Leena

I have both, as well as a recumbant bike and stairmaster/stepper. I would have to say I like them all pretty equally. I rotate days with them. So my body gets a change and new workout each day. The incline option on a treadmill is great as is the stride selection option on an eliptical. I think the most important part of getting in a workout for me is my ipod.

I have noticed that I loose faster when I don't eat after 5:30pm. But it's soooo hard to do. Dh gets home from work between 6:30 and 7pm on an average night, so I have to see him eating. To make matters worse it seems like he always Snacks after dinner and a few times a week asks me to make something like apple crisp for him at night. I'm soooo bad and end up licking the bowl. At least I can have dinner with the kids just before 5pm. So anyone want to join my no eating after dinner challenge/support thread? -Leena

Ahhh! Last night I was sitting next to DH on the couch watching a movie and accidently ate veggie chips, not too bad, but the sodium has me retaining water today, 2 pounds of it. He's hooked on chips and I just subconciously ate chips. I feel so crappy about it, so I'm planning an extra workout today for those stupid chips. Anyone else dealing with snacking spouses?

You might want to try Land's End. They tend to have nice conservative suits for around $40. I know my mom just ordered a plain black one for her water aerobics class. I'm not sure what sizes they carry, but I know she's about a 12 or 14.

I think protien shakes are okay. Just not a protien cake or cookie or food, etc. I allow myself a cup of apricot cinnamon tea with a splenda.

Ok I did it yesterday. It was soooo hard. So today I'm making DH fix his own dinner plate. I'm putting an apple crisp in the oven now and will be able to have a bite of it with my 5 o'clock dinner. Glad to have you two, Honey and Chiquis join me.

I have 3 boys, 3,6 and 7 and was banded in September. I told them all about it before surgery and they asked a lot of questions. Since banding they have even been to a support group with me. Their question there was why weren't there a lot of men there, just women. I am a very open and honest parent with my sons. Not everyone parents the same way. My older 2 sons have even watched videos of lap-band surgeries online and think it's sooo cool. They also understand why I had the surgery (years of eating too much food) and how it's going to change our lives, ie mommy has more energy now and does sooo much more than before.

Just an option I thought I'd through out there. We have a home warrenty through American Home Shield which covers all of those major house appliances, heaters, ACs, etc. I think it's about $30 a month and has been very useful. It came in handy when we first moved in, otherwise we would have had a $2k bill to fix the boiler. It's something you may want to look into. I'm sure there are other companies out there, that just happens to be the one we've had for 3 years now.

You'll have to ask the dr which one you have. I know pre-op I got a packet which had the 10cc card in it. At my first fill I asked how many ccs the dr was putting in. He said 1cc, which I thought was conservative for a 10cc band. Well apparently I have the 4cc band, just got the wrong card in the packet, clerical mix-up. So the dr looked in my file to confirm I had the 4cc band. Call your drs office and ask them to look it up in your file.

I had that experience yesterday with chicken, and I'm 4 months post-op and it's been almost 7 weeks since my last fill. Anyway pineapple juice helped a lot. In my post-op soft food stage, sausages were not included.

Thanks everyone. Well the verdict is no more chicken before afternoon. I'm spending the day on liquids and am fine so far. I have no desire to even eat chicken after yesterday. I just got back from the grocery store and bought some low-fat low-sodium turkey breast from the deli and will stick to that.

I had the strangest experience today. For Breakfast I was eating egg whites and grilled chicken breast (skinless). Anyway I had 2 egg whites and 1/3 cup of chicken cut into strips, didn't finish it all. It took me 40 minutes to eat and stopped when I felt full. About 15 minutes later I felt like there was a golf ball in my pouch. It lasted for 3 hours until I finally drank a cup of pineapple juice and took some gas-x. The rest of the day I've just been on liquids, maily my protien shake and Water. And I'm planning on having liquids tomorrow, then calling my doctor to see what's going on. This is my first really uncomfortable food experience with chicken. There was no sliming or pbing. And I'm a little over 4 months post op, haven't had a fill since the beginning of december and don't need one. Thanks, Leena

I had the farewell to food tour. I highly recommend it. If I could do it again I would add bread with dipping oils to it. That's only because post-op I haven't been able to eat bread, and I'm 4 months post-op. I had everything else that I love in my tour (mostly all carb based-yes I'm a recovering carb addict). It seems my band doesn't like bread, Pasta or rice, all of my old vices. I have yet to find a new food vice, hmm maybe Water but it's not a vice. If you want your last goodbye to food weekend then by all means take it. Persoanlly I have NEVER been able to eat like I did pre-band since being banded, even when I needed a fill.

My advice on work out wear is Wal-Mart. They always have plus sizes. I think the plus sizes run big as i can fit into their 16Ws in workout pants but am in no way a 16, more like a 20. But their 20Ws are way too big. I'm waiting for them to put out their capri work out pants, especially the plain ones, as I can't see myself wearing ones that say juicy or hot stuff on the butt.

I'd also look to the grams of carbs that you're eating as well as the sodium. Personally high sodium foods, like ham tends to be, make me reatin Water like a balloon. I'm also one who can't loose on higher carbs. Does your protien shake have higher carbs? This is the frist that I've heard of eating 6 small meals with the band. My bariatric team says 3 small meals, no snacking in between them either. Considering you're just about 2 weeks post-op your diet has advanced much further than mine. At that point I was still on liquids. Most doctors won't fill until 4 weeks post-op at the earliest, some wait as long as 6-12. My 3rd week opst-op I didn't loose a single pound, then weight loss picked up again. Bodies sometimes just take breaks once in a while.

Thanks julie, atleast I know I'm not walking around with some freakish looking privates, atleast not more freakish looking than others my weight or former weight. I'm thinking a tummy tuck may be in my future at some point. I didn't realize they could lipo there though. That's good to know.

I would say go for the sushi. California rolls were one of my favorite things before. And now I can't tolerate rice. I'm okay with it now. I had my farewell to food tour. My pre-op diet was 2 protien shakes a day and one meal of what-ever I wanted. My dr. didn't require a pre-op diet for me but said I could do one if I wanted. I din't go crazy, but I enjoyed what I ate. I mostly had things that give people problems post-banding (RECOVERING CARB ADDICT HERE), so Pasta, rice, bread, etc. As for the wine, I've had 2 glasses post-op. I'm not a huge fan of wine. I have had about 5 mixed drinks though, just have to pay the price working out the next day.

I short term goal is to reach the 100 pound lost mark. I'm so close to it I'm drooling. My short term goal is under 200 by my birthday, end of April. And to get rid of my obesity related heart arythmia which I'll get tested for then as well.

I have a friend who had the bypass 4 years ago with a BMI of 34, granted she was over 200 pounds as she's 5'10" tall. Now she weighs 140-145 pounds. She even had insurance pay for it. So surgeons will do it.

My kids and dh take fish oil, actually it's cor or core Omega. It's comes in a ketchup packet type of container and is orange/chocolate flavored. So it is bandster appropriate. I can not take it however as I have a heart arythmia and there are a few studies out there that say those with arythmias shouldn't take it, also my pcp doesn't approve of it for people with arythmias as well. You'll also want to make sure that your fish oil is mercury free too.

Week 1 post-op I lost 20 pounds and week 2 was another 10. Trust me it will start to slow down, but then exercise will help you speed it up again. I'm 4 months post-op and lost 7 pounds in the last week and 8 the week before that. Exercise and watching what you eat helps a lot.

I guess I need to be here too. I was 350 this summer and 333 on the day of surgery. I still have a lot to go.

Port placement varies from person to person. I know people who have the same dr. as I do and we have our ports in different places, similar but different. As far as ports, I know there is the standard circle shape type and the low profile. These are the only 2 I have heard of, and I have the standard circle type.

I've been at 2cc in my 4cc band since the beginning of december. I think I may be at my sweet spot. I skipped my January fill because I just didn't need it. Just wondering how long this sweet spot will last.

I wasn't an emotional eater before, at least not in the extreme sense of it. I did go through grad school exams and needed a small milk shake a day for a week. My big problem was that I was portion control , ie 3 huge huge meals a day with dinner being around 8pm. I have noticed post-band that when I get upset or stressed out it's very difficult for me to eat. I feel an even greater sense of restriction to the point that Water even goes down slower. For me I delt with my emotional milk shake addiction during exam time prior to banding. I knew what the root of the problem was, in my case fear of failing an exam, even although to date it's never happened. My mentor had me enroll in a class on stress management to get me to where I am today. You can't avoid all the stress in life, but there are better ways to manage it. Hope this helps, Leena