piercedqt78

When I did the liquid diet pre lap band, I was allowed to have egg drop soup, I just had to strain out the eggs. I actually called and ask if they could make it without eggs, and my local takeout place was able to make it for me. It's just chicken broth, thickened with corn starch. I would order a large every other day, and divide it into 6 portions, 3 per day. The thicker liquid made my feel like I was eating, and kept me from pacing the floor and going out of my mind. Also I used a bowl, and spoon, to trick my body into thinking I was eating real food. Might be worth calling and asking if you can have that?

it's not bad that you are considering it, it's bad if you post an ad on craigslist for the trade.

I am a revision patient, and I can tell you that the sleeve is much much different. I was hungry a lot with the band, and did the slimes a ton. I was careful, but my band hated me. Now that I have my sleeve, I am almost never hungry, and when I am I can eat my tiny amount and I am satisfied. I wouldn't go back to a band for a million dollars.

This thread reminded me to update my stats. So thanks for admitting stalking, it was a nice reminder.

maybe do a liquid diet for a few days? Or do the 5 day pouch test?

Try eating some parsley, it helps with bad breath. I added it to my green juices when my ketosis was really bad.

My favorite torani used to be Khaula. Haven't had it in a long time, but it was excellent in a vanilla protein shake.

I am at 6 months tomorrow and since my sleeve surgery (I am a band revision) I have lost 68 pounds. And I have had a major setback and not been able to work out at all, due to tearing a rotator cuff.

My mother wraps the little smokie sausages in bacon, and then sprinkles them with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and bakes at 400 until they are crisp. I don't eat pork of any kind, but everyone else loves them. And my daughter is now hooked on bacon jerky.

I have a sister that anytime I post on facebook an update, she has to reply that she has also lost weight. It's funny that in my drop from a size 22-24 to a 10 and at every size change she has always made comments about her weight loss, yet she is in the same clothes as when I had surgery and they still fit her normally. I had surgery in may and didn't see her until Sept, and she lived a mile from me. Every time I tried to get together with her she had a reason not to get together. She cancelled family game night when I was able to be there. When we finally got together, and my uncle and cousin started complimenting my weight loss, my sister claimed to have an emergency text and had to leave. (her kids are all grown, and once she went home she never left, my family lives on the same block) even my family has said she is avoiding me. I have gone as far as making my status updates private to her on facebook, and when we rarely talk I don't mention my weight at all. The last time she saw me I was still in a loose 16, she may faint on Thanksgiving when I walk in AT GOAL. I am only 3 pounds from my goal as of my weekend weigh-in.

I added a dash of pumpkin creamer to my hot chocolate. (that's how I hide my chocolate protein powder in the evenings lol). And pumpkin pie is my FAVE. Actually pumpkin anything is my fave.

I used a baby spoon, and put it down between bites. I also focused on food and did not have casual conversations at the table. I'm back to normal now, but in the beginning if I was talking I would get carried away and eat too large of a bite, or too fast. Also make sure you are not over eating. I did a can of cream of chicken soup, with half a can of 2% milk, and that was 4 sometimes 5 meals for me in the beginning.

butter your butt made me think of pie, and it's bedtime here in FL. Crap now I'm going to be thinking about pie.

We have a local shop that sells the knock offs, it's $25 for the bracelet with 3 charms, and then they are $3, $5, and $7 depending on what they are made of, and how intricate they are. She is a bit higher on her website, because she has to pay amazon a commission, but I bet you could place an order directly with her (over the phone) and she would work with you. Or you could tell me what you wanted and I can get it for you, just paypal me the $$. I live like 5 miles from this place. http://www.islandimportsandmore.com/

I get weird looks when I order my food and the go box at the same time. I tell them I am limiting my portions, and it's easier to package it before I start eating. This also prevents me to picking as I sit and wait on my family to finish eating and making myself sick. Last week my daughter and I went to outback steak house for dinner. We ordered the smallest steak they have, and asked them to skip the bread. The waitress reassured me several times that the bread was hot and fresh. I explained that my daughter does a reduced gluten diet, and I don't eat any bread at all, poor thing was so confused she offered to wrap up a loaf for us to eat later. I guess it really didn't sink in for her at all. We split the salad (my favorite place for a salad on the planet), I had 2 bites of the steamed veggies and 3 bites of steak and my daughter ate the rest. It was a perfect $15, including drink for my daughter, steak dinner for us. And the turtles in our pond LOVED the bread that she sent home with us.

http://www.starbucks.com/menu/catalog/product?food=salads#view_control=product&drink=tea

When I was post-op my darling husband would stop on his way home from work (on his overnight shifts) and pick me up a hot peppermint tea, naturally decaf, and I would add a splenda, and sometimes pour it over ice, sometimes the warm tea made my healing tummy feel so much better. There are tons of tea options, or do one of their "skinny" drinks. I honestly don't care for their coffee, but love their tea options. I believe they serve Tazo tea, so you can look those up before you go to see what is decaf.

I am 5 pounds from my goal and when I had my followup with my surgeon my mom went with me, she has been my rock this whole journey. When he told her that he already considered me a success, and that if I didn't lose another pound he would still consider me successful she just beamed. Seeing her be so proud of me was reward enough. But 2 days after the appointment she called and asked me to come over, she needed to talk to me, I was worried that something was wrong. When I got there she told me that she pulled my daughters school calender up on her school's website, and saw that she had a long 4 day weekend, in Jan, and that since she knew she was doing well in school, it wouldn't hurt her to miss another day or 2, I was shocked that MY mom was advocating missing school, and now really worried that she was going to tell me something was wrong and she had to go somewhere far for a medical procedure or something. Then she hands me an envelope, when I open it, it's the documentation for the cruise she has booked for them, myself and my daughter. There is room for my husband and if he can get the time off work, they are going to pay for him to go as well. I have never been on a cruise before, and they go on several a year, so she booked the best of everything. We are going to the Bahamas, the private island, and a few days at sea. When I came home and told my husband what she had done for me, he said that he wanted to wait to give me his gift until I was at goal, but since I would be needing thing to wear for the cruise he would give it to me now. He has paid for a 3 hour photo shoot, an hour at the location of my choice, an hour in her studio and an hour for my make-up/hair/clothing changes. I will get every picture that the woman takes, edited, and on a disk with a release so I can print as many of them as I want. And while I am cruise shopping I am also going to be shopping for some things for my photos. He found a woman that specializes in vintage pin-up style photos. Something I have ALWAYS dreamed of being able to do. I am madly in love with Bettie Paige, and this is really just perfect. I guess 15 years of being together, and 13 years of marriage made him know me better than I know my own self. When I started the journey I bought a pandora style charm bracelet, (still silver, but a knockoff) and every 10-15 pounds I have added a charm that represents what I'm doing, or where I am in life. I have a gym shoe charm (for when I started walk away the pounds), a hair dryer charm (for when I actually started trying to look better each day), I found a blender charm (for my post-op liquid phase), I found a bikini charm (to be added at goal), the camera charm is for when I finally took a picture and didn't cringe at the sight of it, you get the idea. The funny thing is now it falls off if I'm not careful, but the place that sells the knockoffs is going to make it into a charm strip for me to either hang from my rearview mirror (seems fitting to use it to look behind me, or to put somewhere in my house. There are too many charms to make it small enough to fit my "tiny" wrist now.

I found a tiny little thrift store in my area, that is cheap, and the $$ goes to a domestic violence shelter. My hubby jokes that I rent stuff from them. I buy it, wear it a few times and then drop it back off when it's too big. The girls that work in the sorting area have started keeping the smaller sizes for me. Last time I was there I spent $25 and got 6 outfits. All in size 10-12 and Med. They love the fact that when I donate, everything is clean, folded and sorted, all they have to do it hang it and put it on the rack. And they have celebrated my major milestones with me. I got into a size 10 jeans for the very first time there, and the girls all cheered. It's funny when I go in, they always have something on hold that they either think will look good on me, or they are just curious to see if I can fit into it. I am going on a cruise the end of Jan, and they are already setting little sun dresses aside for me for my days in the islands.

I was busted wearing my 12 year old daughter's shirt today. Trust me the liquid diet is soooo worth the end result.

We live in an apartment, when we moved back to FL from Chicago, we hadn't sold our home yet, and now we are finally looking for a house. I went into the leasing office, the first time in about 8 months (since before surgery) to let them know about an issue on our building, and the leasing manager stopped the new maintenance guy, and told him that I had lost an entire person. She explained to him that I was HUGE (her exact word) and that she didn't recognize me when I came into the office. She actually asked me for my unit #, and when she thought I was making a payment, or an inquiry about my account she was going to ask for ID, I have lived here almost 2 years, and attend the holiday parties, and swim in the pool, and use the health club regularly. We have been on a first name basis since I moved in. I don't know what to think about what she said. She too is very over weight. I told her about VGS, and how it has changed my life. She then went on to repeat my story to the maintenance guy. It was awkward to say the least. I know she is happy for me, and means well, but it was weird having her tell something so personal to a total stranger.

I catered a baby shower this weekend, and since the mommy to be is a very dear friend of mine, and she has been super supportive of me and my weight loss. We toasted her with cupcakes, and in her support of me, she not only had full sized cupcakes, but she also had the mini cupcakes (like single bite sized ones). I had one, and I didn't feel guilty, or have any problems. The cake hit the spot, and the fact that I was able to raise my cupcake in my friends honor, made both of us happy.

I thought at 2 weeks out that yogurt, and SF pudding made with milk would kill me. I had HORRIBLE stomach aches, and the gas pain was unbearable. I think I had 2 bites of each. The NUT told me to lay off dairy for a few months, and try again. So I am almost 6 months post-op and tried again last week. I am better, but still had some of the stomach ache. I can't do SF pudding, milk (that is like poison to me now), but yogurt and cheese seems to be ok now. So I would say give it some time, and try again.

Just remember that he loves you for what is on the inside, and proposed to you just the way you are. I went from a size 14 (when we got married) to a 24, and now back to a size 10. My husband has always been attracted to me, he has told me that he is attracted to my confidence, personality, brain, and my sense of humor.

I would have guessed mid-20's, early 30's at most.