Shinyhappymommy

Yay! That's awesome!

Come to think of it, I think they used a regular cuff on me today at my yearly womanly check up. Also, the gown fit me with no problem. I used to hate putting those things on.

It is true for some. It depends on how tight your fill is. I have been banded for almost 5 months, had two fills, lost 71 pounds and have been able to eat everything I have attempted to eat. That doesn't mean I choose to eat some things like bread very often, but that's more to do with the nutritional value than it sticking in my band. For me, I don't want to be so tight that I can't tolerate a lot of foods. Of course I can say that because I'm still losing at the restriction I have. If I wasn't losing I might feel differently.

JDsmommy, Look how far you've come! You're doing great. :blushing:

Nancy, Thanks! I started out with it reading: Taming the Cookie Monster, but after a while, it didn't fit anymore, so I changed it. I like it better that way. I really did have a problem with baked sweets, Cookies, brownies, etc. It amazes me that those things no longer dominate my thoughts and my eating behaviors. That has been one of the miracles of the band for me. Congrats on starting your journey. I had my surgery in Denver by Dr. Dave Melniczek. His practice is much smaller than Dr. K, but he's about the same price; 9,000 for self-pay patients. That includes the first three months of fills. I've been very satisfied with him. I can reach him very easily by email or even by cellphone. He calls me personally every few weeks to see how I'm doing. I would recommend him. Here's his website: Lap Band Surgery Denver, CO | Weight Loss Surgery Center Colorado | Bariatric Treatment miztr, I totally agree! It is so much easier to make good choices when hunger isn't what is driving you! How did the fill go?

I hope your fill gives you what you need. I'm still hanging in there after my second fill. It does make a world of difference to be properly restricted.

VG, That's so nice to hear that you are thrilled with your new church home. It really is important to me how I feel in a branch or ward. I haven't yet been in one I hated. Sometimes it takes some effort to be happy, but there are good people everywhere.

Are any of you also in a small branch? We are pretty few and far between here. We have multiple callings for the most part. It's taken me a while to get used to that. How can I be the Primary President, Choir Director and the Activities Director? Well, as long as I'm not trying to do two things at the same time, it works out.

There is a great article in this month's Ensign about this topic. I thought it fit nicely into this discussion. Link.

Hi Heidi, Laurie and Marie! Nice to officially meet you ladies. Marie, congratulations on being so close to your surgery date. Yay! I was also banded in Denver. I drove over from Kansas. I couldn't be happier with my results so far.

I am so thrilled to be banded. It has changed my life in so many ways.

You really need to read this thread. It's my favorite thread I've ever started.

I am very much enjoying the journey. Each new day brings amazing changes and discoveries.

When the body goes into ketosis, (which is what's happening for us bandsters) it lets off a smell sometimes. People talk about their breath really getting bad. So it is likely ketosis, which really is a good thing.

Are you still hungry when you quit eating? When you say that you're eating well and still continuing to lose, that to me is a sweet spot. You don't need to be super restricted in your eating unless you're not losing, or having a hard time with cravings, etc. I'm in a similar spot where I can eat pretty much anything if I'm careful, but I'm still losing and still not having extreme hunger.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad to be finally keeping a journal of some sort, even though it's about weight loss at this point. I haven't kept much of a journal over the last few years and I feel like I missed a lot. I write things in emails,etc., but it's not the same thing.

KM, So sorry! I'm glad you're going through with the surgery though. Keep me posted on how it goes. Call me if you'd like. Melissa

Carol, My favorite breakfast is plain yogurt (greek Fage is the best) sweetened with stevia (you could use Splenda) and then sprinkle over it a 1/2 to 1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Honey Almond Flax Cereal. It can get stuck if I don't eat slowly, but it satisfies and keeps me full till lunch, not to mention yummy! Another one I'll do is cottage cheese with pineapple (I have no trouble with it getting stuck) or canned pears. That has a good amount of Protein from the cottage cheese.

I do use milk in my protein shakes and of course if I eat cereal. On the rare occasion that I have a cookie, I'll usually have a small glass of milk along with it. I was just blown away when my surgeon told me not to drink milk, even skim. "No milk? Are you kidding me?" I was a huge milk drinker. I had to have milk to go with all the cookies and brownies I was consuming. It helps cancel out the sweetness so you can go back for some more. Oh, I'm so glad to be done with that madness.

My MIL gets skim milk from a local dairy and says it doesn't taste watery at all. Their dairy guy told them that the skim milk you get at the store has water added to it until it reaches zero milkfat. His milk on the other hand is skimmed of fat until it reaches that point, thus the difference in taste. We're going out for a visit in a few weeks and I'll have to try her milk. My surgeon doesn't want me drinking milk at all. Too many carbs.

That's awesome! I'm 4.5 pounds away, myself. I weigh myself every day. It helps me stay on track. So far I'm not getting obsessive about it. If I do, then I'll cut back.

I love working in Relief Society. Right now I'm in Primary which is great too. I'm curious, the HFPE program was changed just over two years ago and the meetings were changed from being held monthly to being held quarterly. The new program also includes smaller groups, or mini classes who are supposed to be meeting more frequently, hopefully meeting the needs of more sisters. Is your ward doing their program this way? I was surprised when I moved here to Kansas and found that they were still doing it the old way, more than a year after the change had been made. If your ward isn't doing it the new way, maybe you could read up on it and try to let the leaders know how it should be done.

I have a very sensitive conscience. It would bother me to no end! LOL I wasn't sure how many people I was going to tell about my surgery, but I ended up missing two Sundays in a row. My seven year old reported to anyone that asked, "She's not better from her weight surgery yet." So, when I got back, everyone knew. I don't mind. Somehow I have yet to encounter anyone who has been anything but kind and supportive. In fact, whenever anyone asks me how I've lost weight I'm glad to tell them I had weight loss surgery. I think if I had known someone who had been successful with the LapBand earlier in my life I would have been more likely to pursue it myself and I would have had some more active and healthy years. I just hope that as I'm telling people that someone might be helped by it. Just last Sunday a less active sister who hadn't seen me in a couple of months came up and commented that I looked like I'd lost a lot of weight. I replied that yes I had. She asked me how I did it and I told her. She's certainly a band candidate herself, but she also has a quadriplegic son who is over 300 and outgrowing his wheelchair. She seemed interested for both of their sakes. I let her know I'd be happy to talk to her about it sometime if she has questions. I have a funny and embarrassing story about telling people. We lived in St. Louis for about 4 years while my dh was in graduate school. I got an email from a good friend to update me on her new email address and the goings on in her life. I got brave and figured I'd tell her about my surgery and weight loss, etc. I gave her the link to my blog that so far has only been given to close friends and family. Immediately after sending it off, I started getting delivery failure notices! My heart sank as I realized I had just hit reply all. She must have emailed about 100 people about her new email address. I immediately sent another note saying oops, I had only meant for the one person to read that email. Then I started looking over the list of people. So many people from our ward during the four years we lived there were listed on it. Some of them dear friends, but others were people I wouldn't have had a conversation with about my wieght. I did get several nice emails from good friends that I hadn't told about it, telling me they were glad for my misclick. I'm not secretive at all about my surgery, but I wasn't planning on shouting it from the rooftops quite yet.

Fran, I'm glad you're ready to try again. It is a journey, not just a quick fix, that's for sure. My signature contains a link to a blog where I keep a record of what I'm eating. I'm having good weight loss and so I think my choices are pretty good, for the most part. I've been banded for 4 months and lost 65 pounds. I don't drink alcohol. I try not to drink any calories if I can help it. I do have Protein Shakes on occasion, but usually I just drink Water. I really like water and that's what I mostly drank before my surgery anyway, so that's easy for me. You might try the five day pouch test to get your pouch back in shape. I haven't used it yet, but it seems to be helpful to some who have used it. Good luck and don't give up. Seeking support and admitting what's been happening is a great step.

I'm the first one to be banded in my little town. A friend of mine was the second to be banded and we have a third lady now who's had the surgery. Since we had the three of us, we decided to start a support group. We're including bypass patients, of whom there are several around. Also some pre-op people as well. Since we're the ones who started it, we need to run it. I just haven't been to any other support groups for bariatric surgery and I could use some ideas of what to do other than just chat. What have you enjoyed about your support groups? What would you do if you were heading one up?