Ang1982

Thanks ladies! I forgot to ask my surgeon so I will ask him what he thinks but.. how long after surgery did you have to wait before doing exercise? What would be considered a safe time frame to start doing more than just walking?

I could be wrong but I'm sure that I have heard (from more than one place) that if you consume more than approx 20g of protein in one shot (like 60 for example) it doesn't make a difference as your body does not absorb anything much more than 20 in one go. So having something with 20g vs something with 60g might not be an difference. You may want to check that out in case the 60g stuff is more costly. Might save you some money. Good luck with your band, I hope you get that full feeling soon.

Oh my gosh I love all you ladies for all the great suggestions and ideas!! I thought I would send a quick update as to what we are hoping to do. There is a place that is a small lodge that has a couple of indoor areas that could work for reception and it has a kitchen, bathrooms and then downstairs has sleeping for about 24 people. Outside has lots of area for camping and people (like the grandparents who have an RV) to park their motorhomes. So... we are planning for a long weekend and are going to have a "wedding weekend extravaganza". The place also has a great area to hold a ceremony so that is covered. If absolutely everyone on our guest list rsvps "yes" then there will be 77 ppl including myself and my DF. To rent it for the entire weekend is like $300. Saturday afternoon will be the ceremony, followed by mingling while the photos are taken (a girl friend of mine is a prof. photographer and will give me a great deal), then we will have dinner (nothing super formal), I am going to bat my eyelashes at the grandparents/aunts and see if anyone would be willing to bring a casserole or so, get a bunch of meat/cheese, veggie trays, the DF is scottish so he wants to have some hagus there as well (ick), and he also LOVED that Taco Del Mar does catering so we may invest in a taco bar/6 layer dip from them (reasonably priced). It's not going to be a fancy mashed potatoes, roast beef dinner but it will be great. I think we will arrange our own music by doing a bunch of mixed cds. You all have given me some great ideas for decorating. Our colors will be black and red so I am going to hit up some post valentines day/christmas sales for red stuff. People can either camp out or I will see what hotel gives group discounts. Then Sunday morning I am planning for a pancake breakfast/present opening and people are welcome to stay through until Monday as we will be having a BBQ Sunday evening (this one I'm going to say people can bring stuff to if they wish). A weekend event where I can actually spend time and enjoy being with all my family and friends and it will be perfect. How often do you get to have all of your friends and family in one spot and get to visit with them? Of course this all bars on finding out if we can get the place for when we want haha. We have some inquiries in just waiting to hear back.

I have a question for you seasoned banders... Obviously I didn't get to where I am at due to my love of excercise lol. So I have to ask ... after getting banded and losing a bit of weight is it easier? Currently I hate excercise, it is the bain of my existence and I know excercise is a key part of the banding process. Right now becoming someone thats an "excercise junkie" seems like a hard concept to wrap my brain around.

Getting a breast reduction about 5 years ago is one of the best decisions I ever made.Hope you get in for your PS soon!

oh hon I am so sorry *BIG HUG* I will be a self pay on Jan 23 and I couldnt even imagine losing my band but losing my band that I am penny pinching to have would be even harder

I am 25 and am not yet banded. My surgery date is January 23 with Dr.Woodhead in Delta, BC. I am very excited to start my journey and am currently on my preop diet phase.

Woohoo! Well done Juli! I can't wait to be half way there

I think these age specific forums are a cool idea - hopefully they will take off with people posting

LOL my DF saw that Taco Del Mar does catering and was VERY EXCITED about that (men *sigh*) so I looked on their website and they do like a do it yourself taco thing and a 6 layer dip so I'm going to check out the cost of that, could be an interesting thing to do along with some meat and veggies spreads lol

Wow you guys are giving me some great ideas. About possibly having it mid afternoon then just doing some fruit, veggie and meat platters. Will likely be approx 100 people. I'm going to go to costco and the superstores and findout what they charge for doing up little platters. The suggestion someone made of a small wedding cake and then a big sheet cake from Costco or something is AWESOME. Also Kat you made a good point about decorations I didn't even think about that. We haven't picked our colours yet but I have a feeling they will be like dark green and either a red or yellow - my DF is scottish descent and wants to wear a kilt with his clans colours which are green and red. So to tie into his kilt i figured probably a dark green and then maybe an accent colour like gold or yellow which are CHRISTMAS COLOURS WOO I am going to check out sales after christmas next year and see if there is anything left from this year. My sis is taking me to a wedding show today which I'm hoping might give me some ideas.

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone. We are aiming for Mid-May 2009. So still spring and I live near Vancouver BC so that gives you (maybe) and idea on climate. You all have such great ideas - but the thing is - a few of you have said you've done it for $6k'ish... we'll we need to keep in mind I'm about to be going into a $14,000 loan for my lapband surgery so extra monthly income is going to be tight lol. You guys are giving me some good ideas tho so keep 'em rollin!!

Awesome, I love it! I was waiting for someone to make something like this :eek:

Thank you so much for all the great suggestions everyone, feel free to keep them coming. I kinda thought the potluck idea was a bit cheesy but you just never know hehe. Anything to save a buck :eek:

Thanks! My surgeon doesn't have a specific preop diet he requires ppl to do - he basically said don't gain any more weight and if you lose some that would be great. So he recommended something like a slimfast 2 x a day portion control type meal like a slim fast or small piece of lean meat and cup of veggies for dinner. So thats what I am doing and a piece of fruit to snack or a slim fast snack bar, or a piece of turkey pepperoni (40cal, 2 g fat and 6 g protein for 1 stick). I've decided to keep my calories at or under 1000 a day and I'm sure I will lose weight with that. I think I will head to the store tonight and pick up some tea as I believe we are fresh out. Thanks for the suggestion! :confused: Well done on your 8 days woo hoo

Well I got engaged and now comes the crazy part of planning the wedding. Here's the thing.. both my DF (is that right?) and I have decent jobs but neither of us rake in the dough each month and we already have monthly expenses (I have car payments, etc.) so we do not have a lot of disposable income. While I am sure our families will help a bit I hate to ask. It's starting to look like one of the most expensive parts of a wedding is the reception/food. So my question is - is having a potluck/bbq type of reception and saying "bring food not gifts" or something kinda uncouth, not classy, stupid? We already have a place together and have kitchen, living room, etc stuff so wedding gifts (besides money to help save for downpayment on a house) are not a huge "in need". Opinions please! Thanks :confused:

:faint:Day one preop... I'M HUNGRY! Please tell me it gets better than this. I'm pretty sure I'm actually hungry and it's not head hunger but I think that could be a part of it too. 1 day of preop in... 18 more to go.:cry

Holy cow! Am I ever glad my fills are covered by the original cost of my band (self pay $14,000)

Ahh okay, cool! Good. Im bad with taking vitamins as it is hehe. Best of luck with your surgery! It will be here before you know it. I start my preop diet tomorrow

Hey Jim, I see your surgery date is the 7th so this might be a bit late to say but - my surgery/hospital papers I got said to stop taking all vitamins and things like ibuprophen a week before my surgery date...

Woohoo! Congrats girlie!

That sucks. People are so stupid. Teach them a lesson, get your mailbox but first put a big steel post in the ground and put your mailbox around it or somehow find a way to make it so that if they smash your mailbox then they will smash up their car too?

I agree with Gwenn, I am very fussy about the taste of different things like that and have found very few that I actually like the flavor of. My preop just consists of slimfast twice a day and a small dinner and I actually do not mind the taste of vanilla slimfast so what about something like that and adding in a Protein powder additive or something of the sort? Hope you find something that works for you!

I'm curious as to how many people are actually staying overnight for their surgery. Mine is just day surgery unless they feel that I need to stay longer for some reason. However, I'm no stranger to anethestic (just had tonsils out in November, and have had a breast reduction many years ago) so they are not overly concerned.

Well the face shot is more recent, hairs a bit longer now... but the bodyshot is approx a year and a smidgen old... add about 25lbs to that and you'll have me as I am now...