jingleboob

it's totally normal to go a few days without a BM after surgery... the anesthesia has that effect on your digestive system. It may even take a few days to pass gas... if it goes for more than a week or you start having pain and pressure because of it call your doc. Because of the nature of our surgery you can't just eat some fig newtons or prunes (both have helped me after past surgeries), you could sip some prune juice (ick) or you could just wait it out. Not sure how much fiber your doc wants you having during this part of your recovery... check with him/her before starting fiber if you weren't on it before surgery!

no big clumps or bald spots... just more in the shower and in the brush. It stopped on it's own after less than 2 months and was never noticable to anyone but me. you're doing the best you can for it! It's either going to happen or isn't... everyone is different that way... and if you're someone who is going to be prone to hair loss after a surgery or during weight loss there's really nothing you can do to prevent it. But the Protein and Biotin will certainly help the severity.

always turn out juicier when broiled or grilled too... I enjoy mixing salsa with the ground beef... salsa burgers rock!

Protein Shake (chocolate with instant coffee for my morning mocha!) Swiss Oatmeal for breakfast (recipe from Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook for Dummies- cold old fashioned oatmeal, greek yogurt, fruit, flaxseed meal... sooooooo good) Cheese stick and quinoa veggie pilaf for lunch. Chicken with peppers and onions (cooked in skillet with hot sauce, black pepper, garlic powder and chili powder... soo good), quinoa pilaf and broccoli for dinner Small smoothie for snack... blend frozen strawberries blueberries and 1/3 banana with yogurt and OJ... i usually add sugarfree metamucil and a tablespoon of flaxseed meal to it too)

if this was facebook I'd LIKE this post!!!

you're doing great!!! the band is a slow process... it's not as fast as bypass. not gaining is excellent. 13 lbs since surgery is almost 3 bags of sugar.. GONE. keep doing what you're doing, get your fills when you and your surgeon think you need them and then you and the band will start working together... slow weight loss is safer, and stays off better than the sudden drops! Be proud of those 13 lbs... you will lose more!

same thing here... the nutritionist said she won't even give her kids the gummies because of the no Iron in them. She told me to take 2 flintstones chewables a day and I'd be good. I also just found Citrical petites... it's the right kind of calcium (citrate NOT carbonate... viactiv isn't the kind your body can easily absorb unfortunately) and I can swallow them! I can't swallow the regular sized citrical... and chewable calcium citrate from the health food stores are too expensive.

You'll realize after you're banded that your relationship with food is going to change. I did the psych consult and went to support meetings before being banded, but never understood it all until the band was in. I was terribly depressed about food for a long time when I was first banded. Little things... I can't tolerate my dad's banana bread that he makes only at Christmas. I had 2 bites and got stuck and it ruined the whole morning. I cried and cried. How can I live the rest of my life and never enjoy things that have become landmarks in my life? Dad's Christmas banana bread... grandma's brown sugar birthday cakes... my FIL's beef wellington... I resented the band for months. Nobody explained that I would mourn these losses. Before I got "restriction" I could eat 2-3 pieces of pizza... which was less than before, but way way more than I know I should. But I told myself that because I could eat it it was ok. It wasn't. I didn't lose or gain for months. Now I wouldn't dare try even half a piece of pizza... and it's finally ok, but it's taken me months post op to get to where I'm not upset about not being able to eat and ENJOY eating. Being stuck hurts. Being too full hurts. Sometimes you don't feel it until it's too late and then it hurts for up to an hour. Throwing up because you've stuffed your face and angered your band sucks. My big suggestion to you is that you go to a support group meeting and talk to a therapist about your emotional feelings toward food and how you're going to handle not being able to chow down... how you can deal with saying "see you later" to your favorite meals. It's not that you can't ever eat them again (there are some things your band may never tolerate again but it's different for everyone and you'll surely figure it out... I can't handle doughey foods or eggs of any kind), but you won't and shouldn't finish everything on your plate because it tastes too good to stop eating... you will really hurt yourself that way. You've got to change that focus of your meal... and really understand it's about nourishing your body BEFORE pleasure. It's great if you can enjoy food, but it's not going to be the center of attention that it is now. It's a big change, and one I didn't anticipate making me feel so angry and upset.

the doctor's scale is correct. :-) it's the one they'll go by. I know my home scale is about 5 pounds "heavier" than at the dr's. But I can still track the weight lost... just the starting and ending weight are off. At home it says 255... at the dr 250. So I know when I've lost 10 lbs even if my weigh in is different from the dr's.

My bmi has gone from a 48 to 39.9 today... under 40... officially just plain old Obese instead or morbidly so!!! woohoo

You had surgery yesterday... pain is to be expected! You should have some sort of pain medication from the doctor. Use it. Ice is good. It's not going to hurt, and it it makes you more comfortable go for it. If you have a recliner you can sleep in for a couple of days, that helped me the first few days back from surgery. The pain wasn't so bad by day 4... just sore. but everyone is different and if you're in more pain than you can handle call your surgeon, see if there's another pain med you can try. But being cut into hurts! you're doing just fine!

I do understand the frustration! I was banded on Aug 13th, and lost about 10 lbs post op on liquids and mushy foods. Between my 1st fill in Sept and my 3rd in January I gained and lost the same 5 pounds. I was hungry all the time, and breaking down and snacking at night. I told myself that since I "could" eat 3 pieces of pizza that my band wasn't working and I kind of gave up a little. I didn't really gain, but I certainly wasn't making losing progress. I knew as soon as I sipped Water after that last fill that it was different. I could FEEL the water sip slowly draining from my pouch. I hadn't felt that at all yet. Also in the past month my fiancee found out his cholesterol was insanely high... so high and off the charts they couldn't calculate it. He's spent the past 8 months thinking he's been supportive of my diet needs, when he hasn't been at all. There was still snack food and junk food in the house. He was still ordering pizza and chinese food and getting ice cream multiple times weekly. Although I wasn't eating as much as I had before I was absolutely having little bits of all of that. I would tell myself the band wouldn't let me eat more than I should... I was deceiving myself. I knew that none of it was OK to have so often. a piece of Pizza once a month.. OK. 2 or 3 pieces of pizza a couple times a week... NO. He's also a big night time eater, and as I struggle the most after 7pm it was killing me. I'd be tired and what little willpower I had through the day had been eaten away. He'd want me to make something at 9 or 10 pm.. basically a 2nd dinner. So I was constantly around food and preparing food and eating food. Now we're on a very strict diet and he's sticking to it. Bringing his cholesterol down is very important... his dad has had 2 heart attacks. As bad as this may sound, his bad cholesterol has been great for me! He isn't bringing junk food home. He isn't ordering out. He isn't eating all night. I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals, packing them for both of us for work, making sure we have healthy Snacks for the kids to eat too... no junk for the kiddoes either... high cholesterol runs in his family, not taking any chances with the girls. He's actually lost 10 pounds in the past couple of weeks and is very excited about it. I'm down almost 10 in that time too.... So... what I needed for success has been the band being at the right place, AND the home being in the right frame of mind. I need absolutely nothing in the house that I can or want to snack on. Even with restriction I'd eat a bowl of ice cream if it was in the house. Get the junk out of the house. If there are others in the home who really want it, have a chat. They can pig out all they want at school or work or out with friends, but the home is healthy food... and not a lot to snack on healthy or not. Even doing this for a month or two- to get into the swing of it- will help. I know that if I can stick strictly to a diet for a month it's so much easier to say no to the bad foods. I turned down pizza and wings last week at work! from the BEST pizza place in town. No birthday cake either. I know I'm not ready to even have those things in small doses... because I do think I understand now that food is an addiction for some people. I am one of them. I get a taste of chocolate and I'll do what it takes to get more. I would hide it so nobody else could have any. i would eat junk in secret so nobody would see me... if they didn't know it didn't count. Cereal is a HUGE problem for me. Thankfully our girls are strange and hate most cereals so we just don't need them in the house. It makes Breakfast on school days a pain, but it keeps me from ahving 2 bowls of cocoa puffs while watching Grey's Anatomy. I'm no expert on all of this, but I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds over the past 20 years... ever since I was a 150 lb 5th grader and went to Weight Watcher's camp. I know that food is an addiction. People without this problem can't understand it. Just like I can't understand an alcoholic's need to drink constantly... I don't really care for alcohol much anymore. One or two glasses of wine a month are fine for me. But I accept that some people can't say no to the drink. Can't say no to a bong or crack pipe. I can't say no to my problem foods when they're around. It's how I made it past 300 pounds. So. If you're feeling frustrated try ridding your home of everything you'd snack on or eat too much of. Others in the home may whine at first, but it actually will be better for them too in the long run! and it doesn't have to be forever... but ask them this. If your husband/wife had a heart attack and you HAD to follow a low sodium/low fat heart healthy diet... you'd do it, right? So why isn't it important enough to support you and your weight loss? The thing you underwent surgery for? I couldn't get him to understand this until he had to change his diet for his health, and he's since apologized for not being as supportive as he thought he was being. Having my band in a nice spot of restriction has helped. I can't eat very much at one time right now, but having no snacking options has been a Godsend.

Things are still going well... actually down 8 more pounds since last week. In 2 more pounds I'll be smaller than I've been in 15 years!

when we have a lot of weight to lose it takes a LOT of weight lost to show... an average sized person can lose 10 lbs and everyone notices, clothes don't fit etc... with me it's about 40 lbs before people notice and I notice in my clothes...

You're not alone... I am also 8 months post op and am just now starting to like the band. It's only in the past few weeks I've felt "restriction" and what the band is made to do. Up until now I was sure I made a huge mistake and wasted a lot of money. I lost more weight pre-op than I have in the 8 months I've had the band... but am finally losing again and hope this is "it".

I don't think you need to call any food permanently off limits... just within reason. However, cake is something my band doesn't like to tolerate. After 2 or 3 bites I can fee I'm about to get stuck. So just eat very very slowly, cakey doughy things give me trouble. Everyone is different, so until you know your band just eat cautiously

just signed up! Awesome site. Is there any way to adjust the calories per day? It's telling me to eat 1700... and I'm trying to stick to 1100-1200. I'm jingleboob on there too!

It takes time. The band is a much slower loss than bypass. I had my 3rd fill in January... and I am just NOW starting to feel it and lose weight! Doc assures me I'm on track and progressing as normal. He reminds me that it can take 2-3 years to lose what I want with the band... Up until these past couple of weeks I had no idea what the band was supposed to feel like when it did its thing. I am suddenly truly full after less than a cup of food... I haven't finished a meal on my little toddler sized plate in a week, and I'm not hungry for hours. I thought the band wasn't working for me until this started. Hang in there... it's slow, but study after study proves that losing it slowly is healthier and makes it more likely to stay off!!!

Posted last week that DH got his cholesterol results back and they're scary high. So along with lipitor he's on a VERY restricted diet... which is actually great for me! It means he's not bringing junk into the house. I've actually lost 6 lbs in the past week! woohoo... I've been going through my wls cookbooks and have found a lot of recipes that are great for him... Best has been Swiss oatmeal. It's so easy, and so good... mix 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (NOT quick oats) and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in conainter- cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning add 3/4 cup plain ff greek yogurt, 1T flaxseed meal, 1T chopped pecans, 1 cup blueberries and 1 sliced banana (or any fruits you want). Then add splenda until you like the sweetness... makes 3 1-cup servings. so delish!!! I also finally used Quinoa in 2 recipes over the weekend and we are now huge fans! Made a simple veggie pilaf with dinner, and a quinoa cherry and pecan pilaf for Breakfast. I didn't have any issues with it getting stuck either!

The swiss oatmeal is eaten cold. It's different, but wonderful. I love the added flaxseed meal... today I'm having mine with strawberries and bananas (about 2 cut up strawberries and 1/3 of a banana... I'm eating 1/3 of the recipe!

Is anyone following a cholesterol and trigliceride lowering diet? After too long, finally got the DH into the Dr for a check up... we knew he had high cholesterol, his dad's had 2 heart attacks, so we wanted to get it under control. They started him on Lipitor and had us go to nutrition counseling about his diet... His overall cholesterol was 255... very high. His good was only 28, low. and triglicerides were over 700... the high end of the chart ended at 500 so he's in serious trouble. They couldn't calculate his bad cholesterol numbers because of how high the triglicerides are. So we've got to be super serious about a diet for him that will bring those numbers down. This is actually a good thing... and I do feel a little guilty about feeling this way. I had my surgery in August, and haven't had the greatest success... I know I haven't been eating right, I know my willpower to say no to candy or ice cream or pizza when it's in front of me is very weak. He hasn't been the greatest help in that area... he didn't "get" that. He still ordered pizza, got mcdonalds, brought home ice cream and candy and brownies... and I enjoyed what I could. But now that he can't do those things anymore he's miserable, and I'm thinking "Finally, we can get rid of the junk we shouldn't eat!!!". So I'm hoping this is good for BOTH of us... Anyway, If you're on a diet for cholesterol or triglicerides please let me know some tips... any favorite books, cookbooks, or recipes? He's in a major shock having NEVER been on a "diet" in his life, he's obsessed with food like he's never been because he can't have most of it. So I want to be able to make a few things that are satisfying for him so he doesn't feel so deprived. I understand how that feels, and I know that if you can find a thing or two that you love on the "diet" it makes it easier to say no to the bad... But we're going 100% into this for his health... I want him around another 50 years at least, and I want to be there too.

Hahaha, yes I can feel it... although I can't see it yet. It does creep me out a bit to touch it under the skin... at first when I would touch it and feel it I literally would get light headed and a little nauseous. I still feel creepy when I feel it with my fingers but don't get the physical symptoms anymore!

My doc and nutritionist are OK with healthy, non sugary cereals, but just wet with milk, not soaking in it.

YES! It starts a day or two before and lasts about 4 days for me. I have to break rules and eat mushy foods during those days if I want to keep anything down. And I tend to lose track of the days, but as soon as I start to struggle on chili I know it's coming!

Fills aren't pleasent for me because I seem to have a difficult to find port! It involves a LOT of pushing around, and several needle sticks before they get it. I end up with a big bruise. Once I've lost a little more weight and there isn't so much fat hiding my port I hope it will be easier!