TulipStar

Stacy 73.....38lbs TulipStar.....22lbs (ONLY 22lbs!!!)

Hello! I am 5 weeks out and I get a "sloshing" feeling when I think I eat too much. I don't get sick, I just get this yucky feeling. for example if I am sitting in my recliner which rocks, my stomach sloshes and makes very loud slosh noises on each rock.. Does anyone else experience this? What is is from? will it go away when I get my fill? It is really bizzarre.

My first fill is tomorrow!!! :::hoping for restriction:::

<p>I had the same itchy...all around my belly & the scars. I memorized the scars on my stomach so I could itch like a maniac around them, even in my sleep. What helped me was to moisturize the area. It was itchy because it was dry (I am also slightly allergic to adhesive from the bandages). The moisturizer helped a lot and the itching has almost stopped completely.</p> <p> </p> <p>I lost over 100lbs about 4 years ago and I moisturized religously everyday with Nivea for skin tightening. I think that it worked pretty well. The only thing is that stretch marks never go completely away, but they can get lighter and less noticeable. I also had surgery to remove the excess adominable skin and this removal of skin and fat actually removed the stretch marks (bc the skin was removed).</p> Oh yeah, and tanning works for some people too...however, it can work against some. When I tanned, my stretch marks blended in with my skin. I do have friends who have the opposite happen (they tan and their stretch marks get darker, pinker, or whiter and show up more than before).

I think so. I (or my husband) made all soups from home recipes. They are much better than the canned stuff.

I am in the same boat. I started feeling hungry at 6 dpo and my Dr. said this was normal. He said to expect to gain a few pounds and I did gain 3 lbs, but have lost it again. I hate this feeling of hopelessness...that I have yet tired something else and it is not working as I had hoped. I am sticking to 1200 cal a day, but the weight is not budging. Then again, I should be grateful for what has happened so far. I get filled next week...so I hope that I feel some restriction!!

Hi everyone thanks for the repsonses. I am lacto-ovo vegetarian so I eat eggs and drink milk, but stay away from any kind of meat. Thanks for the recommendation on the book, Margie. I will buy it this weekend! I think that I will have to just make protein bars a staple for when I travel. Wheetsin, you are right, European pizza is way better for you than American pizza. The pizza I was eating was whole grain, very very thin crust and not greasy like American pizza. I was in Finland and if I was not veg, I would try the kebab (I see the signs everywhere!).

My first fill was SUPPOSED to be at 4 weeks, but they were booked too far in advance. Plus I have been in Europe this week soooo.... only 1 more week. GuinessGirl...give us more info! how is life after 1st fill???

I traveled domestically 2 weeks after surgery and was fine. Now I am in Europe 4 weeks after surgery and I am ok. However I was on full foods after 17 days. your 1st fill is not usually until at least 4-6 weeks, but some wait even longer (only a few do it sooner). Don't delay your surgery. Things will work out. I kept having "what if" scenarios planned around my vacation/work travel and in the end, my surgery kept getting pushed and pushed that it became the higher priority and I just had to work around the circumstance.

Hi, the pre-testing center (AIGB) "required" a sleep study for me. However, I told them that I didn't want to do it. (sleeping in a strange room overnight hooked up to machines freaked me out a bit). All they said was "it can help you get approved for insurance" and I said I would risk it. So, they didn't make me do it. Afterwards my Dr. asked if I had to do any weird tests and I told him the stress test, but I refused the sleep apnea test. He said "Good, you don't need that test, they just want your money!"

For years I only ate chicken, with the ocassionaly beef. Now, I got the audio book version "skinny bitch" on itunes and it has changed my view on meat. I am determined to stay off of it forever!

Hi, Just wondering how many of you frequently travel for work or personal and how you deal with sticking to the diet/protein when traveling? I travel for work quite a bit and I'm ok to focus on eating right and protein when I travel within the U.S. However, International travel is really hard for me. First of all, I don't do protein shakes, bc it is not easy to find milk. I am on the go a lot. and I hate water with my protein shake. Second, I am a really picky eater and eat vegetarian, so I end up eating a lot of salad and pizza (gasp) (bc pizza is internationally the same pretty much anywhere). I am in Europe this week and this is my diet every day: breakfast: water Lunch: salad Dinner: pizza I am soo good at home. Travelin always gets me. Also, will I not have this problem when I get a fill?!!:help:

You look fabulous! What an inspirations! Congrats!!

I don't do it with the band bc it never worked for me w/o the band. I am more of a "calorie counter" and the "points" system that WW does is similar but I would always find a way around it. I know a lot of people who do WW or have, and they really really like it. Everyone is different, so it may work for you.

I stopped losing at 2 weeks and in my 2nd to 3rd week I actually gained 3 lbs. My dr said this was normal....I might gain a couple more before my 1st fill. He said it was just my metabolism.

The only thing that I regret is not doing it sooner. I fought it for so long and thought of it as a "last resort". I really wished I would have done it sooner, because then I would have part of "me" back and be living my life like I want to live it.

Hi sara, I have been to 3 of these seminars before I got my band. Each seminar is hosted by different doctors. By going to multiple seminars I learned a lot of different things! First seminar: Met Dr. Marsden, really liked him (so much that he ended up being my surgron). I brought my husband along for support, bc in the beginning he was very against any type of wls. The seminar sold him and he gave his approval for me to move forward. 2nd seminar: was for Dr. Benavides. this time I just wanted to see if I could hear more/different info. the audience asks questions and every group asks different questions. Dr. Benavides didn't show up to his seminar, so I felt that if he couldn't make time for that, I was not going to consider him being my dr. 3rd seminar: Dr. Felts. He was good and would have been my second choice if I didn't go with Marsden. There were a lot of different questions in this seminar. My only suggestion on "what to bring" with you is your calendar. At the end of the seminar, if you want to schedule your initial consultation, you can. I recommend it because they have the open calendars with specially reserved space just for seminars. Otherwise, if you call the office, it will probably take about 1 month to get your first consultation. If you go to AIGB for your consultation, you won't meet with your lapband dr. You will meet with another dr. who will examine you and go over your history. Then they will schedule you for tests (stress test, sleep apnea (if needed), psych test (if needed). The purpose of this stage is to "clear" you for surgery. then AIGB passes it to Lapband solutions who works on getting your insurance approved. My first seminar was in May. I just got banded on Sept 10...so the whole process took about 4 months.

My advice is to enjoy it while you can.... I wish that my phase of non-hunger lasted long (I got hungry on po day 6). I have a friend who was banded a month earlier than me and his hunger didn't return until 3 weeks later. His 1st piece of advice to me after surgery was "enjoy not being hungry while you can".

Congratulations!! That is wonderful news!

p>I consider myself a "connoisseur" of scales and after a lifetime of eating disorders, I've had many who were my friend and some were my foes. </p> <p>My 1st "friend" scale was a regular dial scale. I would weigh myself repeatedly thoughtout the day, looking for approval from it. If it read 215, I would pout and then lean a little to the left and the meter would go down ... 209? I'll take it!! What a great friend that scale was. I bought a couple more for he reassurance that I could "sway" my weight down.</p> <p>Next I moved on to a digital scale. This scale was really trying to be my friend. I would weight myself every morning first thing, within another hour I would weigh myself again... WOW, the digital scale would say I lost 6lbs since breakfast!!! This one was so good, I bought ANOTHER digital scale, just for reaffirmation.</p> <p>the moral of the story is that neither the digital or dial scale are any good. They are inaccurate & might drive you to do crazy things like I did above.</p> <p> </p> <p>The best kind of scale to have are the health-o-meter scales with the sliders across the top. Just like you see in most Dr's office. Mine was pricey (about $200), but I have had it over 4 years and I only weigh myself once now, because I know that it's the real #. It's worth it for peace of mind!</p>

low calorie works for me. I try to keep it under 1200 calories a day.

as long as it doesn't have any chunks in it. make sure you keep the portion really small..a couple tablespoons.

my goal right now is 1000-1200. My dr told me to try to keep it to 1200 until I get my first fill. The only problem is that I am so hungry I could eat a horse!! I try to fill up on protein and 4 out of 5 days this week I stayed around 1000 calories.

I think it would actually help you heal because of the lycopene in it. Try it!

My dr said I could eat soft pasta during the mushies stage. I didn't eat straight up pasta, but I had some chicken noodle soup. The noodles were really soft and I didn't have any problems.