Llyra

Peanut butter in the cream of wheat and Wendy's chili: thanks for the ideas, folks. I'm another one who can't eat in the morning. Thank goodness for hot tea and Carnation Instant Breakfast.

Maybe you aren't doing anything wrong. Could be your body has reached a point of equilibrium and is just resting, aka a plateau. Try some different activities, maybe dance or stairs or bucking hay, to give your body something new to deal with. You are very lucky that your efforts have resulted in such regular, sustained weight loss. Count your blessings, be patient, don't lose faith. That last twenty pounds can be a real bitch, lap band or no lap band. And congratulations on your fine achievement!

I drink a lot of diet soft drinks- at least one a day. My doc said it's okay, that gastric bypass patient's have more issue with it than banders. I know lots of other docs nix it altogether, and I'm NOT trying to argue with anyone else's habits, but it's my favorite vice. I've learned to not drink it fast and not drink it too soon after meals to avoid discomfort from the carbonation.

I also had hair loss about six months after surgery, even though my weightloss wasn't as rapid as many folks'. Turned out I had a nodule on my thyroid and ended up having surgery to remove half of my thyroid. Might not hurt to have your thyroid checked just in case.

We can do it. Remember the tortoise and the hare!

Bread was one of the things I liked best of all foods and it is something I've been pretty much unable to eat for the last 14 months. Oh, well. Being thinner feels better than bread tasted and I've mostly come to terms with it. I order hamburgers, club sandwiches, and similar meals without bread and eat them with a fork. I guess servers have heard it all because no one has ever so much as blinked an eye at my special request. I can eat crackers without any problem and with all the money I save on bread I buy really tasty crackers.

Dang, that really sucks. Hugs to you.

I like my new ticker tape of kitties. It shows me how far I've come- more than half way to goal. The last ten pounds or so have come off slow thanks to my love affair with sweets. Oddly enough I was never much of a "sweetie" prior to LB surgery, though I could eat my share of the coconut cream pie at Thanksgiving. I was more of a "salty" personality. But on those days when my band just doesn't seem interested in cooperating with the program and tightens up like a boa constrictor, sweets like ice cream and milk shakes just slide down beautifully. Then the band returns to normal and I'm back in the habit of sweets. I know what to do, of course, and I'm not asking for advice; it is just nice to have a place to write this stuff down knowing there are people out there that have been and are still going through the same thing. My weight loss has not been dramatic- no thirty pound months for me!- but I am pleased both with the loss and with my usually cheerful attitude about it all. Last time I was at this weight, I thought I was the size of a box car, but when I compare it to where I was 53 pounds ago, I smile. Heck, thirty years ago I thought I was a whale at 5'7" and 145 pounds. If nothing else, I have a better sense of my own proportions than I used to. Life is good, even with ice cream and even though it takes me almost six months to lose ten pounds. 186 and headed down, albeit slowly.

I like my new ticker tape. It shows me how far I've come- more than half way to goal. The last ten pounds or so have come off slow thanks to my love affair with sweets. Oddly enough I was never much of a "sweetie" prior to LB surgery, though I could eat my share of the coconut cream pie at Thanksgiving. I was more of a "salty" personality. But on those days when my band just doesn't seem interested in cooperating with the program and tightens up like a boa constrictor, sweets like ice cream and milk shakes just slide down beautifully. Then the band returns to normal and I'm back in the habit of sweets. I know what to do, of course, and I'm not asking for advice; it is just nice to have a place to write this stuff down knowing there are people out there that have been and are still going through the same thing. In one of the other threads I read that the majority of bandsters lose 40% of the weight they wish to lose. My dietician told me 50%, so either way I am ahead of the curve and that makes me happy. My weight loss has not been particularly dramatic- no thirty pound months for me!- but I am pleased both with the loss and with my usually cheerful attitude about it all. Last time I was at this weight, I thought I was the size of a box car, but when I compare it to where I was 53 pounds ago, I smile. Heck, thirty years ago I thought I was a whale at 5'7" and 145 pounds. If nothing else, I have a better sense of my own proportions than I used to. Life is good, even with ice cream.

I meet with my long time counselor about every six weeks just to check in and tune up and make sure I'm not acting on any weird ideas. I highly recommend it, though I'd look for a counselor through a church, county mental health center, or community center since those places are usually cheaper than a psychiatrist. Some even work on a sliding scale structured to your income.

"Thank you so much for your concern; everything is going exactly as planned. Have you seen that new Angelina Jolie movie? What did you think of the special effects?" or "I'm doing fine, thank you. Are you going to plant a garden this year?" or "Everything is right on schedule; thank you for asking. What are you going to get Grandma for her birthday this year?" Good manners and redirection are your friends.

Darn. I'm not getting a single bit of fun out of poking my port. Reckon I'm doing it wrong? I went to a Chinese restaurant today with my daughter. Half a bowl of Soup and a few bites of Jade chicken was more than enough. I learned I could worry about eating too little and having people think I don't like their food!

My consult weight was also my highest weight ever. May I never see those numbers on my scale again.

Funny how that works, isn't it? I'm okay with slower weight loss- any loss is just dandy. The slowness (53 pounds in 13 months) is due to me still struggling with emotional eating issues and not the band or the program. Step by step, I'll get there, even if it takes me longer than other people. Can you gently tell your friend, "It's not a race to an end, it's a journey through life and I'm glad to have you along for the ride. We'll both get where we're going, and I want us to enjoy the trip together." It's hard when the teacher becomes the student, and that is sort of what is happening here. She's trying to deal with her envy by joking about it, but it has to be very hard for her. Good luck to you both.

Good for you! I'm glad things worked out.