RavenClaw779

Check out Before & After by Susan Maria Leach. One point she makes is one that my NUT echos - (I'm paraphrasing) - Eat as if you had RNY to maximize the amount of weight your lose with your band. The book has a formula for figuring out your protein needs. For example, a women my size(241) whose goal weight is 145 should take in about 80grams of protein a day. It's a goal I'm still working on.

CocoaBean - Sure we're not married to the same man?:thumbup: My husband is 6'1'' and 220 - solid muscle. He can go all day on a bowl of cereal and then eat an enormous dinner - never really gains more than a few pounds. He never got that because I am a DM2 that I have to keep my blood sugar level and after a few unpleasant episodes of hypoglycemia I made sure I always had glucose tabs and a protein bar in my purse. Like your husband, mine somehow believes that if he's not hungry neither am I. Now with the lap-band, he somehow believes that I am not supposed to ever be hungry and really don't need to eat - at all...ever... This weekend he insisted we needed to shoot up to Lowe's to look at some cabinets for a kitchen remodel and swore we'd only be gone an hour. I was still on soft foods(i.e, no protein bar fall back) It was 10:30am - I'd had breakfast at 9:30am - figured I was safe. When we got home at 4pm I had a raging headache and upset stomach(glucose tabs can only hold you so long) - he couldn't figure out why I was pissed off, "I thought the band made it so you didn't have to eat?!" :thumbdown:

Lost 10 pounds the first week after surgery; lost 31 in the three months prior. Have gained four pounds; then dropped two. My husband asked me what the point of the surgery was, since it was my own efforts that made the most significant change? Good Question. I have no restriction, and can eat normal foods, although the oddest things make me queasy - today it was two pretzels I ate as a precurser to my Oracea. The first fill is next week...I haven't been doing as well as I should with my protein shakes, so I actually had to force myself to work in a few extras yesterday which helped on the scale. A lot of the time I'm not hungry, so I find myself going too long between meals and then being ravenous.

Lost 10 pounds the first week after surgery; lost 31 in the three months prior. Have gained four pounds; then dropped two. My husband asked me what the point of the surgery was, since it was my own efforts that made the most significant change? Good Question. I have no restriction, and can eat normal foods, although the oddest things make me queasy - today it was two pretzels I ate as a precurser to my Oracea. The first fill is next week...I haven't been doing as well as I should with my protein shakes, so I actually had to force myself to work in a few extras yesterday which helped on the scale. A lot of the time I'm not hungry, so I find myself going too long between meals and then being ravenous.

If I'd have ever had a problem with sleep or daytime fatigue, I'd have gone to my doctor first. Nevertheless I had to see a pulmonologist as part of my pre-approval. He insisted that despite me not having any sleep apnea markers I had to go to the sleep lab. Before my appt he'd already scheduled a CPAP fitting! When I questioned my surgeon I was told, "No CPAP - No surgery". In fact I had to bring my new $600+ machine to day surgery so they could hook me up post-procedure. Funny thing was - they never took the CPAP out of the case. Even funnier was when a fangled a copy of my sleep report and the doctor had noted,"Patient complains of extreme daytime fatigue and tiredness" - odd 'cause I never said anything to that effect! I have tried to use this damn machine for over a month - I still get my best sleep without it!

My turn to host the Easter dinner - after I had to convince the "fam" that no, the gastric band procedure did not remove my abilities in the kitchen! Par for the course - despite the fact that I had a whole dinner arranged, my m-i-l had to bring not only the scratch rolls(which I asked her to make - but not enough to feed 20 people), but also a pie and two dozen sweet rolls - for six people?! My s-i-l brought a salad(which I asked her to) but also a pasta salad and a fruit salad in heavy, sugary sauce - again, we're talking 5 adults and a toddler. Of course my s-i-l has DMII but doesn't "believe" she's a diabetic and doesn't like to eat the "healthy stuff" I make. That's defined as veggies you can recognize, not hidden in over sauced cassoroles. So she has to bring her own "contributions" which load up most of her plate. Upon arriving my m-i-l says, "How's your little diet going?!" (still clueless no matter how many times I've explained the procedure) and my s-i-l; aka the MegaPhone Mouth from the Motor City starts the questions - "How much have you lost?", "Are you going to eat?", "Can you eat this?", "Can you eat that?" I just about lost it! So, when everyone arrived and was hanging out before chow time I said something to the effect of, "This is it - get your questions in now, because I'm not going through this at every family get together nor am I going to give you material to gossip to any and everyone about me, my procedure, why I had it, what I eat, don't eat, wear/no longer wear etc! It's getting boring for everyone and since some of you can't respect my privacy, I simply am not going to put it out there." No sooner than I left the room, my s-i-l is grilling my husband! God love him - I could hear him tell her, "You heard with Jill said - let it go!" Later my nephew caught me in the kitchen and thanked me for having the "balls" to stand up to the "gossip girls"!:thumbup:

My in-laws aren't looking for me to fail so much as they are unrepentant gossips and not the sharpest tools in the toolshed. My s-i-l's best friend (Marge)from childhood confided in her that her daughter was diagnosed w/schizophrenia - of course my s-i-l ran to tell everyone but always with the caveat, "...But don't say anything in front of Marge - I'm sworn to secrecy!" So I said, "Then why are you telling me?!" My s-i-l just looked at me like a deer in the headlights. It never occurred to her to keep her trap shut. My m-i-l is what they would call a "flibbertigibbit" - airheaded, flightly and always in need of rescue. She can't figure out her phone bill, taxes, etc and runs off to make dumb and expensive mistakes which her kids and son & daughters-in-law pay for. She is probably the oldest example of ADD I have ever seen.

Melissa - What would you like to know? Jill

You want your HDL to be as high as possible(50+ is great) - it's the good cholestrol. LDL less than 100 is optimal but 100-129 is near optimal. Trigs under 150 is the goal with total cholestrol under 200. I'm no doctor, but your numbers look good to me and any variations are probably due to dietary changes. I'd check with your doctor, but I'll bet s/he is pleased with your counts!:smile2:

You are a knock-out! Congrats and best wishes on your meeting your goal!

Girl - Listen to the ladies posting here! We could've all gone out as a group prior to the procedure and probably eaten more than a college football team! What you ate was closer to what someone without weight issues might eat on any given day. Don't beat yourself up for being human!

LMAO - see my blog! My mother-in-law is a wicked gossip as is my sister-in-law...in fact it's almost a hobby for the two of them. In my case, I have never been comfortable with my shape even when I was "thin" - I was 141 when my husband and I started dating, but not comfortable about putting on a swimsuit when we were at the m-i-l's house. She would nag me relentlessly about why wouldn't I put on a bathing suit??? When I started gaining weight she would comment to other family members about how I "didn't try hard enough" to lose weight. You know that old adage - "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? Well, a couple of years ago I had a hysterectomy and told my s-i-l. I asked her to keep it to herself. Instead she told everyone, so people I only knew in passing would comment on it at some group function - it was so embarassing and I was majorly pissed off and she knew it. After I made my decision to have LAGB, I made the "shame on me" mistake of telling my s-i-l. Stupidly I figured she knew how pissed I got after her last blab session, she'd keep her mouth shut. Are you kidding? I've gotten cards from people I hardly know, stopped at the grocery store by friends of my m-i-l? We live in a smallish town area so when she blabbed to my m-i-l, m-i-l told her friend, who told the mailman, who told my husband's friend - who call my husband to see if it was true that, "Jill's doctor made her have gastric by-pass because she was so big she might've died!?" I've reached the point where I am no longer commenting or giving hard and fast number. I change the subject, because frankly, I'm tired of talking about it(I get all the support I need here at Lap-Band Talk and with friends who've got my back).

Generic Zyrtec - been using it for years (daily) and it's tiny enough to go right through. Nasal Crom is another good choice - but it's really just for your nose(obviously).

Yes - I had it too, but tomorrow makes 4 weeks and it's all gone. It will pass!

When the surgeon came out to tell my husband that every went fine, she told him she'd repaired a hiatel hernia...which I didn't know I had and no one mentioned to me when I had the upper GI series done several weeks before. That said, according to the surgeon, I may have had this since I was a child and it explains why I had GERD back then (I was a normal weight kid), as well as an occasional chest pain which would pass if I'd breath slowly. No GERD of any sort now and per the surgeon, it wasn't anything to be too concerned about.

I have a rice filled microwave heating bag that I put over my shoulder and took the Gas-X as often as possible. Plus walking and as much range-of-motion movement as I could tolerate(cleared with my surgeon first) - I made the bed, folded laundry, put aways dishes - in other words, moved as much as I could in a variety of ways and it really seemed to help. I'd check with the doc re the calf muscle cramping - could just be from staying too still. I remember being afraid to move after a different surgical procedure - don't be scared - the pain meds will cover you. Calf cramps are in the same family as eye-twitches. My eye doc has recommended drinking tonic water - it's the quinine that quiets the nerves. I'd clear with you doctor and drink it flat or you can get homopathic quinine tab(Hyland's) made just for leg cramps! Feel better soon!

Ditto - Chicago Winter! My husband is becoming a bit of a "Food Cop"...I'm on to real food in prep for the first fill and he felt the need to eye my tiny tablespoons of Easter supper to gauge the texture then later to question whether I should be "eating that" - Activa yogurt I'd blended with protein powder and shoved in the freezer with a popsicle stick(doable but not great)! Yes, I know he cares but really - If I can handle a jury trial, I can handle the commitment to my new lifestyle. Yes, I will be tempted and I might even ask my husband to "be strong for me" and lead out of temptation's path - but please don't talk to me like you're talking to our five-year-old niece about why we don't eat a chocolate bunny before supper!:smile2:

My turn to host the Easter dinner - after I had to convince the "fam" that no, the gastric band procedure did not remove my abilities in the kitchen! Par for the course - despite the fact that I had a whole dinner arranged, my m-i-l had to bring not only the scratch rolls(which I asked her to make - but not enough to feed 20 people), but also a pie and two dozen sweet rolls - for six people?! My s-i-l brought a salad(which I asked her to) but also a pasta salad and a fruit salad in heavy, sugary sauce - again, we're talking 5 adults and a toddler. Of course my s-i-l has DMII but doesn't "believe" she's a diabetic and doesn't like to eat the "healthy stuff" I make. That's defined as veggies you can recognize, not hidden in over sauced cassoroles. So she has to bring her own "contributions" which load up most of her plate. Upon arriving my m-i-l says, "How's your little diet going?!" (still clueless no matter how many times I've explained the procedure) and my s-i-l; aka the MegaPhone Mouth from the Motor City starts the questions - "How much have you lost?", "Are you going to eat?", "Can you eat this?", "Can you eat that?" I just about lost it! So, when everyone arrived and was hanging out before chow time I said something to the effect of, "This is it - get your questions in now, because I'm not going through this at every family get together nor am I going to give you material to gossip to any and everyone about me, my procedure, why I had it, what I eat, don't eat, wear/no longer wear etc! It's getting boring for everyone and since some of you can't respect my privacy, I simply am not going to put it out there." No sooner than I left the room, my s-i-l is grilling my husband! God love him - I could hear him tell her, "You heard with Jill said - let it go!" Later my nephew caught me in the kitchen and thanked me for having the "balls" to stand up to the "gossip girls"!:tongue:

Buy a scale and a tape measure - sometimes the latter is a better indicator than the scale. Forget drugs.

I'm going to come at this from a different angle. Your wife is an ADULT. You are her spouse, not her PARENT. This is her journey and other than expressing your opinion it is not your job to act as her guardian, gate-keeper, nanny or enabler. To battle one's weight and reach the decision to have surgery is tough enough. To accept that there will be pitfalls and stumbles along the way is to accept that one is human - to expect to be perfect and live in a world of "I never" is expecting too much of anyone.

Went to the tailor today in hopes that I wouldn't have to shop - that I could just have my stuff taken in. I hate to shop. Sadly, my tailor said any more material in excess of 2 inches isn't worth altering as it'll cost too much and not look right. Now I'm kicking myself because I purged my closets of stuff all the way down to size 10/12. I wore a skirt today that was so loose it looked like I was channeling an Amish look. Even my shoes are loose and all I've lost is around 40. Going to check out the consignment shops next week. NTL - it's a good problem to have!:thumbup:

We're hosting this year - although it took a while to convince the family that despite having LAGB I did not have a lobotomy and thus am still able to work my way around the kitchen:laugh:! *Cook's Honey Ham(Spiral sliced) *Homemade Creamed Peas *Sweet Potato Casserole *Cabbage salad (s-i-l) *Homemade Rolls(m-i-l) *Mini sugar free Cheesecakes and God only knows what baked good my m-i-l will drag over for my husband who suffers so - since I can't make a pie for the life of me! Happy Easter Bandsters!

I'm blessed with a really great tailor - Chris. Her s-i-l had lapband so she gets it. She's also straight up about what she can and can't do. I really hate shopping - I've said it before - even when I was a size 8/10 I hated it. So I naively thought that I'd just had everything taken in - they do it with wedding gowns don't they? Well, Chris had me try on what I brought including a couple of brand new size 24 Charter Club "Allison" pants..which were too small when I bought them in January. She was honest - they were too big to take in and the inseam(crotch) was so low it just wasn't flattering. So I guess it's time to face facts and go through my closets - Consignment stores here I come! Oh - my shoes are now loose too. Better not let my husband see the shopping bags!:tongue:

I'm blessed with a really great tailor - Chris. Her s-i-l had lapband so she gets it. She's also straight up about what she can and can't do. I really hate shopping - I've said it before - even when I was a size 8/10 I hated it. So I naively thought that I'd just had everything taken in - they do it with wedding gowns don't they? Well, Chris had me try on what I brought including a couple of brand new size 24 Charter Club "Allison" pants..which were too small when I bought them in January. She was honest - they were too big to take in and the inseam(crotch) was so low it just wasn't flattering. So I guess it's time to face facts and go through my closets - Consignment stores here I come! Oh - my shoes are now loose too. Better not let my husband see the shopping bags!

Met with my NUT practice today(not the one affliated w/my surgeon). I explained that I was confused about what to eat and how much(don't know about everyone else, but I've gotten so many conflicting tidbits that I've got pages of notes). So the ladies get out the ADA Pocket Guide to Bariatric Surgery - Appendix C - LAGB Stages and Postadjustment Diet Instructions. Right there on the front it says, "Note: There is no evidence supporting a specific diet transition. Expert opinion suggests (a) a staged approach; ( diet advanced as tolerated. Some other notes of interest: Stage III (whole grain crackers may be added to eat with protein) StageIV (your calorie needs are based on height, weight , age and activity - so much for the "1,000 calorie" pat answer) Another great help was the ADA's EatRight - Bariatric Surgery Blended and Pureed Nutrition Therapy which provided a Sample Menu by Hour with amounts to consume - you are literally eating or drinking every hour from 8am to 10pm! I had no clue - so this will help as I go through the stages again following my fills.