JinTx

I used to smoke a long time ago. I stopped when i got pregnant with my first son. Many many many years later i would have an occasional smoke if i drank a lot...im talking 3 cigs a year. So i dont really have any advice there.
But what i did want to do is encourage you to talk to your surgeon about this. You need to be open and honest. Last month i did not WANT to see my surgeon. I had gained 15 pounds in 6 wks (darn vacations) and was so ashamed. But then i realized that basically i committed to my surgeon when i got this surgery...kinda like we got married. Hes gonna be taking care of my band forever. I have to be committed to it and to him. He wants to see me monthly til i hit goal...thats what i signed up for. Part of being committed to him is being open and honest. I have to do my part...which is being real with him. If i struggle i tell him...if its going good i tell him. On that same note he has to do his part too. If he belittles me or puts me down about my struggles then it may time for me to look elsewhere.
I think you need to just tell your surgeon. He wants you to succeed. I am sure he will be there to help you.

I feel better when i do low carb bc of the simple fact that carbs make me want more carbs. My surgeon does not preach low carb however the nutrionist recommended i go back to low carb then slowly add back in good carbs...whole wheat Pasta, brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread....i should be ok with this bc usually the carbs i want are sugar...cookie, cake, etc. I am looking at this as sort of a detox period. So perhaps you could look at it that way if you feel carbs are an issue for you.

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

Went to a Water park!!!!! My kids have been begging for years to go and I always found some reason we couldnt go. The truth was, I was just too fat. I couldv'e hardly kept myself safe in the tube rides, let alone my kids. This year, I said we ARE going! I walked around all day in my swimsuit and didnt give it a second thought. My kids had fun. One more reason I am so glad I got banded!!!

And, I am like Dawn (and others). I don't only eat heathly things. Its about moderation. I still have to live life. I, too, went to mcd's the other day and had a small burger. Preband it would have been AT LEAST 2 burgers, lg fry and a lg soda. Now it's only 1 small burger. And i track what I eat. If i ate a burger yesterday I wont eat one today.

Here's what I do....My goal is AT LEAST 60 g Protein a day, I usually get about 80 but my dr wants me to get 60. That was the only nutrition "rule" my dr and nut have --ya gotta get the Protein in. I have taken it upon myself to limiy my carbs to less than 50 per day and eat less than 1200 cal per day. I am usually under 1000 during the week. I track everything in my fitness pal which I love. This seems to be working. I have lost 50 pounds as of yesterday. I'm happy, drs happy.
J
Banded 9/22

I'm sure some of it is head hunger.
My stomach is growling so badly it's making me nauseous. I've even had episodes where I get dizzy and feel like I'll pass out. When I was first banded, the first week or so.. I was rarely hungry, but had the urge to eat.. That's what I feel head hunger is. What I'm experiencing now is mostly stomach growling. It's not necessarily always an hour when I start feeling hungry again. Could be 1.5-2 hrs sometimes. I keep my Protein Powder with me all the time in case I need a shake, but at 180 calories a pop with skim milk, I'd be way over 600 calories a day if I had one every time my stomach growled.
I'm going to bump my calories up to 800 amd see how it goes. My doctors office put lap band and bypass patients on the same diet. I think this is horrible. Not only do I feel like a failure for not bing able to maintain a 400-600.calorie day, I've started regretting choosing the lapband.

Hey everyone. Its been a little while since i've posted. My appetite has returned but it takes such a small amount to fill me up-usually a 1/4 cup. Last night i had FF refried Beans with cheesw on top.....mmmmm it was perfect! Tonight im having this ricotta bake thing. Basically ricotta with marinara and mozz on top baked. The family is having spaghetti. I can now do soft foods so i will be progressing to things like scrambled eggs, cot cheese, canned fruit. Still have pain in my port. I am loving banded life and not regretting it one bit!
J
Banded 9/22

That's awesome Donnie. My DH last night told me he could see a different. I think it takes longer for people that see us everyday. Keep up the good work!
J

Ignore her. I have a lady at my work that talks bad about us bandsters (there are a total of 4 of us now) when in reality we think shes just jealous bc shes too scared to get it done bc shes had cancer. I swear, when she opens her mouth i wanna punch it. Your (and my) coworker is obviously ignorant. This is your journey so keep moving forward!
J
Banded 9/22

Lately I have been doing some deep thinking about how my life is going to change after I get banded. And while yes, I want to get banded and become healthier for my family, for my children, for my future grandchildren...I want to become healthy for myself.
For years...so many years I have put myself of the back burner. I think a lot mothers tend to do that. My children come first...my family comes first...everyone's needs come first. And I am not saying it as if I am some sort of awesome selfless person or anything, it's just the way I think.
Everything changed when I found out 6 years ago that my oldest son was autistic. Everything. I used his diagnosis as a crutch for years. With the help of therapy I can say that I today I am ok w/ his autism. When we were going thru the process of getting my son's autism diagnosis I was also pregnant with my youngest son....hmmm...any wonder I gained 75 #s with that one. After we got the diagnosis of autism I immediately began to try to "fix" him. I sacrificed everything for it...my sanity, my health, my finances. Everything. I devoted HOURS upon HOURS researching. I spent the initial couple of years after his diagnosis consumed in another world. At the end of the day I was mentally and physically exhausted. I was too tired to plan a meal for myself, too tired to plan my lunch for the next day, too tired to exercise. Yet, here I was, counting every morsel of food that entered my child's mouth...making sure it had no food coloring, no gluten, all organic...meanwhile I would shove complete crap in my mouth.
These past few months, perhaps even a year I have realized that I have to take control of myself. I have to be selfish. I have to let go. I can't control autism, but I can control what I do and how I react to this. I do think (as does my therapist) that I used autism as a crutch and ate as the easy way out. My world was spinning out of control and I had to take control...and I did just that but in an unhealthy way for myself. I couldn't control my child sitting in the floor screaming in a raging fit...but I could control the twinkie entering my mouth....so much comfort in that (at the time). Just as if someone that is anorexic is in need of control I am/was the same way only I would binge and eat unhealthy junk just because I could. It seems that as time passes my eyes and mind become clearer.
I am so happy to be selfish. My life is depending on it.
Thanks for letting me share.
J

Lately I have been doing some deep thinking about how my life is going to change after I get banded. And while yes, I want to get banded and become healthier for my family, for my children, for my future grandchildren...I want to become healthy for myself.
For years...so many years I have put myself of the back burner. I think a lot mothers tend to do that. My children come first...my family comes first...everyone's needs come first. And I am not saying it as if I am some sort of awesome selfless person or anything, it's just the way I think.
Everything changed when I found out 6 years ago that my oldest son was autistic. Everything. I used his diagnosis as a crutch for years. With the help of therapy I can say that I today I am ok w/ his autism. When we were going thru the process of getting my son's autism diagnosis I was also pregnant with my youngest son....hmmm...any wonder I gained 75 #s with that one. After we got the diagnosis of autism I immediately began to try to "fix" him. I sacrificed everything for it...my sanity, my health, my finances. Everything. I devoted HOURS upon HOURS researching. I spent the initial couple of years after his diagnosis consumed in another world. At the end of the day I was mentally and physically exhausted. I was too tired to plan a meal for myself, too tired to plan my lunch for the next day, too tired to exercise. Yet, here I was, counting every morsel of food that entered my child's mouth...making sure it had no food coloring, no gluten, all organic...meanwhile I would shove complete crap in my mouth.
These past few months, perhaps even a year I have realized that I have to take control of myself. I have to be selfish. I have to let go. I can't control autism, but I can control what I do and how I react to this. I do think (as does my therapist) that I used autism as a crutch and ate as the easy way out. My world was spinning out of control and I had to take control...and I did just that but in an unhealthy way for myself. I couldn't control my child sitting in the floor screaming in a raging fit...but I could control the twinkie entering my mouth....so much comfort in that (at the time). Just as if someone that is anorexic is in need of control I am/was the same way only I would binge and eat unhealthy junk just because I could. It seems that as time passes my eyes and mind become clearer.
I am so happy to be selfish. My life is depending on it.
Thanks for letting me share.
J

I wasnt expecting this rush of emotions after i got my ins approval. Before, when i was trying to get approved i was just so focused on that. But now, i guess im like oh crap! This is happening. I have never doubted this til now and ive been researching this since last nov with my first with dr in late feb. Can i do this? Have i exhausted all my other options? What if i regret this? What if something happens to me? I was having these feelings, then i had my nut appt and he said that my soda aka liquid calories and emotional eating will not be controlled by the band. I guess i started doubting myself more after that appt. I am prepared to give up sodas. Forever. I am addicted to them and know i can no longer have them. But the emotions, the head hunger, am i prepared for that? I dont expect the band to do the work for me. This isnt magic. I get that. I feel like i understand everything, have researched, etc. But yet, still have doubts.

Rachel412 is right. You will definitely not be able to hide it from him, nor from anyone else who happens to stop over the first few days after surgery.
My husband was the only person that knew up until about a month before my surgery. I later asked him how he would have felt if I hadn't told him until that late date as well. He said he would have been livid if I hadn't trusted him to share it all from day one.

Certain family members are very judgemental and i dont feel that i need to be the topic of everyone's conversation behind my back. In addition, both of my parents are very active, athletic, not over weight, and basically have no clue what its like to be 100 pounds overweight. Also, i have heard comments before about wls from my family members and they are not positive comments. I will most likely tell them one day, but not right now. My family tends to be very "gossipy" and i am sure i give them enough reasons to talk about me already. Lol.

Certain family members are very judgemental and i dont feel that i need to be the topic of everyone's conversation behind my back. In addition, both of my parents are very active, athletic, not over weight, and basically have no clue what its like to be 100 pounds overweight. Also, i have heard comments before about wls from my family members and they are not positive comments. I will most likely tell them one day, but not right now. My family tends to be very "gossipy" and i am sure i give them enough reasons to talk about me already. Lol.