MookNana

I've had a couple of dreams like that, especially the ones about eating way too much and feeling bad about it afterwards. A couple of times I've woken up and been relieved it was just a dream. I figure it's a good reminder about how overeating will make me sadder for much longer than it will make me happy. Having the surgery is such a radical change. There's a lot to process--I'm not surprised our subconscious uses some dream time to figure it all out!

I think what you're feeling is totally normal. You've traded in one life for a whole new one and that takes some adjustment and even some grief. Plus, no matter how much we research and educate ourselves beforehand, I think everyone eventually gets the reality check that while the band is definitely a tool to improve things, it's not something that's going to magically fix our whole lives. Thin people had bad days, put up with hassles, deal with rude people, etc. too. Finally, there's the boring, practical issue that fatty carbs work on our brain chemistry to bathe us in feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. When we take away the steady drip of our "happy foods", it's completely normal to undergo something of a mild depression as our brain chemistries readjust. That can account for a feeling of "blah" for a little while. I hope it passes soon and you're able to treat yourself to some new pleasures to get your smile going again. Good luck!

I never thought about putting MIO in yogurt. What a great idea!

In a way it sounds like you did just what you'll need to with your band. You ate something you loved, but you stopped when your body said stop and you had a treat but you kept it small and didn't do it often. To me that sounds awesome! I'm sure the extra water and a little bit of activity will be all you need to keep moving forward.

Thanks for the tips. Those sound nice! I happend to find a nice trail in downtown Oswego yesterday. It goes all along the river, I understand, and you can walk or bike. There's a nice section going from the library down by the park. It would make a nice workout or a great fun, active family outing too.

Since my BMI was right near the 50 mark they wanted me to do 3 weeks of 5 Protein shakes a day, plus Clear liquids. That lasted all of about 3 days. It was hell!!! Fortunately I was able to modify it to 3 shakes plus one low carb meal. I've been eating my meal late in the day, so I have something to look forward to and so I can go to bed relatively full. As for what I've been eating, it's been most of the usual suspects for low carb diets--meats, green veggies, eggs, low fat cheese. I'm so happy to be eating ANYTHING that it all tastes awesome to me. Since I've switched over to the one meal, I actually feel pretty fantastic most of the time. We've liked the Premier Protein Shakes from costco. We've had Muscle Milk light when we got caught in a pinch and needed to grab something from a convenience store. Our doctor recommended Bariatric Advantage, but I found them absolutely disgusting. Some people love them, though. It's totally subjective. I know the goal of the diet is to help shrink the enlarged, fatty liver that many obese people have. My doctor seems really conservative about it, other people have said their doctors were much more loose, saying that they'd never had any trouble doing anyone's surgery and putting their patients on short pre-op diets or none at all. The way I'm looking at it is that I'd be really, really, really ticked if I got to my surgery and they couldn't do it because of my liver. My doctor wants me on the diet, it hasn't been too hard to live with, and so I'll just muddle through it because I'd feel terrible if I didn't follow the plan and the surgery couldn't happen. At least if I do the diet and something goes wrong I'll know it wasn't my "fault", you know? Good luck getting ready for your surgery!

Good for you!!!! That was exactly what she needed to be told. I hope you can hear me clapping from here! As for the car park...I didn't see nuffin'!

Pre-op diet. Fortunately we were able to switch from all shakes to shakes during the day and a light dinner. I was going to go nuts! Dinner tonight will be: 2 scrambled eggs 2 T. Newmans Black Bean & Corn Salsa 1/2 reduced fat cheese stick, shredded 3 oz broccoli 1/2 serving Newmans Own Protein Prezels 1 Wild Garden Hummus pack That should fill me up, but if I get hungry later I'll go wild and have some broth of a sf Jello cup!

First full day of the liquid diet today. Oh...my...word! Sep 19th can't come soon enough. I'm not even kidding that my fiber gummies have been the highlight of my day.

Those Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurts are seriously good! The Toasted vanilla Coconut one tastes so decadent. I love it!

Hello all! Just got the surgery date on Tuesday. My DH and I will both be getting banded on Sep 19th, assuming all goes well with the pre-op testing. It will be 2 days before my 34th birthday, so I guess we'll have to figure out how to get a candle into a bowl of chicken broth. So far the clinic has been really supportive of us going together and, *knock on wood* the insurance company has been great with approvals. Either his dad or my brother is going to come into town to babysit us for the day of surgery and a few days after. Liquid diet starts on 8/30. I'm nervous about it, but I'm hoping that we can help each other stay on track. The fear of them not being able to do the surgery will likely scare me into staying on the straight-and-narrow! Best wishes to all the September folks, wherever you are on your journey!