mypov

This is exactly how I feel. No more driving through McDonalds for dinner...or Snacks... People are so highly misled about portion sizes- so how are kids supposed to know what is normal? What i eat now is probably the equivalent of what a young child eats anyway so the modeling is actually perfect for my little kids. Not to mention we are now sitting down to dinner every night with a healthy meal...I believe this will have majorly positive effects on my kids. Now, as for hubby, I feel frustrated. I mean, I got this surgery so that I would live a long healthy life- but I don't wanna live it alone! I am now realizing that even though he's not as overweight as me, all his weight is in the belly and I have been watching him make really poor food choices. I'm tyring to convince him to start exercising with me at least but I SOOOOO Know how losing weight has to be a personal decision, can't be forced or coerced by a spouse. And dangit its hard with the band but without- forGET it. Anway any suggestions of how to help him without being pushy, insulting, or seeming judgemental??? I kinda feel guilty since we are paying for this band for me-and even though he wouldn't want surgery, he would like to be healthier. Sorry rambling!!!

Thanks guys. I will hold off on the fasting for now. I still feel quite gassy and tight. I'm also wondering if mb it had to do with the gum I chewed the other day. Anyway, I just hope the feeling goes away soon it's not fun.

Hello all! I'm 3wks post op now and having been feeling pretty good the last couple weeks. This morning I woke up and felt really tight though- much tighter than normal. I tried drinking some warm Water (don't drink tea or coffee) but it didn't help. Even now I feel really tight, and like there is an air bubble trapped or something. I've tried burping but that slightly uncomfortable pressure doesn't go away. The ONLY thing I can come up with is that yesterday I didn't drink much water at all- usually I drink more than 8 glasses daily. Anway it's a religious thing- I fasted until dinner on Sunday and then got maybe 2-3 glasses in before bed. could my lack of water yesterday be causing the super-tight feeling today??? I'm back on track with my water levels now but I'm just wondering if these things could be related?? Thanks!

I am a carb addict too. Since banding I've been semi-consciously using the PCOS diet program. I read it a few years back and tried it but I had a majorly hard time keeping my portions down-- I'd get hungry then binge on anything/everything. The basic premise is simple- Carbs are allowed, but they must be "good" carbs, you know, whole grain type stuff. Also, all carbs must be paired with nearly the equivalent amount of Protein, or the protein has to be higher then the amount of carbs when you eat it together. The book said that this would keep your blood sugars from dipping too low and making you hungry. Seems to be working now that I have the band and don't eat as much. Hubby was eating a cinnamon bun today and I was looking at it and the only thought on my mind was " man, that would wreak havoc with my system right now." I just hope that mentality remains long term!!!!

Hey everyone! Today for lunch I had some super spicy and YUMMY chili. Afterwards my mouth was burning and of course I can't drink water so I had a couple of bites of some yogurt. It got me wondering though, is my little healing pouch alright to have some spice? I hope I didn't cause any damage, I feel fine though- what do you think?

Before surgery my main worry was that I was one of those people who for some reason was simply incapable of losing weight. I've tried so many diets and had such miserable results that I couldn't stay motivated. I've been banded almost 3 weeks, and did my own pre-op diet a couple of weeks prior to surgery- this is the most I've lost in this amount of time EVER. Usually, if I've even stuck to a "diet" for 5 whole weeks my weight loss would be closer to 5 pounds......My main focus is getting enough Protein, choosing healthier foods (no more enriched flour or high fructose corn syrup in MY food choices) drinking more than 8 glasses of Water a day, and stopping eating a couple of hours before bedtime. BTW- For me, the fact that I am now banded is a huge motivation in itself to keep with it. There is no better than feeling like you have hope to actually see results along with your hard work. That said, I may develop complications in the future- but I knew that going in- and I am working it as best I can in the mean time. Good luck with your decision!

I'm so sorry you are going through this. You are probably making the right choice to have it unfilled. I hope you aren't blaming yourself for this- it almost sounds like your surgeon doesn't want to accept that maybe the band just didn't work for you but if you can't even keep tea down, it is NOT a chewing problem.I wish you luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Did anyone else experience feeling majorly restricted in the very beginning? I'm 5 days out and still sipping away on the Clear liquids. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to full liquids but honestly I'm not sure how I'm going to get anything worthwhile down. My surgeon did not put any fill in on surgery day, so maybe I am just really swollen? Warm liquids go down slightly better than cool, and I'm losing weight, but I'm pretty sure its Water weight since I'm having such a hard time with the liquids. Each sip just feels like it takes 10 minutes to go through and I feel lots of pressure in my chest if I take too big of a sip. Any thoughts??

Hello everyone! I'm 12 days post op now and have another question. Since my prebanding official starting weight of 287 untill now, I have lost 17 lbs. I've since moved into pureed foods and think I've been doing fairly well at making sure I have lotsa Protein, tons of Water etc etc. My weight loss has stalled though and I was wondering- will it pick up again soon or will I not start losing again until my first fill? I feel some restriction now; though I can tell I'm losing that a little bit day by day. Still having less than 1000 calories a day though. Anyone who hit a plateau after losing that initial "water weight" how long did it take before you started losing again? Thanks!!

Hi! My name is Anna and anything I say on LBT is just "my point of view" and subject to reality. Hence, my p.o.v.

This is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing since being banded on the 18th. Its gotten better lately but whenever I walk for awhile or lift something more than 10 lbs I get it again. I plan to ask my surgeon on my post op check up on Jan 3rd. I suspect he will say its normal pain of having had something stiched to my muscle.

Thanks everybody. I'm really going to try not to worry about it and just focus on healing but seeing that scale move down after several years of it going UP I just wanted it to continue ya know? Thanks for all your support!

Welcome Dieselangel, there are several of us here with Dec 18 band dates. You're weight loss looks like it is going great. My starting weight is very close to yours but 170 is only my initial goal as I'm a shorty. Anyway, sorry to hear about your stitches. Sounds like they let you know how to take care of it and all. Good luck on your journey and WELCOME!!!:biggrin1::biggrin1:

Glad to hear it went well!!!

just wanted to welcome you to bandster life!!!

My doc gave me a "restaurant card"- just a lil type written card on cardstock paper saying I can't eat much and the name of the doc and stuff. If I'm planning to go to a buffet sometime I'm gonna call ahead and make sure the manager who is going to be there when I come will let me have the cheaper price- then I'll just ask to speak to the manager right as I go in and remind him that I spoke to him on the phone....I just want to avoid any awkward situations ya know? Just my idea.

OMYGOSH I remember day 5- It was my first day I could move to full liquids (instead of clear) well I looked all over the kitchen and could NOT find my protein shake mixes!!! I totally broke down. Poor hubby came to my rescue. They were in a box under the kitchen sink where I'd put them the week before. oops. I just missed food soooo bad. Luckily I'm doing much better now!

Hey all! I just had my surgery on 12/18. Initially I lost 20 lbs since then which is great, but now the weight loss has stalled as I've moved to pureeds/mushies. I was wondering what your experiences have been of about how long it takes to get the scale moving again? Thanks!!! PS I started with a bmi of about 55 and now I'm at about 51

Hey everybody! Sounds like everyone has dealt with the holidays very well. I'm soooo glad that's over with--- until new years lol but I'm actually looking forward to that becuase I'm going to set my official new years goals- and actually have some hope of attaining them this time!!! I'm not very hungry right now, luckily. I was having powerful cravings days 3-6 but they seem to be much more under control now. Also i was having major pain in my side- but I've decided it's port pain and its fading now. I finally slept on my bed instead of the recliner last night....it was like coming HOME lol. Oh I want to report my FIRST NSV (non-scale victory). Today I pulled on my size 28 lane bryant jeans and zipped and buttoned them!!!!! before I was leaving it unbuttoned and then tucking the little flaps in to give me a lil breathing room. I know its small, but I was excited!!!

I'm 8 days postop and For the last few days I've been having a lot of pain just under the left side of my left ribcage after I rolled over in bed a couple of nights ago and felt like something pulled or tore (like muscle pain). Today I started kind of pushing around on the area and I can feel a definite firm roundish thing almost feels like it could be the port. However, my largest incision is in my midline about three inches right of the pain/hard spot. I assumed the port would be directly under the largest incision, or at least AN incision site. Anyone know if this could be my port still? Could I have just pulled out a stich or something? Or maybe if this IS my port than the pain isn't so unreasonable for it just being 8 days after something has been stiched to the muscle. Thoughts please? I'm trying to figure it all out and not worry. I'm calling the office tomorrow but I don't REALLY want to make the 2 hour drive down there if its a normal thing ya know???

Merry Christmas bandsters! i hope you are all surviving this food-filled holiday :girl_hug: The big family Breakfast this morning was horrible. I mean, it was sooooo good looking. I ended up taking some of the country gravy with sausage and pureeing it. Didn't work as well as I hoped and didn't look at all appetizing. I had a tablespoon or two and then I was done. Last night with the Christmas party I over did it by eating 4-5 chex from the chex party mix, and half a homemade chocolate ball. I chewed really well and slow and all went down well. I felt a little guilty but then I compared it to previous food events- handfuls of Snacks and enough chocolate to embarrass me had I thought anyone knew how much I ate. So this is a huge improvement. Anyway hope everyone is enjoying their time!

Bandiva, Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. Hopefully your cold will be a quickie. Thanks for all your replies. I was able to stop stressing out about the Protein so much and realizing each day gets a lil easier to get things down....now I'm worried about just how MUCH easier it will be to get things down......If its not one thing it's another eh? lol

So getting my protein in isn't turning out to be very easy. Before I was banded I figured with a couple of protein shakes a day and i'm good to go. However, today is my first day on thick/full liquids and this morning I had about a 1/4 cup of my protein drink and I thought my stomach was going to explode, i was sooooo full! I'm trying to get my liquids in, I'm trying to get my protein in, and its just not working. I get these pains in my chest like I just ran a marathon. Then I can't have anything more to eat or drink for a long time.....I feel like I'm going to ruin something in there! What should I do???

It's a Christmas MIraCLe!!! :faint: Last night we went to a Christmas party and I overheard a woman (gorgeous model type) telling someone else she'd had gastric bypass a few years back. I sidled up to her (with my plate full of Christmas goodies) and confided that I was having lapband in 2 days. We ended up talking the rest of the night. We were talking about the emotional aspects of weight loss and she has just totally been there, done that. Afterwards we exchanged phone numbers and she told me to call her anytime I was freaking out with food issues or something. AFter wards I was telling my mom about it and she asked "So do you wish you were getting the bypass instead?" I was like, "No, but I'd pay 30 grand to look like her ANY day!" Oh well I'm looking forward to looking like a better version of me at least! It was just nice to connect with someone who understood so perfectly, and just because our surgeries were different, we still had so much in common as far as reasons behind our choice. :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

You (or your insurance) paid good money for this surgery and you should get all the support you need. If the doctor sounded rude, mb he was just having a busy/stressful/bad day and it had nothing to do with you. Don't take it personally or keep that from getting all the care and support you need and deserve. Of course, this board is great for any questions you may have but the advice of your doctor is most important. So if you are concerned. CALL. Good luck to you! i hope you are feeling better soon!