jen_1381

I noticed how you stayed neutral on posting the topic, and people got personal very fast. It's a touchy subject, but so is saying that "all men are the same". Don't take it personally Steve.

I totally see where the ladies are coming from. It's a slippery slope. To put a little bit different spin on it - I think that type of "relationship" can be functional for a while if BOTH people are looking for the same thing. Problem is, most of the time one person develops feelings and eventually gets hurt. Plus, if this person was in fact a friend, not just a sex buddy, the friendship would be damaged beyond repair. I think "Friends with Benefits" is a bad idea.

I'm married, and have been for almost 9 years, so any type of relationship like that is a no-go. Before my husband though, I was put in the situation with a man who was my best friend at the time. Feelings were there, you could tell, but we had (and still have) such a good friendship that we focused on that and never got romantically involved. Neither one of us were looking for a serious relationship, we'd both just gotten out of them, but we valued our friendship enough to hold back.

Honestly? It's only been 6 days, don't sweat it. It can be super frustrating when you're used to seeing the scale go down every day, then it stops. And you're working really hard....and the scale isn't repsonding.

This is really hard, but just wait it out. If you're doing everything right, your body will catch up. This coming from a girl who weighs herself every day, and has been on a plateau for over 2 months. I get the frustration and concern part.

I'm going to chime in on this. First, well said Missy. Second, I did the hcg diet. I lost 45 lbs in 12 weeks. I felt great. Then I stopped the low cal diet and went to just eating healthier, around 1100 cals a day. The weight all came back within three months. I opted for lap band bc these fad diets don't work.

If its one thing I've learned since starting my WLS process that the key to good nutrition and weight loss is simple. Eat healthy. Exercise.

Eating 500 calories a day will put you into starvation mode. HCG does not prevent your body from eating your muscle when you're starving. Unless you're getting pure injections from a doctor, the homeopathic drops are useless. It's the low cal diet that makes you lose weight.

I've done the diet. It works temporarily. Why go through life changing lap band surgery just to fall back into a crash diet?? And as far as your surgeon doing the injections and allowing the HCG, I think that's crazy.

But again, this is just my experience and opinion.

I was shocked - SHOCKED - when I met with my surgeon last time and he said that carbonation was perfectly fine but it may cause some discomfort. I was asking him about taking Airborne or Emergen-C for a cold I felt coming on, since it's fizzy I didn't want to risk anything. He said that he feels it's one of those "rules" that surgeons put out there because nothing carbonated is good for you, even diet soda isn't healthy and most times will lead to increased appetite for salt.

I honestly put my fingers in my ears and said "lalalala - don't tell me this". If my brain knows something is off limits, I don't even crave it...I told him that a diet soda was a slippery slope for me, so I'll just keep believing that it can do damage.

Well I swore to myself I wouldn't step on the scale until Sunday but curiousity got the best of me, and I checked this morning. I'm down just a hair over 5 lbs! I was skeptical - eating so often makes me nervous - but it's working!

I have to say Missy, I've read the quote on your signature a thousand times - "I'm nothing special, just a fat girl desperate not to be fat anymore".

I want to tell you - - you ARE special. You're so supportive, so honest, so caring...your family and friends (and us!!) are very lucky to have you around. Thank you so much for helping us all along.

My stomach is super talkative after a fill, for about 3-4 days after. I don't have the tossing and turning sensation though. It's just very noisy!!

When I went from 6 to 6.5 it made all the difference in the world. I was suddenly in the Green Zone. Just 1/2 of a cc can make tons of difference!

For those of you who are carb cycling - question for you:

Today is my low carb day. I've taken in 27 carbs between Breakfast, lunch, and my two Snacks. I was hardly able to eat breakfast (my band is fussy in the morning, it likes a cup of coffee before food and that just doesn't happen when I have to eat within 30 minutes of waking). This whole afternoon I've felt shaky and weak.

What I've eaten so far is:

Breakfast - 1/2 cup of scrambled eggs with salsa.

snack - 1/3 cup of greek yogurt with 1/3 cup no sugar added diced peaches.

Lunch - Weight Watchers grilled chicken patty with salsa, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, and the Green Giant steamed italian vegetables.

Snack - 3 slices of low salt sliced honey ham with a Laughing Cow wedge.

I'm full, I don't feel hungry and I don't feel like I need to eat something, but what's up with the shakiness? Is it just because of eating so high carb yesterday then low today? Has anyone else noticed any "side effects"? I've also been a tad grumpy (don't ask my husband, he'll say that's the understatement of the year!)

Applying Vitamin E oil, or "Bio Oil" to your scars will help soften them. Also, using Mederma will help fade them. My abdomen already looked like a road map between my appy, gall bladder, and hysterectomy...I just added the band scars to my collection! Figured I probably won't ever have that bikini body anyhow

Hmm...definitely do not do the chips. If you're on full liquid, chips are off limits (I'll spare the lecture about chips being unhealthy for you, empty calories and carbs, etc....oops maybe I didn't spare it )

I totally get the salt craving on your liquid diet. I am a pickle girl, eat at least 1 pickle a day. I drank a small cup of pickle juice post-op! That curbed the salt craving I was having (geesh, my mouth is watering just thinking about Pickle Juice now!).

Otherwise - maybe some broth? chicken broth my have the salt flavor you're looking for.

If you're missing the crunch, then I've got nothing to offer, sorry!

The choice is ultimately yours but I encourage you to thoroughly research it. There are surgeons that will do the band for a BMI over 30 but I don't know of any insurances that will pay for it. If you're planning on using your insurance I would give them a call first.

One thing you said alarmed me - that you had "really awful willpower".

Living the banded life takes will power and want power. Nothing will stop you from eating the bad foods. The band doesn't limit in any way the food you eat. The ultimate goal (at least, for me personally) is to lose weight by eating smaller amounts of healthier food. I've had 4 fills and now 1 measured cup of food keeps me full for 4-6 hours. The band is doing it's job, but I'm also doing mine by chosing high Protein, low calorie, healthy food to fuel my body. I've undergone a whole lifestyle change, as most successful bandsters have.

If you feel like you're ready to transform your life and way of thinking about food, then I say go for it. If you're thinking it's an easy fix for a problem, then really weigh out your options.

Whatever you chose, we're all in this together and we're all out to support each other. My own personal experience, I was banded with a BMI of 35.2 and have not for one day regretted my decision. It has by no means been easy, or a quick fix (as I've been on a plateau for about 2 months now), but I'm making it work.

I'm so glad you pressed on. Six months time would go by either way; whether you were seeing the doc for the diet or not. Good luck on your journey!

hotties.bmp

That feeling you have of no restriction, but having to follow the eating guidelines and still starving - - that's what we call Bandster Hell. It's a time to put mind over matter, focus on your goals, and stick to the rules. It's not easy, by no means. Typically, it takes a few fills to feel good restriction. I've had four, and think I'm in my Green Zone now, so when I have 1 measured cup of food, I'm full for 4-6 hours.

Welcome! This forum is excellent. Good people on here. I chose to have the band because I woke up one day and realized that I'm almost 30 years old, and my 20's sucked because I was so self conscious and let my weight limit how I felt. I wanted to make a change, and I wanted to make it right NOW!

Good luck to you on your journey. Keep us updated!

Jenymac - you have my complete support. I too struggle with over-analyzing food. I spent about 3-4 weeks eating only one meal a day, desperate to see the scale move. It was driving me crazy, literally. I've also had to take a step back, stop weighing myself every day, and follow the advice of my nutritionist.

I'm doing Carb Cycling right now, which has shown me 1) how much better I feel when I am eating regularly, and 2) if I do eat 3 meals and 2 Snacks a day, I'm not going to wake up and be right back at 243 lbs. It's pulled my focus away from the sheer calorie count of everything and now I concentrate on carbs - which is essentially the same but it's forced me to look at the overall content of the food. Is it a healthy choice? It may be 200 calories, which makes me cringe, but the carb count is good and it's a healthy carb. I feel like I'm making smarter choices for my overall nutrition instead of just focusing on that magical calorie number.

Good luck to you on your continued journey. Thank you for sharing your story with us. Congratulations for getting help with your eating issues. That takes a lot of courage.

Don't take the lack of answers as nobody surviving it

I have not vomited since surgery in May. If you're feeling some nausea, I would put a call into your doctor and ask for some nausea medication. Since it's after hours, they'll have someone on call, or call first thing in the morning. It's best to head off nausea before it gets too bad.

Research Weight Loss Surgery centers in your area. Find a hospital or center and attend one of their seminars. The WLS (weight loss surgery) coordinator will point you in the right direction. Most programs require a handful or pre-op testing and appointments with nutritionist, psychologist, etc, but the coordinator will help you along the way. Good luck!

That's kind of what I'm doing Missy. I know there needs to be a large difference between low and high carb days. I need to work on widening that difference. But, being on day 2, I'm kind of winging it too! I'm following the guidelines set by Chris, but have some work to do.

Okay Carb Cyclers! I'm on day two, my low carb day. I felt like a kid in a candy store yesterday being able to eat so much. I will admit I got into a very bad habit of not eating until about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, then splitting a salad between lunch and dinner. I lost a few pounds and was feeling pretty good, but started feeling like I was starving myself. I thought the carb cycling would be the best way to "re-introduce" food again.

So my question is, how many carbs are you allowing on a high and low day? I'm following the meal plans laid out in Chris Powells book but today, on a low carb day, I'm already at 69 grams of carbs between Breakfast and snack! That was - 1 cup of Kashi vanilla Cereal with almond milk, then for snack a small banana and tablespoon of Peanut Butter. Yesterday, on a high carb day, I had 160 grams.

Are we counting grams of carbs, or full carbs? Since there is 15 grams of carbs in a full carb, what should a decent goal be? I'm so confused!!

I'm almost finished with the book and have my menu set for the next week. I'm not going to do the "cheat day" because I think that will be a slippery slope for me. I hope I'm as successful as you, Missy! Thanks for sharing your info with us all.

I read some of the sample menu meals and they included almond milk. Whew, I LOVE almond milk!

Don't give up! I was denied by UHC two days before my surgery. My surgeon had to have a 1:1 conference with the approval department head. They overturned the denial the day before my surgery. It could be the fault of some tiny paperwork mistake. Mine was bc my surgeon put "hypertension" instead of "uncontrolled hypertension".

It's very stressful, that I understand, but persevere and remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!