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Welcome to LBT Jodi-T!!! You will find a wealth of information on this site and most everybody is super friendly and willing to help. Good luck to you on your upcoming lap band journey--get ready for an awesome ride!! :biggrin1: ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/167/160 5'7''

I don't know of any recipes but I get the fried tofu with mixed veggies about once a week from our local chinese place and I LOVE it.... If you want to be completely healthy, don't get it fried but I like the flavor better when it is... ~liz~ 03/10/06 241/167/160 5'7''

So sorry to hear about your band troubles Lexi....Best of luck to you on getting a new one!! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

How wonderful that you two get to share this awesome journey together! I wish my mom would have done it with me, that would have been too cool. I think you both are doing great--just keep encouraging her, she'll get to her goal! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/168/160 5'7''

Hi Kathy, It sounds like you have your head screwed on straight and you are making good decisions with your diet. Thats a great move to clean out your pantry of all the tempting junk that you know will keep you from losing again. Everything on your diet sounded good except the biscuit part for me but that is only b/c my body stores EVERY MORSEL of carb that I eat and I don't lose. I can eat high Protein with a decent amt of fat though and still lose though so that is what I stick to. You have taken the first step by realizing that you had slipped back into your old ways so you're on the right track. THats the beauty of the band-whenever you are ready to get serious with it, its there for you. I am sure the scale will move for you if you keep it up. Good luck to you and congrats on your weight loss in the past year! :biggrin1: ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

As long as you are staying full for 3-4 hrs and are losing 1-2 lbs per week, there is no reason to get another fill. I only went in when my weight loss slowed down or stopped OR I was getting hungry faster than I should. I say if its working good, why fix it? ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

I am the same way. I never thought I had gotten as fat as I did until I finally made myself step on the scale. I was horrified and devastated. At first I said Oh well, then I am doomed to be fat forever then and i am never stepping on another one again. But now that I am almost at goal I have come to the realization that I need the scale to keep me on track. And I will the rest of my life to maintain my weight. It is WAY to easy for me to gain to only weigh every 2 weeks. I could gain 10 lbs by then if i am not monitoring it. So, if its good or bad I still weigh at least once a day just to keep on it.. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

This topic really hits home for me so I feel I must share with you guys about bulimia. I was overweight from a very young age, weighing 130 lbs in 2nd grade, etc. Once I got to college I was determined to date guys and make more friends and I was fed up with being fat and feeling isolated. But b/c of my obsession with food I couldn't get the weight off and KEEP IT OFF w/out cheating. So I relied heavily on diet pills ate healthy in front of my friends and then binged and purged in private. It is nothing to mess around with and EXTREMELY addictive and scary to be dealing with. At first I thought I had it made b/c I got to eat my doughnuts and pizza, chocolate...whatever my little heart desired and everybody was always so darn jealous of how I maintained my size 6 figure. But it ravashes your body, and quickly. The more often I pigged out and purged, the more I wanted to do it and I kept getting more and more food. It got so bad at one pt that I was breaking dates and not going to parties just so I could eat in private. And then there was the problem of where to throw up at-you always had to scope out where the nearest bathrooms were. Throwing up violently after binging destroys your teeth enamel, your heart races, your throat hurts and you get dizzy and weak afterwards. I felt so helpless b/c I was addicted to food in the worst way but scared to get help in fear of gaining my weight back. Eventually I kicked the habit (after 3 yrs) when I went to the ER b/c I felt like I was going to pass out and the doc told me that my electrolytes were all screwed up and my heart was beating irregularly and she basically told me that I could have a heart attack soon (I was 21!) if I didn't stop throwing up. So obviously thats when I knew I needed help and luckily I got it. But up until I dealt with bulimia I always thought it was just something models did every once in awhile; I had no idea it was so addicting. When I quit puking I got very healthy, very quickly. I also gained over 100 lbs too but I knew that was going to happen. I am going to have a food addiction the rest of my life and at least now I can recognize that. I am just glad that I was able to beat bulimia b/c it is so darn scary to go thru. I would rather be MO than bulimic in a heartbeat. I felt so much worse having to hide my disease rather than wearing it on my sleeve when I was just huge. Alright. I feel much better getting that off of my chest. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

I agree. I am definately MUCH tighter when I am stressed out.....sometimes I just drink my Protein b/c I already know the band will be fickle on those days..its better than pbing.. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

I think maintaining your weight once you reach goal will be much easier than continuing to lose....You have done so well Natural, enjoy being at goal!! And thanks so much for the support Telly. I think you have lost the most the quickest due to your awesome attitude and dedication. You rock girl!! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7'' P.S. I will be putting up some before/after shots when I get to goal so you guys can see....Sorry I don't have any up yet but I am not tech savvy AT ALL. But in 9lbs I will get some up...:huggie:

My PCP unfortunately only turned out to be a hindrance in me getting my surgery. I had done cholesterol and b.p. tests with him as well as xrays for my knees. Though I had lab results done with him when I first started my journey stating that my cholesterol was at 215 and was considered high he wanted more recent lab results so he tested it again feb and it went down to 190 somehow so he determined that it wasn't a comorbity anymore. When he got my xrays back from my knees he said that he could see where there was 'pre-arthritis' in my knees but he wouldn't write that in to recommend me for surgery. So all I really had then was my depression meds that I could use as a comorbity. My BMI was 37. I was heartbroken that he wouldn't write a nice referral letter to my insurance co to try to get me the surgery. He just told me that he honestly didnt think I needed it and to get back on the treadmill and start eating better!! I was so mad at him.....He was worthless. I just wasted more time going to him and he wasn't even my PCP for very long--he was referred to me by a friend who had the band and had no problems getting the letter, though my friend was much heavier than me starting out. So, to make a long story short I ended up going to Mexico with Ortiz b/c I was sick of playing his stupid games. I still will not go back to that doctor b/c all he did is get in the way, take my $$ for endless test and delay my surgery. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

Hi BJean, I can't answer for Stella but I did see that her surgeon was Dr.Ortiz, as was mine and to the best of my knowledge he only uses the 4cc/10cm Inamed band. I asked about getting a Vanguard but he told me he only uses the smaller one. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. Good idea on the reflux/PB poll. I don't have reflux thankfully (yet) but I do PB if I am not very careful when I eat my solids. I am fine if I can stop myself and put away the food AS SOON AS I get the slightest bit full. If I keep going at all b/c I am very restricted it will almost always end up in a slime or PB. So I have kind of gotten sick of eating really. I eat to stop the hunger and that is it. It is not worth the pain to overeat. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

(H) 241 © 170 (G) 160 -3 this week (-71 lbs total) This week wasn't bad but I had gotten down to 169 on Sunday but ever since then have been stuck at 170. Oh well, all in all it was still a good week. ~Liz~ P.S. Way to go on reaching your goal Natural!!! :clap2: You must feel great!

I know it really isn't bad at all here today in Tampa is it Funny? I just went outside on my break at work and it is very calm, like you said no winds. We will see what happens later on in the day. It can't be any worse than some of the lightning storms we have had here lately!! ~Liz~

I live in Tampa and we are just projected to get rain and wind today, nothing serious. The storm may be downgraded to a tropical depression. This has been a nice, calm hurricane season thus far. Much much better than last year. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

The good: Wearing a size 10, being 10lbs from goal and very confident, sexy and beautiful again The bad: Feeling STARVNG and deprived on the liquid diet pre op and right after surgery before my 1st fill The Ugly: A jealous sister that won't talk to me b/c I am doing something about my weight and now she is the fatter one again... ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

Mine said the same....let it get flat first. I personally have had NO problems with any carbonated drink ever if I sip but I know that some do no matter what. I guess it is a very individualized thing. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

Stella, I would try drinking something hot before you eat like tea to prime your band to help get solids down a bit easier to avoid PBing. When I am espc. tight this is a must for me. There is NO way right when I get up at 5am I can eat solids so I have protein shake but by 10am I am ready for some and usually the tea beforehand helps me get the food down better. As long as you are able to keep most solids down I would wait until your band loosens IF you are loosing 1-2 lbs a week. There is always a bit of saline that is dissolving naturally w/in your body. On avg I am loosing .2 cc a month so that is why I don't like getting an unfill if at all possible. Just my 2 cents though--If you are not loosing weight like you would like to, I would get a tiny bit out. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7'' current fill: 3.2ccs/4cc band (3 fills)

good luck on your surgery BJean!! We are all rooting for you here at LBT!! :mad: ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

Hi BJean, You know its funny b/c pre-band I was the most pessimistic, mopey person out there and I was convinced that I was going to be a turtle and lose extremely slow, if even at all. But if you go into this journey knowing that IT IS VERY HARD it helps. It doesn't make it any easier per say but it makes you grateful for every lb lost b/c you know you worked for it and you didn't just S*IT it out b/c of malabsorption or anything like that. I am not trying to put down the bypass b/c it works very well for some but I wanted a lifestyle change, something permanent. I knew that the only way I was going to beat this battle was to re-think how I have been eating and how I got MO in the firstplace. You are right about the skin issue-I have NO sagging skin but it may be b/c I am only 25. I have lost weight pretty fast for a LB patient but that was only b/c of my effort I have put into it by exercising and dieting. Yes, I said dieting but only a small % can get the band and eat whatever they want and lose. Or keep losing that is.....I never could. From the get-go I said bye-bye to the fast food crap that I ate and whatnot. That doesn't mean that I don't eat a treat now and then though. So I do feel like a "normal eater" now. I eat low fat, low carb healthy foods and count my calories most of the time (80% of the time) and then I splurge and eat what I want, choc, popcorn, whatever on occasion. And that has worked thus far but I have only been banded 5 1/2 mos so I am not a veteran. We will see how I do with maintaining my weight loss. I just want you to know that there is hope with the band. It won't work for everybody but it won't fail for a good # of ppl as well. Those women you know who yous speculate had the band were right about saying that they had to work for every lb lost--you do but IMO IT IS WORTH IT. Keep your chin up... ~Liz~

It sounds like it is time to exercise. You are VERY lucky that you were able to get off as much weight as you did w/out it. I had to bust my butt from the get-go unfortunately and I wasn't happy about it. I saw other bandsters where the weight was just falling off of them at the beginning but it has always been a No Pain, No Gain type of ride for me. If I don't get my exercise in I don't let myself get upset if the scale doesn't move. But it is super rewarding when the scale does so I feel it is worth the pain. Just do something that is joint-friendly and that you enjoy. I love swimming and walking, every once in a while the elliptical or stairmaster. ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

I guess I am the oddball here in this thread but I LIKE that I have PB's every once in awhile and I like that I can't shovel food in. It helps keep me in line. I was a lower BMI starting out too but I am extremely hard headed and I need the band to make me stop eating, pain or no pain... The reason why all my other diets failed and this hasn't (so far anyways...) is that the band stops me in my tracks from overeating. I do have to work for every pound lost by exercise but the problem I had pre-band was my willpower to quit overeating. I wasn't a junk food binger but I was a volume binger and I couldn't put the fork down. I still don't like exercise but I know I have to do it to get to my goal. I really think in order for the band to work like it should the person's head has to be completely ready for transformation as well as having the motivation to exercise. This certainly isn't easy but I know if I didnt' get the band I would be climbing towards 300 lbs....I would rather have a bit of pain every once in a while from eating too fast or not chewing well than the pain of being miserable in my obese body everyday. Just my 2 cents though... ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Hope you have a Wonderful Day :biggrin1: We Love you here at LBT!!! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/170/160 5'7''

Way to go Mandy! I am going thru the exact same thing right now. I am down 72 lbs too and I am finding it hard to believe that I am becoming thin. I am just trying to get my brain to catch up to my body now...Congrats to you!! ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''

I didn't get perfect sweet spot restriction till I got to 3.2ccs in my 4cc band. Now it is easy eating. I DEFINATELY know when to stop.... ~Liz~ 03/10/06 241/169/160 5'7''