salsa1877

Congratulations....Making that mental change is the biggest hurdle of them all.

We had 37 mph winds yesterday and it isn't much better today. Makes you feel like you are running on a treamill outside!

Being tight is okay...being too tight is a whole different story. If you can still eat solid foods and are learning to change eating behaviors then it is fine to be tight. But I have seen so many people NOT lose weight because they are so tight and are eating around the band (milk shakes, mashed potatoes, chocolate, foods drowning in cream) because it hurts to eat. If all you can get down is Protein drinks then you are depriving yourself of nutrients found in whole foods. Hope this clarifies what I meant!

At this point you are definetly swollen. It takes a couple of days for the swelling to go down. If you can't get mushies down by 4 days out then, you are probably too tight. It is normal to be tighter in the morning, so you might be just fine. Give it a little more time and hopefully you will loosen up!

All I am doing on Monday is sleeping or play world of warcraft with DH. We are going to go window shopping tomorrow to see what size clothes I fit in. I am not going to buy anything before surgery, but all my clothes are getting HUGE. I am wearing a medium shirt right now and I am pretty certain that I could fit another small person in here wth me. My kids are so funny...they always tell me when my clothes are too big. I had one kids say today..."Hey Salas...looks like you are wearing clown clothing again". Thanks a lot...that is an F for that!

As a teacher I know the importance of healing during the summer, but that being said I didn't even begin the process of looking into the band until July 2 of last year (yes...weird coincidence!) and had mine done August 9. We start the last week in August with inservices and I was a little sore, but for the most part was good. While it is frustrating, you can start thinking like a bandster any time. Perhaps not with the portions of foods, but with the right types of foods, the stoppage of drinking before, during and after a meal, and listening to your stomach to determine if it is hungry or if your head is hungry. if you can start that NOW, it will make the journey easier. All of the life frustrations and schedules will look like nothing once you get this tool. Good luck and feel blessed that you have insurance that covers it...mine didn't. GULP...still paying and adding the TT on to that as well. Oh well...I am so worth it!

That is what I keep telling myself. 3.5 miles is a HECK of a lot more than I could do 6 months ago. I think the 2 really long runs a week is more than I should do. I think I am going to drop it to three 4 mile runs and 1 long run per week. I think that will be better for me. 8 miles is a long time to run when I have been at work from 4AM to 3:30 pm. At some point time really does become an issue!

Ummm...the 8 miles didn't get done yesterday. I think my body was just fatigued. I tried to do them on the treadmill....which just isn't going to work for me anymore...I like running outside much better. However 37 mph winds prevented me from running outside. As I said my body was tired...I went to bed at 6:30PM...but I do get up at 3AM! When you are training for the Chicago mar. how many LONG runs a week do you do. I am thinking of just doing the 1 long run on Sunday and then just doing 4 milers on my other 2 running days. I also do eliptical 1 day and strength training another. For the half-marathon I think that is enough, but I don't know about when I start training for my full marathon if it will be enough.

When I got my very first fill in September I was at 3.6cc in a 10 cc band. Then I got something stuck and I am convinced that was the end of my ability to have fills. That was in November. I had a refill to 2.6 cc in December and had to have it removed to 1.7 in January. Then I thought I could eat too much so I had a fill to 2.3 at the end of February, followed by an unfill to 2.0 in March followed by a complete unfill at the beginning of April. Since then I have been completely unfilled...with hopes of never having to have a fill again. For me it was better to learn good eating habits and stay loose. I think it is healthier and that was the reason I had this surgery to begin with. I can't stand being too tight. If you choose the right foods (Lean Protein like chicken and certain fishes, whole grains, and the right fruits and veggies, you can actually eat a lot of food). I am currently trying to maintain my weight (have been for the last 8 pounds lost!) and am at 1800 calories and the amount of food that I have to eat is almost unbearable. I know who would have ever thought that I would have said that?!?! So basically my opinion is work on your eating habits...that is going to serve you better in the long run then being to tight. What is the purpose of being at goal if you haven't learned to eat right? That is my opinion anyways! For me I try not to think about what or how much I COULD eat, but rather what and how much I am WILLING to eat. And yes...it takes a lot of discipline. Good luck.

This is going to be a long day. I am exhausted despite going to bed at 6:30PM...but I got up at 3AM. For some reason this week has just been dragging. I don't have lesson plans done for today and frankly I am too tired to plan them right now! Let's not mention that I have 150 tests to grade, make up work to grade, projects to make, note packets to put together, progress reports to print...and this pretty much needs to be done by...TOMORROW. GRRRRRR....No wonder my body doesn't want to work out! Stress and sleepiness usually equal...eating. Hoping to keep it under control today!

I don't know of any recipe sites but there is a thread on here under food and NUTRITION....I think. I LOVE to cook...so for me it was a lot of experimentation. While I was on liquids and mushies I was SOOO afraid to try anything so I pretty much stuck to the items I gave you. I used unjury unflavored Protein powder. I didn't use it much because I could still taste it and I didn't like the fact that my food had to get cold to use it. I think I ate tuna 3-4 times per day! You could also try the canned salmon and crab if you like those. I did salmon a few times, but it required a bit more mayo! I hate the Protein drinks...would rather cut my tongue out then drink them so I made sure to eat as much of my protein as I could. I was an Atkins girl so protein for me was not as difficult as it is for some. Glad those helped. And don't call yourself a big baby...it sounds to me as if you are following the rules and that takes more discipline than any big baby could have. Good luck!

Butting in from another thread, but I lived on pureed tuna and LF mayo, refried Beans, cottage cheee and potatoes mixed with unjury Protein powder while I was healing. eggs weren't on my list and even unfilled can sometimes cause me problems. There will be foods that you would assume you can eat and ...NOPE! Also you can make some noodle-less lasagne with cottage cheese, riccotta cheese and spaghetti sauce. Make it just like lasagna, bake in muffin tins then stick in the freezer until they are solid enough to remove and store in ziploc baggies. You could also brown ground some hamburger, chicken or turkey and stick it in a food processor until it is VERY, VERY fine and mix it with the lasagna for extra protein. Unfortunately NOW is the time you REALLY need the protein for healing. Hopefully some of those suggestions will work. Believe me the pureed tuna is not as bad as it sounds...or look! Ooohhh...another one. Take some white beans and puree them with tuna and LF cream of mushroom Soup. It will make a faux tuna casserole. I forgot about that one!

Wow Brandy that is amazing. Well I didn't get 8 miles in today. I don't know what is wrong...I am just so sluggish and tired. My hands don't even want to type. It is only 6:15, but I am going to bed. Early mornings are catching up with me and it is only Wednesday! Ahhhh a three day weekend.

Frangi you did better than I did. I was supposed to do 8 miles, but that just didn't happen. I did 3.5...bleh! My body just wouldn't work. I tried walking and it was having none of that today either! I have NO idea what my problem is. Maybe it just need a break!

I am having an extended TT with vertcal incision and she estimated mine to be 6 hours as well. Only one surgeon though...I am not as special!

What did your nutritionist say? I know mine said above 70 grams and I get to about 100 daily. I know that a lot of people banded in Australia, who I might add are incredibly successful, don't follow the huge amount of protein rule that we get here in the states. The first place I would check would be with your doc or nutritionist.

You might be eating too much, too quickly, or too fast. Do you get the same feeling when you drink? or eat soft/mushie food? I know I had some wierd sensations when I first started eating with the fill...and most of them were caused from overeating. Try to find your soft stop...a sign that you are full that you usually don't get in your tummy. For me...my nose starts running when I am "satisfied" If I stopped when I reached that point I didn't have pain. If that is not working and it is still cramping or causing you pain, I would contact the doctor. Good luck

My TT is July 3 and my doc is ALL about pain management. I will have a pain pump and I am on strict orders to take my pain meds EVERY 4 hours for a week. No skipping any doses. That means setting the alarm to wake up. She told me it was going to be very painful and to expect the worst pain of my life...but that when I look down and see a flat tummy that I will get a smile. The good thing is that I will have liquid pain meds because I am too afraid to take pills even though I am unfilled. I would rather have the nasty taste then not want to take the pills if they get stuck! 14 SURGERIES! YIKES! One of the reasons that I had the lap band was because that was where I was afraid I would end up. My mom had 6 angioplasties, 1 open heart surgery, and over 30 (YES OVER 30) angiograms. Plus she had a hystorectomy, her appendix removed, her gall bladder out, several cysts removed, toes amputated, vascular bypass on her legs, and that just touches the surface. Then after all of that died at the age of 53. That was what I saw in my future and I did NOT like it at all. I am glad that you have found confidence again. Just as I tell my students...If you believe in yourself, you can do almost anything, if you don't believe in yourself, you can't do anything!

Well I think I love to run...Ask me today after my 8 miler...It will be the longest complete running distance of my life! Hope you didn't mind that I joined!

It takes a while to get through the process so I would start checking with doctors now. You can always schedule your surgery in advance. Your PS will also give you his/her opinion on when you should have it...how much weight to lose, etc. By starting now you can check into a few docs and have the time to start saving the money or bugging your insurance. I started looking in March and am having my TT done in July. I know there are several people that were a few pounds from goal when they had the surgery. Good luck with the insurance...I wish!

Yeah I am so glad to hear that things are moving! Sorry I didn't PM back yesterday to check on things but I had doctor's appts up the ying/yang for my TT. Beans are usually what I go back to if I can't get things down. Personally I think being too tight is worse that being too loose. When I am too loose I can just use some discipline to not eat, but when I am too tight there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to suffer! I am soooo excited for you.

I am not training for a tri, but I am training for a 1/2 marathon and I think it is totally doable. I went from being able to run about 1/2 mile in January to running my first 5K in April...and will be able to run a half-marathon on June 29. Last Sunday I did a 12 mile walk/run and ran 9.7 miles (7 straight!), so it is very doable if you REALLY are willing to work. It won't be easy...but if it was...it wouldn't be worth doing!

My PS is sending me for nutritional testing and I was just wondering if anyone else had this? My lap-band doc has NEVER had me have nutritional testing. Is this odd? I eat pretty healthy and take my vitamins regularly so I am not overly worried, but the battery of tests she is having me take makes my pocket book worry a bit. I am pretty certain I am going to have upwards of 1000$ in lab work/EKG and my insurance WILL NOT cover it! (GULP!):thumbup::):cool2:

OMG my PS is the greatest person in the world. She felt so bad for everything that happened that she got another doctor in her old practice to see me TODAY. I got a call right after school from the PS office that said if I could make it within an hour that the new family doctor would fit me in and she would order all the tests and check me out for a medical clearance. This woman was so sweet and her office staff was a dream. I called my insurance and made sure that she was listed as my new PCP and I think it might all work out. We got pre-auth from the insurance and everything! Thanks for listening to me complain and moan all day. It has been a frustrating couple of days! BTW my EKG came back sparkling clean!

I am really glad that you went to the doctor. Just make sure to follow the directions and it should go back to normal. I know this is one of the things my doc warned me about early, but did say that it can usually be fixed by unfilling and staying on liquids. Good luck and keep us up to date. Congrats on the weightloss...always have to find the silver lining!