Lisa B

You can do it! You've come so far, and eight pounds is doable in 5-6 weeks, you just need to switch up your exercise routine and maybe your eating, and you'll be there. You certainly have the momentum!

Congratulations! That is a huge milestone and you know you've worked hard for it! Great job!

For those of you three weeks out (me, that'll be me, me, me tomorrow! me! :thumbup:) - what have you been doing for exercise? I've been walking alot, getting back into biking with short 8-10 mile rides every other day, but I feel like I should be doing more. I think I'm just jonesing to start weight training and core work again. But the thought of creasing my poor middle with its four incisions and port while doing sit-ups is keeping me from making the plunge. So, what's everyone doing for exercise?

Mmm, love that pesto recipe! Thanks for the link. :cursing:

Dang, Aubrie, you're making me look forward to breakfast tomorrow morning! :crying: I usually have yogurt with a scoop of EAS - tastes like chocolate pudding. Altho, I just bought one of those little pouches of cooked, crumbled bacon - found in the salad dressings aisle - and tried my 1/4 cup of scrambled egg beaters with a tablespoon of the bacon. Wow! It's power packed and a little goes a long way. As Homer Simpson says, "Mmmm, bacon!"

Hey Katie - I'm in Kirkland too, banded just over two weeks ago. Like you I was always pretty active, but for me it was back problems and then hip surgery that kept slowing me down and finally made me give up. I'm happy to meet for coffee/tea sometime to see if we'd be a good fit for each other. Me, I've been married six years, together for 11, to a tall skinny guy who, when he wants to lose weight, tells himself to stop eating that extra sandwich at lunch or Cookies for dessert. Kills me. PM me if you want to get together for coffee/tea/water some day - with or without the dogs. (Mine loves people but is cranky with other dogs when on leash! Crazy pooch Cheers, Lisa

Finally! Movement! After spending the last week gaining and losing the same 2-3 lbs. I'm at a new low, 27 lbs. lost since intake at the end of June. Things certainly seem like they're moving very slowly, tho. Grr arg. Walked 2-3 miles/day, plus tried the Punch, Kick, Jab DVD. Um, too soon. :wink: Dying to get back to weight training and core work, but my port is still sore (surgery 8.7) and while I've finally managed to eat more than 1000c/day, I think it will be a couple of more weeks before I'm doing situps and back to lifting 60+ lbs. at a pound (other than myself, of course :wink2:).

Argh, this is frustrating! :smile2: I've only been banded two weeks and I really want to do something other than walking the dog for miles and miles every day! I was doing a lot of weight training, situps, and other core work before surgery and it's making me crazy to have to sit around and wait for my incisions to stop zinging me all the time. Especially since I'm stuck here at home with no job. Suggestions for anything besides the elliptical? Last week my doc said two weeks before lifting anything heavier than 20 lbs ... do you suppose he meant two weeks from surgery? (I know, he didn't, but I'm trying to convince myself that maybe it would be OK. )

Kristy - I add blueberries, Fiber and 1 TB no-sugar-added Peanut Butter, then blend furiously. And not to hijack your thread, Kristy, but Lanakilia - You've said the same thing in other threads, about the body only being able to absorb a certain amount of Protein at a time. Not that I don't believe you, but could you tell me where you got that fact? Cheers, Lisa

I'm going to buy a pair of knee-high boots for the first time in my life. I'm going to wear a dress in the winter because I have boots to keep my legs warm! I'm going to go on another long bike trip with my husband, only this time we're taking the singles, not the tandem, and I'll be able to keep up (well, maybe ). I'm going to start bike commuting again. I'm going to take buy fun, cute clothes again. I'm going to wear shirts that have to be tucked into pants and not worry about looking like I have no waist! Ahh, this is good for the soul. :biggrin2:

Resurrecting this v. old thread to say that this is a perfect description for me of what's been going on. I guess I have restriction! :thumbup: I'm sitting here trying to finish 3 ounces of very wet tuna and after 45 mins have maybe made it thru 1.5 oz. Mari, if you're still on the list, thanks for the enlightenment! P.S. I found this by scrolling down to the bottom of the page on another more recent post about restriction. It's a great feature of LBT.

I've been on soft/mushies since last Wednesday, and have been eating a lot of yogurt (with EAS Protein powder mixed in), cottage cheese, scrambled eggs w/cottage cheese, cheesy tuna (found the recipe on LBT :thumbup:), and Protein shakes. The shakes are cheaters, since they're liquid calories, but it's about all I can manage for Breakfast, and since they're about 290 calories, with 24 grams of protein, and they keep me full 'til lunchtime, I figure they're OK. I went hiking this weekend and bonked until I bit the bullet and ate some very well chewed almonds and craisins, but that as close to "real" food as I've come. It is a learning curve, that's for sure!

This thread has been a godsend in keeping me from becoming completely freaked out by the way I've been feeling in the last week. I'm 11 days out from surgery and have managed to lose about six lbs., but I'm off full liquids and onto mushies now - with no restriction. It's been difficult watching the scale say the same thing every day for the last week. OK, frustrating. OK, this morning I gave the scale the finger. Double barreled. Take that you inanimate pain in my ass! :wink2:

Hi - My surgery was two days after yours (on the 7th), and when I went in for my first post-op visit yesterday, the doc just yanked off the steri strips, pronounced all looked good, and sent me home! (OK, it took slightly longer than that, but you get the gist.) I was surprised, but I guess that a week out - and given all five of my incisions are no more than an inch apiece - keeping them covered is no longer necessary. They're still sore, and kinda red and puffy, but they haven't bothered me at all today being uncovered. Hope this helps relieve your mind.

I came home with liquid percoset, which I didn't use at all the first day but definitely needed the second once all the surgery drugs wore off. I think I used it day two and three, then that was about it. The doc also sent me home with an anti-nausea med in a suppository form, which thank dog I have not needed!

Thanks for the responses, all. And thanks, Jack, for that vision of "old putrified and fermenting products" - that is something that is going to stick with me for a while! (Or hopefully not, as the case may be!) Jachut, fortunately coffee isn't one of my vices, so I'll take your word that's it's the strong stuff that may be setting you off. Interestingly, I saw my doc yesterday for the one-week followup, he's moved me to soft foods, and I've had a couple of yogurts and some cottage cheese since then. No gas today, but yesterday was really bad - keep me up at night, bad. Who the frell knows what it means, but I'm guessing it's another point toward Jack's putrifying remains. Hee, sorry Jack, couldn't resist. :biggrin: PS Jachut - you look awesome and are an inspiration. My excuse is that I'm six years older and I'll never wear a bikini like that! :smile:

That is good to hear - I have a few different flavors of Isopure that are just noxious - I'd love to exchange them for something else. Thanks for the tip!

Not hungry for four and a half hours - isn't it great?!

Hey soontobehottie, everyone is different, but you may be pushing it to spend the day at Universal so soon after surgery. I actually felt great when I got home from surgery on Thursday, and went out and walked the dog twice. And I paid for it Friday and Saturday - writing checks my body can't cash, as my husband puts it - by being really tired, achy, and generally not so eager to even leave the house, forget about spending a day at an amusement park. Hey, you'll have the entire rest of your life for that, take these few days right after surgery to relax and learn to live with this new tool you've been given. Listen to me, all Zen like. One more thing - two days after surgery was when I had diarrhea all day. Maybe it's just me, but I'd really just like my own private bathroom for those sorts of activities!

I knew I'd find the answers I needed somewhere on LBT! :ohmy: I was banded on Thursday and have been in some minor discomfort off and on, but have had a lot of diarrhea all day today. And then I remembered that someone had said "liquid in, liquid out" - thanks godshelp, and thanks Claudine for having asked first. The weird thing is that normally I would be pretty freaked about this, but I'm just so happy to be banded that I can take it - diarrhea, gas, itching from the oxycodone, all things that normally would be driving me mad, but eh, it's OK. LBT is truly the font of all wisdom. :crying: Cheers, Lisa

One of the things that helped me, Flem, and may work for you too - I slept in my regular bed last night, which has a heated mattress pad. The pain of the incisions/muscles was so bad and it wasn't time for drugs yet, that I turned on the mattress pad and was able to lay on my stomach. The gentle heat seemed to help. This morning I got up and put on one of those TheraPad heat pads. I have a lot for my back, so I just flipped it around and I'm finding the warmth is helping. It's not too hot, which I'm not sure would be good for the incisions, anyway, but keeping my middle a bit warm is comforting. Then again, so is the oxycodone.

My surgery on the 7th went fine, tho I had to be there at 5:45 in the a. freaking m! Can't remember the last time I had to get up before 5. Surgery went great and other than some gas pains yesterday the day was fine. I think I had about 4 sugar-free fruit bars to help with the throat pain, and barely managed to choke down one bottle of Isopure and a few cups of water. Head hungry when I got home, but that's gone. Terrible night's sleep tho, as all the hospital drugs wore off and my incisions started hurting. As someone said elsewhere, it felt like I'd done about 500 sit ups! I have four incisions plus the port - which is in the middle of my chest, just below my breast line. I'm hoping it is down far enough to not interfere with my bra. But since I'll be able to wear less formidable styles soon, should be OK! :ohmy: I've managed to get down most of a full bottle of Isopure this morning - since I finally gave up and got up at 5. Let's not make this a habit, ok?! I've got three days of clear liquids then I can move onto full liquids, which I'm really looking forward too. Not hungry, but feeling a bit draggy between the oxycodone and the lack of food. Oh, and no sleep! Anyway, long report, but it helps me to write it down to see how I'm doing. At this point I feel like I could live on popsicles and diluted Isopure, so I'm going to enjoy that while I can! :biggrin2: Continued good luck to those who've gone before and those who are up next! I'm planning on this being one of the best decisions I ever made. Cheers, Lisa

Yesterday I walked into my weekly one-on-one with my manager and five second later our HR rep walked in. Uh oh. Turns out our group is undergoing a reorg and my position is going away. I have seven weeks to find a new position in the company then I'm on my own (the joys of a big company, at least!). Tomorrow I get my lapband. Which of these am I more freaked out about? Well, at least surgery seems like a walk in the park right now! Good luck to all the other 7s out there, and wish me luck in the job search. :wink_smile:

Yep, I'm getting lots of encouragement from friends and family, so it's good. I'm in a good mood (tho the oxycodone may be helping there :biggrin2:). And surgery was a breeze! In at 5:45, surgery at 7 a.m., home by, uh, well, I wasn't really paying attention. A bit of gas, I've had a couple of popsicles, sipping ice Water and Isopure (that stuff is rather nasty, I must say), and pacing the halls of the house. Even went for a walk around the block. We'll see how tomorrow goes! And now, get out of that chair, Lisa, and get moving some more. It really is the best thing, isn't it?!

Ouch - at nine months pregnant you deserved to be able to rant and rave and throw things. I doubt me worrying about keeping the dog in kibble is quite the same. :w00t: Thanks for the kind words. I think I've recovered my sense of humor, so all is not lost. It's actually kind of nice to have two major events to focus on - if I start to get too freaked out about one I can just move to the other!