LindaD

You can buy big bags of nuts (my favorites are pistachios) from costco. Nuts aren't cheap in general, but the Costco ones are waaaay cheaper, ounce for ounce, than other places. And they last long and are filling, with low-carbs and Protein and such. I also have the Archer Farms protein breakfast Cereal. I can pack a 1-cup serving of that and eat it dry for breakfast. A box of that cereal isn't as cheap as some of the other ones, but it's pretty healthy and organic and has 9g of protein per serving so it's not expensive compared to other things. eggs are pretty reasonable. I used to make egg recipes in a muffin tin and then freeze individual ones so I could grab them and just heat them in the microwave at work and eat them. Just some ideas....

My surgery was May 29th and I'm losing it. I thought it was slowing down but then this morning when I showered, a ton came out. I'm not worried - I lost hair after my last pregnancy. It went on for MONTHS but eventually it stopped and I never lost so much that it was noticeable. My hair isn't as full/thick as it was but there is still plenty there.

I had outpatient laproscopic surgery. I was home by noon on Friday. I didn't take any time off work. I have a sedentary job, though. I did work from home on Monday/Tuesday but was back in the office on Wednesday.

I eat out pretty regularly. I have no problems as long as I take small bites and don't eat too fast or too much. My band is pretty loose, I guess, based on what I hear others describe. I have 2.4ccs of Fluid in there and I can pretty much eat anything. There IS restriction, but it's not overly restrictive and so maybe that's why I don't have any issues eating out?? I dunno.

The scale said 207 this morning - need to update my ticker. 7 more pounds and I'll cross the southern border into one-derland. I can't wait!!

Also, sometimes what we think is just head hunger, behavior controlled, will power, etc. actually IS driven physiologically. Some of the crap we eat DOES drive our appetite up, make us "more" hungry. The three books that resonate with me soooo much, and I'd recommend them to anyone struggling with this battle of food and weight and health and such: Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes In Defensive of Food, by Michale Pollan The Hungry Gene, by Ellen Ruppel Shell Sometimes what we THINK is in our heads is really part of our physical make-up more than we imagine. If you are fighting head-hunger, at least look into doing it through your body... maybe it's not all in your head after all.

I was going to suggest seeking counseling too. I'm not trying to be high-horsey at all, I swear. I'm far from a perfect bandster. To me, though, it sounds like you're sabotaging yourself. You're talking about eating because of boredom and unhappiness... Are you seeking help or advise, or just looking to commisserate with someone? If you KNOW you aren't eating because of hunger, then you need help with the emotional head-hunger. If you really are trying to address hunger, then feed yourself food that will fill your pouch and not feed your appetite. I'd suggest food that is rich and satisfying and yet 'whole'... nuts, olives, cheese, etc.

Most of the time it goes down (for me). The one time, it did come back up. But like I said - ACK - it took like 3 hours for it to resolve. Live and learn. Good luck!

For MONTHS before my surgery, I was trying to eat as I would eat after. I swear, it was way harder than it should have been. I would intend to do small bites, chew well, and then my appetite would drive me to take bigger bites and eat too fast. At the end of the meal, I'd be all "Dammit, I forgot to do it right again." LOL After the surgery, because of the surgery, it wasn't as hard. I remember it all the time. When I don't, I regret it and that helps to reinforce doing it right the next time. You will have negative bio-feedback after the surgery that will help reinforce this habit. That's part of the glory of this procedure, in my opinion (and other weight loss surgeries, too). I bet you'll do fine!

So funny, I'm sharing some with my husband right now. It's the first time I've had it since being banded, but I'm taking it slow and chewing well. No problems thus far.

Having food get stuck is fairly common. I'm surprised you hadn't come across this in researching your surgery or life-after-the-band. For me, usually it passes quickly but I've had at least one instance where it took a few hours for it to clear.

I don't expect I will do it forever. I always balked at logging my food ("journaling" it) in the past, however the new internet tracking tools make it so easy. And I find that I learn a lot. As I do this over time, I am really getting a true sense of how much (in terms of calories, fat, carbs, etc.) that I am eating. I was pretty good at carb estimates already, but calories not so much. Sometimes it's just reassuring. For example, yesterday FELT like a huge pig-out day but it was only 1,250 calories. Some days I feel like I'm not eating too much, but due to the items I've chosen, I end up higher than than I should have been. So for me, logging right now is a CALLIBRATION tool to keep me in check. I hope and expect that it will become second nature and I won't need to log every bite at some point. But until my internal estimator is properly callibrated, then it's a good way to keep things in check and re-educate myself.

Louise, The FDA recommendations (for me, at least - I used an online calculator to look it up) is upward of 300g of carbs per day. Atkins is flexible - the plan puts you on a very SEVERE regimine for 2 weeks - 20g a day - and then after that you increase slowly until you figure out your "maintenance" level (that level where you no longer are losing) and then you back off from there. So that's one way. I have found that I do well (and it's not too hard) to operate at about 100g a day. That is still significantly reduced from the FDA guildelines, but it's not so restrictive as to be difficult to follow. I still have enough leeway so that I don't have to work hard to hit that level. For example, last night I had potatoes with my dinner and I had fruit at lunch. I would suggest starting by tracking what you're eating now - see what your run-rate of carb intake is. Once you're there, set yourself some goals. I mean, if you're a big carb eater, you might want to start by weaning. Say you take in 400 a day - maybe start off cutting down to 200. That's STILL more than 33% less than the FDA recommends, so it IS carb restricted. See how you feel, how well it fits into your eating style, and then go from there. Some people start by just cutting out white foods: sugar, flour, rice, potatoes. I'm not strictly cutting out anything, but I have my sugar in the form of fructose (fruit) and I have my potatoes and I even occasionally have rice and/or bread.

According to the GoWearFit armband device, even on a day I would consider sedentary (lazy day), I burn about 1800 in a 24 hour period. On the days I work out, I get about 600 calories knocked out in an hour on the eliptical. But I don't do that EVERY day. For the past couple weeks, since the weather has cooled a little, I've been taking 2 20-minute walks (one mid to late morning and one mid afternoon). That gives me a couple of miles even before I get home. I use the treadmill and/or bike at home. I usually only go to the gym 2X a week. All of this is doable right now because my husband isn't working, so I have him playing Mr. Mom at home and all three of our young ones are in school - our baby just started kindergarten. So the timing is pretty good for me to give fitness more focus. Also, having dropped a big chunk of weight already, things are just EASIER right now. The thought of even a 20 minute walk a year ago would have been overwhelming - I would have worried about coming back to work all sweaty and gross, etc. Now? Easy-peasy. After my surgery, I took it easy and JUST walked the treadmill. I think I was 4-6 weeks out before I even went to the gym and got on the eliptical.

I was soooo hungry post-op. Not right away, but a couple days later. I mean, my pre-op diet was pretty darn restrictive and I think my body was just desperate for food. My doc told me I could have oyster crackers as long as I let them dissolve before swallowing. Thank goodness for that. LOL I had a lot of oyster crackers that week.

I log my food on The Daily Plate too (they have the BEST database of foods!) I also bought a Go Wear Fit armband and it helps me track my activities and calories burned. It's not perfect, but it gives me a relative view day after day. So at the end of each day, I take my totals from The Daily Plate and plug them in my GoWearFit Activity Manager. This way, I know my approximate caloric intake and output each day. My goal is a 1000 calorie deficit per day. I don't always make my goal LOL but that's my target.

My doc put 1.5cc in at the time the band was placed, and then at my first fill he got me up to 2.4ccs (I think those numbers are right - something like that... I know I'm at 2.4ccs anyway). When I went in for my 2nd fill, we decided to forego it. I don't think I'm at my sweetspot - I have some restriction and I'm losing at a good clip. Those are what matter. It's almost like a safety net for me. I suppose if I need my safety net reinforced, I'll get more in there then. If I stop losing weight or start "abusing" my ability to have both control and satiety. But for now, with 1 fill and 2.4ccs, I'm in a good place.

There are a lot of reasons for hair loss and no one is QUITE sure, as best I can tell, what it is. Many say Protein, but I feel like I'm getting plenty. I've faced this type of hair loss before - after my last child was born. It went on for months, and there was always soft, flighty "new growth" coming in. Same thing that is happening to me now (my surgery was 5/29). I have been researching. Hormonal changes are a big suspect for hair loss. I'm sure my body is experiencing hormonal changes with the weight loss. I have very thick hair, normally, and it's feeling thinner every day. A big gob seems to end up on the shower floor every time I shower. With as much as I've seen come out of my brush or the drain, it's shocking there is ANY left on my head. LOL But... when I was losing all that hair after my daughter was born, it did eventually stop and re-grow and get thick again. I'm going to trust that will happen this time too. By the way, a few of the supplements I found that are supposed to help are: Spirulina Silica Complex I bought both from Amazon and have only started taking the Silica recently. Perhaps, if you're interested, you could google both of those along with "hair loss" and decide if they may be an option for you? I cannot give a personal testament to their efficacy yet, but I thought I'd pass along what I learned in my research - some people swear by them for helping with hair loss.

I was banded on May 29th. Life is good. I can eat most anything, am satisfied on small amounts. I don't feel deprived AT ALL. I'm 44 and have lost weight through many programs - everytime, I've felt deprived and hungry. It's SOOOOOOO nice not to feel hungry. I'm so grateful for that - I keep telling my husband "This must be how normal people feel." Another thing... food tastes better to me. I work to make my calories "count" and I just appreciate what I eat so much more now. I realize I'm only 3 months out, so still in the honeymoon phase. But thus far, I'm one of those Cloud-9 Bandsters. I couldn't be happier. (PS: when I was contemplating it, this was one of my fears... I would feel deprived, unsatisfied, miss things, etc. I was willing to face that, if necessary, for my health but I'm so glad I don't have to!! I'm more fulfilled from an eating standpoint than I have ever been in my life.)

My goal is to consume under 1500 calories a day and burn 2500. Some days, my calorie intake is very low - like 800. But usually it's around 1200-1400. I manage to get in about 55-60g of Protein, about 100-120g of carbs, and about 70-80g of fats. That's my fairly typical day.

I'm a believer in low-carb... moreso these days than ever before. I first read Atkins in 2000 and had a lot of success with it, but the controversy (is it unhealthy yadda yadda) got me down, plus I was just not fully embracing it - still worried and watching fats, etc. I have since embraced it fully. I read Gary Taubes book and now I'm reading _In Defense of Food_ and more and more, I believe it. When I say I'm low carb, some people scoff because I don't do any sort of 20g a day thing (like Atkins induction phase). I try to stay around 100g a day. It's enough to allow me to have stuff, while still being limited enough to support my weight loss. You want to know what I eat? Since some are asking... I have a cup of pistachios most days for Breakfast (1 cup in-shell). I also like cashews and eat those here and there. For lunch at work... I have the Del Monte Fruit Naturals ruby red grapefruit cups. I also keep a jar of olives stuffed with garlic and cheese (in oil) in my work fridge. I usually have whatever the family is having for dinner. Tonight I had a Pasta dish with a cajun cream sauce and scallops and langostinos with asparagus on the side. I didn't have much pasta, but I had some. I eat eggs. I like scrambled eggs with diced ham. Or just scrambled eggs with hot sauce! I love Trader Joe's buffalo mozzerella, marinaded with spices and such. Since my banding, I'm not yet quite ready for steak (I've had issues both time I've tried), but I keep some fully-cooked sausage links in the fridge and I'll have 2 or 3 of those for a meal. I love deviled eggs so I make those occasionally. I love berries and cream (with a little Splenda) and so we have that sometimes for breakfast (plan to have it tomorrow, in fact!). Edamame - I eat a lot of that. Trader Joe's has ready-to-eat edamame that is really yummy... I just add some sea-salt. Avocados - I probably have an avocado for lunch a few times a week. Just shell it, cut it up into bite sized pieces, salt it and eat. It's divine. I also make homemade guacamole and it's to die for. I have a panini maker at home and I make quesadillas. Like I said, I'm not a die-hard low-carber so a tortilla isn't a big deal to me. I put whatever I want on there - refried Beans, guacamole, chicken, cheese, sour cream. Those are my staples, at least the ones that come to mind. I use butter and olive oil in cooking. I use real cream. Oh - a really good "treat" for a low-carber... I will occasionally have a diet rootbeer with about an ounce or so of heavy cream mixed in. Tastes like a rootbeer float. But I eat other stuff too that isn't low carb. I track all my food and I typically hit about 100 grams a day of carbs. On a "splurge" day, it might be 200, but that's a LOT and it doesn't happen too often anymore (given that I eat a lot less overall).

You know what I love - people are willing to act as if McDonalds and Wendys and places like that are pure evil, but they will go eat at other "restaurants" that aren't fast food. Let me tell you - just because there is table service doesn't mean you're in the clear. WHATEVER you eat, and wherever you eat it from, you need to be aware of it, manage it, and (for me) track it. I can do that even with an occasional plain chicken sandwhich from the drive-thru or whatever. Whether you're making food at home, driving through, or sitting down with a menu and a server taking your order, you have to be responsible for your food choices. Period. In ANY of those situations, a person can make choices that are bad or choices that are good. The trick is to make the right choices, regardless of the venue. If you turn over the power to the establishment (fast food places are evil! they made us all fat!) you are not taking personal responsibility and claiming the power of your own choices. I mostly stick with whole foods and I have only had fast-food very infrequently. I've lost 76 pounds and feel great. I'm fine with my choices. No need for anyone to pity my poor, poor doomed soul. LOL I suppose if doing so makes you feel righteous, then go right ahead - it doesn't change anything with regard to me making my own path...

My first food out when I was on mushies was guacamole. God, it was so good. :lol I love avocados and ate quite a few of those while on soft foods. Yummy. I do eat out, sometimes for pleasure and sometimes by necessity - either for business or because I'm away from home. I try to make good choices. I have ended up in a fast food place a few times. My last business trip, I walked to Wendy's - there was nothing else around. I got a plain chicken sandwhich and Water, no fries or anything. And I didn't eat the top bun. I have gotten teriyaki chicken with no rice at the mall - Sarku is the chain. It's dark meat chicken, very moist and when down well when I first started back on solids. I order it and eat less than half and get at least 1 more meal out of it.

It took a few weeks for my port site to really heal. It itched like crazy while it was healing. Also, at least on me, the port is stitched in where as the other incisions were just skin growing back together. So it makes sense that the port site has more healing to do. I recall feeling pain - nothing major, just niggling occasional pain - for about 4 weeks. (I was up and around pretty quickly too. Happy healing!!)

This is a sad thread. I really never conceived of this happening in real friendships. Heck, I wasn't even surprised by the surgery results ending in broken marriages (I can see that happening more easily, I guess).