kacee

Well, I've had quite a few, but my most memorable was one of my first. Drove by Taco Cabana and on a whim (ha!) decided to veer in and get a taco. Also got a small frozen margarita which was SOOOOO good, but the cold I think closed me up and my taco couldn't go down. Tossed the rest of the taco and threw away the margarits (waaaahh!), got in the car and headed home. About 3 minutes later I was sliming and knew a pb was coming. All I had in the car was a bottled water. Hurredly dumped out the window and then tried to daintily puke into the bottle. There's some real physics involved in this operation....high volume of something trying to project into a small necked receptical....it was awful!:crying: Now I keep a little stash of "barf bags" in the car at all times.

Well, when you finally get to optimum restriction it gets kindof funny. It's like a war between the head and the gut. I still get "wild eyed" sometimes when I think of food. Looking at the menu of a seafood restaurant practically gave me the vapors...I wanted EVERYTHING, but when push comes to shove and I order, I realize I better just pick one thing because it's a GIVEN that I will be getting about half of that down. That's when I wish you could get "sampler" plates with one little dollop of everything.... I also find I don't really like leftovers much, so gettig a big meal and having to take 3/4 of it home doesn't thrill me...it NEVER tastes or looks as good after it's sat in the fridge for a day.

Isn't that a great feeling to be able to eat a BAD thing in a GOOD portion and not feel guilty! I love that. I'll go out and get a loaded baked potato...for dinner. I may or may not finish it, depending on how my band has been acting that day. But I feel wonderful having had the wonderful tastes, without the GUILT of having stuffed 3000 calories in my face. Now I don't just LIVE on all the "Bad" stuff, but when I go out with family and friends, I don't deprive myself. But when I get home and put a pencil to it, I find it has been a totally acceptable amount of calories taken in. If I am really going to be BAD at a meal, I make arrangements to adjust the rest of the day accordingly.

If you can lose 2 pounds a week you are going great guns. I think I averaged about 2.5 for the first 4 months and then it started to slow (but I was within 20 pounds of goal and you always slow down as you get towards goal). Right now I guess I would average overall a little less than a pound a week, but I am very satisfied with my results. Keep your goals small and attainable (Like I'll lose 3.5 pounds this next month....or something like that). NEVER look at the big picture and you won't get overwhelmed.

Fun, wasn't it! My first round was with some scrambled eggs. They fought mightily....and won. Not for the squeamish. Live and learn....and pb and learn....and slime and learn.....

Well, this isn't a "private club" for members only. We're all out here to get info and be supportive. I don't care whether I do it here or elsewhere. We should embrace anyone and everyone. Good luck on your endeavor, Ron!

"Diet and exercise is the ONLY way to lose weight, if you're big it's your own fault. PERIOD." It IS our fault. Sorry, but NO ONE put a gun to our heads to eat. No one tied us down and force fed us. We did it to ourselves. We can rationalize that we have bad karma or whatever, but yes, diet and exercise ARE the only way to lose weight, unless you carve it off with a knife. There is NO other option. Diet and exercise is what you do on the band. You just have the "tool" as help. But all the physical principles stand....you gotta close your mouth to lose weight and you gotta move.

Totally and completely NORMAL! Yep, this is bandster hell. This is the time to try and retrain your eating habits in anticipation of future restriction. You're hungry? Okay...EAT. But eat RIGHT. Get in the habit of piling on the proteins. I taught myself to like fish right after banding. Never liked it before. It is now a diet staple for me. If I am hungry I pop a filet in the oven. I'll slather it in lemon juice or concot a lower cal sauce to dip into, but I use this type of food (or steamed veggies) to fill up on.

Okay, have you started eating anything NEW you haven't had before? There are many people who are desperately sensitive to some artificial sweeteners and the react JUST THIS WAY. Sorbitol, for one, KILLS me. Maybe you ran afoul of some MSG....Also, have you been eating out recently? Many commercial establishments have greens that are treated with a preservativve to maintain freshness. These can wreck havoc on your digestive system too, in the same way. Think back to what you have been eating in the last few days. There is a tie in there somewhere.

No, it does not necessarily go away after the first fill. This is an ongoing process...they don't just flip a switch. The first fill may or may not have any effect whatsoever (mine didn't, nor did my second). However this is not something you want to "rush". Believe me, if you had full restriction immediately you would probably freak. There is a learning curve involved in all this. This is the time you need to retrain yourself and your eating habits so WHEN you get restriction you know how to cope with it. Best to ease into this. This is the time to start making good choices. You'll be hungry and feel you can eat "a lot" (you really can't...compared to "before")...go ahead and eat, but eat proteins and veggies and the things you are supposed to eat. You'll get there....but it does take a little bit of time.

Find a new and HIGHLY reputable doctor PRONTO and get evaluated. Then see a lawyer.

You can supplement with liquid protein drinks (not shakes) such as Isopure (index). These are ready to drink (no powder, no mixing) clear drinks with protein in them. As opposed to a shake, which is probably in the neighborhood of 200 calories each, drinks like isopure are only 80 calories for 20 mg of protein per serving. There are 160 calories, 40 mg per bottle.

I'd say it's 90% probability that it's your port. I could feel mine right after surgery (beneath my breastbone about 2 inches) and as I have lost weight it has become more pronounced when I feel it.

My BMI was 38. I weighed "only" 218. Many people later said they didn't think I was "that big" in the first place. Well, no one has to live inside this sack of skin but me, so I don't really give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks.

I am very familiar with weed and weed users and I can say pretty much without EXCEPTION that all of them who are habitual recreational users fall into the category of "sluggish do-nuttin" potheads. I've been around this stuff for 45 years and I have never seen one person who had any kind of "epiphany" or any brain activity at all for that matter, while high. They like to say they are the exception, but they are not. If they could stand outside themselves and see themselves as they are when they are high they would realize that, but you can't tell a drunk he's drunk and the same goes with dope. Weed does pretty much one thing to a person, turn them into a potato. PERIOD.

My plateaus were lasting anywhere from 3-5 weeks. I just got used to it. I stay the same (this is a good thing...not to gain!) and then all of a sudden I will lurch down a few pounds and level off again. I am not looking at plateaus as "defeat" anymore. In my former "pre-band" life, I would have used a plateau as an excuse to quit and would have been really bummed. For some reason my attitude has changed. Probably because I KNOW I can keep it off now.

I went nuts after not being in a department store for nearly 20 years and after wearing the same big shirts day in and day out....I started buying clothes after the first 25 pounds, but I found that it was pretty much a mistake. I bought a bunch of 16's which I was only in for about 3 weeks. I went to the 14's and was in them about a month. Then I went into 12's and have stayed there since (pants-wise). I have a lot of stuff I got in the fall that I'll probably never be able to wear again. I am very close to goal and kindof know where I am headed, so I am trying to buy things based on where they will fit me in a few months. But I bet I've blown over $500 on clothes in the last couple of months, much of which will not fit me next season.

In this case, that old learning curve just reared its ugly head again and bit you on the proverbial tush. Not fun. I am 8 months out and still have to remind myself to eat smaller bites. You're lucky you had a fairly small time to suffer. My first incident, with mashed potatoes, no less, caused such a lump in my chest and major pain for over two hours. OUCH!

Gas-X and a heating pad both help....as well as WALKING. This is one of those times when you HAVE to get up and move around and HAVE to drink. The result of NOT doing that is that you will spiral downhill fast, feeling queasy, weak, shakey, as your electrolytes get out of whack. No moving around will cause the gas to not be able to loosen.

My surgeon made beautiful incisions. I am 8 months post-op and they are fading away. Two are still pink (the ones on the left side) but my port scar is almost invisible.

You know what? Hey....BRAG AWAY!!!! You deserve it. I think any time we have success we have earned bragging rights!

I would have been out about 4 hours before they released me (there 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.) but I couldn't pee and they finally had to "foley" me to relieve my bladder. Not the most fun thing in the world, but afterwards, I was good to go. I never felt BAD enough to feel like I had to be in the hospital and was just as happy to get home.

I found that logging my weight and weighing every day (I know I know...there are a lot of nay-sayers out there on that) has been my big help. I expect plateaus and within those I expect to go up and down a pound here or there. My last plateau was almost 6 weeks (and I wasn't being particularly "good" during that time...over the holidays). But you know what, I can almost tell when it is about to break (and it always does, especially if you are experimenting with your intake during this time and doing different things instead of the same thing day after day). I woke up this morning to a 2.5 pound drop. I can expect to level off at that for about a week or two and then drop a little more. I am so close to my goal that I know these last few pounds will be slow....I can NOT complain. I've been obese for my entire life...another 6 months won't make any difference to lose the remaining weight!

Mine were fills for the firt year covered and if you reached 50% of your goal within the first year you got your second year free too.

My doctor also didn't require any specific pre-op diet. I think he said cut out red meat the last two days before surgery or something like that. The main thing he sid was don't GAIN weight before surgery.