davidpelletier

First off, congrats on your 20 pounds post op.... Next, and I've posted this before, is that after I committed to the band, I really had to stop thinking of it as cheating. That was something I did when I dieted. Now, I think of it as treating. And after the hard work that we put in, you definitely deserve it. Most of us do this so we can enjoy life more moving forward. Treat yourself once and a while. Allow yourself to enjoy things now and again. Don't beat yourself up. ~David.

The Nike Fuelband is a nice device, sadly, it only works with an iOS device (iPhone, iPad and such). That ruled it out for me. They said for about a year and a half they were going to put out an Android app for it, and then, recanted that and said they were no longer working on it. Also, I wanted to point out that Fitbit officially released their new device today, the Froce (http://www.fitbit.com/force). I'm really interested in seeing what people are going to say about it. The wristband form factor that the Flex provided was very appealing to me, but I had heard that people that talk with their hands a lot, or who don't move their arms when they walk (ie, pushing a stroller or something), were not getting accurate reading from the device. Time will tell. And I still love my One. ~David.

Checking in at 229.6. Was an up and down week. Doing well on all three goals as well! ~David.

My lap band journey was odd pre-band. I started out at 295, 5'10", putting my BMI at 42.3. That meant I was good to go by insurance standards. I began going for nutritionist/dr. appts and started what would be my new eating style immediately to make sure this was for me. Between the start of things and my second month's appointment, I dropped enough weight to reduce my BMI to around 38/39 or so. My nutritionist/dr basically told me, that because I have sleep apnea (a valid co-morbidity on my insurance) i was still fine, but to stop losing weight or I wouldn't qualify for insurance to pay for it. I was afraid to lose weight and be denied, and was told I had to watch things until my final pre-op weigh-in. I actually wound up gaining about five or so pounds back in the interim. It felt very messed up for a while honestly. The story ended happily though. ~David.

If you like the ease of wearing of the Flex and the missing function of the flights of steps on the One, Fitbit just started putting out press slides of their new product (called the Force). There's not much information yet, but knowing corporate America, I'm betting it'll be out right before Christmas. You can see the info about it by just Googling "Fitbit Force". It supposedly has all of the functionality of the One, in the wearable fashion of the Flex for around $130. Just posting that in case anyone is interested in waiting. ~David.

This was just about my staple meal in my mushie phase. Except, instead of mayo, I used part of an avocado. My nutritionist said it was fair game for me in this phase by the way. I also used canned chicken, though I had to cut that up a little more as the chunks were a bit large. ~David.

I often think in these terms. I have a two and a half year old that's roughly 30 pounds. I've lost a little over 2 "Drews" at this point. I've turned my child into a unit of measurement! It's kinda nice to have that representation to really wake you up about your progress. ~David.

Name, real or screen~ David Pelletier Goal weight for October 31st~ 220 Weight on October 1st~ 229.6 Age~ 34 City/State~ Flemington, NJ Dietary goal for October~ Keep at it. Exercise goal for October~ 5 times a week Personal goal for October~ Spend some times with my son before the twins arrive. Date banded~ 8/6/13 Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~ pre-op:31, post-op:35

Goal was 230...ending weight check in was 231.2. I failed meeting my goal, but I'm still winning! solid food goal is met! Twins room goal is met! (convinced the wife to bag the art project) ~David.

I had a real difficult time with that phase two. I had a couple of things that were "go to" meals for me. I'll post them here (with recipes as needed) and you can try or ignore anything. For Breakfast, I would eat runny scrambled eggs with a bit of shredded cheese. For lunch, I would have two ounces of either chicken/salmon/tuna drained (just from a can) with a third of an avocado and some salt, pepper, and dried ground mustard. I would just eat that with a fork. For dinner, I made (half of) the following: Potato soup 1 32oz bag Frozen Southern Style Hash browns (be sure it has 0 fat) - thawed (or potatoes o’brien) 42 oz fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth or 3 14oz cans Salt to taste 1 cup fat-free skim milk 1 cup Water 1 pkg McCormick original country gravy mix 6 Tbsp Hormel Bits, real crumbled bacon 30% less fat Spray your soup pot with some non-stick cooking spray. Heat your pot and put in your hash browns. Brown them slightly; be sure not to burn the potatoes. If some of the potatoes get stuck to the bottom, that's ok. Pour in 1 can of the chicken broth and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Then pour in the other two cans. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer. In the meantime, in a separate bowl, whisk together the water & milk with the package of country gravy mix. Once potatoes are soft and starting to break down, pour in gravy mixture. Mix in bacon bits and let cook until thick and creamy. Add Salt to taste (be careful with adding pepper as the gravy is very peppery) If you don't like chunks in your soup, blend the soup in small batches My surgeon also said I could eat baked fish if it was light and flaky....nothing with a tough skin. I made a small batch of cauliflower mashed potatoes to go with my fish, and was set. Hope that helps! you'll get through it I'm sure. ~David.

I'm not a mom, but i'm going to chime in here too. Lots of topics, I'll hit one at a time. Topic #1: I had my band almost two months ago and have a two and a half year old. We set him up in a 'big boy bed' before my surgery so I wouldn't have to lift a thirty pound child into a crib. The day I had my band put in, I was able to sit down on the floor and play with my son. It took a lot longer to get down and up, but I was able to still play. I had a lot of help from my wife, but she was seven months pregnant with twins, so he mobility is severely limited too. I was able to pick my son up for very brief periods after about a week to get him in a chair or stop him from doing things he shouldn't. After about two, I was able to carry him around a store or whatever without any pulling or pain in my abdomen. The scariest one was at six weeks out, my son has jumped into the air and landed with both knees on my port. That hurt for a minute or two, but no more than if I didn't have the surgery. It sounds like you have some backup with the kids, so that's good. Topic #2: For food in my house, it's crazy, My wife has gestational diabetes, I have my band diet, and we have a typical two and a half year old that doesn't eat anything. We typically make one meal and we all eat portions of it that we're able to. it's not easy, and there are times where we make three separate meals in the house. It's getting better as my food options opened up, but for me, it's all a matter of wanting this to work, more than I want some of my son's Mac and cheese or hot dogs. Topic #3: I picked band over sleeve as the thought of permanently altering my body scared me quite honestly. I like that IF something went wrong, I could have it out. It just seemed like the right thing for me. I agree that you can be equally successful, you just need to have the right motivation to get where you want. Your health is huge. For me, as messed up as this sounds, being there and healthy for my kids was stronger motivation to me than being healthy for me. Topic #4: Going back to work seems vast and varied for folks. I took off Tuesday for my surgery. I worked from home the day after my surgery for half of the day and the rest of the week. I commuted in to work next week like normal (my commute is 52 miles each way). The drive really took more out of me than the day's work. That said, there are people that take a lot more time off. So, it's just a personal thing for you about how you think you'll handle it. I wish you the best of luck on your surgery, regardless which procedure you select. ~David.

I'm going to the market tonight (my surgeon and nutritionist do monthly supermarket tours which I think is awesome) and can take any pictures or anything else if you're interested. Like nutrition labels or anything up close. Just let me know what you're specifically looking for and I can post pictures as needed. Hell, if I could figure out how to ship it to you, I'd do that. If you can think of anything, let me know. ~David.

My wife loves them. She hasn't had any WLS, but she's pregnant with twins and has gestational diabetes...so she's very carb and Protein conscience. I have had a bite or two of a few of them and they're pretty tasty. That said, I have a seven week old band that is completely empty, so I'm not a good judge of what will fit through a properly fitted/filled band. I can however vouch that they taste okay. For a bit more info, they're individually packaged wraps. They're on the smaller side and are in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. They have about eight or ten varieties. They make decent grab-and-go food though...that's how my wife uses them. The wrap portion isn't very fluffy, so I think post-fill, I'd still be able to handle it with proper chewing, but then again, I have no concept of how things will be post-fill other than my preconceived notions and unfounded expectations. ~David.

I love my Fitbit One. Like Carole said, it's nice to see the raw data about how active/lazy I'm being. I push and get the goals done more often than not. I hooked it to my phone (via bluetooth) and hooked it to my MyFitnessPal as well. The tie in is great seeing the caloric intake from MFP versus the activity output of the Fitbit. I tend to check on the Fitbit Dashboard online a time or two a day to see it all laid out for me. As for obtaining one, I got mine for about $65/$70. I found it online, printed it out, and then brought it to BestBuy that price matched it. Great deal! ~David.

I had my surgery on a Tuesday morning around 10 am. I was sitting on the floor that night playing with my two and a half year old fairly fine. I took Wednesday morning to wake up gradually and take a nice long walk and worked from home casually Wednesday afternoon (mostly just responding to e-mails) as well as full work days on Thursday and Fiday from home. Monday I was back in the office. My commute is 52 miles each way, so it's a bit over an hour each way, and that was tiring, but I was fine getting back. As with most things though, your experience will be intensely personal and unique. Best of luck! ~David.

Sunday weight-in was 236.2... Enjoying solid foods, maybe a bit too much as I made a few bad choices...but we all do from time to time. Twin's room is done except for an art project my wife is undertaking, which I'll have to hang eventually...but my part is done for now. ~David.

Good for you and congrats! Keep up the good work and keep us posted. ~David.

For reference, I work a desk job and was very open that I was having the surgery with most people I work with. I had the surgery on a Tuesday (took off from work). I worked a half day Wednesday from home and just read through and responded to e-mails and such. I worked Thursday and Friday full days from home and was back in the office on Monday. I took zero pain meds (not even tylenol or anything) and just pushed through (what little I did have) discomfort. That said, if I had a more physical job, I definitely would have been off longer. On the home front, the day of my surgery, I was still tending to my two-and-a-half year old for dinner and bedtime, albeit, much slower than normal. ~David.

I'm loving my One. That's the clip on one, and it has the wrist band to slip it into at night to track sleep too. Nice to see me setting and hitting goals for activity that I never really thought about much. It integrates well into MyFitnessPal and a charge lasts for a bit over a week. I did consider the Flex (that's the bracelet one) but after a bit of reading online, it seemed this was a better fit for me. A lot of people complained that with the Flex, if you talk with your hands (which I do) it skews the number. Also, if you hold your hands stationary when walking, it doesn't count those stride. Seeing as I'm usually pushing a baby stroller or a toddler bike or the heart rate monitor on the elliptical/treadmill, my hands don't pump when I stride much. I would recommend the One wholeheartedly though to anyone looking for a tracker. ~David.

For me, I really had to stop thinking of it as cheating. That was something I did when I dieted. Now, I think of it as treating. And after the hard work that we put in, you definitely deserve it. Most of us do this so we can enjoy life more moving forward. Treat yourself this weekend, and enjoy being out. ~David.

Checking in at 238.8...a bit slower than I would hope, but it's still losing, so that's a win! Enjoying solids...even went out to eat once this week! Waiting on the border for the nursery....looks like I'll finish before the boys get here. ~David

I gifted myself with a Fitbit One when I hit 50 pounds lost. It's really nice to see in raw data how active/lazy I can be sometimes. It definitely makes me more active to see it.... ~David.

From the sound of it (and mind you, I'm not Dr.) it's likely not your band. I know my Dr. when he put the band in, used an endoscope to verify that it was in correctly. Having a hard plastic tube and camera shoved down your throat will leave you sore when you breathe in. I know I was sore in a similar fashion....took about four days for mine to be back to normal as well. Welcome to the boards! Please wipe your feet and enjoy your stay. ~David.