DeLarla

Wax on, wax off. Last night I ate the moon, today can't eat a carrot. Nibby little band of mine, but my band RULES! Adding to Shelly's "you know when you have a band when..." Eating the moon means having a slice and a half of pizza, that's without the bones!

* The scale at Wal-Mart no longer says "one at a time please". Shelly, full tears running down my face... feel my first PB coming up from laughing on a full stomach... there's just no way to top that!

Darcy, you are so gross!! FAR OUT. You were here for me before the band was even a glimmer in my eye. You pulled me through some rough times... I hope one day to return the favor. I'm so flipping exicted for you! Everyone asks how I'm feeling these days. I had a rough time from the second I woke up from surgery, till the bad pain and scar tissue poking at me right this second, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Use that heating pad girl! Actually, I never used it on the incisions, but I put it under my lower, mid and upper back as well as the bad shoulder pain that came a couple weeks after surgery. Thrilled to see you, seriously! Gross Darcy has a gross band! Lovin it!

Roy, come here. Post here. Read here. Be here. The awesome people on these boards are more useful to me than air. If you're posting, you're not eating!

Dirty bird, dirty bird, dirty bird.

Don, honey... I'm not smart enough for that post. Do I, or do I not have a real band? Did you just hypnotize me without me even knowing it? Am I really here? Anyone that can be at my house at 5pm tonight gets $50 to babysit me. Last night, after freaking over eating pizza, I decided to have too much fruit. It went down with no problem, so then I ate my first late-night-junk-food snack since pre-band dates - ut oh (lunchsize bags of Cheetos.) I had that bad habit cracked so far, and I NEVER want to do it again. This next line may disgust you... so please stop reading or scroll down for the gross part: shh, but I know I done wrong last night with my eating cuz I had my 1st diareah since surgery this morn. I've been really regular in the BM dept lately, so the pizza had the last word after all, but from the other end.

Terry, since I'm the only one not having to pay for flight or traveling expenses, I think it's only fair that I cover food. You guys spend your money on expensive presents for me instead, okay KIDDING, I SWEAR! But really, so far it looks like maybe around 10-ish will come, and I can certainly handle that kind of food. It would be fun for me! Worry about getting yourself here, okay? xo

I used the pizza as a test, hoping I wouldn't be able to tolerate it. So far, no prob. Darn. Pizza is one of those things my job springs for way too often and I really wanted to be able to give it up. I never crave it, but it's one of those things I simply can't say no to. I mean no problem at all in the belly. Feels good, bread and all. Darn, darn, darn. WAIT A MINUTE..... today is a day I drank Water till I ate... maybe there's something to waiting that 1/2 hour after all! Sabotaged! I probably don't even have a band. I'm probably one of those new studies where they implanted a disintegrating placebo. The infected port was just added for realism.

Today I'm suddenly thinking about food. Ever see the Saturday Night Live skit with Bob Newhart acting as a psychiatrist? His female patient sits down and says she's afraid someone is going to put her in a box and lock it shut. So Doctor says, "I can help you with two words." So the patient scrambles in her purse for pen & paper, looks at him intently, then she's ready to write. Newhart screams "STOP IT."

Darn, Lioness. When I saw you ate 3 pieces and felt great, I felt much better about myself! Tonight was my FIRST pizza since banded, also! I've been beating myself up for 2 hours because I ate 1.5 pieces... regular size pieces, not cracker size. I didn't eat the crust (or bones, like we call them.) It wasn't a large size, but a medium size pizza, so the pieces were average. But I'd think one slice sans bones should do the trick. I'm fretting cause I should be stuffed, but I'm not. I could have finished the 2nd piece but tossed it to my dogs in a panic. And I told them they weren't allowed to have pizza, but I had to get rid of it THAT fast. Please tell me 1.5 pieces isn't a hogload for my pouch. I used to eat a huge salad with ranch, 1/2 a large pizza, and 10 wings. No problem. Then I'd hold my stomach while whining, then eat ice cream to soothe the pain. I think I have a pouch while most of you guys have a pouchette. That's why I can eat more.

I'm 5'10" and other women are 4'9". Are my internal organs the same size as theirs?

Hubby & I went back east to visit my gramma. She wasn't home when we got into town, so we went to her senior home, where she was having her lunch. As we walked down the isles of 100 dining seniors looking for her, she looked up and yelled, "IT'S MY GRANDDAUGHER!" Then after a pause and very confused look on her face, she continued, "AND SHE GOT SO FAT." Hubby lightened the air by yelling, "YEP, IT'S A SIGN OF WEALTH." Grammas are innocent like kids, so he had the whole room believing we were the rich Las Vegas grandkids. When I was young, it would shred me to bits to be called fat, so it calloused my emotional skin to shoe leather. A bunch of young kids were recently driving next to me, and one started making fat jokes in my window. So I smiled and started flirting with him. He was beat red, pissed and told me he was grossed out, but I told him "you know baby, you wouldn't be checking me out like that if you didn't want some of this." I told him to pull over and give me a kiss while his friends were dying laughing at him. I don't think he'll mess with fat women again.

I wonder why I never PB? I realize it's awful, but I might need that lesson cause I just ate pizza for the first time since being banded. I ate about 1.5 pieces (no crust) with no problemo. My ribcage feels tight in the center, which I think means I'm full. It's also my first bread experience (though I've eaten a flour tortilla.) I was hoping to have problems with bread like normal banded people since bread is a problem food. I wish I would have stopped at 1 piece, because then I'd feel like I was in control. Pizza is one of those Stop Sign foods!

I have those Fudgey bars, but Chris eats the whole box in one sitting. By the time I crave one, they're gone. Hey, nice face T! I love when pics get posted!

P.S. Thanks, Alex, for planting the Chinese Food seed in my brain. Gotta have it.

I don't want you to suffer any more, Don, so yackity yack, I'm back. Alex, after giving it much thought, I think this is a great topic. Maybe it's old to some because you've been around longer, but I think even after a year I'll need constant reminders that I can no longer "belly up to the pig trough" as Chris would say at dinner time. He also calls it our "bellyhouse." It's the house where we store mass amounts of food. Now I just have a bellycondo. That whole ugly 1/2 cup debate on the other board actually had a mighty positive outcome in my opinion (shut up if you're saying my opinion doesn't count cuz it does it does!) One of the reasons I got so aggressive with that post is because I truly did want answers but kept getting smacked down. I wanted to know if ALL successful losers really weigh, measure, diet, etc. I wanted to hear that people have lost 100 pounds doing what I'm doing (which has worked 36 pounds so far.) Because of the "ugly debate", while I'm certainly not weighing or measuring, today I actually cut my can of tuna in half. I've been using the whole can till today and eating till full, which is always a few bites too many, then tossing out a few bites. Now that I've been smacked into the land of half-cuppers, I'm trying to be more cautious of my portions. I'm sure we've all lost 50-60 pounds before being banded, right? Whether Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, The Beverly Hills Diet, we've done them all. And back in those torture days, after dieting 6 months, I'd still need regular reminders of how tiny a portion really is, so I'm diggin' this info. I just hope nobody minds if we continue to drag this post through the mud, because some of us might come out cleaner on the other side. Now how much ice cream can we safely pack before "pouch packing" is a problem? I'm thinking my old Pint is prolly too much, eh?

I was going to ground myself from this board for a week or two, but then I figured you guys have put up with me so far, so here I go again. Lemme get back on the food issue for 2 seconds, because I found the cutest thing. When I was on mushies, I bought a bunch of baby food. Gerber Baby Food now comes in the cutest miniature re-usable containers. Like if you put a Gladwear storage piece in the oven and Shrinky-Dinked it to mini size. One can of tuna is just enough for 2 servings, and each serving fits perfectly in one of my Gerber containers. Cute stuff rules.

Terry, you hit my nail directly on my head. What works for some, doesn't work for others. Other people are able to stick to counting calories or measuring their food. I've been on Weight Watchers too many times, and the last time I mentally cracked up. I was weighing my dinner and started crying. Hubby came to see what was wrong, and I was soon in full-blown hysterics, throwing the scale away. I sought counseling because I simply cannot weigh or measure any more - after 30 years of counting, figuring, analyzing labels, fretting, etc., I just lost my will to "diet" and I don't ever want it back. That's why I got the band. Now that I'm banded, I actually crave healthy foods - gotta have chicken and tuna.. must have. Somehow the bad stuff isn't as hard to pass up (thanks, band!) If I decided to have a cookie, my old addiction might come right back and I'd eat the entire batch. Right now it works for me to avoid all those goodies except for special occasions. There's been a giant size tin of Cookies here for 2 weeks, but I walk right by them cause their store-bought. I'm not wasting my time on store bought crap when I know the cookie lady comes once a month with warm home baked ones! So I'll wait till then. I was given a piece of birthday cake but for the first time noticed how sweet and greasy it was. I could have eaten it, but I just licked at the fork. I'm trying to learn how to think like a skinny person, like, "that's so gross because it's too sweet." It ain't easy, but I'm trying to learn it!

*** Waving white flag**** Hi guys. I deleted all my posts from this thread because they're infecting this wonderful place. I admitted to being extremely abrasive (with no regrets) on Smartbandsters, but only after being unfairly treated. I learned the hard way that moderators on other boards are one-sided and enjoy feeding fuel to the fire by letting one side's insults through while deleting anything in defense - including apologies. Babs, thanks for your post, but you didn't see the entire truth because they deleted everything I posted while allowed the DeLarla bashing to continue. Bygones. I tried a new group, but was immediately attacked by Sandy. I responded in what I thought was a civilized reply beginning with "Sandy, this is a new board and a new day, so please send me private messages in the future to prevent the entire board's involvement." However, the moderator deleted my reply to Sandy's insult while letting Sandy insult me across the board. I guess they enjoy the drama. So I'm unsubscribing there and apologizing here. No more board bashing. xo

I didn't think that pic was really you because it looks like a young Ellen Barkin? Brittney? Who is that? Go drink some water! I fill up 2 huge containers of Water in the morning. I have to finish 1 of them or I don't get lunch. That's my rule, and I gotta stick to it!

Thanks, Terry. I didn't drink with meals before being banded because my gastroenterolgist suggested not to. I had major digestive problems before my band, and my doc agreed with your statement that stomach acids have an easier time breaking down food without all the water. I don't drink for a couple hours after eating because if I do, I get hungry later. If I get really thirsty, I'll have a popsickle. I keep a tub of mixed pops in the freezer - 2 boxes of sugar free with one box regular. You never know what you'll get, so if you get a real one it's a nice treat. Drinking before meals was my problem because I've been missing out on all the fun with my friends. We have lots of parties and barbeques. We'll drink for a few hours before cooking. Some days I sip Bloody Marys, others plain iced tea or water. But when everyone starts eating, I've been sitting there drooling while waiting for my 1/2 hour to pass. Then I end up eating alone later. After reading all these posts, I'll drink till my first bite. That's a big load off my shoulders. Thanks all!

And Kathy, in response to whether trouble makers will be there, please read my horoscope: "You've got a certain glint in your eyes that suggests mischief -- and the fact that, if given the chance, you'll definitely be up to no good. Enjoy it!"

Terry, thanks for the nice message. My dogs aren't speaking to me, and it's breaking my heart. They are so jealous of their new birdies. I tried telling them that they have new brothers & sister to love, but they just look the other way. My body is ready to start walking again, which will get me back on their good side since I take them with me, but I can't seem to wake up any more. Is anyone else so tired you can't drag out of bed? I've upped my Vitamin and Iron intake. I'm putting raisins in my Protein shake and eating raw spinach every day to boost my iron, but truthfully, I think I know what's going on: I was so sick to my stomach pre-band that I never slept well. I used to get up 2ce to pee, take antacids, eat more, etc. I had very poor quality sleep from stomach pains, acid reflux, etc. Now I'm sleeping hard and simply don't want to wake up!

You guys pick the date since my house isn't moving anywhere. Just tell me when to start cooking! Speaking of cooking, my non-banded friend had me cracking up when I said I'd provide food for the whole bash. She's seen my portions lately and said, "so if like 50 banded people show up you'll have to bake an entire chicken?" Maybe you had to be there, but it was damn funny.

Hi friends. I'm sad girl today. Had to get my incision lanced and drained at Urgent Care this morning. Major infection. I feel worse now than I did after my surgery. They had to pack the wound with 4 inches of gauze to keep it open. I have to go back tomorrow for them to repack it. Truly disgusting. They also gave me antibiotics. I'm usually a big girl about this kinda thing, but I feel like being a baby today so I'll take all the sympathy I can get. Hold me. Sniff sniff. Lis