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Okay, TulipStar! That was fantastic! Made it Sat night and my husband and 2 year old daughter loved it! I did make it a little easier on myself. I needed to get it in the oven so instead of rolling the enchiladas, I cut the green chili tortillas that I was using in half and layered them on the bottom of the dish after putting a little taco sauce down. Then poured the chicken mixture in, layered another round of tortillas then added the rest of the taco sauce and sprinkled the top with a good amount of cheese. I also left out the broth/water. My mixture was loose enough and was afraid the added liquid would make it too soupy. I was right and it was perfect! I don't know what I did different that I got more liquid but it worked wonderfully anyway! DH said we had to keep that one to make again!!! THANK YOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!!! Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

Hi! Last week: 199.1 This week: 196.3 Total wkly loss: 2.8lbs I've lost nearly 40lbs since starting classes in March. Almost 15lbs since surgery! AND I'm no longer Morbidly Obese!! Never thought I'd be happy to be Obese! LOL!! Got a fill on Tuesday. Adding 1.5 to the 1.5 he'd put in during surgery. Total of 3cc in a 10cc band. I'm feeling it. We'll see how it goes in the month til I see him again.

speck!!! Lol!!

Vicki, feeling fine today. I took it easy with the foods yesterday and that helped. I think I'm going to take it easy and stay on liquids and very soft foods for the first 24hrs after my fills from now on. I also didn't help myself by doing major shopping errands right after with no resting. Not doing that again either! Thanks!

I've heard a lot of these statistics too. I think the societal outlook on women's bodies are all out of whack. I just hope to do right by my daughter and hope she's not all body image messed up too. I know for myself, growing up, I had body image issues. I thought I was fat too. I knew I was the thinnest in a family of fatties but still thought I was fat. You look at pictures now and know I wasn't fat. I was normal. Just didn't know it then!

Through Kaiser you have to go through a series of weekly nutrition classes before surgery (at least in my area) and I found it to be a great source of support. In fact several in my group have had surgery (mostly bypass) and we're planning on getting together once everyone is up to it. Kaiser also holds monthly after surgery support meetings, combined bypass and band. I've gone to 1 so far and found it nice to be with others. If I can get a sitter next week, I'll go again. My biggest source of support and information though is here. Kaiser is an hour away and with sitter issues, it's hard to get there. If you can go, I'd try to. Doesn't work well for everyone and I've heard of horror stories with support groups (no support unless you've done "their" surgery, meaning bypass). But most I've heard about, sound like they're good ones.

PB = Puke Back or Productive Burp. Depends on who you talk to. Me, I think it's more like puking back. There is no burping involved that I know of! LOL! I think there's a list on the main page Forum somewhere.

Oh Jacqui, I agree with you (again!). I think it's ridiculous the way they get all superior on us. Like we don't know how to eat or follow the rules. For a lot of us, we do know what to do, we dieted our way up to these weights! If it REALLY bothers me, I say something but for the most part, I listen, tell them what they want to hear and then forget it. Mom, glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm still a little queasy this AM after my shake. I just think I'm too sensitive. I also take a long time to heal. I won't let it go past Friday if I'm still not feeling right. Yesterday took a lot out of me, we did a Target run and shopping at Trader Joe's right after my appt. I totally did NOT take it easy. I really think that's what I'm paying for now. I'll keep quiet today and go easy with soft foods and see how things go by tomorrow.

SG, I was starting to get worried too! Here initially, I really liked him but then I started getting irritated with him! I've liked everyone I've ever dealt with at Kaiser and I hated that one of the most important people in my care was going to be the one person I couldn't tolerate! LOL!! Also, he was so on time yesterday! I was still talking to the receptionists when they called me back. His nurse took my BP and then went to get him and he came right in! My appt was at 1:40 and we were back at the car by 2:10! I was shocked! I had the whole thing all built up. If I was still waiting after 20 minutes I was going to re-schedule. If he bitched at me about my slow WL, I was going to throw it back in his face about being so not supportive. Etc. I had it all planned and had to do none of it! LOL!! Nice though b/c I hate confrontation, it's not my style at all. Best wishes on your appts today!! And congrats on being smoke free!! Hang in there, I understand it gets better! DE, thanks! I've already determined that I won't let it go through the weekend if I'm still not feeling good. I think some liquids and soft foods today and I should be fine. I have a sensitive stomach anyway. If food is just slightly "off", I'll get sick so I'm not really surprised that I'm doing this. I just think that trying regular food last night was too soon for me. Thanks for speaking up. I appreciate it!

Jacqui, I agree with you. Unless they (government) are looking at it as just a monitoring process to see what happens with these kids. I do know in my own family, when you look at pictures of my mom and sister as babies, they were already fat. Now my mom is one of 8 and only her other sister (6 boys!) had/have weight problems. My sister is younger than I am and we both ate the same foods. She was born a normal, healthy weight (we were both within ounces of each other) but by the time she was a year, she was a fat baby. Me, on the other hand, had NO weight issues (other than my own perception of being the smallest fattie in a family of fatties, when I was anything BUT fat) until I hit my 20's. Then I started gaining. My mom and sister both had bypass 5 and 8 years ago. Both had tried everything to lose weight. Nothing worked for them. They couldn't even LOSE weight! They both have done great with their surgeries. My sister has had 3 more kids since her surgery. I was able to lose weight but couldn't keep it off. DD was adopted and I have no clue about her birthfather, but her birthmother's family is all normal sized with a few minor weight issues (say 10-20 over weight, kinda thing). Even at 2 she loves sports and being active so I'm hoping just by teaching her well, how to eat and how to be active (and getting healthy myself) that even if she does end up with some extra weight, she'll be able to control it and not have serious issues. We'll see. Anyway, just a picture of my family. Kind of both sides of the coin that Jacqui was talking about. Sorry it's so long. I talk too much! LOL!

UGH! Teri, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this. Both you and your baby. I have a 2yr old and her being hurt just breaks my heart so I know where you're coming from. I also think that your DS isn't going to hate you. I know that DD does really well if I explain things to her. Sometimes I think I'm over-explaining but as long as I keep her informed, she does great. She hates not knowing what's going on. She literally flips out. I swear half the time I think I'm talking over her head but she's fine anyway. Take today. I had to take her with me to my fill appt. I explained that mama was seeing her doctor and he was going to be checking mama's tummy and he was going to put a needle in but it'd be okay. It's to help mama. She did great. She wasn't happy, I think she knew it hurt, even though I didn't express that. But when I sat up, I smiled at her and waved and she smiled back. Hang in there. It sounds like you have an eating plan for yourself and you sound really prepared. Let us know how things are when you get back. Have a safe trip.

Hate to tell ya this but in the US they're starting to monitor kids at age 2. I have a 2yr old and her pediatrician at her 2nd b-day appt (back in May) was saying that peds in the US are now checking for obesity at DD's age. Soon after, saw a thing on the news about it. I have no details. Unless it affects me directly I don't always pay attention and DD doesn't have any issues at this point, so in one ear and out the other! Oh, I do remember that they're checking cholesterol levels and blood pressure in overweight kids. That was part of the monitoring starting at age 2.

Ha! I got scolded too! Must be something they teach in Surgeons School!! LOL! I fessed up that I'm still sipping a little Water with my meals. I get so dry that it gets hard to eat. He also doesn't want me using Protein drinks AT ALL!! liquid calories and they don't hold you for long, according to him. I usually have one, and not that often at all, when I'm not really wanting food but need to get some nutrition in b/c it's been awhile. He still said no. I have to say that I'm going against him on this one. I usually don't want food in the AM, so I might drink a shake if I just can't make myself eat. Then have lunch at, well, lunchtime! I'll watch it though. If I notice I'm getting hungry too soon or not losing, then I'll take another look at it. He had given me 1.5cc in my 10cc band at the time of surgery and since I had really good restriction up until just last week (I'm 6 weeks out), he gave me another 1.5cc for a total of 3cc. The fill went fine. Appt. went well, he was happy with my 12lb loss since surgery (I weighed in at 198 on their scale). Later though, I felt sick to my stomach! For a good hour after. He said to eat normal but go slow and if I had problems with my regular food to go back to soft foods. A couple of hours later had a few bites of food and then felt like I was going to bring it back up again! Felt all wrong! I'm so not interested in food tonight. Haven't had much. I'll do a shake in the AM and see what I feel like at lunch. Don't know that I'm going to do regular food though. We'll see. I am really surprised at how against the shakes he is. Kind of threw me. I figured I'd be on liquids for a couple of days, like most others. Anyway. How are you feeling now that it's been some time since your fill? Are you still on liquids? Do you FEEL anything? I'm not feeling anything, other than a little sick once in awhile. Oh and the gas is back with a vengeance. I don't EVEN understand that one!! I feel no hunger, no stomach, no nothing. Almost like after surgery with the anesthesia! I FELT nothing in my abdomen for awhile. Strange. Let me know how you're doing! 'Night

I'm glad your first fill went well. I'm sorry you got scolded. I don't know why they expect us to suddenly turn into perfect eaters! Being a perfect eater isn't what got us here in the first place! I go for my first fill this afternoon. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to seeing my surgeon again! The last 2 times I saw him, he wasn't happy with what I lost even though I was following the rules (he wanted more!). The last time, all he said was don't gain. Well, I've continued to lose until last week. He'd better not give me any grief! And he'd better frickin' be on time this time! (The 2 times I've seen him, I've had to wait almost an hour each time! :wub: WITH my 2yr old in tow!) Ok, deep breath!

Oh, I am sooo sorry!

abrenner, just click on your ticker and it will take you to the site. Input your password, it'll change pages again. Scroll down, change your current weight, then click "next" at the bottom of the page. It'll change pages again. Then just close the site. Refresh the LBT page you were on and it should show the new stats. Hope this helps. You can also do the same thing by going into User CP and going to edit signature. When your signature pops up, click on your ticker in the upper preview section and it'll do the same thing as above.

For those of you having a hard time getting your Water in, try this: Fill a 2 quart pitcher of water and put it on your kitchen counter/work desk and just keep filling up your glass/cup/mug. If it's really hot, it goes in the fridge. I always have my glass with me. If I walk into the kitchen, it goes with me and I top it off. Some days I get all of it in. Some days most of it. Every day is at least more than half. It helps to have the visual. Keeps me thinking about it and drinking. It IS hard though. I did the same thing with the pitcher before surgery and almost ALWAYS got my water in for the day, if not more, but since... Lets just say I try really hard. And am usually FULL all the time b/c of all the water! UGH!

Welcome! What part of CA are you in? (You don't have to be specific if you don't want to. It's only for my curiosity!) I'm Kaiser too and just had my surgery 6 weeks ago. Best wishes for your process!

Until we start getting fills (my first is Tuesday) we are going to be able to eat more than we should. I'm the same as you though, in that those amounts are no where NEAR what I used to consume! Things are going to stall (I gained 1.1 this last week). As far as the food goes, is it possible to cook on the weekends? I made a black bean lasagna over the weekend, gave us 2 meals plus enough leftovers for 5 lunches (a serving for DH alone or I split it with DD)! A pot of Soup that I also made over the weekend is giving us one meal as a family and a couple of meals with just DD and I and enough left to go in the freezer for another meal later. It took me little time to make these and yet we're getting several meals out of them. Do you see where I'm going with this? You're already cooking a few nights a week, make it count. Cook something thats big enough for a few leftovers later. When you clean up after dinner, portion it out and freeze it. Just today I found a chicken enchilada recipe on here and plan on fixing it this weekend (if you don't want to take the time to actually roll the enchiladas, just layer with tortillas like you would a lasagna). It's another recipe using my 9x13 pan and I'll be throwing at least half of it in the freezer. Check the food & nutrition board here. I also find a lot of stuff on the food network website. Just some thoughts. Hope it helps. As far as exercise, I have a 2yr old, I'm still working on it for myself, so I'm no help there! Sorry! Take care and let us know what you get figured out!

Have you tried the soy cheeses in the natural foods section of your grocery store? They're pretty decent, esp if you're adding them to things. There are different brands and types so you'll have to find one you like. They are different in texture too so do make note of that. But experiment and see waht you find that you might like. As far as the yogurt, have you tried greek yogurt? I can't stand yogurt or cottage cheese (it's a texture thing) but I LOVE greek yogurt! By a small container and see if you like it. There are different brands and flavors, even the plain is good and I can't handle even a bite of plain yogurt!

Oh wow, that sounds so good! Looks like it might be on the menu for the weekend!

I guess I'm not really sure why you're confessing. You are approved for solid foods. You may not have made the best choices in what you ate but we have to get over the "bad" food, "good" food mentality. There are always better choices we can make. Always. Does that mean we always do? No. But now with the band, those not so good choices aren't as detrimental as they used to be. I don't have any fill and yet I can NOT eat as much as I did before my surgery. Am I picking the best food all the time? No. Am I eating better than I ever have? Yes. I also don't understand the "no can do ever" list that I hear folks talk about. The only thing my surgeon said I can never have is carbonation (sodas, beer, etc.). I am supposed to eat Protein first but there is no list of foods my surgeon will not ever allow. I don't understand where a "no" foods list comes from that includes bread, Pasta and popcorn. I've heard of bandsters having problems with them and on their own aren't the best choices (no protein) but I've never heard of a surgeon saying no to certain foods. Anyway, just asking. Please don't beat yourself up. There really is no reason. This whole thing is a learning process. (You may not ever eat any of those things again just because they made you so sick feeling!) Just because we have the band installed does not make us perfect eaters overnight! We came in to this with our bad habits intact. It's up to us to work on the head stuff. I keep saying, they did surgery on my stomach, too bad they didn't work on my brain while they were at it! Hang in there and learn from what turned out to be a mistake (feeling sick) and then move on.

I found a chewable/lozenge type Biotin that I take daily. I've always lost hair but don't want to lose more. My hair is thin to begin with and I just DON'T want to go there! Just today, I started to take 2. With some of my supplements I split the doses to make sure I'm absorbing as much as possible. I now do the same with the Biotin. This is what I'm taking (in case any one cares! LOL!!): Gummy Children's Multi-Vit (we already had it, it's what my DD takes) Calcium w/D Chews Biotin 1 each in the AM, 1 each in the PM (late afternoon/evening) liquid Omega 1/2 dose in the AM, 1/2 dose in the PM (one dose is 2tsp) Acidophilis pill (to keep the health of my intestines w/the weird nutrition) Diuretic for high blood pressure 1 dose each in the AM (both are small pills) Best wishes!!

Melisa, I am NOT going to tell you to have surgery. That has to be completely up to you. I WILL tell you that so far, this is one of the best things I've ever done for myself! I'm 6 weeks out and really happy with the way things are going for me. I started the process with my PCP in February and weighing 240lbs at 5'3". I managed to lose a few lbs by the time I got to seminar in March and started the program. Went into surgery at about 210 (came out of surgery at 217 that took 1 1/2 weeks to lose!) and am now just under 200lbs! I'm thrilled! What I can suggest you do is research. Read books, read this site, participate in threads, ask questions, information groups, classes, etc. KNOW why are doing this, KNOW that this is the surgery for you. Educate yourself and THEN decide if this is what you really want to do. I did all of that and was so calm at the time of surgery that even the nurses were commenting on it. In my heart, I KNEW that this was what I was supposed to do. I'm not saying it's going to be perfect, I hope it is but I know about the complications that can happen and I'm okay with the risks. Welcome and hope to see you around!