Beka.

Thanks for posting your menu. It gives me a great idea of how to plan my own menu when I can have solids!

Sometimes I feel like I am starving but I think it might just be cravings. I am 12 days post op and I usually feel neither full nor hungry just right in between. However, when I go to dinner with someone eating yummy foods I start to feel like I am starving for whatever they are eating. Even when I am full (or at least I think I am) I still feel hungry for what they are eating. Is this normal? I think it is all in my head. Bad habits trying to surface. The hardest part is I am not sure what being full feels like since I am still on liquids. Is it easier to tell when you are full when you start eating solid food? The good news is I have lost 20 pounds since starting my pre op diet. So I guess it is working like it should be. Only 9 more days until I get to eat solids! Yay!:wub:

Here, here! I am fighting like hell too!

I am 8 days post op and my stomach growls constantly. I am not talking a nice purring but an all out across the room growl. I had a client who's hair I was doing last night and about an hour into the appointment she said "Oh sweetie You can take a break and eat, I don't mind." It was really embarrassing. I have been told this is normal but I hate it. This too will pass. Everything else is great. I am healing quickly. I have been back at work for 3 days and I feel fine. I occasionally have some pain when I inhale deeply. My doctor said that it is inflamation around the band causing extra air to go down with my liquid and that it is normal. I want solid foods so bad. I know I am not hungry, just cravings I guess. The other day I actually snuck a chip out of someone's bag that they left in the break room. I chewed it up and spit it out. Pathetic! I'm hanging in there. I want to make good food choices and I plan to when I am aloud solids. I can't help to wonder if on occasion I will ever be able to enjoy or even taste the foods I used to love. I don't mean in excess. I just mean on occassion.

I am going back to work tomorrow. I will be 6 days post op and down 15 pounds! I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday. I feel better everyday! The liquid diet is a challenge when I am bored but easy when I keep myself busy. I am so excited about this adventure. I feel like I want to skip ahead 3 months so I can be thinner. This is the first time I have ever known without out a doubt I will be thin. That it is just a matter of time. How exciting is that. My husband told me the other day that he is so excited for me. That he could tell that I wasn't enjoying life as much as I could. He is right! So now I get start living.

I was banded on Monday by Dr. Ortiz at the OCC in Tijuana Mexico. It was an amazing experience. The clinic is like a spa. Everyone there was so wonderful! They handle everything. They put me in the Marriott and it was so nice, definitely as nice as any hotel in the states. The clinic is 15 minutes from the San Diego airport. I am so pleased with everything. My total cost was $7,300 including my hotel stay and transportation to and from the airport. Dr. Ortiz has written many books on lap band surgery and even teaches doctors in the US how to do them. I'd be glad to answer any questions you have. ( I even have pictures). Google the Obesity Control Center and you will find tons of info. There are even a lot of posts about him on this site.

I wish I would have not told anyone. However, I could not keep it a secret so I told half the world! When were you banded? I was banded 5/14

I was banded 5/25. I will tell you that it is a hard secret to keep. Especially since I am keeping it from friends who know something is different. They are worried that I am not eating and seeing that I don't feel good and think that something is wrong.

It was awful. I got half way through one haircut and I was sweating, shaking and had severe pain at my port sight. I am going to try to go back tomorrow which will be 6 days post op and I don't think it is going to happen. If you can take more time. I wished I would have planned better.

I tried to go back to work today only 4 days post op and was extremely fatigued and in quite a lot of pain. I am a hair stylist and I think it might have just been too much too soon. Hopefully I will feel better by Saturday.

I just got back in town from my surgery and I feel okay. I am a little sore where my port is located and I am feeling a lot of pressure in my back and chest. I guess that is gas pain. I am ready to feel normal again (not sore). I am on clear liquids only and since I am not hungry that is fine. I occasionally trick myself into thinking I'm hungry when I know I am just bored or having a craving. I didn't tell anyone but my family that I was having the surgery and I go back to work today. It is going to be tough to keep it a secret. I don't really care that anyone knows I just don't want to hear anyones negative opinions. I am pretty excited I have lost 13 pounds since I started my pre op diet until now. I can't wait!

I have a shaker I bought at GNC. It has a small container that screws on to the bottom to hold protein and the top is the shaker and you can keep your liquid of choice in it. I know protein and milk together without ice is not the best but I found really amazing protein. It is called Jay Rob. It shakes up easily and is 100% all natural (not that means anything). My understanding is that it is some of the best stuff. No sugar, low calorie, low carb, 25 grams of protein. The chocolate is delicious with milk or soy milk. I have found that it makes a hectic day easier to be able to just pour you protein in your milk and shake it up. Good luck

I leave tomorrow to TJ for surgery. I have decided to take the trip alone. I am starting to feel more excited than nervous. I noticed a small lump on my stomach kind of under my rib cage. At first I thought it was a hernia but I've been told that would be a strange place for a hernia. Yesterday it was a little painful but today it is fine. It could even be something like a spider bite. Hard to say. I called my doctor and he said to come to the surgery and that it should be fine. I guess I won't know until I get there. I'm starving do to the pre op diet but hanging in there. Can't wait!

I leave to have my surgery in Tj on Sunday. I am actually feeling a little better about the whole thing. I think most of my nerves are less about surgery and more about failing. I am afraid that I will have the surgery and like all other diets I have been on not lose the weight. I know this is different than say the cabbage soup diet or weight watchers. Still, when you have become accustom to failing it is hard to imagine anything different. I am optimistic and know that if I do my part the band will do it's. So, Here's to the journey!

I am four days pre-op and beginning to feel the nerves that, until now, have manifested as more of a denial or unwillingness to accept the the finality of this chapter in my life. Every once in a while I begin to question my decision. Is this really necessary? Am I really that big? Does my size really bother me? I decided I needed to post some pictures of myself to chart my journey and realized I don't have any. I have refused to be in any pictures other than the few times I was successful in losing 20 or so pounds on a yo yo diet that, like the name, yo yoed right back on me. When I try to figure out how I have managed to take so few pictures in the last few years, I realize I am embarrassed or even unwilling to look at myself. When I pass full length mirrors or even a store window I Immediately look in the other direction a habit I developed when I was very young. I am embarking on possibly one of the biggest adventures of my life and I guess it is normal to be nervous or afraid. I hope I am making the right decision...