Fenton

Christine - you're more than welcome for the SFO. And congrats on the loss so far! You snowbound folk! Stop talking about the snow! I got NONE last year, and I love that stuff! Lynn: 45 mins for 3 miles is GREAT!

I have to say, I'm really lucky to have Noa as a friend. She's really supportive and kind, and I could never let anyone else - in the REAL world! - know my weight, or my belt size or pants size. But I'm comfortable around her.

As far as feeling your port goes, hopefully we'll ALL be able to feel our ports, eventually. In fact, we'll probably be able to see them, too, if we're successful. I reweighed myself today after a week, and I'm down another 3 lbs; it would have been more, had I not fallen prey to the damn white chocolate and raspberry tarts they have at le Pain Quotidien. They're not big, but I've had several this week; I'm guessing they're about 500 calories a pop - EMPTY calories! But they have a raspberry on them, which is fruit, so I feel they're profoundly rewarding at the nutritional level. So, yeah, that's something to kick in the head. I've been exercising a lot - I'm walking as much as I can, trying to beat my pedometer each day. My max was almost 16000 steps on Wednesday, a lot for my hulking bulk. And I've started using my dumbells, about 15 minutes every other day, a dopy routine that I have "created". I didn't start yoga - I couldn't find the strap I needed, but I found my mat and the yoga blocks, so I will start today. Things are going well. Last weekend, my friend Noa came over and we went through my main clothes stash, discarding stuff that was too big. I have a rather sad collection of clothes of increasing size, many new with labels, a grim testament to my rise through the weight classes, and my optimistic shopping habits. But it was good. The really large stuff we took to Goodwill. I will keep one pair of enormous trophy pants. And we organized the bins by size, with the smallest sizes at the bottom, and the biggest on top; the plan is that I will gradually work my way down the pile to the slimmer clothes. At the very least, I'm not going to have to go clothes shopping for a while. So, I've shifted down in pants size, down 4 notches on my belt, 4" in my pants size. I'm still wearing my big shirts, but now the Tall shirts I have, cut slim, are loose on me. Since I've always bought pretty much identical clothes, and am still wearing clothes that are too big for me, I think people notice the weight loss less. Only a few people have commented on my weight loss - and I'm at 55 pounds lost! Still, when you weigh 175 and lose 55 pounds, that's a huge amount. When you weigh 475 and lose 55 pounds, it's comparatively not such a striking loss. The important thing is that everything's going in the right direction. The other important thing is that I feel really pretty fracking GOOD, with a lot more energy to walk and wrestle with cats and Take Care of Business...

On the website, it claims to be able to calculate your calorie intake. Have you tried that? How accurate is it? That seems like voodoo science to me, considering all the different folk and their different metabolisms...

I'm in the same boat. Dr. Fielding recommends no drinking for five minutes before, or for 20 minutes after; I have extra confidence in his opinion because 1. his surgical practice does a LOT of research and 2. he himself has a band. He's a bit of a foodie, and he says that when he goes out to dinner, he finishes his glass of wine before he begins eating.

Whoaahhh! Slow down there, little lady! We can't have the fillies invading our masculine preserve! Here, don't look at anything else, but go to this item, and look at post 11, where an XY has posted an image from the BodyBugg program; it's actually pretty cool: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f110/so-do-i-need-fill-how-should-i-eating-57161/ For crying out loud, if you get the urge to post, STIFLE IT! There's a sign nailed to the main tree branch that says NO GURLZ ALOUD.

Well, now I'm pretty sure Mike is going to look better in a bikini than Spirit! My incisions are also pretty small, most about 1/2", the port incision maybe a little under 2".

Welcome aboard! It looks like you've already made a pretty impressive dent in your target already...

Over in the Men's Room, one of the dudes posted some charts from his BodyBugg, and it was really pretty cool. The device appeals to me, but what *doesn't* is the $100 a year charge for the web service. For some reason, that is a deal-breaker for me. The equipment is expensive as it is, but for them to charge so much money in perpetuity seems outrageous. Does the Nike + thing cost anything for the website access? I don't think it does. I could understand a nominal yearly subscription fee, say $25, but that $100 just bugs the heck out of me.

Spirit, that longer incision is your port incision, and that knot there is probably your port itself, into which the doc will inject saline when you have your fills...

Hey, BodyBugg people! SO, break down the cost for me, would you? How much is the basic unit, how much is the watch, and how much is the web service?

Good God, man! I don't know that I've EVER managed to get in 100 oz of Water in a day! What are you doing for Protein?

Thanks, Chrisann. I was about to continue, "But alas, I'm a dude", but, well, that would be wrong! I'm a guy, so I fear Rochelle isn't right for me. Thanks for the tip, though!

Can anyone recommend a personal trainer in NYC who has worked with very overweight people before? Thanks in advance, F.

I'm almost 4 weeks out from banding now. I'll have a clearer idea when I weigh in tomorrow, but I'm anticipating that I'll be down around 15 or 16 pounds since surgery. I don't have absolute restriction, but I have some restriction, I think - I don't want to eat as much as I used to, I feel full on less than I normally eat, and I don't seem to be falling for my old bad habits. I've almost never felt hungry, and I've never experienced "bandster hell". There are some moments when I'm less than perfect - yesterday I got some tasty gyro meat on salad with pita from the cart in front of my office, and I ate more gyro than I should have, and more pita too. But until a month or two ago, I"d have ordered the same thing, polished it off with gusto and gone looking for something (s) sweet for dessert. Yesterday, I probably ate two thirds of the plate and felt overfull; the difference is really big. I'm absolutely committed to losing weight, but I AM losing weight. I assume that with time my current "restriction" will ease a bit, making a fill more important. But until them I'm happy eating less of whatever I want to eat. I know Jack didn't get his first fill for 6 months - am I in a similar situation? I have my fill appointment for April 14 - should I get a fill? And if I don't get a fill, if I just stay with my current degree of restriction, what should I be eating? Should I be eating until I'm full, or should I be using Protein grams and calories for my guide? Jack, other Delayed Fill Weight Loss Masters, advise me!!! Thanks, Fenton

Congrats on the banding, and on the great weight loss, gurgiphoenix. I don't know what a Trike is - can you upload a photo? I know that there's a website, livingxl.com or something - betterlivingxl.com, something like that - that offers extra large bike seats, if the seat you have isn't large enough.

Happy to hear the scales are budging for many! MoverM - wow! You've had SUCH rough ride! Hang in there - it sounds like your doctors are on top of things. Kjlared - I think that what you're feeling is your body's unfamiliarity with stress. I suspect that a combination of air swallowing, tightening the muscles of your abdomen while you were on the ride, and the normal gastric effects of stress, plus the worry you might have done something to your precious band are what's putting you out of order. Amanda's suggestion of going for a walk and taking it easy seems like a good one to me. Give yourself timie to get over it - you didn't do anythign wrong! Oh, and, two other things: 1. Congrats on the great weight loss 2. I LOVE roller coasters too!

High five, boxwes! Welcome aboard! Since the first 24 hours post-op are generally the hardest, it sounds like you're already in clover...

Hey, I don't know if anyone would like a few premade cans of chocolate Royale Slimfast Optima, but I'm bored of the stuff, and have some I'd be happy to give away. I have at least two six packs, possibly as many as four. You'd have to stop by my place - I'm in the Union Square area in Manhattan - but you could do that at any time, since I can just leave the cans with my 24 hour doorman. I'll check tomorrow to see how much I have. At the moment, I know it's at least two six packs plus a couple of cans. First person to send me a message me gets 'em.

OK, Amanda, you're more than welcome too.

Also: be wary of my advice! I started at 473 pounds, so I can lose weight eating a lot more than I should! What works for me may not work for everybody.

I think that golf ball bump IS your port! I don't think it's weird that you did better on the pre-surgery than after - I think we have a big, scary motivation coming up, and that helps us Do the Right Thing. Also it was easier for me because when you're on liquids, you KNOW what you can and can't have, and it's much harder the cheat while pretending that you're not.

By the way, Teri - nice work on the weight loss there!

I've been thinking a lot about Paul McKenna's guidelines for weight loss. I watched the entire I CAN MAKE YOU THIN series, and I believe he's spot on about the process, particularly in his Golden Rules: 1. When you're hungry, eat 2. When you eat, eat what you want 3. Eat consciously 4. When you're full, stop There's a whole lot of stuff in there, but those are the guidelines that I think are key for losing weight, and they echo the guidelines in the CAMP program Harley posted previousl. I need to be more conscientious about eating consciously. This morning, I followed rules 1 and 2 - I was hungry, and I wanted to eat what I wanted, so I bought a loaf of seeded wheat bread, and some lemon curd (what I really wanted was marmalade, but it's out of season). I had a piece of toast for Breakfast, with French butter and lemon curd. And I loved it. But later I regretted it a little. It was v. tasty, but I didn't eat it consciously enough - I satisfied a craving, but I didn't focus on the food. McKenna's guideline (also encountered in various eating guidelines issued to bandsters) is to take your bite, put your fork or spoon down, then chew for a count of at least 20 before taking your next bite. And I didn't do that - I just, you know, ATE it. So I wasn't happy about that. I picked up some Golden Rules from the NYU banding people, and one of them was, after swallowing your food, count to 50 before taking the next mouthful. So I was disappointed that I just wolfed down my precious piece of toast. And I'm also a bit sorry I didn't go for more Protein in my breakfast intake. Or even ANY protein! I shall concentrate more at lunch.