chickadee81

My doc said as long as I don't gulp or get too gassy (burps) when I use one...that it is ok with him. The "not allowed" I was told was because it can cause you to swallow alot of air and give you discomfort, but this doesn't happen to me...so i use them all the time!

This reminded me that I forgot to mention what I did this weekend...We went to a nursery and the guy was getting out of the Fruit trees & plants....So we now have 3 grafted apple trees, 2 cherry trees, 6 blueberry bushes, & 2 elderberry bushes. Did I mention we only own between 1/4 and 1/3 of an acre? Maybe I can retire and sell fruit lol. I will have ALOT of blueberries soon, but I am sure the birds will get most of them because I am not going to bother to net them.

Karen-Sorry about everything that is going on with you! I do know that it is a fact that stress makes you up cortisol levels and makes your body want to hold on to the fat! Maybe just all this stress is the culprit???? And once things calm down you will lose that gain and then some . Anne-Good Luck! I have a FB friend who has had the sleeve. She seems to be doing well.

Anne--I'm so sorry!!! I personally don't think that I would go through with a bypass...maybe a sleeve, but even then it would take me a loooonnnnggggg time to think about it and weigh every option. Just my opinion though and only you know what is best and right for YOU. Please stay with us though...we are all here to support you no matter which road you travel! Denise-glad the heart monitor came back a-ok! Leigha-congrats on breaking through the plateau Bob-are you back for good?? Guess what....the other morning I stepped on the scale...and ONEDERLAND!!!!!! :smile2: (of course after this weekend...it prob won't be lol) I can't wait for the day I am permanently in ONDERLAND and not just 1st thing in the morning. I also went to Kohl's...and shopped out of the regular size dept!!!!! I did wander into the plus size out of habit I guess. Of course I still need to buy some big things. (guys cover your eyes lol) I was trying to buy a bra and even the DD was too small. I found a really cute sundress on sale for $10 and it fit everywhere perfectly cept there and it wasn't pretty. It looked all squished and was pouring out of the top and sides :thumbup:. I'd get a boob job once I am done losing, but it kinda scares me.

Big victory for me!!! I LOST weight on vacation (imagine Snoopy doing his Snoopy dance lol)!! I am now less than 4 pounds from ONEDERLAND!!! and less than 5 lbs from losing 50!!!! Bobbie and Karen-congrats on normal towels and too big swimsuits! Anne-thinking about you and will say a little prayer that everything goes perfectly tomorrow! Keep us updated Amy-my doc doesn't ENCOURAGE snacking, but told me to defintly eat one if I need it. I normally choose string cheese for conveniece and he said he has no problems with me using that as a snack. I find if I let myself get too hungry, thats the times I get stuck or PB. I guess eating too fast or not chewing enough because I am famished. And yes you will start to lose again. Jacki-Have you tried either using spaghetti squash or zucchini instead of pasta? I'll cook up a spaghetti squash now and then or if you thinly slice the zucchini and use it as lasagna "noodles" it is soooooo yummy! Hope everyone is feeling good and doing great!!! :biggrin:

Jeezle...I've been gone for a week and all this stuff happens! Welcome to all you Newbies! I am with the group of LOVING the smart ass element being back :thumbup:! Karen-Glad to here all is well! Bobbie-YAY you like your job!! Anne-Congrats!! It is gonna be here so soon!!! I was on vacation for a week in the Outer Banks. I kept telling my husband to leave me there....but he brought me back home anyways :smile:. It was the best vacation I can remember....and I think I even lost a pound while I was gone (I will know for sure tomorrow morning...that's my routine...first thing pee first and weigh naked cause every little bit counts). The beach was so relaxing and we did sooooo much walking. Now I am dreading going back to work on Monday! I have like a 20hr work day coming up on Weds. and I am really not looking forward to it. Have to fly from Pittsburgh to Chicago...work for 10hrs and then fly home in the same day. Yuck. Hubby already says he feels sorry for anyone who gets in my way that day cuz he knows how I get on too little sleep...esp. if I am hungry too :thumbup:. I have my Hematologist appt. on Tues am so I get to see if they want me to do anything for my problems...kinda anxious about that. To everyone I missed...Sorry it's too hard for my brain to collect the whole weeks worth of posts...maybe the sunshine at the beach fried what was left of it IDK. Glad to see minus the stress that everyone seems to be doing good though! We are AWESOME!!

Well...unless something drastic happened in the last 24hrs, I know I met my goal!! I'm not putting my weight in until Monday morning just to keep it consistant though!! Not sure if I will do the July 4th or not....if I do I am aiming low lol (going on vacation soon!!)

You guys are too funny! lol Katie-welcome & congrats on your surgery! I haven't been on here much because thanks to KAREN, I bought Just Dance and am now thoroughly addicted (and pretty darn sore I might add :confused:). I played for over 3 hours yesterday :sad:. My shoudlers and abs and legs and everything is feeling it today. I even talked the hubster into playing for about an hour (he is the competitive type so it wasn't too hard). I've been debating the BB. Just not sure if I want to invest that much yet. On a good note, I KILLED my Mother's Day Challenge!!

I had my surgery with Dr. Ramanathan also at Magee. I was totally happy with my experience there (except for my over night nurse...she needed some happy pills!). I was banded 12/16/09. Some days it wasn't easy...especially at the beginning, but as you get closer to that "sweet spot" it gets easier.

LeeAnne-Glad to see that you are doing well and healing well after your surgery! :thumbup:

There is 1 Lean Cuisine I LOVE. It's garlic chicken with a side of spinach in parmasen sauce. It's 180 calories and I think 22g protein. Plus no rice or pasta :thumbup:

I honestly looked like I had a kitten under my skin for a long time! There was this huge mass (about the size of a kitten), and I just kept thinking "Oh God I'm deformed!!" It went away, and just like another poster, my port is actually deep and takes some digging when I go for fills.

A combo of things for me. I was always the skinny person that could eat whatever they wanted :thumbup:. I hit about 18 and my metabolism slowed. I met my husband around then too and his mom loved to cook for me...that didn't help. 5 years ago I quit smoking...also didn't help. A few years back DH & I decided we would try to start a family. I had 4 miscarriages and was diagnosed with PCOS...which some of you may know, makes it sooooo super hard to lose weight! I also went into depression after the miscarriages. One day last year, after being at my endocrinologist and finding out that I am pre-diabetic also, I decided I wanted my life back. Got on a great depression med., found my surgeon who I love, and never looked back. I know it is only a "tool", but I find my band very empowering.

Karen-thinking bout you! Waiting is so hard. Never had a mammogram yet, but I'll never forget what a wreck I was when I got an abnormal PAP!! I myself have had a few cysts drained from there too. I'm only 28 and the girls are still a little dense and fibrous for a mammogram so they did a sonogram when I found lumps. Cysts aren't fun, but I got my fingers crossed for you that you have one!

Christie-sorry to hear that you are still tight..but yeah it prob is stress induced (I know that's what is up with mine) but CONGRATS on the 50lbs! I am inching up there too. In fact with this tight fickle band I may even make my mini goal of under 200lbs before my 5/15/10 vacation which 1 month ago I thought was gonna be impossible!

Welcome BobKat and Wayno! Leigha-Chickenberry smoothies is something I won't be trying anytime soon! :blushing: With this last fill my band is also VERY fickle. As per one of my last posts I thought it was too tight...but now I realize it is only sometimes tight. Other days I could eat way more than I am supposed to and some days anything that isn't the consistancy of pudding won't stay down. Darn thing! Karen-hope you bust through that plateau soon! C25K people-I am trying soooo hard to do this, but I can't even do the first week!! :thumbdown: I do the 5min warm-up walk then start with the alternating 1min jog and 1 1/2 min walk. When I am doing the jogging at first my calves burn (yes I stretch), but I recover during the walking. After about 10-15mins of this though I start to not recover during the walking and the pain (pulling and cramping almost like my muscles are too short) gets so bad that I have to stop because I can't even walk!!! Anyone else have this problem and if so does it get better???? I can just walk (3-3.5mph) with no problems, but when I add in that jog (4-4.2mph) wham-o theres the pain! Anne-you'll do great!

WooT!! Below my goal for the challenge!! Now to at least maintain it for the next week :thumbup:!!!!

Congrats Leanne...Hope everything went smoothly and wishing you a speedy recovery!!

If you can find BOB somewhere on his Farm...I think he used one pre surgery and that is what helped him lose so much. I'm sure you will have to look for him on FB though...he doesn't luv us anymore :redface: lol

I CAN EAT!!!!!! :smile: I guess I was just still irritated from the fill and the pills getting stuck (they are time release so no crushing or splitting them). It doesn't help that there were hormones involved too. Just like Christie i will be curious to see if next month I am tight as well cause that hasn't happened before Anne-Congrats on the 2 day advance lol. I was SOOOOO happy I spent the night. Everyone else-sorry to hear you are all having band problems :thumbup:. Hope it gets better soon!

Just moving the spreadsheet up! :thumbup:

Question...I had a fill on Friday. Followed the dr's instructions and had liquids the rest of the day Fri. On Sat I was allowed to transition to mushies and soft foods. This all went great! In fact i felt like I could eat a ton (I didn't though). Today (Sunday) I am to go back to normal foods. I have meds I take 2x a day. This morning I took my pills and they briefly got stuck. I decided I was just gonna do a shake for breakfast. It went fine. Lunchtime-I decided to have some turkey deli meat wrapped around some string cheese. I ate like 3 bites and pain and fullness and hiccupping and burping :eek:. Dinnertime-I made lasagna. I mashed the crap out of mine, and ate no noodles and chewed like I never chewed before and got in 2 bites before the pain and hiccups and burps started. Why could I eat yesterday and not today? Am I just irritated from the stuck pills? Do i need a slight unfill or should I hold out a few days? Argggg this is so frustrating because I am STARVING!!

Question...I had a fill on Friday. Followed the dr's instructions and had liquids the rest of the day Fri. On Sat I was allowed to transition to mushies and soft foods. This all went great! In fact i felt like I could eat a ton (I didn't though). Today (Sunday) I am to go back to normal foods. I have meds I take 2x a day. This morning I took my pills and they briefly got stuck. I decided I was just gonna do a shake for breakfast. It went fine. Lunchtime-I decided to have some turkey deli meat wrapped around some string cheese. I ate like 3 bites and pain and fullness and hiccupping and burping :eek:. Dinnertime-I made lasagna. I mashed the crap out of mine, and ate no noodles and chewed like I never chewed before and got in 2 bites before the pain and hiccups and burps started. Why could I eat yesterday and not today? Am I just irritated from the stuck pills? Do i need a slight unfill or should I hold out a few days? Argggg this is so frustrating because I am STARVING!!

Here's the website Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test And here is a bit from the website Below you will find a brief list of the menu for each day. Please click the "Read more" links for further detail and hints and tips that will enable your success with the 5 Day Pouch Test. Days One & Two: liquid Protein low-carb Protein shakes, broth, clear or cream Soups, sugar-free Gelatin and pudding. Read more. Day 3: Soft Protein canned fish (tuna or salmon) eggs, fresh soft fish (tilapia, sole, orange roughy. Read more. Day 4: Firm Protein ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken, lamb), shellfish, scallops, lobster, fresh salmon or halibut. Read more. Day 5: Solid Protein white meat poultry, beef steak, pork, lamb, wild game Read more.

Some people may not believe this...but my hunger returned about 5 hours after surgery! At first the dr. didn't believe me either. He kept saying it was head hunger and the growling in my belly was gas (and yes some of the growling was), but he finally did believe me before I left the hospital (I was there 2 days). I can honestly say my surgeon did an awesome job and I really did not even swell up like most people do. Needless to say, this made the post-op liquid stage hell. My surgeon finally let me advance a little faster because I was so miserable. I did clears for 1 week and full liquids for about 4 days, after that, Purees was like heaven on earth :biggrin:.