minpinmom

Okay, so I went to the 2008 National Lapband Conference in Dallas at the beginning of the month. They had all sorts of Dr.s and speakers. The coolest thing - was a Dr. who was talking about Juice Plus. It is dried fruits and veggies in a capsule, chewable, gummie, etc. He did all sorts of illustrations and said we especially need Juice Plus since we can't eat as many fruits and veggies after being banded. I was interested, but not sold yet. EVERY Dr. that got up to speak after him, said that they too personally take Juice Plus and LOVE it, okay, so I orderd some. I and my hubby have been on in for a month. I feel better - have more energy - not a huge difference, but they said it usually takes 3 months before you start to see a huge difference. My hubby, on the other hand, has done a complete turnaround. He has MS, and one of the things he deals with so much is feeling down, sick and fatigued. A lot of days he doesn't get out of bed, or if he does, he never leaves his recliner. (he is 33). He rarely woke up before 11 AM. If he does something (exerts energy, like work on something outside), he is down for weeks afterwards. Let me tell you, after a month, he wakes up at 8AM every morning (no alarm), he has been working around the house, (putting up rain gutters all week). I have not seen him like this in 5 years! I can't believe it. It is like a miracle. So, I think I am going to become a distributor. I have seen first hand what this stuff can do. Who know fruits and veggies were so important! Wish me luck!

Okay, so I went to the 2008 National Lapband Conference in Dallas at the beginning of the month. They had all sorts of Dr.s and speakers. The coolest thing - was a Dr. who was talking about Juice Plus. It is dried fruits and veggies in a capsule, chewable, gummie, etc. He did all sorts of illustrations and said we especially need Juice Plus since we can't eat as many fruits and veggies after being banded. I was interested, but not sold yet. EVERY Dr. that got up to speak after him, said that they too personally take Juice Plus and LOVE it, okay, so I orderd some. I and my hubby have been on in for a month. I feel better - have more energy - not a huge difference, but they said it usually takes 3 months before you start to see a huge difference. My hubby, on the other hand, has done a complete turnaround. He has MS, and one of the things he deals with so much is feeling down, sick and fatigued. A lot of days he doesn't get out of bed, or if he does, he never leaves his recliner. (he is 33). He rarely woke up before 11 AM. If he does something (exerts energy, like work on something outside), he is down for weeks afterwards. Let me tell you, after a month, he wakes up at 8AM every morning (no alarm), he has been working around the house, (putting up rain gutters all week). I have not seen him like this in 5 years! I can't believe it. It is like a miracle. So, I think I am going to become a distributor. I have seen first hand what this stuff can do. Who know fruits and veggies were so important! Wish me luck!

I am with you guys - I like the black team and the one girl on the Blue Team - her mom got sent home earlier - I am starting to like her too. She voted for Brady. :-) I too am sick of the drama.

I feel for you girl - if you get any insight on emotional eating - please share, other than (Oh, just go for a walk, or read a book) -I want REAL insightful EMOTIONAL help - I will be watching for some great answers!

Have I said this week that I can't stand Heba - what a jerk! She makes me not want to watch. I hope she gets voted off soon.

Here is the Spanx - illustration (attached) - I am including the link for Plus Size Spanx- but I never know when it will go though. SPANX - Body Shapers: Plus Size: Higher Power

Remember when talking about how many CCs you have or someone else has, make sure you know if your band holds 10CC or 4CC (I think those are the only two options - but I could be wrong). When I say I was at 3CC before I felt restriction, that is with a 4CC band. That would be equivelant to 7.5CC in a 10CC Band. Or 75% filled to max. Good Luck with your fills!!!

Spanx are crotchless and you don't wear panties - so when you sit to tinkle, you pull on the outside of your bottom thigh area and it keeps the "Opening" wide and out of the way. God, that is a visual, I really don't think anyone needed!!!

I didn't get restriction till fill 6 or 7. (I forget which now). I have a 4CC Band and it is at 3CC when I hit restriction. It took like a week after the fill before I felt anything either - very strange. I need another fill now. I wish I was losing as fast as you! You are doing awesome!!!!

They told me not to wear undies - because - everytime you pull your spanx down - you reduce the life of it dramatically. So once you put it on - you aren't supposed to pull them down till you are ready to take them off. I have FINALLY mastered the Spanx Pee :-) It wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it was going to be. :-) W

I just wanted to add that I too love Spanx - I wear them all the time - word to the wise - don't buy the 70$ pair that hang - buy the 36$ pair that are in a box like pantyhose - they will last you 3-6 months and are much more elastic (hold everything in better) than the more expensive one. (both are spanx, just different options). I wear the kind that go above the knees and up to just below the bra. DONT lie when you are buying them. They only work if you are truthful on your weight and height. My first pair - I bought too small (thinking I will lose weight fast) I did, but the first couple times I wore them - it stretches them out. If they are too big - they won't hold everything in. I def suggest going to Lane Bryant and talking to the ladies there - I guarantee they will all be wearing them too!!! They even showed me how to pee with them on (you can't wear undies with them) Good luck and have fun! W

That is about 10 minutes from me! Shenandoah is a little dot in between The Woodlands and Conroe. There is so much to do in The Woodlands - it is an entertainment mecca. We will have to go out - let me know which days you have available (if you have any).

Fellow Biggest Loser Fan here - I love the girl on Yellow and can't stand Heba - she rubbed me wrong from the very beginning then last night she really just ruined it for me. I liked her hubby and I like the guy who did all the running last night. But my favorite is the girl in yellow. She doesn't seem big enough to win though. (but then again, look at aly from last year). I too am tired of learning about how yummy Jello with a 20 Calorie squirt of NEW Cool Whip in a can! Ugh. W

Awesome! I would totally love to have him LEAD another support group!!!

The Conference in Houston is for all weight loss patients, not just lapbanders. It is being put on by Obesity Help (just google Obesity Help) when it comes up, go to the EVENTS section and you will see the information for Houston. I am def going - if you decide to come, let me know we can sit together!

My Dr. says the carbonation is bad as well. He said on RARE occasions - if I feel I HAVE to have a DIET soda, I have to pour it over ice, let it sit for at least 5 minutes - then stir it till all the bubbles are gone. It is so not worth it :-) I was worried about missing them at first - but after a while - the craving for them goes away.

I am down 42lbs since surgery - and it hasn't been a miracle for me either. I count calories and workout. I was sure hoping it would be the easy way to lose weight - I guess the way I have to look at it - I have never been able to lose 42lbs and keep it off before - so the Band is helping me! It is EASY to not lose with the band - I could live off of queso, chips, cookies and soups - but the band doesn't work with them - it is a struggle - but one that I can now fight since I have been banded. I too wish it were easier.

It was freakin awesome! - Paige went with me - there were a couple of others we met from Houston as well - but I didn't recognize them from here. There is another conference - not just for Lapbanders - for all weightloss patients here in Houston in November. It is on the "Other" website . . . obesity help. Sounds great - I will be going to it as well.

Hi Amy, I had surgery in February of this past year as well. I didn't have restriction until a few months ago. I lost my initial weight by counting every single calorie that I put in my mouth and exercising. Now I have restriction and it is much easier. Rules are so hard to follow - but I do pretty well as long as I eat my Protein first, don't drink during or 1.5 hours after and take tiny bites and chew to a liquid. I would encourage you to go to a support group every week - it helps so much! Good Luck and let us know what you decide.

Ha! We go to the Renaissance Festival every year! I only live about 25 minutes from it. Let me know when you come in for it - maybe we can meet for dinner one night!

The Dr. that I was most impressed with was Dr. Vuong from South Houston area. He changed the way I look at surgery and aftercare (support groups) I think in a few years he will be so famous you won't be able to get in to see him. He rocked. I have been banded and love my Dr. so I am not looking for one, but Dr. Vuong was rockin.

Okay - so last weekend we had a great Lapband Convention in Dallas. Since I am in Houston, I had no excuse not to attend. I hooked up with another gal here in Houston, we rode together and shared a room. We arrived in Dallas around 4 (I think) on Friday. Friday night we had a meet and greet - there were about 30 people there - we had dinner (well, we had cheese, I will get to that in a few). I met a few really nice ladies and hit it off right away with them. It was really just a night of socializing. Of course, since we only ate cheese - we ended up going out for dinner with each other - it was really nice. Dinner on Friday consisted of 3-4 kinds of cheese, crackers, pineapple and strawberries. No drinks, no meat, no nothing. It was horrible. I think it would have been a great appetizer - but it was advertised as dinner (I don't know about y'all, but I could eat my weight in cheese) I am going to explain each meal - only because it was the topic of conversation ALL weekend. Cher apologized for the meal and said she talked with the Hotel. However, the next two meals were almost equally horrible. Saturday for lunch was BETTER, I will say that, it was lunch meat, cheese, bread, chips, a dessert and iced tea. However I was near the end of the line, when I got there to make my plate there was nothing left but ham and roastbeef. No cheese, no chips, no dessert, no tea . . . you get the drift. I asked if I could have the Hotel bring out more - they said that we only paid for 40 and we only get 40. So, I had ham, by itself. Hey, at least I got my protein! That night we had the exact same thing as the first night with the addition of meatballs and chicken fingers! Can you believe that-they gave us fried chicken that was so dry - I don't know of one single person who took more than one bite. Okay, that is all I have on the food - on to the Meat of the Conference (hehe) We had some wonderful speakers and a couple that we could have done without. We got great goody bags and they had some neat door prizes and such. There wasn't much in the way of vendors - but the Hurricane here in Houston caused some of that. We learned a lot and socialized even more. I really think some of the ladies I met - I will know for the rest of my life. The Dr.s were very infomative and I learned about JuicePlus a supplement that I immediately bought for myself and my hubby. I really think it will do great things for us both. I am actually thinking about selling it - I feel that strongly about it. anyways, google juiceplus and see what you think. Saturday night we had a Fall Fling - (the meatball and fried chickenstrip dinner) - We left after about an hour - no one was dancing - Cher wasn't there or I bet she would have gotten someone on the dancefloor. So we left and went clubbing. We went to see this Coverband - I can't remember the name, we had a drink and left for a hip-hop club next door. Had a freakin blast. What fun. Didn't get home till after 100 AM. The picture was taken at the entrance of one of the clubs - what a great memory. Our firealarm kept squealling every 30 minutes or so - we had to have the hotel people come fix it at 200AM. So we didn't get much sleep at all. Sunday morning was nice we had a WONDERFUL LB DR. out of Houston do a support group with us - I would have paid 100 bucks just for that! He totally rocked. We packed up and headed home. I made some great friendships and hope to do it again soon. I am attending another Seminar in Houston in November - but it isn't Lapband specific - so not sure how informative it will be.

Okay - so last weekend we had a great Lapband Convention in Dallas. Since I am in Houston, I had no excuse not to attend. I hooked up with another gal here in Houston, we rode together and shared a room. We arrived in Dallas around 4 (I think) on Friday. Friday night we had a meet and greet - there were about 30 people there - we had dinner (well, we had cheese, I will get to that in a few). I met a few really nice ladies and hit it off right away with them. It was really just a night of socializing. Of course, since we only ate cheese - we ended up going out for dinner with each other - it was really nice. Dinner on Friday consisted of 3-4 kinds of cheese, crackers, pineapple and strawberries. No drinks, no meat, no nothing. It was horrible. I think it would have been a great appetizer - but it was advertised as dinner (I don't know about y'all, but I could eat my weight in cheese) I am going to explain each meal - only because it was the topic of conversation ALL weekend. Cher apologized for the meal and said she talked with the Hotel. However, the next two meals were almost equally horrible. Saturday for lunch was BETTER, I will say that, it was lunch meat, cheese, bread, chips, a dessert and iced tea. However I was near the end of the line, when I got there to make my plate there was nothing left but ham and roastbeef. No cheese, no chips, no dessert, no tea . . . you get the drift. I asked if I could have the Hotel bring out more - they said that we only paid for 40 and we only get 40. So, I had ham, by itself. Hey, at least I got my protein! That night we had the exact same thing as the first night with the addition of meatballs and chicken fingers! Can you believe that-they gave us fried chicken that was so dry - I don't know of one single person who took more than one bite. Okay, that is all I have on the food - on to the Meat of the Conference (hehe) We had some wonderful speakers and a couple that we could have done without. We got great goody bags and they had some neat door prizes and such. There wasn't much in the way of vendors - but the Hurricane here in Houston caused some of that. We learned a lot and socialized even more. I really think some of the ladies I met - I will know for the rest of my life. The Dr.s were very infomative and I learned about JuicePlus a supplement that I immediately bought for myself and my hubby. I really think it will do great things for us both. I am actually thinking about selling it - I feel that strongly about it. anyways, google juiceplus and see what you think. Saturday night we had a Fall Fling - (the meatball and fried chickenstrip dinner) - We left after about an hour - no one was dancing - Cher wasn't there or I bet she would have gotten someone on the dancefloor. So we left and went clubbing. We went to see this Coverband - I can't remember the name, we had a drink and left for a hip-hop club next door. Had a freakin blast. What fun. Didn't get home till after 100 AM. The picture was taken at the entrance of one of the clubs - what a great memory. Our firealarm kept squealling every 30 minutes or so - we had to have the hotel people come fix it at 200AM. So we didn't get much sleep at all. Sunday morning was nice we had a WONDERFUL LB DR. out of Houston do a support group with us - I would have paid 100 bucks just for that! He totally rocked. We packed up and headed home. I made some great friendships and hope to do it again soon. I am attending another Seminar in Houston in November - but it isn't Lapband specific - so not sure how informative it will be.

Here are a couple of shots that I had on my camera too.

Coach Cher - Not sure if you are attending the WLS Conference in Houston in November - it seems pretty similar. I will be "the spy" and see what cool stuff they do. If they have any neat products or vendors - I will forward their contact information to you. This weekend inspired me to go to this one too. It give me something to look forward to. I can't wait. I don't think I will be able to make it to New York, maybe I can go to the one following that one. I think I will NEED my FIX from you gals!