Betsyjane

You're doing so well. Now you can change your description to middle aged, balding, healthy-weight success.

Hey that's great! It's a wonderful journey to embark on. My weight loss has been in fits and starts as I learn new things....but my overall average weight loss has been just under 2 pounds a week. That's certainly a first for me! One of my odd benchmarks is t-shirt size, and I've dropped 4 t-shirt sizes. Are you coming to one of our meetings?

Hey BetsiJane! Are you also an Elizabeth Jane? What part of Texas?

The idea is not to eat a lot of small meals. With lap band, the idea is to eat 3 small meals that give you a sense of being full, and then not doing any snacking. But everybody is different. Generally, you want to fill the little stomach with foods that will keep you feeling full within 15 minutes, and for the next 4 hours or so. I find that I still have to laugh at the dumb things I do...ordering more food than I need...heading to the refrigerator out of habit and realizing I'm totally full.... My doctor was is very liberal. No pre-op diet. liquids for a day after surgery and then mushies for a very short while. That's unusual though. Go with what your doc says to do!

Here's an example of a typical day for me, having been banded last November. What I eat has changed a lot over the months, but currently... I have a lot of restriction in the morning, so I was having a Protein shake for Breakfast (Slim Fast Carb Control). Now, I more often drink Water for a few hours and then have a later breakfast of scrambled Eggbeaters (about 1.5 eggs worth). That fills me up. For lunch I have around 4-6 ounces, a green salad with some kind of meat thrown in. Sometimes I still look at it and wonder if it's enough to fill me up...It is, but sometimes my head just doesn't grasp it. Mid afternoon, I sometimes want a snack, and I have a bite or two of a solid meat, and that fills me up. For dinner, I have around 6 ounces of the same thing as lunch. A sugar free popsicle for a snack later. If I go out to eat, I order whatever I want and usually eat a fourth of it. I savor my going out and eating anything. The reality is that at this point it doesn't feel claustrophobic...It feels freeing. I can honestly push away from the table and say "I couldn't eat another bite!" And then mostly not think about it until the next meal. That's freedom. I have found, though that that leaves me with some free time that used to go toward grazing and filling boredom. I'm working had at filling those holes with exercise. It's a process. A day in the life.....

Ha! That'll teach you! Have you noticed you are throwing out a lot more food since being banded? I sure don't get around to eating enough before it goes bad. They I bring home leftovers when I eat out and they often go bad...... Hubby isn't around to eat on weekdays, and I can't seem to buy small enough for me.

got this private message from Cynmen..... the forum won't let me post for some reason... tell everyone i will hopefully be there wednesday! __________________ Cyndie Surgery - 12-19-06 Dr. Ilahi, Baytown Texas Starting weight - 220 205 two weeks later... 200 as of 1-12-06 185 as of 3-25-07 Goal - 120

I think I got my b-12 at Walgreens...... If not, it was CVS. I like the sublingual because it works fast.

Yes. Some of them are alarming. But it happens so seldom. I wish you lived near here. I'd invite you to our support group for current and future bandsters. See if there's one locally. Just a bunch of folks who get together at a restaurant to chat and laugh, share tips and learn. That might help you as well.

Oh, and tell your husband to ignore anything awful you may say to him over the next few days......

Deanna: It WILL get better, but that's not helpful now, is it? I want you to remember something. You just had anesthesia. It can wreak havok with your emotions, your energy, your pain tolerance, your memory. You are swimming in mood altering chemicals. I came out of surgery demanding to be taken back in and get that thing out of me. Although my hubby says I never said it out loud....I was sure I did. Had that same feeling that I had allowed someone to put a foreign body in me OMG! Right now, you need to pamper yourself. Hot pad on your shoulder and back pain. liquid Tylenol. Stupid comedies on TV. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you are an awesome candidate for major success with the band. You lost 10 pounds pre op, and never cheated. That puts you at the top of the pack. Keep writing here if it helps. You just have to live through that stupid anesthetic and you'll get your bearings.

My biggest scare would be that when I took diet pills pre-banding, I always ended up gaining MORE weight back later. Wouldmn't want to deal with those horrible starvation cravings again. For energy now, I take one or 2 sublingual B-12 pills (over the counter) under my tongue. Gives me energy without the sweats of those thermogenic diet pills.

Good grief, Catherine! You sound as nervous as I was! First, ask you doctor. Hopefully he or she has a pre op seminar that will answer a lot of this and will be available for questions. Band complications can arise, and the incidence of all of them is very very small. I think it seems bigger here because people come here for support in trying times. A lot of times when people are doing well, they're too busy living life to check in with the support group. Seems like I remember the incidence of all complications together as 3%... Your doctor will know. I used to take ibuprofen, and my doctor said to switch to chewable Tylenol for my arthritis. I don't even to that much now that the weight is coming off. I have read that some people here still take ibuprofen. Hopefully one of them will check in here. I take Benefiber in my Protein shake. Check with your doc on Metamucil. I never get pain from swallowing air. Some people say never to use a straw for that reason. I haven't had trouble with that either. Don't actually know anyone who has.... What causes pain is overstuffing yourself. For me, that's a good thing! I eat between 1/2 and 1.5 cups of food at a meal. Some days I eat 600 calories. Most days it's more like 1100. Some days I can eat anything if I chew a lot. Some days I can't. You can feel more restricted in what you eat based on stress, mentrual cycle, illness...you name it. You'll find you just learn to rock and roll with it. What I THOUGHT was that the band would simply take care of me. What I have experienced is that I have a lot of hard work to do, and the band just makes it possible. Everybody is different. Many people have trouble eating white bread or anything that turns pasty. Some people have trouble with stringy vegetables. But generally, the band just gives you portion control. Then what you decide to put in your tummy is up to you. Milk shakes go down sooo easily, and make you fat. Proteins have to really be chewed up, so they are hard work, but they fill up that little pouch and make you feel soooo full, and that's a good thing. Generally, the reason you succeed with this instead of having yet another diet failure, is that when you feel full, you don't obsess about finding food anymore. So we can then do what everybody has always told us to do...we can exercise self control! I was never able to do that before the band. Congrats on writing in with your questions. Keep them coming. Gather whatever you need to feel comfortable. What state are you in? I'm in Texas.

I have solved part of my problem, at least until my body or mind come up with something new and creative to bother me with..... I was drinking a Protein shake for Breakfast because of restriction in the morning. And that lead to hunger...and more hunger...and another Protein Shake...and more hunger. It's not just that there's no sense of fullness with liquids. For me, it's also that sugar and artificial sweeteners both make my blood sugar go up high, and then I am on a mad roller coaster of cravings for the rest of the day! I stopped my 6AM protein shake and started eating breakfast around 9 (a little eggbeaters suually), and I'm mostly back in control of my eating. I just can't handle the artifical sweeteners any better than putting a cup of sugar in my mouth..... Live and learn, eh?

I remember before when I lost weight, people close to me started saying I was getting too thin when I wasn't at my goal weight. I think change is hard for everybody, and those close to us have to adjust out of their comfort level. We're not our old predictable selves anymore. I'd probably take their recommendations in stride and go for something more objective. I am never able to judge my own weight. I have no idea when I'm thin. I can see it in pictures, though. Get yourself a good before pic, and some current pics and just sit and look at them. Then you decide.

I had an interesting discussion with a young man (early 20s...I'm an old woman) who said that abortion should be banned because if we still had all of the aborted babies, there would be enough workforce to support social security as the boomers retire. He blames boomers for killing off the workforce that his generation needs now. So we had a discussion solely based on the pragmatics, rather than when life begins or the sanctity of humans. I believe that it's equally likely that that workforce of unwanted children would now be draining social services. Is it possible to have a discussion about what it means for our country to not have abortion...without that discussion seeming too crass? What do we do with additional teenagers having babies they can't afford, not completing their education, living in poverty with babies they don't want? I know that there are other circumstances in which people get abortions, but a lot of abortions do happen because the mother is young and uneducated, and the baby is unwanted. As a society, what should we do with a million more unwanted children a year? What does that do to our money, our standards, our obligation to the moms and babies? If we look for objective hard data about life, might we also need to do so about living?

Why might it be a HIPPA violation? Curious... My sadness for this patient is that in her desparation, she is now immortalized saying those things, and someday when she is older and more mature, she may be really embarrassed. It's kind of the bariatric equivalent of filming drink Girls Gone wild.

There are three medical procedures associated with late-term abortions: Dilation and evacuation (D&E) Early induction of labor Intact dilation and extraction (IDX or D&X), commonly known as Partial-birth abortion Abortions done for fetal abnormality are usually performed with induction of labor or with IDX; these procedures result in an intact body that the parents can hold and take pictures of as part of their mourning process. Elective late-term abortions are usually performed with D&E To simply say that late term abortion is about stabbing the fetus in the head is to be inflammatory. It's a complicated issue and not just a sound byte. Abortions that are performed for convenience rather than medical necessity should result in huge efforts to create a healthy support network for those unwanted babies, before limiting a mother's right to terminate the preganancy. The Supreme Court put the cart before the horse, IMO.

Hi dear. Nobody should judge you. We're all trying to get somewhere. If you can eat that much, you may have a dilated pouch....or need a fill, even if you throw up some things. Might be worth talking to your fill dr. Other than that, your eating is emotional according to you. How about addressing the emotional issues...and maybe underlying depression? Maybe a good eating disorder therapist or a depression doc might help. Do you go to a support group?

East on 1960. Just before you get to La Villa, turn right at Walgreens (W Lake Houston Pkwy). Drive a few blocks and you'll see shopping strips on the right. I think it's the second one. There's a Forever Young MediSpa next to it.

The new person is Rebecca P.

Nara Thai 18455 West Lake Houston Parkway 281-812-0291 Wed 25th 5:30 PM

PRBrooksie-You look absolutely wonderful.

Wednesday 25th?

My hubby works too late to join us. I usually don't we him before 8:30! Anybody up for Tues the 24th?