Fenton

I can't get into it.

I think what I'll do is go onto solids on Thursday, and see how I do both in terms of my eating and in terms of my weight loss. In a couple of weeks - ie when I'm on the scales in the surgeon's office - I'll decide then...

I asked this question over in the Men's Room actually, and got a really great response from Jack - Super Moderator, a veteran of the process, who's down 126 pounds. I'm going to relay his thoughts here (he quotes some of my original post in that item), because I think they're pretty instructive in terms of mastering this whole process: JACK: re: "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"." Restriction is best in our BRAIN and our eating behavior....you are beginning to experience this reality! What you are feeling is SATIETY. Good job!!! re: "Should I be eating until I'm full, or should I be using Protein grams and calories for my guide? Eating until we were FULL is how we all got to be MORBIDLY OBESE!!! Eating until the very FIRST inkling of 'NOT HUNGER' is when we stop....then 'restriction' is where is should be....in our behavior! I never knew what 'satiety' was in practice...once I had to do a report on it, and while I learned an amazing amount about it....'satiety' was to me like 'tone deaf' or 'color blind' or 'without sense of smell'.... I had no way to relate to that physicality.... Seek that point at which you can discern 'NOT HUNGRY'.... remember this: "full" is NOT the same as 'not hungry'; I strived for decades to eat till I was full, and all I got was 373 pounds mostly of extra fat. Normos eat until they are NOT hungry, then stop. And the difference is NOT their sensation of 'full' it is their sensation of 'satiety' or 'NOT hungry'. If we continue to eat until full...we will continue to eat ever more regardless of physiological hunger. Learn that trick, and we will conquer our eating errors.

I've been trying to decide whether or not I want to get my fill. I'm scheduled for the 14th. Right now I'm almost four weeks out, down probably about 16 pounds since surgery. I feel pretty good, and my eating is moderate. I don't get hungry, and I've NEVER experienced bandster hell. I eat a lot less than I used to, and I somehow don't seem to be falling into all my old traps. I have, for example, a hardcore love of hot chocolate. The real stuff, French dark chocolate melted into skim milk, with cream and sugar and cocoa powder added. In my liquids stages, I'd have the occasional cup, and would make it last for two days. Now I'm out and about and I swing by City Bakery (the best place in NYC for hot chocolate), and I don't get hot chocolate - even though you can choose a Dixie cup-sized serving! In fact, I don't get anything at all, and I don't want to. So I'm pretty good at the moment. I'm watching my intake, occasionally stretching it a bit, but I don't think I've really gone over 1700 cals at my most extreme. And the weight is coming off. Now I can eat or drink whatever I want, but I only want to eat or drink a bit before stopping. THis is exactly what I wanted from the band. I can have salad if I want to - uh, I think; I've not tried it yet. So, shall I get my fill in two weeks?

But I don't know why I should get the fill now, since I'm losing, and am comfortable. Why not wait until I slow down or start screwing up on my intake by overeating? I work literally next door to the surgeon's office, so it'd be pretty easy for me to just head over...

Ack! Christine! How horrible! I hope they call soon and sort you out - you're in a tricky situation, there. Do you have iSopure? I think that that and Water would be the way to go for the time being. Hang in there! And good luck with the Mushies, Harley. Don't be surprised if you get a little weight bump at first... As far as to fill or not to fill, I'll see how I feel on the 14th. If I'm losing at least 2 lbs a week without a fill, I think I'll stick to it. That said, I'm still eating soft food; I wonder if a shift to solid food will affect me much. Of course, I've had a bit of solid food, too already, without incident.

I must say that I'm still astonished by how quickly that cat wolfed down the tortilla - I'm amazed he didn't look as if he'd just swallowed an umbrella. I hope the spicy bean dip smeared on it isn't playing havoc with his guts right now.

Good Lord, Annie! After hundreds of posts whining about gas pain, your first meal with your fill is BAKED Beans??? Whadday got, a DEATH WISH??? Congrats on the fill! I've been wondering whether or not to go forward with the fill right away. I have some restriction, and I don't know if I want to eat even less than I'm eating now. But I have a feeling that I'm slowly starting to slide - not because I feel hungry, but because of bad eating habits. Yesterday I had some Mystery meat from the halal cart in front of my office, but I may have had too much, and I certainly ate too much of the pita that came with it. And then later in the day I had a cookie. And in the evening, because I'm worried about my Protein intake, but don't want to go back to Isopure, I made an omelet with parmesan, spicy (fat free!) black bean dip, salsa, carnitas and a low carb tortilla (est calories about 450 - luckily the cat stole most of the tortilla while I was on the phone). I think I did about 1600 cals for the day, which isn't the end of the world, but I worry that I'll rationalize and continue to slide down that slippery slope. I guess I'll see how I'm doing for the next couple of weeks before my fill session.

Yay, Evelas, glad to hear it! Maybe slowing down on how quickly you take liquids will help? Or maybe you're already sipping reallllllllllly slowly anyway.

Bratz - that must have been very scary! I'm glad you're OK. I'm sure you're going to keep a really sharp eye on your Fluid and calorie intake from now on... Penny! When I saw "Rugmanforever", for just one exhilarating second, I thought that another dude had joined the Shamrocks!!! But I bid you welcome, even if we're unlikely to be bonding over power tools and the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated any time soon... Nice to see you here, Elsie. You really can't sweat the randomly malevolent wanderings of the scale needle. If you manage your intake, and exercise, your body will go in the right direction. It's particularly hard in the early days, when we're all switching out our different shakes and broths and Protein beverages and cream of wheat or NEVER cream of wheat... And Nice to have you back, mrodr! (No chance that's, like, a contraction of "Mr. Odor"? No? I thought not...)

I actually do have a dumbell set, but I worry that I'll somehow hold the damn things improperly, and end up tearing out all my muscles. And then I'd be sad. But I guess that at really low weights, even poor form probably can't do that much harm. I LOVE to dance! But I think it'd make too much noise in the downstairs apartment. As well as filling my cats with a spicy paste of shame...

Food and travel writer. Best job in the world.

Remember, Lisa: walk and drink!!!! And come back quick and tell us about what's going on with you, ask us for advice. We'll tell you to walk and drink!!!

Kristin, I agree with you - almost all the Protein stuff is sweet, not savory! My nutritionist suggested drinking your drinks as if you're sipping hot tea; apparently, some people use a "sipping cup" to regulate their intake speed.

Y'know, I'm astonished to report that it hasn't itched at all.

I'd have to say that the times I HAVE felt hungry are the days (or hours, sometimes) after I've strayed a little - had too much food, had something a bit carbier than usual. All of a sudden, I feel that vague, gnawing voice of hunger that has been weirdly quiet for a while now...

Busy - yes, I've been a food writer for more than a decade. But, as I said, I have a weird mix of careers.

sueangel - I know what you mean about colleague's expectations! They want to see weight loss, and FAST, dammit! I think you'll find you have more restriction than you think - that you won't feel as hungry as you used to. And that healing stuff is KEY: if you play loose with the rules, you run a much higher risk of having your band slip, and needing to have surgery again.

Wait! I SO don't want to derail the thread! Thanks for your interest, guys. I'm happy to talk about my book in private messages, but it's not part of our weight loss thread!

So I checked my weight again today, and was down another 3 lbs - the bump and plateau seems to have finished for the time being. Yay. I wonder when it'll come back again. I feel like I'm really in the groove of weight loss, now. I know that much of it is the residual restriction caused by my banding, but that's three weeks ago now, and I'm making decisions like NOT to have a mini hot chocolate, or NOT to have a dessert. Because I'm in the weight loss groove. Why can't it always be like this? Last week, I had to do a photo shoot. I should explain that I have a bizarre mix of different careers, one of which is writing. My first novel came out in the US in November, and next month, it comes out in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Holland (and, eventually, Bulgaria). I'm being profiled in a British magazine, and they sent a photographer, and I spent the afternoon with him striking poses. Now, every second of every day, I'm acutely aware of my size; to have to be posing for this guy, and knowing that his photos would be broadcast across the United Kingdom (and be seen by some people who knew me when I was thinner - second confession: I'm English) was kind of excruciating. I wish that there was some way to slow time down on some things (book tours, photo shoots, TV appearances) and speed them up on others (the whole weight loss journey), so that I could present a better self to the world. I know there's nothing intrinsically wrong with me - or with being overweight - but I doubt that I'm the only person here who feels acutely self-conscious, and who'd rather hide until it all goes away. When my next book comes out in 2009, I'm going to be a lot slimmer, with more energy and more self-confidence; I'm really looking forward to selling the hell out of that book!

Oh, GREAT, Amanda! NOW you tell us about liquid bandage!!!

Hey, Rick - thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep at it, and when I get down to, say, 375, will start in at the gym.

I wonder how well the iSopure Clears will freeze - the Protein probably will stop them from really going solid. But you could add ice and Splenda-based fruit syrups, like the DaVinci syrups, and make a slushy out of it. I'll have to experiment for summer. When I was doing Atkins, I got an ice crushing machine for making SnoCones with - v. successful. Wishin, when it hurts too much to sit or lie, and you get relief from standing, your body wants you to walk.I guess the action of the muscles on your stomach squeezes the gas out of you or something. Either way, it sounds like you're on the mend - it'll only get better. Jencys - what a pain in the neck! Probably the last thing you want to deal with when you get home... It took me a couple of weeks to feel like myself. One thing, though: my sleep has got a LOT better. I don't know whether it's because I'm so tired that, when I get to bed, I completely CRASH, or because correcting the hiatal hernia has cut down on reflux-y problems, but some nights I'm even sleeping 8 solid hours. My big mistake is to allow the cats in - the night before last, the big one jumped onto my port site at about 3:30AM, all 20 pounds of him. SURPRISE!!!

(Kathy - I can't take credit for the banana/coffee thing!) I think I was pretty bloated for about 5 or 6 days. I'm assuming it's all the gas they pump into the belly, but maybe it's just the guts slowing down a bit because they're stunned from the operation. Harley! WTG, girl! That's really fantastic! And Ajoneen, I'm going to take a page out of your book and 1. Try and lower my calorie intake 2. Slow down with the meals. I think I've been running around 1500 cals a day; I weighed myself and am down 2 lbs since Monday, which is good, but I think I should be doing better. Although, in truth, I don't know what's appropriate. I'm a big boy, maybe I shouldn't try to take it down much below 1500. I certainly want to keep up my exercise. The other thing is: I'm still wolfing my food down. I completely ignore Paul McKenna, and I sit and watch the news or something on TV while I eat - my life is so damned busy that I'm always multitasking. I'm going to have to get better about switching off the TV and focusing on what I'm eating for 20 minutes to half an hour... Thanks for the great example, Ajoneen.

You know, there are few things in the world I like as much as well-prepared eggs. My Mushies instructions referred to "blended scrambled eggs", a notion as horrifying to me as "puréed toddler" or "flambéed puppy". I make my scrambled eggs the French way - eggs, a little milk or cream, salt and pepper, sometimes a dash of Dijon mustard or some grated parmesan, the cook the lot slowly over low heat until they barely start to thicken. Often I use truffle salt or a shot of truffle oil to make them even more luxurious, but DAMN, I love me some scrambled eggs! Lynn, I agree completely with you. I think it's a great idea to attack them with the notion of the hernia repair, but they probably know that's just a couple of extra stitches - it's not like the sort of operation other people have to repair regular hernias, so I wouldn't hold out hope. On the plus side, though, you got insurance to cover a lot of your ride - you didn't have to hop on a plane or anything. And on the even more plus side, you've had an operation which will radically change your life - including giving you much more of it. Much more life, I mean.