Ang1982

RedTulips - thanks for the Atkins info, I am definitely going to keep that plan in mind. My general plan is - I am counting calories but not really counting more like - watching calories. I do not want to count calories for the rest of my life on everything I eat so I am trying to make wiser choices in food and to eat premeasured amounts or stop when full and then if that doesnt seem to be cutting it then I am going to reevaluate the plan. Sorry to hear about your slime episode, that does not sound fun at all. I am not looking forward to my first one thats for sure. I have had my first fill on Monday and yesterday/today was my first days of eating "normal food" after the "liquid stage post fill". Last night I had an omellete for dinner that went down good, not a big piece, I made one big omellete for my DF and I and I cut a small piece off the end. I didn't even finish the last two bites because I was starting to feel full and stopped eating. I am trying to teach myself that if I get that kinda full feeling I do not have to finish my plate because a) the food is there and :biggrin: it tastes good. Today for lunch I was invited out to the Pub with some of the ladies at work - they make a fantastic chicken quesadilla that comes cut in 3 sections. I ate one section for lunch and I feel full. I packaged up the others to take home and I'll have another section for dinner and feed the other piece to the DF with whatever else I'll make him. So with my first fill, I think I do have restriction as eating 1/3 of a quesadilla did fill me up (same with my small omellete) but I don't think I have a whole lot - while I am careful to chew I do still take what I would think is larger than would be required with great restriction type bites. But, it's a start!!! :smile:

I think I'm lucky... besides the fact that all my friends know I've had the surgery.. my best friend is about 5yrs post op gastric bypass so it works well.

Well... I admit that I counted 4 hours worth of my moving as exercise. The past couple weeks then the weekend with moving had me so exhausted and in crazy sore pain that exercising was not going to happen. I'll admit to being lazy and hating exercise but when it hurts to stand up and walk after 8 hours of moving + unpacking time I just don't care haha. Oh well.

Yikes! I am not looking forward to my first stuck/pb/slime episode. For breakfast during the work week I always have a Protein shake (has 38 grams of protein in it) otherwise I will never get enough protein in

Oh my gosh! Congratulations that is so exciting. I am very excited for you and your DH. :smile2:

I'm so sorry for asking this and feeling very stupid about doing so (although I'm probably not the only person to wonder), how do you use the internet and post on forum sites, and all that? Are there computer programs that read it to you? I am one of those people who have never been in contact with a blind person and I don't mean to seem ignorant in my question. And I agree with Wheetsin's post that it is very admirable for you to open yourself up to questions.

:smile2: I have to say that I like Lane Bryant. And where I live (west coast, Canada) we do not have very many options for plus size stores and the couple that we do have - are more expensive than LB's and not even as nice in styles. I actually drive the 1hr cross border trip to shop at LB's in Washington whenever I can. It's CHEAPER than here (even when there was a dollar difference it was still cheaper).

O snap, I thought you meant March 1 not Jan 3. My bad. Yah I don't know why you aren't on solids then girl. I know with my first fill I had to do a couple days post fill of "liquids" but to not be on solids at all?!

Anitai, you need to talk to your doctor about it first. Most people do not go on solid foods until they are about 4 weeks post op... and for a good reason. Not allowing your body time to heal properly can attribute to slips in the future. And by slips I mean your band moving to a place it's not supposed to which can cause to have the band removed if they cant correct it.

*hug* I know it's frustrating but just keep on chuggin. The way I look at it when I lose and gain the same couple pounds... at least it was 2 not 20! You are doing great!

Guys, I don't know what to tell you - I know I am thick in the middle of this Bandster Hell period and that it is definitely affecting my emotions but I cannot help but feel like I'm a failure or that I am going to be a failure with this band. I do not want to be overweight anymore and I know that it will take some hard work and determination to get there and this band is supposed to be my crutch to help me along the way... but this is what scares me and worries me that I may not do it: 1) I hate cooking, not just dislike it, hate it. How am I supposed to make decent and healthy meals when I hate cooking at all. 2) While I followed my post-op diet to a T now that I am out of the post op diet phase with no restriction what so ever I find myself eating my old ways (not as much before but still not the greatest food choices) again and struggling with that. What if I can't break this bad choices habit? 3) Exercise is ... well I'm sure I don't need to explain that one. I am forcing myself back to Curves next week (this week I am spending every spare moment packing my house - moving on Saturday). And I have some kind of strange soreness in my belly on the left side today which is driving me crazy. Wow I am such a whiner. :thumbup: I am so scared that I will fail.

So I have to ask - I moved over the weekend and on Saturday I was on the go from 9am to 4pm without stopping/sitting/resting carrying, lifting, walking, loading, unloading... how many hrs worth of exercise do you think that would count for? By the time I sat down every part of my body was in agony.

Well I had my first fill yesterday and it was SOOOO easy and quick I was surprised, I am excited to see what kind of restriction I have from it (just doing the liquids couple days after part at the moment so I will let you know as soon as I know). :tongue: 9" down is fantastic! Whooo hooo. Way to go. Hope that your foot injury is healing up okay that's gotta get you down a bit. A 2lb per week loss would be fantastic, that's my goal too :tt2: 2lbs a week/10lbs a month would be great. Hope that your finals have gone well! I just had my first fill yesterday, prior to that I hadn't lost any weight since the end of the post-op diet phase, at least I didn't gain any back! Heh. I hope that your next fill is more sucessful! :thumbup:

Girlie, I wouldn't worry about it too much yet, it could be anything from Water weight to gaining a bit of muscle. You're doing fantastic! Are you enjoying Curves? (I mean as much as someone can haha).

Thanks for giving me some ideas, I'll have to check out those ziploc steam bags and prefixed meats. I had my first fill yesterday - went VERY well, super easy experience. I'm in the "recovery from fill diet" mode at the moment so when I start to eat actual food it will be interesting to see how that is. :tongue:

Help! Today I am having a BAAAAD "I want to cut my hair" day. I used to have short hair for yeeeaaarrss. And over the past year and a bit have been growing it out. I would say it is now officially medium length (longer than the "longer hair" example pic I will post. Since I've had short hair for a long time I thought I would try it longer. I am not one that spends a long time in the morning getting ready, doing hair, etc. and my hair is usually brush and go. One reason I was hanging onto the longer hair idea is that it will be easier to have an "up do" of sorts for my wedding next spring (2009) if it's longer. Anyways, let me know what you think. The short hair pics are a couple years old but it gives a general idea. Sorry I don't have a lot of great examples.. I'm at work and these are the only ones I have on my photobucket. Longer hair: Shorter hair:

:thumbup: Are you serious? I used to love seeing your pictures because it was always such an inspiration! That sucks that you got crap for that. Some people... *shakes head*. Hey if they can put the disclaimer on Jenny Craig, etc. that "results may vary" or whatever it is, why can't that be understood here. You did fabulously and if I did 3/4's as well as you did I would pleased!!

Yikes! Good thing you happened to look down and see your ring! Rather than getting it resized right away since you may have to do it again with additional weight loss have you thought about getting one of those little rubbery things (i don't know what they are called exactly) that you put on the inside of your ring and it works like a little spacer? Am I making any sense? haha.

Wow, you are doing fabulously! 48 lbs is nothing to sneeze at - well done!! :thumbup: Girlie, can you tell me some pointers to doing something similar to what you are doing with Atkin? I've never done Atkins before and it seems to be working for you - do you have any base tips on where to get started? What kind of things do you eat for breakie/lunch/dinner? You are doing so fabulously keep up the awesome work and to lose all that weight before surgery is awesome!!! Wow that is crazy! But interesting because my sugar craving mode has been kicking in full force lately and I wonder if I drank or ate something not realizing that made it do the same.

Congrats on your loss so far! My understanding is that they will only give you a fill if they think you need one. So if you have reasonable restriction and are losing steadily then I do not believe they would do one. You'll have to talk to the doc about how you feel about your level of restriction and what not.

Here is a *BIG GROUP HUG* to anyone and everyone who needs a nice big hug today, and even if you don't think you need one have one anyways. Today's a bad "bandster hell" band day for me. I've not lost any weight in the past two weeks and am struggling to have the will power to eat the type/size of meals that I should be eating with 0 restriction. I know that this is just a phase and it to shall pass but right now ... despite knowing that I have a hard time believing it to be true. I just want to get this show on the road. :rolleyes2: I have been upping my intake of Water which was big thing for me which is good and as soon as I am finished packing up my house to move this weekend my adventure back to Curves will begin! So *HUGS* to all, please tell me this gets better.

I was going to say the same thing - Dr.Kirschenbaum in Denver has done what would seem to be a TONNE and is the competitive price for Mexico. He has quite a few threads you should be able to find some good information on him.

Yay! Fantastic news!! How excited you must be feeling. Keep us posted on how things go. :thumbdown:

*big hug* Sounds like you are ready to get back on the horse girl. You can do it, you know you can, we know you can. Sounds like you had a pretty rough go of the past year or so. My heart is with you as I couldn't even imagine... Go get'em!

Ohmygosh Kat! What a crazy ordeal. Glad that they got you a smaller pain med that you can take. Hope you are feeling better soon!!