steph_co

I am an emotional eater, as well. The only reason I say that in the present tense is because that is the first thing I want to do when I'm feeling stressed out. My social worker at the surgeon's office recommended that I find new coping mechanisms ahead of time so that when those moments come up I can so something constructive. I came up with a list of things I can do instead and it has helped me. The one time that the urge was too strong to resist, I just found some low calorie Snacks to eat instead. I measured it out and that's all I ate and that was that. It's not the easiest thing I've ever done, but has it been worth it? Boy, has it ever. I'm down 33 lbs and physically feel so incredibly much better than I did before. Each day I find a new reason to love this band. New NSVs (non-scale victories) everyday. I LOVE it. And with each lb that comes off, I am overjoyed because I know it's gone for good. It takes work because I don't have good restriction, yet. I've only had one fill and I am RAVENOUS a lot of the time because I'm restricting my calories on my own. But I just find other things to occupy my time. This forum helps out a lot. Since I'm obsessing about getting down to a healthier size, it helps to be around like-minded people. LOL

I spit stitches, too. It took forever before I was able to pull the pieces out without hurting anything.

For the 20 billionth time...I have no problem with anybody expressing an opinion on this board about their OWN experience. What annoys me is ASSuming that it WILL be everybody else's experience and telling everybody that it will be and they better watch out. I AM AN OVEREATER. Or at least, I was. Before the band. Don't you think I've tried to kick the overeating habit before? I did. Never could. I have a very addictive personality. Kicking the food habit is the hardest thing I've ever faced in my entire life. It's wrought with stress and frustration. But since getting the band, I have overeaten ONCE. One time in nearly 2 months? That's a freakin record for me. I could never go longer than a week without compulsively eating until I was uncomfortable. This is why I say it is not fair to say that any compulsive overeater will continue to be so after the surgery. I'm not. And I know that it can be overcome because thus far, I have done it. And I'll also add this - my overeating involved sweets before. I have not binged on sweets at all since the surgery. When I've had something with true sugar in it, it was a VERY conservative amount (think a couple bites). There's no way I could have gone as long as I have right now without sugar. It is definitely an addiction of mine. But everyday you make that choice. Nobody is destined to be locked in this addiction forever. Thanks.

One more lb and a half and I can join you guys in Onederous Onederland! I can hardly wait. I'm weighing myself everyday until I get there...I've been trying to make myself wait for weekly weigh-ins, but it's too big of a temptation right now! Congrats on getting there Frangipani and Tracy! Awesome!

It never even occurred to me to do that. I kind of figured the price was set because they have plenty of self-pays that will pay that price. My doc's price is actually really reasonable...I guess that's another reason it didn't cross my mind. Hope you can work something out.

ActiTrainer Online Data Analysis - ActiGraph, LLC. It's similar to a Bodybugg, but I think it's better. LOL Of course, my bias may come because it's what I OWN as opposed to the Bodybugg. But a few key points that I like about the ActiTrainer are that it's less expensive to buy and I think also for the monthly membership. Now, granted, with an ActiTrainer, you don't even really NEED a monthly membership. You CAN see all of your daily info on the display on the actitrainer itself. You don't HAVE to upload it to your computer to see it (you DO have to have a computer with the Bodybugg). I wanted to try out the sleep monitor thing with the actitrainer, but it won't let me do it because I sleep during the day. I've contacted the company and they had me send them all kinds of info (like the error I was seeing when I tried to put in my sleep time 7a-3p and my actitrainer's log) and they are working to fix it. It wasn't just the rote response I was expecting of, "Not at this time." They genuinely sounded like they wanted to fix it. Considering that 20% of the workforce in this world works at night, I don't think it's too much to ask. :rofl: What I do like and what I use frequently is to see how many calories I'm burning each day above my BMR. Every time I change my weight on the thing, it adjusts my BMR and then tells me how many calories I have burned above my BMR everyday. I generally upload my information everyday when I'm working because it helps keep me motivated. It also helps me to see if I need to get moving a little bit more for the rest of the night because I look like a slug on actitrainer. LOL I love it. It's like a little contest with myself to see how high I can get my calories above my BMR. I haven't begun conventional exercise yet (you know - 30 mins of cardio or weight-lifting). I mostly just fit it in where I can to get moving more - 20 mins here, 20 mins there. The highest I've gotten above my BMR is 539 calories, but I usually average in the 300's. I can only imagine when I actually start adding true workouts!

Do not progress early on your surgeon-recommended post-op diet! I would repeat it 50 times if I could. It's such a short period of time in your life. Are you supposed to still be on liquids for another week? If so, it's only a week out of your life and a down-payment, so to speak, on lifetime health! Which is more important? That bite of mac-and-cheese, or your health? If you're already on mushies, then I guess I don't see the problem. Mashed potatoes and mac-and-cheese are both mushies. It's up to you if you want to limit yourself. Yeah, it's going to be hard until you get proper restriction, which can take several fills, actually. But this time is for HEALING and not so much for losing weight. Just follow your post-op diet set forth by your surgeon and don't stress about the scale for now.

Lots of info, time for questions and discussion. My surgeon discussed both gastric bypass and the band and even compared the pros and cons of both. He didn't even seem to lean towards one or the other. He made a point of showing PROS for both and CONS for both.

That's kind of what I was thinking, too. Kind of like graduating when you go through grades at school. Also, we have forums for the different ages. I was banded in my 20's, but if I'm still around when I hit my 30's, I'll be moving to the 30's forum.

It's common to not be able to feel it at first - but especially depending on how much abdominal fat you have. When I go in for fills, the NP has everybody lay flat with a pillow under the back to help push the port to the surface. I can feel mine, and it has gotten more prominent with each pound I lose.

Everybody is so self-conscious themselves, they won't even notice. I had a BMI just shy of 37. I thought for sure I'd be laughed out of there or had people rolling their eyes, or something. We were all in the same boat - just wanting to lose weight and being at the end of our rope. They'll be more afraid of you judging THEM, I am sure.

LOL! They have the same type of scale at my Dr's office, too. I didn't even think about it like that. Now I'll chuckle every time they weigh me. haha Before you know it, you'll have a WHOOSH and lose. I remember when I used to be on a low carb forum that what's happening to you happened to a lot of people. Not necessarily a true plateau, more like your body adjusting to the changes. Then one morning you'll wake up and BAM, two more lbs gone. We used to call that the Whoosh Fairy. It'll happen before you know it - don't get discouraged.

Supposedly DH says he's planning something...says he has been planning since Christmas. We'll see. Past anniversaries haven't been much to look forward to as far as anything special, I'm sad to say. Last anniversary I planned because I was sick of waiting to see if he would do something to Celebrate us. I can't totally blame him - he's been married a few times before me and they weren't anything to celebrate, so I think he was just in a rut. LOL Hopefully he got the hint from last year. That made me a little sad about not wanting to say your weight at the hospital in front of your DH. The only reason I say that is because we can be so dang hard on ourselves and it's obvious he loves you very much if he was wanting to have babies with you. If only we could see ourselves through the eyes of love that DHs have. I'm excited for you to reach your goals! It seems to me like you're doing great! You are right on track for 2 lbs per week of losing, which is medically recommended. I'm sure you'll reach that 6 lb goal! Keep up the good work! I think we're all updating weekly? That's what I gathered. Cindy is going to start a new thread each week for us to update our totals. I was excited to update my one pound yesterday...but then I realized, how much more fun it'll be for me to report several lbs when I update it. I'm right there with you - I'd like to update mine right now! LOL I'm weighing myself everyday because Onederland is so close I can almost taste it and I can't wait to see that dang number on my scale!!! WTG on the lb!

I'm 27 (1 more month to 28!), banded November 15th, 2007. I'm married to Richard...4th anni coming up in February. No kids together, yet. He does have kids from a previous marriage that live out-of-state with their mother and they come visit. One of my major motivations to get skinny is so we can have babies together. 5 years together and the only thing to show for it was a miscarriage this past September. So, YES, I'd love to look hot and sexy, but what I really dream of is being a healthy weight with a big ol' preggo belly. Other than that, I just want to be healthy so that I can enjoy a true active Colorado lifestyle hiking, biking, kayaking, snowboarding, running, etc! And I can't say that actually LOOKING like I'm in my 20's isn't on my list. I've let too much life pass me by because of my size.

I tend to think the opposite...I would think it's however much you have LEFT. But I don't think it matters - who's going to kick anybody out? But I will say this...no offense, but when I get under 50 left, I'll be heading to the 25+ forum. I think it is a different mindset to only have 72 left to go as opposed to 103 left to go as I started out. Plus, if you look at the forums, the very last one is "at or near goal." If anybody was "at or near goal" when they got banded... ummm... That's all I'm sayin. Anywho...72 more lbs to go! (23 until I revolt)

Haha...so funny you posted this. I did research a little while back because I have stretch marks on my tummy from gaining weight the past couple of years. I found that Diva site that Trixie posted and I found one other "reviews" site that gave Revitol good marks, too. So I got some. I've only used it for about a week. I'll let y'all know how it goes. I'm also doing a supplement/skin brushing/moisturizing regime. So I won't know for sure if it's all the Revitol or a combination. But I'll still let you guys know in about a month how it goes.

Anybody heard of this? I just found this: food from absorbing so soon...apparently it helps people lose weight.

Bigluv - As far as I know, a doctor wouldn't really care what your spouse wanted because you're an adult and it's YOUR body. So don't let that stop you. But I think it would make your life easier to try and get him informed about the procedure to try and get him on board. Get him to go to a seminar. He can ask all the questions and express all his concerns to the surgeon. DH was supportive of me doing this because he just wanted me to be happy. But the seminar DID help him because he got to ask questions that I didn't even think of and it also helped him to be prepared. Until you can get to a seminar, just keep researching online. Get all the info you can possibly find and print it off for him. Get statistics. Sit him down and find out exactly what his concerns are and then see if you can address them together. If you can't find the answer online, then call a surgeon that you're considering for the surgery and ask them. Good luck with it.

Haha...No, I don't mind. I collected it from the web, so it's not really MINE. Anybody can have at it.

Everything Georgia Girl said. Except that I have 4.5 cc in my 10 cc band. Not good enough, yet. I get hungry about an hour or two after eating regular food. At least that's better than I was pre-surgery, though - it used to be immediate hunger.

LOL - I'm glad you like it. Thank Wasa for coaxing me to put it up. haha

Niiice. I like it!

CAKE BATTER?!? :faint: I agree with everything you said, here. It fully depends on the person.

Huh. I had my first about 2 weeks after surgery and everything was pretty much business as usual. Of course, I had a miscarriage at the beginning of September and my periods have been pretty heavy and strange since then, so I have no idea if that one was out of the ordinary for me.

For fitness training I like ActiTrainer because I'm lazy and don't have to search for my fitness activities. LOL It just tells me how many calories I burned and I'm set. And I can increase my movement during the day to get my calories burned bumped up a little more. It feels more personalized to me rather than a "guess" as to how much I burned based on what other people at my size may burn.