aubrie

For me peanut butter is a very satisfying snack. Yes, the fat content is high, but my surgeon even said that a little fat will stave off hunger for longer and he recommends peanut butter. He is not into a totally fat free diet. I don't eat it often, but a heaping teaspoon does wonders. I get the low fat, sugar free style. I blob it on a spoon and slowly suck it off the spoon. Not to much at one time.

It's funny. People you think will handle it badly seem to come through and visa versa. I didn't tell a co-worker of mine that I had anything done. She just thought I was working out and dieting. We ended up on a business trip together and spent more time together than usual. She started noticing my eating habits.... Right down to not drinking water with my meals. That's when she asked. I told her and showed her my scars. She looked stunned and then got mad I didn't tell her sooner. We went to an Irish Pub one evening, and everyone was of course drinking beer. Not a bandster option. When I kept getting offered the beer and repeatedly turned it down, she knew it was difficult for me. I love beer. She says, I have an idea and disappeared. She comes back with a V8 with a twist and two olives. She then tells everyone I prefer bloody marys. I was amazed. She was so supportive and actually thought of the low calorie, non carbonated option for me. At lunch I pulled the guts out of my sandwhich and left the bread. My boss asked what the hell I was doing, and she pipes up and says the bread was kind of soggy. Mine was too. At dinner when I got stuck, she could tell by the look on my face. She grabs my arm and says I have to pee, lets go to the bathroom. She didn't ask a lot of questions, but automatically deflected the attention away from me. It was remarkable.

Nuts are healthy and have protein. I found some of those almond salad toppers. They come in different flavors. A few of those on my salad gives me the crunch that I crave. They are dry roasted so they are not greasy or anything. Does anyone know if dry Wasabi peas are high in calorie? I had some at a friend's house and flipped over them. It's a dehydrated veggie, but I don't know about the wasabi coating. They didn't appear to be greasy or high in fat. Opinions?

I pretty much doubted this phenomenon myself until I experienced it myself. It could have been a coincidence, but after reading about it, and then feeling it, I have to say I think it's real in some cases. Now, I do know that there are high pressure bands (the ones that tend to leak saline) and the low pressure bands. I happen to have a low pressure band. Maybe that has something to do with it? I don't know. I do know that when my surgeons patients report things to him, if it's unusual, he is in contact with the band manufactureres and reports these types of things. Maybe they just need more data to make a claim of this sort. who knows....

I can relate to the carbs. After swimming and water aerobics, I am ravenous.... what do I crave? CARBS!! I've been hitting the crackers and cheese and the chips. Sugar hasn't been a problem yet, but I figure it's coming. I'm not sure what to do. I get home from exercising after work around 7:30. THEN I start dinner. We usually eat around 8:30. I simply can't hang on that long. Water doesn't help. It just makes me nauseous at that point. That's when I grab the chips and crackers. It seems to fend off overeating my dinner, but I'd rather overdo it on the healthy stuff than the chips, right? I haven't gained anything, but have stayed static at the same weight for over 3 weeks now. This is right after a fill. I thought I would have lost a few pounds by now. SO FRUSTRATING!!!

You too!!! And Happy Birthday!!

the "traveling" bandster. How to negotiate flying, hotels, dining out, what to pack, emergencies, etc. I just returned from a trip to DC. It was an experience.

Yes, I was able to get water down. I had tucked a couple of slim fast in my suitcase when I left, and that is what I was able to handle when I landed. Just go slow with solid food for a day or two. I'm headed for Las Vegas next month. (I actually WON and all expenses paid trip for two!!!! WOO HOO!!) Now I know what to expect.

Congrats!!! I to have gone from 24 to 18 and now my 18s are getting a little baggy.

I flew to Washington DC last week. I actually fit comfortably in an airplane seat and also had about 5 inches of seat belt still available. Last time I flew I sucked in my breath, squeezed my eyes and prayed I didn't need an extension. I couldn't even breathe. Not this time! It was wonderful and made for a much more enjoyable trip. I walked and walked and walked around DC and never even got winded. I even lost half a pound!

I can't wait until my mostly adult children move out to enjoy organization once again.

My Mom says...."So how much longer until it pops out?" GOD know what she was thinking. What am I the Thanksgiving turkey????? My husband hands me a soda. I told him, "Baby, remember, I can't have soda anymore." So he goes and gets me a beer!!! go figure. the concept of carbonation totally escaped him. I can't eat bread and he asked if I wanted to go to a sandwhich shop for lunch. sometimes I think this is a bigger adjustment for him than it is for me!!

I put most of this on another thread, and wanted to start a new one specifically about this issue, so I could get specific feedback. So I apologize if you're reading about this again. I went for a fill yesterday and immediately afterward went to my family physician for my "other stuff". He had gotten back some lab work, and my thyroid levels were somewhat high and he wanted to cut back on my dose. I was MORTIFIED!!! :eek:I actually started to panic. I thought, "Crap, it took me years to finally get my metabolism to work and work with me, and now he wants to lower my metabolism?" I was shocked and felt like this would sabotage my weight loss efforts and slow down my metabolism, when I worked so hard to get it going. I see this as a step backwards. If I slow down my metabolism, I will also slow down my weight loss. I spent thousands on Lapband surgery to go forward and now I'm supposed to readily turn around and head backwards?????? :thumbup::cursing: I have been taking .125 mcg of thyroxin for about 10 years. I've lost 39 pounds and the doc wants to slowly bring my thyroid levels down by changing me initially to .112 mcg. while I realize, it's not a lot, I'm delighted my metabolism is working at all, and and thrilled that I finally got it going. I want to enjoy it for a while. Does this make sense? I need some medical advice with this. Any doctors out there? I'm frantic about this. should I call my Bariatric surgeon and run this by him?

Well, my surgeon agreed with my family doc, so I guess I go fill my new prescription. this really scares me. I just don't want to derail my efforts...thank you all so much for your support!

Tuna comes in little individual size servings now...some with mayo, some not. Bumble Bee makes tuna with flavors like lemon pepper (my favorite) basil and sun dried tomato and oriental in individual size servings. Perfect! Hard boiled eggs. Individual size or snack size cups of cottage cheese, V8 juice in small cans, chicken salad and crackers, no sugar added cups of applesauce, pineapple tid bits in juice in small cups, bananas, deli meats. Left overs.

Healthy choice and Lean Quisine!!!

Guacamole salad, refried beans, fish, crab cakes, sweet potato, soup, custard. Be creative. A couple places....when I told them I just had surgery and needed it pureed, they were happy to oblige.

Not one single bit. I rarely drank soda, and EEEeeeewwwww.. Diet soda? Yuck it tastes horrible. Don't miss soda one tiny little bit..... Now, beer? Watching slushy ice slide down the side of an ice cold beer bottle is sheer torture for me.

The magic word here is "STUDENT". She is obviously a student. A professional nurse would not have acted in such a manner. She's got a lot to learn in bedside manner. Sweetie, don't cry. It's your life, your body and your conscience. It's not up to her to make your decisions. Yes, she may be concerned, but she is NOT a doctor. Take the rude behavior as misguided concern and IGNORE it. She may be thinking you're having bypass surgery. Maybe she's not even educated on lapband. Many people are clueless about it. I was shocked at the level of ignorance. That includes folks in the medical professions. Stick to your guns and keep yourself informed and positive. Good luck.

I do water aerobics three times a week. I can't beleive how much it has helped me. I'm stronger, toned, and have lost 40 pounds! No sore muscles and no sweat. perfect.

I wouldn't do a liquid diet if you didn't have to either. I didn't have a pre-op diet at all, except for liquids two days prior to surgery. I asked my doctor about this and he said he felt that it was more important to have his patients in top health and strength for healing. If he went into surgery with a person who was weakened by a liquids only diet for two weeks, they took much longer to heal in that weakened state after surgery. He only did that if medically NECESSARY, and it was only in rare cases. I asked about the "fatty liver" issues and he stated that in most cases he could work around that. It made it more difficult on him as a surgeon, but made it easier on the patient, and he was more concerned for his patients welfare than the extra effort it put on him. It made sense to me so I didn't argue with him.

I had begun to psych myself out to accept the inevitable surgery on my mud flap arms. I asked my band surgeon about it and have even poked into how much I will have to save to have it done. (My arms bother me WAY more than my tummy) I was almost to total acceptance when I saw a girl at the grocery store with a long scar down the back of her arm. I thought to myself. GOD that scar looks bad. I wonder if she had plastics for weight loss..... I thought, no, it's a really bad scar. It must be an accident. I wait to see if she has it on the other arm. (the scar was the width of my thumb and the length of her upper arm!!) Well, low and behold the other arm had an identical scar. HORROR!!! She did have plastic surgery. I freaked out. I would rather have mud flaps than have scars like that. So now I'm backing away from having it done and am totally gun shy. The timing was just so coincidental.

Four months out and two fills and haven't PB or vomit yet. THANK GOD. I would hate that!

I had a fill yesterday. It's my second one and I have a 10 CC band. The doc filled my band and emptied it in surgery to check for leaks. He left 1 cc in there. My first fill he put 3 CCs. I didn't really feel much restriction. I went 71/2 weeks to my second fill because I was losing sucessfully. I hit a plateau and went in for the second. He only put .5 CC in? That seems like an awfully small amount for a 10 CC band. Especially when a fill is $175!!!! Is that normal? My first fill was 3 CC. what's up with that?

Stephanie, I have an email in to my surgeon to see what he thinks. I do indeed have a few of those symptoms, but I had them when I was getting normal readings on my thyroid tests. What's so different now? At one time I actually needed more thyroxin than I currently take, but I wasn't able to take any higher of a dose because it was affecting my heart. It was flopping around in my chest like a fish, so they lowered the dose. If it's high now, it's puzzling, because I'm not having those same heart problems,. Thanks for responding. I just don't know what to think.