judych

It must be very frustrating and disappointing for you knowing that other family members have done well and you are having problems. when you say you are having chicken and drinks... for starters... what sort of drinks? alcohol? have you done a daily count of calories, fats, carbs etc? it could be that you arent getting enough ? just off the top of my head... i would do this, start a daily diary, put down everything that id eaten and work out the food values. do that for a week. also.... if you are having drinks that arent alcohol and are sugar free then they arent the issue. If you are having alcoholic drinks and other drinks with sugar, then thats an issue.

you're welcome. its a great feeling to be able to catch your own fish and then prepare and eat it. Been there and always enjoyed it so much. As long as the shark is frozen always before eating you cant go wrong. im interested to hear how your smoking goes with it. We had a friend many years ago who used to smoke couta with the smoke from huon pine...it was just unbelievable.

it should be beautiful. my grandson, who works for a salmon farm, has a wonderful recipe for smoking salmon and its better than any you would buy in the shops.... trouble is he wont part with the recipe.. lol.. its been handed down.

i just love shark. i come from a fishing family and live right on the coast... so ive had plenty of shark to eat... its my favorite, or one of them. the main thing is with shark is that it needs to be frozen first otherwise its a bit strong with ammonia. Im assuming that the shark you catch there would be like the sharks we have here in our waters as far as the flesh is concerned. Did you freeze it?

...what i did was make up my own Soup, cook various veges and some meat, puree them and then add until quite thick. to start with i put less into the soup base.. i made a lot of home made Soups at that time. used beef broth, chicken broth, pumpkin soup.... all that sort of thing. i mainly added cooked mashed potato, carrot, mince.....

i can honestly say that i havent had any issues at all... .ive had blue vein, all the various strong cheeses... and no problems at all. i just want to make a comment on another subject while im here. i was having big issues with swallowing meat and fish.. Well... ive bought a pressure cooker .. and since ive been using that for cooking meat ive had no problems. it leaves the meat, chicken etc a lot more moist than any other cooking method i use. im so happy about that. i did think that i was not going to be able to eat meat like before... now im able to. Regarding fish? i just make a white sauce and put the fish into that for a few minutes before serving. it was delicious.

hi Tosavemylife. congratulations on finally getting your band. Two years is a long time getting through and i can imagine it was difficult at times. its a lot harder in the States to be approved for the band than here in Australia.Firstly... the gas is a problem that we all have to work through but be assured, in time it will leave you. try sitting with your hands on your head... moving around on your feet as much as possible is good. Keep taking your anti gas meds... they should be easing it a bit. Regarding the weight loss?? everyone is different, but just because you are on such a low calorie intake doesnt mean your body is goign to respond by losing weight. Often very low intake causes your body to slip into survival mode and thats when you wont get weight loss. But... i get the impression that you are just banded... so there is Fluid from the surgery, drugs etc etc that your body will get rid of eventually. Try not to be on your scales... just give yourself time to heal. The weight will come off really quickly once you get over the immediate after effects of surgery itself. Personally, im finding that for me to lose weight i need to be eating about 1200-1300 calories a day. Years ago i tried Atkins diet, more than once. i think that during that period my body learned how to be very effective at shutting down as far as weight loss is concerned... so.. now i go between 1000 and 1300 daily... my body is primed for weight loss at these intakes. i lose on average about a pound a week.. i dont want to lose quicker than that. How much weight do you want to lose?

JennyBee...lol... youre funny. no .. i havent done that but im deeply appreciative just the same. im really impressed by the minimal weight gain you had on your cruise. can you give me some tips? im cruising with our young grand daughter...aged 15. she doesnt know im banded and i dont want to tell her either... so what did you do to keep the weight gain to a minimum? did you have a slight unfill before you went?

my opinion is.... adult cows dont drink milk. its for their young. they have the gut for it... .we dont.

lol... i can still feel the wonderful coolness of the ice water,cold wine and icecubes....it was memorable. lol.

thats fantastic. i love the look of your catch. have you eaten any of it yet?

Im the same as you. I have trouble after fills. ive had three 33's in which was difficult for me for about two weeks but i got through it.(first fill) Then i had a 1cc... and after 2 1/2 weeks still couldnt manage. so i had half of that taken out again. im having another fill on the 21st august. i dont know if it will only be .5 cc or not... i guess i will find out. At this point im not totally convinced that its the swelling in the band and not my eating habits still. I could still be putting too much in my mouth. Im finding that four months out and i still have mental issues with when to eat, how to eat and how much. the only thing i have learned it how long to chew each mouthful and thats when im not distracted. It seems like a long road sometimes. Anyone else out there having the same issues after four months? im not losing at the moment... i guess i will need more fill before i start losing again. im only eating enough to fill the smallest bread and butter plate.

when i have a stuck episode i can feel the food churning around in the pouch. it reminds me of the agitation in a washing machine. then i have continuous sliming episodes where i have to vomit it up. then it builds again and i have to get rid of it again. very rarely have i been able to vomit up the offending food... and thats worse i think.

yes i have. Ive been banded coming on four months now. i was using skim milk in my protein shakes and was ill with pain. i wasnt sure if it was my gall bladder but i was a mess.. anyway, i had to start thinking about what id eaten or drunk that ive not usually had. im not a milk user normally. i cut the milk out of the protein shake... just had some greek yoghurt... and within 12 hours the pain had gone. so... yes, in my opinion i reckon it does affect some people. i have no idea why but for me it was very painful... nearly crippled me.

hi Lassie...i agree... its hard to get your head around a stuck incident lasting that long. Actually, when i came to have some soup for tea that night.... about 8 hours later, i was still so sore i couldnt have tea. about ten pm i had a glass of white wine with icecubes in it... it went down well and did help to relax things a bit. i expected to be bad all night but i slept well.. was o.k. the next morning and had some soup. Can you imagine? here i am helping out in the kitchen of a christian day of praise and teaching... and here i am running to the loo every five minutes to try and vomit?? rofl. i know it didnt look good. lol. i had to try and explain that i had tummy problems. lol.

it very well could be a lowered blood sugar.... can you bump up your cals a bit?

Lassie... thats rough you had a stuck episode. My advice is not to eat any meat while on the run... i know that i have to concentrate while chewing meat as its so fibrous. i dont have any issues with bacon at all.. in fact im having it every morning with an egg and thoroughly enjoy it. I wouldnt assume that bacon is off your list...if you eat it while concentrating im sure it will be o.k. In fact, i hope it will be o.k.. i love bacon and enjoy my breakfasts more than most meals these days. Ive had a few episodes of being stuck in three months and its wise to go onto some liquids for about 24 hours afterwoods. Last saturday i had the worst experience... i was out at a function helping in the kitchen, we were very busy and i was distracted. i ate a small savoury , didnt chew it properly and was ill for six hours afterwoods... the worst Ive ever been. Its my fault. Im not saying that i cant eat those savories every again but Ive learned now that very small bites, lots of chewing is in order for just everything. When im distracted i cant seem to remember that. How did you get on? did the children like the movie?i hear you about the amount of fill and going on vacation. Im going on a cruise with my grand daughter in nov... and ive been thinking of the same issues already, whether to lighten the fill or not. judy

thanks Karen.... im sure i will manage. None of my children apart from my youngest daughter know that im banded... but they do know that im very committed now to weight loss. In fact they expect to see me having small portions so im sure it wont be an issue. Like you say, i can be unobstrusively busy at the same time. lol. We eat in the small dining area off the kitchen so really its all opened up. its not like im in another room and isolated from everyone. Our family are noisy when we get together so all up there should be plenty of distraction going on. Your family would be really supportive of you seeing as others have had the surgery as well. How is their weight loss going?

congratulations to you.... reaching the big 50 is bitter sweet.. lol.. been there and dont that. How lovely that this person complimented you on your weight loss. it is a lovely feeling to have positive input.

i agree.. there is a lot of variation from day to day when it comes to what we can eat and what we cant. Personally i do well with eggs but i dont scramble them. i fry them and have the yolk runny. i dont have any issues at all. If im scrambling eggs i just whip up one in a bowl, add a tiny amount of water and microwave. just as good and no additives.

i certainly dont count but occasionally will get my little calorie counter out and just check the cals for the foods im eating. not daily... about once a week. im not going to get myself tied up in knots over counting everything either. if we stay away from what we know is bad... and have the small quantities we know we have to eat with the band in place, there shouldnt be a need to be obsessive about cals. Thats my point of view. My weight loss is slow... the way i want it to be. im well over the half way goal now... another 20 lbs to go.

i havent tried any other fruits apart from raspberries and bananas. Bananas didnt go down so well but the berries are great. I can eat lettuce, proccoli, spinach and asparagus though. How long is it since you were banded and how much restriction do you have now? i was banded in march and have 3 1/2 ccs in the band.

you are exactly like me. I just LOVE spicy food. In the past ive always jars of hot chilli open in the fridge and especially in the cold weather would spread it or stir it into just everything. I was lapbanded 23rd march this year. I was on liquids for a couple of weeks. it was really hard just having clear soups so i started putting a little chilli in my clear soup. It seemed o.k. I was also using mod salsa.... just spooning that into home made soup. I was also using garlic seasoning, as a salt. the flavour was wonderful. At the same time i was having protein shakes, using low fat milk and yoghurt in the drink. I dont usually have milk in any form. Anyway, i started getting really bad griping pains in my lower and mid abdo. so bad some nights that i would have to leave the clearing up from tea to the guys to finish. I was really ill some nights with it. I had a tremendous amount of wind as well. I decided that the pain was due to what i was putting in my soups and protein drink so i cut out the milk. that helped emmensly. I did cut back on the chilli as well. Lately however, ive got the ''wind'' pain back again as bad as ever. i had been increasing my chilli to about a generous half teaspoon at a meal. Once again, of a night, im doubled over in pain. once again, lots of abdo wind. So.... i have to concede that its the chilli that has given me the trouble in my gut. No problems with the stomach and the band itself... but in the gut. Im cutting right back now and i hate to do it. i just love spicy foods. Im goign to have to wean myself off them though.... i cant be off colour like this every night... its not worth the effort. by the way... my dr was told what i was putting in my soups and he had no problems with it at all. In fact, he said that he would join me for a meal. lol.

...im way past it as well but its hard going here. WE have always had birthdays, fathers/mothers day, christmas, EAster here.... all the family come home for these events . .. and they have always been so special. I havent put one of these events on since i was banded 23rd march this year. Im thinking now i will have to have one in sept. two grandchildrens birthdays and fathers day coming up.... not sure how i will cope with it all... but i will have to try.we usually have over a dozen here which is a biggie for me as i g et older.

i can understand why they would want to do every other test first. At least they can find those elusive problems now. The gall bladder sounds like it is a tricky thing to diagnose sometimes. i hope i never have to deal with it.