Bandista

Hi there and congratulations on your surgery! LOVE your name....and watching you Go, Go, Go. So happy for you. Honestly this is the best thing I've ever done for myself. Best wishes for speedy recovery.

Liz, I bought a purse the other day. It was something I had to weigh for quite a while in the little boutique. At one point I decided to try putting all my stuff inside to see how it would all fit and that is when I discovered a little slip of paper in the bottom of the inside zippered pouch. The paper, very hand-written, reads one side in French and the other in English, "Reach For The Stars." It's my new motto. I bought it. Then I checked all the other purses - no messages. Guess that was the purse for me. I was having trouble with whether I deserved it. Reach for the stars!

Way to go! Feels so good to overcome cravings and addictions -- my band gives me the edge I need to be able to do that. I love having the appetite monster off of my back. Have a great February -- look what a difference one month has made already.

It is so very February here just now. Cordwood stacked too high in the carriage house fell on one of the cars (the "good" car), plow man took out our mailbox and there is just so much snow! And more coming. But all is fine. I find myself wanting to cook, but as for eating I am not very hungry even while experiencing work and elder care stress, so that's good. Avoiding the temptation to make brownies for the family (ahem) and that kind of snow baking from my previous life. I don't do that anymore! Am missing being able to walk outdoors -- harder to get exercise right now. Need some workout mojo! And maybe a little retail therapy.

My body tells me if I need more protein and I have an egg or some salmon. I think our American cultire is obsessed with protein, but that's just me.

What kind of surgery? For me, getting away may have been a nice break at that point.....I was fine but would have enjoyed solo hotel life.

The wine and cheese party is hard-wired at this point -- empty calories!

Status seeking. Some people have no food but look at me!

Donna, is it you? We have missed you....how are things? Sending best wishes your way!

@@LipstickLady love your posts......and having the appetite monster off of my back is such a relief. I love that I am in normal weight range, still losing, etc., and I love the smaller fun clothes and feeling so good about my body, but what I didn't realize is that WLS would give me freedom from that whole obsessing over food thing. I was battling hunger all the time and never satisfied -- always after something more. Now I am truly satisfied on very little and I love that. I don't believe in starvation mode now. Some days I have very little but there not any days that I ever eat very much. Don't want to.....

Yippee! For me the walking really, really helped -- I compared the discomfort to something I really hate: dentistry. To this day I'd rather have LB surgery than a crown, lol. And now I'm 70+ pounds thinner -- talk about worth it! (One crown, one cavity, one LapBand, zero gallbladder, and, oh, a hernia repair).

Hi there and congratulations on being on the other side. I enjoyed cartoned soups from the health food section of the regular grocery store. Like potato leek, etc. Also loved my Popsicles. Oh, and I was allowed egg drop soup, which was great. I even spent a whole day learning how to make it (but I hear it's readily available from any take out Chinese place, lol). Still I could only have half to a cup of anything -- but then just as my appetite throughly returned it was time for a fill. Don't be worried if your return to hunger feels too soon or whatever -- it's all a process. You will do great!

For me there are several shades of green -- it's definitely more of a range or a zone then whatever pinnacle I sought to achieve at the start of this adventure. Like others, some days I am not hungry at all. I am never hungry before mid-day, and because my "rule" is to eat when I'm hungry and not eat if I'm not hungry, I just skip breakfast and enjoy my tea. I am always able to drink well and am even something of a glugger. Lately coffee (new to me) and sometimes tea can make my band noisy -- a throat gurgling that I find embarrassing. I still really enjoy food but part of that is my identity as a cook. I love food preparation and presentation. Often I will make something that I end up not wanting to eat but that is fine with me. I enjoy the process anyway. For example I made polenta the other day for the snowstorm. It's beautifully done with homemade stock, onions and garlic from our own garden, but one bite and I could see that, like rice, it's not band-friendly for me. I don't eat rice and don't miss it. Once in a blue moon I will have a taste of gluten-free Pasta but otherwise I don't eat pasta either. I have no cravings for foods I used to want before. I wouldn't try eating pizza because, to me, it's just not something I want and it's likely it would get stuck anyway. I haven't been officially stuck for quite a while but in my early months I had to learn a lot of behavioral modification. I eat with a very small shrimp fork and I have a long baby spoon I like for my yogurt, etc. When I eat yogurt, I mix in a little GF Cereal and some nuts, usually chia as well for digestion, and this makes it not be a slider for me. I know that chewing is the key to my satiety. I have a few weaknesses and do not restrict myself as that was a mentality that did nothing to serve me in the past. I often have to remind myself that I AM NOT ON A DIET. It's a mental thing with me. If there's something I want, I go ahead and have a bite. A friend brought a homemade carrot cake to a dinner the other night and I had my one bite just to be able to comment on it -- I really had no desire for even that bite, much less more. And I didn't even think of trying the frosting. The sugar may have set me off and there is no reason to set myself up for anything like that when I'm ambivalent in the first place. My weaknesses include cheese, which can be a slider for me, olives -- but I can have only a couple and take a long time to savor them. I do drink alcohol. Mostly I guess for me the green zone is about being able to really listen to my body because there is no distraction of my brain harping away about food.....that dialogue in my head has been eliminated and I am free to just live. I love that! I do not obsess about Protein, though I do love protein. Salmon is something I often order out in the world. I love beef, I cook with chicken thighs rather than breasts for the most part -- I make a lot of chilis and stews. If there's anything I miss it might be the giant salad lifestyle. You know, the HUGE bowl of salad (plenty of olive oil, of course) and really tearing into it. Well, if missing being a salad pig is my crisis, I guess I'm doing pretty well! Back to the unpredictability of my green zone -- there are times when I plan something, like going out to lunch, and have no appetite -- and other times when I am suddenly hungry. I eat then and I have to have it fast. My husband often fries me an egg for these occasions. It's as though when that urge comes on it needs to be immediate. Love it that my body tells me what it needs and all I have to do is follow.

Just reread your post and the part about the peanut butter (can't edit on my iPad)......what about adding in a hundred calories for a week or two to see what it feels like?

I think there are real health advantages to full fat foods -- whole yogurt, real butter, etc. All those "good fats" such as avocados. How about nuts? Almonds are my go to if I'm feeling nibbly and suspect it's more than just old habit. I start with four but have more if I want. I cannot have peanut butter in the house, but if you can then what about a spoonful? I would get organic -- best quality foods possible for your body. Of course I am not in this place but just imaging what I would do if I started feeling too scrawny. I don't want to lose my curves. Here's to your healthy Liz!

Sounds like you're doing beautifully -- very normal to be getting hungry again. Keep all your appointments and enjoy the ride. Best wishes to you for this healthy new life you are choosing for yourself!

Quite a while back I lost an inch somewhere -- I went from 5'7" down to 5'6". At my last check-up I had gained back half an inch and recently I just got my other half back. Because of my shape, I just wasn't standing as tall as I once did. Now I can throw my shoulders back and stand against the wall with my full height, all 5'7" of me. There's so much less in the way not only for standing up straight but for bending and folding, curling up, etc. Meanwhile I have lost nine inches off of my waist alone. No more Mrs. Winnie-the-Pooh. These non-scale victories -- NSVs -- make me so happy!

Haven't measured the snow as it is drifting so much, but at least two feet here at the base of the mountain. I did, however, measure my waist for some reason (stumbled on the measuring tape). Are you ready? Nine inches off of my waist since surgery. What?! Amazing. I know I need bras. And pants are loose again. But I love, love, love having a waist. I really was Mrs. winnie-the-Pooh. Not anymore!

I hit 180 this morning and am pretty over the moon about that. Perspective is such an interesting thing, because even though it's a long time ago I clearly recall the horror of that number on the scale when I was first putting on serious weight. As I tried to get those pounds off I went over time from 180 into the nineties and then over the two hundred mark. I remember the shame of that 203 weigh-in and all the feelings it brought up for me. I coiled myself tighter inside then, shrunk my "self" while my physical body was expanding. I went all the way up to 252 feeling like such a failure all the while. Now I feel at peace with my body and 180 feels fabulous. Fourteen months ago I was very excited and hopeful as I embarked on this project. Project Me. I was determined to be a success but I don't think I could really fathom what a joy this return to self would feel like. For those of you starting out, know that it takes time. I am not setting any weight loss records but I am healthy and happy and now on my way into the seventies. Then my goal will be to put the seventies behind me. I know that will take a little while, but in the grand scheme of things 70+ pounds down in fourteen months is, for me, a miracle. Especially since I know I would have just gained another five or ten in that time, as that had been my pattern for quite some time. Here's to new patterns and all of our successes. And to smaller jean sizes along the way......

I had the dreaded left shoulder pain around day four or five.....windmill arms helped me, and walking, walking. Heating pad, etc. I wondered if it is trapped gas from the surgery or perhaps something to do with how we are positioned on the table. Sending sympathies! Good news is you are on your way and truly will not able to recall the current discomfort.

I cannot (don't) eat rice.... Post-surgery I enjoyed potato leek Soup that comes on cartons -- found in the regular grocery store but health food section, Pacific brand. Also I liked egg drop soup and even learned to make it. We are all different but just throwing that out there!

Hi there, I think most every one is extremely nervous and excited prior to surgery. I am 53 and had never been an overnight hospital patient before. I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by how much easier it all was than I thought it would be. I think it's because it's a wellness surgery -- not being in the hospital due to accident or illness makes a big difference. My worries had to do with whether it would work for me or would I fail like the zillion diets and programs I had tried. Would I have to give up favorite foods, etc. None of this had any merit -- just those weird thoughts that come bubbling up at times of anxiety. I overrode any nervousness with humor and positivity. To this day I would have the surgery over again In a heartbeat. It has changed my life and I am so happy to be at peace with food. I still love food, but in small amounts at appropriate intervals. To me this is a miracle.

Some one else here calls this Sport Eating. I love that. Well, I did love that -- now I can just remind myself I don't do that anymore.

I thought the same thing about the title of the post as I am planning in getting new bras soon. 44C down 42 then 40 and now I really need a 38. Just like the jeans sizes -- down, down, down. Now, as to the weather -- yikes! We live in rural NH and are always prepared for this kind of thing. But really? Must we? Whatever the weather, I love having a dimmed appetite. I still obsess over food prep and presentation. I cook, a lot. But these day I just have a little taste and that's that. Heaven!

@@Band Aid mom -- you will be! I gave myself a year to get it but while I was at it the pounds were melting away. The time was about the reinvention of myself, the reinvestment. "Getting it" about ways in which I needed to retrain myself, change up some habits, etc. I have to admit, it wasn't that hard. Before, it all seemed so unsurmountable, but now my band makes it easy for me to show up for me.