julie.ann

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1-23-09 I went out to eat today and I was so scared I was going to blow it! I almost said no to those that were visiting from out of town, but I thought that at some point this would happen. I would need to eat out without planning for it. I needed to face it and see how I would do. I just said that this was becoming a lifestyle. Well life has unexpected twists. Would I handle this with style or fall back to my old ways? I told them what I always order. (Chicken chimichanga with a huge plate that had cheese, guacamole, beans and rice on it along with the deep fried chimi.) Two of the four ordered it. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t tempted. I thought of how good it would taste and how crappy I would feel. I thought about my weekly weigh in with my online support group tomorrow. I still wondered how I would say no. I thought about hitting the 220’s today for the first time. I STILL thought about it!!!! I was absolutely RELIEVED when I realized that the band wouldn't let me completely pig out. That got me thinking straight. I ordered two tacos. It was just another reason I love my band! I had three tortilla chips with salsa and ONE taco and I was done. It was AWESOME!!!! I took the other taco and gave it to a co-worker. I don’t know what the scale will say in the morning, but I won’t be terrified about stepping on it!

1-23-09 I went out to eat today and I was so scared I was going to blow it! I almost said no to those that were visiting from out of town, but I thought that at some point this would happen. I would need to eat out without planning for it. I needed to face it and see how I would do. I just said that this was becoming a lifestyle. Well life has unexpected twists. Would I handle this with style or fall back to my old ways? I told them what I always order. (Chicken chimichanga with a huge plate that had cheese, guacamole, beans and rice on it along with the deep fried chimi.) Two of the four ordered it. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t tempted. I thought of how good it would taste and how crappy I would feel. I thought about my weekly weigh in with my online support group tomorrow. I still wondered how I would say no. I thought about hitting the 220’s today for the first time. I STILL thought about it!!!! I was absolutely RELIEVED when I realized that the band wouldn't let me completely pig out. That got me thinking straight. I ordered two tacos. It was just another reason I love my band! I had three tortilla chips with salsa and ONE taco and I was done. It was AWESOME!!!! I took the other taco and gave it to a co-worker. I don’t know what the scale will say in the morning, but I won’t be terrified about stepping on it!

I went out to eat today and I was so scared I was going to blow it. I was absolutley RELIEVED when I relized that the band wouldn't let me completely pig out. It was just another reason I love my band! I had three tortilla chips with salso and ONE taco and I was done. It was AWESOME!!!!:scared2:

Start on zicam and load up on Vit C. It will be ok!

You are so sweet by the way.... Remember on the rollarcoast the best part is the downside. That is when you put your arms in the air and scream and it is so much fun! That is where we are now. At the bottom of the rollarcoster we will get off and live a GREAT life!!!

Put me down for a loss of 2.6#! I am FINALLY in the 220's!!!!!! 229.1 to be exact! :scared2:

OMG! How funny! I have a friday weigh in group and our Saturday weigh in group and my offical at home weigh in is Monday. Sorry....but you are right. I am excited. I was invited by out -of -towner to go eat at a local mexian place. I wanted to say no, but i thought that I need to tackle this at some point. I ate 2 chips with salsa and a beef taco. I ordered 2 and wasn't hungry after the first one so I boxed it for home and gave it away. YEAH! Success!

The scale moved!!! Put me down for -2.2!!!!! I'm in the 220's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11/7/08 I fell off the wagon…..Ok it was more a jump….or leap. Yeah, Leap would probably cover it. I know that I shouldn’t have, but I did. I have been having a hard time getting in even 900 calories. Of course the monster I fight (obesity) tells me….well I have been so low on calories it won’t hurt. One time. One meal. I’ll write it down and figure it in. I don’t have a fill yet. It will be okay. After almost a month with no bread, pasta, potatoes or rice I ate pizza. I feel like crap. My chest hurts because I ate too much. I wish I could rewind. I am so happy that I can start over right now. I can’t think about what this has done to the scale. I won’t think about it. Yeah…..maybe that was a little too Scarlet O’hara. Sorry I am feeling a bit dramatic. I almost want to puke, but I don’t want to take the chance of hurting my band. HA! That is almost funny. If I didn’t want to hurt my band I wouldn’t have eaten pizza. I ‘ll tell you what really got me started. I stepped on the scale yesterday and I had lost a total of 26 lbs. I was on cloud nine. It was the first time I had been in that area for about 2 years. Today the scale gave me back 3 lbs. I was tired, sore and frustrated. It isn’t a good excuse to do that. I won’t step on the scale until Monday. I need to stay off of the scale except once a week. I have that compulsion to weigh everyday. Now that I have the Wii Fit (I just got it yesterday!!!) I even have another excuse to weigh. I’ve got to stop that.!

I love my wii fit and I still weigh every day I think it keep me accountable for what I put in my mouth. I know at 10:00 at night that I am going to have to step on the scale in the morning and if I eat something before bed when I am not hungry I WILL regret it!

10/22/08 I messed up. I have given up bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. That is my pre-op diet. I have been doing ok and I have lost 14 lbs. Tonight I forgot my ah, ha moment. I had a test and I failed. I went out with friends and I failed. I suffered a last supper. I thought I will have what I am craving and I know it will be full of fat, but I won't be breaking my diet. I won't go into it. I know many of you are on clear liquids. By what I had was breaded and I didn't think about it until after I was done. Of course the 3 grey goose and cranberry juices didn't help. I screwed up. So now I have to ask what did I learn from this. I learned that I need to remember that when socializing food doesn't make things more fun. That was my ah, ha moment. A few weeks ago I realized that food is not supposed to be fun. It is there to survive. It isn't fun. Fun is shopping for regular sized clothes and making love to your husband and feeling sexy. Fun is rock climbing and jumping up and down when you son makes a great miniature golf shot. Fun is sitting in a chair and feeling comfortable without a table in from of me to hide my body. Fun is not eating. Food doesn't want me to feel good. Food doesn't make me feel better. Food isn't my friend. It isn't my enemy. It is neutral. It is there to sustain life. I flunked my test, but instead of feeling like giving up like I usually do I am going to learn from it. I wanted to get in the 260's before my surgery. I may have just cost me that milestone. I will survive. I will achieve. I will learn from my mistake. I will research and be prepared the next time I am invited out with friends. It may take more work....but a skinnier butt is worth it!

10/17/08 Here is my "Ah-ha" moment. (a bit lengthy) I have just realized that eating is not supposed to be fun. No...I know what you are thinking. Well I know if it was me two weeks ago I would be thinking that it may not be fun, but I enjoy it. I always saw eating as fun. Entertainment. I used it as a reward for myself or a consolation. I would put the kiddos to bed when they were little and then sit down with my favorite show and a plate of garlic bread and enjoy. If work REALLY sucked I would come home and sit down and eat ice cream or pick up McDonalds on the way home because I "deserved" it. Eating is not supposed to be fun. I thought going out with friends and having fun equaled eating. I started my pre-op diet on Monday. I started it earlier than I needed to and I have lost 8 lbs since last Friday. Wow I felt great...but I had that nawing desire for a last supper. Come on surely some of you can relate. That last...I can't eat this for months......can I ever eat this with the band......last supper. As of tomorrow no bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. I ate great all day. I went grocery shopping and did it. Guess what. IT SUCKED!!!!!! I had garlic bread and frozen pizza. (My staple) Not only was the garlic bread not satisfying, but the pizza tasted...well, flat. That is the only way I can describe it. Flat! It tasted worse than ever before. My taste buds would be much happier if I had eaten veggies and chicken breast. I wish I could puke. I hope I remember this feeling forever! So not worth it! I know that I will want crappy food again. But I feel like I am a step ahead of where I was before. Now listen to this. Are you ready? Eating is for survival. It is to get enough nutrition to live. That is its main focus. I know this sounds simple, but I have been oblivious to the obvious. (Try saying that three times fast.) It is not a reward. It does not console us. It doesn't take away boredom It doesn't listen to our problems. It is a fair weather friend....actually not even a friend at all. It is that bi*chy girl in jr. high that we thought liked us, but only pretends to until she can stab us in the back. I am ready now. I am ready to start the rest of my life. I am ready to try to forget this "last supper". Actually I guess I want to remember it forever.

Bella, What you have gone through is horrible. I hope you start feeling better soon. Once you get back to your old self I hope that you will start to look at the band as a good thing. I'm sure the weight gain is all the fluids. This will pass and things will start to fall into place and off the scale. I think most of us feel like this was our last option. If I had one more diet in me I would have dieted. This was the lifestyle change that many of us need. I hope that everything becomes text book for you after this. Remember all you have gone through to get the band. It isn't the band that created the problems...it was the surgeon and as much as we want to believe that our doctor is perfect we know that isn't possible. I will keep you in my thoughts. Please keep us posted.

I am frustrated. I have stayed under 1000 calories a day. (mostly under 800) I eat 3 healthy meals a day. Protein first. I work out 3-4 days a week. Elliptical for 30 minutes and then some weights although I have had to take it easy this week since my syatic nerve has reared it's ugly head since playing basketball against my youngest on Sunday. Anyway I plateaued for about 2 weeks when I was about to hit the 230s and now I'm afraid the same thing is happening getting close to the 220s. UGH! I lost 2 lbs last week, 4.4# the week before that and 3.5# the week before that. This week I have lost only 0.9 so far since Monday. This is so FRUSTRATING! I am doing everything right. I have perfect restriction. 1 cup of food and I am full! I don't snack. I don't even eat crap! UGH! I hope that scale moves again tomorrow!

I am frustrated. I have stayed under 1000 calories a day. (mostly under 800) I eat 3 healthy meals a day. Protein first. I work out 3-4 days a week. Elliptical for 30 minutes and then some weights although I have had to take it easy this week since my syatic nerve has reared it's ugly head since playing basketball against my youngest on Sunday. Anyway I plateaued for about 2 weeks when I was about to hit the 230s and now I'm afraid the same thing is happening getting close to the 220s. UGH! I lost 2 lbs last week, 4.4# the week before that and 3.5# the week before that. This week I have lost only 0.9 so far since Monday. This is so FRUSTRATING! I am doing everything right. I have perfect restriction. 1 cup of food and I am full! I don't snack. I don't even eat crap! UGH! I hope that scale moves again tomorrow!

I had people tell it it could take 7 to 14 days for the fill to really work at it's full potential and sure enough...that is how long it took me to tell after the first one. After the second fill i could tell a difference right away...it has been about 10 days.

I feel for you and this is EXACTLY the reason I have chosen not to share my story with anyone but my husband, my best friend and my doctor!

I just got my second fill about 10 days ago. Holidays pushed my fills back a little. I think I am good. At least for now.

Grandma and Erika: Welcome. This is a great site! Congrats on how well you have done so far! This is by far the best thing I have done for myself! Come and post anytime. We can be a little quiet at times, but it only takes one of us to get us going.

Wendy, You hit a really sore spot for me. I wrote lane bryant twice about their right fit fiasco and the fact that I should obviously be so embarrased that I don't want to have my size on the tag. I HATE their right fit. They used to have jeans that fit me until they changed things up. It might be different since I lost 55 lbs, but the point is some skinny bi**h or sexist man at the company made the decision that I shouldn't be able to go in and wear a size 24, but a size 6, and to make matters worse they want to measure you every time you go in to buy jeans. I tried more than 6 pairs and would have to order them from the catalog since the store didn't have them ...then when I took them back they wanted to measure my fat butt again. Yeah...that makes me feel better....call it a size 6. What am I stupid? I hope you write them too! Sorry...this was when I decided to stop shopping at lane bryant if at all possible! I can't wait to be in a size they don't carry! Good luck when you make it to your appointment!

I have been banded for 3 months. I have gotten to the point that it doesn't bother me anymore. I used to get mad at my hubby for eating ice cream. I would get mad when they wanted to eat out crappy food. This is a lifestyle change. This is a huge change. I didn't eat with them at first. I would take MY meal and sit in from of the computer and log onto this site and blog and visit forums and try to distract myself into eating slowly. Now I can sit down while with them while they eat because eating what they are eating isn't worth stepping on the Wii fit in the morining and seeing that I gained weight. When we travel I pack my lunch and know that they will eat at McDonald's on the road. I have to plan for it. That was in the beginning. Now I couldn't get a hamburger bun down if I wanted to. Luckily I don't want to anymore. You are still a band baby. You are growing. You are learning. Just like our babies have learn to roll over, crawl, then walk... you are learning to handle the challenges of food. The unhealthy food isn't going to go away. Your family still needs to eat. You have to find a way to cook healthy for everyone or eat a different menu than them. One day at a time Yoco. One meal at a time. Eventually you will be running away from the unhealthy food. I watched my family eat the other night and I couldn't believe the huge GROSS bites they were taking. Those were the bites I used to take. No wonder their meal is gone in 3 minutes. It is amazing how our learned habits really start to take over for us. Hang in there. It will get easier!

It could be a drop in blood preassure when she gets up. If she was going to the bathroom and straining to have a stool that could have caused it to. When she is getting up tell her to give herself time to adjust from lying to sitting then sitting to standing. Keep her well hydrated! Push fluids and when the doc says she can have more than clear liquids give her some calories. I about passed out on day 3 and I think it was lack of calories and some dehydration. I had others tell me the same thing. Just watch her. If you have more problem don't hesitate to call the doctor. It is better to be safe than sorry. Let us know how she is doing!