maryrose

211 this morning! We are all going great! I love this thread. I've really upped my protein. I was not concentrating on the "protein first" part of the plan and was taking in too mary carbs. I tweaked my diet a bit and make sure I get my protein shakes in.

What is your definition of loose skin? I am down about 85 lbs. and am pretty darn flabby, but I don't consider is loose skin. I don't know if this is good or bad. :laugh:

This is an awesome post! Cristina, I never thought of cooking the canned chicken. Brilliant! lol. I really like what your diet looks like. I love the Almond soy milk also. It's delicious mixed with my GNC protein shakes. I add half almond soy milk & half water. It's delicious and I love that it lasts a really long time. I always buy 3 or 4 at a time. I also like the idea of sipping a protein drink all day long. That is when the slimfast protein shakes come in handy. I am going to try that. sometimes I just to to the fridge LOOKING for something. That will hit the spot. Not a slimfast fan because of the lower protein content, but they sure are delicious. :smile2:

I am contemplating a tummy tuck, but I have to say I am a bit concerned about the pain & recovery. Just wondering if anyone has had both tummy tuck and breast reduction and which procedure did you find more painful. I had a breast reduction last June, which went very well. I admit I was pretty uncomfortable for a few weeks, but I have a high pain tolerance and did not find it terribly painful. On another post, a few women described this as being painful, but worth it.

staying on plan today because I am getting closer to onederland, about 12 lbs. to go. :thumbup:

Thanks Maddy. Staying on plan today because I feel better physically when I behave myself and follow the band rules.

Because I am about 14 lbs. from Onederland! :smile: I'm 2 years out and want it bad!

Thank you all for your honest answers! So far today I have not had anything to eat at my desk. I work at home, so this is sooooo hard. :w00t: I gave up the eating in front of TV a few weeks ago and I started losing again. One bad habit down, one to go! I did run out into the kitchen and took a few bites though :smile: Gosh...this is tough. Thank you for your suggestions.

Chicamam, I feel snacky??? lol.. Love it. what a cute expression and so true! We can do this!!! Lets keep up this post and support each other. Thanks Froggy for posting this. This is a great post. :crying: Making myself a Protein drink now and will keep plugging away!

Froggy, another thing - That is great advise!!!

Froggy, I am going through the same thing right now. I have been stuck for months like this. I got an unfill, back maybe a year ago because I was under a lot of stress at work, and now with 2 more tiny fills, I may be at a good restriction again. Got a fill last Friday which is working pretty well. I starting to lose again. I also feel that now I HAVE to diet. Seems not fair, but the doctor explained to me that the band does about 60% of the work and I have to kick in and do the REST! You know..the band being a TOOL part. :crying: Of course we all know this, but when you are trying to reach goal ( I call it the last 1/3 part, because we are 2/3 of the way there) it's really, really difficult. I told him it's ALL HARD, the before banding stuff, the surgery, the after, but this part is reallllly hard to me! I am trying right now to exercise more and really, really try to focus on what I'm eating and when. I still have some issues with food I need to overcome. Hang in there Froggy. You can do it!

Count me in! After a very lonnnng plateau, I am losing again. Thank goodness. I had to give myself a big kick in the behind and also a small fill. I am at 215 lbs. Being accountable here hopefully will help me kick some of my nasty habits that have been holding me back. I can't wait! :crying:

I have read that taking in less calories will cause you to become cold. Takes calories to produce engery to keep you warm or something like that. Also, after surgery your body is a little run down. On thing that happened to me last year after breast reduction, I developed "cold urticaria". I am allergic to the cold. I break out in a rash going especially from hot to cold. Even holding an ice cube makes my hands hurt. A lot of weird things happen after out bodies are traumatized after surgery. Hopefully your body will get back to normal!

Hi urn, Thanks for posting this. I will be checking this a lot because I want to have a TT in the near future. I am a bit nervous about it. I worry about my port more than anything. I would be interested in knowing how the new port site works out and whether any complications arose from having the port moved. That worries me more than anything.

I find GNC prices really good. Been buying Protein shakes for 2 years and that is the one I found to be the best price/taste. Have tried tons and tons of them. You can try a small sized bag and you can bring it back to the store is you don't like it. I was not very impressed with the unjury, thought it was a bit expensive and not crazy about the taste, but depends on the person. Vitalady on the net has a lot of sample types you can try. I love buying the samples and trying a different shake every day.

Hi Southernbelle, This is a great post! Thank you for posting this as I think this is an important subject. I have been banded for 2 years and have gone through some really stressful situations and some horrible PB incidents that I won't get into caused by stress. I have seen my counselor a few times at the clinic because of my emotional overeating, problems with bad habits that got me to this point in the first place. We all have those "demons". Even my best friend who weighs probably 100 lbs. soaking wet has problems with certain foods. Do you have a good support system at your clinic? If so, please call them and schedule an appt. They should be able to refer you to a good psychologist if they don't have one. It's not easy sometimes, but we are all here to help each other.

I love my Protein shakes. I start with GNC Protein Shakes. They are great. I like them really thick and icy, almost a sherbert consistency with a nice thick straw! GNC vanilla shake mix, 1 scoop - about maybe 1 tsp. of pistachio sugar free pudding mix, tons of ice, little Water ...yummy. GNC choc shake mix, 1 scoop - dash of vanilla, 1 tsp. Hershey cocoa powder - no sugar, sprinkle of cinnamon, tons of ice and a little fat free milk (or somtimes my almond soy milk)...yumm. GNC vanilla shake mix - 1 scoop, lot of ice, little almond soy milk, 1 tsp. vanilla sugar free pudding mix, and a tsp of sugar free hershey syrup swirled in after it's ready.

I wonder if anyone else actually misses buying junk food? This is a weird thing that I notice a lot. I will buy something I know is bad. I get that rush purchasing it, have maybe one bite (OK, sometimes two), but then at least have the common sense to throw it in the trash. I feel guilty about doing this. Is this weird? I know I would have eaten the food back 2 years ago, but I still think this is a weird thing to do. :thumbdown:

Restless monkey, thanks for the insight! We are the same age! How do you deal with the challenges of being banded over 50? I often times feel jealous of the yung uns that have all that energy to get out there and exercise for hours and hours. I am so exhausted working 6 days a week 50+ hours at my age (bad knees, arthritis) to have the energy. I know - EXCUSES -EXCUSES Baby steps. Getting in that exercise is my next goal. :smile:

Dr. Vuong, thank you for such a great post. I think "being" happy and "happy" weight are two different things. I see a slim attractive person and think that person is at a "happy" weight, but that person could be miserable or even have an eating disorder or could even be sick. It's all about the individual and a very personal thing. Also, those darn BMI's! If I reached my BMI I would looked like I just got released from a concentration camp at my age of 54. I can't wait to read your new book!

Crackerbarrel is pretty good. They have tons of side orders. We went there today and I ordered 1 pancake and a side order of hashbrowns. I was only able to have a few bites, but I didn't feel overwhelmed with all this food in front of me. They always have a Soup and a lot of good veggie sides you can order. They even have applesauce. The have a sugar free apple pie and sugar free ice cream topping. I had that once, it was pretty good.

OMG, I thought you ate the pizza FROZEN! not cooked. I was thinking, oh gosh poor thing. lol. don't beat yourself up! s --t happens! I have one word for you - PROTEIN! Find a good Protein shake you like and let em rip! Keeping up with the protien will help curb that binge feeling. :thumbdown:

Thank You Melissa for such a great post. This has been something I am trying to come to terms with. You make a really great point as far as making these comfort strategies something enjoyable and not a task. I find I comfort eat when I am really tired and want an instant comfort "fix" and taking a nice warm bath instead is just something I do not feel like doing at that point. Not having these comfort foods in the house to begin with is very important. A few things that have helped - Filing my fingernails Putting on lotion Looking at the before and after photos here Putting on whitening strips (this keeps my mouth busy) Admiring some of my new smaller clothes in the closet and maybe sorting things out that don't fit anymore Listening to my I-tunes and surfing the net

MyMy, your post cracked me up! I would also look like a crack head at my goal weight of 145. I have had people tell me I look good and I still weigh 215 lbs. I think they just mean we look so much better. I don't really think they mean anything by it. At my age of 54, I don't want to look like like a prune! I am aiming for 180 lbs. and I think that will suit me just fine with possibly a tummy tuck. Those charts are a crock! :thumbdown: I think like the others said, we know where we want to be and it's our business.

That's a tough one! I read on one of these posts that lots of PS will bill the insurance company for a panni (a lot insurance companies will pay for that) and expand the surgery to a tummy tuck and you pay the difference. I am leaning toward that down the road. So, if you think you may want a tummy tuck in the future, that might be an idea for you. I asked my PS about a panni, after my breast reduction and she kind of discouraged me about it. If I were in your shoes, I think I would be tempted to have the panni also, but there is a lot to think about. I would definintely want to see pics of the end result. I heard you lose you belly button with a panni??? not sure I would be happy with that.