justPenguin

You definitely will. I was banded 10/2010, and last summer, decided to go and 'see' if I could fit in the rides. I had a blast. Every ride, no matter how crazy, gave me no problem with band or port. Enjoy your new life, don't let fear hold you back!

My favorite, after having gone through a fortune in tubs, is ISO-100 by Dymatize nutrition. The chocolate is on the sweet side, good for chocolate cravings, otherwise I cut it this way: 1/2 scoop chocolate, 1/2 vanilla = tastes like a milkshake. I also got the nectar ones, they taste funky to me. Except the cappucino one, I mix that with the chocolate for a mocha frap type shake, tastes delicious. One other thing i love to do is mix PB2 with chocolate protien, and oh my gosh, tastes like a reeses milkshake. PB2 is the powdered Peanut Butter that has most of the fat and oil removed. Also spent a fortune on the sugar free flavor syrup pumps from DaVinci gourmet. Really helped cravings and taste phenomenal.Try to stay carb-free, and I swear, the pancake flavor tastes just like a liquid, buttery, syrupy waffle.

Hi all, just a question for whomever is kind enough to reply. I lost 77 lbs so far, 6.5 months since surgery. While I am certainly thrilled at the numbers on the scale, I still have quite a way to go. Most of the time I feel great, LOVE the weight loss. But other times - I still 'feel' just as 'fat' as I did before the surgery. Any one else experience this, and if you've hit goal, do you still feel 'fat' every now and then?

I started not too far from where you did (365#). The hardest part for me was the emotional connection with food. It made me feel good to eat cookies & milk, chicken fingers, donuts, ice cream. It made me feel like I was doing the right thing, but still missing my emotional satisfaction when I ate right. I still eat cookies and milk. Straight up real oreos, not even reduced fat. But I build what I need to fill that emotional-food need into my diet. I am 6 months out from surgery, and lost 70# so far. This may or may not work for you, but try it if you like. If I'm feeling in the mood to dip some donuts into milk, or make some oreos soggy in a cup of milk, ice cream and the like, I will fit it into my calories for the day. I always binged at night, in bed, watching tv. Now, I don't eat alot of them because I can't, but I will do my shakes all day to keep my calories low, and save them for my splurge. I will do that once, maybe twice a week, and because I choose to do that and not completely cut out EVERYTHING. I will also make sure I do the little things that add up to make up for it. I park further away to walk, I take the stairs even though when I get to the top I'm still huffing and puffing, I dance the entire time I'm in the shower, anything to keep myself moving and burning calories. Protein shakes are the key for me. I can't seem to keep this new diet 24/7, it's quite the adjustment, and I'm working on it. But it's baby steps, one day at a time. Today, I will eat right all day. Tomorrow, just might be the day I splurge. But I will make up for it in exercise and calories. Plateaus suck, but we are responsible for what is happening to ourselves. The band is a shoulder to lean on. I learned that the hard way. I was stuck for 2 months at the same weight because I stopped the protein. I couldn't stomach the taste of it anymore. But the only things that guarantee weight loss = calories in, exercise, protein & water intake. I know how rough it is to adjust completely to this new lifestyle, hell, I still haven't completely yet. Take some time and get your head together to tackle this, and go full steam ahead, and don't look back!! Lots of luck to you!

Hello all, from Toms River, had Dr. Riech (Spelling?) at SOCH in Manahawkin do my surgery. Almost 6 months out, just over 50 lbs lost. (Of course always wish it were more Anyone in my area, feel free to contact me, or even meet up if you'd like to chat about it.

Hi all, I've got a bad cold, bronchitis or something. Always this time of year. I can't stop coughing, and also having many coughing spasms. My abdomen hurts, from coughing, but my band and my port hurt too. I'm going to doc today late in the afternoon. I'm scared I might do someting to my band or port. I also am looking for remedies that do not include OTC cough meds, get reactions from them. Thoughts? Thanks!

I was able to get in at the doc's yesterday. They thought I may have given myself a hernia. (Yikes!) But when they checked it out, they said I probably pulled apart scar tissue inside my incision. The pain was horrible that first night, but I woke up the next day with very little pain. Thanks all for your reassurance, I really needed it. :blushing:

I was squatting down to get something out of my closet, and as soon as I got up, I got this excruciating pain around the left side of belly button. I'm 2.5 weeks post op. Was feeling great until now. Just took a left over pain pill to help, feels like I just got out of surgery all over again near port. Help! What did I do??

Funny you say that LOL I bought mine last year, black friday. Only to bring it home, get on it, and have it say "OOF!" when I got on, and tell me I was too fat to use it. I thought it was a 300 limit, now that I'm lower than 325, I'll drag it out again. :rolleyes2:

I'm 26, got banded two weeks ago today. While I wished I could have lost weight sooner, as far as having any kind of WLS, I needed to be in the right place mentally for it. Had I had it any sooner, I don't think I would have been nearly as prepared for the mental challenges it brings. With that being said, two years ago I had severe gastritis (stomach itself was inflamed and swollen) for no reason. I was on a very bland, low-everything diet, because that's all I could handle. Same meals every single day without a break. I went through the food funeral, learning to socialize again without eating, crying because I couldn't have the same meals with family, go out to eat with friends, etc. As I got better towards the end, I had to test foods to see how they were tolerated (just like the band) only this time, I will only test food good for me, not test junk that I had missed dearly like an old friend LOL That was a hard lesson learned. I lost 60 LB being sick, and gained it ALL back in less time than it took to lose. So I was much more prepared for this, I think, having gone through that. Had I done it earlier, I think the road would have been so much more bumpier.

Yes, I've had the burning pain, to me feels like something is tearing. Talked to doc, he said it's the stitches to secure the band. All you need to do is bend or twist a certain way. He said it's fine, common and will go away. Best of luck!

I can't stomach another sip of protein shakes. Once a day, fine. But 4? Ugh. I bought a bunch of sugar free flavoring syrups from davinci gourmet. Got pumpkin pie, pankcake, irish cream, egg nog, and vanilla. Soooo yummy. Got the vanilla to use in teas, not in shakes though. The pancake especially is fab in the AM, it's like a liquid buttery waffle. YUM!

I don't know if I'll keep feeling the restriction... but I still do, but only a week and a half. All I've been wanting is a good sub, so maybe before the fill I might be able to have a bite or two... What makes it hell? Is it common to gain? Eat too much? Problems?

Why, lately, am I getting hiccups? It's not all the time, but usually at least once a day. I think it's definitely band related. Or operator error. LOL ??

I do feel restriction, but it's getting less and less every day. When I got home, I could just barely drink 1 oz. Now I'm up to the 4 oz they want me to have, but if I go slow enough, I can get maybe another 1/2 oz. (I over-made a protien shake) The pain is getting much better, I find that I have to hold my belly as I get up, what a difference that makes. It's kind of gross, but the flab pulls on the incisions. (Not for long though! LOL I was able to drop 21 # from preop to 6 days after surgery! YAY!)

Whoops! I figured out who it was I saw. :frown:

Today he said I shouldn't need pain pills anymore... BS to that! I just need to take it easier. Lesson learned. That's a gread Idea to name it! It just took me a week to name my cat that I just adopted LOL I was wondering if it would still hurt after healing. I notice if I turn a certain way, it hurts much more. Guess I'll have it that way too. But very excited, today I weighed in and was 40 down from original weight, lost 21 from preop to post op! This was my wedding weight, can't wait until I get to the weight I was when I met my hubby (220) and then goal. That will be so nice. Thanks so much!

I was just there this morning for my one week follow up! Were you in a black velour type sweatsuit?

What a learning process, isn't it? It's amazing how much this has forced me to listen to my body instead of shutting it up by shoving food into my mouth, to put it crudely. I still have slip ups, like drinking protien too fast, not taking the time I'm supposed to, to drink it; stopping when I feel satisfied, I'm used to keep going until I felt horribly full, etc. Great post, good luck!

That's probably what I did. I felt good yesterday, and was out for most of the day hobbling around slowly doing errands with my mom. Was so tired of sitting in the house. Guess today I'm paying for it. Thanks, Cheri!

I am thrilled with the process. I had Horizon BCBS, so I had to have Dr. Fresco from the Montclair office. I believe Dr. Reich was the assistant surgeon, because he was the one who came to see me a few hours after surgery. They were both great. Honestly, she put me more at ease than he did. :hi: BUT, would still do it over again even with the pain. I only had it done this past thursday, and aside from the pain at 3 of the 6 holes, I'm doing really good. I loved how they coordinated everything for me, and everyone spoke so highly of Tina, I only bugged her once. She found out my answer and called me back. I like how it's almost like a family there, how they really take care of you. There was only one nurse in the hospital I didn't like, the rest were amazing. Loved Janet @ night, and Daisy in the day. They are not kidding about the walking. I got up 6 or 7 times from surgery to discharge to use the restroom, and I made sure I did at least 2 laps around the unit each time, I only had bad gas pains on day 4 for about 4 hours. At home I walked around the block too to help it. Hardocore- well worth it. They mixed me up so many shakes, I bought two tubs the first day, brought packets home of the ones they didn't have available to mix up, and went back for another. Tomorrow I have my follow up, and while I'm in Manahawkin, I'm going to stop by to grab 2 more tubs, they are on sale until the 4th, buy one get one half off. I had cherry powder today, didn't care for it, but refridgerated the rest, tried it again, what a difference. I really learned much more from this board than I did at support group or nut class. Has really saved me. LOL Now that I wrote a book... hahaha Feel free to keep in touch and message me any questions about anything! Good luck!

I was wondering about sushi. How do you tolerate the rice? I had envisioned my next sushi outing with me picking all the rice off.

I try to mix it up a while before I need it, put it in a gladware container, and stick it in the fridge. No foam, and it tastes so much better colder. I forget sometimes, and I have to "suffer" with the foam. LOL

May be a dumb question, but I had surgery 5 days ago, still hurtin a bit. Most of my pain is where the port and band holes are. Is that normal? Tylenol w/codeine's got nothing on this pain. I thought it would all hurt less the same amount. And the hole I have right above my belly button, is dented in. That one hurts too, not as much. All the others feel pretty good. Is it just me? Or should I stop worrying?