Juniper

I know we have a few of us listed for Wednesday, so I thought I'd check in and see how everyone's doing getting ready. I'm still hanging on to hope that I'll actually get my band in, and not just my gallbladder out! Got any big plans for the holiday weekend? I'm planning on doing lots of grilling, and enjoying as much salmon, chicken, and steak and I can! Doc says no need for an all liquid diet, so I'm going to keep it low-carb, high Protein. Hope everyone else is doing well!

IndigoGirl, Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experience and wisdom with us! And congrats on your success! It's so nice to hear from people on the other side of our journey. :w00t:

Bobbie, the caffeine thing seems to go either way with most docs, but i will tell you, go ahead and prepare for withdrawal headaches. the protein did not help at all with that for me. oh, and if it's powdered creamer, it's usually non-dairy. :blushing: as for the cool whip, since the idea is to get rid of the fat, think fat-free cool whip for that jello. (i know some will argue that calories are calories, but i'm just saying what my doc told me.) also, my doc was fine with fat-free yogurt. in fact that's one of my allowed Snacks. funny how different docs are. one more thing... if you haven't read up on it yet, check into what they refer to as "bandster hell". sometimes it takes a while to get restriction, and you may be able to eat as much of whatever you want until you get there, so now's a good time to prepare yourself for that mentally! two weeks... we can do that with our eyes closed! :w00t: and you've got lots of support here to help you!!

Yeah, it really wasn't that bad when I did it before, but this time I think I'm going to skip the Snacks and do an extra Protein shake if I get hungry. The snacks are way too easy to overdo if you're not careful!

hi jana! feel free to come visit some of the other folks getting banded in july in the freedom fighters forum! welcome and best wishes!

In case you haven't ventured over to the monthly support groups area, July Bandsters have their own forum, so come on over and get to know some more of your fellow Freedom Fighters! :wink2: (psst. just click on the word forum to go directly to the forum. hehe)

Ramona, I like your sparkly name thing (and for some reason, it's the only name thing I can see) so I'm stealing it! :bored: :thumbup:

Okay, people, let's vote! :thumbup: Poll will "close" on June 14th, so vote early, but not often! Please, no new name suggestions at this time. Also, I left out "Journeys" out of respect for our June friends who are already using that name.

i really do enjoy reading posts like these... let's see... i'm 37, have 3 kiddos ages 18, 14, and 10 (yeah, i started early). i'm twice divorced yet crazy enough to be considering marriage again, so clearly my fiance must be a pretty special person. i was 140 lbs in high school, with nice curves, since i'm a short 5'3", but after each child, i kept all the "baby weight", and the number kept climbing each year after the last, until i hit my all time high of 370 pounds. i've been successful in losing weight with MediFast, but too quickly, and not only did I gain it all back, but I seemed to have killed my gallbladder along the way. i've also had good success with plain ol' diet and exercise, and up until this year never considered the lap band, because i thought i should be able to lose it, and keep it off, with diet and exercise alone. this year i decided i needed some extra help if i wanted to live long enough to see all my kids grow up. my target weight is 200 pounds, but once i get there i'm sure i'll reevaluate. i look forward to hearing everyone's stories, and working through this together.

ask and ye shall receive...

Welcome to all the new members of the Freedom Fighters!! Here's an updated list of surgery dates: July 7th: Bstone, Mary on a Mission, Aivey, Barbie1978, Bonbellrussell, Bobbie045, waiting4, July 8th: Deedee747 July 9th: MiniTam July 10th: jimofthejungle, healthy-me-in-Az, July 13th: Mom2smc, Sweettea25 July 14th: wonderwoman2009 July 15th: Lindz92 July 20th: KayVee, UnforgettableRN, JacquieOC, 1hotchocolate July 21st: Berna, Neonatalicurn July 22nd: Jerzyshore, Big Mama 514 July 23rd: Daqui26, Toot July 31st: Ayyypapi If you want your date added to the list, please post it on the July 2009 Dates thread. Thanks!

Thank you to everyone that voted!! Go Freedom Fighters!

hi aivey, your weight loss goals and stats seem similar to mine, so i think it would be cool if we could follow each other's progress. i've had a lot of success in the past with exercising as well, and i've always had the best luck when i've had a personal trainer. i know they're expensive, but it really is worth the investment. the trainer was very good at helping me get the right technique down so i was more efficient with my exercise. i enjoy variety, so my typical weekly workout schedule is something like 1 day Water aerobics, 1 day strength training, 1 day cardio (treadmill/bike/elliptical) 1 day yoga, 1 day strength training, 1 day cardio, then 1 day of rest. :thumbdown: with my strength training, i use the big ball a lot to do ab work, but i'm not sure how much of that i'll be able to do after my surgery!! otherwise, i use free weights, machines, and the bands and small heavy balls. i had my trainer right down routines for me, and i use those, even though she's not my trainer anymore. just remember to increase the weight a little at a time when it starts being too easy to keep yourself challenged. as far as the skin issue, i'm really worried about that, too. stay hydrated, because that helps the skin maintain its elasticity, and do more reps with a smaller amount of weight so that you're toning rather than building muscle. that's all my tips for now! best of luck!

I feel sort of mean having to say this, but... Please... Only vote if you are being banded in July! I want it to be democratic, but that's sort of like voting for candidates not in your district, if ya know what I mean. :ihih:

If you've got a July date, and you want to help choose a name, go vote! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f18165/july-group-name-vote-95888/

less of me... was bra shopping online today and thought of you... (that's really not as creepy as it sounds, i promise) :thumbup: have you tried this bra? http://www.lanebryant.com/pagebuilder/lane_bryant_product_page?pagesize=4&my_nav=special_sizes_fits&cat=braFGH&subcat=&item=8998809&s19b=Bras%20|%20Sizes%20F,G,H&s19c=9 says it goes up to size j, and with a name like "magic lift", thought there might be hope! :-)

if you're interested, there's a group of folks being banded in July in the Monthly Support Groups section, and we've been discussing names as well, so it might be nice to combine our groups... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f18165/what-shall-we-call-ourselves-july-09-bandsters-95407/

well now, that's an unexpected response! it's sort of a good thing that it's "just" that causing your problem... may be easier to find a solution than if it was something else! sports bra don't really "lift" me as much as squish me down so i'm not bouncing around when i exercise. i think something with more "lift" would be good. i'm picturing those bras with the criss cross... lift and separate! :confused: i usually end up making my shoulder straps as short as possible, so i can get "the girls" up higher, and avoid lace. the best bra i've ever found that gets them up higher than any other had really stiff cups, and an underwire. (it's the 5 way convertible bra from lane bryant, but the largest size is DD!) the stiff cups i had always avoided before, because i figured i didn't need any extra padding, but i was amazed at how much more supportive they were. it reminded of how a corset sort of makes your boobs bubble up out of the top. hehe also, i'd often criss cross the straps in the back, which seemed to pull them up even more, and they stayed completely off my tummy! good luck!!

i don't have my rescheduled surgery date, but i'm thinking of holding off until july for my own scheduling purposes, so i thought i'd throw out an idea... Freedom Fighters (since we're all fighting to be free from obesity for the rest of our lives) but, bandsters is okay, if kind of plain. just please, no jumpin july junebugs on a journey to jamaica or anything. (no offense to our june journeys friends, just a comment on how hard it is to get an entire group of people to agree to a name...) :confused:

ONLY speaking as someone who has had kidney stones and was given this advice from a doctor, if you've ever had problems with kidney stones, you should drink as much plain, clear Water as you drink anything else. so, for every 8 oz of milk, juice, coffee, tea, flavored water beverages, etc, drink another 8 oz of plain ol' water. there's virtually nothing in water your kidneys have to work to get out (besides the crap your local water company puts in, most likely), and it helps dilute everything else, giving your kidneys a much needed break. otherwise, if you have no problems with your kidneys, then my nutritionist said i could count the water i used to mix any Protein drinks or Soups, any flavored water i drank, and any tea or coffee that was decaf could be counted towards my daily water intake, along with the plain ol' water.

kbritt, glad to hear you're doing well! congrats on your successful recovery! :confused:

of course, i'm speaking from having bg surgery, and not the band, but i've had a similar reaction, so i thought i'd respond anyway. i got pretty sick a few days after my surgery, and couldn't keep anything down, not Water or broth. then, for several days after that, i couldn't stand the taste of water or broth. now, today, it seems my taste has changed again, and i'm back to being able to drink water. the broth, i'm just not crazy about. i think it's because when i felt bad, i tasted the broth and water, and my mind somehow got me stuck thinking that water and broth were bad, because i was sick when i had them. try a different brand of broth, or try just dissolving a buillion cube in some water, cuz that can taste a LOT different than broth. also, try the veggie broth. i found that i can tolerate it a lot better than chicken broth, even though the opposite was true before my surgery. good luck to you.

i have one of the original bodybuggs. my fiance and i bought them back when they first came out, and i will say these good things about them: it's fun to see how many calories you burn doing all kinds of things, from having sex to just watching tv. the website interactive program is really cool, cuz you can literally see how many calories you burned in a 5 minute period, and you can log your food in, and it tells you your net calories, and it's all super easy. it's sort of weird getting used to it at first, but after the first few days, you really don't notice the bugg. those things said, the bad things are it's expensive. not only is there the up front cost of the bugg, but after your 6 month free subscription, it's $99 a year to use the online service. after the novelty wears off, keeping up with the downloading of calorie info, and changing batteries, and remembering to put it on every morning makes it a little less exciting to use it. really, there are some pretty good websites out there that will get you pretty close to your calories burned without needing to wear the bugg, BUT if you decide you really want one, i really do recommend getting the digital display. it gives you feedback when you've met your daily goals, and it's nice to be able to see at any moment how many calories you've burned. oh yeah, and after checking out all the various online food trackers, i settled on livestrong, aka the daily plate. :party:

Regina, Sorry to hear you're having problems. :-( I've had a horrible past 2 days myself. I've had a pounding headache, and vomiting, and haven't even been able to keep my pain meds down. I'm finally feeling a little better now, but now I'm just even more worried about how my banding surgery will go. I've already told my fiance to make note that I MUST have anti-nausea meds to take home from the hospital next time! Here's hoping we both get better really soon...