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I almost spit out my coffee when I got to the punchline! :eek:

Ooo! Ooo! I wanna be a cheerleader! I can cover my chest in little streamers and then when I jump up and down people will think I'm holding pompoms in front of me!

Alison, can I be your friend? *snickers*

Stay upwind from Dawg. *grins*

I haven't cheated but man have I been a slacker. I miss my walking partner. Um.. treadmill. Didn't we buy one of those not long ago? Ohh... that big black thing on the other side of the room! Yeah.. wonder if it still works? :eek: Hey, I see Kathy (the best me) in the thread. *waves* Hiya Kathy! You haven't done your scorecard in a while. I hope that's what you're doing. I've noticed that life had you by the wrist and is dragging you all around. I hope you get free to take a break and catch your breath soon. *hugs*

I just realized that I am only 37 pounds from having lost 100 pounds. ONE HUNDRED POUNDS! omg. I have work to do! We had a really bad storm here about a week ago, and unfortunately we had to be out in it. When we arrived at our daughter's apartments, it opened up and poured huge drops of rain. We got out of the car and hurried across the parking lot to the stairs, covered but not enclosed. After we got inside and dried off I realized that I ran up those stairs! I Ran! Yesterday, we were at the Dr's office and when we sat down in the chairs in the waiting room I stopped, frowned and thought what feels so different? Then I realized... I sat down without my hips or legs touching the sides! I was always so embarassed to sit in those horrible chairs that have arms but no sides. You know the kind. Where your butt overflows the seat and buldges out under the chair arms? Bleh. What shocking realizations have hit you lately?

I did a couple of days of clear liquids, then moved on to full liquids which included yogurt. I was supposed to stay on full liquids for 3 weeks but at week two I was so hungry I was ready to start gnawing the kitchen table. So my Dr said it was ok to progress to mushies. I did that for three weeks, gradually introducing more solid, but still soft, foods during week three. I remember being so afraid to eat the wrong thing. I was very fearful of PBs. Not because of the pain but because I wanted to give my band plenty of time to get "seated" and for the stitches to heal. To date, I have not had a PB.

That cat has had way too much tequilla. How do I know? Dawg gets the same look in his eyes when he's down to the worm! *laughs* Sorry, I don't do Mayo anymore. Well, perhaps just a little low fat won't hurt. Aaahhrrrreeebah! Ondalay! Ondalay! Eeeyahh! (geesh, that was almost as bad as a skinny white guy trying to rap)

Dont ya just love the hugging part? It's such an amazing difference for Dawg and me. And guess what? It gets better. *winks* Great NSVs! All of them lifechanging rewards!

Have you ever seen that commercial where the woman is in the shower washing her hair and she's saying, "Yes.. Yes!!.. YES!!"? Yeah, you get the idea. :eek:

Holy crap. I can only imagine the fear that must have struck you when you heard those words. *big hugs* I am guessing that what you saw was his genuine concern for you and that's good. How he approached it might have been shocking, but I think he was just being blunt. Men can be so... blunt, sometimes. *sighs* I have read about you and several others who have mentioned being on medication for heartburn and it struck me as odd. From what I've read, heartburn and reflux are typical indicators of being too tight or slipping. To treat with medication seemed contrary to the goal of keeping your body healthy. I think that's what he's trying to achieve now, keeping you healthy by letting things settle down and the irritation that's causing the reflux to heal. Letha's right though. You have learned how to eat well and make good choices. Don't panic and think the band did it all for you. It didn't. You did a huge portion of that on your own and you still have those capabilities. Relax and let's see what the unfil does. Chances are, like Na- er PlunderBunny said, it will subside once some of the fill is out. I'll be praying for ya Kell. *hugs*

Kristin, you must be feeling so good about your life right now. Every day you look better and better (your pics on the before and after thread were awesome!), you have to be feeling younger and healthier, and you're working to achieve your career goals. Good for you, girl! How are the finals coming along?

Very true DeLarla. It is a process that the body has as a means of protecting us during times such as famines but it won't prevent us from losing weight. It appears to, for a short time, but in reality what is happening is our bodies are breaking down muscle for energy and storing fat. Check out the article. I think it will help explain why so many of us have the wrong idea about what starvation mode really is.

I can hear it now. "How much weight have you lost, Amy?" "Five gallons this week!"

Ok, I'm on a roll now. *laughs* Check out this site for more great information about starvation mode and metabolisms. It has some wonderful explanations that we could all benefit from. There is also a link at the bottom of the article entitled, "8 ways to speed up your metabolism" Happy Reading! http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/starvation.htm By the way, for all you who don't know what st stands for, its stones. The English, and perhaps more Europeans, use stones for weight measure. I believe a stone is equal to approximately 13 pounds. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Excellent post, Wheetsin. Just a comment about eating almonds. They are good for you IF you are eating RAW almonds. Roasting almonds, or any nuts for that matter, ruins the benefit of the natural oils in the nuts and of course the addition of salt is not good.

Ok, I've been reading more on this and here's what I've found so far. This is from a site selling nutrition supplements and this article was focused on RnY patients so I haven't copied it all. If you are interested in reading the article in its entirety, the addy is: http://www.vitalady.com/why_protein.htm Protein is initially broken down in the upper small intestine, just outside the lower stomach, using an enzyme manufactured there called trypsin. Once broken down, protein is best absorbed in that first 12 to 18 inches out of the stomach. Protein is best absorbed in amounts of no more than 30g at one time. Professional athletes can do a little better, but for weight loss surgery patients, 30g would be a good try. More protein won’t hurt, but is just wasted. Unless you are very distal, two drinks of 30g each is an excellent start toward a healthy protein intake.

Here's one that has the drinks for $36.99. Haven't checked the shipping costs yet. You can also call your local health and Vitamin stores, like GNC or Bodybuilding.com and see if they have it in stock. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009VFD8E/ref=nosim/103-0069101-0698210?n=3375251]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009VFD8E/ref=nosim/103-0069101-0698210?n=3375251[/ame]

I am certainly no expert in this area, nor have I had any experience with slipping or erosion, so there may be some who think I shouldn't contribute to this thread. However, I will share with you what my Dr told me when I asked him these same questions. A large number of erosions have been thought to have been caused by an older technique that was used when securing the stomach around the band. From what he tells me, they used to pull the stomach over the buckle of the band but because of its shape and harder materials, they found that most erosions began at this location. Now they turn the buckle outward and do not overlap it with the stomach. They also use the pars flaccida technique now, which allows a higher placement of the band around the stomach and believe that this may have lessened the risk of slipping and erosion. And finally, there is also the posibility of erosion being caused by surgeon's error during the placement of the band. (ie nicking the stomach, etc) Slippage - My Dr said that most slippage is caused by the band being too tight. He told me that some Dr's fill a patient to maximum (unable to pass any liquid through the banded area) and then withdraw just enough fill to allow a small trickle of liquid to flow through. He said it is believed that this approach of starting out with so much restriction is no longer being used by many Drs as they feel it is better to slowly approach the right level of restriction without overfilling and risking slipping. So, for what it's worth, that's what I was told. You can probably Google "lap band erosion" or "lap band slippage" and find more information. Although I have found it very frustrating to find any information about the band that is more up-to-date than 2003.

Yay!!!! Celebrating with you in sunny Idaho!

Susan, your post made me chuckle. I remember feeling like I'd give my left arm for a big steak! At the end of week two, I saw my Dr and told him how hungry I was so he let me progress to mushies. That first bite of soft food I had was cottage cheese and you'd have thought I was... well, all I could do was say mmmm and moan a lot. LOL! That was THE BEST cottage cheese I'd EVER tasted! Sally I think there are some lists of mushie foods in the Food forum. Check out the posts there. I always recommend Gorton's grilled fish fillets (lemon pepper or garlic butter). Microwave in 7 mins. Yum. Some of my other favorites were oatmeal, cottage cheese, bean with bacon Soup, tuna with a couple of tablespoons of fat free thousand island dressing, peas and carrots (frozen, boiled until very soft), and canned peaches (lite syrup).

Hey Funny, It took me a while but I finally found the nutritional info on the Isopure Zero Carb drinks. They are made by Nature's Best and if you look online you can get a case of 12 for about $37. Having 40 grams of Protein in each drink means you'd want to space out one bottle over a day. Your body won't absorb more than, I think it was 23 grams of protein at a time. I'll check on that to be sure. "Isopure has no sugar, no carbs, no preservatives, no fat and is lactose free. Contains 40 grams of the purest protein known to science in a 20 oz. bottle. Isopure has a taste that is easily accepted. Fresh, not too sweet, invigorating and pure. Isopure may well prevent the loss of lean tissue. It may replace egg whites and soft cheese, skim milk and low fat frozen yogurt, even red meat, as a primary source of protein."

I've read every response so far and can relate with something from each of them. I'm so touched by the honesty everyone is pouring into this thread. My mind is spinning with thoughts but I'm too tired to put them into any kind of reasonable order. So I'll dwell on this for a while and keep watching and reading. You all say I've made you think with this thread... well, you are all making me think too. Hurts don't it? *grins* Love you all, See ya tomorrow. nite nite

Hi Dody, Welcome to LBT. I have no experience with a slipped band but I did have a few thoughts about some of the things you've said. First, you said you ate cucumbers and couldn't get full, so you ate a chicken breast and were then ok.. not full, but no longer hungry. I would suggest eating that chicken first next time. Hard Proteins won't go through the band as easily, they take longer to breakdown and digest so you have the feeling of satiated longer. Reaching that point of being satisfied but not "full" is a good place to be. We are so used to thinking that the feeling of being stuffed means we are finished eating, when really we could stop long before that and no longer be hungry. Also, you mentioned that you have been exercising for about a week. This means you are building muscle and muscle, while it takes up less room than fat, weighs a lot more. Someone who has lean muscle mass will look smaller but weigh more than the person who isn't. Make sense? It's possible that you are doing the right things but the scale is confusing you. Try taking your measurements over the next few weeks and see if they are increasing. I'm sure that being banded for so long and having reached your goal weight, you probably have a lot you could teach most of us here. Sometimes though, we just need to stop and go back to the basics to see where we've gotten off track. I'm sure you'll do well once you tweak things a bit and get some restriction. Best of luck to you, and again, welcome to LBT. Be sure to share a lot! We love experience!

I'd thank her if I could. She is why I got my band. I found out about the lap band through researching Heart a couple of years ago. I hope the news about her having the band removed and gaining back all the weight isn't true. But if it is, that was her choice, and I'll kick her butt for it when I get the chance. *grins* HeatherGurl - Heart was a group that got big in the late 70s with songs like Dreamboat Annie, Barracuda, These Dreams, Dog and Butterfly, and Magic Man. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson were the first girl rock band I ever heard. They still rock! :rockon: