Road Queen

Good job and thanks for posting now. I am having one of those down days - got a fill yesterday and was sick all night. Still struggling today and now the dog is sick. I hope my story at 1 year is alot like yours - oops except I'm single and no one will buy me a jag. Good luck on the last 20.

I have been planning on coming to Vegas since before I got my band. I even had alternative plans to get there - preferable ride motorcycle. If not, we have charter flights to Vegas every Friday that return on Monday. Now my work disapproved my leave. It seems that I am going to Topeka Kansas to a work conference. I am so bummed. DeLarla - I have so been waiting to meet you and everybody else. And I loved riding through Utah last year and was looking forward to it. I am just totally bummed.

I had a fill 1 cc three weeks ago and had no restriction. In fact, I gained about 4 pounds. So yesterday I went and got another fill .5 cc. My dr doesn't suggest liquids only afterwards and I regret it. I have been able to eat everything until this fill. Right after the fill I had 4 rice crackers and hummus. Then, last night I had a bit of sausage (bad choice now but I had been eating it up to this fill just fine). And pb forever. And acid reflux, etc. This morning 1/4 c of Water went down ok. When I tried 1/2, it was too much. called the dr this morning. He is out of town working at another hospital for 5 days. I just had 1/2 c of beef broth and that seems to be okay. I am so dumb. I have read enough here to know that I should just be more conservative than his rules. I want to beat myself over the head with a baseball bat. Thanks for letting me vent here. I'm going to go get my leg hair waxed off at the beauty shop. Maybe the pain from that will keep me distracted.

I am going to try the recipe using them for coating on chicken breasts when I get my order next week. The cereal sounds good. I will have to wait for my next order. One thing I like about ordering from them is that the shipping is $5 no matter how much you order. When you buy as much stuff on-line as I do, shipping can add up. Sherri, Thanks for posting the address. Unfortunately, I've been working away from my computer today - office cleaning time!

soy protein isolate, potato flour, corn flour canola oil, soy flour, pea fiber, whey, and stuff. I think this is the first time I've ever read pea fiber on an nutritional label.

Has anyone else tried Kay's Naturals Protein Chips? I tried the chili nacho cheese and the lemon herb and they are great. I need crunch sometimes and these fit the bill. One serving of the chili ones have 3.5 g fat, 14 grams carb, 10 grams protein, and 110 calories. I called the company and order their samplers today. They also have parmesean cheese chips, cheddar cheese chips, honey mustard pretzels, cinnamon toast pretzels, etc. They come in small bags. I am going to take them on my motorcycle trip so when everybody else is eating junk food I can have healthy junk food. I will let you know how the other flavors taste when they get here.

Thankfully, I have a 800 sq ft house so I haven't kept my stuff. Stuff I have given away over the years Total Gym Walk away the pounds tapes, belt, etc (I can do it without the tapes by now) 20 plus exercise videos Stationary bike old treadmill Stuff I have and don't use Ab roller (stupid thing) Stuff I have and use some (enough to justify keeping) Treadmill t-tapp exercises (if anyone is interested, I have the old videos but I'm only using the DVDs now - I would give the videos away) weighted tennis shoes (strengthens my ankle muscles to the point where I can wear high heels now) weighted squishy balls (from walk away tapes) - I keep them in my office and lift them when I'm on the phone okay, that's all I can input before my morning coffee

I am riding 300 miles after work today. I use that time for meditation and prayer. I will include your friend in my prayers.

I haven't lost any weight in about 5 weeks so I was getting bummed. But I can Celebrate my NSVs. Last Friday I squeezed into size 14 jeans!!! And managed to breathe good enough to ride 250 miles in them. Last year I worked really hard for 6 months to lose weight and bought 5 new suits. Then my dad died and I regained the weight plus more. I never got to wear the suits. I still weigh 7 pounds more than I did then but I wore 2 of them this week!! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

I have had one fill and have no restriction. I think it may take multiple fills for some people. It sounds like you are getting there quickly. Good luck.

Your loss is impressive. I was banded 1 week later and have hovered at the 20 pound loss for over a month. I got my first fill this week and it didn't do anything. Maybe its time to put some different clothes on. I have just been wearing my regular clothes up to now. But I got home last Saturday from a 2 week trip and my dryer broke and I'm have other house problems so I haven't been able to do laundry. I poured myself into a smaller pair of jeans this morning and have been getting alot of compliments. Even though my other clothes were getting big, nobody noticed in them. If you don't have any clothes that fit, go to a second hand store or Walmart - summer sales are on now. I bet you will be surprised - and it will feel good to even buy that one small outfit - 50 pounds could be about a 2-3 size drop. Celeste

Ruthie, Just appreciate the time and don't rush it. I was banded 2 weeks before you and got my first fill yesterday. I was going out of country and worried about the food situation. I have been plateaued for a month so I have also been bumming out. But - I only gained about 2 pounds for all of the bad food choices I made and now I have a fill. It took us a long time to get in this situation so we need to have the patience to get out of it slowly. But go ahead and post at night. I know when I've been bummed and posted the responses brighten my day/night. Celeste

Thanks for posting the pictures. I had my first fill yesterday. I made the nurse put a magazine between me and the needle - I told him if he wasn't gonna give me a tattoo I didn't want to see the needle. I can look at the pictures of you but I could not have tolerated watching it happen to me. Thanks.

I rode down to Utah last summer and rode Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Glen Canyon, Monument Valley, over to Durango to visit my old stomping grounds, and up western Color. Those pictures brought back some great memories. Thanks for sharing. Celeste

Yes, you are right. I am just a little over enthusiastic and excited to finally be getting a fill. I will let them do their job and let the band do its job. My job is Water, tiny bites, good food choices, and chew, chew, chew. I think that's enough to do. I won't try and play doctor anymore!

How much fill did your dr put in on the first fill? I am getting mine today and he plans to do 1 cc. I'm thinking of asking for 1.5 I have had no restriction and can eat anything. Is that too much too fast?

Make the choice you want to. I have told a number of people. I think it would have been easier not telling them but I know a few people have checked out the surgery because of it. I live in a conservative (but fat) part of the country so if figure that if I can help educate others on the band, it may help them or a friend have a better life or health.

Sonja, Yes, i am also a Dr. Schmit patient. You are having great results. I have been on a stall. I didn't get my first fill because I went to Liberia Africa for 2 weeks and I was too nervous about the food situation. And the food available wasn't wonderful and there was not alot of options. I am getting my first fill in the morning. Do you go to the monthly meetings? Maybe we can meet at the August meeting or something. I am waiting to get back on track and away from the bad stuff. I lost about 20 pounds initially and I am just holding there. But I am not gaining. Glad to hear from a fellow Bismarck bandster. Keep me posted on what is going on with you. Celeste

Mae, Sorry about your band but glad to hear of your success. I was recently banded but haven't had a fill yet so I don't have any restriction. I waited for a fill because I spent the last two weeks in Liberia Africa. I may be looking at working in Mozambique later this year. I really want to get a couple of fills in before I go because I would be gone for up to 3 years. Hope to hear more from you - let us know about your travels. Celeste

Enjoy these moments. You deserve it.

It rained in Monrovia, Liberia every day that I was there. I don't know how my restriction is. I just got home from over 30 hours of flying so my weight is high but i'm also retaining fluids. I am guessing that I held even or gained a couple of pounds. I made bad choices but they were not always choice driven. I didn't have alot of options for getting food and limited items were available. I could have made some better choices (not much) but I still believe a coke a day in a remote 3rd world country kills germs. As for the wine, it killed the time. I am going to split a steak with my dog and then go to bed and sleep for a long time.

Thanks for starting this thread. I have made more bad decisions than good for the last 2 weeks so as soon as I get home I plan to regroup. The one thing I have done is to have 2 shakes a day - and do I have great nails.. No more drinking with meals, no more eating after I am full, no more skipping my walk after meals, no more drinking wine... I am so scared to weigh in when I get home. I know that I haven't lost anything - even inches - but I sure hope I haven't gained. But I have had an awesome experience understanding life post-conflict, seeing the destruction of war, the anger and hopelessness of the people, etc. Oh yeah, and I am bored today also. They came and got my passport, bags, tickets, etc. The embassy handles that for us here since there have been alot of airport visa problems and baggage issues. I can't really help work on project for the next 3 hours so I'm just wanting to eat my leftover food. And I can't leave the apartment because I had to turn in my embassy ID to get back my passport so when I leave the apartment I can't return. Thank the Lord for the internet.

Okay, I know bands are fickle but this is weird. I am 7 weeks out of surgery and no fill. I have had little or no restriction. I can pretty much eat and drink everything. Since I have been out of the country the last 2 weeks, I have even had my daily coke to kill germs. Suddenly yesterday, I have restriction. For lunch, I barely managed the insides of a chicken salad sandwich (I don't have great food options here) I did have 2 beers at Happy hour that were fine. Then at dinner, I managed a little humus and a little french onion Soup. And that was it. Same thing this morning. I could barely eat 1/2 an omelet. Can this be real? Is it maybe stress? I am headed home today and am scheduled for a fill Tuesday. Maybe I don't need one.

Just wanted to give some update on my life since I haven't been here much the last week. Liberia is a unique post. It has been evacuated more than any other US post and from my understanding, is one of 3 designated post-conflict - Afghanistan and Iraq are the others. I will be leaving Friday and returning to North Dakota. I am not sure whether I will get a job/contract offer from the Treasury in Africa after this or not. Before I left, they did mention Mozambique... This country was once nice with electricity, Water, etc. 14 years of civil war destroyed all of that. Electricity is by generator. I don't know what locals do for water in their homes. I, fortunately, am in embassy housing with several generators and water from a distiller. Many empty buildings that were shelled. Others have damage from smoke, rockets, etc. I am very glad I did not get a fill. I know I have not had good eating habits and have had excess wine...but I have been trying. I have at least 40 grams of Protein shakes a day and get in more with my meals. Beyond that, I have no restriction and that helps me in being able to eat and stuff here. I have only pb'd once since surgery and it was when I inhaled a cold leftover hamburger. I have had no problems here and I am thankful for that. Feeling like I'm on a 24 hour 10 day job interview plus living in a restricted environment (embassy housing, assigned driver, permission to leave embassy grounds) is enough without worrying about food. Please remember me in your prayers as I continue through the rest of this week. I return home Saturday and get a fill on Tuesday. Then I will be on my way to thin land.

Alatina, let me know when you are there and how to get ahold of you and I will certainly come visit. That will be fun. I saw you posted on the Vegas site about coming to the bash. FYI, you would probably fly out of Grand Forks or Fargo, however, another option would be checking on Allegiant Airlines. They fly out of Bismarck, Sioux Falls (probably too far away), St. Cloud and some other cities. They are a charter operation that flies directly to Las Vegas from these towns on specific days. For example, they fly out of Bismarck Friday and Monday afternoons. Returns are Friday and Monday morning. I don't know what the price is right now - probably around $200 roundtrip but they do run specials. I will email you more about this when I return to the U.S. Celeste