Sweet Caroline

My girlfriend is a closet bandster who was banded last year does the following to avoid scrutiny in public/work events: - She takes a regular sized plate and utensils. - She makes a line through her food dividing her food into the portion she intends to eat and "the rest". - Then she casually eats from the smaller portion which has been set aside on her plate. - At buffets she'll take a small amount of food that she intends to eat, and then fill her plate to the gills with food that she doesn't like. Then she eats the small portion of food that she likes, and is healthy. - If someone notices that she is not "cleaning her plate" she just says, "this really isn't that good" or "this looked better than it actually tastes" or "I shouldn't have eaten so many appetizers" or whatever! And other women - because they notice that she has lost so much weight - they really DO watch her and interrogate her. GOOD LUCK!!

I am on Day 14. Had some semi solid food today (ground up hamburger and some salad). To be honest, I could eat without any feeling of restriction. Is this normal? I was expecting it to feel so different. I heard so much about how I'd have to chew and chew and chew. But I didn't find that to be the case. I heard that I wouldn't be able to eat salad - it went down fine and tasted good. SO much better than those gross, gross, gross God-forsaken shakes !! I'm soooo OD'd on those that just the smell makes me nauseous. I'm thinking of trying some diet coke, because Lord knows I'm really jonesing for that. I used to have 6 or 7 a day between diet coke and diet sprite. I have not tried any because I heard in all the support group meetings about what havoc it causes. But I feel like I'm cruising along. Then I get this feeling: hey, I'm trying to turn a new leaf here and create a new way of eating and drinking. I shouldn't have soda. But it is calorie free, and I certainly read much, much worse food items openly discussed on these boards as regular menu items for bandsters which shock me. They are so high calorie (like spare ribs). So what's a little diet sprite??? Am I in the right mindset here? I'd appreciate hearing from some of you who are very successful in losing weight with your band - what should I be eating at day 14 (for the next few days and weeks) if I want to be successful like you??? Please give it to me straight - I can take it!! What the "skinny" on doing great, yet maintaining your sanity and not feeling like a freak? At my OB-GYN appt on day 11, I was down 10 pounds from my surgery day weight. That's great, but as I transition to solid food, I want to keep losing the FLAB!! Some other questions are: When will I start to feel restriction? And am I doing myself a disservice by having hamburger so early on here? The Protein shakes were grossing me out so bad, I haven't had a single one in 48 hours, so I went to the burger to get protein. Also, will I always be consious of my port? It kinda jumps out at me when I smooth over my stomach area. My husband calls it my "doorbell"!! I'm so grateful for this band, and for this forum to learn, share, and blow off some steam! THANKS EACH AND EVERY ONE! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

I've done a search, and am unable to find anyone on here talking about pregnancy and childbirth after the lap-band surgery. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd appreciate it since I would like to have more kids. Thanks much.

Thank you, thank you, thank you !! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Hi all, I was banded 8 days ago. I'm so confused. I've never been so constipated in my life. Not even after my c-sections. No one mentioned that this may happen. Should I drink some prune juice? It's PAINFUL. Also, I'm just starting on Soup broth and smooth yogurt. That's been nice. But I can certainly put away quite a bit. Even with my Water and crystal lite, I can drink much at a time. I remember reading that I would only be able to drink 2oz or so at a time. I thought that this would not be the case??? I'm so confused. I can already feel the weight coming off, so these complaints are MINOR in my mind. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS MUCH

Hi Caroline, I was banded on Friday of last week. I'm doing well. The only complaints I have, which are minor are that I'm feeling pretty hungry and am having some stabbing pain when I take a deep breath. It seems to be only on my left side and sometimes I feel it up around my left collar bone or heart area. It also is very painful to cough or sneeze. I consider all of these "complaints" no-big-deal and a small price to pay. What have you been eating? The shakes are starting to gross me out, so I've been the Jello queen. I had some Soup broth tonight because I'm so hungry and was dying for something hot in my belly! I don't feel like I've lost any wieght yet - do you? I have about 70 pounds to lose total, but I know that after just 30 or 40 I will feel like a NEW WOMAN !! Let's try to stay in touch since we were banded about the same time. I'm in Mass too, not the same hosp or Doc though. TAKE GOOD CARE !!