HealthyNewMe

Let me see.. WhoDat and Crawfish... Hmmm

Julie.... How was your weekend? Are you still seeing the nurse tomorrow ?

Very hard two weeks for me.... But, you can bet your ___ ___ ___ I followed that liquid diet. I had gone though too much to blow it then (I'm sure you did too). First time in my life I felt actual hunger. I also drank a few hot cups of beef broth and chicken broth each day. Gave me something savory as opposed to just sweet. Plus, it filled me when I was feeling hunger. I had to repeat my mantra often during those days.... "I can do ANYTHING for two weeks.... I can do ANYTHING for two weeks!" Over and over again. PS. I did stick to it 100% Best Wishes

WhoDat.... From NOLA ???

I helped another bander with this several months ago. She needed a PLAN. So this is a suggestion.... BRAINSTORM everything for Breakfast: Eggs (boiled, scrambled, fried, omelette) :2 eggs Bacon (turkey, pork): 2 pieces Sausage (links, patties, crumbled) pork, turkey: 2 pieces Oatmeal: w/ or w/out fruit: 1 cup Cream of Wheat: 1 cup Protein Shake Protein Bar Sweet Potato Pancakes 1 Large or 2 small Yogurt 1 cup w/out fruit or 1/2 cup w/ fruit Cheese and ham : 2 oz each Whole wheat toast: 1 slice w/butter Whole wheat waffle w/sugar free syrup Kellogg's whole wheat egg, sausage, bagel Bare Naked Cereal 1/2 c w/ skim milk ETC. Then do the same thing for lunch:::: BRAINSTORM all that you could eat: Tuna Salad 1 cup Chicken Salad 1 cup Egg salad: 1 cup Ground beef patty Cheese and deli meat slices Chili 1cup Soup Peanut Butter/Banana on whole wheat Hummus and vegi tray Grilled chicken salad Grilled shrimp salad Red Beans, White Beans, refried beans, ETC. Then take a blank calendar and start mixing and matching. You can take the calendar with you to the grocery store. If you need a visual plan, this might help. I once did this when I was on a budget. I sat and wrote down every dish I could make with chicken and every dish I could make with ground beef. Then, I used a blank cendar and wrote a month's menu. I also cooked a lot of dishes over the weekend and bought lots of individual plastic containers and froze individual servings of many recipes.... 10 containers of chilli, 10 containers of red beans, 10 containers of soup, etc. BEST WISHES.... Hope this helps!

Glad you're back on board, or in this case, back on BAND. I'll only answer the second question. I shop at Dress Barn.... Why? On the Women's size side, you can try the 1X, on the Misses size side, you can try the XL. Same store.... Two departments. About your other question, maybe counseling (individual or group, like Overeaters Anonymous), could help you with your feeling that caused self-sabotage... Just a suggestion as I am not there yet. My weight loss woes have been that I'm either DIETING or NOT DIETING..... I'm going to try to get a lot of support on MAINTENANCE.

I think people ask just bc it's part of "the dance" we have all participated in..... "How did you lose so much weight?" They don't really want to know bc they already know. You eat less, you cut out a carb filled diet. You exercise your ___ ___ ___ off. They know, we knew it, but it's just part of the nicities in a conversation. People who really are interested will seek you out one on one and ask for specifics.

OMG..... I forgot all about how, in my twenties, I would buy my stockpile of junk food on Friday afternoons (including the big ole bucket of chicken) and not resurface to the world until Monday mornings.... I just broke down and had a good cry..... ...... ...... ......

I was banded in August and have just now hit the Green.... Once you're there, you'll know why it's called THE SWEET SPOT. As you've read over and over again, everyone hits that spot with a different number of fills and different amounts of fluid in their bands. I look at my band as a gift... I will not lie to you......, I've felt like I was "dieting" over the first four months! But, that gave me time to get used to: eating slower, taking smaller bites, learning the hard way about "being stuck," "sliming," and "productive burping." I also used that time and the few months before my surgery to reintroduce my body to this foreign concept called EXERCISING. Just hang in there... That SWEET SPOT will come and you will be amazed at how little food you'll need to feel satiated!!!!

SIJoe, I was banded August 22.

Julie, I was just thinking about you. Yes, this last fill has so far helped me hit that SWEET SPOT. I thought it was funny how you are a cake decorator. You and I have in common the fact that SWEETS is not our downfall. Mine was carbohydrates.... BREAD and PASTA.... Urgh!!!! Don't get me wrong, I like buttercream icing too. I can't wait to hear back from you after you have your next appointment on Tuesday. How's the exercise and not snacking going? Let me know!

I enjoy reading the studies you post. Significant percentage difference in those that do exercise. I KNOW I would not be at my current weight loss if I had not started exercising.... No doubt in my mind. But, more importantly, I would not feel limber, have all the extra energy, and have the endorphin high I now have after exercising if I would have just had WLS.

I have had the same situation twice. (I actually even posted a few weeks ago about my "fear" of how my "OFF" days from exercising could lead me down the road of quitting altogether). This is what I do now.... I don't go to the gym for the first two days I'm feeling sick. Then, assuming I'm not fully recovered and still feeling yucky, but not miserable, I go to the gym and just ride the stationary bike for a limited amount of time. I also do some stretching exercises. I do not break a sweat. I just move and stay in the mindset of continuing to go to the gym. I've done this twice before, and it's helped me crush the fear of one day OFF becoming a lifetime of OFF. Best Wishes and I hope you start feeling well soon!

I don't think I've ever had this many compliments from total strangers as I had just now. I was in the ladies' dressing room at my gym before i worked out, and the cleaning lady stopped me to say, "You have lost so much weight.... I just wanted to tell you." When I finished my 65 minute elliptical workout, the woman next to me said I INSPIRED HER! Then, as I was sitting in the lobby, waiting for my husband to finish his workout, another woman came up to me and said, " I've been wanting to tell you this for a few weeks, but you rock that elliptical workout." I was in such shock bc you would have to understand where I came from when I started exercising last June. I really couldn't do 10 minutes on that elliptical. The day I went 30 minutes, I went into the dressing room and cried. I pushed myself to get to that 45 minute mark, and for the past three months, I've been working out an hour a day on that machine. I'm inspired by so many others in that gym, and today I inspired someone else! My husband put his arm around me as we walked out of that gym together today, and I felt proud of myself for no longer being, Tammie, The Couch Potato!!!!!

That is exact what my scenario is!

That's some weight loss .... Wow Best Wishes

For the two original posters who had surgery in January, please try to feel happy with your success so far... The weight will NOT come off in "our" time, but it will come off. Please also don't compare yourself to others, since this truly is an individual journey. My own journey has taken me through six fills over seven months. I can officially say, "I'm in the GREEN." You will get there too. Best Wishes

I, too, have a 10cc band. I don't know how much I have in it. I do know the first few fills were full cc's, but the last two were "tenths" of a cc. I asked my doc if any people ever got all 10 cc's filled. Her response as she laughed was, "No." Now, u dont know if that's true of every single lapbander, but it seemed to be the case with my doctor. So, I guess you still have plenty of room in there. Maybe they could just "tweak" it a little. Best Wishes!

My doctor gave me an exact list of what could be "eaten" on each day following surgery..... Up to four weeks post-op. I know each doctor is different, so there's no use for me to post that, but I can't find it anyway!!!!!! LOL BEST WISHES

Scarlet.... I wanted to tell you that I've been mixing up my elliptical workouts ever since I read one of your posts about how you switch things up. .... Bringing that cardio to a whole new level!

You can and will be successful... Get to the right band adjustment, exercise, and practice PATIENCE. I put my scale away and quit hoping for a quick fix. I choose to weigh just once a month ( not recommending that, it's just what I chose to do). Made up my mind that the weight won't come off at the pace I want it to, so I learned to embrace the whole "journey" vs "quick trip" thing. Best Wishes!

I'm an August 2013 bander too. How often do you have follow-up appointments with your surgeon? Mine are scheduled every four weeks. So, I think I've had seven appointments so far. I have gotten fills each time, however, I don't think I'll need another bc I think I'm finally in the GREEN. I, too, have random "stuck" episodes, but in retrospect, they all the time occur when I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. For example, old habits: 1. Eating something cold out of the frig. 2. Not sitting down to eat, but shoveling in food while I'm walking around the kitchen doing something else. 3. Waiting too long to eat and quickly trying to get food in my stomach. 4. Too big of a fork full. 5. Not being mindful of slowing down and taking 20 mins to eat. That's been my hardest thing..... Trying to break bad habits that I've had for 50 years!!! I will tell you that I am experiencing a nice weight loss, but I am exercising SIX days a week. I think the exercise is the key for me. Like I said, it took me six fills to get in the green, so I can really see the difference now in the AMOUNT of food I can eat.... Very little!!!!! Hoping to take off another fifty pounds now that my band is at it's SWEET SPOT!

I had to have a two week liquid diet (four shakes a day, but I also could have beef or chicken broth, which helped with satisfying the need for savory as opposed to just sweet). It was a very hard two weeks, as it was during one of my son's high school graduation. So restaurant meals, parties to attend, award banquets, and we even threw him a crawfish boil in his honor. I never strayed one day. Yes, I was sometimes miserable, but I was never more determined.... I felt TRUE STARVATION for the first time in my life. I had to lose 8 pounds by the end of the two weeks, or I would not qualify for the surgery. I lost 11. (As a side note, my son used some of his graduation money and took me out to eat crawfish a while later..... Said he was sooo proud of how I stuck to the program). I'm having another crawfish boil this May for one of my daughter's college graduation. I will be 120 pounds less this year than I was last year in May. So is it worth it to follow the program????? You can bet your ___ ___ ___ it is!!!!!!!

Everyone is different, but I didn't feel restriction until last month (I was banded this past August) and now with my last fill, I have great restriction. It all comes with time. I'm almost seven months out and I'm just hitting the full potential of being banded!!!!

At first I thought..... THAT can't be the same girl...... Then, I saw that beautiful smile in all of the pictures.... Yes, that's the same girl.... But a much healthier version! Yeah and Wow!!!!!!