Lanakila

I hate to break it to you, but most of the gas you are feeling isn't in your stomach, it's in your actual abdomen. You have to just wait for your body to absorb the gas because the simethicone products don't help with that. The only thing that is recommended above everything else is to walk, walk, walk. I know that doesn't seem like a very helpful suggestion, but that's all I could ever get out of any surgeon!

Normally I would have just walked back to my desk after visiting the potty, but today I actually walked around our floor before coming back to the office. Walking that hallway added 180 steps to my day. Fitness folks recommend 10,000 per day (yeah, right) so three trips like that and I've got 5% down. Hmmm...if I drink more, I'll "walk" more, no?

Here are a few things: A) Visit the August 2008 Banders forum at August 2008 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum to meet others who are scheduled for next month. We'd love to have you as a band buddy! :smile: My dietician said that alcohol was a bad idea for a few reasons. The first she said was because it is just plain empty calories...no nutritional value whatsoever. The second was that she said that you will get tipsy faster because there is nearly no food in your stomach to slow things down. You should also realize that a full glass of wine simply isn't going to fit into your stomach IF you are properly restricted. C) The fizzy drink thing is for the way it causes gas but, more importantly, because it can cause your pouch (smaller stomach above the band) to stretch. This defeats the purpose of the band making you have a smaller stomach AND can cause slippage, which could require band removal. I'm a huge soda fan and they have to go bye-bye. :thumbup:

We've had a few visitors from your group on our boards and we are always happy to have advice from those who have gone before us. C'mon over and share your trials & triumphs!

So Shamrock...you could say that you "chose" to leave the demons behind right now and focus on your pre-op, right?

Please let me know if I've left anyone off, put something on here wrong, or when you have an update!

Lauralee, "Yay You!" for not being lured in by those evil-ishous-ly yummy hash browns. You've done great recovering from your challenge by choosing to do the Atkins thing the rest of the day, so give yourself an attagirl for that too!

Hey fee...what happened that you had to have your first band removed? Just nosey:confused_smile:

OMG! I've been lurking and I've collected 91 banders who are scheduled for August! If you see anyone floating out on the other boards who might want to join us, send 'em on over. Our times are drawing near and the more the merrier! It looks like there are as many as 9 folks getting banded on several of the dates.

Please visit your fellow August banders at our forum. August 2008 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum We'd love to meet you!

Ok, here's my rant for the day. Feel free to jump all over me...as I think that rants are good for bringing out the passion in people.:biggrin: Here it is: Stay off that darned scale! I've seen a zillion posts in which people are like "I gained two pounds yesterday and managed to lose one today." You are fooling yourself, and sabotaging yourself too. You do NOT lose and gain pounds each day. There are so many variables in your weight each day that it is downright silly for you to believe that the number on the scale is a direct reflection of the day before. Quit kidding yourself! Believing that the day of "good" eating results in a pound lost, or that having that "bad" meal results in a pound gained the very next time you get on the scale is lying to yourself...or is ignorant in the very least. That's ignorant as in misguided...not ignorant as in stupid...sorry if that's confusing. Lay off the scale for a few days at a time, even if you cannot go a whole week between. Obsessing over a number each morning is promoting your unhealthy practices. This journey is about reprogramming your mind, and your approach to living overall. It's also about learning to not hang your mood each day on what some device says. Choose your mood based upon small victories (see my NON-rant thread!) OK, I'm done now. Maybe I need some caffeine....

Capricorn, I see you are from Salisbury. You might want to check out the "Who's Where" thread to see who else is in your area in NC. Do you have a surgery date yet?

Tig, I am soooo sorry to hear of your trials! I think us Augusters should get our collective Karma together and send "shame-on-you" mind rays to all who are blocking your efforts. Then we'll tell them "So There!"

You are a true inspiration! I will print your post and hang it over my sink. If Scott can make it through all of these health issues, deaths of loved ones, and a year of medifast and STILL keep doing what's best for himself then I'll have to remind myself to QwitcherBitchin. Keep going...and post some pics so that we can see that glow of motivation on your face!

Speaking for myself, I know that I'm going to REALLY struggle with the change in my attitudes towards food. I'm still 6 weeks away from surgery and I'm already starting to act funny, like wanting to buy food that I don't even usually like such as ho-hos, spaghetti-o's, lots of other processed foods. I think that they are touchstones from my childhood and that for some reason I am reaching back to them as I start "saying goodbye" to food as I know it. Mentally I am prepared for food to become something that I just have to do...like bathe, sleep, work, etc. It's the emotional part that I think is tricky. Don't be afraid, and keep reaching out. I hope to learn from those of you facing these things before me and, soon, we'll all have gone through the first door!

Please stop by the Monthly banders boards and join us on the August 2008 banders forum. We'd love to hang out together as we start on this new journey! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f183/

New Thread Started: 91 Banders!

Wow! I always thought I was a pretty savvy NFL fan, but I only recently learned that the Packers are a fan-owned franchise. I think that is absolutely fabooooooo! Sure, professional sports are big business...but it's great to see a fanbase that actually has more invested than the typical fair-weather loyalty that most clubs see. Win or lose, Packbackers seem to be loyal. I asked my dietician during my consult about the prohibition on alcohol after the band. She said that it wasn't just about it having empty calories. Since your stomach is so much smaller, you won't have much food in it at a time. Since there isn't any food to slow things down, the alcohol you drink goes straight into your system. She never understood how true this was until she did a guest speaking at a support group and heard that most folks get smashed on a single shot. She said that some folks have wine now and then, but since you cannot drink with your meals she said you'd have to keep an eye on how you tolerate the wine on it's own. :crying:

I'm a huge Diet Pepsi junkie and the caffeine question was just about the first one that I asked my nutritionist about. She said that it was because caffeine is actually an irritant. She said that this is especially a problem because of the small area that the caffeine will now sit in and that if you consume it it will irritate the heck out of your stomach. :crying:

Your port is stitched on to your abdominal muscles and shouldn't budge around too much and isn't at all fragile. I'm sure that it hurt like heck, but I doubt that it did anything more than bruise you deeply. I hope your doc can ease your fears early in the day 'cause there's nothing worse than worrying. :confused2:

Whew...thank God for the folks that take care of EOD! Not that every MOS isn't hugely important...but EOD is definitely not one that most folks would ever choose. At least you'll have one heck of a brave man backing you up :ohmy: It sounds like we are all lucky to have been who love us and accept us as we are/will be. I'm going this route for the healthier, more active, longer life reasoning rather than physical attractiveness. In fact, I'm worried that my cute face is going to deflate and I just won't be as approachable as the cuddly, warm-hearted-looking lady I look like now.

Dern! My hubby and I have been trying to come up with a name for my upcoming band and that's an awesome one! Congrats on the losses with looooossssiiiieeee (I can hear him now) and enjoy dancing on the grave of that nasty 300# mark!

Tell the truth...do you wear a cheesehead hat?

So far my doc hasn't prescribed a pre-op diet, but I see him 6 days before sx and I expect him to put me on a 3 shake-1 meal until the sx. I actually hope to be able to pony up enough willpower to start that about two weeks before the sx for 2 reasons: 1) because I'm terrified that he'll get in there and not have room to move around and will need to go "open", and 2) I feel like I need to start retraining my mind "before" I am physically restricted and in pain. It's already hard enough to make the changes, let alone trying to make the change and be in pain at the same time.

Hey Sarah...congrats on getting your date! Stop by the August 2008 banders board and introduce yourself. It'll be great to have another band buddy join us!