ALuv82

So I just finished watching the Biggesst Loser Finale. I''m highly impressed by what those contestants have accomplished. One the the things that amazes me the most is that less than 6 months after they began their journey, the 4 last contestants all completed a MARATHON. That's just crazy talk. Well, if they can do it, so can I. So I've set myself an NSG--a non-scale goal. Well, I hope to one day run a marathon, but I'm going to set another goal first and work my way up. I want to run a half marathon. I've done some research and there is one in Queens on 9/20/09 and one in East Hampton on 9/26/09. I was wondering if anyone in the area wants to be ambitious and set this goal with me. It'd be nice to have some people to run with. Let me know if anyone's up the challenge.

So I finally got a chance to sit down and watch my DVRed episode of The Biggest Loser finale. I have to say, for a show that promotes losing weight and getting in shape, they make you sit in front of the TV for an awfully long time to find out who won. That aside, those contestants are damn motivational. Seriously, Mike lost over 200 lbs in 6 months, and that 64 year old guy who won the at home prize lost nearly as much and he was only on the Ranch for 2 weeks. If these guys can do it without surgery, surely I can be as successful with the help of my new, super, duper band. Personally, I wanted Tara to win. I think because I related the most to her. Sure, she’s a little younger than me, but only by 4 years. We’re still both in our twenties—the prime of our lives. She’s my height and was close to my weight when she started out—her just under 300lbs and me just over. She never fell below the dreaded yellow line and she won challenge after challenge. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. I hope that I can be half as successful as she has been. And speaking of the challenges, I come to the real point of this blog. By week 11, the remaining contestants were all confronted with a true test of how far they’d come in less than 3 months—they ran a half-marathon. Then, 2 months later they were faced with a doubly difficult challenge—a full marathon. Every remaining player completed a full 26.2 miles, even Ron—the 54 year old father with a multitude of health problems. If they can accomplish such a feat, in such a short time, I certainly can as well. And so I will. I have set a goal for myself. We all look for those NSVs that keep us motivated, and so I am setting myself a NSG—non scale goal. I am going to run a half marathon. A little bit of research on my part has informed me that there is one in Queens on September 20th and another in the Hamptons on September 26th. I will be at one of those two races and I will make it to the finish line.

So I finally got a chance to sit down and watch my DVRed episode of The Biggest Loser finale. I have to say, for a show that promotes losing weight and getting in shape, they make you sit in front of the TV for an awfully long time to find out who won. That aside, those contestants are damn motivational. Seriously, Mike lost over 200 lbs in 6 months, and that 64 year old guy who won the at home prize lost nearly as much and he was only on the Ranch for 2 weeks. If these guys can do it without surgery, surely I can be as successful with the help of my new, super, duper band. Personally, I wanted Tara to win. I think because I related the most to her. Sure, she’s a little younger than me, but only by 4 years. We’re still both in our twenties—the prime of our lives. She’s my height and was close to my weight when she started out—her just under 300lbs and me just over. She never fell below the dreaded yellow line and she won challenge after challenge. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. I hope that I can be half as successful as she has been. And speaking of the challenges, I come to the real point of this blog. By week 11, the remaining contestants were all confronted with a true test of how far they’d come in less than 3 months—they ran a half-marathon. Then, 2 months later they were faced with a doubly difficult challenge—a full marathon. Every remaining player completed a full 26.2 miles, even Ron—the 54 year old father with a multitude of health problems. If they can accomplish such a feat, in such a short time, I certainly can as well. And so I will. I have set a goal for myself. We all look for those NSVs that keep us motivated, and so I am setting myself a NSG—non scale goal. I am going to run a half marathon. A little bit of research on my part has informed me that there is one in Queens on September 20th and another in the Hamptons on September 26th. I will be at one of those two races and I will make it to the finish line.

Okay, here's the summary of a journal article that reviewed data from studies that compared the "medium" term effectivness of the two procedures. For those of you who don't speak medical-ese like me, here's what it says-- In the short term (1 year out a 2 years out) there is a higher percentage of loss of extra weight (67 vs 42% and 67 vs 53% respecitvely--notice that the bypass number remains the same while the band number continues to increase) however from 3-7 years out the numbers are comparable. at 8 years (probably the longest out any band studies go) the percentage of extra weight lost is 59% in the band, At 10 years out the percent of extra weight lost is 52%. Basically, it takes longer to lose the weight with the band but it tends to stay off more than it does with the bypass.

That's funny--my doctor said that while the studies comparing the long term effectiveness between the two procedures are still fairly new since the band hasn't been around as long, that iit looks as though the band is more effective 5 years or more out. He says it's because people who have the bypass tend to rely on the surgery to lose weight--their bodies stop absorbing nutrients so they lose weight no matter what. Eventually their bodies adapt and learn how to be more efficient. However, since the band forces you to learn behavior modification there is a better long term success rate. Also, the band has so many more complications and is irreversible. It can't be adjusted like the band can. The only reason I could see for going for the bypass is if someone has already been unsuccessful with the band or if they are so heavy it is life threatening and they need to lose weight much moe rapidly. Also, it seems that people with diabetes who have the bypass can often stop or greatly reduce their medications almost immediately, so if you have severe diabetes that might be another reason to opt for the bypass.

Man I love mushies. My protein shakes were tolerable, but this is definitely better. Right now I’m perfectly fine with my new diet. The portions (2 oz protein, 1 oz carb 6 times a day) are more than adequate for me. I’m still feeling plenty of restriction and sometimes I’m not even eating my entire meals. I do feel hunger, usually if I haven’t eaten in 3 hours or more, but otherwise I’m fine. I’m thrilled with my progress so far but I’m waiting on this bandster hell I hear about to hit. The way I feel right now, I can’t imagine it happening to me, although I know it’s still early and it might. I had my first follow up with Dr. G on Tuesday, 1 day after I started mushies, so I was able to discuss how my body is reacting to the beginning of this new stage in my diet. I do sometimes feel that pressure in my chest but it’s been less often as the week has gone by. He said that’s fine, but that I should try and slow down my eating. Of course I feel like I’m eating really slowly already—I usually take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to eat my designated portions. Since my post op instructions said to aim for 5 minutes per ounce of protein/carb, 15 minutes is the right time frame. But I guess my body just needs even more time right now. I also explained that even when I felt “full” up in my chest area, I still could feel my tummy rumbling—like I could tell the difference between my pouch and the rest of my stomach which was still empty. He said that the mushies shouldn’t necessarily fill me up at this stage and that it was fine that I was feeling that way. I think it might have just been psychological though. I’m not really having problems with that anymore. Even more exciting than the fact that I am not hungry physically, is how little head hunger I’ve been suffering from. I can only think of 1 day, the first week after surgery when I had really bad head hunger. Otherwise I’ve been OK. Sure, I’ll see commercial with some yummy looking food, or see what someone else is eating and I’ll want it, but it’s not the same as it was before. Just yesterday the people at my office went on a Friendly’s run for ice cream sundaes. I was able to sit with them while they were eating it and not have any problems. Sure, they looked nice and tasty, but that was it. It’s almost how I’ve always imagined it must feel to be a “normal” person without an eating disorder—to see food and to want it a little, but not to be consumed with that desire. To be able to say no and move on without this obsessive nagging in my head reminding me of how good it will taste and how much I want it. Okay, I’m seriously tearing up right now because I’m so happy about this. Anyhow, Dr. G explained that because the band presses on the Vagus nerve—a nerve which runs directly to your brain and has effects on hunger and satiety—that there is actually a neurological component to the band as well that will often make patients want to eat less. I’m thinking this is my favorite part of the band so far. And last but not least, I got clearance to go back to the gym. When I had my appointment Tuesday, I had my gym bag packed and in the car with me so I could go straight there after I got the okay. Dr. G said I was allowed to do very light lifting and cardio, but warned me not to do the cardio machines on an incline or with too much resistance. He doesn’t want me grunting and groaning and getting my intra-abdominal pressure up yet because he said that it can make the band go from being arranged in a 2 o’clock to7 o’clock direction to a 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock direction which will screw me up. So I headed to the gym and got on the elliptical—no incline or resistance. I tried to go slow which was the hardest part since I very carefully selected my gym music to be songs that motivate me to work out hard. Since I had to hold back I tried to make up for it in length and did a full hour. I skipped Wed, and Thurs as I work 12 hour days and spend most of that on my feet, but I headed back today and repeated my work out from Tues. It felt great. Plus I think it stimulated my weight loss again. I slowed down last week on the last week of fluids but the weight seems to be melting off again now that I’m on mushies and exercising. I think my metabolism just needed a boost. I’m so happy with how everything is going so far. I'm feeling good and I'm down 26.4 pounds. This band kicks ass. Dr. G was pleased with my progress as well. I also met with my psychiatrist today—the one who cleared me for surgery—and he also says it seems like I’m doing great. So basically everything is great. I truly and completely believe that I made the right decision getting my band and that I’m going to be so successful with this. It’s a great feeling to have. Alright, I’m tearing up again it’s time for me to get my ass up and go get a tissue. Hasta la vista, amigos.

Man I love mushies. My protein shakes were tolerable, but this is definitely better. Right now I’m perfectly fine with my new diet. The portions (2 oz protein, 1 oz carb 6 times a day) are more than adequate for me. I’m still feeling plenty of restriction and sometimes I’m not even eating my entire meals. I do feel hunger, usually if I haven’t eaten in 3 hours or more, but otherwise I’m fine. I’m thrilled with my progress so far but I’m waiting on this bandster hell I hear about to hit. The way I feel right now, I can’t imagine it happening to me, although I know it’s still early and it might. I had my first follow up with Dr. G on Tuesday, 1 day after I started mushies, so I was able to discuss how my body is reacting to the beginning of this new stage in my diet. I do sometimes feel that pressure in my chest but it’s been less often as the week has gone by. He said that’s fine, but that I should try and slow down my eating. Of course I feel like I’m eating really slowly already—I usually take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to eat my designated portions. Since my post op instructions said to aim for 5 minutes per ounce of protein/carb, 15 minutes is the right time frame. But I guess my body just needs even more time right now. I also explained that even when I felt “full” up in my chest area, I still could feel my tummy rumbling—like I could tell the difference between my pouch and the rest of my stomach which was still empty. He said that the mushies shouldn’t necessarily fill me up at this stage and that it was fine that I was feeling that way. I think it might have just been psychological though. I’m not really having problems with that anymore. Even more exciting than the fact that I am not hungry physically, is how little head hunger I’ve been suffering from. I can only think of 1 day, the first week after surgery when I had really bad head hunger. Otherwise I’ve been OK. Sure, I’ll see commercial with some yummy looking food, or see what someone else is eating and I’ll want it, but it’s not the same as it was before. Just yesterday the people at my office went on a Friendly’s run for ice cream sundaes. I was able to sit with them while they were eating it and not have any problems. Sure, they looked nice and tasty, but that was it. It’s almost how I’ve always imagined it must feel to be a “normal” person without an eating disorder—to see food and to want it a little, but not to be consumed with that desire. To be able to say no and move on without this obsessive nagging in my head reminding me of how good it will taste and how much I want it. Okay, I’m seriously tearing up right now because I’m so happy about this. Anyhow, Dr. G explained that because the band presses on the Vagus nerve—a nerve which runs directly to your brain and has effects on hunger and satiety—that there is actually a neurological component to the band as well that will often make patients want to eat less. I’m thinking this is my favorite part of the band so far. And last but not least, I got clearance to go back to the gym. When I had my appointment Tuesday, I had my gym bag packed and in the car with me so I could go straight there after I got the okay. Dr. G said I was allowed to do very light lifting and cardio, but warned me not to do the cardio machines on an incline or with too much resistance. He doesn’t want me grunting and groaning and getting my intra-abdominal pressure up yet because he said that it can make the band go from being arranged in a 2 o’clock to7 o’clock direction to a 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock direction which will screw me up. So I headed to the gym and got on the elliptical—no incline or resistance. I tried to go slow which was the hardest part since I very carefully selected my gym music to be songs that motivate me to work out hard. Since I had to hold back I tried to make up for it in length and did a full hour. I skipped Wed, and Thurs as I work 12 hour days and spend most of that on my feet, but I headed back today and repeated my work out from Tues. It felt great. Plus I think it stimulated my weight loss again. I slowed down last week on the last week of fluids but the weight seems to be melting off again now that I’m on mushies and exercising. I think my metabolism just needed a boost. I’m so happy with how everything is going so far. I'm feeling good and I'm down 26.4 pounds. This band kicks ass. Dr. G was pleased with my progress as well. I also met with my psychiatrist today—the one who cleared me for surgery—and he also says it seems like I’m doing great. So basically everything is great. I truly and completely believe that I made the right decision getting my band and that I’m going to be so successful with this. It’s a great feeling to have. Alright, I’m tearing up again it’s time for me to get my ass up and go get a tissue. Hasta la vista, amigos.

Thanks for the post. Some interesting thoughts to ponder. I hope the shoe thing turns out to be true for me too. I'm a size 11 and finding decent shoes in my size is almost as hard as finding decent clothes in my size. If I could just shrink my foot down 1 size shoe shopping would be such a pleasure. As for the journaling--well I've been blogging a couple of times a week. I definitely want to chronicle this entire experience, for myself as well as to hopefully help others who might be going through it later on.

It's completely reasonable to have doubts. The band is not fool-proof. It's not a magic pill. It's a tool. And after we've spent our entire lives "failing" diet after diet it's natural to wonder if we will fail at this too. But that is not the mind set we should have. I know that those thoughts are there in me, but right now I BELIEVE truly and wholy, that this will work for me. I BELIEVE I will be a success and that I will reach my goals and live a healthy, happy, skinny life. That doesn't negate the fact that I have fears and doubts. My belief in myself and my band does not wipe away the questions I have about my ability to reach my goals. But it is stronger than that doubt and that is what I KNOW will make me successful this time.

Had my 2 week post op appt on Tues and the doc gave me the go ahead to return to the gym. He told me very light lifting only and I could do cardio but not to use any incline/resistance. I went straight from my doc's to the gym and did 60 mins on the elipiitcal on resitance/incline 1/1. Went again today. Didn't go Wed or Thurs since I worked 12 hour days and I have a job that keeps me on my feet all the time. I'm definitely happy to be back at the gym. I missed it there.

I've been pretty good but I can't say I was 100%. 2 times while still on liquids I had runny scrammbled eggs. I was a little worried so I chewed, took the worlds tiniest bites and ate super slowly. It took me about 45 minutes to eat them both times. I also went to the diner once for lunch with people from work and ordered matzo ball Soup for the brouth and ate a little of the matzo. Then Itook my mother out for Mother's Day which was the last day of the liquid diet and I started mushies then--1 meal early. I've been true to the mushie diet so far though. I've been on that since Mon (well, Sun night technically) So far the mushy food is still satisfying to me. Although I think that my surgeon/nutritionist's definition of mushy is pretty wide. I can have thin sliced deli meat, ground turkey or beef, soft cheese. I never really thought of that stuff as mushy before. I have just over 1 week of that left. As of now I'm not suffering from hunger at all, except occasionly right before I'm due for a meal anyhow. Obviously it's best to follow your surgeon/nutritionist's diet plan but after a life time of bad habits it's hard not to slip up a little. It sounds like you're back to following the plan. Just take it one meal at a time.

Down 10.5 since the start of the challenge. 24.5 more to go to reach my goal. :grouphug: Bunny Banster's July 4th Challenge Bunny's name ------ Bunny's target loss --- Bunny's start weight --- Current date --- Bunny's Current weight --- Bunny's target July 4 weight PharmaGirl -------------- 20lb --------------------- 276lb ---------------- 11 May --------------------- 278lb -------------------- 256lb NY Lady ----------------- 20lb --------------------- 253lb ---------------- 11 May --------------------- 250lb -------------------- 233lb lingling ------------------ 20lb --------------------- 279.6lb --------------- 1 May --------------------- 279.6lb ----------------- 259.6lb JayTee562 --------------- 20lb --------------------- 272lb ----------------- 7 May --------------------- 269lb -------------------- 252lb MrsMitch ---------------- 25lb --------------------- 242lb ------------------ 1 May --------------------- 242lb -------------------- 217lb ALuv82------------------ 35lb ---------------------- 297.5lb --------------- 15 May --------------------- 287lbs ------------------- 262.5lb Band_Groupie ----------- 15lb ---------------------- 218 lbs -------------- 7 May --------------------- 216lbs -------------------- 203lbs kaner ------------------- 20lb ----------------------- 275lb --------------- 1 May --------------------- 275lb ---------------------- 255lb scoobydoo -------------- 25lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? TerriLynne -------------- 15lb ----------------------- 296lb --------------- 1 May --------------------- 292lb ---------------------- 281lb hopeful41411 ----------- 18lb ----------------------- 260.8lb -------------- 1 May -------------------- 260.8lb -------------------- 242.8lb IsabellaP84 ------------- 20lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? hannahj914 ------------- 20lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JWL08 ------------------ 18lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Abbie-pie --------------- 30lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? poconomom -------------20lb ----------------------- 212lb --------------- 8 May --------------------- 204lb --------------------- 192lb myturn2bhappy --------- 30lb ---------------------- 288lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 288lb --------------------- 258lb DM Chef ---------------- 20lb ---------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? ------------------------- ? FutureSize10 ------------ 25lb ---------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? ------------------------- ? doodlebug11 ------------ 20lb ---------------------- 207lb --------------- 1 May ---------------------- 209lb-------------------- 187lb tcbgirl ------------------- 15lb ---------------------- 202.8lb ------------- 1 May --------------------- 202.8lb --------------------187.8lb twinmamma1130 -------- 20lb ---------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? ------------------------- ? mi_illusion_st ----------- 15lb --------------------- 211.6lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 211.6lb----------------- 196.6lb Babygirl_68 -------------- 20lb ---------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? ------------------------- ? kittygirl ------------------ 22lb --------------------- 203lb ------------------ 1 May ---------------------- 203lb ------------------- 181lb jukeBox81782 ----------- 40lb ---------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May ---------------------- ? ------------------------- ? Losing for me ----------- 20lb ---------------------- 189lb ---------------- 1 May ---------------------- 189lb --------------------169lb early -------------------- 15lb ---------------------- 202lb ------------------- 1 May --------------------- 202lb -------------------- 187lb lapband-AP-redo -------- 20lb ----------------------- ? ------------------- 1 May ---------------------- ? ------------------------- ? pottergirl----------------- 20lb----------------------- 280lb ---------------- 1 May---------------------- 280lb -------------------- 260lb shakia90 ---------------- 20lb ----------------------- 285lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 285lb -------------------- 265lb txdj --------------------- 20lb------------------------ 205lb ---------------- 7 May --------------------- 195lb --------------------185lb ThinWithin -------------- 27.4lb --------------------- 297.4lb -------------- 8 May --------------------- 297.4lb ------------------ 270lb help1977 ----------------20lb----------------------- 251.8lb ---------------- 1 May -------------------- 248.2lb ------------------- 231.8lb vcatalina1 -------------- 20lb------------------------ 255lb ------------------1 May -------------------- 240lb --------------------- 220lb Auddie ----------------- 20lb------------------------ ? -----------------------1 May ------------------- ? --------------------------? lapbandgirl2009 -------- 25lb ---------------------- 259lb ------------------- 1 May ------------------- 259lb --------------------- 234lb swkrp ------------------ 20lb ---------------------- 219lb ------------------- 1 May ------------------- 199lb --------------------- 234lb Shellynnrn --------------20lb ---------------------- 260lb--------------------1 May ------------------- 260lb-----------------------240lb kath17268 -------------15lb ----------------------- 236lb--------------------1 May ------------------- 232lb ------------------------ 221lb knighmo -------------- 25lb --------------------- 298lb -------------------- 4 May-------------------- 298lb ------------------- 273lb jannyboo -------------- 29lb -------------------- 219lb ---------------------1 May ------------------- 219lb ------------------- 190lb lilith ------------------ 20lb -------------------- 249lb---------------------6 May ------------------- 249lb ------------------- 229lb

Ooh, I'm gonna start weighing in with you guys here. I'm 287 today. Was 313.4 before the pre-op diet (which I started 4/20) for a total of 26.4 lbs. I think it's 6 pounds for the week but I can't remember for sure what my exact number was last Fri. I think starting mushies and getting back to the gym helped me out. My metabolism needed a boost. I fear my body was going into starvation mode.

Week two has been an eventful one—though sad to say, not on the scale. In fact, the scale didn’t move at all for 5 days. Luckily it started up again and I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last 2 days. Now, I know I need to get out of this pesky habit of weighing myself everyday. I certainly can’t expect to keep up the rate of loss I have for the weeks pre and post op, but it’s hard not to expect big changes when you’re eating 600 Calories a day. Anyhow, I’m down a total of 24 pounds in 3 weeks and still going in the right direction plus you can already see a change in the way I look—especially in my face—so I’m pretty happy with that. But what else has been happening in the week since my last blog? Well, for starters I went back to work. My first day back was Wednesday. Now normally I work a 4 day work week which means I work 12 hour days during the week. That meant 12 hours Wednesday and 12 hours Thursday. Luckily Friday is my day off, though I did have to work a 6 hour shift yesterday. It actually wasn’t too bad. We were pretty dead on Wednesday so I got to do nothing most of the day, and Thursday wasn’t particularly hectic either. Of course I’m told it was a zoo all last week, but of course that’s what happens every time one of the doctors is off. My biggest concern has been evenings. For night hours there’s only me, one assistant and one receptionist so it’s harder for me to go without lifting. I definitely feel bad when a big dog comes in and I have to just stand there and watch while my assistant and the client do all the hard work (well, physically hard anyway). But, I’ve been managing. One day soon I’ll get to stop feeling like an invalid and start lifting things again. Saturday was more hectic but I have lots of help and the assistant who was assigned to me was a big, manly man who works out everyday. It made me feel less bad about not participating in the physical labor part of the job. Tomorrow starts my first full week, but I’m pretty much feeling back to my normal self, so I’m not too worried about it. Other news pertaining to my work—right before I left someone managed to abandon their dog in our waiting room. We’re not sure how they got the pup in there without anyone seeing, but low and behold, there she was. She’s a cute little schnoodle (poodle/schnauzer.) The poor thing was completely matted with fur, covered in fleas and emaciated. She also had some mammary masses. Well despite the sorry state she was in (or perhaps partly because of it—I am a vet after all) I decided to keep her. While I was off, the other doctors took care of her for me. They cleaned her teeth and biopsied the masses (we almost had surgery on the same day :biggrin:). Luckily the masses were benign—no breast cancer for my little pooch. She still needs to be spayed and she’s still very weak and has a bad hip, but she could be a lot worse off right now. I’ve decided to name her Maddie (which kind of sounds like “matt-y” which is what she was when she came to us.) I brought her home on Thursday night and she’s been attached to my hip ever since, although today she spent a little time with my parents. My other dog is tolerating her well, but you can tell she’s jealous. Oh well, she’ll get used to her eventually. So how’s the post op diet going, you ask? Well tomorrow I’m scheduled to start mushies—yay! Though I must admit that I’ve been a bad girl and taken a couple of liberties this week with the liquid diet. I had scrambled eggs twice, though they were really runny and it took me about 45 minutes to finish them. I also ate a few tiny bites of matzo ball out of the soup I got for lunch one day. I didn’t have any problems with that or the eggs. Tonight however, I took my mother out for Mother’s Day and decided to move on to mushies—for real—one meal early. Bad me, I know. I had ~1 tablespoonful of chicken salad and ~2 tablespoonfuls of my father’s chopped steak. I also had some chicken broth with a couple of bites of matzo ball. It took me a long time to get it down as I was taking exceptionally small bites and chewing like crazy. I was still feeling a little hungry in my stomach but I started to feel a little bit of pressure in my esophagus so I stopped before I had the last little bit of chopped steak (my nutritionist through my surgeon recommends 2 oz (~4 tbsp) of protein and 1 oz of carbs per mushie meal for a total of 6 meals a day so I was just about on target.) I don’t think it was stuck, though I haven’t experienced that yet so I don’t know for sure. But I didn’t feel like regurgitating and didn’t start sliming up or anything. It’s pretty much settled now. Anyhoo—Tuesday is my first post-op check up. I’m excited. I hope I get clearance to go back to the gym, at least for cardio, plus I’d like to get permission to swim/bathe—then I can follow up my work-out with a soak in the hot tub. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Or maybe I just need to get a life.

Week two has been an eventful one—though sad to say, not on the scale. In fact, the scale didn’t move at all for 5 days. Luckily it started up again and I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last 2 days. Now, I know I need to get out of this pesky habit of weighing myself everyday. I certainly can’t expect to keep up the rate of loss I have for the weeks pre and post op, but it’s hard not to expect big changes when you’re eating 600 Calories a day. Anyhow, I’m down a total of 24 pounds in 3 weeks and still going in the right direction plus you can already see a change in the way I look—especially in my face—so I’m pretty happy with that. But what else has been happening in the week since my last blog? Well, for starters I went back to work. My first day back was Wednesday. Now normally I work a 4 day work week which means I work 12 hour days during the week. That meant 12 hours Wednesday and 12 hours Thursday. Luckily Friday is my day off, though I did have to work a 6 hour shift yesterday. It actually wasn’t too bad. We were pretty dead on Wednesday so I got to do nothing most of the day, and Thursday wasn’t particularly hectic either. Of course I’m told it was a zoo all last week, but of course that’s what happens every time one of the doctors is off. My biggest concern has been evenings. For night hours there’s only me, one assistant and one receptionist so it’s harder for me to go without lifting. I definitely feel bad when a big dog comes in and I have to just stand there and watch while my assistant and the client do all the hard work (well, physically hard anyway). But, I’ve been managing. One day soon I’ll get to stop feeling like an invalid and start lifting things again. Saturday was more hectic but I have lots of help and the assistant who was assigned to me was a big, manly man who works out everyday. It made me feel less bad about not participating in the physical labor part of the job. Tomorrow starts my first full week, but I’m pretty much feeling back to my normal self, so I’m not too worried about it. Other news pertaining to my work—right before I left someone managed to abandon their dog in our waiting room. We’re not sure how they got the pup in there without anyone seeing, but low and behold, there she was. She’s a cute little schnoodle (poodle/schnauzer.) The poor thing was completely matted with fur, covered in fleas and emaciated. She also had some mammary masses. Well despite the sorry state she was in (or perhaps partly because of it—I am a vet after all) I decided to keep her. While I was off, the other doctors took care of her for me. They cleaned her teeth and biopsied the masses (we almost had surgery on the same day ). Luckily the masses were benign—no breast cancer for my little pooch. She still needs to be spayed and she’s still very weak and has a bad hip, but she could be a lot worse off right now. I’ve decided to name her Maddie (which kind of sounds like “matt-y” which is what she was when she came to us.) I brought her home on Thursday night and she’s been attached to my hip ever since, although today she spent a little time with my parents. My other dog is tolerating her well, but you can tell she’s jealous. Oh well, she’ll get used to her eventually. So how’s the post op diet going, you ask? Well tomorrow I’m scheduled to start mushies—yay! Though I must admit that I’ve been a bad girl and taken a couple of liberties this week with the liquid diet. I had scrambled eggs twice, though they were really runny and it took me about 45 minutes to finish them. I also ate a few tiny bites of matzo ball out of the soup I got for lunch one day. I didn’t have any problems with that or the eggs. Tonight however, I took my mother out for Mother’s Day and decided to move on to mushies—for real—one meal early. Bad me, I know. I had ~1 tablespoonful of chicken salad and ~2 tablespoonfuls of my father’s chopped steak. I also had some chicken broth with a couple of bites of matzo ball. It took me a long time to get it down as I was taking exceptionally small bites and chewing like crazy. I was still feeling a little hungry in my stomach but I started to feel a little bit of pressure in my esophagus so I stopped before I had the last little bit of chopped steak (my nutritionist through my surgeon recommends 2 oz (~4 tbsp) of protein and 1 oz of carbs per mushie meal for a total of 6 meals a day so I was just about on target.) I don’t think it was stuck, though I haven’t experienced that yet so I don’t know for sure. But I didn’t feel like regurgitating and didn’t start sliming up or anything. It’s pretty much settled now. Anyhoo—Tuesday is my first post-op check up. I’m excited. I hope I get clearance to go back to the gym, at least for cardio, plus I’d like to get permission to swim/bathe—then I can follow up my work-out with a soak in the hot tub. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Or maybe I just need to get a life.

It's strange because right after surgery I was still losing really fast. lost 10# before during my 1 week pre-op diet, 10# During the 6 adys post-op and then bam! I haven't lost anything in the week since. It's a bit of a bummer to me as well. I understand some people not losing before their fill because they have no restriction, but I still ahve great restriction and am on liquids only consuming about 500-600cals per day. I think the problem is that my body is actually going into starvation mode. I know I shouldn't get my expectations up too hight but it's hard not to expect to lose weight when you're hardly eating anything.

Well, I don't have a spouse and I've been lucky enough to have the support of my family, but I hope your husband comes around. I think it might be a good idea to gently remind him that this isn't about "lazy" or "easy" it's about your health and you have to choose the path that's going to work not the one that's the "hardest" just because--why? Because it's harder? Because you will then somehow have "earned" it? Because that will somehow result in a more satisfaction or a greater sense of achievement from your weight loss? There won't be any satisfaction or sense of achievement if you continue on the same path you've been on. If this is something you've been struggling with for a long time and nothing else has worked remind him of that and let him know that you want to be the healthiest you that you can be, not only for you but for him as well as any family or potential family you might have with him if you're planning on it. I also suggest educating him. Take him to an info session with a Dr., show him articles about the surgery and why it's important. Let him see the statistics of weight loss success with "traditional methods" vs. WLS. Here are a few sites you can get started with. The Risks and Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery Weight Loss Surgery Helps Moderately Obese Lapband.com - Weight Loss Surgery and Other Treatment Options http://www.asbs.org/Newsite07/resources/press_release_8202007.pdf

Hi guys. Just got banded by Dr. G last week. So far I'm doing good. Still very sore around my port site. I have to admit that I gave in to temptation today and ate something non-liquid even though I'm only a week out. I had an egg but I made it really runny and took about 40 minutes to get it down. I didn't have any problems tolerating it but it wasn't nearly good as I expected. My heads back in the game now though and it's back to full liquids for 1 more week.

My doc will use both but only of someone really insists on the Realize. his default is the Lap-band. He feels they're just made better. He showed me both of them and just looking at them I could see the difference. The inflatable part on the realize didn't look as sturdy to me at all. But he will use it as will a lot of other docs so it must still be a good choice. He just felt that the lap-band was a better one and I could see why.

Wow, 30 lbs already. You're doing great. If you're not even supposed to have protien shakes right now, what are you supposed to eat during your liquid phase. Good luck getting through the weekend undetected. I've told everyone about my band so I don't know what it's like trying to hide it. I do however know that if my mother asks me one more time if my pants feel any loser yet, I'm going to scream. She literally asks me every day. It may not be hell, but it's annoying as hell. Keep up the good work. -Lauren

I'll remind you. And I'll try and catch the show as well. Sounds interesting.

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after a couple of tries. The first few days all the pain was from the incisions, especially around the port that sits under my skin and connects to the band. On Thursday I experienced my first, real gas pains. Some of the gas they use to blow up the abdomen with at surgery gets stuck in there and can irritate the phrenic nerve which runs up towards the shoulder. As a result after surgery a lot of people experience pain in their shoulder. By Thursday my incisions were starting to be tolerable and then all of a sudden I started getting these gas pains. They gave me a horrible headache too. I had them to a lesser degree Friday and a little last night as well. But overall it’s getting much better. Yesterday all I had to take for pain was 1 extra strength Tylenol. The incision where they placed my port is still sore if I bend a certain way and it’s very black and blue, but other than that the pain seems to have mostly passed. I do still have to deal with these little hiccup-y burp things that are very uncomfortable. I think it’s because any little bit of air that I suck in takes up such a large portion of the new stomach that I have to burp it up, but because of the restriction to my stomach and the trauma to my abdominal muscles I can’t really burp properly. Whatever the reason, they’re annoying as heck. I’ve also been a lot more tired all week, probably as a result of the general anesthetic they put me under. I’d wake up at a normal hour and feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed (like a squirrel on crack :biggrin:) but I’d be wiped out by mid afternoon and have to take a nap even though I hadn’t done much except take a couple of short walks. The last two days have been the only two where I haven’t needed a nap and by the end of the night I’d felt like I’d been working all day. Hopefully by the time I actually go back to work on Wednesday, that will have passed as well—especially since I work 12 hour days. It’s going to be hard for me at work knowing that I can’t help lift and restrain animals. I mean, that’s what the techs and assistants are hired for, but they’re all so much littler than me I always wind up jumping in and helping. It’s going to be especially tough at night when there’s only 1 tech. If we get a really big dog she won’t be able to lift it by herself. I guess either the owners will have to help or I’ll have to get down on the floor to examine them. As long as I stick to actually doing my job—examining, diagnosing and prescribing—I should be OK at work. Although if there are any surgeries I should probably let the other doctors take them for the first week back. The good news is that so far this really seems to be working. I’ve lost 20# since I started the pre-op diet not even 2 weeks ago. It’s amazing how easy it is to lose weight when you can’t fit anything into your stomach. I’m still on the liquid diet and will be for another week. Right now I’m supposed to be eating (or more accurately, drinking) 4 of my Medifast protein shakes and 2 other liquid meals (soup without chunks, yogurt without chunks, pudding, jello, ices, etc) a day along with 6-8 glasses of water. Right now I can’t even eat that. I think yesterday I came the closest. I had 4 Medifasts and 1 6oz light, fat-free key lime pie yogurt and 7 glasses of water. By the end of the night I felt completely bloated. I could feel the liquid splashing around in my new, bite-sized belly. The total was 460 calories. I’m actually worried about my body going into starvation mode. I know that next week when I start mushy foods I’ll be able to get more calories and nutrients in and I’m sure that will help me feel better. Plus mentally it will be a lot easier as well. Friday was really tough for me to get through the mental need for real food even though the physical need wasn’t there. Also, as the swelling goes down from the surgery I’ll be able to fit more volume in. I’ve actually read some other bandsters say that they wind up feeling no restriction at all for a while before they are able to go in and get their band filled with saline for the first time (usually 6 weeks post-op). I’m told that’s bandster hell. Hopefully the swelling doesn’t go down that much. I have to keep on track if I want to get to 225# by my sister’s wedding in October. I just have to keep on plugging away and before I know it I’ll be back to my normal self—only skinnier and less hungry all the time. Just 1 more week until I can eat that egg I’ve been dreaming about. Yippie!

I’m about a week into recovery and things are going pretty well. I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. My immediate recovery from anesthesia was extremely smooth but I didn’t fair so well on the pain front. I was popping pain pills like crazy the first few days. The only problem was that the Vicodin was too big for my new, little tummy. It eventually went down but I could feel it sitting there for a little while at first and it was pretty uncomfortable. I started crushing them up after a couple of tries. The first few days all the pain was from the incisions, especially around the port that sits under my skin and connects to the band. On Thursday I experienced my first, real gas pains. Some of the gas they use to blow up the abdomen with at surgery gets stuck in there and can irritate the phrenic nerve which runs up towards the shoulder. As a result after surgery a lot of people experience pain in their shoulder. By Thursday my incisions were starting to be tolerable and then all of a sudden I started getting these gas pains. They gave me a horrible headache too. I had them to a lesser degree Friday and a little last night as well. But overall it’s getting much better. Yesterday all I had to take for pain was 1 extra strength Tylenol. The incision where they placed my port is still sore if I bend a certain way and it’s very black and blue, but other than that the pain seems to have mostly passed. I do still have to deal with these little hiccup-y burp things that are very uncomfortable. I think it’s because any little bit of air that I suck in takes up such a large portion of the new stomach that I have to burp it up, but because of the restriction to my stomach and the trauma to my abdominal muscles I can’t really burp properly. Whatever the reason, they’re annoying as heck. I’ve also been a lot more tired all week, probably as a result of the general anesthetic they put me under. I’d wake up at a normal hour and feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed (like a squirrel on crack :wink:) but I’d be wiped out by mid afternoon and have to take a nap even though I hadn’t done much except take a couple of short walks. The last two days have been the only two where I haven’t needed a nap and by the end of the night I’d felt like I’d been working all day. Hopefully by the time I actually go back to work on Wednesday, that will have passed as well—especially since I work 12 hour days. It’s going to be hard for me at work knowing that I can’t help lift and restrain animals. I mean, that’s what the techs and assistants are hired for, but they’re all so much littler than me I always wind up jumping in and helping. It’s going to be especially tough at night when there’s only 1 tech. If we get a really big dog she won’t be able to lift it by herself. I guess either the owners will have to help or I’ll have to get down on the floor to examine them. As long as I stick to actually doing my job—examining, diagnosing and prescribing—I should be OK at work. Although if there are any surgeries I should probably let the other doctors take them for the first week back. The good news is that so far this really seems to be working. I’ve lost 20# since I started the pre-op diet not even 2 weeks ago. It’s amazing how easy it is to lose weight when you can’t fit anything into your stomach. I’m still on the liquid diet and will be for another week. Right now I’m supposed to be eating (or more accurately, drinking) 4 of my Medifast protein shakes and 2 other liquid meals (soup without chunks, yogurt without chunks, pudding, jello, ices, etc) a day along with 6-8 glasses of water. Right now I can’t even eat that. I think yesterday I came the closest. I had 4 Medifasts and 1 6oz light, fat-free key lime pie yogurt and 7 glasses of water. By the end of the night I felt completely bloated. I could feel the liquid splashing around in my new, bite-sized belly. The total was 460 calories. I’m actually worried about my body going into starvation mode. I know that next week when I start mushy foods I’ll be able to get more calories and nutrients in and I’m sure that will help me feel better. Plus mentally it will be a lot easier as well. Friday was really tough for me to get through the mental need for real food even though the physical need wasn’t there. Also, as the swelling goes down from the surgery I’ll be able to fit more volume in. I’ve actually read some other bandsters say that they wind up feeling no restriction at all for a while before they are able to go in and get their band filled with saline for the first time (usually 6 weeks post-op). I’m told that’s bandster hell. Hopefully the swelling doesn’t go down that much. I have to keep on track if I want to get to 225# by my sister’s wedding in October. I just have to keep on plugging away and before I know it I’ll be back to my normal self—only skinnier and less hungry all the time. Just 1 more week until I can eat that egg I’ve been dreaming about. Yippie!

Here wer go...My first weight loss challenge since being banded. I decided to be a rebel and set m sights high. I raised my goal from 30 to 35# :thumbup: Bunny Banster's July 4th Challenge Bunny's name ------ Bunny's target loss --- Bunny's start weight --- Current date --- Bunny's Current weight --- Bunny's target July 4 weight PharmaGirl ----------------- 20lb --------------------- 276lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 276lb ---------------------- 256lb NY Lady -------------------- 20lb --------------------- 253lb ---------------- 1 May --------------------- 253lb ---------------------- 233lb Lingling--------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JayTee---------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? MrsMitch -------------------- 20lb -------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? ALuv82---------------------- 35lb ------------------ 297.5 -------------------- 1 May ------------------- 297.5 ------------------------ 262.5 Band_Groupie -------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Kaner ----------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Scoobydoo ------------------ 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? TerriLynne ------------------ 15lb --------------------- 296 -------------------- 1 May --------------------- 296 -------------------------- 281 Hopeful41411 --------------- 18lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? IsabellaP84 ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Hannah Jay ----------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JWL08 ---------------------- 18lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Abbie-pie ------------------- 30lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Poconomom -----------------20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? myturn2Bhappy ------------- 30lb --------------------288 ------------------ 1 May --------------------288--------------------258 DMChef --------------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? FutureSize10 ---------------- 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Doodlebug11 ---------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? tcbgirl ----------------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? twinmamma1130 ------------ 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? mi_illusion_st ----------------15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? kittygirl --------------------- 22lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? JukeBox81782 -------------- 40lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Losing for me -------------- 20lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Early ----------------------- 15lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? labbandgirl2009 ------------ 25lb --------------------- ? -------------------- 1 May --------------------- ? -------------------------- ? Pottergirl------------------- 20lb--------------------- 280lb ----------------- 30 April------------------- 280lb ------------------- 260lb shakia90 ------------------ 20lb --------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? txdj ----------------------- 20lb---------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? ThinWithin ------------------20lb---------------------- ? ---------------------1 May --------------------- ? --------------------------- ? Help1977-----------------20lb----------------------251.8-------------------1 May----------------------251.8-------------------231.8