Corridor72

Quest bars! I keep a couple of them in my purse and in my tote bag that I carry with me to work. They have saved me from making bad choices many times when I was out and about or had to work late.

I bought unflavored protein powder prior to my surgery and never really used it because it was awful. And I'm pretty much ok with most protein powders. I could NOT do the unflavored though. I tried it in oatmeal, applesauce, greek yogurt, crystal light and I just couldn't stomach it. I ended up tossing it in the trash.

Yay! Isn't that the best feeling? I love buying new clothes in smaller sizes! Enjoy!

Oatmeal has never been a favorite food of mine. In fact, I've tried it many times in the past and gagged on it every time. I think it's mostly a texture thing. Anyway, my tastes have changed a lot over the last year and I find that I like a lot of foods now that I would've never eaten before. I try new foods all the time and even enjoy trying foods that I always disliked because, more often than not, I'm pleasantly surprised and find that I now like those foods. So while grocery shopping this morning, I picked up a box of the Quaker instant oatmeal with added protein(banana nut flavor). I hadn't eaten anything yet so I decided to try it when I got home. It actually tasted pretty good to me! It has 10 grams of protein and I used 3/4 cup of skim milk so that adds another 6 grams of protein. I don't like it to be cooked to the point of being gooey and sticky though because then, I will start gagging. So the way I made it, it's kind of thin. I'm not sure this is a good idea though because it seems that would make it a slider food? It filled me up though so I don't know. Do you eat oatmeal? If so, what consistency do you make yours? I guess I may just have to try it a few times and see how full I feel after eating it and how long before I'm hungry again. It still isn't something I would want to eat more than once a week but it would be something different.

I LOVE to run! I never dreamed I'd ever be a runner but it really is my favorite thing to do now!

Amazing! For me, I look in the mirror and still see a "fat girl". Oddly enough, I'm always shocked when I come across a picture of me from before my surgery. As you said, there just are no words. Anyway, congrats on your wonderful success!

So the little boy.....

I know, right? I can only vaguely remember being what I weigh now(148) wayyyyy back when i was in high school and I have NO idea what size clothes I wore then but I can tell you that the smallest I ever remember wearing was about a 10 or 12. Sooo, I expected that when I got to my goal, I would likely be wearing at least a 10 or 12. Nope. I'm a size 6 now at 148 lbs. How is that? I think they make the clothes bigger now....Seriously, I did read an article awhile back that said if you are still wearing the same size you did in high school that you are, on average, about 5 lbs heavier than you were then but that the clothing companies have made the clothes a bit bigger. I think it might be more than a little bit bigger!lol

@@2muchfun You will be FINE! Stay off of youtube though and don't be searching the internet for info either! Best of luck to you!

Congrats! I'm sure you'll do great! Keep us posted!

You sound so much like ME! I could have written this post myself! I'm even struggling right now because I'm off work for 6 weeks because of another surgery(not related to my band in any way). This isn't my "normal" routine and it's driving me nuts! Now you would think that, as far as food, I would be quite comfortable because I'm at home so it should be easy, right? Uhhh, not so fast....I'm good except for one thing. Until today, I was not allowed to do anything except rest so everyone else has been doing the cooking. That's where the problem comes in. <Sigh> Fortunately, I'm a couple of weeks out now so, as of today, the surgeon says I can start doing a few things. I'm still not allowed to do anything strenuous. No heavy lifting. No being on my feet for long periods of time, etc.But this does mean that I can start cooking simple meals and doing more for myself than I have been. This affords me more control over what I eat than what I have had the last few weeks so I will feel a bit better after a few days of preparing my own meals, I'm sure. I do miss my usual routine though because there's really not any question as to what I will eat in a "normal" day then. I always have greek yogurt with Nature Valley Protein Granola OR a Quest bar for Breakfast. And usually it's the yogurt and I save the Quest bar for when I want a snack. I have some sort of protein and some raw veggies for lunch. dinner is always protein and some sort of cooked veggies. For Snacks I choose quest bars, nuts, cheese, raw veggies, fruit, greek yogurt, or sugar free Jello. My life and my diet are very routine. I do choose from a wide variety of protein and veggies but those are my main sources of nutrition. And I get uncomfortable when I don't have the control to pick and choose the way I'm used to. So yes, I am a bit of a control freak

I absolutely would do it all over again! I do wish that I had done it sooner but hey, better late than never, right? Lap-band has definitely been the right choice for me and I can tell you that it is absolutely the best decision I have ever made for myself. I LOVE my band!!!

Glad to hear your surgery went well!

I think we all live with that fear of regaining. To be honest though, I think it's probably a healthy fear because it's one that keeps us focused and on the right track and helps us refocus and get back on track when we have veered off in the wrong direction for some reason.

Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you did great and some of that "weight gain" is probably Water weight and will probably fall right back off now that you're back to eating like you normally do. I did the same thing back in the summer only I really ate some garbage along the way. I made pretty good choices most of the time but I did have a couple of days where I really made some bad choices. I don't remember now exactly how much but I do remember that I gained several pound(maybe 5 or 6?) and was really upset with myself over it. Fortunately, most of it was apparently Fluid retention because it was gone in under a week plus I even lost another pound or two that week. I talked to my surgeon about it too because, even though I knew that it was fluid retention, I was upset with myself for falling of the wagon and making such poor choices. His response surprised me. He said "Don't beat yourself up. You were on vacation. You should relax and enjoy the things you love when you're on vacation. That's why we have surgery-so we can still enjoy the foods we love, only in smaller amounts.You have no enjoyed your vacation and you've already managed to get right back on track so it's all good." He went on to say that he thinks we should break over and enjoy food more when we're on vacation so that we don't feel deprived when everyone else is indulging. The important thing is that we get back on track when vacation is over. Looking back, it was probably one of the most important lessons I've learned along the way...On one of those days that I spent indulging myself, I literally made myself sick because I ate so many sweets. I don't even WANT to overdo it on things like that now because every time the urge hits, I remember how I felt that day and realize, I don't want to feel like that again. There's nothing that tastes good enough to feel that miserable after eating it. Anyway, my surgeon always tells me that "No one is perfect. No one makes the right choices all of the time. The important thing is that you make the right choices MOST of the time. And if you make a bad choice, don't wait until the next day to start over. You start over as soon as you realize your last choice was a bad one."

I usually have greek yogurt for breakfast.

In the beginning, the only surgeries I was ever willing to consider were lap-band and gastric sleeve. I chose lap-band because it was the least invasive, reversible, and less risk of post-op and long-term complications. I really didn't want any of my body parts removed or re-routed. And, if necessary, I knew I could revise to the sleeve later but the reverse is not true. My surgeon and I discussed the options, and his recommendation for me was also the lap-band. I'm so very glad I chose the band too!

Wow! Just wow! Thanks for sharing your story! I'm sure it will inspire many people!

Best of luck to you!

Sooo very disrespectful, not only to the deceased, but to the family of the deceased as well. This person was someone's son, and probably was also a brother, father, cousin, uncle, etc. How cruel to publicly & intentionally blame him.

I am a lap-band patient and was diabetic at the time of my surgery. I've lost 135 lbs. I was taking metformin at the time of my surgery to control my blood glucose levels. I was weaned off the medication several months ago and my latest A1C level was 4.9. Random blood sugar checks over the last month have been anywhere between 70-90 so I would expect that A1c number to be even better at the next check. So it seems that my diabetes has resolved

Thanks for sharing! Interesting indeed! And it definitely can't hurt to try it! The only thing I like about the cooler weather is that it's better for running so perhaps this gives me another reason to like it?lol

I got a lot of comments like that pre-op too. My response was always "You don't understand. I am well over 100 lbs overweight, according to my doctor, and my weight is adversely affecting my health. I'm not doing it to be skinny. I'm doing it to get healthy. End of discussion." Now, when people ask how much weight I've lost and I tell them that I've lost 135 lbs, they always say "OMG! I would've never thought you had that much weight to lose!" Obviously I DID have that much to lose.....

I'm sure you'll get lots of varying opinions on this. I can tell you that my surgeon is against juicing. The idea with lap-band is to eat your calories, not drink them. You do have to be careful with food choices in order to insure that you're getting the appropriate nutrition, which is one of many reasons that pre-op education and post-op follow-up visits with your surgeon and possibly a dietician will be so important to your success. Good luck to you!

For me, I absolutely can NOT eat or drink anything else if I'm stuck because that just makes it worse. The only thing that I've found that helps is to get up and walk around. Fortunately, those stuck episodes are few and far between for me.