SpideyMom

Thanks, Gaye. I feel great! You don't have much further to go yourself! :scared2:

Hi, Lisa. I don't have to toast my bread, but I often do. I finally found some that is easy to get down without PBing. It's Nature's Own sugar free 100% Whole Grain bread: Nature's Own - Varieties - Variety Breads - Sugar Free 100% Whole Grain Wheat It is very soft for whole grain, and it's only 50 cal. per slice. Still, I have to take small bites and chew slowly, but it's much better than any other bread I've found. Of course, putting butter or butter spray on the bread helps a lot. :scared2: Tortillas are harder for me, though, and I have to be very careful with them, taking small bites and chewing slowly. I never thought about toasting them, though - duh. Next time I will try that! I usually eat them with hummus, so toasted tortillas would be much better with that anyway. :thumbup: I eat the La Tortilla Factory Low Carb tortillas that are 50 cal and 5 g. of Protein each.

I have been steadily losing, but I only eat healthy carbs -- Beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas, fruit, milk, and occasionally corn, sweet potatoes, sugar-free whole wheat bread or tortillas, and whole wheat Pasta. Adkins was way too strict for me. Check out South Beach Diet. It is more flexible, allowing for healthy carbs. Good luck! :thumbup::thumbup:

Fantastic job, everyone!:thumbup: And good luck with the race, LOM! :thumbup:

Welcome, Tamra! You are off to a fantastic start! :thumbup:

BCBS is usually very good about paying for the surgery. The usual wait time, according to my physician's assistant, is up to 4 weeks for them. You may have to have the PA nudge them a little with a call every week. That's what my PA says she does for all her cases. Good luck! :thumbup:

:biggrin: Thank you so much, everyone! You are all so kind. It does feel great! :laugh:

Yep, we all hit bumps in the road. And we all have bad eating habits that we need to conquer because let's face it, we didn't get fat in the first place by eating right. :eek: And it's so d@mn frustratingly ironic that chips, ice cream, shakes, pudding, and other goodies will go right on though the band without problem, but try to get healthy foods through and you get stuck. So, I guess it's a case of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." If we can't beat the band (eat what you want and lose weight) then we have to join the band (eat the right way for the band and lose weight). This is such a learning experience! And like Sarah said, we're all in this together! :mad2:

You were right, John, I made it this week to (and now past) the 100 lb. lost mark! Total lost this week was 2.5. I think I'll treat myself to the dancing Vitamins because I'm soooo happy!!!! :eek::party::mad2: PS - You can see my before & new after photo on my profile or on my other thread.

Thank you, Laura Lane & Rebecca! Again, thank you, everyone! Your encouragement is what has kept me going this whole time. You all are great! :smile2:

Go to the upper right-hand corner of the LapBand Talk page, where your login name is. It should say, Welcom, shurtado. Underneath that is a link to Private Messages. Click on that link and it will take you right there. You can eat any food you want, but it's just like any diet, you have to consider which foods are really best for you. As you'll see in my PM, I made a huge change in what I ate. No white sugar, no white carbs. But not everyone does that. You do what you know you can live with. :thumbup:

Hmm... my first thought was that maybe you have some swelling and need a slight unfill. That's how I felt after I got something horribly stuck (happened twice). I think you need to call your doctor and let him/her know what's going on. The longer it stays swollen, the longer it will take to go back to normal. Good luck! :smile2:

Thanks, everyone! I feel awesome! Except my jaws hurt from smiling so much yesterday. lol I can't wait for some of you to join me! :smile2:

Hi, DeAndraBaby, I just sent you a PM. :thumbup: I didn't realize you had 9 out of 11 ccs. It could be that you need a slight unfill and are eating the wrong foods that are easier to get down. I did this back in Nov./Dec. and I gained. Once I got my unfill, I was able to eat healthier foods again. Sounds backwards, doesn't it? But, if you think about it, foods like ice cream and pudding and milkshakes go down much easier than chicken and carrots when your band is too tight. And, as many of us (myself included) have found out, for some reason, chips go down just fine when you're too tight, also. Do not be afraid to go back to the doctor to ask for help. You are not the first person to gain weight after having WLS, believe me! The doctor is there to help you. :smile: My nurse tells me all the time that she wishes people would come back if they are having problems, instead of disappearing out of shame. So, hold your head up high and tell them that now that your health issues are getting better, you are ready to get back on track with your band. :smile2::thumbup: You can do it! And, you *always* have us Mayo Banditos here for support! :thumbup: Keep in touch!:smile:

Thanks, everyone! :smile2: I feel like a new woman! :smile: Shurtado, don't be scared away. It is a hard journey because the band is not a magic bullet. You have to commit to diet and exercise to lose successfully. Also, I completely gave up white sugar, all white carbs, fried food, soda, caffeine, gum, and snacking between meals. That was *huge* for me. I am truly addicted to sugar, which is why I gave it up. Most people who get banded don't go to that extreme. But, no, there's no pain (other than from the surgery, which varies from person to person and only lasts a couple of days). I would recommend this to anyone who needs it. Good luck, everyone! You can do it!! :thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks, everyone! I was banded on May 7, 2009, though I had lost a few pounds on my preop diet. The before picture was taken the day before I started my preop diet.

Eek, Sarah! Get thee to the acupuncturist now! Let me know how it goes. I really hope you find some relief soon. :frown:

LOM, I can't get plain meat and chicken down either. I don't eat friend food, but I do put sauce or marinade on my food. I just found a great new sauce that I put on pork loin this weekend. I'm sure it would be good on chicken, too. It's actually a salad dressing that I didn't like for salad. It's called Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing. Here is the description from their website: Goddess Dressing - Organic Annie’s most popular dressing is now available in an organic version. Same great flavor! (8 oz. bottle) Vegan No Added Sweetener Ingredients: *Canola Oil, Water, *Tahini, *Apple Cider Vinegar, *Soy Sauce (water, *soybeans, sea salt *wheat), *Lemon juice, Sea Salt, *Garlic, *Sesame Seeds, *Parsley, *Chives, Xanthan Gum. *Organic Ingredients CONTAINS SOY AND WHEAT INGREDIENTS Made on shared equipment that also processes Egg, Milk and Anchovies.

Hi, John! Great to see you! Doing great on your maintenance! :thumbup: LOM, that is awesome that you are doing another 1/2 marathon!!! I envy you! Keep up the great work! :wink2::thumbup:

Thanks, Lisa! I'm wearing the jeans to work today and really feel great! You'll get to that size 12! Keep up the great work! :sad::w00t:

I've lost track. :sad: I think I lost 2 lbs, but because I didn't record for awhile, I don't know. Anyhow, I'm *almost* at 100 lbs, and it's killing me that the last 1/2 pound won't drop. :cool: Got a fill on Tuesday, and it has helped with restriction, but haven't lost anything since getting the fill. Sheesh. I thought at least I'd lose that darn 1/2 pound! Just shows how fickle our bodies can be! :w00t:

After all this snow we've had, I finally got in to the doctor's office for a fill today. Then I had to convince them that I was truly hungry and eating too much, and that I wasn't just wanting a fill only to try to lose more, faster. *sigh* Ugh! The doctor agreed, but only put in .1 cc because .2 made me burp when I drank Water. *sigh* I hope this helps. I hate being hungry! I now have 7.4 cc in a 10 cc band. This whole journey has been so hard :biggrin:.... but oh, so worth it! :thumbup: Hope everyone is doing well!

Well, I finally called my PA and told her that I've been having a problem for the last 10 days. So now I have to go in tomorrow and get an unfill. I'm sorta bummed, but I know it's the right thing to do. I ate some scrambled eggs 10 days ago, and they got really stuck -- so bad that I vomited them up (sorry TMI). This is the first time that has happened. And it happened so fast, it was scary! So, the next day I stayed on liquids and soft foods like yogurt, but since then, I can barely eat anything without it getting stuck. Everything hurts. :thumbup: And, my acid reflux, which had gone away (after 15 years of misery), has come back, which is no fun.:w00t: And the irony of it all is that I was just starting to feel restriction that kept me full between meals. Bummer. Now I'm going to go back to the hunger. But, I guess better that than pain. *sigh* And Sarahbellzz, I have you to thank, because if you had not gone through something similar (though much more extreme!!) I would have been less likely to call the doctor. Thanks, everyone, for letting me vent. :smile: