Yvette1026

Absolutely THE best thing I EVER did for myself! I researched and kept putting it off for 5 yrs, letting everyone from my mother to boyfriends talk me out of it. I finally had had enough of yoyo dieting and being uncomfortable in my own body. June 09 I made my first appointment a little scared and skeptical, I went through the 6 month process my insurance requires and 12/18 I was banded...7 months later and down 60lbs it's 100% absolutely THE BEST thing I could have EVER done for myself.

Your body is going through the changes of an intense work out.. you weren't losing because your muscles were building to burn more fat, this is a GREAT thing! I was expecting your post to say "I gained weight!" - which is very typical in this type of situation with intense workouts like boxing. (I kickbox myself.) I would recommend using protein smoothies to supplement your protein..you can make the same smoothie with as much protein as you want without altering the taste too much, especially if you're using greek yogurt like Fage 0% as base, which has 20 grams of protein, mixed with some protein powder (mine is 20 per scoop) add 2 scoops and you're already at 60 grams, plus 8 from the skim milk, etc.. it's a very easy and delicious way to boost your protein, stay full and stay cool during the summer time as well. Overall the chances are you probably weren't eating enough and/or your body was adjusting to the new routine, without seeing your food journal or what you've been eating, its hard to say. But I hope that helped, all the best to you!

SO.... who knew LBT showed up on places like google, as far as what we post, etc... So just a warning for those of you who want to keep your surgery or blogs private... if someone were to google your username or email, it comes up. On the upside you can change your username if necessary by going to the USER CP section and at the very bottom it gives you an option to change your name. So good deal! Anyways happy blogging...

Anyone else get SUPER tight restriction when they're stressed or upset? In the 7 months I've had my band I've been blessed to have it pretty easy, the past few days I've been having some personal issues that are a cause of stress and anger. For the past 3 days it has been difficult for me to eat anything even though I'm hungry and try to eat it, within 3 bites I'm full or in pain from trying to eat/restriction. Does anyone else experience this? And keep in mind, I missed my scheduled fill on the 15th.. so it's not that..

Couple of things... 1.) Your male friend needed to expound on his comment. Men will choose the skinny/thinner girl every time but for what? Relationship or hookup? There's a difference. This is a conversation I have with people A LOT I actually do some radio interviews, etc.. on the topic because it's such a hot topic. When the show "More to love" was on air I did my rounds on radio shows because I personally was mortified by that show. But as I came to find out, this is the reality of most overweight women or as I've come to help alot of them realize..it's their perceived reality or the one they create for themselves. At 33 having been plus size/full figured or well let's just say it..Fat my whole life.. I mean my entire life and having been a size 14 or bigger since age 8, yes I said 8 as in 6, 7, 8.. I don't have any other reality. I've never had an issue dating, having a boyfriend, keeping a boyfriend or anything like that. I've been married, divorced, dated lots and even serial dated (3 dates in a day, 5 days a week). I've often been told that's because I'm not the "normal plus size/fat girl" - i.e. low self-esteem, ill-kept, ungroomed, etc... And while that may be true the difference between me and most is CONFIDENCE. Whether it's true or not, when I walk into the room I firmly believe I am the most beautiful girl in the room and I act accordingly. While it may only be true in my head, I'll get the attention like I am because of how I carry myself. All of the above is something that has to come from within, your outer appearance really has nothing to do with it. You ever see gorgeous men with hideous women or vice versa... CONFIDENCE. People are just people, everyone wants to be liked, men find it highly flattering when a woman finds them attractive because most women don't express it to them. However, as women we have to allow men to come to us, and really the key here it to love yourself before anybody else can love you. I know that sound cliche but it's true. You can sit and wonder why your life is passing you by or you can stop and just into as it's happening now. It's all on how you look at it.. half empty or half full? Most fat women tend to throw themselves pity parties and think oh gosh they don't like me, because I'm fat or whatever.. when they bottom line is they don't like you cause you don't like you. I know it's a lil' harsh and a lot of people probably don't want to hear it, but that's truth and sometimes it hurts. You've done something out of love for yourself to better yourself and your life, let it flow and let people be drawn to you, the real you that's waiting to burst out... but please not she can burst out at 285 or 185.. she's still the same person. Love yourself and be good to yourself!

Protein Scoops are up to you 1 or 2.. I was doing 2 to ensure I was getting all of my protein.. the strawberry shake is 540 calories and 52 grams of protein (using the products I was using) in the entire blender.. so if you mix it up and freeze to use the rest later it's just as good you just need to defrost and re-blend. It got me through my mushie stage and still gets me through lots of days.. now at 7 months out and 60lbs down the smoothies have been a friend to me! lol Hope they're as good to you, let me know how they work out for you!

These recipes will make a blender FULL, for me that works because I just drink them all day and I make mine thick so I need to use a spoon (makes me feel like i'm eating) But here you go from my previous response to someone else: I do lots of various ones but a couple of simple ones are: 1/3 blender of ice 1/2 cup greek yogurt (Fage 0% is best - lots of protein) 2 scoops of vanilla (I use whole foods brand whey protein) strawberries (6-8 should do) Agave nectar to taste Blend to desired consistency. I blend mine to a thick milkshake consistency, you stay full longer and you actually feel like you're eating something. And being the summer time it's a refreshing treat. My next favorite one is using the frozen fruit mix from costco (mangos, peaches, strawberries sliced and frozen in a bag). Ice 1/3 blender Fruit 1/2 cup Orange Juice 4-8oz Protein Powder (Vanilla) 1 or 2 scoops Agave Nectar to taste Blend.. this one is so tropical and good. I had to be on protein shakes for 3 weeks so I understand what you're feeling, I got super creative, hot chocolates, puddings, etc.. all made from protein shakes.. but the above are my quick favorites to go to. Remember Greek Yogurt and Agave Nectar are your friends in this time period blended into a smoothie it's definitely of GOD! lol

I used smoothies in this time period, I tried the soups etc and it wasn't working for me. The only thing that did was soft mushies like tuna salad, chicken salad, etc.. I would skip all of that and go to fresh fruit protein smoothies. I just typed a couple of recipes in another response.. I'll go cut and paste them hang on.

The key is to make smoothies that are of substance. They will keep you full and you'll feel like you're eating something. I do lots of various ones but a couple of simple ones are: 1/3 blender of ice 1/2 cup greek yogurt (Fage 0% is best - lots of protein) 2 scoops of vanilla (I use whole foods brand whey protein) strawberries (6-8 should do) Agave nectar to taste Blend to desired consistency. I blend mine to a thick milkshake consistency, you stay full longer and you actually feel like you're eating something. And being the summer time it's a refreshing treat. My next favorite one is using the frozen fruit mix from costco (mangos, peaches, strawberries sliced and frozen in a bag). Ice 1/3 blender Fruit 1/2 cup Orange Juice 4-8oz Protein Powder (Vanilla) 1 or 2 scoops Agave Nectar to taste Blend.. this one is so tropical and good. I had to be on protein shakes for 3 weeks so I understand what you're feeling, I got super creative, hot chocolates, puddings, etc.. all made from protein shakes.. but the above are my quick favorites to go to. Remember Greek Yogurt and Agave Nectar are your friends in this time period blended into a smoothie it's definitely of GOD! lol

Congratulations and the title of your blog "Why not sooner" is exactly how I feel, like WHY didn't I do this sooner?!!?!? Everything for a reason

I'm 7 months post op as of yesterday..you won't (shouldn't) feel bad after your fill.. you were more than likely very swollen which is what caused the feeling you felt and for the liquid to be removed. As for your energy level, check with your dr and ask if you can move to mushies or eat something of substance like cream of wheat, that'll get your energy up.

So since I'm not eating as much... I've figured I better put my mouth to use in other ways. I've started singing again... (Uh huh what were you thinking?!???! lol) Something I've ALWAYS loved to do and have done forever.. I stopped singing right around 21 and now 12 yrs later, a lot of weight gain and more importantly loss later here I am. There's truth to the saying "If you don't use it, you lose it" though.. but here I am just singing away trying to get some of it back. It's been interesting.. I joined an online karaoke site and it's the most hysterical thing, you can be TERRIBLE and people will give you 5 stars, right now I have a couple of songs in the site's "Top recordings" trust me when I tell you they're not good but hey I'll take the ego boost. Anyways just one of my new hobbies I've picked up now that I'm feeling great about myself.. what interesting thing have you done or gotten back into since surgery?

WOO HOO! Lookin' good!

I hope you shaved a few inches off being out there! It's too hot.. I stay inside and go from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car lol AZ is too hot, I even sat out of two concerts this weekend cause I wasn't tryin' to be out there in this AZ heat lol.. Maybe all us AZ people can meet up for Fro-yo or something and cool it down

So I missed my fill yesterday, I've been laid up in bed with a knee injury so I wasn't able to go. I still have restriction which is GREAT but painful as a reminder for the carb craving I've been on. Um yeah.. ask me what I ate yesterday? Biscuits. Yep just biscuits.. hot fresh out the oven with honey and butter.. that's what I ate for the whole day... Today my face is FAT.. so there will be no more biscuits. But I don't know where this out of control carb/bread craving is coming from. I don't even have PMS as an excuse. But all I want is carbs. The other night I made baked potatoes and dirty rice for dinner.. WHO DOES THAT?!!??! But I've been fighting off this craving.. it's out of control.. it's so bad even a piece of paper looks good to me.. (oddly enough when I was a kid I used to eat paper) but yeah.. I know they say that cravings mean you're deficient in something.. I've been eating balanced meals, I don't know what I would be deficient in.. guess it's time to go google. I rescheduled my appointment for the 4th, that gives me time to undo any damage I did on my carb binge.. but um yeah.. HELP.. send donuts lol j/k ok well maybe just one..

I LOVE LOVE LOVE couple's dancing.. Ballroom, Salsa, all of that.. the old fred astaire and ginger rogers movies get me every time!

Yet another reason to NOT tell people your business. But WOW and your fellow bandster and her parking lot unfill...there's so much wrong with all of this on so many levels... just WOW

I tell people as I choose to, I don't lie or hide it.. but just as with any other medical procedure or diagnoses I don't go around reporting it to other people either, it's not their business. Like right now I have a knee issue (I rebuke surgery in the name of Jesus ) but because I'm not up and active like I normally am everyone is like are you ok..what's wrong with your leg... to some I just say "I'm good, I'm just healing" to others I'll tell them what's going on. When it comes to all things medical it's REALLY not anyone's business to know or ask, but that's just my opinion. When it comes to being banded many people feel like you're cheating and you took the easy way out as if we don't work hard for this EVERY day.. but we do, much more so than if we were just dieting but they don't understand. I choose not to argue with fools.

Congratulations on being banded.. But why are you taking pills? You should have received liquid pain meds and if not prescription then liquid tylenol. It's very important to not put solids in right now as they can get stuck or add to your swelling and slow your healing process. The bleeding is worrisome, were you sleeping on your stomach? Did you look at your incisions? Did you bust some stitches? Glad you're not in pain...here's to a rapid recovery!

You're going through changes which will definitely have an effect on him as well. Your husband has a point only if you're neglecting him or other priorities to be on here.. (Which I don't think is the case.) There's things about this process that ONLY other people going through it as well can relate to. Can your husband give you advice on being Stuck, Band friendly recipes, Band Concerns, etc??? More than likely not. Assure him that the site is mostly women (which it is) and that he's more than welcome to come on and see what it is you're doing at any time. While it's important to be open and honest with your spouse, it is also important for you to have a personal time/space/release to do whatever it is that you would like to do. Whether it's blogging, reading a magazine, or playing a video game. Whatever you choose to do. There's a lot worse things that you could be doing... he should realize that.

If you follow my blog you know that I had an affair with Ronald under the glow of his golden arches for years. Even though I knew he wasn't good for me and I shouldn't be there, he was my old comfortable lover that knew how to do everything I liked just right. I'll admit I've visited my old flame a couple of times since my banding mostly due to lack of time/necessity during a month long moving process with a BUSY schedule.. I know I could have made better choices but I didn't. I came across this and now I know... WOW Take the next 5 mins and see this below and you'll figure out how much damage we've done with every visit... never again.. NEVER AGAIN..

Chip and salsa isn't cheating.. you got this lapband for life... it's there to be a tool. I'm sure you had less chips and salsa post band, then you had pre-band right? So it's working. How long has it been since your fill? Most people don't really start to loose until 2nd or 3rd fill that's why they call it "bandster hell" you're still getting the hang of it? Maybe you need a more aggressive fill? Also proteins over carbs, remember that! You can do this! All the best to you!

Ok so I'm by no means thin or skinny but my surgery has definitely helped, if not made me change my outlook on food and over eating. I now know and understand how the rest of the world looks at us and why some almost feel a disgust for us. I never understood it until now... and now that it's finally clicked I never want to be there again. Before I continue let me first say I don't believe in discrimination against anyone for any reason. I also do not believe in judging a book by it's cover and I realize this may be hard for some of you to read or accept but it's my thoughts and my blog and if you're bothered by what I say, feel free to kindly hit the x, or take part in a respectful and intelligent debate. I'm up for either. All of that being said...let me continue. The problem with fat people is... 1.) We're killing ourselves 2.) We (meaning most) do nothing about it 3.) We've developed such shameful eating habits that we've also developed denial right along with it. 4.) We encourage others to eat with us, as if when we eat with other people it doesn't count. 5.) We seek out others like us, so we have eating buddies. I can go on and on about all of this.. but it has really just got to stop. So, my ever so rude awakening came when I opened my home to a young lady from church. I invited her to stay with the hopes of helping her grow spiritually and financially and remove her from the living situation she was in. Everything was ok at first, until I started noticing her eating habits. Just greedy and fat and not in a cute lil' have a fat day and pig out kinda way. In a I eat like this EVERY day at EVERY meal kinda way. Understand this is not a rant about any one person, I just use my examples as a reference point. It's hard for me as a foodie to live with someone who eats so extreme, especially when I'm still recovering and being delivered from that area myself. For years I had myself fooled that "I didn't really over eat." because I went all day without eating and then thought nothing of going through the drive thru at 10pm for 2 double cheeseburgers, fries and sweet tea. Rationalizing it in my head that I hadn't eaten all day. When the truth of the matter is, that was too much freakin' food at one time, for anyone at any given time. I was eating like a linebacker and wondering why and how I ended up with the physique of one. I really thought there was nothing wrong with my behavior, or at least I thought, I thought that.. looking back on it I realize now that I would ALWAYS mute my phone while ordering so the person on the other end didn't hear. Or eat it in the car and throw it away before I went in the house, even though I lived by myself... All acts of a shamed and guilty person. So now I have a young lady in my home who thinks nothing of downing 3 fried hotlinks at a time. These are not small hotdogs, I mean the hillshire farm kind that can be split in two and used as a hotdog...that type. Someone who I made 2 boxes of mac & cheese for easy leftovers, I had 1/2 of cup and went back to put it away only to find an empty pan. Someone who as I'm making cookies for church (simple breakaway readymade ones) can't control themselves and takes a block of unmade cookies and thinks it's funny. Someone who has lunch, then comes home and ransacks whatever is in the fridge not an hour later, eating a dinner I prepared for someone else. And to be honest....it's disgusting. I had to stop and have a moment and repent for thinking so poorly of someone but then I realized being obese really truly is a disease. The trouble with fat people is, we don't see it often times until it's too late. We're literally eating ourselves to death and it's disgusting to watch. I wonder how many times did someone think the same of me? People would always make comments to me about how they don't consider me "fat" that being "fat" was gross and that I wasn't, I was just overweight. Skinny/thin people would make these comments to me and I never understood why, or what made me different. Was it the way I carried myself? How I dressed? How I was shaped? No what it is, is that I NEVER ALLOWED them to watch me pile food into my mouth like some out of control cross between a hungry hippo and a garbage disposal. Even if I was eating out with people I would eat normally. Sometimes over indulging in bread, but always having a takehome bag/box. UNLESS, I was having a "fat day" with one of my "fat friends" who had lured me out to eat something fattening and just indulge in it. This is where we sabotage ourselves and each other. While it's fine to have a cheat day or meal, we shouldn't encourage it with each other. I have a good friend who lives in another state and we would both get Oreo shakes and bacon cheddar wedges from Jack in the box and eat them while on the phone together when we were having "bad" or "fat" days... WHO DOES THAT?!?!??! Fat people...that's who! I notice too how my friends plan their vacations around eating, I've had 3 people say to me "Oh when I get there, we're gonna eat this this this this ____ this this this blah blah blah..." I just kinda laugh it off when the reality is ummm NO WE'RE NOT... you might, but I'm not. Then the funny part is when you don't indulge your fat friends will then start to try to gode you into eating with them, by saying things like "Oh you think you're too good now cause you lost some weight?" or something to that effect, even though it's in a joking manner.. they still mean it. Or friends who look at you funny because you've lost weight... and say things that they mean as a compliment but really just come out sounding bitter. We do it to ourselves...all of this to ourselves and the problem with Fat people is we're sick and we don't even realize it. Looking back on it I know and realize I was addicted to food. The tastes, the flavors, the textures.. I would almost get a high off of it. I think that's why it's so hard for me to watch others now who are still sick. It's like when someone stops smoking, they can't stand to be around other smokers.. it's the same feeling.. Ok I'm rambling.. feel free to respond or not I just needed to get this out.. these thoughts were blocking my other thoughts I needed to get to for another writing I'm doing.. but man.. whew.. I feel better :smile2:

You slept late, the majority of people are always tighter in the morning and then loosen up as the day progresses. This is a pretty normal phenomenon. I always test my band to see if I can eat in the morning.. I take a sip of a heavy juice like Orange or Pineapple juice and see how it goes down.. if it's slow going... I do a shake if it goes down easy I do eggs, etc.. Then there's days like today where I tested...made eggs got about 1/2 way through 2 scrambled eggs and my band said.. NOPE not any more.. so now I'm sitting here burping and feeling oh so disgusting... blogging to distract myself as well lol On the upside being stuck only lasts a few minutes I find that bending over and then stretching back in an arch of the back gets things unstuck pretty quickly but also reduces the pain level.

Don't worry about calories and intake right now and you should have been given a lapband booklet that you had to sign for that has all of the info in it.