Melissannde

Depends on what you mean by "snack". Yes, I snack, but it's healthy things (by and large..not perfect...yet.. LOL). I eat lunch around noon or 1pm. Supper usually isn't till 6 or 7. So.. around 3 or 4 I'll be hungry and have a "snack" of Protein & produce... string cheese & apple for example. I think you're referring to things like tortilla chips, popcorn, etc. as Snacks and those I try (mainly successfully, but I have 3 others living in this household who aren't banded..sigh) to avoid.

It's probably the combo of weather changes, sinuses, TOM and poor food choice. Take it easy today and try drinking something warm (tea, coffee or even warm Water with lemon) before your meals..especially Breakfast. The warm liquids help to clear mucus and relax your band just a tad. If you find you need to drink the warm stuff WITH your food for ALL meals, not just breakfast, to let it go down, you might indeed be too tight. hope this helps

I eat an hour before my workouts. My fav. thing to eat to fuel me is non fat plain greek yogurt (protein), Bob's Red Mill Muesli (carbs) and some berries (bue or red, ie strawberries). This amounts to just about 200 calories and holds me from 7am till noon. I do a minimum of 90 minutes (30 min stretching and 60 of pretty intense cardio) on this breakfast.. up to 3 hours ( 1 hr weights and 2 hours cardio). How long has it been since your last fill? If eating some breakfast doesn't take care of the hunger after workout issue, I'd schedule an appt to go in and talk about more fill.

If you're talking about the White chicken Chili at Bariatric Eating.. here ya go: White Chicken Chili It's very good. First time I made it my son (who is NOT banded) was mad that I didn't make a double batch!! I'm like.. gee son, we've never had this before, do you think I'm going to risk making huge amount of something we might not like?? ROFL

I eat steak, but I make sure it's very tender and not overcooked. The little bacon wrapped fillets that you can buy in the grocery store are a BIG plenty.. sometimes I get two meals out of them.

I drain and rinse beans to cut back on the sodium. I also use low sodium taco seasoning. Not only is this more healthy (IMO) my husband has issues with hypertension. I've tried buying the no salt versions of beans, I don't like them as well. My nutritionist wanted me to cut the corn out completely. I'm compromising by cutting back. It's such a versatile and forgiving recipe. I take the basic recipe and tweak it a bit and make taco flavored meatloaf. Wonderful too.

Sure.. it's very easy. 1 lb grnd turkey (try to use 90/10 or better. not all ground turkey is lean.. read the labels!) 1 bag Kroger frozen onions & peppers (or use fresh onions & bell peppers..The bag is 10oz, so I would guess 1/2 cup each of fresh) 2 cans Pinto Beans, drained & rinsed (approx 15 oz) 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed (approx 15 oz) 2 cans rotel tomatoes (approx 10 oz) (aka tomatoes with green chilies) 1 cup frozen cut corn (OPTIONAL) 1 pkg taco seasoning 1 pkg ranch dressing mix Water as needed. Brown turkey and frozen onions/peppers together. Drain. Return to pot. Add remainder of ingredients. Simmer as long as you can stand it. You will need to add a little water as it is very thick. Serve as is or with a dollop of sour cream (for those w/o a weight issue) or non fat s. cream or non fat plain greek yogurt for those who are being careful of calories. The corn does add some high glycemic carbs, but w/o it the soup looses some color appeal. Original recipe called for a whole can of creamed corn.. I backed it down to healthier frozen corn and only 1 cup. Very forgiving recipe.. you can make all kinds of adjustments according to your needs and it still seems to work. When I first started cooking with turkey, I added beef bouillon.. now we don't as we have adjusted to the milder taste. Enjoy! Also BariatricEating.com has a recipe for a marvelous White chicken Chili. yum yum

home made turkey taco soup

I've never crushed pills. I did have to go from regular calcium to chewables, regular ones hurt going down. Other large pills don't bother me at all.

Sorry, but I think that dietician is NUTS!! Fire her and find another one with more realistic expectations. I lost about 20lbs the first 6 weeks after surgery and my nurses almost wouldn't give me a fill because of that rate of loss.

Easy one: 1 package chicken of the sea smoked salmon. 3 wasa crisp & light crackers (purple box) 1 packet philadelphia mini cream cheese, reduced fat small tomato or apple or maybe some steamed broccoli? I know you said you were avoiding bread,Pasta & such, but the wasa crackers are very light and good Fiber. But maybe you could spread the cream cheese & salmon on cucumber slices instead?

it also shows up under your ticker. It's some kind of email/message coding. I tried googling it and it brought up every single message you've posted here. yikes!

Yes, drainage will definitely make you tighter. Try drinking hot tea with lemon in the morning.. that will clear some of the drainage and may loosen your band enough that you can eat. I drink coffee with non fat dry milk and sugar free torani or DaVinci syrup every morning with my Vitamins.. then 30 min to an hour later I eat. Many people don't have as much time as I do.. or don't want to get up that early.. in that case I'd do a Protein drink (shake?.. I've never understood why they're called shakes). I like muscle milk LIGHT and the Syntrax Nectars and unjury. Others might be good too.. those are the ones I've tried and liked.

Try ditching the baked potato for something less high glycemic. White carbs (potatoes, rice, bread, pasta) are usually high glycemic and while not forbidden, are suggested to avoid. Eat broccoli or some other vegetable instead.

If I'm in a huge rush... Muscle Milk LIGHT ready to drink in a box. vanilla & strawberry are good, the chocolate is nasty. No time to cook rush... Non fat greek yogurt with 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Muesli. Good carbs that won't spike your bld sugar. OR 1/2 cup low fat/no fat cottage cheese and Blueberries or strawberries. I prefer to avoid the instant oatmeal packages. I try to eat steelcut oatmeal made in my crockpot over night. (find a bowl that will fit inside your crockpot. Spray it with a non-stick spray ~not totally necessary, but makes clean up easier~. Measure 1/4 cup steelcut oats and a tad more than 1 cup of Water into bowl. Place bowl in crockpot, and place lid on crockpot. Turn on low and leave for 6 to 8 hours. I use a Soup bowl with a handle.. makes it easier to pick up when warm. enjoy) Add 1 tablespoon non fat dry milk, 1/2 organic apple chopped up, cinnamon, allspice, 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts. Splenda, pinch of salt. VERY good.

what was the cause of the fever?

I don't recall burping alot in the immediate post-op period, but I might have. It's been a while. Now when I start burping I know I'm starting to get full and better think about not eating any more. I had pretty bad empty tummy pains though. They wouldn't let me sleep at night. Once I was on thicker liquids/soft foods, I would take a container of yogurt to bed with me at night. When I would wake up with my tummy hurting, I'd eat a spoonful of yogurt.. that would soothe my stomach enough that I could go back to sleep. I did that all night long. Sleep 2 hours, spoonful yogurt, sleep, yogurt, sleep. Not how bandsters are supposed to eat, but my nurses said it was OK to do to get me through the post-op discomfort. Hope you feel better soon.

I don't like the term "sweet-spot". I just eat my 3oz of Protein, 1/2 cup veggies and move away from the table. If I get hungry sooner than 3 or 4 hours on a routine basis, I know it's time for a fill. But I know what you're asking and will try to answer. It varies from person to person and from band to band. However, I've heard for the 10cc APStandard it's somewhere between 4 & 6 cc's. For the 14 CC APLarge band it's somewhere around 9cc's. There's also one called a midband I think that's only 4cc capacity. Then there's the realize bands which I know very little about. Maybe someone who's more knowledgeable will come along. But really it's very individual..and the number moves as you lose weight too. I had about 5.5 cc's in April and it was too much. Had about .2 taken out in May. Sept. 7 I had .25 put back in and it might not be enough.. As you lose weight you also lose internally so the band gets looser and needs more as you go along. Hope this helps.

This is an excellent idea. My husband and kids did Karate a few years ago and they got really good workouts from it. I don't like treadmills and weights alone much.. will do them if there's nothing else available.. but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Body Pump .. check it out at Les Mills - Group Fitness It's designed to firm & tone..not to make bodybuilders. I've seen so much improvement since I started 6 months ago.

I hope your sister does well too. Whoever does the cooking where she lives will need to be on board with the necessary changes. You (and she) might benefit from joining Bariatric recipes at Yahoo Groups. BariatricRecipes : Weight Loss Surgery Recipes It's a spasmodically active group..sometimes tons of posts, other times you'd think it was shut down it's so quiet.. but there are lots & lots of recipes in the files section. They don't usually post nutritional info, so if that's a concern (and it often is for me), plug the recipe into a recipe calculator.. I like the one at caloriecount.about.com, there are others online. Lots of other online support at yahoogroups. Check out DFWBandsters (started out just for Dallas area, now is international), SmartBandsters and SmarterBandsters. I pointed out that our rate of loss is similar so that you can see where you might be in another year.. if you stick to it, you will be at goal or mighty close.

Kelsey, Even though we're a lot different in age, we were banded about the same time, only a year apart..and are losing at about the same rate. I started March 9, 09 at 383 and by Sept 3, 09 I was down to 299.. so losing at about the same rate. I'm not sure what you mean by dieting. This isn't supposed to be a diet, it's supposed to be a lifestyle change. I do eat low fat & no fat, but that is my choice. It's not everyones. I am also confused by the term "sweet spot". I don't worry about that.. I eat my 3oz (sometimes 4oz) of Protein and 1/2 cup or 4oz of veggies and quit. I try not to eat again for 3 to 4 hours. I don't know what type of things you like, or if you like to cook..so here are some ideas. I make mini meatloafs in muffin tins. We love tex-mex here, so I put a can of drained blackbeans and a package of taco seasoning in my meatloaf. I use 90/10 ground turkey and turkey Breakfast sausage (yes, a lb of each), with 1/4 to 1/2 cup steelcut oatmeal (instead of bread) an egg or 1/4 cup egg white. Sometimes I throw in some mushrooms, onions, garlic.. a little ketchup (try to make sure it doesn't have HFCS in it). If I'm really feeling the need for flavor, I'll add a package of ranch dressing mix in there too. And maybe a cup of frozen corn. Mix it all together and fill the muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 or 30 minutes. 1 or 2 meatloaf muffins will make a meal with some veggies. These are super easy to freeze in baggies in serving size portions so you can grab one and have it thawed and ready for supper by the time you get home. A non cooking meal that I like: a package of chicken of the sea smoked salmon, a reduced fat philadelphia mini cream cheese & 3 light wasa crackers (the ones in the purple box). Veggie or fruit of your choice. John Soules chicken fajita breast.. weigh out 2 ounces. 1/4 cup Gebhardt non fat refried Beans (this makes up the rest of the protein). 1 slice Kraft 2% pepperjack cheese. 1 or 2 tablespoons pace picante sauce. Veggie of your choice ( I love broccoli & squash..green beans, not so much..chose what you like). 5 black olives. Maybe a medium tomato. place the chicken & beans (and veggies if they need heating too) on a plate..heat about 40 seconds on high in MW. unwrap cheese and lay over the beans. heat another 10 to 20 seconds. When I have this, I eat the chicken and the refried beans together. The beans act as a lubricant to help the chicken slide down. My bariatric people say this is ok with them as long as I'm not getting hungry too soon. It's very normal to plateau a bit. Start taking your measurements .. and check them monthly. You might find that even though the scale isn't moving much.. you are losing inches. Hang in there.. dont give up. Hope this helps a little.

That was my point.. albeit I expressed myself badly... that the loss might not be 12.5 lbs. It might be 20lbs. It might be 8. I just didn't want the OP to get home and get all depressed if the numbers weren't as good on the home scale. Congrats on the loss.. whatever the number is.

Thank you.. and thanks to the original poster too..

When I fix scrambled eggs, it's usually 1 eggland's best egg and 1/4 cup egg white mixed together. I also throw in a tiny bit of mushrooms and a tiny bit of spinach and 1tbspn real bacon bits (not those baco's junk). That's usually very filling for me.

All i know about is the APStandard (10cc's) and the APLarge (14 cc's). The realize bands have other sizes I think.