HeatherO

Deviled eggs are not greasy at all when I make them (but it is one of those things that everyone makes a little differently). Because no one eats them at my house other than me, I make them exactly as I want them. I have 2 times as much mustard as compared to low-fat mayonnaise. Mustard is perfectly healthy and is essentially a "free-food." A small dab of low-fat mayonnaise is not going to make a big difference. A whole pickle has 5 calories, so 1/10th of a pickle is not going to make a difference. Paprika is just for taste and color. Eggs are packed with Protein and are healthy in moderation as well. All-in-all it is a win-win food choice. Scrambled eggs tend to stick together in a clump in your pouch due to the texture. If you have a funnel and drop scrambled eggs in, you will find that little actually passes through without a little push. The texture of a yolk in a boiled egg has a clumping thick nature as well. Have you ever eaten just an egg yolk before and noticed how it sticks in your teeth and is hard to swallow? It is the same thing in your pouch. All-in-all I think deviled eggs are great for bandsters, even those with good restriction. :thumbup:

I mentioned my surgeon earlier but not my pcp. My pcp was against wls for me in general. My BMI hovered around 40 and he said it would be a better option if I just changed my diet and did more exercise. I was already regularly exercising vigorously and had been doing so for years. My diet was relatively healthy, low in fat, lower calories with relatively few carbs. So what was the problem??? Constant, incessant, unrelenting hunger and I ate way too many calories for my small frame, even if they were from primarily healthy sources. Anyway, my pcp reluctantly came around at my insistence but I know he never felt it was truly the right decision for me. I have not been back to see him for over a year (part of the reason is that it takes over an hour to get to his office after moving). Really this makes me quite sad because I really liked my doctor a lot. I had been taken my family there for about 15 years, he was always there for me, supported alternate treatments and herbal remedies (which is atypical but was right up my alley), he had red hair like mine and an easy-going personality with great bed-side manner. It just again goes to show that even good doctors can have very different opinions regarding the wls topic.

I should be ashamed of this NSV but I am going to put it out there anyway :0) Please try not to be to shocked. It is time to renew my license and I go next week. I was looking at it and saw that my weight on the license was 180. Well I am sure I was well over 200 when I got the license, so obviously I was not truthful when I got it the last time (probably could just not bear giving some bored, middle aged women peering at me over her glasses something I was ashamed to even admit to myself). NSV - I weigh less in reality than the original fictional number on the license :0). What a hoot!!! So now that I have to do this again next week and I am losing so well, how much should I say . . . ? What an interesting dilemma. I just wonder how many of us who are overweight give the true number on our licenses. It is hard to do because you have to show it all over the place and it stays the same for years . . . . I posted this as a response to an NSV thread in the Jan '08 group but wanted to put it out there in general support as well.

I was 12, not exceptionally early. I don't think at 12 I started early because plenty of my peers started before and after me. I was a thin child. My highest weight before pregnancy with my son was 126 at 5 '3 which is a perfectly normal weight with a c-cup. After I had my son I leveled off to about 150-160 which was a little overweight but not terrible. After a while I started birth control pills and that is when I saw my weight really start to creep up and yoyo dieting became an active part of my life. I have two sisters. My youngest sister is in the overweight category but only slightly so and she is only 13. She started at the same time in life as me. My other sister is shorter than I am and she weighs over 300 pounds and is in her mid-twenties. There is an 8 year age difference between us and I distinctly remember seeing her in the bathtub when she was about 9 years old and was shocked to see that she was completely developed . . . she started menarche a little after that. I remember discussing it with my mom because I was so surprised, and she told me that she had started menarche around age 8. Both my sister and mother have spent their lives morbidly obese and suffered a lot of hormonal problems. I know it is only anecdotal, but in my own family early significant childhood obesity definitely correlated to early menarche. Even though morbid obesity and early menarche seemed to go hand in hand, I am not sure how one affects the other.

I really don't like my wedding photos. Everything was beautiful of course, but I was not happy with my weight at the time. I have recently been thinking about just having some professional pictures done with my husband. I think that would make us both very happy.

I think it is too risky. It would be easy to puncture your tubing and then you would have a significant problem. I can understand why you would be interested at $1k a pop. That is wayyy too much money. Perhaps you should start looking for different fill options in your area.

I agree with the previous posters. It is definitely all worth it in the end and your health is very important. If it is a lot safer to lose a bit first then you will be better off. You will also find adjusting to band life is easier if you have gone through liquid dieting phases and worked on weight loss before being banded. Surgeons are different and I bet you I can find three different qualified surgeons in my town that have vastly different ideas about what they prefer. Preliminary weight loss may improve your chances for a healthier outcome so most surgeons will probably suggest this. However, with this kind of surgery perhaps it would be best to check with another surgeon as well for an initial consultation. Can I ask what your BMI is? I was curious if the recommended loss is more due to a high BMI or a personal preference for your surgeon.

That is it in a nutshell for me. It took what was so difficult before coupled with feeling starving and deprived and made it so much easier. I don't have the desire to overeat. I don't have a voracious appetite anymore. I still have to eat the right things and not eat between meals. Processed sugars and carbs aren't my friends, but I still want them and do indulge in small amounts every once in a great while (twice a month maybe). At first I thought I would only indulge if there was a special event or party or something out of the norm, but I guess I never realized that my schedule exposes me to that way too frequently and so I abstain the majority of the time. Now I can be satisfied with a cookie and not a bag of Cookies if you know what I mean. Eating normal, reasonable amounts of healthy food has become easy now . . . and my weight has dropped steadily since banding.

I have never tried it but I did consider before banding. A lot of people said they found success with it. However, I decided once I was banded that I will not take diet control supplements on top of being banded. Eating healthy is my focus and I have taken the four letter word "diet" out of my vocabulary.

I wondered myself. I definitely need to get some new ones but I was not sure where to get measured since I have never had it done before.

I tried running and I think I was just not physically ready. My heart was beating wayyy outside the normal ranges. I just need to get motivated as well :0).

That is wonderful news!!! There is nothing more nerve-wracking then a plateau.

Sounds like you are going through a rough stretch. Late periods and lost jobs are enough to make the strongest person weak in the knees. You said that you are at restriction but have not lost since March. What are you eating? Is there any possibility that since you are restricted that you might be eating too many slider foods or things that go down easy. I know when I get away from my solid Proteins fruits and veggies, I definitely stop losing.

I see a big difference gilliebean, you are looking great :0). Congratulations on your loss so far.

I exercised avidly before banding and I was still overweight. I don't think it really had much of an impact on weight loss for me because I was stilll ingesting more calories then I was burning. I exercise regularly now, usually 4-6 days a week for at least 45 minutes. I think it has helped to keep me losing steadily and I do have some definition in my arms. Sometimes I don't lose weight fast but my clothes sizes are dropping. I bet I would not look the same at all without the exercise to help.

Actually this comment is not so bad to me. After being banded almost six months, I can tell you that yes, really, it is easier. To not be hungry makes it easier. To be easily satisfied on very little is easier. Cutting unhealthy foods out of your diet does make it easier to discontinue eating them regularly (now they have really become the special occasion food). Of course there is work involved, but my band really helps to make food not the soul focus of my life.

I havent had this problem but it seems like it may be a fairly simple thing to have done. I just want to with you the best of luck.

I burp all the time now, but they are small and internal and no one can really tell because they are well hidden. I regularly need to get some air up from my stomach and into my pouch but even after small burps, it still seems like i need to do it again. Cold Water definitely makes it happen. I also dont drink right before going to bed because you can hear it trickling and gurgling through my system and I need to burp alot. Hiccups are now really common post meals. All in all, no big deal. :0)

Deviled eggs work great for me. I think it is the mustard and a dab of mayonaise (a little diced pickle and paprika are also added) that keeps them from getting stuck. I don't like yolks in plain boiled eggs because they don't travel through the pouch as well. The best thing about them is that you can make only 1 or 2 eggs worth and it is no big deal. No one else in the family will eat them and I don't like them to be more than one day old. Other than boiling the eggs, prep time is less than five minutes so big batches are a waste for me. Scrambled eggs disagree with me, but I have found that omelets are easy and wonderful. I usually put cheese inside and sometimes add a little green pepper and onion. They are high in Protein, fast to prepare and easy on the pouch. Definitely a win-win food in a pinch.

Isn't it wonderful!!!! It took some getting used to for me, but I must admit that once I noticed how much my reflection has changed, I can't stop looking. Now I am always curious about reflections in windows, doors, mirrors, even shiny cars lol. Isn't it a little addicting???

That is awesome news!!!! I thought it was great that you took a picture of the scale :0). How wonderful to have this happen right before you go out of town. Congratulations . . . you deserve it :0) 13 months is incredible for 143 pounds, why that is more than 10 pounds a month. So please, for all of us still on our journey to goal-land, what are your tips for success????

Well I finally renewed my license . . . and I did tell a teeny tiny little fib, but it was the smallest one ever since I have been a licensed driver. I was actually 170 when I renewed in early July but I said 160. However, the month is not yet over and I am already 4 pounds down and 6 pounds away from my licensed weight. This birthday was the first adult birthday for me where I was in the "overweight" and not "obese" BMI range for my height. I guess the really interesting and fun question for all of us will be how much will we have lost by our next birthdays???? I think I will have to do something really fun and exotic next July . . . what will it be . . . I am not yet quite sure . . . but it sure is fun to think about it :0)

I would not worry too much about the thread if she cares about you and was just putting something out there that she wanted to open for discussion as long as she did not identify you. As far as complications are concerned, I know plenty of people who have had severe complications with bypass or who have regained their weight. I can't say the same for lapband. This is the reason why I decided R&Y was not for me. I think for most people who do not suffer from obesity, they only hear anecdotal things about wls which tend to be more negative than positive and not much differentiation between band and bypass. My band is a secret to everyone except for my husband. If I feel the need to share later, I will. I just don't want people watching my every bite or offering up opinions this early in the game. For now, this is my journey with my husbands support plus everyone on the forums of course . . . and that is enough. :0)

Stress definitely affects me in this way. It also increases the likelihood that I will have heartburn as well. My stomach is just ultra-sensitive to stress and perhaps you are similar. Did anything else happen over the weekend like pb'ing or vomiting?

It seems like a strange situation but I know sometimes things can affect you in weird ways. Some things smelled really bad to me when I was pregnant that I typically would like. Perhaps you just need to reaclimate yourself to them one step at a time.