Florida Pete

Hey all! I did my first weigh in today since my surgery 1 week ago. I have lost 7.4 lbs in the last week. So for my December challenge I am now at 11.8 lbs lost! WOOT!

First off congrats on your banding lojo! Well a big no no is drinking from a straw. When drinking through a straw you end up swallowing a lot of air which is not good at all especially during the healing process. So don't plan on using a straw at all from now on. Plus after restriction putting air into your stomach will cause false full feelings to and then you won't consume enough nutritian that your body needs. I have no problems getting 60 plus oz of liquid a day. I usually drink a glass (16oz) of Water first thing in the morning. Then while on the full liquids I drink an Atkins shake for Breakfast (11oz) and then will have another glass of water between breakfast and lunch (16oz). At lunch I have soup mixed with broth so it's very very thinned out but still has plenty of Protein and nutrition (16oz) then another glass or two of water before dinner (32oz). At dinner again soup (16oz) and the to finish off the night I will have another glass of water or apple juice. (16oz). So you see I am well above the 60 oz. Substitute soup for broth and there is your clear liquid phase. While teaching I just would make sure they are aware that you had surgery so that if you have a need to get to the bathroom that someone can cover you quickly. I've been at work (desk job) all this week except for Monday and I really haven't had any problems. Good luck too you and Congrats once again!

That has crossed my mind a few times. Before being banded it was all about low carb and I know that was to shrink the liver but when the doc went over what he wants us to do after surgery it was turning to low fat and no longer about low carb. Before getting banded on the Pre-op diet I had lost 23 lbs on that diet. So it does make me wonder how well I will do once not worrying about the carbs any more. I seem to have a tendency to still be watching the carbs.

Yeah when I did the chili it was actually Campbell's Chunky Chili which is about 2 cups of chili. So I took 1 cup of chili and 1 cup of beef broth and put that into the bullet. Worked out great. I have a normal blender too which is pretty nice and last night I was able to do a full can of the Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle soup which doesn't have all that much broth and then two couple of Vegetable stock and blended that right up too. So today for lunch I had some of that and it wasn't to bad. Between the bullet and my larger blender it's all going down pretty smooth.

A month a go or so I saw a topic where people were talking about the bullet and that's what pushed me to get one. Only $50 a Target and Walmart so I was like hell why not. It's been great. Keeps the serving size down and easy to through those cups into the microwave to nuke and heat up. I think it will be great for the mushies stage too! Just won't have to blend things as long. LOL

I do know what you mean Mike about the puree isn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I've had clam chowder, chili, and chicken noodle Soup that has all ben pureed to hell and gone. LOL - All of it has gone down smoothly and I feel more mental satisfaction being able to "real" foods. I am making sure to portion everything out closely and am keeping track of what it is I am eating. I want to make sure I am not blowing my diet.

Hey All - I do check on this thread on a pretty regular basis. I just usually post most of my updates and stuff in the December 2008 Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum of these forums. It is great to see so many December Bandsters and to hear how so many people whom have had this operation already are doing so well! I know that everyone else will do well also! Stick to your pre-op diets! Get out and walk before surgery! Trust me that it has made a difference for me. My liver was small which makes a world of difference for the surgeon and I was up and walking within a couple of hours. I have been out walking everyday since and even been back to work. I can't wait to see how everyone is doing in 6 months and beyond! Good luck to all and get down to the December forum!

I actually know what you mean. I feel like I am consuming to much but from what they have been saying this is what I am suppose to do right now. I guess when the mushies and then solids come into play is when the real feeling of being full will come back and the restricted food control will become more controlled.

My pleasure! I tell you what I feel for those of you that are having the hungry feelings. I really haven't felt that hungry at all except maybe two or three times period. I will hear my stomach talking to me but still feel no hunger at all. Go figure.

Oh no what I ment was that the doc said the consistance of what could be sucked through a straw. He said we really should never use straws because it is easy to suck in a lot of air giving you a false sense of being full. So that really was what I was meaning as liquidy enough that it could be sucked through a straw. Not that I would actually be using a straw.

Ok so I did it. I started my own blog. LOL http://petesnewlife.blogspot.com/

I've been blogging on the one that is provided on the site here. I don't blog every day. Just when I feel like it.

Hi Susan! I will have to go and check that site out! Very cool thanks for sharing!

Good luck to you today! You will do well I am sure! I am at post op day 6 and doing really well. Day 3 back to work too! Let us know when your back how your doing!

I found a nice tool to help with monitoring my food intake as well as how many calories that are burned each day. The online membership is free. You can enter in all the food/drinks you consume in a day and then all the activities you have done for the day and then have reports and conparison charts to see how your doing. Also there are sections to keep track of your weight and measurements so you can monitor your progress as you build your new body!!! So check it out. It's FREE!!! www.fitday.com

Hey I got this finally setup! I thought it was automatic but this is cool! It's our own forum for our group!

Follow the link I posted above. Then in the group box to the right at the top of it there is a "Join Group" link. We're happy to have anyone who wants to join!

Well I thought I would try chili tonight. Blended it with an equal amount of beef broth to thin it out. It's pretty good actually. Amazing what you can come up with. LOL

What the docs orders are of course is making good food choices but for the full liquids he said that anything that you can suck through a straw is allowed during the full liquids. A couple of months ago I bought the bullet and so what I did was take 1 serving of clam chowder and 1 serving of milk and then pureed it smooth. This way I got a decent amount of protien yet still had something that tasted decent. I did this for dinner last night and lunch today. I am doing the Atkins shakes at breakfast with of course drinking plenty of water between meals.

Congrats on the rappid weightloss! I haven't stepped on the scale yet since my banding. I am waiting for a week to pass by. Like you said because of Water weight it's to easy to step on the scale today and weigh and then step on it tomorrow and be heavier and then the next day again and then be lighter. So for me it's a once a week plan to weigh myself. Keep us up to date on how you two are doing! You will have to let us know what it's like doing the band together too!

So yesterday was my first day on full liquids. So I thought for dinner last night I would puree up some Soup and see how that goes down. I had clam chowder. It was great! Funny how after a short time on the Clear Liquids how something like pureed soup tastes so great. So what have you tried for full liquids?

If you really enjoy swimming you might be interested in deep Water aerobics. My aunt whom had this surgery 4 years ago swears by it. She went from a 26 to a 12 by working the band with diet and the deep water aerobics. You might just have to check into your local Y to see if they have them and if they will work for your schedule. Best of luck!

I was banded on Friday (12/5) and the docs instructions for me was to walk as soon as possible and then after a few weeks I could step up the exercise. You want to be very careful while your incisions are healing to not do anything to damage that process. So start walking and build up from there like HDSantoni said. Myself I have already started walking and plan in a month to start a more vigerous exercise program.

I was banded just last Friday 12/5 and have some itching too. Doesn't sound like as bad as yours but I just do a light scratch around the bandages but not on the actual incisions or bandages. It releaves it for a while and then a lite scratch again later.

That's great that you have the extra time to recover. Unfortunately we have a big push at work on a project that we have to have for our clients by Christmas. But that's ok too because I didn't have that much PTO left to use. How about any bowl movements? I know it's not the most pleasant thing to talk about but I have had like pure liquid and a couple of times pretty close to an immediate need to be in the bathroom. I wonder if it's something I drank. Only thing I have had so far is Water, juice, chicken broth, beef broth, and today an Atkins shake.