aubrie

When I was at 252, my fat was firm and tight and not jiggly. I was solid. My skin was smooth. Now that I've lost 65 pounds, I'm squishy, wobbly, saggy and mushy. My skin puckers in places and I have horrible bat wings. I feel fat because of this. My husband calls them my wobbly bits. All that jiggling makes me feel FAT.

I can eat lettuce and do so regularly. I have to chew extra good, but I read on this board that romaine is easier to get down because it is crisper. I tried that, and low and behold whoever wrote this was right. So now I only buy romaine. It's easier to chew. But when I'm at a resaturant I eat whatever they have.

I like the Barilla multi-grain pasta. It has Omega-3 and protein in it, and the multi-grain is a little more nutritious than white processed flour. I don't have a problem eating pasta, and when I do, I only eat a 1/4 cup at a time.

I refuse to eat sugar substitutes. They taste horrid and they give me massive headaches. I personally think they're poison. I don't drink crystal light or anything like it. Just water and milk. I just don't eat sweet stuff except fresh fruit, but on the RARE occasion that I eat something sweet, it's the real deal. I do it so infrequently, and such a small amount, that I don't feel it's going to sabotage my weight loss efforts. I don't have an uncontrollable sweet tooth, so I guess I'm okay. I also have a problem with tricking my body and it having to react to and process SF products just like real sugar when there's nothing there..... It's taxing on the body, and can trigger pancreas problems. I don't want to go there. You're tongue does not know the difference between SF and real sugar. The "sweet" message goes to the brain, and the body reacts in turn, but if there's nothing there to process and you have an insulin dump with nothing to burn, you've done yourself a disservice. If you do this over and over again to your body, it can't be good for it.

Just had mine out three weeks ago. There is no history of gallbladder problems in my family. None. I didn't really even know what a gallbladder did. I thought that surgery was for really old people with poor eating habits.... I had no idea.... I had very sudden, horrific pain under my lright ribs in the middle of the night. Went to the doctor thinking I had a virus or a bad tummy ache. It got really bad. My lap band surgeon had the sono done and I had stones. No warning. No previous problems. I am 9 months out from lap band surgery. I had the gallbladder removed that same night. I went 18 hours in severe pain, so the doctor took it. At least with childbirth you have a break in between contractions!!! Not this... It was awful. Even my second child only took 6 hours. I had complications though. Some of the stones dislodged and were also in my bile ducts. I continued to have pain, I turned yellow and jaundiced and all that crap was backin up into my pancreas and liver. thus... pancreatitis. I was SICK. I had to have a second surgery two days later to get the stones out of my ducts. The second surgery did me in. My blood pressure (which was almost normal after my lap band loss of weight) shot up to 255/150!!! I almost had a stroke. Very bizarre. That was three weeks ago. They have double my blood pressure meds back to where they were pre-band, and my pressure is STILL high, so something is wierd. It was 164 / 101 this morning. So I'm not happy. I was told I would most likely get diareah after having this surgery, but I was always so constipated after lab band, I now have "normal" elimination. It's wonderful!!! I just wish I knew why my blood pressure was still messed up....

Kohl's has AWESOME shoes... Now that I have skinny ankles and no longer have fat toes or swollen feet, I love to try on sexy shoes. Even if I don't buy them, I put them on and parade around in them. I bought 5 pairs of shoes this summer alone. Now for the fall shoes!!!!

DH = Darling husband DD = Darling daughter etc...... There is also "Twoterville" for those who reach the 200s.

Ditto. I think the only thing you need to be cautious of is the roller coasters at that stage. You'll still be healing inside. As for the walking, that will be GOOD for you. Especially if you still have issues with gas. Just be careful not to eat things you shouldn't. I would hate for you to get stuck at the park. You may have to get a little creative with the food available there.

I'm not allowed snacks of any kind. Three meals per day and that's it. I was getting ravenous after and hour and 10 minutes of water aerobics though, and coming home and hitting the chips before I could get dinner made. My doctor said that on water aerobics days, to eat a few almonds BEFORE I work out to hold me over. That's all I'm allowed. I also do 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after on the water....

When I'm really hungry, my stomach literally growls and gurgles and makes all kinds of noise. It's actually uncomfortable. Head hunger for me is just an irritable, whiney, bored, frustrated and fidgetty feeling. I'm usually in an emotional snit of some kind. Sad. angry. worried. lonely or bored. If I can combat the feelings, I can usually move past the head hunger.

Cream of wheat made with vanilla slim fast and Water, cinnamon, vanilla and a dash of salt. It's WONDERFUL and loaded with Iron. Once made I add half a scoop of unflavored Protein powder. Even my DH likes it!!! Quaker makes a high protein instant oatmeal that is pretty darn good. They have two flavors, maple and brown sugar and banana bread. Kashi has two or three high protein cold cereals. I don't care for them much, but they are good in a pinch. I eat a lot of cottage cheese and yogurt for breakfast. Of course low fat...... On the weekends I eat omlettes or eggs. I don't have a problem with eggs as I beat them with milk and soft cook them. It's more like a custard than a sticky egg and it goes down easy. ricotta cheese inside a small baked apple with cinnamon isnt half bad either.

Soup goes right through the band. That is why you can eat so much. Once you start eating solid protien, your hunger pangs will be greatly lessened. When I was on cream soups, I put unflavored protein powder in my soup. It seemed to help a little. Once you start on mushies it will be easier. I had egg drop soup then and the protein was so nice. Plus I was able to eat yogurt and cottage cheese. Shaved turkey was also on my list. Just hang tough. You can do it!! You should be getting your first fill in 2 -4 weeks as well. then it will get a lot easier to stay satisfied.

I don't know...... The whole banding experience and losing weight has done a real number on me...... 9 months ago? Sex? whatever..... I could take it or leave it. Now that I've lost 65 pounds, I can't get enough..... At age 49? What's up with that? My husband was stunned at first, and even resisted my advances because it was so "peculiar". But now he's embracing it, and jumping on the band wagon!!! Plain and simple.... I'm just horny. Weirdest thing ever!!! My husband has now even started giving me nicknames like Ivana Humpalot (Like the character on the Austin Powers movie) and Lady Chatterly. He winks at me and calls me a shameless hussy. I have to say, it's nice to enjoy myself in that respect again. It's been a LONG time. No complaints here......

I'm 49, so old enough to be a grandma, but I'm not one yet. Niether of my sons ages 20 and 23 have a tat, but the older one wants one. I told them the other day that I was thinking about getting one on my hip. You should have seen the looks on their faces!!! These kids were stunned when I started wearing toe rings about 8 years ago...... They don't really "know" me very well....... Anyway, when asked, I told them I was thinking along the lines of a fairy, a wizard or a dragonfly, and they were dumbfounded. My husband would have a cow. He's very conservative. But the more I think about it, the more I think I should when I reach my goal weight. This is a milestone in my life, and something I worked REALLy hard for. I think a commemorative tat would be very appropriate. My new body, my new badge of courage!!!

the only embarraassment I'm experiencing is in regards to the loose skin on my upper arms. It flaps around like wings, and I find it terribly emabarrassing. I've noticed people staring at my arms, and it's humiliating. I'm not embarassed by my actual loss of weight or the number of pounds.

My 23 year old son has noticed. He walked up to me in the kitchen and put his skinny forearm up next to mine. He said, "Wow, our arms are the same size now and I can see your muscles." But he did pinch my upper arm where my loose skin is and asked if that was going to go away......... Bittersweet........ but he noticed.......

While meant to be a "joke", I don't think it's funny. There are parents out there that would do that to their child in a heartbeat. I PERSONALLY met a mother in Austin years ago who thought her infant (8 months) was too fat, and didn't like the rolls of fat on her baby's legs, so she put her on a "diet". She was practically starving the child. She was only allowed to eat veggies and skim milk. Formula wasn't an option. I suspected the mother was anorexic, so her aversion to body fat was ingrained. That said, this is a dangerous website. I find it appalling and very disturbing, joke or not......

Too high in calorie, too thick, it makes me gag, and yes, it has high protein, but that's about all it has. It doesn't have balanced nutrition, or other vitamins and minerals like Slim Fast or something. I didn't like it at all.

I'm not sure where you live, but here in south Texas we can get different varieties of bananas. There are one type from Mexico and Central America that are very, very small. Like miniature size. They are not much bigger than my thumb, and the perfect size. They also have a very nice flavor. In the Carribbean they call them "figs", but they are not figs like we know in the states. See if you can find them at one of your larger grocery stores. I actually like the flavor of them better than the traditional banana. I can also get miniature granny smith apples. They are about the size of a medium plum. They work very well for me as well.

30 years? what a load of crap!! You need to find another doctor. I hope he's not misrepresenting himself at your expense. Bent the needle??? The specialized needles used for port access are much heavier grade and quite large. For him to "bend" it, would have done a LOT of damage. They are NOT supposed to use a regular needle. If he is, he isn't doing it right to begin with....... Please be careful. This sounds very suspect.......

HORROR!!! My husband says I now even pass gas in my sleep.... Lovely.......

LundyLane, my doc says the same thing. No air travel or out of town trips for at least a week after a fill. It's just a precaution, but I think a good one. I would wait...... I also get tighter when I fly. I can actually feel my band tighten during a high altitude flight. It takes a good 12 hours after landing to be able to eat. A little puddle jumper, or comuter flight doesn't seem to do that much, but the long 30,000 feet or more flights make it difficult. A recent fill would just make it that much harder.

Mine is coming back, but it's also still falling out by the handfuls. I started biotin about a month ago, and don't really see a difference. I'm getting a little worried it hasn't stopped yet. This has been going on since May!!!

I was told mine didn't have any metal parts. I've been wanded at numerous airports, and work in a courthouse, so I go through security all the time and it's never gone off.

I burp WAY more since being banded and it hasn't gone away. My husband says I burp like a sailor!! Nice huh? He wants to know what happened to the demure little lady he married...... LOL