krtork

Don't attack the cow! You will make it. I would try to have some Snacks that might fill you up for awhile, versus drinking a Protein shake. The cottage or yogurt suggested could be what you need to get between meals. I found the thicker the food the longer it stayed with me. Are you waiting to drink after your "meal"? Make sure you wait for the time your dr suggested so you are not pushing the food through. I would also suggest checking out the food & nutrition forum for some good recipes, maybe some variety would help you out! Are you exercising? That was the hard one to get started for me, but man did it help! I really didn't start with regular exercise for about the first 6-8 weeks, but when I got going on a regular basis the scale started moving down. Not sure I helped, I know how frustrating that phase is, but you can get through it, the scale will start moving down again and you won't always be this hungry!

You are in the hardest part of this journey - "bandster hell". You have this nifty little tool, but it has not kicked in for you yet! Once you start having your fills it will still take awhile to find your sweet spot and get perfect restriction, until then you are on will power! I have had 4 fills, and this last one finally gave me the restriction I needed, or maybe too much, waiting until Monday, might go in for a .5 unfill. Take the time right now to start changing your habits, eat well, eat slow, take small bites, and chew well. These are the things you will have to do when you reach restriction. I had to be diligent about measuring out foods, watching my calories and counting my Protein to get through that phase. It is so tempting to see what you can eat and if it will go down. What you can and cannot eat will change from fill to fill. I was able to eat chicken easily up until a couple of weeks ago and now it will hardly go down. You can get through this. Think of it as a learning period to prepare for the restriction you will feel and start practicing your new lifestyle skills!

You just made it through the hardest part of the year! Think about how much you would have eaten and gained without the band! Time to refocus and get back on track. Don't beat yourself up over it. Get started today making better choices and if you have to, do some cupboard cleaning! Sign up for a new exercise class - you won't be the only person starting over again, think of all the New Year's resolutions being made today! Pick up the phone or get to the gym, just get it done, no excuses. Do you have a local support group? If not, maybe you could ask your surgeon if there are others he knows in your area that you could connect with. Heck, post on craigslist, you might find that there are others in your area that want to meet one time a month, or that would like to have a support person. I know that I enjoy support group because they all know what I am going through and it helps to have the face-to-face accountability! Good luck!

Kathy~ Thanks for the tip. I started doing that same thing yesterday. I went out at a faster paced, slowed for the middle of the run and picked it up at the end. Thanks for the tip.

Ineedalapband~ I take Flinstones chewables. Nice and easy and you can find them anywhere!

Lellow~ Have some fun, you are trying new foods and exercising! I wouldn't worry too much! Enjoy your vacation, Happy New Year!

It is a learning curve and everybody will react differently to their level of fill. I have been thinking about getting an unfill next week if things aren't going better. I have been having slime incidents very frequently the last couple of weeks. I know a couple were due to eating too fast. I agree with Accountess, the eating habits we have are very ingrained and it will take time to undo the old habits and get consistent with the new habits. Don't stress, you will figure out what works for your body, I think that is the key - what works for you! As long as you are still losing weight, able to control your intake, and exercising, you are on the right track!

Happy New Year to all! I can't wait to see what this year brings!

MayBell~ I quit the caffine cold turkey before surgery. I figured I needed to get through the withdrawal before I had surgery. I also kicked the soda habit, which wasn't a serious one, but I needed to get it out of the way. My last Starbucks was June 29. LOL, I even remember the day! LOL. Good luck on your surgery, you will feel so much better after the surgery when you start losing weight!

You should be fine having someone stay for two days. Make sure you are up, walking and sipping your Water. That was the most important thing for feeling better, it gets everything moving! The water is important to help you not get dehydrated, that can come on real quick, so sip, sip, sip! The other suggestions for supplies are great! Make sure you stock up ahead of time so you don't have to worry about shopping and get your prescrips called in before hand so you have them when you go home from the hospital. Good Luck!

B: Oatmeal, honey, cinnamon S: Yogurt L: Lettuce, grilled chicken, feta, balsamic salad spray D: Thai chicken, cucumber (had 2 bites chicken and couldn't get more down) S: Apple, peanut butter (went down)

I am going shopping to get the Nike+. It sounds like fun. I could use all the motivation I could get. Kathy-great job! My goal is to run my next 5K at 35min. I have until March to get there. Any suggestions on upping the speed?

Slinderella~ When I get my fills they always pull out the saline to check and make sure the same amount is still in the band, and then they add the new amount of saline. Right now I am at 6cc and feeling restriction. I am feeling pretty tight right now. I have to watch what I eat and make sure I am getting my Protein in at the beginning of my meal, no extra bites! For protein I eat chicken, cottage cheese, Beans and eggs. Those items tend to be my main stays. If you take a look on the food & nutrition forum there are some great recipe ideas. I too have to cook for my family, sometimes I will eat what they are eating, but other times I will have a variation on what they eat. Tonight I made them a Thai Chicken pizza, I had some of the chicken and cucumbers for dinner, while they ate the pizza. Good luck, I hope you can get this resolved when you meet with your doc!

If he can't be supportive of you while you go through this, dump him! It will not change. Where can you find support??? Do you have a local WLS support group you can attend? Maybe your dr could recommend someone in your area that could be a support person for you. It is always nice to have someone that can relate to what you are going through. Do you have a friend or family member close by that could be your support? Of course you have your online support right here! Good Luck, I hope you can work through this and resolve the issue with your guy!

Mine are done laying done - so you should have that covered! I usually get a numbing shot, which stings but does not hurt, before they start the fill. I look up and don't look at what they are doing, I can usually feel that they are doing something - but I really can't feel anything. You will be fine! If you need the fill, just suck it up, go in and get it done. A few minutes and you will be done! That was me givin you some tough love! LOL!!!

I had light restriction at the beginning of my first couple of fills. That quickly wore off after 2 weeks. I am now on my 4th fill and feeling restriction - I have 6cc in a 10cc band. I find that I can eat very small meals - 1/2-3/4 cup food, depending on density of protein. If I eat to fast I will quickly feel that overfull feeling and will occasionally slime, no PB yet! Thank goodness. I am full for at least 3-4 hours between meals. I really have not had too many issues with drinking during meals. I started practicing pre-band and have tried to keep it up! I always look at the clock when I finish eating and look to see when 1 hour will have gone by. At that point I start drinkin'! Sometimes it is hard to go the full hour if I had something salty. I try to avoid too much salt, but sometimes it just happens. If I go out to eat, I just tell them I don't want anything to drink and pass on the water.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with a tsp of honey. Sometimes I will add cinnamon! I also add unflavored Protein powder. I love Greek yogurt with fruit and a few almonds or I will have a low fat granola with it. Lunch: Leftover from dinner the night before. Cucumbers & hummus - very good! Soup. Tortilla chips with ref Beans, cheese & salsa. If I am not too tight, I will have a salad with grilled chicken, avacado & feta - yum! Dinner: Some sort of protein with veggies. This really varies, I will eat what the family eats or have something of my own. I like chicken, turkey meatballs, pita pizza, burritos.

B: ham, egg beaters L: potato soup D: ref bean, grd beef, lettuce, cheese, blk beans, salsa, avacado (basically a burrito with no tortilla) S: SF Hot Choc, ginger thins

You would need to check with your insurance policy to see if it covers WLS. Mine did not and I paid $15,000. Make sure you take your husband with you to the introductory meeting. I took mine with me and it was the best thing I could have done. It was good for him to learn about the surgery from current patients, the surgeon and nutritionist. He was really on board and has been really supportive. I hope you find what works for you, good luck!

I would go back to the reason you got the band, what was your initial motivation? That might be a great place to start! From their you could reset your goals and find some more motivation to get you going! How many fills have you had? Are you feeling any restriction at all? I think that really helps with motivation. Make sure you check out this site, you will find all kinds of information that will help and motivate you.

Juli~ Great post! P-body~ Remember this is a lifestyle change, and snacking is part of the change you have to make. It is a tough one to break - I have the same challenge. I find myself in front of the fridge or cabinet and have to make a conscious effort to move away and do something else. It is great that you recognize this pattern, that will definitely help you overcome it. Try to come up with something that you can do in place of eat. Maybe just having some more liquids would help - drink some Water and that will fill you up. This is a learning process and this is something you will need to work through. In the past you started to lose weight, thought to yourself, "great" I can snack. Now you have the band and it will help you eat less, but you have to work with it to make that happen. You can do this, you want to lose the weight, or you wouldn't have gone to the extreme of having the surgery, this is just a stage you have to work through!

If you can't keep your saliva down, you need to call your doc and get in right away! Glad to hear you were able to get some fluids, but I would still call and make an appt on Mon morning, better safe than sorry! Keep us posted on your progress.

Sometimes it helps to mix things up. Change your exercise routine or change your calorie intake. You could try a new activity, increase the amount of exercise you are doing, or push harder in your exercise. You could cut back on calories one or two days a week, but keep up the protein! Our bodies get used to what we do on a daily basis and if you shake it up a couple times of weeks it can get things moving again.

Benefiber everyday. You can add it to any of your foods or drinks and it is flavorless. I take it religiously to keep things movin'.

Didn't run yesterday, but I hit the road again today, oh yeah, man does it feel good to get out and move! I love my yak trax - they really keep you from slipping on the ice! It is supposed to warm up the next couple of days, so maybe the roads will thaw. We also got a Wii and Wii Fit for Christmas. I think I will be using it on my days off - didn't realize how unbalanced I was!