Melissannde

Yep.. mine uses the green zone chart. I find it helpful to take in a week or so of my food journal, that way whoever I end up seeing.. doc or pa.. can see that I've been compliant to the best of my ability. And they can counsel me about poor choices too.

Apples that have been (usually) peeled and cooked and mashed up. Most recipes call for sugar. If I were making my own, I'd find some acceptable sugar sub. Here's some recipes: Applesauce Recipes - Allrecipes.com (Pg. 1)

The only things I've ever had trouble with are the large non chewable calcium. I never thought about crushing them and no one ever suggested it to me, but I did break them into 4ths and take with yogurt or applesauce. Even doing it that way made my band ache. I finally went to chewables on the calcium and immediate improvement. I've never had any issues taking anything else.. and I take a bunch of supplements that come in capsules and caplets. I do prefer chewables when available. Round pills have always been hard for me, even pre-banding, but oblong shapes are just fine. I'm glad you are going to ask your doctor as all we can do is share our personal experiences.

OMG.. I had forgotten about the HB egg thing. In fact, I ran across a forum where they had posted the old hb egg diet from the 50's... sounds like starvation without a band..LOL

Are you back on solid foods yet? The reason I ask is that I lost practically nothing (2 lbs ) during my post op period.. but once I got back on solid foods, I lost 20lbs in 9 days. After that it slowed down a bit, but has been a consistent drop (with tiny upward deviations.. but never for very long). Are you weighing/measuring your food? Are you keeping a food journal, either on paper or online? Eliminated (or at least cut way back) on the "white" or high glycemic carbs? Tell us more about what you are doing and we can give you more concrete suggestions to try. And yes, sometimes it's just a "one foot in front of the other" until you get there. Be strong.. this will work for you if you work the band. (there are a few, very few medical/physical situations that make using the band a bit harder.. but it can still work for those folks too..most of the time.)

LOL One of the body pump leaders (she's not a trainer, just a class leader) said something to that affect the other day.. "if we hadn't eaten Breakfast we would've burned X number of extra calories". I just thought.. yeah, right.. and not eating breakfast also keeps your metabolism on low instead of kicking it up into gear by eating. The absurd ideas about eating/drking that abound out there are numerous. I read somewhere recently "eating before a run could lead to appendicitis" huh??? WHERE do they come up with these theories??

I *think* I understand where the OP is coming from.. I think she's talking about the apron some of us get when we lose weight.. Or sometimes it's called FUPA in slang (fat upper pelvic area). My belly is somewhat flat, but not perfectly so because of my apron. And the more weight I lose, the worse it looks & more it bothers me. I will probably need plastics, but haven't committed myself mentally to that yet.

U go girl!! have some tylenol available in case you get sore. Push your Water to avoid muscle cramps. Love that you're doing this for yourself!!

Great and inspiring post Fran. Thanks so much for sharing!

No reason you can't have other things for Breakfast.. as long as they keep you full long enough (3 hours or more). Not all Cereal is bad, the amounts we tend to pour in the bowl .. now that's another story. ::grin:: I love my oatmeal in the morning, but if you're tired of it.. and can't eat eggs.. try plain greek yogurt (non fat if possible) and some fruit of your choice, fresh or frozen and 1/8 to 1/4 cup of some kind of cereal. I like grapenuts or Bob's Red Mill Muesli. Try to avoid cereal with the word "honey" in the title. Take one of the 100 calorie thin buns, use just the bottom or top half, toast it a bit. Place a slice or two of reduced fat ham (or other deli meat) on it. Put a slice of 2% cheese on top. Run in microwave or broiler or toaster oven long enough to make cheese melty.. and enjoy. Could also use one of the 100 calorie bagel thins halves. Make sure you toast the bread first, especially if you have issues with doughy bread. Sometimes I have leftovers from supper for breakfast. I make meatloaf in muffin tins.. each one comes out somewhere between 3 & 4oz, depending on how much I stuff in there. One is perfect for a meal. I could probably think of more, but I just woke up and am still getting my coffee down.

Excellent idea, wish I had remembered to post about that. I'm thinking of doing a Turkey Trot TG day.. and a Gobble Wobble the Sat. afterwards.

Usually coffee with 1 or 2 tablespoons of non fat dry milk (not creamer.. it's not that good for us, imo) or fat free evaporated milk and a tablespoon or two of sugar-free Torani or DaVinci. I'm fond of a combo of 1T chocolate & 1T Peanut Butter.. it tastes like I'm drinking a reeses. :smile2: If not coffee, then it's some kind of tea. I like Bigelow's constant comment .. but there's tons of good tea out there.

Dehydration is more to be worried about than lack of nutrition at this stage. We have plenty in our fat stores that going without nutrients for a short time isn't a concern. Yes, call your doctor tomorrow and let them know where you are now. I'd really want the rest of the "starter fill" (what they often put in during surgery) taken out. I do have a friend who had two bands put in.. 3 days apart. So having your smaller one removed and a larger one replaced is a possibility, but I'd try to work with what you have for now. Provided there's more Fluid that can be removed. If the doctor has already removed ALL the starter fluid.. then you probably need a bigger band. Call the doc.

Fantastic. I'm happy dancing for you here in Texas!

um.. no idea why that posted twice.. sorry.

I got through Thanksgiving and Christmas last year without too much damage. I even managed to lose a little over the 2 months (8lbs) which is fantastic compared to what I would've done before banding. I wasn't with family (other than dh & ds) at TG, but I was at sisters for Xmas. She thought Shrimp Alfredo would be appropriate to serve a bandster.. LOL. I just ate the salad, took tiny bits of the crusty part of the bread, tiny tiny bits of Pasta and ate all the shrimp I wanted. I'd advise putting really small portions, like around a teaspoonful, of food on your plate and just move it around if you don't want to eat it. If you're pressured or bullied into eating it, you don't have enough on your plate to do that much damage. My husband and I went to a reception last month, and there were all kinds of dips & stuff. I took tiny portions of the dips and crackers, as much fruit as I wanted, and a few meatballs. They also had tortillas rolled up with good stuff inside.. I unrolled them and ate the meat out and gave the rest to my dh. Probably if you just push the stuff around on your plate, people will think you ate it. If they ask why you're not finishing it, you can say any number of things: "I'm just not hungry", "I'm saving room for ____", "I took more than I can eat, sorry", "I'm not feeling well and don't want to push it", or my favorite "Why do you ask?" Put the ball back into their court. Mom's just sometimes don't "get it" that they're putting pressure on folks.. they don't mean to. I've evidentally put similar pressure on my DD and did not mean to at all. My DD is slender and told me once she hated TG because she felt like she was forced to eat. We had to have a discussion about whether offering people food was pressure.... Good Luck to you. Hope some of this will help.

I've heard about difficulty with eggs from many bandsters. Some tricks I've heard to get around the problem: Have a cup of coffee (or tea or warm Water with lemon) a few minutes before you eat. Don't worry about the 30 min. rule with breakfast.. we're often so tight and dry from our overnight sleep that we need the fluids before eating. Make sure that you're not over cooking the eggs. Very easy to scramble them too dry, even when they look moist. Some folks have had good luck adding a tablespoon or two of cottage cheese to the liquid eggs before scrambling. Try adding some veggies to your eggs. Very often mixing textures works wonders. I like mushrooms & spinach with mine, but anything you like would be fine. I do my scrambles with 1/4 cup egg white & 1 egg. Cuts the calories, cuts the cholesterol, ups the Protein and maintains the taste. Try hungry girl's "egg in a mug" recipes. HungryGirl.com She uses eggbeaters in hers.. no reason you couldn't use real eggs or egg whites or combo as you please. Thing to try as last resort.. make a cup of hot tea and take a sip when you start feeling discomfort while eating. key word: SIP!! And don't wait till you are hurting.. that's too late. You have to take the sip when it's still just discomfort. I do this and it does not make me hungrier sooner.. but if it does cause your hunger to blossom.. then don't do it. Good luck.

7cc's in a 10cc band and only at first fill? My goodness that's aggressive. You might need to make your bites much much smaller (pencil eraser or little fingernail sized) and chew very well until things are nearly liquid. The band can seem tighter & loser at differing times of the day. It's very common to feel tight in the morning and loosen up as the day goes on. You can fine tune it a bit by choosing warm liquids in the morning to help loosen the band and cold drinks in the evening to help tighten it. Not a guarantee that it will help, but it often does. Personally I don't think I'd want more fill if I'm having issues with vegetables. I got stuck on broccoli last Monday and told my nurse on Wednesday that I didn't think I needed a fill. She agreed. Are you staying satisfied for 3 or more hours most of the time on your meals? That is the key question (but not the only one) that helps determine when you need more fill. Get Your Adjustment in the Green Zone | LAP-BAND® Good luck.

I got through Thanksgiving and Christmas last year without too much damage. I even managed to lose a little over the 2 months (8lbs) which is fantastic compared to what I would've done before banding. I wasn't with family (other than dh & ds) at TG, but I was at sisters for Xmas. She thought Shrimp Alfredo would be appropriate to serve a bandster.. LOL. I just ate the salad, took tiny bits of the crusty part of the bread, tiny tiny bits of Pasta and ate all the shrimp I wanted. I'd advise putting really small portions, like around a teaspoonful, of food on your plate and just move it around if you don't want to eat it. If you're pressured or bullied into eating it, you don't have enough on your plate to do that much damage. My husband and I went to a reception last month, and there were all kinds of dips & stuff. I took tiny portions of the dips and crackers, as much fruit as I wanted, and a few meatballs. They also had tortillas rolled up with good stuff inside.. I unrolled them and ate the meat out and gave the rest to my dh. Probably if you just push the stuff around on your plate, people will think you ate it. If they ask why you're not finishing it, you can say any number of things: "I'm just not hungry", "I'm saving room for ____", "I took more than I can eat, sorry", "I'm not feeling well and don't want to push it", or my favorite "Why do you ask?" Put the ball back into their court. Mom's just sometimes don't "get it" that they're putting pressure on folks.. they don't mean to. I've evidentally put similar pressure on my DD and did not mean to at all. My DD is slender and told me once she hated TG because she felt like she was forced to eat. We had to have a discussion about whether offering people food was pressure.... Good Luck to you. Hope some of this will help.

You could also try a heating pad on low.

I had that happen too after a slight unfill, but I didn't ask my doctor about refilling me and I don't think they would've as he has a policy of only filling every 4 weeks. I got through it by pushing Water between meals (after waiting my 30 to 60 minutes after eating). It wasn't the easiest thing in the world.. but I got through it and did NOT gain. I even lost a bit, but less than a lb a week during this time. When I went back in 2 months after the unfill, they still didn't want to fill me back to where I was and by that time the extra hunger from the unfill had settled down. I went from May till September before I got the unfill replaced. And this was all over a tiny .2cc ROFL!! I'm not saying you shouldn't ask if you could have a tiny bit replaced.. I'm just sharing what I did in case your doc doesn't agree and makes you wait. It's a little bit of a struggle, but if I can do it, most anyone can. :smile2: Hope all goes well for you.

Um.. who told you you would never be able to eat steak, or fresh baked bread ever again? I've never been not able to eat anything I really wanted..even with a really good fill level. Now, there are somethings I CHOOSE not to eat, but I can still eat bread (but not much now), and steak is wonderful. When I was first banded, 20 months ago, AFTER I got through the liquid & soft foods stage...I could still eat bread, no problem at all. My nurses were surprised, but didn't tell me not to eat it. As I have slowly gotten more Fluid in my band, bread has become less attractive to me. I really don't want it much anymore and it was mainly a conveyor for butter. LOL I can and do sometimes, nibble at the crusts when we go out to eat. Or sometimes I'll make Ezekiel bread toast to go with Breakfast. Steak is a good Protein source. I just eat beef that is very tender and not huge servings. If we go out to eat, I'll order steak, section off what looks like about 3oz and eat that. The rest goes home in a doggie bag. It's very common to worry about giving things up and even going through a period of grief over losing a friend. However food has not been our friend or it's been a false friend, being good tasting in our mouths, but not doing nice things for our figures. How did I feel close to getting banded? I think I felt hopeful. I wasn't scared over surgery per se because I had had a much worse surgery for cancer a year and a half before and while no surgery is a "walk in the park".. I knew it wasn't going to be anywhere near as bad as the cancer surgery. Good luck on your big day.

ewww hate sports. lets get back 2 previous topic,,,it was funny

You are likely gaining muscle and by volume, muscle weighs more than fat. The good things are: Muscle looks a whole lot better than fat. Muscle is easier on the heart than fat. Muscle also burns more calories than fat. Keep on with your exercise, you will see results. I got really discouraged back in May of this year. So I started taking my measurements every month. Even when the scale doesn't move, I can see the inches come off. You might try that. Regarding Kettle Bells: I have a small one (7 lbs) that I bought last summer. With one thing and another I didn't get it out of it's box until a month or two ago. I think it's too light now!! You don't have to have a trainer to use one. The one I got came with a DVD with a few basic exercises. You might see what trainers cost in your area. I know some are quite expensive, but ones here aren't that much. You might hire one just long enough to learn good technique and then have them check you every few months. Congrats on your new healthy lifestyle. :eek:

Heck yes I would. Look at my ticker.. I'm down 173 lbs in less than 2 years!! Lundy, do I read your info right? You havent had an adjustment since January of 09? Do you go in for checkups ever so often even if you don't need a fill? Do you go to support group? And keep in mind that those with less to lose do lose slower. If you have other health issues, like arthritis or diabetes, that can make the loss a bigger challenge, but still doable. Hang in there and don't give up. We're all pulling for you.