RaceGirl88

Hi everyone...wow, i really need to come back to the boards because i thought i was all alone with my lack of progress. I have lost 40 lbs since surgery on 7/1/09 and mine was also all before Christmas without a lb since and i have also gained about 7 lbs since. I now have come to realize that i am a stress/emotional eater. If I reflect back on when the progress came to a screeching halt, it was when my life came unraveled. Since December, i lost my dog of 16 years, my sister was hospitalized, I changed employers, my father was laid off, and my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Needless to say, I am feeling the need to turn to something to sooth my emotions. Ah, my life long companion, food. I am angry as hell at myself for being in this situation and sabatoging myself. i am at 8ccs in a 14cc band and while i know i am not at my "sweet spot" i feel like i should have more control than i do. I am going for another fill this Tues - and i have not been as proactive with getting these fills because as a result of changing jobs, i also had to change insurance and my new insurance wont cover the band-related issues. So looks like we are all struggling...how do we get back on track??? i am lacking motivation BIG TIME.

Hola! I have been MIA for awhile...they changed something with the firewalls @ work and it was a restricted site for awhile! :smile2: Doing well! I have signed up for a 5k this saturday and another the following saturday. I have had 2 fills now...man do they hurt! But I haven't had any issues with the PBs, port pain, or bandster hell...and I am trying to be optimistic that I wont!:bored: The hardest thing for me lately has been eating habits...when I get stressed and busy during the day I tend to forget to eat and then am starving when I get home. And work has been BANANAS!! So I am trying to get better and remember to eat lunch and drink my Protein Snacks...this really is a complete lifestyle overhaul and I'm still proud of me - and ALL of you - for accomplishing what we have so far, even if we screw up once in awhile

I have 6.5cc in a 14cc band and have no real restriction. I am certainly eating less than I did pre-op, but by no means where we are supposed to moderate out at when in the sweet spot. You are not alone! I go for another fill tomorrow. it's been a month since my first fill and I haven't lost a single pound since then :thumbup: Helloooooooooooooo Bandster Hell! :tt1:

I LOVE to do 1/2 c. of Fage LF, add in a tbsp of LF organic butter and 1/2 of a SF Choc Jello pudding cup and its like a Reece's PB Cup - but healthier!! And YUMMO!! It's great to cook with, and like everyone has mentioned, I subst. that for sour cream all the time and it really is good to add into "creamy" Soups to boost the Protein content. It's a staple in my house for sure.:thumbdown:

Same instructions here. I had a few incisions that opened on me and even then it same instructions, but I could cover with gauze if I wanted to, and then once the scabs were gone, I could take whatever approach I wanted to reducing their visability.

I had my first fill yesterday and it was under fluro, protocol for my surgeon. Very cool to see the port and band on the machine....tech said my port was tilted a little but 'no biggie.' :sad: Anyways, since she uses a thicker gauge needle than the office will use going forward, so she gave me a shot to numb me - which hurt like a mo'fo' but when she injected me with the needle for the fill, all i felt was pressure (kinda like if you are pushing a sewing needle through a thick piece of material). She made several adjustments, and had me swallow some barium after each. She wanted to show me what alot of restriction felt like, so filled me to 7cc's and had me take a drink and it hung up in my throat a bit...like i had to swallow a few times to get it down. Then she took me back to 6.5cc's where all went through OK. Then I was done. My instructions are full liquids for 2 days, then pureed for 2 days, then back to reg foods. I'm a little anxious about reg foods, because I am afraid of the dreaded PB or sliming....but I respond well to fear and I think that will be reinforcement enough to eat small bites, chew, etc. :biggrin:

I wanted to let you know that I just checked with my surgeon and he said I could put steristrips back on the ones that are "open" so if it doesnt start to come back together - you may want to do the same! You can find them in some drugstores, I found them at CVS.:crying:

I had the exact same situation. Exactly. I'm now 4 wks post op and it is coming back together (healing from inside out they say) and after about a 5 day stall on the scale its moving nicely again. Its scabbing and the skin isnt quite together but I can see the progress. I completely understand your frustration. Hope this gives you some comfort. Hang in there.

I plan on doing a low carb routine once I get to regular foods because I have PCOS and shouldve been moderate with carb intake all along! But I think the fact that some long time bandsters have experienced problems with the breads, pastas, rice (which were like crack for me!) is enough to scare me straight because I really don't want to bring on a PB or stuck episode eating that and its not the best from a nutritional content perspective. The band is really going to help me with that enforced behavior modification I have needed to step away from those foods because in my mind there were no real ramifications before the band...

I made have made a few good concoctions since pureed stage; first was black bean soup, w/some rotisserie chicken (its much more moist than grilled), little bit of part skim ricotta cheese, cilantro and lime juice - then use your food processor to give it a refried bean texture. The other was actual low fat refried beans, more rotiss. chicken, little 2% shredded cheese, and greek yogurt (to thin it out) with more cilantro. Very flavorful and protein rich.

Couldn't agree more and I am having alot of fun experimenting with different foods/soups and herbs and spices. Another great combo is rotisserie chicken and black bean Soup w/cilantro and you can add a bit of greek yogurt...its got alot of protein and is great to incorporate into veggies for puree purposes bc it add that important protein!! Great stuff. It will help you tremendously to choose foods that are good for you and if not naturally protein rich, supplement w/protein powders! Good luck! You will be great!

I'm soooo happy for you Barbie! That's amazing and very exciting! Keep 'em coming lady! :smile:

So I pulled my jeans out of the dryer today - you all know that dread that comes over you because they are ALWAYS tight after wash/dry and you have to wear them for a week before they conform again right? And I would try not to wash them until I had to because I hated tight fitting jeans around the waist and the muffin top they created... :scared2: Guess what? They fit great! Fresh out of the dryer! :wink2:

I'm so thrilled for each of you! Fantastic stuff!

I had surgery on a Wed and probably could have come back Monday. The only thing that may have been bothersome were incisions and wearing dress pants or any pants that weren't "lounge pants" because I have an incision right above my belly button and only over the last few days has it gotten to the point where pants arent irritating it. But placement of incisions will vary and other than feeling like you did a helluva ab workout, hopefully the "pain" will be gone by then. I'm so excited for you!!! :thumbup: