LisaA

Monica and Scared, OMG that is so awesome. Actually you all are an inspiration, thanks for the encouragement. Brenda, I'm so sorry, you have been through the wringer. your weight loss is just fine and dandy, you will catch up in no time. I"m sure being pregnant with the band, especially right when you first get it, must have been so stressfull, both things are such big adjustments. There are many people that do get pregnant with the band, but man both in the same month, crazy. I'm glad you are ok. Things have a way of working out. I'm glad to see you on here. Ms Joany, let's just say, don't try to dismount the treadmill while it is running, and it's probably best not to get on with someone else. It was a freak accident related to me being a jacka@@. anyway I got back on today, got up to 2.9 miles per hour. felt ok. I was bare foot because shoes still hurt. Well anyway I'm back on the straight and narrow, thank you all for your support and your encouragement. Lisa

Hello everyone, wow it sounds like so many of you are doing great. I am bummed, today I weighed myself and am back up to where I was when I got filled before thanksgiving. Maybe I need a fill, the holidays are killing me, I'll lose a lb. and then gain it back. I've lost 30 lbs total now, which I am happy about, but really I've only lost 13lbs since I was banded. I need to get back on track. I also broke my toe on a treadmill I just bought, so now I can't walk on it. I'm feeling hopeless. I need to get back on track.

Hi Annie, I replied to this a while back, I don't know why, this has happened before where I enter a reply and it doesnt get posted. I'll answer again, hopefully it will get posted. thanks for the encouragement and sending me an email too. also, that is wonderful about your son you must be so proud. have you found any houses you like? will you still be n ohio? my fill, i think i have restriction? i decided i would wait till after the holidays to get more, recently i've felt hungry between meals. since my fill i gained over thanksgiving- then i was down 3 now i'm up 1. the holidays have been difficult for me. a friend that got filled the same time i did has already gone back, and she feels she has restriction and cant eat more then 1/2 cup. i am definately eating more tthen that, altough my cals are staying below 1200- except when i eat christmas Cookies. i bought a used tredmil and broke my toe on it, so now i can't walk very well. so stupid. my work has been super busy. oh well better then no work. well you all have a wonderful christmas, where is your son stationed? is he married? it's hard to imagine these little ones all grown. thanks for staying in touch Annie. i'll make sure this one gets posted ha it didn't let me, i;m trying again

ok now, since thanksgiving my excecising is pitiful, but I bought a treadmill finally, it's not here yet, but maybe that will help, its hard to go on the road in the freezing cold darkness. lol

Miss Joany, I was thinking about your comment about your skin, some things you might try 1 how is your Biotin in you Vitamin. here is a link that is about hair loss but skin is relevant too. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4681047_causes-hair-loss-during-dieting.html also be careful about the antibiotics, keep up your acidophiles, I heard a thing about the importance of bacteria and skin problems, so maybe pumping up your good bacteria that might be out of wack because of the antibiotics/ infection. Hydration is also important. be careful about your lotion, some commercial products can cause sort of an addiction, once my eyes wouldn't produce tears at night without visine, and I knew someone that had huge problems with nasal congestion and neosinefrin addiction. Anyway make sure you are using a skin product that has few chemicals and scents even, even olive oil and honey are great for skin- shea butter is supposed to be pretty good too. the simpler the ingredients the better I'd say if you are using a lot of lotion. Anyway these are just some thoughts, i also have really dry elbows and scalp right now so I've been thinking about this a lot.

9/27/10 33 lbs congrats all

oh my gosh nee nee that is so great , congratulations. you are an inspiration

Hi so I did not walk last week, due to hunting season, I'm back on this week. chug chug chug. hope you all are doing well

Hello, I am really hoping to find a mentor and also buddies. I am 41, I live in Ohio. I have a 2 year old and a 6 year old. My family lives on 40 acres of forest in the middle of nowhere. I am a consultant that does Map making/ database work. I am scheduled to be banded on Sept 27 with Dr Ortiz in Mexico. I feel like it would be so useful to have a group that chats about issues. Also a mentor that is good at answering questions etc. Lisa

so sorry mrsbuhre, hopefully this will be just another phase in your weight loss journey.

HI all, back finally! good to read the comments. Miss Joany, I hope your infection keeps getting better! eat lots of live yogurt while you are doing those antibiotics. So I am curious, doing a bit of a survey. sort of long. Just curious about some of this stuff howdy there. so I'm taking a poll, let me know. I hope you all are doing well. 1. how many cc's you have in your band 2. do you feel you have restriction- what does that mean for you? 3. are your calories tending to stay below like 1600 (or what are your calories generally.) 4. what is your weight loss like. 5. are you hungry between meals. 6. are you exercising, and how much 7. how much water are you drinking? I'll start. 1. how many cc's you have in your band<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 4.5 from OCC. I'm planning on going back, for 1 more fill, maybe depending on what people say with restriction about how they feel. But it won't be till after the holidays.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 2. do you feel you have restriction- what does that mean for you?<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> last week, there were things that I felt were cool, like I would get a tiny nasal drip, and I took that as a soft stop, and I wasn't getting hungry between meal. I feel like this weekend I ate till I felt very full, and never got the nasal drip. this was the first time since my fill. so maybe that sign is not happening. I will see today if I get hungry between meals, if I'm able to keep at 1200 cals per day, and not feel hungry between meals I will be happy with the way things are. we shall see.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 3. are your calories tending to stay below like 1600 (or what are your calories generally.)<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> generally yeas, below 1300-1200. but I don't count everyday, I also do some days where I just do what Miranda said for portions. I feel Sunday I went over my goal. but I didn't count, I need to get better with keeping track and knowing even when my schedule is strange.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 4. what is your weight loss like. I've lost all the weight plus 1 lb that I gained from Thanksgiving weekend. I started 298 I am now 266 my surgery date I was 280 so since surgery I've lost 14 lbs in basically 10 weeks. that is not my goal, I'd really like 2 lbs per week, would still be happy with an average of 1.5 per week. I'm at 1.4, I guess with the holidays in the mix maybe I should still feel happy. but I would like it to be more, of course. <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 5. are you hungry between meals.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> I feel I am mostly not hungry between meals, as time goes on since my fill, my hunger has increased between meals, but I am still able to deal with it, with my yogurt or piece of fruit, which is part of my daily food plan and staying under 1200 cals. so I am ok with that. Once I went to bed, and my belly was grumbling. but I drank some water, I abated and I fell asleep. 6. are you exercising, and how much this has not been that good this last week. I have a goal to walk somewhat briscly for a mile each day. This is 20 minutes of exercising a day. I'd like to add to that, but haven't yet. and last week durning hunting season, I did not walk at all. 7. how much water are you drinking? besides exercise this is a huge obstacle. I am trying to drink 64 oz a day, I am pitifully below that. If I could drink during meals I could jack that up. but I don't so I need to increase this a lot.

yeah, it's funny I probably could by a small size but nothing is falling off, and I don't even need a belt yet. I'm surprised really. I'd like to shop when I'm like having trouble keeping my pants on. Thanks for the encouragement, I've lost 14 lbs in 10 weeks, I wish it was faster. But I also wish I drank more Water and excercised more. I guess with the holidays in there I expected things to slow down a bit. I'm trying to be really good in between the holiday events, which are really spread out over the month. How's the excercising. I didn't walk at all last week due to hunting season, I started again today. happy anniversary, that's is amazing.

Hi friends, well I'm back on track today is my day, gained 2 lbs. My meals were fine, it was the clean up that got me. and too many Desserts of course. My first meal I brought a crustless pumpkin pie and light cream wipped cream 160 cals total. and felt good about it, and didn't stray, but I grazed during clean up and that got me. then then next meal at my parents, where there were so many desserts my head was spinning, again the meal I felt good about, but then I didn't bring a low cal dessert, so I ate many bites of things I shouldn't Oh well, here's to being back on track and having 3 weeks to stay there. Joany I"m so sorry, People get ports moved all the time, without removing the band, so hopefully that will be the case, and that will take care of the infection. I know I find that when I over eat my port really hurts- especially if it involves a lot of cheese, strange cause I have almost no port pain even since the beginning. But this week when I was having port pain I was thinking of you and hoping that you get your port troubles taken care of soon. Lisa

HI Annie, hope your holiday goes well, I'm still losing, hopefully I won't blow it this weekend too bad.

hi all, gearing up for the holidays, got my low cal no crust pumpkin pie and am ready to roll. thought I'd share this info from spark people, those that aren't on there it's a great site that I use to calculate calories etc on recipes so I know how much I can have, or what if I took this or that out, etc. so I thought I'd share this Let's face it: Thanksgiving is a day that, for most of us, focuses on food. You'll probably eat more than usual. I know I will. But, the in the words of my friend and fellow blogger ~INDYGIRL, "one slice of pizza is always going to have fewer calories than 2 slices of pizza." One trip to the Thanksgiving buffet table is going to have fewer calories than two. Two slices of pie will have fewer calories than three. According to the Caloric Control Council, the average American eats more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving day. That's more than twice the number of calories most of us should eat in an entire day, and enough dietary fat for more than three days! The overload doesn't just come at the dinner table. Most of us start with a festive breakfast, nibble on snacks while waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven, squeeze in a second helping and sneak into the kitchen for late-night turkey sandwiches. First let's look at an "average" Thanksgiving day, then I'll share some tips that will allow you to indulge in all your favorites but keep you from feeling so awful and bloated after the meal. Breakfast: 1 large cinnamon roll: 309 calories, 14 g fat 3 slices bacon: 109 calories, 9 g fat 418 calories, 23 g fat While waiting for the meal: 1 cup homemade eggnog: 343 calories, 19 g fat The main event: 6 ounces turkey (white meat, with skin): 214 calories, 6 g fat 1 cup mashed potatoes: 162 calories, 1 g fat 1/2 cup green bean casserole: 148 calories, 8 g fat 1 cup sweet potato casserole: 235 calories, 11 g fat 1 cup homemade noodles: 148 calories, 2 g fat 1/2 cup turkey gravy: 61 calories, 3 g fat 2 dinner rolls: 168 calories, 4 g fat 2 pats butter: 72 calories, 8 g fat 1/2 cup stuffing: 178 calories, 9 g fat 1 slice cranberry sauce: 86 calories, 0 g fat 1,471 calories, 52 g fat Second helpings of your favorites: 1 cup sweet potato casserole: 235 calories, 11 g fat 1/2 cup stuffing: 178 calories, 9 g fat 413 calories, 20 g fat Dessert after the big meal: 1 slice pumpkin pie: 229 calories, 10 g fat 1/2 slice pecan pie: 245 calories, 13 g fat 1/2 apple pie: 119 calories, 6 g fat 4 T whipped topping: 50 calories, 3 g fat 642 calories, 31 g fat Sandwich during the game: 6 ounces turkey (white meat, with skin): 214 calories, 6 g fat 2 slices whole-wheat bread: 256 calories, 5 g fat 1 T mayonnaise: 90 calories, 10 g fat 523 calories, 18 g fat Late-night snack: 1 slice pumpkin pie: 229 calories, 10 g fat 4 T whipped topping: 50 calories, 3 g fat 279 calories, 13 g fat Total: 4,243 calories, 182 g fat So how you can make sure you have your fill of Grandma's mashed potatoes and Uncle Steve's pumpkin cheesecake but still exercise some control? Here are some tips, culled from personal experience and member tips. * Start with a healthy breakfast. In my family, we always eat cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings. I'm not sure how the tradition started, but beginning a long day of eating with sugar isn't the best plan. Those refined carbs will burn off quickly, meaning you'll soon be foraging for food to tide you over until the big meal. Calories saved by eating your usual 300-calorie oatmeal with berries and a cup of milk breakfast: about 100 * Eat a balanced meal, even if it is larger than usual. Look at the feast above. Stuffing, bread, potatoes, and noodles--all in huge portions. Instead of eating a cup of each one, aim for one to two total servings. I Calories saved: up to 500 * Be a food snob. At my dad's family's dinner, Gramma Penelope's cloverleaf dinner rolls are a yearly treat. I always save room for one or two, with butter. But if I'm dining with the other side of the family, who serves store-bought rolls, I skip them. I'd rather save room on my plate for mashed potatoes or stuffing. Calories saved by skipping the rolls and butter: 140 calories * Don't feel pressured to eat everything. If you focus on creating a balanced plate, you probably won't have room for everything. And, let's face it, do you really like every food on the table? (Don't tell, but green bean casserole turns my stomach. I politely decline it every year.) Calories saved by skipping that, along with any other dish you don't like: up to 500, depending on the dish * Skip seconds. When family favorites only appear on the table once a year, it's hard to resist them. Take your time, slow down, and savor your first helping. Does anyone really feel actual hunger after the first round of Thanksgiving dinner? Probably not. Let your food settle, and save your appetite for pie. Calories saved: about 400 as listed above; up to 1,500 if you eat an entire second meal * Taste everything. Thanksgiving feasts are just that, feasts, and a chance to try a variety of foods. But, if you take just a couple of bites--rather than a full scoop--of each dish, you'll still get to experience all the foods you love. Calories saved: up to 1,000 * Treat dessert as a snack, not part of the meal. Mmm, pies. They're such an integral part of most Thanksgiving celebrations. But most of us consider them to be an ending to the meal. What if, instead of eating pie immediately after dinner, we waited until it was snack time? And what if we only had a small sliver of each one? Calories saved: up to 400 depending on the size of your slices * Skip the grazing. A turkey sandwich here, a slice of pie there, and a cup of eggnog, too. Those extras add up. Calories saved by skipping them: up to 700 Thanksgiving should be a day to celebrate. These tips are meant to help us lessen the damage, so to speak. Eat, drink, be merry! Happy thanksgiving all, we can do this

Hi all! this monday I flew to tijuana and got my first fill, he tried for 6, but under flouro I could only take 4.5, it was interesting to watch, the fluid go down and get stuck. my friend at the same place got 6.5, so interesting how different everyone is. although she still feels hungry a lot, I'm ok, but today is my first day on solids. for some reason, it got on my 'dot' the day after, which was day 24 of my cycle, I'm a 28 day gal, so I thought it was strange, maybe related, maybe just stress from travel, maybe it's just i'm in my 40's now and not as regular. anyway will be interesting to see how things go over the holidays, I'm trying to be prepared. my weight is down 11 since surger 9/27. I'm ok with that, I see some are higher, but it is nice that I'm still losing, working to keep it up. well happy day all. great to read your posts.

Hi there, I'm on solids today for the first time since my fill on Monday, feels good, I dont feel hungry, and I've been reminded to chew several times. my current weight is 269, so I'm a pound from being down 30 lbs. I got 4.5 cc, he was going for 6.5-7 but stopped an 5.5 and turned on the flouro with the barium, and 5.5 was too tight, and 5 too. so I got 4.5. I hope it is ok. so far in 7 weeks I had lost 11 lbs (since surgery) so I"m happy with that rate, hope it keeps up. How are you, and your work out? have you found stuff you enjoy? Lisa

wow I really messed up skeptical above LOL anyway, miss joany, I didn't hear if you were getting relief on your port.

yeah I'm scepical on the cheese chip thing, people really talk them up on this site. here is a strange site with some info Calories in Cheese Chips - Nutrition Facts it looks a little better or maybe equal to my no transfat tortilla chip. which I still avoid. but low carb. here is recipe Joyful Abode apparently there is a store bought product too, I"m not sold on the value but would love to hear something different as they look good. yeah when I hAVE trouble with the protien is on days try not to do meat in both lunch and dinner. and then if I try to do no meat the whole day, which Id usually do several times a week, it is almost impossible, it is hard to be low cal and a vegetarian, and get 60 + g of protein. well unless you are doing a lot of protein drink, which I try not to cause my doc doesn't recommend them, he like solid food.

I hear that Rambunctious, I also, - I do like 5 1100-1200, one 9-1000, and one 13-1400's anyway even on the 9-1000 days getting like even 60 grams of protein is hard. I wish I could form complete sentences on less, I just can't. Plus my body like stop losing weight, like after surgery when I was on liquids my weight was like at a standstill. so do any of you do the cheese chips all the low carb people rave about. I guess it's real big in the low car community, I don't have any idea about calories or fat, but apparently you shred cheese into a skillet and basicillay cook it till its kind of crisp and flip it. you can put like garlic powder or whatever , use different cheeses, but in the end you get chiips, and alot of the oil is gone from the cooking process. that's what people swear by anyway. I was thinking about that in relation to chips and holidays. I also have a thing for toasted nori, like the seweed sheets they make sushi with, I love it plain toasted crispy, nori is crazy high in protien, and salty, I love it.

David 134 your comments are great, thanks, I was banded on that day, sadly I've only lost 30y lbs but thats better then ever before. cece great post, thanks. Holiday's, one thing I am doing is coming armed with a dark leafy green salad, dressing on the side. I find if my plate has a lot of dark leafy greens - I feel liike less isolated, and salad never gets stuck. My salads don't have cheese, just lots of nice green veggies, maybe tomatoes, and shredded carrots etc, maybe some dried fruit and toasted nuts on the side too for the holiday. I figure a fluffy salad, which if i didn't bring it wouldn't be there or would be like iceburg and cheese and bacon bits or something. some good wls derssert recipes are on worldaccordingtoeggface.com also frozen bite sized pieces of fruit and even grapes can be a nice desert, even with a little real whittped cream. also some of that light and fit or greek plain yogurt- some sugar substitute, some fruit, or rubarb, or something festive- or 4apples or pears with some 3 tablespoon sugar substitute (optional), 1 T brown sugar and 4-6 chopped fgs, 1 lemon zest, 2 tinimon, 1/2t nutmeg-fruit cored and skiin scored- stuffed with the other ingrediants- baked 350 in a sealed baking dish for 45 mins- should be soft. one apple 135 cals and very festive. that and 2 T of real cream redi whipp (15 cals)(or 2oz of light and fit vanilla yogurt and you are ready, cut the apple in half, and add 2 T of a low fat granola and it pertty close to pie or cobbler Come prepared, meat, some treat for you self, and your own low cal thing, mine is salad. 4 oz turkey, 1/4 cup veggie (or 1/2 cup or more salad if it has no cheese etc you can have more. and if room a 1/4 starch, potato, or roll or stuffing. then have a light dessert- or if chips are your thing, come prepared with a pre measured snack baggie or a treat you already know how many caloies and eat a bet less at a meal so you can do it, like my thanksgiving is at 2 so I won't eat any dinner, or just a plaiin salad or something, that will give me some room for some cals snacking, as long as I'm not reaching into an endless bowl it's ok, I measure, I chose the snack, it's in my bowl, and I'm safer but. worldaccordingtoeggface.com, everymonth new wls recipes. good luck everyone. I get my fill on monday. I'm coming after that 39 lbs, 10 more by xmas, Lisa I have a book too that has

Hi all, Miss Joany I track my foods on My fit day, it's a free online food journal, and by tracking on that it has all my nutrients, fat, carbs and protein etc. So I'm not really tracking it, just looking at the computer print out. It's nice, but time consuming, but has a lot of food automatically, so I don't have to look them up. Happy birthday Miss Joany. It is interesting about all the different guideline, I definitely have no 'no-no's" I was told to be cautious about veggies with a lot of fiber, but that everyone is different and can tolerate different things. so far luckily no problems, especially with tomatoes. I do about 4 oz protein, and 1/4 cup veggies and if there is room 1/4 cup starch. Even bread and stuff I'm not forbidden although it works better if I chew and I really have to toast it. And rice is all brown, and pasta whole wheat. If my family has pasta, I now make sure there is protien, and I focus on that, and a salad, or if there is a cooked green veggie, and then if there is room some pasta. not more then 1/4 cup though. I too agree that at 1200 calories it can be a challenge to stay like at 80 g protein. I shoot for 65-90, and if my tracker looks low then I'll alter my dinner plan. I'm not too militant about it though, just 1200 cals with one day per week 1000 and one day 1400. so many I'm curious, hope you all are well. Zen, how's it going, Cathy you've been filled and completely filled the longest, are you enjoying a sweet spot now? Brian? have you had your fills? just curious. Love this group, thanks.