bsellis

Has anyone watched this new show on CBS called Recipe Rehab? They take a family's unhealthy favorite dish and try to make something similar yet healthy. 2 cooks, 2 recipes and the family cooks them and chooses their favorite. I was very disappointed to find that you cannot get the recipes online. They lead you to believe you can by directing you to visit their website and then try to sell you the Recipe Rehab cookbook for $15. Ok, I don't know about ya'll but when you have Pinterest and the internet why would you buy a cookbook? Which brings me to the reason for this topic. I came across the website cookinglight.com. It's from the magazine but guess what? You can get free recipes! They look fantastic. I absolutley love Mexican food and came across a ton of recipes that I can eat without the guilt. Tonight I'm trying blackened tilapia baja tacos. I don't think I'll be disappointed. Another of my favorite sites for healthy recipes is hungry-girl.com. I do own one of the cookbooks. A little disappointed because many recipes are for individual portions. I'm trying to get my family on board with healthy eating (without them really knowing it ). But the website seems to have more for cooking for families. Anyone else have any favorite sites you visit for healthy recipes? Please share!!

I agree that a lot I've seen isn't band friendly but the last one I saw they made a black bean purée that looked so good. I'm sure I can find a similar recipe.

I'm still a work in progress but I'm down 110 lbs since starting my pre-op diet 9 months ago.

I don't have a problem with diet soda for the most part. My doctor said just to make sure it's poured over ice and let it sit for at least 5 minutes. I mainly drink Water and unsweet tea but when I have a craving for a diet coke I will have one. Sometimes I do get gas pains but it's totally worth it to me I also haven't had issues with alcohol but I very rarely drink it now because it's full of empty calories.

Well it has been three months since my last blog (6 months from surgery) and I'm happy to say I've lost another 30 lbs for a total of 90 lbs lost!! Current weight- 274. Whoo-hoo!! I think this is the first time ever that I've lost weight during the holidays. I've been averaging a loss of 10 lbs a month. Very happy with that. I've been getting very small fills. In fact I've only got 3 cc's in my 10 cc band. I still don't have alot of restriction but I count my calories, exercise and follow the rules. We've had a very cold winter so instead of doing my walking outside I've been doing low impact cardio workouts. My two favorite being Shapely Girl and the Biggest Loser Power Walk. I'm looking forward to warm weather and today I signed up for the Blue and You fitness challenge. This is something I did last year and it's basically just making a commitment to exercise 3 days a week for at least 30 minutes. Now what I'm really excited about is that I signed up for my first 5K!! It is May 3rd and I have the option to walk but I would love to run as much as possible. I know I can easily walk 3 miles but I haven't even attempted to run. I have wanted to try running but I don't want anyone seeing me. I know this is something I need to get over but when I go to the walking trails the only people I see running are already really fit and skinny. Ugh!! Well time to get over it because starting this week (wait it's snowing) ok next week I'm going to start training for this 5K. So besides all that my band seems to being doing well. I have had some pain in my left shoulder for about 3 months now. At first I thought I had injured it but then I realized that the way the pain would come and go, hurt when I would bend over for any length of time (cleaning) and when first laying down in bed that it seemed to be a nerve issue. I did some research and found that it is not uncommon for bandsters to have this pain. It is caused by a nerve- phrenic nerve- that runs through the diaphragm. It hurts everyday but luckily not ALL day so I can handle that. Other than that I haven't had any problems really. There is nothing I have found that I can't eat (but alot I choose not to!!) Oh yeah, I had a pretty sweet NSV this morning. I was chatting with a co-worker this morning and looked down and realized that I had my legs crossed. Wow! It's been a long time since I could do that.

It makes me sort of sad to hear people say they are embarrassed not only with having wls but with the way they look. I've still got a long way to go but I'm not embarrassed by the way I look. I wasn't embarrassed at my highest weight of 365 either. If I'm not comfortable and happy with who I am right now I don't think I would be happy at my ideal weight. I realized a long time ago that the number on the scale will not determine who I am and how I feel on the inside. I also don't mind telling most people that I've had wls. If I can help just one person through hearing my story then it's worth it to me.

Well I thought I'd do a little update since it has been awhile. I'm 3 months out from my surgery on Aug 9th. I'm currently weighing in at 304 lbs. That is 60 lbs down from before my pre-op diet. I feel great and couldn't be happier with the results. A couple of weeks ago I slacked off on my exercising and didn't do anything for an entire week. I didn't feel good but that's really not an excuse. To get me back on track I bought a dry erase board to log my daily exercise. It's also to keep up with how many reps I do with my weights so I can start increasing those gradually. I also purchased a fit bit which I love. It keeps up with how many steps I take, miles walked, calories burned... you get the picture. I have it linked to my fitness pal so it will take off calories burned. It's really handy and very motivating. Well my one big goal was to be under 300 lbs by Christmas but it looks like I might hit that goal by Thanksgiving. I've had a ton of NSV's so I'm going to list a few of those here. 1. Going shopping from my closet - I've had a lot of cute shirts just sitting in my closet bc they were too small. Now they fit!! 2. Bought some pants from a regular dept store- I actually bought some pants from Kohl's a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been able to shop anywhere but Lane Bryant in years!! 3. Seat belt doesn't pinch me and stays clasped now- I was having an issue with my hips/thighs being too wide so the seat beat in my vehicle wouldn't latch properly and would come undone while I was driving down the road. Fits great now! 4. No more Meraligia Paresthetica!! This is a big one bc it was causing me so much pain. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a nerve on your outer thigh that gets pinched bc of extra weight. It causes numbess, pain and burning. It got so bad for me that I would wake up at night and the pain would be so intense it would take about 20 minutes of slowly moving my leg around until I could get up. It always happened if I ended up on my back. I'm having ZERO issues with this now. 5. NO fast food. Fast food was my weakness and probably one of the main reasons I weighed so much. I haven't had a burger and fries in over 4 months and when I think about it doesn't even sound good. If we do grab fast food I pick subway or chick-fil-a (cool chicken wrap with no dressing is amazing). 6. Decrease in blood pressure meds. I was able to go on a lower dose of BP meds which also happens to save me $50 a month ($60 rx is now a $10 rx). 7. No more kidney pain/frequent UTI's. The last several years I've had kidney pain and stones, and frequent UTI's. I drank a lot of diet soda and little water. Now I drink a lot of water and no soda. 8. I really do have a collar bone. I know this is silly to some but this is my favorite NSV. It's so weird to feel it after not being able to for so long that I find I touch it alot without thinking. Yes I'm weird but I'm totally ok with that. These are just a few but there are many more. It amazes me that so much has changed already even though I have a long way to go. I can't wait to see what the next four months will bring!!! Believe

I guess it could indirectly be related to weight loss if it's caused by crossing your legs. That's not something easily done until you've lost enough weight. I had the same issue but like what was already said it was due to my sciatic nerve. This happened in Feb of this year and I still have numbness and some pain on the outside of my right leg and the top of my foot and toes even though my back pain is now gone. Luckily it only caused my foot to drop for the first month. Good luck!

My doctor says if you can eat a 6 inch sandwich from subway then it's time for a fill. Now that's scientific. Lol!!

I met my goal weight 8 days early! Weighed in at 312 yesterday 10-23. Whoo-hoo!

That is exactly how I felt after my first fill. I didn't even care that I wasn't eating I just wanted to drink some water without pain. I ended up getting an unfill and had immediate relief. Good luck!

Moderation is the answer... Thank you for saying that! I'm doing excellent on my weight loss so far and guess what? I eat carbs and occasionally snack. Just last night I had a skinny cow ice cream bar but it was after I walked 2 1/2 miles. I've had chips but it was a single serving package and it was the baked kind. I've had pizza but it was just one piece. I still stay between 850-1000 calories a day but I'm not going to be miserable and deprive myself of everything that I like. I know the chips are sliders and pizza is not the best choice but I feel like I'm working hard so occasionally (not all the time mind you) I can make that choice. And the best part? I don't feel guilty at all. This is a lifestyle change not a diet and that is how I've approached this process. I will not drink my calories though. That is something I will not budge on right now but maybe when I'm in the maintance phase I will go get something from Starbucks. Who knows?

I think patient education is just as important as the actual procedure of having the band placed. We were given 'rules' to go by and were told if you don't go by the rules you won't be successful. (The top rule being no drinking your calories.) It's easy to cheat but my thinking is why would you want to? Why would you go to such drastic measures as having wls just to abuse it? I totally see the point of your post but I knew this before I even had the surgery. Unfortunately this isn't always the case. I would just encourage people who are looking into wls to research surgeons and find one that offers a lot of education and support.

I have found Chick-Fil-A to be the best fast food restaurant. Sometimes we have to eat on the go. Tonight was one of those nights. I got a grilled chicken wrap. 320 calories and 38 grams of protein. They'll ask what dressing you want on the side but I would just say NO to the dressing or if you absolutely have to have it go with fat free. I also like to get the grilled ckn nugget kids meal with fruit instead of waffle fries. Yummo!

Has anyone else had issues with their gums bleeding after surgery? I'm almost 2 months post-op now and I'm having some major bleeding when flossing my teeth. I take really good care of my teeth and go to the dentist every 6 months. I haven't had a cavity in over 10 years. I'm taking a multi-vitamen and Calcium supplement daily. I noticed this increase in bleeding gums about 3 weeks ago. It makes me think it's a nutrient issue?? Well now my gums feel irritated and my teeth hurt. I think this is because I've been chewing more since my first fill last week (although I spent 5 days on liquids). Maybe I'm overdoing it on the chewing. I think I'll eat soft foods over the weekend and see if that helps.

I knew I hadn't ran across this topic before but I thought I would give it a shot. I will definitely be checking with my dr. Thanks!

65% of the message content in a communication exchange is made up of nonverbal language (i.e., body language, intonation) therefore, one must understand this if they are going to participate in communicating through social media sites via the interwebs . This is why people take things the wrong way and think people are being rude when in all actuality they are just trying to be helpful. I'm a big fan of texting and I've had issues with people taking things the wrong way. It happens to everyone!! Except my mother who can't figure out how to text and doesn't even know how to get on the internet (how are we related??).

Well I wasn't prepared to be this uncomfortable with my first fill. I went Wednesday and the nurse explained that the first time they like to fill the band completely up and then let out saline. So she filled it up with 10 cc's, had me sit up and take a couple of sips. The pressure was intense and I started getting nauseated. She then removed some and had me sip water until I guess she decided 2 cc's were good. I felt fine until that night while trying to sleep. I tossed and turned bc I could feel the pressure of the band and it was really uncomfortable. Yesterday I maybe got in 10 ounces of water/hot tea but it just hurt so bad I didn't want to drink. I tried a SF popcicle and experienced sliming for the first time. Today isn't much better. I should be able to do soft foods but that's not happening. I'm just trying to force myself to drink. I'm really hoping this passes soon. I'm assuming this is normal bc of swelling right?? Will this happen with all of them or is the first fill the worst? They already scheduled me for my 2nd and 3rd fill in 2 and then 4 weeks from the first. I'm already dreading it.

Name, real or screen~ Brandy Goal weight for October 31st~ 313 Weight on October 1st~ 321 Age~ 36 City/State~ Conway, AR Dietary goal for October~ Eat more fruit/veggies Exercise goal for October~ Walk no less than 5 times per week Personal goal for October~ Organize and clean out closet Date banded~ 08-09-13 Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~ 43 lbs since pre-op (7-25) Favorite Halloween Activity~ Throwing my annual Halloween party!!