Caribear

I agree, I'd wait until after surgery. But what a great idea!

I had my second of nine supervised diet visits today. I wanted to go in anyway because I have been having trouble with my feet swelling. Not just regular swelling, but the kind of swelling that makes the skin hurt because it is being pulled so tight. I spent almost all day on the couch Saturday because my feet were so swollen and painful that I could hardly walk. So today I went in with my food and exercise logs to get my visit done and over with. I got on the scale without taking off my shoes or coat, and so the number showed that I had actually gained a little since my last visit. My scale at home says I am holding steady. My doctor looked over my logs and said he was pleased with what I was doing. I told him about the swelling and he poked at my ankles a little bit, then said he would order a blood test to make sure that my kidneys were functioning normally. He also said that my blood pressure was a little high, and that if it was still elevated at my next visit, he would put me on a blood pressure medication and a diuretic. I guess that the elevated blood pressure is both good and bad. Bad because, well, nobody needs high blood pressure. But good because it will probably indicate more of a need to the insurance company for the surgery - another comorbidity. I mentioned to the doctor that my blood pressure is usually normal unless I am in a fair amount of pain, which I was today and have been for the past few days. He agreed but said that he would still put me on the medication if it was still elevated next time. I noticed on the receipt that he also ordered a test for my thyroid hormones, probably because I haven't lost any more weight despite eating less than 2000 calories per day and burning from 300 to 600 per day with exercise (numbers from myfitnesspal.com) So they will call me with the results sometime later this week and we will see what they say. Two down, seven to go. The goal is coming slowly but surely. I think I can, I think I can!

I would agree with Pollyanna. I'm pre-band too, but I think just literally starting over would be a good idea. And congratulations on your success so far, that's great! So far as the drinks go, I can't give you any advice except maybe check Amazon and see if they have them available with two-day shipping. You can do this, I know you can!

You can do it! I know it seems like it's going on forever right now, but every day you are that much closer to being done with it. It does seem like a really long time, but just hold on. Hugs and prayers <3

I have heard many people on this board getting so upset about weight gain and lack of weight loss. And don't get me wrong, I completely understand. I have gotten on the scale myself and had that sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw the number. I have wanted to scream and cry when I saw the number go up. Trust me, I understand. But there is something that I was missing, and that was Godly love. I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was four years old. I don't remember if I even understood what that meant at the time, but it was what the grown-ups wanted from me, so I did it. I went to church with my mom until my pre-teen years. But then things started to fall apart in our family and we all lost our way. I don't want to get into it all right now, but there were many things that happened that were emotionally painful, and I felt like God had turned his back on me. I felt lost and abandoned. So I gave into the world's way of living, doing basically whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I still felt like I was a good person, and I believed in God, but felt like he didn't want much to do with me. After years of living this way, I noticed that He was showing up in my life more and more. Little things that would happen, little comments that people would make. I felt the need to go back to Him, but I didn't. I thought that after all of the bad things I had done, all the commandments I had broken, that there would never be a church that would accept me. After all, you can't be a Christian without going to church, right? But God kept insisting, kept calling me. Eventually I went out and bought myself a Bible and started to read. It took me a while, but it finally dawned on me that I didn't have to go to church to be a Christian again. I didn't need other people to accept me to be a Christian. I didn't have to be perfect. I didn't have to have a perfect past. Jesus did most of His work among the people who the church considered "undesirable," like prostitutes and tax collectors. If Jesus could accept them and love them, maybe He could love me too. Several months later, I was watching a television show on Daystar network, a Christian station. The woman who was speaking was talking about God's love. She said something that changed the way I looked at myself forever. "God loves you just the way you are," she said (paraphrasing.) "You don't have to lose ten pounds, you don't have to do anything different for him to love you." The woman was Joyce Meyer, and I have watched her regularly ever since. But that message really opened my eyes. It's really true. God loves you exactly the way you are right at this very moment. He loves you just as much as he loves anyone else. You are His child, and he made you knowing that you would be just who you are right now. He knew you would do everything you have ever done, good and bad, and he loved you just the same. When you feel the most unloveable, He still loves you just as much as He ever did. Even if you don't believe in Him, He still loves you! How wonderful! If you take anything at all from this blog, I want you to know that you are loved. You are loved more than you know, more than you could ever believe possible. And this love is not dependent on how much weight you lose, what kind of clothes you wear, or even how you act. You are loved simply because you exist, and you are important simply because you were born. God does not do things by mistake, and He would not waste time creating something that He was not proud of. It is important to take care of your body and make sure that you stay healthy, because our bodies are our home until we are done with our journey on the earth, but your weight is not everything. It is part of you, but not the thing that defines you. Even if you never reach your goal weight, God sees you for the beautiful creation that you are. And I hope that you do too.

It's not something you're doing, it's perfectly normal. If you don't have any fill in your band, it won't be providing you much restriction if any. The early weight loss is probably from when your stomach was healing. A lot of people gain weight during this period, so I would say you're doing great! Just hang in there.

Hi all! I am subscribed to an email newsletter called Godvine. Every weekday they send me an email with a verse, several video clips, and a story. This story was in the letter from yesterday, 2/3. It really warmed my heart, so I had to share it with you all. "Get Off The Scale Whether weight is a 'problem' in your life or it's some other single factor, this can apply to everyone. Never forget it! You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable. Day after day, countless people across the globe get on a scale in search of validation of beauty and social acceptance. Get off the scale! I have yet to see a scale that can tell you how enchanting your eyes are. I have yet to see a scale that can show you how wonderful your hair looks when the sun shines its glorious rays on it. I have yet to see a scale that can thank you for your compassion, sense of humor, and contagious smile. Get off the scale because I have yet to see one that can admire you for your perseverance when challenged in life. It's true, the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That's it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don't give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!" Source: Something I Just Had To Share

Hi all! I am subscribed to an email newsletter called Godvine. Every weekday they send me an email with a verse, several video clips, and a story. This story was in the letter from yesterday, 2/3. It really warmed my heart, so I had to share it with you all. "Get Off The scale Whether weight is a 'problem' in your life or it's some other single factor, this can apply to everyone. Never forget it! You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable. Day after day, countless people across the globe get on a scale in search of validation of beauty and social acceptance. Get off the scale! I have yet to see a scale that can tell you how enchanting your eyes are. I have yet to see a scale that can show you how wonderful your hair looks when the sun shines its glorious rays on it. I have yet to see a scale that can thank you for your compassion, sense of humor, and contagious smile. Get off the scale because I have yet to see one that can admire you for your perseverance when challenged in life. It's true, the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That's it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don't give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!"

I agree with you completely, Elcee. I just thought it was important to share because I personally have lost count of the number of times I have been treated like something less than human because of my weight. There have been many times that people have dismissed me completely without even bothering to learn anything about me. They have treated me badly, sometimes very cruelly and inappropriately. After having this happen so many times, I eventually started to believe them and gave up trying to lose weight. I lost my self-esteem and decided that it was easier to comfort myself with food than work so hard at losing only to be told that I still wasn't good enough. It took me a long time to re-discover that sense of self-worth. I guess I am hoping that by hearing the message that we all have immense value beyond our weight will encourage people to feel more worthy of the effort it takes to keep losing and not give up like I did.

I have to agree with everyone here, you look great! And thank you for sharing, I know how hard it is to put yourself out there when people have reacted negatively in the past. It does take a lot of courage to make yourself so vulnerable. Thank you.

The tightness is common after any abdominal laparoscopic surgery, I think. I had it after I had my gallbladder removed. I quit taking my prescription pain meds after just a few days and was trying to get along with just tylenol, but ended up in urgent care because I thought the tightness was a sign of something wrong. The doctor told me that it happens because all of those abdominal structures have been "traumatized" by the surgery, but they don't have the right nerves to send a pain signal, so they just create this feeling of tightness. She scolded me and told me to take my prescription pain meds because that's what they're there for. I think the exact phrase she used was "don't try to be a hero" lol! Anyway, I hope you are feeling better very soon, and congratulations on your new beginning!

It's ok to be upset about it, I think I would be too. But I am glad that you have had some positive stuff happen to make you feel better. Just remember, as much as it doesn't seem like it now, this is just a temporary setback. The two weeks will be over before you know it. You can do this!

I have had this issue in the past - how cold is your Water? If it's too cold the powder won't mix well. Try room-temp water and see if that helps. Also a great thing to get is a Blender Bottle. It's a plastic drink bottle with a little wire whisk-like ball in it, and it makes it a lot easier to mix any kind of powder. They're also great for scrambled eggs (just have a dedicated egg bottle.) I got mine from nutrition express, but they sell them on Amazon and in most health food catalogs. Here's the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co...28328076&sr=8-1

Congratulations!!

It's times like these past few days that make me question whether I can actually do this or not. The past several days have been really rough. Thursday through Sunday were high pain days, the kind of days where I really didn't want to do anything but curl up on the couch and cry. I have tramadol to take for the pain, so I went ahead and took it for the last two days. Then Sunday I woke up with a migraine so bad that I couldn't keep anything down, including water. After throwing up for six hours, I decided to go to the emergency room. I really dislike going in there for pain, but I didn't want to end up getting dehydrated and become really sick. They gave me fluids and a few shots, and I came home feeling halfway human again. Yesterday I laid on the couch for most of the day, being harassed by my three-year-old. I don't usually do that, so he just assumed that I was doing it for his own personal enjoyment and tried to use me as a jungle gym. To help me feel better, he put his praise CD on his radio and turned it up really loud so I could hear it. He danced and sang for me for a little while, but then he got bored and went to play on the computer with his dad, leaving me to listen to the music on repeat. It was very sweet of him to try and help, but let me tell you that one can only listen to the Veggie Tales cast sing "This Little Light Of Mine" before one seriously considers chucking the CD out the window. Of course, with all this pain competing for attention in my head, my healthy eating plan backslid quite a bit. We had takeout twice, and the other days were mostly high-carb convenience foods. I know that it probably didn't help me feel better, but when I'm in pain I don't care too much about healthy - it's all about what I can make with the least amount of effort. It's this very thing that makes me wonder how I will do this after being banded. I try very hard to keep fairly healthy stuff around that I can make quickly, but when that runs out I'm willing to get almost anything as long as it's not ridiculously unhealthy. And sending my boyfriend to the store to get "something good" for supper is not necessarily a good idea either. I guess next time I need to specify "good" as in "healthy," and definitely NOT pizza rolls. I guess this is something I will have to talk to my nutritionist about when I see her next week; maybe she will have some ideas that I can use for the next time. I am proud to say that I won the battle with the leftover chocolate cake in the refrigerator, though. My boyfriend ate most of it, and left the last slice for me. I was determined not to eat any more of it, so I just ignored it until it went stale and then I actually threw it away!!!

Excellent list! This should be required reading for anyone considering the band.

Yay! So happy for you!!

I also have medicaid in Ohio (Caresource) and am being covered - doing my 9 months now. But I also wanted to add that if your BMI is over 50, you only need one comorbidity according to my doctor and my surgeon's paperwork. Thanks for posting this, I know I was really confused about this stuff when I first started thinking about WLS.

Congratulations! I wish you a speedy recovery!

I refreeze shrimp all the time, just make sure when you defrost it not to overcook it because it can get rubbery in a hurry. So far as veggie side dishes, here's one of my favorites: 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced 1 large tomato, diced 3-4 stalks green onion 4 oz crumbled feta cheese 1 Tb. olive oil 1 Tb. lemon juice 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. dill (depending on how much you like dill) Stir all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least one hour. This makes enough for several servings. It's really yummy in the summer, and could really be a light meal. I got the idea from the Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook For Dummies. I'm still pre-band, but wanted to make sure I could fix things that would taste good and still meet my high-protein requirements. You can do this, I know you can!

Hi Jim, I know how you feel. I have around 200 to lose too. There are people on here who have lost more than that, like Cazzy, and they are great inspirations to me. I think if you believe you can do it, you can. Good luck!

Is it just me, or are more and more food commercials starting to look more like food porn? Granted, I am probably a little bit more sensitive today because of the leftover chocolate birthday cake in the refrigerator that I have successfully been avoiding all day. But really, today's food commercials are getting a little out of hand. It seems like the two main types that are airing now are the "look how happy you can make your family and yourself by eating our food" commercials, and the "food porn" commercials. If I stop and think back, I can remember food advertising going through several different stages in recent history. The first one, which was several years ago, was the "we know how busy you are, so why not make it easy on yourself and buy our food?" movement. They basically played on the fact that most american families were two-income households, and seemed to be trying to do us a favor by taking care of the meal preparation. Never mind the fact that the food was loaded with fat, sugar, and salt. The next phase I recall is the "healthy options" movement. This is when americans started to wise up to what they were putting in their bodies, post-Super-Size-Me. Instead of featuring fries and burgers, most commercials featured salads or some sort of "fresh" options. Unfortunately, after not too long people began to realize that even their salads and other "healthy" foods were not nearly as good for you as they would have you believe. You can make anything fattening if you slather it with enough ranch dressing. The current type of food commercials running are the "happy family" commercials. Example: The Little Caesar's commercial that talks about how making your family happy is as simple as spending five measly dollars on their pizza. Another gem: Arby's new slogan. "It's Good Mood Food." This type of advertising really irritates me. I understand that the job of advertisers is to make you want to eat their food, but by exploiting the issues that so many people have with emotional eating? Really? Are they that desperate to sell me a hamburger? But the latest generation of commercials seems to be the "food porn" commercials. You've seen them, I'm sure. The announcer talks seductively about how toasty, cheesy, melty, or chocolaty their food is while Barry White-esque music plays in the background. And it seems like there are more of them every day. It does make me laugh, though, that almost every time I see one of these it is immediately followed by a Weight Watchers commercial. I realize that the purpose of these ads is simply to get you to buy what they are selling. They are not at all interested in your health, how you feel, or whether their food will actually contribute to your happiness and well-being. The motive is profit. But it is amazing how well they are able to get under your skin just enough to get you to say "oh, that does look good. Maybe I'll go there..." But I have discovered my own secret weapon against these commercials: DVR. I will record my shows, then when I am ready to watch them I will fast forward through the commercials. Now I don't have to be worried about being tempted by anything that isn't already in my refrigerator. Did I mention there was chocolate cake in my refrigerator? Shoot, now I want cake. Where's my hunger tool box...

I'm not banded yet, but I can tell you that two pounds is definitely not unusual for me. I have back issues that cause lots of swelling, and I can gain or lose up to five pounds overnight. Don't be too worried about it, there are so many things that can cause your weight to fluctuate that you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what it is. I don't worry about it anymore unless it continues to go up and not back down. You're doing great, though!

How great that you found something you really enjoy. And awesome NSV, by the way!

I feel your pain, Gerry. But awesome job on the weight loss!