shortgal

Somebody must work for the airlines! And, I get that it's getting harder for them to operate (mostly due to fuel costs) ( previously, it seemed like their financial trouble was caused by overly expensive pension payouts) but customer service is almost non existent. And the "fat person" wouldn't be getting "more" room, they would be getting equal room. Maybe your friend needs to go someplace other than Vegas, becasue while my husband always requests bulkhead or exit seats they are not always available. And we always check in early! Right, they can put anything in the contract they want. Fair or not! I reserved an early morning overseas flight. Flight is cancelled. Takes weeks before anyone notifies me, I end up with overnight flight. Totally different arrangement flying overnight rather than dayflight. By the time I get to my destination, I will have been up anywhere from 26 to 30 hours, without being able to go to bed. So the only rest my tall husband and I will get is trying to sleep in that 16 wide seat. The airline changing my flight departure time by 8 hours later caused all that.

Couldn't the airline just take one row of three seats and put in two larger seats instead? Why does the world want to insist that we all become one generic size? Their seats are a size medium (maybe) and they make no allowances for taller people, either. My husband is 6' 4" and really suffers when flying on a full flight. who can afford crazy first class prices? Oh a ticket is a contract? That's correct and if I want to change the contract they want to charge me a fee, but if THEY change the contract do I get something back? No way!

Molly, Would you considered joining our November Nymphs group? We check in with each other and start little weight loss challenges to encourage each other. I remember seeing your posts when I first came to the forum and didn't see you for awhile. Now I know why. Anyway, if you want to join the group that was banded in the same month, that would be great, we'd love to see you there. No pressure ( you have enough of that) but we'll be there when you're ready.

Just crabby today, that's all!

Lap-Band Surgery Frequently Asked Questions - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support Read as much as you can in this section. It should answer your questions.

I would love to be a fly on the wall, when you do it, to see the look on their face!

Laci, I think this is a common problem. You've lost 60 pounds, you no doubt, look better and feel better. You're happily fitting into smaller clothes. The part of your brain that craves those old foods is saying " ok, Laci, you're done. You've done a good job, now give me the food I crave/want". Only you can decide if you're going to listen to that part of your brain or not. Try remembering when you were 60 pounds heavier. Were you depressed and miserable then, like you feel now? Use those feelings to convince yourself you are NOT going to feel like that again. Get mad at that part of your head that is sending these messages. Take out some old photos of yourself at your heaviest and decide that you are not going back there. Join weight watchers if you have to, but come up with a plan that you can work with and hook up with your new buddy, Katie. You can do it!

Just type "five day pouch test" in an online search and it will come up. good way to get back on track!

Kendra, Wow, your upbeat attitude is serving you well. Seems like all the boot kicking is working on the side effects, too!

How about the whiners! "I just can't help it but I'm five days post op and I'm hungry so I ate four pieces of pizza, can anyone help me? PLZ?" Yeah, stop it. You have to use some control until you get restriction.And yeah it sucks. "Oh you people have no compassion and are so mean". Oh ok then, just wait for that lapband fairy to fly over you and wave the magic lapband wand, you'll wake up tomorrow and be skinny. "but I don't want to count calories" (stomping feet like a toddler having a tantrum) "I have to measure and weigh eveything" whah, whah, whah. "I don't want to diet". Then stay fat! :thumbup: "Did I hurt my band?":confused: How the hell do we know, We seem to have misplaced our superman x-ray vision glasses AND we're not a DR. :biggrin::tongue:

:hurray::hurray: Congratulations!

Sorry, I tend to try to be more of a solution person. Not sure what our age has to do with it. What I was trying to say is, I am in the same place of little restriction, so while I understand it completely, I was just not ready to accept it. If you're ok with waiting until restriction, I understand that, too. If that were my choice then I'd accept the consequences. There are plenty of hand holders on here, but occassionally we all need a little kick in the butt, to get back on track. It's called motivation. Works for some people, obviously it's not your type of motivation.

Kat, I so agree! Even if a man is not working, they can contribute to the household. When my DH was out of work, so much changed. I was working, so he shopped, cooked and did laundry. Once he went back to work he had a whole new attitude. He now notices if there is dirty laundry and will start a load and every week, he removes our sheets and washes them. It's not that I felt unappreciated before, because I knew he realized that I was doing those things before, but it was such a difference in his thinking. He still does most of the cooking to ths day. He's much better at it and most of the time he enjoys it. If he doesn't feel like like cooking an egg or a frozen dinner or canned tuna is fine with me! They might not be working, but not contributing in some way will only hurt the relationship.

So many of you ready to give up on your bands so quickly? You did know before that it's not a cure, right? You did know you have to work with your band, right? The time between surgery and getting good restriction is called "bandster hell" for a reason. It's hard! It's the time that requires YOU do more work than the band. After restriction, the band will work harder for you. In the meantime, I decided that NOT losing weight during that time, was not an option. So I just decided to follow the regular weight watchers counting points plan and that's what I do. The band helps with a little extra willpower that I didn't have before and I let it help me. You've been on diets before, right? So just do it again for a few months until the band works to it's full potential. If not you'll just be angry with yourself for the wasted months between surgery and your sweet spot. I know it sucks. I've been moaning about not having good restriction for over four months, so I know it's not easy, but it's your choice. Wait until restriction to lose more weight or start counting those calories. Start a thread so you can band together during this time to support each other.

Andrea, A couple years before being banded, I was following weight watchers and counting points ( not going to meetings, just doing it myself) it took me 10 months to lose thirty pounds, but I did learn a better sense of portion control. I tended to eat too much on weekends at that time, so I lost very slowly. I am also older, menopausal and not active at all, the last one is the one that makes me lose slowly. I also gained back 15 pounds of the thirty I had lost. At that point I knew I needed the band and fought to keep the remaining fifteen pounds off until I had surgery. It was just too hard to get it off, to put it all back on. So NO last supper syndrome before surgery for me! I have lost weight slowly but steadily except for a few weeks where I stalled a bit. I count my calories almost every day and track my Protein.( following the weight watchers for so long makes that a habit). Since being banded I've had one piece of pizza and I did not eat the crust. We were visiting people and that's what they served. I just keep food I know I shouldn't eat out of the house. I wait one hour after eating and then drink a bottle of Water after every meal and then another bottle later at night, so around four bottles a day. It's truly a combination of the head getting in sync with the band. For me, my eyes try to tell my stomach that the small amount I am eating isn't enough. But I eat the weight watcher portion and then stop and wait the hour and most times I can feel my stomach saying it's enough but I don't get that signal while I'm eating it. And I do get hungry again between meals. That's when the bottle of water helps! The other thing that helped me for the first couple months was FEAR! Fear of getting stuck etc. I don't have that fear too much right now, I pretty much know what goes down ok. But after each fill, the fear comes back as I retry food all over again. I've also had a lot of fills and after each one, I'm on liquids for a couple days and that helps me lose a pound or two. You've lost about the same amount of weight I have, so don't beat yourself up. You just have to get your brain/head to catch up to your band. Try starting with just one step like counting calories. And get those fills! Are you in our November group challenge?

No, Your Doctor (the professional) will be asking you for advice on "how you did it", so he can tell all his patients. And you forgot you'd be sliming up M and M's with the MT Dew.

You can order an appetizer or salad with grilled chicken or soup. I doubt anyone will really notice anything. If they mention it, just say you had a late lunch if it's dinner time or a late b'fast if you're going out for lunch.

Lise: I've had eight ( yes EIGHT fills) have 8cc's in a 10cc band and don;t feel enough restricttion. I can eat steak, apples, bread ( i only eat whole grain but can eat it untoasted), Pasta and rice. The last two I dont eat often of course and if I do the quantity is small by choice, I could eat more. I think some of us just take more fill than others. I'm thinking .5 cc's at next fill and I should (better) be there! Talk about patience, it's been over four and 1/2 months for me. But I am still losing so I know the band works and I am happy that I can eat most foods. I would like a stronger feeling of being full after eating and I know it's possible as I've had that a few times right after a fill, when I get some swelling. Next appt is May 5th after my vacation. Didn't want to risk being too tight while away.

It is very tough on a man's ego to be out of work. It happened to us once. Unemployment ran out and my husband ran a bread route for awhile until he found a job in his field. I was working four days a week and found a second job on my day off plus Sat. We cancelled HBO, caller ID and we only went to cheaper matinees for the movies ( brought our own snack). Our daughter and son had part-time after school jobs and they paid their own gas and spending money expenses. We had no health or dental insurance during that time,that was scary for us, always had good coverage before. Once it was over, it turned out to be a character builder. I knew my husband would take any job he had to, to support the family and he knew we'd all pitch in and help. The true definition of a family to me. The second part time job I took turned out to lead me in a slighly direction career wise, which ended up working out great for me. Many people end up in a new or slightly diffferent career and sometimes it just takes a year or less of re-training. Good Luck.

I think a lot depends on which cereal, which bread and how much. I eat Kashi Go Lean cereal, which is higher in Protein and Fiber. I eat 3/4 cup with a small amount of skim milk. Bread, I never eat more than one slice a day and it is always 100% whole grain for the fiber. My problem area is yogurt, has some protein but too many carbs. I try to convince myself at least it has Calcium. If you want to add some carbs, look for the ones that are lower on the gylcemic index. They don't spike the blood sugar levels as fast as the higher ones. Then it's portion control.

I drink an occassional cup of coffee, but I have one or two cups of tea a day. Why would the nutritionist be ok with tea and not ok with coffee, both have caffeine??? And arent' both a diuretic? Both are acidic, too, right?

I'm staying on plan today because I reached the HALFWAY point this morning!!!!

Not everybody slimes and PB's a lot. After a fill, we might get a little tight and forget how slowly to eat or forget to chew well enough, so the band reminds us of the new habits we need to use by sending a signal. I have rarely had food stuck (but yes a few times) and I PB'd once on a blackberry that I didn't chew well enough. In four 1/2 months, it's been maybe a total of five times (most of them in the early days right after banding). Don't worry,you'll figure it all out.

Working WITH the band takes mental commitment and you just haven't been able to concentrate on that because your mind is busy contending with the work situation. That's understandable and actually is wise, for your mind. Your brain knows it would be overloaded if it concentrated on both things, so it choose one. You haven't gained weight, so you've just stalled until your head is ready to get back into the game. When this is all behind you, your mind will be clear again to get focused on you and your band.

It sounds like they are suggesting you have clear Liquids the first two weeks. Beef or chicken broth and sugar free Jello are examples of that. My Dr, suggested the Isopure CLEAR at this stage. 1/2 bottle is only 80 calories but 20 gms of Protein. the next two weeks they are suggesting a "full" liquid diet. This is creamier soups, Protein shakes ( low sugar ones), drinks made from skim milk etc. Many people are unable to consume much in the first two weeks due to post op swelling and a tight band and are not very hungry. Others, like you, might have less swelling and are hungrier sooner. In the first few weeks post op many Dr's are not worried about your calorie intake and more concerned about your inside healing. They prefer a liquid diet so you stomach does not work hard to digest more solid food. the Protein Drinks can help keep you satisifed longer than higher carb drinks.