HeatherO

Eggs are great in the early stages after banding. I ate soo many eggs the first couple of months of banding because they were easy, fast, went down well, tasted good . . . until now :0). I think I have lost my desire for eggs because I had them daily for so long. Never high quantity but everyday I had some form of eggs for lunch.

Saltines easily become a mushy and I never have any problem with them although I eat them very rarely. When I do eat them, I usually have two cracker sandwiches with a little low fat cream cheese or peanut butter.

It has never given me a problem and I was never advised against it. I also chew gu as well, but I am really careful with it.

I would wait at least a few months before considering it . . . specially if it gives you the munchies and loosens your inhibitions to control yourself.

I am not familiar with Minster. If the area is ethnically diverse or is a little larger town/city area, it may not be too difficult to blend in. The school systems here are accomodating for children with special needs. My nephew goes to a special school and it has been a good experience for him. Your aunt will have a much easier time than your uncle if he doesn't speak English. If there are many speakers of their native language nearby it will be easier. However, there are many, many free ESL (English as a Second Language) classes that are available throughout the state and he can learn. Some people are very accomodating and friendly with people from other countries, and some are not. I think you will find that anywhere within the country. It seems like it is easier here than places like Texas or California to find friendly people if you are from another country. Most people in Ohio are friendly, at least that I have met or in my area. Discrimination can happen to anyone, at least on a small scale just about anywhere. I experienced an issue myself when I was with some friends that were speaking Turkish. I am an American and have been for many generations, have red hair and blue eyes . . . yet I had some man come up to me and ask, don't you people even speak English in a not so nice way. He then asked if we were Muslims, I ignored him and someone else told him it was none of his business. He walked away, but you could tell by the way he looked at us and asked the question he was looking for trouble. That happened in New York. It was nothing big but I will always remember it as the first experience I had with someone being upset because I was not speaking English. Some people are very strange. Really, I think they will be OK. They have lived here before so they have an idea of what life is like here. New Jersey has a slightly more diverse culture than Ohio, but they are relatively close and things are not so different. The schools are decent and there are many good people here.

I am from the Cleveland area. I like it here (except for the winters . . . blahhh). Just let me know if you have any questions about Ohio. :0)

I had pain meds while in the hospital and a script for two pills after I left. I took one and saved the other for if it got really bad . . . it is still sitting in my nightstand at home. Pain meds are so easily addicting, it is best to avoid taking them for any length of time. Specially if you can take tylenol in their place. You will still feel a little pain for a while after surgery but it should be tolerable. This is most true near your port incision. If you are still having a lot of sharp pain very far past the surgery date you should call your doctor. This is specially true if you start noticing extra swelling and redness around the incisions that seems to be increasing over time.

I use Spectravite orange flavored chewables from CVS Pharmacy and they taste great. The first days/weeks after surgery are very tough. We all go through moments of doubt at this time. However, once you get a fill or two you will probably feel much better about your choice. Banding is the best thing I ever did for myself, and at 7 months out, I am only 15 small pounds from goal :0). Hang in there, it gets so much easier as time goes on.

I believe it is because going sugar free is supposed to be good for weight loss. However, like anything else, used in moderation it might be OK. I think all the sugar subsititutes are also not healthy for you if you ingest too much of them. Sugar can definitely up your calorie intake substantially, even if you are only ingesting small quantities. Sugar also easily affects your blood sugar levels causing you to have highs and lows that may make you feel bad or initiate cravings. Eat sugar and you will probably not lose as well as if you had avoided it. You don't have to use sugar substitutes at all if you can get used to not ingesting sweet things. I never have sugar in my coffee and I like it that way.

I don't have pain often, but discomfort can be fairly regular. However, since pain tolerances differ . . . what may be discomfort to one might be pain to another. I feel everything going down, even Water but it is not soo bad. I feel better mid-day and lunch is my biggest meal of the day because I can eat most comfortably then. I also have a cup of hot coffee or tea before eating because it eases the transition, but I will not drink after I start eating. The warmth seems to make everything more comfortable. It is not comfortable for me to eat Breakfast unless it is a liquid or a mushie. I also can not eat late in the day because I can not sleep comfortably and it seems like food needs the gravity of being upright to move through the band. This is not so bad, I consider it tolerable for what the band has helped me to achieve. However, I am not far from goal and as soon as I reach goal, I think I am going to go for a very slight unfill. I will try to maintain more by healthy choices than tight restriction but will definitely get more of a fill put in if my weight goes up by more than 5 pounds.

I am so happy everyone is losing . . . whether it is fast or slow, we are all moving in the right direction. As long as we keep on moving on down the scale, we are all successful. WOWOX07, the dıfference ıs absolutely amazıng!!!! You look fabulous.

I never had that particular problem, but I did have hair loss during pregnancy. It was coming out regularly in my shower. However, I have never had this problem since banding. It is strange how hormones can affect your hair during this time.

What wonderful news that everything is fine. It will be great to get to see and hear the baby, and September isn't far away at all.

My heart goes out to you . . . I am so very sorry this happened. How were you feeling before it happened? Could you feel that there was a problem with the band?

Pickles and veggies in general work fine for me and I have tight restriction.

I dont know what makes the difference in who it affects and who it doesnt affect. Those that are suffering from hair loss seem to do the Protein, take the supplements and Vitamins, etc. I lose an occasional strand . . . almost nothing and it isnt noticeable. I have been taking Biotin and a daily Multivitamin for months, but I dont know if that helped me to avoid it or if I wouldnt have had the problem anyway. I am a little over 7 months out . . . so I might get lucky and bypass this part. However, when I was pregnant I was shedding a lot.

I agree with snowbird. Strained soup is definitely a liquid as long as it is not super thick. I had strained soups during the liquid phase as well, and if they seemed a little thick, I added a little chicken broth to thin them even further. My doctor was fine with doing this . . . although you should definitely get your doctor's opinion as well since they are all different. I dont think I could do the soy milk all the time either.

My thoughts exactly :tt2:

Everything looks great on my screen. I think people are interpreting the meaning of the "Start Weight" differently than intended. Start weight for the challenge means your start weight as of beginning the challenge (which means it should match your current weight when you first post). Jazzyywan, NurseNiki & SpecialK . . . I fixed your start weights to equal your current weight. I will repost the list with instructions at the bottom: Name__________Start Weight_____Current Weight____Goal________Lbs lost *****:eek:***********:thumbup:*************:tt2:************:tt2: ********:w00t:*** Ariel .............199............199............180............0 ahsem2bme..........244............244............225............0 aJoneen............223............223............213............0 Aphrodite1984......208............208............190............0 Ariel .............199............199............180............0 Caramia71..........208............208............195............0 georgiagirl........245............245............230............0 HeatherO...........155............155............140............0 Jazzyywan..........255............255............190............0 Jodi_620...........196............196............177............0 Leslie2Lose........220............220............205............0 LisaB..............205.5..........205.5..........180............0 livn4thm...........235............235............210............0 Long2bthin.........248............248............230............0 Luu2008............203............203............183............0 Mamanmidwife.......299............299............285............0 mominlv13..........299.8..........299.8..........275............0 NurseNiki..........258............258............239............0 SpecialK...........294............294............280............0 Tess...............304............304............280............0 Turler.............225............225............210............0 wowox7.............195............195............170............0 WyominGirl.........327............327............312............0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Instructions: Start Weight = Weight at the beginning of the challenge, Current Weight = Weight at time of posting, Goal = Goal to attain by Halloween, Lbs Lost = Difference between start weight and current weight.

I have heard of the milk diet but I never heard of a doctor prescribing it. I can't help but wonder if you will lose all desire for milk after spending three weeks on nothing but milk. :0) I would talk to your doctor as well about having a night off. Perhaps you can start a couple of days early to offset it.

I don't know, sounds almost too good to be true. Pasta disagrees with me post banding so I wont try it (not worth being stuck and uncomfortable). It is always interesting to see the new things that come out. Do you remember that Olestra stuff? Replaced oil's and you could buy pringles with low calories and low fat. Sounded good to me and fit my diet plan perfectly . . . until after the first terrible cramp an unpleasant hour or more in the bathroom, lol. I lost any desire for pringles after that. However, Splenda seems to be everything it is cracked up to be . . . tastes great and no gastrointestinal distress. :0)

Doctors are so different, I guess I am not surprised that some feel that way. My pcp was absolutely against wls for me. It wasn't a matter of weight, it was that I should be able to do it on my own. There are plenty of people that fail with a lapband, and plenty of people that succeed. Even if the average loss is 50%, I am absolutely sure it is much, much higher for those who are compliant and really work the program, do the exercise and work on changing the mindset that got them there in the first place. You get out of it what you put into it.

I had the same issue a few weeks out from banding. I was able to take something over the counter to combat it. It was because of dietary changes but went away.

I eat lettuce everyday and I am tightly restricted. I chop it up finely and chew it well. I had heard before banding that lettuce can get stuck but I have never known it to happen.

What a stunningly beautiful picture . . . and I love the background. I am so happy you are feeling so well at 3 years out. Thank you so much for sharing your story . . . and it was so nice to see how you were feeling at 1 year and 2 years out as well. Congratulations.