Kristine73

I was born and raised in California. I left two week after high school. When I left, I realized how much I took In-n-out for granted! My hubs who grew up in Florida had never heard of them. When we went home to visit my mom, I introduced him to In-n-out. He fell in love! When he thinks of Ca, he doesn't think beaches and such, he thinks In-n-out, LOL! When my mom moved to AZ, he nearly cried at the thought of no reason to visit Ca, anymore, LOL! I visited my mom over Christmas and reported back that there was an In-n-out by her. He went from mourning to being ecstatic! In Dec, I made a drastic dietary change and became vegetarian. But, when I read your post this morning, I started drooling and craving an In-n-out double cheese w/fries. That's a dinner that is almost better than sex! To bad you couldn't send me a a burger via e-mail! I'd gladely forfeit all my weekly points and starve the rest of the day for an messy in-n-out better-than-sex (almost) meal! Oh, and don't worry about eating badly for one day. We need to learn to eat what we love, but in moderation. What's the purpose of not enjoying food?

I went out to lunch w/a couple of my girlfriends yasterday. I was kind of dreading it (food). But, I was really looking forward to seeing my friends again. It's been a couple of months. We all go to college together. We're in the same biology classes. College starts again Tuesday, so wanted to touch bases before the semester starts. We went to this place I'd never been at before, it's called the Broken Egg cafe, only serves breakfast and lunch. I got there and freaked when I saw the portion sizes on other peoples plates. I ordered an omelet, with tomatoes, onions mushrooms and avocados. It came w/an english muffin and country (cubes) potatoes. I ate like 5 of the potato cubes and 1/2 the omelet. we were there for almost two hours! I was so proud of myself. Pre-band I'd have cleared my plate and looked at the desert menu. I didn't know how to estimate the the points, there was no nutritional info on the menu. So, I just alotted myself 15 pts What I learned from thsi .... I no longer have to fear going out w/friends and enjoying being social! The 15 pts put me over (w/my other meals) my 32 daily pts. But, it was sooooo worth it! I love my band and am soooo glad that this thread motivated me to go back on the pts plan.

Don't beat yourself up too much. Make the calls. Restlessmonkey gave you some good advie. Now that you are going over your paperwork and getting the right info, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and consider this the first day of the rest of your life. Call the pharmacist and ask if they can give you a flavor additive to make your anti-depressant taste better. I take lexapro. If they can make liquids palatable for children, they can do it for adults. Since you already have the bottle at home, many pharmacists won't take something back that has left the building (hygiene laws and stuff). If it's a small town pharmacists, they may make an exception. If it's a big town pharmacy, ask if they can sell you the flavor additive and just mix it a home. At walmart, it's only around $2 or $3 for the flavor stuff. If I miss a day, I'm a puddle of nerves and tears. Take care of yourself

I had my second fill today. Total of 4.5 cc's in a 10 cc band, now. Before I leave, they make sure I can drink 4 oz of liquid, comfortably. The nurse watches me the whole time. Kind of makes me self conscience, but I know that she's just looking out for an over-restriction. Tomorrow when you go for an un-fill, ask to drink some Water before you leave. I hope you feel better soon

I have been in pain from last night. Getting through on motrin. I am drinking lots of Water. I figure if there's no relief by the morning, I'll have hubs take me to the ER. I have a little nausea every now and then. But, no vomiting. No fever. I've had kidney stones before. I know what they feel like. I forgot that high Protein diets can lead to these fregging things. Last one I had was about 6 weeks post-hurricane katrina. We had no power for 4 weeks. We were living off of Peanut Butter and MRE's. LOT's of protein in bot of those. I want it GONE ... grrrrr Hope everyone else is having a great weekend

I have IBS. Constipation, for years, has been a problem for me. I used to take stool softeners every night. I dreaded going to the bathroom. Even w/the stool softeners, it was still painful. In Dec I decided to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. I am not suggesting you change your lifestyle. However, you may want to up your fiber. Choose stuff like oatmeal in the tub. Oatmeal is has soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is what pushes stuff through your colon. Up fruits and veggies. They have insoluble fiber, as well. If you drink smoothies, use frozen fruit instead of ice. This way you get nutrition and fiber. Stuff like benefiber is good. But it's Water soluble. Remember to get the stuff w/insoluble fiber, as well. Hope you feel better soonh

Hi, I hope you feel better soon. Do you know if you have a partial fill? My doc gave me a partial fill during surgery. 5 days later, I was in my docs office because of the nausea/vomiting and not being able to drink Water. Once he took out the saline, I was able to hold down liquid and I started feeling so much better. The doc also told me the same thing that restlessmonkey told you. My stomach was angry at me for putting this thing around it and my stomach was throwing a nuclear tantrum to get it OFF! It also wanted it's food back, not the broth. If you can't hold anything in and are dry heaving, DO NOT be afraid to call your doc, weekend or not. You doc's message service will relay your symptoms to your doc. Then, either the doc or the messenger service should call you back with instructions. Dry heaving and the band don't mix. Be careful. Also, if you can't hold down water, you an become dehydrated. This an also become dangerous. Take care of yourself. Oh, now I do not regret getting the band. First 10 days I wanted to rip it out myself. But, now if someone suggested removing it, I'd consider those fighting words, LOL

Woo-Hoo! :wink2: I'd be doing the happy dance, if I were you :nanahump: I get my second fill on monday. Hoping for some results. I haven't gained. But I haven't lost, either :Banane56: Again, Woo-Hoo

Crzytchr & Lillyanne_M, thanks for the lunchbox ideas! At walmart, I've found that they have these Protein bars called Pure Protein? Have you tried those? I like them and I'm finicky about Protein Bars. They come in flavors from blueberry crumble to double chocolate. I think it's like 19 grams of whey protein/bar. Also, average fat grams/bar is 4.5 w/ average calories at around 200-ish. Some protein bars can be loaded w/fat and calories. I will start keeping track of my points tomorrow, as I've already eaten Breakfast, today. Good luck to all!

I found this w/a little hunting, I needed it, too. 1. Are you female?- score 2 Male?- score 8 A nursing mom?- score 12 2. How old are you? 17-26- score 4 27-37- score 3 38-47- score 2 48-58- score 1 over 58- score 0 3.What do you weigh? Enter the first two digits of your weight in pounds. (for example, if you weight 199, you will add 19 to your score) 4. How tall are you? Under 5’1- score 0 5’1-5’10- score 1 Over 5’10- score 2 5. How do you spend most of your day? Sitting down? score 0 Occasionally sitting? score 2 Walking most of the time? score 4 Doing physically hard work most of the time? score 6 Now add them all together and that’s your daily total. It might be higher for some. My WW coordinator said if this is the case, take the difference between your new and old and divide it in half and then add that much to your previous total. Don't forget the 35 weekly flex points

Did your doctor put a pillow under the small of your back? Mine does. It's kind of uncomfortable. But, it makes it easier to find the port. Mine kind of screams "Hear I am"! They can easily feel it. The worst part is then they are trying to get the needle to direct center of the port. I do hope your next apt is more pleasant!

I think this would be a good idea. I tried weight watchers meetings. But, between college, work and the hubs time was just hard to make. It became a stressor trying to plan in a meeting. I eventually just said 'screw it.' I lost the material where is shows how to calculate your daily points allotment? Can someone post the calculation? College starts 8/18. On Tuesdays I will be at college from 10 am to 8:30 pm. On Thursdays I'll be there from 10 AM to 2:30, then onto work. I need to find healthy, lunch box friendly foods/snacks. It's a small satellite campus, so there is not a student lounge w/a microwave. Everything will have to survive the Southern heat in my car. Ice packs only last so long when the heat index outside of the car is 106* I know I could use some ideas/support. I'm a vegetarian. I will never lecture anyone for eating meat. I've meat some radical vegetarians that have told me I should divorce my hubs because he chooses to eat meat. It's like, hellloooo, get a life. Ok, it's the end of the day, I'm tired and babbeling. Looking forward to this thread :ohmy:

I had my first fill 07/09. I was given roughly 2 cc's in a 10 cc band. Didn't notice much difference. Until last night. Three-quarters of the way through a dinner (about 1 1/2 ups of food) I felt full, for the first time. This morning, I was 1/2 way through my oat-meal and I felt full. I covered the rest in plastic wrap and stuck in the fridge. I was just wondering has anyone else experienced this?

Hi LB, I hope your apt yesterday went well! I do not have kids. I couldn't. I have endometriosis and PCOS. I was diagnosed when I was 20-ish. I had a complete hyst when I was 26. I wanted kids and it was an emotional knife to the heart that I couldn't. Between the depression, fertility drugs, then drugs to hopefully keep the endo in check wrecked havoc on me. It was bad. I gained over 100 lbs. My hubs had a son w/his first wife. When he turned 13, he wanted to move in w/us. I said ok. My habs was active duty, at the time. When he was deployed, all shit hit the fan. His son didn't feel like he had to listen to me. He started cutting himself. I immediatly got him into counseling and my hubs was sent home on emergenct orders. His son was perfect when mu hubs was home. But, he told my hubs that he would NOT listen to me and I'd better learn that when hubs was out, he (the son) was 'man of the house.' A lot of crap went on. Police were involved. It all came to a head when he tried to throw me down a flight of stairs out side of our apartments. Keep in mind, by this time I'd lost the 100 lbs, was 120 lbs, 5'2'' and the son was 6' 230 lbs, yes at age 13. If my neighbor hadn't heard me screaming I don't know what would have happened. Hubs was once more sent home on emergency orders. Hubs had enough and his son went back to his mother. My hubs has never lifted a hand to me and he won't allow anyone else to threaten me. I felt like I failed my hubs and his son. I started putting on weight again and other painful symptoms showed up. I was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia. This was a major blow to me, as I had finally felt physically good after my hyst. Fast forward a few years, I gained all of the 100 lbs back, plus some. I wound up loseing it. Then gained it back again after my grandfather died. He was a major influence on my life. So, on June 8th, I had surgery for the band. Weight loss has been slow for me. But, I AM loseing it. I have an apt for a second fill on 08/10. I've probably lost about 5 lbs sine my first fill on 7/09. At lot of it was my fault. I was eating a lot of Soups, protien shakes and lots of mushies. Liquids and soft don't keep me full as long ... DUH! But, now I've altered the error of my ways and am hoping that weight loss will speed up. You are not alone. As far as your girls, you did the best you could, at the time. They turned out fine, so you did well. And now it's your time and I'm glad you recognize that!

All advice given has been good. If you are in pain, they now make a liquid Tylenol. It's not the best tasting stuff, but it works. If I were in your shoes, I'd stick to liquids for a few days, maybe a week if you could tolerate it. Give time for your tummy to adjust to this fill. Maybe the meat was too much, right now. Maybe you can do a 'pamper me day.' I also call them "housewife on strike days' lol. Luckily, my hubs doesn't mind being self-sufficient. These are days when work and college has me stressed out And I need a time-out. I curl up on the couch (no tv in the bedroom) watch my fave dvd's and/or tv shows. I may paint my nails, read a book. Basically, I try to forget about the world and re-charge my batteries. Sometimes doing 'nothine' is the BEST medicine. Hope you feel better soon

You should ask your doctor if there is anything you should NOT do in PE, then have him write a note, if need be, for your teacher. Mine didn't want me lifting anything over 30 pounds till 6 weeks post-op. If I did push-up and/or pull-ups, then I'd be lifting more than 30 lbs :smile2: Your doctor will let you know about any limitations that (s)he's worried about. Good luck in school.

I had surgery June 8th. I still burp and fart! Both my hubs and I were both sailors (Coast Guard). So, he's not offended like some guys can be. My best friends ex-hubs expected her to run to the bathroom every time she had to pass gas, whether it was a burp or fart. I will say that both feel soooo good, as Rutiglius said. On the rare occasion, I've had both happen at the same times. Hubs calls those Two-for's (two for the price of one), LOL. Ok, maybe a little TMI, but I find humor helps The only time I find it uncomfortable is when I am in public and I have to find a bathroom or someplace non-public. Yes, even though I'm a sailor, I do have manners. I slimmed the first week after surgery. The doc gave me a partial fill during surgery. Between the stomach swelling and the partial fill, I couldn't get anything down. After days 3 and 4 I slimmed every time I ate or drank. It's nasty-icky feeling :smile2:.

My doc's nutritionist freaked when she found out I'm a vegetarian. She immediately told me to stay away from pineapple and celery because they can be 'stringy.' She did admit at our post-op meeting that I'm the only vegetarian they've ever had. I love pineapple and sometimes put in in my daily Protein smoothie. With celery, the problem is the strings, they worry about it somehow getting entangled in the band. As long as you chew, there shouldn't be a problem. You can also de-string celery, which I do if I'm eating celery raw. I did this before the band, as well. I hate those strings A celery recipe is a snap to create from scratch!

You should call your doctor if you have any questions. I know my doctor specifically told me NOT to take calcium 30 days before and 30 days after the surgery. I know each doctor has his/her own policy.

Ok, so I'm not crazy .... shew I het the left shoulder pain, but it comes when I'm doing stuff like housework and such. Stuff that never caused the shoulder pain before. It has been so bad that I almost broke down and cried. I have fibromyalgia, so it magnifies any pain. I take 200 mg's of neurontin/night

My surgeon swears that the port pain gets worse between days 8 and 10. I was warned of this. Something to do w/the healing process. Don't be afraid to call your doctor and ask for something differnt or an apt if the pain is that bad. Hope you feel better soon

Hi everyone, I'm 35 yo. I am married, no kids. I live in a small town outside of New Orleans. I go to a satellite campus of a New Orleans community college. There is no cafeteria, microwave etc. I go to school two days a week and I am there ALL day. Tuesdays I'll be there from 10 Am to 8:30 PM. Thursdays will be 10 AM to 2:45 PM. I was banded 6/8. This coming semester will be my first back w/the band. Finding healthy, nutrition-packed Snacks that will stand up to the heat of my car (even in the cooler) is going to be frustrating. Consider the fact that I'm a *vegetarian and things get stickier, LOL. I like my fruit cold, my Protein bars NOT-melted and my Water ice-freaking cold, LOL. I'm glad this thread is here! *Please note I'm a vegetarian for health reasons, not ethical. I am NOT going to lecture anyone for eating meat. Your food choices are you own, as are mine. My hubs is a meat eater, so it doesn't bother me. I sat that because I've met people who find out I'm a vegetarian and they think I'm gonna lecture them for eating a hamburger. NOT my style, LOL.

Well, I have to laugh at this. I'm an obese vegetarian. Yup, we exist. My mother, an overweight vegan. I've heard of the caw 'fart-tax.' This is where legislators want to measure and tax the amount of gas a cow farts. Because theirs farts contain methane and other gasses. It's being pushed as 'going green.' They didn't even research enough to find out the cows belch these gasses, not fart. I've recently seen commercials on tv about how eating a vegetarian lifestyle is good for the earth. Let me say right now that I became vegtarian for health reasons. NOT ethial or 'green' reasons. My point to all this, since carnivores contribute to the greenhouse effect be keeping the demand of farming, lets put a 'fart tax' on ALL animals farmed for onsumption. Then, since animal fats (saturated fats) are a major contributer towards clogged arteries, lets put a 'health tax' on all animal products sold, from butter to veal. Maybe, when we go to the doctors, there should be a 'carnivore tax' to offset heath costs. Once the government starts taxing 'this' what is to keep them from taxing 'that'. It's rediculous! An artical on the 'fart tax' I just googled it and grabbed an artical at random to post here Congressman Warns of 'Cow Fart' Tax Causing Beef and Dairy to 'Disappear' from Supermarkets

My ins paid for my surgery. I was told that most self-pay patients opt for outpatient status. I was told that my ins may require that I stay over night. I wouldn't know until the surgery was over, the case complications and such. I packed my over-night bag and brought, just in case. I was let go about 3 hours after surgery. However, had they wanted to keep me over night, I'd been a bit disappointed. But hubs and I decided that if the doc wanted me to stat over night, I would have. They had my best interest at heart. I think you'd be wise to consider an over night stay, if that's what your doc wants. I live in Louisiana, so I can't help to as far as doc's go. My advice would be to not weed out good doc's because an over night stay is a possibility. They only have your best interest at heart.

W/me work and school schedule, 3 meals a day doesn't work for me. So, I've broken it in 5 to 6 small meals/healthy Snacks a day. By healthy snack, I mean 1 light mozzarella string cheese stick w/a small can (30 calories) of low-sodium v-8 juice. Sometimes I'm not hungry, so I don't eat. But I listen to my body. There are times I won't feel hungry, but I'll get headaches and/or feel shaky. In those cases I'll grab a small snack. Listen to your body. If you don't feel hungry and you don't feel any effects from not eating, then don't eat. However, if you don't feel hungry, but feel physical effects of being hungry (headaches, shaky) then just grab a small snack, not a full meal.