TheGh0st

Still hijacking thread here - Has it affected all aspects of your taste or are there some foods that you can still taste such as cinnamon or mint? I have an aunt who has practically lost all ability to taste mainly due to the cocktail of medications she is on but those particular flavors still work for her. One of her favorite things to eat now are those Girlscout thin mint chocolate cookies (aka Keebler grasshopper cookies) She too is struggling to not lose weight at this stage so is not too worried about the high calories.

No offense Alex but my vote was for "no". But, I'd like to qualify that vote. I am all for former bandsters who have lost their band for whatever reason continuing to visit LBT. Wether any of us meet in person we still form bonds and friendships on various levels and I'd hate to lose thos connections just because someone no longer had the band. I also feel it is just as important for pre & post bandsters to here input from those who no longer have the band. That said I think the best place for threads specifically relating to WLS options other than the lapband are better suited in the "Life After Lapband Removal" Forum. Giving the other surgical options their own Forums on the main level just adds to an ever growing list of main forum areas and can also appear a to confuse the primare focus of this website to begin with.

Green - thanks so much for the update. I've been thinking of you often. Glad to hear the tumor appears gone, hopefully you will be feeling more like celebrating soon. Until then your friends and family will just have to the celebrating for you.

Yes, hugs from me as well. I'm glad it sounds like your husband and you are handling it calmly.

Boy, do I know what you mean. My son is turning 5 in a little over a month and I'm having a hard time looking forward to it because all I can think about is how much junk he already has cluttering up his room and the family room. And that is after already selling a huge chunk of it off at a garage sale earlier this summer. I'm seriously thinking of setting 1 or 2 large plastic tubs in the middle of the room (1 for his bedroom and one for the TV room) and telling him he can only keep what he can fit in the containers. I know it may sound harsh, especially at his age but when we did the garage sale earlier this summer it actually went pretty smoothly after I explained that the toys we were selling might help some mommy or daddy give there son a toy to play with that they wouldn't have been able to afford at the store. We live in an "oasis" in the middle of an urban area so even at his age he has a small understanding of the concept of parents not having enough money to get things they need or want for their children. OK so I also bribed him with the idea that some of the money he made from the garage sale would go towards a fun day out of his choosing and some ice cream but 2 months later it is the fact he helped give another boy a toy to play with that he remembers and tells his grandparents, not the icecream.

Nora - Very interesting. I'm just coming up to the 3 year mark next month myself. I've always felt I would never cheat on my spouse no matter what, even though I had friends who did and had even understood the whys and hows that had led to it. But neither your comments or my acceptance of my friends infidelities have made it any easier now that I'm on the verge of doing something myself. Logically I don't want to hurt my husband, son or my overall life situation but emotionally I'm struggling almost minute by minute to keep myself in control. I keep finding myself daydreaming about ways to get out of the house to a club or bar and see if someone might make a pass at me. I've even fantasized about random men I've seen walking down the street or mowing their lawns. Worse yet there is one guy in particular that I've been feeling a chemistry with the last couple weeks. He is completely the wrong kind of guy for me and I have no illusions of love for him just pure lust. There have been nights I've barely slept just thinking about the possibilities (good and bad) of something happening with him. I actually spent over half of Church last week thinking up ways to get some alone time with him on the chance he would try something and the other half praying and bereting myself to stop thinking such horrible thoughts (especially in the middle of Church!) What is wrong with me?!!!

Julie, I think I could have written your post myself. Though my DH & I are not in any counseling at the moment and he currently has no idea how I'm feeling. I just don't know how to break his heart by telling him I'm just not attracted to him and never really was. He was just the "safe guy" after a string of bad relationships. To make things worse we have a wonderful son who will be turning 5 soon and I can't bring myself to put him through the trauma of divorce just because I don't have the "hots" form my DH. Still it is hard not to long to experience feeling a mutual sexual desire with someone. The more I lose weight and regain my lost self confidences the harder it is becoming to live without those feelings. Don't get me wrong I don't think all marriages should have some eternal sexual spark if they did I think the divorce rate would be over 90%. Still I'd like a spark to make an appearance just once in a while as opposed to the never that I've had with my DH, not even when we were dating.

Leslie, kudos for being "brave" enough to share that you have used these lists. Honestly I've considered it before myself. I get what the others are saying about it appearing rude or materialistic, but I get tired of having to either return duplicate presents for my son or worse like the other poster said those that I can't return as they were already opened but never get used. We have a fairly large extended family even more so with divorces and remarriages and its hard to come up with a list that is long enough to parcel out bits and pieces to all the different people who will call and ask for ideas. Our son just doesn't need that many things. The list either ends up so small I'm practically telling each person exactly what one item to buy or I end up giving a few the same suggestions and invariably get two or even three of the same item. Having a registry with a selection of sensibly priced items ranging from clothes, necessities to toys & educational items seems like a pretty good idea to me. Assuming the relatives are open to the idea. I don't think I would just send it out unrequested to everyone on a birthday guest list. And it wouldn't be a big deal to me if they just used it as a starting point and purchased something off the list that they though my DS would like. But it would be nice to have available for those that are always calling for ideas. The one that burns me the most is when my MIL (who believe it or not I love) will call me up with some idea she has for a present for my son asking if I approve. But in all reality she has no intention of listening to my response and just forges ahead anyway. For example I live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks and too much traffic for a 4 year old to play in the street even supervised and yet she insisted on buying him a big wheel for Christmas even after I gently pointed out he would have NOWHERE to ride it. So here it sits never used. Worse, my son loves the idea of it and frequently laments (OK Whines) over his not having anywhere to ride it. UHGHH! I know she meant well but how inconsiderate is it to buy something you KNOW isn't appropriate and put the parents in the position of dealing with an upset child? I'm not saying she didn't have a good idea. It just wasn't feasable in our situation and yet she was completely unwilling to listen to reason even though she asked for our opinion before buying. Honestly that's what bugs me the most. If you have no intention of changing your mind on what you are going to buy then don't ask the parents opinion! Oh and back to the list idea. Like I said we don't need many materialistic things, so I'm always trying to encourage the family to think outside of the box and give them suggestions of presents that you wouldn't buy in the store like a "gift" of a Picnic in the Park with Granny (or Cousin/Aunt/"Fill in the Blank") Or a day at the Zoo, or baking Cookies together. My son would get more pleasure and long term memories from any variation of the above than he would a new toy robot, pirate ship or dare I say it Game Boy.

Sorry to hear about your Knee surgery. But hopefully you can take advantage of it like you said and have one recovery time with the other surgeries. Sadly, my local PS refuses to even consider doing PS at the same time as any other surgery.

Welcome to LBT! I'm in the Kansas City area as well. Congrats on the weightloss so far. I can completely relate to the whole issues with exercise. Even know just a few weeks from 3 years out and my treadmll is used more by my 4 year old as a race track for his toy cars than it is by me. Though I have managed to walk once a week (most weeks) for the last year with another bandster I met online. We meet at a local mall on Wednesday nights and walk anywhere from 3 to 5 miles depending on how much shopping or talking we are doing (more shopping = less walking / more talking = more walking) Last night we were talking so much by the time we were done I think we had walked over 6 miles! Something I never could have done before. PS - If you have trouble getting the ticker to work by inserting the HTML code into your signature line it also works to just highlight the picture of the ticker right click copy then right click & paste it into the signature line on LBT's control panel.

UPDATE - Well, according to the doc's office I've gained 3 pounds in the last 3 weeks without my fill. But mind you I didn't take off my shoes, or take the time to select "light" clothes yesterday. Plus I went right after having lunch with my son. I know I gained some weight but don't think it was the full 3 pounds. Happily, the nurse practicioner actually complemented me on not having gained more considering how much Fluid had been taken out of my band. She was very nice. She gently reminded me that it's not the best idea for me to be eating as much cottage cheese as I have been lately. Only because it is such a soft food and won't keep me feeling full as long as more solid protiens would.

Just a quick note. I just heard about a free Protein sample you can get from the following link. I've signed up for mine but have never used their products before. 7 Natural Laws teaches you how the benefits of whey protein supplements, and healthy eating can help you lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle I'll post again after I get it and let you know what I thought of it but I didn't want to wait to post the link as most free-sample offers out there are usually only good for a short time.

My first re-fill is scheduled for tomorrow and I'm SO ready for it! I believe I've only gained 1 or 2 pounds over the last 6 weeks but I'm still nervous to get back on that scale. Even more so as the nurse practicioner (sp?) will be the one administering the fill. She has always been nice to me in the past but has a reputation for occasionally coming across as if she is scolding some of the patients for their behaviour. She has only been working with the band for less than a year so I'm not too sure how I'd take it if she started in on me considering I've lived it for 3 years. Then again I probably would deserve her comments as long as they didn't sound like she thought she was telling me something I didn't already know.

I've found an easy way to save some money shopping online and possibly earn some extra income. BigCrumbs.com gives us cash back when we shop online at places like Best Buy, Target, Gap, Old Navy, Overstock.com, even E-Bay as well as a lot more. Even better, when we tell people about it and they sign up, we get paid every time they shop! And it's COMPLETELY FREE! http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/frontpage.jsp?r=TheGh0st This is one of those portal sites that if you go to this site first then click on their link to the site you want to buy from they give you a percentage of the purchase back. I've been using sites like this for years, but they were always sites that gave me back frequent flyer miles not money, and it never gave me anything for referring other people. Now for the begging. If you plan on making even one online purchase this year please, Please, PLEASE. Sign up using the above link so I can get a referral credit. Like most people nowadays every penny counts around my house.

Great Post Jaqui! You know it may sound crazy, oh how do I say this without it coming out wrong? ... I've always felt like I would never be successful at reaching my weight goals unless I fixed all my head issues with food, exercise shoot and life in general. And every time I would start to get close to my goals I'd find myself self sabotaging it like I didn't feel I deserved to get there as I hadn't "fixed" all the other issues yet. But when people, like yourself, who I look up to as an example of Lapband success are willing to open up and share their continued struggles with food and or exercise it really helps. Not because misery loves company or that I want to feel my own failings are being validated. But because it helps to remind me that I can succeed on the scale even while I'm still struggling with the head issues. Who knows I've spent my entire life stressing and struggling with my weight. More importantly I've always assumed the "beautiful people" in life didn't have those same issues and that was why they didn't have the problems with the scale that I did. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe they aren't all that different than me and are dealing with many of the same problems with food. Maybe they have just learned to catch themselves and bring themselves back from the brink before there is any permanent weight gain. My suspicion is that the true difference between the "beatiful people" and myself is the level of guilt I associate with my slips and how that guilt tends to pull me even deeper down rather than just shaking it off and moving forward.

Oh, I forgot. I was going to post some links to a couple of the better sites I found that talked about this in more depth. Protein Info - How Much Protein Do You Need Low Carbohydrate food Guide - Food Pyramid for Low-Carbohydrate Diets Common Sense Protein FAQ - Get Answers To Your Most Frequently-Asked Questions About Protein And you wouldn't believe the online forum debates you can find out there in the bodybuidling world as well. Ranging in opinions from you can eat 100's in one meal to no more than 6-grams. You should have saw the flak the one saying 6-grams got from his fellow body builders.

...And I had heard 30-35g per meal was the max. I just spent the better part of the last hour digging my way through a couple dozen of the google results for the phrase "how much Protein can the body absorb in one meal?" I did my best to skip over the over-abundance of sites promoting their own protein product and looked mostly for those that might be tied to universities or health sites. End conclusions: Who knows? But the majority agreed that eating too much protein is not harmful as long as you don't have any pre-existing kidney problems. A couple said that too much might be harmful for even healthy kidneys but most said that there was no medical evidence to back that up. Whereas they all seem to agree if you eat too little your body will start to break down your muscle tissue to get what it needs. So for me I guess I don't go out of my way to eat too much protein in one meal (what ever too much is) but I'd still rather eat too much and have it pass thru unused than too little and risk losing muscle tissue. Finally, I am NOT a medical professional nor do I play one on LBT. I'm just another bandster curious about the same issues and doing my best to lose this infernal excess weight.

Hey there Cindy, I am so sorry you are going through this. I'm actually a bit worried I'm on the same trend. I was banded in Sep of 05 and like you lost nearly 100 pounds but ever since I had plastic surgery last fall I've been slowly gaining weight. Depending on if you add in the weight of the skin the doc says he removed I've gained as much as 25 pounds! I was closer to goal than you stated but am still beginning to get into a similar panic. After so many years of being banded I am starting to discover that running for a fill everytime the weight doesn't come off is not always the answer and in my case can sometimes be contributing to the cause. About a month ago when I went in for another fill to help stop this weight gain my doc actually ended up taking nearly all the fill out. I had approx 11 cc's in the lapband VG and he thinks that I had lived with a fill that was actually too tight for over a year. I hadn't been pb'ing but I've had bad heartburn and reflux almost nightly for over a year and had moved more and more away from solid Protein rich foods to softer carb heavy foods like mash potatoes (as they didn't give me heartburn as bad). I was also finding that I was slowly eating larger portions of food than I use to. The doc believes this is because I had stretched out my esophagus but that it should shrink back to normal after "resting" for a month or two with no fill. Sorry to give you a novel here and for not having any wonderful solutions to suggest. But I wanted you to know you are not alone and I'd be glad to "buddy" up and try to work on reversing our trends together.

After doing much research the best option I actually found was a credit card that was willing to give me a promotional rate of 3.9% for 4 years on a transferred balance. So I paid for it with a frequent flier credit card I had which gave me nearly enough miles for a free plane ticket then transferred the balance over to the new card. The key to using a credit card for something like this is to one NEVER use the card for anything else as any payment made will be applied to the lower interest rate balance first and the new purchases would be at a much higher interest rate. Secondly, immediately set up an autopay system with the credit card so that the minimum amount due is paid each month automatically. You want to pay more than the minimum each month obviously but if you are ever late on a payment they immediately raise the interest rate on your remaining balance. So by having the minimum setup on autopay you never have to worry about being late on a payment and having the interest rate go up.

Oh another strictly Protein drink I like is the glass bottles of Isopure. Some of the flavors are not too great but the Grape Frost mixed with a bit of Crystal Light tastes good. A full bottle has 40g of protein and 9 carbs. I think it has around 160 calories but not sure. NOTE: I'm not a doctor or nutritionist but I've heard the body might not be able to properly absorb as much as 40g of protein in a short time so I try to split the drink up into two servings. I don't think there is a problem drinking it all at once, just some of it my go through without getting used.

My personal favorite at the moment is the chocolate Slim Fast LOW CARB. I've only found it at Walgreens and Sam's Club but it has 20 grams of Protein only 2 grams of carbs, 190 calories plus other Vitamins & minerals you don't get from the other protein supplements. Sometimes if I want to "boost" the flavor I will mix it with a tablespoon of Nestle Low Carb hot chocolate mix. It only adds 25 calories an I think around 4 or 5 carbs. It mixes better if you stir it in a small amount of hot Water then add it to the Slimfast. I've also found the colder any of these drinks are the better they taste.

Maybe I should give it a second look. One other site I frequent on rare occasion is thecouponclippers.com It doesn't tell you about any good deals but if you find out about a good sale coming up you can often find coupons for sale on that site. They only charge a few cents per coupon and the cost of a stamp to mail it. I've mainly used it when I find out what the Walgreens (or CVS) free monthly items are then use the coupons to make them "money makers". For example Pert shampoo is free after rebate this month at walgreens but there is a $2 mfg coupon out there. Use the coupon to buy it mail in the rebate and still get the full price back, making it a $2 profit. I don't actually use Pert but since they are going to "pay" me to buy it I went ahead and got it and then donated it to the city homeless shelter.

Congratulations! :thumbup: Try not to panic.:thumbup:

I started using coupons a few months ago with all the rising prices and considered using that site as well but was put off by needing to pay a fee. In the end I found the best (Free) advice by frequenting a few frugal women's blog's My two favorite are: moneysavingmom.com and itsmorethanenough.blogspot.com Moneysavingmom is on vacation this week but usually posts more frequently than itsmorethanenough. They give links to various sites sending out free samples. Post information on various restraunt promos like free food a couple weeks ago at Chick-Fill-A if you came dressed as a cow (Seriously!, I didn't do it but I know some did) More importantly they will give summaries of the best deals at various stores and what coupons are out there to make the deals even better. Frequently they will even have links to printable coupons right in the description of the sale. For example July 16, 2008 Target: Deals for this week--Free diapers, Free Bic pens, and more! Many people are reporting finding Pampers Splashers swim diapers and Huggies Little Swimmers on clearance for $1.50 to $2.99 at their Target stores (some aren't marked so you might price check them at your store to see if they are on clearance)! There are coupons out for $1.50/1 Pampers and $1/1 Huggies coupons--making these free or incredibly inexpensive. Stock up for next Summer! (Does anyone know if you could use the Target Pampers diaper coupon in conjunction with this deal?) Bic Pens are on sale for $0.50 per 10-pack Buy 2 and use this $1/2 coupon here Free after coupon! to get them free! Electrasol Tabs are on sale 2/$5.58 Buy 2 and use 2 $2.25/1 coupon from the 07/13 insert Stack with $1/2 Target mailer coupon $0.08 for 40 tabs after coupons! OTHER DEALS STILL AVAILABLE: Powerade Zero is $0.79 at some stores Use the .75/1 coupon from 06/08 insert $0.04 after coupon (Thanks, Wendy!) Schick Razors (trial sized) - $0.97 Use the $2/1 coupon from the 5/11 SmartSource insert Free plus possible overage! (Thanks, Angie!) Band-Aids - (SpongeBob, Miss Kitty, and a few others only) - $1 Use $1/1 from 05/18 inserts or use $0.75/1 coupon here Free after coupon (Thanks, Kristin!) or $0.25 after coupon (Thanks, Samantha!) Clean and Clear (trial sized) - $0.97 Use $2/1 coupon here Free after coupon (Thanks, Kristin!) banana Boat Sport SPF 30 (trial size) Use $1/1 coupon Free after coupon (Thanks, Tiffany!) Johnson's Buddies Soap - $0.99 Use $1/1 coupon here Free after coupon All Small and Mighty (travel size) - $1.00 Use $1/1 coupon or printable here Free after coupon Degree Deodorant (travel size) - $0.99 Use $1/1 coupon Free after coupon Tylenol (trial sized) - $1 Use $1/1 coupon here Free after coupon (Thanks, Kristin!) Shout wipes (travel size) - $0.97 Use $1/1 coupon here Free after coupon (Thanks, Kristin!) Dove Deodorant (travel size) - $0.99 Use $0.75/1 coupon $0.24 after coupon Scotch Fur Fighter hair Remover Kit - $10.99 Use $4/1 Target coupon here Stack with $4/1 coupon here (Thanks, Heather!) Find any other great deals at Target this week? Let us know! My son loves the Johnson's Buddies it smells a bit like Watermelon and is sewn inside a washcloth. They cost 99 cents per bar but there have been tons of $1 off any Buddies product coupons that you can print from the internet allowing me to stock up on over 25 bars of soap so far ALL for FREE! The first time you look at these sites it can be a bit overwhelming as it is like reading there savings diaries (sometimes they even post pictures of their shopping trips) and you don't know how far back to read. But after the intitial visit or two it's just a matter of reading their newest posts for information relavent to you and your area. Another good site is Hotcouponworld which is set up just like Lapbandtalk but is for people to discuss the various deals they have found. There are forums dedicated to all kinds of different topics I haven't formally joined and tend to just "lurk" around the Walgreens, CVS & HyVee Threads looking for the deals others have found so I don't have to look through the ads myself. On the CVS & Walgreens threads they often have posts referring to items that can be purchased for so little money that the rebates or store coupons you get back after buying the item are worth MORE than what you paid for the item. And they have employees that are always posting the ads BEFORE they come out in the paper. The problem with this site is too many people talking at once an no simple summary of the overall deals for any one store. On the other hand if you wade through the posts you can find out about the deals faster than at the other two sites sometimes.

As I'm sure you are already well aware. People who are lactose intolerant need to avoid any Protein supplements made with whey. I found another thread talking about some of the same issues below. A couple posters seemed to have some good suggestions including a Soy Protein powder you can find at most health food stores and even the dreaded Walmart. Hope this helps, things should get easier once you are past the liquid stage. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/need-dairy-free-liquid-diet-due-allergies-65720/