this sucks

My husband has had five basal cell and my best friend had melanoma...I get crazy when people talk about using tanning beds-sorry...

Just make sure you contact your surgeon if you show ANY sign of band inflammation, I had to take aspirin last fall and I started feeling tight. By the time I thought to call him, I ended up having to be completely emptied out. Everything turned out fine, but he told me I should have called as soon as I noticed a change in how my band felt. As for the surgery, I have had two outpatient procedures done since i was banded and neither required any adjustment to the band. Hope that helps,

Thanks for the kind welcome! Now, tell me about your group... How many of you are on here regularly? Tell me a little about yourselves. Chrissy- your weight loss has been amazing! I sure didn't take advantage of the band in my first year like you have. I lost about 40% of my total needed. My surgeon was happy with it, but I wasn't. I did some things really well that first year though. I gave up my beloved, and empty calorie loaded, coke. I exercised. I didn't journal though. In looking back, that's probably my biggest regret. I believe that I would have lost more if I wrote it all down. Also, I used a LOT of meal replacement products instead of learning how to eat real food with the band. That lesson has only come in the last six months. It probably caused some of my vitamin issues too. So, do you have a plan for dealing with Thanksgiving yet? Just wondering if it scares you or not?

I eat beef, I just have to very careful. I use very lean ground beef to make chili and taco meat, I just can't do beef like in a slow cooker. I can do tenderloin, yum! I just can't afford to eat it all the time.

Heck, I had surgery over two years ago and in still nervous about beef! Can't do any stewing meat- no matter how long it cooks in the slow cooker, it still gives me trouble. The only pork that I eat is pork tenderloin. It stays very tender and it makes great slow cooker barbecue pork.

Yep. Go somewhere sunny and wear lots of sunscreen!

Holy crap! Enough already! One comment is going to scare this woman from ever coming back here for support. I believe this has been blown WAY out of proportion and it really needs to stop. Maybe you thought she was harsh, but who among us has never said something that gets misinterpreted or misread? The personal attacks need to stop. Let the first perfect bandster step forward and take over the entire forum... This has gotten ridiculous. From an imperfect person...done and out.

Just click on the friends icon on the left side. At the bottom of that page is a "add friends" button, click on it, type in your login name and then the person you want to add, click send, done! Add me! Rkimom

I said earlier, there must be something in the Water today. Snarky seems to be the tone of the day... I went outside and did yard work for an hour to escape the craziness that seems to be pervading LBT today.

Any thing, anytime. No lectures attached!

Is there something in the Water today?

You go girls! I am 13 pounds away from joining you, but for the first time since surgery I can actually SEE myself reaching that goal...so close, yet realistically probably a few months away. Am not giving up!

I actually didn't lose much at all on the pre-op diet. Only a few pounds. My surgeon wasn't really strict with requiring a full liquid diet. I had 3 protein shakes and one regular meal each day and wasn't required to journal or anything. I think you should be proud of losing during this phase. You don't have the band yet, so you have no restriction or anything. I think the amount you lose in pre-op depends on what your surgeon requires from you. When's surgery?

You'll have to let us know as you try different things. I am considering getting one since there are so many meat recipes that don't work well for me.

I puréed a lot of different foods in the blender. I actually puréed cheese ravioli! It looked gross, but it tasted like heaven!

Sorry, but I disagree. Do a little research on the skin damage that tanning beds cause. If you want to have a little darker color, buy some of the fake tanning lotion. I've seen the results of skin cancers in two people who I love dearly so I'm VERY biased. Ask any dermatologist to see what they think. If you want to get a little more vitamin D, spend a little time outside instead of ruining your skin with a tanning bed.

If you had a vomiting incident, you should go back to liquids for a day or so. Coffee doesn't have anything to do with it. When you vomited, your band probably is swollen and you need to give it a rest for a few days.

I have exercised and I haven't exercised and if I am watching my calories and journaling, I lose. In the last three months, I have lost 14 lbs without any exercise. I have been having very heavy periods and becoming anemic every month so I truly have no energy, at all. Just had an ablation yesterday and can't exercise for the next two weeks. I miss the reduced stress that exercise gives me, honestly, but I have proven to myself that's it possible to take the pounds off without working out.

Ww, I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only one to have that strange experience! I got stuck with juice one time also. I figured to was because I tried to take a big gulp and my stoma had a spasm. The juice was really cold. Hope you feel better now...