SuzanneG

I've tried a few and don't really like any of them. I can, however, tolerate the Slim Fast Carb Control. I pretty much only like the vanilla. It's also not great, but good enough. I love the convience of them too. It amazes me how different all these doctors are. Mine fussed at me for drinking them. He prefers we get all of our protien from solid food. I explained that since the surgery, I'm just not a Breakfast person any more so he said it was OK, but even if I could do a protien bar, it was better than the shake. I used to love breakfast, but I quickly found out that all the breakfast food I love is pure carbs, there aren't alot of high protien choices, especially if you can't eat eggs and I'm one of the unlucky people whose band doesn't get along with eggs.

I was told that it is because with the liquid diet, your entire intestinal tract gets cleaned out. However, when we are on solid foods it is perfectly normal for our intestines to maintain a certain amount of solid matter at any given time. It's not normal to be totally empty, so when solids are reintroduced, a couple pounds usually come back on. That doesn't mean you are eating too many calories or that you actually gained weight.

I had IBS even before my surgery, so as a preventive measure, I take a stool softner every day. Not a laxative, but just softner. My GP said it was fine to do and it seems to work perfect for me. I hope you're feeling better soon.

I had it for a quite a while. I was told that it was an irritated diaphram (is that the right word?). Anyway, the pain gets referred to your left shoulder. Crazy. Take heart, it'll go away eventually.

I am so happy to see this thread. I am also getting these comments daily at work and I do find it irritiating. Why is it only OK for them to have healthy BMI. I work with several really thin ladies and I always ask why no one tells them that they are too small and they say "Oh, you don't want to be THAT thin do you? You need to learn when enough is enough." Ticks me off royal, but I just grin and bear it. Now I'm more determined than ever to show them the REAL me. I am glad to hear that it wears off once they get used to the new us.

I had the same experience and also eat mostly chicken and fish. However, BEWARE, as I get closer to goal, I've gotten a little careless and recently had a Reese Blizzard and it was like waking a sleeping giant! I craved carbs so bad I nearly lost my mind. :rolleyes2: It took me two weeks to realize that I was slowly eating more and more carbs and I noticed my blood sugar was starting to act up. I posted a plea for help on this board and after listening to the advice of my LBT friends, I started to write down and track what I was eating and discovered that I was eating too many carbs. It took me a few days of lean and green meals to get back on track, but I am feeling better again. The moral of the story is you have to keep away from the carbs to keep the craving away.

Hi everyone. Well a few days of counting have confirmed what I suspected. I am eating too many carbs and have slipped away from really focusing on my protien. I'm trying to get back to my original band eating habits and will continue to record my food for the rest of the week. I'll see my doctor Monday for a follow-up, so that should help inspire me. I'll keep you posted on my progress this week! Thanks for the support everyone!

Mine was super quick and easy. Just a casual conversation with her about my weight history, my diet history, and what I thought was causing me to be overweight. My answer was simple as well, I eat too much! That was it in a nutshell for me, no issues from childhood, no real emotional eating, just president of the Clean Your Plate club -- Thanks Dad! LOL

Jodi, have you tried the whole wheat Pasta? I am hypoglycemic and I do very well with it. It has 17g of protien per serving! I only buy Barilla though and cook it 15 mins, not the 11 that the package suggests. To me, that makes it taste exactly like the other stuff. At Olive Garden, I get the Parm Crusted Talapia. YUM It does come with an angel hair pasta which is yummy, but if you wanted, you could request whole wheat pasta, they do have it there, but only linguini (sorry about my spelling). For me, pizza was the food I really thought I'd miss. I don't even think about it anymore. Sometimes when I see a commercial, I think, hmm, I never crave pizza anymore. LOL I do miss bread though, I really do, but only when I'm at a restaraunt that puts that hot, soft, aromatic delight right under my nose. LOL

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I knew this was the place to get the support and the tough love that I needed. I do know that counting calories helps my head persuade my heart, so I will make a promise to do that for a few days at least. I'm aslo going to try the cheat day, it has worked really well for me in the past, I don't know why I didn't think of it this time. You guys are amazing and you're all such inspiration! I feel like I have a whole new family out there and I couldn't live without this board! I wish I was making this promise on a Monday. :tongue2: I don't get online at home (I live in the country and have dialup) but I will check in with you guys on Monday and let you know how I'm doing! Thanks again and keep those suggestions coming! PS - Spitfire, I have never regretted, even for a second, getting my band. It is the single best thing I've ever done for myself. I had the slowest metabolism imaginable and I'm in my 40's, but I don't think your age will be a problem. Have you peeked in to the 60's board?

Thanks Luluc, I read so many of your posts and I value your opinion. I know I need to do more with exercise, but that is a tough one for me. I know that the BLTs (bites, licks, and tastes) and hurting me right now and I have to get serious about cutting those back out. I'm hoping that posting this will give me fresh motivation as I want to report back to the group, that I have regained control. Bozzj - I hear ya! When I tell people that I want to lose 22 more pounds, they say hurtful stuff, that they think is a compliment, like "you'll look like a crack head!" or "what are you trying to do, look like an anerexic!". They are becoming less supportive and handing me the cake saying, "A little slice won't hurt!" Grrrrrrr I love the cheat day idea! I used to do that on WW and I think that would help! THANKS! Melody, Thanks for the pep talk. You guys are amazing. I don't know what I would do without LBT! Thanks for listening everyone!

Hi everyone, I was banded Jan 08 and I've lost 68 pounds. I have gone from a size 20 to a size 10 and of course everyone is telling me how amazing I look. Here's the thing, I'm still overweight and need to lose 22 more pounds to meet my goal. I have finally caught up with my sister, we work in the same office building, so people seem to assume that I'm done losing and constantly tell me I don't need to lose more weight. Although it is flattering, its dampening my motivation. How can I fix this? Before you come back with all your tips, I should warn you. I am NOT a dieter, I was done with that before I got the band. I don't weigh and measure and count and record my food. If I was capable of staying dedicated to that, I wouldn't have needed the band. My band works perfect, I don't think I need a fill, I even think I'm at my sweet spot and have done wonderfully with just eating my small meals. What's happening is that I'm getting careless, I'm saying yes to a small slice of cake at our office monthly birthday celebrations, I'm allowing myself to snack, I've had ice cream. OMG - What is going on!?! Also, I HATE exercise. I did buy Wii and it's so fun, but I don't play with it every day. I do the other tips, I take the stairs at work, every trip to the bathroom, I go all the way to the ground floor and back up to 10th floor, then one lap around the building and I park my car in the far away spot. That's about all I'm good for at the moment. I'm one of those people that exercise has NEVER helped me lose weight, no idea why, but it doesn't help me in the least. So, I just need to get back to my band basics and stop being complacent and careless. Maybe I need a slap on the wrist, or just someone to question me if I'm following the rules. I'm going to discuss this and my goal with my doctor on the 15th. So many people are picking on me for wanting to lose 22 more pounds, but that puts me squarely in the normal range and that's where I want to be! I think it's causing me a head trip to constantly hear that I shouldn't lose any more weight. How can I get serious again and work with my band? Pep talk anyone? :tongue2: Slap on the wrist?

Sounds like you are in need of a fill. You shouldn't be able to eat most breads (except maybe toast). My doc says if you can eat bread, you are too lose. Call your doctor and schedule a fill.

PM means to send me a Private Message.

Speck, I would also love keeping in touch! I'm 42 and have a son and a daughter, both recently left the nest. If you PM me, I'll send you my email address. Also I tried sending the friend request, but I honestly don't know what that does for us. Anyone use that feature that can enlighten me? PS - Everyone on here is so nice. Only once did I have a bad experience. I PM'd a guy once to tell him how much his post meant to me and offered to keep in touch, he never responded. Now I won't even read his posts.:eek:

Thanks Linda. I recently got into size 10, I never thought I'd see that day again! :biggrin2: Makes me wanna kiss Dr. Brengman's whole face! jk So where in VA do you live? PM me if you would like to continue talking via email!

Ready - LOL, you remind me of my niece and you look wonderful, no wonder you love the camera! Tapshoes - You're killing me. :tongue: ROFLMAO :ohmy: I used to do that too! I'm just now starting to like, not only the camera, but how about when you see someone you haven't seen in forever? I was a very thin teen/young adult and then got fat after having kids. I'd threaten DH with his life if he flagged down an old friend in a store. I've even been known to run to another isle and hide because I was so ashamed. Now I'm always holding my head up and look forward to running into an old friend or meeting one of his coworkers, etc. kjeter - You look amazing. Geeze, I feel old now.:wink: I took new pics this morning, but forgot to bring the cord to copy them from the camera to computer. Will post on Monday. (I have dialup at home. :wink2:)

I gave caffiene up several years ago and gave soda's up in Jan when I got my band. Like FL Pete, my DH is very supportive and gave it up with me. He doesn't even order it when we go out. It sure made giving the soda up that much easier. The coffee, however, I refuse to give up. I have a 16oz decaf every single day with the most yummy sweet, creamy, French vanilla creamer from WaWa. It's fat and sugar full, but my only vice and I only have that one small serving of cream every day. I counted points for it on WW, counted calories when I was doing that, but I have steadfastly refused to give it up! Even though it's decaf, my head still thinks of coffee as a necessity for starting my day. The warm liquid also seems to help prime my band for the day. I don't know, I just feel like until I drink the coffee, nothing else is going down. Soda..... you can have it, but I'll fight you for my sweet, creamy coffee!!

Linda, My lapband journey has been amazing. Try not to worry too much about the surgery. I am the president of the Big Babies Club and I did fine. I woke up with some shoulder and chest pain (sort of felt like I couldn't breath). It was just gas, but they corrected it as soon as I said something. I took a week off work for good measure (my side kind of felt like something twisting in it when I walked), but within a few days I was back in the saddle. I have another friend that Brengman did and she had surgery at 8, left hospital at noon, and tried to get her ride home to take her to the office! She said her hair didn't even get messed up! I think since she got hers first (I had to appeal my insurance), I was expecting similar results because we were about the same age/size. I didn't do as well as her, but I'm not complaining. The one week of gas pain was well worth it! As far as risk goes, it's very minimal. Please keep in touch! I love following my fellow bandster's stories, especially the one's that live nearby. I live in southeast Spotsylvania, how about you?

Well, I play with my Wii Fit when I can, but like so many others, my life is hectic and I don't always get to it. Hopefully things will start calming down now. My son joined the Navy in Dec and recently completed a-school for Air Traffic Controller and my daughter just bought her first house and moved out last weekend. I'm an empty nester now! :wink::wink2:

I don't remember any restriction on caffiene preop. The reason it is restricted postop is because it contributes to dehydration, which can be a problem after surgery.

Hi Linda, Congrats on your decision and your upcoming band. My brother is calling them right now to schedule his! Brengman's pre-op isn't bad at all. Two weeks of Protein shake for Breakfast, Protein Shake for lunch and lean/green dinner. I think it's 4oz lean meat and 1 cup veggies. Post op is 1 week liquids, 1 week mushies, can't remember the rest, but it's not too bad. Who knows, maybe I'll run into you in the office! :-D

I've had several experiences where I've been jealous, or the object of someone else's jealousy. My sister and I were both thin growing up, then I got married, had kids and got fat, she did the first 2, but stayed slim. Finally a few years ago she gained up to 183 and joined WW and the gym and lost it back off. She's a size 10 now (used to be a 2 or 4) and she's happy with her size. I got into size 10's last week. I weigh a whopping 3 pounds more than her!!! I'm so excited and she seems to be taking it well, but I know she hates it and is worried that I will "pass her up". I'll be curious to see how she handles it as she has been smaller than me since we were in our early 20's. When I went to her office to tell her about the 10's (we work in the same building), she was chatting with a lady in her office. That lady is my mom's age and always been thin, but has been less and less friendly to me as I've lost the weight. When I told Lori that I was in a size 10, the friend said "what store did you buy it in?! In a very challenging tone. I said, Kohl's, she said "Well, I'm a size 6 now, even though I've gained 15 pounds since college and I was a size 10 then! So you can be any size you want if you shop in the right store!". She's so bitter and only seems to like people who are having a hard time with something in their life. :-( My brother, who is trying to schedule his lap-band as we speak, was really cranky toward me this past weekend and after a while, he pulled me aside and hugged me and appologized and told me that it was killing him to watch me lose this weight while he had to wait until he got some settlement money to schedule his surgery. He's the one who originally got me to go to the seminar with him. He's miserable in his body. I never talk about my weight in front of him because of that I have tried to be so careful of his feelings, but he was still feeling angry toward me for no other reason than that I had lost weight and "left him behind". I really want this surgery for him, I hope he gets it soon, scheduling person isn't being cooperative. Finally, I have an overweight friend. We've joined WW together, talked about diets, tried exercising together, you name it. I have tried to gently suggest she get the band and I cannot talk her into it. She's nice and supportive of me, but I can't imagine being in a perfect position to have it done (no hurdles for her approval, etc) and NOT wanting it. It's everything I can do not to shake her and scream in her face GET THE BAND, it'll change your life! So for me, that's my biggest concern. I want to tell everyone and share with them how they can have success too and those that actually ask me about it and then shun the idea when I tell them about it, it floors me!

I planned on going back to work on Monday after my Friday surgery and ended up taking the whole week off. I have a friend who had it done and wanted to go to work on her way home from the hospital. Everyone is different, but from all the threads I've seen on the subject, a week seems to be average.

I always celebrate by shopping! :-D