tonya66

Debbie, I think what you are going thru is quite common. Its very hard to get the liquids in. ONe thing you might do is carry a Water bottle around with you EVERYWHERE. Sip on the water at all times, just baby sips. One of the things I did was set a kitchen timer for 15 min. Every 15 min it would ding and It was time for more liquids. It will get easier, promise. My pain was completely gone by I believe day 9. Most say sooner, but I felt it until day 9. The port side is the one that takes the longest to heal I think. Best wishes!

Thanks for sharing, its good to see it is getting some coverage now. I think in the next years, Lap Bnd surgery will be done more than the RNY. I'm glad to see Medicare is paying for it now. I guess the hard part is finding a doctor who will take medicare!

CoffeeWench - thank you so much for sharing your story. There are so many newbies that really want to hear from experienced bandsters like you, Chickie, & jachut. It is so nice to hear your experiences and how you've done. I'm almost 1 year out and I would not change a thing! I am extremely happy and love my band!

A lot of times on a recent fill, I am stuffed after a few bites, but after about a month, that leaves and I can eat the 2 to 3 oz of protein as suggested.

Congratulations on your weightloss so far! Your doing great!

I have a problem with weighing everyday too. Its a hard habit to break. I recently had to have an unfill due to an overfill, well, now I have barely any restriction. The evenings are the worse! I know where you are coming from, hang in there!

I'm staying on plan today because I have 51 days until my 1 year Band Anniversary and I want to hit my doctors goal weight by then.

Wt this morning 170.3 I'm feeling bloated, tired, sick, etc. I just don't feel the energy I used to have. I think a lot of it probably has to do with my stay in the hospital due to my dehydration. Well, I decided It was time for my cleanse! I have't done it in awhile and I think my body needs it. The cleanse calls for a 10 day fast, I have NEVER done it for 10 days, just can't do it that long. However, when I do it for 3 to 5 days, I feel the difference. I just do it for as long as I can. Sometimes I do it for a few days, go off, then do it for a few more days. It works for me. I had my doctor appt today with my knee surgeon. He said it is just going to take more time for my knee to heal. He said I am healing, it takes a good 6 to 9 months for the body to heal after receiving a donor part, so, he told me to start working my quads, hamstrings and other muscle building exercises every other day. So, I must start back on my exercise program!!!! I need a kick in the rear! I need to start getting up at 5 am again and begin my exercises, its just so darn hard....I know I can do it! I just need to quit making excuses and DO IT! Below is the cleanse: If you’ve never heard of the lemonade diet, basically it is a 10-day fast where you drink nothing but a special “lemonade” drink. It is one of the best known methods for cleaning out your intestinal and colon walls. Although not intended as a weight-loss diet, it is effective at helping you balance your body and “rebooting” the metabolic process - which often results in weight loss. So here goes: Lemonade Diet Recipe For at least 10 days, drink around 10 servings/day of the following: 2 Tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice NOT BOTTLED JUICE!! (approx. ½ lemon), 2 Tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) organic Grade B maple syrup, 1/10 Teaspoon or more cayenne pepper (hot red pepper), and 1 Cup (8 fluid ounces) purified or spring water, NOT fluoridated water. Or you can make in Bulk - This is the equivalent of taking an empty gallon water jug and filling it with: the juice of 5 lemons 1 1/4 cup of organic Grade B maple syrup 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper 10 cups of water Shake it all up and you got your days’ serving! Salt-Water Flush Recipe Upon rising drink a mixture of: 2 level teaspoons of uniodized sea salt to a… quart of lukewarm water Herbal Laxative Tea (You can find this at most grocery stores) Each evening drink an herbal laxative tea to help with elimination - preferably right before bed. That’s it! Do that for at least ten days for a complete intestinal cleanse.

Wt this morning 170.3 I'm feeling bloated, tired, sick, etc. I just don't feel the energy I used to have. I think a lot of it probably has to do with my stay in the hospital due to my dehydration. Well, I decided It was time for my cleanse! I have't done it in awhile and I think my body needs it. The cleanse calls for a 10 day fast, I have NEVER done it for 10 days, just can't do it that long. However, when I do it for 3 to 5 days, I feel the difference. I just do it for as long as I can. Sometimes I do it for a few days, go off, then do it for a few more days. It works for me. I had my doctor appt today with my knee surgeon. He said it is just going to take more time for my knee to heal. He said I am healing, it takes a good 6 to 9 months for the body to heal after receiving a donor part, so, he told me to start working my quads, hamstrings and other muscle building exercises every other day. So, I must start back on my exercise program!!!! I need a kick in the rear! I need to start getting up at 5 am again and begin my exercises, its just so darn hard....I know I can do it! I just need to quit making excuses and DO IT! Below is the cleanse: If you’ve never heard of the lemonade diet, basically it is a 10-day fast where you drink nothing but a special “lemonade” drink. It is one of the best known methods for cleaning out your intestinal and colon walls. Although not intended as a weight-loss diet, it is effective at helping you balance your body and “rebooting” the metabolic process - which often results in weight loss. So here goes: Lemonade Diet Recipe For at least 10 days, drink around 10 servings/day of the following: 2 Tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice NOT BOTTLED JUICE!! (approx. ½ lemon), 2 Tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) organic Grade B maple syrup, 1/10 Teaspoon or more cayenne pepper (hot red pepper), and 1 Cup (8 fluid ounces) purified or spring water, NOT fluoridated water. Or you can make in Bulk - This is the equivalent of taking an empty gallon water jug and filling it with: the juice of 5 lemons 1 1/4 cup of organic Grade B maple syrup 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper 10 cups of water Shake it all up and you got your days’ serving! Salt-Water Flush Recipe Upon rising drink a mixture of: 2 level teaspoons of uniodized sea salt to a… quart of lukewarm water Herbal Laxative Tea (You can find this at most grocery stores) Each evening drink an herbal laxative tea to help with elimination - preferably right before bed. That’s it! Do that for at least ten days for a complete intestinal cleanse.

Enterpriseo1 - I'm so excited for you!!!! Make sure you take your before pic & after pic! I want a lower body lift! My poor thighs will never be the same. Sula - I totally agree with you about the difference in an Adult weight and the teen weight. I know I will never have my size 4 back, nor do I think I want it. After having 2 kids, my body has changed, I won't have the same body as I did in my teens. I'm okay with that. Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Enterprise - make sure to post and tell us how everything went!

I found this about hitting Plateaus, thought there were some some good points/advice so I thought I would share. By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS When you're trying to lose weight, the question isn't whether or not you'll hit a plateau, it's when. Plateaus are like bad weather on a long hike: it's inevitable that you'll run into it, but knowing that in advance won't make it one bit less frustrating or annoying when it happens. Cheer up! Since plateaus are as common as rain, we have a pretty good idea what to do about them. At least one of the following techniques should help you break through a plateau and start losing again. 1. Be a Calorie Detective When clients tell me they've stopped losing weight, the first thing I ask is this: how many calories a day are you eating? Calories have a way of creeping up while we're not paying attention. Be brutally honest with yourself: food diary for a while is a great way to monitor this. And yes, sodas and alcoholic beverages count! A good calorie goal for dieters is your target weight times 10. 2. Change It Up When you're not making gains in an exercise program you change your routine. Same holds true with your eating plan. Low-carbers could go higher carb for a few days, high-carbers might switch to a plan like shake things up. 3. Try a Temporary Ban Food sensitivities can cause weight gain and bloat, and the frustrating thing is that most of us don't always know which foods are the culprits. So play the odds. Highest on the list of "usual suspects" are grains (wheat in particular), dairy and sugar. Temporarily ban all three and see what happens. 4. Take Your Workout Up a Notch Forget the "fat burning zone." High intensity intervals -- 30 to 60 seconds -- are the wave of the future. If you're accustomed to level three on your cardio machine, ramp it up to level 6 for a minute then slow down, catch your breath and repeat. Ever see a sprinter with love handles? Protein Studies show that higher protein diets make it easier to lose fat. Protein boosts the metabolism (in one study as much as 100 percent for 24 hours), and increases satiety, making it more likely that you won't overeat. A higher protein diet could be just what you need to break that plateau. 7. Try a Detox Unsupervised fasting is a really bad idea, but the idea of giving your system a rest makes sense. Try a "smart fast" of nothing but fruits and vegetables for a couple of days. The added Fiber is always helpful, and the massive amount of nutrients and phytochemicals is like "spring cleaning" for your sleep or medication. Take a look at what else is going on in your life that might need attention. Sometimes when you clean up the problems in one area of your life, problems in other areas just naturally take care of themselves.

I went thru this exactly a year ago. I was approved by 12/12/06 and had my surgery in January. Hopefully your insurance will be quick! I know the wait is the hardest part!

I kept my surgery a secret too....I'm almost a year out and still haven't told. Only a small select few know.

Yes, Marilyn Monroe was a size 14. But the 14's back then are now a size 10. I heard that the clothing designers had to "re-think" the sizes because American's were so much fatter now, and they know how women are,they will refuse to buy a bigger size, so what do the designers do? They just change the sizes around. Women think, Oh, I'm still in a size X, when reality, the size X got bigger too. Its deceiving. I hate those women who wear a freaken size 0. I never wore a size 0 in my life, skipped right over it! LOL. My goal is to be a size 8, I will be happy with a size 10, but 8 is my ultimate goal. Just to be in the single digits is unimaginable to me.

I was cleaning out my closet and found a skirt I wore in college - That was 23 years ago. I remember feeling so good when I wore this skirt, and looking good too . I tried the skirt on and it did not fit, but I decided that it was my goal in life to fit back into this skirt. I'm so happy I still have it! I hung it on my bedroom door so every morning as I leave I will see it and remember my goal! I can't wait to fit back into it! I can't believe I still have it - lol. This shows how much my closet needs to be cleaned out!

Its amazing how deceiving the menus can be - "Fish tacos", I don't order them, but I know people who do and thinks its healthy because its "fish". What an eye opener.

LJM - here is a cyber hug for you I hope you are doing better! I know what you mean about the "head band", I sure wish I had a head band! The head sometimes gets the best of us. I'm sorry your DH is not home to help you out during this difficult time your having. Hang in there sweets, you'll get thru it, your a stong woman!

Yay!!!!!! The gym is a great start! Good for you girl! I find keeping a food journal really helps me to see where / what I'm eating that is wrong/too much cal. etc. My problem is liquid calories! I love my starbucks, or my flavored creamer in my coffee. Today I took a peak at how much calories are in my pumpkin spice creamer. it was 45 calories a TBSP. I have way more than a TBSP, I have like 1/4 cup in my coffee. Yikes, thats a lot of calories just for a coffee. I am trying hard to get back to they gym, and trying to not use my knee as an excuse, but man it hurts. I was only able to do 5 min on the elliptical today because of the pain. So I don't want any more flareup on my knee so I will have to get back on the bike this afternoon. Good job Maria, keep it up!

Have you ever wore an outfit that just made you feel good? Something that you wear and you know you just look good in it, you feel good in it? Well, I was cleaning my closet out and ran accross a skirt I wore in college. Its just a simple blue jean skirt, very Pencil like skirt, its long, past my knees with a very tiny waist. Anyhow, I pulled it out and looked at the size, it was a size 12 - well, I'm wearing a size 10/12 now so I decided to try it on. OMG, way too tight, could not even zip it. I decided this skirt is my goal, once I can fit into this skirt, I know I will have made it. I thought back to wearing this skirt and how good I felt, I want that back! Its amazing how the sizes has changed. This skirt is about 23 years old, its in great shape, looks new. But, my point is 23 years ago, a size 12 is now a size 8. I was looking at how tiny the waist was, how slim it was made compared to my size 12 now - big difference! So, I took the skirt out, hung it on my bedroom door so I can look at it every morning before I leave. Its a reminder to me to be good, exercise and make good choices. Doing this will help me fit into that skirt! I have a long way to go before I can fit into it, I couldn't even zip it, barely got it over my thighs, but I know I will get there. I went down to the gym at work and tried the elliptical machine - lots of pain in my knees, only was able to do it for 5 min. I think this afternoon I will get on the bike and do it for 15 to 20 min. Every bit of exercise will help! I just wish this knee would heal - I hate it! 52 days until my 1 year band Anniversary and I have 16.1 lbs to lose in order to reach my docs goal weight of 155. I really wanted to reach this by my 1 year, not sure if I will, but I'm going to aim for it! So, according to fitday, I have to lose 2.17 lbs per week in order to reach this.

Have you ever wore an outfit that just made you feel good? Something that you wear and you know you just look good in it, you feel good in it? Well, I was cleaning my closet out and ran accross a skirt I wore in college. Its just a simple blue jean skirt, very Pencil like skirt, its long, past my knees with a very tiny waist. Anyhow, I pulled it out and looked at the size, it was a size 12 - well, I'm wearing a size 10/12 now so I decided to try it on. OMG, way too tight, could not even zip it. I decided this skirt is my goal, once I can fit into this skirt, I know I will have made it. I thought back to wearing this skirt and how good I felt, I want that back! Its amazing how the sizes has changed. This skirt is about 23 years old, its in great shape, looks new. But, my point is 23 years ago, a size 12 is now a size 8. I was looking at how tiny the waist was, how slim it was made compared to my size 12 now - big difference! So, I took the skirt out, hung it on my bedroom door so I can look at it every morning before I leave. Its a reminder to me to be good, exercise and make good choices. Doing this will help me fit into that skirt! I have a long way to go before I can fit into it, I couldn't even zip it, barely got it over my thighs, but I know I will get there. I went down to the gym at work and tried the elliptical machine - lots of pain in my knees, only was able to do it for 5 min. I think this afternoon I will get on the bike and do it for 15 to 20 min. Every bit of exercise will help! I just wish this knee would heal - I hate it! 52 days until my 1 year band Anniversary and I have 16.1 lbs to lose in order to reach my docs goal weight of 155. I really wanted to reach this by my 1 year, not sure if I will, but I'm going to aim for it! So, according to fitday, I have to lose 2.17 lbs per week in order to reach this.

Yes, Sherrilynn - you are right...I'm healing . But I still don't like it. lol. I'm actually doing pretty good. Not overeating at all, I feel some sort of restriction I think. But not as much. I am just trying to make healthy choices and eat what I know I'm supposed to eat. Following the rules to a T! I have 2 outfits in my closet that I have kept for about (embarrasing to say) 20 years. One is a size 12 - more like a size 8 in todays world, I know once I fit into this skirt, I will have made it. That is my goal, to fit into this skirt. I tried it on last night and I still have a ways to go. Couldn't even zip it! LOL. It amazing how the sizes has changed! I remember wearing this skirt and I always felt so slim & trim when I wore it, so its kinda a reminder of where I want to be I guess. I weighed around 140 when I wore it, so I'm hoping when I get to goal of 145 or 148 I can fit into it. I also have a SIZE 14 skirt suit that I love, its so pretty and still has the tags on it. Yes, I've held on to this for 17 years and I have never been able to fit into it. Its a very very small 14 becasue I am wearing 12's or 10's now. The skirt fits me, but the jacket does not. The skirt is still tight, but I was able to zip it. Anyhow, those two outfits are my inspiration right now. I have thenm hanging on my bedroom door so I can see it every morning when I walk out of my bedroom to start my day. Its a reminder to me to "be good" & "make good choices" and "exercise".

Menu today - Bfast 2 slices of bacon 1 fried egg coffee with creamer - not SF Lunch 2 chicken tenders (baked) 1/4 cup of broccoli Snack - 1 oz of almonds Dinner 1 baked chicken leg - skin off 1/2 cup of fresh spinach leaves with low cal dressing Supplements - 1 Quickslim30, 2 flinstones Wt this morning - 171.1 - grrrrr .................grams cals%total Total:......... 833 Fat:................51 457 55% Sat:................14 130 16% Poly:.................4 39 5% Mono:..............11 100 12% Carbs:...............44 163 20% Fiber:...................3 0 0% Protein:..............52 208 25% Alcohol:0 0 0% Way too much fat today, and way too many carbs for my calories. I need to really watch my liquid caloires! The creamer is adding up. I am slipping into the habit of having a lot of creamer in my coffee - and not the sugar free kind. I had Pumpkin Pie spice this morning!

Menu today - Bfast 2 slices of bacon 1 fried egg coffee with creamer - not SF Lunch 2 chicken tenders (baked) 1/4 cup of broccoli Snack - 1 oz of almonds Dinner 1 baked chicken leg - skin off 1/2 cup of fresh spinach leaves with low cal dressing Supplements - 1 Quickslim30, 2 flinstones Wt this morning - 171.1 - grrrrr .................grams cals%total Total:......... 833 Fat:................51 457 55% Sat:................14 130 16% Poly:.................4 39 5% Mono:..............11 100 12% Carbs:...............44 163 20% Fiber:...................3 0 0% Protein:..............52 208 25% Alcohol:0 0 0% Way too much fat today, and way too many carbs for my calories. I need to really watch my liquid caloires! The creamer is adding up. I am slipping into the habit of having a lot of creamer in my coffee - and not the sugar free kind. I had Pumpkin Pie spice this morning!

I'm staying on plan today because I know I have the power to do so!

I've had 7 fills, recently had to have an unfill because I got too tight - long story. lol. My point I wanted to make is the last fill I had, it took about 3 weeks and suddenly I had great restriction. So give it some time. If you are eating 2 to 3 oz of lean protein and a few veggies and are staying satisfied for a minimum of 3 to 4 hours, you are at your sweet spot. Best wishes!