Kime-lou

Call the doc. He needs to be aware of the restless legs. But, if that isn't an issue, he maybe able to give you something to help you sleep. Good luck

1st off- awesome job. 2nd- body imagine, I think is always skewed. I wear a size 14 now and still feel as huge as I need when I wore a 22W. I worry more now when my hubs touches me than I did when I was bigger. For me, I think it will always be a struggle to see myself as smaller. I still have a ways to go, but even if I hit my goal of 140, I am not sure I will feel small then. My mom reached 122 over the summer and she says she still feels fat.

Are you drinking enough Water? You may not be eating enough. I was told by my doctor that if my calorie deficit was to great that I would not lose because my body would fear starvation. Titrating the intake is a difficult tast, but it can help you lose. You can be toning, but you normally don't build muscle that fast, so it is not likely from that. I would recommend shooting your doctor and email or calling your NUT and asking. Let them know how much you are exercising and what you calorie intake is and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

I was allowed it. I steamed it until very soft and mushed it with my fork. Like the above said, it may give you gas, so you may want to take some beano before hand to prevent stomach swelling and pain.

Thanks for posting! It's nice to see that I am not the only banster who sometimes wishes for the non-band life. Granted that is a short want. I know that the band is the best thing I could have done for me, so like you I will keep trudging along.

Even though I work in computers now with the school system, my college degree was actually Counseling with a concentration in Substance Abuse. While working at a drug treatment center I worked with patients on developing coping skills to help them deal with cravings to use. We would tell them, they must avoid people, places and things that are triggers; some to the point of having to live some where other than where they came from. During that time I was in denial that I myself was an addict, but my drug of choice was food. Unfortunatly, I can't avoid food. I must eat, but as I continue on the self reflective journey I have been on of late, I realize that I have food triggers. Cookies- I love them, they are buttery and chewy and oh so good. If I make cookies and eat one, I can't stop- I must eat more. Ice Cream is another problem, I love ice cream, any shape or form- cones, cups, shakes- yum. So I know, no ice cream should be kept in the house because I won't stop until it is all gone. Now you may say, where is you will power, where is your want power? I do want to lose weight, but there are times where it is like an out of body experience, I realize what I am doing is wrong and I will regret it, but I can't stop- this is classic addict behavior. If you are able to use your want power to prevent you from ever slipping up- awesome for you- but addicts many times can not rely strictly on that. I am actully going back and reading some of my old college textbooks to help myself with this addiction. While I have lost a little more than half of what I want to lose, in order for me to lose more and here is the key- keep it off- I must figure out my triggers and develop coping skills for dealing with these. Is this journey easy- heck no! Will it be worth it- heck yes. But, I feel I will be much more successful long term now that I am looking at this for what it is! Just like drug, tobacco, alcohol addiction is a life long battle- so is food addiction. For those of you who what I am saying rings true, take a look at yourself- what are your triggers- what can you do to cope with them. So with that- Hello, my name is Kim and I am a foodaholic.

If it's soon after surgery look for soft foods or drink a Protein shake on the way and don't eat. If you are far our and on reg food, you should be able to eat anything just in small amounts. Yesterday we have a bbq luncheon at work. I ate a spoon of BBQ, 1 small boiled potato, a small spoon of string Beans. Next weekend we are having a cookout at my house for my mom's b-day. I am fixing hamburgers and hotdogs. While I know bread of this type and me don't mix I will eat a buger cut up along with some pickle diped in ketchup. It will still be good and I won't have to worry about getting stuck. Just remember the basics- SMALL bites, CHEW well, SMALL portions and you should be okay.

I eat toast sometimes- wheat bread toasted and that does fine.

Life with mental health issues only add to the fustration. I was dx with depression as a teen, meds helped a lot, but then as an adult I also began with an anxiety disorder that almost cribbled me. It took me a while to find the right meds that work and make me feel like me. I am truely sorry you are going through this. Like the above posted we are here for you. My email is kime-lou@hotmail.com you can email me anytime and I will be happy to listen or whatever. Sometimes it does feel like those around us have no idea what we are going through and it's easy to get angry and hurt. Some days it has to be a moment at a time instead of the day or the hour.

Yes, right about the same time yours did. My doc said it was normal and I must continue the course. For some carb cycling works, increasing exercise, increasing Protein. There is no flat answer, everyone's body work differently. After having my 1 year post op blood work done, the doc called today and said that my Vit D is extremely low and I need to get on a supplement now. The nurse had called me last week and told me, but hadn't seemed so dire. Turns out this could be the reason why it's taken me 5 months to lose 10lbs. Your body must have adequate Vit D to lose weight. Go Fig. Anyway, headed to the drug store today to stock up on Vit D.

This is a very common occurance with any abdominal surgery. I had that pain with both my gallblader and my lapband. My mom had it with her hiatal hernia repair. It can range from mild discomfort to pain that feels like a heart attack. It is caused by the large amount of gas pumped into your body for them to safely operate. I had my hubs run my shoulder which helped also placing a warm towel over it eased the pain. This pain can also stem from mild dehydration. When my mom's pain didn't easy in 3 days post op, we called the doc and took her in- she was dehydrated. After a litter of fluids her pain went away. So, if the pain has not dulled by tomorrow give the doctor a call.

I went to the required seminar the first of April 2012, went to my first surgeons appointment was May 3rd and I had surgery June 22nd. So mine went FAST and could have gone faster had I wanted it to. After the seminar I hemed and hawed over meeting with the surgeon once I did, thing moved. Granted, I took the bull by the horns- I got all the orders from my surgeon and I faxed and called to set up everything and got it done by the end of May. I waited to have surgery until June 22 due to my work schedule.

At this point I don't think you should worry about calorie counts. Let your band lead the way. Eat the small meals that the doctor and nutrtionist told you to. Once you are fully healed, then start worrying about calorie counts. I was never given a number to follow, only a portion size. When I hit a plateau and took my doc a list of what my calorie in's and outs were she told me to eat more- that I was having to much of a deficit for to long. So I upped it a little. Once you are healed you can begin the fine tuning of your journey.

You can have the entire thing removed, but I don't think you would want to. If I lose enough weight for my port to stick out I will be thrilled to have it stick out as a reminder of how far I've come. I would think you would always need the port access to the band in case of some emergency. You never know when you may get a bug or having something happend to cause swelling or anything and Fluid would need to be removed for you safety. Access by port is far safer than emergency surgery to remove the entire band.

great job

Girl, I am in the same boat. I had surgery almost a year ago and I am just really begining to see my demons for what they are. I fear there are no magic bullets to deal with them. We all have diffrent triggers to cause them to rear their ugly heads (yours work). We also have to come up with our own coping skills to deal with them. I am still looking for mine. Yesterday, I was having trouble staying away from donuts brought to our office. I was a little hungry so instead of a donut I pulled some grapes from my fridge and a cheese stick. Do you know how filling that is? After about 10 grapes and half a cheese stick I was feeling FULL so I desired to put nothing else in me. That worked for that time, who knows what it will be next time. Good luck!

Like CG said everyone is different and you will have a million different things. I highly recommend you try things slowly and CHEW! For me soft Pasta is a no go, even soft cooked potatos I can't do - like a baked potato. Sweet Potatos are fine though. Also, doughy breads don't work, I have to toast bread before I can eat it. Tough meat is an absolute NO. I haven't had a steak in a year. Gross, I know, but I have started to chew something and ended up spitting it in my napkin because I know there is no way it is going to go down. So take it slow, small bites and chew, you will find what will and won't work for you.

I use to be that way. But I have tried, if I really want it, eat a bite or two of fruit. Or if I am waiting something more decadant I go brush my teeth and rinse with listerine. If you end up taking a bite of something sweet after that it has a horrible taste and it kind of turns you off. One of the biggest problems with surgary things is once you eat a little you crave it more and more. It's addictive for sure. I am really trying to get myself away from sweety things. This has been an active journey since before the band. Back right before I was banded last year I decided to have one last cinnimon roll from Cinnabon- it had been alllloooonnnngggg time since I had had one. I ate about half and my stomach killed me. Once you get off the super surgary things, you body will rebel if you try and eat it. So everytime I want something extra sweet I remind myself of that stomach ache and the after effect in the bathroom if you know what I mean- this makes me not want it after all.

I doubt it. Most of the time if you are not in the early stages vomiting doesn't cause a slippage unless you are doing it frequently and violently. So I wouldn't worry to much. You may want to be kind to you band for a day, soft foods only, then go back to regular. If you notice you are having more problems with food going down, go see your doctor.

I am still on my learning journey and getting back on track after gaining 3 lbs. This may not sound like much to you, but I know that 3 ends up as 6, which will end up as 12 if I don't nip it in the bud now. When I left work yesterday I headed for my weekly grocery trip. I had my list and my meal plan. Got very little processed stuff, mostly meat and veggies, and the fur kid food. Came home, unload and unpacked and put everything up. I started our dinner - we had chicken alfredo (totally homemade using spagetti squash and my from scratch low fat/cal sauce with lots of veggies). I went and weeded my garden while waiting for the hubs to get home (I got baby squash and cucumbers). Once he got home, we ate (left overs galore- we both ate and we both have lunch for today and I have enough for tomorrow to). I did dishes and then headed out to cut the grass. We have a .25 acre yard and I push mow it. After finishing that I put down my fire ant treatment being that I was attacked. Then in the house to set up the next days "stuff", shower and spends some time with the hubs. So as you see my afternoon was full, this is a normal day in my life- I am pretty much moving and doing something all day except when I have to sit at my desk at work. After the busy day, I settled down with the hubs to watch a little TV. I was already 9. After a few min of laying there in the chaise lounge I started thinking oh, I need a snack. I deserve it, after all I push mowed the lawn. Then the little voice came from deep inside that ask, are you really hungry? The answer was honestly NO- head hunger was creeping in. I squashed that real quick- got a bottle of water and sucked it down hung out with the hubs and my fur babies for a while longer before hitting the sheets. The point to all of this is, it doesn't matter how long post op you are, how long you have done things right, or how committed you are- things will always pop up to make us want to eat. We have a problem- we want more food than we need. The only way for me to lose weight and keep it off is to recongnize these problem times and areas, face them and squash them. Normally, I would go in for a fill, I haven't had one since Feb. However, I know I still get stuck a lot so I am not sure a fill is the best route for me right now. I will go in next month for my 1 year follow up and let them check it then, if the doc says it's time for another fill, then we will do it, because he is the expert. While a fill might help me deal with these things, at some point I must face the demons of my eating problems and lean to cope. I encourage everyone no matter where you are along this journey to keep your eyes open and be on the watch for these little demons to creep in. They will, for some more than others, but if we keep our eyes open and are mindful of them we will beat them and come out on top. When I was working in a drug treatment center, I often times talked to my patients about developing coping skills. Things to do when they were craving their drug of choice, well I must do the same thing when I am craving or wanting food when I don't need it. Maybe I am slow on the take off, maybe I wasn't 100% ready when I had surgery. But, I am waking up from a fog and realizing I have a problem with food and I must deal with it now before it gets me. I have a tool to help me with this, it is up to me to use it and to develop other tools to deal with my addiction.