coltonwade

Sorry I didnt not realize that you had given it up . I was not trying to me rude and I hope I did not offend you . Mindy

congrats. I can say that quitting sodas was almost as hard as quitting smoking ! it was ROUGH ! Keep up the great work . I feel a lot better after not drinking sodas its been nearly a yr and a half for me Mindy

You realize that your putting your band in jeopardy by doing this right ? every time you throw up your risking your band to slip ! On top of risking your pouch to be stretched by the diet coke ? Im not trying to be rude , if your doc says cokes are ok that's fine , but if its causing you to throw up I would take a second thought about drinking them , because your risking a slipped band by throwing up .. Mindy

My doc says Carbonation is a BIG NO NO and its a huge no no as far as im concerned. He says it can stretch out your pouch and sure you might be ABLE to drink it but the issues comes from the pouch being stretched by the carbonation , your not going to know that or realize it until its too late and your pouch is already stretched. I dont and wont ever touch it again ! I was a HUGE soda drinker , were talking if i was drinking something it was a coke, I kicked it cold turkey before surgery . I drink caffiene in the form of tea ( I have to have some or i get migraines ) But its about 1 a day . My doc says nothing about it . Carbonation is something I wont chance !! HTH Mindy

I LOVE IT Grace . You sound like me !!! Awesome !! :tt2::thumbup: Mindy

have you found a buddy yet ? Mindy

I would say about 90% of the time I dont need but 1 snack in the afternoon . Its nice to know its "Allowed" though , Ya know ? mindy

It is hard at first to get in enough to eat. We are SO use to over eating we think we have to eat very very little. It gets better. I had a problem w/ it seemed like i was eating ALL The time and i FELT like i was and I FELT like i was over eating. But the real issue was what i was eating. I was not eating things that contained Protein so I basically was "wasting" what I ate , it was not keeping me hungry long enough . I agree with Heather O as well. I eat more veggies now than I ever have in my LIFE . I CRAVE Veggies ! I go through about 6 bell peppers a week ! LOVE THEM !! I eat Morning star Veggie Burgers ?? WHAT .. ME <<< the FAT GIRL ?? Are you kidding LMAO It does change and I would do it again in a SECOND !! LOVE MY BAND MIndy

I think its important as well to follow docs orders. Once your own solid foods 800 calories is just not enough . At least I have found. There was a period of time where i was SO HUNGRY all the time and I called my nutrionist and we went over what i was eating, I was only getting in 800 calories a day . If i drop below 1000 I WONT Lose . I am down almost 100 pds in a yr . I am allowed up to 6 meals a day . I can have 6 small meals a day or 3 meals a day and 3 Snacks. But I basically eat when im hungry and it ends up being a shake for Breakfast ( Im too tight to eat solids in the am) lunch at about 2 and sometimes a snack after lunch and then dinner around 6 . Sometimes I have a snack after dinner if i need it. I basically eat when im hungry , I just dont worry about it . I DO However make sure i AM HUNGRY and its not head hunger . But generally its 4-5 times a day . I dont think i have ever eaten 6 times a day . What does your doc recommend to the original poster. If he/she recommends only 3 meals a day try speaking to him about snacks. you may need to adjust what you eat for higher calorie foods. HOnestly I Just do not see how its possible to get in 1000 calries a day with out snacks. I am sure its possible but its hard i think . HTH Mindy

Make sure you can have ground beef on your "mushie" stage, I could not . Mindy

Getting fills and getting a doctor to take you on as a patient r are 2 different things ! There r docs that will take mexican bandsters , my doc is one of them. However, they require certain things from the patients. ANd i HIGHLY Suggest you find a doc who fill take you BEFORE you go and find out what they want from you out of Mexico . Some US docs wont touch you if you were banded but certain mexican docs ! Fill center USA will take nearly anyone from what i understand. However i believe everyone banded in Mexico or not should have after care by a doctor lined up and that can be difficult to find . Bottomline DO IT BEFORE YOU GO TO MEXICO . Mindy

Thanks Jack , One of the reasons my doc said the flintstones were not enough was because they did not have enough Calcium in them . Where did you get the Powder you were talking about ? I wonder why so many docs recommend Flintstones ? Mindy

In all honesty Childrens chewables just are not enough . Or they wont be in the long run . Really why would they be enough NOW But they were not before being banded. Im not a big fan of childrens vitamins , But that's my personal opinion . The personal trainer i was working with also was not and told me she would not recommend I stay on them long and my doc agreed ! Mindy

I just started taking some that my doc recommended. Its not some they "peddle" in the office but he likes them and they are for WLS patients. The Calcium tastes SO Good , they have a chocolate flavor that tastes like solid hot chocolate mix. The Multivitamin is a strawberry flavor and they are great. I take the Mulitband and the Calcium BBVitamins.com HTH Mindy

Oh you are so sweet. Thank you for your kind words. If you need anything, support, someone one to talk to or have any questions feel free to email me . Mindy

Spaghetti sauce with Melted cheese alone is GREAT on mushies .. If you do not like ricotta or cottage cheese. Also another good subsitite for pasta is spaghetti squash , Add a little sauce and cheese and it tastes JUST like the real thing !!

Erosion is not necessarily a doctors fault. Some of these complications are just things that "happen" and no one "NEEDS" TO be sued . its a chance you take with this . Most of the timei would say our SOL on the costs and you have to pay for them . what is the story with your erosion ? Mindy

My doc told me at my pre op appt that I should be able to eat anything i want with no problem as long as I follow the rules , that with the exception of being too tight from a fill people get stuck and PB from their own fault. And after being banded now I would have to agree with him . Everytime I have been stuck or PBed its been my own fault ! So i Agree w/ Denise Mindy

Everyone is different, Some people can eat Pasta some can not. I know someone who has been banded for over 2 yrs , can eat ANYTHING and has NEVER been Stuck or PBed. Also eventually , as you see from some of the veteran bandsters IF there is something you can not eat , its not that big of a deal . food eventually just becomes FOOD . Eventually food is something you eat to live not live to eat . You start to look at it differently . I know right now it seems like not eating this or that is a big deal ( and It is a big deal in the beginning ) but It will slowly turn for you . At least it has for me and i know it has , does for others as well. I for the most part have not ate carbs since my pre op diet and feel A LOT better since not doing it . I do eat them on occasion but not often . And i do feel better since Not eating them on a regular basis. I dont crave as much crap ! . Good luck dont focus so much on what you cant or might not be able to eat and focus on healing and what your going to eat that will be so great for you ! mindy

OHH thanks , Your off to a great start ! your doing awesome so far. I am having some scale issues right now , I have yet to hit a plateau and I am 5 pds away from 100 lbs lost and want to get there before my 1 yr mark and NOW ive either hit a plateau or something ? It is about that TOM so im hoping once that's over my scale moves. I usually either gain or stop losing around that time. I wanted to be at goal by July , my 1 yr mark but I dont think that's gonna happen . Your gonna be great Alice ! your off to a great start Mindy

Aww your only 7 weeks out of surgery ? Its probably just Swelling still from surgery . Mine is from the loss of fat around my stomach . It looks very odd . Sorry i missed your 7 weeks out . The port site takes the longest to heal . So i dont think its anything unusual . Mindy

Are you SURE its where your port is ? I thought at first my port was right where my incision was ( My largest incision ) and its not , its lower. But the bulge is just a wee bit lower than the port incision . Also where the port incision is is a little hard and that's from scar tissue. Does that make sense ? My "Bulge " Does not go all the way around its just in one area. Do you want me to take a picture ? Mindy

I have a bulge on my left side by my port but its not my port. its around where my incision for my port is. I Asked my doc about it , he said its the fat redistributing in my stomach , Its quite large looks like the size of a golf ball I think ? if you have one make sure its not a hernia fist but I know others who have it so I think its quite common . Mine is not hard ! Mindy

Artificial sweeteners are a BIG No no for me too . Even before being banded . Mindy

I have IBS and prior to surgery Only had the IBS that had diahrea . Since being banded I have what my mother has and its a combo of Constipation and Diahrea . I spoke to my doc about it and he wants me to try to eat more Fiber in my diet before trying me on meds. I have to really watch this right now , My mother has IBS and was hospitalized a few yrs ago with an upper and lower bowel obstruction that almost killed her. Although it was probably not All IBS related it was a contributing factor. SO The doc wants me to really watch it for now and try the best i can to regulate with Fiber , if not i'll have to go on meds. I find the gassiness worse since being banded HTH Mindy