MamaJava

Grrr...still haven't lost anymore weight. Staying stuck @ -13. I guess I should just pat myself on the back for not gaining anything, eh? Not much happening today. Making homemade bean & ham soup and it smells so good. I hope it's 1/2-way decent after I throw it in the blender. Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat made w/ 1% milk 1 peach 'n passion fruit Dannon Fusion smoothie (too much sugar & calories, but good) SNACK: 1.5 cups won ton soup broth LUNCH: 1 butterscotch pudding 1 sf/ff chocolate pudding SNACK: nothing - still full from earlier DINNER: 1 cup pureed bean & ham soup Yeah I just don't really get it. I'm drinking only about 1/2 of what I should be, so I'm gonna step that up a notch to try to get more weight off. I'm getting irritated and frustrated about it...also time to hit the treadmill now that I'm feeling back to normal. Doc cleared me for exercise on Wednesday...so why isn't my fat ass gettin' it done??? I did this for a REASON...time to make it happen. Til tomorrow ~Krista

Grrr...still haven't lost anymore weight. Staying stuck @ -13. I guess I should just pat myself on the back for not gaining anything, eh? :redface: Not much happening today. Making homemade bean & ham soup and it smells so good. I hope it's 1/2-way decent after I throw it in the blender. :huh2: Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat made w/ 1% milk 1 peach 'n passion fruit Dannon Fusion smoothie (too much sugar & calories, but good) SNACK: 1.5 cups won ton soup broth LUNCH: 1 butterscotch pudding 1 sf/ff chocolate pudding SNACK: nothing - still full from earlier DINNER: 1 cup pureed bean & ham soup Yeah I just don't really get it. I'm drinking only about 1/2 of what I should be, so I'm gonna step that up a notch to try to get more weight off. I'm getting irritated and frustrated about it...also time to hit the treadmill now that I'm feeling back to normal. Doc cleared me for exercise on Wednesday...so why isn't my fat ass gettin' it done??? I did this for a REASON...time to make it happen. Til tomorrow ~Krista

Oh there are so many things! 1. Ride roller coasters again (hubby and I are enthusiasts) 2. Be able to shop in any clothing store I want - no more Lane Bryant!!! 3. Be able to spend time out in the sun without getting heat exhaustion 4. Reduce my migraines (I get them from exertion & swelling) 5. Have no problems with legs swelling ever again 6. WEAR SHORTS...I'm sick of capris 7. Wear a tank top in the hottest weather (I've always hated my arms) 8. Weigh less than my husband 9. Be able to run 10.Avoid a breast reduction - hopefully I'll lose a ton of weight in my 'girls'! 11.Swim in public without the shame of getting into a bathing suit 12.Be able to sit in any chair without having to visually evaluate it first to see if it will hold me. ...and there's a ton more...this surgery is saving my life and allowing me the tool to finally succeed. Much thanks to modern technology.

I purchased Pro Complex powder by Optimum Nutrition. I got it at GNC. It's a lot of protein - 60 g. - per serving, which is 2 scoops...but ya gotta be smart about stuff like that. I have 1/2 serving (1 scoop) for breakfast or mid-morning snack in a glass of 1% milk, and then another scoop (1/2 serving) for dinner or after my workout in milk again. It's yummy, and I do that when I haven't eaten enough protein sources in the day. If I have, then I don't worry about the shake. I have only tried the chocolate and I really enjoy it.

I would love to be able to access this list as well but it's not available. Does anybody have it who could forward it to my email address? You can send it to kristascoffee@yahoo.com Thanks!

I love the stuff! My favorite thing to do is mix it with a tiny bit of light mayo, throw in some chopped onion and stuff it into a whole wheat pita with tons of shredded lettuce. Mmmmm! Enjoy!!!

Just a suggestion: I was banded @ Forest Health Barix Clinic in Ypsilanti by the most amazing Band surgeon out there. Dr. Jon Schram. I highly...HIGHLY recommend him. He's one of the top teaching physicians for the lap band around the country. He's the top dude who teaches all the other dudes how to do it. They are an amazing facility. Check them out if you get the chance.

I have the Realize band also. I've been told it is a 9cc band. I cannot believe the OP got banded 2 days after surgery??? That's basically unheard of. What about your stomach healing time? I would be kinda worried about that. Otherwise, the Realize band offers longer-lasting restrictions, has a much lower rate of slippage, and my doc said his patients with the Realize (J&J) band are also losing weight at a much more steady pace. However, with all new products, it will be awhile before they know for sure if this band outweighs (pardon the pun) the older style bands in long-term performance. All studies that my doc has participated in up until now support the above findings...which is why he does Realize and only Realize bands now. I'm comfortable in my doc's decision to use these bands. They sound like an upgrade and that makes me happy.

I definitely had a few binges before my surgery. I got banded on Jan. 4th so my last couple weeks were straight through the holidays. My doc did not require any sort of pre-op diet and since it was the holidays, I gotta say I did overindulge and I ate myself to glory. I enjoyed every last minute of it, too.

Okay...I understand where you all are coming from. Makes a little more sense. I guess I was more concerned about being somewhere where pureeing isn't going to be possible. I know Soups, oatmeal and mashed potatoes are always an option, so I'll just learn to stick with those for the next 12 days if I have to eat away from home. I'm not trying to break rules. I don't want to appear like "one of those" band people who just don't wanna follow doc's rules. I'm following very well...I just thought there wasn't much difference when pureeing in your mouth to the point of disintegration. Like what I had seemed not-so-bad. It's all a learning process! I'm happy to follow the rules as I'm not usually one to break them. I'll stay away from the scrambled eggs until I have a blender handy next time. :tt1:

I'm curious...what is the difference between eating foods that are pureed in a blender before you put them in your mouth - vs. - soft foods that you put in your mouth and puree by chewing before swallowing? I'm wondering because I began purees yesterday and some things I'd like to eat pureed are just difficult or time consuming to take the time to puree. Plus, it's difficult to visually accept how some things look pureed. However, as long as I'm chewing it down to puree before I swallow, what harm would I actually be doing? I can't see the difference here. I ate 2 scrambled eggs and a small single pancake today to try it out at lunchtime. I chewed and chewed and took a very long time eating. I did a great job making sure I didn't swallow until it was pureed in my mouth first and I personally don't understand what is wrong with that. I knew I was full when I began to feel gassy and did some small burping. Any advice from experienced bandsters? :tt1:

I'm beginning to become very, very discouraged. I've heard and read so many stories of people needing 3-6 fills before ever having any restriction. That could take months! I'm really hoping I'll have restriction earlier, but now I'm getting the impression that it's not very common for that to happen. I'm worried it will be 6 months or more before I ever get any restriction and really begin losing weight. Please vote in this poll, and if you've had restriction very quickly after 1-2 fills, please tell your story so some of us have hope that we may be as lucky as you!

Still staying the same in my weight. I can't seem to drop anything more! Getting frustrated, so I'm gonna really do better. I'm doing well...don't get me wrong...but I can't be too careful. I'm really interested in how many calories I'm taking in each day as well so perhaps I'll begin keeping track of that. BREAKFAST: 1 cup .5% milk w/ 1 scoop (30 g.) protein powder 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat made w/ .5% milk LUNCH: 2 scrambled eggs (chewed to puree) 1 pancake w/ 2 pats of Promise margarine (chewed to puree) 1 cup decaf coffee w/ nondairy creamer SNACK: 1 Dannon Light & Fit strawberry smoothie DINNER: 1/2 cup mashed potatoes 1/2 cup cube steak mushroom gravy (made from cream soup, pureed in blender)

Still staying the same in my weight. I can't seem to drop anything more! Getting frustrated, so I'm gonna really do better. I'm doing well...don't get me wrong...but I can't be too careful. I'm really interested in how many calories I'm taking in each day as well so perhaps I'll begin keeping track of that. BREAKFAST: 1 cup .5% milk w/ 1 scoop (30 g.) protein powder 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat made w/ .5% milk LUNCH: 2 scrambled eggs (chewed to puree) 1 pancake w/ 2 pats of Promise margarine (chewed to puree) 1 cup decaf coffee w/ nondairy creamer SNACK: 1 Dannon Light & Fit strawberry smoothie DINNER: 1/2 cup mashed potatoes 1/2 cup cube steak mushroom gravy (made from cream soup, pureed in blender)

Whoa...wait a minute...somebody posted up there about never being able to have coconut ever again? WTH? Nobody has ever told me this. In fact, my doc has never given me one dietary restriction...ever. He's a teaching physician for the band around the world. His motto is "try it. if it doesn't work for you, you'll know it". What the heck is someone saying ya can't have coconut for? That's just bizarre.

So I had my 2-week post-op appt. today. Saw Dr. Schram only briefly...he had more surgeries to get to and since I'm doing well, he didn't linger with me. He did say my incisions look great (still have most of the steri strips attached), my daily food intake sounds spot-on, and since I've lost 13 lbs., I'm considered to be doing excellent. Nutritionist came in and gave me the okay to begin purees. I spoke to her about my enormous hunger right now. She said it sounds like I healed uber-fast and although she would like me to stick to purees for at least 1 week, she said my 2nd week of purees I can begin soft foods...but not too many each day. After that I'm on softs and easing back into normal life. I'm okay with that. I did ask what the difference was between pureeing food before it goes in my mouth versus eating soft foods and pureeing them by chewing them down to nothing before swallowing. She kinda didn't have anything to say about that, which leads me to believe they are just worried that people won't chew well enough. So, I'll puree when I can, but if I'm in a place where I can't, then I'll chew down to puree. I think I've got this all figured out. Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1 peach Light & Fit yogurt smoothie SNACK: 1 large decaf coffee w/ cream LUNCH: 1 cup Cream of Wheat made with 1% milk No snack DINNER: 1 burger patty chewed to puree (no bun) w/ mustard & ketchup 1 TBSP baked beans 3 pretzels chewed to puree 1/2 cup milk SNACK: 1 chocolate-coffee ice cream bar 1 cup milk w/ 1 scoop protein Eh. I gotta do a little better tomorrow I think. For some reason, today's foods don't seem quite healthy enough. Getting used to all this is gonna take some time so I'm not aiming for perfection quite yet. I'm also worried because I have not lost any weight since last Sunday. Weird. On a diet like this I should be dropping like mad. Hopefully (maybe) it's because I'm still on my period?? Could be a bit bloated, although I don't really feel it. I'm going to begin working out 30-40 minutes each day. I'll probably just start with treadmill since I have my baby and getting time away from him to go to a gym is virtually impossible right now. He'll be 6 months old in a couple weeks! My daughter just turned 10 in October, so doing this all over again is wild. It's amazing how much you forget about the baby stage after your kids are older. :eek:

So I had my 2-week post-op appt. today. Saw Dr. Schram only briefly...he had more surgeries to get to and since I'm doing well, he didn't linger with me. He did say my incisions look great (still have most of the steri strips attached), my daily food intake sounds spot-on, and since I've lost 13 lbs., I'm considered to be doing excellent. Nutritionist came in and gave me the okay to begin purees. I spoke to her about my enormous hunger right now. She said it sounds like I healed uber-fast and although she would like me to stick to purees for at least 1 week, she said my 2nd week of purees I can begin soft foods...but not too many each day. After that I'm on softs and easing back into normal life. I'm okay with that. I did ask what the difference was between pureeing food before it goes in my mouth versus eating soft foods and pureeing them by chewing them down to nothing before swallowing. She kinda didn't have anything to say about that, which leads me to believe they are just worried that people won't chew well enough. So, I'll puree when I can, but if I'm in a place where I can't, then I'll chew down to puree. I think I've got this all figured out. Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1 peach Light & Fit yogurt smoothie SNACK: 1 large decaf coffee w/ cream LUNCH: 1 cup Cream of Wheat made with 1% milk No snack DINNER: 1 burger patty chewed to puree (no bun) w/ mustard & ketchup 1 TBSP baked beans 3 pretzels chewed to puree 1/2 cup milk SNACK: 1 chocolate-coffee ice cream bar 1 cup milk w/ 1 scoop protein Eh. I gotta do a little better tomorrow I think. For some reason, today's foods don't seem quite healthy enough. Getting used to all this is gonna take some time so I'm not aiming for perfection quite yet. I'm also worried because I have not lost any weight since last Sunday. Weird. On a diet like this I should be dropping like mad. Hopefully (maybe) it's because I'm still on my period?? Could be a bit bloated, although I don't really feel it. I'm going to begin working out 30-40 minutes each day. I'll probably just start with treadmill since I have my baby and getting time away from him to go to a gym is virtually impossible right now. He'll be 6 months old in a couple weeks! My daughter just turned 10 in October, so doing this all over again is wild. It's amazing how much you forget about the baby stage after your kids are older.

As a new band patient, I'm struggling with the full liquid phase of post-op life. My 2-week follow-up appt. is tomorrow (01/16) and I'm going to hopefully be cleared for purees and/or soft foods. Otherwise, I may lean over and chew Dr. Schram's arm off... I am beginning this journal to track my daily food. If I don't do it, I know I won't be as successful as I could be. Here goes nothin'! TODAY'S FOOD ~ January 15, 2008 (-12 lbs. so far) BREAKFAST: 1 cup 1% milk w/ 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (30 g.) 1/2 cup cream of wheat SNACK: 1 vanilla pudding LUNCH: 1/2 cup beefy mushroom soup (blended down to liquid) 1/2 cup Activia vanilla yogurt SNACK: 1 grande decaf skinny mocha DINNER: 1 sf/ff chocolate pudding + 1 scoop protein powder (30 g.) 1/2 cup beefy mushroom soup (blended down to liquid) 5 Hershey kisses (didn't swallow each until melted) liquids today were 3 bottled waters, 2 cups Orangeade, some apple juice Feelings: I have high energy, but I feel very hungry. Maybe it is more a feeling of wanting to CHEW. I'm sure it's mental. I'm trying my best to stay busy. The busier I am, the less I think about what I'm missing out on. Plugging away! I feel great other than that, so I'm not gonna complain.

As a new band patient, I'm struggling with the full liquid phase of post-op life. My 2-week follow-up appt. is tomorrow (01/16) and I'm going to hopefully be cleared for purees and/or soft foods. Otherwise, I may lean over and chew Dr. Schram's arm off... I am beginning this journal to track my daily food. If I don't do it, I know I won't be as successful as I could be. Here goes nothin'! TODAY'S FOOD ~ January 15, 2008 (-12 lbs. so far) BREAKFAST: 1 cup 1% milk w/ 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (30 g.) 1/2 cup cream of wheat SNACK: 1 vanilla pudding LUNCH: 1/2 cup beefy mushroom soup (blended down to liquid) 1/2 cup Activia vanilla yogurt SNACK: 1 grande decaf skinny mocha DINNER: 1 sf/ff chocolate pudding + 1 scoop protein powder (30 g.) 1/2 cup beefy mushroom soup (blended down to liquid) 5 Hershey kisses (didn't swallow each until melted) liquids today were 3 bottled waters, 2 cups Orangeade, some apple juice Feelings: I have high energy, but I feel very hungry. Maybe it is more a feeling of wanting to CHEW. I'm sure it's mental. I'm trying my best to stay busy. The busier I am, the less I think about what I'm missing out on. Plugging away! I feel great other than that, so I'm not gonna complain.

Hey, hooker! LOL Just keep your head up. You know it takes awhile to get the right restriction. Just talk to Dr. Schram-a-lamma-ding-dong next time you have an appointment and I'm sure he'll reassure you that you are doing fantastic. I see you all the time and I think you're doing quite well, dear! I hope I get restriction with my first fill, but since we have the same band installed by the same doc, my experience will probably be similar to yours once I have my first fill, too. :smile:

I was given the new 'Realize' band during my surgery on the 4th. Does anybody know off hand how many cc's that band is total? I don't believe they told us. The one we were shown at the seminar was an older model and it's not what I got. Thanks!

It's amazing what I'm reading here. My doc said absolutely no foods are off-limits for the rest of my life. I can have anything I want as long as I make healthy choices, chew everything very well, and if it goes down and doesn't come back up, then obviously it's a food that I can have. This is why I chose the band. Now I was told of foods that people have reported to have issues with (those were the popcorn, white breads & pasta)...but I was just warned to try them but to be careful. My doc said the band is a universally fantastic tool BECAUSE of the fact that nothing is off limits. This is why it reins as a more logical choice over bypass surgery. It's just what your own personal band will and will not tolerate is where the changes come in for each individual. I guess it's all a matter of your doc and what research you've personally done. I did a ton and never read one food to be forbidden with the band ever.

Is it possible to lose feeling in your stomach after a procedure like ours? Like numbness or nerve damage to the actual organ? What I mean by that is...I get absolutely NO feelings of being full. Not at all. Not after any amounts of my full liquids. However, after about a cup, I begin burping and I get "the slimes". Is that going to be my ONLY indication of fullness forever? I would love to feel full to help me with this new lifestyle...but I haven't felt full (not once) since being banded on the 4th. I'm getting really worried.

Since being banded on the 4th, I've desperately been searching for a Protein shake or powder (to add to skim milk) that I really, really liked and that made me want to really, REALLY drink it. I found it! So, I'm going to share my discovery with you. I found it at GNC. It's expensive, but totally worth it. I got the Rich Milk chocolate flavor and it's called "Pro Complex". It's 60 g. of protein per serving. HOLY MOLY! What I'm gonna do is split the serving each day. I'll have 1/2 serving (of course that would be 1/2 the powder as well) in the morning, and then the other 1/2 later in the day. Let's see if this finally helps me get full. Nothing else is working. Oh...I'm also gonna check online to see if I can get it for a lower cost somewhere else. It's kind of outrageous, but since I have 1 more week of full liquids to go, I think it's totally worth it. :bandit

I think we are pretty close to you! Lisa lives in Tipton and I live in Tecumseh. :welldoneclap: We ought to keep chatting and become friends...then the 3 of us (or whoever else from these Michigan boards wants to come) can meet for a get-together sometime. I definitely know where Stockbridge is. My hubby and I had our wedding reception in Chelsea at the Comfort Inn by 94. ~Krista