DeLarla

I had a long chat with my surgeon about honesty. I'm brutally honest with him, even though I feel like crawling under the table and pulling a hospital gown over my head. The think I admire most about my surgeon is that he doesn't hold back or take any crap (lies) when it comes to food choices. You can't get anything past him. I was crying in his office because I felt like such a failure having gained back 8 of the 70 pounds I lost. I thought, based on his hardcore nature, that he'd be stearn with me, but instead he told me to focus on the incredible job that I've done so far and work on accepting who I am now. That made me feel really great. I'm trying to write this without being judgmental or critical, but he pointed out that most overweight people are very dishonest because they don't come clean with him, and the numbers simply don't lie. If everyone ate like perfect bandsters, we'd all be skinny now. My meeting was very long and emotional. Telling him all my dirty food secrets was humiliating and exhausting. He doesn't hug me or baby me, but I can honestly say that man cares about me. My point to this thread is that if you aren't 100% honest with your doctor, then no fill amount in the entire world will ever be able to help you. I went there to discuss getting a new port. He said I could have one if I wanted, but I don't want one. I have plenty of daytime restriction. Our decision was for me to start working on loving myself for who I am, accepting that I've lost a whopping 60 pounds, and just maintaining that loss. I left his office feeling a lot of relief, so I urge you all to tell your doctors everything, regardless of how embarrassing.

"Whilst food remains in the pouch it produces distension of the pouch with an accompanying feeling of fullness and satiety." I found that on another Band website... distension is a relative term. Maybe carbonated beverages could make you feel temporarily full? I think I'll go pop open a DP!

I checked out that link about carbonation. All it says is, "patients should try to avoid carbonated beverages as they can cause distension of the stomach pouch." This is one of the questions I asked Dr. Billy, but he said there is no proof that carbonation will do this. The theory is "if a big burp gets trapped." I guess if you shook up a warm can of soda then chug-a-lug then I could see this happening. If I could see just one little case of slippage due to carbonation....

Tell me if this ties in: Chris and I are financially in the "FIRE ENGINE-CHERRY-BLAZING RED" as far as finances, so we just said, "screw it" and took a few hundred out to gamble and play (a big much needed WOOHOOO) by the way. But we played for hours at the Mirage, where their customer service has always been top notch, yet neither of us ever saw a cocktail waitress. I acutally had to leave my Keno machine and go to the bar for drinks (the Mobsters would be shooting those waitresses if they were still around.) So I made a comment to the bartender, who said, "those damn girls get away with murder." Basically, everyone complains that the waitresses don't do their jobs, but when you got a body like that you can get away with it. Same for Hollywood actresses. From the big screen, nobody gives a damn what they're like inside, but if you can cram your ass in a size O thong then you're gonna make a lot of money. After sitting with that bartender, he told me he'd rather have a casino full of real women like me than one of those skinny, stuck up, useless waitress that get by on their looks. And if I had a billion bucks, I'd hire the highschool football team to live with me and run my ass ragged, a few famous chefs to prepare enjoyable gormet meals that I didn't have to think about, and then all my days would be spent skiing, jet skiing, ocean fishing, tap dancing... If I didn't have to work I'd be fit as a fiddle.

Michelle, you may see that as a problem, but I think it’s awesome! I despise clutter, get rid of it! I was raised by hoarders (to the point my family collected citations from the Health Department for piles of cars, countless animals, junk piles.) This left me with complete detest for clutter, dust and disorder. I feel physically sick around dusty piles of crap, unfinished projects, and overfilled, cram-packed closets. I can't work, think or live that way so I'm constantly reorganizing and donating to charity. My house gets still gets really messy, but I have rules for cleaning that I always have to get rid of at least 5 things, even if it's just scarf or plastic cup. If it's been sitting there more than 3 months, throw it away or give it to charity. Clean it up! My husband drives me nuts cause every time he sees a clear counter he drops his keys, glasses, tools n' crap. I've made him his own special clutter areas, but he's just gotta jack up my clear spaces... if he only left my counters clear I might consider DOING IT WITH HIM RIGHT THERE on the clear counter! Can't I just have a clear counter? My dream house would have wide-open spaces where I could skip through the house and dance and twirl without bumping into anything. My enormous problem is with food by hoarding & stock piling when I order in restaurants or fast food. I see the menu and go nuts. I MUST have food immediately so I ask for bread, and I better get my dinner salad damn fast. Then I need appetizers, main course, and dessert. By the time I'm done with my dinner salad, I'm full but have this enormous heap of food sitting in front of me. I always buy too much at the grocery store, but because I can't stand clutter I end up throwing tons of it away on the weekends. I'd love to order just an appetizer one day. Maybe tonight. Here’s an exercise for all you hoarders. If you’re afraid to get rid of something cause, “you may need it one day” just think that someone else might need it today. This sounds weird, but I always put things on my curb when it’s not trash day. My husband used to hate it, but the stuff is always gone by the next day. SOMEBODY out there needs that stuff, and they’ll drive by and snatch it up. I’ve done it with furniture, dishes, and clothes. Sometimes I tape a sign “FREE WOMENS PLUS SIZE CLOTHES, PLEASE TAKE.” The wheels on my otherwise perfectly good suitcase broke, so I set it on the curb and it was gone by morning. Don’t think of it as getting rid of something useful, think of it as helping out someone who really needs what you aren’t using.

Several years ago we bought a brand new scale but had to keep it on the patio because our apartment was so tiny. After weighing myself every day for a week, I literally kicked the #$%@$% scale off the balcony and never looked down. When Chris went to weigh himself, he asked, "where the hell is the new scale." I walked to the balcony and pointed down, and there it lay down below, broken and useless. I'm a daily weigher. I honestly don't think the loss or gain has anything to do with what we're gonna eat or not eat. If only weighing once a month worked, then we'd all be skinny. It's just the obsession - if the scale makes you crazy, get rid of it.

Bobalooey, you're going to have to stop being so clever if you don't want all us perverts wanting you.

Just when you think you've heard it all, now here comes...... Lose Weight on the Peanut Butter Diet Eat 4 to 6 tablespoons of peanut butter every day. You'll lose weight and you won't be hungry. Yeah, yeah, peanut butter is loaded with calories. But it's also packed with monounsaturated fats, which Men's Health magazine calls the original death-defying potion. In fact, the magazine goes so far as to say we should all be on the Skippy Diet to reduce the risk of heart disease AND to lose weight. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital concluded that people who consumed foods that were high in monounsaturated fats, including olive oil, avocados, and peanut butter, were more likely to lose weight and keep it off than people following a more regimented, lower-fat diet. These amazing claims were backed up by researchers at Purdue University. It's really pretty simple: Peanut butter is filling. BUT. Limit your Jif Diet to no more than 6 tablespoons of the gooey stuff a day. Delicious recipes for All Meals Using Peanut Butter [Jif] Peanut Butter Has Diabetes Benefits Too [WebMD] These 5 Foods Help Control Your Appetite [Netscape] How Peanut Butter Is Made [PeanutButterLovers] Fats to Eat and Fats to Avoid [iVillage] What do you eat on the peanut butter diet? Men's Health offers this menu: Breakfast: Peanut Butter and banana shake (1 cup of fat-free milk, 1 medium banana, and 2 Tbsp. peanut butter liquefied in a blender) Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple Snack: Peanut butter on a rice cake Dinner: It's peanut-butter free! But be sensible and enjoy a skinless chicken breast, chopped nuts, an avocado, and a salad for example. In case you need justification to go on the peanut butter diet, how about justifying a healthy heart? Peanut butter may just lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Reuters reports that Italian researchers have concluded that women who consume less Vitamin E may be at a far greater risk of heart disease and stroke. Vitamin E seems to protect against plaque build-up or arteriosclerosis at the carotid bifurcation, the Y-shaped branch in the arteries of the neck. And peanut butter is packed with vitamin E--along with canned salmon with the bones, canned tuna fish, olive oil, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Led by Dr. Paolo Rubba from Federico II University in Naples, Italy, the research team examined 310 women aged 30 to 69, measuring their blood levels of Vitamins A, C, E, and other antioxidants. They also interviewed each participant about her medical history, drug use, personal habits, and food consumption. Based on this information, the women were divided into three groups based on their vitamin E consumption. (None were taking vitamin supplements.) Those who ate a diet that was the richest in vitamin E foods also had the lowest build-up of plaque in the carotid bifurcation. Reuters reports that those who consumed the least vitamin E were nearly three times more likely to have arterial plaque regardless of age, smoking habits, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), and other heart disease risk factors. How vitamin E protects against heart disease and stroke is not yet known. The study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

My husband wants me to get one of these:

Kare, I appreciate your response in a huge way. Nurses injecting drugs that can't even communicate or explain what you are getting... would that ever happen in the US? No way. This was a huge problem for another person, and I figured the lack of communication problem would have been resolved by now, but I guess not. The fact your surgeon insists you simply trust him scares the crap out of me and is enormously wrong. We have the right to know exactly what's being injected, how much, and why. His staff just keeps pumping pain meds into your body without even asking if you need it. I'm not happy with my surgeon, but at least my nurse asked me if I needed more pain meds before shoving them in me. There was an Ortiz patient in the hospital with me that had her hand blow up twice it's size from the IV. Again, it was a nurse's error, but that reflects on the entire experience. I was the only Lopez patient in the hospital with 5 Ortiz patients, and while they all seemed happy with Ortiz, some had me translatting for them to the staff. I knew enough Spanish to get by. I became horrifyingly sick with a bronchial infection and would have been in big trouble if I didn't know Spanish at 3:00 a.m. when I couldn't breathe. Nobody at 3:00 a.m. spoke a word of English. The fact they advertise the 5-Star hotel is part of the dishonesty I drone on about. If they were using Mexican standards they'd call it "Hotel de cinco-estrellas" which means hotel of 5 stars. Those are American standards they're boasting about. For the record, NOTHING in TJ is five-star.

Ya know what? As much as I'd love to be dripping with diamonds, I'd have to turn down a 4 karat it it meant I have to wear it on my face! On my tiara, yes.

It was very difficult, but I gave a co-worker an entire large bag of my Wasabi Peas and cashews. Only 10 bags to go. I swear, I went crazy buying that stuff. Now I have to hold my breath and look at the caloric value of dried banana chips. Scared.

I had a long chat with my band surgeon this weekend. One of the topics was carbonation. I asked him, "Why can't we have carbonation." He said "you don't want carbonation, you want crap." He was right! He said if we all wanted carbonation so bad, we'd be asking if we could drink Perrier, but all of us keep asking to drink soda. Maybe some of us drink sparkling Water all or some of the time, but I want a damn Diet Pepsi. There is no proof that carbonation causes slippage, pouch stretching, etc. I asked Dr. Billy why all the other doctors say to avoid it, and I wanted to know the theory behind it all. Many doctors believe that if a "burp gets trapped" the gas could cause the band to slip. But that's "IF" a burp gets stuck, and I burp like a hog so there's no chance of that. What it boils down to is bad food choices. Dr. Billy doesn't understand why we'd want to put any kind of crap into our stomachs, and since soda and diet soda is filled with crap then we should avoid it, but there's no proof that carbonation causes slippage. Even a bad hiccup could potentially cause slippage. I forgot to mention that I'm a Diet Pepsi junkie. I quit for almost a year after banding, but lately I just gotta have one. For me, what it boils down to is this: If enjoying a Diet Pepsi will prevent me from eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's, then I'm going to have the Diet Pepsi. Even my doctor agreed that he'd rather see me with a Diet Pepsi than ice cream.

Pansy, I agree 100%. Especially because I can enjoy a can of Diet Pepsi now, whereas before I'd drink it buy the bucket.

Hi everyone. I'm not participating in the summer loss thing but I got lonely so I'm just here invading. Vera, you should post that hottie body on the picture page so us non-participants coulda seen it. Glad I stopped by! That's hysterical.

For me, a food high is when all the bad goes away, all thoughts, emotions, feelings. Like taking a downer or Valium. Food makes it all go away, albeit only temporarily. You crave, want, yearn & can't stop thinking about the food that's going to be eaten soon. Waiting in line forever at the drive through, desperate for the "ding" to go off announcing the pizza is coming out of the oven, pacing, checking the time, eating anything handy while waiting. Then taking that food into a safe place and sitting and just eating, no more worries, no world, no trouble, no husband, job, insanity... deep sign, everything goes blank, and it's Heaven when the noise shuts up.

Hi Baby, on a positive note, how much do all those spare parts that they'll be removing weigh? Right on.

Bobalooey... Bobalooey... I'm trying to say something here but I can't stop laughing.

Anything with a flavor is "crap" (not my words) one way or another. If it's got flavor, it's either sugar or some artificial chemical. I agree with Billy that non of us are crying the blues cause we miss our Perrier! Today I had a Diet Pepsi, which saved me about 450 calories considering I usually have a Starbuck's. I'm pretty sure beer bongs are out of the question though! I could see where gulping carbonation could cause a problem.

My bandages made my husband horny so there was no waiting. Men are weird.

You should call this question into your band surgeon. I just talked with my surgeon about an endoscopy over the weekend. Make sure a band surgeon does the scope. A regular doctor or technician could look right past signs of erosion without knowing it. Signs of erosion can be as small as a tiny stitch, so unless you're well-experienced with the band, they might look right past it. If you are getting scoped for different reasons, make sure to call your Band doc anyway. Maybe he could call your scope doc and explain how to check for erosion while he's already got the camera in your belly. Anyone with a band should get an endoscopy from a qualified Band surgeon at least once a year. I'm not saying you have erosion or anything like that, but they may as well take a peek since you're having the procedure anyway. If they find an ulcer, make sure to take the meds as directed since ulcers can lead to erosion (according to my knowledge.)

I still crack up everytime you call him Spudboy. Poor kid being raised by wild dogs! fixed it!

I just bought the book and spent a whopping $6.08 from Amazon.com. I know I've seen the book before but now I'll sit and wait for it to be mine... maybe Chris can use it to whack me upside the head.

Isn't a pint a serving when it comes to ice cream? I went "nuts" buying nuts and healthy Snacks in California over the weekend before my appointment. I love Wasabi Green Peas and someone (not mentioning names) recently got me hooked on wasabi peanuts, so I've been eating them by the bag. I was floored when Billy used wasabi peas as an example of a bad, bad food choice (how the hell did he know I'd been into wasabi peas?) Alex, he said he'd rather have a bag of chips, too. I (we) keep looking for the one food that we can eat in abundance while playing mind games that it's healthy or low cal. Maybe I'll freeze dry some celery. Yumm. Hack.

I am 100% in tune with you on the "food addict" thing. But your addiction isn't even an option right now because you could hurt your band if you eat. Like Nike says, JUST DO IT. It's tough as hell, but just keep posting here - all day long if you have to. I'm gritting my teeth for you.