lisacaron

I'm sure it's b/c of all the bad band posts we been seeing, it's keeping people away.

@@coachk11233 that's great!! I chose the Lapband for many reasons vs. the sleeve or other surgery. You got some great advice from the posters above. No matter what surgery you choose follow up and compliance are the biggest keys to success. If your in the NY area consider stopping by one of our local support groups!!

@@pattic what you were right as @@parisshel said sounds very hormonal. I have had these issues on and off since hysterectomy. What we eat and when often has alot to do with our being. Working with a nutritionist is a great way to get that balance back in your life. I for one was having horrible sugar cravings for the longest time, and would have sugar binges where I would go out and look for candy that was pure sugar and why? because I totally cut sugar out of my diet completely. Everything was processed or "fake" sugar. I wasn't eating any carbs, I wasn't having any fruit, and my body was calling for these things to help balance my electrolytes. I have had this issue before banding, where I was not consuming enough Water or eating enough potassium but I also have a digestive disorder that contributes to the metabolism of certain foods which having the band has actually helped to improve. So now I take the time to eat some carbs and have some vegetables and fruits and even some dare I say it candy on occasion to make sure that I'm not having those crashes. No matter what our surgery modality we need to eat in balance especially if we have other medical issues that affect our eating and/or digestion. Diabetes is a metabolic issue, your body is not as open to processing insulin, and that is not always because of obesity. One can be diabetic and be thin, just as one can be thin and still have high cholesterol or like me one can be obese and have low cholesterol. Don't give up on your band, work with your nutritionist and find a way to eat in balance and work your band as well. There is no mal-absorptive component to the band, so it is not contributing to a lack of Vitamins or minerals. If you are vomiting that could be an issue and cause for concern. Best of luck to you!!

@@Keemi13 take a breath. Your doing OK. You are only 5 days into this procedure. Your quite swollen inside which will cause everything to take its sweet time to make it through the opening of your stoma even with NO Fluid in your band. think of the size of your stoma as being as tiny as the eraser on a pencil to the sliver of a thumb nail. At this point you need to take sips tiny tiny sips of fluid. Use a medicine cup if you have trouble taking a smaller sip or use a teaspoon. Eat some frozen sugar free ice pops this will help some of the internal swelling and sooth your throat and stomach as well. This is a process and some heal up in a heart beat and the swelling goes away and your hungry again (that was me) and some will be swollen for some time before it goes away and fills begin (that was my hubby). Slow and steady, keep breathing through it and your gonna be great. Don't eat before you lie down to sleep, and keep hydrated. Ice pops will help you there as well. Good luck and let us all know how you are doing in a few days.

Catching up here on a Friday...it's been a Looooong work week and I am ready for the weekend! Love the pictures Debbie wish I had planned better to be able to go. Maybe the next one like Liz said we could make plans and meet up at one of them. Gotta tell you after a few nice sunny days here in NY today is a weepy one and shh don't tell anyone but I am sooo not into being at work today! I came in ready to dive in with both feet and now I just feel exhausted and want to go home and crawl back under the covers. Creative juices are all tapped out for the day...I need to power down for a while! Do you ever have those days? Where you have to...but you just don't wanna??? I just wanna whine till I get my way and go home

@@gowalking Hahahahaha I just had to laugh sorry!!! You know I have been going through the same exact thing. We talked about this over the weekend at our meeting. I have some miserable back issues that I never knew I had going on before I was in a car accident last year. So FF to today after CAT scans and MRI's I have some disc bulges and degeneration in my spine at the lumbar and cervical spine so top and bottom which just makes the whole thing feel like crap! On days like today when the weather is weepy I am too cause I am achy Well for the last few months I have been flopping around in my mothers shoes. Or rather I felt like a kid walking around in her mothers shoes, because the darn things were about a size too big. It was winter and boot season and you know half the boots I wore this year didn't fit right when I bought them! Most were too tight or didn't zip up all the way and I would hide them under my pants who could tell right? So this year I was jazzed that they fit and I could wear them and you know what...they only made my back hurt more. I went home at the end of the day sore and in pain from wearing shoes that were too big. One day I told my husband and stood across the room said to hubby ready? Catch and kicked my foot up and the shoe went flying off my foot across the room to him. Yeah time for some new shoes! I am now back to the size 6.5 I was before I had children 26 years ago. Now if I could fit in my size 3 pants from when I was 16 we would be talking, but I'll be happy with a 5-6!!! Oh and the new shoes...well I can say that my back doesn't hurt AS much as it was. Having shoes that fit and you can walk in comfortably really means alot!

@@Wvcari you are too tight. If you are having acid reflux when you lie down you need an un-fill. Don't hesitate call them now and go in and get just a tiny bit taken out. Maybe .5cc and it will make all the difference. Acid reflux could cause more issues then you want to deal with and you could have other issues like a dilated pouch etc. I had this happen to me and I had to have all the Fluid taken out and start all over again. Only now am I getting to where I need to be and it's nearly 6 months later. Take care of you first, the weight will come off but if you set yourself back like I did then it will take that much longer and even longer still if you have complications. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

OMG thanks for the laughs!!! Keep those hysterical clips and quips coming!!!!

Ooo My teams are the NY Mets, NY Giants, and the NY Rangers! Let's go Rangers!!!

Age? 44 Sex? Female Location? Long Island NY LOL okay maybe on Yahoo Personals style (don't knock it I met my husband on there!! Yahoo!!!) OK so we are each about 70 pounds lighter now

Hey who even knew we had a lounge?? I needed a place to kick back and put my feet up!!

@@sleeveee sure go for it! You can let them know that we are a support group that is open to all who wish to join.they may ask you how many people, I usually say to expect approx 10 people. Dates and times would be when they are available. I could make evenings work, from 7-9 and or Saturday's from 2-4 just need enough time prior to the date to let people know about it. If they ask any other questions you can always PM and I will help to answer as best I can.

This is the hard part. This is the only hard part. The head is always the hardest part to change. @@JustWatchMe seems to me you have changed it. You are doing amazing!!! All that self chatter in our heads, helps us to be aware of what we are doing. Most don't even bother to listen to it and just go about doing and feeling badly or not. You my friend hear your voice, and that's the biggest hardest part!! No one wants to hear the truth and we REALLY don't want to hear it from ourselves because we are always going to be our own worst critic. I really try not to let people and their comments get in my head, I have enough in there I don't need anymore an I am so analytically by nature that one comment can drive me pazzo (crazy) for weeks on end and when all the flavor is gone I stick it my hair to chew on again at a later date. I am so happy for you and proud of you, and totally learn lessons from you!!

It was a nice day to be out and about in the city! I promise LI people I am working on securing a venue on Long Island. I recently was at the Huntington Library for a training class and it has an awesome venue with lots of rooms and spaces for events. I am waiting to see if we might "qualify" to reserve a room there for a meeting. Keep you all informed. In the mean time here was the handout from our last meeting. It is all about Spring renewal. How are you cleaning out for Spring? I know this Sunday, Hubby and I went through the house and discarded some old things that had been piling up and got some work done in and around the house that needed doing. Even the doggies all got a bath. We have so much more to do, but with the renewal of the sun in our lives, I have more energy and want to get up and out more to get more done. I'm invigorated and inspired to clear out the old, dust off the cob webs and get things moving again!! How about you? 5 Steps of Self-Renew For Spring! It's a time of new beginnings, a fresh start. A time of blossoming and renewal. Are you feeling it? Are you making room in your life for it? This is a great time to take stock of what is and isn't working in our lives internally as well as externally, and take the necessary steps to let go and move forward. This is sometimes as easy as clearing out your closet and donating old clothes, and sometimes as challenging as letting go of those good relationships to make room for great ones. Sometimes it requires looking within and seeing what unforgiving, hurtful, critical, and separation-causing behaviors and attitudes we hold on to (often unconsciously) that keep us from our joy, connection and fulfillment. Easier said than done, I know. But so worth it, and ultimately necessary to realize your highest potential in health and life. It's like shedding snakeskin. Here are 5 Steps for “Shedding” gracefully: 1. Awareness is the first step. Identify the behavior, perspective, or attitude that no longer serves you. - This can be done with the help of someone you trust, love and who only wants the best for you. - This can also be done through self-reflection and introspection. It takes a great deal of courage, honesty and humility to accept the areas of ourselves that need refinement or to let go of things that are no longer for our greatest and best. 2. Forgive yourself. Self-compassion is important. No good comes from beating yourself up and feeling guilty. Recognize that you did the best you could at the time and now you know better. 3. Create space. Science has shown us that neurons that fire together, wire together. Meaning that many of our responses are automatic due to past conditioning. By giving yourself time before reacting, consider the outcome of your words and actions and choose a higher route. This may feel uncomfortable at first, but give it time and new neural pathways will form. 4. Use tools to remind you of your intention. Try using affirmations or intention statements as regular reminders of the seeds you are planting and watering within yourself. Use sticky notes and the “Tell Me Later” app, which sets off an alarm every hour, or so with the statement written in the present positive “I am…” When the alarm goes off, take a moment to repeat the statement 3 times and breathe in deeply. 5. Know you will be tested. Situations and challenges will continue to come up to test your new resolve. When they do, remember Step 3. Create space and repeat your intention to yourself. Breathe deep and choose a more positive and loving response. Some days will be easier than others. When you revert to past behavior remember Step 2: be kind, compassionate and forgiving of yourself. With time and practice, it will become easier and easier. Rinse and repeat. With each layer of snakeskin you shed, you become more and more the change you want to see in the world, more of your light shines through and illuminates the way for others. And with every change, a reward. Greater joy. More peace. Less drama. New friends. More courage and strength. Better health. More fun! A process.

@@JustWatchMe hey find that recipe and send to me!!! sounds like I could make that work for those miserable I want some pizza days!!

Checking in today. Feeling pretty good about eating choices, though I would like to be moving more...I'm not trying to push it. Stress is...well I (fingers crossed, knocking on wood, saying a prayer, lighting a candle, doing what ever it takes!!!) is easing up and I am breathing a little easier. Happy Wednesday!!

@@BandedMi I am really so sorry to read your post. It's not easy when you have someone you care about shoving your favorite things in your face and not caring about how you feel, ultimately by him doing this is going to cause you to reassess your relationship with this person. You have made a choice to put your health and happiness first and in essence he is telling you he doesn't care about that he cares about only what makes him happy....and that's hard to live with. As you said you are the only one who cares about you...and that's right!!! You do, you cared enough to have surgery and though it's hard you will care enough NOT to eat the foods he brings when you know they are not brought to you with love and concern but sabotage. It makes the sweet taste bitter, and then you will no longer want it. If your husband doesn't want that to happen with your feelings for him...he's going to need to start making some changes in the way he supports you. I wish you all the best, and keep looking out for #1 that is YOU!!! You are special and you are worth a healthy and happy life and it's not all about size.

The thickest, gooiest, unhealthy thing you can imagine? I'm happy the band has set me apart from all that. Yeah but as a NY'r I crave that slice of pizza!!! I can't consume it, well I can but as you said it would take me 20 minutes and could be ugly...but of course I live in house full of young men and for some reason pizza is a staple for them easy and delivered right? It's the "smell" of it that gets me!!! My mouth just waters..and I have to take a big inhale and sometimes a tiny bit from the very tip that I chew and savor till it's melted in my mouth because if I don't....I won't be able to get it out of my head or off my taste buds!

@@Mysticangel142003 give your Dr. a call ASAP and have some Fluid removed from the band. You are too tight if you can not get Water down and this can cause complications. You don't need that right now. I am so sorry to learn of your Dad's sudden passing. It is not easy to lose a parent. I'm sure this journey is a little more difficult for you as well since he was your supporter and would be partner on this journey. I am proud of you as I'm sure your Dad would be for keeping to your commitment to yourself and taking the steps you needed to begin your journey. Try not to let others derail you, this is your journey not theirs and I am sorry they are not as supportive as they could be. I have found that I can't change those around me I can only change myself and my reaction to them. So I make food choices for myself first. If Lasagna is the meal of the day, and you don't want to make soup or something else for yourself separately you can totally sit down at the table and take that piece of lasagna an deconstruct it. Eat the filling, have some meat balls, what I like to do when my family makes a pot of sauce is i will enjoy a meatball or two if they are small and then make some steamed vegies (you can get the single serve steam bags in the super market 3 min in the micro and they are ready) and I mix those up with some sauce instead of eating the Pasta. You can find creative ways of making meals work for you as a bander. When I am at work meetings that are often through lunch hour and they cater in, I will take a sandwich and just deconstruct it and eat the meat and cheese and leave the bread. I'll have some salad as filler or even take some of the lettuce from the sandwich and use that as the "bread" You can do it, and we are here to support you!! Come back often and let us know how your doing and how we can help. Your not alone in this I promise!!

@@JustWatchMe I want some coloring books for adults! I love to color...so relaxing. Where do we find these? I have to start my list with: Jewelry!!! Long summer drives with the top down ( I'll have to get a convertible) Reading under the shade of a tree on a cool summer day The sound of the waves ebb and flow on the beach Taking the doggies for a nice walk around the lake Spending time with my hubby and relaxing Listening to the sounds of nature

I'm not in the dating scene but I have to give Kudos to the posters here!! Men and women alike can be sallow and insensitive and often times it shows their own insecurities with themselves more than it reflects upon us and that is the sad thing. When people make negative comments or have an expectation of beauty or intelligence it's because they come up wanting themselves and they project that feeling of lack onto another. You gals and guys are awesome, you have made some serious choices for your lives to be healthy and happy in your own right. Cheers to you!!

@@ThinDolphin3 I agree with what @@B-52 wrote. I think a good way to start is going back to those band basics. Every now and then when I see I am getting "sloppy" with my eating habits and often that will happen when I have needed a band adjustment for one reason or another I will go back to the beginning for a "reset" if you will. I will start by doing a few days of a liquid only diet. I feel that this helps me to reset my mind and my body and band as well. It gives it some "rest" from any sloppy eating I might have been doing and it helps my body to detox the sugar which is my downfall. I'm a sweet eater. After a few days of liquid diet I will move to soft foods, and again do this for a few days and practice eating in small bites, putting my fork down between bites and not drinking with food in my mouth or just after I have swallowed food. I will then progress to solid food (knife and fork type foods) and again cut the pieces I am about to put into my mouth into small bites, and take the time to chew and savor the bite before swallowing and cutting the next bite. This is where my sloppy eating habits come into play for me. Often I am pressed for time and I am not even mindful of what and how I am eating. This is key. You want to be mindful of the choice you make, and mindful of how you eat it. I will sometimes derail myself by taking too large of a bite, and/or eating too quickly and causing food to stack on top of each other causing me discomfort. If I am in a "rush" (which I always seem to be) I will try to slug back a sip of Water...and woe is me because I know better and now I am good and stuck and need to find a bathroom to resolve the issue. This will happen to me when I have had Fluid removed for one reason or another...usually because of a cold or medication which will make my stomach irritated and cause that swelling to cinch the stoma even smaller then I need it to be. So they take some fluid out an I get sloppy. Here is a great site with information on eating with the band etc. http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

Hi All, Checking in....I wish I could say my stress levels are better but oh no! Had an interesting holiday weekend. We had an afternoon wedding on Saturday so I had to do the best camouflage make up job ever so no would know I have been sick for days and days. I did a great job, just had to be careful not to smile or laugh too much so my face didn't crack! Just as I was in the PJ's finally at home and face all lathered up to take the war paint off...we got a call that my step son was in a car accident. So I threw on the sweat pants and scrubbed the face clean and old sickly was back..running shoes on to the ER. Sunday morning surgery with the plastic surgeon. Let me tell you...titanium alloy eye glass frames might be indestructible...but when they are on your face and the air bag hits you....your face is going to pay the price! My step son is OK after some nice plastic surgery to his eye socket and his head, these frames cut right to the bone, but low and behold he goes to check the car out this morning before it goes to the body shop, and the glass don't have a scratch on them! Ah well...eating has been pretty on point cause with all this who wants or can eat? My band is definitely letting me know it's there and not happy with my crazy life. I think I'll give it a few more days off from the gym...and maybe take the doggies for a walk tonight I could use the fresh air!!

@@LizFrmTexas do you have Fluid in your band now? Try not stress over the bloating being a slip, but do take some precautions to help yourself be comfortable. Going back to band basics is always a good idea. A liquid diet will help to sooth your stomach and esophagus if you are having reflux. It will also take the stress off the pouch and the band. So give it a go for a few days to a week and then move to soft foods and see how it goes. If this does not help you than I would call the Dr. and tell them you need a more urgent appointment because you want to take care of it ASAP and avoid any complications. Let us know how your doing!!