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Love whole wheat and whole grain pasta! I use it in everything that calls for Pasta. I think it has a really good flavor. My FIL does not like whole wheat pasta but my MIL found RICE pasta (I think it's brown rice) and FIL really likes that. Might want to look into that if you're not big on whole wheat. I haven't tried it yet but plan on it.

*Thighs rubbing together *Trying to heave myself out of the couch *Not being able to walk into ANY store and find my size (boutique's, tourist shops, etc.) *Skirted swimsuits *When at a dinner at church (or wherever) looking at the space between backs of chairs and wondering if I can get through without bumping into someone or having to have someone get up to move their chair *When at said dinner, being the one whose chair sticks so far out into the walkway that people can't get through easily *Always feeling so smooshed up and things popping out (stomach!) when sitting

Shelby, I know that you are disappointed but YOU'VE LOST 4LBS THIS MONTH!!!! How exciting!! Most surgeons I hear about like an average of 1-2lbs per week. You're doing a really good job! You need to give yourself a pat on the back. I don't know about you but before surgery, no way could I lose 4lbs in a month! I'm proud of you and think you're doing great! Also, if you're hungry, take a look at what you're eating and how long it's taking you. You might be eating too fast or things that don't fill you up. Start with your Protein and add a nice salad or pile of veggies for the bulk. I understand about being hungry. I go for my first fill on Tuesday, I'm hoping it helps. I'm also eating too fast and my bites are too big. I'm having a hard time slowing down and taking smaller bites. My surgeon actually doesn't allow anything but protein the first 3 months but I've already added back some veggies after my protein b/c I miss them and I need the bulk. We'll see what happens after Tuesday. Give yourself a break. :tt2:

That's good to hear, Brandy. I'm praying the slip is taken care of. Keep us up to date!

THAT is a great post, Jacquie! Well said.

Oh, NOW I get it! Thanks!

What does it FEEL like when you're having a spasm? I've got a weird feeling in my throat and the other morning after I drank about a third of my milk it felt like my throat was closing up! The only difference was that it was ice cold. I'm now noticing a similar feeling, though not the extreme of the other morning, when I drink something really cold. I know I wasn't stuck, it'd been the first thing I'd had all morning. AND I don't have a fill yet, nothing to get stuck on! Anyway, can you describe the FEELING for me? I do see my surgeon for a fill on Tuesday, so I'll talk to him about it then, but still want to hear your experiences. Thanks!

I'm with all of you! I kept seeing the "Lion" ad <eyes rolling> and that got me to thinking about it. Got online with their website in January. Eventually found this site. Talked to my PCP thinking he'd be against it. He'd always been on me to try again to lose the weight. Surprisingly, he thought it was a good idea for me to go to seminar, said they'd talk more about bypass, so be aware, and they'd send me "out" for the surgery. Went to seminar and signed up for classes that night. Found Kaiser was doing the surgeries but I'd have to go to the bay area, 3 /12 hrs away. Started getting a little discouraged with the logistics of going back and forth 3 1/2 hours for all of my appts and surgery. But wasn't going to give up. I figured that one way or another, this was for me and I needed to do this. By summer it was looking like I wouldn't be able to have surgery until the following spring with the waiting list in the bay area. Then, middle of summer, I find out Kaiser was bringing a new surgeon to Fresno, an hour from me and where all our major appts are! Heard he was hoping to start doing bands at the end of the year. Figured I'd wait for him instead of trying to get in sooner, farther away. Come end of July, they called me to have surgery the next week! Freaked me out! Couldn't do it that soon. (I have a 2yr old I had to make arrangements for and a firefighter DH who (during fire season!) had to try to get time off!) They called me back for a surgery date in August that I could do! Day of surgery, never having had surgery before, and I was NOT nervous or scared. THAT is the hand of GOD! I've felt calm about the whole thing. Doors being opened that allowed me to be able to do the surgery closer to home and a good 6-10 months sooner than I thought it would happen! So, yes, I feel this was for me. Wasa, I don't understand your comment.

Wow, Lauralee! Are you okay today? No after-effects? I know I've been eating too fast and not chewing enough. My surgeon put a small fill in at the time of surgery but I haven't gone for my first post-surgery fill yet (next Tuesday). I'm so afraid I'm now going to get stuck. I really DON'T want to go there! I'm glad you didn't panic! Even though it's nasty, it's good to know what can happen, in case it does! Take care!

Wow! Congratulations!! You earned that smirk on your face! LOL!! Enjoy your day!!

Congratulations!!

I agree most people aren't interested in banding b/c of the speed of WL. I really need to talk to Peggy. I'm certainly no expert but I've done so much research, I could probably help if anyone has questions. They also need to let people know about this site. This has been a huge help to me when I couldn't get information anywhere else. I hate speaking in front of people but if it would help others, I'd be willing. <shaking in my boots!> If you're in touch with anyone in class who wants to be banded and has questions, direct them here and have them PM me, or you could PM me with their e-mail address. I'd feel bad if people either gave up on surgery all together or if they decided to have bypass when they didn't really want to go that route, especially if it's something I can help with. There was a lady that started class the same time I did. She wanted LB but they talked so much about bypass that she quit and decided not to have surgery at all. She was afraid of the side effects of bypass and thought LB was the same. I tried to tell her it was different but she wasn't doing any research on her own (I even wrote this site down for her), just listening to what Peggy was teaching in class. NOTHING against Peggy. I really like her and like she says, even she doesn't know much about LB. I'm so sorry her dog died! How sad! Was it old-age or something else? UGH! I've had so many over the years, add cats to that too, it's a wonder I keep getting animals! Although after our last cat (we had to put him down), I put my foot down and no more cats for awhile. Now we just have our dog. I'm thinking, after she goes, I'm done for awhile. Of course, I say that now! LOL! More than likely some little cute puppy will catch one of our eyes and we'll be pet parents again! LOL! Have a good weekend!

Welcome back, Moe! I'm so glad your fill is working for you! I get my first fill on Tuesday and I'm so looking forward to it! I'm getting hungry now and if I don't pay attention, I'm eating too fast and by the time I'm done, I'm STUFFED! Not good! Congrats on the 4lbs lost! I'm amazed, even hungry, how little food I'm still eating compared to before surgery! How a little amount of food satisfies me (when I'm paying attention, that is!) and how long it takes me to get hungry again! Have a good weekend!

SG, Thanks! I have to change the WL total to ADD 1.1! I gained this week! I think the swelling has gone down and I've been hungry this week. Not too out of control yet but... I go for my first fill on Tuesday. I'm hoping it helps. Psych for me was easy. Of course I wasn't trying to quit smoking either! Best wishes with that! And very cool that DH is quitting with you! For my psych I had to fill out a questionnaire (lots and lots of pages and repeated questions) then talk to the psych for a few minutes. The guy I had was great, I don't know about the others. How's class going? Tell Peggy I said "Hi" if you think about it. I keep meaning to call her to let her know if anyone has any questions they can e-mail me. Are they talking more about banding now? They basically didn't discuss it much unless one of US brought it up. And then they usually didn't have an answer. Take care!

Sounds like you're on top of it, Hollie. I hope I didn't go overboard. When I hear of things like this, I tend to get all "mama bear" and start spouting advice! Sometimes it's not wanted. Sometimes it's needed. I'd always rather say something and have the person on top of things, like you, than not say anything and hear later that something horrible happened that could've been avoided. Anyway, hope you didn't take offense. That's weird about the computer! Makes you wonder! Any news on the interview yet? Probably too soon! LOL! Take care!!

Hi! I'll check up with everyone later. We're headed out to go woodcutting again and I don't have much time! Last week: 198 This week: 199.1 GAIN of 1.1 Not much in exercise. Not worried about the gain. I go for my first fill on Tuesday. I'm hungry! LOL! Check back later! Have a great day! TTFN!

As far as I know she's never had a weight issue. At least a "being overweight" issue. (Not like I'm on the up and up though!) I've always thought she was very thin. Now she almost looks anorexic, or like you said, Manatee, ill. I thought the same thing last time I saw her. Wondered if she'd been really ill. Hope she's okay.

Welcome! I'm near Yosemite, so not too close but wanted to say, "Hi!" My mom used to work at Chico State and lived in Chico for about 7 years. It's a nice place! As a kid she lived briefly in both Chico and Paradise. Does your surgeon have a support group? That might be a better way to find some people closer to you. You'll find some great people on here but maybe not near you! Take care!

I'm 5 1/2 weeks out and I STILL get tired really easy. You JUST had major surgery. There's been a lot of trauma to the body, your intake of calories is REALLY low and you're healing. Everything on the outside looks and feels normal but the insides are still healing. We can't see the insides so we think we should be up and going all day like normal! Last Friday we went woodcutting in the forest (normal process for us), all I did was ride in the truck, walk up and down the dirt road watching 2yr old DD play in the dirt and DH to make sure he didn't cut something important off with the chainsaw and I was EXHAUSTED! I didn't hump wood to the truck like normal. I didn't load or stack wood in the truck, like normal. I did NOTHING and I was done for! Drove me nuts! We're going out again tomorrow. I still can't hump wood because I'm still on my 10lb lifting restriction (unless we get some smaller pieces of wood!) but I'm hoping that a day in the truck doesn't wipe me out again. I feel better than I did last week, so I'm hoping. It takes time. Give yourselves a break and take it easy if you can. Rest when you can and heal. Best wishes!!

Sherry and Susan, I have to agree with you both. I love this site and it has taught me so much, good and bad. It is a fantastic resource for all of us, from brand new, looking into it to banded for years. Sherry, glad you're doing so well! I have to say I've been much more confident in my decision and feel so much more prepared than I would have otherwise. I was NOT scared or nervous the day of surgery! Shocking, I know! Part of the reason is because of this site. I knew what to expect, not having EVER had major surgery before. The other, large, part is my faith in GOD and knowing HE was looking out for me. Best wishes to you on your continued journey!!

Mac, you always have such great, concise information. I was on a 10 day pre-op of shakes only. Weeks 1 & 2 post-op of shakes only. Stop shakes at end of week 2. Week 3 soft foods - yogurt, milk, cheese, eggs, Peanut Butter. Week 4 add Beans, nuts (!) and seafood Week 5 add chicken and turkey Week 6 add beef and pork I'm in week 6 and have had no problems other than Week 3, first day had a scrambled egg and it didn't sit so well. Felt like a lump in my stomach. Stayed away for about a week and tried again, no problems since. He also requires ONLY Protein for the first 3 months (he wants to make sure you're getting at least 35g of protein). After that you can start to add, gradually and in VERY small amounts veggies and fruit, BUT I've already done that. I don't eat much but I miss my fresh organics (we get a box from a local farm every week!). Tonight was a black bean lasagna and a small salad.

Hollie, I'm so excited for you! I'm also worried about you with the ex. This can get out of hand really fast. My suggestion would be to call your sherif's dept. and speak with an officer about some things you might be able to do. Find out if it's something you can just get them to be aware of so if something happens they have a heads up about it. I really am not trying to scare you but you really need to make sure you stay safe. Be proactive about this. They, unfortunately, may not be able to do a thing, but they can advise you. They may also tell you to call the moment you think you see him, whether he's there long or not. If they can find him, they'd be able to talk to him and advise him (to leave you the hell alone!) as well. Call them. See what they AND you can do about this. Do it while there isn't a crisis and you're calm. Stay very calm and give them the facts. They'll go from there. I hope the Dr.'s office gives you a call for an interview! That would be fantastic! Best wishes, Hollie. Take care!

Oh My Gosh!! That sounds soooo good! I was JUST at the grocery store and hate to go but this is making me want to run back to the store! So not going to, but we have to go back on Sunday. I'll pick the stuff up then. Thanks for sharing!!

Ivy, hang in there. Congrats on the accountability to yourself! I'm proud of you for that! To me, that's a huge part of our battle. To put this in perspective though, I know you think this is horrible and a really bad problem, BUT what would have happened in the same circumstances BEFORE banding?? Really take a look at that. I know you've reverted to old habits and slider foods but what of the volume? And you KNOW being too tight is probably worse than being too lose. This is by no means to discourage you but in the last 2 days I've been HUNGRY. I'm un-filled. I've gain about 2lbs back, so far. I don't go for a fill til Tuesday, I'm hoping to not gain much more before then but you know what? What would have panicked me before banding, doesn't panic me now. I know it's part of the process and it should come back off again. I'm not really talking about the 2lbs, or even your 9lbs. I'm talking about our mindsets. It's different now. At least is feels like it to me. When things are going wrong, crap in life, or needing a fill/un-fill, this is part of the process and it's okay. As long as you catch it and try to do something about it. You've taken notice and you're going to work on it. You'll be okay! Life stuff may not get better but you know what you can do to help yourself. Get an un-fill, change your eating and work on breaking those habits and replacing them with good ones. Please try to give yourself a break. Take good care of yourself. Be accountable and make your changes. Do what you can, for yourself. You can't control the outside stuff but you can control the inside stuff. Take care!!

Caren, I'm sure you've had your fill already! I just noticed that you posted A LOT earlier today! How did it go? From what I understand, it's not normally a big deal. There have been a few that had problems but most have been fine. I go for my first fill next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it!