Bandista

I pay good money....oh, wait, that's right, this is a FREE service to people like me who get so much information and support -- how about a big THANK YOU to all of the people working hard behind the scenes to retool the site. We appreciate you! Miss the blogs, too, and look forward to seeing what's new. Best wishes.

Good your you! My FB photo is of me when I was nine so I sure know what you mean. Here's to health and happiness and sharing that with the world!

Hi Latty, congratulations! And you, too KTigger -- big day here at last. I can't wait to be there a few weeks from now. Well, you know what I mean -- really we all can't wait until it's over and first fill has taken place, etc. Best wishes for speedy recovery(ies) all!

Hope you feel better soon! I am not looking forward to this but I know it will be worth it all in the long run. Best wishes!

Okay, heading off to the basement for an abbreviated workout. I have 3-4 days of intense working out (for me, anyway) with a cousin -- 20 bike to warmup, 40 treadmill, 20 BowFlex -- but I need to do something on my own on these other days, even if it's just a nod in the right direction. Oh, and doing my husband's PT exercises with weights in bed each morning. After a year of thinking these look like excellent exercises for any one needing core work, I finally got my own little set of hand weights. These exercises are amazing and now he's working harder, too.

Hi Maddy! So happy for you. Love those basics -- I'm really looking forward to being able to listen to my body's signals and respond appropriately. That whole dialogue between my belly and my brain got so messed up so many years ago. I know I am not going to be eating for fullness but for satiety and that is a subtle thing (and where the measuring cups and clock come into play!). Way to go on the exercise. I know just what you mean about getting through the stiffness. I have arthritis that improves with exercise but it's not easy to get over that initial hurdle. Trying to retrain my brain to crave the exercise the way I have craved food in the past, but for now it's just a matter of doing it anyway even though I don't want to and then being so happy afterwards that I did.

Hi Julie, I started researching the band in June and am getting mine placed in November so my process was about five months even though my insurance had no pre-op requirements. There was a mandatory info session only held every two months so I had to wait for that and then all the other appointments (for me it was Program Coord., nutritionist, psych eval, surgeon then date for surgery). I've used the time to really read people's stories here so I can understand how best to be successful myself. And I've been working out a lot during this time, too, trying to turn into an exercise machine to prime my body for the new mode. Best wishes to you -- keep us posted!

Congratulations -- I wish they'd call and move mine up -- time to get this show on the road! Good luck with the pre-op diet. Nice to get a chunk off prior to surgery and shrink that liver to make band placement easier. I start my formal pre-op next Tues. then surgery 11/5. You sound very prepared -- great that you went off soda and you are weaning off caffeine. I've been doing some of that myself and identifying behavioral weaknesses (stress eating, evening drink/snack habits, etc.). Good luck to you -- keep us posted!

Ack, did it again! s a u t e

Sorry, that first word is sauté! On my iPad....

Sauté garlic, onion, carrot bits in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, add in the quinoa and let it pick up those flavors then chicken stock to cover plus an inch, let it cook 20 mins or so.....buckwheat is another of these amazing grains,,so high in protein (actually not a grain, a berry!).

Sauté garlic, onion, carrot bits in a little olive oil -- add in the quinoa for a minute to pick up that flavor then pour in chicken stock. So high in protein and delicious. Buckwheat is another one of these amazing grains (actually it is a berry!).

You're here, you're ready -- be sure to pat yourself on the back for surviving catastrophe, for your initial decision to be banded and getting that first chunk off -- and know that stress is stress, even "good" stress. Choose yourself now.

Happy New Healthy Allie! Aye, aye, Captain!

Happy (almost) One-Year Bandaversary -- and congratulations on your weight loss and all the hard work it has taken to get to this place. Best wishes!

Hi Starfish and welcome to this forum -- I've learned so much here and am looking forward to getting banded three weeks from today. I know it will be a lot of work but I'm used to that -- what I need is this tool to help me finally be successful at losing this weight.

I fill up a 32 ounce bottle almost to the top with water and put in a splash of unsweetened cranberry juice (Trader Joe's has a good one that is not expensive) and a capful of aloe vera juice. It's a nice thirst-quenching drink and very healthy.

Hi there......getting excited! And a tad nervous. Congratulations on your date!

Yippee, so happy for you. I am Nov. 5th -- we will be November bandits together!

Hi there, so sorry you're having this pain today. The tea suggestion above sounds good on many levels including caffeine -- could it be that kind of headache, getting off meds, post-anesthesia, etc.? As for the gas (and I'm pre-op, know nothing!) some one on here a while back got relief from the "happy baby" pose -- do you know that one? Or maybe laying with a small firm pillow under your shoulders, head and neck back, arms wide, so that chest area really opens and any trapped gas can move. Hope you feel better soon! Be gentle with yourself, take the time you need to really recover......

Hi Jakki, congratulations! Glad to hear you are doing well. Wishing you a speedy recovery and easy entry into band world. Right behind you!

Hi there KC Gal -- congratulations on this big step toward a healthy happy future! Take good care of yourself, the walking, sips of water. I am so excited to be banded three weeks from today. We'll be fall bandies together. Best wishes!

Hi Kat, welcome -- and your entry reads like the inside of my brain at times. I can be so diligent and I am an expert dieter but at this point my weight is not going to come off. I have tried everything. Very excited to be having a band placed three weeks from now. Hddn, I'm going to get that book! My son cannot have dairy and husband is gluten-free (celiac) -- I am so much better when not having either of those. And sugar of course. I do have some trouble with the elimination of entire categories of foods -- I can be a bit too restrictive with myself in that way and there has always been a bounce-back. What I'm hoping for from the band is not to be thinking about food all the time, to listen to my body and eat what I need to be healthy but no more than that.

Hi Misty, excited to have so many people to bounce ideas off of and for general support. This has been enormously helpful to me as I've been going through the process of appointments, etc. My surgery is three weeks from today and I feel well prepared mostly because of being a part of this forum and reading all I can. Exciting times ahead!

Thank you! I may need to go to a smaller cap while getting used to my band -- and Schiff is a good company as I recall. I've been taking New Chapter Wholemega -- wild Alaskan salmon, no farmed oils. Now the calcium -- those are not only big and chunky but they are kind of chalky, too.