Moonlitedi

I have had to spend a fortune buying new clothes and have done serious damage to my credit card. I also keep having to reintroduce myself as neighbours and other aquaintances don't recognise me.

The key is to eat slowly. If you eat fast and only junk it will hurt and fail. Remember protein first. Lean meats and veggies. Sugar free stuff if you want somethign sweet. Eating fast may cause you to feel like you swallowed a golf ball and have to wait it out until it passes. If you follow the guildlines you will be fine. Working out more is a bonus to kick start and help lose faster. Its a tool not a magical cure. You work with it and it will greatly reward you down the road. Good Luck to you and if you have any qustions ask me. I'm always happy to share my experiences.

The key is to eat slowly. If you eat fast and only junk it will hurt and fail. Remember protein first. Lean meats and veggies. Sugar free stuff if you want somethign sweet. Eating fast may cause you to feel like you swallowed a golf ball and have to wait it out until it passes. If you follow the guildlines you will be fine. Working out more is a bonus to kick start and help lose faster. Its a tool not a magical cure. You work with it and it will greatly reward you down the road. Good Luck to you and if you have any qustions ask me. I'm always happy to share my experiences.

I highly recomend YOGA. Its slow movements that make you sweat balls. I have been doing it on thursday at work for an hour and I have become more flexable and feel really good after.

Ok, I'm starting to get a little confused here. This last fill did me real good. I was very tight, almost too tight for my liking. I was definately in the green zone, maybe a Dark Green per some other posts I've read. So, I'm used to being very tight one day, and then pretty loose the next. I understand the concept of stress, water, salt, TOM, etc. giving me added tightness. So, on 6/18 i had a scheduled fill. I canceled that because I had been pretty tight. For the past week or so, I've been pretty consistently loose so I scheduled another fill for 7/9, a small one though. Now tonight, I'm eating tuna, which NEVER bothers me, and its taken me real slow eating it. I mean real slow and I can feel myself tightening up again. Sooooo....is this normal for the green zone? Should I not go in for my fill? I really don't like to be too tight where I can't tolerate lean proteins, such as white chicken, lean turkey, eggs, etc. When i'm that tight that its a pain to eat, i find myself turning to slider foods. I do much better with eating healthy in MY green zone, which is probably on the looser end of the green zone. So if you were going back and forth on tightness, would you get a fill or wait it out some more?

SInce i decided to get this done, many people either have commended me or ridiculed me. The main reason why people think I got the Lap Band, is becuase they think i just want to be skinny woman, no, not at all actually , im doing this becuase it will help me not only lead a healthy life and examply for my son, but it will bring me much more out of life. iM ONLY 26 AND i HAVE SLEEP APNEA! border line diebetic and other stuff, hormonal inbalances, and more.. Itll all be gone when the weight is gone. There is nothing better than spending a nice sunny afternoon playing tag or whatever with your kids, not feeling too tired to participate, its great! Also, not deaing with the constant dull shooting pain up and down your legs becuase they cant take holding you up much longer, going shopping and not having to settle for the not so cute fashion becuase its the only ones that come i your size, finally, looking in the mirror and simply LOVEING what you see. SO TAKE THAT HATERS!

Hey guys. I am 4 weeks post op and have been losing around 2-3 pounds a week. So I am down a total 17 pounds so far. I am finally eating regular foods now and found a great pasta substitute. Its called Tofu Shiritaki noodles. It is completely guilt free. It costs around 1.99 per pack and you get 2 servings out of each pack. It was great last night with light pasta sauce and fat free ricotta cheese. Tastes just like spagetti for my pasta lovers! Just thought I would share....

I went through that stage. Man, the week before I started my pre-op liquid diet i probably gained 10 pounds just on my "goodbye food" tour. I had no idea what i would or wouldn't be able to eat. I remember sitting in McDonalds a year ago, eating a bacon egg and cheese McGriddle with tears streaming down my face as I mentally said goodbye to bacon egg and cheese McGriddles FOREVER.
well, almost a year has passed, about 11 months actually, since my surgery and I am down about 90 pounds with NO FILLS and I can eat any type of food that I want to eat. the thing that has changed is the head hunger. I just don't feel it the way I did before surgery. before, food consumed pretty much every waking moment of my day. what will i eat next? what will i eat after that? what is the next meal? when is the next meal?
i can honestly say i do not think that way any more. it's like a switch was turned off in my head and it really quieted that voice. sometimes i don't even think about food until my stomach makes a noise and i realize that i haven't eaten and i need to eat! can you imagine??? i certainly couldn't have imagined that *gasp* i wouldn't want to eat unless i was actually feeling hunger.
so, although i can eat any type of food i want to eat, including bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddles, i rarely eat things that aren't serving a purpose. that means, i eat proteins first, as they fill me up, then veggies, then if i have it whatever starches there are. i can eat bread, but i don't eat a lot of it. every once in a while i will have a mcdonald's (or wendy's or burger king) hamburger with the bun...the difference is, I don't have the whopper or the big mac, i just have the regular size and it really is enough. i get the taste of whatever i am craving and then i move on with my day.
if i have fries, i order the small instead of the super size. i also wait the 20 minutes after eating a meal to take a drink (like my doctor suggested)
i still eat chocolate and cookies and cakes and sweets and things that aren't super duper healthy, but i don't have them every day. i usually have a cheat day or a special event that i save those things for. really, i don't think about sweets and starch and stuff like that in the way that i used to anyway. Holidays are really the only time where i indulge in sweets. can you say Cadbury eggs??? I'm so glad Easter is over and they have stopped selling these little eggs of evil
anywho, i said all of that to say that what you are feeling is perfectly normal, at least it was for me. do what you need to do to mourn, but also know that if you chew long enough you can eat pretty much anything. the good thing about chewing is that once something spends a lot of time in your mouth and you really taste it for the first time, you realize that it wasn't a fantastic taste in the first place and you don't really want to eat it again. really, things don't taste the same to me anymore and i've lost the desire to have a lot of things that i once thought i loved.
do i miss taking huge bites of delicious huge burgers? yes i do. sometimes, usually when it's that time of the month, but for the most part, i have competely changed my eating habits. i don't count calories or weigh foods or do any of that stuff. i think that now i eat like a normal person would eat. I have been watching my co-workers (who are all thin) and their eating habits this past year and i have discovered that we tend to now get hungry at the same time of day and eat roughly the same amount of foods and be full with the same serving size. this has given me joy to know that for the first time in my life there is something normal about me. i am eating like a normal person. not vacuuming the food down, not eating until i feel pain, not stuffing myself silly with supersized portions, but really eating and enjoying the tastes of food, all kinds of food.
this band has actually opened up a world of food choices for me. i have discovered new flavors that i never knew existed or never paid attention to because i used to just bypass the chew stage. in the mouth and down the throat it went. no longer. now i spend time with food and since i'm spending time with food in my mouth, i want only delicious tasting things to go into my mouth.
anyway, i could go on and on and on and on, but i will stop there and just say good luck to you and maybe give you hope that this isn't the end. you will be able to eat foods you like and love and you will be able to enjoy eating. just take it one day at a time and don't be discouraged. you will be just fine.

When I was told, oh you don't need that.... my response really? Well, thanks for thinking so, but my doctors disagree.
Easy way out? So...If I needed cardiac bypass surgery or be miserable and at risk of a heart attack, I should not take the medically proven treatment to get better? I need a kidney transplant, once becomes available, but I should not accept it because dialysis is fine and a transplant is the easy way out?????
Many in our society see obesity as a sign of laziness, not a of medical condition. So, I don't "deserve" to get well? I don't deserve to get my blood pressure under control? Or my blood sugar. I don't deserve to avoid losing limbs to diabetes?
Easy way out? I have to eat carefully for the rest of my life. For the rest of my life, I will have an implanted medical device inside me that I need to be concerned about. Having yearly tests to be sure all is well. So, by having abdominal surgery, wrapping a ring around my upper stomach that will forever change my relationship with food. It has also changed my relationship with my husband, and will some friends.
I have taken the easy way out. Easy way out from what? Endless diet attempts that all end up in the same place? With me heavier that I was before it began? My joints hurting worse as I put more pressure on them. Taking meds for blood pressure, cholesterol, and a couple years from diabetes.
I say, it might not have been the right choice for you, but after all my research, it was for me. Thank you for your concern.
(crawling off my soap box now)

I haven't been banded long, but I definitely have found foods I am loving.
-Tyson Grilled chicken breast strips. Easy to heat up and mix with a little sauce.
- Cottage cheese with pineapple.
- Fage 2% plain with applesauce and 1 packet sweet n' low.
I will have to try the turkey crumbles when I get to the store next. I have found myself buying more of the portioned items (portioned egg cups, rice cups, etc) which is nice. I used to hate buying these things because the per oz price is so much more than the box of eggs or the box of rice... Oh well, I am definitely worth a little bit more $$.

A hiatal hernia is when the stomach protrudes through the diaphragm up into your espohagus. I had one and didn't have any symptoms like acid reflux. The dr repaired that before he placed the lap band on me.

Day 3 on opti fast. Definitely feeling hungry tonight. Still have one bar and shake to go. I do feel as if I have lost some weight but I am determined not to weigh myself. I want to see the number the day of my surgery. Someone I work with who had the surgery suggested it. 11days to go!

I ordered the sample pack, and I too like the chicken but like Meredith said, I did not like it being lukewarm. I wanted to test it before having to do my pre and post op. I hope you like it. I mixed it with shrimp and broccoli to make a soup. I love their unflavored as well. I mixed it with SF Jello pudding and in salad Spritzers which gave it a thickened texture. I am hooked on unjury. I hope you enjoy it.

I love it. Saved my life during preop. Their unflavored is good too.

Yes, it has a protein powder smell and taste. If you've ever tried unflavored protein powder, it's about the same thing. I am just really sensitive to tastes/smells in my food, so it was a real turn off for me. Others love it though

I liked it too! The only thing I didn't like was the fact you had to drink it lukewarm, no higher the 120-30 degrees. {basically lukewarm} I like my food hot for the most part, especially soups. The reason being for the low temp is due to weakening the protein. Like waterchik said, it saved me actually postop. I always put fresh chopped parsley in it to give it a little more taste.

I would also recommend checking with your doctor. If it helps knowing the clinic I work with has recently added unlimited non-starchy veggies to their pre-op diet. Based on research they feel it does not make a significant difference...I would still check with your doc though.

I just posted this on the general board. Have any of you asked yourself this question?
I could be getting cold feet as my April 2 date gets closer, maybe I'm looking for an excuse but now that I'm on the preop diet and making a serious attempt to lose weight, I'm losing weight. Im following all the rules, getting myself ready, i.e.: drinking tons of water, stepped up my exercising, dropped all carbs, no alcohol, concentrating on protein. So, the question I'm asking myself that Im sure you all asked yourselves: If I'm losing weight now can I do this without the band IF I continue following these rules which are the same rules I'd have to follow with the band?
Those that asked yourself that question, went through with the surgery and can now look back....what are your thoughts on this?...thank you so much for your insight.
ELCEE, B52 and Corrigan Im counting on you to reply!!!! : )

After momths and momths of research, attending support groups, 3 seminars, etc, I told my best friend I decided to have lapband. She knew I was doing all this research and yet her response to me was " so you're going to take the easy way out". I was stu ned by her reaction. She has seen my weight gain, we work out hard everyday together and we are constantly supporting each other.....until that remark. I was very sad and hurt and decided then that I would not discuss my surgery with her anymore. My reply to her ignorance was to say: actually, this is the hardest decision in my life (im 57!). I will subject myself to surgery, have 5 holes drilled in my stomach, change my eating habits forever, give up bread, smash my meds everyday because they wont go down easy, commit to some meds for the rest of my life, possibly have temporary hair loss, awful stuck episodes, etc, in hope of weight loss to relieve my joint pain, ward off diabetes and feel human again... After all of that she admitted that she is jealous that I will be losing weight and she didnt want me thinner than her. OK, that I can understand. Just dont tell me Im taking the easy way out when you dont know a thing about it!