TerriDoodle

Laura - 1st things 1st -- WOW!! I can really tell a difference!! Especially across your shoulder blade area and your arms! Hey! Where's your butt?? I am losing my "enthusiasm" too Josie. As a matter of fact I took off this whole week! My attitude was just really sucking because of my Quit and I just didn't care!! Then I thought that maybe it would not be such a bad idea to purposely take a week off every 2-3 months....like a vacation. When you go up to NY what will you do for exercise anyway? Maybe you can take some time off then. I'll make sure you get back on track!! Uh, did we decide what day we're meeting for lunch? Any day but Monday for me. I'm glad ya'll like your bracelets! You're so very welcome! I think DH believes I'm delusional or something...the way I talk about you guys like you're "real" and I consider you my "friends"! Men. You can't really expect them to understand. Yep!! Well, this weekend DH and I are at Lake Conroe in a huge golf/boating neighborhood where we'd like to move in a couple of years. They have little townhomes that you can rent and stay for the weekend...eat at the yacht club, go to the spa, workout in the gym, go swim, etc....get the feel of living here. It was probably a mistake because we've been here only a few hours and I'm already whining!!! The houses range from $175K to over $1.5 million (for example! Search Detail) and the neighborhoods are stunning. Uh, we're looking near the bottom of that price range, BTW!! DH lives for golf and he's worked really hard his whole life. He deserves this. (sounds good eh? :heh:) He's playiing golf and I'm going for a workout and a facial tomorrow. That'll be nice. I love facials!! If you've never had one....go immediately and get one. OMG!! They're better than getting a massage in my book. Restriction is better! I've been very strictly eating mushies and liquid.

Zannie -- ?? How are you doing, sweetie??

Yeah, a bowel getting nicked is something that could just as easily happen here as in Mexico....that's just one of the risks of this surgery. I suppose the bowel leakage thing is hard to detect?? Seems like the girl would have been running a high fever..but maybe that comes later. What a shame!!! On a GOOD note....the scale finally moved for me today after a day and a half of liquids! 188.2...and on my official weigh in day, too This Chantix I'm taking is giving me wierd, vivid dreams. I'm up again early today even though I have the day off just because the dream was making me mad and would not stop!!! I was so mad in the dream that I had a cigarette! LOL Glas it was just a dream. But I did wake up wanting one in the worst way! Glad you girls like your bracelets. It was fun making them. They're all different so I don't know who got what ('cause I can't remember now). If they break or are too small or too big, send it back and I can fix that real easy. The rest of you should be getting yours today or tomorrow...they were all sent on Tuesday. Kat - are you feeling better today? I have this REAL thing about noise!! I just can't stand it. I hate the TV (generally) for that same reason. Wouldn't y'know that my DH is an addict. Hope you have a good day today. Tracy - I'm still laughing about the nuns! Thanks for that. Too funny. Josie - How was your BBQ and the visit with the kids?? SchexyMomma - How are you doing??? Time for you to check in, eh? I'm gonna stay on liquids today...maybe very soft mushies...but nothing more! I'm gonna baby this thing for 2 weeks.

That is just way sick. I recommend therapy....this is serious!

I went for my 4th fill yesterday and when the nurse was evaluating whether or not to give me a fill, she asked me if I could eat more than 1/2 of a Lean Cuisine. When i said yes, she said I could have a fill! That sounds like about 4 oz. Does that help?

YOU are my new best friend!!!

When I saw the title of this post, I thought it was some kind of JOKE! I was self-pay too and I think this is the best $13,000 i ever spent! I'd drive an old jaloppy for 5 years if I had to...I'd never give up my band! (And I've had lots of PB's! It's not that big of a deal!) Best of luck to you and here's some words of wisdom: Stay away from the Complications board!!!

"How much you can eat" varies according to the amount of restriction you have. When I'm most restricted I eat about 1/4 cup of food; when I'm least restricted (after my 1st fill) I could eat up to 2 cups of something like salad with a little chicken. Sorry, it's just hard to answer your question.

Oh, that's cool! What doctor did that? An obesity specialist or what? I'd be real curious to see what mine is. When I started tracking my calories and still eating some of my faves (before banding, I guess) I found out that my 2 favorite salads that I habitually ate each had 900 calories!!! :faint: So, no, Steak and Shake is definitely not alone! It's crazy. ...and I think Texas beats Alabama. I know Houston is in the top 5 or 10 cities. Ugh. Gotta love that southern cooking! (and I DO!)

I wear black crop leggings and a baggy T-shirt. I take OFF my makeup 'cause nothing is worse than sweat AND mascara in your eyes. You can imagine what a beautiful sight I am when I'm leaving that place...but, by then, I'm so tired (but feel GREAT) I don't give a hoot. Man, I would LOVE to hear "You're looking GREAT" from a complete stranger at the gym. That would totally make my week! :biggrin1:

Oh, Tracy.... I also meant to say (but I was too busy ranting) that I agree with Michelle. Small ceremony now, family there, and big party in March. No secrets.

I got filled to 2.8 yesterday and I kinda made a face at the nurse when she said that. She said, "Oh, you've got PLENTY of room. We just keep filling you up and then when we hit 4 we ask Dr. Spivak for his opinion on doing more." So I guess it's still a possibility...but by the time you get that high, you probably won't need more. BTW, I am doing ok. I ate 1/4c then started sliming. So....I guess 1/4c of food is my max for now! Which is good! I'm not hungry. C'mon scale!!! Now you see the real value in tracking calories! Those damn restaurants are killing us with the calories!! It's an eye-opening journey, eh girls? [RANT ON] And remember....your calorie requirements go down as your weight goes down...so it has to be recalculated often. Besides, if that calorie deficit thing was for real, I'd be losing 1/2# a day. People like me that just have a ridiculously slow metabolism can just throw the book away on that "rule"! Supposedly I can "maintain" on 2500 cals a day...but I'm "maintaining" on 1500 calories a day (NOT including exercise). So, essentially, that means to lose 2# a week I'd have to eat no more than about 500-600 cals a day. NOT! [RANT OFF]

I'm sliming on cottage cheese.

I love nun stories and nun jokes. Nuns just give me the creeps...always have always will I spent 10 years in catholic private schools -- 'nuf said. BTW -- It is taking me a full hour to eat 1/2 cup of cottage cheese! At this rate I'll be eating all day long to get my meals & protein in.

Sorry, Tracy....but I am rolling on the floor laughing mao!!!!!!!!

Hey! I do that too!!! Congrats, Alex, on being re-banded. I hope you're doing well!

You're embarrassed at your weight??? Time to take another look in the mirror, dearie!

....OH, and WHEAT THINS!

Good Morning Violets! Couldn't sleep. Ok, so I went to see my mom for dinner last night and she wanted Mexican food. So we sit down and they bring tortilla chips. Nope, not gonna have one of those! I ordered tortilla soup, Mom ordered tamales....she says they're wonderful. Well I can never find a good restaurant tamale so I'm curious now...and I figure they're mushy, right? So I take a small bite and chew it very well. Goes down fine. BUT WAIT!!! Suddenly I'm feeling a bit nauseous and slime is beginning to form rapidly in my throat. CRAP!!! SHIT!!! DAMN!!! (Mom doesn't know I'm banded. She'd only worry.) Sit there and panic...but only for a minute...because now I'm desperate to make a run for the bathroom. But DAMN! my quads hurt from doing all those *%&$^& lunges!! so I can barely get up and walk. I excuse myself saying with a mouthful of slime, "I'm jush ghunna hash cha gho to zsa vashroom...." Just as I close the bathroom stall door I violently vomited twice!! This is what I call a PB DeLuxe!!! Another food off the list. Thank goodness I still had brothy soup waiting for me. There were huge chunks of that evil, evil chicken in there and lots of crunchy veggies...but I ate around those you can be sure of that. Packed up the good stuff to bring back home to DH. Thankfully my mom is 'not all there' and does not notice a lot of things. Things I can't eat/get stuck on?? TAMALES dry chicken deli meat anything fried pizza crust fruit peels nuts, unless I chew the heck out of 'em watermelon beef, unless it's filet mignon or jerky (!) soft part of bread (sometimes) flour tortillas eggs (don't try them often, got stuck bad 2-3 times) .... that's all for now; I'm quite sure I'll be adding to the list!! Ya'll have a good day. Day 4!! yea!!!

Oh, Kat! I'm a VERY good thrower-outer!!! Wish I could be there to help!! Thanks for the kudos on the Quit. I'm hanging. Today is much better than the last 2, but still not easy. Haven't heard from Sara!? Not a good sign. Michelle - Yeah, I used to love chicken! (LOL Tracy) I'm a big fish fan now!! Used to hate fish! <sigh> Were you trying to swallow all that slime or were you spitting it out?? Swallowing it will only cause more pain, y'know. (Well, you do NOW!) Most important thing now is like Kat said: liquids and mushies ONLY for the next 2-3 days!! Otherwise you will most likely have another PB, and another, and another....until you go on liquids! Might as well get it over with. I have tried the paypaya enzymes, BTW, and they work very well to get things unstuck. TracyKS - I've been slacking too...all week! I did a zillion lunges on Sunday and haven't been able to WALK ever since! OMG. I had a ear/throat infection of some sort AND on top of that I wasn't smoking. I was like, "To hell with it all" and didn't give a rat's a$$. Still don't. Legs still hurt anyway. I AM NEVER DOING ANOTHER LUNGE EVER. This is the 4th time they've done this to me. No more lunges. Ever. Tonight I have to visit my mom. I'll be back at the gym tomorrow. I'll try to be happy about it. Laura - I've seen you post a few times that you're eating late at night. You better be careful, girlfriend, you're gonna end up with reflux and you do NOT want that. No eating anything within 3 hours of bedtime, ok? I want you to stay healthy as possible. Maybe have a glass of milk to take the edge off...it's good for you, too!! Major congrats on the huge drop in sizes!!! That's incredible! Haydee - How'd your lunch hold you? If you're starving like that again (like at 11:00a) just have a small piece of cheese or 10 almonds! I promise that will get you thru to lunch. No point in starving like that...besides, it makes you want to wolf down your lunch and that's the path straight to PB-ville, baby.

Ok, I'm back from my fill. She put in .5cc!!! Ooooooooooo, I'm gonna be tight!!! I'm at 2.8cc now!! They also showed I lost 6# in 8 weeks. That's not what my scale shows!! Whatever...It's not enough! I showed her the picture of that brown spot by my port scar that I had after last fill (remember that?)....she was mystified too. BUT all my fill was still there from last time, so it's not leaking and that was my main concern.

OH!! I have terrible trouble with those things too!!! I think mine are 'whole grain' wheat thins and I eat 6-7 with my tuna for lunch sometimes. I get pain with those things every time! I just thought it was the way I was eating or whatever. They go in the trash now!!...they weren't very good anyway. The important thing is that you are tracking them!! This really helps you to make better choices. Just keep tracking!! I would have done the same thing. It's not such a bad choice in your situation...you were probably damn hungry! Got a little calcium in the deal too. But NO MORE!!! :heh: ...and I trust you're using good products too? Nothing too heavy, like gel. Bumble & Bumble make a great 'volumizer' spray...see if your salon carries it. Sebastian hair spray is awesome. I'd be lost without those two products. OK, peeps...I'm on Day 3 of my quit. Feeling a bit better today. I go for a fill at lunchtime and I'm really bracing for some major restriction. I just feel I'm right on the edge of being loose one day and tight the next...I can't decide if I really need a fill, but I'm gonna go for it and see what happens. I'm going to be a model bandster the next two weeks for sure. OH!! And I had a major bandster revelation yesterday!!! Just because you CAN put away 1 to 1.5 cups of food, doesn't mean you SHOULD!! Let me clarify: I had gotten a SB frozen meal for lunch yesterday. I generally HATE any kind of frozen dinner but I was in a crunch. I nuked it when I got back to the office then ended up eating only about 1/2 of it....it was disgusting....and I injested about 150 calories worth of chicken and broccoli. I remained satisfied until 5:00! Ok, so what was my lesson here? 1) I don't need to feel the food backing up into my esophagus before I consider myself 'done eating'. 2) My instrux are to eat 1/2-3/4 cup of food at one sitting (regardless of if I feel 'full' or not) and that is what I need to do!!! (It's a RULE, dammit) Now, of course, this is totally contrary to the way I've trained myself to eat for the last 49 years and it will take a conscious effort to stop waiting for that full feeling and just follow the rule of 1/2 - 3/4 c of food. I simply need to stop overserving myself. If I am in a restaurant, I need to ask for the to-go box FIRST and load up the extra before I even begin my meal. This is good stuff. I'm posting this to my journal. I wish I could tatoo it on my arm!!

My God, Kat! How in the world have you turned out to be such a warm and loving individual? Un-freaking-believable. I am at a loss for words.

Uh...YEAH!! Like everybody HERE!! Only you know what's right for you and I am not familiar with the complications asthma brings into the picture so I won't advise you one way or the other there. But I will tell you that we all went thru those fears. I just kept reading posts here and realized that all these people pushed thru their fears and came out the other side exclaiming about how much they love their bands! I just bit my lip and went through with it. Super glad I did!!

I can answer your third question... yes, it should ease up a bit over the next few days as long as you don't irritate it by eating foods that get stuck. Sounds like you are pretty tight so take it real easy with risky foods. I find that this severe restriction goes away after about 10-12 days (but that's me). If yours doesn't ease up after 2 weeks, see your doctor. You can't live on 1 cup of food a day and get the nutrients you need.