cazulay

You look great!!!! Congratulations!

I got the book Eating Well After WLS by Patty Levine and Michelle Bontempo-Saray also. I really like, it has some great recipes, tasty and easy to make. I also got Before and After by Susan Maria Leach from the bariatriceating.com website. It has a WL journal and great recipes also. I did not know about the magazine, will have to check that out.

I am telling everybody when the time is right, not all at once, but as the subject lends itself to it. I don't know about you all, but there is a lot of food going around my workplace ( I am a school teacher), and lots of events centered on food, so people notice and ask and offer more food etc... therefore I will tell so they will understand why I am not being sociable and eating.

I take the same drug for my PCOS. Not only they are huge, they taste nasty. So I cut them up in 4 pieces, and eat it with some suger-free chocolate pudding. They go down very easily and you taste nothing but chocolate.

Maybe it's too early for me to put in my two cents, as I have only been banded for a little over two weeks, but I will say no. In the past, every time I stuffed my face with unhealthy junk I felt this tremendous guilt afterwards. I would feel bad physically and emotionally. Why did I do that to myself? I have been doing a lot of head work and have not obtained an answer, but I do know I don't want to feel like that anymore, it just wasn't pleasant.

Lindaa- social situations can be very frustrating at this point. I am avoiding them like hell. Now this Friday we will have our before school burger cookout for teachers and spouses, I need to come up with a plan before I get there or else I am going to end up eating 3 burgers. Only4me- I am cooking for an army also, or else I just did not realize how much I ate before. Like tonight, I made shrimp scampi with linguine, I only cooked 1/2 pack of the pasta, and after both of us eating, there is still enough for tomorrow's dinner also. While before I would cook the whole pack of linguine and it would all be gone in no time. Clean plate syndrome- I thought I was the only who had this issue!!! I am so excited to find out my family is not the only out there teaching these habits, no offense to anybody's family. Every day I heard the third world country thing, and every day we were prompted to eat more and more for a healthy growth (!), and of course we all fought for fair share of snacks/desserts- not occasionaly but several times a day. Also, I had issues with food like other people have with drugs I guess. I would hide candies in my closet and lock myself in there and eat, eat, eat all by myself. Not a little bit, but a lot of it, everyday. No wonder I got so heavy and needed this surgery. I am glad I found you all to vent with. It's such big help.

Go Lynette!!! 111.6 is awesome! You will be in onederland in no time.

I am all happy because I got my first 'real' compliment today. I say real because this person does not know I have had the surgery therefore is not 'forced' to say anything. I am in the middle of a training (home for lunch) and a teacher who hasn't seem me months exclaimed as soon as she saw me : "You look great! You have lost weight!" And she was all smiles. It just felt so good! It kept me motivated too, because God knows I ws hungry and thinking about cheating. Jeannie- I like your new picture! Cool bike. It seems like we are on the same page- back to school. Frustrated- I was raised as a clean plate girl too. So I can relate. Sorry about the sliming and thanks for the heads up. Phyl- 43 years. Wow! I hope I will get there.

Felicitaciones!Es muy guapo y todas las chicas le van a querer.... Vas a tener una vida mucho mejor, con mas salud y comforto, y vas a poder aprovechar todo como los jovenes lo deven hacer! Way to go!!!!!!

I am quite the opposite- I am freezing to death! It's summer here in Texas and I have been sleeping with a comforter on!

Wow! Very well said, I concur.

Chim, we all have good days and bad days...don't beat yourself up. At least it wasn't a chicken one! Brush off and move on....

Marcy- I am with Lynette. The price of seafood balances out on the fruit,and I believe the same can be said for quality! Sunny- it sucks to work. I can't wait to retire- only 31 more years to go! OK, I did not lose this past weekend but went back to Curves today and had a great time, especially because they took my measures and they came out great! Here's what they look like, from June 26th until today, Aug. 13th: Weight: - 27.5 Body Fat Lbs: - 16.63 Body Fat: - 1.7% Bust: - 3.75 yeah! Waist: - 0.5 Thights: - 2.5 Arms: - 1 Abdomen: -2.5 Hips: - 1.5 Total Inches Lost : - 11.75 So, if you haven't taken your measures, go ahead and do so. Sometimes the scale doesn't move, but you can see progress thru the tape measure.

Kathy- glad to hear you had a good time. Anna- good job! Lindaa- lo siento, I haven't had a fill yet!

Boy, I could sit here typing all night. My favorite: super duper skinny people who go on and on and on about how fat they are, and how they need to watch what they eat, and then they touch their stomach to prove their point. I have run into quite a few of these and quite frankly, they were just being mean, like they wanted to tell me to go on a diet, wanted me to feel self-councious, like I don't know what I look like. They were very judmental. Others: - Stares. Sometimes people just stare at you in a way that says a thousand words. - When I was in HS bullies used to call my house all the time to call me fat, and that I would end up in the gutter all fat and alone. Unfortunately we did not have caller id back then. - Also in HS, I started dating a boy who was underweight. I would get these notes on my locker that had a picture of a whale kissing a cricket, among other things. - When I was in elementary school, I was doing some stretches in PE and someone yelled ' look at what the fattie can do!' - On my wedding day I weighted 160lbs. (I am 5'5) and my aunt called me aside and advised me to not gain one more ounce or else my dh would find 'finer meat' elsewhere! My family has insulted me so badly I no longer talk to them. Haven't in years and don't intent to do so ever again. - My mother telling me all the time how fat and disgusting I am, am I not embarassed to wear such huge clothes, be careful you are going to break the chair etc etc... - Kids at school asking when I am due - One child grabbed my arm once and asked very loudly 'Why do you have so much fat hanging here?'

I am a sped teacher also and got my procedure done over the summer. I do not think I would have been ready for at least a week. I was in some pain ( pain meds for 5 days) but mostly I was exhausted. Sooooo tired all the time, like all of a sudden I would had this urge to lay down and when I did, I napped for 3-4 hours. The second week was much better. And now I am on my third week and feel I could take on a classroom full of children easily. You might want to have your procedure done on a Friday and take the following week off, even though it's hard to get a sub and make plans, you will be glad you did.

I am sorry, but I have no patience for family/friends butting into my life. I don't go around telling them what they should/should not do, so I expect them to do the same. And I make it very clear to everybody- nicely and politely- that I do not welcome opinions I did not ask for. You do what's best for you, they do what's best for them, and everybody's happy!

I went grocery shopping today, for my new healthy menu/lifestyle, and was quite dissapointed. The only grocery store we have in town is really quite pitfull and does not carry a lot of fish, or fresh seafood, or produce for that matter. So I have decided I will have to go down to Austin every weekend to shop for my most 'gourmet' items, such as fish ( they only had previously frozen catfish at my store!). It's only a 30-minute drive, but still,I wish we had better selection. I suppose it will be worth it. By the way, I stayed the same on the scale today, first time in a month it did not move down!

This loosing weight business takes a lot of head work. Because we (at least I) have lost and gained it all back so many times before, it seems natural to believe it will happen again. Except that it won't, because this time we are not alone, we have this wonderful tool to help us along and keep us on track. It still takes change in lifestyle, and that's where the head work comes in. But I agree with dialit, this time for me is more about peace of mind and less about euphoria.

Lynette - I agree with Sunny, my dr. told me between 1 and 2 pounds/week. In the beginning it goes faster, but as dh says if I kept the initial pace up, I would go negative by January! My plateau plan is to cut all carbs and drinks (except for H2O of course!) for a week and see if that gets me going again.

OK, I just found this thread and here is my workout routine: Curves- 3x/week, 30 mins. Rec Center- 2x/week- walk 2 miles on the track, then do weights for arms I have been doing Curves for a year and just added the rec. center. I might do yoga on Saturdays and just take Sundays off. Also I am thinking I will need to find something 'harder' than Curves once I lose some more weight, or when I plateau. The problem is that the other gyms are all so far away and getting in traffic does not sound like a plan. But I will fugure something out.

I feel your pain, it is super hard but well worth it in the end. I had no complication from surgery, and my dr. was very happy I lost 11 lbs. I had salt cravings also, and ate some plain salt- I know it sounds gross, weird and unhealthy, but I would just put a little bit on my palm and use my opposite index finger to 'eat' it. It really cut down the cravings.

I had my first big carb meal tonight- 1/2 cup of rotini pasta with lots of tuna, ff sour cream, and garlic salt. It was delicious but now I am feeling guilty and afraid to go up on the scale tomorrow morning. Especially because I did not exercise at all today- I was the perfect couch potato as a matter of fact. But I figured that for right now I will work out 30 min. day/5x week, but I might increase that or make it more challenging as I lose weight. Also, I put together a menu spreadsheet, and have planned out exactly what I am going to eat all week long, otherwise I get home hungry and don't have the right ingredients and end up eating junk. This way I can grocery shop accordingly. I know I am probably being a little neurotic, but I really want a healthier lifestyle, and I want the band to work for me.

Thanks for reminding me of all the crazy things I have sone thru the years.. lol... I just read somewhere that you should eat normally one day, nothing the next, to keep your metabolism at its highest all the time. Also, the moon diet. Just drink water during full moons and eat whatever you want on the other moons. Boy, for an intelligent lady I have certainly done my share of stupid diets!

Well, I have not been banded very long, but the way I look at it the band is not a diet, but a concience. Because I can still eat whatever I want, but if I start overdoing it the band is there to remind me. Since surgery I have been craving 'healthier' homemade foods more and more for some reason, while before I could not stop thinking about junk such as McDonalds french fries, super sized of course. I am working very hard on my head hunger, so I suppose this aspect is like dieting also. I am determined to face my demons and overcome my addiction. I believe I can do this with this tool.