HeatherinCA

Track your calories, keep it around 1200 or under. Exercise.

OMG! My last job, we created hotel mini bars.. so my entire office was FULL of every kind of candy imaginable to create samples. I would eat so much it was terrible! Actually I think i got it all out of my system, not much of a candy person anymore haha

I would wait at least 7 days. Then start adding in things like chili, oatmeal and mashed potatoes for a week or so, then start with egg salad, tuna salad, scrambled eggs, toast, crackers for a week, then regular diet. Mine was 7 days full liquids 10 days pureed food 10 days soft foods then regular foods day 28 It's a good learning experience to go through the healing process. Tip, get pre-made shakes like Myoplex or Pure Protein those go down much easier.

I do a little bit, but honestly I don't really crave it. Maybe sugar free pudding, or a fudgsical. Good thing for me is sugar free dark chocolate. Dove and Hersheys has little tiny bite size bars and it hits the spot for me. They have like 38 calories a piece. My problem is if i buy sweets, i eat them!! If I don't buy them I don't miss it.

B: 2 eggs cooked with cooking spray and 1 lite 100 calorie whole wheat english muffin with 2tbsp of salsa L: 1/2 cup prepared chicken salad with 2 flat bread crackers D 4oz tri tip with a little bit of rice and Beans and 3 tortillas :(I know bad.. Friday is kind of my "going out" day. I give myself a little extra) Snack: oatmeal with 2tsp brown sugar (trying to kick the oatmeal habit!! haven't yet blah) My FitDay says about 1,450..I try to keep it around 1,200. I did exercise today too. I had to guess w/ the dinner calories because it was at a restaurant.

I wouldn't worry till you are on mushies. Don't go too crazy, and it should be low fat cream soups.

Veggies can be troublesome, they are the last thing to be added usually. I'd think on mushies you could eat a salad.. maybe chopped up real small. Meh I don't like salad, doesn't fill me up! and the calories are ridiculous in a lot of them.

Not gonna lie, it's not fun, but for the first 4 or 5 days, you feel really crappy, and you don't wanna eat anyways. For me, something from sugery made me lose my sense of taste for a couple days haha. You will only be on liquids for 1 week or two weeks depending on your doctor, then you go in to pureed and mushy food. It's only 2 weeks you will live!! Not to mention you lose a lot of weight on liquids it's a good jumpstart.

It keeps you from being hungry all the time, and helps you eat less. I eat significantly less!! But I don't eat rabbit nibble portions.. I eat about a cup to a cup and a half per meal. BUT it's still easy to cheat and eat too much, eat between meals, drink milkshakes, eat ice cream, eat fattening slider foods. Haha but it IS a tool, it's kind of built in willpower. It's in you, it's not going away, it's like the nagging voice that says eat correctly! Frankly, I'm satisfied with what I can eat and I don't feel deprived. The band helps with that, on a regular diet you are hungry a lot and it makes it easier to cheat. Lots of people do fail because they don't follow the diet. If you think you can eat cheeseburgers and brownies and lose weight then you are crazy. It's still a 1200 calorie healthy lifestyle. Skinny people eat less, and eat healthy. If you could of done it on my own with weight watchers (which i've probably done 5 times in my life, along with lindora, atkins, south beach and every other diet program) I would have. I can get 50lbs off, I can't get 150lbs off. I needed more help.

It's gas from surgery, they pump your stomach full of air. Not sure why it causes shoulder pain but it does! I get a little bit if I eat too much, but it's usually not that painful.

Did they give you nausea medication? Take it... I luckily was never nauseated, but I do have the medication. Are you not aloud Protein shakes? or are can't you just not get them down? Whatever you do, just sip small amounts every 5 minutes. Call your doctor!

If you aren't hungry, shouldn't need one really. Eventually when you lose weight the fat pad shrinks and you will get hungrier. Then you should get a fill. 5lbs a month doesn't seem so spectacular though that they would not fill you because of that. @Day Dreamer, sometimes the restriction of just having the band is enough to work for some people.

Are you drinking at least 60 grams of protein shakes? That should make you feel fuller. Liquids just suck though, no way around it. But protein shakes FIRST, then if you want other things then have it.

My bill was $29,829, looks like my insurance paid $6,039, and I paid $2500, plus like $400 more for the anesthesiologist. Yea it's all medical politics I'm sure. It's hard on insurance (sick people costing too much, not sick people not buying insurance) and it's hard on the doctors because some people can't afford to pay or don't pay, insurance pays them less, equipment is expensive, lawsuits, malpractice insurance all that stuff. It's complicated!

I didn't try anything too funky! Just did my shakes first (always premixed kind!), then I'd buy different varieties of Soups, i'd have maybe once a day, like tomato, butternut squash, pureed bean Soup. For me, when I was on liquids I didn't have much of an appetite for different things. I still have a cabinet full of soup, bullion, chicken stock, and 10 different nasty Protein powders and all that crap haha. Be careful mixing things into shakes, the calories can add up fast. The shakes already have a lot. sugar free pudding is good, and fudgsicals. For me though, I was usually looking for something savory since all the shakes are sweet

What does it feel like after eating the 1/2 cup of food? You don't eat 1/2 cup of food, after healing it's about 1 cup to 1-1/2 cups per meal. For me dinner is like 4 turkey meatballs with cheese and marinara, lunch is 1/2-3/4 cup chicken salad with 2 flatbread crackers, Breakfast either 3/4 cup dry oatmeal (prepared w/ water) and half a banana, or 1 piece of toast and 2 eggs or egg beaters. Basically keeping it 1200 calories a day. Eat mostly Protein then supplement with other things (usually veggies, but I'm not a big fan) What does it feel like to be full? It feels the same, but you are never bloated, thanksgiving dinner full. Thats how I would always feel pre-band, from over eating.. it's just a light pressure now, or a little gassy. Basically you eat slowly, then you stop when you are satisfied. Basically your measure should be am I not hungry? After you get filled, you go several hours without hhunger (I can go 4 or 5) What does it feel like to be stuck? I haven't been stuck, so I can't help you there. With the exception of some people who just can't digest certain things (like untoasted white bread), or if you take a monster bite of food, you shouldn't get stuck a lot, if you do your band is probably too full. Use baby utensils when you can. What does it feel like before you throw up? Again I haven't, but I heard its pretty painful! You will know if you are stuck. What does it feel like when you are throwing up? What does it feel like when you drink Water and if you drink it too fast? Normal. I can drink as much as I want as fast as I want. I mean I never have like a gallon at a time, but i can take a few big gulps no problems. Water goes right through... Just don't drink with meals!

Oh yea I did the last meal thing ahha. But really, you can eat anything with your band it's not the end of the world. (assuming your band isn't crazy tight) But you do have to remember if you don't stick to a 1200 cal diet, you won't lose weight, but that doesn't mean you can't have McDonalds. You can have a hamburger and a small fries it's 480 calories. You just can't have a double quarter pounder a large fries and a coke, and an apple pie. For me, i'm satisfied with eating less! It's all about learning correct portion sizes. For me, I eat out a lot, i just try to check the nutrition if I can! Most chain restaurants have it posted online, or you can get it at the restaurant.

I've heard about it. Totally an LA thing, they have raw food restaurants here. Haha "spoiling quickly" is a bandsters worst enemy, takes me like a week to go through a bag of anything ahha. I just don't think it's a realistic lifestyle...

Have you tried seeing a different doctor? Maybe they an figure out what's up.

I haven't been in one, but I'd just tell em. I don't think it's that weird. I would spare all the details though. They don't need to know about PBing and stuff haha. Especially, I see from your ticker you aren't at your goal yet, I don't see why it would be a problem. If they can't support that then, they have no business being with you anyways! I'd assume most guys would be thrilled to know you are working on getting skinnier.

If you are hungry, then you should be due for another one. They can only do it like once a month though, because the fills take a few weeks to take effect. Just keep an eye on your calories, if you are gaining, you are eating too much.

That's mean! This is by no means an easy way out. I don't think skinny people quite understand the addiction, and disease part of obesity. I'm not fat by choice. Sure, I like food and all that, but it's uncontrollable. Nobody would intentionally eat themselves to 300lbs. The band for me is just built in motivation, it's always gonna be there. It doesn't do the work for me, and I still have to diet and exercise, but we need some physical restraint, and to retrain ourselves on what is a proper portion.

Hmm I guess. I don't know that I'd spend $2,000. A ton of this battle is mental though, it could be helpful

Name, real or screen~ Heather Age~ 25 Weight on February 28th~ 259 Goal Weight for March 31st~ 249 Exercise Goal for March~ 3x a week (I've been slipping! and I had an injury that prevented exercise for the past 2 weeks) Dietary Goal for March~ Count calories Personal Goal for March~ No more oatmeal after dinner Date Banded~ 12/13/10 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 39 (well 40, since I'm a few days late)

I gave up caffeine in November, it sucks for a while because of withdrawal, but now I don't notice or miss it. Also you are probably just still tired from surgery and healing