BikiniBodby30

Way to go!! I'm very excited for you and encourage you to keep going

I know the feeling Kanda! I was working out religiously pre surgery but since having the surgery, and the two weeks off for recovery, I've been less than motivated. I'm going to work out tonight, I'll let you know if I've had any success in the motivation department.

Well today marks day six. Six whole days since I've had my lap band installed ::hehe:: Let me start from surgery until today to catch y'all up! Day of Surgery: Woke up, got to the surgery center at approximately 6am. The nurses and staff were wonderful - all very caring and good at their jobs (I don't even have a bruise from the IV in my hand!) I spoke with Dr. Nirmul, my surgeon - funny guy, very nice and happy to answer questions and Dr. Opara, my anesthesiologist - whom my mother decided to call Dr. Oprah just for giggles <enter eye roll here> Amazing how at 28 years old my mom can still embarrass me haha But I love her and she was worrying about me. I was in surgery by 7am and was on my way home, in the car, calling my boss to tell her I was out of surgery by 10:30am. I went home and rested pleasantly for a few hours before all H3LL broke loose at my parents house. I wont go into details, simply because it's too exhausting to discuss. All I will say is I didn't get much sleep the day of surgery and had plenty of emotional/mental stress. Yay siblings! Days 2 and 3: Pretty uneventful - drank chicken broth and ate sugar free popscicles - slept on and off throughout the days. Day 3 afternoon: went home from parents house and showered, changed, and relaxed. Ate some chicken broth/tomato soup. Day 4: Hungry. Stayed busy but hungry. But sadly used to being hungry. No more green eyes of jealousy when people eat in front of me. Day 5: First day back at work and OMG - I think I'm going to die from the hunger. Pain in my neck Trapezius (shrug muscle), use a heating pad and try to massage it throughout the day. I am verging on *grumpy*. I stop and get frozen yogurt for dinner and eat about a 1/4 of it. The hunger has dissipated and I'm back to being happy. Day 6: Self promoted to the mushie stage, was NOT going to have another miserable day like yesterday. Stopped by Tacobell -because I only really decided to go mushies today while making my 35 minute drive to work- and got two sides of Pintos and Cheese. Sooo happy, I was singing about then in the parking lot of work. Ate those for breakfast/lunch. Got a Pineapple Mango smoothie from McDs and Banana/Blueberry oat meal for lunch. I'm about half way thru the smoothie and ate/will eat all of the oatmeal by the time I go home tonight. MUCH happier day. Still have Trap pain, took some GasX Stripes to try and kill it but I don't find them to be all that helpful. Probably just some referred pain from my diaphram. Not much I can do about that except keep using the heating pads and suffer through it. I'm hoping it will be gone soon though, it is distracting. Well that catches you up to the present. I was excited this morning for my first NSV (non scale victory) I put on a size 38 DDD bra - normally wear a 40 DDD, and those were tight - and am happy to report that this bra is not hurting at all I will say that perhaps the DDD isn't sufficient to hold the girls if I go down to a 38 band but It's just nice to know that the 38 bras fit again

Sorry Alli - it's the simple carbs in the potato that isn't good for us. All of the potatoes you listed would be 'bad' but you can do sweet potatoes... I know, not the same

Hi I'm day 5 post op and Sooooooooo looking forward to my mushie stage. I can see how mashed potatoes can be very addictive which, as Sojourner said, can lead to not so healthy choices. I have heard about Mashed Cauliflower. Here is a recipe that I found after doing a quick Google search. Worth a try!! 1 head of cauliflower 3 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons light sour cream 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt freshly ground black pepper snipped chives Directions: 1. Separate the cauliflower into florets and chop the core finely. 2. Bring about 1 cup of Water to a simmer in a pot, then add the cauliflower. Cover and turn the heat to medium. Cook the cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until very tender. 3. Drain and discard all of the water (the drier the cauliflower is, the better) and add the milk, butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash with a masher until it looks like "mashed potatoes." Top with chives.

I'm day #5 post op and am doing well for the most part. Took my last pain meds on the eve of day 2, nothing since day 3. I'm moving around a lot and have been driving since day 3 without a problem. I'm back to work today and having pretty severe neck pain (trapezius muscle aka the shrug muscle) on the left side. My port site hurts on occassion but feel that it may be due to the amount of activity/talking that I am doing today since being back at work. Like many of you, I'm having difficulty getting in my Protein - my poor hair Today is really the first day that I'm genuinely trying to get down my Protein Drink. It makes my stomach hurt to try and digest it though. Almost like it's protesting LOL I am hungry all the time now, but I don't actually want to eat because of the pain that it causes - I feel like my stomach literally seizes up when it gets food to digest. Hopefully I can push the rest of my protein drink and it can move the healing process along. I only had four incisions and none are very painful - the port site does get sore but nothing that is not manageable. My surgeon did an awesome job and can only think that the Trap pain is from the hiatal hernia repair. We can all get through this, one minute at a time

I feel the same way CMK, I'd really like to know more about how people avoided the sag.

I've had the same issues, most recently since being on the pre op diet. This past weekend I was not invited out for our regular saturday plans of hitting the bar for some dancing and in my friends case, drinking. I do feel a little jealous but also tell myself that perhaps my friend doesn't want me to feel like the odd man out because I'm not drinking with everyone else. I tell myself that my friends still care about me, they just don't understand. I hope it doesn't stay this way because I would be lost without my friends but I know exactly how you feel.

@ Nebula- Something rich in protein and low in carbs. Usually just a protein shake for most people. And the reason you want to take in the protein is so that your body can repair the damage that is done to your muscles and burn fat calories instead of taking those calories from muscle. Basically each time you work out with weights (and all of us should) and become sore the next day, you've made tiny tears in the muscle fibers. This is the only way that the muscle builds and gets stronger. Hence the reason for the protein. Protein is food for your muscles.

Hi Angie - this is to help keep your metabolism up and help you build lean muscle. Which in turn helps you burn more calories when you're resting.

Hi Shells - This will get better, I'm sure it's just the underlying emotions of Jean Shopping and then the high of finding a swim suit. Then you have to consider actually traveling to San Diego... You have plenty on your mind to keep you on the emotional roller coaster. I'd say, just relax tonight after work and have some 'you' time. Hopefully, you'll feel better soon

@ Ready - I was actually considering Lola for my band as well Great minds think a like! Haha

Hello All As you can probably guess, I'm a little over 2 days away from my surgery. I'm very excited to share that I have lost a total of 13lbs on my pre op diet with 2 days left! The pre op diet has been mostly learning how to eat sparingly and making the right choices. I have experimented with several different kinds of protein drinks, my absolute favorite is ISOPURE. I picked it up at Hi-Health here in AZ. Not cheap, $4 a bottle but it has 40 grams of protein and I can sip on it throughout the day. Much better than the milky type shakes. Those are sickeningly sweet to me. I have had every experience from birthday parties to now Father's Day. Believe me, eating less in a party environment is hard. I showed monumental will power yesterday, I made brownies, from scratch at home for my Dad. I was told they were to die for. If I can make it through not tasting that, and chocolate is my weakness (and cheese), then I can make it through anything. I am just down to the next few days and I'm sure they will fly by. I don't know if other people have felt this way or not but I'm just kind of indifferent about the whole thing. I'm excited, yes, but not like I think I should be. I'm not nervous. I had my tonsils out only 9 months ago, again outpatient, without any complications. I don't like needles but I can tolerate them. I can give blood without any real problems. And I've had two tattoos done so I'm not averse to pain. I think I'll be ok. I'm not even all that excited about the 13lbs that I've lost. All I can think of is, "this is nothing! Only 13 small little pounds. I need to lose 13 times that!" But I guess I'm doing good on this. I have to remind myself that when I did Weight Watchers (WW), it took me 3 weeks to achieve a 13lb loss, sometimes more. Ang this has only been 12 days. That's a pound a day! I like those numbers. On another note, I've been thinking about what I want to name my band. Any Suggestions?

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery! The pre op diet is tedious and boring but ultimately the whole reason we are doing it is so that our liver shrinks. What has kept me from cheating these past 12 days is knowing that if my liver isn't small enough, they will NOT place my band. I'd hate to have to be cut open, just to find out that they couldn't do the implant because I couldn't follow instructions.

I like that name, it's cute and fitting I hope something kicks it, haha otherwise coming out of surgery will be a rude awaking!

Congratulations

I've been having a protein drink that is clear and has 160 calories that I sip on throughout the day. I believe that this keeps me full over the course of the day and pray that my doc doesn't take it away!

That is so inspiring! Very happy for you

How very exciting!! Your life is going to change so much- for the better

I really like ISOPURE - its a protein drink with 40g of protein adn zero carbs. DO NOT get the Mango Peach, it's like blek. The Alpine punch is good though, definitely drinkable. I like to sip on my new protein drink a little all day. That way, I get my protein in without having to choke down a nasty, chalky shake. I am slowly experimenting with other stuff but ISOPURE is nice to have in addition to water. Not cheap tho - $4/bottle (serving). Good luck and good question!

Jane, I know exactly how you feel. Being the "fat/pretty face/super nice" girl my whole life, my boobs helped me discover my femininity. I can't explain it either, only that I wouldn't feel right if I no longer had a nice rack. That is what got me the male attention when I was in the bar scene, that is what helped me realize that I have options when it comes to my love life. It is vitally important to me that I don't become flat chested (doubtful) or have saggy gross tube sock boobs, this is my real fear. I have been working out to make sure that my skin has the best opportunity to not embarrass me. Haha. Anyways, it's nice to see that other women identify themselves with their boobs like I do. Thank you for sharing.

Sissy, you'll do fine. I would voice your concerns to the anesthesiologist but aside from that, if you've had four surgeries previously without complication, then you should be fine. Lots of prayers your way of course. I made the mistake of watching a YouTube live surgery - which freaked me out but kind of intrigued me. I think I'll ask if I can have a video of the surgery, just to be weird. But come on, how many people get to see what their insides look like without having something terrible happen?! Sorry - back on track, You WILL do fine. The more you think about it the worse it will be. So focus all your energy on your pre op diet, exercise and looking forward to meeting your first goal! Good Luck Sissy, I can't wait to hear how everything went - I think your surgery is the day before mine!

Today, I've experienced emotion similar to that of PMS. I feel like I'm extra sensitive today, almost to the point that I could cry over a simple coaching. Something that any other time, I'd take with a grain of salt and continue on with my day. So why am I so thin skinned? I read about others experiencing similar emotional rollercoasters on their pre op diets. I wonder what causes this and PRAY PRAY PRAY that this is no a preview of what's to come. If anyone has any advice or guidance regarding their pre op diet and subsequent emotional (almost) meltdowns, I would greatly appreciate the feed back. Thanks

Hi Woobs, I'd recommend the book written by Dr. Paul O’Brien. "The Lap-Band Solution: A partnership for weight loss" This book was handed to me at my first consultation with True Results. I read it cover to cover in a week and KNEW that the Lap Band journey was for me. It may be difficult but it was the best option for me and my life. Good luck with your decision and God Bless!

Good for you, recognizing that you need help and seeking it out. Even if it's only an "added benefit" to being with your parents. Being around people that are supporting your new life style is crucial to staying on track. Maybe you can get some healthy recipes from your parents and can share them here As always, good luck with your journey and welcome back to the fold