surgery and how much I had lost. It showed up in the mammo compared from last year's mammo! Silly me, I worked in Radiology year's ago and should've realized how she knew but I was just taken back.

Chrissy, that's sad and plain rude. We're not pariahs' for goodness sake! Hopefully, you have someone in the group who can share with you why they are reacting that way. Good luck! On another note here, I lost my first goal of 40lbs and as I said 4 mths ago this week, I'm burning up my Lane Bryant Card and calling the Corp to take me off their list. Forever! I have a $20.09 balance on my card and plan on sending that payment in the mail tomorrow. No offense to anyone here but I'm done with them, The Avenue, Dress Barn, etc etc. Yes, they were there for me when I needed them however, I still feel they were expensive and the quality of their clothes did not warrant the cost! Having said that, I loveeeee their Cacique bras and I'll miss them but I'm sure in time, I'll find bras just as nice but in a smaller size. The killer is.... I just got their promo & coupons in the mail today. I need to get new bras and still can fit into their smallest one's, so maybe, just maybe I'll use the one coupon, buy a few bras and get $25,00 off and tell them in person, thank you but I'm breaking up with you. You just don't do it for me anymore. Now, onto my next goal of losing 35-40 lbs, my final goal. Hmmm, I know, a "little" black dress. I always wanted one of them in my closet as well as on my body. Macy's Misses Dept here I come!!!

Welcome Trina, You came to the right place and website. I found this by accident and have no desire to look for others'. Everyone on here has been so supportive and positive and if we're feeling a little negative, it's at ourselves, we're never negative towards other's, there's always someone to pick you up. What ever you decide to do, I wish you the best.