TheGh0st

For fear of sounding like a commercial. My personal favorite "Quick" Protein shake is Slim Fast's LOW CARB shakes. They have 20 grams of Protein and only 4 grams of Carbs (2 of which are fiber). The only places I've found them for sale though are Walgreens and Sam's Club. I like the slimfast because they not only have the protein but have some Vitamins and minerals as well. But it has to be the low carb one. Oddly the one they market as "High Protein" has less protein and WAY more carbs (15 protein & 20 carbs) Some people I know like to stir in a little instant coffee, though I'm not a coffee fan. Sometimes if I feel like mixing it up a bit I've run it through a blender with some Strawberries, Rasberries or Banana's or even a tablespoon of Peanut Butter but I think it tastes fine without the add-ins. Other than Slimfast I sometimes get the Isopure drinks from GNC. They have 40 grams of protein per bottle and 0 carbs but the flavor is a bit of an acquired taste. The only one I "like" is the Grape Frost with some Crystal Light mixed in it to boost the flavor. The orange one I tried tasted like a watered down and ever so slightly slimy McDonalds orange drink (NASTY!) though I never tried mixing in the Crystal light orange flavored mix with it. I will also make my own shakes from powders if I have the time/desire but usually I find it hard to get the powder to properly dissolve and it just doesn't seem worth the effort. Most of them don't have as good a protein to carb ratio as the Slim Fast and none of the extra nutrition. Still they are cheaper and easier to tailor to your personal tastes.

I have heard of a group called SmartBandsters that holds a BandsterBash each year in Seattle. I think it was in February this year already. I also saw a post on LBT recently about a get together being arranged on another bandster site called. Band2gether.net (b2g) Lap band Support Forums - Powered by vBulletin I'm not a member of either of these groups but I hope this helps. Would love to see a LBT get together sometime but the few attempts at arranging one that I've seen over the last year have mostly fell apart.

A lot of bandsters tend to be more restricted in the mornings than the rest of the day. Have you ever noticed if your rings are tighter in the morning as well? This would be a good indicator of tissue swelling and if the tissue in your fingers is swelling you can safely assume the stomach tissue inside your band is swelling as well. You are right though to not want to skip Breakfast, it is always a good idea to try to have something in the morning to kick start your metabolism. Have you tried drinking a Protein drink just for breakfast? My doc use to be against protein supplements especially liquid shakes after the initial recovery period as he was concerned about the liquid calories not keeping us feeling full but after over 1000 band surgeries he has since changed his position and now says it is much better to drink a Protein shake in the mornings if your are too tight to eat solids than it is to skip breakfast.

Considering your age and amount of weight to lose, if you stomach doesn't already have a pannus (flap) then you may not end up wanting Plastic Surgery. There are no guarantees ofcourse but what you describe does sound promising. One other factor, are you fair skinned or a red-head. People who are (like me) tend to have skin that doesn't bounce back as well.

Definitely call your docs office and talk it over with them. Some people's stomach's are overly sensitive and will get irritated after a fill and be tighter for a couple of days but that should have settled down by now. Obviously we are not docs, but it does sound like you may need a slight unfill. One more reason you should call sooner rather than later is if you are self pay many docs will perform a small unfill for free if done within a week of the fill.

Great Job!!!

You know I did a "Cookie Diet" while I was an au pair in London one summer about 15 years ago. The woman I worked for claimed it was an American craze. Yet none of my family in the States had ever heard of it. It worked a bit like slimfast in that you replaced 2 meals with a large cookie which was suppose to contain an assortment of Vitamins and minerals. The difference was suppose to be that it actually gave you something to chew and make you feel fuller than just drinking slimfast would. As everyother diet it did seem to work while I was on it but once I was off the old habits came back and I regained it. I was shocked when I saw them advertising them recently. No idea if it is the same company but must be same concept. The ones I had years ago actually tasted pretty good. They had everything from chocolate, oatmeal raisin to a pretty good lemony cake cookie and if I remember correctly a carrot cake one too. Before you ate them you also were suppose to drink 2 large glasses of Water to help the cookie swell in your stomach to make you feel full. Post band I wouldn't reccomend that part. I know the band is suppose to help us put diet's behind us but I wouldn't be above trying it again to knock off some of these last stubborn pounds it the hope that the band would stop the regain. Though I'm not sure if the Cookies might not be too hard to eat without getting stuck.

I've only been banded since 2005 but with no complications so far. I'm curious as well.

I seem to remember the 2 days going a lot faster and easier than I expected. I figured by day 2 I'd be ready to eat my own arm off but I wasn't. Good Luck and make sure to let us know how you are doing after the surgery.

Congratulations!!! I know its a shock to the system to have the date moved up but it will all be for the best.

I'm in the Kansas City area and after seeing BooBoo's thread would love to give this a try as well. If any of you photographers are in this area and would give me a discount give me a PM.

I placed my vote. Keep bumping the thread to remind me though. :mad2:

With a 4 year old at home I would never be the one to walk away from my husband (unless he cheated on me or was physically abusive) but in my hard of hearts there have definitely been times over the last year I've wondered if it would be so terrible if he would just decide to leave me. I use to put up with so much crud when I was more overweight and now that I've lost most of the weight I'm standing up for myself more than I ever have and it sure causes some friction to say the least. I know we love each other but sometimes its hard for us to like each other.

Edited out phrases about jeep and daughter. Replace with WWI memorabilia and 4 year old son and I could have wrote the post myself. Especially the bit about Vegas. I have SOOOOOO been wanting a weekend in Vegas with a few banded girls without the hubby. Do a little window shopping, clothes shopping, dancing, maybe a day at a spa and take in a show. Of course first I have to find some funds to pay for it and right now money is tight. My biggest problem with money arguments with my DH right now is that everytime he wants to buy something frivolous and I try to remind him we can't afford it he pulls out the old "We spent 20+K on you, now its my turn." The fact we could barely afford the 20K and are still paying off the loans to prove it, much less an additional 20K for him just doesn't seem to register in his head. Grrrr!!!!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!! Congratulations on the pregnancy! That doc sounds like the same one I saw a couple years back. Worked out of College Park Family Care. What and @ss#o!e he was. But what are the chances it really was the same doc? If you are still looking around a bit for OB's I loved mine. Her name was Dr. Linda Brown, she works for KU Med West. She also knows a bit about the lapband and was wonderful with my high risk pregnancy, even gave me her home number and called me several evenings just to check on me.

I'd like to see them base it on the percentage of their Excess Weight Lost instead of just weight lost. That would go a long ways in evening the playing field. Ofcourse it also opens up the whole can of worms of how exactly do you determine what their excess weight is.

PIX - You are my HERO!!!

I know this isn't exactly the same as a life goal such as acting but I have been avoiding my HighSchool Reunions due to me weight but am now looking forward to going to the 25th reunion.

Hey all. Just thought I'd pop in and say hi as well. I wish more of us 05's would band together (oops sorry for the pun) Sometimes I miss the support of those that aren't just banded but have been banded as long as me as well. Maybe once we reach more than 2 years out there ought to be a thread dedicated to the whole year rather than each individual month. Hmmm? As to the questions. No Boob Job yet but hopefully before the end of the year as the girls really need to be deflated a bit to match my smaller waist. Yes Tummy Tuck last fall Not at goal but was so close Currently in denial about gaining weight but yes in my hard of hearts I have to admit I am. I'm much Much MUCH happier than I was the summer of '05 But am so FRUSTRATED at my current backsliding since the TT. Rarely froth or slime right now though I do have the occasional reflux at night if I eat to close to bed time. Part of my problem with the weight stall/gain has been a major unfill I had before my TT. I'm slowly working back up the fill ladder hoping to get things back under control. But another issue like Momx mentioned is that I'm leaning to much towards the liquid and soft calories. Not so much fruit juices for me but I've been drinking 2 or 3 slimfast a day in addition to meals such as beer cheese Soup or Long John Silvers Fish. Then there is the ice cream, chocolate, baklava and other goodies I've been eating way too much of. A lot of my poor choices seem to be stemming from a loss of desire to take the time to make the healthy meals that I can only eat a few bites of anyways. I did try joining in a say no to carbs 2 day challenge a couple months back and it did help restart my motivation at least for a few weeks but then I fell right back off the wagon. I'm thinking of doing it again and hopping it kicks me in the proverbial rear this time and I manage to stay on track at least long enough to take off the pounds I've regained.

Great Poll. It is all to easy to focus on the scale to the point of missing out on the true reasons we were wanting the scale to move in the first place.

A friend of mine on a local band group just posted the quote below and it seemed to sum up what I've been thinking about your friend. "Never allow someone to be your Priority while allowing yourself to be their Option" I know I have fallen into that trap treating everyone around me as a priority wether or not they thought of me us as little more than an afterthought. Then as I've lost the weight I've begun to realize I deserve better than that and am no longer satisfied to be treated as a second class friend or wife. This has unfortunately caused some definite turmoil in some of my relationships. But to be completely frank it was turmoil that was long overdue. No matter what I weigh now or in the past I deserve to be treated equally as well as I treat others and so do you.

Just found out this months KCBandsters City wide meeting will be Monday the 24th not the 17th. Sorry for the confusion. I also haven't seen any reminders sent out on the support group that meets at Heartland Spine. I think there have been a few months that meeting hasn't been held due to scheduling conflicts with the leader of the group. I can PM you her e-mail if you want to double check. I attended this group a couple times but at the time it was just to small only 3-5 people and my DH was bugging me to stay home more.

Yes, but as they say "Do as I tell you not as I do". I've always been a numbers person and despite feeling comfortable with how I currently look and ambivalent about the effort it is going to take to make that scale start moving again, it is driving me absolutely batty that I'm theoretically up 10-20 pounds post surgery. Though obviously not batty enough to actually do anything about it or I wouldn't have ate the top off 3 slices of pizza for lunch today or the McD's ice cream cone yesterday.

Needtolose - Today is your big day! I will be keeping you in my thoughts and wishing you a speedy recovery.

Quick clarification. I am NOT trying to suggest anyone here should not attend Dr Hoehn/Hitchcocks support group. I found it to be a great group and attended it religiously for the first year and 1/2. It just wasn't the same for me after Billy left which is when I switched to going to the group run by Malley and attended by a lot of the same people I already knew from the KCBandsters group. I've heard Billy is back though and may just pop in to say Hi to her one of these months.