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By the way.....cute bag

Good luck with your surgery Hannah! I took all of the normals, like everyone has suggested. My NUMBER ONE, SO GLAD I HAD ITEM, was a child's sippy cup. Before surgery I drank a lot of Fluid at one time, and after surgery you have to learn to take small sips. It took one time of forgetting while I was in the hospital that I changed to the sippy cup. I used this for about a week to help me learn to take small sips. I actually found a cup at Walmart in the baby section made by playtex that looked like a small travel coffee mug, not so babyish . This was my lifesaver item. Good luck!

Welcome to LBT! Definitely GOOD LUCK with what every you decide. I myself am just 3 months post-op, and still believe this is the best decision I have ever made!! I have tried pretty much every diet from Atkins to Weight Watchers! The most I was ever able to lose on my own was 50 lbs, and that was incredibly hard! But like you, as soon as I stopped them I gained everything back. I think what sold me the most on the Lap Band was that it was a tool that I could use for a lifetime. For the most part I eat what I want, but A LOT LESS (probably a third of what I used to eat). The band stops you from overeating. Having LB surgery is definitely not the end all cure all, you can certainly eat around it. So things are not easy, but this is definitely a tool to help with the weight loss process! Again good luck with your journey, and welcome!

Melissa Etheridge....I'm The Only One

Thinks I ate on my mushy stage: scrambled eggs potato soup- really any creamy soup, but this was my fav refried Beans with salsa (ate a LOT of this) cottage cheese cottage cheese with marinara sauce (like lasagna) mashed potatoes hummus cream of wheat pudding That was about it. I am a creature of habit, so I tended to eat the same things over and over.

As with so many things, weight loss is different for everyone. There are a lot of factors mixed in (how much you have to lose, how tight your band is, etc). I was told that 1-2 lbs a week would be the average weight loss, and that some people lose more and some people lose less. It is really not good to compare yourself to others, but it sure is HARD not to! Everyone is doing such a wonderful job! You are great inspiration!!!

Awesome, congrats on your band!!!

I COMPLETELY agree with this :lunch:. My coworkers will ask me everyday, and most of the time I just say....I weigh the same as I did yesterday :w00t:. I know they are trying to be supportive, but it does kind of get to you after awhile!

Pink....So What (iTunes in my office)

For me personally I started with three meals and two Snacks a day. I would use the snacks to get in some of my Protein. These days I do good to eat one of my snacks, still some source of protein...usually about 10 almonds. I do watch my calories, but not everyday. I monitor them from time to time to see how many I am eating. I found that if I do not eat enough calories then I do not lose weight, my body thinks it is going into starvation mode so it holds on to everything. When I eat 1000-1200 calories a day I lose 1-2 lbs a week. BUT AGAIN THAT IS JUST MY BODY. Some people eat way less than that and some way more. I just did some experimenting with calorie intake to see what worked best for me. Sometimes that experimenting will slow down weight loss, but to me this was a lifetime decision. So I am willing to slow things down for a few weeks to find out what is best for my body. Just like Jachut said, at the end of the day it is about calories in vs calories out.

I eat lots of spicy foods, and have never had a problem. Though I am like Heather, I never eat the stuff that is going to make me cry. Mostly salsa and pico.

Sounds yummy, thanks for sharing!

At 20 lbs everyone started commenting that my face looked thinner, of course I did not see it :lunch:. At 40 lbs people started commenting on my weight loss.

Congrats on your band! I too have a desk job, but I took three days off of work (butted up against a weekend). I went to Mexico for my surgery so I had some travel time to put in the mix as well. I was OK when I went back to work, but my port area was very sore and sitting up straight was a bit uncomfortable for me for a few days.

Welcome Justme3! My port sight stayed sore for a long time as well. I was told this was normal because they attach it to the muscle tissue.

I take 5000 mg of Biotin a day with my other Vitamins. I started this as soon as I could after banding. I am now three months post-op and am still just losing my normal daily hair loss. I have been told that it is normal to lose 100 hairs a day. I think that there are so many factors with hair loss that you can't pin point it to one thing. Just like everything, everyone is different and reacts differently to weight loss.

When I was first banded I weighed multiple times a day. After I ate anything after I used the restroom, I weighed ALL THE TIME! I knew that I was getting obsessed with the scale so I then started weighing once a week. I found that to be to infrequent for me. So now I weigh once a day, in the morning as soon as I wake up. My weight will fluctuate throughout the week so I do not let weigh ins upset me. I only record an official weigh in once a week. I use the rest of the weigh ins to help me stay on track. If I gain some weight I adjust my calorie intake. I try not to be too obsessive about it though.

When I ever I start to feel frustrated about my weight loss I go to the pet section of Wal-mart. I know this sounds corny, but truly it is what I do . When I start to think that my weight loss is going too slow or that I have not lost enough I hit the pet food isle. The first time this happened was when I hit 30 lbs. I went to Walmart to find a sack of pet food that weighed 30 lbs. I found a bag of Tidy Cat that was exactly 30 lbs and when I lifted it I thought, "WOW 30 lbs is a lot!!" So now when ever I think about how slow the process is, I go to the pet food isle and started lifting bags and realize that the weight that is coming off is really a lot, even though it might not SOUND like a lot!!! It has taken some time, but now I know that any loss is good loss....no matter how long it takes! I did not gain all of my weight in a short period of time, so why do I expect it to come off so quickly? I REALLY had to change my mindset!! I have several friends that have had bariatric surgery, but they all had BP. So for the longest time I was comparing myself to them, and that is just not a reasonable comparison! I know that now.

I used a low interest credit card for payment.

Monday: B: Southwestern Omelet S: Almonds (1 oz) L: Taco Soup (1cup) D: low fat Hot Dog (bun and all) S: Watermelon (two medium chunks)

I too had my lapband surgery in December, so my scars are still very pink. I had Gall Bladder surgery 5 years ago, which was also laparoscopic so the incisions are very similar. Those scars are very small white lines, you can barely notice the larger ones and the small incisions you cannot see at all! Like others have said though, everyone heals differently and there are a number of factors that go into the equation (skin tone, age, etc.)! If you want to wear a bikini, and you do not want to tell anyone that you had lapband surgery (and someone actually notices the scars) just tell them you had your Gall Bladder removed :biggrin:.

Now this forum needs to have an app for the iphone . I actually looked for one the other day and had no luck.

I have this app on my iPhone and I use it often! Great way to track what I eat!!! I previously used Fit Day, but now I only use Lose It! Fit Day is good, but with Lose It I can instantly enter what I eat. I no longer have to wait until I get to the computer to update my food log.

I was given two cards after surgery, I cary one and have one put away. To date I have not had to use them. I always order off of the kids menu, and have not had any problems from the wait staff or restaurant. I have yet to try a buffet though.

I have been a member of this forum since October 08, and have gotten such WONDERFUL information and support by reading your posts and asking questions. So many people are so positive and helpful, and that is such a GREAT thing!!!! So WHY do some people have to be so negative?!?!? I have seen a number of posts that have been so negative. Do these people not remember that childhood lesson of, "If you don't have something nice to say then don't say it all!" I am not talking about the post that are giving factual information about Lapband that might cause some heated discussions. I am talking about people just being MEAN!! I guess there are mean people everywhere. Which is just plain sad because to me this is, for the most part, a positive place for information and support!