Band Chick

Me too, exactly! ...especially the itching! UGH! (Hi, band-twin :hug:) My Dr told me to expect some bruising, because I take Aleve so much for the knots in my muscles.

This group has been a lifeline for me too. Thank you for bringing us together!

Oh, I can so relate. What I wouldn't do for a BBQ steak and baked potato! :hungry: I feel that too. It's a weird new sensation, like an allien in my tummy. LOL I've noticed it's tighter in the mornings. Anyone else notice that too? Yumm! Did you have to speak of it by name?!?! LOL!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's amazing! You're so close! You can do it! :boxing: Yep. I get the burps too. I hope it passes, 'cause it's kinda embarrassing.:eek I too am counting down to 9/4, the mushies day 1!!! I'm doing much better overall-- very little discomfort, no bad side affects. The head and tongue hunger is whats driving me nuts. I see commercials for these big juicy cheese burgers and I get sad that I can never pig out on one of those again. :faint: I am so messed up about food, which is exactly why I need this band so badly. Nanna, I can so relate.. How do we cope? My mind keeps going to the old "go out for a yummy lunch/dinner with DH" solution. I'm very glad to be banded. Thank God I found this message board! We'll get through this together!

Good job, Gwen and Becky! Welcome, pmmegm! Keep up the good work gang!!!

WOW! You get canned meats. Lucky you! I was banded 8/21 and still have to do liquids for the next 6 days. It's neat that your Dr is banded too! Congrats!

MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS CALLED: Grace Lutheran I GOT PICKED ON FOR: having the last name Lukas-- rhymes with mucus. LOL MY FAVORITE TEACHER WAS: Mrs Stoddard. She was a very nice lady AND her husband worked on the space shuttle so we got to see it and touch it. We also had space days, complete with Tang. LOL MY WORST TEACHER WAS: don't rember MY BEST MEMORY IS: Touching the tiles on the space shuttle. MY JUNIOR HIGH EXPERIENCE: was not good. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town and school. It stinks being the new kid, especially in public school. MY FAVORITE TEACHER WAS: Mr. Flannagan who I had for 3 out of 8 classes because he was so much fun! MY FIRST CRUSH: Richie Grayson. I have no idea where he might be now. MY MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: Can't say. Too embarrassing! LOL Let's just say I "became a woman" much too early in life. MY BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: won third place for editorial writing in a state-wide competition, with my article about teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died that year when the space shuttle blew up. THE DUMBEST THING I EVER DID WAS: I skipped a LOT of school. MY HIGH SCHOOL WAS: Woodburn High School SCHOOL COLORS: Blue, white and Gold SCHOOL MASCOT: Bulldogs MY BEST SUBJECT: History and writting MY WORST SUBJECT: Math MY CLIQUE: I had one very close best-friend and friends with everyone (my cousin was 2 years older and popular, that helpped), not in any real clique. MY MUSIC: 80's radio play-- the Police, Tears for Fears, Wham, Metallica, etc EXTRACURRICULARS INCLUDED: Mostly just hung out with friends. Though I did letter in Volleyball and High Liners (dance team). PROM WAS: good. I went to two-- mine and boyfriends from other school. It was typical. MOST MEMORABLE EVENT: Can't think of it right now. LOL MY GRADUATION MEMORY: Got my GED Senior year so I could take a nanny job in Atlanta, 3300 miles away. TO COLLEGE OR NOT TO COLLEGE: I'm currently attending University of Phoenix.

:whoo: Congratulations on your band!!! :clap2: It sounds like you're doing all the right things. It will get better each day. I'm one week out and still get tired easily (Hi, hf2havefun, my band twin!). A friend of mine was banded in June and says it took her 2 weeks to really feel ready to deal with work and 4 weeks until she felt normal again. I read a post a while back that swinging your arms while you walk also helps with the gas pains. Mostly just walk, walk, walk. Hang in there. We're all in this together!

Woo hoo! Welcome, Jim and Nana! It's great to have you join us! Jim, it's never too late. Plus, this is the challenge for both August and September. We can do 21 out of 60 days, easy. Right? Nana, cleaning out the garage does count. It's not about breaking a sweat (though you probably did). It's just about creating a mindful pattern. As I walked through the store today (which I would do anyway) I thought "This counts for my daily exercise. One more day down." :cheer2: Go, Crazy Ates! Go! :boxing:

ME TOO!!! I get full on less, but it doesn't last long. Then when I get too hungry I feel nauseous. I had my one week follow up today and was told not to worry about calories or weight loss right now-- I need to eat more. This stage is all about being as comfortable as possible while healing. Tonight, dinner is potato cheese Soup. Yum!!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone! :bump2:

I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of fellow LBT bandsters in Vegas. I don't want any of my Crazy Ate buddies to miss out on this because the post is buried in another section. Here's the original post: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/vegas-january-agenda-next-steps-39545/#post539344 See ya there!

Good job, Gwen! I too have been down for the count since surgery, but those little moments when I make myself walk around the room or house, to help the healing, count too! It's all about being MINDFUL! How are you feeling about this challenge so far? Is it easy enough? Does it help? I'm sure glad to have a partner to do it with! Thanks :hug:

I'm truly trying to enjoy every moment with my new band and appreciate it, but the truth is I'm irritable, miss real food, hurt, am bored and don't like being loopy on these meds. I tried going to just Tylenol yesterday and ended up in a lot of pain. Oops! I keep telling myself this will pass.

Yippee! I'm home from surgery and finally have my band!!! The surgery went smoothly. The only snag I had was a bout of horrible nausea when I woke up in the recover room. The nurse gave me every anti-nausea med they had on hand and it finally passed. The pain was so little at first I wasn't even sure if I had surgery. LOL I can't even feel four out of my five insisions. I have a bit of pain in my port area and have to be careful getting up and down. Dr. Neal did a great job!!! I wish I could shout from the roof tops how wonderful everyone was! The nurses, at both the surgery center and Dr. Neal's office, were so sweet. Several of them have been banded by Dr. Neal and had many nice things to say about him. I got calls from the nurses the day of surgery as well as the two days that have passed since. Dr. Neal called the evening of the surgery to make sure I was doing good and wanted us to know that even though we were from out of town we weren't left high and dry-- he then gave us his home phone number! I've met very few doctors that were this caring. Dr. Neal is wonderful! I'm on liquids for two weeks and will go to mushies for my 3rd and 4th weeks. I am enjoying every unique minute with my new band! I'm so happy to be with the band!!!

We met again last Saturday, before my surgery. I'm not sure when the next meet will be, but I assure you there will be many more! Please send me your email address so I can drop you a line next time we get together. It's a fun group and we are growing!

I am proud to say I have done 8 days of mindful exercise. It wasn't much. I only broke a sweat once and that was shopping. LOL Since surgery I just do a little walking here and there. Every little bit counts! Good job Gwen! Keep up the good work!

EVERYBODY CALLS ME: Kathy MY PRIMARY RELATIONSHIPS INCLUDE: happily married to DH and have five kids ages DD 8, DS 13, DS 15, DD 17 and DD 19 MY NON-HUMAN FAMILY CONSISTS OF: a black Mini Schnauzer pup named Winston I LIVE IN: Oregon, outside of Portland OCCUPATION(S): I am a Web Developer by trade, but because I am going back to college full time and homeschooling two of the kids, I currently just do a little work for my husband's special clients and close friends. AVOCATION(S): When I have time, I like to do computer graphics, play MMO games and go to movies with DH. I am trying to find some new hobbies that get me up and moving like roller skating and tennis, geo-caching. Fun thread! Thanks, Pam!

Commitment: I commit to do 21 days of mindful exercise. I CAN DO THIS!!! Name: Band Chick, Kathy Types of exercise I could choose from: walking, shopping, stretching, yoga ball, swimming, housework

Yippee! The Crazy Ates first Exercise Challenge! The good news for you all is that I am just about as low as you can get on the scale of exercise. That means I'll keep the challenges simple and manageable at any level We will all be in the process of pre-op or recovery through August and September. So, lets start simple and healthy with the goal of CREATING AN EXERCISE HABIT. You could walk from the chair to the bathroom, move your arms, do housework, etc. This is about being mindful of moving your body as a part of getting healthy and losing weight! Professionals say it takes 21 consecutive days to create a habit. It doesn't matter what you do or for how long. What matters is that you do it every day with intention! An article for more info: Creating an Exercise Routine - How to Start a Habit for your Health Crazy Ates Aug/Sept Exercise Challenge 21 Days of Mindful Exercise Please reply to this post with your Commitment: Name: Types of exercise I could choose from: You may want to add something like this to your signature (change the number in green to how many days you have done): Crazy Ates Aug/Sept Exercise Challenge 0/21 Days of Mindful Exercise :first: Did I also mention that I volunteered to be an Award Chair for the fabulous Crazy Ates?!?! YES, that means there WILL be awards for completing each Exercise Challange! :scared: :cheer2: Go, Crazy Ates! Go! :boxing:

I posted a thread about a week ago when I was struggling with my pre-op diet. I couldn't find it again, so I started a new thread with my update, to share my good news. :whoo:I lost 14 lbs in 8 days! :whoo: My Dr put me on a two week Medifast diet to lose 10 lbs before surgery. The Medifast was so bad that I had to reform the diet. I didn't want to share the details until I could confirm it worked. So, now I can tell you. I was supposed to have 5 Medifast things (shake, oatmeal, Soup, bar or pudding) and one lean and green meal a day, totaling 800-1000 calories. Here's what I did to improvise: I choose from one of these 3 to 4 times a day: 8oz iced V-8 juice and 1oz mozzerella string cheese or Quaker low fat smores granola bar or lettuce w/ low fat italian dressing or Starbucks iced non-fat mocha or Medifast/Slimfast/Atkins Protein shake or anything low fat around 100 calories Lean and Green It helps to measure out everything, eat Protein first and 1-2 cup veggies with salt and no butter. Our two best days were when we split our lean and green between lunch and dinner. For example: We had taco salad. I pre-measured 6oz meat (1/2 lean ground beef, 1/2 ground turkey), 2oz shredded mozzarella cheese, 11 corn chips, and 6 tablespoons of fat free sour cream mixed with Pace salsa for dressing. I split each of these things in half and mixed with 1 1/2 cups lettuce for lunch and again at dinner. It felt good to chew and have 2 meals! I had to go out to lunch and two dinners, which I didn't think I would survive. I planned ahead what I would order and eat. The dinners were at Applebees-- I ordered the WW Talapia dinner for one and the WW steak and shrimp skewers for the other. For the lunch I had 3oz chicken breast on salad greens with ranch dressing and iced tea. I dipped my fork in the dressing for each bite, to cut down on dressing. It was also VERY important that I journal every last bite. So, I used FitDay.com. You can see my journal here: FitDay.com - Diet and Fitness journal for band chick I'm not a Dr, nor do I play one on TV. I'm just sharing what worked for me:D For those who are just starting their pre-op diet: It will get easier as the days go by. You can do anything for a week or two. This too will pass. {{{hugs}}}

I lost 14 lbs in 8 days! My Dr put me on a two week Medifast diet to lose 10 lbs before surgery. The Medifast was so bad that I had to reform the diet. I didn't want to share the details until I could confirm it worked. So, now I can tell you. I was supposed to have 5 Medifast things (shake, oatmeal, Soup, bar or pudding) and one lean and green meal a day, totaling 800-1000 calories. Here's what I did to improvise: I choose from one of these 3 to 4 times a day: 8oz iced V-8 juice and 1oz mozzerella string cheese or Quaker low fat smores granola bar or lettuce w/ low fat italian dressing or Starbucks iced non-fat mocha or Medifast/Slimfast/Atkins Protein shake or anything low fat around 100 calories Lean and Green It helps to measure out everything, eat protein first and 1-2 cup veggies with salt and no butter. Our two best days were when we split our lean and green between lunch and dinner. For example: We had taco salad. I pre-measured 6oz meat (1/2 lean ground beef, 1/2 ground turkey), 2oz shredded mozzarella cheese, 11 corn chips, and 6 tablespoons of fat free sour cream mixed with Pace salsa for dressing. I split each of these things in half and mixed with 1 1/2 cups lettuce for lunch and again at dinner. It felt good to chew and have 2 meals! It was also VERY important that I journal every last bite. So, I used FitDay.com. You can see my journal here: FitDay.com - Diet and Fitness journal for band chick I'm not a Dr, nor do I play one on TV. I'm just sharing what worked for me:D

Thank you, Juli! I am so excited!!!! I'm really doing OK-- didn't cheat on pre-op diet, not scared or worried about risks, just ready to be banded! :whoo:Woooo Hoooo!

I'm still pre-op but I wanted to share with you a few things my Dr has on the list for post-op (first 2 weeks) full liquids: V-8, Cream of Wheat thinned to liquid, and eggnog (recipe below) sugar-free Eggnog 4 c skim milk 1 1oz package instant SF vanilla pudding 1 c egg substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pinch of nutmeg and salt Wishing you a speedy recovery!

DH and I are looking forward to it!!! I can't wait to meet everyone! :banana:cocktail::hug:

Good thread! Thank you for taking this one on. I'll have to get that book. I expanded my horizon by accident and thought I'd share. I needed something to read and the only thing the store had was last month's Fitness magazine for $1. I usually hate that skinny mini crap and figured I'd hate it. I was very surprised to find that I liked it A LOT! It had beginners tips, inspiring stories, ads for healthy new foods, and it made me feel hopeful about my life and future. I ended up buying the next two issues and am going to subscribe to it.