Fenton

So, I had my First Fill session today. I went in and told the Doc I was losing well, without any limitations on the food I could swallow, and wasn't suffering from hunger. I said I felt my current level of restriction was fine, and that I didn't think I was ready for a fill yet. He agreed. He said, "I think the time you need the fill is when you wake up and you're starving. Come back in a month." And that was that. FWIW, I'm down 52 lbs since I started, down 25 since surgery on 3/6. I have the advantage/burden of starting at 473, but I'm grateful that it's making the first phase of weight loss pretty fast and easy.

So, gents, how did it go...?

Hey, I don't know if anyone would like a few premade cans of chocolate Royale Slimfast Optima, but I'm bored of the stuff, and have some I'd be happy to give away. I have five and a half six packs. You'd have to stop by my place - I'm in the Union Square area in Manhattan - but you could do that at any time, since I'll just leave the cans with my 24 hour doorman. They were the ones recommended by the nutritionist at NYU for pre-op and post-op diets. 190 calories, 24 g carbs of which 5 g are Fiber, loaded with various nutrients, 10 g Protein. First person to send me a message me gets 'em.

Hey all. I got banded by Dr. Fielding on 3/6/08; I'm doing really well, everything went smoothly. The NYU practice is one of the busiest in the country; this can make it a pain in the neck in terms of waiting for appointments and the waiting room being crowded, but if you're a big person being operated on, you want an experienced staff, and you can't do better than the NYU people. I'm going to start a new thread to see if anyone wants to take my chocolate Royale Low Carb Slimfast Optima off my hands - free. I have five and a half 6 packs...

Oh, these are the lower carb ones, with 24 g of carbs, of which 5 g are Fiber. And I have five 6-packs, and a couple of extra cans... Who knew there was a Regional Forum?

Hmm, LD - maybe I should offer it in the April Bandsters forum, since they're all still on either pre- or post-op liquids...

Hey, I don't know if anyone would like a few premade cans of chocolate Royale Slimfast Optima, but I'm bored of the stuff, and have some I'd be happy to give away. I have at least two six packs, possibly as many as four. You'd have to stop by my place - I'm in the Union Square area in Manhattan - but you could do that at any time, since I can just leave the cans with my 24 hour doorman. I'll check tomorrow to see how much I have. At the moment, I know it's at least two six packs plus a couple of cans. First person to send me a message me gets 'em.

I've never had jalapeno kettle chips, but can imagine that they're pretty tasty. Yesterday I had my big steak dinner; it was the most amount of calories I've had in one day in probably about two months. And I loved it. I had about 5 ounces of steak, saved another 3 oz for today (yummy breakfast), three beer-battered onion rings, three ruthlessly slaughtered and peeled baby carrots, and some bone marrow-mustard custard. I declined dessert, but the pastry chef sent Desserts anyway, and I had a variety of tastes. None of that worried me - I think the meal probably ran about 1500 cals, and earlier I'd had another 400 or so - but I wasn't pleased by the fact that I enjoyed the dinner rolls too much. Afterwards, I felt unpleasantly full. I walked a bit, and was kind of wired for the rest of the evening. I finished off the steak, leftover onion rings and carrots this morning. Today I started working out with my new dumbell set. So far so good; I'm going to try not to overdo it. My dates last night recommended a gym/personal trainer not too far from me; when I hit 375, I'll start working out with him. And today I'm going to do my best to walk a lot. I own my calorie spike from yesterday, but I'll be DAMNED if I'm going to let it affect my numbers!

Sure, bask away! Just don't convert my loss into kilos - 22kg just doesn't sound that impressive!

And I'm going to match you by losing 21 by 1 June. Actually, no; I think I'll match you by losing 22 by 1 June. That'll be a colossal feeling of satisfaction, because I'll FINALLY be under 400 lbs.

Hey, Weldon, welcome aboard! You're among friends here...

One thing that is great - a reward in its own right, really - is that I eat so much less than I used to that I'm saving a huge amount of money. Still, I am also finding other ways to spend it. For example, I used to be a chocolate bar demon, probably four a day. Now some days I take a huge detour on my walk home, and go to a chocolate boutique, and buy one or two chocolate bonbons. Since they're flown in from France each day, the cost for two small chocolates is $5.16. But damn, they're worth it!

Well, this week I passed a mini-goal - 50 pounds lost - but I didn't have a reward in mind for it. The first will be when I get below the 400 pound mark, and I have no clue what I'd decided on. The thing is, there's not much I want. A couple of tattoos, but those can wait. The social rewards I mentioned above, but, again, no real hurry. I'm going to have to dig up my list again, just to remind myself. I think that, for me, the weight loss is its own reward. I know that sounds dorky, but it's true: both the scale Victories and the Non-Scale Victories feel really great. I guess my rewards will be less "rewards" so much as recognition of another step in the right direction.

I have my fill appointment on Monday, and I think I'm going to defer the fill. I will ask the doc about the thing that's been concerning me - I'm not eating to the size of the meal, but to calorie content, and I want to make sure that's not screwing up my pouch. Although the technique that Ajoneen posted (Or was it Harley - I'm too lazy to scroll back! - I think it was Ajoneen) seemed like it might be useful. When I plateau, or start to put on weight, I'll schedule a fill, and will go on liquids for two days before and a couple of days after. Actually, at NYU, you go on liquids anyway after a fill, then mushies, then back to normal food again. Anyway, thanks to my ridiculous weight, so far the loss has been pretty painless. Moving my mountainous self across the landscape requires genuine work, and I'm keeping my calories below 1500, mostly. But tonight: STEAK! Probably my last for a while. Well, until tomorrow, when I'll have leftover steak.

Great work, Frances! You're shrinking before our eyes!

Christine! You HAVE been in the wars! I'd bet a dermatologist will be able to polish you up in plenty of time for your fill. And, on the plus side, having a lousy appetite right now is a help - indeed, if I hadn't lost my appetite due to a cold during the run-up to getting banded, I don't think I'd have lost as much weight. Yeah, I know, faint consolation. But this little setback will soon be behind you...

Yeah - if you feel gas pain, get moving. It helps with the gas, and it burns energy... Welcome aboard!

I love that gurgling! If one of my cats is walking by, I'll lean over and open my mouth to emit a long gurgling growl! We both find it very satisfying...

Let 'em dry out in the air, I say! I don't mean, like, midriff-baring shirts, but leave them uncovered. If there's chafing, or if the "juice" is staining your clothes, you can put a bit of gauze on them, but keep an eye on them, and they'll soon be fine. I get the occasional little twinge of pain, but I'm pretty fine. Today I'm out 5 weeks, I believe. After 6 weeks, I'm going to start doing yoga. I was worried that, after rapid loss at the beginning of the week, I'd have stalled or regained, but I was actually down 1 since Monday, so, Yay.

Interesting stuff, Harley. What is the Health Halo - McDonalds' vs Subway?

Nervous is normal, but illogical. Sure, any surgery is a big deal, particularly if you're heavy. But I was 446 pounds when I got cut - I DREAM of being 335! They do this surgery every day, lads, and it's safe and a life-saving procedure. Which is why those tight-fisted bastids at the Insurance Companies pay for it! So you're both going to be fine for the surgery, and great after it! Congratulations...

Also, I gave more thought to my longstanding desire and secondary goal: I want to learn to snowboard. I've always thought it looks like fun. At the moment, I'd feel absurd trying to do it, just the notion of myself, like an orange sitting on top of a popsicle stick, schussing down the mountainside. But it's something I'm determined to do. So I've been reading about snowboarding, and preconditioning. You have to strengthen your "core"; my "core" is actually pretty strong, just very, very well insulated. But I'm going to be doing "core" exercises. I'm going to get a Bosu Ball, and maybe a balance beam, once I can understand what they do. I guess I should explore the exercise forums.

I came off my liquid diet today - one day and I knew I was fine, not hungry at all. I'm supposed to be on solid food now, but I'm sticking with shakes for Breakfast. Today I mixed 1/2 cup of Morello cherries into a French vanilla SFO, and added a little almond syrup. It was good, but I could still taste the Protein powder. My favourite is still Vanilla SFO + Peanut Butter + banana - I think the peanut butter conceals the powder. For lunch I had a lamb burger with zucchini pickles and spicy tomato sauce; skipped the roll, stole a french fry or two, it all evened out in the end. And I don't know what I'll have tonight - something, that's for sure. But, I feel good, not really hungry. Productive, weight loose-y. A good day.

Excellent! Fantastic work, man! I'm going to have to start taking my photo, too. I think it'll be a useful support technique.

So, what I'm saying is: NO REGRETS!!! If you screw up, you screw up. Just get back up on the damn horse...