WASaBubbleButt

I just had to comment on a couple of things here.... You are a fast food junkie. In that case; YES! You will save money. You sound a lot like me. I paid for my surgery by writing a check so I don't know about the financing end of this but had I financed it I could probably pay the monthly payment with what I save in fast food and soda alone. What if you get really honest with yourself and sit down and calculate a reasonable average of what you spend in fast food weekly (doing it monthly HURTS! HA!) and see if that won't help the cost of surgery. Food prepared at home is much much cheaper than fast food. You'll be drinking a great deal of water vs. soda and that saves a great deal of money as well. HA! I have to laugh because you sound soooo much like me. Not big on sweets but a fast food junkie. I have done well with the band because it does not permit me to eat what got me fat. Carbs. Bread carbs, fast food type carbs. They simply don't go down. It's hard at first. After surgery I would drive by a fast food place and consider buying a burger and chewing then spitting it out. Doesn't matter which one, Wendy's, Sonic, Mickey D's, Jack In The Box, any of them. Didn't matter. Then I got to the point that I would drive by those same places and be annoyed that the only thing I could get there was tea and I hate tea. Then I would drive down the street trying to find somewhere that had something I could eat. It was annoying and frustrating. Amazingly, I have found places that have things I can eat. Quizno's salads. I actually crave them now and burgers... blah... who cares. Seeing people eat a greasy burger now is gross. I can't believe I used to live on that stuff. Did you know that you can order ANY Subway sandwich on the menu and they'll make it a salad instead? Who would'a known? So when I want to do the fast food routine I can but a single salad lasts me at least two meals. My fast food addiction is now a treat instead of my typical daily routine. That's not a bad thing. Regarding being excited and then nervous about banding. That is exactly how you are supposed to feel. If you didn't feel nervous about a life changing (and expensive) event, you'd be weird. You sound like a responsible person to me trying to determine if banding is for you. But you need to understand, this is just the beginning of the roller coaster emotions. I'm serious, this is just the beginning. You'll even doubt if you made the right decision after you have surgery, if that is what you decide is best for you. You might not be sure you did the right thing until you start seeing the pounds drop. Then you'll deal with the loss of fast food... your favorite flavors gone to hell. The emotions will be high and so will the frustration. You'll stop and think... well what CAN I eat? There is nothing left! This is where the new food comes into play. As you lose weight you burn fat. When you burn fat the burned fat turns into chemicals that mostly leave your body through urine, sweat, and saliva. This affects your taste. Foods you used to like become disgusting. Foods you previously thought were disgusting are amazingly pretty darn good. It's an entirely new way of eating. Extra skin/cosmetic surgery... darl'en, you already have extra skin. It's just filled with fat today. Sure, you might need a tummy tuck down the road but I think you have to put it in perspective. You can hide 90% of your extra skin with clothing. Yet you can only hide about 10% of extra fat with clothing. So really cosmetic surgery shouldn't be an issue in your decision if banding is right for you. In my particular case I can't imagine not having plastic surgery. My tummy tuck is scheduled for 12/3/07. I didn't work this hard to have a flabby stomach. Not everyone feels as I do. Many are very happy with the weight loss alone, it is individual. You have to weigh everything, cost vs. benefit is one. But mostly you have to determine just how bad you want thin and healthy. If you want it badly enough, you'll do it. Some people just aren't ready for it yet and that's okay. You'll make a decision one way or another when you are ready.

I agree with everything except the 1/4 cup rule. People who are that tight tend to be slow losers often times.

Yep, I lost hair. About 50%. Thankfully I had a bunch to begin with! From an unscientific and small poll here on LBT it showed about 50% lose hair. We all kept Protein up, some took Biotin, some increased protein to unnecessary levels, nothing mattered. Either you will or you won't. But it does grow back.

I have saved a ton of money. Matter of fact just in fast food and soda my band ($7800) will pay for itself in 18 months. I think a lot of it depends on where your money is going now. If you are buying a lot of crap food (chips, dip, fast food, candy, Cookies, etc.) then yes, you will save money. I would eat twice daily pre band, once at Mickey Ds and once at Jack In The Box. I don't cook (still don't). In food I easily spend 25% of what I used to or less. I use Protein shakes for 1-2 meals daily (personal preference, not everyone does that) and that is $0.50/meal. Tuna... less than a dollar a can depending on brand and I eat 1/2 can per meal. One problem you'll have is what was mentioned earlier in the thread. Your eyes will be bigger than your stomach. You'll order the same quantities at restaurants, you'll cook the same quantity of food you did preband. You'll fall into many old habits in the beginning. But that changes and the waste of food changes if you make it change. I have really bizarre eating patterns and it's probably because I don't cook. I'll open cans and mix things but if it requires a skillet... I don't typically do it. I went on a tuna kick where I ate a Quizno's tuna salad daily. They are $6.00 and it would last me four meals (2 days, 3rd day I threw the rest out). Now I'm on an Oriental chicken Salad kick. I get one salad and it lasts me an easy 2 days worth of food but I'm growing to dislike meat of any kind so I'm trying to find ways to change meat to tofu. So I guess my point is that much depends on where your food dollars are going now. You WILL eat less food, what type of food you eat post band is up to you.

Have you ever looked through antiquarian medical books? THOSE are priceless! Anesthesia for hemorrhoidal surgery was the nurse pouring ice cold Water on the hemorrhoids during surgery. If a couple wanted to have a baby and they wanted a boy it was suggested (by docs) that the woman exercise to the point of exhaustion immediately before conception. If they wanted a girl the father was supposed to exercise to the point of exhaustion immediately before exercise. If they kept getting girls no matter how hard they tried that was due to sick ovaries. :rose: They gave detailed steps for doing particular procedues, the works.

OMG I LOVE that link! I have been reading that off and on for months. Even added my own examples a few months ago. :rose:

In my younger and skinnier days I used to model lingerie. I was beautiful. I was thin, pretty, pretty features, great hair, the works. I had it all, so I thought. Today I'm fat. While I'm losing weight I discovered that I got old while I was fat. The rooster thing going on under my chin, the fine wrinkles forming around my eyes... I guess my point is that I've experienced both sides of the coin and I'm fully aware that I'll never be that lingerie model again. In the end, I just don't think it matters. If you are a nice person and a good person people don't say... "Well, she's fugly but very nice." They say, "Wow, she's such a nice person and I *really* like her!" I think as adults we need to get a grip on the mentality of pretty vs. a good person. Others have, it's time we do too. Every person is their own worst critic, but we fatties have different issues and we are more than our own worst critic. In the end, it just doesn't matter what someone looks like. I know my writing style doesn't always show it but I really am a nice person in real time. I just suck at writing and I bottom line everything. It's my way, I've tried to change it but I just flower it up and the last sentence of what I am writing is STILL the bottom line so it looks silly. The point is that I am a good person. I am a much better person than when I was thin and pretty. Lately I keep thinking about myself when I am old and gray, sitting in my rocking chair. What do I want people to think of when they think of me? How do I want to look back on my life? Years from now I want to be a very wise old woman. I want to have compassion for others. I want to have little children that want to come over to my house because I'm the cool little old lady down the street. I want to understand where others are coming from, I want to live vicariously through the lives of everyone around me. I want to continue reading and learning about EVERYTHING! There are few things that I don't want to know more about. I want to continue learning about different cultures, religions, ways of thinking, the works. Do my looks make a bit of difference in my goals in life? Nope, not in the least.

Four hours? Great! I learn something new every single day here. I've not heard of anyone having success that fast so it's good to know YMMV! It's a different kind of fiber product and for that reason it can take a bit of time to work but I'm glad to know that it can work quickly. That's great. BTW, how are you doing with the new band? Everything going well for you?

NM Sunshine.... Don't be so hard on yourself. So you over ate, you learn from the experience and move on but each time you'll be more prepared for the next time. It's unlikely that you gained two pounds of actual fat in one day. You can gain Water weight from eating something salty. If I eat Chinese veggies I gain 2-3 pounds. Then in a day or so I lose it again. It's the high sodium content in those foods. Careful with eating to the point of stomach pain during the post op diet. This is a time of healing and this post op diet will set the tone for the life of your band. So hang in there. When you want to eat just remember it will be there in five minutes, it isn't going anywhere. You can have it later. Do it five minutes at a time if you have to. If you need to call someone and get your mind off food, do it. Do whatever you need to get your mind off food. Each time you see you are over eating stop and really think about what you are doing. Think it through, try to recognize your triggers. Are you bored? Annoyed? Head hunger? TOM? Just learn your triggers and then you stand a better chance at heading them off next time. For me it's plain old head hunger. I just like to eat, pure and simple. It's nice to be 5 pounds from goal but what it has taught me is that I want more weight loss. Under all this fat I'm discovering I'm pretty small boned! Who would have known? :rose: My primary goal is to be a NORMAL weight. If I do it by 10/6 then I met my goal of 102 pounds in 10 months and that will make me happy. Anything after that is icing on the cake.

Congrats to you! Now you are one of us... bawahahahahaha :peep:

Little kids are draining something out of somewhere ALL the time. Their noses, butts, eyes, mouths... gahhhhh I wonder why I never had kids?

Well, I can dig poop out of someone's rear end but if a baby spits up on me I have to go barf and I'm gagging all the way to the bathroom. If my dog barfs it takes me forever to clean it up because the closer I get to it the more I am barfing myself and I have to keep running for the bathroom. It can take a good hour to clean dog barf. Yet, blood and pus are cool. Weird, I know.

HA! Well you know, Faith, I discovered something after losing a few pounds. When I was extra fat I got damned old. I have this rooster thing going on my throat, I have jowls that didn't used to be there... life is not pretty just yet.

This time frame isn't designed for weight loss, it's for healing. Don't worry about it until you get proper restriction, you'll just frustrate yourself.

Benefiber, add it to absolutely everything from your water to your cooking. It takes a good month before you'll notice a difference. Keep using it anyway.

Why even mess with it? You don't need gels to get your Protein in, solids are better. Protein supplements are really to make up for whatever you have missed that day or if you are too tight for Breakfast. There was a guy here selling it the other day and he seemed like a total scam as well. I'd skip it and stick with quality.

Wheetsin... That bottom middle photo is my fav. You are freak'en beautiful! I wish I had the guts to post photos.

I have lost weight. Almost there, too.

Are you honestly worried about nutrition or are you worried that you will miss quantities of food? It takes a surprisingly small amount of food to get basic nutrition in. Fiber is what is a challenge for most of us, not nutrition. Bread, rice, Pasta, Cookies, candy, sugar, ... none of that stuff is good for you and contains nothing you need but you've been eating it for years, true? :peep:

HA! I'm a sympathy barfer too. There is a trick to not smelling stuff. Carmex or Vicks placed on your upper lip. I used to keep the stuff in my pocket at ALL times at work.

Pooh is my career choice, you guys got a problem with pooh? I clean pooh, been poohed on, I have even dug for pooh more times than I care to remember. So what's yer problem with pooh????

Good job! Congrats!

Wendell... During my first six months of banding how many emails, PMs, and telephone conversations did we have? You are one of the reasons I still have my band. You at least made me realize I wasn't crazy, something was wrong. Wendell is one of my heros in life!

We ALL have an obsession with food, that's why we are fat. And you know what? It isn't going to go away overnight. It is going to take some time but it does get better. It's not going to get the least bit better on your pre op or your post op diet. Actually, it will likely be the worst at those points. But it will get better with time. Give yourself an emotional break and understand that this is what our problem is, it all boils down to an obsession with food. But, I also have to say that today, for me... I'm over it for the most part. Oh, I have a day here and there that I want something I know I can't have and I piss and whine about it. But I survive it and move on. If my doc told me today that for whatever reason I had to go on liquids for a month it honestly, sincerely would not be a big deal to me. Food no longer controls my life and you will get to the same point someday. But you have to pay your dues, do the pre op diet, the post op diet, have surgery, learn about your band, deal with your head issues, and then you will come to the same point. It gets better I swear. But it takes time. When you are on these crappy diets to deal with surgery just turn the TV off. I don't care what they are advertising THAT is what you will want. If KFC is on TV, you'll want THAT. If pizza Hut is advertising something, you'll want THAT. You'll want it all. But, this is a breath of time in the overall picture and a few weeks of a crappy diet is nothing. The pay off is worth every moment of it. After you are banded you'll even question yourself then. I'll bet you a dollar that the first month or two of your post band time you'll even consider having it removed. You'll wonder what the heck you were thinking, a band around your stomach? Who does that? How stupid was that? And you'll consider having it removed. I see it on these boards all the time. We all go through it. When it happens to you just remember that this is all part of it and the pay off is big, really really big. It will all be worth it in the not so far away future. Being banded is hard and anyone that tells you otherwise is a liar. But never forget that this is the kind of hard WE can do. You'll do fine, you watch. If you start doubting your decision because you want a Pizza Hut pizza then do this, get a photo of you when you were thin. Or if you were never thin get a photo of any thin person. Then get a photo of a pizza. Stop and seriously look at the photos and think about which one you want more. Do you want that single pizza or do you want thin? Really think about it, which do you want more? You'll want thin. Oh, you'll want the pizza but you will want thin MORE. That's what got me through the stage you are in now. It really works. But keep remembering that this is the kind of hard WE can do. Good luck!

No big deal. If you were getting a fill first that wouldn't be wise, but just being banded and going to India? I wouldn't think twice about it.