riley4183

Hey all! Happy Monday :frown: I got time for a nice long post . . . First off the Robin thing. Tina you need to tell Dr. Baggs what she said to you, about how it is up to her whether you get a fill or not. She's not the doc and that's not OK. But quite honestly, I don't have a problem with her at all; I feel like she really, really helps me and I enjoy meeting with her one-on-one. Like Pam, I had an experience early on where I flat out told her that I was not going to lie to her, that would be stupid so don't even think it. She was sort of upset that I thought she was yelling at me - she said she never yells - well no, but she can be condescending. Or she was at first, she never is now. I have made mistakes, I have had "indiscretions," and we talk about what I need to try to avoid it next time. I like the accountability she demands from me. She is well aware that people complain about her "rules" but she has to be consistent too. We have talked about it! Her program with me is NOT one size fits all, because of my food allergies and not eating meat and all my weird stuff! I fax her my food logs before I meet with her, then she is totally prepared and has new ideas and products for me to try, books to read, etc. She knows a LOT about head hunger and can really help! She tells me stuff that I don't want to hear sometimes, and it kinda pisses me off, but I appreciate that she calls me on my st! That's my 2 cents. And I REALLY like Liz!!! :frown: OK, on to EMOTIONAL EATING and feeling out of control when there is food that you want to eat, be it chocolate or cheeseburgers. You CAN learn to break the pattern!! You can, you can! For many years you have been exercising your "giving in" muscle, and it has grown big and strong with all that exercise. You have, quite literally, hard-wired your brain to respond in a certain way when you see or smell a trigger food, or when some other external OR eternal event triggers the food thought. This is scientifically proven folks! You want sources I'll spill them Here's the deal" You have to start exercising your resistance muscle! The more you use it, the easier it becomes to do and the weaker your giving-in muscle gets. You CAN re-wire your brain to respond differently! And you do it just like what Heather is saying - you start by setting a goal ("dare") of practicing your D's 5 times a day for 5 days out of a week, say. A "D" is distract, delay, drink water, do something different, and don't give up. Heather's using the "delay" technique! I use that one mostly, but also drink and do different. If I was still a stress eater, I would be using deep breathing instead of eating to reduce the stress - I have been doing that before I have to give reports in big controversial public hearings, and it REALLY helps me to be calm, focused, and in control. My band cured me of eating when stressed or upset RIGHT away ! it tightens like a noose, and THAT habit got broke real quick! But I digress . . . pick a "D" and practice it! You want that cheeseburger, so wait and see what happens after 5 minutes. Think about how good you are going to feel if you DONT eat it. Dare yourself, make a deal ("if I still want it in 5 minutes, I can always eat it then") Then in 5 minutes, re-evaluate - do you still want to eat it? Make another deal - you are going to go outside and walk around the building, THEN if you still want it you can have it - and so on. The point is to STOP the automatic eating reaction and re-wire your brain to NOT turn to food. Every time you successfully delay, you are exercising your resistance muscle and weakening the giving-in muscle! You are slowly changing the automatic connections that your little neurons are making in your brain, and you are creating a NEW pathway for them to take for the remainder of your life. You WILL feel in control, and that is a great feeling - much better than the feeling after you eat the whole chocolate bar! The more you practice, the easier it gets. This is SO IMPORTANT!! Finally - exercise!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU GIRLS!!!!!! Woot, woot!!!!

Welcome home Tina! Oh my gosh that sounds yummy, like for Mexican lunch and dinner too! Hey folks, if you are stuck on a plateau, try getting down to the gym for some weights. That's the only thing I have done differently, and it totally changed my metabolism! I've lost 2 lbs. over Thanksgiving, go figure . . . . . and I'm giving away my 12s because ALL of them are too big :Yawn:

I lost the weight, now I've started to date - ye gads, it's a lot different now! It has been years for me. I love the attention and the new, high activity level, but I hate the games and the disappointments. Any banded single men out there who get it??

For sure check in They will drop you from the program if you don't either weigh in officially or attend a support groip meeting every 2 months. Happy day all, off to gym. Safe trip Tina!

Heather and your little friends will, band and fill - you SO crack me up! I think you should write - you can start with a book about us, LOL! Hey don't ask me how, but the scale was actually DOWN the day after turkey day!! I SO don't get it, but I really really like it! In fact I like it so much that I'm going to the gym now, which I did NOT do yesterday - Caio!

LOL ROFL! I'm in your TA group too! (Rolls in) **Hi everyone, my name is Riley and I ate gravy for all 3 meals today*hic* **

hahahaha! These guys are SLAYING me! Look what Warren from Vallejo emailed me, responding to the pic I have up on that site it's the same as my avatar on here - Donna I am so happy we took that pirate picture, I'm really getting a lot of miles out of it! " arrrrrr that skeleton be grabbing your a*** ! the lucky guy ! .. I know where that is ! i walk there all the time . Warren" Har! Har! Another guy photoshopped a pic of him driving a powerboat, he drew and and colored a pirate hat, earrings, the bandana and everything on himself, and a speech bubble coming out of his mouth that says, "arrrg!" & sent it when he emailed me - THAT got my attention! I love this stuff :-) I just had to share:rolleyes:

Well I'm kind of bummed out about Mark, he sure was busy texting me and calling me until he MET me, now I get 1 little text all day, "it was nice meeting you and your friends, have a nice turkey day." My son says that's a polite guy's way of saying uhm, thanks but no. Rats, I thought it went very well! Maybe it's cause he's only as tall as I am and I was strutting my stuff around in 3" heels? I guess it bothers some guys if you are taller then them - and I definately was in those heels! Oh well he is a nice guy, and I will meet quite a few nice guys before I settle for one :-) Oh and by the way, I have another one that wants to meet me this weekend, he is FUNNY he's cracking me up! I should start posting pics of these guys and you call can tell me what you think, LOL that would be rude of me. This online dating thing is CRAZY, I actually have guys sending me their phone numbers! Suddenly since my pics are up, LOL. I sure get a lot of comments on the pirate-grabbing-my-arse one!! Have to be REALLY really careful tho, for example I have blocked anyone who is looking for "intimate encounter" or whatever, or a whole bunch of other stuff . . . picky picky picky but I'm sure having fun! Argh! 3 new emails on my dating site, got to go . . . . OH! Band is working for me today, too - the only thing I've been able to eat is gravy!!

Tina, YAY! Approximately 2,000 steps to the mile, depending on your stride length - so 10,000 steps is 5 miles, 20,000 steps is 10 miles!!!

I'm making today Friday, because the day after Thanksgiving is a lousy day to have to weigh in!! 168.6 - I am only .6 lbs away from what my drivers license has said for 25 years!!! Happy turkey day full of good choices to you all! And remember, if you fall off you can get back on with the very next bite :-) Riley

Happy Turkey Day ladies!! So . . . . I met a 'new' guy online, and last night I met him in person, with all my friends around . . . OMG he totally fits in!!! They were all hugging him when he left . . . well, I was too :-) . . . . he had been calling and texting like 5x a day, I hope he still does after meeting me and my crazy friends! I like this one!! :-) He started emailing me based on my interests alone, I did not even have a picture posted and my profile was so old that I still had the "overweight" box checked for body type . . . I did send him pics before I met him in person, but still . . . he was contacting me for who I am, not for what I looked like! THAT is COOL. I so struggle with this whole, I'm-only-getting-attention-because-I'm-not-fat-anymore thing, that this guy's attitude was really refreshing. I hope I hear from him today!!

Welcome Cindy! Maria, Dr. Baggs won't be able to tell you how much is in your band exactly until he withdraws it at your first fill - or unfill. They put in what they need to at surgery to make it fit right so it doesn't slip; it is usually around 2 (mine was) but can be as much as 5 (I think that was Christine?). I think you should call Liz for her advice, BEFORE the holiday! At least you can be less worried about it - and I can stop worrying too :ohmy:

THAT is exactly why we post-ops stay on this pre-op thread . . . thanks for the compliment Tamra! Good morning all . . . got up in time to go to the gym before work, but my computer sucked me in . . . I think today will be dead at work, so I should be able to get out and walk a bit. Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone!!

Maria, I don't like the sound of that. It should have cleared your pouch in that 2 hours. There may be something wrong . . . . please call and leave a message for Liz . . . . . better safe than sorry!!

Good morning, and thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and blessings - I felt them, I really did! Better this morning; I have a busy day at work and I love my job so that's all good. Up a pound this morning, which should not be a big suprise considering the carbs I was stuffing yesterday! Today my big goal is to drink drink drink. Water I mean, and herbal tea . . 16 oz down so far . . . did the gym this morning, 20 minutes cardio (300+ calories) and 30 minutes weights . . . probably another 100 calories - and I brought a good breakfast and lunch which I am NOT going to ignore today! Have a great Tuesday everyone

Congrats Pat! Sounds like you are going to have your surgery right when you wanted it! Good thing you got the pillow :-) I go do my La-Band talk in the 14-week Kaiser class on December 1st, that is the meeting night at James & Sherry's house so I will miss that meeting :-( but I always like talking to the pre-op class Today sucked; went to my friend John's funeral today; he was only 55. Did OK before and during, too upset to really eat at the after-service shindig - one good thing about this band, I CANNOT eat when I am upset! - but when I got back to work I kind of fell apart, I did not want to be alone for some reason, I was all creeped out feeling like John was going to walk through the door anytime, icky feeling. I was desparate for company and so I kind of followed my coworkers everywhere and ate what they ate and drank what they drank - it just felt really really weird. Snack snack snack all afternoon, chocolate, etc I did not care. I had packed my lunch but I never even opened it. ~sigh~ a bad day, but crap what did I expect? Then when I got home, like and idiot I tried to eat a piece of toast with butter, NOT going to go down - 9 months out and I STILL can't eat toast, but I was pitiful, even when I knew it wasn't going to work I was still like sucking the butter off of it, very sad. . . and I PBed it, for the first time in a long, long, long time I never ever PB anymore. I already can't eat w/band when I am upset, and I have not been able to eat bread or toast since I was banded, so why did I think I could do it today???? Self-sabotage?? I dunno . . . I'm a wreck! Better now, but I WAS a wreck. UGH. I have decided (and journaled) that I am forgiving myself and that's that. One day of stupid and sorrow isn't going to hurt me long-term. So I feel better now, but still creeped out from John's death. He died last Wednesday but I just plain didn't process it until today. UGH. One kind of good thing happened: There were quite a few people there at the funeral who had not seen me for well over a year. Three of them - one who I stood next to for like 10 minutes, and two who were seated near me - did not recognize me for LONG periods of time - like 20 minutes - until someone said my name. Looking right at me, they were. Each of them, at different times. WEIRD. It makes me wonder if they ever really saw me when I was fat . . . OK I am too weird to be on here tonight! Please include my friend Kathy Joyce in your prayers tonight - John's long time girlfriend, she was having a tough tough time of it today. And his partners and childhood friends, Robbie and Mark. Thanks you guys :-) I knew today was going to be tough, and it's been my first really emotionally challenging day since my band, and while I did try to fall back onto food for comfort, my band stopped me from going too far, and that part did NOT make me sad - it made me glad. OK enough. Goodnight ladies.

Maria they did not have them at my Target, so I had to go to Wal-Mart - you might want to go online & find out before ya drive out there . . . TINA!! Heading out for T-day and Disneyland, are ya? I'm jealous!! Have a BLAST

Maria, you poor thing! Glad you got off the meds - they made me see snakes, LOL Cream of wheat makes you hungrier. Try to get a much higher level of Protein, cream of chick has hardly any unless you puree some chicken in with it. Slightly thicker Soups will help too; try split pea with ground-up (REALLY ground-up - a la Magic Bullet) ham. When I was Stage 2 I would walk down to the Chinese take-out place and but some hot & sour soup, bring it home & put it in the Bullet. YUM Also I did that with chili - added plain soy milk to make it thin enough and that really filled me up, but I found out later that Beans were a no-no for months after surgery . . oh well.

I think you got your statistics wrong!! You should get some clarification - the rate of serious complications from a Lap-Band is 1/1000, DEFINATELY not 1/5. Perhaps they were saying that they do 1 lap-band in every 5 bariatric surgeries, that would be about right since most get RNY

The DKNYs that I wore on our walk in Vallejo just went in the pile too - I thought they were 12s, they are 14s! No wonder they got so baggy :-) Speaking of walks, I'm going to go take one - the NASCAR race sucks, a bad last 1/2 of the Chase for my driver. And with Jimmie Johnson making history as 1st to win the Cup 4 times in a row . . .I can't watch. TTYL, as Tamra would say!

Next 2 pairs are Wrangler men's, 32-30 - fit but no good 4 my butt :-) Give-away Another pair of junior 11s, "Rio" brand?!? Nice butt; get drawer space. Levi's 14 stretch?? Oops, give-away! I wonder if I was ever missing those. Oh! Rockies! I used to love my ass in Rockies . . . 38 length? Where the heck did I get these? 33 waist, OMG - rats! They are too loose. But but butt . . . . boo-hoo. I am going to wash them in hot and dry them on hotter! And apparently tuck them into boots because they are 5" too long! Who is really tall and wears about a 12? Couple more thinner materials, clearly too short - go in the give-away pile. Two "dressy" 8s. from a friend who recently lost inches (Sensa) and went from a 10 to a 6, poor me I get her clothes :-) and she never buys somethig that's not designed. I have a special drawer for her stuff; she was hips/thighs like mine and my shape will be a lot like hers when I'm done with this journey. That's it for today! I have clothes to give away, people - especially jeans. Oh and still some size 14 and 16 career dresses that I can part with now that I've found eBay . . . . they need to be dry-cleaned, shoulders are dusty from so many tears of hanging unworn but they are up for grabs!!

You guys are funny! OK I am doing the 22 pairs right now, and really amusing myself! The 5 pairs of 5's I just left on the closet shelf - this is supposed to be uplifting, not a downer. WELL I started with a pair of bright red Zena jeans, a junior's size 11 with a waist that looks like it'd fit Barbie. I tried them first because I thought, ya gads they are bright red, if I'm not going to be able to wear them by Christmas I' just going to give them away. Yes, Pat, I had to lie down on the bed to zip them, but zip them I did! And they are hot :-) They get drawer space. Next some black jeans, fit but too short and material is too thin to hold my pannus in. Give-away pile CUTE size 10 painter pants, khaki came next, fit great nice ass Riley! But too short! I considered rolling them up, but it's winter and by next summer they will bee too big in the arse so - give-away pile. OK I broke into the genuine Levi's, 501s and 505. At my very tiniest teenage twiggy stage, I wore a 29 32. This first pair are a 32 30, they seem long enough but far too tiny. Well they pulled up, and it was a minor miracle but I somehow flopped around on the bed enough to zip the. Wow . . . now I know what they mean by "muffin top"!! I am a giant muffin. I never knew it came out the back of the jeans, too. Sheeez. I'm going to get these off - hopefully I won't have to make my way downstairs for a can opener . . . BRB with more pants -

Here's an idea to get your appetites under control: do an ab workout at the gym! OMG . . . . ya know how you are SO not hungry in the week after surgery, and it feels like you did to many sit-ups? Well I just re-created that lovely feeling - OUCH - but not really hungry! :thumbup:

Band date is in my siggy . . . . I did not do sleeve because 1) wasn't a choice when I went through the program, but more importantly, it's much more invasive than the band - still involves a great deal of cutting and stapling, like RNY but without the re-routing. I would have considered it if Kaiser had offered it at the time, but would still have chosen the band, and it was the right choice for me :-)

OK I don't want to hear ANY one of you say that they can't go salsa dancing - watch THIS!!! If she can do it, WE sure can!! YouTube - Never underestimate an old gal