Electrawoman

I watched a youtube video of a postop who said she did not have loose skin and attributed it to exercise and increased muscle mass

Would love any tips you might have for jump-starting weight loss. My band is filled regularly and it feels full enough but I have plateaued and I want to lose a final 50 lbs. I have been super tired lately and have fallen out of my workout routine so I know that getting back into the gym will be the first step but what are some other tips? Fasting? Cleanses? Other ideas?

That did it. Thank you, 2muchfun!

I read somewhere since posting that it may take time for the saline to work its way around the band. This is the only thing I have found so far that attempts to explain the phenomena. Is the saline solution thick? Why would it take 2 weeks to work its way around? I guess I am looking for why there is a delay. I realize that there is one in some folks and know how to work with it as well as swelling from PBs and stress changes. Im just curious about why.

AWESOME!!!!!! Good for you!!!!!

Hey everyone! I am sad to hear that some of you are having problems with your band but happy that you are still posting here and trying hard. I have lost around 90 lbs so far. Losing goes slow but that is okay with me. There is a definite pattern to the way I lose: down 2, up four, down 5. I am getting close to my mini-goal and it's almost a little scary. When I realize it and feel anxious, I notice that I have a bad day...eating more junk, etc. I think that is fear-based self sabatoge but haven't figured out what I am afraid of. I have gone from 22-24 to 16-18 now. When I look in the mirror, I still see the same person I always did. That's not necessarily a bad thing because I never really saw myself as "fat" weird, I know My body is smaller but the shape is still the same, though. I definitely LOVE not being tied to food or plus-size clothing stores anymore. I have more energy. My sleep apnea has improved by 75% and the pain in my ankle is not as severe. I have had one fill since being banded and my doctor says I am doing great. I am starting to play with the idea of a tummy tuck or body lift when all is said and done. I had said I never would (surgery for vanity sake) but it seems a shame to not finish the job I started. For those of you who are still struggling, don't give up.

4 more pounds and I will be out of the 300s! I was told a few days ago that a friend who had not seen me in ten years didn't recognize me from current pics because I had gained so much weight. that was an eye opener. I hadn't thought that my body had changed all that much but he was right. From 1992-1993, I gained 100 pounds jumping from 170 to 270. I stayed there until 2007 when I ballooned up again after the birth of my son and a serious car accident. It is only now that I realize how much weight I gained in that year. In retrospect, I now see what those two life episodes had in common---depression! I have had two major depressive episodes and each one cost me dearly. So now I am recommitting to stay mentally healthy. Depression is such a sneaky bitch. I never know I'm in one until it's too late. Watch out depression. I'm watching you!

I haven't worked on my book in weeks! ugh. And thanks for the USAJobs tip. He has been applying for everything he can find there and at every military-to-civilian help site we can find. He had a good interview yesterday. A friend of a friend also offered to hire him as long as his company gets a contract they are hoping to get. They just need to hurry up and do it before we run out of moolah! Cross your fingers...:frown:

Could this day have been any weirder? I started out working at my volunteer job (CASA), ran from there to grab lunch for my son and husband, dropped it off, went to a health food store across town to pick up shake samples, then to my counseling appt, and finally to the doctor. My surgeon said I was doing great, lost another pound or two and I am right on target. All the way home, I sang Christmas carols and thought about how much fun we are going to have in Canada starting tomorrow. I was halfway home when I got this call from Hubs: "Ummmm we have a conundrum", he said. I was stuck in traffic and didn't want to try and remember what a conundrum was and replied, "Oh god. Whuuuut?" At which point, the man launched straight into a nonsensical tirade about why he cannot go to Canada tomorrow when have been planning this trip for months. I didn't understand a word he was saying aside from "Leave pay...extra month...BAH...discharge...and REFRAD" all military terms that mean "Oh shit. Something is wrong with the finances." Of course, I jumped into full panic mode and had to pull over into a Braum's parking lot so I could try to make sense of it. Having just come from a therapy session where I learned how to deal with stress better, I calmed myself down and tried to ask specific questions in order to wrap my brain around the dilemma. It still made no sense and Hubs started hollering so I just hung up on him and went through the drive thru. I wasn't hungry. It was pure habit. All I could think of is...we are going to either miss our trip entirely or be separated at Christmas! On complete drive-thru-autopilot, I ordered food...chili, frankfurter burger, and jr hamburger. I didn't even get meals or drinks. I just randomly ordered stuff and drove off. As I got back on the road, I looked over puzzled, in my passenger seat at the food I now hoped kiddo and husband would eat and drove on. The entire way, I tried to figure out what in the hell my husband was trying to tell me. By the time I got home, I had more specific questions in place. But he met me at the door while talking on the phone to my sister who was also trying to make sense of it all. They gave me the phone. All I could say was "I dont know" and it wasn't until about an hour later that I figured it all out. My husband is being discharged from his current military orders on January 21. We knew that this morning. We also knew that his pay would end at that time and that he was going to have to bust ass to find a job by the end of the month. OK....now what? Well, apparently, his boss called to say that if he wanted to, he could stay home and work through our trip, saving his leave pay (vacation pay) to be paid in cash in February. Without taking into account other sources of income or what we might lose if we cancelled, he panicked and we started cancelling things. He not only panicked, he drug everybody in our world down with him. His sister came by to say goodbye to our kiddo and she got caught in the crossfire because she wanted to present some alternative ideas and perspective on the situation. Hah! What a waste of time. My husband doesn't let anyone finish a sentence, which was why it was taking me so long to get through to him. Before I knew it, he and his sister were hollering at each other in my living room. Me and the kids just rolled our eyes at them until they left and I cried. Finally, my husband asked me to explain it again. So I did. We were no worse off than we were this morning. This morning, we knew we were not getting paid past January and we knew we were going to Canada and were happy about the trip. Well, the next thing I knew, he was back in. But I had already canceled one house sitter, canceled our ride to the airport and he had fought with his sister, our other (free!) house sitter. (And when I say House Sitter, I mean animal watcher and we have 7 animals in this house! It is not easy to find folks to pet sit for us, especially not for free. Thank God for SIL, but oops, hubs had just offended her.) I handed that fool the phone. He called everyone and got them back on board. I rescheduled the shuttle and now, I think all is well. We wasted soooo much time, though. I shouldn't even be writing this blog but I had to share this story. Whew! I mean really. If that doesn't drive a food addict to eat, I don't know what will? But, so far. I have handled it without food and I guess that is why I posted this story: I am proud of myself.

My doctor said the mortality rate was about .5% I think.

I am betting it's protein related or head hunger like the others suggested. When I get my protein, I am not hungry. If I am, it's not really hunger...just that gnawing, anxious feeling like I just want to eat. I heard once on Oprah that those of us with weight issues just have to make peace with being hungry sometimes. I don't think, prior to banding, that I ever went hungry a day in my life. I don't know if what Oprah said is true but when I get the urge to eat for no reason, I try to tell myself that it's okay to be hungry. I am not going to die or pass out or go crazy if I feel hungry. Usually it passes or I forget about it. Somehow just acknowledging to my brain that I "heard" the request is enough.

Corn cakes are good! I am so glad you found them. Now...have you ever have mexican spoon bread???? You will DIE it is so good! mmmm spoon bread....

LOL I live in Texas but love the cold. I can't believe the one year I leave home, it actually snowed here on CHristmas! ugh! Anyway, I was in Ontario. My BFF lives in Kitchener. Michelle, update me on your progress!!!!

Man, I have missed you guys! ha ha I have been out of the country for the past 2 1/2 weeks on vacation. To answer the question, I post here because being silent has not been good for our country. Our apathy and fear has let Patty Green's people and their agendas become the vocal majority and it must stop now. I am tired of having to explain to people outside of America that we are not ALL like that. Too many people read these controversial posts because they are designed to get attention. I never ever ever expect PG to learn anything from what I write. But I would rather waste hours responding and pointing out these nonsensical statements than have one innocent person believe Patty's rhetoric. And NOW for the Sarah Palin statement of the week... Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng Yeah. The woman that PG wants to become President of the United States posted that message on a public forum (LOLspeak, errors and all) Here's more: Fresh off the heels of the Copenhage climate change summit, former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin sent a tweet on the fallacy of climate change. Palin called Copenhagen the "arrogance of man". "Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature," said Palin in her Tweet. The comment is posted on her Twitter page. According to The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Palin is called a 'denier' by some and had urged U.S. President Obama not to attend the summit.

It hasn't even been a month since your surgery. You are supposed to lose 1-2 pounds a week. If you have lost 10 pounds, you are ahead of schedule :thumbup: 10 pounds is a LOT. I know it doesn't seem like it when you have a lot to lose but go look at a bag of potatoes and imagine how big that would be attached to your body. 10 pounds is a great loss! I had my surgery on Nov 31. I have started eating food and while I haven't had much of a problem keeping food down, I do feel full faster but feel like I could eat anything without a problem. Carbonation made my tummy burn. I also notice that some foods feel like glue in my mouth and don't break down (some breads). When I feel it, I just spit it out, rather than risk a PB or a STICK. I have gotten stuck twice, both were times that I probably didn't chew well and the food was either too dry or too doughy. What I have noticed most since being banded is a freedom from my weight obsession. I don't beat myself up for being hungry anymore. And when I start to hate on myself for being fat, I remind myself that I have a lapband now and I AM losing weight and the thought disappears so I can go on with my business. I have lost about 15 pounds to date. I am losing about 2 pounds a week. My biggest hint to all of you is to stay off the scale! It will only freak you out. I have been visiting a friend for the past couple of weeks and she had a scale. I couldn't stay away from it and I let what it said determine my entire day. It's silly. I happen to be one of those people who won't show a loss for long time and then lose several pounds at once. This is why I can't keep a scale at my house. Look and listen to your body instead. It is something we all have to learn anyway.

I worried about the same thing and guess what? My SIL asked me last night what was the biggest thing I noticed about my new band. I replied that I am surprised how little I care about food now! I really thought I would be climbing the walls for food but I am not. You will be fine, too

First of all, if you haven't seen the movie, PRECIOUS, go see it right away. It is very intense but it was amazing. I cried, I screamed, I had flashbacks, my husband tried to rush the screen...amazing film! Anyway, I spent most of my day running around getting last-minute stuff for my trip to Canada, seeing the movie, getting my watch fixed and picking out Xmas rings with my husband (they are so gorgeous! I can't wait to open them on Christmas!) before meeting my niece at a crazy theme restaurant for her birthday dinner that I forgot to eat. Yeah I said it. I forgot to eat...just like that "special-kind-of-stupid" girl I read about in a joke email once. So, by the time we hit the restaurant at 8, I was starving and they had no soup. (Did I mention it was a theme restaurant with an overpriced and very limited menu). I decided to eat food--real food so I ordered the mushiest thing on the menu--scallops and mashed potatoes. It came with the salad bar so I ate two beets, cut small and chew, chew chewed. Then I had a couple of spoonfuls of spinach dip, 2 shrimp, and potato salad. I also ate 3 scallops and 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes with a couple bites of cooked asparagus. I feel comfortably full, but fine. Tomorrow is my 2-wk post-op visit. I hope I didn't screw everything up but I was hungry enough to risk it.

I nearly did it! Yesterday was the first day that I ALMOST managed to get enough protein into my diet! I was only 3 grams off. I still haven't found a favorite ready-to-drink shake. Muscle Milk is pretty good but it leaves a weird film on my lips and has an after taste. I like that I can get it pre-mixed at the convenience stores, though. Tomorrow, I am taking a trip to the health food store to try isopure and Chike. I am also going to look for that unflavored stuff. Any other suggestions? Yesterday, I did not blog because I was busy fighting with Hubs all day over socks. What a waste of a day. You know, if everyone would just do as I say, the world would be a happier place. Meanwhile, I am 3 chapters into writing my book! By the time I finish it, maybe I will have reached goal so I will look cute on Oprah. Oh wait! She's going to be off air by then Maybe Ellen will have me on :crying:

Put the cake in the freezer! That's what I did to the one Hubs got from a party. If anyone wants it, they can thaw a piece and you won't have to worry about it going to waste. If you do get weak, it takes a couple of hours to thaw out and you won't want it by then And you know what? Skinny people eat bad food all the time. It's not your fault. We are different. Food means something different to us and our bodies are set to fat mode. That is not our fault. You are taking steps to make a change and that is awesome. That's the one big thing that comforts me now. I am not anxious and hating on myself all the time. I did something. I am doing something. And even if it takes years to get the weight off, it will come off and then those mouthy bastards can kiss my thin ass. :crying: Tell your MIL that! ha ha :ohmy: HUGS!!!!!!

OMG ya'll this book is going to be sooo delicious! I can't wait to share it with everyone. The main character is just delightful!

What is first bite syndrome????