B-Man

We have a cheese steak place here that I like to eat at (or at least used to) and they have these large picnic tables in the outdoor area. We I sat on one side and another guy from work was on the other. No problem. food and drinks came and the guy on the other side got up to go to the restroom. Bad Joo Joo Drinks and cheese steak went flying, and I landed on my back with the table on top of me. 200 people in the restaurant all stopped and laughed. And we don't even need to talk about those cheap plastic outdoor chairs. You know the white ones that seem to be everywhere. :thumbup:

I seem to remember scrambled eggs being considered a mushy, but now I have grown to hate the dam things. Two of my worst PB's have been because of scrambled eggs. Now chips and salsa... Those go down by the basket full. Much to my chagrin.

I have been married for quite awhile, so I doubt I know what i am talking about, but I would think finding a good companion is also largely about location. By location I mean the places you hang out, and the activities you do. I don't really believe clubs and other type of meat markets really work out, but rather social gathering such as church, theater, or other social type activities that are of interest to you. What are your hobbies? If you don't have any, then get some. You have invested the time and money to get your body where it needs to be, now start having fun with it. I have been accused of having to many hobbies, but several of them would be great methods of meeting people. Scuba Diving Flying I play saxophone in a blues band Golf Horses. (Boy I meet lots of good people in the horse world.) Photography Every single one of these hobbies give me the opportunity to interact with people. You never know what man / woman / couple you meet might have a good friend that is also looking for a companion.

I have two good friends who had the by-pass done. The first only lost 50 pounds, plus she had a life threatening complication within a week of the surgery. Her husband had the procedure six months later and has lost 175 pounds. He can barely eat anything, and throws up or dumps on average two times a day. Now for him it was probably the right choice, but for her it was almost a complete waste. Also He Has significant skin issues because of how fast the weight came off. I choose the band because I was looking for a tool that would help (not force) me to change who I am and how I ate. I am confident that with the help of the band I can succeed. I can still cheat and eat ice cream or other things I should not, but I no longer want to. I never even considered the by-pass, and have never regretted my decision.

First I start of with chips and salsa Then I get more chips and salsa Then I order nachos Then I leave really pissed off at myself. Two days later repeat above. It is amazing to me that almost everything I eat gets stuck, but those dam chips I can eat by the handful with no problems. Of any food that I wish I had problems with, Mexican would be my first choice because I like it so much, but no those dam things just slide right on down. :sad_smile:

Any time I get a fill, they pull all the fluid out of the band first, add the additional and push it all back in. This way they know exactly how much is in the band, and know if there is any leakage/evaporation. My fill nurse will usually show me the syringe and I can see for myself how much is going in.

Called NOS (as in the go fast gas for cars Nitrous Oxide) that comes in a small bottle. Now I understand there are probably a lot of bad things about this type of artificial aid, but oh my God it really worked. I took the shot as I left work and went straight to the Gym. By far the best workout I have had in years. Lots of energy, quick recovery from the weights, and felt great even after I got home. Of course I took the drink at 7:00 and did not fall asleep until after 2:00 am, but it was worth it. This to me is a great plateau buster as it really did allow me to push myself harder than I usually would have. :sad_smile:

I have really enjoyed the Myoplex Light bars. They have 15g of Protein and 190 calories. They are really easy to chew up into small bites, and they taste pretty good. The only downside is they do have 4.5g of fat which is way to high, but I guess everything is a trade off now days. They also keep me from being hungry for at least 4 hours. Now onto another subject. I have now resigned myself to the fact that eating will cause me pain. I really don't feel like I have a pouch, but rather everything goes right into the band as soon as i swallow. If something chooses not to go down, the pain starts immediately. I believe I have good restriction because there is very little I can eat without it hurting. I guess my question is, is this normal? i currently have 5cc in a small ap band which I believe is 10cc.

Congratulations on reaching what will hopefully be the first of many goals. My birthday was on Monday, so it looks like we are both Gemini's (or should I say all four of us.) I am going on an 14 Day trip to Alaska in July, and really want to do the Ziplines and Helicopter stuff, but I must reach 250 by July 8th. I am working pretty hard to reach that goal, but I think I will fall about 10 pounds short. Surgery date was January 11th, and I am now down 55 pounds. That leaves 25 to go before July 8th.

Well the best thing to do is change something in your routine to shock your body into responding. If you are exercising, then you need to change your routine to include a different type of workout. If you are not exercising then that is the first thing you need to get started. Now I hate exercising, and I understand how difficult it is to get started, but once you tuff out the first couple of weeks, you will find yourself looking forward to it. Also I know I have found myself in a food routine. Even if that food is overall healthy, I have better weight loss when I switch food routines as well. Switch your source of Protein from chicken to fish, or some other change in routine.

Ok I think I might have the solution to what a lot of you guys are going through. Send me a self addressed envelope and $29.95 and I will send you the answers you have been looking for. Once say 20 or 30 of you have sent me money I can afford to pay a shrink to figure out what the Hell is going on in my head that makes me want to continue down the same old path as I did before getting the band. My Surgery date was January 11th, and as of today I have lost 46 pounds, but I am down right determined to make this thing fail. It has been a really stressful couple of weeks for me, and therefor I have fallen back into the old "food is my only friend" scenario. I was at the store last night feeling sorry for myself, and decided nothing would make me feel better than a King Size Reeses Cup. Ok lets stop and take a vote. Who here thinks I was right, and those 4 wonderful combinations of chocolate and Peanut Butter nirvana made me feel better? Well if you voted yes, then you need to send me $29.95 and I will send you a King Size Reeses cup and you can find out for yourself. I myself have had two fills (4cc) and I need to go back for more. Its amazing how many tortilla chips I can still eat and feel no restriction. I had pizza for dinner last night and the pain was pretty bad... Did I stop? nope, but at least I had to suffer for it.

When they pulled the 3ccs out there was no pain involved. Once they get the needle in place everything else is painless. One way to ensure the needle is in the port is to pull out whats already in. I also like this approach because they can tell if any has evaporated out.

I had my second Fill yesterday. Initial fill was 3cc and they added a 4th cc yesterday. The nurse who did the fill said I should expect some of the inital 3cc to have evaporated out, but when she pulled it out, all 3ccs were still there. Now I am curious how much restriction I will feel with 4cc vs 3. I had some restriction before and have had several pb experiences, but I could still pretty much eat what I wanted. Funny Story, the night before I went in for my fill I had a dream that I went it to a different office (same DR, just different office) and the scale that I had to weigh in on was tiny and I had to stand on one foot and try and balance myself to get an accurate reading. Then the nurse came in with the needle that looked just like a turkey baster. luckily I woke up before she stuck me with it.

Here is what I don't understand. At all the seminars I attended they talked about a small pouch forming above the band that would fill with food giving the full sensation. Then the food would slowly ease through the opening, past the band and into the stomach. To me every bight I eat goes straight into the band opening. Sometime it goes right past it, and other times the food gets stuck. I never really seem to get a full sensation, I just eat less because I know I should. Is this the way its always going to be, or do I need another fill to get more restriction. The pain of food getting stuck is now becoming an expected part of every meal.

I am a January bandster, but let me give you guys some advice. If you feel like something has gotten stuck, DO NOT!!!! try to drink something to help wash it down. The fluid will just sit on top and put even more pressure on the band. Holy Cow batman that hurts. I have found that if the pain has not gone away in two or three minutes I am better off going to the bathroom and burping it back up. A PB (at least for me) is not painful and generally relieves the pain caused by the blockage right away. keep in mind since the food has not hit the stomach it is only mixed with saliva an not stomach acids. If you bend over the commode and allow the burp to come out, then the food will come right with it. Just spit it out and move on. I have had 2 PB's and I no longer fear them.

So I also had my first fill on Tuesday 3cc in. Today at lunch I was eating something I knew I shouldn't, but it was going down ok, and then BAM the pain hit. So I stood up in the middle of the restaurant and did a little dance trying to get it to go down... Nope. I then excused myself to the restroom and walked around trying to decide what to do. I bent of the commode and nothing happened. The pain was pretty bad at this point. I walked around for another minute then felt a burp coming. i went back into the stall and almost with no effort I had my first PB. I though it was pretty cool. Of course maybe I learned a little lesson in the process.

I have had no more incidents, but it seams I am experiencing a lot of pain when things get stuck. I am curious if this is a pain I am going to have to deal with from now on? After a minute or two the food goes down, I remember to chew more, and life goes on. When the proper restriction is reached is this pain still a daily part of life?

I don't imagine I would do it for fun, but what I found cool about it was its the first time I really felt the band was going to work for me. Prior to that event, it was a free for all. Also I had really been curious about exactly how the P.B. would feel and it was pretty effortless. Just up and out. not like a normal through up.

I was at a mexican food restaurant which i should probably avoid. I was attempting to eat some Flameado or what is basically melted Monterey cheese with some chicken in it. Oh Well add that one to the list.

So today is my two week post op anniversary. Although most of the time I do really well with smoothies or applesauce, I must admit I have concerns about a couple of meals I have had. For example I have had fish including sea bass and tilapia as well as I just finished eating a cheese omelet for IHOP. I feel fine, but also have a fair amount of quilt/concern over whether or not I am doing whats right for my band. What do you guys think?

Boy do I feel your pain. I also was banded on Friday. I think they put more gas in me than the Good Year Blimp. Whats been bothering me is that the gas seems to get stuck at the band when it tries to come out. Farly painful process.

for those Friday bandsters how are you feeling. Nervous? or just ready to get it over with like me. I think my wife is having a harder time with it than I am. We spent some time last night going over financial issues in the event of a problem, and that was kinda hard. I have been under 3 times before when I was young ( 24 years ago), so I am not to worried about it. Since my 4 year old girl is staying with the grand parents tonight I did have a little bit of a hard time dropping her off at school. I think I embarresed her when I made her give me a hug infront of the class.

Mostly i would think you are expecting more than your body is willing to give. I know I lost 5 pounds in three days and now it has stopped cold. I am not even cheating... The best advice I could give you is loose your scale until several weeks after you are banded.... Looking at it daily is bad joo joo.

I am sure others have talked about this product, but I was pretty excited to find it. There is a protein shot called New Whey liquid Protein which has 42g of protein in a 3oz shot. Also only has 176 calories, 2g of carbs and no fat. Its a fairly thick liquid and the taste is iffy, but its hard to beat that level of protein in 3 oz. Also there is no need to refrigerate it.

UPDATED LIST Dec 31- Chrisann (honorary member of the Jan 08 bandsters) Jan 1- HAPPY NEW YEARS! Starting the year off right! Jan 2- phowell, Megmarie21, Gingerbug(Victoria), jengland, racetrackweary, rainbowme2(Bunny), RT (Brisbane), jojokitty Jan 3-WOWOX7, Woodsy,momto3, Mommamare(NJ), nancy52,AnneElliot, ovahkummer Jan 4- KUgirl, steviegene, SuzanneG, Songinmysoul, sleclerc (shirley), WendyRae Jan 5- texasbandster Jan 6 Jan 7- CallmeJim, comepickmeup, NukeChik, mamato3, kintime, Shell, destined2befree, babedoe4 Jan 8- Fat&thrifty(and husband Joe), itz me, faa31, crackedpepper, flipbarnett, Joanna240, rustymarie, gingydilly Jan 9– Redtulips3, FLMan, TachaBaby505, Lillyanne_M Jan 10- luvsrocks, Hilary, Jen25bl, jtag10_4, Char1007, Pizzaman citygirl4616 Jan 11- brez1015, Tmusicmaker123, Poopsie, Ready2JustDoIt, B-Man Jan 12- jen6740 Jan 13 Jan 14- CoreynVA, acalpn, srbanker(Suzanne), grayl, cnukaya, Jessthat, Deedle, thinner-or-bust, gilliebean, greeniiii, mitch Jan 15- Travelology (Mexico), Dianegoe, poodlecamper, LKM Jan 16- Kathy-CA. Saleel --Australia, back2reality, Cherry_Blue, Dazzle, nadean, with his help, Jan 17- SJK, Alfie, L.A., lwood, tweenwaters, Laurieloo, kcintx,mia31771 Jan 18- RuthE?, shanarene Jan 19 Jan 20 Jan 21- mo7293 (Maureen), graham, lee41 Jan 22- purplegoddess, DPJDMOM, Rakes4321 Jan 23- min, Ang1982 (Angela) Tigger_Shorty (Rose) Jan 24- holleyhobby,jst4kel,kimmycrs, Somogyi1(Agnes - Ottawa), rakes4321 Jan 25- Noni(Mary), htay73il (Hope), Thor Jan 26- Louise (London) Jan 27 Jan 28- kawanabear(Kalonda), crystalcml, blg200200, justtjohn, PeachesPJ Jan 29- diane-south fla Jan 30- PortuguesePrincess(Stephanie),Amberwaves(Amber) Jan 31- SarahT1982, lkgrubb, sexymama