juliansmom2003

I'll be two weeks out tomorrow. I think I've lost about 6 lbs since that fill now that I think about it. The thing is, I am worried I may end up too tight. I just had my yogurt for Breakfast and it almost started to come back up (started sliming). My doc told me two weeks ago that I had restriction even before I got him to agree to the other .8 ccs, but if he gave me any more than that, I would have issues swallowing my own saliva from being too tight in the mornings. I am thinking I need to restructure my eating to include Snacks, but it stinks because that will make getting all the Water in an even bigger challenge. Here is an example of a typical day for me (weekday): Morning (9-11 or 11:15) 1 medium coffee w/ 2 tsp non-dairy creamer 24-32 oz water Breakfast (11:30): 6 oz Dannon Light N Fit Yogurt, Frigo Light cheese stick (I add a small banana if I'm still hungry) (24 to 32 ounces of water in between) lunch (3:30): Left over dinner (chicken or beef) from the night before- 6 oz, a small side of green Beans or carrots and a frigo light cheese stick (24 to 32 ounces of water in between) Dinner (7 or 7:30): chicken or beef (6 ounces), 1/3 cup veggies Evening snack (optional--maybe 2 or 3 days/week): Skinny cow ice cream bar or sugar free pudding with one scoop of Protein powder Am I expecting too much from my band by expecting to go so long in between meals? I thought we should be satisfied for 3 to 4 hours..... Should I try to break up my meals? I can try to eat earlier, but it is VERY hard to get anything to go down except liquid. Again, my yogurt had a rough time of going down just now, so I'm going to bag the cheese stick and banana and just wait to eat again--if my band is cranky today, I don't want to piss it off by trying to eat any more for breakfast, and for some reason I'm not really hungry anymore. I am a MESS! I know! Thanks for listening and for your advice!!!

So this morning I had an 8 ounce yogurt, cheese stick and small banana. Normally, I'm satisfied with that and it holds me about 4 hours or so until lunch. For some reason, I totally could have kept eating! I seem to be REALLY hungry today. Could it be that my fill from 2/25 has worn off already or is it because I have been exercising a lot more? I am so tight in the mornings that I can't even eat anything until about 11:30 am, so I know if I go in for another fill, the doc is going to see that again on the screen (no getting around it when they do it in radiology). I can eat over 8 ounces anytime and it seems like things go down a lot easier in the afternoon/evening. I definitely do not want to have issues eating certain foods because of too much restriction (my first day back on solids, I had some egg beaters on toast and it got stuck), but I don't want to be starving all the time either like I was during bandster hell. When I went in for my 2nd fill, the doc told me I already had restriction and I had to beg him to give me a tiny bit more!!! Of course, this is the first time I have felt this hungry since getting the fill (.8 ccs making a total of 4.2 in a 14 cc band), so maybe I'm just being psychotic and just having a 'hungry' day LOL. Any thoughts?

Hmmm, I actually have 3 meals and sometimes a snack in the evenings. I am wondering if I should just try to break everything up into mini meals, but the problem is waiting that freaking hour to drink and not being able to get my Water in! I am definitely eating all the right foods (haven't had a cookie or potato chip for as long as I can remember LOL), and averaging 90-100 g of Protein per day. Maybe it was an off day? I am eating breakfast now and I can feel the yogurt going down VERY slowly and it even tried to slip back up. The doc says that given I am so restricted in the morning and can't seem to get anything but liquids down, if he was to fill me more, I wouldn't be able to swallow my own saliva in the mornings LOL. I just wonder how long I should wait before asking for another one, as last time it seemed like a quick 5-day pouch test was all I needed to get some more restriction ! Thanks to both of you for your responses! It is such a day to day thing sometimes that I have to remember to stop freaking out and sweating the smaller stuff.....

I too hope yesterday was an isolated day in the life. I may trade out the yogurt for some Special K or some oatmeal. It's weird--I was always full before on a yogurt, and cheese stick and adding the banana didn't even keep me full. Hoping that today is a better day. Just eating Breakfast now. Don't want to agitate anything by trying to eat any earlier because I'm so tight. I may just add a muscle milk in between meals to keep the portions under control. Thanks for your insight!

Let's hope it's a better day for both of us, chickie:smile2:!

Oh yes, I get in anywhere from 90 to 100 g of protein on an average day, which is why I'm so confused about this hunger. It literally came out of nowhere!! :sad:

Thankfully I am still able to eat chicken, steak and hamburger with no problems. Chewing and eating slow is definitely the key!!!

Leigha, it sounds like you definitely need to add more calories to compensate for the exercise. I had the same thing happen and I was consuming about 900 calories per day and became so frustrated I didn't know what to do. A few people on the board advised me to up my intake by about 200 calories per day and it really worked! If you are journaling your food on a site like thedailyplate, it will allow you to enter your exercise and will calculate the number of calories burned and deduct from your daily intake and give you the net calories. I think you should net about 900-1000 for good weight loss, which means adding another 200 or 300 calories to your daily intake. It seemed to work for me! I never thought I'd get out of the 180's!! Hope this helps!

Wow, when I said on Friday that it's a day by day thing, it truly is! So, lunch didn't go as well as I had hoped. I had a 10 ounce lunch, still hungry. Had a cheese stick--still hungry. Had a few mini wheats before forcing myself to STOP. I mean I was so hungry I couldn't stop! Now I know 13-14 ounces is WAY outrageous for any bandster meal, but how could my doc see restriction if I am still capable of eating this way? True, this is the first day I am like this and it could very well be that I need to just throw a snack in between my Breakfast and lunch to keep the hunger at bay (trying to do breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack), but can someone tell me how I can go from being so tight in the morning that I can't even eat breakfast until 11:30 and I just hoovered all of a 13-14 oz lunch??? Yes, all healthy food, but the quantity of it scares me as I am sooo paranoid about stretching my pouch. Could I need another fill already? It will only be 2 weeks on Thursday!

Hi everybody! I figured it has been awhile since I posted any recipes, so wanted to send along a really quick and easy chili recipe. I'm going to make this for dinner tomorrow. YUM! 2-BEAN CHILI Ingredients 1 pound ground beef (93%) 1 large green pepper, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 2 tablespoons chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 cups Campbell's® Tomato juice Tomato Juice 1 (15 ounce) can kidney Beans, rinsed and drained 1 (15 ounce) can great Northern beans, rinsed and drained sour cream sliced green onion shredded Cheddar cheese chopped tomato Directions 1. Cook beef, green pepper, onion, chili powder and black pepper in skillet until browned. Pour off fat. 2. Add tomato juice and beans and heat through. Top with sour cream, green onions, cheese and tomato. Makes 6 servings Calories: 336, Fat: 9g, Protein: 28g

Please hang in there! Getting to a size 18 is nothing to sneeze at! Look at the non scale victories you are winning! The inches are a BIG deal! Muscle outweighs fat, so if you're working out, that is probably what is happening. That scale will start to move. Your body is doing exactly what it should right now. Your doc may just need to "top you off" and give you another .3 ccs or so, as jensmallwood mentioned in her post. DON'T GIVE UP! You have lost 27 lbs and lost 3 sizes--you are kicking butt!!! Imagine what will happen when the band starts to help you out!!!

That's wonderful! I'm so glad that you're feeling restriction. Apparently, according to my doc, I have it, but I find I can eat a 10 ounce meal LOL. I stay satisfied for 4 hours and I'm losing weight, so I guess that's okay. It's a wonderful thing when the band works along with you and from the looks of your ticker, I'd definitely say it is! You're doing amazing!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

Wow, maybe my fill DID do something (that or the Just Dance LOL) I freaking danced with my sister for TWO HOURS yesterday LOL! I'm in at 177 this week--down 2 lbs from last week and half way to my goal. Time to get serious LOL!

It happens to all of us -- you are only human! After my great day on Friday, we took the kids out for dinner and i chose a healthy dinner, but then picked some of the kids' fries and ate a couple of bites of their sundae! It's all good. We can't deny ourselves of everything all the time----that's a sure thing to make us binge!!! It seems funny to some people when I say I had a bad day because I ate 3 fries or something---we are so hard on ourselves that if we step back, it really isn't as bad as we make it out to be. Way to go for stopping before the Burger King!!!! Tomorrow is a new day!!!

This just came today and honestly, between laughing so hard and jumping around so much, this is the best exercise game ever! The kids are fighting over it lol! If you have a Wii, you have GOT to check this out! It's $10 off on Amazon with free shipping ($30). You don't need a dance mat or even a nunchuk- just the remote! We have been playing for an hour and a half already!! What fun!

I went out for lunch with a friend from work today (maybe the second or third time since having my surgery in October). We go to our old stomping grounds, the Irish Pub of all places, where I would always get their signature burger smothered in fried onions, cheese and bacon along with a nice size helping of steak fries. When I walked in, all I could smell was the fries and couldn't wait to order. The waitress comes to take our orders and without even thinking I said, "I'll have the chili please." WHAT?!? Was that MY voice?!?! Ordering chili at the best burger joint in Philly? AND NO FRIES?!?!? AND WALKING OUT WITH WHAT I COULDN'T FINISH?!? I think my band is starting to work with me now. I know now that it's not about being so tight I can't eat, it's about ME working with IT to make healthier choices while still being able to enjoy my food (which if I slow my butt down, I will be able to do LOL). I never in a bazillion years would ever walk away from a burger or fries. For those having weak moments and wondering how in the hell they are going to do this, believe me, it truly is a day by day thing and before you know it, you will slowly see the lifestyle changes if you stay committed to working along with your band (once the freaking thing starts working with you :smile2:) On the way back to the office, I walked by that dreadful store that sells nothing but mirrors and lines them up along the sidewalk and as I passed them, I actually was happy to look at that reflection. Just having a very good bandster day and wanted to share, since I am known to do my share of complaining about it!!!

Tino, sadly most of us don't feel much restriction on the first fill (but fingers crossed that you are one of the lucky ones!!) Believe me, you'll KNOW when you get stuck! You will feel a terrible pain in your chest, which usually leads to sliming and/or PBing (productive burping) and some may vomit. You have to make sure you are taking a break between bites/swallows to allow the food to go down and prevent backing up. Even if you're taking small bites, if they are too close together, it could also end up being the size of one big bite as it's making it's way down. Luckily, my surgeon does fills via fluoroscopy, so I got to see how slow everything moves through. It really helped me to visualize what is going inside when I'm eating.... Hope this helps somewhat! Good luck!

Good for you!!! Way to go avoiding the bad stuff!!! I know how that feels, and you should really be proud of yourself walking away from it!!!

OMG, I just totally spit out my Water laughing from your post. Thanks for making me chuckle Leigha

Sounds like me. I managed to get .8 cc though and I think I am at my sweet spot too! Crazy, since my first one was 3.4 ccs. Let's hope we can hold onto it! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!

Honestly, I would die if I had to give up pizza! I had a fill last week and was nervous about being able to get it down. Thankfully as long as I take my time and teeny tiny bites, I'm good. I am so tight though I need to be WAY careful. Glad you were able to enjoy your pizza tonight :-)!

...but I'm not sure LOL I had my second fill on Thursday and today is my first real day back on solids. Breakfast was an 8 ounce yogurt and Frigo cheese stick, lunch was a meatloaf lean cuisine (didn't have time to make anything today) -- had no problem with either meal. For dinner I made about 1/2 cup of egg beaters with laughing cow cheese and toasted an arnold sandwich thin. I had about 3 bites of the sandwich, chewed thoroughly and took my time, and all of a sudden, I started sliming. Not like getting stuck though. Is this restriction? Is this what they mean by saying, "I know I shouldn't take another bite because I know what will happen"? I am hoping this is it, but I'm not sure. Thanks for educating a banded fool who is 4 months out and still has no clue what being full feels like with the band :w00t:!!!

Elfie--the Zumba DVDs can get quite pricy. I got a set of 4 on eBay for $35 plus shipping. On the site itsel, they have the total transformation set on there for like $65, but as with a lot of weight loss DVDs, a lot of that stuff you will never use. EBay has always worked well for me. Bob- God speed my good man. See you on the other side! We're all thinking of you and pulling for you!!

Hi there! SO glad to see this thread (and thanks Leigha for the link!) I see so many of the people I love reading posts from, so this is super cool! Hope you are all doing well, my friends :-)! Some of you may have already seen my post, but for those of you who haven't, I had my second fill on Thursday. My doc does it under fluoro, so before he did anything, he turns on the screen to see my restriction level and proceeds to tell me that I have great restriction. REALLY? That's news to me LOL! I am tight in the mornings (this was 9 am), so that is probably what it was, but I told him I am a TOTAL night feeder LOL. I have been getting stuck a little more than usual. Maybe the pouch test really did work? Anyway, I managed to get his stingy butt to give me another .8 cc's and he had me swallow the barium. We watched it and he said I know have perfect restriction. I could definitely tell that whole day and the day after, but Saturday night, I was able to eat a freaking whole slice of Papa John's chicken club pizza with no incident. Yes, it was just once slice (where in the past I could've house at least 3, so that's good), but I never get that nagging chest pain when I take one bite too many like I hear people mention. Is that something everyone gets with proper restriction? Even though I've had my nifty little tool for 4 months, maybe I just don't understand what real restriction is and my head is still ruling my eating habits? Hmmm... Anyway, I did manage to lose one pound last week, so YAAAY! Not to mention my TOM is due to arrive for his visit on Wednesday, so I guess we will see how this fill works. I have an appointment tomorrow to follow up with the surgeon on my progress to date, so I'll just keep my little list handy for him. Hopefully my Zumba DVDs arrive soon. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes! My 6 year old just loves exercising with me (he's my little buddy and he's been asking when we're getting them too LOL!) Have a wonderful week! Go Team :-)!

WTG Jens!! Glad that fill seems to be working--woohoo! April 09Bandster--no worries. I had small McDonald's french fries last night. Gotta get back on track too. I have been doing SO well! GRRRRR Hang in there, today is a new day :w00t: