Experienced Bandsters, what are your tricks of the trade?

[Telly 4]

tellymelly,

i see your posts on the before and after thread. everything you are doing is surely working.

you are looking fabulous.

please keep posting what you are doing. you seem to be exercising alot. how soon after your surgery did you feel 100%?

I've just started going for small walks and they do make me feel real good.

Thank you kindly July5forMe:) for the compliments. I had surgery on a Tuesday and returned home on Friday night. I began biking that Saturday, the day after my return. 4 or 5 days later. I wasn't running, doing pushups or crunches mind you... rofl! I was just biking. It doesn't bother my port site. I don't feel that it effected me at all as far as pain goes. I did, however try to do a crunch about 2 weeks post op and it hurt like hell. Only 1 crunch and I was done.

I felt 100% about 3 weeks post op. There was no stopping me. No port or incision pain and no gas pains.

Walking is so wonderful and if you are just post op, that's really great that you are up and walking. You go girl! I can't wait to hear great things from you in the weeks and months to come. Check out the "Exercise Today" thread and post what you do for exercise daily. You can share what you are doing with other newbies as well as keep track of what you are doing and aren't doing.

Was July 5th your banding day? If so congratulations! How are you feeling and wow you lost 10lbs already? That's pretty awesome!

[Telly 4]

I also love the garbage bin statement.

I have to tell this to everyone I know.

This is a very inspiring thread.

Tellymelly, you go girl! Excercise is such a good way to lose weight, you're strenghtening your whole body and spirit, very good!!

Thanks a bunch Hunnybun:)

You are right. I feel really energized, spiritually as well as physically. I hope you do well on your 12 week weight loss thing with the hospital. Eating right, exercising, food portions. You got this!

[MelodyJ 0]

I have tried various things that have been mentioned, smaller plate, pre-measuring my food, lots of Water, avoiding bad carbs....also a baby spoon... it all helps!!!

Our battlefield is the mind!!! It's such a battle---more some days than others!! I went through a season where I continued the fight moment by moment. I've had to cry out to the Lord to do SOMETHING/ANYTHING to distract me....He is faithful!!!

I do not think about food like I used too....well til I have a fill and the band TRULY makes itself known!!!! Then I told my husband I have to re-learn some things I had gotten a bit sloppy on!!

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -59lbs

[July5forMe 0]

tellymelly,

my surgery day was on july 5. So i'm not even a week post op yet. I feel pretty good. stomach feels sore and the port incision is just a little more tender than the rest. just a sharp sting every now and then but its all manageable.

I'll check out the exercise today thread. that would be cool to see what everyone is doing after getting banded.

[Leila 0]

Donna, compulsive behavior can be very challenging, and very very hard to change. I've done some work with obsessive compulsive behavior modification and it is usually an ongoing struggle for people. Obsessive behavior is like having a habit to an extreme degree. Every time you engage in an obsessive behavior it's like digging a groove in a rock, where Water flows through the groove, the more you do it, the deeper the groove, and the harder it is to get the Water to go anywhere else except down that particular path. The more you do it, the harder change becomes. The hard part is forcing yourself to do something different. If you at all can, I would totally recommend trying to make a new habit of always leaving a bite behind, always throwing out a bite, always throwing out a chip in the bottom of the bag. I know it is a really hard thing to do, but the more you can force yourself to do it, the more likely you are to break the obsession. It can be helpful to try and recognize habits before they become obsessions and try to vary your behavior as much as possible to avoid digging any new grooves... not sure if I'm explaining things very good today (I'm a bit under the weather, so the brain is a bit slow). Sorry if the therapeutic advice is unwanted... I'm a meddler, I can't help it! Actually I miss the work immensely, it was shortly after I finished my degree in counselling psychology that I had my own crisis, and developed severe depression, I'm still unable to work. Sometimes my desire to try and help people gets the better of me, so please be tolerant with my need to butt in and give tips!

XO

Leila

[ousooner 1]

The funny thing for me is that I am trying new dishes at resaurants. I used to stay away from the menu items I didn't think I would get enough food, now its just the opposite. For instance, some of the smaller cuts of steak are more tender and flavorful, but I wouldn't get them because it was not enough food to fill me up. Kind of a quirky obsevation I made this last weekend when we went to Outback Steakhouse.

[Jachut 487]

Yes, I enjoy food now more than I EVER have before in my life. I'm not afraid to dig in, enjoy and stop when I'm no longer hungry. Because I dont feel deprived, I dont feel like eating when I"m not hungry.