Tanya_cotto

Hooray!!! Good for you!! The second meal sounds really yummy And just to give my two cents: if you're the one that's cooking then they have to eat what you prepare! So don't think that you can't have anything that you make! Prepare/Bake/Saute/cook/broil/grill etc... things that will set you up for success! If they don't like it, well tough! They can make their own naughty food and have them make you a fruit bowl while they're in the kitchen! =)

I'm pretty sure this is my first entry since 2013 started so lets catch up! I'm at 215 lbs turned 26 y/o still no kids, no bf/dh still searching for a job as i continue getting an education... Found out that I developed a food allergy to MILK because of the WLS Had my wisdom teeth pulled out last week (which was coincidentally the day of my last final!) I'm getting more interested in dating but still find it difficult since: 1. I live in Los Angeles, ca 2. I don't drink therefore going to a bar is silly 3. I still get anxious/self conscious since everyone here is literally stick thin or aspiring actress/actor thin 4. I'm picky My weight loss has plateaued since starting the spring 2013 semester at school I don't know if its the stress or the 60 mile round trip commute (about 1 hour each way) or a combination, but the scale isn't moving... But ALAS, summer is here, I'm way healthier and happier than i was a year ago, the garden is in bloom and i am HAPPY. Even my dog has lost weight. :wub: I do miss cheese though. we have a secret love affair, but then she makes me super nauseous and i have to lay down... this affair must end!! Things that haven't changed... Food still makes me sleepy, I live off of coffee my bp and bs still drop dramatically whenever i exercise Things i need to reinstate: Bedtime Eating out of small child-like plates reducing coffee amounts Drinking out of small cups Protein shakes... My go-to meal: Used to be number 9 at DEL TACO with a diet coke Now its a cup of brown rice with salsa with Iced tea or Iced Coffee Enough for now

Today was a good but tiring day. Had to do kennel duty for school, so up at 5:30am to get there by 6:45am. To my surprise we had lovely long eared rabbits new to the program, a new dog we are "borrowing" from a student. Spent 3 hours doing nothing but cleaning and disinfecting. I know that I'm super dehydrated since the RVT on staff had to repeat her directions 5x. It wouldn't stick no matter how hard I tired to retain the info! I also got really nauseated when I had to squat down to clean in the floor. Too much abdominal pressure?? I adore the weather. Slightly raining ( for Los Angeles standards) and windy. Sadly it aggregated my allergies so I have had itchy eyes all day. That plus my smelly clothes from cleaning and animal handling, and I am one smelly chick!! Hahaha! Post op appt went alright. I have developed lampers syndrome which is basically food sweats and nausea . Mine is triggered by a new food intolerance to dairy. Sad. But nothing I can't deal with.

Thanks all! I've also done piglets frogs crickets locus sheeps, ect... The smell never gets better, but my group mates have taken to chewing cinnamon gun, so that really helps!

Could also be that the food is too tough. Are you having milk/ dairy products? I have the same issue after eating but surgeon said it may be an intolerance to lactose foods or "rich" foods. Keep Track of what you have eaten when this happens and you may see a pattern if you have a developing intolerance

I'm so really really exhausted! Spent most of the day cleaning and organizing Ate a bit, 2 turkey meatballs from tj's 2oz sweat potatoe fries 2 Dino nuggets 3/4 meat sope 1 microwave Mac and cheese And lots of coffee! Start dissecting cats tomorrow in anatomy and physiology class. Will be a vegetarian for the next 6 weeks on weds and thurs due to cadaver and related smells. Also having my 1 months post op check up Even though its been about 7 weeks! Hopefully I wont wreak of formaldehyde and kittens. Sad but true.

Its no secret if you talk to me that i have a hard time making choices. Like buying toothpaste or choosing new foods to try, it takes time for me to make a decision. Lots of Googling and comparison. I've been looking up VSG guides from different hospitals to see what each says in regards to Foods, times and supplements. Here is what I've found after i broke down the charts and guides: (BTW I am not God, nor do i pretend to be, so please don't take this as THE word. Its just a guide-line cheat sheet i re-made for myself) (( Also, i am just 31 days post op, so this is tailored for my stage)) Breakfast *should be at 8am *(earlier then that if you have an early day, but it should be within 1 hour of waking up) *1/4 - 1/2 C of Fiber, fruit, OR Calcium * AND 1/4 - 1/2 C of protein or good carbohydrate (ex: yogurt, cottage cheese, apple sauce, soft eggs, cooked cereal) Supplements/ Vitamins *10 AM! * PLUS 1/2 c Protein Shake (or 25 g) * Some vitamins need FAT to be soluble (vitamins A D E K) If your taking these, use 1% milk or check your Protein drink labels! Lunch *12 pm *1/4 - 1/2 C soup or calcium * AND 1/4 C Protein ( ex: yogurt, cheese, egg/tuna/chicken salad, pureed fruit/veg) Snack *2 pm *1/4 - 1/2 C calcium or fiber *1 Sugar free treat (ex: cottage cheese, ricotta, pureed fruit or Veg, SF Popsicle, sf Jello, sf Pudding) Dinner *6 pm 1/4 - 1/2 C protein (or 1-2 oz) 1/4 C Fruit or Veg That's it. If you feel like you need more, eat more. If you can't eat quite this much yet, chill out and do your best! But make sure you get your liquids in each day!! If you need a reminder for that, drink 1/2 hour before each 'meal' You need to stay hydrated or your body will not operate, or heal, like it should. I like to add generic crystal light (walmart or target brands!), but i choose the sugar free, caffeine free ones that have vitamins included in powder ( ex: Kiwi-Strawberry or Grape from walmart) These are just suggestions, But are mainly for WHEN I have a brain power-outage and need some help! For easy food choices always get low/fat free food mind the sodium and the carbs Some little kid pre packaged foods are great! like pureed fruits (in little foil sacks, no spoon needed) fruits in light syrup or water deli turkey and ricotta cheese Go-gurt ect... Making this list has made me hungry! lol will have a 1/4 c OJ then off to bed. (didn't realize how much i missed OJ until i had some the other day!)

Barbi and Katie and Peace36love; Thank you so much for the responses! Its such helpful information! And Barbi, i have that book from my lapband days! Thanks again!

Its Official, I have been De-banded. Unbanded? Evicted from Bandland? whatever you want to call it, I'm here sitting on my bed, recovering from VSG surgery (26 days post op) without a band in my body. I've started a blog on the vsgtalk website http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/user/12946-luphoe/ so we can continue this conversation there. I'm so proud of everyone I've met on this journey, through this site, my September band-mates, as well as everything that i've learned. I'm still around for questions and convos just at a new location. Good luck to all my friends, old new and those i haven't met yet.

I think i should start with a quick recap since I've change from lapbandtalk to vertical sleeve talk. Basically i had the Band placed on Sept 30 2011. I had dreamed of nothing but being best friends with my band, holding hands and skipping in the park, towards a healthier me, but the band had other ideas. We were the best Frenimies, it would push and shove while i held on for dear life, but i loved it for everything it represented: a new life, love, cute clothes. You can read some of my past entries to see just how dark and miserable and unhealthy i had become with the band. My hair was falling out, my nails were white and flaking off, i was pbing, sliming, and vomiting everyday. I had a developing food phobia, and i wasn't eating nor drinking enough so my grades suffered (in college), my body suffered and so did my sanity. The worst part, my weight was always within 10 pounds of my surgery day weight. it never moved past that. This past June i decided to see what could be done after getting so tired of being tired and sick. I made an appt with the surgeon on July 10th to discuss my options Had insurance papers submitted within the week Was approved shortly after and was scheduled for surgery August 30, 2012 One month short of my bandiversery. Its bitter sweet now. I'm 26 days post op, down to 243 from 251 (surgery day weight) I'm not hungry like i was with the band, but i do feel pain when i'm "empty" I'm always drinking, but sometimes i get so frustrated with being thirsty that i gulp a bit too much and regret it immediately. Today was the first time that I've thrown up with the VSG and i realized that i needed to blog again. I'm PMSing as well, so everything is bloated and tender (including incision sites) And I've hit that 3-4 week stall weight wise. I never know what too eat what i can eat what i'm allowed too eat so sometimes i just stay 'hungry' so i don't hurt anything. I have realized though, that the extreme decrease in food has made me rather lethargic, but when i do eat, i feel like its thanksgiving night, all full and sleepy (and slightly stretched) I'm assuming its part of A) being a woman , healing slowly , and C) not getting enough protein. The one upside i felt within the first week Post op is that i am so much happier! i think it was in part just the relief of having the band out of me. Before the band, Way back to when i was a kid, i Hated vomiting! so much so that i'd hold everything in, even if it made me feel worse. Having the band and throwing up everyday for 11 months just sucked. I'm still tired, but happy and healing. And wondering if there is a VSG shopping list, or approved food list, Someone to please tell me what and when to EAT!

Thanks!!!!!

So my last Dr's appointment was July 18th 2012 Had a full unfill and a talk with Dr about a revision. got approval last friday Aug 10 Revision date set for August 31 2012. 17 more days!!!! Having Lap band taken out and revising to VSG, or the Sleeve! Hoping to have better Luck with it, and less constant pain! Yay! I have Hope again!!!

So this whole summer break is very boring. My car is unavailable to me for the next two weeks, so i'm stuck at home, watching daytime TV and since i have never had cable, or satellite TV, that means lots of talk shows and cooking shows ( the chew, Lidia's Italy Kitchen America, etc...) Basically I've been making some of the recipes i see, Just making them healthier, more organic, less fat. ,more yum. Today I made an Organic Corn soup. Added Carrots and basil from the garden. Was DElicious, used milk instead of cream or a heavier cheese. Made Tortilla soup last night. Onions, cilantro and tomatoes from the garden, plus garlic and chicken bouillon. I'm not really eating all that much more since I got the unfill, but i feel so much better that i did a month ago. Also been watching the Olympics! (( GO USA!!)) And i find that when i watch sports i'm familiar with ( soccer, boxing, swimming, biking, etc) My muscles tend to twitch. Like when i was watching the Men's Bike race, my legs where twitching when they would go up hill, my hands would reach from the brakes... in swimming and water polo my arms are stretching out. lol i'm feeling so silly.

So Last Thursday July 5th I received a full unfill. Surprisingly only 2.25cc were in there, even though i had kept tabs and was expecting 6cc. Since the unfill i have had no acid re-flux, the nausea is down, but food still is hesitant going down. i have noticed that a side effect of the unfill is gas coming out (burps) an hour or so after eating. not the lady like quiet ones, but the kind that make little kids laugh. I'm also more sleepy, which i just think is my body readjusting to food. (like after thanksgiving dinner you knock out) All in all i'm feeling WAY better and have a Dr's appointment to discuss the revision and other issues that may come up. I also seem to have fractured my pinky and ring finger on my right hand, so things have been awkward as far as using that hand is concerned. sleep is settling in. Good night Lapbanders! Have Wonderful sleep so you can kick but tomorrow

Just took a big sigh before starting this blog. I'm at a loss for words to describe how frustrated i am at myself, the world, the people in the world, and at my band. When i first thought of having this surgery i was like 16 and i had images of getting the band and being best friends with it, holding hands and running on the beach-type of images. If i had only known the massive headache I would have with the band, i would have taken more time then 'the 3 month supervised diet' to make an informed decision. When i had the surgery, i did not even get the band that i wanted. I had researched different brands and sizes, what their results were, their ratings and comments. Day of surgery my surgeon did not even entertain the notion of a choice. Now i'm 9 months out, with a constant headache, stomach ache, achy-aches and not a remarkable weight loss. ALL of my doctors (general, specialist, dental, vision, etc) have told me that i need a revision since i have not lost a dime's worth of my weight. They see it as a joke since i have had no success, my family sees me as a joke since i have had no success. I am the butt of most jokes, the surgery and band have become the butt of all insults with my sister constantly telling me to have another lap-band surgery my parents telling me I've taken the easy way out... And yet I find myself thinking that I'd do it all again. I have not only lost myself, but also found out more about myself in these last couple of months than I have previously. I have had many epiphanies and made many goals. Some accomplished, some still categorized as dreams. I have made friends and lost others. Found new interests and rid myself of self destructive behaviors. I have gone both long and far, stayed on this path and gotten lost on this journey to and beyond the magical place we all call BandLand. I wish in the purest way possible that this journey had taken me on a more direct path to my destination. That the literal pain and anguish suffered had been worth it, but alas, i could have taken a shortcut around those parts. Now that I have to consider a revision, its not much of a consideration at all. I Have to do it. I honestly thought that having the band surgery done was the LAST resort, the one that would save my life from being overweight, unhealthy and unhappy. But that was pure and utter nonsense. Without the revision i'd be stuck with aches and pains ( of which I am having right now both at the top of my pouch and at the bottom of my stomach), With the ridicule (mostly of myself, mostly) of failure, and Stuck at an unhappy-unmoving part of my life. I wish things were easier. But easy has never been all that easy.

Happy Belated Wedding! I'm so excited and i wasn't even there! Love the photos! Looking good!

Don't jinx it! Just enjoy the ride! I've been overfilled for months and just got deflated to the point where i'm functional again!

I've been going over my blog entries and i realized that i have been so miserable and mopey. i could barely stand myself. Just looking back makes me realize that having been overly filled was such a huge mistake that affected me in ways i didn't even notice. Its been 2 days since I had that Huge (to me anyways) unfill, and all the colors are brighter, the day is nicer, and my outlook is happier. I actually had breakfast this morning. Well, it was a small homemade tortilla, but to me that's a huge step forward. I also had a steaming mug of Coffee, but that's nothing unusual. Going to the gym seems like a good idea, but going to the beach with my dogs sounds way better! Still going to run, just a nicer setting!

Yesterday I had an appointment to have an unfill, and it couldn't have been too soon. They took out approx. 1.5 cc's and i haven't felt better since mid January. Dinner Yesterday was the most I've eaten (about a full cup) since January. It was my third unfill and these are the reasons i decided to deflate: 1. My hair was falling out 2. My nails were flaking off 3. I wasn't sleeping 4. I wasn't able to concentrate 5. I wasn't loosing weight 6. i was getting stuck, slimming, PBing everyday 7. I had started vomiting (the dangerous kind) 8. I wasn't happy and most importantly 9. I was developing a food phobia. While it may seem ideal for an overweight person to have a food phobia, it had gotten to the point where i would have only have massive amounts of coffee in a day. Maybe a sugar free fat free vanilla pudding (60 cals) or 1/2c tomato soup (90 cals) I stopped functioning, i would cry at the thought of eating, my bm's where nonexistent, and i had fallen down more than once. I'm still having this internal battle because part of me still doesn't want to eat (because getting stuck sucks and hurts) and the other part thinks with the amount of fill I had removed, i should overeat to make up the nutrients that i'm missing. (Basically Binge) I've been a good girl though, Ate dinner last night, but am trying to convince myself to eat some breakfast/lunch. I'm still scared but more willing to try some foods. Before the unfill i was tight until 4pm then i'd end up eating too close to bedtime. So i need to start earlier in the day. i'm looser now so i shouldn't be overly tight in the morning, just more-restricted. I still have some hurdles in front of me, but as the Brit's say i'm going to "Give it a Go" until everything is alright.

You can also try drinking warm/hot tea. I have issues with cold liquids so it may help you get some liquid in. Did you have any liquid placed in the band during surgery?

I've had an unfill, but still have issues getting food down that aren't hot. Still no breads or rice or pastas, or meats or fruits\veggies . Tough time. Not even coming close to the food portions I need to lose weight. Retaining everything I eat!

So i had an unfill that made me very very happy (although the Dr. looked pissed i asked for one (( not one on profile, other Dr.))) I still regurgitate at least once a day, but i am able to eat real food, but only after about 3:30pm, before then i get stuck. Tried oatmeal this morning, able to get about 1/3c down before i slimmed. Had an accident at the movie theater (described below) that has left me bruised and battered, so walking is an issue, much less working out! bah!! Story: You know when you walk up the stairs in the movie theater? picture the first seat next to the aisle. right behind the seat (or the back of the seat) next to the stairs is a small triangle shape where the seat doesn't fit all the way. yeah that spot, right there... So, i'm walking up said stairs and i take a miss step only to have my leg (up to the top of my knee) fall through that triangle. its a very small triangle for a 5'3 249lb woman. i didn't touch the ground because my fat stop me. My leg is bruised from my calf to my knee. the joint is swollen and it still hurts to walk. And i'm convinced that if i had not been wearing my cowgirl boots my ankle, leg or knee would have been fractured or broken. Yeah, FML

I feel the same! Although i have some fear of certain foods (i remember really bad stuck episodes) i still have some trouble eating fruits and veggies, but i've been able to get down lots and lots of tomato soup from trader joe's! yummers!

Oh, home made bread! yummers. you can also buy soy flour that is higher in fiber and protein and sub it in or mix it with organic unbleached flour. great taste!