jensmallwood

Sweet! Kids are awesome.

According to my doctor's office, mush means blended up or pureed before it goes into your mouth. That way you can't accidentally swallow something too big. So yogurt, applesauce, thin oatmeal, are good choices. What I did was to put whatever I made for my family for dinner into a blender with some liquid (chicken broth, mushroom soup- depending on what I was blending up). The beginning of the mushy stage I made it the consistency of applesauce. During the second week, I made it a bit thicker. It's normal not to have any restriction at this point. (or to have very little.) You won't start to get restriction until you start to get fills.

I have the same questions as PP-- are you newly banded? I believe that the restriction to 2 oz of Fluid per 15 minutes is really only if you are having trouble getting fluids down. If you're comfortable drinking more than that, I think it's safe. If liquids can pass through to your lower stomach easily, you won't stretch your pouch out or anything. I never had any problems drinking liquids at all.... and just drink it normally.

Ugg! How long are you on the clear liquids phase for? Those days/weeks seem to go by so slowly, and they can be hard to get through. BUT- you CAN do it! I just couldn't wait for mushy foods. Anything that had some kind of mouth feel! (I never looked so forward to cottage cheese in my life!) It'll end, and you'll get back to regular foods. Here's the thing that that liquid/mushy phases helped me with. Before my surgery- I had a major, major carbohydrate addiction. I could barely drive past the deli without stopping for a cookie, or bread (Burger King was my crack.) Staying on liquids and then mushies with a Protein focus really made those cravings go away. It was a huge blessing for me. I do eat carbs now (and probably more than others on this board) but they are all whole grains and not-craving-forming. I consider my liquid phase to be the key to this transformation for me. So look at it like that- or look at it as what it is-- time for your stomach to heal. Each sip of chicken broth is just you taking care of your stomach. I couldn't do the jello-- I HATE Jello. Bleh! It will be over soon! Good luck!

You don't even need to do this... it already knows what date you did what activity (I think it can store 14 days or so worth of data). It'll upload (to the right date) whatever you've done since last time you uploaded. Then you can click "yesterday" or pick a specific date to see your calorie burn, steps, activity on any day you choose. But you don't need to pick the day before you upload. I tend to upload mine in the evening... but anytime is good. You can do it 3 times a day, if you want! One good thing about doing it early is that it shows you a projected calorie burn if you planned to be sedentary for the rest of the day. So if I exercise in the morning, then upload my data, it will show me what it thinks I would burn for the rest of the day if I chose to sit on the couch until bedtime (which I don't do...). This is the light blue bar that extends past your "calories burned" bar. If you put your mouse over that light blue bar it will show you the projected burn (in calories).

My doctor gave me guidelines about how much to eat-- did your doctor give you anything like that for the first several weeks out? With the band, I've found that I don't get that normal "belly full" kind of feeling. I just try to stop eating when I'm not hungry any more. (which is harder until you get to solid foods.) Do you have enough energy to go about your day? If so, I'd say you are getting enough.

The digital display can be worn anywhere (within a certain distance of your body bugg). Anywhere on your body is fine.

It functions as a really basic watch-- but won't work for what you want. It doesn't show seconds at all-- which frankly, surprises me. You'd think it would have a stopwatch, etc, like my Timex sport watch does. :thumbup: So you'd have to wear your regular watch, and clip this on somewhere else. (I typically wear mine on my waist band, like a pedometer.)

I still use Internet Explorer (much to my husband's chagrin) and I didn't have any problems. The tech support at BodyBugg is great-- you might give them a call. I don't remember what coast they're on, but they might still be there...

I would think that given the swelling, they are going to be conservative when they give your next fill. If that happens, see if you can come back every 2 weeks until you get back to restriction. They're going to do what they think is best for you, and it might or might not be what you want.

I don't think so... in fact, many people have a harder time with salad/raw foods than with other solids.

Which cracks me up! It's just nice to see a BMI under 30! Woohoo! Goodbye obesity- you can kiss my ..... ! :confused::thumbup:

I was also given permission to exercise more at my two week post op-- still, no heavy lifting, listen to my body, etc. Ask your doctor what s/he recommends and follow that advice for best results.

I say you only get the most out of life by going for it!! What have you got to lose?

You should ask your doctor about being cleared to start lifting weights. You can start light (which is a good idea anyway because it'll help you prevent some of the soreness.) I can't imagine any reason that you couldn't use the elliptical if you're cleared for walking. In many ways the elliptical is easier than walking (no impact at all). The upper body action may cause your heart rate to elevate a little more, though. If you haven't done any strength training at all, a good way to start is to hire a personal trainer for a 6 week session or so (once you are cleared for it). S/he can teach you proper form for the exercises and help develop a few workouts for you that you can use on an alternating basis. In terms of which exercises use your "core" muscles-- most free weight exercises, if done appropriately will use your core muscles (both front and back) for stability. You can decrease this by doing many of the exercises in a sitting (arm curls, triceps) or reclining position (chest press). But even standing, they aren't using your core muscles in a huge way- not like sit-ups for example. So with doctor permission, they are likely to be ok. Excercises like squats do use more core (again for stability) though they don't involve spinal flexion when done properly (your back stays straight). Typically when a doctor says "no core work" they mean crunches, situps, etc.

How wonderful! Now that you've reached that 'unimaginable' number.... what's the next number that you "can't imagine?" You'll be there soon enough!

Congrats! Isn't shopping fun now? (and of course it counts!!)

Yup-- the scale can be a big, dumb liar! You DID NOT gain 5 pounds of fat in one day. No worries!

Wahoo!!! Congratulations!

I vote for the small sips route. That's what I would have done. Taking a few sips to get rid of the spicy is different than downing a pint of something while you're eating a meal.

I also think it would be weird to get stuck so long after eating. When I have gotten stuck I know exactly which bite of food was the offending bit! It's been immediate, and unpleasant. But it sounds like a "stuck" sort of feeling!

I've heard that many people have problems with Protein shakes. Are you lactose intolerant? That causes a problem with many protein shakes. Whey Isolate is one with no lactose. Jay Robb has an egg white Protein shake you might try. Since I've goten back on solids- I don't do protein shakes at all except for when I'm on liquids only after a fill. My doctor's office recommends no liquid calories, and except for the occasional glass of wine or beer- I comply with that! :thumbup: Many, many people do use the shakes however to ensure that they get enough protein. My band is loose enough that I get enough protein with regular food.

It's probably swelling... call your doctor if you can't even keep Water down. You don't want to get dehydrated. They may need to take it out, wait for the swelling to go down, and put , say, 1/4 cc back in. See how it goes. But if you can't keep clear liquid down, you do need to call your doctor!

I would think that you'd want to get the band filled until you get restriction. That's the only way it's going to work for you. You can continue to "diet" in the meantime, while you're waiting to get restriction. That's why you got the band, right? When you get to a certain level, the difference between no restriction and good restriction is only a small bit of a fill... Why would you get what you have in the band drained out? (Not sure I understand, that's all.)

I haven't had any weakness problems, but I also eat (in general) about 1300-1500 cals/day (some days more, some days less). I stick to mostly "clean" (natural and unprocessed) foods. I was cleared to exercise 2 weeks out and have been exercising fairly strenuously since then (but I exercised strenuously beforehand as well- hard workouts should be worked up to if you don't currently do them.) As for the rules- your doc will tell you which rules to follow. They are all a bit different. My doc says 3 meals a day with no snacking.