salsa1877

You are right you did start it with that and I wasn't as concerned about the type of food and I am happy that you did wait to wash it down. I was afraid that you were drinking the crystal light WITH it. That is what scared me. As for when to graduate, my doc told me that it has a lot to do with the suturing techniques on the band so it is important to follow the docs rules. Now saying that you recognized what the problem was and my bet is you won't be waiting to eat again. We all have days that are off...today was yours. Tomorrow will be better! I just wanted to make sure you had the information about why not to drink when eating. Sometimes docs get so busy that they don't inform patients like they should. Good luck!

Froggi...I sense great success in your future!

Well I don't know if your doctor has given you permission to graduate to solid foods, but "washing it down with crystal light" sent flags up to me. Whenever anyone asks me how I got to goal in less than 9 months I tell them it is because I followed the rules. YES EVERY RULE! I dont think I ever broke a rule since being banded. I am totally unfilled right now and I still DO NOT drink with my meals. I can cause you to vomit because it can float the food back up the esophagus and with bread it can cause it to expand and get stuck in the stoma.

Steph...I don't envy you. For the first time in my career I am going to be teaching the same thing as someone else and it terrifies me. I don't know if you all know this about me but I AM A CONTROL FREAK. I like it done my way and I have worked VERY hard at creating my curriculum and if my partner thinks he is changing anything, I too will pee in my corners. I think you have every right to be frustrated, but at the same time...let him fall on his face. You know how damn hard this job is. Give him one week and he will be cowering in the pee filled corner begging for his mommy, clutching his blanking, and sucking his thumb. He will be begging for mercy and crying for help. Instead of eating that frosting yourself...buy one, wrap it up for him and give it to him...tell him he will need it in a few months. Just wait until he has to pull his first all nighter getting 2349072748+ grades calculated, worksheets graded, tests written, and parent phone calls made. THen while you are sitting at home, playing with your kids, struting around in your small clothes, you can think about the hell he is going through and laugh to yourself...or hell LAUGH OUT LOUD!

Just finished a 4 mile run + 2 mile walk. Tomorrow is my rest day followed by my hell day (5 mile run, 6 mile walk). Then thankfully a rest day!

I would love to say that is going to help your hair loss problem, but I am going bald and I eat way over 100 grams of protein per day. I tried the biotin without any luck. However, my hair has been fallling out for years...it has just gotten much worse in the last months. I went back to my Nioxin because it helped in the past and I tried to use Rogaine, but I am allergic to it and it made my hair break. When I go to the doc for my annual I am going to ask her about this. Everyone touts protein, but for me that is not the problem

Linda- I have had to have less and less in the band since I lost weight. It makes not sense to me either. In fact I am completely unfilled now and I Pb'd the other day. Go figure! I guess were...LUCKY?????

You are very welcome.

I am in Central Oregon...though from your name...it would sound like you are on the coast!

Will power is essential. Learning how to use it is a POWERFUL tool. I have found that the band gave me the courage to use my will power. To not give in to EVERY whim my brain wanted. Right now my brain wants more food, but my tummy is NOT hungry. So I tell myself NO. Once you learn to do that, you can easily start telling others NO, and I think that more than the weight loss that ability to tell myself and others no is the most powerful thing I GAINED in this process. I am not going to tell you it is easy. I have cried myself to sleep more than once, but when I wake up, I feel more powerful than ever. You are a living, breathing, wonderful human being...that piece of food is nothing more than a bunch of chemical bonds(yes I am a chemistry teacher!)...who do you think is more powerful. Will POWER is not about not eating something, will POWER is about making you a better and strong person. If you look at it that way, I think that phrase is certainly something I want to embrace. Good luck and it does get easier!

I am sorry to hear that you are having struggles. However I am going to post something that I have sent to a couple people and they think it is powerful for them. SO I hope that you will find some use in it as well. It is not sugar coated in any way, shape or form. I am about tough love, because if people condone behavior it will never change. Hopefully some of the advice will resonate with you. Are you ready for some tough love? If you are not ready at this time, that if fine. Put it away in your mind that someone has given you some and come back here when you are ready. By the time I get to post this you will probably have 100 other replies, but I want to take my time and post what I really want to say. Okay...here goes the tough love. And this will be a long post! Nope the food in the last few days was not a good choice, but you ate them and now you need to move on and NOT do it again. You can't change what you have done but you can make better choices in the future. So the question is HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO THAT? Well I will tell you that the answer is NOT going to come to you when you have a "brownie" (will now stand for anything that is not healthy for us for the remainder of this conversation) staring at you in the face. You have to have the tools and the mindset BEFORE that temptation ever comes up. We have to be ready to turn around at any particular moment and have a piece of brownie shoved in our face and realize that we are stronger than the calories, fat, sugar and peice of inanimate object that we are looking at. It will get harder as we lose the weight and become a little more comfortable with our bodies. At first we were hell bent on getting losing, losing, losing. Well the newness has worn off and now we are just stuck with the realization that we will always have to fight the "brownies". Alright I am all about being practical so here are some suggestions that I have. 1. Take a piece of paper (one that you can fold up into your wallet/purse/pocket ) and divide it into sections. You may have to write down everything and then rewrite it to get it to all fit. a. Write down all the reasons that you had MAJOR, LIFE THREATENING SURGERY. Not the reasons that you wanted to just lose weight, but what caused you to make this drastic change in your life. b. Write down where you think you would be health wise in 10 years. What disesases, illness would you have? What meds would you be on. Look at your family for "inspiration". For me my mom died at 53 weighing 350+ pounds and had heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea and a whole host of other disorders. Within 10 years, I was going to be there. c. Write down why you are more powerful than a brownie (this one is tough!) d. Find some typical foods that you would love to eat (your brownies) and look up the calories and then find out how much time you would have to spend working them off in the gym. e. Write down what about you makes you important enough to overcome your demons. f. Now you are going to want to fit all of this on a piece of paper in bullet form so when you are faced with you brownies you can look at it and allow you to mentally fight the war that has just come up. If you can justify eating that brownie after looking at your paper, then eat it, but have no regrets, and do not dwell on it. Instead you have faced the problem UP FRONT and not looked back on it. 2. Another possible tactic. I know that you are having a tough time getting your calories down. One thing that I have found that helps me is by eating the same foods that I like but with some simple substitutions and by finding ways to remove some unneccessary ingredients. For example. I make this dessert that had 1/2 cup of frozen berries, 2 TBSP of Cream cheese and 1/2 cup of granola. The cream cheese had 60 calories and I thought..."I wonder how this would taste if I didn't put the cream cheese in it". I tried it and guess what, I couldn't even tell that it was missing. Same thing with meatloaf. Instead of eating it with ground beef now I substitute grond chicken. As long as I keep all of my veggies and other healthy fillers in, I can't tell the difference. I really learned this from Subway. I found that if I went in and ordered a foot long sandwich (obviously pre-band) and got all this deli meat and cheese and then pilled it with my favorite veggies that I all I could really taste were the veggies anyways. So first I got rid of the meat and then the cheese, and the taste of the sandwich hardly varied at all. This is what I do all the time now. I will always fix something first and then think what can I do to lower or eliminate the calories without harming the integretity of the dish. 3. This is the one that everyone is going to hate. WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE WILL POWER SOMETIMES. Yep the age ol' dieting nightmare. Our will power will not always be perfect, but we have to be able to stand up to ourselves and tell ourselves no. Before this surgery I couldn't tell anyone NO, including myself. So when my stupid head told me that I needed to go to Carl's Jr and get 2 big hamburgers and eat them in the 4 minutes it took me to get home so that I could look famished for dinner that was going to be served in 30 minutes...I never said no. NOW, I am comfortable saying no. It has helped me professionally, personally, and mentally. I thought that everyone would hate me if I said no, but now they no longer just expect things out of me. And I don't just give in to all of my brain's wishes. That is making me a better person. 4. Talk about your surgery. I have to honestly say that one of the greatest factors to my success is the fact that I have been open and honest about the surgery. I don't care what other people think about me. Go to 1A of this email and that should show you why there is nothing to be ashamed of. The more you talk about the struggles and successes of your surgery the less likely people are to shove food at you. We have one lady in our science department that brings in treats every week. After the 2nd week of school I told her about my surgery and not ONCE has she come in and offered me the food. She told me, if you ever want it, you may have some, but I don't want to push something on you that you obviously don't want. Yesterday at the staff meeting, the administration gave little food baskets to everyone for all there hard work during scheduling. However instead of a food basket I got a nice card signed by all the administrators, because the know that a food basket is pointless to me. I don't feel singled out, I feel very blessed that these people care enough about me to know what I need. Some people can't make these connections on their own and they need you to school them. I know this is tough, but I had to do it with my dad, my BF, and my brother. I asked them if they would offer a beer to a recovering alcholoic. All of them said no, and then I said then why in the hell would you offer me a cookie! Wow I knew this would be long, but I had no idea how long. If there is any advice in here you don't like. Think about why you don't like it. Is it because it is hard...well guess what CHANGING is hard, but maybe just try part of it. If you don't like it because it goes against all of your moral beliefs, then ignore it. I will never know and it will not hurt my feelings. Even if you came back and said "Salsa you are full of crap and are an idiot" I would think " her loss!" and keep on lovin' ya. This is what friends are for. We have to be here during the good times and the bad. We have to be able to look (or type) at the other person and say "stop being an idiot" If we don't do that as friends, really we are no better than an enemy.

That would be my bet. My doc ONLY does lap band and he STRONGLY forbids Protein shakes! Nothing with liquid calories.

Here are some soup recipes that you can try that are quite hearty. YOU CAN'T EAT! There is a reason your doc says not to eat! Soup recipes Roasted Tomato with Roasted Garlic This recipe yielded about 1 cup. Ingredients: ½ container of grape tomatoes 4-6 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu 2 TBSP of fresh basil (2-3 tsp of dried basil) Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Peal the garlic and wrap in a small piece of aluminum foil. 2. Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet and spray with PAM, sprinkle with salt and pepper. 3. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a 350 degree oven until done. a. Tomatoes will burst and shrivel a bit b. Garlic will be soft and mash easily with a fork c. Tomatoes will probably finish before the garlic 4. Place the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor (or blender) 5. Add the tofu and blend until almost smooth. 6. Heat through and add the finely chopped basil at the end. 7. Simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors blend. 8. If necessary thin out with FF evaporated milk. Grilled Asparagus Soup Ingredients: ¼ pound or more of asparagus 2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu ¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste) ¼ -1/3 cup of LF shredded cheese. Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Either boil grill on BBQ (much better!) the asparagus until just undercooked. a. To grill on BBQ spray with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in aluminum foil if you do not have a flat grill on BBQ. 2. Sautee garlic, onions and cooked asparagus 3. Place veggies in a food processor (or blender) 4. Add the tofu and blend until smooth. 5. Add FF evaporated milk until correct texture. 6. Heat to desired temperature Sautéed Mushroom and Tuna Soup (This was my way of eating tuna noodle casserole…soup style!) Ingredients: ½ pound or more of mushrooms (any kind will work) 2-3 cloves of garlic (depends on size and strength of garlic desired) 4 oz of silken tofu or white beans ¼ small onion (more or less depending on taste) 1 can of tuna fish Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1. Sautee mushrooms, garlic and onions until desired texture. 2. Add to food processor or blender. 3. Add 4oz of silken tofu or ½ can of white beans (depending on your taste!) 4. Add drained tuna fish (or any other canned fish) 5. Puree to desired texture. 6. Heat and add FF evaporated milk to thin if needed So as you can see, the base for these soups is pretty much the same. If you don’t like tofu I would assume that white canned beans would work just as well. Experiment with different spices, add a little parmesan cheese, or different veggies. Right now you shouldn’t be worrying as much about calories, but rather about healing. If you would like add meat to any of these it would work just fine. Ground chicken, hamburger, and ground turkey all pulverize very well. You will most likely just have to thin it out with the FF evaporated milk. That one ingredient has changed my way of cooking. Once you graduate to real foods you can have chicken Alfredo for VERY few calories by using this one ingredient. Another soup that has good flavor is to just take some refried beans and beef stock. It has a lot of flavor and a lot of protein to keep you fuller longer. Also take some spaghetti sauce and add some pulverized veggies to it and it makes it better. Adding some pureed white beans also helps it feel like more food.

Absolutely not...I wanted to tell you this morning that perhaps you should take away some of their activities if they can't behave...but I dind't want to overstep my bounds. I see it all to often that parents give up a lot of power to their kids and then I have to deal with it at school. I am not saying this is what your kids demonstrate at school...just talking in general. Good for you!

It doesn't take me 30 minutes to eat a meal either, but I strive to be the last one done at the table. I figure for a 1 cup meal it takes me about 15-20 minutes. HOWEVER, I do have to say that I was never filled like most people. I never hit what most people considered a sweet spot because if I couldn't eat without pain, I got an unfill. Plus I was tired of my food getting cold!

My problem with triathlons is that I don't swim with fish...do you think they will let me swim my part in a chlorinated pool???? Whosya you are quite the inspiration. I am preparing for my half marathon and am hoping to do the Eugene marathon next year and the endurance duathlon (56 mile bike & 1/2 marathon), but we will see! Just don't know if I can get past the fish thing! OR the cold thing!

Well let me just say that I KNEW that if I didn't do something about my weight that I was going to end up dead...that was a guarantee. The surgery is quite safe, but yes there are risks. However, after losing 96 pounds the risk is VERY MUCH worth it. I can't even begin to describe what a wonderful NEW life I have found. For me the return is better than I could have ever imagined. Yes there were tough times and there always will be tough times, but now I have more confidence in myself. You are not being selfish. By taking control of the weight now you will be able to give more in the future. I am better at my job, in my family, and at living life now. Hope this calms some of your fears. Bandland is really great!

Congrats...I hope the 10 pounds come off quick and easy! It is exciting to get to goal!

Hope you don't mind me butting in from another month, but there are a few things that I might be able to help with. You will see my answers under your questions. Hope this helped. And welcome to the land of bandhood. The greatest place EVER!

I did not find that I could eat whatever I wanted in just smaller portions. I think it is VERY important to CHANGE your eating behavior. Very little of the food that I eat today is what I ate 9 months ago. Yes you will lose weight just by keeping smaller portions, but unless you were eating HUGE portions of very healthy meals, you probably are eating foods that are unhealthy and full of calories. My doc told me that you could lose 25-30 pounds alone by just cutting down on the portions...but if you wanted more...you HAVE to change your lifestyle. One of the greatest things that I did was to take my old recipes (I love to cook!) and turn them into something healthy. That way I could still eat what tasted good, but in a different manner. 1. Substitute White cannelini Beans for Pasta or rice (good way to get Protein and cut calories) 2. Use fat free evaporated milk instead of cream 3. Eliminate butter and oil in cooking...believe me you really can't taste it 4. Use lowfat or FF cheeses (6 pounds under goal and I still do this because I can't taste the difference) 5. Eliminate untasted foods (In other words...if you eat something and you close your eyes and you can't taste it... you don't need it. I learned this from Subway...I would just order the veggie sub because you couldnt' taste the cheese and meat) 6. Substitute ground chicken/turkey for hamburger. Last night was the first night in months that I have had hamburger...and it wasn't that great. I grind my own chicken in my Kitchen Aid grinder. Also this makes chicken easier to get down. If chicken is tough to get down smother it in a spaghetti sauce, or use dark meat. Beef is tough for a lot of people. Other "hidden" Proteins include tofu (add silken to Soups and you cant taste it), beans, quinoa. I stay away from Protein drinks because they are full of calories and don't keep me full. I used Pure Protein Bars (got them at wal-mart) to supplement if I needed to. As for the low carb, I did stay fairly low carb but did not eliminate ANYTHING from my food except rice because even completely unfilled I still can't do it. I would just eat the carbs in moderation. 1/4 serving of pasta or 1/2 piece of bread. I was an Atkins girl to the core so giving up that stuff was never a problem for me! Hope some of these ideas helped

It may depend on if you are taking pain medicine. I know that when I stopped the pain meds that I got NASTY diarrhea...to the point that it caused clothing changes...if you get what I mean. The liquid diet can wreak havoc on the bowel system. I am not sure what kinds of liquids the doc has you on, but if you are constipated (not from pain meds) then try some very liquidy cream of wheat. The Fiber in there may help. Good luck! And if it doesn't get better call the doc!

Did you get a fill recently? Or PB? Or slime? Or get something stuck? If the answer is yes you should probably call your doc. If the answer is no, you might want to wait it out for a day and if it doesn't go away call your doc. OR just call your doc anyways. They are the ones that know best! Good luck

BBK - Hope everything is getting better for you. Sorry to hear about all your troubles. Becky is right though...you have inspired a lot of people, and you yet again are setting another example that surgery needs to be taken seriously! Thanks for sharing so that others may be helped.

Oh Jackie I am so sorry to hear this. Since I am not a parent I don't have any real great advice, but being the sister of a someone that did lose their dad, I do know that there are a lot of issues that the kids go through when they have one parent alive and the other not. Now my brother and I DID have a horrible and abusive mom, and from how you talk about your children, I am pretty certain that you are not. However, my brother just admitted to me a few months ago that he sometimes feels bad for the way he treated our mom, but he didn't know where to let his anger go. He wasn't necessarily mad at her, but rather at his dad for dying. However, he would feel guilty for being mad at him, so he would take it out even more on those that where still alive, and believe me, I got the brunt end of a lot of it too. I see it and hear it a lot at school. I have had more than one kid in tears over the way they have treated a parent, but at the time, they didn't realize what they are doing. I think counseling sounds like it would be good for both of you....seperately. You and the kid(s) need to feel like there is someplace that you can go and talk about your feelings in a safe comfortable place. We went to family counseling and it was a DISASTER because the counselor and my mom were good friends, and would tell her EVERYTHING we said. So it didn't work. But both of you need tools so that you can deal with the problems you are having. Okay, now here is something that may not make a lot of people happy, but since I think that I am the youngest one on here, I am going to say it. Kids don't see the importance of Mother's Day or Father's Day. Now I could be cynical about this one because I had such a horrible mother and my father wasn't around growing up, but kids don't just NATURALLY undestand why this day is important. After all, it isn't a holiday that they SHOULD understand. They have never experienced it. Think about your first mother's day...it was probably the best one ever right, because you finally realized what all they excitement was about. Perhaps next year (NOT NOW!) as Mother's Day comes around, you should sit the kids down and talk about why it is important to you. Have a discussion (don't talk at them) about what parents do, the fun times you have together, and so on. Okay I am all out of my not so infinite wisdom...Just kind of speaking from the heart and from my own experience.

Well I built up slowly with jogging...and last night it wasn't my favorite thing either! As for being a wimp...I am not sure I would be jogging if I lived in Florida. Humidity KILLS me:scared2: We battled WINDS up that kazooo here yesterday and I am ALWAYS freezing, so maybe you could send SOME of the heat here!:smile2: Everyone is doing great. Is it just me or is May flying by! I hope so, I want to be done with school so that I can focus on training and then my TT!