kacee

No, salads don't qualify as "soft" food. Cottage cheese and fish do though. I cut onions and green peppers up (very fine) and put them in the cottage cheese. It tastes WONDERFUL, especially when you let it sit in the refrig. overnight and "flavor up". That really saved me and made me felt I was eating real food. At a lot of fish filets too.

I can relate! I went to Carrabas a while back...had saved up ALL day to gorge by not eating anything. Ordered this wonderful chicken dinner. Four bites and it was doggie bag city!

Frankly, I find that completely insane. Unfortunately many insurance companies are not recognizing the lapband yet. They will qualify you for a substantially more invasive, expensive procedure with potentially more complications.... Is this your primary care physician or your potential surgeon? Who is your insurance provider? On the other hand, at least your insurance pays for SOMETHING. A co-worker of mine is a bypass success story...three years out and 160 pounds down.

Yep, had no appetite for about a week. Then....watch out....

Ports flip because you lose weight and they get "loose". It is not uncommon. Mine is "loosey goosey" as my nurse says, but it hasn't flipped. When and if it does, they try to "right it".

Naaahhhh...not a problem. I blend my protein shake every day and it is "bubble city". You just wind up burping. I even think drinking with a straw is okay if you figure out how to do it....suck and "spit" the air out and then take the liquid in.

Yeah I have heard that about fruit drinks...it can cause distress. I didn't have a problem. I think it is an individual thing.

YEAH BABEEE!!!!!!! You are officially on the green side of the fence (as in, the grass is always greener....it IS with us). WELCOME!!!!!!

Let me tell you....it's GREAT!!!! I just went for my 4th fill yesterday. My surgeon was there and stopped in to say hi. When he saw I had lost 11 pounds in one month he wigggled his eyebrows up and down and said "It WORKS, doesn't it!" and I said It sure DOES!!!!!" I just graduated to size 14 pants (still have new size 16s and size 18s!!!!!). With me, I can get down on the floor to open file cabinets at work without CRAWLING up the cabinets to get on my feet!!!! :whoo:

Oh Lawanda...by the way. I developed eczema about 9 months ago on the back of my left arm....out of the blue. I went to the doctor and he said, "Oh yeah, this will come and go for the rest of your life" and I was insensed! I said "You can't cure this crap? This is insane!" I was HOT!!! After I was banded it went totally away. Never seen it since.

You just do it. You either split them in half (which is what I do with only my biggest horse pills because eventually all the others go down fine) or crush them up. Not an issue!

It is very typical for ports to start moving around as you lose weight. When I got my fill day before yesterday, the nurse said, "Hmm...you are wobbley, but you haven't gone into Loosey Goosey yet...." I think that's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak...you separate the men from the boys....those who are fill experts from those who are not.

You are in the middle of bandster hell, so don't sweat it right now. Trick is....don't diet, don't worry about calories (too much), just concentrate on doing your liquids and mushies and healing. This is the healing time, and your band has not even BEGUN to work yet. You're being deprived now, but it is TEMPORARY. I dropped 23 pounds my first month and there was NOTHING that could dampen my excitement over THAT! Every time I got discouraged (which wasn't often....I was too excited about having completed the procedure and looking forward to life "on the other side") I thought of what my dad always told me...."You can put up with ANYTHING, if you know it is only temporary."

I second that, Green! (she said sipping her Chardonnay after a long day at work).....aaaaahhhhhhhhh

Oh and by the way, I was 55 before I "gave in to the easy way"....what a CROCK! I never listen to that! If I could have done this in my 20's I would have without batting an eye. I have hidden in obesity my WHOLE LIFE. Well....I've got a few more good years in me, and I'm going to enjoy them as a healthy person at a decent weight. No more "large cuffs" at the doctor's office for blood pressure, no more "X plus" sizes...I'm gonna shop at a (GASP!) department store (for the first time in over 15 years!). YEEHAA!!!!

With obesity comes those nasty co-dependencies. Being your age doesn't exclude you from the ravages of it. As your weight goes up, those things will creep into your life...high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, aching joints, being out of breath, lethargy, sleep apnea....nasty things a girl your age should never have to experience and hopefully won't see at all, or until well into your elder years. It's not just about your looks, though at your age that's the major issue, and that is understandable. Until I was 40 I was invincible and would live forever. The raw fear of mortality was one reason I got the band. I am 55 and saw an early demise where I was headed. So you may be more concerned with your looks now, but your health will come along too, along with loss of weight. That's numberone for me...maybe number two for you, but it's part and parcel to the same package. What a gift! You sound like you were trying to be the "fat happy girl". We've all done that to cope. You want to be THE one who says "Screw em. I'm big AND beautiful!" (as we slide past the mirror with our eyes averted). You're not betryaing anyone. You are opening your eyes to reality. If you want a full life, you're gonna have to knock that weight off. PERIOD. End of story. Reality check. If you have the support and wherewithall to do it now, go for it kiddo.

If you are that age and have been overweight since your age was in single digits, I would say that you are heading for deep doo doo in the future with your weight. I too was a relatively low BMI (38), and truth be told only had to lose about 75 pounds (58 if you go by the goal that my doctor wanted me at, which I firmly believe is too high for my height). I too have been overweight since about the age of 7. Believe me, if you are fighting now, you have no IDEA what kind of a fight lays in store for you as you mature and your metabolism slows down, not to mention having children, etc. Take a look at your family. Do you have other members in your immediate family with potential weight issues? Does it run in your family? If you are sitting there eating ding dongs and going "Okay, this is great, I'll just dump this money and then I will be like Kate Moss forever!" you better rethink the idea. This is not "plastic surgery". Believe me...you will work to get the weight off and then you will work the rest of your life to keep it off...it will just be done by behavior modification made easier by the band. I appluad that you are doing your homework.

Lindsay, check these out. They have the same/more grams of protein than a shake and are more like fruit drinks. They are not bad and can be cut with water if you think it's too sweet (I don't do sweets, but they are allright for me). Isopure Clear Protein Drinks.... index

I'm right on the cusp of being overweight myself. Isn't it glorious! Can you just see some stranger looking in on this forum and going "WHHHHAATTTTT????" It really makes me laugh!

Savery, believe it or not, I actually see where you are coming from on some of this. It is a legitimate question. I've been told that after banding the trick is NOT to diet. Now, that being said, it isn't license for no behavior modification. We obese folks have extremely flawed mentality when it comes to eating. We head for all the WRONG foods in the WRONG amounts. Now, when you get banded, and I mean banded with a decent restriction, a portion of that battle is removed...the WRONG AMOUNT portion. You can still eat the wrong foods and defeat the band. That's why the band takes more "work" than, say, a bypass which in many cases can physically restrict you from eating the wrong amounts AND the wrong foods (i.e., dumping syndrome, etc. and many bypass people cannot eat surgars afterwards without a lot of distress). To put it simply, if you were told you had to stand on your head and knit a sweater, that would be a daunting task. However, if you were told that you didn't have to stand on your head...just knit the sweater...it's still work, but it sure looks easier to accomplish!

TOTALLY normal. Remember this....the first 30 days (before your fill) are strictly for healing...the band doesn't work yet. So don't beat yourself up...just do the BEST you can within the guidelines of the 30 days (liquids and mushies). Just stay off the solids. If you lose your complete mind, you are better off having an ice cream shake or something soft than falling into something like chips and dip. And get PLENTY of protein. That also helps a lot.

I think your friend is in for a rude awakening.

I think most doctors say something like 1-2 pounds a week max is desireable. That could vary depending on how much you have to lose. If your weight is really up there you will probably lose faster and more for a while. As you get towards goal it will slow. I think I am averaging a little over a pound a week. I lost 23 before my first fill and another 15 in the 60 days following.

Just a suggestion...people talk about "meat tenderizer" helping. Well, you can get the same results with Clear Ease. You can find it on line. People who scuba dive use it for breaking up sinus mucus or something. They are papaya enzyme lozenges (an active ingredient in tenderizer) and you put them between your cheek and gum (sounds like Skoal) and let it dissolve. You could use this for "emergencies". I keep some in my purse. Never had to use it, but it's there just in case. Can't hurt. Might help.

If you google Vagus Nerve Obesity you'll find all sorts of stuff on studies being done with "bilateral Vagus Nerve stimulation" via electronic implants for the treatment of obesity and compulsive eating. Fascinating reading. I think we are on the edge of many new wonders in the treatment of obesity, not the least of which is the new band coming out next year that is filled electronically. Fantastic stuff in this day and age!