ericsmom

Beth, sorry to hear things didn't go as well as you had hoped. It's too bad they didn't numb the port site once they figured out it was tilted. I hope you're feeling better tonight.

I crush my pills and take them with liquid x-strength tylenol. I tried Tylenol Arthritis once and the second of the two pills must have turned sideways and I felt like it was stuck. Anything that is not extended time release can be crushed.

Good question, NatesMommy... You can be gaining muscle - converting fat to muscle - and your weight might not move...so it's entirely possible I would think. If anyone knows the real answer, I'd be curious, too.

I haven't had any problems with chicken at all - in fact I'm cooking some right now. I bake it in apricot preserves and Russian dressing and it's so GOOD!!

I went out to lunch with some former co-workers today. They picked a bar famous for their burgers - wouldn't have exactly been my choice. I ordered a mushroom and swiss burger, no bun, no fries. The waitress looked at me rather funny and said, are you sure? Then the cook came out and asked if I wanted some lettuce and tomato...I said no I was good with just the burger, mushrooms and swiss cheese. I ate about 3/4 of it. The girls couldn't believe that that was all I could eat. They hadn't seen me since my surgery, but did know I was having it. They said I looked good. That made me feel good

JMO - thanks for the PM with the notice abut the chat tonight. I'm not sure if I can make it yet, but will try. Ruthie - thanks for the nice comment - I don't think I'll argue the comment about secretaries running the school...after my first year last year, it was proven to me over and over

I've started to just weigh on Wednesdays (the day I record) and on Saturday mornings for a sneak peak. I always weigh in the same place right after I get up and go to the bathroom. I know it's hard, but maybe try not to get on the scale quite so much...you're doing awesome...it will come off :confused:

I reached twoterville last week! It's a great feeling :confused: and this morning solidified it by the scale saying 291.6!! If I could jump up I'd yell wow, what a feeling like the Toyota commercial! Congrats to all who have entered and good thoughts and support sent your way to those on your way!!

Congratulations to you!!! What a great feeling! You should be so proud of you! I'm just hitting under 300, so I can wait to join you in your success!

Good luck to you Dawg! I sense a great NSV in your future!

Congrats to your DH on entering bandland! Glad to hear he's doing okay. As far as being on a "diet", I'm trying not to think of it that way. I haven't tried popcorn or salad yet - how are those going down for you? I just had a fill, so I suppose they would have gone down better before the fill. I'm tending to eat the same things, but then again, I've been home all summer. I go back to school (I'm a principal's secretary) this coming Monday and then I'll have to plan snacks and lunch. I think I'll stick with Lean Quisines. The portions are good and you can find them all on FitDay.com. I really like my Slim Fast with added protein shakes in the mornings, so I'll have one before I go to work. If I have string cheese or a SF pudding cup for a snack and a LQ for lunch, I can have dinner with my family or a shake again. I also like cottage cheese with diced peaches, too. It's more a new routine I'm trying to establish instead of having the mindset of a "diet". As far as your fill goes, I'm sure it will be fine! I had mine last week and it made quite a difference

I hope they last longer, too! It's funny you mention the plantar's fascitis in your heel. I just mentioned to my orthopedist today that I was starting to feel my spur in my left heel again. I had cortisone shot into the side of my foot right into the spur over a year so so ago and it's now just starting to wear off. He said if it gets too bad we'll do more cortisone in it. I have to do stretching exercises for my arch and he said to continue to do the exercises...that's the only thing that helps heal the heel!! When I get shorts I just breathe like I'm in labor, blowing out slowly, and tell him to go slow with the injection. It's a piece of cake then!

My WW scale is 3 lbs less than the doctor's scale, yet they have me at 4 more pounds down than I count because they go from the date I met the surgeon (4/24/06) and I go by my first day of fasting (6/21/06) so I am down 40.6 here at home and 44 at the doc's office. I am going by my scale and weigh every Wednesday. That's great that your scale matches theirs!

Maybe you need to do a more aerobic exercise. Yoga is great, but it doesn't really get your heart rate up to burn calories and fat. You must have at least 20 minutes of continuous exercise (and in that time you are just burning sugar) and anything after that you start to burn fat. Walking outside or on a treadmill, biking (I use a recumbant bike because I have arthritis in my knees so bad), an eliptical machine if you can handle that sort of thing. I was told the way to get the most bang for my buck, so-to-speak, was to drink lots and lots of Water and exercise. The band already helps you with portion size, so the other two things is what you should work on. You should also make sure to get enough Protein. If you don't have enough, you won't loose as much either. If you don't already, go to FitDay.com and start tracking what you're eating and your exercise and by seeing the picture in front of you, you might be able to figure out what you need to do differently to lose better. Hope this helps

Beth - you'll do just fine, girlfriend! It's gonna be just fine. I felt the restriction about 4 hours later and drank a little more shake than I should have. So I was a bit uncomfortable for a while, but I was totally fine the next morning. I stayed on liquids the following day, as my doc suggested. I can feel the band today - some days I can't at all. It's not a bad feeling though. I've only had abut 650 calories and 47 g. of protein today and I should have 60 g. of protein. I'm going to go have some Cream of Wheat before bed. I wore stretchy pants and a top and just layed on the table and lifted my shirt and put my pants down past the port. He numbed the area and then gave me the fill. No problems. I bruised a bit, but there is only one needle mark You'll be okay

I just had my first fill last Thursday and I can feel quite a bit of restriction. We'll have to see how long it lasts. All I know is not very much goes in at any one time!

An UPDATE for Ericsmom - H 337/ S 322.5/ C 296.4/ CBMI 50.9 (-40.6 lbs total, -2.6 this week) and I got a fill last Thursday!

I had another doctor appt. today - this time for cortisone in both of my knees. I'll be sore tonight and have hot flashes, but tomorrow I'll be a new woman! Since I go back to work next Monday I needed to get back into tip top performance mode. We're going to monitor how often I need it throughout the school year and if it is still very frequent we'll talk to the surgeon and schedule a total knee replacement for my right knee during the summer after the 06-07 school year. It usually only lasts about a month, so maybe with my weight dropping it may last a bit longer this time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Glad to hear you'll check out FitDay...it's a great tool. It was so handy to be able to pull up my information when I was at the nutritionist yesterday, too!

Wow! That's a lot of exercise to your calories! I'm doing what you're doing with the No Caffeine, No Carbonation, Low Carbs, Low Calorie, High Protein. You're doing a super job. Keep up the great work!

Boy Chris, you are livin' the bachelor life, aren't you!! Do you like fish? I got cod fillets and bake them for 20 minutes at 350 and season them with a bit of seasoning for fish and it's yummy. I also eat a lot of cottage cheese as that has a lot of protein. I usually eat a snack sized container of diced peaches with it. Maybe explore the food threads on this site for ideas for food with higher protein. When you go to the store read labels. You might be surprised at what you will be able to eat

Chris - my doctor determined my protein minimum by my height. I get mine just by eating things like cottage cheese, string cheese, fish, tuna, and adding protein powder to my Slim Fast shakes. Do you track your intake on FitDay.com? I've found that site extremely helpful in tracking my intake vs. exercise.

I used to drink caffeine free diet coke all day long. I had my last one on June 20th the night before I started my 2 week pre-op fast. I haven't had one since. I was told to stay away from carbination. I know if I have one, I'll want more, so I just don't have it. Surprisingly I've been okay with that so far.

Chris - congrats on the 61 lb loss! You're doing great!

Tomorrow is weigh day...I am looking forward to seeing a number under 300!! I hit 299 last week, and after my fill last Thursday the nutritionist had me down 3lbs this morning. So tomorrow will be my official Wednesday weigh in. I had great NSV moments with my therapist and my nutritionist today Kari - glad to hear you're going to dust off the treadmill You go girl!!