Twilight

Why is encouraging people, who are admitting to cheating, not to cheat a bad thing? I think we are all here for support and are trying to be supportive. I don't think it's encouraging to say "Oh, you cheated? Good for you, do it again." Knowledge is power and knowing the reasons why isn't always enough. sometimes we need to hear it again. And again. We need someone to say, "Oh, you cheated? Um, these are the reasons you shouldn't. It won't be easy, but it is for your own good." Sometimes docs don't give the patients all the reasons they shouldn't be doing this. They just say "Don't eat it!" And if my doc said that without giving me the why's I would be more than likely to ignore him. We don't know who those doctors are and which patients have them. There are lots of reasons for some of us to try to give the advice we do. You don't have to like it, and you don't even have to read it...ignore anything with our name by it. But don't question our motives. We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to help and be helped. For those of you who have cheated, I'm sorry it has been so hard on you. I don't think it has been easy on any of us and I doubt many of us have perfect track records. When you fall down and eat something you shouldn't have, please just tell yourself, oops and get back on the wagon. Good luck, Steph

What a great month Chris. Wowzer. I now know what you mean by getting a neck back! I can't wait to see how we all change as this journey continues. Steph

I want to throw out a Happy New Year to all of you guys also. It is going to be an AMAZING year for all of us. I can't wait to see where we all are at and what new we all are doing a year from now. It's going to be quite a ride. I'm definitely ready, are you? HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! Steph

Sheila, It sounds like your body is going into starvation mode. I don't know if it will help, but maybe you really do need to start bringing more calories into your body. What Cindi says makes sense. And on top of that please remember, right now it's not about losing....it's about healing. The tool inside isn't in work mode yet. It is still just getting settled. Remember all those diets we've tried and failed? Isn't this the feeling that made us give up? Don't go there. We aren't on the new path yet. Please give our bands time to work. Forget about those 4 pounds for a few days. Try to let your body get ready for the next stage. Remember that this isn't a short term diet but a new way of life that will last forever. In 6 months this two weeks of fighting over 4 pounds won't matter. You'll be dropping the pounds like flies and won't be looking back. Keep us posted in your progress and mindset. I'm watching for you. Steph

Oh thank God!!! It was a horrible 8 days. On day 2 I was allowed to start "soft" foods. And I started them allright. And NEVER STOPPED! It is completely crazy and I cringe at the thought of stepping on my scale in the morning. I already know I gained because my pants aren't nearly as loose as they were. :phanvan So I got home tonight and tomorrow morning I begin anew. I'm going to stick to Protein shakes and 1 light meal like pre-op for a few days to try to curb my carb cravings. I'm so much hungrier since I started allowing myself carbs again. Nothing seems to last for more than an hour or so. Hopefully cutting the carbs out again will allow my stomach to stay fuller longer. I go for a fill on the 8th and I only have to last until then. Tomorrow morning I'm also going to go through my closet and get rid of my bigger clothes for good. Down down down is the only direction I'm going to allow myself now. And by 10am I'm hopefully going to have completed 30 mins of cardio in some form. That is my plan for the day. And if I get it all in I'll allow myself a sigh of relief. wish me luck! Steph

I forgot to add....the weight loss tickers The to numbers on mine are BMI, bottom weight in pounds. The first numbers are beginning, the middle current, and the end are goal. I am only updating mine when I have a doc appt. so I can go by his "official" scale, but I know I'm down a little more. Steph

Luv2teech, Welcome aboard. This place can be a little overwhelming I'm sure. There is so much to absorb. Just take it a little at a time and don't try to compare yourself to everyone else. It sounds like you had a great surgery experience except for the tube. Lucky you. The shoulder pain that some of us had was excruciating. Don't worry too much about weight loss during this phase. Really, your body is just trying to heal itself. Most people would tell you that your band isn't even functioning right now, so don't worry about it. As for the eating, I guess my suggestion is to follow doctor's orders. My doc was very specific about what I was able to eat when. They also gave me great explanations as to WHY I wasn't supposed to eat other things. If your doc didn't give you a diet to follow, I guess you're free and clear. I haven't had a postop appointment yet. I will go in on the 8th for my first meeting with my dietician and a fill. Other than that I don't know what to tell you. I would be surprised if your doctor filled you only a couple weeks from surgery. It seems common practice to wait 4 - 6 weeks before they begin that. Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy Aruba. Welcome to the other side. Steph

I did have a good time on vacation Chris. How could I not when I never stopped eating. Except for the guilt everything was wonderful. I don't know if I would call it staying strong. I talk a good game. Hopefully no I can stick to it. I slept in this morning and haven't gotten my work done yet. Played with the kids and doing laundry now. It's too cold and snowy to go out and get any outdoor exercise done. I'm going to look through my video tapes to see if there is anything doable in there since I haven't been cleared by doc yet. I don't think so. I'll have to figure something out, just don't know what. Thanks for your encouragement guys. I appreciate it. Steph

I just reread my above post and I want to apologize if I sounded harsh. I was just trying to give you a REASON to stay on the liquids. I know how hard it is. I know that it is almost impossible to ignore your head when you are feeling starved. If you've read my other posts you will know that. What kept me from eating all the yummies before christmas was the idea that I could do some serious damage to my stomach. I don't want to hurt myself over some silly piece of meat, candy, fruit, whatever. Trust me, it was never easy and I don't want to sound like it's a piece of cake. It was a battle every day. And now that I am ALLOWED real food an even bigger battle. If we allow ourselves to indulge this early in the game, our minds are going to trick us into thinking we can all the time. "It didn't hurt last time, did it?" I can just hear the battle my mind will be playing with me. I just wanted you all to know that the urge is there. It's hard. But I hope you knew this wasn't going to be easy going in. Be strong. It will be worth it in the long run. Before we have restriction is going to be the hardest part. We have to do it WITHOUT the tool. If we all had unbeatable willpower we wouldn't be here. It's going to take a lot to keep us on track. Good luck, and again, I'm sorry if I sounded harsh before. I was trying to be encouraging. Steph

I posted a similar question about a week and a half ago and got no response. I was going to go to his myspace or blog page and see if there was anything there, but haven't had time. Maybe he just doesn't need us anymore (

I would guess that the ibuprofen helped things along. When I asked my coordinator about taking it for the shoulder pain because I thought it might help with the swelling around that nerve everyone keeps talking about, she said it will help all swelling go down and to be careful. It also irritates the stomach so beware of that while it is healing. She suggested childrens liquid and to take the adult dose listed on the package. Said it would be easier on the stomach. I would guess that 600 mg is 600 mg whether you take it in pill form or liquid. Between the anti-inflammitory and the healing process I would guess everything is back to "normal" and that is why you can no longer feel that fullness that you were. I'm 24 days out and there is absolutely nothing filling me up anymore. My nutrition packet (I reread last night) said not to worry and try to limit my meals to 1 cup of volume, not to sit in front of the tv to eat, and to make sure I'm not drinking Water for at least 30 mins after eating. All those can contribute to the problem. Good Luck. Let us know how things are going. Steph

Welcome to the croud mbsnow. Glad you are with us. You're weight loss looks awesome so far! good luck at work on Monday. It is nice to get back into a routine. Steph

Yesterday was HORRIBLE! I was THE WORST! There was no stopping me. Yesterday was my first day of soft foods. I could finally add things with some consistancy. And so I did. I ate mexican bean dip. I ate Jello (not SF because my family doesn't know what that is!), I ate 2 dozen caramels. If it was "softer" I ate it. I couldn't stop. And by 8 or 9 pm I felt like CRAP. There were a ton of reasons I can point to. Too much food. Too many carbs. Too hard of food. It doesn't matter why...just that it was HORRIBLE. My abdomen hurt. My head hurt. My pride hurt. I tried to explain it to DH this morning. I ate. I wasn't hungry. I ate. I was miserable. I ate some more. When I wasn't miserable anymore I filled myself further until I was miserable once again. It was definitely a bad yesterday. Today I was better. I got up and ate a Protein drink. I then had a steamer mid morning. For dinner, while the rest had prime rib and hollendaise covered broccoli, I had just a twice-baked potato. I had another Protein Drink mid evening. While everyone had pie this evening I chose another baked potato. That was definitely a tough decision. I don't think one was better than the other for me, but I thought the sweetness of the pie would set off another binge. I need to seriously watch myself because it doesn't matter whether I'm hungry or not....I know how to sabotage myself. Wish me luck in the future.... Steph

I don't think the problem is whether or not the food will go down. It is more what damage it does once it gets there. I could have swallowed the stuff a couple days after surgery but there is still swelling and healing happening. One your stomach needs to heal and not work so hard at digesting. Two, there may still be swollen pockets that will trap the food and cause further irritation if not worse. What I was told is that everything you consume for the first 3-4 weeks needs to be able to go down through the band and not get hung up above it. That is the reason for the liquids and the mushies. Up until last week I still could feel my liquid backing up a bit. Sort of like a funnel effect. That feeling has now subsided and I have been able to move onto things a LITTLE harder. Please be careful. It is SO hard not to cheat, but this soon out of surgery I would think that the consequences are not worth the indulgence. Just my 2 cents. Steph

If the pain is from irritating the diaphram during surgery, will having more surgery to have the band removed help anything? I would think it would be even more irritated. Just a thought. The pain was awful but it does eventually go away. Had it been weeks on end I probably would not be so nonchalant about the whole thing. For those of you still in pain, I'm sorry. Steph

Kim My doc okayed coffee but I don't tend to drink it as much as I used to. I used to be addicted to lattes but don't want all those calories. I've switched instead to steamers. I use low fat milk and sf syrup. It gives me the hot and some Protein that I wouldn't get in the mornings without it. The warmth is what I used to drink the coffee for anyways so it's all a fair trade. As far as the port site. I was told it was scar tissue, not necessarily swelling. I guess it will be better as time goes on. The scarring will be less. At least that's what I've been hearing. I think it will go away. If it doesn't, the bump will be a small price to pay for the weight loss. But looking at the after pics on the main board, I'd say we don't have anything to worry about. Good luck, Steph

Hi guys! Glad to see I'm not the only glutton in the bunch. Sorry you all had to go through it too but I guess it's true, misery loves company. I hope you didn't damage your band. I think we'd have to be a little tougher on it but if you're worried, I'd call your doc. I just had a Protein drink for breakfast. Full after 6 oz. But when I'm over "full" which I think I am right now, I'm almost nausas (however you spell that). I keep telling myself that I LIKE the full feeling. I never really had it before. I could eat and eat and eat and NEVER felt full. It is such an odd feeling. Sheila, let us know if you feel better today. I have a strange pain UNDER my stomach. It is way below band so I don't know what it is, but it really hurts. I'm hoping it was overdoing with Christmas wrapping, kids, and shopping. I see the doc in about a week and right now it isn't bad enough to warrent a trip in. I do, however, understand how distressing pain can be. Let us know. Good luck today guys.....lets climb back on the wagon. Steph

I will be 180 lbs. by my b'day on Jan 18th. I will exercise 3x a week 1 hour each in January. By June 2008 I will be at meerly "overweight" at 150 lbs. Not only goals but affirmations. Steph

Jazzy, The morning I was supposed to travel before my surgery was HORRIBLE. I had my first ever true panic attack. I was driving down the road and everything came down on me. I couldn't go an inch further. I stopped....and came unglued. You can read all the gory details on my anxiety sucks thread. It was not pretty. However, I called and my coordinator was so good. She talked me through it. She explained that it was perfectly natural. She told me to think about all the good things coming in the next few months. She told me to write down all the postitives and try to stay focussed. The drugs right before surgery were a life saver. All of a sudden I was in tears and hyperventilating. In an instant DH said I was smiling and calm again. Until surgery, try to stay positive. When it is your time it is your time....and it won't matter what you are doing....in surgery or sleeping. The 27th is not your time. You're going to have this lapband placed so that you have years and years left....better years. Deep breaths and happy thoughts, Steph

I just wanted to share how excited I am to have my package waiting on the steps today when I got home. I ordered a sample pack of Protein stuff from bariatriceating.com and it came today!!! I am so sick of slimfast low carb and atkins to get me my protien. I ordered the sample because I didn't have a clue what I wanted long term and I wanted to try a little of all of it. I know the samples are expensive but this way I can always have a pack in my vehicle so that if I'm out and about I'll always have some protein with me to drink. It will save me over Christmas too while we are traveling. I'll update this site when I try the stuff and let you know what I think of it all. Mostly I got it because it had some fruity flavors and not just strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate like I've been living on. If anyone has tried any of it and likes it please let me know. Steph

Wait it out....I'm on vacation and not really sure but I haven't tried a lot of it. Steph

The strangest thing happened to me yesterday, but I have to go back a ways to explain. When I was younger....and much thinner.... I always shopped in the petite section. This continued until I was into size 18. Then all of a sudden petites didn't fit me anymore. I of course assumed that the whole petite thing was a figment of my imagination. I just had short legs. Well....the last few days my pants have been feeling very baggy. I have not dug into my closet for my 18's yet....trying to stretch my 20's a little further (especially those I just bought in October). So I rolled the waistband down....and then I rolled it down again. And then it struck me. I'm no longer petite because I'm FAT!! I didn't grow. The distance from my seam to my waist is just bigger because it has to go around all my excess junk. Okay....it seems silly but it never dawned on my that all of this had to do with me getting fatter. Maybe it's denial. Just thought I would share my 'Ah-hah!" moment Steph

Tried fuzzy navel nectar. It was alright. Mixed it with crystal light morning mix and that made it too sweet....but drinkable. Tried the protien delight bottle.....nastyness! There were chunks of berry in it and I just can't drink chunks.... That was today. May try the protien cocoa tonight. Steph

My nurse looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about gasx. She said there was no way I would need anything for the gas, that it would go away on it's own. I listened for about 6 hours....then I had hubby go to Walmart for the strips. I was eating them like candy the first couple of days. I never went over the recommended limit but I pushed it to the max. After about 3 days I tapered off on the gasx. The shoulder pain lasted another 3 or so. Congrats on your band and we hope to hear great things.... Steph

Sheila, I bought the premade shakes from slimfast and atkins. They were easier for me because I could just take and go. In the mornings I have a 10 month old and a 3 year old to get ready and the last think I want to do is work on getting a shake ready. So I went the lazy way. They are super thick and they take me forever to get down. I actually bought some other stuff at the store the other day that was much thinner and had 10g Protein in 8 oz. It tastes pretty good and much easier to drink. I'm on my third bottle of that. One a day gets me 42 g. I know it's not ideal but it's better than I was doing with the shakes. These new things mix with Water or milk. 4 of the samples are ready to drink so I'm skeptical that they will be any better than the others. What I'm banking on is the claim on the website that they only sell protien that is WONDERFUL and easy to drink. No matter what it can't get worse than atkins. The pack also came with this really cool cup that I can't wait to try. (I love gadgets!) As for chewing my nutritionist said SF gum is okay, and SF candy only if it has less than 30 cal. per serving and I can't find one of those around. I have been having tic tacs though every now and then. The problem with gum for me is I really need to go get a cavity fixed and chewing is painful because of it. Dentist at the end of January. As far as drinking water (when I manage to) I drink a mouthful and wait a few minutes. As long as I can't "feel" it I figure I'm okay. Since I'm on day 14 I think most of the swelling has gone away and the water will go straight through. If I can "feel" it though, I wait a few minutes until it passes. I can't explain the feeling. I told DH that it's like I feel like a funnel and the water is backed up a bit waiting for it's turn. Not that it's stuck, but that the pipe is smaller a bit. I haven't had that feeling in about 4 days though. I think my swelling is gone and liquid just passes on through. Good luck with the liquids. I'll let you know about the nectar and stuff. I'm dying to have something I "love" for a change. Just different will be a step in the right direction I think. Talk to you soon. It's bedtime. Steph