PhotoNut

Kathy - Nah.. its easier for me to find the names in alphabetical order. The spots were from trying to do this at 2am! LOL Molly - I think what we'll do it have Penni clean out any posts that are over two weeks old. Unless there is one that everyone things we should save for future reference. Anyone have thoughts on this? Darcy - I am SO glad to see that number dropping, my friend! Txblue_eyedqt - It's very possible to eat too few calories for optimum weight loss. Not that you won't eventually lose, but it might slow things down a lot. How much you should eat depends on your current height, weight, and level of activity. As your trainer about having your metabolic rate tested. They can tell you roughly how many calories your burn at a resting heartrate, and from that they can determine how much you should be eating in order to lose fat and not muscle. I'm not trained in this field, so I'm just passing on what I've heard. In fact, here is a link says it better. PuddinPie had hers done not long ago, check it out. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16289

I'm thinking about ya Kabeerah, praying that everything works out fine for you and your poor toe. *hugs*

Okies.. I just finished updating the members' page and I'm so tired I'm seeing spots in front of my eyes. So everyone check their data and make sure I got you updated correctly. If there are any mistakes, please PM me and I'll make the correction. Gosh, everyone's doing so great! There are many of you who don't check in to update your progress. Are you hiding in the closet with GS Cookies? We will find you! *cackles* Seriously, there are a lot more folks who could be adding to our weekly loss total, I just know it. Let us hear your numbers folks! TwinkleLil_star - How exciting! You got your surgery date! Yay!! legallyKristin - You hit the 50 pound mark! Congratulations!! And no, you probably didn't hurt your band with those cheese things. I can really relate with "None is easier to achieve than a little." That's exactly how I am. You haven't done any damage to your long term goals. Look how much you've lost so far girl! You're doing great. skbishop - Hang in there girl. You expected this week to be a bit slow. Next week will rock! For all who had no loss/ no gain - I'm so happy to see the great attitudes about this. You guys are awesome! Next week will be great! Kim_8 - You've lost right about the same as me and you were banded a week later! Brat *laughs* Tricia K. - 9 pounds from Onederland.. I know how badly you've wanted this. Can't wait to Celebrate this with you! Gloria37 - You got your first fill! Awesome! and down 4 pounds too! Great week for you! Lianna - Don't get too frustrated. I'm sure you know that you're building muscle and that's going to make things look funky on the scales. Give your new routine a couple of weeks and I guarantee you'll be happy with your results. It's just not possible to be doing so much right with no results! Hey Coyotegirl! It's about time you made an appearance! And showing up with a 4 pounds loss too.. nice! I have spring fever too!!!! Drj - Welcome to the club! I saw you sneak in quietly and try to hide from me. Not going to happen! Post a short intro and tell us a bit about yourself. All you other losers - I'm so excited for everyone. It's going to be so much fun when we start seeing people in our club hitting the -100 pound mark! LegallyKristin, Dawg, and I are all right at the 50 pound mark. Anyone else? Who's close to -100 now?? This is our last week of March. Let's make it a BIG one! Drink Water, do 30 mins of exercise a day, and fight head hunger - tell yourself its just for this one week. You can do anything for one week, right?

Heyas IdahoGherl.. Im in Boise. What are you wanting to know?

Willey - Thank you! I amost missed that bit about drinking an extra 8 ounces per 25 pounds of excess weight! Mine figures out like this: 8 x 8 = 64 oz standard, plus 40 oz (5 extra 8 ounces for excess weight) = 104 oz. I drink bottled Water that has 16.9 oz per bottle, so I divided the 104 by 16.9 and came up with a little over 6 bottles per day. I've only beeen drinking 4 and not always good about it. I'm upping my minimum water intake to 6 bottles per day! Everyone feel like a fish yet? Glub glub!

Hey Kim, Talk to your Dr about this when you go in. My Dr determines the need for a fill based on your eating habits - how much, how often, etc. Mine aims for three meals a day, 3/4 to 1C max, and 4 hours apart with no hunger in between. Your Dr may have different guidelines. A lot will also depend on what size band you have. The larger VG bands usually require more fills to find the right spot. Talk to him and see what he suggests. And let us know what you decided.

Woo! Another Keller girl! Heyas Tina and welcome to LBT. Both Kim_8 and Feel2Young2B40 are both in Keller. Me, I'm in Idaho, feeling left out. Everyone in Texas has so much fun!

What an incredible feeling that must have been! Are you still on Cloud 9?! I would be - for a week! *cheers* Great job Desi!

Welcome to Bandland, Jana! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: I'm really happy to hear things are going so well for you, but dont overdo it! Remember to drink lots of water.. sip, sip, sip! *hugs*

You'll be more concerned about your port. Trust me *grins* Jachut - That was funny!!

Diane and hubby went to Mexico.. her doc is in TJ so it might be a while before we hear from her. Hope you're getting good news, Diane!

I talked to Amy last night and she said that the new antibiotics are working. Emily's fever has broken and they thought they might get to bring her home today. She was planning on coming here last night and giving everyone an update, but I'm not surprised she didn't. She sounded so tired. This happened right when they moved to their new home.. so the house isn't even unpacked. Anyway, I'll let Amy give you all the details when she gets time. Bless their hearts!

*pulls up a soapbox and stands on it* *clears throat before beginning* Brothers and sisters! The Water bottle is near! Now is the time to repent of your dehydrated ways and drink in the fullness of life!! Wash away your fat cells! Clense your body before it's too late! Turn away from the wretched ways of bloat and kidney strain! Drink! Drink I say.. before it is too late! *glares at the audience, speaking with an ominously booming voice* All bottled waters are NOT the same! Thus sayeth Aquafina.. the pure water with the perfect taste!! Drink, brothers and sisters, lest ye be dry and parched for all eternity!

1. God's patience with me. 2. My loving husband who understands me like no other, and still adores me. 3. My family and how good life is for all of us right now. 4. For the chance to really live again that the band has given me.

Here ya go.. check out this site. It explains it all so well. http://www.inch-aweigh.com/water.html

Pardon my French.. but.. HOLY SHIT Big Paul!! 107 pounds in FOUR MONTHS!?! WOW!!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

*laughs* Hey Julie.. maybe we could share? You take some of my girls and I'll gladly take your smaller tummy! LOL

Hello everyone and welcome to weigh-in day! I will update everyone on the members page at the end of the day. Shackdog - Today is the first day of your journey to health! Mark this day on your calendar my friend. I'm so excited for you! You can do this! :cheer2: Mychevygirl - SIX pounds this week!? You are kicking some serious butt girlfriend! I sure hope you studied hard for your test! *snickers* I failed my first one. Yup, I'm borderline nuts. Y'all haven't figure that out by now?? The best me - OMG 4.4 pounds!!! *Celebrates with you!!* :) :eek: :eek: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C 258 (-49lbs total, -2 lbs this week)

Like Jack and Morsaille, I'll spit it out if it's risky. I've also had a couple of instances where I've popped a certain food in my mouth, like a spanish olive, and found that I couldn't stand the taste of it now so I spit it out. Odd how the tastes change. I know the question is - do you try to get your no-no foods by chewing and spitting. For me, the answer is no. If you are sucking the sugars and fats from the thing you are chewing and then spitting out the rest, what have you accomplished? The calories are in the sugars and fats. You silly people. *giggles* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OMG Kathy! I'm glad you did that first! LOL I've been fighting so hard to restrain myself! LOL I don't swallow, I spit. ROFL

Heyas Cashley, Let's see... 1. Does every one here do liquids after a fill for the required 2 or 3 days? I was restricted to clear and full liquids for 2 days after my fill. I stuck to this without cheating. 2. If the fill doesn't feel to restrictive do you progress yourself to more solids? As stated in #1 - I stayed on the liquids the full two days. When I did start eating solids again, I took very small bites and was careful to pay attention to how food was going to go down now. 3. He scheduled me for another fill (maybe) in 6 weeks but If I don't feel restricted would you call after 2 weeks, 3 weeks or wait the entire 6 weeks? To my surprise, I became instantly ravenous and ate like a starving person after the two days of liquids! That lasted for a day and then things started to settle in. For a few weeks I was still wanting to eat every three hours. But by week four I was very comfortable with my restriction and only eating every four hours. The goal is to eat a sensible meal and not be hungry again for four hours, eating three meals a day - unless you are diabetic, which means you would add some small Snacks to that. If after a few weeks, you are hungry more often than every 4 hours, I would suggest asking for a small addition to your fill. Sometimes, all it takes is a little. Well, depending on your band size. Anyway, hope this helped.

Hey Jeff - coffee should be fine for you at this point. The restrictions I got from my surgeon were only for the first few weeks to help avoid dehydration. I think you should try the hot sauce in moderation and see how it goes. The only harm I can see it causing would be if it makes you gassy. Many people find that food tastes and affects them differently after banding. PS - GREAT point about the hot sauce making you want to drink!! No drinking for an hour after meals might put a crimp in your spicy food lifestyle. *winks*

Magic - I have no idea what all you've eaten or how hard you've pushed your band. And even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you if you've done yourself any damage. That is something only your Dr. can tell you. If I were you, I would just be very kind to your tummy and your band from now on. When you go in for your post op check up, or your first fill.. if you're still concerened about your band, ask them check the position of your band by fluoroscopy, which is a moving xray that lets the Dr watch the flow of a contrast through your band. You may have done a barium swallow in the hospital - this is the same thing. I'm sure you're fine. Don't stress over it.. just love and treasure your band now and be patient. It will all come together soon. Carla - How are you doing now? Enjoying those fulls? *grins*

Leener, I strongly agree with Kathy. Contact your doctor in the morning and tell him you believe you are dehydrated because you can't drink and you want to be seen asap. Have him figure out what's going on with you. *hugs*

The placement of the band changes everything. Before I was banded I could eat so much it food at one time that it astounds me to think about it now. The sensation of being "full" has changed now. As Jack often tells us, the new sensation is satiety rather than the old "unbutton your pants and pat your full belly" type of full. Here is what Websters Dictionary has to say about satiety: "SATIATE and SATE may sometimes imply only complete satisfaction but more often suggest repletion that has destroyed interest or desire." We simply lose the desire to eat - from hunger. Now, head hunger is a different story! Anyway, there is no way you could simulate a banded person's satiety by eating 3/4 C of food prior to banding. You have a full sized stomach wanting full sized meals. Once you are banded that will change without a lot of effort - other than fills. If you want to prepare for banding, begin by learning to chew your food until each bite is goo before swallowing; do not drink liquids for 30 mins before and 1 hour after eating; eat your meal in no less than 15 mins - no more than 20 mins.; eat with no distractions, learn to concentrate on your food and how you feel when eating it so that you are aware of the first signs of no longer being hungry. Those would be worthy habits to master before banding, because they are part of the key to success with your band.

Magic, I saw you mention on your other post that you have been drinking fluids with your meals. This, as you know now, could be why you're able to get around that 'stop signal'. Also, if you are like me, it's not easy to remember to take small bites, eat slowly, chew your food till it's goo, and concentrate on your meal. Don't eat with distractions around you like the tv or the computer, etc. When we are distracted, or in a hurry, we can easily eat too much. Before your first fill, you are basically 'wide open' with no restriction except the stomach swelling. If your swelling has subsided, you will feel normal again and probably will eat as you did prior to banding because you don't have the restriction which keeps food from passing through the smaller pouch as quickly. Once you have that restriction, your pouch will fill up and the food will begin to put pressure on your breastplate as described above. In the meantime, there are some things to remember. Your stomach and esophogus are healing from surgery and irritation of the band being around the swollen tissue. The sutures in your stomach, which are holding the outter wall of the stomach around the band to keep it in place, are very fragile right now. If you over stuff yourself and put pressure on the band as the food passes through, as you described in your post, you could cause tearing of the sutures and band slippage. So, while you CAN eat as much as you did prior to surgery, you SHOULDN'T! Yes, this is going to take some self control, but you aren't expected to maintain this self control for a long period of time - only until the healing process is complete and the internal swelling is gone so your Dr. can determine how much fill is enough. I see some people freak out over the idea of having to use self control. But everyone needs to realize that you will have to use self control during your entire lapband journey. While the band does provide some assistance by limiting the quantity of food we can eat, it will not stop us from putting high sugar, easily dissolved foods in our mouths, which in turn will bypass the very usefullness of the band by slipping huge amounts of calories through it. I saw a quote today by Martin Luther King Jr. that I thought was very appropriate. It went something like this: Though we all arrived on different ships, we are now all in the same boat. I pray that you all find peace in yourselves and the strength to take control of your lives. The first step to that will be to stop telling yourself you cannot control yourself. Every moment of every day we are faced with choices, and the choices of our past brought us to where we are today. Where you are tomorrow, depends on the next choice you make. Stop and think about it before you place a bite of any food in your mouth. Give yourselves time to make the choice, and believe that you have the ability to make one good choice at a time.