girlie2shooz

Soups are a sure thing, tamales, refired beans, filet mignon, baked potatos, well done vegetables. artichoke dip with good whole grain crackers. Usually i find better choices on the appetizer menus that entrees.

@Fenton - My day starts with taking my one half cup tupperware containers and filling one with Colby Jack cheese, two with multigrain crackers, one with a green cooked vegetable and a regular yogurt with me to work. This is what I eat all day long, a little at a time. When I get home I have typically made a huge pot of Soup that is Protein based (Beef Vegetable, Potato Cheese, chicken Noodle etc) on Sunday, and I usually have two cups of soup for dinner and a handful of Fritos for a snack. If I want to change anything up during the day I have some refried Beans. I look at food more now as a necessity and not a reward. Does that make sense? If I fall short on my protein I have a shake. I look more at protein than calories, carbs, sugars etc.

The best words i ever got from another bandster was you keep getting fills until you reach your goal weight. I will say I am very restricted but I ALWAYS shop for proteins first, then vegetables. And I have taken the approach i can eat whatever i want, and taken the "Tabboo" out of eating. Just my coping skills, and honestly I do eat whatever I want but I practice protein first, religiously. Just my .02 cents

Hey all, Im a March 2008 bandster. Certainly have had my fair share of learning, but i have gone from 224 to 149 and have maintained around 149-154 for the past 1.5 years. it is a learning experince for sure, but i chose to keep my perfect restriction and not remove any once i hit my goal weight. i know what to eat and how to eat to maintain. I know myself well enough if i have any restriction removed it wont be pretty, tee hee. All my blood work is good, my hair is healthy and I wouldnt change a thing. Just my short story.

call me mean, call me a bitch, that is okay. what it boils down to is don't waste time on what didn't happen, focus on what can happen. you have a great tool that when at proper restriction can really assist you in losing your weight and being healthy. rip off the rearview mirror, you can't change the past but you can change the now. and yes, there are so many here to offer advice and experience, use the resource to your advantage. you will succeed!

Let me chime in here....got over it and get on with it. we all went thru it, we all are on our way to perfect restriction or we are there. we all get/got discouraged in bandster hell, so what? it is just another phase of the process that will change with time. time heals all, you will be fine. it is what it is. life is too short for the shoulda, woulda, coulda. G2S

yes wannabe, isn't that great??? I notice you are on the same timeline as well, good for you. My doctor cares about my health, and takes pride in his work. he does not encourage large fills because it takes time to adjust eating habits with each step of restriction. i did not go into this thinking i would take off 60+ pounds that took 20+ years to gain. i have taken it off the smart way, slow and steady. we all make our choices, i am glad i made mine good choices. G2S

oh it isn't that bad. i only experienced some pain in my shoulder from the inflation gas. you feel a little groggy after the surgery and then you will probably sleep on your back for a week or so and then poof ,you are pretty much back to normal. it is a good pain, knowing it is short term and your weightloss will be long term. besides, your doc should give you some great pain meds, use them.

hey does anyone experience any oddities that signal they are full? I used to hiccup but now i sneeze when i am full? Tell me someone else has some goofiness going on with being full......

hey whoa girls don't give up yet. you need restriction, and then you need to learn how to eat with restriction. there is a huge difference. if you are throwing up after a fill, ask yourself if you are eating tiny, and i mean pencil eraser size, bites of food and chewing to liquid. are you swallowing large amounts of water and it is coming back up? well then take sips. have food in small quantities with you all day. i realized that i was at work 8 hours a day, take enough good food with me to keep me from looking for the bad when i got hungry. i had surgery 3/5/08, and finally have perfect restriction as of 3/3/09. i get full eating soup, now that is a big switcheroonie. so try it, meet the band half way and you will see your success. G2S

have you ever swallowed a french fry the wrong way and it just aches clear into your back, well that is what "stuck" feels like to me. i typically make it move/loosen by patting my chest fairly hard. it happens, you learn real quick to recognize the sign so it doesn't happen to often again.

hey everyone, was banded 3/5/08 and have perfect restriction from my last fill which took place 3/3/09. 7cc in a 10 cc band. i thought i had restriction but the weight just wasn't moving as it should be. now i know that .25 to .50 of a cup of food really does fill me up. i thought i had restriction but the weight wasn't coming off, but i wasn't gaining. if you aren't losing at least 1.5 lbs a week, get a fill and make sure your food choices are smart choices. some of us need more restricted caloric intake than others. it works and it is great, don't get discouraged, just think you aren't gaining!!!

keep your chin up and start eating smaller meals more often. with all due respect, your eating habits as you have indicated, are poor at best. you can change things don't get discouraged and give up. if time is an issue make time on a weekend to prep for your meals. make sure the foods you are eating are good choices and always always eat yoru protein first. if you want some help with planning your meals i would be happy to offer help. g2s

hey girls, just a little perspective from the west coast.........we have all had the mentality for so long that we "can't have" any of the good stuff. well that is right, we can't live on it!! what we can do is realize that "normal eating" allows for something that is totally contraindictory to our band eating habits. we can change the way we look at eating and realize that, with restriction, we can have a "goodie" once in awhile becasue that is normal. as you get further along with restriction, fascination with food will begin to decrease and it won't be the focus of the day. it is what it is..... a learning experience and no one can tell another what it is like, we just have to live it. be good to yourself and rip off the rearview mirror! g2s