trina4ufl

Well, I've been doing great since my fill. I think I've lost another 5-6 pounds, though I'm not supposed to be weighing myself every day. Weigh day is Tuesday (mental note to myself). Work is insanely busy, I'm supposed to help my sister with this research paper, I go to the gym every day after work, and to top it all off, I have a date on Wed. with a guy that I talked to for 2 hours on the phone today.

I'm so busy it's beginning to seem a bit chaotic, but at least I don't have time to eat out of boredom! The bad new is that it's almost midnight and I have to go to work tomorrow! I also haven't had time to eat anything other than protein shake before I went to Zumba at the gym today and a piece of Minibel light cheese. I'm looking in my fridge/pantry and so do not have the time to cook anything. Eating healthy is hard work! I need to go the grocery store and stock up on more healthy food. I literally don't have anything to eat in the house. I need to get 8 hours of sleep a night or I don't feel rested and am more likely to get sick again. This cold/flu bug seems to be everywhere and I don't have time to be sick.

I do have next Friday/Monday off work and I was thinking about going out of town, but now just a few days of relaxation is seeming better to me right now. I would also save money by staying in town and finances are still tight as I'm still paying off my hospital bills and the surgeon's office has not refunded me the $500 that they owe me...SO..I guess I'll decide later in the week. Oh and my internet connection sucks at home. I think I may need a new router. Something else I don't have time to shop for...

For now, super super busy...

Thanks!!! I feel so much better and my friend told me that she can tell how much more confident I am.

Okay, here are some progress pics two months and about a week after surgery.

I hope that everyone gets their fill situation figured out. I know where my port is now, so I plan to tell the doc next time. The actual fill is pretty painless, but all the poking and searching around with a needle definitely hurts!

Well, I had my 2nd fill today. The surgeon wasn't going to give me a fill at first, because I've lost 8 pounds since the last visit 31/2 weeks ago, but when I told him that Id been working out 6 days per week and that I had lost about 7 pounds the first week after the last fill and then not much since then, he agreed. I also told him how I can eat steak and pretty much anything else and he said it was time for a fill.

He had trouble finding it again. There was a nutritionist intern there today and she asked if she could watch the fill, so I let her and she looked like she felt really bad for me when he kept sticking me with the needle again. She held my hand and later told the girl at the receptionist desk that he had stuck me like 50 times. It didn't hurt as much as they numbed the area first and he used the smaller needle. He finally found it. It's 5cm below the middle of my incision scar and believe me, I will remember that for next time.

He put 1.5 cc's in, making it a grand total of 5.5 ccs. He watched me really closely while I drank the water as if he was expecting me to not be able to drink it, but it went down fine. He gave me his cell phone number in case I had any problems and needed some of the fluid taken out. He said only to drink clear liquids today, then full liquids all day tomorrow, and then start mushie and then regular food the following day. I can feel that it's tighter. I'm actually worried that I won't be able to eat anything and I'll need him to take some fluid out, but right now drinking liquids is going fine.

The surgeon said I'm doing so well and hugged me and told me how proud of me he was. He said I'm doing great!

So far, so good!

Thanks! I really appreciate the support and kind words! I will get full body pics soon!

Okay, here are some progress pics. In the first one, it was taken prior to the pre-op diet and the 2nd was taken this weekend. I've lost about 40 pounds since the pre-op diet. I will post some full body shots soon, but I can't find any before that have full body yet so here's a face comparison...

You'll never guess what my fortune cookie said last night...I was working on my laptop, as usual, and I open my fortune, which said,

Put business matters aside for now and concentrate on your love life

I thought this was pretty funny and appropriate as well!!!

So, based on that, I'll be taking several months off work to travel and concentrate on my love life! Yeah, I wish!!!!

Okay, I'm kind of stalled for the past two weeks in my weight loss, losing and gaining the same 2-3 pounds. I'm giving myself some slack since I had a really bad cold/flu bug and I'm still trying to shake it, so I only went to the gym one time last week and ate more food because I didn't want to lack in nutrition when I'm trying to get over being sick. I ate zaxby's fried chicken fingers and french fries yesterday, and felt really bad about it, so I didnt eat anything else yesterday which put me at the right calorie level, but I should not be eating that crap. I know I need a fill if I can eat fried chicken fingers! Today I was a paragon of virtue and only ate: coffee w/ sf creamer, nonfat light keylime pie flavoried yogurt, Live Active Light cottage chese snack pack and a protein drink. I'm going to go the gym tonight as well and do weights and cardio.

On the dating front, I joined an online dating site to see what's out there and so far I've been propositioned by a married guy (supposedly separated, but you know how that goes) and a sexy croation guy (at least from the pictures) who lives with his parents and I don't think he has a car. Lucky in love as usual!!! LOL. And no, I'm not going to go out with either of them.

That crazy guy from the beach drunk dialed me last night and left three long messages about how much he missed me..um What? I haven't heard from you in three weeks??

I have a work conference Wed in Orlando so I'm leaving tomorrow night after work to stay at my parents house. I go to the training all day Wed and then I'm spending the rest of the week with my parents in Orlando. My dad's going to do my taxes so I can pay off at least a big chunk of my medical bills. They put me on a payment plan of $179 a month for a year, but I think I can pay it off in a few months. I think I have all the tax documents I need and I'm hoping on a decent size refund, not the $500 I got back last year (I paid $10,000 to the government in SS and fed income tax and only got back $500!).

I really need a fill, so I'm going to do the next week on pure will-power and good decision-making. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks!! That's great advice as I definitely do not want to be too tight. I've heard all the stories about it and it does not seem fun.

Thanks everyone! Yes, I go to the gym every day and I don't eat any sweets at all right now and very low carbs. I am losing weight, it's just much faster some weeks than others. Guess that's how it works!

I made breakfast for my employees at work today and ate one of the biscuits filled with egg, cheese, onion, etc. and I realize I don't have much restriction at all and I can eat anything. I don't even have to eat particularly slowly. I did accidentally drink after I ate yesterday and it was painful, so I have some restriction, but I think I'm just used to eating smaller meals and healthy food, so I do.

I was debating about whether or not to get another fill at my next doctor appointment on Feb. 3rd because I don't want to PB, slime, or throw up, but now I know that I need one. Plus I haven't really lost any weight this week, though I've been good about eating healthy and keeping around 1000 calories a day, although I haven't been to the gym since last week because I've had the flu.

Definitely time for a fill. I'm happy with the eating changes I've made though. I pulled out the promise light margarine/spread yesterday and realized I almost never use butter or margarine anymore and I used to use it all the time. I'm thinking about all the bad eating habits that I don't do anymore and that makes me really happy. I could be doing better as sometimes I eat something unhealthy, but for the most part, I am really happy with my choices and my portions. I just would like to see more of a change in the scale. After losing 7 pounds that week, I lost 2 more the following week, and then have stayed the same since Tuesday. It's kind of sad that I'm not just dropping pounds like crazy just because I'm eating so much better. Apparently I need to work hard to lose weight. Who knew? J/K. It's totally worth it, and I chose Lapband because I wanted to own it. To know that I worked to get healthy. Well, I'm keeping at it, so the scales got to move sometime. I think another fill will help.

Yesterday I did 20 min of cardio (10 bike, 10 elliptical) and all the weight machines. The girl at the gym "pushed" me, so I got a great workout. Tonight, I did 40 min of cardio (10 bike, 20 elliptical, 10 treadmill at an incline). Still eating very healthy and small amounts. I've been seeing a bunch of people I know at the gym, so that's been cool. Mostly work people. I'm going again tomorrow and I want to do Zumba again on Sunday.

NSV: I wore a green suit that I haven't been able to wear in a long time and got tons of compliments at work!

Thanks!!!!

I decided to only weigh myself once a week on Tuesdays because that is when my doctor's appointments usually are. This morning, I weighed myself and I am down 7 pounds from last Tuesday!!!!!!! I am really excited about that because I have lost 7 pounds in a week before when I started weight watchers, etc, but never that rate of weight loss after I'd already lost almost 30 pounds. If I didn't have the band, the best I could expect would be 1-2 pounds per week, maybe four if I was really diligent. My clothes are much looser and I feel good.

I should start looking decent (in m own mind at least) when I'm down to 260, so that's my short term goal right now. I want to accomplish that before my 30th birthday on March 22nd. When I reach that goal, I should be wearing all of my smallest sizes that I currently own (except for the one or two pieces I couldn't let go from high school). I should also be at a good fitness level where I can do pretty much anything without getting tired and even jog for periods of time (though my big breasts make that difficult!). I can't even visualize myself as smaller than that right now and the last time I was at that weight, I was not physcially in shape like I will be working out regularly. I can't wait!

The only thing not going that great is that I'm so tired when I wake up in the mornings. It seems like I can't get to sleep until midnight or later and then I am miserable, tired, grouchy in the AM. As the day goes by, my energy levels kick up and I'm fine, but the mornings are hell! Especially since it was freezing cold and raining this morning. It's going to be in the 30s at night all week :tounge_smile: So much for sunny FL weather..The high tomorrow is in the 50s and I do not have enough warm weather clothes. After getting rid of all the clothes that I don't like and that are too big, I still have lots of clothes, but very few warm clothes. It just doesn't get that cold in FL that often.

Everyone has been complimenting everyone else on how they look like they've lost weight and no has said that to me. My two coworkers who know about the band have told me that, but no one else. Which is cool because I don't want the questions that go along with it, but either, they can't tell or they don't want to say anything because they suspect WLS. It's not a big deal, just sometimes funny when I hear, Oh so and so you really look like you've lost weight, and they say, oh yeah, I've been going to the gym, and then I'm standing there, 30+++ pounds down saying, oh yeah, you look great...

I wore a pair of cobalt blue slacks that were really tight on me and almost couldn't button two months ago and now they are literally sagging to the floor on me. They really sag in the butt, which is not attractive, but I'm running out of clothing options. Well, at least if there are rumors going on about me, I haven't heard them, so I can pretend they don't exist!

So right now I'm in a good place. I'm eating between 700-1100 calories a day. I find myself forgetting to eat and then picking foods that have a high protein content so I meet my daily protein requirements. I also am consistently working out. I did cardio and strength training yesterday (sat) and today I did a Zumba class at the gym with my coworker. The Zumba class is a latin dance class. I find it hard to master dance steps and I don't remember them, but I feel like if I keep going to that class, I will start to be able to keep up with the moves. I didn't feel like I was going to die, like I have when I've gone to aerobic classes in the past. I did sweat and was able to complete the full hour, though my intensity wasn't as high as the others who knew the steps, because I found myself getting lost and having to watch other people to try and learn the moves. There were about 200 other people in the room, so it was pretty crowded. I want to find the same class at a time/place where it is less crowded. The gym I go to has three locations I can choose from, so I'm going to scout out the best time/place. I don't feel sore, but I'll know in a day or two if it's a good workout because by then I should be sore in some of my muscles that I don't use all the time if it's worthwhile. I also want to try some other classes. I like dancing, even though I'm obviously not good at it!

Also, I've pretty much given up any sweets at all. I'll sometimes eat a weight watchers cookie or snack, but for the most part, I'm totally off sweets. I find that if I eat them, I want them, but if I avoid them, I don't crave them.

I appear to be lucky because I have had no instances of vomiting, PBing or sliming. I've tried out different food and had no problems with anything. I do try to eat a very small amount and if it feels funny, I don't eat it anymore. I also stop eating before I'm full and then I'm not hungry for a long time. I don't drink during or after my meals, though I do drink before and have no issues with it. I don't eat as slow as I should, but I try to chew really well. I'm sure my good behavior won' t last forever, but I'm going to ride it out as long as I can :tounge_smile:

I actually forgot to eat today so I had a protein drink when I got home from the gym. My friend made this awesome chicken noodle soup that i ate the other night and I lost weight the day after I ate it (I know it doesn't necessarily work that way, but..) So now I'm planning on making it tonight. It should last all week. It tastes awesome and makes me feel full for a long time. It also has a lot of protein, not many carbs, and not too much fat. The recipe calls for whole wheat rotini pasta instead of noodles, and there isn't that much pasta in it. The flavor comes from all the veggies in it, the seasonings, and of course the chicken. I plugged all of the ingredients into sparkpeople and came up with 334 calories per serving (decent size serving).

It seems like I haven't been getting in enough veggies, so I'm hoping this will help. Also,I find myself at a loss about what I want to eat for dinner most nights.

Has anyone found that eating too few calories has affected them negatively? Some days, I just don't eat much at all. I have had plenty of energy, so I feel that I'm doing okay, but my nutritionist scared me by saying you could reset your calorie clock and make your body need less calories if you regularly consumed less than 1000 calories, but I'm finding I'm losing more weight the less calories I eat. I do make sure I get protein in as I don't want to lose muscle.

Also, I've pretty much given up any sweets at all. I'll sometimes eat a weight watchers cookie or snack, but for the most part, I'm totally off sweets. I find that if I eat them, I want them, but if I avoid them, I don't crave them.

Also, any good ideas for healthy dinners either something that's not too time consuming to make or something that you buy somewhere would be greatly appreciated!!

I bought some stool softener, but didn't have to use it. It sometimes takes several days after surgery to have a bowel movement. Also, if you're taking pain meds, they can cause constipation. I'd ask your doctor. I just naturally had one in 2 days. The gas was bad, but is SOOO much better if you make yourself walk around as much as possible. I also used GAS X strips which you can buy at CVS or pretty much anywhere. You'll be fine! It can be uncomfortable at times, but all the really bad stuff I was worried about never happened. Good luck!!!

I was banded on December 1st. Congrats on your date! I hope everything goes great next week!

:thumbs_up:I've been afraid to really eat anything. I've eaten Live Active lowfat cottage cheese, nonfat light yogurt, and some thin sliced deli turkey and a protein drink. It has gone down fine, but I can feel restriction. I think I need more protein. I felt like I was going to pass out at some point at the gym tonight. I've been great this week at the gym. I've done 30 min of cardio each day and strength training on Mon and Wed (today). I weighed myself after I got home from the gym and took a shower and it showed 299.1 on my home scale!!!!!!! I am so excited about that!!!

I haven't "tested" the fill yet, but mentally, I'm restricted. It's been busy at work and then going to the gym afterwards, it seems like I really don't have time to even think about food, which is awesome. I hope I can keep it that way!

Thanks!!! I appreciate the support!

I went to my first fill today. I brought what I've eaten for the past seven days and talked to the nutritionist about it. She said I was doing very welll. She didn't even flinch at the King Crab Legs and Vodka I had on New Years!!! I was honest, I put on there that I'd eaten at Taco Bell two days and McDonald's another day, but those days I pretty much didn't eat anything else, and then most days I ate healthy food, so she said I was doing great.

Apparently I'm down another 5 pounds since the last doctor's appointment!!! That made me feel so much better. THe scale read 300.003!!! That's just one pound until I'm under 300! It actually flashed 299.9, but then went back up o 300. My home scale says 303. That's 30 pounds down from before my pre-op diet!

The surgeon said I was doing great, especially over the holidays to lose 5 pounds, so that perked my spirits up.

I was told to get on the chair and they reclined it all the way, but betadine on my stomach and numbed it with little needle pricks. Then he took a long needle and began to poke me to find the port. He couldn't find it. He could find the big round thing, but apparently there's a soft spot in the middle that the syringe goes through and he could not find that. He stuck me like 10 times and he hurt! (I'm a baby with pain by the way). Then he kept trying to find it. I was actually going to ask to take a break because I can't stand little sticking pain....He numbed the area again and poked me again, and then I said, "Ouch!" and he numbed it agaain. He finally found it well below where they (and I ) thought it was. He apologized for hurting me several times and said that next time they'll know right where it is. In hindsight, it wasn't really that bad.

I have a 10cc band and he put in 4.5 cc, which is a little more than usual, but I live close by, so I could get an unfill if I needed to. I drank a whole glass of water and it went down fine. I have another follow up appt. scheduled on Feb. 3rd. I'm supposed to drink liquids, then progress to mushies, then on to real food in the next two days.

I feel good and I'm hopeful that my weight loss will really jump start now!!:confused:

Things are still going well. I can't eat pretty much anything, but trying to keep at or below 1200 calories a day. I started back at the gym, doing 30 min of cardo and some limited weights, lots of rep, low weight. Doc said that's okay. I bought a new scale, which weighs me heavier than the old one, so it says i'm the same weight as I was at the last dr. appt. I get my first fill on January 6th. I feel great and am looking forward to having restriction. I haven't been stuck or had any issues. Still off work and enjoying it!:biggrin:

Thanks!! I appreciate it! Things are going well.

:thumbup:SO i had my first post-op doctor's appointment and it went well. No infection in the incisions, I'm feeling great, and I've lost 11.6 pounds since surgery. I've lost about 25 lbs since right before the pre-op diet. My blood pressure is pretty high--160/100 and has been for the past three visits. I've always had kind of low blood pressure, even when I was more overweight and I thought losing weight drops your BP? I thought it might be the Wellbutrin, so the doc said to stop taking it. He said I shouldn't have to wean off it because I've only been taking it for about 3 months. Also he prescribed a low dosage of some beta blocker , toporal? or something to get my BP down.

I'm on to a PUREED DIET!!!! I'm really excited about this because it means I get to chew something. I'm allowed soft cooked eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potatoes and anything pureed in a blender, as well as all the stuff on the liquid diet. I do this for 3-4 days and then I'm on to soft foods, which include soft veggies, toast and crackers, tuna, shrimp, fish, and finely ground meat. I do that for four days, and then I'm on a regular healthy diet as tolerated. That means normal food in about a week! I'm almost scared to eat normal food. I'm doing so well on the liquid diet, I don't want to mess it up. I refuse to gain these 11 pounds back or for that much, the 25 lbs since before pre-op.

I weighed 305 today. That means just over 5 pounds before I'm under 300! I also realized that my home scale is broken. I weighed yesterdy I went from 309 to 297 later in the day. I need to buy a new scale. I'm trying not to obsess over the scale, but it makes me feel good when it goes down, and also keeps me in check.

So far I'm really happy with this band thing. I'll see what happens when I start eating instead of drinking my meals...

Good luck! You'll do great!

My highest weight was 347 before I went on WW. THen I lost 77 pounds in a little over a year on WW and then gained back almost all of it. I was 320 at the initial consult, then gained about 10 pounds after quitting smoking and eating my "last meals". I lost 13 pounds on the pre-op diet making me 316 on surgery day and I've lost 7 pounds in the six days post op, bringing me to 309. Hope my math is right but there you go!