gojaguars

Sounds yummy, I will need to try this one! Good Luck!

Thanks AJW for the carb info. My Dr. has us count carbs as the main focus keeping it to 30 or less for each day. The higher protein, low carb diet really helps cut out the cravings and seems to help us feel full longer. I have just found that I would rather eat the majority of my carbs than drink them. No matter what foods your Dr has you eatting, we have to help the band work for us to achieve our weight loss goals. It is a tool to help us, not a magic wand. Read labels and make the best choices you can and if you fall off the plan, don't beat yourself up, we are human, just get back on plan and keep going. Good Luck to all of us!!!!

Hey Everyone!! I too, have not been on the website in a while and it is great to see how well all of us May 2008'ers are doing. It has been a year for all of us now and think of all the weight we all have lost. It is incredible!! My best friend and I had our surgery on the same day and it really helps that we also work together. She is about 5 -10 pounds ahead of me with her weight loss and very close to her goal. I started heavier than she was. We are so happy we had the surgery and are getting back our lives. We never used to exercise before our surgery. my friend now gets up at 3:15am every morning and walks an hour before we go to work. I do my walking in the evening when it is cooler, walking my dog. It feels so good to walk and just breathe normally, take the stairs at work and be able to breathe when we get to the top. I like walking and shopping, even if I don't buy anything. My feet no longer hurt all the time and I can wear sandals instead of sneakers with my inserts. I am in a size 16 now, go to the pool and lay in sun or on the beach in a bathing suit! Our friends are work are so supportive and love to see what we eat as it always looks so good. We are very creative with our low carb diet. We have inspired many of them to eat healthier. Also, there are two women at work that heard we had our surgery and are in the pre-surgery appointments now and they look to us for encouragement and support. We have our moments and cravings, but the difference now is that we have it (much less than the old days) and we get right back on track and realize that means we have to exercise more and cut back some to make up for it. There is an accountability factor that we did not have before. I know these are little things, but to those of that have carried around the extra weight for years, it feels so GREAT!!! Nothing tastes as good as feeling thinner does!! We wish everyone all the best and keep strong and we can reach our goals....we have already done the hardest part....we had the surgery. To those struggling, talk to your doctor about it, they are a wealth of knowledge and have seen it all, they are there to counsel and encourage us also. They want us to succeed in our weight loss journey. Big Hugs and CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF US!!!!

Good Luck with your surgery Homecare! I was banded 5-08, and at about 100 lbs less now. It has been the best thing I ever did for myself. I am not much of a drinker, but our Dr has us on no more than 30 carbs for a day and I know that wine has quite a few carbs, so you will have to really watch that and choose wines that are less carbs or you will have trouble loosing the weight. You can have a wine spritzer, lower carb wine with diet sprite. It is very good, or another low carb drink is vodka mixed with Crystal lite soft drink mix, it has no carbs at all. So just be sure to read labels and research all your choices so you will be successful in your weight loss. I wish you the best of luck !!!!

Hey! Yes, it is difficult the first couple of weeks. I promise it gets so much better and you will not even be able to tell you have the band, except for your appetite being smaller and not feeling hungry so often. I was banded on May 7th and so was my best friend. That first couple of weeks while your body is healing is and hurting is sometimes hard. It seemed like the port was poking me, it hurt whenever I turned or twisted. But for me it seems like one day I woke up and was not hurting anymore. I love it and it was the greatest thing I have ever done for myself!! I have lost about 42lbs so far and am so happy and feeling GREAT!!! After the pain subsided and once we started on regular food, we did not feel much restriction and as we got closer to our 1st appt for the first fill, we were so hungry and wanting to eat all the time. With the first fill we did not feel that much restriction and we were sometimes hungry but were so excited for the next appt. After the 2nd fill we did have more restriction and it was noticeable. After a couple weeks the band loosens up and we were ready for our 3rd fill. It has been so great this time, the restriction seems perfect. I get full and it lasts a long time, no stomach growling, no feeling deprived from not being able to eat like I used to. I don't think about my next meal. Our dr has us limiting our carbs to 30 per day and high protein. It really helps with the appetite suppressing. My food intake now is coffee in the morning, sometimes scrambled egg with cheese or 1 cheese stick, 1 protein shake like EAS chocolate or Atkins low carb chocolate delight and dinner, usually some chicken or other meat and vegetables. I really am full and satisfied and best of all......loosing weight!!! We have noticed that a lot of the work is in our heads and retraining ourselves from the years of overeating and not eating properly. We will all learn to Eat to live and not Living to eat. My friend has the problem with BM's. Alot of the medicines you can take are high in carbs so be careful with that, but the dr office suggested that she use Miralax and it has no carbs and you can increase your fiber content with vegetables etc... Hope that helps. This site is great for support, keep reading and asking questions. We are all at different stages with our bands. Good Luck and best wishes to all of us!!!! Take care :thumbup:

BBK, What a beautiful picture!!!! It is just stunning, you look like a movie star!! You are such an inspiration to the rest of us. It just goes to show how hard work and dedication can change your life. Congratulations!!! Thanks for sharing your journey with the rest of us!!

Jody, thanks for the news about Frangi. I am so happy to hear she is doing well. Becky we are thankful for your update too. That sounds great that you feel well enough to be at the desk on the computer updating all of us. Sending all the well wishes we have for the both of you!! Thank goodness for pain meds!! Take care!

Northwest Nance, thanks so much for sharing your information about your 1st fill. My friend and I were banded on May 8th and our 1st fill will be June 20th and we are nervous about it. I am really relieved now and I think she will be too. We have been getting more hungry as the days go by and are looking forward to the help of our fills. Thanks for sharing and best wishes to all of us!!:rolleyes2::thumbup:

BBK, I am glad the band dr will be fixing your port. I agree with you, it is better to let the expert fix it so your band is not damaged and he will know how it is supposed to be and look. I am sorry to hear you are unhappy with your breasts. Can you get a 2nd opinion from another PS before you let the PS do the revision? I might be worried about him doing more surgery. We are all wishing you all the best. You look MARVELOUS, just marvelous!!!:rolleyes2:

Becky, so glad to hear your surgery went well and can't wait till you feel up to posting. Take care and let everyone take care of you and put all of your energy into healing. We all have you in our thoughts and prayers! Frangi, sorry to hear you had a time getting into the hotel, but hopefully some of the pre-PS shopping relaxed you a bit. (retail therapy is always great!) We are all keeping you in out thoughts and prayers too, and we will be anxiously waiting to hear how things go for you too. Best wishes!!!

Frangi and Becky, I just wanted to wish you both the best with your PS, I will be anxiously awaiting your updates as you feel up to it, as I know many others will be too. Thank you both for sharing your journey with everyone. I am in the beginning of my journey and am learning so much from the both of you. Take care and sending the healing vibes your ways!!!!

Hey everyone! My friend and I were both banded on May 8th and we also work together. We get 30 mins for lunch too. Some of the things we have been bringing for lunch that seem to work for us to have time to eat without any worries are: Ham or Turkey with a piece of provolone cheese rolled up inside it, Cream cheese with green onion chopped up in it and rolled up in the Ham or Turkey. Tuna fish with diced onions, little mayo and mild banana peppers and some of the pepper juice to make it wet. Salads work well too and we splurged and had some boiled shrimp with our salad the other day. We also add a large dill pickle or cheese sticks sometimes. We are still trying to get creative, but we have been really satisfied with these lunches and making them the night before helps and we don't have to heat anything to eat. Hope the ideas help. Best wishes to all of us.

Hey, I am so sorry to hear about your trouble with your fill and that you had to miss the graduation. I hope it was video taped so you can purchase it. But I know in the long run, even though missing your daughter's graduation was hard on you, that loosing weight and being healthier for the rest of your life and being able to live longer is the priority. I am so glad that they were able to do the revision the same day. Best of luck to you!!! And to the rest of us too!!!