Bandista

Love this data -- many thanks! So happy for my band. I feel very fortunate to have it.

Oh and sous vide, I'm sorry but I can't wrap my head around cooking in plastic. But, hey, whatever works!

For me, ground beef is too stringy unless I cook it myself. For hamburger, I sauté in very hot pan until brown on both sides (no oil, just very hot pan) and then I start pouring in STOCK -- usually homemade but not always; there are lots of good boxed stocks available in regular supermarkets. The beef breaks down and becomes very soft. I do this for chili and bolognese (ground beef and red sauce). I have not tried meatloaf yet but my husband is Celiac (no wheat) and I make meatloaf with oatmeal. People go wild for this meatloaf and I don't even make the red sauce myself -- I just use jarred stuff. I think I'll make some meat loaves this weekend! I have done them in muffin tins before; our kid calls those "meat cookies."

Excellent perspective -- and way to go on your weight loss. You are amazing! Have a blast this summer and every day.

Nice!

@@Ms. ReRe congratulations on your big day!

I picked 'other' because I love to go out and have no problems with restaurants. I'd never set foot in a fast food place. I'm a good cook and I like to get something I can't or don't make at home. Yesterday we went to a Japanese place and I had Miso, which I love, and then a Bento box with grilled salmon, no sauce. My son gobbled up the sushi that came with it, and the rice. I'm a great date these days. Recently we went out with friends (I am secretly banded) and I splurged on a filet mignon. That's something I've wanted to try since surgery and it was very band-friendly and delicious. I wrapped up half or so and ended up eating it in the car after a concert, lol. So much for leftovers.

Great thread, Jim! Well, there's Temptation, that's a pretty good fit! But I'm going to have to go with George Harrison's Just For Today. I live with a piano player and he sings this when I'm getting tense.....just for today, I could try to live through this day only.....Not be my own life's problem.......

@@Healthymama2, yippee! So happy for you -- very exciting times. I am almost six months out and still incredibly excited. Loving my banded life. Hope you have a speedy recovery. The walking really helps. I had anybody who came over walking round and round our driving circle with me. They could barely keep up, I was so high. And I didn't take any pain medication after leaving the hospital. For me it the incisional discomfort was not as bad as, say, dentistry. That's what I kept telling myself, lol, then I'd go do another little walk. Best wishes to you!

This is a great time to take your measurements so you have those numbers to look back on later. Whenever the scale doesn't move that's when I start going down a jean size. It will happen! You are just recovering from the surgery and healing up -- your body is getting into this new mode and many people don't start losing until they get fills. That's the adjustable part of the adjustable lapband. You have had the band installed but you'll be seeing your surgeon for followups. Be sure to keep all your appointments. And way to go on the walking. I'm pretty sure exercise is the magic ingredient. You're doing beautifully -- be a little patient with the process.

Way to go! This is just great. ET, love that! So cool you are feeling all those signals and able to listen. And scrambled eggs in butter, heaven. Have a great day!

Hi Phil, sending best wishes your way. I am some one who has befitted from therapy. Most recently I saw a counsellor while I was going through the process leading up to weight loss surgery to make sure I was really ready for this big change. Choosing ourselves is a big step and I think it really helped me to have some one to discuss all the self-esteem and eating behavior issues with. I needed to out some strategies in place to counter emotional and stress eating habits that were so ingrained in me. All that on or off kind of thinking -- deprivation cycles inevitably swinging the other way. I think we can all identify with that -- it's why we are here so don't feel alone. Your surgery was quite recent and it will take a while to get in sync. I'm glad you have this forum and so many people who have the same surgery and can help you sort through questions. Be in good touch with your doctor's office. They aren't going to pull a reversal on you -- they want you to be successful. You do not need to see a therapist within your surgeon's practice if you're worried about privacy. A counsellor will not share your information. Good luck to you!

Hi there, don't get discouraged -- just one more hurdle in a series, right? Does the data need to come from you or from the surgeon? They may be all over this already; could be a formality. Maybe you were copied on a letter that went to them and they are responding -- I'd check on that. And meanwhile easy to compile a list of failed attempts if needed. Evidence of dieting and exercise programs that resulted in gaining even more weight, that sort of thing. Co-morbidities may play a role: high BP, sleep apnea, diabetes.......

Oh, I meant to say that my doctor had no protein or calorie goals for me during this time. Obviously my body has the fat stores it needs to carry me through the lean times. Maybe this was the big famine it was storing up for all those years, lol.

I enjoyed the lack of appetite immediately post-op. For some people the hunger returns immediately but for others it's a nice taste of what it's like later when the band is adjusted properly. As others have said this is a great time to work on band-friendly habits, like taking teeny bites and waiting -- really listening in to your body. For me this was such a different experience of food as I was such a shoveler. Needed to work on that habit quite a bit.....

Hey there, congratulations! I was excited and nervous -- had never been an overnight patient in a hospital before. I couldn't believe how easy it all was. Humor helped. That element of the ridiculous -- donning the glamorous gown, being wheeled around on a gurney, all those papers to sign, the interviewing, etc. Also I was pretty giddy as I was so damned happy to be making this choice for myself and my future health. Best wishes for Saturday and this whole new chapter in your life! PS the walking really helps -- I started prior to surgery, even just laps around the driving circle -- and as soon as I woke up from the surgery I started walking in the hospital. Robe and flip flops good for this purpose. Helps release any trapped gas and kicks the body into healing mode. Plus the nurses will be very impressed and you'll get out quicker.

I know what you mean! And so sorry about the miscarriage -- that can be very hard. We have an only child and love that mode but when he was a toddler we really wondered about another. I think we are wired for that -- all that baby love is so compelling we want to do it all over again. There's a book called "Maybe One" by Bill McKibben that examines this issue nicely. Meanwhile, wish I could help with your original post but that vasectomy took me happily out of birth control world and I'm not up on what's out there now. I never could do the pill, I have a young cousin whose hair fell out with the patch, I tried an IUD at one point and OMG, so I relied on a cervical cap. We need to demand better birth control -- safe and reliable. And equal pay while were at it!

Hi there, it's important to know that Lapband surgery has quite a bit of aftercare -- I have 11 visits in the first year. For me, I like the accountability; touching base with my medical professionals is reassuring. This is the "adjustable" part of adjustable Lapband surgery. The band can be tightened or loosened not to provide restriction -- that's not how the band works! -- but to dim the appetite properly so we can make healthy choices. I like it that I can still enjoy real food. This is a great website for explaining different types of weight loss surgeries: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html Check out the menu on the left. Like you, I started thinking about weight loss surgery and began reading all the posts I could and asking questions. I had to ignore some stuff that was obviously ridiculous -- people can be weird and every one thinks their surgery is best -- but in this process I started to be able to see patterns and why some people were very successful and others not so much. That has to do with willingness, I think -- for me I felt so desperate that I would go so far as to have surgery, so I felt willing to do whatever I needed to do to make it work. Also know that there is not one "right" surgery for every one. We are all different and people choose a particular surgery for different reasons. Whatever surgery you choose there will be a process, so you may want to start with a primary care provider who can help steer you in the right direction. There will be a lot of labs and pre-op hurdles -- I had a psych eval and two visits with a nutritionist prior to meeting the surgeon. Then from there it went pretty quickly. I felt really ready and while I was frustrated by how long it all seemed to take, as I look back I think that time was important to that readiness. Also I upped my exercise and saw a counsellor to peel back the layers of my overeating behaviors so I was coming to this from a place of brutal honesty -- that I needed help, that I could not succeed on a diet, and I was ready for surgery. Hope this helps! You are choosing yourself and your healthy future and that is a very powerful thing. All of us here have felt the powerlessness of battling significant weight loss challenges and started right where you are now. Best wishes to you!

Hi there and welcome! I am only five months out (coming up on six -- time is flying!) and for me this is absolutely the best decision I could have made. I love the weight loss, of course, wearing "regular" sizes again and feeling more comfortable in general, but what I didn't really expect was this joy of being released from food jail, having the appetite monster off my back. That feels great. Best wishes to you as you get ready for August. I was glad I upped my exercise prior to surgery. I didn't want to, but I forced myself and that gave me something to step into right after surgery. My body got it that we were in a whole new mode. Also I went to a therapist to sort out any remaining issues once and for all. We broke down all the triggers for stress eating, eating as a reward, boredom, etc. This was tedious but now when I have those impulses (head hunger) I can mostly pass them by because I know where it's coming from (usually feeling overwhelmed) and because the appetite is dimmed by the band and I can overcome. For me that's the way it works. I can make good choices now because I'm not feeling ravenous. Best wishes for all -- so glad you're here on the forum!

For me it is the leftover specialty cheeses. I dreamed up that idea for Easter dinner and won't make that mistake again. No one went for the cheese platter that I could not/cannot stop thinking about. They were happy with the ham, etc. that didn't interest me in the least. Rookie error. No formagio, si!

I recommend a vasectomy -- best birth control ever!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery -- and congratulations on a night in your own bed. And a shower! Good luck with everything -- you're on your way to a new life. Appetite monster off your back, hurray!

Hang tough -- you're doing great and it will all be worth it.

Hi Carmen, congratulations -- you're really getting there or, who knows, maybe there! I have no idea how much is in my band because my surgeon doesn't share that information and I haven't pushed for it. It's sort of esoteric, that number, as we are all different and so individualized insofar as what will be the ideal fill. I've had six but I suspect they are six small ones -- but really I have no idea. It took me a week or two to settle into each new fill and ascertain whether I was "there" yet. Even this last one which was the magic one -- I didn't feel it right away. But this is going to vary for each person. Hope this helps! You are doing beautifully! Yippee!

Hi Joanne, we've missed you! Welcome back, and welcome to spring!