ShrinkyDink

It really was ok once it was all done, even though there was more to it than I expected. Be sure to ask for more lidocaine if you need it, at one point I started to feel the needle and she stopped and gave me more, didn't feel anymore poke after that, just pressure.

I agree, try eating more for breakfast, yogurt is ok but you need some protein also from solid food, consider the yogurt your drink. My doctor said if a CD size portion of food either doesn't fill me up or doesn't keep me full for 4 hours that I need an adjustment. If getting in some solid food protein at breakfast doesn't help maybe you need a fill. You will get there, we're all learning together. Soon we will all be band experts!

weight: 254, down 2 pounds from last week! exercise: 20-30 minutes in the pool 4 times eating: controlled portions of regular food until yesterday, on liquids yesterday and today because of my fill

I'm meeting some girlfriends from all over the country at Disneyland where we will be staying at their nicest hotel and having dinner at Club 33, a very exclusive members only restaurant inside Disneyland, my friend has a friend that can get us in. The date is set next August so I need to get that scale moving! I want to get some sort of tattoo with some significance to what I've accomplished, I don't know what it will be yet. I will also be shopping like there's no tomorrow, I can't wait to wear cute clothes!

I burp for an hour after I eat, every time. I've learned that the burping starts about 2-3 bites before I feel full so I'm now taking it as my sign to stop. My doctor says it's normal, but boy is it annoying!

Hmmm, I'm gonna try that chicken dance technique I'm 4 weeks out and I still get shoulder pain after I eat, maybe I'm eating too much at a time too.

So sorry you had to go through that and ruin your fun lunch with your friend, I'm glad you have another scheduled. I'm terrified of this happening to me, so far I've only gotten one bite stuck and it went through in about 5 minutes, but I don't have any fill yet.

Have you tried swimming or water aerobics? I have severe plantar faciitis and fibromyalgia and I can barely walk enough to get through my day, much less do any walking or running for exercise. I get in my pool every morning though and walk/jog as fast as I can for about half an hour and it doesn't hurt me one bit. My muscles feel the workout soreness but my foot is fine and I feel nothing in my joints. My heart rate gets up but I don't feel that breathless sweaty feeling that you can get with other aerobic exercise because the pool is cooling me off. I highly recommend it, if you don't have your own pool maybe you could look into a gym, or sometimes public schools have an athletic center where you can pay a small fee to use the pool, usually less than a gym membership. I don't recommend jumping straight into a severely restricting diet when you've never dieted before, it works better to ease yourself into learning new habits. There's a book called Change One that uses this approach, you introduce one new healthier habit (like drinking more water or not eating after dinnertime) at a time and do it long enough for it to become second nature before adding another. I wouldn't leap right into the band either without giving it your best effort first. Who knows, maybe all you need is to move more and control your portions :biggrin:

I'm so frustrated I could scream. It's been almost 4 weeks now and I'm down between 2 and 3 pounds depending on the day. I'm doing everything right and it's not working. I'm not overeating, I'm not making bad food choices. Yes I'm thrilled to be down as much as I am, but I hoped at this point I'd be down at least 10-15 more than I am. My one cheat has been yesterday we went to Rainforest Cafe to celebrate some birthdays. I had fish and chips and ate less than a third of it, maybe 4 tortilla chips with queso, plus a itty bitty portion of brownie and ice cream (maybe 5 tiny bites). My breakfast and my dinner were each about 150 calories of almost pure protein to allow for my overindulgence at lunch so I came out fine on my daily totals, yet today, that flucuating pound is back. Even after going through all I have to get help, I'm failing. It makes no sense at all. I've gotten used to the 20-something pounds being gone and lost that feeling of being smaller and I just feel like a cow again. I guess after getting adjusted thursday it will be better, but honestly I don't see how I could eat much less than I am right now.

Let's see, it was a pretty good tantrum, I'd give it at least a 500 calorie value hehe

I burp for about an hour after I eat, thank goodness they are small and quiet! I have figured out though that the little burps start about 2 or 3 bites before I feel full so I'm taking them as my sign to stop eating. If I could just figure out how to stop one bite before they start I'd be set!

Well I'm down 2 pounds today! I should complain and stomp my feet more often! I hope it means things are kicking into gear, I'm ready for this train to get moving. Thanks for the support everybody, you all rock.

I was just now eating some shaved chicken breast and I thought I was chewing enough but I got a severe pain in the middle of my back and felt on the edge of throwing up. I tried sipping water but it just got worse so I assume I had a bite stuck. I sat up very straight and swallowed and burped repeatedly and focused on not upchucking and after about 5 minutes it passed. Scary feeling! I'm surprised it happened since I don't have any fill yet and so far I haven't had a bit of trouble swallowing anything I've eaten, seems funny that it happened on a tiny bite of sandwich meat. I could live without that ever happening again!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support. That stubborn pound that keeps going up and down is gone again today, maybe it will stay gone this time. I'm getting my fill thursday, I hope that will help. I'm happy with the amount I can eat at one time, but I'm getting hungry too soon after, maybe that's my problem. Staying at an average of 1100 calories or so though, so who knows. Is that too low? I thought that was high enough to not trigger that starvation response, but maybe it isn't. I thought of a good way to mark my progress, I was starting to gather up the clothes that are too big for me now to take to goodwill, but I decided to stack them on my dresser instead. Seeing the growing pile of things that fall off me now should give me some motivation. I'll take them to goodwill when the stack gets too big. I also have a hanger over my scale with the jeans I wore at my biggest and my goal jeans clipped on it together.

It hurt me a lot the first day, I had to have help both getting up and lying down. After the first day I was able to do it myself, but it was still painful for several days. Holding something like a firm pillow against the site as you move helps.

My doctor said nothing over 10 pounds. It puts too much strain on the stomach muscles that were cut during surgery to lift more than that. Maybe you could do her diaper changes on the couch for a short while and she could nap in your bed?

I was very worried about being able to eat normally once I reached my goal. I didn't want to give up bread etc. forever, just wanted to learn to control my portions as I lose the weight. I'm very relieved to find that with no fill I'm able to eat anything I want, but I get that full signal much much sooner. I can eat half a roll, where before I would have eaten 2 full ones, or I can eat a quarter cup of ice cream, where before I would have eaten most of the pint. It's not quite restricting enough to lose at the rate I want without too much hunger, so I'm going to go ahead and get adjusted, but I'm glad to know that once I get there I can get the fill removed and eat normaly with hopefully improved habits, but with a safety net in case the weight starts to come back.

The less you have to lose, the slower it comes off. I know it's frustrating but if you keep eating healthy and exercising you will get there!

I record my food on thedailyplate.com to keep track, but I use that info to choose what I'm going to eat (for instance if I'm short on protein for the day or high on sodium), not so much to tell me when I have to stop because even though I don't have a fill yet, I do have some restriction that stops me before I eat too much. I'm hoping that with a little more practice and with a fill it will become second nature and I won't have to monitor my food so closely.

spinich dip egg salad=YUM!

Plateaus are from the devil, but you can get through it! Don't think about it for a week or so, put your scale away and relax your mind. After that week get back on the horse with refreshed determination, I know you can do it! Remember that's 50 pounds GONE and that ROCKS! Congratulations! I got stuck at 21 pounds off 4 days before my surgery, and now 3 weeks after I've only lost another 3 pounds so I'm right in the frustration boat with you. We will get there!

Not dorky at all, go you!!!! I'm feeling the same way as I approach 250, it's been a very long time since I was below that number and I'll be doing your same happy dance!

I agree with the consensus here. My doctor said this isn't a diet, it's portion control. The only diet like aspect is that I have to eat the healthier food first, and with a limited capacity, that naturally leaves out a lot of the junk. The sugar free rule in the healing phase is because of the reaction the body has to sugar on an empty stomach, it tends to cause blood sugar swings and digestive upset (usually in the form of the runs). Since we are only eating a small amount at a time during that period, that pudding is likely going into an empty stomach. A reasonable serving of sweets after our protein and veggies after we have moved on to regular foods won't have the same bad effect. I tend to choose reduced fat or sugar products, but not those that are reduced to the point of adding the olestra or artificial sweeteners. Olestra makes me immediately run to the bathroom and the only nutrasweet I take in now is in my crystal light once a day. Anything in moderation is my doctor's rule, as long as the good stuff goes in first.

Wow that stinks that it made you so sore! For me the pain passed as soon as the bite moved through. I did move back to the Atkins shakes though just to be safe.

To me the roast chicken with the dip is the best, but for another quick and easy option I tried this with the underwood chicken spread (you'll find it by the spam) and it was also delicious. Makes more of a dip consistency, very creamy. One can of chicken spread with 2 nice size spoons of the spinich dip made 3 servings for me of a little less than half a cup each, just the right amount to spread on about 5 or 6 crackers for each serving. The chicken spread looks rather nasty when you open the can, the chicken is more pulverized and has broth with it so it's kind of a paste, but if you can get past how it looks it really tastes good :smile: