judych

mygoodnessme....lol.. i cant imagine what you must have gone through. Was it very hard ??

the meat retains its moisture a lot longer than normal. i havent had an issue with meat since Ive been cooking with the pressure cooker. Plus... there is intensified flavour as well. FAr better than slow cooking in my opinion. Ive not had problems with chicken drying out. ive cooked a whole chicken and it was moist up until we finished it... about three days. I havent cooked a whole piece of beef yet, apart from corned silverside which was very moist. Last night i cooked a piece of pork... about 3 lbs. it was delicious. I sliced apples, put peach slices over the top of the meat... had the meat cupped in two layers of tin foil, to keep the meat from sitting on the bottom.... and the pork was beautiful. im going to get a rack that will fit on the bottom of the cooking pot in the cooker.... then i wont have to use so much tin foil. i didnt close the meat off with the foil... just bought the foil up around the side. the upper part of the pork was uncovered.

Sarah... how wonderful that youve been able to put the trauma behind you and step out again. it sounds like losing weight has helped you get your confidence back, on many levels... congratulations to you. I hope it just gets better and better for you. It must have been really terrible to have those two experiences happen to you. No wonder you didnt want to walk on your own... but now you are putting it behind you. This is wonderful news. You should be really proud of yourself.

yep..lol... we all put our hands up for this one. Im five months post op and still have the urge to burp really strongly and sometimes cant. Have you raised your hands above your head to try and move the air? i do and most times it works for me.

it seems to me that there are more comments about lap band surgery than any other... and it brings out the cattiness in a lot of people. what is it ?? If someone was able to lose weight spending a fortune on a personal trainer and living at the gym .. thats o.k.. Never mind how much money was spent.. but the moment people hear about lap band away they go !! this is why i never tell anyone. anyone would think that we never had to lift a finger to do anything for ourselves !! it makes me angry. This is what ignorance does to people.

that was great you were able to go out to the church music festival. It sounds great. Is the weather there still hot?? YOu did well... and showers are a real gift from the Lord... especially after a long hot day away. dont over due it though... rest up well in between. Good luck.

I identify with both of you here. im having more sweets and chocolate than i should be. my weight loss is there but minimal....( but Im grateful for every bit of weight loss.) I dont mind the rate of weight loss but do mind the fact that im still having issues about what im eating.Plus the fact that im not lasting four hours before being hungry again... and thats after having a protein breakfast. I have a fill in two weeks time. that will make me four ccs (3cc plus 1/2 plus 1/2 coming up i hope) .... im hoping that this fill will make a big difference to the amount i eat as well. I have to say.... ive had more soups this year.. remember, its winter in Australia... more home made soups... and ive been having more than a bowl at a sitting, thats for sure. Thats definately not a cup full... way more than a cup. More like two good cups full. I know that im hopeless keeping blogs... im not even consistent with the weight loss site that so many are using on here. Im grateful that i can share on here though. By the way, i had a drs appointment on friday. this was to my referring dr. I havent seen her in months. I was weighed and she was so excited about my weight loss . In the country areas where i come from lap band surgery isnt seen much... so she was excited to see the results and also to talk with me about it all. Only problem... i have a bad UTI... blood in urine etc.. (TM information.. lol, sorry)... Ive also been dizzy quite a bit, some days worse than others. It was a bit confusing for me as i have some hypertension, so that was making a clear diagnosis harder. the dr reckons not enough fluids being drunk, that the UTI and not enough fluid can cause the dizziness and also the infection. So now im on antibiotics. i hate taking them but we have to get this cleared up. Im trying to get as much fluid in as possible as well... Now im wanting the infection to be cleared up and Im hoping that this next fill will help me to last at least four hours between meals.

it definately affects me a lot... and i have to be cautious about eating again. i know its hard but every fill or vomiting episode can cause swelling and irritation... and having liquids is the only way to get through it. I had 1cc fill in the last two months... it was too tight (4cc) and i had to have .05 taken out again. im hoping to have another fill in two weeks... but im only wanting .05. it only takes a little amount of fill to significantly change the band... im not having anymore than .05 this next time. i hope that you get some help.... and that you are o.k. judy

jrae.... i was like you.. afraid of them as well. My mum had one when i was growing up. we were never allowed to touch it. Mums was a very heavy cooker that sat on the hotplate... im assuming that your mum had one the same? on the lid was the pressure valve. About two months ago i bought myself a Digilex electric pressure cooker (online shopping in Aust.). it was on special and i needed to buy a rice cooker so i decided on the pressure cooker as it does rice as well as pressure cooking. I had the cooker for at least two weeks without using it. i couldnt make much sense out of the small handbook that came with the cooker... obviously it was translated from another language. In the end i got hubbie to sit down with me and we read basic instructions on how to get started. I was really good with it after that . It takes just a little while to understand what the process is.. its not hard. i wouldnt be without mine now. Im using it everyday. I also got onto youtube ... typed in electric pressure cookers.. you could do that ? im sure you would never regret it if you bought one. Mine has a solid hot plate under the cooking pot .. i brown onions and coated meats before putting in some water to cook. Its just great. Let me know if you do buy one... or if you find one you like. judy

im five months post op now... and for about three months of that time I had the same issues. With me it was all to do with eating too quickly, or eating too much. im sure it will go away... I hardly ever get it now... just occasionally and then i do know that ive eaten way too quickly or too much.

i really do like stevia. i use it in my protein drinks sometimes... with raspberries and Greek yoghurt.

how miserable it must have made you feel. i hope you are better soon. Ive never heard of the pocket of fluid near your spine. No wonder you were miserable. it sounds like you have a great dr. Let us know how you go.

i dont know much about them but i have Stevia in my home and use that. Not a lot. We dont use sugar... dont have it in the house, only for visitors. Our taste buds are well used to not having sweet things anymore. When i weaned myself off sugar.. especially with Hot drinks, i put the sugar away, started using two sweetener tabs a drink. Couldnt stand that so started cutting back, each drink a little less. In the end the amount was so small it was easier to just leave the sweetener out altogether.. lol. i havent looked back. i have my tea and coffee black without sugar.. have done for years. Personally i am very wary of artificial sweeteners... they are not good news.

it could be slight diverticulitis.... i had it post op.... change of diet for me. im better now. i gave up all milk products .

yes, it certainly is normal. immediately after i had surgery i was given ice to suck... and it was ''laden with salt'' or so i thought. lol. this strange taste lasted with me for about 10 days and just gradually disappeared. The surgery must do something to the taste buds, but its only temporary. REgarding just small amounts of fluid, you are very swollen still... so just keep sipping. Have a water bottle with you at all times.. everyone has difficulty keeping up their fluid intake, especially in the early stages. You will improve. Take it easy for now,.

im wondering if you are drinking enough water?? i have problems with cramping and i know that its because i dont have enough intake of water.

i found the same problems with meat being too dry. then i bought myself an electric pressure cooker. I started cooking my meats in the cooker and now i dont have any problems with the meat being too dry. And, for those of you who have problems with fish being dry... last night i made up a white sauce and poached some smoked cod in a little water. When the fish was cooked i broke it up into smaller segments and put it into the white sauce... stirred it carefully for a full five minutes. it was really good... good texture and certainly not dry at all. Getting back to the pressure cooker... i cant recommend them highly enough.. for those of you who want to continue to eat meat they are great.

im the same. i cant wait until im off my b/p meds either.... im hoping desperately that i can come off them eventually. i had a history of fainting from a very slow beating heart when growing up and in my early adulthood. i dont know why the b/p has gone to the higher side now... practically the same symptoms of light headedness and fainting... its weird. i so much want to get off the meds.

i always use chili in the jar... ready mashed and ready to go. I jsut love the beans... try them, they are so tasty.. im really benefiting from them now, this morning found id lost another kilo... 2.2 pounds. real quick. i seem to stop losing and then have a spurt on overnight.

i had three cc's the first fill. the second fill i had one and had to have half removed. im due to have the other 1/2 in a few weeks. im restricted but getting slightly hungry before the four hours are up. i have mostly protein.

your weight loss may not be as much as some but you are losing, even if its a bit slower. Personally i prefer the slower weight loss but i know we are all different. Ive found an answer to feeling hungry... high protein soups... home made. using lentils, chick peas, split peas, onions, chicken stock. sometimes i add more substance to make the soups thicker. i put grated parmeson on my soups as well.. sometimes i use garlic powder. I am a soup lover so this has been easy for me. I have egg and bacon for breakfast... within a half hour of getting out of bed.. that helps me to get a kick start. some days i need to have four meals instead of three... its working. im down 42 pounds since march 22nd.... i hope this helps you a bit. Try not to be discouraged... i know that higher protein diets help me heaps. Maybe it will help you too??

i weighed myself this morning and im down 42 pounds now. in five months. Im thrilled to bits. I have been eating a normal diet, just a fraction of the amount that i had before. Apart from making high protein soups its been normal eating for me. I found that cooking meat in my pressure cooker took care of the meat being too dry... that was a wonderful find. Im chuffed this morning..lol.. way to go.

im four months post op now but still remember how i cooked up my own soups. I used beef/chicken broth... onions, salsa,(mild) one potato, small amount of pumpkin. when cooked i blended it down. I never made soup up so that it was thick ... always made sure there was enough fluid to keep the it liquid. i also added some garlic powder when i poured it into a bowl. i found that while i couldnt have thicker soups i could tolerate more flavour.

it will help you a lot. the last comment i made i intended to write more but was interrupted. lol. It seems to me that lifting the arms like that opens up the ribcage enough to help the trapped air come back up. Ive never had so many issues with burping before surgery. it wasnt a problem at all. For some reason it seems to come with the surgery and im not sure why it happens. i just know that now its an issue that i contend with nearly every day . You will get practised at raising your arms to help get rid of the air... lol... i just hope i never have to do it in a restaurant.. lol. I dont have to do it when i eat slowly and wait between mouthfuls. its when i eat too quickly and im distracted that the air seems to get trapped and then i have to get it back up again. i hope this has helped you a bit.

congratulations to you....it is a good day indeed. I know how exciting it feels... im the same way.