enjoythetime

@@punkinvine I eat Yoplait Light 100 vanilla greek yogurt with 3 tsp. of trail mix, mixed in and I LOVE IT. I never used to like yogurt before but now if I go one day without it I crave it!

@@mare81 I completely remember those first couple of days, a nightmare. I was literally gagging BUT then I found a bunch of recipes on-line and tried a different brand of shake and that made a world of difference. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying they were great and I crave them now but I will say that they were tolerable and that's about all you can ask for during this stage. I did the chocolate Truffle from Syntrex, nectar. You can buy individual packets at the Vitamin Shoppe to see which one you want to commit to before purchasing the huge tub. Check it out and also look on Pinterest for Protein shake ideas. Hang in there, this is just temporary but the weight you lose from this stage is permanent so every time you gag just think, that's another lb. gone that I'll never see again. Some how it makes it better:-)

@@s_suther we did the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video. Yes it was so cool to see them drop their tablets and cartoons to come work it out with mom. I was very proud of both of them. They are 4 and 7 so the 7 year old stuck It out to the end, We are doing this one day, one sip, one step at a time! Way to go everyone!!

Hey stairs are GREAT exercise! Better than most! Go on withcha bad self:-)

Ok ladies, are you ready for this, I did it!!! I went home last night and actually worked out. Not only did I work out but both of my kids wanted to do it with me and one of them actually made it through the whole thing. This is my motivation to keep it going! The whole time they were like mommy good job and when we finished I felt so good that I was setting a positive healthy example for them. I also got in over 100oz of Water (I couldn't get enough after the work out!) How is everyone else doing?

Absolutely been there done that! I didn't so well yesterday myself but you know what, it's ok, we can't beat ourselves up over it. It's called life and we need to live it the best we can. The good news? Today's a new day and I'm going to get right back on track. This is the greatest thing about the banded life. We all have days that are less than perfect, but the band is still there for us. Typically if I go somewhere when junk is the primary food group, I will eat something before I go like a Protein bar so that I'm not hungry and can avoid most of the temptations. My problem yesterday was that I was the cook, which should've meant I made the choices which I did by I choosing to make everyone else happy and made wings,dips, sweets etc. My problem was I didn't eat for most of the day because I was so busy which meant when it was time to eat I was starving, a bad combo. Preparation is definitely the key in these situations!

Sounds to me like you're doing fantastic!!!! 17.5lbs in a couple of weeks is ALOT of weight to lose. I know it seems like if the scales aren't moving that you're not losing but that's not true. When the scale stops moving this is when your body is catching up to itself and while doing so is shredding inches. This is just the cycle of weight loss. When the scale is "stalled" the inches are coming off, which to me is the most important thing. Measure yourself in other ways beside the number on the scale, like how you clothes are fitting etc. Keep doing what you're doing and the weight has no choice but to come off! You're doing great!

Sorry to hear you're going through this!!! Trust your instincts! Don't let anyone pressure you into doing something you don't agree with or aren't comfortable with. It doesn't seem like he is giving you enough time to even process what is going on. If you truly feel that he see's you as a $ sign then I would seek a second opinion before I would let anyone jump into surgery. Wishing you the best! Please keep us posted on what's going on!

I'm all for standing up for what you believe in! I'm a very outspoken person myself BUT like lipstick lady stated you have to do it in a certain way. The other thing I would like to add which probably isn't going to be a popular statement; while what he said offended you and many others; myself included, do you think he honestly cares? Do you think the network cares? Nope, not at all. He doesn't care that a bunch of WLS patients are upset at him, he's getting more publicity out of the whole thing which could have been his angle for saying it in the first place. While it's great to use your voice, I don't think you should waste your voice, on people who don't matter. What outcome are you hoping to gain from going on his FB and yelling? I bet you he's sitting in his mansion now, ordering lunch and waiting for a massage while he's reading these posts. He doesn't care and "if" and that's a BIG IF he apologizes for what he said, it isn't because he's truly sorry for what he said, he's saying it because his lawyers told him he had to. Now, if voicing your opinion means there's a chance for a positive outcome/change, or will make someone see where you're coming from then by all means yes, but in this case it doesn't so just move on and don't waste another second of your life on things that don't matter and you can't change!!

Yeah, no I get it. I had the same questions at first. It's completely normal I was just trying to help because I've see too many people start comparing themselves with others and then they get frustrated and disappointed in themselves and I just don't like to see that. I agree there are some that haven't had a fill and that's amazing.

Ok, so I totally suck:-) Yesterday I didn't exercise:( I didn't take the stairs on my break started second guessing my shoes. Then I got home and well you know life happens so I didn't do my exercise workout either:( I did get my liquids in and was on point with my calories. I was able to flush another one of those stubborn lbs. down the drain. \

@@Dolores33778 yes I completely agree with you!! If you are looking for recipes go on pinterest and do a search for high Protein meals. Also on Pinterest there is a board called theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com she also has her own website with lots of recipes that are targeted for bariatric patients. Right now protein protein protein 60-80g per day and 80oz of Water. Each plate should consist of 4oz of lean protein, 1/2 cup veggies and one starch. Always each your plate in that order protein, veggies and lastly starch (if you still have room, which honestly I don't). I also have some recipes I'm willing to share if interested. Let us know how we can help! You're doing great!

Sorry but there is no Magic number. We're all unique individuals so what works for some doesn't work for everyone. For instance I have 3.5cc's in my band and have been at this level since 2 months post op. I'm now 20 months post op and have lost 159lbs. Please don't get caught up on comparing yourself with others or trying to keep up with what worked for someone else because that's just setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. Keep doing what you're doing, focus on what does and doesn't work for you and follow your doctors instructions and you will do amazing. You already are!

Never heard of it but I'm not on a diet any more. I won't do anything that has the word diet in it. I spent way to may years trying this diet and that diet only to fail miserably so that word is no longer in my vocabulary. I'm living the banded life which is my new lifestyle.:-)

Totally normal! Stick with your plan as hard as it may seem at times. When you are really hungry have more broth another Jello and of course get your Water in(this alone seemed to help me a lot with the on going hunger). I think for me it was more mental because I wasn't chewing anything, but it's only temporary and the end results are all worth it!! Good luck!

@@JustWatchMe this is absolutely an awesome idea! Look at the motivation you just gave @@s_suther and myself!!!! I have stairs right outside my office (11 flights), so you know what, I'm going to take my break soon and this is how I will be spending it. I don't have the right shoes on today but oh well I will do what I can with what I have and tomorrow bring my tennis shoes. If you don't hear back from me today, I'm being casted because my heal broke on my shoe:-) Thanks ladies! This is what this group is ALLLLL about!

Another good option if you don't have time to order on-line is Syntrax nectar chocolate Truffle. You can purchase this from the Vitamin Shoppe. They have tons of flavors. Below is a link to their website The store will honor their on-line prices. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search/controller?N=200786757&type=brand

@@catdaddy exercise accounts for only about 20% of weight loss, diet is 80%. I put 110% of my focus on making a lifestyle change through healthy choices. My calorie intake varied throughout my journey starting out I was getting in 800, then was told I better amp that up or I was going to hit a hard plateau from starving my body so I listened and then moved up to about 1,000. Again I was told to bump it so I hit my goal weight by maintaining an average of 1200 calories per day. I continued losing even though I wanted to maintain so my dr. pulled out this cool machine which told me the magic calorie # I needed to hit every day to maintain my 130lbs. which is 1338. This number is my basal # meaning no exercise is accounted for. If I burn 250 cal. exercising I need to take in 1588 calories per day to maintain. By no means do I come home and veg. I have two kiddos who keep me up and moving so I count that as activity, cleaning (an never ending working mom chore), working full time etc. but as far as a scheduled exercise routine nope I haven't had one. But I'm where @@s_suther is now, in order to maintain my loss (and to lose 3 stubborn lbs. I picked up over the holidays) I'm going to have to start adding exercise into my life. It's part of that lifestyle change for me I knew it was too overwhelming to do everything at once so I put everything I had into the eating lifestyle change, got that and now it's time to dedicate 100% to the exercise lifestyle change. It's all or nothing for me, I don't believe in doing anything 1/2 way:-) Who knows I may love it now. Don't hold your breathe though.

I've got a confession. I don't exercise...gasssssp, I know! I haven't but a handful of times throughout my journey. So, my goal for a healthier life is to start incorporating some type of physical activity daily. So today I'm going to strive to get in a 30 min. Jillian Michaels 30 days shred workout. Wish me luck:-)

My Green zone goes something like this. I reached my green zone after my 2nd fill, two months after surgery. I can eat whatever I want with no problems. I've never PBed, Slimmed or had food come back up. I've had a couple of "slight" stuck episodes that luckily passed quickly on their own and this was caused by the same food (French fries) which I shouldn't be eating any way. My desire for some food that I used to LOVE such as pizza, Pasta and breads are no longer there. I just don't care to eat them, it's a choice. I now crave healthier food (most of the time). I know exactly how much food makes me feel satisfied, I eat 4oz chicken or Protein of choice, 1/2 c veggies and then I typically skip the starch just because I don't want it. If I'm full before I finish this "set" plate then I stop, if I'm hungry I eat what's on my plate and I'm done. If I still have that "feeling" of not being satisfied I wait an hour and resuming consuming my fluids and any feeling of hunger that was there is now gone. I do allow myself treats, in fact I allow myself treats every day, now 99% of the time my treats are skinny cow ice cream, a Protein Bar etc. (see these are treats to me now vs. a snickers or a pint of ice cream), I've completely changed the way I live my life and it's not with the feeling of resentment I really like them AND if I do find that I want real ice cream then I eat it I just get a small vs. a large. I just need that taste now and I'm satisfied. I do still have cravings and still have hunger. It's just that now I eat to be satisfied and nourish my body. Much like B-52 said there are times when I go to the grocery store or a favorite restaurant and absolutely NOTHING looks or sounds good to me. At times this is frustrating because I end up just getting something because I know I have to eat but I feel like it's kind of a waist, a waist of money and honestly a waist of calories. Yes, I'm still mindful of how many calories I consume a day but I don't track them any more. There are days when I'm hungrier than others, if I'm hungry, I eat. I just make the healthiest choices possible. I never let myself go past my set portion size, I know what amount of food satisfies me and anything more than that truly isn't hunger it's just old habits dying hard.

Note to self: Don't forget the core principals, rules, (whatever you want to call them). that NEED to be followed no mater where you are in your journey! I made a post a week or so ago about struggling with seeing the same 4lbs. yo-yoing on the scale for the last month following a vacation, Christmas, New Year's etc. I got back on track with my normal routine and couldn't for the life of me figure out why I wasn't seeing the scale get back on track as well. So after finishing being frustrated, I started to evaluate my days (logging and tracking again to pin point what was going on), I found the culprit was I wasn't getting my 80oz of Water in. Yes, not enough H2O one of the most basic and core rules we were taught from the very beginning of our journey!!! I had replaced a majority of my water with iced tea (64oz or so a day) and only getting 1-2 bottles of water in. The point, I was cruising through life not paying a bit of attention to what I was doing, which is good because that means I'm letting go (which for anyone who knows me at all knows this is NOT easy for me), BUT that doesn't mean we can stop paying attention. We still have to be mindful of what we're doing no matter where we are in our journey. So, what did I do about it, I got my water in all 80oz yesterday, only had one glass of tea and this morning 1lb of those 4lbs was flushed away:-) So, what do I do today, I do it again and again and again. Don't bog yourself down with getting frustrated, this solves NOTHING, instead really evaluate yourself and figure out what is going on and fix it. This is just a reminder to myself that some times the answer isn't as hard or as difficult as we make it out to be, we just need a moment to stop and think. Have a great day everyone!!!

@@JustWatchMe I have NO butt either girl and let me tell you that first sentence rang so true that immediately after reading it my booty bone started hurting from the thought of it!! I have to move around a lot too. My tail bone literally sticks out and the other day I went to sit down on a plastic chair and hit that thing wrong and OMGosh did that hurt. Sorry to hear about the other issue, luckily I haven't experienced that and hopefully won't I cant stand pain like that, I would rather someone just punch me in the face, that I can handle. LOL. I hope you are feeling better!!!

Welcome! Congrats on your excellent loss! As far as the back pain I have nothing, but I hope you feel better soon! As far as the 4-month weight "stall", can I ask you a few questions? You say that you're training for a 5K. How many calories are you consuming per day and has this caloric intake changed since you started training? How many grams of Protein are your getting per day? Are you drinking a min of 80oz of Water per day? Two things come to mind when I read your post and of course this is just my opinion, but I'm wondering if since you started training for your 5k if you're getting too few calories so your body is holding on to everything because it's going into starvation store mode? The other thing that comes to mind is with your training your building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat and that could of course be why you're not seeing the # move on the scale. The MOST important question I have is........are you able to tell a difference in the way your clothes are fitting? Are they loser, are you going down in sizes? You could be seeing your loss in the form of inches until your body catches up with itself, which in my opinion is the best loss of all.

You should always call your doctor about anything you're unsure of and follow his or her advice to the T. Every Dr. is different so what mine recommends for me can be completely different from what yours recommends for you. Great job on starting your plan for fitness though!

Don't stop! Keep in mind we all had to have this surgery because of the poor decisions we'd made for countless years, for the love of food, comfort, all of the above etc. Just because you have a band now doesn't mean you're going to wake up and be perfect. Plus until your band is properly fitted to you, then you're not going to experience the optimal results and like anything worthwhile this takes time. This is a tool to help you but it's still a learning process and we all stumble along the way, so give yourself a break, take a deep breath and pull it together. You'll get there. Rely on your Dr.'s to be your support along the way, if nothing else let this be your motivator to do well so instead of having to go in and feel like you have to justify or explain your choices you and can be proud of them!! You can do this. Go in for your fill and hold your head high because you're doing just fine!