the best me

Let me get this straight...you got your first fill and have not even been eating solids at all...except this time which is the third time you have eaten solids at all?!!!!! Can't you just read the shock?!!!! Tell me if I have this right before I go on...spill the Beans on your menu since banding. AND the temp is from something you have...an illness, not a stuck or PB. The illness and temp could cause swelling which caused your 20lb.turkey feeling, though. More info please! Oh, and feel better. Liquids is a great idea.

Oh, you girlies have fun. DD is off that day and I still don't know if I have to work at my little job with Mrs. Lady (as we call her) so...too many maybes for a commitment from me. Who knows...I could end up with nothing happening! If so, I'll surprise you!!!!!! have funs girls. I missed you Starr and Angie! Sherrie and Kami are really nice, you'll like them lots!! Can't wait to see the pic! I'll bet Penni can side-by-side them for us.

Wow Kare, what a day! You will be in my prayers, and Pop will be, too. Geez. Take care, girlie. We are thinking of you!!!

You go girl! Get fired up again, you can do this!!! What's the chance of you being a tad too tight? If you are PBing, etc...could it be? Or are you just eating badly, poorly, wrong..etc? Just wonderin'. I HATE this brain banding idea, but it's so true. The band helps, but it doesn't do all the work. I'm posting some more on the brain-banding thread noted above...ya'll come over there with your slow turtle selves and process with me!

Good golly, you look wicked! Well done! Can't wait to see more pics of the rest of the dress!!! Hurry!

No, I don't think it means you are full. I am not too tight. I know I'm not. I have been banded 7 months and I promise I know tight. I think my restriction is just perfect right now. And, sometimes, I do the same thing. I take a bite or two, get a little stuck, get up, walk around, take a small sip of Water, let it settle...I can almost feel it go down because the pressure is gone (disclaimer...I sip the water when it's kind of stuck...not STUCK in the real sense, otherwise, a sip is not a good idea unless you are standing at the kitchen sink...blech) and then I return to my meal and do just fine. NJChick, for me, taking an hour to eat is too long. It means I am shoving food I don't really need or want. I can see a large salad with grilled chicken and a roll, etc. taking 45 minutes but after that...it's just eating past what I need. For me. I try to take maybe 30 minutes for a dinner/larger sized meal, but not go more than 40. I'm still the last one done though. Tricia, you may very well be too restricted and need a very very small unfill. Here's what I would do to test it. Take a day of two of liquids and soft mushies...rest that band...get plenty of water in, make sure you aren't the least bit swollen in the stoma from a PB or getting stuck. Then, eat only bandster meals for a few days. No Cookies, chips, easy to slip on past the band foods. eggs for Breakfast (if you tolerate them), solid protiens first, then veggies...real, big-girl bandster meals. See how this feels to you. If you are still getting stuck and unable to go back to your meal after 5-10 minutes, go for an unfill. Too tight. It's tricky. If I thought about it, I might think I was a tad tight since I do that stuck thing (it's usually too big of a bite or another bite before finishing chewing the first, though) at the start of a meal, and because I did the stuck thing eating a banana today...but then I didn't chew that first bite enough. The rest of the banana was fine. Spend some time paying attention to your restriction and to the foods you eat. You may be able to make it work and get off your plateau without an unfill. But if you need that unfill, run, don't walk. Good luck. Go get 'em, girl!

Happy surgery Heather! Congrats! No problem with Beans of any kind...kidneys, limas, refrieds, pintos, chili, green beans, northern bean Soup (isn't that sometimes called white bean soup?) is great, black beans, all of them...beans are great! Chew, chew chew.

Too many rules. Just put a Taco Bell on the other side of the island and make me walk to it.

Smilin' here! I had 2 C-sects with the bikini-line incisions. I have lots of stretch marks and saggy flappy skin and I'm still 50 pounds from goal. Yuck and double yuck. My fill doc said he'd do my TT when I hit 160. He offered this without my asking so it's obvious I'm not the only one who can look at my belly and see the need. I did wear a tucked in shirt the other day though. The pants were soft cotton with a little bit of stretch...basically nice sweat pants with a wide waist band and boot cut (?) legs. They are snug but not tight. I had no business walking around like that. The smile is visible, for sure. I can't stand it!!! I'm sure my belly will flatten out some as I lose more, but I think the TT is unavoidable.

You are one grand lady! He didn't take you up on it yet, but let it get bad enough, right? Nah, bandman, the milk of magnesia will fix you right up. Good luck!!!

Great advice Theresa. I agree with her, Clementine! I was very tight post-surgery...swollne had trouble getting all my liquids down, so you are not odd, it happens. Just take it slow and be patient. Call your doc if you feel really wierd about it, or uncomfortable. Otherwise, keep at it. One day you WILL be able to gulp again. I promise!

I'm not planning on joining WW again (I promised I'd never spend another dime on that stuff!!) but yesterday I was curious what my point count looked like and I had no trouble getting the 21+ points in. According to their charts, I should be eating 25 points a day. That is SOOOO not a problem, but perhaps it's my food choices. Anyhow, it's a curiosity and something to make me take a look at just what is going into my mouth every day. More than I need for weight loss, that's for sure. Ugghh, I hate counting calories. Maybe I'll do it for a few days just to get a look. If I spend some time overthinking my food, it frees me up to be flexible but still accountable. It's a mind game. Good golly. I have to thank jao and Nykee for getting this started. Nykee has done some really great journaling lately and it's got me to thinking, too. Then jao chirped up about being 8 pounds from goal with no fill and a band around her head...I feel like I need to get over some kind of mental hump. What is everybody else doing to change a warped mind?

How ya don' bandman? Any success this weekend? I agree with the glycerin suppositories. Handy dandy.

Yesterday I wore my shirt tucked in. It looked awful, but I promise it looked better than the shirt untucked. THAT was gross. My belly is still floppy. I have the smiling panni curve at the bottom. Yuck. BUT! I did it. I walked out of the house and intentionally went to lunch with a shirt tucked IN! My sister said I look 10 pounds lighter, even with the belly showing, than when I wear the 2X, too big, floppy shirts. Yay! I am going to my hubby's niece's wedding next week and have nothing to wear. The very few dresses in my closet are just too big...they are too big!!! Now, I'm not tiny at all, but I think Wal-Mart is calling my name this week. I need something cheap and cute. I found out today that if I get down to 145, my BMI will be 24...in the normal range. I'm relieved to find out I have 5 extra pounds to play with...I have always thought I should weigh 140...seems a bit low to me. I suppose my goal now is a BMI below 25. I should change my sig...

Okay, I started a new thread with the brain-banding topic. Thanks Carrie. Here's the link. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=126354#post126354 Candy, I get those same feelings, too...like this is my last chance and hurry up and lose the weight so if I erode and lose my band...I'll have "fixed myself" enough and maybe I won't gain it back. I'm in a hurry!!! And that's why. "what if I lose my band". Ouch.

Carrie!!!!! Yes Yes Yes!!!! I won't quote your whole post but I am right there with ya, girl! This "getting my brain banded" has been on my mind for days now and I was just about to start a thread. If I manage to get it done tonight I'll post the link and you can join me there. I have lots of opinions. I was banded in Mx, too, but I don't really think that left me ill-prepared for the journey. I researched for months and months and had a very vivid picture of banded life, so I have been surprised by nothing, even the fact that I am a turtle. Nope, not surprised at all. And I have been banded 7 months now. There is hope for us...let's explore it. I'll go start the thread and come back with the link. See you there!!!

Okay, I'm taking my weigh in from this morning because I liked it and I'm afraid it won't be as low tomorrow. 9/5 (week 1) 198 9/12 (week2) 196.6 9/19 (week 3) 197.0 9/26 (week4) 194.4 10/3 (week 5) 194.8 10/10 (week 6) 195.0 10/17 (week7) 193.6 10/24 (week 8) 194.0 10/31 (week 9) 195.0 11/7 (week 10) 192.6 Crapola, that's only 5.4 pounds since Labor Day. And only 1 week left. What's the chances of me seeing 188 in a week? Time to get a move on. I haven't given up yet, people!

Good advice Cyndel. I agree. Is there a band doc in Aruba? Surely there is? You could also ask for a flouroscopy exam? Unless you had a band doc it would do you no good though. I have no idea what a slipped band looks like under flouro. Research some MX band docs and see if one is in Aruba? Maybe someone will pop up here and at least give you a link? Wow, take it easy. Go liquids. Sip slow and relax. If you are slipped, you can't do anything till you get back anyway, right? Wow Jorjet. Keep us posted, okay? ((((((hugs))))

Drum up some info on a colon cleanse diet and give it to her. See if she want's to do it with you. Keep her distracted since you are doing it together. Liquid diets are done all the time, not just pre-WLS. Or you could do the whole laporoscopic gall bladder removal surgery scenario. Then you can tell her about your surgery, the date, the pre-op diet to shrink the liver and go easy on your bladder...get the real scoop on gall bladder problems and run with it.

Seems a bit odd she'd be bringing up these very topics. If you are sure you want to keep private, I'd shut right up and nod and agree and tell what you know and really really don't be paranoid (even if you are). If you don't want her to know, you don't have to say. Own it. Live it. She may have a hint? Sounds as if she might. Maybe you aren't being as secretive as you'd like. Do you trust her well enough to tell her? Woulld she spill the Beans to her BF even if you ask her not to? That's a tough one. Good luck!

I know, it IS!!! I was working on this BMI chart thing and I got my threads mixed up this morning. There's the Fall Challenge, the NSV's the Mini-goals (which is what got me on the BMI tangent) and blah blah blah. I hate I missed the mini-goal of transitioning from Severely Obese to Obese. That's a GREAT!!!! NSV! So now I'm glad I found that out. Now I just want to keep up with all the threads I'm posting on. Am I getting senile? Is my attention span going kaput? Am I on sensory overload? PMSing? Yeah, that's it. It's gotta be it because it always is and I'm due in 5 days. Whew. Maybe I'm not nuts? LOL

At my high weight of 242? or so, I was 40.3 BMI, morbidly obese. Surgery weight was 223. That's a 37.1 BMI, Severely Obese Today, Im 192.6, BMI of 32, that's Obese. My mini-goal is 188 for the Fall challenge, that will put me at 31.3 BMI, still Obese When I hit 180, I'll have a 30BMI, still obese. I will need to weigh 175 in order to be just overweight. Wait, isn't this an NSV thread? Arrggghhhh! I'm getting my threads mixed up!

Here's a BMI chart (info from Inamed webpage) Less than 18.5 Underweight 18.5-24.9 Normal weight 25-29.9 Overweight 30-34.9 Obese 35-39.9 Severely Obese 40+ Morbidly Obese Posting here for future reference.

Here's a BMI chart (info from Inamed webpage) Less than 18.5 Underweight 18.5-24.9 Normal weight 25-29.9 Overweight 30-34.9 Obese 35-39.9 Severely Obese 40+ Morbidly Obese

I am realizing my next mini-goal is 188 for the Fall Challenge. I have been fighting the same 2-3 pounds for a month, in true turtle fashion, and seem to be on the low end lately. I don't think it's out of reach to see 188 in two weeks, since I was 192.6 this morning. ??? As for an NSV mini-goal, I suppose I'd like to see some improvement in the belly area. I wore a tucked-in shirt yesterday (hey, that's an NSV to post!), but have no business doing so, considering the shape of my bulging fat lower belly. Yuck. That's such a fat-filled flabby area I hate to let the tape-measure be an indicator of progress on that one. Any ideas? I'll check the BMI chart for my next mini-goal. Okay, I have the Fall Challenge, the Slow Losers Club, the Mini-Goal club, the NSV thread, I know there is another I want to join but can't recall...plus the LBT Christmas Gift Exchange...think I might be doing too much? Nahhh.