Leifysmom

Forgot to add the calories are only 120 and I think 20gm Protein.< /p>

I have to second the HMR brand. vanilla with a scoop of PB2 made with Water and ice cubes, taste like a vanilla milk shake. We have a distributor at our hospital system, but I think you can get them online. Very tasty, but expensive. I would say worth it.

I find that if I don't use my smaller plate (I use regular utensils), I overeat.

If you like to cook, google healthy general tsoas chicken, its wonderful and low cal. (Not fried, stir fried)

Just a quick fyi, a hysterectomy will not cure your PCOS. Research the insulin resistance component of PCOS. I have lost 80lbs in about 18 months, and I have PCOS. Try the lower carb, and excersize, even just walking. Good luck.

crystal

V8? Or clamato? I like to make a virgin bloody mary sometimes to. Hang in there.

Biliary colic ( gallbladder attacks) can be intermittent. When I still had my gallbladder, it is exactly how you are describing. Call your doc and ask for an ultrasound or hida scan. Gallbladder issues can be induced by drastic weight loss.

good luck

crystal

Dr. Zane Prewitt in Menomonee Falls is wonderful, and his staff is too.

Hi Dit,

i just wanted to say goodluck, and my only advice is talk to your transplant team and ask your lapband surgeon to talk with them as well. I was a transplant nurse in my pervious life (LOL), but know nothing of who this my affect your body. My only thought is how will the anti rejection medications react to the band? Not a professional question just the first thought I had about having a foreign body in you.

Good Luck with your journey.

Crystal

Some people just think this is" the easy way." And discount the hard work that goes into this. I personally had a doctor i work withthe other day say to me "i just love to see you at our meeting, i have been watching you shrink." When i told her about my band, (she asked how I was doing it, and i don't mind telling people because i take it as an opportunity to educate), she totally changed her tune it felt like she was saying i cheated. Some people just don't get it. Sorry that it was close friends for you.

I was able to attend one of my surgeons bariatric presentations to the physicians at me healthcare system, because I work closely with them for diabetes and he did say that has has put a band over bypass when the opening from the pouch to the intestines has stretched to provide restriction. I would talk to your surgeon. I know it has been done, but I don't know the details. Good luck.

I think its a great topic, i didn't post on the last thread, and actually agree with both sides. Its a good discussion to have, especially when i thick we all want to do what's best for our kids now and in the future. How do we do that? I think there is no right answer for that. Our kids have their own unique personalities and tastes. One parent is not going to always agree with the next. Its kind of like the breast feeding debate and any other parenting issue out there. There will always be different approaches. What i appreciate is seeing different tactics that other parents have tried. I personally am blessed witha kid that will eat fruit like its a treat and some veggies. I don't force him to clean his plate, but that's because i am a fullfledged member of the clean plate club LOL and hope i can help him avoid overeating in his future and then hopefully avoid obesity. I do make him try at least one bite of new foods even if he argues then i let him make the choice to eat more of it. But i also offer these foods again in the future, same rule. But one thing i did learn from my pediatrician is not to make food a big issue (he knows about my surgery and my fear that my son will inherit my issues). Parenting is a passionate issue for parents and many want to defend their choices and styles. The thing i hope that people will take away from your post is that we can learn different approches from each other. Its great to have such a large network of virtual friends to bounce ideas and questions off of. Maybe we are the future of fighting obesity in our next generation. Thanks for the opportunity to put some of my thoughts into this and gain knowledge from others. (Sorry for the typos, typing on this tiny phone keyboard UGG, LOL).

Calorie Counter is great, and free in the app market.

Absolutely amazing! And how different your face even looks! Your are truely an inspiration! Can't wait to get to my goal.

Congratulations!

Crystal

I have the Sketchers Shape Ups. I got them with the hope that every little bit helps, LOL. Well I wore them all day yesterday walking downtown, and walking the convention center for a car show, and my legs and hips definatly feel tired today, and it was not from the walking alone, because I walk that amount or more frequently. Now are they a fitness regimen, not really, I still go to the gym, but they were cute and the hubs got them for me for christmas (I have the white and pink breast cancer ones). So after all of that, would I buy them again, yes. Do I count them as a workout, no.

Good luck.

Crystal

First of all, you have not been bad. You made a decision that was probably not the best, but life got in the way. It will happen, now and for the rest of your life. Journal your food intact, find out what your caloric intact is for today, make adjustments for the rest of the day, workout, or play really hard with your son (it'd probably make you feel better, and he would be super happy for the extra play time). Please don't starve yourself the rest of the day, just make better decisions for the rest of the day. This is a lifelong commitment and you will make the same one again one day. Take this not one day at a time, but one hour at a time. If you beat yourself up, you will feel worse, and if your anything like me, say to hell with it and eat everything in sight.

Hang in there! We have a long long time to make better food choices. Gotta have a treat every now and then.

good luck,

Crystal

Have you thought about going to therepy to help you learn more about your relationship with food? I personally haven't done this yet, so I dont have personal experiance, but it is something I have considered. Maybe this would help you too. We all use food for different reasons, and maybe if you get done to the real reason you are using food the way you are.

Good luck.

Crystal

I've had my band for a year and a half. I've been coming on here to read about people's experiences with their bands since before I was banded, and reading so many of the positive stories people have to tell was part of what helped me make the decision to get my band.

I'd like to say before I go on, I did a lot of research before getting banded, it was not something I rushed into. I believed myself to be very well-prepared for getting banded. I saved to pay to have it done privately. I spent a long time coming to the decision and talking to worried family members, convincing them that I knew what I was doing.

In a sense, the band has partially worked, I lost some weight immediately after the operation, and I do believe I would have continued to put on weight had I not got the band, whereas as I am now, I've reached a plateau.

I remain overweight, and honestly, I'm still in agony over my relationship with food. I knew the band would only be a tool and that a lot of the work would need to come from me, but I believed that I was ready to completely re-assess what food meant to me. I see now that no such change has happened. I have restriction, I have discomfort when I over-eat, but such has been my compulsion to eat that I've forced it down or sought out softer foods, falling into a pattern of eating that allows me toundermine what the band's meant to be doing.

I haven't been able to shake my fixation with food. If there is food in the house, I fight and fight in my head, driving myself to distraction, it's like something continually nagging at me that I can't ignore, I feel helpless with it. Giving in brings no relief, I really don't enjoy eating, it's a crushing thing to keep losing to this compulsion. I knew as well as anyone that the band alone would not cure this problem, but hearing about other people who got the band and managed to overcome it made me think it could help me do it. At this stage, I wish I never had to eat again, I wish I just didn't have to deal with food at all, I wish it was like cigarettes or alcohol, something where at least there would be the option to stop altogether, rather than having to keep on with it, but in limited amounts. It's there, day after day, and I feel like it's ruling my life.

I know that for so many people on here, the band has worked and has somehow forced a change in the way they relate to food emotionally, I just want to know how many people there are like me, and I'd like to know where they went from here – did you decide to have your band removed? Did you turn to counseling/therapy to deal with your eating problems? Did you work out a way to work with your band?

[i'm starting this discussion here rather than in the 'Support' section because I get the impression more people will read this here, and also it would be nice if there was a sticky post in the general section with accounts of why the band maybe didn't work for them or how they struggled. There are plenty of success stories here, but I think for people still wondering whether or not to get banded, reading a balanced account of people experiences means seeing both sides, when it works out and when it doesn't]

I don't know if he takes patients from outside of his practice, but Dr. Chua in Milwaukee and Dr. Prewitt in Menomonee Falls WI are great.

I am 1 1/2 years out, I don't keep my band to tight, down 80lbs (time for a ticker update), I have vomited once or twice. Once was very dry baked fish at a resturant, and to big of bites,and I should have known better. My problem was a combination of user error, and a bad choice if Entrees (thought it was safe). So yes if your careful hopefully you will have minimal issues.

congrats on your success so far.

crystal

Ugg...I feel your pain,I just got over a stomach virus myself, except I was physically unable to vomit. I had severe nausea, pain with belching, horrible burning like acid but not sure and I was not able (not that I wanted to) to eat. I ended up getting a big unfill, and liquids for almost a week. But thankfully, not vomitting, so no slip.

I'm glad to hear you made it through pretty good to. Boy its not fun!

Woo hoo congrats! They have a supercute dress I want for my big night out with the hubs (and shoes and slip with garters for stockings hubba hubba) so I think I will splurge. But still need an XL.

LOL when I saw the title of this thread my first thought was "yum" firemen! So does that mean I'm cured! LOL! (Then I thought about how long its been since I had Krispy Kreme! Uggg.

Absolutely!

I actually had this same question a few months ago. So I started asking "normal" (not obese) people how they know when they are hungry. They thought I was nuts! But they all said that they were truely hungry when their stomachs growled. Weird to me because I never really felt that before, I ate because it was time or because I was bored or stressed or happy, well you get it. So now I try to eat only when my stomach growls, or that feeling I get right before it happens. (Unless my head kicks in and I give into headhunger!)

Crystal

The calorie counter ap is great that was mentioned above, I use that one too and I love the barcode scanner, I scan my lean cuisines all the time.