SueBee01

Always cold. Wear layers every day! Tough here in N FL as it is 30 in the morning and 70 in the afternoon. I keep jackets in my car to be ready for whatever the temp is! When I was heavy, I sweat all the time and couldn't get cool.

Love the gypsy shows, say yes to the dress, survivor, amazing race, but my real favorites are gray's anatomy, private practice, the bachelor, the voice, American idol and so you think you can dance. I am a reality show junky!

I agree with the work stress. This federal furlough thing is driving me crazy! Nick, you are doing great with the ice cream. No one ever said never. If you can keep to a little, that is fantastic. I have to stay away from the peanut M&M's. They were great today, but I counted them and am ok! I have started physical therapy to prepare for hip replacement. Who would have thought that would be painful with all of the exercise I get. But, I do know that I do the exercises that don't cause me any pain. My hip flexibility is so poor that I have to do these exercises every day to see if I can get it better before surgery. My pain is coming back now after the injection and I hope I can make it until surgery. I am going to do all my preop this week and get on a waiting list for a cancelations that will hopefully come in so I don't have to wait until June for surgery! Keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get this done with so I can really start enjoying life in my new body. I am happy with my weight loss, down to 177 as my personal goal was 180. Now I am trying to maintain because I feel once I can afford plastics I will lose another 10 of skin. Sorry to ramble on... Hope everyone is doing well!

The three months is for supervised program. We were more focusing on the changes that would take place after surgery, how to live with the band, make smart choices and start making your own changes during that time. I gave up my sweet tea, soda, caffeine, bread and sweets during that time. Then three months later my nut had me go back on bread, just healthy bread I stii do not drink soda or sweet tea. And, I now occasionally enjoy a treat, just a bite! Approval for me happened in 24 hours!

I agree with Floridays and I now make my own pizza with Arnold's Flat Round multigrain or whole wheat bread. Toast one half slice and put what you want on it and bake for 16 minutes at 350 degrees. They are great!

Kelly, I read that as a compliment, such as what willpower you have! Hope that helps! You did great!

You will enjoy to eat, just differently!

Peanut Butter is my go to for Breakfast on celery. I went no bread for the first six months and my nut kept yelling at me. Just make it good bread. I eat whole grain bread every other day now, just a alf slice! Stopped soda and all carbination prior to surgery. Now I can't stand the taste! I pretty much eat whatever I want now just a tiny portion! My nut always says enjoy what you eat. It is what you make it. I still love to eat, I just eat tons less.

St Vincent's Hospital also has free seminars a couple times a month at both Riverside and Southside locations. I have been very happy with them. You can go to the hospital's website and see their schedule.

That is common. Get up and walk every hour if you are not already. That is the best way to get the gas out. I have heard others use a hearing pad on shoulder and Gas X strips. Your dr office is there is you have questions. Do not be afraid to call them if you do not find relief.

I order chicken or fish tacos all the time and just have them add refried beans and hold the shell!

I used Dr Uchal out of St Vincents. I love the group there! If you are looking for someone, I would definitely recommend him.

I hope not!

Karen, Scamp, You both look great. Thanks for sharing! I am now dreaming of plastics and will have to findthe money too! I can't wait to have my arms, tummy, lower body and breast lift. It has all gone south!

Every nut is diff too. Mine has always said and continues to say even after a year to only eat when hungry. I eat two meals and two Snacks. For the first year I was eating about 500-600 calories. Now I am at about 600-700. Still losing, but slower as I only need to lose 5 more pounds. It is hard to force the right foods down, but very easy to get the wrong foods down. Just make sure once you get to the real food stage that you eat as much real food as you can and focus on that. Your liquids should turn to Water and get away from the Protein drinks. Do what works for you!

I think a lot of us have this problem and we may all may handle it a little different. At first I tried to find other activities to occupy my time, like exercise, my iPad, shopping, etc. Now I also do that but also try to add healthy snacking. I still struggle with emotional eating, both bordom and stress for me! I am worse at work so I try to get up and walk away from my desk and go visit people or take a short walk.

I am Brinksm on MFP.

What great success you have had. I am very proud of you. You are a great inspiration to others. Can't wait to see your plastics photos. I am trying to figure that all out too!

Don't forget that the support groups are there to help you through this. Another good thing about going to a group meeting is that you may meet people that live near you and you can help each other. Hold each other accountable or a partner to exercise with. It is really nice when you are getting started to not have to do it alone. We are also here to help you, but sometimes it helps to be able to reach out to someone. Meet with your surgeon and ask to see the nutrtionist. My nut helped me all the time. Don't forget to log your food and exercise. If you use MyFitnessPal. I like it because it tells you how much you should lose in 5 weeks based on what you are doing. A great motivator!

Not everyone needs fills either. I had one fill at 6 weeks and have gone another year with no more fills. It is a reallybig head game too. Listen to your body.

Sorry you are having problems. The first thing you need to do is ask yourself why you got the band. If you made the WLS decision to better your health, then you need to get on board and gobackto all of the paperwork your doctor/nutritionist gave you and start there. You shouldn't even have an entire burrito on your plate. You need to focus on getting your mind set and learning the way you should be eating with the band. It is a lot to learn and a lot of head hunger to get over. It is not easy, but you have to set yourself boundaries. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy food, you just have to follow the plan. Try to set your plate with 2-3 ounces of Protein, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of veggies and a small good carb. Eat all this slowly. Wait 20 minutes after you finish to see if you need more. Not if you feel full, do you feel satisfied. Your body will survive on this little of food, it is your brain that tells you not to. Find other things to do when you think you are hungry. Walk, read, and drink tons of water! I don't mean to be harsh, but you have to do certain things to help yourself get through this. Remember that it takes 21 days of changing something to get over it. Start with something and see how it works. I gave up soda, sweet tea and dessert before I even had surgery and it made life a lot easier. Then just has to focus on finding dense protein that I enjoyed. Log your food on MyFitnrssPal.com and set boundaries. If you don't, and you keep getting fills you will be throwing up everything and not enjoying anything. I hope this helps.

My vote is too tight. You should never have to revert to protein shakes instead of food. How long did you go to liquids to help the swelling after the stuck episode? If it was at least a couple days then I would check with your doctor to make sure. Hope it gets better. Nicole, a bathtub is good too if you can break away from everyone! Hope you feel better soon! Find some sunshine for a break at work if you can too.

I think you are either going to lose your hair or not. I ate tons of protein and lost mine. Went on several vitamins about month 5-8 and it is growing back now. I still take biotin, calcium, b complex, and a multi. Everyone's body reacts different with regard to hair loss.

I take chewables still unless the are small. I hated crushing pills!

You have done well so far with losing. Don't think of restriction, if you are eating dense protein, how long can you go before you "have" to eat, not "want" to eat. The head hunger is very hard to deal with the first several months. Are you logging your food? What are you eating each day?