Melissannde

Syntrax nectar.. but I mix it with crystal lite or Powerade zero. You can order it through netrition.com or from the syntrax website. They have lots of flavors and if you write the company, they used to have a really good price on samples.. worked out to $1.00 per flavor. Welcome To Syntrax - A Leader in Sports and Nutrition supplements For a quick grab & go Protein, I like Muscle Milk LIGHT in the rtd boxes. vanilla Creme & strawberry Creme are good. The chocolate tastes like the nasty chocolate in childrens' Cereal to me. Another one I like is

I don't have the DVD's, but have two friends who do have them and they also take the classes. They say that the DVD's are useful .. especially if you are a perfectionist.. because they go over the steps very slowly and you can take your time to learn them. The DVD's that I'm familiar with are kinda pricey.. around 100.00.. so to me, since I'm not afraid of making mistakes or looking silly.. the classes are a better option. It's all on how motivated you are. I have a Wii Fit that I asked for for last Christmas.. still haven't gotten it out. I should, but I enjoy the companionship at the gym too much. Hope this helps.

Going 4 hours between meals is very good. I often have to have a small snack before suppertime. Hard to go from noon till 6pm. Things like an apple with string cheese, wasa cracker with light laughing cow, plain greek yogurt with 1/4 cup fresh fruit. Yesterday I had 1oz ww reduced fat cream cheese on light wasa crackers with blueberries. Wow.. that was very tasty. Try to keep your snack around 150 calories or less. One thing that might help .. and I admit that this is a head game, but it works for me.. is to stop using the word starving. We have an abundance of food in this country.. we don't starve. We can get very hungry, but relatively few of us are truly starving. :smile2: As to the OP question.. "Will I be insatiable until my first fill". You are likely entering the period where the swelling has gone down from surgery and hunger starts making itself known again. Commonly called "bandster hell". Almost everyone goes through this, some worse than others. It is normal. I staved off hunger to some degree during this time by taking walks and drinking extra Water (or other low calorie fluids). Other techniques are to take a nap or get your hands and brain occupied doing something else. Hard to eat when playing the piano or crocheting. ::grin:: Depending on various factors, amt of fill, the way you react to it, type of band, etc. your first fill may or may not give you the "dimming of appetite" that is commonly misnamed as restriction. And even if you do get appetite dimming.. it may not be immediate. Early on, it was often a week or two after a fill for it to make itself known. Now that I have a really good fill level, I feel the effects the next day. Hang in there.. this is a process, not a race.

I made low-carb lasagna a couple weeks ago.. used zucchini sliced longways for the noodles. It was pretty good. Used 2% mozzarella and non fat cottage cheese (I don't care for Ricotta). Also put spinach & mushrooms in the lasagna. Kids ate it up.. even the DD who "doesn't like spinach" LOL

Abdominal distention can be a sign of gynecological problems (ovarian cancer among other things). Please get it checked out asap.

Jazzercise is something I would definitely try if it were offered in my area. I've checked and there's not one convenient to me.. but maybe it will happen one day. We've gotten one new gym and are supposed to get 2 more.. so who knows? :rolleyes2:

I'm sorry your instructors don't take the time to demo steps. 10.00/hr is high. I took an out of town class over the labor day weekend and it was only 5.00. My gym charges 1.00/class on top of regular membership fees. This is to help defray music, instructor training, etc. I think I'd keep looking for another place. You can find lists of classes at Zumba.com. However the Xbox Kinect thing sounds like a viable alternative.

Yes, I no longer feel full in my abdomen. It's more of a satisfied feeling now. I often still want to eat MORE, but my band says un uh.. no way. She who must be obeyed is in charge.. LOL

What are "jacket potatoes" ? I would assume that means baked potatoes, but don't know. We are told to avoid white carbs .. potatoes, bread, rice, Pasta as they tend to be high glycemic and will tend to make us hungrier sooner. That being said, I have learned that new potatoes (aka red potatoes) are fairly low on the GI/GL list and I will have a small one now & then with green Beans. If the OP can eat baked potatoes and not have them spike his blood sugar and make him too hungry a few hours later.. GREAT. Everyone has to do what works for them as an individual. One of the bariatric nurses I know and I value her advice as she has been banded 11 years and has done very well.. says to be successful with banding...follow most of the rules most of the time. Persistence, not perfection. In My Opinion...If something is working for the individual.. weight loss is adequate and they are not hungry more often than 3 or 4 hours..great. Otherwise, it may be time to look at diet or exercise and make some adjustments. The original poster was wondering if they were getting enough calories. They also said they were drinking unlimited coffees with semiskimmed milk & 2 sugars. I would advise starting a food journal, either on paper or online (I like The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM, but there are many others, fitday, caloriecount.about.com, fitday, fatsecret.com) and make sure to include EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth. :rolleyes2: You might find that those coffees are adding in more calories than you think. If they truly are only getting in 1000 per day, that might not be enough for long term weight loss at the OP's current weight.

Tracking/Journaling your food intake is always a good idea IMO. I use the one at The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM. It also has a fitness/exercise logging function. I have found though, that calorie burn calculators are by and large extremely optimistic. If you have the funds available, I would advise investing in a HR monitor or some other device that helps determine YOUR individual workout calorie burn. Some good options are a fitbit, bodybugg (and it's clone GoWear), hr monitor watches (several models out there.. Garmin, Omron, Polar. I have a Polar). Before I got my HR monitor, I would chart my workout time at 1/2 of what I actually did. 60 minute workout I would claim 30 minutes.. this was to offset any over estimation that exercise calculators are notorious for making. I was very surprised to find after getting my watch that even cutting the time in half, sometimes the calorie burn that the site estimated was still too high. Perhaps this is just a problem with the dailyplate site. I haven't had the time or inclination to check with other sites. Just a heads up and giving my experience. One other thing that has helped me as the loss via scale has slowed down is to start keeping track of my measurements monthly. I also have clothes that I check ever so often to see if they fit again..

For the longest time, I bought too much. Things would spoil before we could use up everything I bought. Even having a freezer didn't help. Try shopping the perimeter of the store...That usually means Veggies, Fruits, meat, Milk, Other dairy, etc. Other aisles that are OK are the canned vegetable aisle and sometimes the coffee/tea and canned meat/ Soups aisles. You want to avoid (or go very quickly and not stop if possible...lol) the aisles with breads, cereals, sugary things. Hang in there.. this is a process. And be more gentle with yourself. :rolleyes2:

I do Zumba a minimum of 2x a week and sometimes 4 & 5 x a week. Lots of fun and depending on the instructor and how energetic I am, I burn between 200 & 300 calories per class (according to my HR monitor). YMMV. You may very well burn more. Some of the steps are a little complicated, but a good instructor will take the class through a few warm-up steps before starting that particular song. There are steps I just cannot get.. either because my brain can't process it that fast..LOL.. or because the move is too hard on my older joints. When that happens I modify the move to something I CAN do..usually jogging in place. Go and give it a try. It is a lot of fun and most of the time there are a few new people learning at the same time you are.

If you are eating low or no fat, go back to full fat foods. Try adding some powdered milk to certain things to enrich them. You don't have to add a whole meal all at once, just bump each meal up a little bit. Gradual changes, baby steps. The other thing I just noticed is that you are only 20lbs from goal... Do you think that your goal is realistic and perhaps you should think about revising it? One other thought.. if you really can't increase your calories, try decreasing your exercise.

I am not a statistic. :thumbup: I still have a good ways to go to reach my goal.. and my goal (approx. 170) will still leave me overweight by most charts. My thinking is 1) I've been obese long enough (20+ years) that my bones are likely heavier than the non-obese, therefore skewing the numbers. 2) I am post-menopausal, and therefore advisable to have a little (NOT a LOT) of extra padding on my hips to protect from hip fractures. 3) I have also shrunk 1/2 inch over the years, again skewing the numbers. 4) I am working on becoming an athlete (lifting weights 3x week, cardio 6x week, and am thinking of starting running) and athletes often have BMI's that show them as overweight or obese. My surgeon showed charts & graphs at the seminar that showed that over 5 years, the results from RNY & banding were essentially the same. The RNY's lost faster, and for about 2 years then leveled out. The Banded rate of loss was slower and steadier and continued on past 2 years. I think you can use the band as a tool to do whatever you want to do.

Yes, not enough calories. Also the trainers at the gym I go to say not to do weight training every single day. They advise that for optimum results, lift weights every other day.. this gives your muscles time to rest and repair the tiny tears that lifting causes. It's fine to do Cardio daily though. One other suggestion.. I too have lost quite a bit of weight and now the scales are barely moving. I decided to start taking my measurements monthly. While the scales are somewhat disappointing .. the inches are coming off. A dress I couldn't wear in May, I could wear in June.. and I hadn't lost all that much. Congrats on being so dedicated to working out. I think you just need to change things up a bit. If you can afford it, consult with a trainer.

Also try some hot tea before your meals. Hot coffee or warm Water with lemon also works. The warm Fluid tends to loosen the band a bit.

If you're having pain with eating dense but tender Protein, you are probably too tight. I'd back off to liquids and/or soft (mushie) foods for a few days then try the dense/tender protein again. IF then you are still having pain, call your doctor for a small unfill. Something as little as .2cc's can do wonders. I had to have .2 removed in May and it helped immensely..in fact, I had to push fluids for a little while to get past hunger that that much removal did. But I really needed the unfill.. I was hurting too much with food. One trick I found to work for me while I was waiting for the unfill was to drink hot tea right before each meal. I've even been known to sip hot tea DURING the meal when too tight. I know it's not recommended, but you do what you gotta do when you're hurting. Hope you feel better soon.

I ate things like refried Beans, mashed potatoes, chunky Soups (at first I ran soups through the blender, then as I got more comfy & brave.. I didn't). Didn't your doctor or dietitian or nutritionist give you any guidance? Healthy Snacks that I eat are: organic apple & weight watcher's string cheese. Wasa Cracker & laughing cow cheese. Non Fat greek yogurt & blueberries. non or low fat cottage cheese & strawberries. boiled egg. PB2 on a Wasa.

I agree with what IndioGirl says. You really need to cut out the junk food or at the very least cut waaaaayyyy back on it. I'd really try to cut it out completely. I do understand the desire for it.. I have to fight it every day with two teens in this house who eat tortilla chips in front of me. It can be torture. You might benefit from the book "The Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck. Ignore the word diet in the title.. it's really about how to make yourself stronger against sabotaging behaviors. I just finished lunch and I still want to eat, even though I'm not hungry. I often chew sugar-free gum to help with the desire to eat. I'd also give the doctor one more chance at getting you tight enough for appetite dimming. But if s/he's one of those that think you have to lose weight to "earn" a fill, I'd start looking for another doctor. 30lbs over 5 months averages out to 6lbs a month, about 1.5 lbs a week.. right on target for the 1 to 2lbs a week loss that is our goal. But if you keep on with the junque food, you won't maintain that rate of loss. Just curious.. what are you defining as junk?

You're very welcome. However, I've gone back over and over what I wrote to you and can't see where I suggested that you "try a little something". I thought I suggested staying away from white carbs as long as you can. :thumbup: It aint easy and I didn't cut them completely out of my eating immediately post-op....but then again, my doc didn't require a preop diet, so I didn't come off of them cold turkey like many have to do. Thank you for starting this thread. Because of this subject I've done some online reading about Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load to refresh my memory..and have learned some things I didn't know.. or had conveniently forgotten. Have a good one.

my doctor says 3oz of Protein and 1/2 cup of veggies. If you don't have a scale to weigh out the protein, you can visualize it by comparing it to a deck of cards.. height, width & depth. 1/2 cup of veggies can be compared to a tennis ball. Tasty meal, cards & ball.. LOL I actually use a small digital scale that I bought on ebay years ago to weigh packages when I was ebaying fairly regularly. It's not 100% accurate, but it's close enough. I love it, wouldn't take for it. Call your doc's office and ASK. That's what we pay them the big $$ for. Oh.. and the wanting to eat all the time is pretty normal before you get enough fill to dim your appetite. Drink lots between meals (of course after waiting at least 30 min after eating..), Water loading will help a bit. Cold liquids will help contract the band a little.. hang in there.

I dunno why you're doing that to yourself, but you're not the only one. At the gym I go to, there's a bank of televisions in front of the treadmills and one guy comes in to run and watches food network while he's doing it. Drives me NUTS.. LOL. But maybe you could try something like that.. only let yourself watch if you exercise while watching. Wouldn't have to be a treadmil.. could get dumbbells (or even big cans of veggies) and do bicep curls.

I hope you're also eating some low carb veggies, such as broccoli, squash, green beans. We need good carbs in our food plan. Not only are they candidates for getting stuck, these are also high glycemic foods. Foods high on the Glycemic list have the property of spiking the blood sugar up quickly and then allowing for a drastic fall.. making us HUNGRIER sooner. Not a good thing when we're trying to control hunger. They also have a role in insulin resistance, but I don't have a good enough understanding of that to talk about it and not sound like an idiot. ::grin:: Everyone is different.. but since you are only a little ways out from surgery and probably don't have much saline in your band.. if any at all.. you're less likely to get "stuck" now than later on after you start getting fills. I still think it would be best to avoid pasta if at all possible. Along with the stuck and glycemic issues, you're in a prime time to create new habits right now. Not eating white carbs is a good habit to develop. :thumbup: There are alternatives/substitutes: shiratake or miracle noodles, grated zucchini, spaghetti squash or if you absolutely must have real pasta: dreamfield pasta (reduced carb pasta). Or whole wheat pasta. cook it al dente.. and strictly control the serving amount. I'm having some rice tonight with my beef & broccoli.. but only 2 tablespoons.. and it's brown rice, and no butter. eating it very very slowly, about 2 or 3 grains at a time. I don't eat sticky white rice any longer.. there are better choices. Congratulations on your banding!!

What does your bariatric surgeon have to say? I think I'd be consulting them rather than my PCP. Go back and have your fill level evaluated, perhaps get some more saline, and start attending support meetings again. You're taking the right steps by going back to the rules, going to the gym, etc. Hang in there

May I suggest that during this plateau that you take your measurements (neck, arm, forearm, bust, waist, hips, thigh, calf) and record them somewhere. Then in 2, 3 or 4 weeks take them again and see if you haven't reshaped a little. I started taking my measurements in May when the scale started slowing waaaaayyy down and indeed I am reshaping even if my loss is slow. :wub: