Chickie D

I've thought about going vegetarian, too. meat seems like such a pain (ha!) to deal with in the quantities I can eat. One small point...vegan is the absence of all animal products, including milk, cheese, eggs...I don't think I would go that far with it. Would love to have your recipes!

Totally get the feelings you're having. Try to keep in mind that going to your weight loss surgeon's office is (or, at least should be) a different experience than going to all of the other doctors you've been to in the past. They deal with the issues we face very single day. xoxox

I get terrible upper back pain when I eat too much...could this be it?

Throwing up is not normal. If you switch to all liquids and it's still happening, you need to be seen.

I have only ever seen a tiny bit of the show, but what I saw disgusted me. There was some contest and the loser had to eat donuts (or maybe it was some other crappy food). Clearly not a show about gaining health.

You two have certainly been throughout it. Please don't let this stop you in reaching your goal of living a more healthy lifestyle.

Name, real or screen~ Chickie Goal weight for March 31st~ 199 Weight on March 1st~ 207 Age~ 47 City/State~ SF Bay Area Dietary goal for March~ increase protein intake to at least 45g each day Exercise goal for March~ continue treadmill twice per day, work up to one hour total Personal goal for March~ journal my accomplishments...big and small Date banded~ 2008 Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~ 90 pounds What are you lucky to have in your life? So much,but mostly my incredibly supportive husband.

Thank you all. And, yes...I fully believed that as long as I didn't eat slider foods, the and would limit the quantity I could eat. In some ways that is tyre, but I never heard anything about dimmed hunger or watching for signals - even though in retrospect, I know I was having, and ignoring, the subtle signs that I'd had enough. I'm so glad I started looking around again and am now back on track. xox

Had my gall bladder removed on a semi-emergency basis. No unfill and no complications as a result.

Rock on! I've been following your posts over the last couple of weeks...so motivating!

I used to post regularly on LapBandTalk. I've been reading, but not posting here for a few weeks and feel ready now to dive back in with both feet. Some Background... My highest weight was 297. I was 265 or so at the time of my surgery (six years ago - or was it five?). I lost down to 180 and felt so good. So good. Changes in my life started happening (mostly good things!) and I turned to my old best friend - food. I stopped paying attention to myself and what was going on with my body and I (of course) regained. I made it up to 240 pounds, and then lost a bit. Gained a bit. Lost a bit. You know how it is. Part of the issue was that I couldn't get a good fill. Too much out and I was hungry - too much in and I couldn't drink Water and had night coughs. Annnnd...my doctor had one of the strictest post-surgical (ongoing weight loss) diets I've seen - 600-800 calories per day. My conclusion was that the band was not working for me. I gave up. Plain and simple. Digressing for a moment - I am darn lucky that the band was actually working and that I didn't regain every single pound I'd ever lost and then some. Darn lucky. I moved across the country three years ago and haven't been seen by a weight loss surgery professional since then. I felt defeated in terms of the band and I was just plain tired of trying. Worn. Out. Reality Set In... I was bobbling around 230 pounds for months and realized that something needed to change. A friend of mine had sleeve surgery, so I started researching. Maybe the sleeve was the answer for me. As part of my research, I stumbled upon drsimpson.net and devoured all of the information there very quickly. There are things on his site that made me say, "Yes! THAT!!! That's me!!!" Clear liquids for a week and I've been on full liquids for two weeks. I'm measuring everything. I'm walking again. And, surprise!, I'm losing weight. And (bigger surprise!) I'm not hungry. So..why post now? A couple of reasons: 1) I need support and I know that I can ask for and receive it here, and 2) I want others to know that just because you've stopped following your plan and just because you've regained that doesn't mean you can't start over from where you are right now. You don't need to do what I did and start over - come up with a plan that you think will work for you and then follow that plan or have a new plan. Oh, and thank you. There's so much good going on here. xo