~Bridgette~

Wow! I had my 1st salad tonight since my surgery! I've been terrified of lettuces for that reason.... and now I've just eaten a salad... scary! I might have to return to my no lettuce rule..

Congrats!! I looked at some pics of me from last Oct and am shocked at the difference.. sometimes it takes pics to tell the difference. Speaking of which, I really need to put a new picture of myself on here..

Leftover chicken is hard for me too... and bread is a huge No-No for me! It gets stuck almost instantly! It's a shame cookies/crackers and candy don't get stuck, LOL.

Thanks Lois and Eb! I'll have to give it a try, but after my fill tomorrow, LOL.

Thanks, Lois! I think I'll have to give them a try! You look awesome, by the way! Way to go! You've really done well! =)

I've been banded since Oct 29, 08 and to this day, I haven't eaten steak or salad since my banding. I'm terrified I'll get them stuck. Does that seem crazy? I don't have any problems with chicken, hamburger meat, grilled fish, or even lamb chops... but am terrified to try steak. And the lettuce in the salad scares me... it seems like pre-banding, no matter how well I thought I chewed it, it seemed like I'd always poop out a piece of lettuce.. (TMI, I know... sorry!) So, should I just suck it up and try them??? Are you guys able to eat steak and salads???

You all are doing so well!! What an exciting time for all of us as we're changing our lives! We can do it!! =)

To the OP, thanks for posting this topic! I have had a great band experience. Granted, I'm in the middle of a 2.5 month plateau as far as any significant weight loss... don't get me wrong, I've lost the same 5 lbs, over and over again recently... but I still wouldn't trade it for anything! I've commited to regular exercise, even when I don't feel like it. I've pretty much given up all breads/pastas/rices/potatoes..... still struggling with the sweets though! With each fill, so far I've had two and will have another on Weds, my menu has become a little more limited, but I haven't had a PB experience yet. Praise the Lord! I went shopping this past weekend with my mom and was actually buying clothes in a size 1x when I used to have a hard time squeezing in a 3x before my surgery. This band has helped me change myself from the inside out! It has given me a sense of inner-strength that I didn't have before. It's my secret weapon and it helps me make better choices than I would have made before!

I use the Curves Smart program, and it tells me I burn about 450 calories per workout, and I'm excited b/c that doesn't even include the walking in place on the recovery stations. I really need to start tracking my foods. I get so frustrated with that, especially if I don't know exaclty how much food it is or if it's prepared at a restaurant and I am not sure what numbers to put in my journal. When that happens, I usually give up b/c the OCD kicks in.

I'm scheduled to get a fill next Weds, was supposed to be tomorrow but didn't want a fill so close to Easter, since the majority of my family doesn't know about the band. Hopefully that will help. I've tried journaling my foods to get a clear picture of exactly what I'm eating and the OCD kicks in and if I don't know exactly how much food it was and can't find the numbers I need to complete my journal, I get discouraged and quit after a day or two of trying. Seems like I'm living on string cheese, cottage cheese, Protein shakes, sugar free pudding, and either grilled chicken breast or hamburgers without the bun... oh, and broccoli, it's my veggie of choice. I'm still scared to try steak and salad, I don't know why, but I'm terrified to try those. I haven't to this day had a PB episode or vomited. Breads get stuck and I stay away from Pasta and rice. I'm doing the Curves Smart program working out and generally burn 400-450 calories per workout. I'm thinking of adding in some walking in addition to the workout I'm doing... Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I'm going to check out circuit training, but isn't that what I'm supposed to be getting with Curves? I guess I'm kind of confused on that... time for more research!

Looks like y'all are doing wonderfully!! I'm very frustrated! I haven't lost but 5 lbs since January! I've been steady working out at Curves 3-5 times a week, getting my protein in, and am not eating any bread/pasta/rice... but cannot get this scale to budge!! Any tips???

I think my body has gone into starvation mode too b/c I've been at the same weight, give or take a pound or 3, for 3 months now... its very frustrating, and I'm ready to get that scale moving again!

Thanks, Alice! Sounds like you're doing amazingly! I would love to lose 90lbs!! You go girl! I am thinking I need to increase my calories a day to raise my metabolism, but I'm thinking that adding in a boston creme donut from Dunkin, is probably not how my doc would recommend it... But, boy would *I* enjoy it!! LOL Another question... do you ever feel tender in your port area when doing the ab machines? I was doing the crunchy one the other day and my port area felt sore... hmmm, I slowed down and quit trying to kill the machine... but it kinda scared me.

Hey everybody! I've been working out at Curves 3-5 days a week for almost 3 months now and am toning up great. I've only lost about 5 lbs and maybe 6 inches though. I've been at a plateau since January and am very frustrated. I'm eating no bread/pasta/rice... and making sure to get all of my Protein in. My weakness is chocolate during TOM. So, I'm thinking about doing the Curves Weight management plan (with 3 phases) to break through this plateau. Is it possible that I'm just not getting enough calories and have hurt my metabolism? So... what I wanna know is, have any of you done the Curves Weight Management plan with the band and how do you break through the plateaus? I'm going for another fill next week, right now I've got 4ccs in a 10cc band. Suggestions? Advice?

Those recipes sound great! Thanks for sharing. :wub:)

Thanks for posting that, Gina! Good luck with the test!

Thanks for the responses!! I'll have to give it a try. BTW, I made that choc/pb/cheesecake shake today and Oh. My. Goodness!!!! It was so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll have to get creative with those puddings now. But, they still have some carbs in them, so I have to figure out how to count them to journal my foods. My doctor told me to count carbs (<50g/day) and protein (at least 80g/day). So... that's my goal.

I may have to give this a try. I'm looking for portable sources of protein for when I'm out and about so I'm not tempted to go off-plan.

Hi everybody! I'm back on the "band wagon" for the new year. I didn't gain any weight over the holiday, but didn't lose any significant amount either. I see Emily, the nutritionist, tomorrow and I know she won't be happy with me. I haven't journaled my foods and haven't really been doing much of anything other than *trying* to watch my portion sizes. The grazing, cookies, candies, and eggnog has not been helpful either. YIKES!

Amy, we all have pity parties... luckily we're here to support each other through them and help each other get out of them and move to a more positive outlook. You can do it, girl! BTW, you really do rock!! :wink_smile:)

I haven't had a soda for probably 6 months. Now I'm scared to. I actually had a dream one night that I drank a soda (forgetting that I had the band) and was terrified that my pouch was going to explode. Maybe my subconscious wants a soda more than I do.. but at least it's trying to keep in on the straight and narrow. LOL

Thanks for the recipe! This has been a long and very helpful thread! Thank you all!! So... here's my question after reading this and the link for the 5dpt... when we get to days 3-5, does that mean no shakes and ONLY what is prescribed for those days or to add in each days allowances with any other liquids? I'm a cottage cheese whore. That's my go-to food most of the time when I'm hungry. So... does that mean on the latter days, no soft protein like cottage cheese or protein shakes? Just meat? Thanks, y'all! How exciting!! I think I've been eating too large portions and the cookies and bread around the holidays didn't help. I didn't gain, in fact I've lost 3 lbs in the last week, but I've been really cheating. :wink_smile:

I'm recommiting to the lifestyle today and have a lot more reading to catch up on in this thread... so please forgive me if you've answered this already... how do you make that?? It sounds absolutely delish!!!

I'm hopping back on the "band wagon" today. I grazed a little too much over the holidays. BUT this was the first holiday season that I didn't gain weight. Woohoo!! Granted, I should be losing, but considering I wasn't journaling my food, paying much attention, or exercising... I'd say I lucked out big time!

Oddly enough, since being banded, I've been dreaming of smoking. I quit 2.5 years ago, and wasn't a really heavy smoker (2-3 cigs a day M-F only... work-stress related, LOL). But since dealing with not eating now, I'm finding myself craving the cigarettes more. Being a non-smoker is harder now than it was when I first quit, and I quit cold turkey.