the best me

No granola? I'm sure you have yogurt, though...just not blue bunny brand yogurt, right? I usually do a scrambled egg or two with a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. Maybe a 1/2 slice of whole wheat toast with it. If I'm smart I drink an 8 ounce (I don't know how many mls that is...a portion) glass of milk. I usually forget and don't want to drink it while eating so I kind of miss my opportunity. The cereal bar sounds great, but if too much sugar is something you want to avoid, it's probably not a good idea. You could make some marinated and tenderly cooked chicken breast, slice it and keep it in the fridge for breakfast. Low fat, full of protien, no sugar (unless you dip it in some type of sauce to eat it) no carbs. Chicken breast is a great breakfast! I like egg salad too. Time to boil some eggs!

Oh yeah, don't tell ME I can't eat something! I can really relate to this coment. I don't Know if it's the control issue for you that it is for me, but it's an issue I have been grappling with for years and years. I take care of me with food. So if you dissapprove of what I'm eating or how, you dissapprove of me. Just makes me wanna say "screw you" and eat. Terrible attitude that takes on other subtle, not so "in your face" attributes as well. Post-banding, I didn't get a fill for three months. There were several reasons for this, including the fact that I didn't really need one, but the biggest factor was I wasn't ready for one! I had to spend time with my band, getting to know it, seeing how it worked, and yes, pusing it to see just how far it would let me go, figuring out just what I had to do to get away with eating. I had the need to feel like "me" again, or find the newer, more improved "me" with the band and see how she worked...even though the old me was the one who got me in all this big fat trouble to begin with! Anyhow, if all that makes you feel a bit more "normal" or exceptional, then I hope it helps. You have received great advice on this thread. Drink it in, my friend! You will do fine. Do what you gotta do mentally, just take care of that healing band so you'll have it around to do the hard work with. Blessings!!!

Scenario #1 I just ate some very yummy chicken salad with crackers for lunch. It was very chunky and I really should have cut it up a bit more and added some more mayo..but that's too much trouble when it's yummy and you are hungry, right? But I ate and got my "soft stop", that little burpy/hiccup-y full feeling and felt otherwise satisfied and finished lunch. A half hour later, I go to the computer and grab that bowl of leftover chicken salad, did I mention how yummy it was?, and sit down to nibble. Bite one, chew chew chew, oooooh, I'm full, don't eat anymore! Bite two, chew chew chew, no, ouch, wait, is this happening? Run to the bathroom and PB that "used to be" yummy chicken salad. I had filled my pouch. There was no room for more. The chicken salad wasn't lubed enough, nor cut up enough to eat more than a few ounces anyway, so I was sunk. Did I listen to my band? Did it bite back? Oh yeah baby. Did I do that again? Nope. My unrational desire to consume took over and the band said NO. I learned. I guess that band makes you stop long enough to think and say...hmmm, maybe not. It puts the brakes on. That band is aggravating and annoying when you WANT to be able to eat and can't. I get mad at it sometimes! But that's been a while. It's a little dance as you get to know one another. Hard to explain until you do it. Okay, I have another scenario but I gotta boogie so I'll post again later.

Oh, yeah, go see people! And turn up the volume. That guys a crack up and she is one great cop!

Is this the dancin' cowboy? Please tell me...I have dial-up!!!!!!!!!! If it's the dancin' cowboy...it's worth the look. Go see!

What about Eliza from Summersville? I havent' heard from her in ages. Yoohooo! Eliza!!! (I'm in NC, but it's Charlotte...gimme a break for being nosey )

Okay Bungle. Glad you got your unfill. Just be a bit more assertive with your doc. They get busy and don't have all the info. It's up to you to give it to him and give it to him straight, not just kinda. Do your follow-up visits as scheduled, but if you aren't successfully eating solid foods, please don't get another fill. And be careful not to get into the habit of the soft food syndrome that Vines mentioned. At 4 weeks out, soft foods are certainly FINE!! Just venture slowly. Good job Bungle. Hope you feel better soon and get through this virus you seem to have. Plenty of rest! Take care and keep us posted!

Add a Boost or Ensure to your daily intake. Extra protien and Vitamins, easy to drink so no tight band issues, and most are yummy enough to tolerate. My band tightens about 4-5 days before my menstrual cycle begins, and lasts usually a week or more, then loosens up a bit. Stress will also tighten the band...but it may also cause us to stress-eat. You know, shovel food while you are busy and stressed, get stuck and think your band is tight when you are eating "the old way". Think about which one might be you? I'd recommend sitting in a quiet room and taking 20-30 minutes with you and your food, taking care to eat slowly and carefully. Have some "me' time. Road Queen (I think?) says her band is a virtual meteorologist. She is very sensitive to weather changes. Maybe she'll post here. Good luck!! Peace.

How far back do I go? Okay, Rick Springfield, Christopher Cross, Charlie Daniels Band, Journey, Olivia Newton-John (Physical Tour), Wynonna (5-6 times?) John Tesh, Stephen Curtis Chapman, The Imperials, Lionel Richie, hmmm. Theres more, but not much. OH! The Allman Brothers. Sure is a different list from yours! LOL

ROTFLMAO Again!!! You guys are too funny. Vines, you got it goin' on! I like the "grab your snorkle and hunker down under your blanket tent" part...heh.

Well-written Bernadette. I agree totally and appreciate your kind attitude. Congrats on your longest post ever!! What was this thread about?...

Smart. Good for you. Nope PBing and sliming all the time is too tight and not good for your band. Just a small amount can help so much. If you still have good restriction, you shouldn't go hog-wild unless you are just cramming junk. One cookie begets another. Same with candy and chips. Follow the bandster eating rules and enjoy good food! Glad you fel better. Good job on being a responsible bandster.

Yep, so far so good. For me. It doesn't work for people who don't follow the bandster rules of eating (hard protiens first, then veggies, then other food if there's room...among several rules) and it doesn't work for people who eat chips and Cookies all the time and don't eat fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats and who eat alot of fat. Sounding like a diet? Yep, it is. For me, the band makes it possible for me to be able to follow a sensible 1200 or so calorie diet (I don't count calories and all that jazz so it's a ball park) and not feel deprived or discouraged or sad or mad or driven or distracted or miserable. For me, it's alot of head work and not always easy. But, you caught me on a good day! I am down about 50 pounds from my high weight and have about 50 or less left to go. But I know I can do it. It's slow but steady and in the right direction. Read read read. Ask questions. You will learn alot here. Good luck!

Me, too! How ya doin' Colleen? Feeling better yet? Check in and let us know!!!

Oh yeah, baby! Right there with ya. My hubby will tell me, "you are fighting your band. You are pushing it" and he's always right. Yeah, and he says he doesn't watch what I eat or pay attention to me eating...grrrrr...pet peeve...but he's always right. I do fight my band! I have been round and round with myself about this and started a thead about brain-banding. You can band your belly but if it doesn't wrap around your brain somehow, too, you are in trouble. I struggle with too many plateaus. I honestly don't mind a plateau if I'm really eating correctly. But when I know, I know, I know, it's a sabatoge issue, well...time to get my brain banded. It's a diet mindset for me. I hate it but it is. If I can get into the "I'm on a diet" zone in my head, I do better. For the past few days I have logged my food in my Richard Simmons Food Mover and it has helped. I have also worked in extra Snacks between lunch and dinner. This has helped for several reasons...I get some fruit and yogurt in rather than crappy foods, and I'm eating more earlier in the day, I'm not so starvin' marvin at dinner, I'm less likely to push my band, fight with it, try to eat the food anyway or later on, and I know I have had plenty of good food. It's helping. I won't do it forever, but I will for as long as needed. What I find refeshing is that when I move the foods on that little thingy I got from Richard years ago, I am totally satisfied with the amount I'm eating on the 1200 calorie card...even the Blast-Off Week card (which is 1000 calories?) So my band gives me the ability to be successful because my portion sizes have dropped so dramatically. Lovin' it. Good luck Kbel. Do the work. Sometimes you might have to do it without a psychologist...but we are her for ya on LBT.

Got another one. My mom always buys me warmie pajamas. Pants, long-sleeves, in flannel or heavy cotton...HOT! "But you can wear them around the house, too. You don't have to sleep in them!"' Whatever. :rolleyes At 240 pounds on average over the past 5 years, they are nothing but HOT and uncomfortable. Until the recent chilly weather. Now, in my 190's...about 50 pounds gone from my high weight, I'm cold! So I dug out those old warmie PJ's and they felt so good. But wait! What size are these? Dear Mom doesn't understand the concept of 1X, 2X, and 3X, which is all I have worn for years. OMGosh! They are size Large! And they are baggie! I love my "new" warmie size Large PJs!

Hot to the touch sounds like a possible port infection. Second opinion? Hound the docs...port infections are nothing to play around with.

Good enough. You have every reason to gripe, it sounds like, but to him, not us!!! We are here for ya. We really are.

I don't know...check with your doc to be sure. Maybe start a new thread and ask? You'll get better reples than on this thread, I'll bet. Keep up the good work, bandman!

It's a wierd feeling but they do work well. I agree. gypj, it's time to update your avatar. Use your red carpet pic...so beautiful! You are doing great!!!!

Yep. Normal. Keep up the good work and try not to look at that scale too much. When you are exercising, especially, it lies!!!! The good news is, you are hungry and healing nicely and will be ready for your first fill on schedule. I was so tight post-surgery I didn't get my first fill for 3 months. And I lost 15 pounds in 12 days and not a bit more until the week before my first fill. You are normal! More normal than me even! Okay, so I'm not normal at all so don't take that as a compliment...but you get the idea.

You are never TOO careful, especially after what you went through with the first band. I'm really sorry. I wish I knew what I was looking at in there. I can see the band and the stomach but I can't see just what's wrong with this picture, ya know? I promise I won't do any band surgeries!!! Thanks for posting the pics...I love looking at stuff like that. And thanks for sharing your experience. By the tone of your posts I know it's no rumor mill you are after. Well done.

I am 7 months out and still get an occasional itch! It may have to do with shrinking skin along/around the incision lines? I'd like to think so, anyway. I just goop them up with some antibiotic ointment and it feels better. You can get the kind with topical anesthetic in it (lidocaine?) and that's handy dandy. You don't think that Pain Relief feature works well till you have put Neosporin on your chapped lips out of desperation and wonder why they're numb. Then look at the tube and see "with Pain Relief!". Yes, I did that.

This is kind of off the topic but along the same lines, for those of you interested in the "starvation mode" concept. JQPublic (that hottie) posted this thread with some really interesting links on it. Just wanted to post the link to that thread here in case anyone was interested...here it is! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11511

ROTFLMAO I'll quit hijacking your threads, too...I can't help myself! I keep thinking of stuff!!!! Dont' worry, I relate all too well.