Haydee

Lunasa, you have to know that you are not alone in feeling like this. We all feel the same way. We all have our doubts on whether or not we are going to succeed at this. I've been in the dumps this past month with the scale not moving. All I can do is continue to keep having faith. Faith that since I am doing everything I should be doing to the best of my abilities that eventually the weight will come off. Keep having faith, ok? We will all be successful in our own way throughout this journey.

I tried accessing thedailyplate all day yesterday too but it was down. Today it's super slow. I'm just writing down what i eat for now and I will log it when the website works better. Laura, I've been teetertotaling between 269 and 270 for three weeks now! How frustrating! I'm with you, I've second guessed my decision to get the band a few times. But it's only natural to feel discouraged when we're not losing all the time. I guess I have to learn patience.... Terri, the situation with dfb is a little better. We are in counseling and communicating alot better than we were. I wish I could tell you the whole whole story but it might fill a book. We've both hurt each other so much in the past and right now we are both tentavely (sp?) reaching out to each other. We used to both be ugly and defensive with each other all the time. Actually, I am ashamed to admit the type of person I used to be. I was very controlling, very demanding, and spoiled. He let me get away with it for so long and when finally said enough was enough that is when everything went downhill. I went through alot of self reflection and alot of counseling to finally understand why i was that type of person. I've changed alot but the damage had been done. Now, we are slowly starting to come out of that. So right now we are essentially starting over. Letting the past hurts stay in the past. Okay, well now I've poured out my deep dark secrets. I used to be a rotten apple! I'm still a little rotten sometimes but not hurtful rotten anymore...

Welcome AMANDA! We'd love to have you join us here. Terri, you look great! You are on top of the world! It looks wonderful there. We're also headed to vacation soon...In July we are going to Isla Navidad. I'm so excited! Pamela, some friends and I went to Sunscape Puerto Aventuras in the Mayan Riviera during Spring break and it was so much fun. I don't know how hot it is right now but it was too cool to go swimming in March. Hello VIOLETS! I'm back from my business trip to San Diego. It's so beautiful there this time of year. I did not enjoy arriving to thunderstorms, heat and 100% humidity here in Houston... Doing good so far on my "diet". I have no restriction so until my next fill I am "dieting". Sucks. I am scheduled for my next fill on the 30th. My fill doctor only does fills on Saturdays. I wanted to go this weekend but I have a wedding in Mexico to attend. We'll be leaving Friday after work and returning Sunday afternoon. I haven't been excercising much this month so my weight hasn't come down at all. At all all. I've been at 269 for about three weeks now. I get frustrated each time I get on the scale so for now it's been banished to the garage. I've read from all of ya'll that the 2nd fill gives you more restriction. I hope so. And this time I won't get all excited during the first week. That restriction faded fast... Back to work now... Bye Violets!

Laura, my fill doctor told me that once we have adequate restriction that I will be tighter during the day and open at night. I didn't ask her why! I should have. She said that when I get good restriction the only thing that I will be able to get down in the morning will be a protein shake. I feel it a little bit now... in the mornings I usually have cottage cheese with fruit and I have to go slow or else it "backs up", but at night... whoa nelly... I can pretty much eat whatever I want. I'm not of course, but I could if I wanted to. Well, I'm so glad it's Friday. I am leaving for San Diego, Monday morning to attend a QuickBooks user conference. Fun fun fun - not. I hope I get a little down time while I'm there so I can go to the beach. I just got a new bathing suit and my boyfriend says I look so slim in it. IMAGINE THAT. me, looking skinny in a BATHING SUIT. Ha! I think he is just being nice!

TracyK - you look awesome! You can really tell on your face. How is the rest of you? I find that I am losing on top but my bottom is the same. How does that happen? I am turning into a pear! Tracy in Kansas - my trip to Chicago was great. It's a beautiful city. I was really surprised. Their tourism office needs to do a better job of promoting that city. Where it not for my sister having a convention there, I would have never gone! Gr8ful - I am also having a hard time with plateaus. I will stop losing for weeks at a time. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but I'm going to try to increase my excersise routine and see if that works. I am eating less than 1200 calories a day and drinking 96 oz of water a day. Are you losing inches? That's where I see it the most. I was a size 24 top when I started and now I am an 18 but can fit into a 14. That is what I am focusing on. Inches, not pounds. I would go crazy if my feeling successful at this depended on pounds alone. I hope everyone has a good rest of your day. I'm gonna get back to work now...

Yay Laura! I'm so glad that you found a place. This is going to be so exciting! Can't wait to hear all the details... Well ladies, it looks like I gushed about restriction too soon. I'm again able to eat eat eat. Am feeling no restriction. This started Saturday. Last week I was doing great. Lost a few pounds, but this morning I woke up and they were back. I am NOT changing my ticker. AUGH! I called my doctor to see if I could come get another fill but she leaves for vacation tomorrow and won't be back until the 23rd of June. Until then I will have to sustain myself on willpower alone. For breakfast I had 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of blueberries. My stomach was growling by noon. I can definetly eat about a cup of food,no problem. Bread, chicken, pasta, everything is going down fine. This really sucks...

Judy, here are my babies... doggies2.bmp

JUDY - your babies are adorable! They look like little angels. I have three Maltese. They actually do look like angels because they are all white but in reality they are little devils! I will try to find a pic to post...

Wow! You already look great! Your tummy is so flat! How are you feeling? Are you in alotof pain? Can I ask a few questions? What weight did you start off at? How much did you lose and how long did it take you to lose it? Do you have any more weight to lose? Do you have kids? Sorry for all the questions but I'm approximately your age and am just starting but I know I will definetly need a TT down the road! Thanks!

Hi Ladies! I'm so glad it's Friday. I'm ready to go home now. I wish I could leave early like you Pamela! Have fun at the beach. It looks like it might be pool weather here in Houston this weekend. Hopefully no more rain! I work in the carwash industry so rain just kills us! I hope everyone has a good weekend. My Godmother is coming from Mexico to visit me. I'm so excited. I haven't seen her since I got surgery. Hopefully she'll be able to see a difference in my appearance. I can't really see it yet. Oh! I wanted to let everyone know that I have some clothes that I am giving away. I have like 10 shirts size 22/24. Some of them are 3/4 sleeve, some of them long sleeve and some of them short sleeve. They are all the cotton t-shirt like shirts. Not button blouses. Just pull-overs. I also have like 6 size 46D bras. Everything is in good condition. I never put any of my clothes in the dryer for fear of shrinkage. Anyone interested? Just PM me and I'll send them your way. These are good transition clothes...

So yes, my fill is definitely working. Yay! Small bites and chewing very well are the ONLY way that my food will go down now. I'm very happy about that. These past few weeks when I was able to eat anything just like before surgery were really scary for me. I was controlling myself, but only because I spent alot of money on the band and I needed to MAKE it work. Most of the time I was still hungry. I was trying to stay optimistic during that time but in reality I had doubts that it would work like it was supposed to. I thought I was going to have to DIET the whole time. So glad that's not going to be the case. Now it really feels like it's supposed to feel. Like everyone talks about. Restriction Restriction Restriction... That word is wonderful...

It's true when they say that your fill takes a few days to work. I had my fill done on Saturday. On Monday I started eating solids again. I took it slow on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I encountered no problems. Ate just like normal. Was already thinking that I was going to have to run to get a slight adjustment. Well this morning when I was trying to eat my breakfast of cottage cheese with rasberries I was having a real hard time with it. After about three bites I gave up. The food felt "rough" going down. Almost like the golf ball feeling but not so intense. So anyways, I just got back from lunch. I was having a bowl of chicken "caldo", which is mexican chicken soup. The chicken is not cut up and there are no noodles in it. Just chicken pieces and lots of vegetables. I'm Mexican so it's been real hard to "put the tortilla down". I haven't had any problems with tortillas until today. I grabbed the chicken leg out of the soup and wrapped the tortilla around it. I took a bite out of it and started chewing. I guess I didn't chew very well because 2 seconds after I swallowed I felt like I was underwater and I couldn't come up for air. I panicked and got up and started pacing the room. I had to tell myself to calm down and breathe through my nose. That bite was sooooo painful going down. I never PB'd or slimed but it was a horrible experience. I desperately wanted to chug some water to "help" it go down but I remembered that doing that would make it worse. So I just went outside to walk around a little bit and after about 15 minutes I felt better. I didn't eat another bite. My throat feels sore now. That tortilla kicked my ass... :confused:

Hi all! How has everyone been. I've had a busy past few days. Well, I finally got my fill on Saturday. So here it goes: My fill was scheduled at 9:30 a.m. so I figured I should skip breakfast. No one told me to do it but I just went ahead and did it. I got there and she cleaned the area with alcohol. I did NOT lie down. It was standing. I stood behind the x-ray machine and lifted up my shirt and tucked it under my bra. I could see my port on the screen when they turned on the machine. She located the middle of the port by using a long metal rod and just moving it around my port area on my skin. Once she located the middle of the port she marked it with the tip of her marker. She then gave me a numbing shot. That didn't really hurt. Just like a little ant bite. Then I saw the fill needle. OMG it looked huge. I turned away while she inserted it. It miraculously did not hurt. So then she put in 2.5 cc's. She gave me a tiny little bit of barium and asked me to drink. You could see the liquid gathering in my little pouch! She timed how long it took to flow through and then she decided that 2.5 cc's was too much. She pulled some saline out and left 1.7 cc's. She then asked me to sip some more barium. She was satisfied with how long it took to get through. She then gave me 8 oz of water to drink and she had me drink them while the needle was still sticking out of me!!! So I'm standing there with this huge needle sticking out of me! Too funny. Took me a little bit to drink all the water. I could feel the tightness. Finally when I was done drinking then she went to go remove the needle. OUCH! THAT HURT. That was the only part that hurt. I rode laying down all my way home because I felt sore in that area. I felt sore for the rest of the day but there was no bruising. I did warm or room temperature liquids for the rest of Saturday. Sunday all day I had mushies. I could feel some definite tightness. I felt like the third day out of surgery. On Monday I had an runny scrambled egg for breakfast and then I had one hamburger patty that I nibbled on for the rest of the day. This morning I had 4 oz of cottage cheese with a handful of rasberries. Also, Saturday and Sunday I did not get all my water in. I was having to take tiny sips and I only drank like 30 oz each day. Today I am doing good with my water. I will reach my 96 oz by the end of the day. I noticed on Monday that if I don't chew very very well it fell like the food was going down like barbed wire. I had gotten used to being able to eat reguarly and then this brought me back to having to follow bandster rules! I will see what happens for the next few days and keep ya'll posted!

Hi ladies? How is everyone doing? I just got back from Chicago, awesome city! It was gorgeous and I didn't want to leave! Anyone here from Chicago? We are planning to go back at the end of August and hopefully the water will be warm enough to swim in. I am up one pound from before I left. Yay me. I did really good with my eating while I was on vacation. I stuck to the rules and made sure I had time to eat. I really thought I was going to go crazy, with not having a set schedule and just being able to graze all day. But I didn't. I started my period today so hopefully that one pound I gained is just water retention. I do feel severly bloated. Thank you all for your comments and advice on my situation with my boyfriend. Nothing has been said or done since I just arrived here but I did have alot of time in Chicago with my mom and my two sisters to talk about this and figure out my course. I will keep you posted on what happens. I will have to go back and read all the pages and pages and pages of posts so that I can catch up with everyone's lives... Will post more tomorrow... Love you all... Have a good night...

Ok Violets, I'm off to Chicago. Send me good vibes please! I'm flying solo for the first time, without friends and family to sit next to me on the plane. On top of that I am sitting in the middle seat! Ugh. I'm not looking forward to that. Usually my fat just carries over to the next seat but my seatmates never mind. I'll have to be sucking my breath the whole flight! I'll catch up with you guys tonight and let ya'll know how it goes... Bye!

Tracy, I'm so happy you shared! I also have a 10 band and I was wondering if my initial fill of 1.5 was even going to have any affect on me. I'm glad to hear you say it does! I'm so happy for you! I get my first one next Saturday and I'm also a big baby when it comes to needles. So I hope you everyone is right when they say the needle doesn't hurt! I'll have my eyes shut and I'll be holding on to my mom the whole time!!! I'm telling you, I'm seriously a big baby! So this morning I got to work early and I decided I'm going to do some of that ab work where you get on all fours. I closed my office door and get on my hands and knees. A few minutes later I hear a sharp knock on my door but before I get off the floor the door flies open. My boss is standing there just looking at me. He puts some documents on my desk and slowly backs out the door. We didn't say a word to each other. I wonder what he thinks I was doing? :ermm

Terri: OMG soooo jealous. My tops are getting way too big to wear but my bottoms are still fitting. Not tight like they used to but I still can't get into my size 24's. Regarding your question, "What is your plan the next time you have a setback?" - My plan is to not beat myself up about it. I will pick up where I left off before my "detour" into food hell. The only reason I didn't go on a binge after I ate those two unmentionable things this morning was because I was able to get some support throught this site. In the past if I were following an eating plan all it took was one little mess up to send me spiraling into the biggest binge. Then of course I would give up the whole plan because of that one little mess up. Not anymore. Just like you said Terri, I have to go into this knowing that I will fail. Thanks... Hmmm, the oldest thing waiting for me in my closet... About 10 years ago my mother bought me this summer dress in a size 14. I still have it. It still has the tags on it. It's a nice olive green color, short sleeve, buttons down the whole front. Like a shirt dress. Falls to mid-calf. Leather belt around the waist. Can't wait to be in that...

You're right Deanna. Pre-band I would have had that plus a few donuts and a big cup of coffee with sugar and full fat milk. I guess sometimes I feel like if I don't stick to the regimen that I've set for myself then I feel like I am failing or falling back into my old habits. Thanks for reminding me. Like GonnaBfree said, I have to make the right decisions... Well the good thing about having that for breakfast is that now I still feel stuffed and it's way past lunchtime. Hopefully I stay full like this until about 3 and then I will have just a light snack. It will balance me out if I skip lunch today...

just ate two sausage kolaches. how can that be? i'm so disgusted with myself. i need my fill NOW! I'm going on vacation this weekend. I don't want to gain everything back before my fill! ugh.

Hi Violets! I've got alot of back reading to do, I've been so busy these past few days. Getting the yard ready, trying to get my exercise in, planning for Mother's Day. Mother's Day is huge at my house. My mom has 9 sisters so we always have a huge party for all the moms in the family. I've got two sisters and it's usually me and my sisters that do all the planning since we are the oldest children in the family. All the other kids are in their teens... We planned a great party everyone went home happy! I've been doing good so far. Haven't lost a single fricking fracken pound but other than that I'm feeling good. My clothes that I wear are feeling loose but I have not had to go down a size yet. I've got a pair of size 24 jeans that I wanted to be in for this weekend but it doesn't look like I will be fitting into them yet. I'm going to Chicago at the end of this week for a long four day weekend with my two sisters and my mom. It's our Mother's Day gift to her. Wish me willpower!! I've been staying under my recommended calories each day. Between 1000-1200 per day. Never would have been satisfied with that in the past, pre-band, so that is encouraging. The only thing I'm having a problem with is knowing when I'm full. I really can't tell. So for now I pre-measure my serving and only consume what I have on my plate. Maybe in the future I'll be able to just get a plate of food and stop when my body says stop. But I think that that comes later. I don't get hungry hungry during the day but my intestines do rumble occasionnally. And I'm still experiencing head hunger. I wonder if I will ever overcome that? I still catch myself looking for something to eat just because I'm bored or because I'm gonna sit and watch my show. But I'm not actually HUNGRY. Has anyone tried any recipes from the Body for Life cookbook? I love to cook but unfortunately my cooking always has tons of butter, fat and is generally unhealthy. So I'm looking for delicious, healthy recipes. Okay, I'm gonna catch up on the posts tonight and try to post again later. Bye all! Have a good rest of your day...

Michelle - I'm so glad to hear your good news! It's okay that you break down when you hit a bump, you just have to remember to get yourself back up! I will continue to pray that there are no more surprises for you! My first fill is scheduled for this Saturday. I'm a little hesitant to get it done because Mother's Day is Sunday and the spread at my mom's house is always to die for. And I will be on liquids. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet... I know that I am very ready for it. I can eat everything with no restriction and no problems. Haven't PB'd on anything and have never felt the Golf Ball feeling. I do get full on less food though. But still. I wish that I wasn't always hungry...

The Dr. Krackers I bought at Target. You can also buy them on Amazon.com or go to their website and they will tell you where they sell them locally. http://www.drkracker.com/

Big HELLO to all you beautiful Violets... I still have to go back and read all the posts I missed since Friday but here is a quick post... Umm, still not pooping right. I used to be so regular before my surgery. Used to go once a day... I miss those days! I'm doing so good with my water! I'm getting in 64-80 oz of water a day. 40-60 grams of protein. ugh. I've been on solid food for a week now and no movement! Also, the scales have been moving...but not in the direction that I want... I've GAINED 3 lbs since last Wednesday. WHAT? How did this happen? I'm excercising, drinking my water, watching my calories... I AM losing inches though. That's a plus! I wanted to also let ya'll know about a product I found. It's a flatbread cracker called Dr. Kracker. It's got 3g of fiber and 5g of protein in each cracker. 0g of sugar. They are really good. I spread peanut butter on them for my breakfast. You can eat them plain too. Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to get on tonight to read all the back-posts.

Hi! I was banded on April 13th with Dr. Zapata in Monterrey, Mexico. The whole experience was wonderful for me. The hospital that I had my surgery done at was top of the line. It was a full service hospital, not a clinic. The hospital room was luxurious and the staff was super attentive. The hotel I stayed at afterwards was also beautiful and comfortable. The cost of the whole procedure was $7500 and it included everything except airfare.