coolcrystal

I doubt you'll need more than 5 or 6 days off. By day 5 I was going to the movies and playing fetch with my friends 100 lb dog. I only took the 5th day off cuz my boss insisted on it. The first day I had the surgery, I wasn't really in any pain. I just slept the rest of the day. The second day I was in a pretty good amount of pain, but the third day hurt the worst. The fourth day it was a little painful but not bad and by the 5th day I was pretty good to go. Getting the band was the best thing I've ever done! Best of luck

I usually do mushies/soups for the rest of that day and then I eat regular after that. I've had a few pointless fills that did nothing for me so there is no way I could just do liquids. lol.

Hi Sherry! what part of TX are you from? I'm in the DFW area. Welcome to the group! If you have any questions, just let me know. I'm so glad I got my band and I'm thankful for it every day! Best of luck!

You are looking awesome! You look like my friend Stacy.. it's funny! Well, funny in a good way! She's hot and gets all the guys at faire! lol Ever thought of trying a bodice on? lol

So, after only losing about 1 pound in 6-7 weeks and with the ability to eat anything under the sun I figured it was time for a fill. I did have one just 3 weeks before, but it was VERY small. Well, as you'll find out, pretty non existent actually. The night before I was able to eat my entire dinner and even finished off my hubbies salad.. he gave me the funniest look ever. After telling my fill lady this she wanted to do a barium swallow and make sure my pouch wasn't stretched. I got worried too. But as we both looked at the xray as I swallowed, my band and pouch looked perfect. But what we also noticed was that I litterally had hardly ANY restriction. She said maybe a tinge, but barely anything. She basically said, "you probably couldn't eat 3 pancakes and hashbrowns, but pretty much anything else you wanted". HA HA. It made me feel good to know that I had maintained my weight for so long without restriction. And that I even lost one pound was a miracle. I asked her about my previous fill and she said that for some reason it didn't take. Not to mention, when she took out my fill to check it, it was 6 something and it was suppose to be 7 something. But it made sense to me because it didn't hurt at all with my last fill and usually I feel like a hard pinch or something. I do feel very behind everybody, with a pretty much 7 week stall, but I feel relieved to know that my pouch and band look great! and that I had the ability to maintain. I don't wish that hell on anybody!

It makes sense. When I got stressed out before and had to get that unfill, I was so tight I just barely ate and didn't lose. Then I got my unfill and could eat and lost like 4 pounds right away and then didn't lose anymore. lol. but, I think by not eating, our bodies tense up and go into that starvation mode and you just won't lose. That's why finding the sweetspot is so important. Restriction, but not too restricted that you can't get calories in. It's weird.

I was born in Fort Hood and lived in Killeen for 3 more years when I was 8. I was a military brat of course! Welcome to TX!! Congrats on your weight loss!! wahooo!

Thanks everybody! when I hit a solid 60 lbs I'll be really happy!! lol. I'm very happy with my results so far. I know our bodies are all different and we all lose differently. I can't believe it's almost November now! This will be my first Thanksgiving with a band!! Ooh, maybe I should start a new thread! lol

yep! but what really irritates me is when poeple post that they feel bad because they slipped and had some nacho's or icecream and other bandsters will bash them and be like "why did you get this band if you can't be serious!" UM, hello.. you can have a band and live a pretty normal life. I eat something naughty at least once a week, wether its nacho's or icecream or what not. It doesn't mean you have to spend the rest of your life counting calories and not enjoying fun foods. Or, when people are stuck on a plateau and not losing for a LONG time the first thing people want to say is do you count your calories? do you work out? most of the time the person just needs a fill. I really just say how I feel on this group. I've had a few arguments but I can back my arguments up with facts.

Oh yes, I have used quite a few times "the lap band police will get ya".. lol. You should see some of the responses I have gotten with my "the pre-liquid diet is pointless and old school" comments. I'm also sick of doctors having different procedures for before and after care. But I'm also tired of people not educating themselves and rushing off to get some quick fix surgery. Heck, I came on this group and kept my mouth shut for quite a while and just researched on here before saying something and researched it online for a solid year before that. Finding a doctor who actually cares about you is pretty hard too. I got lucky. Mine actually calls me from time to time to check on me and told me little things that most other doctors won't. But, a majority of my info came from this forum. Here is my answers to these questions: 1-Why am I starving? This isn't magic! Don't expect any long term good restriction until your third fill. Period. Some lucky people get restriction after fill 1 or 2, but that is rare. 2-Why isn't the scale moving? Because you were probably forced to be on a dumb liquid diet for so long your body is going into a starvation mode. Don't look at the scale for at least one month after surgery. Seriously. You are still healing.. 3-Why am I depressed? The stupid liquid diet again. Your brain is starving litterally.. once you start getting normal food into your system you will feel better! I'm not dissing the liquid diet for the first week after surgery, as yes, that is when you should be on liquids, but before and after that, it really is pointless. If anybody would like to argue that with me, feel free to message me privately! :thumbup:

Yeah, I bought a scale in the beginning too. I just never used it. I stopped when I was full and ate when I was truly hungry. It seems to work just fine.

Yes, that is bandster hell. You haven't stretched your pouch. Don't worry. Trust me, I just made a big post about something I went through recently and let me tell ya, I ate a big meal and the rest of my hubby's salad and had a barium swallow done and my band was fine. It's just you have hardly any restriction.. it honestly takes about 3 fills to get really good restriction. It's not easy to stretch the pouch. :thumbup:

Yeah, Titanic came out back in 97' (I still have my ticket stubs. LOL) and I saw it like 10 times at the theater. But, I was young and in a different place then. I just had a break up... and it reminded me of my first love.. So I loved it. I watched it again about 3 years ago and didn't like it as much. The Notebook is the only movie that has ever made my dad and husband cry. LOL. So, I gotta like that..

I was a bored eater. My hubby would play his games online and I would sit around watching tv all the time and go into the kitchen every 30 minutes to munch on stuff cuz I was bored. Now that I've lost some weight I'm more active.. I have two new hobbies that keeps me busy and food just doesn't seem to be my mine focus anymore. Crystal:thumbup:

Books/Writers - Twilight Series/Stephenie Meyer, Stardust, Neverwhere, etc/Neil Gaiman, Harry Potter series/JK Rowling, these are just recent ones.. Too many to list really. Movies - Last of the Mohicans, Legends of the Fall, Goodbye Girl, While you were sleeping, Titanic, Braveheart, The Notebook, Juno, Sliding Doors, Somewhere in Time, Count of Monte Cristo, Romeo and Juliet.. humm, there are just too many to list. I have lots of favorites.

Some other great things to try is blackeyed peas with a tinge of salsa and some green Beans.. I also have a recipe to a crustless quiche that is AWESOME if you want that. I can't get eggs down, so I can't make it anymore, but it was really good. Also, I haven't heard ya'll mentioning the nuts. You can have nuts and pisatchios, etc.. there is a limit to them, but you can have them as a great snack.

No, you don't want to do that. If you read the book, he clearly says NOT to stay on that phase one for more than two weeks because your body will go into starvation mode and you won't lose anymore. You need to add carbs and stuff back into your diet.. a little at a time. Also, in the future if you decide to go back to Phase one you can, but you should only do a week of it. I believe in phase two you can have like one serving of fruit and two carbs equalling like two pieces of whole wheat bread... or something like that. I can't remember exactly, but close to that.

If you are on the mushy stage you could probably take some refried Beans and add a little light sourcream and cheese on them. If you have a Taco Bueno there, they sale cups of beans and this goes down well, very filling and good Protein source. Depending on what your doctor considers mushy, you could also take Bumble bee tuna (or any tuna), add some light miracle whip and mix that and eat that as well. Plenty of protein there. You could also do skim milk with a little bit of flavoring in it.. that is a good filling protein source. Star bucks has latte's and you can use lowfat or skim milk and those have like 18 grams of protein I believe. Any more than 20 grams of protein in one sitting does not get absorbed into your body. When I got banded, I was told to get at least 60 grams of protein a day.. I guess each doctor is different though. Hope this helps.

I think I might try a week of phase 1 southbeach as well. It does work and it may be what I need to kick my weightloss back into motion. I've been eating too many carbs lately. not good..

Yep, I'm fearing this is all I'll lose too. But if it is, I'll just have to learn to be happy with it. I'm at the weight I met my hubby at. I worry more about the expectations of other people in my life wondering why I'm not losing anymore. But, I can't let that bother me. I'm going to call to get a fill and see what I can come up with at the last minute. They usually have cancellations for last minute callers.

I'm going to get the band police after me, but I think you'll be ok. Most doctors have the patients on regular food by the third week and for sure by the 4th week. I guess your doctor is just one of those rare doctors who make you wait that long. You're almost 3 weeks out.. I do agree with whoever said to quit eating that fried rice and all that.. Don't you know.. you can't start cheating until much much later. lol. yeah yeah, just kidding.. well, sorta, I did have a chocolate brownie last night.. anyway.. eat some tuna, fish, soups, light stuff for now... you'll be fine.

Have been gaining and losing the same three pounds for 6 weeks now. Completely at a standstill. Biggest plateau of my life. Fills aren't really working anymore for me. They last for a week and then I can eat whatever. of course eating some funyons and a small brownie last night isnt the best thing in the world for me, but whatever. I have a feeling I'll be stuck here for a long time and perhaps this is all the weight I'll lose. I'm not giving up, but, I should just be happy I've lost almost 60. I always told everybody not to ever expect me to be 130 or something. lol.

HA HA , sweet!!! Go girl!! You buy super nice stuff, so I'm sure you would need every bit of that 500 bucks too! :laugh:

Yeah, do Phase 1 of the South Beach diet for 2 weeks. No cheating. I lost 12 or 13 pounds in 10 days. And felt satisfied and full! I just went to half price book store and got this little thin pamplet for like 4 bucks and it gave me the list of all the foods, etc. It works. After the first two weeks of phase one you can go to phase 2 and stay on that until your surgery.