aubrie

It's kind of nice to actually taste your food now isn't it? Instead of gobbling, I have learned to slow down and actually taste it. I ate a very ripe strawberry the other day and it was literally ecstasy.

I've been banded 5 months now. I thought for sure I would crave my beloved foods. Beer, ice cream, baked potatoes, vodka tonics, brownies, breads, mexican food...... Doesn't bother me in the least. Know what I crave? Salty, cruchy chips. Drives me right to insanity. It is now definatley my weak spot. Kettle chips? OMG.... Cheese Nips? God help me. Tostitos with salsa? muy bueno!! I stuggle with this all the time. I thought maybe since I was drinking SO MUCH water it was flushing out my electrolites. I could be wrong, I'm not sure.

My doc recommended WLS, but he was referring to bypass. I have an ethics issue with that, so I wasn't interested in bypass. My doctor said that the lap band woulnd't be as successful. I didn't care. I did it anyway. He's been monitoring me and has been delighted with my success and said that I was his first actual lap band patient and that I basically proved him wrong. HA! He now regularly recommends lap band to his other patients based on my success!! That is very rewarding. I've run into two people now that he has referred to my surgeon as a result. So the proof was in the pudding..... LOL

I've lost 50 pounds in 5 months. I'm doing fine, but I lose in stair steps. 2 -3 weeks and the scale doesn't move, then WHAM 4 pounds gone. this has happened several times. It's discouraging, but it seems to be my way of losing weight and I have to accept that. I'm still losing, just not the way I had in mind. Everyone is different. Be patient and diligent at the same time.

My doc didn't recommend a pre-op diet. I was on a low fat diet one week before and liquids two days before. He stated that in his experience, a lengthy stint on only liquids weakens the patient and he had better results with recovery time when his patients were in tip top shape and not weakened. I asked about the fatty liver because I had read so much about that on here, and he said that yes, shrinking the liver would make it easier on him as a surgeon, but as a surgeon he felt he should put the health of his patient first and not how easy the surgery would be for him. He said it required a little extra effort and skill, but he was comfortable doing what he needed to do. My surgery was only 45 minutes, so I guess he was right. I haven't had any complications what so ever. So I guess it is a puzzling difference of opinion. It made sense to me, and I trust my surgeon implicitly, so I didn't question it further.

My husband thought I lost my mind. I would be up in the dark in the middle of the night making a circle over and over again through the house. Kitchen to living room to entry hall to kitchen, etc., etc. Round and round. But it helped. In the afternoon I walked around the neighborhood. Toot, toot, tooting all the way... :thumbup: I was jet propelled!!! LOL

Thanks for the pep talk. I needed that.

I've had two fills and am still able to eat it, althought only one of the little half cobbettes or a half cobb. I used to eat 4 ears!!!! It's one of my faves too. But what I'm wondering is how the heck are you affording it? It's a dollar an ear here!!!!!! I REFUSE to pay that when they were 8 for a dollar last year...... miserable criminals..... LOL

where do you all live that you can get Ethiopian food???? I'm all for trying new things, but they don't have anything like that in my neck of the woods. We just got a middle eastern restaurant. they have zuccinni fritters with fluffy eggs that are to die for. They put greek yogurt on top. YUM! But that's about as unusual as we get round here.....

Hate to burst your bubble, but the jamba juice drinks I USED to consume had over 600 calories!!!!!!!!!!! I definately don't drink them anymore.

I didn't know the skinny latte at Starbucks had protein. and here I thought it was just an empty treat with low calories...... Thanks for that tid bit of information !!!!!

I usually order fish or shellfish. Crabcakes seem to be the easiest thing for me to eat. I have ordered chicken but it has to have something on it or it will be to dry. Salsa or something. If it's a long leisurely dinner, I'll get a steak but it takes me FOREVER to eat my little pile of pencil earasers. LOL. I like baked sweet potatoes, and veggies are all good for me. Even salad. As long as I chew it well, so far I'm okay with it. My left overs that I bring home never go to waste. Either I have it for lunch the next day or two or my son confiscates it.

If you have a weight watchers recipe book, look up their pumpkin muffins. they are light and fluffy, FULL of nutrients and so YUMMY!!! They are also low in calories. 2 muffins are a serving, so if you can only eat one, you're doing great! I like Quaker's Weight Control oatmeal. It's instant and comes in cinnamon and banana bread flavor. It has 9 grams of Protein already in it, and I add half a scoop of unflavored Protein powder to get a total of 17 grams of protein. I have that with a few strawberries. If you have any brown rice left over from the night before, add some beaten egg and skim milk, cinnamon, vanilla and some sweetner and bake it for a nutty rice pudding. I even throw in a few raisins. When cooked they are soft and easy to get down. YUM!!! I cook them in the 1 cup pyrex ramekins. It will usually make 3 or 4 so I have breakfast for a few days if my family doesn't steal them..... part skim ricotta cheese makes a nice change from cottage cheese. Crepes are low in calorie and if you add a little cinnamon and sweetner to the ricotta it makes a nice blintz with some fresh berries. poached eggs on a bed of steamed spinach with a bit of grated cheese on top is nice too. I like to make a NICE breakfast on the weekends. I get tired of the usual quickie breakfasts too. BORING.

Chaucer's Wench... Do you belong to a church or any civic organizations? Many times if the parishoners/members know your needs they will bend over backwards to rotate out coming to your home to help. If so, these persons wouldn't be strangers to your husband so he wouldn't feel so exposed and vulnerable. Does he have control of his bathroom needs? If they just stopped in regularly at a set time could he hold it until they arrived? Bless his heart. I know he would want what is best for you too.

I am right there with you. I recently flew on Southwest airlines and was equally as ecstatic about having about 6 inches of belt left over. I also didn't bump into the people on either side of me when forced to sit in the middle. I was actually comfortable, and my ankles didn't swell!! WOO HOO!!! I got a little choked up on your storey when I reflected back on how I felt. Congratulations!!!

My "adult" son decided to pal around with me on Saturday. We went to cut his hair, buy dog food, go to the mall and do some grocery shopping. While driving to the mall, the sweet thing said, "Mom, your arms are looking a lot slimmer. You're doing great. You're starting to look different." Bless his little pea pickin heart!!! At the grocery store I saw a pair of beaded flip flops that were so cute. He tells me, "Aw mom, go ahead and get them. Your ankles aren't puffy anymore and you can see your shins!" I wanted to just hug him. Then at the grocery store I was wandering around in circles looking for soy milk. When I told him what I wanted he told me "no." I was dumbfounded. Why? His response? "Mom, you're getting healthy and beautiful. Real milk has Calcium. You need calcium for your bones. With all the exercise you do you need your bones to be strong. Milk also helps you lose weight. I'm not conviced that soy milk is any better for you. Matter of fact, I heard that it's over rated. Let's go get the skim milk." There you have it folks!! This coming from a young man who was not happy about my being banded. WOO HOO!!! Life is good. :biggrin2:

A tummy tuck will cause you to lose on average about 8 pounds of skin. Yucky but true. You may not be fat at all. That 39 inches may be all skin. At 6'3" 207 pounds sounds about right. I think you need to focus now on "sculpting" that beautiful new bod. Weights are a good way to do that. Keep at it!

Aw shucks you guys..... that's so nice of you to say. Yes, he is a good kid. He's 23 but I still think of him as a kid. He's going to University at Texas A&M in Corpus Christi and doing so well. I'm very proud of him. I also have a 20 year old son who's away at college and I don't see him as often. It's funny the relationship that boys have with their Mommas. I just love them both to death. My DH says I spoil them. To bad. It makes me happy. They're the light of my life. I have an old black and white picture of me that I modeled for back in college on my wall in the living room. Back in my heyday. LOL When their friends see it for the first time they always say WOW who is that? They always respond. That's my mom! Hot huh? When the youngest was a baby people would ask him how he got so cute. He would say: "Cause my momma's good lookin!" Little angels.... They never seemed to notice my weight gain over the years. It's not until now that they have ever mentioned it. I love that they're proud of my accomplishments. It means a lot coming from them. More than you know....

will more of these vitamins help my hair from falling out? what should I take for this? It's finally falling out and I'm frantic. I've read, more biotin, more calcium, more protein........ What's the best?

I have the pinching feeling as well. It started out that every once in a while I felt like something was poking me from the inside. I told my doctor, he felt around and didn't feel anything out of place. I have never PB so he didn't think anything about it. Now I have the pinching feeling all the time. I also have very sore stomach muscles in the front where my diaphram is. It feels like I have over exercised, but I've had it for almost three weeks now. There is a hard knot of muscle there as well. Can you get a hernia there? I go to see the doc on the 9th. I'm a little worried as well.

Couldn't hurt to call the dean of your department or the physician at your school's infirmary either. So sorry you are going through all this. My son is off at college and I worry about him being sick or injured. Do you have family to help out nearby? Best wishes to you. Hang in there.

I didn't even know that Centrum made an adult chewable. I'll have to look at Wal-Mart. THANKS for the tip!!! My adult children think I'm nutty chewing Flintstones vitamins.......

I was able to choose who I went to for a psych evaluation. Maybe the doctor you already see will fill that requirement, then it's a non issue. Find this out first. Then you have now worries and it's clear sailing!! Good luck to you. What a wonderful opportunity.

I had this issue under my breasts. It was fungal and it kept coming back. Turns out I was washing my bra in cold water and not killing the fungus trapped in the fabric. I kept reinfecting myself with spores. Make sure your underthings are VERY clean and sterilized.

The heavy hitter pain medications cause a lot of constipation. I was hospitalized for 5 DAYS after my day surgery on my shoulder The pain meds caused severe impaction. NEVER want to go there again. That was WAY worse than the surgery. So now when I have surgery, I just tough it out when I get home. As it was the morphine I had immediately after surgery in the hospital caused 6 days of constipation. I was in tears when I called my surgeon. Milk of Magnesia did the trick that time, thank God, even though I was so careful. I just took Tylenol PM at night so I could sleep. The pain was minimal and I felt good. Not nearly as painful as rotator cuff surgery. I think you'll be surprised at how good you feel.