Cocoabean

Leigha: About eating with your hands. I have found that when I eat with my hands I take bigger bites, or that the foods are highly proccessed and slide down. Either way, it is not a good thing! I'll have to ponder the challenge to not eat with my hands, but I have cut WAY back on it.

Give yourself a pat on the back for stepping in quickly and not waiting until things were waaaay out of hand. You have the tools, now put them back into play. you can do it! Get your fill, and go back to band rules. That is the joy of banded life. We can tune it up and be back on track. Best wishes!

Way to go Lizzy!!! 100 lbs is sooooo cool!!! What an achievement. Glad you enjoyed the weekend away.

Hi Susi, Yes, start practicing! The band will be a rapid teacher though. After a few stuck episodes, you WILL eat slower and take smaller bites, I promise. I was a very fast eater who took big bites. Not any more. I did try to practice before I was banded. That did not prepare me for reality. But you can learn, as I did! Negative reinforcement is a strong motivator.

HB! Yay on the 80 lbs!! Totally cool! Blowing the nose has GOT to burn calories. If nothing else, it is quite the ab workout. Hope you are feeling better soon. Trying to stay warm in all that snow has got to burn calories, too! I missed 2 1/2 days right before my trip due to my sinus infection. Betsy: Yep, Butters went camping, along with his girlfriend, Stella the golden retriever and her family. He is soooo tired after spending so much time with her--he stayed with her while we were gone, too. Congrats on onderland!!! Yay!!! Good work. Tell Truman he is a great trainer. Welcome PhdGirl!! This is a great place to be. First week post-op isn't the greatest of fun, but it pays off!

Hi Everyone!! Ok, read the pages I have missed! Snow? What is snow? Congrats to all on the victories of the week. Lost sizes, shopping (closet and stores), fitting into booths, small BP cuffs, and any others I missed! I hear y'all on the shrinking boobs, ugh! Welcome to the newcomers over the last week. Elfie, sorry to hear you are still having the pain. Hopefully an unfill will help with that as well. Also, the finger down the throat is my way of ending a bad stuck episode. I figure stopping it quickly is better than suffering for hours and all the trauma involved. I feel very swollen after a bad stuckage, and it can take a few days of soft foods to feel normal again. I just go by how the tummy is feeling. But I agree with you that you might need an unfill. New Orleans was fantastic! DH had a wonderful time. He went on a bus tour of Katrina Damage, he said it was very interesting. The food was fantastic. I could be Cajun, oh yeah. I discovered that bands do not deal well with eating while in a prone position. Two of the nights we snacked in bed, each of which I got stuck. :redface: Guess I should not have threatened Bob with Voodoo! Karma sucks. Is that mixing religions? Betsy, I had Crawfish Etouffee (sp) and Gumbo for ya, yummy!! I did more walking than ever, and with no problems! Our hotel was about 1.5 miles to the French Quarter. I walked both ways plus all around the Quarter each day with no major complaints from my body, other than the usual aching knee. THAT is something! :confused: When we got home Friday we turned right around to go camping at a nearby State Beach with friends. I did more walking there, but not nearly as much. Still on the antibiotics. I have a few more days of those. They are horse chokers and quite the challenge for a bandster to get down. I have to work up the courage to attempt it. This morning, I took it while in bed in the motorhome, and yes, taking pills in a prone position is a bad thing for a bandster, too. It got stuck. The slime started, and I felt like a hole was burning in my upper stomach! I got up and began moving around, sliming, coughing, nauseous. It finally cleared, but I thought it was going to come back up! These are the biggest pills I have ever seen. I haven't been on the scale yet. I know I was burning lots of calories with all the walking, but I also wasn't eating my normal diet. I noticed I had "cankles" on Friday that were still there yesterday. This morning I could finally see my ankle bones. So I am sure there was loads of salt in everything I ate. Think I'll give things a few days to settle down before getting on the scale! Well, guess it's off to bed for me, as I am back to work tomorrow! Take care everyone!

Hi All! Made it home from NO on Friday then took off for Camping at a State Beach immediately upon our arrival home. Whew. I am reading to get caught up. About 6 pages behind! Will post about the trip when I am done. Missed everyone. My co-worker kept me out late every night!

But Bob, you had a trip to the OR!! That counts!! :thumbup: I am sitting at the airport waiting for a plane. Securtiy went lickity split. Wow! The one morning I needed my alarm, I slept through it! Fortunately, DH hardly slept and got me up. He even made breakfast. However, eggs and toast did go down so well at 5am, 15 minutes after I go up. But I do thank him for the effort. So sweet!! I am feeling much better, yay!! Now on to keeping the weight off that I lost during the sick-o time! Have a great Sunday everyone, I'll try to pop in during the week, but it is sure to be a crazy one between the conference from 8-5 and sightseeing in the evenings.

Hey Betsy, we're leaving in the morning, come on down! I could have us a packing helper just a little bit ago. Dang, I hate packing. I can barely dress myself for one day, nevermind choosing for several at once! I had stuff everywhere. Oh, and I managed to get one of my center seats changed. I am aisle all the way there! Just one more seat to change and it will be aisle all the way home, too! And the sinus infection is much better, don't think I'll be grossing my seatmates out too badly. Yay!

Bob! Congratulations!!! I see my Voodoo worked, and I haven't even got to Nawlins yet! hee hee hee!!! The last thing I got stuck on was fish. Ugh. It isn't such a soft food as it seems!

Juliansmom--Yay for the NSV!!! Woohoo! You rock! You'll have such confidence on stage with your new dress! Beautiful dress for a beautiful person!

Hey Christine, Don't beat yourself up over that one! I think when you start moving back to solids a stall or tiny gain is fine. Hiding the scale is a good idea! Keep moving forward, and stay positive.

Hi pmommy, Take very small sips and see how that goes. If that doesn't go down, call your doc. It could be swelling, but you should be able to get sips of water down. You should be sipping about 1 oz every 15 minutes, I think is the rate I was told by my surgeon's office.

That'll be the day!! hee hee!

Last Supper Syndrome is so very common. And so very not needed. You will be able to have your favorite foods again. Just not in the amounts you have them now. And really, are the amounts you are having now working for you? I don't think so. By gaining before surgery, you are only hurting yourself. Possibly risking having your surgery cancelled. We all know tht yo-yo diets are bad for us, well gaining right before surgery and then losing it right away is another yo-yo. Certainly not a goal of good health that we are shooting for by having band surgery.

Okay, I like Betsy's answer better than mine! I did not mean that one should go out and eat with wild abandon during the time of no restriction! :-) But it is difficult to follow band rules without restriction.

After Humming Bird asked me my height, I realized I had it set wrong in the tracker! tee hee!

The immediate post-op time is for healing, not for losing. Also, the pre-op diet is like crash diet when you think about it. What usually happens when you come off of a crash diet? You gain. Give the band time to work. Losses come with fills and restriction. Losses before restriction are good and show that you are committed to your new way of life, but immediately post-op, get yourself healed up!

Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh!!!! I updated my tracker....LOOK AT MY BMI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24.9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NORMAL!!! Do I get a free toaster?

Hi Everyone! Saturday is my official weigh in day: 149 1/2!!! Missed normal BMI by -that- much (1/2 lb)! I am hopeful that with all the walking I'll be doing in New Orleans next week, that I can maintain the loss from the cold and maybe get rid of the extra 1/2 pound. I am feeling better today. I think the anti-biotics are starting to kick in. Humming Bird, You sound like you could be too tight. When I was too tight, my surgeon took out only half what he put in and it was glorious! I could eat and went back to my kind of steady weight loss. For me, that means same weight for a few weeks then down 2-3 lbs in a week. You might find you feel a whole lot better with a little bit removed. It doesn't have to be a total unfil. Bob, I have been very fortunate in the skin department. My tummy looks as good as a 46 year old tummy could without doing hudreds of crunches a day. The only places I have issues are my bat wings--which I can thank my mother for--thanks Mom! And my chin. We are folk of limited means. Long story, but DH had to take a reduced retirment when his job was abolished. So a bat wing-ectomy is not likely to happen, as I can easily hide them, and I doubt my insurance company would find it medically necessary as they cause no harm. It is a fun joke in our house that if my DH makes me mad I will use them like a bullwhip and he won't know what hit him. The more I lose the more whip-like they get! The turkey neck on the other hand....I have a scar on my neck from when I was a teen. I have had it revised. When I was overweight it was hardly noticeable. Now the skin sags oddly due to the tightness of the scar and the looseness of the normal skin next to it. So, perhaps I can convince my insurance company that this is a defect and is reconstructive not cosmetic. But, that would not remove a large amount of skin as far as weight goes. Guess I can't take "the easy way out" and have PS! HA! Right, easy way out, indeed. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

I only use hamburger buns as handles. I tear them away as I eat. Every once in a while I can eat a little tiny piece of it to get a taste. I feel like I am eating a hamburger that way. But I also have to be careful that I don't take too big of a bite. Eating with my hands can cause that. Sandwiches and burgers are especially bad for that!

Congratulations!! As a previous post said, if you are very nauseous, call your surgeon. There are good anti-nausea meds. With the post-op diet, it is hard to not take the pain meds on an empty stomach, as you are on Clear liquids that just go right through. Sip your fluids, don't gulp, that might help. And walk as much as you can, even just up and down the hall or laps around your living room. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Hi Humming Bird, I am about 5'5" if I stand really, really straight and have shoes on. Most BMI charts include a one inch heel, from what I can find. So, I go with 5'5" on the calculators. If I do my normal poor posture, I am around 5'4" (that is what my surgeon used). My PCP wants me down to around 140 on my scale (145 on his--with clothes on). I am taking it one day and one pound at a time. I'm in a size 10 now. Some designers I can wear an 8. The last time I was around 140, I could wear a 4 to 6. I also had to work like a fiend to stay there, but I did not have the help of the band. I also appeared very tiny just because of the way I hold my weight. Do you think you are too tight? I must have missed it up thread...sorry. This thread moves pretty fast sometimes! My surgeon would ask if I thought I was too tight, and what am I able to eat. When I felt I was too tight I had gotten stuck on mashed potatoes. He agreed! Am wondering if a doctor can force you to have an unfill. I can't imagine them holding you down and finding your port! :frown: But if you are unable to eat and your caloric intake is low, that could account for the lack of weight loss. There is always the possibility that you will have a scheduling conflict and need to change the appointment and have to delay it for a couple of weeks. :frown: All we can do is press on in the fight! You could just go stand out in the cold without a jacket, shivering burns calories, that might help!

It sucks they don't cover it :-( But you will feel much better while you are working towards retirement, too!! Maybe you'll even enjoy working more. You will certainly be healthier for the hernia repair surgery, that is a plus. Average it out over a lifetime, and it is totally worth it.

Hi Candy! Welcome! Getting healthy for your children is awesome. My understanding is that if you are self-pay they process moves along quite quickly. It sounds as though just the timing of the tests and your required weight loss are the only things holding you back. Was the no-way just because your insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery? Can you at least take advantage of the anesthesia of the hernia repair and have the band placed then? Sort of like a 2 for 1 discount? Best wishes for a smooth surgery and speedy recovery!!