GoddessNar

It's really, really good! I like how it's easier to make a creamy dip with the lentils. With the chickpeas, I always have to add a bit of water, and my blender still isn't strong enough to make everything perfectly smooth. I call it my "chunky homestyle hummus". *L*

Thanks! I will look for the oatmeal. I've lived here since August and I've made a lot of changes and substitutions. My mom sent me some instant oatmeal in a care package recently, which was awesome

Brockbabe, I have that kind of hunger too. What really helps me is just completely covering my plate with my napkin if I'm at a restaurant or in the cafeteria. Out of sight, out of mind. If I can see it, I will try to eat more of it, so I cover it until the plate is taken away. At home, I take my plate into the kitchen and leave it.

It happens. We all get hungry and we're human, so we're going to slip up. I'm on mainly liquids and some mushy things right now, and I still get so hungry and so frustrated that I want to eat something! But I don't let myself. I'm sick of soup, yogurt and smoothies, but my appetite is much smaller than it was. It takes time, and that time SUCKS, unfortunately, but it does pass. Even though my doctor told me five days out of surgery that I could have fish, eggs and cheese, I didn't do it. I waited a little longer and then added cheese and mushy beans (red lentils) to my diet. And some crackers, which he said were okay. Every doctor is different, which also makes it frustrating. 'Why can so-and-so have something that I can't?' But you are NOT a failure! Not at all. Don't feel that way. If you don't have any restriction yet, of course you're going to be hungrier than if you had restriction. One slip-up doesn't make you a failure. It doesn't make any of us a failure. Please don't beat yourself up over it. You had mashed potatoes, not a pizza. You will do fine!

I think someone posted this on another thread, but the hair loss is called "telogen effluvium". Hair follicles are either active (androgen stage) or they are resting, or in the telogen stage. At any time 5-15% of our hair follicles are inactive. Surgery, childbirth, illness, a high fever, or stress can cause more than the normal number of follicles to go into the telogen stage. That's why we lose more hair than normal, but it grows back. I'm only a couple weeks out, so I haven't experienced it yet. I'm freaked out about it and I almost cancelled the surgery when I found out about it. But, as someone said, it's a small price to pay to lose weight and be healthy.

My biggest incision is infected. I'll spare you all most of the details, but on Sunday it started to 'ooze' a bit of fluid. I changed my bandages until I ran out. This morning I went to the doctor on campus and was told I had an infection. The nurse cleaned and re-bandaged it and the doctor put me on Augmentin. How common is this? I've seen posts regarding port infections, but my other incisions have healed nicely. In fact, they just look like cat scratches right now. I hope the antibiotics clear it up soon.

I haven't gotten to the solid food stage yet, so I'm not sure. It could've been some of the crust on the fish. Maybe the nuts were kind of jagged and you just have some irritation. Hopefully it will be better very soon!

I didn't have any problems with gas, but I do still have some swelling around the biggest incision. It has gone down some since last week, but I still have this weird little bump.

I'm allowed to have yogurt in addition to the liquids. At my checkup today the doc said I could also have eggs and vegetables that have been cooked really, really well. I was just banded on Saturday. This morning I tried to eat some yogurt, but a bite of it got stuck. I guess it was too big of a bite. I'm a little swollen since I just had surgery. Now I know what I want to avoid in the future. It hurt! I slimed and I had to vomit up the little bit of yogurt before I got any relief. Ugh. I am definitely not looking forward to any more episodes like that.

Yup, every doctor is a little bit different. I'm going to stick with the liquids. I did try some mushy, mushy food last night and it went down fine and dandy, but I don't want to risk it. My surgeon is the leading bariatric surgeon in the country (but there aren't that many of them *in* this country), and I trust some of his advice, but some of it goes against everything else I've read. Back to soups and smoothies I go!

I have decided to take this opportunity to experiment with pureed Soups. I imagine liquids will still get pretty boring soon, though! I already miss solid food a bit, but today I made a filling soup with stuff I happened to have on hand. The measurements aren't exact, but this will give you an idea. 1 very small potato, peeled and cubed 1/2 cup corn (I used frozen) 2 garlic cloves 1/2 chicken bouillon cube 1 tsp cumin Water milk I cooked the minced garlic in a bit of oil for just a couple of minutes. Then I put in the potato, water and bouillon cube. Let the potato cook until it's soft, then add the corn and let it heat up. Add the ground cumin. Puree everything in the blender with a little bit of milk (1/2 cup maybe) and re-heat. It was creamy and very filling.

I was given an anti-inflammatory, only. There was some kind of liquid painkiller in my IV, but after my discharge, I just had the Meloxicam 7.5 mg.

I was banded on Saturday and I'm also very, very hungry at times. I make protein smoothies and I also have diet Jell-O, juice, water, yogurt and soup. Yogurt is the most filling, so if I'm really hungry, I have yogurt. I just had some pureed soup and feel pretty full from that, but I have been hearing my stomach growl a lot.

I just got my band on Saturday, so I don't have to worry about a fill for 4 weeks. Right now what I'm wondering is how much will the doctor fill the band to start? Some people say the first fill is too tight or not tight enough. Is there a basic starting amount of fluid? How many CCs would be normal? Or does it just depend on the person and the doctor?

I had laser hair removal, but because of my hormone imbalance, it all grew back. Granted, I only had 4 treatments instead of 6, but I doubt even that would've done any good. I'm just going to have to see if losing weight helps any. Then I can go back for more laser removal.

I think Slim Fast can be hard on the gall bladder, even the low-carb. I use whey protein from GNC. I have unflavored and I mix it with juice or skim milk (plus a bit of Nesquick *L*) but mostly juice.

I think I have a bit of resistance right now. My doctor told me I could have yogurt so I had some last night and I think I took too big of a spoonful. I swallowed and felt pain. I had some soup yesterday and felt rather full for a while after that too. It might just be swelling, though.

I think maybe it's just because you weren't allowed to have food for so long. Once you were able to eat normally, your body decided to hold on to those precious calories. A fill should help you take care of those few extra pounds. I'm glad they got rid of that pesky gall bladder! They found a big stone in mine during the pre-op tests but so far it hasn't given me any trouble *knock on wood*. I hope you get to feeling better soon. :thumbup:

I got banded yesterday at Hizmet Hastanesi in Istanbul. The whole thing took about 25 minutes and I got home this afternoon. I'm really, really sore, but hopefully some of the pain will fade in a couple of days. I read where you are all on liquids for the first couple of weeks, first clear and then full, and then you move onto mushy foods. My doctor told me I could have things like yogurt or soupy, pureed things as well. In fact, what he ordered for me to eat today was tea, a small piece of beyaz peynir (soft sheep's milk cheese) and some tea biscuits. I dunked the biscuits into the tea so they disintegrated in my mouth. I had some gelatin earlier today and am having some soup right now. I don't know why my dietary plan differs so much from everyone else's, but Dr. Bozbora is supposed to be the top bariatric surgeon in the country. He performs almost one surgery a day. But I didn't have a pre-op diet either, just liquids for two days before surgery. I still plan on keeping to liquids more than anything else, but I will have some yogurt too. I figure yogurt + juice+ protein powder = good smoothie.

I am afraid of failure. I'm afraid that with my PCOS and insulin resistance, I won't lose very much weight. I'm afraid it will all come back, plus more, like it always has in the past. I'm afraid of losing too much hair! (That's number one for me). But I got banded yesterday and I think it will be worth it. I feel like I've been kicked by a horse, though. Three weeks of Soup, Jell-O, and yogurt, here I come.

I had my pre-op tests today and everything is fine. My heart is fine, good blood pressure, good blood sugar, etc. My triglycerides are a teeny bit high, but those will come down later, I'm sure. My liver is a bit big, but one of the surgeons didn't seem to think it would be a problem. The surgeon performing my operation hasn't said anything yet, so as far as I know, it's a go. They did discover a really big gall stones during the ultrasound, though, and I don't know what is going to be done about that. I guess I'll find out today or tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am going to the hospital for the bloodwork, x-rays, and whatever else needs to be done. The surgeon has scheduled my surgery for Saturday morning at 11:30 am. I'm not nervous yet, but I'm sure I will be! I guess I just can't believe it yet.

Well, we're down to the final week. I'm supposed to have my pre-op tests on Friday. It's basically a physical, from what I've been told. If all goes well, I should have the surgery on Saturday. Right now, though, all I can think of is, 'What if I don't pass the pre-op tests? I feel like I'm healthy enough to have the surgery, but what if they find something?' I'm so nervous that something will go wrong and I'll have gotten my hopes up, only to have them dashed by not being able to have the surgery. I have to stop driving myself nuts! :thumbup:

I think I would go for the rolls of quarters myself, although I don't have to *try* to gain weight, which is why I'm hoping to get banded on Saturday as planned! Good luck!

Actually, I can find some pork products here. They aren't everywhere, of course, and they're expensive, but around. Apparently one of the store chains has bacon, and there's a butcher somewhere in the city that has pork. I've no idea where, though.