♥LovetheNewMe♥

Cathy, Everything you are feeling is normal, or at least it was normal for me. The first few days and weeks after surgery I think it finally sinks in for all of us the reality of the situation. We made a choice, a choice to surgically alter our eating habits because we could not control them. I still go through periods when i sorta feel sorry for my self because I can't just go and grab what ever I want to eat. Then I look in the mirror and at some old pics and believe me I do not want that person back. I love how I look now, even with my shrinkles . You will understand that comment as you loss weight. The majority of us had been on the diet rollacoaster for years and had small successes but a lot more failures. I used to believe having weight loss surgery was the easy way out but now I believe it is much harder than any diet I have ever attempted. This is a life style change and all change is hard and it takes time. I am 7 months post op and I want you to know it will get better, give up the scales, they can be your worst enemy. With weight loss surgery sometimes we lose inches that do not show up on scales. Your energy will come back, it is gradual but it does return and as you loss weight it gets better. The gas for me was awful, I lived on Gas-X for months and sometimes still have to use it becasue something I eat makes me feel miserable. when you return to work, it will be hard for a few days maybe even a week, people if they know want to know how much you have lost, curious about what you can eat. For me I was upfront and honest with everyone about my surgery, I figured it would make me stay honest to myself, if everyone was watching. Keep reading on this web site, I have found that reading about others issues helped me to understand that what I was feeling was normal. Cathy you can do this and you will be successful, take everyday as the first and never look back if you slip. Remember in 6 months, 12 months, or 2 years, you will be healthier and feel great! Good luck with your journey, I know we all think we went to bed one night and work up obese but truely it took us years to get this way and it will take us a few months to find that tiny person hidding in all of us. :party: Remember celebrate all successes no matter how big or small! Good Luck.

Celebrated my wedding anniversary this weekend. We went to dinner theater to see " You can't make this $^@! Up at the Café and Then Some in DT Greenville. We had a great time, I did appetizer and a salad and had a few bites of my husbands dessert. It was yummy! They served us Champaign, only one sip for me, way too many bubbles. One drink and I burp like a sailor, too funny. It was a great celebration of 18 years. No weight loss this week, but I learning to listen to my body and making good choices. My challenges are exercise, I have to make more time for exercise, I need to do this on a regular bases and I have not been good at this. I have 40 lbs to go and these are going to be the hardest 40. I bought a tread mill for Christmas but I just have not been good at using this. I am going to challenge my self to do some type of exercise this coming week daily for 40 minutes. So here goes, starting tomorrow, Monday June 12, I Diane will exercise 30 minutes a day and blog about my exercise every night. Keep me honest bloggers, I gotta do this if I want to move that needle. I would like to be at 175 by the first of July. I am at 183 today so I gotta some work to do.

Well it's Sunday evening and I am pleased to say I made it through the weekend without any issues. I went to a web site of a hospital here in SC, MUSC and they had a few neat tools for Lap Band patients. I down loaded the forms so I could keep track of my food and check it off. They also had a nice shopping list and lists of types of protein we should be eating. I have done good with my weight loss and in the beginning I used the Lap Band web site to record my food diary but after I returned to work I was not as consistent. It is hard to stay honest with eating for me unless I write down every bite I put in my mouth, today I did this and when it came time for dinner, I realized I only had 3 protein servings left, 1 Vegetable serving and 1 Fruit serving. So dinner was Grilled Shrimp and a small salad. I still had all of my fats so I added salad dressing to my salad. It was yummy! I exercised both yesterday and today so check for exercise. All in all this has been a good weekend but I am so glad it is over. Well off to do homework, been procrastinating this all day. Ugh!

http://www.muschealth.com/weightlosssurgery This is the web site for MUSC, this program is at the University of South Carolina and there are several really nice tools for food diary, shopping lists and healthy lean protein choices. Good luck wth your journey.

Congratulations on your 60 lbs. I am about 7 months out and have also slowed downed in my weight loss. My physician told me that most lap band patients loss only about 40-50% during their first year, I have lost 56 lbs in 7 months. I still have 40 lbs to go and I think these next 40 are going to be my hardest. I started writing down everything I eat and keeping a dairy so I could stay focused. I still don't do as good as I should with consistant exercise, I know this would help. My MD wants me to do at least 20-30 minutes a day. Keep your focus, you will reach your goal, you have done an awesome job so far!

I started this journey 7 months ago and yes it has been a journey. I had my appointment with my surgeon today, it was 4 weeks post a fill and slight unfill of .4 cc's. I had lost 10lbs since my last visit. I am down 56lbs since surgery now and have dropped from a size 24 to a size 14. I really am enjoying the new me, I went to the beach last week and actually was not embarrassed to wear a bathing suit. My husband and I had so much fun, it was great not to feel short of breath or have the pain in my knees I had the summer before. We road bikes, walked on the beach and had a wonderful time. It is the first time I can actually say I went on vacation and actually lost weight not gained weight. But back to my journey. This journey has had it's ups and downs, I have had to learn to listen to my body and what my band is telling me. Eating early in the morning is just not an option for me, I drink protein. I have learn to be creative with my protein drinks and use unflavored in my coffee or lattes from Star Bucks and call this breakfast. Unfortunately I was one of those people that thought weight loss surgery was a cop out, but believe me I have changed my opinion. This has been one of the hardest journeys of my life. It truly makes you learn to make healthy choices or pay the price. I have paid the price along the way when I have tried to eat pizza or pasta. Yes I can eat them but it is a painful process and they sit in my stomach like a piece of lead as the digest. I have found new loves, vanilla protein shakes with peanut butter powder, I consider this a treat, a little crushed ice to make it thick and I think I am drinking a milkshake. Yummy! One of my favorite desserts has always been German Chocolate Cake, last week I found, chocolaty coconut, Biggest Losers Protein Bars. I told my husband, you know you have crossed over to the other side when a protein bar is the best tasting thing you have eaten for a while. He thinks I am crazy most days, but is one of most devoted supporters. Life post lap band surgery is truly a journey and a new beginning to a better life. I ask my self daily, why did I wait so long to do this, I could have been so much further than I am. But honestly I was not ready emotionally. The emotional part of weight loss is probably the most difficult for all of us. I mourned the loss of food in the beginning and really did not realize how much I had used food as a coping mechanism until I could no longer use it as a crutch. Food has much less importance in my life now, I see it as nutrition for my body and not something to run to when I am frustrated. My family sometimes has difficulty dealing with my honesty and so do co workers, but if it is between me binging or purging my thoughts, the thoughts are coming out. I have learned in order to be successful in this journey, I must listen to my band and not to the emotional eater that hides in the shadows waiting for me to let my guard down and find a weak place in the armor. I will not fail in this journey, this is for me, I do love the new me and I love the commitment I have made to myself to give this journey 100% of my ability to succeed. As I continue I need to challenge myself to increase my exercise. Actually I need to get off my butt and exercise daily. I am making a pledge to myself today to increase my activities by taking the steps instead of the elevator, walk from my car to my office instead of taking the shuttle, spend 20 minutes each day doing some type of physical activity. I will be successful in this journey!

I have gotten rid of all my big cloths. Keeping them was just a reminder for me, I donated some to Good Will and Salvation Army. There are also a large group of women at my work who have had the surgery so we have been handing down some of our cloths, this has helped cut down on purchasing a bunch of summer out fits for some of us. I did keep one pair of jeans that I want to take my picture with when I reach my goal. A reminder of how far I will have come. Good Luck!

I think that is a good Idea. Keep a video diary. I feel like I eat too much sometimes also and sometimes I don't remember all I eat, not sure if that is my evil twin trying to hide things from me or my denial creeping in. lol Good luck, I say do what every works best to keep you honest.

Sometimes I really hate weekends. Weekdays are so much easier to stay focused and on program, you are always busy with work or scheduled activities and I never think about eating or worry about snacking. But weekends need to be as full so my brain does not drift back to the grazing mode and the little devil lurking in the shadows does not win by saying, "Just take one bite, one bite won't hurt anything." Yeah right, one bite got where I was 7 months ago. So today I decided to emulate my daily activities of my usual morning routine and kick it up a notch. Up at 6am, showered and got dressed, minus the make up, it is Saturday you know. Mixed my unflavored protein in 2ozs of water and off to star bucks for my Triple Granda Skinny Caramel Macchiato, Total count of 18ozs at 240cal(calories for protein powder-24 gram protein and 140 calories for drink with 11 grams protein) Breakfast total 35 grams protein. Drive to the dog park with Lexis and do a few laps. Now Lexi thinks this morning was all about her and we will let her think that but actually it was really all about me needing to exercise and get my coffee fix on. Lots to do this weekend, need to complete a school assignment on Linear Equations! (yuck ) First I have to read the chapter so I can even discuss what a linear equation is. Duh...........Laundry..clean house, etc..etc..etc... I live such an exciting life. As a side bar update, I did keep my challenges I made to my self on "No Regrets " Wednesday's post. I parked my car at the furthest point from the hospital, and I walked to my office. Mitch the shuttle driver looked at me and said, "What's up you don't want I ride today!" So I stopped and explained my new goals to him and he just smiled and drove on. I managed to only take the elevator once on Friday and that was to the 10th floor, up town 3 and 4 flights I was OK with but I decided, heels and 10 flights was pushing it a bite for a Friday. I have decided that I am going to use this blog to keep me honest and true to this journey. I have this little OCD thing about writing things down, if I write it down and check it off I am more likely to comply. It is hard to ignore what is in black and white under your nose. So I don't go back to my MD for 4 months, (very scary thought to me). That is unless I need a fill, or start feeling hungry I am suppose to call and make an appointment. I though on Thursday when he told me this. OMG, you are trusting me for 4 months to stay on track, you are my mentor, my honesty guage. As long as I was going to see him every 4 weeks or so and I knew I had to face him and the dreadful scale I had to stay on program. So Mr or Mrs blog and bloggers you are my new honesty guage. I am pledging to all my blogger friends out there I am using all of you to keep me honest. So don't let me down. Ask me questions, keep me honest, challenge me. WE will not fail, We will stay on track and focused. WE will over come all obstacles and be SUCCESSFUL! Go Team! Always wanted to be a cheerleader.

Great Job, your family will be proud.

<BR><BR><BR>The Chocolatey Coconut Protein Bars are Biggest Loser Brand. i found mine at Walgreens, you can order off line from their web site. The are 10gms of Protein, and 160 calories. I also tried the Banana Nut Bread ones but they were ok, but as good. Like I said in my blog, I love chocolate and coconut so, they were a perfect alternative to unhealthy treats for me. On the peanut butter I do this two ways, I order 90% of my protein drinks from a web site, <A href="http://www.bariatriceating.com">www.bariatriceating.com</A><BR> I really do not like really sweet drinks and in the beginning I had to find something in small quanties that I could tolerate and not feel like I was drinking ensure. I am a nurse and I hate the smell of those drinks like ensure and boost that we fee patients. I don't like carnation instant breakfast, reminds me of my brother and the strawberry nestles quick he drink as a kid. I love the peanut butter protein powder drinks, you can mix them in water or milk and it only takes 4ozs of liquid. Skim milk makes them richer but also adds protein and calories. My second alternative is to use my favorite Vanilla Protein powder and add peanut butter powder to this. (The peanut butter powder is 85% less fat than regular peanut butter, mixes well in the shakes and tastes the same for only 45 calories. I also order my peanut butter powder online from Bell Plantations. It is located in Georgia. They have two, brands, plain peanut butter and perium chocolate peanut butter. 2 tbs of the powder mixed is only 45 calories and 1 gm of fat and 4 protein. You get the same flavor but you don't get the fat and calories of regular. I am always looking for new ways to drink and eat my protein becasue I do not want to get bored and risk reverting back to bad habits. Adding a little liveliness to my diet keeps me honest and on track. enjoy!

Everytime I get stuck and throw up I worry that my band has slipped. I think this is what scares me the most because I know without my band I will not be as successful. I do know that if your band slips you should know, it will become more and more difficult to tolerate solid foods, liquids and mushy foods are easier to tolerate with band slipage. I have a friend who's husband slipped but he was not always following the plan and was constantly over extending his lap band by eating bread and pasta in large amounts. Keep us posted hope all checks out ok.

Today I reached my 50% of my total excess weight goal. ( I think they should have just said I lost a little over 50% of my excess fat. Let's call it what it is right) My biggest hurdle to overcome now is to INCREASE my activity and exercise program. I eat right and stick to healthy choices but my failure to exercise regularly is going to hold me back, I started a blog tonight to challenge myself to stay on track. I though if I charted my successes and failures along the way it may motivate me more to help me loss this last 40 plus lbs. So I am getting off my skinner butt and starting to increase my activity on a daily basis today. Wish me luck because I need all the encouragement I can get. Hope everyone is doing well, Remember this is a journey and we can all succeed if we stay focused and support each other.

Congratulations on being in Onederland! It is a great feeling and accomplishment when any of us hits a mile stone. Every pound we loss is a great accomplishment and we should Celebrate. I agree with everyone else, others see our weight loss much more than we do. We look at our selves in the mirror everyday and sometimes changes are hard for us to see or accept. The other day someone referred to me as skinny and I laughed. How could anyone think that 182 lbs is skinny, well I went back and looked at my pictures from 6 months ago, a year ago and even two years ago. You know what from those pics I do look skinny. I also have not been under 200 lbs for a long time. Look at some some old pics before your surgery and I am sure you will see a difference from then to now. Keep the old pictures in plain site as a reminder of where you were than and a new one to look at your accomplishment.

I had my band placed last year on Oct. 28th, 2010. I have lost 56 lbs since surgery. I started experienceing some hair issues, loss and breakage about 45 days ago. I take Biotin 6000mcg per day and have been for the past 3 weeks. My hair and nails are looking much better. I am taking bebeautiful a GNC chewable product. I did a lot of research before choosing a product and most of the reasearch says in order for Biotin to be effective for rapid weight loss you need to take at least 6000mcgs per day. These chewable squares are 3 mg each or 300mcgs so I take two daily, along with 1000 mg of CA and my Multivitamins. I know they say that lap bands may not need as much Vitamins as Gastric Bypass and Sleeve patients but my experience has been that if we do not get all our protien in on a daily basis we have the same issues as other rapid weightloss surgeries. Hope this helps you, Good Luck. and great job on your weight loss to date.

Well.. I had my second fill on Monday of this week. For the past month I had played with 3 lbs, up and down the scale. I knew I needed a fill because I was not feeling satisfied between meals and I could clean my plate. Well he added 1.4 cc to my already 5cc's. I knew Monday I was tight but was sure it would loosen up. Late Monday night I took a drink of water and it came right back up, Tuesday morning I could barely sip coffee or water. It took me 4 hours to drink a 4oz protein drink, by late Tuesday night I could not drink without spitting up. I called the answering service and this morning I had .4 cc removed from my band. What a relief I can again drink liquids, still on liquids until Thursday, thank god I haven't felt hungry. I have not had solid food since Sunday night at dinner. Thankful this episode is over and I can again start to move forward. Does anyone else bruise when they get a fill? I have a nasty bruise on my stomach and it is very sore, but of course they did have difficulty accessing my port today, it has tilted up and difficult to access without fluro. They stuck me 5 times before they got in, kinda feel like a pin cushion tonight. Love to hear from the othe November bandsters.

By no means I am not an expert at this but from my experience if you are to tight you can not pass food and end up vomiting most of what you eat. The slime and foam you experienced is referred to as "sliming". Sliming can happen when your band does not allow food to pass because we eat to fast, fail to chew our food or take too large of a bite. When I had my fill I went through a few weeks of experience the grossness of sliming at least twice a week until I really learned to what I could eat and what I could not. Occassionaly my band feels very tight early in the morning and late at night so I have learn to drink something warm and it helps lossen things up. I have had a steady weight lost of about 1-2 lbs a week since surgery and I am satisfied after I eat. Good Luck

I agree! People ask me this every week also, I stopped weighing myself unless I had a doctors appointment becasue I was tired of the scales not moving as fast as I thougt they should. I wish I had measured myself becasue I have also lost inches. I just tell people, "I have know idea how much I have lost, but I feel great" Thank god no one ever asked me how much I gained before surgery. Good luck with grad school, I also am trying to finish Graduate school.

Hey Deb Great to see you on here. Your weight loss is great. 31 lbs since surgery is awesome. My surgeon told me that the average for the first year is usually 40-45 lbs. Now I know that is not what none of us want to here but we did not put this weight on over night and it won't come off over night. I have lost 39 lbs since my surgery and dropped 5 sizes. I finally got down to the Onederworld this past week and was so excited. I have only had one fill of 5 cc's and really struggled for weeks with food getting stuck, I finnally fill restricted but not over restricted. I just keep trying to remember this is a tool and I have to work at it everyday. Protein and exercise. Good luck and keep up the good work. Diane

This is what happens when we fail to chew are food or eat to quickly. I experieced sliming after my first fill. It was a piece of chicken, it really isn't throwing up, the food gets stuck and if your pouch can not accept the food it pushes it back up with large amounts of mucus. Sometimes after slimming your pouch may not allow you to eat for a while. It's pretty gross, I am just glad I was home when it happened and not at work or in a resturant. It freaks my husband out when it happens because it happens so quickly I have to run to the nearest trash can. Good luck, I am 4 months out and I am so glad I had this surgery. I have dropped 6 sizes, and lost 38% of my body fat. Just remember to chew your food, chicken and eggs seems to be problems for a lot of us. Good luck

Hello November Banisters, I have not posted since my last MD visit. Down another 6 lbs today. That is a total of lbs. MD very happy with my weight loss, I have lost 33% total body fat of what I need to loss, so I am a third of the way there. Everyday is a new challenge, I still struggle with eating to fast and getting food stuck, you would think after the 100th time I would learn.(A little exaggerated). I have been exercising and I really feel so much better. Everyone is always telling me how good I look and I still find it hard to take a compliment. Hope everyone is still on track, just keep taking this one day at a time. My MD told me today that most lap band patients only lose 45% of there total weight the first year, so I will take my 33% in 4 months. Hard to believe it has been 4 months. I think what excites me most is I am only obese now and not morbidly obese. When I say that it sounds silly but every step is a mile stone in this journey. Good Luck to all!

Follow up visit with physician went well this week. Total lost since surgery 31 lbs. Still losing more inches than pounds so I stay off the scales unless I am going to the doctors office, just to frustrating. I struggled a little after my band adjustment in December and found our I really was not chewing my food well and had multiple episodes of PB if I ate too fast. I still have days when something I eat may not go down well even if it did several days before. Physician wants me to increase my exercise, so I bought an incline trainer for myself for Christmas. Goal this weekend is to start 20 minute workout routines. Good luck to all in the New Year and a much slimmer us in the summer.

I was banded in SC and my doctor progressed my diet very quick. I was on full liguids for a few days, then mushy and within a week and half from surgery date I was eating solid foods. I found that fish and shaved lean deli meats were the easiest for me to eat.

Woke up this morning and decided to give this another try. Since scrambled eggs don't seem to work for me lately, I did an egg over easy with a veggie sausage patty on the side. Egg went down well no problem, sausage was dry and even though I tried mixing it with the egg still too dry to get down so I opted for 2 ozs of cheesy grits and that worked well. I feel satisfied, not full but satisfied. This is going to be a new concept of eating, before I always ate till I was full, now I am trying to learn to eat until I feel satisfied, there is a difference. Well we will see how long breakfast lasts before I feel hungry again. Busy day today, last weekend before Christmas, last minute shopping, baking and a few last minute packages to get in the mail. Hoping everyone has a wonderful holiday.

Well today I had my first experience with something getting stuck. I had a fill this past Monday and I have had to really take it slow reintroducing solid foods. I was able to eat scrambled eggs prior to my fill but not now. I was also able to eat chicken but today, I guess I took too large of a bite and that was all it took. I experienced what the call slimming which was not very pleasant at all. The bite came right back up with large amounts of mucus and I was very uncomfortable for about 30 minutes. I thought maybe I was to tight but I think I just need to learn to cut my food up like I was instructed to (about the size of my pinky nail) and chew, chew, chew. Sorry for the graphics but I would like others to learn from my mistakes.