MerryHearted

That would actually be a better question for your doctor. I would choose to abstain this close to surgery, and try to stay hydrated. Good luck on Tuesday!!

I definitely lose better when I'm doing both than when I'm just eating less. I'm really surprised to hear a doctor not recommending a combination of both.:tongue: Although I don't know the context -- maybe he meant that just exercising without dropping your caloric intake won't give you as good of weight loss.

That's pretty cool -- the body shape actually does look like my body at this weight. But, when I change the weight to my start weight, the model doesn't look any different. :tongue: I wonder what the max weight is that they handle.

I'm sorry to hear about your brother. If it makes you feel any better, I'm light-headed today too. It's freaking me out, because this is NOT normal. I had a decent Breakfast, so I'm sure it's not a low blood sugar issue, there's no blood in my stool or urine, no chest pain or arm pain, and I stopped by the pharmacy to get my blood pressure checked (normal). It's esp bad if I bend over and stand back up. So my doc has me busy chugging down liquids -- and avoiding caffeine!! :cheers2:If a day with lots of Fluid doesn't solve it, I'll be callin the doc back. :cursing:

I can see why you are frustrated -- it's hard to keep working on eating right when the scale barely moves. 1) Are you doing measurements? Waist, hips, bust, upper arm, neck, wrists... sometimes people don't see the scale move but their measurements are going down. 2) You didn't mention exercise. If that's not a part of your daily routine, it might be time to start up.

Wow, that's awesome! When I first got banded, I wasn't planning to do PS, but now I'm leaning in that direction. Would it be rude to ask how much the total estimated cost is? Or a general range? I'm going to have to poke through this forum to see how much I'm going to need to save up. Plus, I'm guessing 2-4 weeks off work on top of that... yikes. Hmm... BA & lift, or kids' college fund? They can get student loans, right? :thumbup: I'm j/k, btw, in case anyone decides to flame me.

How bizarre -- I've never heard of an erosion happening so soon after surgery. (not that I'm an expert! :thumbup:) Do keep us posted on what happens. If it does turn out to be erosion, I'm curious what the doc thinks might be the cause of it happening so fast -- an infection?

Is this the one where they send you home overnight with a pulse oximeter to sleep with, to measure if your oxygen levels drop too far at night? If so, then yep, I've done it. In my case it was to verify that my cpap machine level was OK. Sounds like your doc is doing it as a cheaper way to see if you even need a sleep study -- a great idea, because a sleep study sucks. Who can even sleep with all those wires stuck all over your head & body, and knowing people are watching you? Ugh. (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I was able to be diagnosed & get my machine - it made a world of difference in my health, but the sleep study itself? Not so fond.)

If you've ever tried the chicken Enchilada soup at Chili's, it's delicious. I haven't made it in ages since it's not really bandster food.... here's the recipe, which I got off TopSecretRecipes.com a long time ago: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 lb. of chicken breast fillets (approx. 3 fillets) 1/2 cup diced onion 1 clove garlic, pressed 4 cups chicken broth 1 cup masa harina (if it's not at the grocery store, try a Mexican store -- this is a corn flour) 3 cups Water 1 cup enchilada sauce 16 ounces Velveeta (we use regular cheddar) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin Garnish shredded cheddar cheese crumbled corn tortilla chips pico de gallo 1. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side. Set chicken aside. 2. Add onions and garlic to pot and sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent. Add chicken broth. 3. Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth. 4. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil. 5. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick. 6. Serve soup in cups or bowls, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and pico de gallo.

Welcome! Hope you stick around, it's a fun place. :thumbup:

For the posts: there are a couple ways to do it but one way is to click on the Search button and choose Advanced. On the upper right there's the option to search for posts by a specific user -- you can enter your name there and find your posts. Another way is to click on your name and choose Find More Posts By <your name> from the menu. A third way is to click on one of the links like "Messages", "Edit Profile" or "Edit Options" on the right side of the screen. On the left will be a bar called "Your Control Panel". Near the bottom, look for "Subscriptions". This will bring up all the posts you have started or replied to, as you get automatically subscribed to them.

Race still is an issue in this country, as Watcher said, much as we would like to pretend it's not, or much as we *wish* it weren't or think it shouldn't be anymore. I hope skin color and gender are not the deciding factors in this election. It should be about the issues. If you have a chance to pick up the latest issue of Sci American Mind, they have a fascinating article about unconscious prejudice. Buried Prejudice: The Bigot in Your Brain Unfortunately the entire article is not online. The gist is that while you may despise racism and consider yourself color-blind, you hold unconscious beliefs that affect your reaction to people based on their skin color. They did some interesting studies on people using functional MRIs to track brain response while showing pictures of white faces and black faces to see if people who consider themselves non-racist responded differently. They do.

Totally depends on the person... I lost 10 lbs, but I had been doing WW for a few months prior so I didn't get that big first-week loss that some get the first week you're on a new diet.

How much fill you need varies from person to person. You are a low bmi bandster it looks like -- you may find that you need a higher fill level to reach your sweet spot. I'll give my usual advice. :bolt: Get on TheDailyPlate.com and write down everything you eat for a week or so. That means measure your food, so you are not estimating portion sizes. You'll be able to see exactly how many calories you are eating and decide if you need to eat more or less, or if you need to alter the ratio of protein/fat/carbs. I know you're feeling discouraged to see the scale go up -- don't let it de-rail you. You can do this! (btw, sometimes women see the scale go up 2-3 lbs just before that t.o.m. So it could just be that!)

Better check with your doc to see if there's an alternative anti-inflammatory besides nsaids. Long term use or high doses will put you at risk for erosion. I don't think you want to go through that.

Not a useless thread. I drink something warm before taking a larger pill. Hot tea or coffee. And then take the pill once my drink is cool enough to take a big swig. And then I finish the drink, to make sure I wash it through. The only pill I've had trouble with was a gimongous enteric-coated fish oil pill. That hurt. I now take my fish oil in a pudding-like form from Coromega. Tastes nasty, so I take them as often as I should. :bolt:

Oh, man, I'm so sorry. That's awful! I second the thought that you should stick around -- maybe hop into a couple of the challenges like food tracking and exercise. Your BMI is still high enough to get insurance approval, according to your ticker, so the more you can do to not regain during this 6 months, the happier you will be to not have to re-lose the weight you already worked so hard to get off. I regained 20 lbs last year and have lost 16 of it now. I'm still kicking myself for allowing that weight to creep on!! If I had even held steady instead of gaining during that 9 month stall, the 16 lbs I just lost would have put me under 200 lbs and I'd be comfortably wearing a size 16 this spring. :bolt: Oh well, looking forward, marching onward!

Yeah, it amazes me how many people think this is "the easy way out." As if I'm not carefully measuring my food, tracking my nutrition, and out there sweating the pounds off. :bolt: A good reason to keep this private or only tell people you know will be supportive. Good for you that you just blow them off. "Thanks for your concern." :eek:

I think the 20-30 min every day would be better for starting out. Then you could work up to an hour 3x a week while still doing 20-30 min of brisk walking the other days.

I'm 2.5 yrs out. I stalled for awhile but am back on track dropping 2lbs per week again. I don't regret my band at all! And it's definitely helped keep my weight off. Even during my stall, when I started eating junk food and not exercising, I couldn't eat large quantities of junk like I could pre-banding. That saved me from gaining all my weight back. :eek: I think you will have a harder time finding successful old-timers on here just because once settled into a thinner life and maintaining, many don't come here for support anymore. They are out living their happy, skinny lives. :bolt: There are a few kind souls who have stuck around to help newer bandsters, and a few of us who are on here who haven't reached goal yet.

Interesting. Yes, I think we are ready for both. I don't think we are ready for a Muslim president in today's political climate, though. I was watching the MSNBC tickers during lunch today, only half paying attention, and it said that something like 12% of people who didn't like Obama held that opinion because they thought he was Muslim. (he's not) Behold, the power of the internet gossip machine.

Unfortunately Snuffy is right -- it's going to vary depending on the person. If you have some complication or discomfort that could be relieved by unfilling, then that would definitely be the choice to make rather than having surgery again. Back when I first had the surgery, before I got my first fill, I could pretty much eat anything and certainly in larger quantities than now. Now that I've lost a bunch of weight, I'm guessing I wouldn't even notice the band if I got a complete unfill. Which I hope I never have to do, because I don't want to get fat again.

My doc moved me to mushies after 1 week, and I've lived to tell. But I really stuck with actual mushies -- no sneaking in something like chicken that requires significant chewing. Mashed potatoes and yogurt and the like. Still, it's best to follow your own doc's orders. You can do anything for 2 weeks, if you know that it's over with after that. Are you enjoying a wide variety of liquids or getting bored because you're only drinking Protein shakes? You can do anything that goes through a straw, unless your doc has told you otherwise.

Add in the protein as suggested, but also watch your iron intake. Anemia can make you feel low-energy. Your doc can test for it pretty easily.

I think this is what I worried about most, and also whether I'd fail yet again. I still worry about losing my band, especially if I lose it while I'm maintaining at goal weight. Insurance isn't going to cover re-banding or another WLS if I'm at a reasonable weight, and I sure as heck don't want to be stuck in that horrible cycle of diet/gain/diet/gain ever again. Oh well. I'm taking my chances and being careful with my band!