Hastings

Oh wonderful! I bet you are counting the days. Best of luck.

I use sparkpeople.com. You can track your weight and your exercise. You can make graphs, if you ever wanted to do that. It has recipes lots of stuff. It's free. It has a recipe calculator at sparkrecipes.com. You can put in the ingredients, and then the number of servings and it gives you the nutrition in formation.

3fatchicks.com I love this web site. It was started by three sisters who were trying to lose weight. Lots of info.

Getting depressed and emotional is pretty normal, but it might be a good idea to call the doc.

Brandy, no, the book won't be over your head. I promise. Congratulations on taking control of your life. That is why I like to keep my band looser. I want to be the one in control of what I eat. I just think of my lap band as a sort of fire wall. It is a sort of back up for me.

No eating after seven pm. At night when the house is quiet and I'm reading, I really want to snack. I don't.

It makes no sense not to see your doctor for fear of having your band removed. If something is wrong with your band this would not save it, only make the situation worse. See your doctor.

I'm quite happy having my band a little looser. It seems there are a lot of different styles for bandsters.

I learned to stop eating when I was no longer hungry. That is a heck of a lot different from Thanksgiving day dinner full. It is really hard to explain, but your attitude toward food changes. You might go through a period of mourning, but instead, I hope you go through a period of deciding to change and embracing the changes. It's the difference between having something taken from you and making a decision to change. You might also learn that YOU decide when you stop eating, not the food. Some people rely on the band for that and others prefer less restriction and more self control. Whatever style of "band use" fits you, I hope you have a great journey and enjoy it.

I got my first fill of 3 ccs when the band was implanted. That was three months ago. I haven't needed another.

I completely agree, Ceredad. I think that will power and good choices are crucial. I look at my band as a maintenance tool. I exercise too and I do the 10,000 steps. Some days I go to the gym and some days I just go shopping and walk around the air conditioned stores as quickly as possible. At the grocery store, once my cart is filled and take a quick turn or two around the store to give me a few steps. Exercise also is helpful to your mental state. If you can get to the point that endorphins are released you'll feel rewarded.:behindsofa:

I think it's ok to mourn, but don't let that blind you to the new way of thinking. I was so totally ready to give it all up because it was killing me. I stepped away from it and haven't looked back. Don't think of overeating or gulping as a friend. If it was, it was a friend that was killing you. Sometimes I think that people sound like abused spouses who make excuses for their abuser. You have escaped now put your feet on the road to wellness and race like the wind!

Well done. I bet you have a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

It's bad enough women shave most everything to look prepubescent. I find that shaven genital look perverted and discomfitting.

The gas is actually in your abdominal cavity, not your digestive tract. I used a yoga position called Downward Facing Dog. Beginner Yoga Pose: Downward Dog on Flickr - Photo Sharing! Of course I had to modify it by standing and then resting my forearms on a footstool. The results encourage the gas to move away from your shoulder.

You could get dream whip mix and use fat free milk with it. I am not sure about the syrup, though.

It is all trial and error. I can eat shrimp, but just barely and only cause I'm not tightly restricted. Bread is not so good, either. You may need to give up some foods and it will be so worth it. I think you might discover that your attitude toward food will change. You can always stick with Soup, refried Beans, etc. when you go out until you have a handle on safe foods.

My doctor gave me a photo of my lap band in place the day of surgery. It was strange, I've never really looked at it. I'm not curious.

I'm a little curious. How exactly do you define really really good restriction?

One of the reasons they are careful is because being too tight can contribute to slippage, and perhaps loss of the band. It's worth taking the time and doing it carefully.

More than buying any dress or doing anything that has to do with fashion, I have been happy to reclaim that part of my mind that was occupied with food and feeding. The rest is only gravy.

You are following the band rules and eating band amounts of food. The band being tighter will not make you lose more weight, if you are eating the right amount. I was eating 1200 a day and my loss had slowed. I lowered it to 1000 and have lost three pounds in a week. Then again, I see the band as a maintenance tool and as a back up. I depend on myself to restrict my intake and do not want to be very tight. Good luck.

I would rather eat the fiber. I have a half cup of all bran with extra fiber every morning in my morning smoothie. Everyday I have more fresh fruits and veggies than meat.

One of the first things you might want to do is to check with your doc and see if the meds come in liquid form. Then it won't matter much, just drink it with milk. Otherwise, I'm not sure if you are that tight how to get the pills down, if you have a lot of them. Crush them and eat in applesauce, if they are crushable.

I think it was as much to have a place for women cause men have one, and a place to post about menstruation and tampons etc. and the men could avoid if they wanted to. It's no big deal.