thunderbeast77

I'm glad that you have the most amazing of lives. Maybe when your ego deflates a little bit you can be kind to everyone else on the forums who are all working toward the same common goal. In my experience with life when you drop your "I'm a total badass" attitude and try work with people instead of against them people tend to respond to you more positively. Whatever you do, again hope everything works out.

You seem very defensive. Hope that attitude works out for you.

Got my first fill this morning and zoinks did it hurt more than I expected. Nothing horrific but I'm not looking forward to that again haha. Anyway, my surgeon only put 1 cc in. That seems like nothing... Is that normal for a first fill? Also I'm feeling slightly naseaus after drinking is that normal?

Hey Nikki! Thats who did mine! Figure out what you wanna say to her before you go in she's in and out like a jack rabbit!!! She didn't use any numbing stuff or give me an option which was kinda a bummer since apparently my port is at a weird angle (oopses being too active too quickly) and so it took a couple tries. It hurt but like I said nothing horrible. When was your surgery? Mine was July 11th. How you doing? Having a hometown surgery buddy might be nice!

Also could anyone else feel the saline? It was weird and hard to explain but my stomach got cold like when you get an IV. Totally weird.

I've only had one nay-sayer in my extended group of friends tell me I'm taking the easy way out. And my response was, "So what if I am?" (Not that I believe this is the easy way out, ya know risking your life getting cut open and not eating solid food for a month and a few days every month after fills and having scars and having to take four Vitamins a day, having to take time out of my schedule every month and drive across the city for doctor appointments etc. etc.) But really, so what if this is the "easy" way. It's working and I'm healthier.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well..... BUT FREAKING CONGRATS ON 100 pounds! That's amazing and inspiring!!

I didn't have a particularly strict pre-op diet. We went to a BBQ the day before my surgery. I totes had a cheeseburger. Glad it didn't fall out during surgery bwahaha. Anyway, yeah it's good to follow your surgeons instructions for sure, but crazy scare tactics are for kids in my book.

Eh, I had a can of Pepsi today for the first time since being banded a little over a month ago. We went camping and it was a treat. I shook the hell out of it before I opened it to make it flat as possible. I drank it slowly over the afternoon and I didn't have any problems, but it really didn't taste that great. All I could taste was the corn syrup. I'm pretty over soda at this point, which is crazy to me since that's literally all I used to drink.

Hey all just checking in since I haven't in awhile! Summers in full swing! So one month out and 25 pounds down! A quarter of my 100 pounds to lose goal! Holy cow! Non scale victories - - I can take a picture of my face dead on and barely a double chin! - My old pair of cowboy boots I had to buy a size up to fit my calves are now hard to walk in because there's an inch of room in the calves! - I couldn't wear my old pyramid belt for the last year - can now! - Don't dread walking as much - in fact had the confidence to apply to be a walking tour guide of my city - waiting to hear back - Got decked out to go to a metal show and encountered a full length mirror (dread!!!) and actually had to double take - who was this chick that looked taller and confident and happy and slimmer? I'm so happy! There have been ups and downs but overall I'm thrilled. Struggling with bandster hell a little but my first fill is Thursday. On one hand I'm excited and on the other sort of dismayed that I'll be able to eat even less than I already do haha Anyway, I'm so happy and I'm so proud of myself and I hope all my bandster buddies out there are doing well and enjoying life! <3 Also attached a pic of my slimmer face and new hair haha

Love it!! I'm naming mine Ethel!

So, I'm not really sure what just happened, and I'm sure it's been asked a million times before. But what does getting stuck feel like? I just got home after a late night and was starving, I'm still on mushies and just quickly horfed down some left over salmon. I started to feel like I was choking, but I could breath so I took a drink of Water and immedietly everything came back up and I had to run to the bathroom where I made myself throw up more. Now the choking feeling is gone and I feel ok. This is the first time I've thrown up since I was banded on July 11th (I was priding myself on not throwing up!! Haha). So is that getting stuck or is that what I've heard called "sliming" or something entirely different? All I know is that it was a horrible feeling and it really scared me. I just mowed down with out even thinking like I used to pre-band. Lesson learned. I need to be really mindful about how quickly I'm eating and um, chewing haha. That was terrible. Please reassure me!

I'm in Oregon. It took me a couple of months, and I'm glad it did gave me time to process what I was doing.

Was banded July 11th. Three weeks out down 20 pounds! Starting weight 318 today 298! I'm under 300 pounds for the first time in 2 years! Dance party commence!!!! This is huge for me!

Hey all, I'm rounding out week one of mushy foods and I don't know about any of you but mushy food has been a god-send for me. I was losing my mind the last week of liquids. Also, it's helped jump start getting a few more pounds off. I just thought I'd share a few of the meal ideas that have been working for me, make sure that these are acceptable foods for you, and what you're surgeon is telling you! 2 Scrambled eggs fluffed up with a tablespoon of skim milk and half a slice of Sargento low fat cheddar. (Use just the whites if you want to shave even more calories, but I'm finding that 200-300 calorie meals every three hours or so are just fine for me) Deviled Eggs have been a great snack. Just hardboil two eggs (or one) slice them in half, add a little bit of mustard and a TINY bit of mayo (or yogurt, or no fat sour cream). My friend enjoys hardboiled eggs with mustard powder on them instead of making them deviled which saves her calories. However, I find that slicing two eggs into four portions makes me feel like I"m getting a little bit more. (I've learned to play head games with myself haha) Lasagna - brown a half a pound of the lean ground beast of your choice with some italian seasoning and garlic powder (I used elk, because I'm lucky to have an endless supply of game meat. If you can get your hands on it do, it's super lean and is about as organic as you can get. If you really want a red meat and can't don't have a game hook up, I recommend using bison which you can ussually find at a local supermarket). Drain any fat out of the meat. Stick that in the blender with some beef broth. Before you blend it though cook some frozen broccoli and/or spinach until it's super soft then throw it in the blender with the meat. Puree that up. In a small baking dish layer the meat/veggie paste low/no fat riccotta cheese and/or low/no fat cottage cheese. Top it with Pasta sauce (I like the dollar cans of Hunts because their are no chunks in it!) Rip up a baby bel or laughing cow or low fat string cheese and throw that on top of the pasta. Cover and bake at 350 twenty or so minutes! Using the elk and calorie counting this out it's approx 333 calories if you eat half of it. Which is gonna probably be more than you can eat so I counted it as about 200 calories per serving a serving being one fourth of the entire dish. If you like sushi - mash half an avacado with 1/3 of a 6 oz. can of tuna a tablespoon of mayo (or sour cream/yogurt) and a tiny bit of asian hot sauce. Bam you got mash sushi! This is a little higher in fat and calories than you may want as avacados are higher in fat/calories, but for me it was a good satisfying meal and I felt I can afford that kind of fat calories if it's an occiasonal treat. Also, for me it's one thing to have that amount of fat calories coming from a organic piece of fruit as opposed to a bag of chips or a hot dog or whatever, make sense? Real vs. processed! And my most favorite meal that I've had so far! Greek Smoked Salmon Salad!! Blend 2/3 of a cup of plain no fat yogurt (or no fat sour cream) with 1/3 of a cup low fat mayo (low fat mayo is usually pretty gross but in this recipe it's fine) a tablespoon fo lemon juice 1 teaspoon of dill weed 2 teaspoons of dried parsley and a teaspoon of lemon pepper. Mix that all up nice and then add 1 medium cucumber chopped up as tiny and finely as you can, 1/2 a bell pepper chopped up again as tiny and finely as you can, 1/2 of a red onion chopped up as tiny and finely as you can. 2-3 ozs of smoked salmon chopped REALLY as finely as you can. Blend that together refrigerate for a for hours. Delicious! I'm not sure what the calories on this is the recipe I modifed it from says 423 calories per serving (which is a 1/3 of the entirety) but that includes peeta bread and 14 ozs of salmon so I'm gonna assume it's closer to 200 calories per serving. I found 2-3 ozs of smoked salmon was plenty of salmon for this recipe but you can use 14 ozs of non-smoked if you want it chunkier and less rich. Anyway, I hope that these come in helpful for some one! You can still eat very well while on mushy if you get creative. Be slow though and see how something sits before you mow down. I'm finding what some people can eat with the band other people steer clear off. This is just what's been working for me. Also if you have any recipe ideas you'd like to share, please do! I'm always on the hunt for new ideas!

DDRobins - I haven't had a fill yet, but I'm still only able to eat arond a cup or so of mush as it stands at the moment. Probably a combo of swelling and my tummy shrinking from liquids and what not. When people stress the head hunger, they're right. That's been my biggest battle is not just snacking when I feel like it. I'm a big night binge eater and so to combat that I've started to go to bed a little earlier which helps. As far as dealing with what people have called bandster hell, how I'm dealing with that is KEEPING MYSELF BUSY!!!! Spending time with friends, going on easy hikes (I've lost around seventeen pounds and I think a lot of that is I've made sure to walk every day and believe me it's already easier. I started out at 318 I'm down to 301 and I can already tell the difference). I've been reading books as opposed to watching tv/movies as I know watching tv is a trigger for me to want to eat. We went to the movies the other day and I brought a flavored sugar free tea to subsittue candy and threw an ensure in my bag as good measure in case I got head hungry worked well for me. Um, doing crafts like needle point, bought some coloring books and have colored. Rewarded myself for being good the first week by buying a plant and a cool flower pot and spent and hour repotting that plant. Um.... using the money I'm saving and staying good with my diet to do things for me that I don't normally do (getting a manicure today). Just staying really busy and being as active as my body will allow me to be. Can't wait to get the go ahead to go swim. The mental part of this has been the hardest part - but eating when I'm hungry and only when I'm hungry (maybe the occaisonal skinny cow ice cream bar in the evening if I'm being cray-cray) has acutally made me feel a lot better. Finding out how food centric my life was before vs. the last three weeks has been a real eye opener. Before when I would do weight watchers I cheated all the time because I could. Now that the band is in there and it's life or death important that I don't eat my friends tater tots at the bar has kind of helped me keep myself on the ball. I'm really lucky to have a support system. If you don't have one, get yourself one. Find at least one person who will listen to you and support you and be helpful. I've got a few friends who've joined me in solidarity so I'm lucky for that. Journalling is also a great way to get your feelings out and waste some time if you feel like eating (it's hard to eat and write haha) Another recipe - non fat veggie refried Beans seasoned with taco sauce, half a slice of sargento low fat cheddar, no fat sour cream, and some chalula. Tastes as good a taco bell bean burrito!

I'm about three and a half weeks banded and I've lost 17 pounds. That being said much of it is going from a soda addict to only Water, being pretty strict on my calorie intake, and I've been active since the day after my surgery (walked down the block the next day and now I'm able to go on easy, short hikes). Also I think a big factor is how heavy you are to begone with. I started at 318 so I can expect to have a bigger loss than say some one who is like 200. Congrats on your 9 that's awesome!

I just started mushies too! My favorite thing I've found thus far has been a third of a can of tuna mixed up with half an avocado with a tiny bit of low fat mayo and siracha. It tastes like sushi. I can have ground beef/turkey, I'm fortunate to have access to wild game which is way super lean so tonight I'm gonna try and brown some ground elk throw that in the blender and top it with low fat riccotta cheese and some Pasta sauce and a tiny bit of parm throw it in the oven and call it lasagna!

.... About eating around you in the first weeks after getting banded? I know people are trying to be supportive and helpful but it's irritating that everyone around me has started acting like food is Voldemort and can not be mentioned or consumed around me! I figure this is my "burden" to deal with and shouldn't really affect anyone else's life. Ugh, in happier news I'm just under two weeks and have lost around 15 pounds. Woo!

Interesting to see everyone else's experiences!

I am the queen of soda! Literally drank nothing but soda for years, Water rarely if ever passed my lips. A friend once drew a picture of me and it included a pepsi bottle in my hand. I literally would wake up in the middle of the night and go to the store to grab a coke sometimes. This is despite chronic dehydration, kidney stones, weight gain, and being Pre-diabetic for ten years. I was ADDICTED for realsies. So, when the time came I realized I was gonna have to give up pop for keeps I went balls to the wall with it. I didn't mess around with diet. I didn't mess around with carbonate calorie free juice. I just decided I had no other choice but to nip it in the bud and say sayonara. So what I did was I went out and bought a huge box of bottled water, but half in the fridge and half in my car. I also bought four of the naglagene (or however you say/spell it haha) bottles and kept them on a constant rotation. I basically just tried to keep as much water around me as possible at all times and forced mysel to drink it. I didn't chug it or anything I just drank it through the day. And found that I was drinking close to 80 oz a day. In the first few weeks it was excruciatingly difficult. I felt awful, had some killer headaches, felt like all that good in life was being deprived of me. But hey that's the nature of drug withdrawal (and believe you me caffeine and corn syrup are drugs) This was about a month and a half ago. I since can't live with out water, I don't really crave soda at this point, feel soooo much better, my face looks way better, I sleep better and I've lost 15 pounds (I was banded a little under two weeks ago.) I drink crystal light in an emergency. I have an occasional ice tea at the bar (I don't drink booze). Also, a friend in trying treat me brought me a coke slurpee today, I literally took two sips of it and felt sick. It didn't taste good and I couldn't believe I've been drinking that crap for years. So yeah, from the former Empress of Cola - you can do it! It may suck for a while but trust me you'll learn to love it. I say ditch it and the caffeine pronto cold turkey and you'll be surprised to find how much better you'll feel.