riley4183

My first 2 days I ate only: SF popsicles, SF jello, water, G2 (diet gatorade), black decaf coffee (trying to feel "normal" on day 2!) and broth YUM on the broth! As soon as I could have full liquids (stage 2) I was all about walking to starbucks for decaf soy slender lattes (good on protein), and I was walking to shopping again by then so I would buy hot & sour soup at the chinese restaurant and blend it with unsweetened soy milk, or chili at safeway and blend it with broth (oops, was not supposed to be having beans yet!). I actually opened only 1 can of cream of chicken and 1 container of that trader joe's red pepper soup (yummy but full of carbs). You eat SO little that 1 can could last you all week if you didn't get so sick of it. Honestly! When I started needed more substance I made homeade split pea with pureed ham in it, added soy milk to thin it. I had SO many cans of soup I didn't ever open! I gave most of them away when I quit eating meat again. -A BP cuff if you have high blood pressure - a digital thermometer - to make sure no infection - liquid or chewable tylenol, cause that lortab gets REAL old REAL fast - hot water bottle for the gas, and Gas-X strips -paper bowls! you need them to eat the SF popsicles cause you can't eat the whole thing at first :thumbup:

Jes! Hi sweets :-) Caff raises blood pressure and increases appetite. I think it was your doc (Park) that said it does not really increase risk of ulcer- which is what I had heard from Liz & Robin - cause liquids go right thru? But Dr. Baggs has been very clear that I should not be drinking it, so I try to at LEAST go with the half-caff. Sometimes I have to do it for the headache remedy tho . . . . so I feel ya!!

This eHarmony thing is wearing me OUT! Seriously! 9 matches that I am currently "communicating" with; 11 more new ones that look too interesting to close out yet but I don't have TIME or ENERGY to communicate with; and 48 already closed out - half by me and half by them. Holy SMOKES! I have only been a member now for 9 days!!!!!! They match me with like 5 new guys every night . . . . this is crazy! BUT it has really helped for me to realize that there are a LOT of like-minded, single, Christian guys out there and I do NOT ever need to settle for anyone just because he's available. Cool beans dude and dudettes . . . . Donna I miss you woman, where are you??

Tamra! What a totally perfect day! Congrats girl, you are right back on it! Attagirl :-)

p-butter, oh no not rihght after surgery!! I can barely eat it now! 2 cans of soup would have done me - seriously. Get a magic bullet blender; you can eat anything that the family is having (once on Stage 3) by just poppin' it in the ol' blender. I ate GOOD in stage 3 . . . . used it all the time in stage 2 also, turned anything into soup with some broth or soy milk :-) YO - drinkies and calories = my area of expertise, yo Jes jump in anytime here! All "shots" (hard alcohol, assuming it is unsweetened - does not include the likes of Malibu rum, etc) has exactly the same amount of calories and ZERO carbs. If you are in an establishment that knows you, bring diet cranberry (ocean spray) juice and drink that with plain old vodka. Otherwise stay away from any kind of fruit juices. Vodka (or plain rum) works with crystal lite too - and we ALL pack THAT around - and in diet jello shots. Michalob ultra is like 70 cals and 2.3 carbs, it is a beautiful thing for BEFORE surgery; after you have to pour it into a glass from 3 feet height and let it flatten before you can drink it! I can actually drink one out of the bottle now, but too hard to stick to 1 so I don't. I am especially partial to vodka diet tonic, no fruit. But that was when I drank vodka . . . . I'm over than now. But I lost so much weight that I cant drink like i used to! 2 is my limit and I have a hard time with that, so I sip red wine now - i NEVER chug that. It has calories AND carbs but I am drinking 2 not 5 or 6, so it all works out and saves me from stupid and regretable behavior(!) I had to not drink at all to lose 43 lbs. before surgery - probably one of the main reasons that I lost it so easilt, LOL!!

Pat Pat Pat! You need to hang with us bandsters more :-) Why have a part of you removed if the band will do it for you? God put it there for a reason . . . . for our friends who were 200 lbs overweight, I agree that RNY was their best bet. Or if they have diabetes . . . but for BMIs of 42 or less, the Band is the way to go - I firmly believe that. It was the perfect solution for me. THAT SAID - we will support you no matter what you do! I would have considered the sleeve if they had offfered it while I was going through.

Good morning all! Back down to 172 & change this morning, YAY! Did not need that 9 lb. gain. I am really, really sensitive to drinking enough water and avoiding carbs - all goes well when I do that! And exercise of course :-) Tina I am sure that you are fine, or Dr. Im would have ordered the tests. Jes when is your next fill in Richmond again? date and time? I think it's a wednesday - 16th maybe? I am going to try & schedule my next fill for the same time so we can see each other & maybe walk again :-) I need my girls!! Still have not caught up on my reading . . . . between this site and eHarmony, I hardly have time for work!!!

Hey everyone, just checking in - long, LONG day, plus had my emotional eating class tonight, just got home have a headache bad and way tired. Have not read to catch up yet but I will! I'm doing good, the class is really helping with my head hunger. I wish you all had the same kind of support I do! Pat came to meeting last night it was great :-) Going to bed!!:thumbup:

Tina yay you are back! And losing like crazy!! I keep losing, gaining it back, band tightens up and I lose it again, then get careless and gain it back, band tightens up . . . . good band. I need to be more with the program, that's all. I'm not physically hungry between meals; I just eat because I want to. The sweet spot is actually really difficult, because it does nothing for head hunger!!! I need to make sure I am down 8-10 from my last fill before I go for another, but that's not until the 2nd half of December. Tight enough for right now , , , ,

Welcome Ash!! I would try to stay at BMI 40 unless you have 2 comorbidities, like diabetes and apnea. I have a very expensive Kaiser plan, so I probably pay the least . . . . My appointments are $10 when I see Dr. Baggs (before and after), nothing if I see the NP or dietician or other non-doc. Surgery was $10.

Hi ladies, hi John! Just checking in :-) Pat I sent you a PM Liz and Nicolie, orientation tomorrow??? WOO-WEE!!! It is on NOW! I had no carbs today, well whatever is in spaghetti squash but that's about it. I stayed under 20 grams for sure. Got to bust through this carb craving thingy again! OH I do SO bad when I am not on plan, makes sense but it's SO hard to be good all the time!!! Time change is messin' me up - going to go to bed early so I can get up early & go to the gym . . . I have heavy-duty contentiousd public hearing items at the Board of Supes tomorrow, will need exercise to deal with the stress that brings. Wish me luck! Tina where are you?? G'night all

Maria did you get the link I posted for you? Page 499 I think - WOW people, we are chatty little Cathies! Pat yes - 6:30 at the Shay address. I can't wait to see you!! It is happening again, the sugar/carb water bloat!! 180 lbs. this morning, that is a pound MORE than at my last fill 6 weeks ago! And 9 lbs. more than 5 days ago. WHAT is up with THAT?? MAYbe it was the cookies and candy and mashed potatoes with gobs of butter - I'm just sayin'!! Band got tighter too - good band :-)

Maria here's the link. I highly recommend these downloads! https://members.kaiserpermanente.org/redirects/listen/

Hey all, jest checkin in . . . . . this eHarmony is keeping me really busy online! There are some seemingly fabulous single men out there - gives me hope! I am communicating with 11 right now tho so it does get kind of confusing, LOL Pammie you like my litterbox? It's granola and crushed vanilla wafers for the liotter, tootsie rolls, paydays and $100,000 bars for the "turds" - OMG, so much fun! There were 4 kitties (costumes) at the huge Halloween party I went to last night, but I was the only one with my own litterbox! OK so this makes me feel old: I take my son (the 21 year old with diabetes) to the Disney party with me last night - he doesn;t want to go but I guilt him into hanging with his old mom. AND HE MEETS SOMEONE!!! A 23 year old girl who was just recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Dan has had it since he was 7, so he KNOWS - first they just bonded, but then their lips were perma-bonded! Oh my goodness. It just makes me feel so OLD . . . . .

174.2 this morning, so yes I was definately dehydrated last week when I had that big fat loss! It sure was easier to stay motivated when I was losing 3 lbs. a week instead of 3 lbs. a month . . . . Good luck JayTee!!

OH that would be so cool if you guys came up for the Santa Rosa support group meeting on the 14th!!! It is HUGE and OMG just COOL! It's definately open, and we definately need more bandsters there!!! For some reason most north-bayers are getting RNY, and I really can't figure out why!!

Happy Halloween everybody! This is how I'm passing out candy this year - that really is candy in the "litterbox!" Do I have a sick mind, or WHAT?? Let's see if I can do this right. . . . . . .

That would be a good date for me too Jes, maybe I can get scheduled same day . . . .

Tina no more group fills for me either but we can still get our fills on the same day! I am supposed to come back in December too - did they make you an appointment yet? I'm supposed to call for mine . . . .

Hey everyone! Congrats Bea, howdy Monique! It's the port that's sticking out; it burns like a beatch for just about 4-6 weeks. It is swelling; there is a bunch of fluid around it right now in the little muscle-pocket that they created for it. Once the body re-absorbs the fluid, there will be no more swelling and it won't stick out - at least not until you lose all your weight! I complained to Dr. Baggs that he had sewn a baseball in there for weeks; that is how swollen and hard it was - then finally in week 5 is suddenly went down and I never thought about it again until I lost my weight - now it needs its own zip code! It is tiny, but sticks way out of my trim little tummy now - I can wave to people with it! :-) SO worth it - I don't care.

So Jes you just working from home today? Stupid bridge. I have been getting up and going to the gym for some hard cardio every AM, and now I am STARVING again! Jeez it's not even 8 a.m. and I have already had a huge soy lattee and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. Tina I need the other .25 of your fill!!

Yikes, Bay Bridge closed for at least 24 hours - cable snapped! You commuters may want to turn on the news . . . .

I have had 2 (full) migraines in my whole entire life, and I have NO idea how you guys handle it. Nonne. <y son gets them and all he can do is sleep - no light no noise no movement. His are usually related to unstable blood glucose - he's the one with the Type 1 diabetes. Candra girlfriend you have to get to the bottom of those! I know the Kaiser up here has all kinds of "headache" clinics; does your local one? Clinical studies? You can't live like that . . . . EHarmony is cracking me up! OK I seriously need some better pics, the one I have up is the one that Heather took at Reggie's, no makeup and 14 lbs. heavier - uh . . . OH YEAH its my avatar!! if some guy gets past that he will be pleasantly suprised meeting me in person, LOL I guess that is better than the reverse! Still - they want me to have a body shot up of me doing something I enjoy, I guess that would be hiking? No plaid shorts though! And hard to do a glamour shot in hiking boots. I need help! OK sounds like Pat and I can do the 14th, except our group here goes until noon and then it's going to take an hour at least to get down there from here :-( do you guys really want to wait for us?? We ARE fabulous and well worth waiting for, IF I do say so myself

Good morning all! I signed up for eHarmony . . . if anyone has photos of me, would you please send them? :-) Oh and if they ned to be cropped I don't know how :-(

OK enough. I told the boy "just friends." I cannot handle dating a guy who I find embarrasingly 'dumb.' Is that elitist? I don't care; I don't know what I was thinking going out with him in the first place. Nice body I guess. But dumb as a rock, too sensitive and he SMOKES. Who needs it? I want better for myself. Anybody doing eHarmony? I did it a few years back, nothing ever really came from it - I never posted any pics cause I was too scared of the camera(!) - but I liked their process, and it seemed really safe. If I do it, will you guys help me with pics? I'm sorta LAME like that :-)