Marimaru

The discription above isn't too far off I think... Basically, pressure, and then the pressure moves a little lower, and then disappears entirely. In my experience, I feel my food the most when it's a little 'stuck'. There is nothing quite like the feeling of thinking you are going to have to dash for the bathroom, and then feeling the 'stuck' go down, and knowing you are going to be alright. lol

Susan, I don't necessarily disagree with anything you say, but I also think that sometimes the tone of the 'older' bandsters can be taken a little wrong. I feel a little inbetween. I'm not 3 years out and maintaining or trying to lose the last 10 lbs, nor am I right at the beginning when the first bunch of weight falls off. I have been guilty of whining when I'm not losing AND when I'm not exersizing. But at the same time, I don't think that the older bandsters are ever trying to tell anyone that they are going to fail. I think the biggest point (that I see) is that yes, it's good to always make good choices, and never eat the bad stuff, and work the band as hard as you can, but at the same time, do something that you have the power to do for the rest of your life. I do not have the personal strength to never have ice cream again, or never have fast food again. I DO have the power to have those things less, or have nonfat ice cream, or salad from a fast food chain, etc. I can live with "moderation" for the long run with the help of my band, but I can't live with "never". Now I think I'm rambling. I hope this makes sense, and I'm not trying to argue with anyone, so much as try and help clarify MY take on what people've been saying.

I missed this thread originally, but thought I would comment anyway. I was babysitting around 8 or 9, my two sisters, and for a while the boy my parents were trying to adopt. I'm not sure I would ever have a kid that age babysitting, but I think 10ish is probably good for staying home a little if it's quick and the kid seems responsible. Unfortunately I did a fair share of "raising" since my parents got divorced, dad didn't pay child support, and mom had to work alot of hours. I can only pray that my situation isn't similar when I have kids, even though I have no issues with my mom about this, I still think it would be better if things were different.

Glad to hear you are doing well!

I found some of these in my local grocery store and they aren't half bad. They aren't as good as some, but like my fiance says "calories are flavor particles".

I LOVE driving to nowhere!! I do that when I just don't want to deal with ANYONE.

If you are getting in about 850 calories, you might do more, not less. That will probably be hard, since you might want to drink slower to try and help with the pain, but if you can have yogurt, can you have cream soups? Cream of chicken, made a little thinner than normal with some milk, and then blend it, or strain the chunks out, might do well. Warm stuff usually goes down better than cold stuff.

I used to have a terrible time with both the wraps and the tortillas. The wraps would go down sometimes, but the tortillas just didn't. In the last couple of months (I'm about 22 months out form surgery), I have been able to eat things things without a problem, and some breads.

Oh! It's thursday! So I s'pose when you see my post, it'll already be time to say "Congratulations!!"

It's funny, because I wasn't nervous for my surgery, just excited, everything happened very quickly for me. I'd done a bunch of research on it, but didn't have insurance or money so it was kind of back burner. I mentioned the band to my mom when we were talking about a coworker who'd had bypass, and she said "You should do that, I'll pay for it." I was banded one month from when she said that. It didn't leave much time to be nervous, but the night before surgery when my fiance and I were getting ready to go to sleep, I started crying hysterically. I didn't know why, but it wouldn't stop. I imagine that I didn't give myself the time to feel nervous, but it was still there and my brain had to let it all out!! So yeah, being nervous is normal, and I'm and odd-ball.

If you can get the hang of it before banding, you'll probably avoid some golf balls and some PBing, but if you don't get the hang of it, those experiences will definately humble you into it!

The only thing a gall bladder issue would have to do with your banding surgery is that rapid weight loss or alot of weight loss can cause gall bladder issues. But if you are having pain only 2 weeks post op, you should tell your band surgeon so that he can be sure it's not band related. I've been having some pain from my gall bladder, but they haven't found any stones. The next time I see my doctor I'm going to ask for the scan (HIDA I think) that shows whether or not it's actually working properly. Feel better!

It does sound like you might need a fill, but I have started taking a Hoodia suppliment daily. I'm tight enough that I can eat a decent bandster meal and not be hungry for a few hours afterwards, but the hoodia helps with the grazing and the head hunger. It's almost bizarre, because I'll feel like I've been thinking about food all day, but realize it's been 5 hours or so since my last meal and I hadn't been thinking about food at all during most of that time. My sister is losing on trim spa (but only ever had 20 lbs at the most to lose) and hoodia is the main ingredient. To anyone considering trim spa, I would just say to look at the ingredients and buy something similar, because trim spa is like 40 bux for 15 days if you take it like the bottle says.

I'd really like to be able to buy a sundress and feel cute in it. I haven't owned a dress in ages (other than the bridesmaids dress for my sister's wedding), and I just can't make myself buy one because I hate how my rolls all stick out!

I have this issue too, but sometimes I eat more for breakfast. I actually like it when I can't eat much breakfast and/or lunch because it leaves more calories for the evening, and I don't have to go so mad just trying to find things to keep me from eating. Hopefully that makes sense. In little steps my evening eating is less and less, but it's still there.

1. how long have you been banded? Almost 2 years (July 2nd) 2. rate your level of restriction: Somewhere between D and E. 3. how long after you wake do you drink your first liquids, are they hot or cold: Sometimes I have something right after I wake up. Hot is better, but cold is doable in sips if it's not thick. 4. how long after you wake do you eat your first food, is it solid or mushy? Usually 2 to 4 hours after I wake up. Varies between oatmeal to protien bars, and the protien bars vary from crunchy to chewy. 5. does your restriction change throughout the day? A mostly. Sometimes it varies. 6. how often do you PB? 2 or 3 times a month on average I think. 7. is it mostly Slime/Saliva or is it the offending food or liquid that comes up? It's almost always slime. Very rarely do I actually have food come up. 8. why are you PB'ing? Some of b, sometimes c, sometimes d.

If you are properly restricted, you should be able to go back to that feeling of not thinking much about food. I don't normally do this, but I was really busy yesterday, had half a protien bar for Breakfast, the other half for lunch, and then didn't have anything else until dinner, which I didn't finish. It was 525 calories for the day. Obviously it's not a good thing to sustain that, usually I get in around 1300, but I was just busy yesterday and didn't feel like I had to stop and make time to have food. Hope that helps a little.

You've lost so fast so recently that it may also be that your body just needs to catch up a little bit. I strongly recommend taking your measurements weekly so that you can see your body changing shape, even if the scale isn't moving the way that you want it to. Also keep in mind that the average weight loss is 1 to 2 lbs per week on average, and the average includes the quick drop after surgery, and there are probably going to be some times that you stall out for a bit and have to kick it up a little. :second:

Cool!! Congrats!

Ooh, Donna, good question about the learning! And I love your costumes, those are awesome! All the stuff posted on here has been so great. I'm pretty much self taught. When I was a freshman in highschool I stumbled across Anime on the Sci-Fi channel, and just kind of ran with it. I started by tracing, since I couldn't copy very well, but then moved to copying, and then eventually my own stuff from my head. Then I started trying to colorize stuff on MSpaint (of all things), and then found Photoshop, where I do almost all of my artwork now (and seem to have lost most of the ability to draw in a paper sketchbook, lol). I don't think a class would hurt me though, I've been thinking about taking a few classes. I also do graphic design for the consulting agency I work for that my mom owns. That started as me doing a few banners on an emergency basis because our client didn't have anyone to do them, and now I do them all, hehe.

I can't speak to the reflux, but as for "What made this one work for you unlike the others": I have not been one of the faster losers on the board, and a large percentage of that is my own fault, as I don't have the strength to work the band quite as hard as alot of people for very long. The good news for me is that when I am able to get motivated, I can pick up right where I left off, because I haven't gained anything. It does not take any effort on my part to maintain. Sure, I eat alot less ice cream than I used to, etc, making better choices in general, but I need to work just a bit harder than that to actually lose, which I am doing now, and it's working. "I just eat too much of the good stuff" is easily remedied with a band that is properly restricted, because you just can't eat much at a time. You gotta savor your little well chewed bites.

Dunno where Jack is, but I would say (as a matter of opinion, not medical experience) that as long as you can lay on the your stomach with no pain, and maybe press on your abdomen where your port is without pain, you could probably stand to have your back aligned. But you might wanna chat with your doc about it first.

"Next, tell her that she will not pay rent to you while living there, but she will put money away to live in her own place, and force this to happen." This is a really good idea. When I turned 18, my mom charged me rent, but kept it all away and I got it all back when I moved out.

Sounds like you are doing great! congrats!

My hair was falling out a few months after surgery, but it was the fall, and it just seemed to be a shed cycle. I noticed that it was thinner than it had been, but not thinner than it had ever been (if that makes sense).