Corridor72

LOVE this post! I am also a nurse and work 3(sometimes 4) days a week. The funny thing is this...Up until a few months ago, I always used my work schedule as an excuse NOT to exercise. It's easy to say "I don't have time to exercise because I work 12 hr shifts which generally turn into 13-14 hr shifts. I drive 40 minutes each way to/from work and then I still have to drop off/pick up the kids and get them home and bathed/showered and into bed before I can go to bed. I'm lucky if I get 6 hrs of sleep each night as it is. Exercise? Who has time for it?" But honestly, I've come to realize that while I may not have much time to exercise on the days when I work, I have 4 days to exercise as much as I want when I'm not working. So who am I kidding really? I've been lying to myself for years. So, I started an exercise program for myself back in the fall. Up until now, it has mainly consisted of just walking a few miles a day but I'm thinking that, for my birthday this month, I'm gonna ask the hubby to buy me a gym membership. I may not be able to get there on the days I work because of the long hrs I work and the gym not being open that early/late BUT I have 4 other days each week that I can go AND I can jump on the treadmill on the days I work while the big kids are taking their showers. It CAN be done. I may be exhausted when I finish but it'll be a good kind of exhaustion Anyway, I like your attitude! Thanks for sharing and encouraging the rest of us to just DO IT ANYWAY!

I don't know but I can tell you that you are not alone! I am wearing a 42F right now although, I definitely need to go bra shopping because they're shrinking too and the ones I have currently are getting a little too roomy!lol...I've always been well endowed though. Before I gained all of my weight, I wore a 34DD. We'll see where I end up when I get to goal. My concern is more about the "tube sock boobie" effect that I know I'll probably be facing. I don't really want to have surgery but then, I'm not sure my self-esteem can handle it if I don't.

And wow! Look at you! You look AMAZING! Keep up the good work!

I agree with Leepers-it takes some time to feel COMPLETELY normal. I felt "almost" normal in less than a week but that bloated feeling hung around for awhile.

I gave up my diet soda on Oct. 25th in preparation for being banded. I don't miss it on most days. I will admit though that, on the rare occasion that the family & I get to go out to eat together, I do miss it then. I usually just ask for a glass of ice water to sip on until I get my food. My surgeon allows me to drink up until I begin my meal and then nothing for 45 minutes to an hour after I finish eating.

I don't have any suggestions but I was thinking about the same thing a few days ago. I'm a little worried I won't be able to find anything I like and I LOVE to swim!

I also had teds while in the hospital and sequential compression devices. Of course the SCD's were discontinued upon discharge and I came home with the TEDS on but I took them off sometime that night and didn't put them back on. I was up and moving though.

I had one prior to surgery but didn't have to take any afterwards. My surgery was outpatient so they gave that to me along with all the other pre-op stuff that morning while I was still in the pre-op area. My surgeon's office has a whole book of info that they give you prior to surgery and the lovenox injections are included for band patients. I asked him about it at my pre-op appt. and he told me that I wouldn't have to do them because of my size. He said that some patients do actually go home on Lovenox injections but it's usually people who have a BMI at the time of surgery of at least 50 or greater. Anyone who has a BMI less than that at surgery can usually(depending on their mobility) go home without them provided they are mobile and can/will walk a lot at home, as instructed.

I was banded just a couple of days after the OP and my surgeon actually recommends getting back to solid foods as soon as possible. He had me do 2 days of clear liquids, 2 days of full liquids and then advance as tolerated. He basically just said to advance through the stages trying foods of different consistencies a little at a time to make sure I could tolerate it ok. As long as I could tolerate each consistency, I was allowed to advance to the next until I got to solid foods. He did say to be careful about foods that tend to be really tough and recommended holding off on steak for awhile but said chicken, turkey, fish, tuna, and even ground beef are ok.

It has to do with hormonal changes during weight loss. Your body stores estrogen in the fatty tissue so as you lose weight, the estrogen is released from that tissue and it can cause imbalances for awhile. It will eventually settle itself down though.

Have you tried any of the protein bars yet? Someone on here suggested the quest bars to me the other day for protein replacement because I had asked for advice on protein bards. Quest makes a double chocolate chunk and a chocolate brownie (amongst others) but I've tried those and they are really good. When I ate the chocolate ones though, I really felt like I was cheating! They are delicious! And they're good for you.

It doesn't matter why a person chooses to be vegetarian. Religious reasons or not, No one should ever have to feel the need to defend their healthy lifestyle choices. It's kind of like the OP mentioned all of the "junk" food that coworkers were eating. No one ever asks why you're eating chips, pop, pizza, etc. I remember when I first started my 6 month supervised weight loss plan that was required by my insurance before they would approve my surgery. I was taking my lunch to work every day and I was eating lots of vegetables and salads and such. Every day for weeks on end people would ask "Why are you eating THAT?" Ummm, because I like it. And because it's better for me than my usual crappy hospital cafeteria choices. And I want to live a long, healthy life and my old choices just weren't cutting it. Geez. The same can be said of our choice to have WLS. It's a choice that we made and we shouldn't have to defend it to the world. Yet, how often do we end up doing that? I'm fortunate in that most of my family was very supportive but I know a lot of people aren't supportive of WLS at all. My own brother asked me if I was sure it was a good choice and was very concerned about me having it done. His was a genuine concern out of love for his sister(we're very close) but he couldn't understand why I needed surgery. He was terrified of something going wrong in surgery. He asked me if I couldn't "just diet" to lose the weight. He's one who can diet and easily and quickly drop a bunch of weight. I'm not so lucky. Once I explained to him the health problems I was developing as a direct result of my weight and lifestyle(I'm a nurse and tend to take care of everyone else without sharing my own problems with them. I'm very private like that)..anyway, he has been supportive but I think he just needed to be certain I was making the best choice for me. I have noticed though that people always feel the need to offer their opinions on the matter. And my opinion is this: my body, my choice, it doesn't effect anyone else. It's none of their business. Period. Same goes for those who choose a vegetarian diet/lifestyle. It's their choice and none of anyone else's business.

I'm at that point post-op now that I'm trying to switch from protein shakes to more solid forms of protein. I know most of it should come from the foods that I eat but I am still requiring some supplementing. My surgeon prefers that we switch to protein bars at this point rather than the shakes so I was wondering....what are your favorite protein bars?

It was very difficult in the beginning but after a few days, I kind of fell into a routine and it was all good. I usually ate sugar free Jello or sugar free popsicles if I was having cravings. Honestly though, after the first few days, I really didn't have a lot of cravings.

Thank you for pointing out the sugar alcohol thing. Sugar alcohols really tear my tummy up sometimes. I would've never even thought to check for them in a Protein Bar. I did purchase some of the quest bars prior to my surgery at the recommendation of a friend who swears by them. I had not tried any of them until yesterday. I tried the banana nut, which was ok. I ate it and I could eat it again but NOT something I'd want to eat every day. Today, I tried the chocolate brownie and WOW! What a treat! Now I'm looking forward to trying all of the other flavors!

I am not vegetarian but I have a very dear friend who IS vegetarian in the truest sense of the word. He eats NO meat, fish, or animal products at all. For him, it is part of his religious background and beliefs. Until I met him, I never knew anyone who was strictly vegetarian so I had no idea the frustrations one might face as a result. I had known people who only ate fish or chicken or who would eat foods containing eggs or milk. Anyway, he has taught me a lot. I asked him a lot of questions when we first met more than 10 yrs ago and he quickly became frustrated with me until I explained to him that I was simply trying to learn and get to know him, his lifestyle, and belief system. He was very patient with me after that and has been very kind in teaching me about those things. I think he was just so used to people berating him over why he doesn't eat meat that he assumed that's what I was doing too. I had no intentions of berating him or questioning the validity of his lifestyle. I was simply curious about what he could/couldn't eat, how he managed to get enough protein, and how he managed to get complete proteins(I had recently taken nutrition, microbiology and anatomy and physiology) so I knew that a true vegetarian has to eat a variety of foods in the appropriate combinations to make complete proteins. It had been puzzling to me how they would keep up with that sort of thing so I asked him about that. I also wanted to know, since part of his reason for living this lifestyle was religious, how/why they believe what they believe and had asked him to show me/teach me the parts of the Bible that teach that. He's been very kind and patient with me over the years(thank goodness) but in addition to all of the things he has taught me about his vegetarian lifestyle, he has also shared with me some of the "attitude" that he catches from people about the foods he chooses to eat or not eat. It's sad really. I mean, what business is it of anyone else as to what the next person is eating or not eating? Another cool thing...thanks to him, I now eat veggies and have learned to try lots of new foods that I would've never ever tried before :-) He is one of a handful of people who have helped me learn to start focusing my eating habits on eating healthy foods and eating to live rather than living to eat.

I like Isopure and Unjury. My surgeon also prefers that you stop the protein drinks a few weeks postop. He says if you still need to supplement your protein intake after a few weeks that he prefers you use protein bars rather than shakes because they stay with you longer.

So it's a New Year and, having been banded Dec. 20th, I'm hoping for a new me this year! I thought maybe some of you veteran bandsters might have some advice for every day living with the band? Some of my thoughts so far are that I will pack my lunch for work each day so that I'm not eating in the hospital cafeteria. I'm going to stash a few protein bars in my locker at work for those times when I have "food emergencies". My surgeon doesn't like continued use of protein shakes once you're on solids but I figure a protein shake is better than nothing and WAY better than McDonald's drive thru on those mornings when I'm running late so I'll still keep some of those on hand for emergencies too. As far as exercise, I intend to get my treadmill back out of the storage building as soon as I get this Christmas tree down and bring it back in so that I can start walking and work up to running. I plan to be running(or at least jogging) some 5k races with my family by summer. I also want to join the local gym. What other suggestions do you veteran folks have that might help me to to achieve the "new me" in the coming year?

I fear that day!!!

Thank you. I'm not sure if it's because I maybe still have some swelling from my surgery or if I'm one of the lucky ones who has a small degree of restriction just from having the band but I can already tell that I can't eat/drink as much as I did before. Again, I realize this may simply be from some swelling from the surgery but still...it gives me hope that, in time, it will work it's magic :-) Like someone else said, I just have to be patient until I get to that magic fill that puts me in the green zone.

Thank you. Patience isn't a strong point of mine so I'm going to have to work hard on this one but I know I can do it.

Thanks! I will check it out!

I really like cheese cubes too. In the past, I have paired them some apple slices and really like them that way. Do you think that would work? I love greek yogurt, especially for breakfast(I'm not a big fan of huge breakfasts). I was also thinking chicken/tuna salad might make for a good lunch or snacks? I know my surgeon always says to make sure we get enough protein and he will help us control the rest with the band. He also says to make sure we take our vitamins, eat protein first, etc.

I can totally relate to that. I am a nurse so breakfast must be consumed before I get there or there is no breakfast because we basically have to be prepared to "hit the floor running". Lunch is basically whatever you can get whenever you have time for it. It may be that you have time to eat lunch at "lunch time" or it may be that you don't get time for lunch until 3 or 4 pm. We work 12 hr shifts (7am-7pm). I may or may not get to leave by 7:30 in the evening, depending on how busy the day has been and how much documentation I have left to do at the end of my shift. There have been times when I didn't leave until after 10 pm. Those are the kinds of things I'm referring to when I say "food emergencies" because, if I'm running late in the morning or it's a busy day, I want to have things available that are "band friendly" and aren't garbage like you'd find in the vending machines. There's no way I can eat 3 meals a day at set times when I'm working so I want to have some good alternatives available for those times. I think if I can take my lunch, that will help a lot because then I can just eat my healthy lunch whenever I get time to eat it AND it will help me to avoid the dreaded cafeteria. One would think they'd serve healthy food in a hospital cafeteria but that's not true. And if they do, it's chicken that's so dry I could barely choke it down BEFORE I was banded so I'm sure it would get stuck with the band. If I take healthy snacks and protein bars, I could also use those for times when I don't get to leave on time or for something to hold me over until I get home to eat dinner. Or who knows, they might even BE dinner!hehe...

I drink a lot of crystal light. I love lemonade though so the lemonade crystal light usually does the trick for me. If I want something sweeter, the fruit punch flavor is really sweet. My last carbonated drink(a diet dr. pepper, which was my addiction) was on Oct. 24th. I have not wanted one at all until a few days ago when we were out to eat at a restaurant. I realized quickly that it was simply because everyone else was drinking soda and it didn't matter anyway because I can't drink with my meals. I am allowed to drink right up until I start my meal though so I usually have some ice Water while we wait for our food.