Humming Bird

Meat ( like steak ) and bread are on the list of foods that give many bandsters trouble. It is a very fine line between your sweet spot and being too tight. Some of it is also a personal choice. In my book you are at what I consider my sweet spot. If I can eat chili I'm good. Steak and bread have been trouble for me even before I started getting fills. I'm at 5.3cc and have been for a very long time. If you don't feel good about how limited your food choices are, go get a tiny bit of fluid removed. The only bad thing about that would be you may do the yo-yo fill thing by needing another fill because you get too hungry between meals.

I also have trouble with meat. I eat quite a bit of chili. I can eat crab, scallops, fish...... with salmon I have to use caution because it has a pretty solid texture. Cooking spray and lemon pepper are pretty good on just about any kind of fish (bake). I'll have to check out some of those recipies too.

enough with the dental hate.... I'm starting to get a complex! just kidding, I understand. I don't really like being the patient in the big chair either.

A protein shake would be better than tiny bites of solids. Hang in there and get as much of the clear liquids in as you can along with lots of sleep. Drinking a bit of liquid jello helped me at that stage.

Oh my gosh! Thanks for sharing. You have done so well and you will be around longer for the wife, kids and yourself! I am so glad the band has worked for you.

Did they give you written guidelines you can look at as you go? Something that gives you an idea of what they want you to have at each stage? Do you have a NUT you can talk with? Of course we all have different "rules" with each doc, but 1/4 cup is not enough. When you don't have restriction yet it will be a rough road trying to stick to 1/4c. The most common thing I have heard is 1/2 cup. As long as you "diet" until you have restriction you should be fine. Pasta would not be a good choice. Congrats on getting banded! It's a process, but well worth it !

My sweet spot has been 5.3cc in a 10cc band for a very long time. We will all be very different though. It depends on how thick your stomach tissue is and how think the fat is they include between the stomach wall and the band.

I was told only ice cold clear liquids the first 5-7 days and keep an ice pack high and left as much as you can. Ice helps swelling go down, not heat. I call in to the surgeon wouldn't be a bad idea, just so you can have a conversation with him/her and the situation can be evaluated by them.

Oh geez, I think they need to fix a few things when I can go and post other people's pics ! How to: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/123814-how-to-add-pictures/page__p__1568179__fromsearch__1#entry1568179

Genetics do count when it comes to teeth. I got both my parent's bad teeth, so I do understand. There are also many other things like how much fluoride was in the Water when you were a toddler and the perm. teeth are developing down in the bone. We were dirt poor and I was raised by a single mom. I remember going to the dentist one time when I was a small child and then one time when I was 14 to get a chipped front tooth fixed. I went to the dentist when I was 23 and got my own dental insurance. I had 11 cavities. I am from the Kool-aide and double-mint gum generation. The best thing you can do is keep up with cleanings (from a registered dental hygienist), do your homecare to include flossing daily, and hope for the best. Maybe those will be the only 2 teeth you will have to part with! For some reason Butters doesn't look too happy about the shoes. Or is that his happy look? too cute tho

I think it would be a great idea for both of you to go back to your band docs and start over with the exception of having the surgery. You already have the band in there and that is a good thing. Get a fill and start over with the post-op eating plan, Don't feel bad about anything because you have just been living life.

Jackie, Try this http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/40540-ticker-tutorial-with-pictures/

Well, I wish a computer savy person would jump on here and help. Your salad looks huge! LOL...... until you look at the fork that says Gerber?

I found it very helpful to keep a large icepack high and left for longer than they told me to. It will get better every day. Also, relax. Don't tense up.

Is there a little bar below your track pad? That is your right click.

I think the corned beef may be a bit too solid, but whatever you try just go very slow. I started with things like yogurt, oatmeal, soup with chunks, cottage cheese, applesauce, refried beans........ But I was eating those things before week 3 I think. Anything new you try just take a very tiny bite or 2 and then wait a couple minutes to see how it goes.

2be, I think I would just rely on the band and watching what you eat even if the weightloss may seem slow. You may be surprised how much a tiny fill will help you when you are lingering around your sweet spot. It seems like every weightloss pill they come up with has major problems after awhile and gets pulled off the market. Of course that is after people have heart damage or something. I tend to like that the band is more of a mechanical thing and not a drug.

Denise, sorry to hear about the burger mishap. Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about the tooth. That really sucks. I agree with the calories in vs. calories out not being the same for all of us. My son's GF eats burgers and fries and that sort of stuff all the time. She does not workout and stays skinny as a rail. Of course she is 16 years younger than me, but I had the same weight issues when I was her age too.

see, it's the same pic I posted before, but I clicked on the smaller pic (thumbnail) below the big one in my gallery. It will be a photostrip for that album.

in your gallery there are smaller pics under the big pic, like thumbnails. Right click on those. nice salad I don't know how to make them smaller than that. It took me forever to find out this much. I'm not great with computers. Teeth are my specialty

yep, pain and "slime", sounds like you were stuck. Be very careful with eggs and chicken. Many bandsters can eat both with caution, but I have found I can't eat either. Chicken sometimes like tiny tender pieces that are in some soups, but eggs never.

Of course always check with your doc, but I think if you are going to measure it should be by volume, not weight. 1/2 cup is 4oz in volume ......

oh, ok, I stand corrected. Spartan, whoever you are, can't you just be nice?

I don't measure anything, so that would include salad. I also don't count calories so I eat whatever kind of dressing I want. I eat salad sometimes, but not every day. Salads are not a slider for me and my pouch holds about 1/2 cup of solid food. That is 1/2 cup after chewing

too funny ....... you should have told her "oh, he would never sleep with you, he has better taste in women than that."