Melissannde

I now realize that I celebrated my first 100 by joining a gym. I didn't think about it at the time, but the two coincide.

I'm not exactly coordinated either.. but I do Zumba at my gym and enjoy it. If I can't get the steps I either jog in place or make up my own. There's one routine one of the instructors has been teaching for probably 6 months or more and I STILL can't get that one routine.. I just keep trying and do my best. No one is there to judge (or they shouldn't be..it's not dancing with the stars LOL). They're there to have fun and get in shape. I'm also interested in Zumba for the Wii though.. for days that the Gym is just impossible.

Let's see.. the first 7 months all I did for exercise was walk my dogs.. for about a mile or more per day. I also parked far away from stores and walked shopping carts all the way back to the stores instead of using the corrals. I don't walk my dogs as far these days, but I still park far away and return carts. 21 months out from surgery now and I do Body Pump (for strength & toning, not body building), Step Aerobics, Yoga, Pilates, RPM (about the same as Spinning) and Zumba. I should start running, but am a bit leary of it.

I agree with the Lemon-drop Martini suggestion. I have them leave off the sugar around the rim.

You can also try drinking lots of water and other very low calorie (5 to 10) fluids like Crystal lite. It won't work a long time, but it will help tide you over a little until the next "feeding time".

I'm so sorry to hear you have BC. I have an inkling of what you are going through as I am a uterine cancer survivor. Prayers for peace, healing, early stage and no recurrence being offered.

Melly, What is your definition of feeling full? I ask because I don't feel full the same way as I used to pre-banding. I feel "satisfied". If I ate till I was full, I'd probably be overeating. I weigh out my Protein, measure my veggies and eat that and get up from the table and go do something else. IF I'm still hungry 20 minutes later, I'm allowed more low calorie veggies (provided they're not drowning in butter or other high calorie sauce). I do know what you mean about people having different responses to Fluid levels. There's another gal I know, banded by the same doc as me, same band size.. she's got very good appetite dimming at 2cc's and I'm good (but beginning to need more) at 5.5cc. I dropped weight like mad because my food choices changed so drastically after surgery. Pre, I ate fried foods and nachos and pizza and hamburgers, etc. Since banding my choices are lean and green. I'm not saying your choices aren't the same..just explaining my loss rate. Also bear in mind that those who seem to be losing really fast may have also started at a much higher weight than you. The bigger you are, the faster you (can) lose. Asking your doc (or whoever does the fills) to draw back all that's in the band isn't a half-bad idea. Hang in there, even if you're losing slower than you like, you're still losing.

No, saw it on Dr. Phil. Book has arrived, it's OK, but a little lacking IMO. I think I expected more recipes and better layout. Haven't looked at DVD yet. NOW DH said to me last night "How much do you want me to lose" SHEESH. I told him it wasn't my weight loss, it's his and he can do it when ready, or not at all. This man is so difficult to communicate with.. anytime I talk about something more than 2 minutes he thinks I'm pushing him. Comes from him having a very pushy Mom. You'd think he'd learn after nearly 30 years of marriage that I'm not his mother.. LOL Anyhoo.. Good point about the book is that it has suggestions on how to modify the cycles for different cultural tastes. Also has suggestions for dealing with PMS on the plan.

Actually, that's when my weight loss started.. when I got back on "real" food after being on liquids and softs after surgery. During the recovery I only lost about 2 lbs. Once I was on solid food, I dropped 20lbs in 9 days. Sure some of it was Water weight, but I was still 20lbs lighter. No pre-op diet for me and I am thankful. Good thing doctors have varying requirements, as we are all different. I don't want to be regulated, uniform or standardized.

Zenaida, I'm so sorry you're having hubby issues. Men are indeed stupid sometimes. Maybe it's testosterone poisoning, I dunno. Have you tried drinking something warm to help ease the band a little? I do that in the morning when I'm a little tight. I understand where you are, I was too tight back in the spring and fought with it almost a month before I got unfilled. Hope you can get unfilled sooner than the 18th.

Sorry you're having issues with your doctor. Do you keep a record of your intake online somewhere? I use www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate and it allows me to print out what I'm eating in an excel chart. I print out about a week or 10 days of what I've eaten to take in so that my nurses/doctor can see my choices. Maybe if you did something like that, it would enable ya'll to communicate better. Congrats on the treadmill so often. Just a note, if you're using the treadmills calculation of calorie burn, those are known to be highly inaccurate. Once I got a good HR monitor, I found that the treadmills calculation was way off.. by about 1/2. Hope things get better for you.

If you can call it "pain", you might possibly be eating a tad too much. Try and stop before it becomes pain. It would be a good idea to consult your doc or nurse about it. THAT being said, I do feel a weird pulling, stretching feeling in my back sometimes, but it's not painful and not related to just eating. I feel it sometimes when eating and sometimes after working out and sometimes just because. The doc doesn't know what it is, but isn't worried about it since it doesn't hurt and my yearly UGI looked fine.

I discovered quite by accident that if I take a nap in the afternoon, I go back to being tight again. Might be hard to find time to nap.. but it might work if you have time.

unjury has a chicken Soup flavor that many people like. www.unjury.com They also have unflavored.

My psych evaluation was basically to make sure I knew that the band was a tool and not a magic wand. That I would have to do the work, the band only assists. I took a few tests (fill in a bubble multiple choice type things. These are easy, among other things they ask the same question worded different ways and look to see that you are consistent in your answers), talked to a girl a bit, she must've been a social worker or a psychologist in training. We talked about the kinds of food I liked and disliked. She also asked if I had been abused.. and I told her that depended on your definition of abuse.. some people think spanking children is abusive. Some other stuff like that. Then I met and talked to the psychologist. He's also banded and talked about his experience and his sisters experience. He let me feel his port.. LOL. Just be honest. They weren't at all perturbed that I had been treated for depression and that OCD and depression runs in my family. I still got approved for my band. I'd be willing to wager that you'll be approved too.

Ask your doc if he/she uses stitches. My incisions/stab wounds were sealed with Dermabond.

I don't recall having any problems with a bra. My port is down and to the left of my breasts.. I think I wore my nightgown & robe home from the hospital and didn't bother with putting one on for a few days.

I had pain for more than 2 weeks, but don't remember how much longer than 2 weeks. I know I had to take pain meds to be able to ride an hour to my 2 week post-op appt.

I'm glad we weren't required to watch them. I'm not fond of online videos. I'd rather read. Glad there's different ways of getting info for different styles of learning.

I don't think there's a time limit with the band. I lost 118 lbs my first year, and have gone on to lose another 53 in the 9 months since then. As I get smaller, the weight loss slows, but if I continue to work it, it should continue to work. I think the first year or honeymoon phase is probably more applicable to other WLS.

I guess not cause I don't have the faintest idea what an emmi program is.

I didn't do a specific "diet". I ate 3oz of Protein and 1/2 cup of low carb veggies at each meal. I tried to make sure the protein was good quality, 90/10 or better and the veggies were not something with sauce or butter (most of the time). I also exercised (and still do). Started with walking and gradually moved into using a gym.

oh yeah, I forgot about Greek Yogurt. I use Dannon nonfat plain greek yogurt. 80 calories, 15gram Protein, 6carbs in 5.3 oz. If I'm about to workout, I add 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Muesli..110 calories, 4gram protein, 21 carbs. I agree, lots of carbs, but I want to have carbs to burn during workout to prevent burning muscle. I do some pretty strenuous exercise most days. Non pre-workout, I add some kind of fresh or frozen fruit and a packet or two of artificial sweetner to the greek yogurt. I avoid the greek yogurt that comes with fruit already added.. too much sugars. (but they DO taste good.. I do indulge every great now & then. The ones with Honey are really good!)

If you're coughing up bloody stuff you need to contact your doctor right away! If I misunderstood your post, my apologies.

Not only do we become slightly dehydrated overnight, but also some of us have drainage that sorta gums up the works. coffee and Vitamins are my daily wake-up routine.