honk

I do not have restriction but have been stuck 2 times both on baby carrots. Hurts like the dickens right under your breastbone.

That's why I don't do classes. To much like high school. Some people; thin and fat are just mean spirited jerks.

Yes, lean Cuisine has a lot of salt but I would be more concerned with the carbs. Most of the frozen dinners have rice, potato, or Pasta. So you could be getting way to many carbs for the amount of Protein. Sorry but the booze has to go. If someone said they were on a diet but ate 3 ice cream cones every Friday and Saturday night you'd think they were wasting their time on a diet. Admittedly I can say this easily because alcohol means nothing to me. If you gave me the choice of a rum and coke and a snickers bar there would be no contest. Great job on your exercise program that is a huge part of the battle.

Hi. I have worked in HR at large companies (UBER large). You can get someone in benefits. If you have to go to LinkedIn run a search for someone at your company in Employee Benefits and get a name. Go to your companies phone list and CALL them. These people exist and you have a right to speak with them. Trust me they know what is going to be covered in any insurance changes NOW. As a company you are a community, and believe it or not a team. No one in benefits wants to get a call from their boss saying people are complaining that his team are'nt being responsive to their "customers" (that would be you.)

I've been very lucky because my family has been very supportive. I think when people disapprove YOUR medical decision it's because now you've changed the dynamic of your relationship. Fat people tend to try and fade into the background and not create waves. We also defer to other people going along with their decisions.

I think my biggest concern is will the rest of your family be making life style changes regarding food in the home. While I perscribe to the 90/10 rule (eat correctly 90% and let the other 10% take care of itself); 90% is a lot of the time. I'm not saying the rest of the family can't occationally have diet unfriendly foods but you can not have food for him and foods for the rest of you. My personal experience as a child was that my mother constantly complained about my weight but my available food choices were'nt very good either. I would be very concerned about him feeling stigmatized that he has to live a certain way while the rest of the family can do what ever they want. Unless I've missed it I did'nt see whether he's actually seen a psychologist, a nutrionist is not good enough. You mentioned portion control. That is a huge issue for me and while the band can help it's not unbeatable. If you do enough research you'll see that some people ask is it okay for me to have low fat ice cream every night or shakes from McD's. I feel his pain. By the time I was 18 I had done two diets and lost over a hundred pounds each time. Do I wish I had done the band years ago when it first came out yes. Perhaps I would'nt have had a stroke at 39. If you do go forward with the surgery I would be very careful who knows about the surgery at school. Children are savage and I can guarentee you that some jackass will make fun of him because of it. I would not trust that teachers can keep their mouths shut esp. if they disagree with the decision to have surgery.

My doctor said coffee is fine. I take it black with Splendra (which is supposedly better chemically for your body than Equal. Which I kind off prefer in coffee but probably because I have been drinking it that way for 20 years).

From what I've read Splendra has less of a chemical reaction in your body than Equal (aspartame) does. So I have stopped using Equal for my coffee (I have a large coffee probably twice a week). I don't buy diet soda anymore and since ice cream really has never been an issue for me I don't buy the low fat/sugar free versions of that either. One recommendation I would make is to buy Mrs Dash seasonings as they don't contain salt. If you look at other brands of mixed herbs salt is the first ingrediant. Not so good! If you are careful 90% of the time about the amount of sweeteners and salt you use than the other 10% probably won't be a huge issue. My mother was on blood pressure medication most of my child hood so she did not add salt to food at all. So I tend to be more sensative to salt than most people. There are times however like work lunches etc that you will eat salty food. Not much you can do. If for example you want to have real suger in your coffe in stead of Splendra that's okay. Just remember those are very real calories. Here in NE when you go to Dunkin Donuts and say Regular Sugar that used to mean 2 teaspoons. Today they take a large spoon (has to hold at least 1 tablespoon) and give you two scoops. That's 6 teaspoons of sugar=90 calories in a cup of coffee; where as getting it black is like 5 cal. My mother always says if you liked coffee you would drink it black (my dad was a cream and two sugar kind of guy!). I worked at a company that had free coffee (super cheap BAD kind). I stopped drinking it becuase I had to add milk to it (I normally dont add milk) to get it down it was so terrible. If you have to add calories the free is not so good.

I have tried both the Body Choice shots and Premier Ready to Drink. Have you tried other Protein Shots? In general they are not very very good. In my opinion the Body Choice are not any worse than the others and cheaper than Walmart and Target.

I like chobani fruited yoghurt with about 1/4 scoop Vanilla Whey Isolate Protein powder, splendra, 2 teaspoons benefiber. I mix that up (either by spoon or stick blender), then add 10 g Thin Bare Naked Oatmeal. This gives you something to chew on.

Personally I think I would do a modified diet for a least a few more days. At day ten I was still on Soups like tomato, non fat cream of chicken, etc.. I would just make sure you are getting your 60 grams of Protein via shakes etc. At 15 days I was allowed to start adding cottage cheese, ricotta. At 21 days I could have shredded chicken and tuna. He/she is your doctor but that doesn't mean you can't be more conservative as long as you are getting the required nutrition. A big however, is that my doctor does not want me to have liquid meals once I was moved to solids in week 4. I still occationaly have a Ready to Drink shake when I am having a rushed morning.

Yes they are going to have sweeteners but Cosco sells a ready to drink chocolate Protein shake that is really good more like chocolate milk. I keep them for quick breakfasts on the go now that I am on solids. I highly recommend watching real surgery videos on you tube (not the animated ones.) so that you can see how your stomach has been stitched around the band. I also second the idea of getting unflavored protein. Try Vitamin Shoppe or GNC so you don't have to order it on line. This is about healing your body. You can do serious damage to your self eating solid food. A hard boiled egg is solid food. I could not have solids for 4 weeks. Does your doctor know you are pureeing rice in soups? At four days I was on Clear Liquids, so broth nothing else. Yes it sucked. By the 7th day I was straining out soup and having the liquid because it was better than regular broth.

This is a very scary story and not all the experience I had! The nurse had some trouble finding my port with the needle but I only got 4 cc's in my first fill. I did have a odd clenching sensation where the band was when I first stood up but nothing AT ALL like the thread starter mentioned. Do not stress out that YOU will have the same reaction.

Have not had this issue but could you be having muscle spasms?

Mine is about 6 inches to the left and inch above my belly button. I did'nt really have a choice per say but I did want it on the left as I am a right side sleeper. It is pretty deep (to quote the nurse but I think I can feel it when I push on the incision area (I am about 6 weeks out)

I currently work remotely so I don't have coworkers I see daily. Of my friends from my last onsite job I have only told one. He has some weight issues himself and has been very supportive and has asked questions (wondering if this would be a possibility for him). I wanted to tell my other friends in person so I waiting until I meet them for lunch which we do about once a quarter. I would consider that if some people know it is a great likelihood that others will find out. As much as we in HR hate it people talk.... a lot.

I've said it before but I will say it again. The person that owns the body gets to make the maintenance decisions! The person that pays the bills makes the decisions. Someone who is not being asked to pay for the surgery or provide after care does not get a vote! I don't drink, don't want to drink. If I told someone who likes to have a drink "I've decided that no one in my presence will ever drink again" that person would probably tell me where I could shove it. It's their body not mine.

Had my first fill two weeks ago and so far nothing. I did notice as I stood up from the table that I felt a sensation in my stomach area. I though that I was getting restriction but it did'nt last.

Some people get numbness in their arms and legs after the surgery because the operating tables are narrow and we are not. Soooo their weight is not well supported which leads to nerve issues. Perhaps this is what is causing your problem.

Not be HonkDowner but you may need to take 5 days off under your sick time (This is def. true in Mass) before going on disability. So you may want to keep that in mind. If your company has a set number of sick days you may have to use vacation days if you are sick until your "benefit year" expires (most companies use the calendar year but some use your anniversery date). Sorry but the HR geek in me sometimes can not be restrained.

For my next job I would really like to go into the office everyday. Sure working from home can be great for going to doctors appointments and stuff but it's lonely and you don't get much exercise. At least when you go to work every day you have to park your car, walk into the building, walk to the coffee station. Stuff like that.

No, have to say had not had that dream. I did have one where I was I was eating somewhere and they had all this really unappetizing food and people were expecting me to eat it. Blah.

I found it easier to sleep on the couch. I laid so that I moved my right leg off the couch to sit up, my port was on the left side. I was only on liquid tylenol so my pain was minimal. it did hurt to stand up from sitting down.

Will they weigh you before the surgery. The last time I was weighed was when I went in for pre-surg labs (2 weeks prior). Did not weigh me the day of surgery. My second question is how much did your doctor tell you to loose? If you have not met their requirement that might be more of a problem.

My instructions from the Nut. were 3 oz Protein and 1/4 veg, 1/4 starch. When I went for my first fill one of the questions that I was asked was can I eat more than 5 oz. Which I totally can. I have to measure and then only put the appropriate amount on my plate so I dont' over eat. I said well I was told to have 3oz of protein and veggies so yes. One thing I like for lunch is 3 oz chicken eaten with a Romain Lettuce leafs. I usually use 3 leafs and make sandwiches out of each one with the chicken, laughing cow cheese (one individual packet divided into 3), mustard, tomato). I figure that's getting me protein, dairy, and veggies. Another lunch favorite is 3 oz chicken breast, salsa, mrs dash chicken seasoning, low fat cheddar cheese on top microwave till hot.