mamato3

oh dear... here we go with the pictures again. Good thing I'm not hungry tonight! I guess I am also lucky that fries dont go well with my band. Hungry or not... those cheese fries look GOOD!

Oh my goodness, Jack. You just had to go and post a picture of the bloomin onion. HAHAAH Talking about all these HELL foods wasn't enough... now we have pictures! I am trying really hard to stay out of the kitchen here......

cheese fries are just french fries covered in cheese and bacon then thrown in the oven to melt all the cheese. They serve them with ranch dressing. Talk about fattening! Haven't had them in years.

OK onederland...here I come. Getting another fill on Friday. That should kick me into gear. I was 211 at the Dr.'s office today.... only 12 to go! I'm excited to get there fast!

mmmm.. thanks Nikki... now my mouth is watering and I'm hungry! hahahah Seriously though... no wonder there is an obesity problem in this country!

I have had no problems with popcorn at all. I eat the 100 cal packs once in awhile and hubby took me to the movies the other night and I had some of the "real" stuff. It was tasty but then I felt guilty HAHA

A Harley?!?!? Now that's a reward! haha Good luck getting to the 150 lost mark... I bet it will be here sooner then you thing.

Congrats! Wow that is a fantastic weight loss in such a short time. I hope you are giving yourself a reward!

I had big hopes of making it to onederland by the beginning of June but there is no way that is going to happen! I'm hoping if I start posting in this thread it will motivate me to get there quicker. I have 13 pounds to go. Is that too soon to join you all?

My first fill was 3.8cc's, 2nd was 3cc's. I have pretty good restriction now but I think I want just a touch more because I am starting to get hungry after 2 or 3 hours if I stick to the 1/2 cup of food that my Dr. recommends. Dr's seem to fill a bit more aggressively if it is done under flouro.

I am lucky to have a 2 year old who loves veggies. My husband loves them too. In fact, I was the non veggie eater when we got together! Now I love them too. There are so many things you can do. Here are a few of my families favs. Sweet Potatoe Fries. Yes they still taste like sweet potatoe but if you bake them in the oven until they are crisp on the outside like an actual french fry and then dip them in ketchup they are so good. I have actually recently tried making Butternut squash fries and they are SO good too! Smashed cauliflower. Steam your cauliflower until very tender and then smash it with a little sour cream and a little cream cheese, salt and pepper. ( you can use light cream cheese/sour cream or even soy and it is still really good) Cucumber & tomatoe salad. Make a dressing using sour cream (light or soy is good for this also) red wine vinegar, splenda (or sugar) and pepper. My family eats this up like crazy! We like to grill veggies and potatoes too. Especially corn on the cob. Pull the husk back and pull out all the silk. Put a little butter, salt and pepper on the corn then pull the husk back around it, wrap in foil and grill. YUM! For potatoes we chop the potatoes into cubes and add an onion, drizzle with a little olive oil and some garlic powder then wrap it in a foil pouch and grill. You could do this in the oven too... but we LOVE to grill! You can just chop up veggies of any kind, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, onions and grill them too. Grilling adds such a different flavor. Green Beans.... my hubbies favorite is to cook the green beans and then add a can of cream of mushroom Soup to them and eat them like that. My favorite is to saute some garlic and tomato (grape tomatoes are best) in a little olive oil then add the green beans to that. I could go on and on! This is getting long so I will stop for now. HAHA! Obviously some of these are more healthy then others. I usually cook at least 2 veggies with every meal. We try to keep the carbs lower... or at least the healthier carbs. If at any time my daugther is resistant to eating veggies... adding parmesan cheese or letting her dip them in light ranch or some ketchup usually helps. Good luck!

Like you, I have been doing alot of stressing about the loose skin thing lately. Why? I have no idea. I KNEW it was going to happen before I ever had this surgery. I know I would rather have loose skin then fat, but I cant stop thinking about it! Plastic surgery will not be an option for me financially. So, what to do? Love what is, I guess. The reasons I had this surgery had very little to do with appearance. Or so I thought! I did it so that I could be healthier, live longer, keep up with my children. Those sort of things sound great until you look in the mirror and your sagging cottage cheese thighs and bat wings are staring back at you! HAHAHA! But we are still better off then before, right? And what is the worst that can happen to us? We wont be hopping around on the beach in a bikini?

How did the consult go, Angie?

Congrats JadensMomma on your upcoming date! Congrats to the others as well! I remember that excitement I felt when I got my date. I can't say I felt like throwing up though. I started dancing around the house like a fool. And guess what? 4 months out.... and still dancing! This is the best thing I have ever done for myself! Good luck to you all!

My favorite is my face and neck.... seems to be lots of our favorite! It is a great feeling not to have 2 chins and to actually look like I have a neck. Least favorite.... that's a toss up between my belly and my upper arms. I seem to be losing very slowly in the mid section. Someone asked me if I was pregnant the other day!! ughhhh... way to burst the bubble of a lady that just lost 50 pounds! And my arms.... GROSS! Batwing hell! I may never be comfortable in a tank top. I have to say overall.... I am extremely happy with the way my body is changing. I like every single inch of me better then I did when I was 50 pounds heavier!

I am able to eat all of those items... however, I have only tried very thin crust pizza, tenderloin steak and I'm not much of a hamburger fan ( I actually prefer ground turkey). Pizza was by far my very FAVORITE food pre op. We were talking about pizza hut pizza the other day.. OMG yum! hahah All that greasy crust... ughhh bad bad bad. I have had steak a couple times. I try to buy the tenderloin, so it doesn't happen often due to the cost. The ONLY food that has given me trouble going down is deli turkey. Weird huh? Every time I eat it I get a golf ball feeling in my chest. It usually passes in a minute or so, except for one time. My one and only PB. NOT a fun experience! Now I have NO interest in deli meat anymore.

You have every right to be upset! Unfortunately, what's done is done. Not alot you can do about it now. I think you should stand tall and proud that you have taken your health seriously and taken a wonderful step to improve it. Believe me... those people in your office who are "soooo perfect", definately are NOT perfect. None of us are perfect! You did do the right thing, for YOU!

My husband took me to lunch at Ruby Tuesday yesterday and I fit in the booth! I even had room to spare! ha! A while before my surgery we went to the same restaurant and had to ask for a table with chairs instead of the booth because I literally could not comfortably sit in the booth! SO embarassing! This NSV couldn't have come at a better time for me.... it's been a rough week!

Wow. I do find this excessive. What is the point of a band if the doctor is not going to fill it to the point of proper restriction. I am having a hard time understanding his way of thinking. I'm very sorry you are going through this. I think I would be looking for a different doctor if that was happening to me. I was banded 1 week before you and I have 6.8 cc's in a 9 cc band. The surgeon wants to see me in his office every 4 to 6 weeks... more often if not losing 1.5 to 2 pounds a week. I hope you can work something out here!

Thankyou all for the continued positive comments and support. Today was a MUCH better day. It had to be because I chose that it would be! I spent an hour working out at the YMCA, I made good food choices and I focused on the positive. I can do this no matter what anyone else thinks or says! You all are fantastic for reminding me of that! Renee

Thankyou all very much for your positive comments. You are all right and in the future I plan on just focusing on the positive. Easier said then done, but I'll TRY! Today is a new day! Another chance to make healthy food choices, get some exercise and take care of ME! BTW.... I did NOT eat any donuts! That was a crazy thing to say or even think. I was having a pity party there for a few.... I'm all done now. LOL Thanks for allowing me to vent.... I love this place!

I just have to get this out.... In the last few days, I have reached what I think is a significant weight loss goal. I have lost my first 50 pounds! How exciting! Right? Well, I was quite excited... texting and calling family and friends. I called my mother in law... and instead of her congratulating me and telling me she was happy or proud or any such positive thing... the first thing out of her mouth.... "well good, now you can start working on the next 50". WTF?!?!?! Nothing like bursting my bubble! Sheesh! Made me want to go gorge on some donuts! Then today I was at the bank and I hadn't been in there in awhile because I ususally just use the drive through (it is easier then getting my kids out of carseats and trying to keep them from running around in the bank) Deep down, I hoped the ladies at the bank might notice my weight loss. Then, as I am heading out the door... one of the ladies asked me when my baby was due? WHAT?!?! Are you kdding me? This is the smallest I have been in 10 years! I went back to my car in tears. I'm glad my husband was with me and I didn't have to drive. Tonight I don't know how to feel. I am quite proud of my accomplishments so far. However, I feel hurt that I received what I felt to be negative feedback during a time that I was trying to Celebrate my success. Does it make any sense to have hurt feelings? Probably not. But I just can't seem to get over it. Maybe I need to keep my celebrations to myself in the future? Maybe I need to learn to not rely on others for positive feedback? Maybe I need to go get the damn donuts and get it over with and then just move on?? hahaha

I have the Realize Band. Going great so far! Happy to share any of my experiences with you, anytime.

As far as whether or not I chewed well enough. I thought that I did, but who knows. There were no big chunks of food that came back up or anything. However, I am going to be even more cautious about chewing in the future.

The sliming lasted more then an hour. Then I got very nauseated and started throwing up... PB'ing, whatever it was which lasted 3 or 4 minutes I guess. I didn't have my timer. LOL