Daisalana

I can't eat bread anymore, but.. I found bread I was eating till recently that is worth checking out. I like white, not wheat.. so I made a compromise. It's Healthy Life brand. 70 Calories for TWO slices (opposed to 70-110 calories per ONE slice for most brands). It also has 6g of fiber per 1 or 2 slices (forget now). Anyway, this stuff was awesome. There was nothing taste or texture wise to let me know it was a 'special' bread. I even tricked my parents and had them buy it recently (they both need to lose weight). They love it, so that's all they eat now. If you can't take wheat (I can't.. yuck), check it out. I found it at Star Market originally and they have it at Dollar General. And while I COULD eat bread, I made conscious decisions (90% of the time) when I went out to dinner, to skip the dinner rolls they bring out at most places. I don't have carbs in every meal anymore, but I also don't 'count carbs'. I ate things like fruit leather.. 45c per package, and 12 carbs.. but I don't care. Brown rice is a good substitute for white rice, and I use it if I have it around. In a day, as for 'starchy' carbs (bread, rice, pastas), I may have 1/2 a serving if I have any. But in normal foods, like fruit and things.. I don't care about the carbs.

I don't drink CL much if ever, I prefer water.. only CL I like is pink lemonade, and they don't have individual packets around here.. and one day in the fridge makes it taste weird to me. Anyway, me and DH are going to the mall after work. Going to try on clothes in new sizes (wow.) I haven't 'tried on clothes' in years and years. Going to see what's out there for me! I'm excited. Mom got me some sweaters from the mall, size 2x. They're all a little big, and these are from normal stores like Dillard's. Makes me pretty giddy. I think I could actually wear a 1x in the sweater I'm wearing today. A 1x. Me? .... Sniff sniff And in return, going to ditch the stocking candy when I get home.

I have to say, that peanut purse I was bragging about.. it's super small. All I could fit inside was my wallet, hand sanitizer and my cell. Now, my purses are normally like a suitcase. I keep meds, calendar, floss, wallet, etc. etc. Any and everything is in it. It's an endless pit. I put up with it for a week, but I just swapped back to an old bag last night. Bummer. I need a nice leather (or fake leather) purse. The one I've used for months now, the drawstring at the top (which is leather) kept closing on its own and it took forever to open. Anyone know of a good medium-big size leather (or fake) bag in the under $50 range?

I know exactly what you mean. I have lost the size of a kid.. or anorexic adult. It's amazing. If I tried to pick up a 70lb bag of dog food or something, I would kill myself. Yet, it's gone! When I look in the mirror, at a side angle with my stomach held in.. I SEE A NORMAL PERSON. It amazes me, I run around the house more in just panties & tank top.. I think I look fantastic!! Then I see pics, and I'm nothing like what I think I see. I have a bad body image (forget the spelling.. dysmorphic??). But every once in a while, I can see it. If you look in the last couple pages of B&A Pics, I have my Xmas 05 and Xmas 07. It's a HUGE difference. If I just looked at Xmas 07, I am not as normal looking as I think I am, but in comparison, I think I look amazing.

I have not been sick since I got the band (a miracle, I think it has to do with the vitamins I take now). I caught everything going around last year, colds, flus, strep, etc. etc.. This year, nothing! That being said, I don't have allergies either. But at the in-laws on Christmas night, I was having allergies to something.. felt horrible, and never figured out what it was.. my nose itched incessantly, and my eyes were puffy and watery and sinuses hurt.. That lasted about 6 hours till we left and got some benadryl from the gas station. Anyway, it didn't do anything to my band. I had dinner that night. Since I am a smoker, I have flem in the morning (yuck, right?) and despite the fact I can't even get liquids down in the mornings, I have no problem with the flem. heh heh.

When restriction is there, you'll know.. So just keep getting those fills. There's no way in hell I could eat a kids meal. I have tried :eek: DH gets me kids meals when he doesn't know what else to get me. Last one was about 2 weeks ago.. a McDonald's kids meal (Chicken nuggets & Fries). I started on the fries.. Ate half the bag (and let's be honest here, pre-band that little bag didn't even count as 1 bite of appetizer!!). and then started PBing. Mooshy fries do not agree with my band. So after 30m of spitting up goopy chunks of potatos, I tried to eat a teeny tiny bite of 1 chicken nugget. Yeah right. So that was that. If you feel your band 'isn't working' you're just not restricted enough, fill fill fill. And be patient. I know it sucks, took 5 months for them to realize why my fills weren't helping.. I thought the band wasn't going to work for me.. ends up they just couldn't get in my port. Since they have, it's the bandster's life for me!

Hopefully you post that on a bypass forum too so you can get both sides of the story. This forum I think would mostly be bias. For me, I wanted RNY, but everyone in my fam is against it, has been for years. Last year I put my foot down, I'm doing it with or without them. While researching, I found the Lap-Band. It was so much less invasive, it's reversible if ever I needed it out, and it's not as dangerous (re: malnutrition). Big bonus-- all my fam was on board with the band. So I got the band. I'm not the perfect bandster, I didn't make this a diet.. I still eat whatever I want, just very little of it. Right now, I'm so restricted I have very limited things I can even eat. I don't think about food like I use to (that's a big one for me). But there are bad days, and somehow chocolates go down with no problems.. hrmph. And I admit I'm lazy, I don't exercise near like I should, or most people around here say they do.. but I am still losing steadily. I have had days where I said "I should have just done RNY, I'd be skinny by now".. but then it passes, and I'm excited that I've come this far. Last week I hit the 250's.. first time in my life since I started doing diets I ever went past 260's. Woohoo. And it's all thanks to the band, I have no will power for dieting.

Until I got good restriction (5 months post-op), I could eat basically anything without problems. I ate bread.. and I was still losing weight. I still eat rice now and lose weight. Don't go overboard on carbs, and you should eat protein first, then veggies, then little carbs if you still can eat.

Nope. If you don't need a fill (and it sounds like you don't), don't get one! Fill is only to keep you restricted. If you're eating 1k calories a day and losing weight steadily, hold off on the fill :eek: My doc didn't think I would need a fill, he put the smallest band in and said it was snug. It ends up I did need a (small) fill, but it's perfectly fine not to need one!

My mom put candy in our stockings. Reese's, Kisses, Rolos, and Dove Caramel. I have been feeding Rolos to DH cause I don't like those enough to splurge on them. And I've been eating some of the others, but in a controlled way. One of each, that's it.. etc. Last night I was in bed, I had my one of each.. then I was almost asleep.. DH spilled ashtray on the bed, so we had to vacuum the bed, I was wide awake and stressed about him spilling the ashtray (I had filled it with pins I took out of one of his dress shirts). So then I ate like 3 more kisses and 2 more reese's. Now I'm feelin guilty, and I think maybe I should throw out the rest because I'll keep doing this.. or.. I'll eat them all at once and get it over with. I hate not knowing what to do in these instances. I should be able to enjoy them in moderation, it's just that me & moderation don't get along :eek:

What a bummer, with the fickleness of the band I have found it's important to be able to get in on a whim. Luckily, my doc can I just have to drive a long ways. I would find a new fill doc if I was you :eek: What happens if you're too tight and need to go back for an unfill, they make you wait a month again??

Tiny & small pills go down fine for me, and I've got a great restriction. Medium size pills go down painfully.. and I gave up on my large pills. Anything that was large I either don't take or I found a chewable version.

Me too hehehe.

Your doc should give you a diet for your post-op. During my clear liquid phase only, I was allowed to have protein shakes too (as an exception).

Woohoo Congrats!

Glad you check in on us Terri! How long is your mom going to be living with you? Still no snow here, but it's pretty darn cold. I am suddenly extremely clumsy. At work we deal with a LOT of paper, so everyone gets papercuts.. so I always have one or two.. but lately, I am cutting my hands up all the time. And they hurt! I have 8 papercuts right now, and I just noticed a new one. Grr! Work is getting hectic. Lot of people screwing up and of course I am the one that has to explain to our customers why we (and by we, I mean the people in the plant) made stupid mistakes.. no, we're not idiots I swear. Hrmph. Everyone is stressing.. and it's slow time right now. We should never have any mistakes during slow time. Hope everyone has a good CTCD!! I am having a mini OJ for b'fast. And it's taking it's dear sweet time to go through the hole.

My weightloss is too goofy to pinpoint like that. I lose 5lbs one week, 1lb the next.. or 0lbs one week, and 3lbs the next. And I don't do anything different week to week to be making it so random.. just how the body does it's thang.

Oh and yes, the pills are band friendly. I'm as tight as I can get without not being able to get liquids down.. and I can get either of the B/C pills mentioned down fine. They are both very small pills.

I've been on B/C since I was 12, and I was fat since I was born.. So I personally don't notice any correlation. I was on Ortho Tri-Cyclen for most of this time, I did try the Depot Shot and gained 30lb the month I had it, so I wouldn't recommend that one.. and I'm on Yaz now. BTW.. took the test, not pregnant. My nurse called back and said since it's so infrequent I shouldn't worry about it, that I likely ate too much and my pouch was just getting rid of it. So she told me to watch how much I eat.

Actually, my mom's entire closet are my motivational clothes. And as fate would have it, she's been gaining weight. She has a whole wardrobe of 'britney spear' pants.. the low-riders that make your butt look nice.. and hippie suede coats.. all in size 12/14.. When I can wear my mom's clothes, I'll be tickled. My whole life I was always jealous of her!

I do realize it may be bias, but it seemed like this week all my furrbabies were exceptionally photogenic. Hopefully it makes you go 'awww' too Cassy, being.. Cassy. She thinks she's so pathetic! Even though Pandora is half the size of Apollo, he still cuddles up to her like he's a little baby! Gracie sleeping in her hammock...

Ta-da. You can actually see my eyes now hah hah.

So do tell, is the sex better? Congrats!

Well I just made a concoction based on the recipe you posted. Ended up tasting awesome, DH ate the whole pot (after I took my 1cup). Cooked 3 cut-up raw mild italian sausages in olive oil with a diced onion. Meanwhile cooked 1 instant rice in a pot of boiling chicken broth. Once sausage was well cooked on the outside, I added the rice and black-eyed peas. Then I poured about 2 cups of chicken broth into it (from the rice). Added 2 dashes of Thyme, and 2 dashes of Cayenne Pepper. Let it cook, covered for 15 minutes.. then let it cook uncovered until all the liquid evaporated (approx another 15m). It was really moist and full of flavor!!

Well, halfway to goal and my size 11W feet haven't budged. Fingers crossed.. those of you who did lose shoe size, did it happen close to goal or what?