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Ditto here. I have already given myself a reward at my 30 lbs goal. I bought a handbag. I really nice one. It is kind of a birthday goal bag rolled into one because I didn't want to feel too guilty about it. My next mini goal is on Sept. 4th when I go on a plane to visit my mother. I want to be in onederland! I have 10 lbs to go and I am not sure I am going to make it but I am going to give it my best shot. At least I know the seat belt will fit!

Re: Food getting stuck "causing and chest and upper back to hurt" I was banded dec. 10 2007 and I have really lost motivation I am going to start back over on the shakes at the beginning to the year. Just about the only thing I can eat is patato for bake patatos with turkey (ground) that work really well for me. I know I don't suppose to have the patato but does anyone have any suggestions on what to eat? :idea::embaressed_smile: __________________ :cursing:

Well... still going...It's 10 a.m. and I've had three Atkins drinks so far. Some EEVILLL person has made toast and it's permeated my senses and :hungry: I WANT SOME TOAST! But I shall prevail. mmmmmm 15 g's of protein and 1 g of sugar... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sigh

Well... still going...It's 10 a.m. and I've had three Atkins drinks so far. Some EEVILLL person has made toast and it's permeated my senses and :hungry: I WANT SOME TOAST! But I shall prevail. mmmmmm 15 g's of protein and 1 g of sugar... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sigh

I just had my surgery with Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, TJ and it was above and beyond what I could have ever expected. I know everyone told me great things about getting banded in Mexico, but experiencing it myself, it exceeded all my expectations. I am day 4 post op and feel very good. I feel a little swelling and have restriction. One 4 oz. yogurt is enough to fill me to the limit. They have been doing banding longer over there than here. I know Dr. Ortiz has done over 4000. I give it a 10+ Audree

"I would highly recommend keeping a list of all the reasons you are doing this and all the amazing things you will be try to do post surgery on you at all times. That way when things get super rough you can take some time and read them to remind yourself it will be worth it" I guess I better get to writing then. I was told I will be doing 4 weeks of liquid diet just prior to surgery yummy. I am just beginning my journey. I started my 90 day medically supervised weight loss program 10 October and probably won't have my surgery until the end of February. Thanks for sharing your story Joe and good luck as you continue your journey!

I'm a single mom and I'm struggling with whom will accompany me to the hospital the day of. My oldest childld is 20 and my youngest is 8. I also have a 10 and 14 yesr old. No outside suoport. Do i bring my children? To those of you who can relate, who did you have accompany you? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

HI all..........I had my surgery on the 31st of may. I stayed in Tacoma for a week because we live so far away. Week check up was great lost 9 lbs. so that is 18 lbs. in 18 days. (had to do 10 days of clear liquid before surgery and now 3 weeks of clear liquids) Feeling great and just taking it easy to recover from the surgery. Nice to be home...Tacoma is great but too many trees I am used to open spaces.

We moved into a place owned by a friend of ours. It was located about 3 miles from any store and our friend offered to help as much as he could in keeping Steve sober. I started working a second job and after a few months of moving into this new place everything started going really well for us! Steve was sober and money was coming in, he and I were happy again. I had gotten my son into special education pre-school, he was doing great! During the time we lived with my parents I had a second miscarrage, we really wanted to have another baby especially now that our life together was looking great. I started seeing a specialist who helped me figure out why I kept losing pregnancies and what we could do to help prevent it the next time. After Steve had been sober for a year and 3 months I found out I was pregnant! Around week 10 we found out we were having twins!! Once this was determined we started working very hard at getting Steve his license back. The babies were due in Jan 2007, we were to have them by c-section in Dec of 2006. My doctors were only going to let me work until Oct of 2006. On Oct 8th 2006 Steve got his license, On Oct 10th 2006 I had my last day at work. On Oct 11th 2006 Steve started his new job! Hows that for handy work!! In Nov 2006 we had a big problem with the friend we were renting from. There were many different problems. I would tell my sister about them and eventually she offered that we move in with her until the twins were born, this way I would have some help with them when I came home from the hospital. Sounded like the best option since we didnt have much money to work with at the time. So we moved in with my sister mid Nov. Now let me explain my relationship with this sister. She and I have always had a rocky relationship, right up until her first child was born, at that point it was like we both just said "oh okay, its time to be a grown up now". We moved into my sister's within a week of living there she and I went right back to old times, we didn't get along we could hardly stand to look at each other! I don't know why and as easy as it would be to blame her for it all I just can't. Steve and I were still doing alright, he was working most of the time so i had to take care of our son alone most of the time. On Dec 20th 2006 at 7AM I gave birth to two beautiful babies! Baby "a" was a boy and baby "b" was a girl, both were healthy and perfect. I too was healthy and the three of us returned home on Dec 23rd just in time to have Christmas with the family! Steve went right back to work a week after the twins were born, So I was running this ship solo. In Jan I started noticing some money coming up unaccounted for. So if we started with $300 and ended with $50 I could only explain where $175 of it went. The rest was just.. gone! This was horrible since I was trying to save up so we could get out on our own. Steve never had an aswer for it. One time $260 came up missing, and to some people out there that may not seem like a big deal but to me at that time, that was half a pay check! And remember I had twins to care for! Steve had no real explaination at all, he said he got the money out of the bank so he could get tires for the car then when he went to get the tires the money was missing. When I was cleaning up our rooms at my sisters house one time I had found a perscription bottle of mine from when I had the twins, my doctor put me on very strong pain medication and the bottle was empty! I never took any. I asked Steve about it he said he had been taking them for a toothache. In April 2007 we moved out of my sister's and into our own home. When we first moved in Steve was still working, he would complain of headaches and or toothaches that always landed him in the doctors for pain medication. I started getting worried about it and confronting him. He assured me it wasnt a problem and then he backed off going to the doctors. I started seeing a change im Steve that I couldn't explain, he seemed less and less motivated. Often money would come up missing and I just couldnt put my finger on what was going on. In Nov 2007 he came home and said that he had gotten laid off from his job. Mind you it was highly unlikely that this was the truth and I knew that. So the next month or so he went around "looking for work" non stop. He ended up getting a job in some factory but he needed boots and special clothes and all of this was expensive so his mother said she would give him the money for it. He got the money from her but never made it to work there. Also never bought the items he needed. A woman moved in next door to us who was a single mom and she had a son who was the same age as my oldest so we got pretty involved with her. She seemed like a nice enough lady. Steve got a job working for the school district, cleaning. I slowly noticed that the woman next door seemed to be getting too close for comfort. One day while Steve was at work and I was home alone with my neice and my 3 kids, two complete strangers came to my door. It was two ladys who lived near by and they each had kids that would play with my kids sometimes. They asked if I would step outside with them for a minute. I did, the one lady said she was so sorry to be the one to tell me about this but if it were her husband she would want to know. After that she let it loose! She saw my husband with the lady next door sitting at a park at a picnic table holding hands and touching each others legs ect. She said she has seen him park his car down the road and then walk in her house through her back door. In not so many words my husband was cheating on me! I thanked them for coming to me with it and they left. I had a lot to deal with, alot to process! I asked my neice to sit with my kids for a few minutes and I went outside, got my bike and rode it to the school (about 2 miles away) where Steve was working. I found him and asked him about it, he said no way these people are just trying to cause problems. I didnt believe him, but I didnt have proof he was wrong either. I went back home and I decided I would just watch how things went. Over the next few months my world got turned upside down! There were times that Steve went fishing with his friend, he wouldnt come in until 4 am and the woman next door would be waiting outside for him! I confronted him about it and he said she just had a bad day and needed to talk. I told him that she needed to call her girlfriend then, not wait up for my husband. He said I was just jealous. On mother's day I woke up and was making a cup of coffee, none of the kids were awake yet. Steve came to the kitchen and said we needed to talk. I told him to go ahead, he said he didnt love me anymore and wanted to change things. I didnt believe in divorce! I found it hard to believe that this would be how it would end... after all I have done so far for him, for my children?! No, we will seek help. After he and I talked he went to his sister's house to see his mom and his father stopped by the house to see me. Dad and I talked a while and he just told me that no matter what Steve says, he still loves me and not to give up on our marriage. He encouraged me that I had come so far with Steve and all of his problems, if I could get through his drinking with him I could get through this too! When he returned I sat him down and just eplained to him that I understood his feelings but if they were the way that they were because of another woman then maybe he needed to remove himself from that situation so that he could think more clearly. He agreed, he was going to stay awaay from this woman and see what happened with he and I. Roughly a month later I realized I was pregnant again, within days after finding out (I did NOT tell Steve) Steve and I were having a rough day, someone had come to me and said they had seen him with her recently so I confronted him about it and it blew up into this big fight. During the arguement I began spotting, and yet another miscarriage! I told him I was having a miscarriage and I just couldnt handle him yelling at me or us fighting, I wanted to talk to him like a civilized human being! He asked me to give him a minute and he went outside. I thought, Oh good, let him cool down and then maybe I can make him see all the efforts I have put forth and how stupid it would be to throw that all away! I waited, and waited, and waited some more. An hour had gone by and still he hadnt returned! Two hours... nothing! Somewhere around hour number 5 he finally called and said he was fishing with a friend, which I knew wasnt true because that friend had just called for him. I told him this and I also told him his son was asking for him, I told him I would drive to this park that was down the road from our home and I would wait there 25 minutes for him, if he showed up I knew he wanted to work on our marriage and our family.. if he didnt I would know he had other intentions and if that be the case, he needed to go some place else to stay. I got into my car, now let me explain. I had a saturn ion, I had NO gas in this car the needle was on E! I had a 5 dollar bill in my pocket and that was all, hardly any food in the house, but if I were to go to this park and wait for him, I was going to need that $5 in my gas tank! So I went to the local gas station, a small run down place and I went inside and told her I needed $5 in gas on pump 3. She took my money and said go ahead. I went outside and I put the nozzle in my car and began pumping... I was lost in thought, I didnt want to be late if he were to show up and I wasnt there I would just die inside! I then snapped back to the here and now to realize I had been pumping gas for a while now! I looked and it was just over $10! So I went inside and told the cashier I did not have anything but $5, she said not to worry it was her mistake. I promised to have the money to her tomorrow. I left the store and went right to the park and there I sat, I waited, and waited. I think I was there for about 45 minutes and no Steve. My heart sank to my feet as I drove home. I was home for around 2 hours when I started to become annoyed and restless, I got up and went to my car, I am unsure what my intentions were. As I reached my car I saw the woman next door come home and Steve was not with her. I got into my car and backed up I got onto the road and saw him walking towards the house. At this point there was no doubt in my mind that he was in fact with her the whole time! I was so angry!! I floored it, gas all the way to the floor! I got up to around 30 MPH and was within feet of hitting him when I slammed on my brakes! I threw the car into reverse and I backed into my driveway. I got out of my car and yelled to him that he'd better see if he can stay at his tramp's house! He laughed and said he would be staying at home and there was nothing I could do about it. I knew he was right, but I was not about to admit to it. I said to him "how dare you leave me after I tell you Im miscarrying YOUR child! you leave for hours at a time! No worries at all about me or your children. Just to go tie one on with the tramp next door. She doesn't want you! She doesn't even know you! Does she know about your drinking problem? Your drug problem?" The woman from next door jumpped in at this point she said "I am no tramp, I will have you know!" then she turned to Steve and asked him about me being pregnant and he said that he hadnt slept with me for months, which was a lie (obviously) but then I began to wonder why he would defend him sleeping with his wife to the neighbor? It was then I had made up my mind, if he did come home he would be on the couch for the rest of his life. At that point I could have cared less if he were to return to me, I was so heartbroken and depressed there was nothing he could ever do to fix this. I realized it was important for me to be civil and act like an adult for our children. My oldest son being autistic, he needs structure. The twins were so young still they too needed for things to be stable. I went in the house and got a pillow and blanket, put it on the couch for him then I went to bed. In the weeks to pass I slowly came to realize the one thing i needed to focus on were to get Steve sober and clean, it was more of a challenge now since his girlfriend fed him both drugs and drinks! But I needed him to be something like a father to my children, I needed him to be clean for them. This was my goal from this point on, I laid out a plan to get him clean and the two of us could just carry on with our lives, living under the same roof but not tied to each other. This would allow my children to still have mom and dad. I didnt care if I ever remarried or got with another man, at this point the one man I trusted with my everything has done nothing but destroy me! Who wants another?! That being said, I did just that. I took all of his prescription medications and offered to hand feed them to him. This is when I realized he had been taking over 50 pills a day, of various different pain meds! It was a wonder I hadnt found him dead yet. There was a point when he admited to snorting the pills. He said that he would get pills from the woman next door as well. Then I found out he was stealing pain patched from his brother in-law and pills from my mom. All together somewhere around 47 a day that he stole, was perscribed himself, or he would buy! At one point I was giving him all of his pill sin the morning, like if the max a day was 6 pills I would give him all 6 at 7 am and no more until the following day. I hid the bottles, he always seemed to find them and eventually I got sick of him cheating at the plan so I flushed the pills! He got so mad that he busted the bathroom door in! He called his mom to take him to a detox center, I refused to entertain the idea of a detox center that fed him pills to help him get off from pills! Seemed a waste of time to me. But his mom came running, she helped him pack his things and then she took him to the detox. Two days later he was home again with a whole new bottle of pills! I started to realize there was a good chance I wouldnt be able to actually help Steve clean up his act, but at the very least I could try and make a home for my kids. I had gotten a call from my landlord telling me I was 3 months behind on my rent and that he was willing to work with me but for only so long. It was time for me to get a job! I began working for a retail company, a few months later I got a job also with an insurance company and a few months after that I started also working for a medical center! I was working from 7 am to sometimes as late as 12 am no less than 6 days a week. I got our money situation back on track! Eventually I got a job offer at a fuel company that was less than 10 miles from my house so I took it. I left all three of my other jobs because the money I was making at the fuel company was good enough as long as I could put in the hours. Steve always slept on the couch, the neighbor girl had moved (without him) and their relationship had come to an end. He tried to patch up things with me but there was just no way I could trust him again. During all of this I had found out so much about his drug abuse, he had spent so much of our money on pills and cocaine and God only knows what other drugs! He slept on the couch and looked after the kids while I worked. I started talking with someone from the church about the way the church veiws divorce and weather I was in the right for wanting one. I started feeling this was the route to take when my father in-law (a man I felt very deeply for!) became very ill and eventually died. I became worried about Steve's mental well being if I were to bring to him the idea of a divorce. So I continued helping him build himself up, keep clean and sober. Roughly a year after my father in-law passed away, in August of 2009 a friend of mine was in a car accident and I was very worried about her. I was trying to tell Steve about it when he cut me off to tell me about a movie he got. I was devistated that he cared so little about me that he couldnt even pretend to listen to me when I was obviously upset. This was my wake up point, when I realized it was over, the battle no longer needed to be fought! I wanted a divorce.

Dan, I wasn't offered a 6-week post op fill. Mine came 10 weeks post op....second fill 5 weeks after 1st. It depends on the individual and their docs. Wish my first fill had been about 3 weeks sooner, though, but because of docs schedule I had to wait. He only does them once a month.

I think motivation is key. That and accountability. That is what the bootcamp does for me. It is led by Jill the nutritionist at TLBC. We start every session by getting weight (they also take measurements at the beginning and end). We also get nutrition tips every week. Week one On our first session we reviewed the “Bandsters 10 Commandments”, the “Daily Nutrition Guidelines” and the “6 reasons for PBing”. In addition we signed a contract saying we will follow the rules and adding a goal for the weight we would like to lose by the end of the boot camp. We then did a very interesting exercise where we wrote out our Hopes, Fears and Expectations when it comes to our weight loss. We went around sharing our notes and it was amazing to see how much we are all alike. It was a great comfort to me to know that I am not the only one who is afraid of failing, of what is going to happen once I loose the weight and I reach my goal. What if I am never going to be satisfied with myself? Week two The second session was titled Awareness. Jill spent the hour driving home the point that “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. We had to rate these statements from 1 to 10 like: I am aware that change is necessary/ It is important for me to change/ I will be successful in my weight loss journey etc. You guys can just imagine what scores we gave ourselves. Jill had us erase our scores and give ourselves 10s across the board saying that you will only reach as high as you believe you can. We spent the rest of the session reviewing our habits, that have stopped us from succeeding in the past and what our triggers are. We also keep a food journal that Jill reviews. This week we also had to review the triggers for our cravings. What are the where are we, what are we doing and what do we crave. Week three The last session was titled “getting excited about your life”, about showing gratitude for today, and our successes in life so far. We went around and each of us shared some of our successes and described ourselves as our friends would describe us. (Our friends would never say we are fat or ugly or losers). We discussed how if you’ve got happiness on hold until you get to the “destination”, you’re never going to have it. The key is to enjoy the little things you see along the way and use them to divert you from the temptations that can lead you off the path. I know this posting is kind of long but I find myself in the mood to write lately. I think it’s somewhat therapeutical for me. Let me know if you guys would like more details. I was at a plateau for the last two months before I started this program and I was getting a little down on myself. It’s still me doing all the work now, however the boot camp gave me the incentive I needed to focus on my goal, make some changes and just plain do it.

That is awesome!!! I was banded on 10/25 & felt the same way when the scale went below 250 for the first time in 4 or 5 years!! Congratulations :)

Greetings from Bandlandia! Well, I went in for surgery yesterday at 10:00am, and I came home today at 12:00noon!! I guess my surgery was a textbook perfect case...or so said my surgeon:) I ended up with five incisions instead of six. It is something new they are trying. The only negative here is that the line of incisions are across my waistline. I am very short-waisted and there wasn't anywhere else to go with them:( I have to be very careful with my pants and stuff like that. It will also be a challenge when I go back to work, as the tables I use all day are right at that height. I am pretty sure I have no restriction at all, my stomache is growling quite a bit. But I'm not sure if I feel hungry, I do feel kind-of bloated. Maybe that is still the gas lingering?? I had a bowl of chicken broth (home-made..yum) and I felt like after thanksgiving dinner, so hopefully that is a good sign. It will really be a challenge getting to recognize when I am full, truly full. All in all, I am so happy I had this done, I am now in that waiting for my first fill stage, and I think it will seem like a very long time. Yippee...I'm banded!! Sheryl

Hey guys, I found a couple chicken receipes that sound really good. Haven't tried them yet, but will. CHRISPY ONION CHICKEN BREAST TENDERS Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 15 min 1lb boneless skinless chicken cut into 1 in strips 3 to 4 tbsp honey mustard 11/3 cups french fried onions, crushed 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat chicken with mustard. Dip into crushed onions. Place chicken on baking sheet. 2. Bake for 15 min or until chicken is cooked and crispy ORANGE CHICKEN PICCATA Prep time: 5min Cook time: 10min 1lb bonless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin 2 tbsp flour 1/2 c orange juice 1/4 c honey or dijon mustard 1/4 c orange marmalade 1/4 tsp rosemary leaves, crushed 1 orange, thinly sliced and quartered 1. Coat chicken with flour. Heat 1 tbsp oil in nonstick skillet. Cook chicken for 5 min until browned 2. Mix juice, mustard, marmalade and rosemary. Stir into skillet; boil 5 min until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens 3. Stir in orange pieces. Serve with rice

Don't be embarassed! I also had my surgery in January & I am only down 30 lbs. & 10 of that was in this last month. I too am a sugar/chocolate addict. I think one of the things that has made a difference in this last 10 lbs is that I discovered Well's Blue Bunnies fat free, sugar free, white chocolate & almond icecream bars. They are so good & don't really taste diet! Keep your chin up! I think the weight loss is just a little slower for some of us. I look at it this way - At least I'm losing!! Keep up the good work!

Hello any lunch suggestion for a late shift worker (1:30pm-10:00pm) I work outside so I have to eat cold foods like Tuna please Help

I went through gastric bypass surgery with my daughter 3 years ago. She lost 100 lbs. the first yr. and wears a size 10 (down from a 24) and looks wonderful. She still has trouble keeping some foods down. Can't eat mashed potatoes at all. She cried for 2 weeks after her surgery....so depressed at the big change in eating. I'm convinced a lot of it was because she simply loved food (whereas I just eat to get full) and she knew it was permanent. I think with the band you always know there are choices and adjustments that can be made. I hope I'm not as depressed as my daughter was. I have no idea what to expect. Hope the seminar fills me in, but they are only going to tell me the good things. I want to know real life experiences.

Hi Abby! Nice to see you here. I was wondering how you were, you were so sweet and supportive before the surgery! I too have had very slow weight loss. I have lost about a total of 25 since Aug, and I too have not given it my best shot. I guess the thing that I was surprised at is that it actually takes effort! Something I have not been so good at in the past. I have not had good restriction because each time I have had a fill (I am up to 6 CCs in my 10 CC band) it feels TOO restricted and I can't even get down Water and they have to remove most of the fill. However, at this level I feel no restriction. Not sure how I will get to that spot, I will just keep trying. Hang in there, we just need to refocus! Lisa :thumbup:

Hi, I'm a newbie, 12 weeks out on Tuesday. Sleeved 4/19. 33 year old female 5'0" HW: 240 lbs SW: 190 lbs CW: 163 lbs GW: 110 lbs I'm currently on Phase 3 Soft / Semi-Solid. 600-800 calories, 80 grams Protein. I work out 1 hour 5-7 days per week - weights and track in my wheelchair. Currently averaging 2 lbs loss per week. I'm a paraplegic with Spina Bifida fighting a pressure wound on my foot. I'm desperate to get all 80 grams of protein without going over my calorie limit. I try Protein shakes but they take 1 1/2 hours to drink. Solid protein only takes about 20-30 minutes to eat but I can only get down about 2 oz at a time. With both I'm full for hours after and I have yet to ever even feel hungry. I have not had any problems with any specific foods. Not allowed to eat Beans, nuts, seeds, peels, raw veggies yet. I measure and weigh everything I ingest except Water and coffee. I'm curious if any of the veterans out there struggled to get 80 grams of protein at this stage and what they did about it? Any sample meal plans? Anybody using a wheelchair and / or trying to heal pressure wounds? By the way, this is not a diabetic ulcer. The nutritionist gave me a sample plan but it has a LOT more food on it than I can currently handle. I wouldn't be so worried about working my way up to more food if it wasn't for this wound I'm trying to heal. I have to get in 80 grams for wound healing. Thank you for any input you can give!

The World According to Eggface has great "bites" that I had before I was sleeved. It makes plenty to share. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2009/10/party-time-confetti-bites.html

Looking great Shereen! Surgery Date 19/4/2018 SW 164kg 361lbs CW 146.5kg 322.5lbs Target 1 120kg 264lbs Final Target 110kg 242lbs

I had my surgery on Tuesday January 28th. When I woke up after it was the worst pain ever and I hated doing this! But now, 5 days later and 10 lbs lighter (when I weighed myself yesterday!) I'm feeling a lot better! The gas pain hurts more than the incisions now but I use my heating pad and that helps a lot! I haven't had any nausea thank god! It is a lot of hard work, but it's worth it!

Banded about the same time as you. 2/19/13 and down 90, but have slowed to 7 pounds in 3 months. Not letting it get me down though. If you have support groups in your area, attend, attend, attend as if you life depended on it! Overeaters Anonymous and other programs have helped many surgery patients. Maybe if you have a support group through your hospital you can volunteer to be a speaker for groups of new people seeking bariatric surgery. I did that last week and feel like a new person. Will speak again next month at the Seattle hospital. Good luck and keep on going.

Today was my 1st fill in 10months. Long story, but ready to lose these last 30, that I've had in a year. I've 102 lbs. in 2yrs. The last stretch is hard, and I'm so committed to go forth. I guess my struggle is finding my balance after a fill. You lose a good 10 after the 7days of liquids but as soon as I eat solids, I go back to where I weighed before the band going nowhere. That's with heavy excerise. I'm going to start a food diary, and see what's happening.