MistyD65

I did not like those AT ALL! My husband and I generally eventually finished the drinks that we taste-tested, but that one went straight down the drain. Everyone's tastebuds are different! :biggrin:

I've always been one to get hungry quickly after eating a breakfast of Cereal or oatmeal - carbs. I find that Protein stays with me much longer. A scrambled egg or some yogurt works well for me. You should check out the Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test. Lots of folks here swear by it for helping get back on track. In fact, there is a whole thread dedicated to getting ourselves back on the bandwagon: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/starting-holiday-detox-early-anyone-wanna-join-me-84070/ . Lots of good support and advice there!

Last week: 252 This week: 249.4 Loss of 2.6 pounds for a total of 54.6. I was down to 247.6 on Wednesday for the New Year Challenge, but TOM got me. It's all good though. I'm really hoping to show a 50 pound loss when I see my doctor on Monday (his scales weigh higher than mine at home, of course lol). I'm seriously considering NOT getting a fill. I've only had one, .6 in a 4 cc band, but the weight is still coming off and I'm not really struggling. We'll see what he has to say. Keep up the marvelous work everyone!

I did something similar to this for myself before I was banded, including taste-testing things. I only did ready-to-drink items, and only included calories, fat, Protein, and sugars, both per serving and per ounce, as well as price per serving and price per ounce. It helped to be able to compare things ounce-for-ounce since I was supposed to drink the Protein drinks 2 ounces at a time. I have the info in an Excel file, if you'd like to see it.

Wow! That's incredible! What a way to start the new year. Congratulations!!:Yawn:

Oh my, I've been doing soooo good since Sunday, but I let my hair down some tonight. Shared a large order of ground beef nachos with the DH (I've been wanting them for a long time) and had a 17 ounce frozen margarita topped with Midori. Believe it or not, for the first time in my life I'm a bit tipsy - and that happened after drinking only about half of it. I seldom drink, but I've never had any kind of effects after one margarita. I'm thinking maybe it's a combination of my lower body weight and how fast I drank that half. Anyway, my calories for the rest of the day were pretty low, so I think I'll be ok. Back on track tomorrow! Happy New Year everyone!!!

Beth, my scale does the same thing. And it never fails that the first weight is the lowest. I should just stop there, but NO, I have to step up again. It can vary as much as 2 pounds within one "session". Very frustrating.

Woo hoo! I've lost the 3.2 pounds I put on over Christmas, plus another 0.6, to put me at just 0.2 from my end of year goal. And I'm not gonna pout over that little bit - it'll be gone by this time tomorrow anyway! Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Things are going great! I'm not doing the detox exactly, but I've kicked myself back onto plan. As of today I've lost the 3.2 pounds I put on during Christmas (and even more than that if I measure from last Saturday's horrible numbers on the scale - but I didn't write those down and consider them a bad dream lol). Keep up the great work everyone! Here's to a slim and trim 2009!

Well, I have two "official" weights - what I weigh at the doctor's office (clothed but shoeless) and what I weigh at home (nekkid, on Friday mornings after ...umm....elimination). I don't worry about the difference.

I'd love to, if I'm not in Mississippi. I'm going to visit my parents for a couple of weeks sometime in January, but I'm not sure when yet. But if I'm here, I'll be there! Any time works for me.

I'm in! After putting on almost 4 pounds at last Friday's "official" weigh-in, then getting a scare of 4 more on Saturday, I decided to get back on track on Sunday. I didn't go the liquid route, but I journaled what I ate and got back on plan. I did go out and buy some of my favorite RTD Protein drinks in case I decided to go with liquids for a couple of days. I traveled to visit my folks before Christmas, so I missed 4 of my daily work-outs at Curves. That, coupled with mindless eating, pimento cheese, and chocolate/peanut butter candy, put the whammy on me. I was really hoping to hit the 60 pound mark by the end of the year - instead, I'm trying to make sure I STAY at 50. This morning's unofficial weigh-in was very promising, and I got in a good work-out today, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. I go in for my second fill on 1/5. My previous appointment on 11/3 was supposed to be my second fill, but my doctor and I decided to postpone it, since my weight loss was so steady and I was having pretty good restriction on 0.6 ccs. He said that the 2 holiday months would be the test, and he was right. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for continuing to lose...until last week. But it was just a bump in the road, not a dead end, and I'm moving in the right direction again. Three cheers to all of us for taking control again and doing what is best for our bodies!! And thank you BBK for getting the ball rolling!

I found Protein Blitz, Lean Body and Muscle Milk at GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. I've also seen Muscle Milk at Kroger. But you should be able to find them at most vitamin/nutrition stores.

Well, I posted only my second gain since surgery this week (and the first gain was only 0.3 lbs), and I'm not surprised. Travelled home to see my parents, didn't exercise, ate for entertainment, didn't drink enough Water...all the culprits. But I'm getting back on track this week and hope to lose what I put on. Last week 248.8 This week 252 Gain of 3.2 lbs But I still made my Christmas goal of 50 pounds, so I'm pretty darn happy!

Ick. I put on 3 pounds this week. Travel, no exercise, visiting family, emotional stress all caught up with me. It's just a bump in the road though, and I'm getting back on track. We'll just have to see how things go this week.

My instructions for the first 3 weeks post-op were: 1) Drink a total of 6-8 cups of Fluid, 2 ounces every 15 minutes while awake, and 2) Drink 2 ounces of a high-Protein liquid every hour while awake, aiming to consume 45-60 grams of protein daily. After the first week the 2 ounces every 15 minutes got to be kind of ridiculous, and I was having no trouble with liquids passing through the band. So, what I would usually do is pour myself 4 ounces and drink on that during a half-hour. It seldom lasted that long though. Actually, with Water and my hot broth in the evenings (that was my "meal") I would have 8 ounces at a time for the hour. The protein drinks that I used were Muscle Milk, Lean Body by Labrada, and Protein Blitz by Designer whey (these are all ready-to-drink). My routine was to have 12 ounces of Muscle Milk, 12 ounces of Lean Body and 8 ounces of Protein Blitz each day, for a total of 32 fluid ounces, 64.2g of protein and 478 calories. I would get the rest of my fluids with water and beef or chicken broth. I highly recommend the Protein Blitz drinks, especially if you are tired of "shakes". They are like Kool-Aid, in Grape, Orange Mango, and Punch flavors, with no funny protein taste.

Journaling your eating is an excellent idea, especially if you include how long you take to eat your meals and how long it takes until you are hungry again. The more information you have about your eating and hunger, the better prepared you will be.

I can definitely tell a difference. Your hips look a bit narrower, there isn't as much of a crease at your waistline and your tummy is a little higher. I am shaped very similarly to you, although I am heavier. And while I can see some change in myself, it's really my pants size that shows the difference. Also, did you take measurements before your surgery? If not, be sure to take some now for comparison later. There's nothing like concrete numbers for proof of shrinking!:tongue2:

Well, I am one of those odd ones who had restriction with little or no fill. When I finally graduated from the liquid phase after surgery, I quickly found that if I ate more than a cup of food I would feel discomfort in the area of my band. I took that to mean that my upper pouch would hold about one cup of food. My first fill was 0.6 ccs (in a 4 cc band) and I didn't really notice any change in what or how much I could eat. But I have lost weight steadily. In fact, when I went for my second fill, my doctor and I decided that I really didn't need one. I can eat just about anything, I just have to watch the amount. I do hope to get some fill added when I go back on 1/5, because I'd like to stay satisfied for a longer period of time after each meal. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind letting the band take on a little bit more of the work, but I definitely do NOT want to deal with PBing and not being able to eat appropriate foods. My doctor is conservative with fills though, so I don't think that will be a problem. For a ticker, you can go here to make one Weight Loss - Diet Ticker

At only one week out your stomach is quite possibly still swollen from being banded. At the least, it is still healing. I would be VERY wary of eating solid foods so early, even if my doctor had allowed it. But if you had food stuck, you would know. For me, it hurts in the middle of my chest, I feel a gurgling, bubbling sensation around the area, and I start to burp. Drinking something to help the food go down does NOT help. It just backs up on you. As long as fluids aren't coming back up, you are probably ok. Just appreciate being full!

Last week: 259.8 This week: 258.8 1 pound lost for a total of 55.2 Worked out at Curves 6 days last week.

I have an iced green tea from Starbucks almost every day. It helps keep me sane.

Before I started exercising I found that I lost better when I was around 1200 calories. But now that I am burning around 400 calories a day, 1300-1400 keeps me on the losing track. I have definitely found that my weight loss suffers when I don't get enough calories.