stateofzen

I'm down 1 lb this week-- short of my 2 lb goal, but any loss is much loved!

Minus 1 lb-- I'll take it!

The primary reason I had WLS was because I've had repeated unexplained miscarriages that my fertility specialist, after all of the testing, said "could be" the weight. So right now, I'm losing for a year and then we'll try one last time to get pregnant before calling it quits on the kid-front for good (at least the biological kind). I was on Depo for a while before I stopped to try to get pregnant and I loved it. No periods meant no cramps! I'm sure that's about what you're experiencing now, Spoiltmom

I have had horrible menstrual cramps during days 1-2/3 for my entire life. I took "prescription dose" ibuprofen before surgery for this. Obviously, can't do that anymore. Other than a heating pad, what do you ladies in a similar situation do? Is there a specific medicine your doctor has prescribed that you would recommend I talk to my surgeon about? I hate to take something as strong as lortab if I don't have to (though that is what I'm taking now, since I have it from surgery).

Thanks Texas Girl I love your video blog, by the way-- keep up the good work.

I tried this last night and I won't be having it again-- it did not taste good to me. But, I love plain old steamed cauliflower with a little ff american cheese, so I'll make do with that. But as a low-carber, I was looking forward to "potatoes".

I was horrible this week-- didn't work out a single time. Not once. I'm shooting for doing 30 minutes on my treadmill every day this week. I think aiming specifically for 5 out of 7 days gives me too much permission to "use" the off days early and then never get started.

Today I went to lunch with my husband, and then afterwords decided to burn some calories shopping :bolt: I bought clothes in the regular section for the first time in. . . . holy cow, since grad school-- at least 10 years? Now, I'm not gonna lie to you all, I bought XL and really the styles that work for me now are the blousy shirts that are not form fitting (they probably fit my form too well right now, is what I'm saying), but still! Whee! I got a Michael Kors shirt in XL for $20 on clearance peeps, and it looks nice on me! That feels so good. You wanna know what's weird though? I felt really self-conscious shopping in the regular section, like other shoppers were staring at me and wondering what I was doing in "their" part of the store. :wink2: No, I didn't actually see anyone doing that but I felt it the entire time I was there. Definitely something psychological I'm going to have to work on.

I'm a month out and still cannot even think of rolling onto my stomach because of port pain. I can FINALLY sleep on both sides, though I sometimes will get a twinge from my port in the readjusting. My doctor did not seem concerned by this though it was certainly not usual-- he had me in for a fill at two weeks post op (the normal time for his patients), but since I had the port pain issue-- not even side sleeping at that point-- he didn't give me a fill and put me off until next week. If mine were as bad as you're describing, I'd definitely call though. Are you stomach sleeping?

I've always been able to lose weight just fine. Calorie restriction + exercise did it for me. My problem is that I can't keep it off long term, and just add more back by the time I'm done gaining again. I decided about 8 years ago that I was tired of the yo yo crap and I was done dieting, period. I was just going to accept myself as a fat woman and live with it, and I did that pretty well for the most part. But then I heard about the lap-band and it seemed like the answer to my problem. I got the lap-band to help me feel more full while losing, yes, but more, I got it to help me maintain my weight loss once I get down to my goal. I seriously did not see the point of working that hard to lose, only to gain again, but the lap-band seems to be the answer to that "keeping it off" problem. Now every time I get on the scale and see a loss, I KNOW I'm losing that pound FOREVER.

Fat-free refried Beans with salsa and cheese? Can you do eggs? What about putting the chicken/tuna in your food processor-- would that help? One thing that I've done to help with the "dried out" feature of left-overs is used my chicken or beef broth to re-wet my food. So if I made shredded chicken with onions the night before, I add a splash or two of chicken broth and nuke it the next day and it stays moist. Adding broth or Water to just about any leftover (just a bit) can help it perk back up after a night in the refrigerator. I don't have much to say-- I'm always looking for lunch ideas too.

That's fantastic-- yay for you!

In some ways, I think we're talking about two different kinds of coping styles here. Some people cope with problems by distraction (hahaha-- food, maybe?). Some people cope by sharing, which you could call venting, and they get satisfaction from just that experience without really needing anything additional. And some people are problem solvers. I suspect that part of what's at issue here is that us problem solvers don't get venting as a coping style-- we want to solve the problem! But the venters don't need that-- they just need to get the thoughts out there so they can leave them behind for a bit. They're not asking for advice, because that's not really what the venting is about. Yes, I do get annoyed sometimes with venting but I try to remind myself that it's probably more about me and my coping style than anything the other person is doing. And while I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone were just like me, sadly, that seems unlikely.

What makes me wonder is why you have to get to the point of being 100 lbs obese in order to get help from insurance!

My insurance was billed $30,000. Crazy, considering what they will do it for self-pay. I'm not sure how much insurance actually paid.

I know it's different for different people, but I've noticed on several occasions while dieting that when I am too restrictive, my weight loss slows down. I do low carb, and I've noticed that for my own body, when I stop losing on low carb, if I have a meal of pasta, then go back to low carbing it seems to jump-start my weight loss. Maybe it's all coincidental, but as long as the scale is moving down, I don't care! Even while I was stuck for those two weeks though, my body was shifting and changing. I went down a pants size in that time even though I didn't lose.

My realistic goal is to be down 22 lbs by the end of the year (roughly 2lbs a week). That would put me at 218.

The other day I was making dinner (squash with marinara for me, baked Pasta for my husband) and I absently popped a penne noodle in my mouth, then realized what I'd done and spit it right back out. Just a moment where I realized how thoughtless some of my eating habits are, and how I'm going to have to be really careful for a long time to be mindful of everything I eat until I learn new habits. It's tough, but we can do it. If you can, put your family on a healthy diet to go along with you. They may complain, but healthy eating isn't just good for fat people. When my husband wants a treat,he buys it himself and puts it in a cabinet, but otherwise when I open my fridge, there's really nothing in it I can't eat and that helps a lot. I've also seen people who do really good meal planning-- that seems like a good idea too since it takes the guesswork out of eating even real food. It's tough though.

Ugh, I hate underwire bras. It is sometimes hard to find a cute-ish but supportive non-underwire, but it's possible. I also tend to wear sturdy tanks with built-in bras under my clothes to "smooth things out", so you might try that too if your bras are too irritating (and yes, I have large breasts, though they are getting smaller all the time now).

I was banded 9/17. I went in for my first fill last week, but didn't get it since I still had swelling and fluid at my port site, so I'll supposedly have it next week. I've only journalled my calories one day, because I was stuck on the scale, and I was at about 800 calories (it was a very typical day for me). I think that is too low for me at this point, so I upped it to about 1000 and my scale finally moved this morning. I wake up feeling hungry, but my hunger has been surprisingly non-problematic otherwise. I think it's because I did a month of low-carb before surgery and "shrunK' my stomach (i.e. appetite). I have to admit I'm sort of nervous about having a fill, because things have so far been ok without one. But i know I'll eventually need it. So that's where I'm at.

If you're going to test your band, the band will fail. There is always a way to "beat" the band, whether now this early when you don't have restriction (neither do I-- get my first fill in another week, maybe), or later when you can eat slider foods like ice cream even when you have restriction. The band will help you, but you have to help yourself first. Don't fall into the trap I've seen sometimes of believing that "if you could do it on your own, you wouldn't have gotten the band!". While that is true to some degree, we absolutely cannot rely on the band to do all of the work for us or even most of the work, especially in the beginning. Do it one day at a time and you can get there-- I've seen evidence around here of bandsters who have done it, so that lets me know I can too-- let them be an inspiration.

Yay, my scale finally moved! -3 this week, so I'm a little under halfway there. Doesn't look like I'm going to make it to my goal, but any loss is excellent.

So sorry that you are dealing with this. First, you need to always remember that you do not have to let people treat you badly, even if they are family. They have no right to do it, and you aren't a trouble maker or a mean person if you REFUSE to let them do it. Politely but firmly stand up for yourself, and remember, if the tone is changed for the night-- it is their doing, not yours. It sounds like you've done all of the explaining that you can do. If you still get nasty comments, tell them it is a decision made, an action completed, and that they can see for themselves that you did not, in fact, die from the procedure (all the better if you say this as a joke). And then, make it clear that any other negative discussions are closed. "You've made your feelings clear, and so have I. I appreciate your concern, but this is not a topic that's up for debate anymore. So, what's going on in your life, mom?"

Meridia just got pulled off the market by the FDA yesterday. The stupid thing is, even if it didn't, Meridia has a 10 lb weight loss average. Big woop for a morbidly obese person. I'd make sure your PCP even needs to be involved. Unless you need referrals to see specialists, you should be able to go straight to the surgeon.

Hey folks. Checking in-- I did not make my goal this week (exercise 5 of 7 days). Today was my last day of the week and I did 4 of 7 days. So, I'll keep 5 of 7 for my next goal and see if I can do it this week.