AirKuhl

My Breakfast every day: 1 cup coffee, black, no sugar. 1 Centrum chewable Vitamin. 1 of what my wife calls the "magic marital aid o' protein". I like the fruit punch flavor, definitely the best of the bunch. I order online as well as it's much cheaper. 42g of Protein in one or two sips is great. Basically, I take care of most of my nutritional needs in a few minutes in the morning, so the rest of the day is less stressful.

Heat up a non-stick skillet. Add a small amount of olive oil. Sprinkle some shredded 2% cheese directly into the skillet, I use the stuff that comes pre-shredded in a bag. Do NOT use a lot of cheese, you should see spaces all over the place. I find that one healthy "pinch" is plenty, around 1 oz. Cook it until the edges get nice and brown. Remove and place on paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. Blot it immediately while still flexible to get rid of excess oils. Let cool, it'll get stiff and crunchy in seconds. If you did it right, it'll look like a big brown lace doily. :wink_smile: Once it's cooled, it's a crispy as a potato chip, tastes like that yummy browned cheese on a pizza, 80 calories and 7g Protein. :smile: Not something you should eat every day, but if you are going to "cheat" with something crunchy, you could do a lot worse.

I really struggle with how I feel about all this. I don't think I've ever been directly discriminated against in any meaningful way. But then again, I'm a guy and I topped out at "only" 260, so I have probably been pretty lucky and I can see how a female or fatter person could be. I realize it's not fair, but the world is not fair. It's not discrimination if it is something directly attributable to your size. It IS discrimination if it's not. So for example, I think it's discrimination to not give an IT job based on size. But it is not discrimination to not give a job as, say, a Hooter's waitress to a very overweight person. I also think it might be fair to maybe charge a heavy person more for a plane ticket, since fuel burn rates are directly proportional to weight. Most airlines already have weight restrictions on baggage with a surcharge for going over. 99% of people don't need larger airplane seats and less seats means higher ticket prices for everyone, that's not fair either. It's not like airplane companies are charging us recklessly, many are in debt or bankrupt. The most important thing is that anyone reading this forum is doing something about their excess weight, which is the best solution to this whole mess!

I'm about 2 weeks banded now and had a drink for the first time the other night. A beer was a bit too filling so a friend made me a fruity drink with tequila and the low sugar V8 tropical fruit juice and some triple sec. Let me tell you after 2 drinks I was FLYING! I'm talking a 12 beer buzz flying. I was never a big drinker to begin with, but I'm going to save a lot of money on booze. :cry_smile: Any ideas why a band makes you so much more susceptible to alcohol?

My experience is that smaller, nicer, family run restaurants have better quality food, better tasting food, and are completely willing to let you share a plate and even happily bring you an extra plate to make sharing easier. When they do that, I figure what the bill would have been if I had ordered my own meal and then tip appropriately. For me, no longer eating at big chains that serve junk food is part of my journey to better health.

Yes, I am casting dispersion on your character. No, me posting my opinion doesn't prevent anyone else from posting in this thread. I don't care if anyone tries this stuff. I just want to make sure that an innocent reader understands that some of your suggestions are illegal, thus there are risks involved. I can't do anything about Iraq, but I can make my world better one insurance scammer at a time. :thumbup:

As others have said, every surgeon is different. They may even tailor their regimen per person. In my case, it was Clear Liquids the day of surgery and nothing the day of. Two days before surgery I went out for an epic "last supper". Pick a Dr. you trust, then trust him.

It's fraud. Period. It is not "lying" or "exaggerating". Get caught and maybe go to jail and pay some serious fines. It seems like you don't want to hear that, but that's the way it is. I think it's fine to have this thread and discuss it, as long as people reading it understand that doing some of the things suggested could get them in a LOT of trouble. And no, I don't work for an insurance company. In fact, I hate my insurance company as I was denied for frivolous reasons even though I thought I had a good case. I just paid out of pocket, because it's the right thing to do and it's the best money I spent anyway. You can be one of the good guys or one of the bad guys, pick one.

Very interesting to see how different everyone is. For me it's scrambled eggs, got stuck big time. And I can eat egg salad, bread, grilled chicken, tuna, tacos, lettuce, cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, steak, triscuits, lunch meat, meatballs, sausage, etc. I don't eat all these things very often but I'm still pretty new to the band so I've been experimenting a lot. I would have never guessed scrambled eggs.

I'm only a week post-op but I've had no problem eating spicy foods, chili, enchiladas, grilled shrimp, chicken, steak and sausage. cheese and crackers work well too. All in very small quantities of course, and chewed very well. The rest of the stuff on your list has bread involved one way or another. Some people can and some can't it seems. I haven't tried yet. The only food so far I flat out could not eat was scrambled eggs, of all things. Totally got stuck, even with an unfilled band.

Absolutely! Meal time is a very important bonding time for your family, why would you want to miss out on it? Just eat less or skip parts you shouldn't be eating. I'm only a week in but I eat with my family every day, even the first few days when I just had liquids.

Brush your teeth, then go find something to do. Amazing how that toothpaste taste turns off your hunger for a little. Worst case, you have whiter teeth.

Wise, wise words. Getting out of the habit of getting the most pounds of slop per dollar is one of the habits that many of us need to break.

Monday 9/8: Clear liquid diet. A bit nervous but excited. Tuesday: Banded at 10:30 AM, worst pain was starting the IV. Home by 2:00. Felt fine. Did some work email sitting at my computer. Clear Liquids only. Wednesday-Thursday: OK, pain meds wore off. I can FEEL the band, very weird. Things moving around. Just liquids, some clear some cloudy. Walking helps a LOT, but I need to lay down afterwards. Definitely the worst period of time. Friday - Sunday: Ate some Campbell's Chunky Soup. Ahhh, feel MUCH better. Taking regular Tylenol gelcaps for pain and it's enough. Keeping normal hours, going out, walking around, sleeping well. Some minor port site pain. Monday: Back to work, full, normal day. Eating tuna salad, a bit of cheese and crackers. No longer feels like a band inside me so swelling must be down. Today: Feel great, pretty much normal unless I do something that pulls at the incisions. Noticed I went in one notch more than usual on my belt this morning, nice.

1. No timer or measuring, but I try to drink 3-4 16oz. bottles of water a day. 2. If you drink (or eat) too fast or too much, it feels uncomfortable. That's the whole point of the band. 3. Oh yeah. :tt1: Just some gas, you body is getting used to different intake. You'll probably get diarrhea too since it's all liquids, that's normal. 4. I can lay down. On my back right away, on my side around day 4, still not on stomach at day 6. The trick for me is to just change from any one position to any other real slow. 5. I chew one Centrum Silver chewable every morning and also drink a 3 oz. New Whey clear liquid Protein shot that has 42g of protein. That way I get all the requirements out of the way first thing and don't have to think about it anymore that day. Good luck!

I hear ya on the gas pain. I'm now 6 days out and I can say that I started feeling a lot better when I was able to eat some soft food starting yesterday. Had some Chunky Soup and cottage cheese yesterday and a bit of tuna salad today and I feel like a new person. I realize each doctor has a different eating plan but mine was just Clear liquids day before surgery, clear liquids day of surgery, cloudy starting the day after and mushies after a few more days. Gas was pretty bad on day 3 and 4, but not an issue now, I can feel that some swelling went down so I can finally burp easily if needed. Only real pain I still have is an occasional pain in my shoulder from the gas used to inflate me during surgery, had a twinge of that today.

Lapband is a brand name of the Imagen device, but the term is used generically just like the word "Kleenex" or "Xerox". My doc is certified and places both and has no preference. When pushed, he said that he thinks the clear tube of the Realize band might be a tiny bit easier to kink than the white Imagen tube. I spent a long time playing with both bands in my hands at the same time. I chose the Lapband over the Realize band because I prefer the port. It's significantly smaller and it's soft white silicon instead of hard beige plastic. I also preferred the somewhat sturdier looking band itself, the Realize band looks much cruder. Results show that both are fine and you should go with whatever your doctor prefers.

I'm not a big fan of yogurt but I love the greek stuff, much better tasting imo. It also has much more protien while still being low calorie. I have a used spice sprinkler that I filled with a blend of Splenda and cinnamon. No calories in it. I sprinkle a bit on the greek yogurt and really enjoy it.

One of the tricks I recently learned that seems to work for that evening "head hunger" or eating out of boredom, is to brush your teeth. The taste seems to trigger the hunger off, at least for me. Worst case, your teeth and breath are better! Doing something physical will often trigger hunger off as well.

Oh man, I hope my doc says something like that to me. I can't think of anything that would give me more motivation than that. :tt2:

During my consult, the Doc said that it's fine to drink a glass of wine as it relaxes your stomach. I got the impression that it's all about the empty calories, as opposed to the alcohol itself.

I never said you didn't have the right. Just like I have the right to read your bitter rant, and your sarcastic reply, and deduce that real "nice guys" rarely have to announce the fact so loudly. Perhaps she blew you off for reasons different than the ones you assume. In any case, I'm glad for you that your life is improving and hope you develop the self-esteem to stop taking stuff like this so personally. A rant every now and then is a healthy thing, I agree.

Thanks for the input guys. I decided to go see Dr. McKeen and am now in month 2 of my 6 months supervised diet. He said that considering my insurance plan and clearly documented weight related problem with BMI 35%+, insurance coverage should be a no-brainer. So hopefully the few months extra waiting will net ~$10K savings. :tt1: I also can see why some of you seem to like him so much, seems like a very nice guy.

I thought about this too, and I will tell my family members beforehand and that's it. If anyone asks me afterwards if I had any "work" done, then I will tell them honestly. But I don't see myself volunteering the information. Not because I'm ashamed or anything, just that I believe that surgery is a private matter.

Hey, I'm in month 2 as well. Just reading other posts, it seems like lots of people have been happy with their Mexi-bands. I seriously considered it but will probably do it locally whether or not my insurance comes through, only because I like the idea of the doc being "on the hook" if there are any issues.