Amberley

I was born in Texarkana (Texas side) but now live in the UK. Missing home!!!!

one can of old el paso refried bean, 3 cherry tomatoes a steamed bag of birds eye veggies- blender the heck out of it and add water to get the soup consistency. Mexican soup. Still eat this at least once a week and it has 16 grams of protein per 1.5 cups.

My third fill is tomorrow. I currently have no restriction so only dieting. Hoping tomorrow gets me closer to the green zone

I suffer with head hunger as well. Before I allow myself a snack I make myself drink a glass of icy cold water. The water makes me full and gives me time to decide if I really want/need food. Training myself to go for water instead of food has really helped. The other thing I do is keep healthy snacks ready and available. A cup of mushrooms is 50 calories. I snack on these. Have some healthy snacks measured up and available in your fridge. If head hunger gets the better of you then your prepared. Best of luck!!

I was having the same issue. I now take centrum multivitamin with added biotin. Biotin helps stem the hair loss. I also found shampoo that has biotin as well. Best of luck

Your doing great!!! It is sometimes easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to others who are on the same journey. To keep myself from comparing my progress to others I shift my focus by surfing the internet to get visuals of how much weight I have lost so far. It helps me to realise how far I have come as the visuals show me what I am no longer carrying on my body!! So I looked up a few things for you that weigh 8 lbs: A human head weighs 8 pounds A newborn baby may weigh about eight pounds. Four sticks of butter weigh one pound. So a stack of 32 sticks of butter is no longer on your body!! A gallon of freshwater weighs 8.34 pounds ugh. cant figure out how to upload the pics. look on google for the images!!! Just think... your not carry any of the above on your body. Its no longer weighing you down. Amazing!!!!

Alright, I admit I am not know for being the most mild mannered person. I have a bit of a temper but have always taken steps to ensure my temper remains in control (breathe in, breathe out). I do not normally lose the plot. Then there was the incident today.... I went into the office today (been working from home for the last two weeks). Three of the women I work with stopped by my office together to tell me how great I was looking. Was enjoying the ego stroking immensely!!! I have been very open about the fact that I have had band surgery. No reason to hide it. While we were chatting another female colleague walked in.... lets give her a name to protect her privacy... Broomhilda. Broomhilda ( the _itch that she is) listened to the gals feed my ego a bit and then decided to give her unsolicited two cents worth. And I quote "Amber I can see you lost some weight. You were so huge before. I mean it was time that you did something about it right? I just would have expected you to have lost more by now. I mean bigger people are supposed to lose weight faster right? What exactly are you eating? Are you getting out from behind your desk at all? You know diet only wont move those pounds. You have to exercise to. I don't understand why it took you so long to do something about it. I have been tempted to say something to you about your weight for awhile. I guess even a little weight loss is better than nothing right?" The other 3 gals got quiet and waited..... The old self conscious me with the dented self esteem might have nodded and smiled and ignored her. Possibly taken her to the side later to tell her she hurt my feelers. The new me..... not so much. Watch out world the amazon princess is in the house. If she felt it was okay to be rude to me in front of others why should I be the one to restrain myself? My response: "Broomhilda I appreciate your candour. Your right I am overweight and am taking steps to ensure that I healthier and happier. Since we are being honest here I just wanted to mention that no one has ever been so rude as to approach me in the way that you have and give such demeaning feedback. Did you have a horrible childhood? Was your dog run over on your way to work today? Honestly the only reason I am asking is that I am trying to come up with a reason as to why someone feels the need to make others feel bad in order to feel better about themselves. Did your parents teach you manners and you just chose to ignore them or were you raised by wolves? Yes I am fat and in time I will lose the weight while my friends support and encourage me. You on the other hand have allot to learn and I only hope that people choose not to be as honest with you about your faults as you are with them. Now get the hell out of my office I want to have a donut!!" (I of course did not have a donut was just pissed off) Needless to say she scurried out of my office. One of the three gals that were still there just looked at me and said good on you!! What did I learn from this? 1. My anger management skills suck 2. I am no longer willing to allow others to demean me simply because I am fat 3. True friends will encourage and call you out when your getting off base - the secret is understanding true friends will do it out of a place of love whereas _itches are doing it for their own benefit 4. I have value and worth regardless of whether I am fat or thin. Allowing someone to take potshots in order to avoid conflict does not help the situation. It simply makes them feel that their comments are acceptable. 5. Maybe I am a bit of a _itch myself I saw her in the car park as I was leaving. I did not run her over. All of you are my witnesses/alibi. If anyone asks I was writing this post. The red stains and bad blonde hair dye on my bumper are from a poor unfortunate cat........ Lets stick to the story people. Thanks for letting me vent.

Thanks guys for the support. I got to get a handle on my temper though. Don't want the people in the office tip toeing around me.....I am short enough

Welcome!!! I am also located in the UK. Who did you get your surgery through?

My band version of a Mexican bowl. refried beans, green and red pepper slices, turkey mince, and a triangle of laughing cow cheese melted on top.

Great post. We each have our own goals and milestones. We are here to support each other. I am sorry that you felt your concerns were trivialised. Big hugs.

I know that discrimination is out there but looking at it from a different angle- I act differently now then I did 50 pounds ago. 50 pounds ago I took offence more easily because I was waiting/expecting people to say the negative things I was already feeling. I guess I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. As the weight is falling off I am less self conscious and more easily talk to people. I can only assume that people pick up on the more positive energy and respond in kind. Just a thought. It may not be that people are always being discriminating as much as they are trying to avoid causing offence and insulting someone by offering assistance when the persons attitude is already unhappy or negative. I still have a long weigh to go with the weight and people are responding more positively. I hope it is because the chip on my shoulder is melting away with the weight and the positive energy I am feeling outside is being picked up by those around me.

I feel your pain. Don't get discouraged. I go through the same thing on the daily basis. When dealing with head hunger my nut has given me several coping strategies that are helping. 1. I keep ice cold water in the fridge. When I feel hungry (head hunger or real hunger) I go and grab a glass of the water. It helps in two ways. First the cold water kills off real hunger for a bit which gives me time to decide if I am really hungry or not. Second I know I should not drink anything a half hour before I eat. That means I have half an hour to decide what I am going to put into my mouth. Another coping strategy from my nut was that I pre plan all my meals and have them laid out in the fridge. I use one shelf that is mine alone that has only that days food allowance on it. Its then easy to see what you have eaten so far and what you have left. You can then make the decision to carry on and eat knowing that when the shelf is empty you get nothing else or decide to save whats left for later. Your doing great. We all slip up. Just know what your triggers are and have some strategies in place so you don't panic when the hunger hits. Talk to your nut. Mine has been invaluable in helping me find better ways to deal with my hunger issues. Best wishes!!

My band does not like chicken no matter how I cook it so I eat allot of fish and turkey. I grill fish on my George Foreman grill. I grill my veg at the same time. I spray both with my 1 calorie butter spray before putting them on the grill. when I plate up I add a table spoon of capers across the fish. Gives the fish a nice spicy flavour. I also do fish tacos. grill fish and instead of putting in a tortilla I use large spinach leaves or lettuce leaves. yum!!! another good one is to grill fish and break up. grill a portobella mushroom, mix the fish with a tablespoon of cream cheese and place inside the mushroom.

Hubby and I went grocery shopping today. I have lost 48 pounds so far and my clothes are starting to hang a bit. Have bought new work clothes but have not replaced my casual stuff yet. The hubby likes to walk behind me with his hands in the back pockets of my jeans while we chat and shop. We were in the veg section. As I reached for some broccoli he shoved his hands in the back pockets of my jeans and.... yep the producer guy got a show!!! My jeans pooled between the bottom of my ass cheeks and my knees. You know when you get embarrassed you freeze? Yep froze so the show went on.. Hubby recovered and yanked them back up. Needless to say hubby has now decided we are replacing my casual clothes this weekend. How do these young guys manage with their pants hanging off their ass all the time without their pants constantly falling off? At least I was wearing my favourite undies!!! May never go back to the grocery again!!!! Not exactly how I saw my lapband working!!!!

Ladyanne2323 I was banded on June 29th. I had my second fill on Saturday. Like you I still have no restriction. I am losing however it is slow. I count my calories and track everything on myfitnesspal. Bandster hell is a bit rough. Five pounds is great!!! Think of it like this... would you have lost the five pounds if you did not have the band and been conscious of your food? Next time you go shopping buy 5 1 lb bags of sugar. Put these next to your scale. The next time you weigh you will have a visual of what you are no longer carrying on your body. Those 5 1lb bags were on you and now they are not!! I call that amazing progress!!! Be proud and celebrate the small steps. Enough of them result in giant leaps. Sometimes the visuals help me when I start to get down about the pounds moving to slow. Best wishes. We both have the green zone to look forward to!!!

amazing!!! you look great!!

amazing!!! What an inspiration!!

Second fill on Saturday. I now have 7cc in my 14cc band (sorry mistyped 12cc band on earlier post) The only time I feel restriction is first thing in the morning. My doc has said it may take another couple of fills to get me in the green. I go back in three weeks for my next fill. Until then I am still in bandster hell. Have lost a total of 52 pounds now with no restriction. I just keep looking to the future. If I can lose this much with no restriction I look forward to seeing what I can do when I finally hit the green zone!!! Good luck to everyone.

I come from a large tight knit family. Grew up on a cattle ranch so was always active and outside all the time. Up to that point had not had a weight issue. I dieted and watched my calories but my weight was stable and in a good spot. I married my hubby in 2008 and moved to the UK. My hubby is an only child and is not close to his family. For the first year I was billy no mates as I basically started over. No friends, no close knit family, left the job I loved, and guess who became my new best friend? FOOD. Yep over the course of the last 5 years I managed to put on an average of 30lbs a year. I have now acclimated to my new country (getting used to being married as well) and learned some coping mechanisms to cope with home sickness. I decided this year was going to be the year I made changes. With the support of my hubby I got banded on June 29th. 50lbs down so far. Looking to lose another 100.

Ok, maybe I am freaking myself out. I was banded on the 29th. The doc was great however I am finding that my post op care is lacking. I was not given allot of info regarding what to eat after the surgery. Clear liquids for two days then liquids for two weeks however what I was told varies allot from what I have read here. For liquids I was told I could do shakes, soups (as long as they were well blended), broth, jello, and yoghurt. I have stuck to it religiously however I am afraid since it is so different than everyone elses that it could cause a band slip? I don't feel anything when I eat. Just like it was before I got banded. I have called my aftercare number 3 times. They finally set me up with a chat with the dietitan for today. I am waiting for the call. Was told to eat til I felt full by the doc but on forums people are saying only 2 ounces at a time? Freaking out?

I am near amersham

I am an American living in the UK. Your not to far away!!

I went in for my second fill today. I now have 7.5cc in a 14cc band. No restriction yet but waiting to see if this fill gets me closer. I take comfort in the thought that if I can lose weight consistently without being in the elusive green zone by taking ownership of my own weight loss and controlling my quality and quantity of food then imagine how amazing its going to be when I finally find the green zone!!! Right now the weight is coming off steadily albeit slowly. Even though the band is not currently giving me assistance through restriction it is giving me focus. 3 months ago I could not have imagined being 50 lbs lighter. Now I am aiming for then next 50 pounds!! The green zone may be the brass ring we are all reaching for but it is not the be all and end all of our journey. We are more than just our band.

I can relate. I am a certified scale watcher which is not necessarily a good thing. Have you been taking your measurements? I find at times that even when the scale is not moving I am dropping inches. Especially around my waist and my arms. Even if the scales are not moving seeing that parts of you are shrinking helps with morale. Don't let it get you down. Think about the way you were pre band. Were you losing the two pounds a week? Probably not or you would not have went with the band. My advice- Go to the store and buy two one pound bags of sugar. Set those two bags close to your scales. When you weigh and see those one or two pound losses look at those bags of sugar. Those two bags are what you are not carrying around on your body anymore!!!! Major accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself.