Margo

Kare, First of all, I give you major credit for realizing what you are doing and then telling us...I think you are telling us because you not only want to see if anyone else does this, but you are looking for help, too. So, with that said, please find yourself some help, Kare....either on this board or go talk to someone. Throwing up or spitting up...whatever you want to call it, is not good for your band or your mental health. We care about you and want you to succeed and you can DO IT without throwing up, Kare.

John, I just LOVE egg beaters with reduced fat cheese.....yummy P.S. you are lookin' great...

I am not a closet bandster, but I don't go around annoucing it, so some people know and some don't. The only regrets so far are: 1. in the very beginning my closest friend kept telling people " oh, she can't eat that" when offered certain food (nipped that in the bud right away though!!). 2. Those who do know seem to check me out like I am going to drop 50 pounds over night (they have no understanding as to how the band works compared to having bypass surgery). So far I am glad that I have been open about it especially since my eating habits have changed so drastically. Bottom line though....you have to decide for yourself what is best....there is no right or wrong here.

Sorry Kare, but George is spoken for!!!!

Nervous....heck, yeah, I was nervous.....all this is normal! Then you have the surgery and wake up and you're banded....it's a great feeling!!!

Welcome!!! I was just banded 8/17, so about 5 weeks or so ago....I really have to think hard about I felt after surgery since it seems like forever since my surgery....in other words, my experience was this: the surgery was quick, the recovery time was quick, my pain on a scale from 1-10 (10 being the worse pain) was about a 2, incisions very small, except for the port area (that incision is about 3 - 4 inches long), I am blessed with some resriction even prior to being filled, I have lost 36 pounds....I LOVE MY BAND!!!!!!

Wow, tough call, but I would put aside the physical thing and brains....and answer one simple question....is she SOCIALLY ready for 1st grade?

How exciting...you will love it!!! See you on the losing side!!!

Pat, BTW, your grandson is a real cutie, too..... How is the weather in Newport News.....we use to live in Chesapeake!!!

Pat, Your Halloween creation is soooo cute!! I love Halloween!!

Hey Lioness... Can you share some of your smoothie recipes? Thanks....

Nana, I was curious too about stevia....check out www.stevia.com. It's an artifical sweetner which apparently is all natural.

Never, never, never ever would I have a bypass.....NEVER!!

1.4 pounds this week!!!! Start weight: 317 Week 1: 315 ...down 2 pounds Week 2: 313.6 down 1.4 pounds Challenge total to date: 3.4 pounds 21.6 to Challenge Goal

You will never believe what happened to me today??!!! My daughter, Alex, who is nine years old, threw me a congratulations party......she made up a song and dance about how proud she was of me on my weight loss, being brave enough to have surgery, etc. She called my mom and invited her over, too. She asked my mom to pick-up flowers and a balloon for me. And she made me a poster that said....congrats, Mom...I love you....you ROCK!! Well, needless to say, I cried and hugged everyone to death.... We all spent the day together...my mom, my husband and my daughter, playing poker (by the way, Alex won at poker!!), we had a wonderful lunch which I made and a wonderful dinner which my husband made. I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter, husband and mother.... What a great day......thanks for letting me share.....

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my daugther....she is my pride and joy!!!

Good luck and my God be with you, Vanessa.....see you on the sunny side!!!

Follow your dreams.....

Daniela, I am so very sorry to hear of your mother's passing.....she is with God now and will become your guardian angel.

After lifting something kind of heavy (nothing major) does the area around your port hurt a little? By the way, I am only about 4 weeks out....

You rock, girl!!!

Remember just because it's breakfast that doesn't mean you have to eat "breakfast" foods.....try cottage cheese or soup.....you get your protein and they taste good!!

We are all different with different genes, etc for one thing. You can take two people who are eating the same calories and find they lose different.....one person might be eating mostly carbs and the other mostly Protein, one person (thinking female here, of course) could still be menstrating and another could be in the throws of menopause, one person could be execising and the other person not execising, one person could be eating most of their calories in the evening right before bed and the other person could be eating 3 balanced meals, so and so..... So far as the band suppressing your hunger? Well, I don't think it's the band, but my hunger seems to be in check now. I believe it's because I am eating mostly protein instead of empty calories. What the band does is.....makes you fill up faster and stay that way for longer than without the band. So, typically, by the time you are truly hunger, it's time to eat a meal!!! Good Luck......

Hi, I get my first fill on September 26, too!!!! I was just "promoted" to solids today. I truely feel that their are plenty of "good" choices to make when in the mushies stage....basicly I ate things like: eggs w/cheese, tuna salad, refried Beans with light sour cream, avocado, cheese, shepard's pie (made with canned veggies since they are really mushy and ground turkey which was ground to almost nothing!!), lots of yogurt (try Dannon's Light n' Fit Creamy....yummy), sugar free pudding.... Remember mashed potatos are all carbs....no Protein....try to always eat your protein first and half the time you'll never got to the starchs. Don't get discouraged with a tiny gain after starting mushies....lots of people gain when they start this stage. YOU CAN DO IT, JOYCE....

Kerry, I NEVER considered the by-pass, especially after reseaching all the various WLS. I know of two people personally who did have the by-pass: one nearly died, and the other can't stop losing weight and looks sickly. Reseach as much as you can, read this board, and talk to several surgeons. Don't rush into a decision. And, also, remember "fast" is not always good!!!!