maggs79

That is terrible and I am in tears for you that your own father would say such a thing--I can't even imagine how hurt you were by that. I just want to give you a huge hug right now. As much as it said to stay positive, I know that it can be very difficult. The only thing I can say is that at least you recognize your weight was/is a problem and have taken a HUGE step in the right direction to change that. The LapBand will work for you in time. And 18 pounds is not too shabby a start, no matter if you can't "see" the results quite yet. You will. You are a beautiful, strong woman and I believe a year from now you're going to look back and this will be a distant memory. xo ~ Maggs

Liquids, that is. Right, ok, I tried to go back to liquids only! Try to re-kickstart some more weightloss before my 1st fill. It worked till lunch. Ha!! I tried, I did! But then I was just too hungry. How on earth did I do this before the surgery for 2 weeks?? Crazy. But anyway, I had some chicken from the Chinese restaurant in the mall and felt SO much better with actual food in me. I'll be walking a lot tonight and a LOT tomorrow in the heat, so that should also help me to lose a pound or too. I have decided to eat till I'm not hungry--not stuffing myself, but just not starve myself! What a silly idea that was. I just have to make good choices. I have unfortunately missed the chance to go to the gym the past few days, so after this weekend I am going to hit it hard! Then next weekend I'm driving up to Minneapolis to look for a place to live! No gym up there. But I am sure I'll be walking much more than 30 minutes per day! And in the evening I'll walk with my friend when she takes her dog out. Every apartment I am looking at has a fitness center in the community! This has to be a MUST for me! I won't be able to do this without constantly working out! Anyway, thank you for your support! I really needed to hear some encouragement today! Have a great weekend all! xo

Ok, It has been almost 3 weeks since my surgery. I lost a bit in the first week and a half (about 10 pounds post op), but then pretty much stopped. I keep going back and forth with 1 or 2 pounds. I'm eating protein first and definitely eating less than I would have had before! But 1/2 cup does not fill me up! Not since the swelling has gone, at least! Anyway, I'm just going to have to conciously eat less, stay a little hungry I guess. I don't know what else to do at this point. So, I'm having a protein shake for breakfast. I'll have a cup of tea at work and a protein shake for lunch. And I might bring some light string cheese as well. Or maybe I should just do the full liquid diet again? I don't know. So many people have these amazing success stories...but not me so far! I really hope things get better after my first fill in a couple weeks. I'm TRYING to stay positive here, knowing that my band is empty and I won't feel a whole lot of restriction yet. But there is always this little nagging part that says this won't even work for me. Ugh! Gotta get out of my head sometimes. I'm heading up to a friend's house for the 4th. I'm just hoping they have something I can eat. Maybe a burger or hotdog without the bun. I'll figure out something, I'm sure. Oh well, sorry for being a Debbie Downer today! I'll get happy sooner or later! Off to work!! xo

Incisions are basically healed, and they were never itchy! Thank goodness!

You will be totally fine that far out past surgery! BTW, I'm in the Chicago area too! (For now! About the transfer to Minneapolis for work)

Great to hear that you're doing so well!! Have a wonderful time on vacation!

Yep, it's ticked at you for denying it all those yummy, gready calories! At least, that's what I was telling myself! LOL Keep in touch!!

I only lost 6 pounds on the pre-op liquid diet. My nurse said, well, everyone's metabolism is different, so not to worry. As long as you have lost and not gained, you're ok. Don't worry too much about it!

I've been SO busy, that I haven't even been able to get on here. Looking for a new place to live while not in the city you're moving to is very difficult! And stressful! And I'm only about 2 1/2 weeks post op and have stopped losing weight for now. I have heard that this happens, so I'm trying not to worry about it too much. But I keep going back and forth with one pound. Annoying. So I'm being very careful to watch what I'm eating and make good choices. Yesterday was not so good--I had some food from the Chinese take-away in the mall. It was SO tasty, but I'm sure not so healthy. At least I only ate the meat and tofu! (Odd combo, I know! Normally I would only get stuck eating tofu at my vegetarian friend's house!) I'm trying to keep track of what I eat on dailyplate.com, but I have forgotten to track a couple days so far. I need to make that a priority in the evenings, I suppose. Anyway, that site is really not for Bandsters. I'm following my doctor/dietician's guidelines more than that site, but it is interesting to see how things work. If I don't have as many calories as suggested, will I not lose weight? One would think if you had less than suggested you would lose even more. But maybe that's backwards thinking. Maybe your body needs the fuel from the calories to be able to burn more fat. Oh, I just don't know! I might have to ask my dietician about this. Anyway, that's my update for the day: packing, plateauing, and a little panicking about finding a place to move to! It's a day full of P's for me. Still not regretting this, just waiting for my first fill in about 2 1/2 weeks! Hopefully that helps a bit with the weightloss! Blessings! xo

Yeah, my doc gave me a temporary card when I had my surgery. The permanent card comes in the mail.

You can take a laxative. I suggest MiraLAX. And I would take it SOOOOON if I were you! Otherwise it's going to hurt REALLY bad when you do go. Get the MiraLAX powder and mix it with juice. Can't take the difference at all. It works really well! I did it 2 days post op and have been regular ever since.

Go to lapband.com and I think you can register for one under My Lapband Journey. It has your surgeon's name and number, type of band used, surgery date, max fill volume and has a diagram of where the band is placed. It says it is MRI compatible and has some drug warnings on it for ulcerogenic meds. At the bottom of the card it has a note to restaurants. "Please allow this person to order smaller portions, as the amount of food this person can eat has been greatly reduced."

You're going to hate hearing this...but it took my insurance company about 4 months to approve mine. They never fought it, but they were backed up with a lot of other claims, etc. Plus the doctor might be taking a while to submit everything.

...from this site! I haven't been on here in a day and half! LOL And I didn't blog yesterday, oh my! I'm trying to get things squared away for my move and I'm only just now starting to wrap my head around this. I'm moving in 5 weeks!! Aghhhh! Who wants to come help me pack? Ha! Yesterday I had to go to a buffet for a birthday dinner. I flashed them my LapBand card and was only charged the children's price! Sweet!! I mean, I normally could have eaten 3 full plates, or just about, plus a big plate of dessert. But I had a total of about 1 plate. And made sure to eat mainly protein. I splurged and had some of the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes, though. Yum. Then I had a piece of sugar free cake for dessert. And it took me about an hour or more to eat all that! Didn't really finish it all completely, but ate only till I wasn't hungry. It was good experience for me. I'm relearning how to eat in a healthy way! Though I still cannot wait till my first fill to really feel more restriction. Until then I'm trying not to worry too much about the weightloss. (Though I am still losing, it's slowing down a bit.) Anyway, I felt like a needed to blog for a quick minute. Don't want anyone thinking I've disappeared! Going to a baby shower tomorrow! Should be a fun day! Hoping they have some healthy snacks. If not, I'll bring something to be on the safe side. Blessings! xo

I could never forget the JuneBugs!

Thanks so much!!! I will!

I got a call today at work offering me a promotion of sorts...in Minneapolis!!! I am SO excited!! I've been wanting to get up for so long because that's where my corporate office is and my dream job is to work in photographic development at the home office. This is a HUGE step closer to that dream!! So, I have to talk to my doctor and see if I can get a referral to somewhere I can get fills in Minneapolis. I'm only sad about that. Because I LOVE my doc and my clinic. I will miss them terribly. I have to move by August first!! Yikes! So, any bandsters in Minneapolis??? Any recommendations?? Thanks for reading my short little blog! I just had to announce this publicly--and I can't say anything on Facebook yet because my work colleagues don't know yet!! xoxo Maggs

I will definitely say a prayer for them. I am glad to hear that YOU are doing well, though! By day 4 I felt so good too! I was like, did I actually have surgery only 4 days ago?? Wow! Keep blogging! Love hearing from you!

I had lemon pepper chicken (smothered with mushrooms), green beans and mashed potatoes. I mainly ate the chicken to make sure I had enough protein. It was SO good!!

Happy Thursday everyone! I have to go into work a little bit later, then I'm going to the gym! Gonna try to get an hour workout in, shower, then go shoe shopping! (My favorite past time, I think. Ha!) But I really do need shoes to go with that dress! I'm thinking leopard heals. Heehee! Vixon! Ha! My friend and I are taking her 2 girls to Denny's later. I'm sure I can find something to eat! Even it's just some eggs and something else. Even eggs sound good by themselves!! It's finally a beautiful day in the Chicago area after 2 days of thunderstorms. It makes me feel so much better to look outside and see sunshine. :smile: I cannot wait till my first fill! I want to feel some real restriction. I still have had no problems eating anything I've tried so far. I'm guessing that's just because nothing was in the band when it was placed. I hope the pounds drop off quicker when I'm full more quickly! I'm making healthy food choices, just feel like I have to eat too much to be full. It's still less than I was eating before the surgery, but I know it's more than 4oz. Then again, it's mostly mushies still. I'm sure a lot of it is slipping right through. Ok, that's it for now! Talk soon! xo

Yuck, no baby food for me! Except for the bananas and Hawaiian Delight which is also fruity. Those are the only 2 I can stand. But there are SO many other option for mushie food. Cottage cheese, oatmeal, tuna, mashed potatoes, eggs, and applesauce just to name a few. It's amazing how one can make a food "mushy."

Super quickie post tonight. I took the famed "mirror shot" of myself in the red dress I bought for a casual cocktail hour at the award ceremony for work. It's two sizes smaller than I would have bought a month ago, but I think I will also shrink even more into it by the time have to wear it for work. (A little less than a month from now.) This is also 9 days post op! So, not much difference from "before," but what do you think of the dress anyway? And (to the ladies) what SHOES should I wear with it?? Ha!! xoxo ~ Maggs

**clapping** This was great to read.

Just you wait, the pounds will drop off quickly in the next week or two for you! I'm so happy for you! Try some Greek yogurt with honey! It's VERY filling (though sounds like you're not too hungry right now, but you will be soon!) and it is PACKED with protein! Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you are doing so well! Blessings!

Yesterday was just bad. Blah. I'm over it! Anyway, today I got up super early (thanks in part to the crack of lightning and thunder just outside!) and went to the gym! I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill before the Zumba class started. Then joined the class for the first time. It was fun! Though I didn't pick up all the choreography, but maybe next time I will. It's DEFINITELY a workout! Took a shower at the gym because I just felt gross! Haha! On the way home I got a call from my corporate office. They have my headshot on file from last year and wanted to know if they should use that one or a new one for the awards ceremony this year. I said use that one because I don't feel like getting a new portrait taken! Ha! Last year's was nice and I don't need another official headshot until I lose about 50 pounds. :thumbup: Besides, that one has already been retouched. LOL I think I've already had my recommended protein for the day! I had a protein shake for breakfast before I ran out the door. Then a protein "shot" -grape flavor!- after I worked out. Then I had some greek yogurt. That's 57 grams of protein so far today. Can you have too much protein??? I really am wondering that. Thankful for a better day today and hoping it continues! xoxo