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I'm home w/my DD and work for our church from home so I don't have a schedule per se. I eat Breakfast, well, drink it, right now! I can't eat in the AM. I drink a shake, then have some hot tea and take my supplements and meds (the tea helps open my band enough to get my BP pill down). That's usually no later than 9/9:30. Then usually between 12-1 I take my 1st dose liquid Iron (1st Calcium in the AM) and have lunch. Between 2:30-3:30 I take the 2nd half of my supplements (2nd calcium included) and eat some dried apricots to help w/constipation. Dinner is then after 5 sometime along w/my 2nd dose of iron. Sometimes, I'll have a snack later. Just depends. Usually I'm not hungry. If I do have something, I make sure it's by 8:30-9:00. That's when I put my DD down for bed and I don't like to eat after she's down. It's too late and I have to stay up for awhile to make sure it all stays down. (Nothing like eating, then going to bed. You can feel it in your throat. Yuck!) Nope, never tried it! LOL! My luck, I'd lose count!

Start: 191.2 Today: 189.1 Total: -2.1 Left: 7.9

I got a fill on the 6th so I'm at 5.5 now. I have restriction and now can't eat anything in the AM. Used to. I drink a shake (which my dr forbids!) for 14 or 20 grams of Protein, depending on which one I want. We'll see if I can eat breakfast later in the month as I lose more weight. Last week: 191.1 This week: 189.1 Total loss: 2lbs! Whew! Glad that happened! I was starting to wonder when last Friday, after my fill, I'd only lost 1/10th of a lb! Just a few more lbs and I'll be down 50 since I started the process in March. A few more after that and I'll be halfway to goal. That all just seems so amazing to me! Is anyone else just amazed by this process (not mine! LOL! Yours!)? Lellow, fantastic loss! Congrats!

I was banded in August and still have problems sometimes. Some things I've discovered. 1. Don't get too hungry before eating something. Even if you just take a bite of some Protein while you're fixing dinner to stave off the major hunger. You may still be hungry but you won't be starving. I always end up eating too fast if I get too hungry. I don't realize it, til it hurts going down, what I've done. 2. Eat by the clock if you have to. Where I sit at the table, I can see the clock on the microwave. I have to keep watching the time to make sure I'm not eating in less than 10 minutes (was my normal). Ideal is at least 15-20 minutes. 3. Try not to be distracted while eating. I have a 2 1/2 yr old DD and it's hard. If I'm dealing with her and chewing at the same time, invariably I'll swallow too soon and then here comes the pain! 4. Physically set your utensil down between bites. Sounds silly 'cause we've never done that before but it really does help. If we're holding our fork/spoon while waiting to finish chewing, we're already thinking about the next bite instead of concentrating on the current bite. Again, here comes the pain if I swallow too soon. 5. After each bite, take a moment to make sure it's going to go down. This also gives you a moment to decide if you really want the next bite. I'll actually sit back away from the table while I chew. I don't pull my chair up close to the table anymore. I have to lean towards the table to take my bite, then I put my fork down and sit back against the chair, with my hands in my lap, while I chew and wait a moment before taking another bite. I hope this helps. It's a long learning process for us. We're changing YEARS of horrible habits in a matter of days, weeks or months. It takes time and unfortunately sometimes a lot of error. Hang in there, you'll get it eventually. You have to or you'll just keep hurting yourself! Oops! I just realized I posted on a Dec'08 thread, so sorry about that.

LJM< sounds like you're doing well. As well as can be expected. I'm glad for the update! How's the boredom and the eating going? Keep hanging in there and BEHAVE!!! :wink: Take care!

I don't normally have a problem eating it. That is until last week. I had a fill on the 6th and I"m up to 5.5ccs now. I'm pretty tight right now and am having problems that I've never had before. Mostly b/c I'm eating too fast. I had a spoonful the other day to up my calorie and Protein intake since I hadn't been eating much. Must have swallowed too much at once b/c OH WOW! It hurt! I have papaya enzymes on hand and got those down and soon was okay but I've been a little afraid to try it since. I'll have to tho, I miss my peanut butter!

THAT is so COOL!!!!! WTG, Lellow!!!

Good to "see" you again! The holidays weren't too bad for me except I ate a lot of stuff that I'm not used to and felt a little sick! Didn't lose at Christmas (stayed the same) but lost (1lb) at New year's (shock!) and have since kept losing again, tho slowly. Got another fill on the 6th and def. have restriction now. I'm up to 5.5cc (10cc band). I'm eating too fast and it hurts now! Also can't really eat in the AM. Don't really want too either so a shake is fine. We'll see what Friday's WI says for sure but it looks good at this point. Anyway. Don't disappear like that again! Not good for you! We all need the support. Welcome back!

Oh My Gosh!! This is sooo funny! Almost 20 yrs ago I had my wisdom teeth pulled and was pretty loopy after coming too. I flipped out b/c I had dried blood on my hands (I'd apparently wiped my hand across my mouth before they got me cleaned up). The surgeon himself was cleaning me off! He was trying to calm me down at the same time. DH was sitting with me in the recovery room and mentioned that he liked the wallpaper. I asked him, "what wallpaper?" Ummm, yeah. Then we're walking out and he's helping me b/c I'm still toast. We get outside the building and there's grass on either side of the walkway and I yell, yes yell, "OH HONEY, LOOK! SOMEONE SHIT ON THE GRASS!!!!" Yes there were people around! Yes, he was mortified. Yes, he apologized to the poor people near us and explained I'd just awakened from dental surgery. And yes, there was a huge pile of poop on the grass by the walkway. Someone had a BIG dog they didn't clean up after! As far as my band surgery. I don't remember a thing between being wheeled into the surgery suite and waking up in recovery.

I agree with changing up your exercise routine. I'd also like to add that maybe you need to up your calorie intake just a bit. If you're working out hard, you're burning almost everything you're putting in and there isn't much left. The body goes in to survival mode and will hang on to everything it can. Best wishes!

Okay, just found the calendar. I feel like an idiot and I do agree you can totally blame your computer for this one! LOL! It's at the top, under the pictures of different bandsters' before and afters. I'm going to give you all the links across the line so you can find it. Hope this helps. And smack your computer! Well not too hard! Here we go: User CP Invite Your Friends Chat FAQ Community (drop down menu) Blogs (drop down menu) Calendar New Posts Search (drop down menu) Quick Links (drop down menu) Log Out When you click on Calendar it takes you to a Public (everyone on line can view it) calendar screen. There is a drop down menu towards the bottom right corner that allows you to choose different calendars, such as a private one. I just found it and glanced through it so I don't know what all it can do or what you can click on. Hope this helps. 'Night!

Thank you and you are welcome! LOL! I have a calendar on my computer that I put it on. iCal. I have a Mac. I didn't even know we had a calendar on here! And blaming the computer works for me! I do! :thumbup: I work from home 5 hrs a week doing the financials for our church so I didn't really take any time off. Well, sort of. I made sure I was ahead on bills and payroll and then kind of took the week of surgery off. I had surgery on a Monday and by the following Monday felt up to doing stuff. Granted all I had to do was walk my butt from the couch to the chair but I kinda had to watch how I sat. I would scrunch up some and after awhile I would start to ache and have to sit up straight or get up and walk around. I wasn't intentionally doing it but it was comfortable at first and then would start to hurt. Everyone is different but I would plan at least a full week off. I really just wanted to sleep the first few days. I took a lot of naps. But I was also walking, very slowly, on the treadmill or back and forth across the house to help with the gas and constipation. If I had to go in to the office, I would have been glad for that week. If possible, I would take a second week off as well. By then you are more interested in consuming nutrients (don't know what your post-op diet is going to be like) and you'll need the time to figure things out for yourself. You'll also still be really tired and wanting to rest a lot. Well, I was. I've heard of others bouncing up the day after surgery and not slowing down since! You'll also need to think about what kind of help you are going to need after surgery. I had a 6 week, 10lb lifting restriction. I have a 30lb 2yr old! A gallon of milk is 10lbs just to give you an idea. No way could I go to the grocery store by myself. Hauling laundry downstairs to the garage to do a load was out of the question. Every one needs different things after surgery so try to analyze, as you go through your daily life, what might need to change for a few weeks or what you might need help with. Just some things for you to think about. If you have any more questions, just ask!

You are very welcome! February 10th is a wonderful date! Well, actually any date that your surgery was scheduled on would be wonderful! LOL! I just put your surgery date on my calendar. I just can't tell you how thrilled I am for you. You've had a lot of ups and downs just trying to make this happen. I really admire you, Debbi. You don't let your blindness hinder you, you take life by the horns and make things happen for you. I'm sure you have your days when you'd just love to give up but you don't seem to show it or allow it to happen. I know a lot of people with few issues just let things fall apart and blame the world for their troubles. You don't seem to do that. Anyway, you're an inspiration! Take care!

Oh Debbi! That is probably the best news I've had in days! I am SOOOOO excited for you!!! Your talking computer is going to have fits with this post! LOL!!! You must be bouncing off the walls!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! And Happy Birthday! I'm sure you'll let us know as soon as you have a date! Oh I'm just so excited!

We use unleavened bread and as soon as I was on soft foods I was okay. I chew it really well so it doesn't ball up inside. Don't know if it will but am worried about it. The only pills I"m taking now are my diuretic for my BP and acidopholis (sp?) and both are pretty small. I'm pretty tight right now and can still get them down. My Vitamins are gummies, Calcium and vit D are chews, Biotin is a chew, multi B w/sublingual 12 is liquid, Iron is liquid, Omega is liquid I think that's all! LOL! Everything except the omega and the multi B I take 2x a day. The mulit B I take in the AM and the omega dose is 2tsp, so I take 1 in the AM and 1 in the PM. I hope that all makes sense! Start searching now for alternatives for your supps. You may have to order some. Luckily I get most of my stuff from my local health store in my small town. Just be forewarned, you're going to pay a fortune! Can't just buy the cheap pill form anymore! A 25 day supply of my iron is $43 alone! Ouch! Tho I have to admit that everything I take now is much better than the stuff I used to take. Best wishes!

Ditto what a lot of the others have said. I was on very soft foods at week 3 so no way could I have had anything other than maybe the dip for the chips! You need to be following your surgeon's guidelines. If he has you on regular food by then, I'd say eat what you want. New Year's Eve, I was worried b/c I knew there was going to be junk. Heck we were bringing some if it! BUT what happened is that even tho I had what I wanted and felt like I ate all night long, in reality, that's just not what happened. I did eat what I wanted, BUT I didn't chow down all night long and my portions were WAY smaller than last year's were! I was shocked! I had been worried about not being able to control myself or to stop when I needed too. I shouldn't have been worried. I did fine. Didn't feel too good on Thursday tho b/c I'm not used to eating that crap anymore. Every major food event makes me a little nervous. Just b/c each one is different and now new. But as I go thru these and do fairly well, I get less nervous. I just literally can't eat the volume that I used to. I physically just can't do it. I got banded to help me be normal again. It's working. I WANT to be able to eat crap once in awhile. I want to be able to look at a whole cake and know I can have a small piece and be satisfied with it, instead of not being satisfied til I EAT the whole cake! I eat pizza. I love pizza. I am not going to stop eating pizza. I used to eat pizza several times a week and at least 4 pieces at one sitting. Now I eat it, at most, once a week (more like about every 2 weeks) and I can only manage 1 piece. Maybe 1/2 of another but I'm actually just eating the toppings! Oh and I never eat the outside edge of the crust. I'll eat the bottom but not the edge, that's just the handle for me now. Also, this is your son's b-day party. I know at my DD's parties, I don't get much of a chance to eat. She's pretty young tho so maybe it's different with older kids. Most importantly - HAVE FUN! Enjoy your family and friends and the wonderful day that I"m sure it will be!

Congrats on finding something that works great for you! That must be so exciting! AND to have family to help! WooHoo! I couldn't swing it. I lost a lot and was getting worried. It never came out in clumps, as far as ending up with baldspots, so that was nice. BUT I've started some iron supplements to go with my protein and Biotin and that seems to be working. It's still coming out but only about half as much as it was. Still too much in my opinion but I can see it getting better. Because of the Biotin, I'm seeing new growth too so that's nice. Hang in there and enjoy your new hair! Your own hair should come back eventually! Thanks for sharing!

Oh LJM, I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. Still praying that all goes well these next few weeks! Try to take advantage of the rest, you know you're not going to get any once you get home with your new baby!! As for the munching, I have no advice except maybe drink Water before you reach for the crackers. It might slow you down enough. If it doesn't then maybe instead of 3 nilla waffers, it's only 1 or 2. Hang in there!

Congrats, AZ! Proud of you, Claudine! WTG Losers!! :confused: Charlie, hang in there. You lost more than I did! See below. Last week: 191.2 This week: 191.1 Total loss: 1 ounce! I got a fill on Tuesday and haven't been eating much since then. It looks like my system doesn't like that! Then I decided to have some scrambled egg this AM and ate too fast and got stuck. Fine now but a little sore. We'll see what happens next week!

Don't worry about it! No big deal! And I normally weigh every AM but my official is Friday. So. This AM. Start 191.2 Finish 191.1 UGH! A whole OUNCE! I had a fill on Tuesday and haven't eaten much since then. Apparently, my body doesn't like that! I'll try again next week.

Jacqui, I totally agree with you. Take this week for me. I had a fill on Tuesday, I haven't eaten much since then. You'd think I would have a huge loss for today. Nope. Lost an ounce. That's it. When I feel like I'm eating too much, I have better losses. Amy, if it works, keep playing up on the vanity angle. She will lose ALL of her hair if she doesn't start getting some better, overall, nutrition. I was getting plenty of Protein as that was my dr's instructions and I was still losing A LOT of hair. I found a good Iron supplement and added back my veggies and my hair loss has improved. Still losing some but it's not near the amount it was. Best wishes!

Gilta, I'll have to get you a weight tomorrow. I actually didn't get on the scale this AM! (Miracle!) Day got thrown off by having to get up early to take DH to work. UGH! I also wasn't sure what day we were going to do a WI. I'd thought maybe Saturdays b/c that's V-day. BUT now that I know it's Thursdays, I'll pay more attention! LOL! Thanks, Gilta!! And I'll check in with you tomorrow!

Please don't give up. You've gotten some good advice. I don't understand the insurance/cost correlation either. Can you explain more, please? If you don't want to go to Mexico or Texas, I've heard good things about Dr. Kirshenbaum (sp?) in CO on here. With you being in Indiana tho, don't know if you want to or can travel. Hang in there.

This time of year I'm doing a lot of hearty stews and Soups. I like them thicker so I always cut the broth on the soups that I make. I get a lot of my ideas from the mags that I get and off food Network's website. I use their search engine a lot. Just type in a main ingredient that you want to use and all kinds of things pop up. You can then narrow the search down to find something that sounds good and is what you can manage in the kitchen (i.e. easy, intermediate, difficult). I also get ideas from this site in the food and nutrition section. There are tons of recipes on here. I've gotten a few good ones and a few not so good ones! LOL! Some stuff I make up. I love to cook and we get fresh, organic veggies from a local farm so I usually plan around what we're getting in our box that week. Just gotta get creative. It can be fun too!

Nope. Unfortunately. But not because of anything other than the fact that our 2 1/2 year old DD is still in our room (her own bed tho). Her room is downstairs and we'd started remodeling it. I'm not ready for her to go down there by herself yet, so the fact that it's all torn up (and has been for some time) doesn't bother me too much. I do wish that she wasn't in our room but our house is laid out in such a way that it's just not ideal with small children. Master is upstairs with the main living area and the other 2 bedrooms are downstairs with another bath, along with the garage.