juliansmom2003

Congrats and good luck tomorrow!

Wow, antsea, I could have written your post! I say that all the time --I can feel the port and see my scars, but I swear nothing is in there! I was banded on 10/21 and I am hungry ALL the time. I take in about 70 grams of Protein a day and 80 oz of Water, so nothing seems to be working for me. I have no restriction and can eat bread, Pasta and rice (I had a freaking subway turkey sandwich on Friday night). Honestly, I have been making healthy choices on food, but I really need help with the portions, which is why i chose the band in the first place. I am seriously living in bandster hell right now. I have an appt on Dec 8 with the surgeon and from there he will decide if I need a fill (and that has to be scheduled, so I'm looking at Christmas time for a freaking fill). I started out so well and now I'm in a bad place. I don't feel like I can do this..... I'm sorry you feel this way too. Hang in there!!

So on Friday night, I did go to the movie and didn't have the popcorn! I did however have a Subway 6" Turkey/Cheese sub on wheat! The thing is, I am worried that it was too much! I mean, it filled me up, but I don't want to stretch my pouch. I have looked all over the internet to see how much the sandwich physically weighs, but of course I've had no luck :biggrin:. When I went home to read over my post-op nutritional info for the millionth time, it said do not eat over 6 ounces of food at once. The new stomach is like an egg, blah blah blah and I shouldn't exceed 6 ounces. That was the first time I ever saw that, since all the dieticians were talking about living on "a cup of food". Now I'm worried that I might have stretched my pouch. The sandwich went down fine, no vomiting or pbing, so I'm hoping that is a good sign that I'm not stretched. Believe me, I'm not looking to make this a habit, but I've been so starved for the past week that I just needed some "real" food. I am almost 5 weeks out and it seems like it's getting harder for me. I'm thinking it's because I've yet to get a fill, so I'm still holding out hope..... Any thoughts on the possibility of stretching my pouch with the sandwich?

Thanks for posting this. I find it really helpful. I am 4 weeks out on soft right now and I have no restriction whatsoever. I am taking bigger bites, watching how I'm chewing, but not pulvarizing it to the point where it's like water without any issues, so I'm glad that's acceptable. My thing is, I guess they're preparing me for post-fill band life? Right now, bread, pasta, rice, nothing gives me a problem--I can get everything down, never slimed, never got stuck--nothing. I guess this is because there is nothing in my band? Honestly, I can feel the port, but if I didn't know better, I'd swear the doc forgot to put the band in LOL! Anyway, thanks again for posting this. I too am completely stalled, starving and wanting to see some results again....

....the rest of my company is in the conference room having a freaking pizza party (and yes, I'm having a mini-pity party)! Luckily, I brought yummy lunch (salsa chicken and some green beans--left over from last night). Pizza is like my favorite thing ever (and not saying I'll never have it again), but I think it would be bad to try it now, as I'm still on soft and I have been STALLED for 2 weeks with the weight loss!! Anyway, needed to vent. I miss pizza!!!

What a wonderful idea --journaling your progress! That's so great! Your kitty is adorable too :-)!

Congratulations on such a wonderful milestone! What a success story!! 8 months of being banded and 100 lbs--truly an inspiration to someone like me that's one month out and completely stalled on my weight loss. Celebrate that success! You've earned it!

Congrats! Glad you're doing well! Lots of luck to you as you move through this next stage of your journey!

I'm confused. A lot of things I've read about lap band have bandsters eating 3 meals per day with no snacks, but the sample guidelines my dieticians gave me post-op have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. Of course, I want to do whatever is best to maximize my weight loss. What do YOU all do about meals/snacks?

OMG--you are definitely one of the lucky ones! I was banded the day after you and I've lost about 19 lbs post op. I'm on soft foods now and have absolutely NO restriction!!! I'm officially in bandster hell now and I don't even have a fill date (need to go for another post-op appt on 12/8 to determine with my surgeon if I need one)! I'm so happy for you that you've lost so much and you have decent restriction! If it wasn't for the will power I learned through all my pre-op classes, I would just keep on eating because I have absolutely no restriction at all! Keep up the great work!

OMG, my husband said the same thing! Please, I was skinny when we started dating LOL! I don't need to lose weight to leave his dumb butt :thumbup:! Jessica-- hang in there, girl. You can do this! It is REALLY hard initially, but after awhile, they say we get to a better place with it all (I guess after we start getting filled). Just remember, you can have certain things in moderation, so if you have a love of Pasta (like I do), you can indulge once in awhile in a healthier way with a smaller portion. (And I have to confess, I was banded just before Halloween, so I would chew up candy and spit it out just to get the taste, so I know how you feel!!! ) Hang in there, we'll get through this!

Thanks for all your replies. Honestly, I sailed through the first couple of weeks thinking "this isn't so bad". This week is really bad for me. I am seriously stalking these boards trying to regain my motivation. I am just worried my momentum is shot, which is nuts for me, since they joke with me at the support groups that I'm like the most motivated person they've ever seen! I just don't want to feel these hunger pains anymore. I'm going to try a boca burger for lunch today. I just want to feel full. Honestly, I keep saying I have the scars and I can feel the port, but there's just no damn band in there LOL. Thanks again for all your support. I really need to just stop complaining, pick myself back up and do something to get my positive outlook back.

Wow! Congrats! You're giving me hope!!! I am having a really bad week with hunger. I was banded a week after you, but not even scheduled for a fill yet. Have to meet with the doc on December 8 and from there he schedules the fill. I am so hungry right now and it's so hard to stay motivated when I feel like this. Congrats on feeling full and hope the weight loss kicks in to high gear for you!!!

I'm now on a soft diet with NO restriction whatsoever. I am starving to death eating 1 cup of food. I have been measuring on sight (at a class again today where they served this amazing lunch), so here I am having my steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. Couldn't have any chicken because it was breaded a million times over. They haD these amazing cheesecakes and everything too- I just wanted to cry. I have never had an issue with food on my pre op 1500 cal a day diet, but now with this one cup crap I am soooo not satisfied and worried I did the wrong thing here. Please tell me it'll get better after my first fill! I'm really strugglinh right now. Any support or advice would be SO appreciated. (Fyi- getting 60 to 70 g of Protein per day!)

About a week

Blush. I am soooo paranoid right now!! Sorry!

So I am attending a class where they provide meals and I of course didn't tell anyone about being banded, so I don't have my measuring cup with me. For lunch, they served sandwiches of course, but I just pulled the turkey out and had that (and stayed away from the chips and cookie, thank you!). My question is for something like turkey, am I going by 8 ounce weight or actual cup? Sorry for all the questions but I'm paranoid about stretching my pouch. I am stopping myself when I think I"ve hit my max allowance and I don't know what feeling full is like since I am pre-fill. Help!

Okay I am bad at this- I am attending a class where they provide lunch. So of course they had sanswiches today, so I just pulled out the turkey and ate it. Only thing is I don't carry a cup or scale with me. Also with a solid like turkey, do I measure 8 oz or 1 cup? Sorry for all these questions but I am so paranoid about stretching my band :-(

Thanks for the info! The funny thing is, I have lost quite a bit of weight--more than I expected. Pre-op I was 214, I weighed in this morning at 195!!! Not too shabby--I'll take it, especially since the scale was stuck for awhile there! I just can't wait to exercise LOL! I totally agree about making healthier choices. My nutrionist actually put me on a 1500 calorie/42 fat gram per day diet and I lost 20 lbs pre-op!! I really learned the best way to eat during that time and journaling was so great for me that I'm still doing it now. Thanks again for the info!!!

Congratulations!!! Welcome to your new life! This board is such a great resource when you have questions no matter how random they seem. I always manage to get answers..these people are amazing! It sounds like you've already gotten some good advice.....Gas X strips and walking were the key to getting rid of that awful feeling. Truth be told, because of those two things, I only had that pain for two days! Good luck on your journey!

If so, how? The past couple of days, I've had two weddings and my husband took us out to Breakfast after church. I'm on purees, so I can have mashed potatoes, steamed carrots (could be smashed with a fork, so the nurse said it was okay). I've had these foods at the weddings, some small ravioli, rice and when we went out to breakfast today, I ordered 2 scrambled egg beaters with potatoes and was sure to eat half the eggs, a couple of forks of potatoes (after I mashed them with a fork), and one piece of wheat toast and took the rest home for dinner. My question is--NOTHING is bothering me, I don't have to chew anything to the point of it being pulvarized (LOL), but I also don't have a measuring cup with me, so I'm not sure if I'm eating more than a cup or not (just using my judgment because I don't want to bring my measuring cup with me to formal affairs). I have to stop myself because I don't get that full feeling, although my tummy's not grumbling anymore. I know it's BAD if I get to the point where I feel I've eaten too much, so I don't want to ever go there. My question is--if my sight measurements are off and I am in fact eating over a cup, would I know if I stretched my pouch? If so, what does it feel like? I just don't want to go in for my first fill (which my doc does under fluoroscopy) and find out I've stretched my pouch.... I swear I don't really have a band. I just have a port that i can feel and four scars. I'm not trying to brag, but I can eat bread, Pasta and rice already and nothing is giving me an issue. Will it change eventually? Sorry for all the questions. I really do want this to work, I mean I'm getting all my Protein, putting that first, but wanted to see if there was any kind of feeling that indicates a stretched pouch. Sorry for the novel!

Wow, I feel like I'm constantly asking questions on a daily basis, but everyone is so helpful I feel like no matter what I ask, someone out there can help (so thank you all!:tongue_smilie:) I just found out that I need to go on a business trip during the first week of December. The good news is that I'll be on my regular solid diet at that time. The bad news is it will be my first week on this lifetime diet and I will be adjusting to exactly what that is after being on liquids, purees and soft up until then. Does anyone have suggestions as to what I should plan on bringing for the flight and what I should get for those oh-so stuffy business dinners that I will surely get roped into with clients? I'm not so worried about them knowing that I have the band, but I'm very worried about eating something that I shouldn't be (although I guess if I'm that unsure, I should just order Soup LOL)! Thanks for any advice!!!

Hang in there, hon. You're doing great! I too have completely stopped losing. I had my surgery the day before yours as you know, band buddy I've lost 15 since surgery--nothing since and I'm on 600 calories per day (mushies). My belly growls constantly. I heard somewhere that means I'm healing which is great, but I don't see the doc to determine whether or not I need a fill on 12/8 (it was November 30, but moved twice because of work commitments....grrrr). Hang in there. We will get through this and start losing again!!!

Okay, so I'm dreaming of the day when I'll be off mushies... Anyway, I go to soft next Wednesday (progress, I'll take it) and my friend and I are going to see New Moon on Friday night. Would it kill me to have some popcorn at the movies? I know they say corn can be an issue even when you're on solid food, but I wanted to know if anyone has tried it. I'm not looking to house a large popcorn or anything like that and hate butter, but just wanted to get the thoughts of you guys since this board knows all!!! Thanks!

How much water are you supposed to drink everyday? Doc told me between 64 and 96 ounces (ugh) How much do you drink per day? about 66 to 80 (ugh) Any ideas or clues on how to get it all in? Crystal light raspberry lemonade flavor. I have a 33 oz bottle at my desk at work and as long as I get through one in the a.m. and one in the p.m., I'm set for the day. I have a decaf tea in there which adds 8 oz a cup, so somehow I manage. When I'm not at work, that's another story. Do you think it helps with moving the weight loss along? That's what they say, but I have no clue. I had my surgery 10/21 and have lost 15 lbs since. Not sure if water has anything to do with it. How important do you think getting the water in is? Again, I go by what the doc tells me. I've never EVER been a water drinker, I just haven't wanted to drink it in the past, but I've learned from this whole process that a lot of things I did in the past contributed to me getting the way I did and for that, a need for ignificant change was in order.....