TopTier

PSJ: I got a huge chuckle out of your priorities! :smile2:

How great for you all! Kudos! And so it begins! Best of luck to you. :smile2:

Good job! I'm keeping my calories around 750-820. Still, having a hard time. . . the hours seem to s-t-r-e-t-c-h longer and l-o-n-g-e-r every day!

Thanks! You're a sweetie! I'll be at St. Mary's. Send lots of positive energy that direction somewhere around 10:00! :smile2:

Eating too fast is a common problem with many people who have weight issues to begin with. It's a hard habit to break. Extremely. For people without bands it causes problems because there is a "time delay" in our bodies from when our stomach actually gets "full" to when the signals hit our brain and tell us to put down that fork. So, as a result, it was very easy to "over eat," and that dinner portion became our "normal" size portion. If people with the band eat too quickly they will run into a physical barrier. It's hard to shove repeated large bites through an opening smaller than a dime. So aside from changing years of not-so-great food choices, we also have to change years of the way we physically consumed our food. Gonna be a challenge, but it can be done!

No, acid reflux would not necessarily prevent the band placement. In fact, acid reflux can generally indicate a hiatal hernia, which is something MOST (or at least many) surgeons fix when they go in to place the band.

Super! I have a fair number of relatives there, myself. That's a beautiful part of the state.

You and me both! :blushing:

I'm a tea fanatic. Most teas should never be brewed longer than 5 minutes. But I know people have different recipes and tolerance levels. The only "recipe" I know for Iced Tea, unfortunately, is an old "Southern Sweet Tea" recipe. Trust me, it will make your teeth hurt! My step-mother, a grand old dam of The South, taught it to me. Bring 3 cups of Water to a boil. Add 1 cup of sugar. Dissolve. Add 6 teabags (3 if you use the Luzianne Family Size). Let steep/brew for 15 minutes (I shudder at the length!) Then pour the tea "syrup" into a pitcher and add ice and water to fill.

Wow! You ladies are impressive! I hope you guys are still going strong with this when I'm at my stride with my band! You all deserve a solid round of applause! Good challenge! :blushing:

I'm a convert, too, isaviolinist. I had a bad experience with Protein shakes umteen years ago during and after cancer surgery and treatments. Generally the protein powders were bulky, grainy and didn't dissolve well. I won't even mention the taste! (where's the barfing smiley when you need it!) On a lark one day I ordered 4 each of the unjury samples. Wow. I have been impressed. The strawberry sorbet with a banana smoothie is very awesome! I had to actually hide them from my husband! He was using the chocolate for his morning Breakfast drink!

Ditto. Have always loved Tofu.

I agree. My two new "protein" buddies: ISO Pure Plus and unjury. Who knew one day I'd be a connoisseur of Protein Drinks!

I am on my liquid pre-op diet, which has significantly bumped up my Protein intake. In the past I have been leery of consuming too much protein due to some kidney impairment a few years ago. But, for the operation pre-op, I figure it won't hurt, and if it starts to, I'll back off a bit. However, I am finding that I am laying in bed at night staring at the ceiling for possibly hours at a time. I have somewhat reduced my caffeine intake, which wasn't very significant anyway, and my carb intake is much much lower. What is preventing me from falling asleep?! Could it be the protein?! :tongue: PS: I'm on the fifth day of my liquid pre-op. This started after the second day.

No, not really anxious about the surgery, other than wanting to get it over with! LOL. But typically nothing can keep me from sleep. I'm like a rock, in that regard. Even after my cancer diagnosis and surgery, I was not "sleepless." Like. A. Rock. Oh well. It's almost over anyway. One more day!

OoooOOooooOOO Good point! I was already thinking of ways to get out of my first day of exercise scheduled for next Monday! Looks like I'll keep that appointment! :blushing:

Tampa Terri is correct. A couple things you need to be aware of, you are "resculpting" your body as you eat less and exercise. Also, muscle tissue weighs more than adipose (fat tissue) does. So while you may be losing inches, you may be gaining muscle tissue, which is actually great! That means your body will actually begin burning more calories at rest, not just during exercise, since the body expends more energy supporting muscle tissue than fat tissue! So it appears that you are having a very fit weight loss. Good job! :blushing:

That's excellent advice, restless monkey. My surgeon has the same goals for me as well. Eat "normal" just a "new normal" (meaning smaller portions). He used the example of a hot dog. He said one of his patients told him that she removed the hot dog from the bun and ate the hot dog first. He said he told her to stop doing that. To take smaller bites, chew well, and eat a hot dog the normal way, just like everyone else. He said she may only eat half the hot dog that way, but she's not artificially altering her habits that way. She's learning a new normal. He's got this schtick about one of the reasons America has such a high incidence of obesity is because somewhere along the line, we changed the size of "normal." Our fast food meals aren't super-sized anymore because that's the NORMAL for them now! Same with restaurants. The "normal" portion in restaurants is really more than a human should eat in one sitting. But we do it, because that's what we're "used to" as the "normal" meal. What he wants us to do is eat everything we have before (with some minor exceptions), but adjust to a "new" normal.

Oh, how frustrating for you! I think whenever one experiences pain like that especially with the burning, what one really needs to do is contact her surgeon. Hope it's all okay and works out well for you!

I think I will stay away from that thread then! :blushing: I truly believe that things like this are similar to the computer fanatics who either love or hate a PC or MAC (I think I even mentioned this is another thread). People become very loyal to their choices! It's such a personal preference, though, I can't imagine that there's a real, objective difference in them. Not enough to justify the dogma on either side (that goes for both computers AND lap bands! )

Mrs. Mink that must be frustrating! But you appear to be doing well so far, so you are quite an inspiration! My surgeon told me that he will test the band with a fill during surgery, but remove it and not put anything in until the first fill about 6 weeks after surgery. He wants for us during that first 6 weeks to NOT focus on weight loss, but merely healing. I'll take him at his word!