aubrie

I was down on the border just a few weeks ago for a spring retreat. We all wanted to go out to eat dinner across the border, but had to cancel as not all of us had a passport with us. We could easily cross into Mexico, but coming back in would have been a BIG problem.

crabmeat in a jalapeno is good too!!! I'm a bit of a wuss, so I can't do the really hot ones. I tend to do better with a serrano pepper. But I LOVE Chili rellanos. (stuffed pablano pepper or a large chili) I like them stuffed with chicken and dipped in a frothy egg batter. YUM.

Breakfast: 4 oz snack cup of cottage cheese or high Protein oatmeal or 2 scrambled eggs. 3 grapefruit sections or 3 strawberries. 2 cups coffee with vanilla slim fast in it. Lunch: 3 oz of tuna, or a left over chicken leg, steamed veggie from the night before (ie: squash, asparagus, green Beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, grilled eggplant, avocado) and some fresh fruit (berries, peach, apricot, plum, apple) I try to mix it up daily so I don't get bored. Occasionally I'll have chicken salad with a few low fat trisquits. Dinner: Whatever the family is having. All kinds of fish and shellfish, steak, grilled pork chops, baked chicken, (dark meat only....white breast meat gets me stuck) etc. about 3-4 oz. A fresh steamed vegetable about 1/3 cup, or a small salad. About 3 times a week I add a carb. Sweet potato, brown rice or wild rice, corn on the cob, cornbread dressing, multigrain Pasta. About 1/4 cup. bedtime: 1/2 cup of skim or soy milk or a small serving of fruit. If I'm tight, just filled, or not feeling well I stick to the oatmeal. Avocado and applesauce or slim fast for lunch and cream soup for dinner with unflavored Protein powder. I've had 2 fills and am 6 months out. I've always eaten very healthy, but ate to much and added sweets, beer and bad carbs. Lethal combination. I can turn it down with little trouble now. My only trigger????? CHIPS!!! God I crave crunchy......

I understand all the restrictions except the milk. Why no milk? Are you lactose intolerant?

Alcohol and the band is a funny thing. Be careful when you decide to experiment with it. It now packs a punch. I went to Vegas recently with my DH and went to an awesome tower overlooking the city for drinks. I had two small martinis. I don't remember going down the elevator or leaving that place, or riding in the taxi. That's scarey. I wasn't like that prior to a band, so BE CAREFUL.

I did it!! I did it!! I haven't been under 200 lbs since 1996. And even then it was only for a couple weeks and boom, back up I went. This time, it's permanent. Woo Hoo!!

You do not get dumping syndrome with the band. Bypass patients get it becasue part of their stomach is missing and does not process sugar. We have our stomachs intact. We can process sugar like we always have. We should just avoid it. I think your experience was a coincidence. If I eat ANYHTING wierd that I haven't eaten in a long while my stomach will get upset. Greasy fried foods being the #1 culprit. I now get gas more than I used to. Things are a little different, and our typical days food is different. It will take a while to iron it all out. Remember. Your diet was DRASTICALLY changes after surgery. Bandsters don't have dumping syndrome. That's one of the reasons why I chose it over a bypass. Who wants to live like that???

YOU GO GIRLS!!! That is fantastic. I know how good it feels. I have been able to cross my legs again. All last weekend I was fascinated how my leg just slid over my other one. It looked so funny. I had to get used to doing it again. LOL

Mine started falling out about 6 weeks ago. Not horrible, but enough to make me sad. I upped my vitamins, and got some bariatric vitamins with extra biotin in them. It has slowed and is already growing back. I have a bit of a halo around my face. Of course it's grey. I thought maybe I would get lucky and it would come back a lovely brunette. Ha! LOL. Can't have everything. My doctor said it was just your body adjusting to all the changes, and promised it would grow back. It is.... just not the right color damn it!

I haven't had in any in 6 months but took a sip of my husbands beer last weekend. First sip was okay. the second felt funny so I stopped immediately. I dind't want to go there. I miss my beer too. But I have switched to an occasional glass of wine or a small bloody mary with V8 instead. I works for me.

rewmember, if you reduce your calories to much, your body will respond by slowing down the metabolism. This will hurt your weight loss efforts in the long run. Eating to little is just as bad as eating to much. My doctor told me he didn't want me obsessing and counting calories, fat grams, carbs, etc. He didn't want me trading one obsessing for another. He said part of the behaviour modification with the band is improve the quality of life. Obsessing to him is not quality. I agreed, and that's why I chose him. I like his philosophy. He is not anti carbs, he is not into weighing every day, he is not an advocate of calorie counting. He's more about good solid nutrition and portion size, and REGULAR exercise. His putting my HEALTH (physical AND mental) as a priority, instead of the scales is admirable. It's working for me. I've lost 55 pounds in 6 months and feel like a normal person.

the health food store had a series of AWESOME cream soups in little boxes with a snap lid on top. they were exactly two servings. Perfect. They had tomato and basil, roasted red pepper and tomato, cream of mushroom, cream of brocolli, carrot/cashew and ginger (my favorite) butternut squash, cream of corn chowder, They were like heaven. They were organic and filling and perfectly legal. Actually had flavor too.

I'm not allowed to eat snacks. Ever. However, in an emergency, when a meal gets postponed for a good while, I am allowed a few strawberries, a dozen or so dry roasted nuts, a snack size can of V8 juice, a slice of deli turkey, or 4 oz. or cottage cheese. My doctor frowns on continuing the habit of snacking. I'm usually pretty good about it unless my dinner is late. Which after water aerobics is usally the case.

Good suggestion on the spaghetti squash!! It's a winner. As for carbs, my doctor does not want me to remove them from my diet. He's more about a balanced diet. I eat my Protein first, and with what room I have left, I eat my veggies and my carbs. BUT. My doctor has told me and is very adamant about it, that I have to change the nature of my carbs. The way your body processes some carbs is bad, and the way it processes others is good. VERY good. For example. Doc says: Stay away from white potatoes, but sweet potatoes are an awesome food. He recommends them regularly. Eat brown rice instead of white rice. Eat 100% whole wheat bread, not white bread. I DID NOT say whole wheat. The 100% is VERY important. Be sure it is 100%. Eat 100% whole wheat Pasta. (Personally I don't care much for it.....it's an acquired taste. A little bitter) Also eat Beans of every variety. Not only do they have good carbs, but protein and Fiber too. this has to do with glycemic index. Google it and read up on it. It makes a huge difference in how our body processes the carbs. So.... yes I eat pasta AND carbs, just certain kinds.

My father in law died of MRSA. He went in for heart surgery. It was a huge success. He felt great, and was looking forward to going home. He SUDDENLY took a turn for the worse and ended up with MRSA. It was in his lungs. He was in the hospital for 11 weeks and died a horrible, slow, disgusting death. It was gut wrenching. We were at such a loss as to how it happened, and why nothing could be done about it.

I still eat steak. Once a week. I can't imagine not eating it. Beer, which I absolutely love, is a thing of the past. I haven't even tried it. I can related to the body changes. I was in the pool last night doing a vigorous aerobic workout and the instructor said, "Okay gang, you should be breathing heavily and feeling this now." I was breezing through it with little effort. I'm actually in shape, despite my still fairly large size. It's amazing what religous exercise can do. While I don't consider myself an athlete, I do feel like I'm in decent shape. Considering where I came from, that is remarkable.

I haven't had the "pleasure" of this experience yet. Been stuck and slimed a tiny bit, but nothing drastic. I go for my 3rd fill on the 13th, so I'm expecting it all to begin soon......

Before losing some of this poundage, I was pretty solid. My fat wasn't really saggy, dimpled or lumpy. Well it is now!!!!! the skin on my boobs is all puckery. I can pinch it up and hold it, and it looks like a tennis ball inside of a tube sock. Gross. But that can be remedied by my bra. I found and EXCELLENT one that does everything I want it to. $56.....but hey, it has an IMPORTANT job! I don't think I'm going to have an excess skin problem on my tummy or butt. My arms are another story. I look at them in the mirror and I gross out. It's just not what I expected. I asked my husband about PS and he wasn't opposed to it. Now I just have to wrap my brain around that. Now for the mirror. I'm 48. 49 next month. Not a spring chicken, but when I was fatter I always looked much younger than my age. Most people thought I was 35 to 38. The plump in my cheecks filled out my lines and wrinkles. I've lost a lot in my face and neck, and I'm having a hard time dealing with looking at an "older" version of my younger thin self. I can now see crows feet around my eyes. My neck is puckery like a chicken. I also have a couple lines radiating from my upper lip. I have frown lines around my mouth. It all happened so fast and I didn't have time to get used to the idea. while I enjoy not having a double chin anymore, It's actually quite distressing. I may be thinner, but I'm starting to look more like my age.

Metamucil cause the worst gas I've ever had in my life. I double over in pain. I can't imagine anyone using that stuff, but I do struggle daily with "elimination". It's not as productive as it used to be, and it can really make you feel like crap. LOL. Not funny....

prune juice works occasionally for me. My doc recommended 4 or 5 grapefruit sections daily. Each section needs to be peeled. the pithy part will get stuck. while it does help to get things moving, I have to say also that the size of my poo is totally different. It's pencil thin. It wasn't like that before banding. I have to agree. That area just hasn't been right. Nothing makes you feel worse than irregularity. Just a general, prolonged, crappiness that makes you irritable. I would love to find out the secret to this mystery. On the rare occasion that I have a COMPLETE elimination, it's amazing how good you feel. God help us all.....

I don't feel like I'm to tight, but I think I have other issues going on here. They are inter-related, and as one gets worse so do all the others. I'm losing body fat. Body fat stores thyroid hormones and estrogen. So with the fat missing, so are the hormones. they are tinkering with my thyroid doses. I'm already MAJOR stressed at work, and the missing or lowered hormone levels aren't helping. With that in mind, my hair is falling out and I'm not sleeping. The lack of sleep is making me cranky, and making me fatigued and achey. The achey is causing me to slow down on my exercise because it hurts, which slows down my metabolism. I get depressed and cranky, and my band tightens. When I'm tight, it hurts and I don't eat as much. the change in food intake causes me to be irregular, which makes me feel bad, which makes me more depressed. It just goes on and on and on and on.... Where the hell do you start to try and fix the spiral???? I'm going to my regular doc on the 4th and my surgeon on the 13th. SOMETHING has got to give. I'm exhausted.

No, it doesn't have to do with that, but it sure makes for weird circumstances..... While I have to answer no, I haven't had an affair of any kind, I do find myself in an odd situation. My massage therapist, who is male, an Aussie with an adorable accent and considerably younger than me, has showed an interest. I was VERY flattered at first, but now he has started calling my house asking if I would like another massage. My husband gave me the funniest look as we listened to the recorded messages together. It's inappropriate, of course. It makes me uncomfortable, but I have to say, it does wonders for my self esteem. Isn't that awful to say???? God I sound horrid.

I'm definately getting more attention from my husband. while I was at my biggest, we would go months without having sex. I was convinced he was having an affair, but he swore and still swears that was not the case. While I REALLY like gettiing attention from him again, it still bothers me that he totally cut me off from all affection when I was big. I'm still the same person inside. Our relationship is better, but what has transpired still concerns me. He basically told me that for men, sex is truly a visual thing. At the time, the visual just wasn't doing it for him. So..... what happens when I start to wrinkle? I don't know..... It just bothers me.

I work in a law enforcement office as well. While the officers that I'm very close to have said I looked nice, (I don't wear a uniform) most have said nothing. Personally, I think that sexual harassment information has been shoved at them for several years now, and now they are super sensitive to getting reprimanded for it. Female officers tend to get the rotten end of the stick, and many complaints are made. Most don't want to get in trouble or go there anymore. They don't want it misconstrued.

I'm tighter in the morning so I eat about 1/2 cup. Lunch about 3/4 cup to 1 cup and in the evening about 1 to 1 1/3 cup. I've only had two fill and have just a little restriction. I've never "PBd" and don't really want to. I went to have a fill a couple weeks ago, and the doc said since I did lose in the two month period (14 pounds) he didn't think I needed one. I felt like I was eating to much, but he didn't want me throwing up at all. It's not normal and not healthy. So I struggle a little. I depend on will power more than I would like.