ocotillo

Great job on both the You Tube video and the blog. Thanks, I like the blunt, don't pretty it up approach.

Okay, this is the first time I've had a really good laugh on this board. Sarah, you truly have guts along with farts. I will never let my husband try and set my pants on fire and when it comes to competing with him.....I'm not sure I can. We'll find out after I get banded. Too funny. Oh, and I'm sorry to laugh at your discomfort fellow banders, but "potty" humor is one thing that does make me laugh until I cry. I know it's unseemly, but I can't help it. I wish you all internal air-free futures.

Hi, I was reading on the Relizeband web site that some people do experience anxiety and depression after banding. They are asking the same questions you are now. I think there are people and support systems that can help you and this site has many many threads you can look through to see if there is something that speaks to you. I am pre-band and am using this to gather info and read both the ups and downs of the surgery. I'm nervous and not looking forward to the surgery, but know it is probably the right thing to do. Do you have someone local that you can talk to? A friend or someone you might know that might be able to help? Reach out either here or there. You are not going through this by yourself.

I'm not banded yet, but have been through the diet regime as much as anyone. Fitday is a great place to do a food journal. It's free and easy to use. They've improved the on-line version a great deal since I've started with it (5 or so years ago) and I really like it. They have a list of foods already, but you can do custom foods also. It will track your weight and activities if you choose and there is a regular journal. It's private, journal entries are not public but you can go back and see how you are doing. Also, you need to eat at least 3 times a day....do not skip Breakfast or lunch. Your body thinks it's not going to get the calories it needs and shuts down. It will actually enable you to gain weight. Drink a Protein drink if nothing else in the morning. There are a bunch out there, find one that suits you. From reading the posts and other books and websites, the band is supposed to limit the amount of solid food. There should be some help available here on diet and types of food you should be eating. I don't think you are supposed to be eating really soft foods. Hope you find the solution you need to lose weight. I truly believe this is a tool and you need to use the tool. I also believe it will not be easy and that I will have to work to lose weight, but if I can quell the hunger and work on my head issues, I will succeed this time.

It's been kind of hard to find which thread to post to. Hopefully this will be the "main" thread for us July people. My date is the 2nd and is getting very close. I am not excited at all. I'm am dreading this whole process, however, I am excited about the "tool". As I read posts and go back and read old ones and the new ones, everyone's experience is different. What will mine be? I know I'm the one to make the decision to use the tool as intended. I'm also amazed at how many people have lost over 100 pounds. That is a lot of weight and I'm amazed by their experiences. I leave for Mexico on Wednesday afternoon and surgery is on Thursday. It's less than a week away. I should be home with holes in my belly one week from today. I think I'm going to have a very hard time concentrating on work next week. Nervous and counting days.................:thumbup:

I wish you luck because I'm being done on the 2nd too. I too am a good cook and really enjoy cooking and creating in the kitchen and it is going to be quite a challenge to learn how to tone down both the types of food and quantities so I don't have tons of left-overs (my husband rarely eats LO's). I've been on the pre-op diet since 6-20 and I've lost 5 pounds. I'm also lite headed and hungry all the time, but I've been coping. I have Protein drink for Breakfast and lunch and all the green stuff (as in salad) I want plus the s/f Jello, etc. It allows for a couple of diet drinks, but I don't drink those now and I really don't want to start. I do drink Electro-Mix which is a power and does what Gatorade does only there's no sugar. Electro-Mix uses stevia as a sweetner. dinner is lean cuisine, but I can't stand that either, so I'm eating very lean and small potions of meat and veggies. I feel better already and I'm amazed at how 11 pounds makes a difference (6 lbs lost before offical pre-op). I have 2 more pounds to go before July 2nd and am confident I will be there before then.

I'm at the one week mark too. I haven't tried too many different Protein drinks yet. I have some dutch chocolate ISOPUR that I need to finish, then I can go look for what else is out there. I've also scheduled a pedicure and I'm having my hair done before I go. I just want to make sure my hair doesn't look as bad as I'll probably feel when I get done with surgery. I have stocked up on sugar free Jello, homemade fat free chicken and beef broth and some stuff for the mushie stage. I really hope this goes well and I bounce back fast because there stuff to do and I don't like being down for long. Good luck to you and hopefully we'll be chatting in a couple of weeks about how easy it was for us.

I'm starting to get nervous too! I'm in AZ also and going south of the border to have this done. I'm not so worried about that, but as I read more and more about the problems with this surgery, I wonder what side effects I'm going to experience. I was reading about acid reflux and that is sort of scary. I don't have too much problem with that now...will it get worse? Or can I actually change enough of my bad habits to really make this work? Or OMG, I've never been normal sized....can I actually deal with that? I've always been big and I'm not sure I have the tools to deal with normalness. Also, what kind of hell will I put my husband through as I go through this journey. I am spending a great deal of money to fix me. I'm the only one that can. It's great to have a forum so we can express ourselves. I'm sure my sisters and husband don't want to hear about this any more.

July 2nd in Tijuana with Dr. Ortiz. Already doing the pre-op diet and I'm hungry, but the weight is going down. Yipee.:thumbup:

There is a website, it's The Magic Bullet Blender - Official Website. They might have the information you need.

ShereeKim, I haven't been banded yet, but what you are eating isn't right. I'm sure some of the experienced people will have good advise for you, but from what I've read so far, people are eating between 1 and 1 1/2 cups of food per meal with a calorie intake of 800 to 1200. Some people eat 3 times a day and others eat smaller amounts and spread it over 5 or 6 times a day. I think it's important to eat at least 800 calories a day, less than that will put your body in starvation mode and you won't lose weight. Maybe an unfill would be right. That I won't know for a couple of months. I just wanted to reply so you know someone was reading this.

IndioGirl, when I was doing eDiets, I met a few of the people I was dieting with too. Actually, two of them were in Alaska where my sister lived. It was really fun meeting them. Thanks for your support and wisdom. I see you get around and it's nice to know someone has gone through the journey and is still here. As for the liquid diet...no not totally liquid. Protein drinks, salads and green stuff, and lean cuisines. The goal is to lose 5% of the weight before surgery. It's tough.

I posted this on the wrong thread. Now it's where it's supposed to be. I have been "big" all my known life. I remember people commenting how the fact that I was a big girl as far back as the age of 5. I look back at those pictures and I was not a "big" girl, I wasn't fat, I just wasn't a little lithe stick person. I was active when I was young and ran around like crazy, fat and all. I weighed 120 pounds in 6th grade. The lowest I weighed in high school was 138 and that was for about 2 minutes. I graduated from high school somewhere at around 170-180. My lowest weight in my adult life was 158, and once again, it was for about 2 minutes. I went over the 200 pound range in the late 80's or very early 90's. I've never been lower. Of course I've been dieting since high school. Down and up and down and up, over and over again. Yes, I've tried almost everything except the Jenny Craig stuff or the pay for meals ones because I don't want to spend that money. I joined eDiets a couple of times and lost the most weight on the Zone diet. I still think it's one of the best nutritional and most workable diet out there, but I just don't have the sticking power for the long haul. I lost over 30 pounds on the Zone, but after 4 months, I started slipping back a little. In 2004-2005 I had some emotional upheaval with the death of my parents and associated problems and gained all the weight back over the next two years. Then in 2007 I took a job that added to my stress in very bad ways and gained an additional bunch of weight. I have changed jobs again and I'm in one that is very good and I enjoy but I still haven't been able to stick to anything and lose weight. This is my path to the lap-band. I started looking at this last year, but I was afraid of not being able to eat oranges, asparagus, beef, etc. ever again. Also, my insurance won't pay for anything related to weight loss. Stupid on the insurance companies part. They would save a ton of money on the health related issues. I digress, I saw a program on TV and this lady about my size and close to my age went through weight loss surgery and she seemed content afterwards. Not craving, not edgy for what she couldn't have. I decided to start looking into it and here I am. Good luck to everyone here and I'm looking forward to following our journey through WLS.

Wow, I spent a great deal of time today on this thread reading all these posts....going back quite a ways and it is very interesting. Finding so many over 50's going through this is very helpful and inspiring. I'm 53 and scheduled for surgery on July 2nd. I've just started pre-op and am not looking forward to the next 12 days, but it's just the beginning step to changing my bad food habits. I know it can be done because I've already made some changes that have stuck. Looking forward to posting here.

Julia, Your stick-to-itness is inspiring. To stay on this diet since September is a sign of your determination. I take it the time factor is for insurance? It really shows you will make the banding work for you. I am on day one of the pre-op diets, Protein drinks, GREEN salad only and Lean Cuisine for dinners. I'm not really looking forward to this phase, but I know I need to do it and I will. I'm also going to make sugar free Jello which is something I've never done. I guess I really am ready to make those necessary changes.

You just never know what's going to happen in the future. The money can be replaced with time and during that time your weight will be decreasing. Make it a challenge for every $$ you add to your savings, a pound is lost. I am a self pay also because my insurance will not cover any weight loss procedure, even doctors visits. It's only money and I'm more important than that. Good luck on your journey.

IndioGirl, Thanks for the kinds words and you have done great!! Do you keep on the boards to keep on track or just because you enjoy them? I always wonder about the longevity because once people lose the weight or the opposite gain it back, many times they just disappear. Yet here you are and your advise it good.

I think I posted by bio on the wrong thread. Oh well, now you all know the story. No one else has a July 2nd date so far. Maybe the doctors don't want to do surgery right before the holiday. It works out well for me because it's one less day I have to take off from work. I start my official pre-op diet tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to that, but I am determined to make it work. Later,

My date is July 2nd in Mexico. ee:drool:

My date is July 2nd...so not quite a week before you. This will be interesting.

Hi Lisa, I'm in Arizona also and will be banded July 2nd. I'm self pay and sit at a desk so I can't help with the time out question, but I believe you'll get a wide variety of answers. Hopefully your doctor will work with you and not send you back before you can handle it.

I haven't been banded yet, just starting pre-op diet, but even from this perspective, your weight loss seems great to me. From everything I've been reading this is not a magic pill and it takes work and time. Look at the dates the people were banded, the ones with the greatest weight loss were months and even a year ago. I believe the band is the tool to help you make it for the long run...not a quick fix. During previous weigh loss attempts, these sorts of message boards really helped with support and motivation. Good luck to you and I hope to be in your shoes in another month or so. :wink2: