Betsyjane

Odd. Several of Spiegel's patients go to Spivak's support group.....

Just goes to show you how desparate we all are to lose weight and how hard it is!

I love 24 hour fitness! When I get bored with machines, I go to those great classes.

Yikes! That sounds awful. Thanks for the information. Spivak's support gorup is open to anyone.

Glad to hear about your fill success, Barbara! You're off to a great start.

Here's something ridiculous. I can almost never eat too big a portion, but I can eat an entire crab leg dinner (not the potato and stuff, just the crab) at Joe's or Baytown Seafood, just about any time. All of it. Now, mind you, I can almost never eat shrimp. Very strange......

Done. Left a message at Tai Chi. Anybody going to the start of Tai Chi ay May Community on Thursday?

Good grief! Should we postpone until NEXT Monday for dinner????? I can call Tai Chi and let Barb know.....

How do you know if your gall bladder is in trouble? It happens to so many of us and I don't know the symptoms....

I missed it...measuring cups and a food scale? If that's to measure your food, it doesn't work that way for me! Some meals I can eat 1/2 cup, some 1.5 cups, some liquids only. Finicky old band. The nice part is that it's so individual that once you and your band get to know each other you learn to get along. What was that stupid movie about the conjoined twins? Sort of like that....

Sorry to hear that Suzanne. I won't be at dinner either. We have so many dogs that I didn't want to leave them for long, so I was hoping Dave would be coming home within an hour of when I left. Haven't heard back from him...which usually means he's snowed under. I'll be back to normal by the end of this week.

Doctor Beanola.

I'm a Spivak baby and have never been micromanaged. He was sweet before and during surgery and go for fills when I need them..so far by the Surgicenter and not by Spivak directly, although I could ask for him to do them. The support group is not required, but I have gone. The pre-op and post-op diets are the most lenient I've heard. Not sure where the micro-management comment came from....

I don't agree with the Dr. There is no way to know in advance how much of a fill you will need to hit your sweet spot. People are different. Don't shoot for a particular number. Shoot for getting fills when you need them. Pouch stretching can happen for a variety of reasons, often including trying to live with too much restriction.....in which case you may eat perfectly, but food doesn't move through quickly enough and it expands the pouch while it is waiting. Dr: Are you band? Are you a lap band Dr? If so, where? The best you can do is the best you can do. If you could have controlled yourself without restriction you wouldn't have needed to be banded! All you can do now is pretend to live as a bandster with restriction whenever you can, and don't kick yourself about it. If it's possible to push to get a fill earlier, do it! You can try all the usual tricks, and some may help...keep a Water bottle with you all the time, make sure you only have good food in the fridge, start food journal, do your exercise. Think of this more as a time to be practicing parts of your new lifestyle, and not so much as a time for weight loss. Do what oyu can to be patient and know that the wieght comes off with the fills......

EGD? I've never been to Jade Palace, but I'm game. I like buffets.....I can get one bite of lots of things.... If any of you get bored next week, come on over. This is so much fun with all these dogs. Wear old clothes and prepare to be happily mauled. We're having a great time.

I started out with those yummy chocolate calciums...Viactin. But the calories and the binge potential stopped me in my tracks. I need to go to another calcium supplement....but I figure in the meantime, I get some from both my shakes and my multivitamin.

Well, as we all know, the consequences of eating or not eating don't always show up on the scale right away. You may still stabilize your weight with your pigging out.....

Kind of behind Petco in Humble. There's a shopping center and a huge Chinese place. Across the street from Big Lots. Does that make sense?

What about the Asian buffet is that is in the shopping center with the health food store? Would you rather get out of Humble and reduce the risk of being seen? I'm game for La Villa...

Vitamins? I started with Flintstones. Graduated to Solotron from GNC...nice lemon lime flavor but expensive. Now I do Chewable Centrum Silver. I often just throw one in my shake in the blender and fagetaboudit.

Waiddaminute! Let's remember that complications with the band are rare, but they don't appear to be when you read this site. People having problems need support, so they post more. People cruising along are out living life and not posting as much. So the impression can be that there are lots of problems. Believe me, the band wouldn't be so popular if it were fragile! I have made mistakes and changed my ways. I have dilated my pouch and gotten back on track. I have refluxed and stopped eating at night and corrected it. I have had plateaus. I have self blamed. I have cheated. I have ducked out of exercise at times. I am human. But I have lost weight and not regained it, and I have enjoyed (mostly) this new journey and all the learning. And me and mu band have become best friends. Neither one of us is perfect, and we are each sometimes unpredictable. But all you can do is all you can do, and that's good enough.

Tom, what a Hoot! Did you ever in your life imagine that you'd think you were pigging out when others say you're eating so little???? Or having to concentrate on eating 3x as much as you were used to???? You're speaking a foreign language! It's a new day! PS: Do you sell your goat cheese? I used to milk my Nigerian Dwarfs, but they and I retired......and I miss that good cheese.

MY COMMITMENT Here's my latest challenge......I am backsliding and I AM going to tackle this TODAY! Mornings are great. Noons are great. Evenings are not great. If I eat out, I am fine! If I eat at home, I eat too much, too often. So I know it has to be the triggers at home. I have not been being diligent, and I'm guessing it's because I have been ill...which makes no sense and is no excuse. As of today, I re-commit to NOT eating in front of the TV and if the urge arises, I will stand up to watch a show...and exercise if need be, rather than sit and eat. I will NOT eat anyplace other than the dining room table with no TV on.

I'm pretty sure I can come Monday. We are building toward a holiday, so we get gobs more dog campers everyday. Assuming things are down to a dull roar, I'll be there. It all depends on... Pucci, Annie, Ginger, Jilly, McKinley, Ali, Sandy, Loper, elwood, torrey, misty, bacchus, micky, and bella!

I find that I can't sit in front of the TV at night if I'm in a snacking mood! If I really want to watch a show, I do it standing up and stretching or lifting weights or ANYTHING but sitting and eating! TV is a big trigger for me. So is my computer! I was drinking Slim Fast Carb Control, but I've switched to EAS Carb Control. Lots of protien considering it's only around 100 calories. I'm really restricted in the morning, so I have one blended with fresh fruit, ice, frozen fruit, whey powder for extra protien, my daily chewable Vitamin, flax seed oil, and Benefiber. That gets me up around 230 calories and gives me usually my only fruit of the day. It doesn't seem to raise my blood sugar, so I don't crave later. Later in the day, if I crave chocolate, I can always have another EAS shake, blended with ice or straight, for only 100 calories. At lunch I'm usually still pretty restricted so I have chili, gumbo, something mostly Protein with a "slider". I know I shouldn't technically have wet food and let it slide on through, but I'm really restricted, so it just helps me get some calories down. I stay full until around 4. Then the stuggle begins. If I eat out at night I'm fine! meat and a vege or salad....I get through just the right amount and I'm full! So....it's the triggers at home that get me. I'm thinking I need to be sure to isolate my eating to exactly one spot in the house, one time, no distractions, and fight to build that habit. Anyway, that's where I am with things....