Miss_BiBi

Look at you and your 59 lost and 16 to go! Wow!!!! I had my 4th. fill last week and (except for a couple of Nanaimo bars and drinks last night) I think I've hit my sweet spot. Don't want to jinx it though! You are right about Christmas and all the stuff there is to eat but I wish I had that fill around then - maybe I wouldn't have been as bad as I was. I have no regrets either!

Hi Angel, I had Dr. Colbourn too and he was great! I love food too, but given the choice of knee replacement and pigging out, I'm finding it's worth more to me to change eating habits as opposed to changing body parts! Try and understand that the Lap Band is a tool and it takes time to get to where you need to be fill-wise in order for it to help you with your appetite. Having just gone through Christmas with all the goodies and excesses, and not being at my sweet spot yet, I had a set-back. I had another fill just the other day and I think I'm there. You know you're there when you aren't pre-occupied with food and your next meal all the time. It part physical, psychological & physiological. You will find that when your clothes fit better and get smaller, you'll make better choices when it comes to food. And you will be satisfied with a taste of things instead of the whole thing. Hope this helps! BB~

And how is everyone doing lately??

Polly & cjf - how are you all doing? Long time no hear.......busy with Christmas preparations? And Vicki-Sue, have you made any decisions yet? BB~

Vicki-Sue, I chose the Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga too because they have a trained nurse in Sudbury to do our "fills", so we don't have to travel to Toronto. I spoke to a girl from here who had hers done where you consulted and she has to go South for her fills. That's why I chose SWLC (Surgical Weight Loss Centre ). I don't have that kind of time. I don't know if that's changed since I've been banded, but you should ask before you commit! BB~

The lap band is a tool to help modify eating habits & behaviour, not the magic bullet to automatically stop you from eating too much. That's why I've been posting what I have difficulty with....I post them in jest, but in reality, if eaten too fast or with not enough lubrication, the band gets clogged and produces an uncomfortable result. That's where the behaviour modification sets in...you don't want that gassy, mucus-producing result that happens. I often refer to my band as "it", as in... "uh-oh! IT doesn't like this tea biscuit I just had because I'm feeling gassy & burpy". Usually a result from letting myself get too hungry and resorting back to the bad eating habits which made me fat in the first place - inhaling something quickly and not chewing slowly and swallowing small amounts. Please don't be put off by my list. Perhaps you would be able to tolerate that stuff better than I as I am notorious for having a huge appetite and eating too quickly! BB~ .

The list continues - can't do tea biscuits either....

Yes, I am! How did your consultation with your doctor go today?

Hello, and welcome! We are pretty much still Newbies, if you skim through our posts, you can tell LOL!! I probably speak for the other girls too, when I say I wish I had done this sooner. You will find that this is pretty much the same sentiment throughout these forums. Are you from Ontario? Northern Ontario? BB~

I have also discovered that I can not eat Costco whole (multi-grain? 7-grain? Whatever....) buns - I want more after an hour, even though they make me stuck! Same with their Christmas cake and of course, still can't have my beloved jalapeño potato chips without wiping out the whole bag. And another fav? PC Candy Cane ice cream with fudge crackle..... Therefore, Christmas time or not, I have eliminated them from the household. I've tested myself with this stuff and it's like I have a hollow leg! Going to stay on the straight and narrow! Now, off to brave the cold, windy winter weather we're having at the moment and do some grocery shopping. BB~

HI cjf!! OMG, I feel the same way you do....guess I'm not quite there yet either and that's the way to sum it up - feeling like I used to when dieting.... I almost forget I've been banded, except when I eat to fast and start sliming. I am a bit discouraged, I guess - I hardly weigh myself anymore - and when I do, I'm only down 1 lb. in like 2 wks. (I don't really like the new format of these forums either,,,) I am not going to bother tweeking my fills till after Christmas - I am waaaay too busy at work and home so I will just watch the quality of what I eat, try and stick to the cup or so of food per meal. 'Tis the season to graze and imbibe so I will concentrate more on protein, portion and quality control. Other then that, I am just about ready for Christmas....this was supposed to be Christmas card-writing weekend but I chose to decorate instead. And with the weather being warm this week, I will put the outside lights on the trees and run extension cords to the house & garage lights and put out the festive greenery. Will anyone be making any changes to your Holiday menus or will you just be more dilligent in your choices? Have a good week, Girls!! BB~

I guess they might send a receipt in the spring but if they don't, we may as well contact them to get one. And don't forget the prescription for the Meditrim...my drug plan wouldn't cover it, but I will submit the receipts to CCRA for them. My hotel stay was covered by Choice Privilege points otherwise that would have been another $300 expense.

Congrats Polly on your goallllllllll!!! I see what you mean about days & evenings....I am much easier satisfied with what I bring to work to eat, than having access to more food at home in the evenings. I've found a new trick - 1 c. fat-free, plain yogurt, 2 spoons Splenda, 1 scoop banana Protein Shake, and about a 1/2 c. or so canned fruit (packed in Water, but not mixed in with the yogurt) (Metro/Food Basics brand 'Irrisistables' is really good and cheaper than Del Monte) I bring this as my afternoon 'snack' to work and it's very refreshing. The whey protein flavour melds well with the yogurt & fruit to an almost pudding-like consistancy. My goal is 50 lbs. by my 5th. month post-op - Dec 16. I hope it happens....I'm still not sure if I'm 'there' yet, sweet-spot-wise....I'll hop on the scale near the end of the week to see if there's been any action. Bye & keep up the good work!!! BB~ :smile:

Oh, me too, cjf....I had trouble with roast chicken - if I don't dice it up fine before I eat it, I slime and belch too. I've had success with the chicken Caesar salad for supper thing...1 c. salad, 1 c. cooked chicken then set the timer on the stove for 20 minutes to keep me honest LOL!!! I had a pretty good weekend, satiety-wise....but I have to wonder; am I eating enough and healthily - I'll give it a couple of days before I weigh myself and report in. I still think I am doing myself a favour by having oatmeal w/fruit & Protein shake mixed in, although, I may go 1/2 c. oatmeal instead - hope that will let me last longer. I do admit that I didn't think much of food today (big change for me!!) and wasn't tempted much by the Christmas baking I did today (raspberry squares). I don't think I will jinx myself by admitting I may be at my sweet spot but here's hoping! Have a great week!! BB~

I am so excited for you Polly!!! 50 lbs??? Wow!! :eek2: Well, the nurse sucked out what was in my band & discovered I actually had 5.2 instead of the 4.9 we thought I had. So she added another .2 and suggested I try eating more salad (which I hadn't eaten much of because it's been said somewhere on these boards not to eat too much salad) and maybe make dinner salads. So for supper last nite (a couple of hrs. after my fill) I had roast chicken & romain lettuce with some yogurt dressing. That was about 1 c. salad & maybe a 1/3 cup of chicken, followed by a skinny Chai tea. Nuh-uh...belly didn't like that. It fought for the longest time to get rid of the chicken. Then it didn't want the tea either! I chalked it up to not dicing the chicken finely enough. Today for breakfast, I had my usual oatmeal cooked in about 3/4 c. skim milk, a scoop of banana Protein shake and some water-packed pear halves. That didn't quite last 3 hrs. so I had my usual fried egg & cheese sandwich (on flax bread) but didn't feel like the fat free yogurt afterwards. Lasted till 6PM when I had another c. of salad with yogurt dressing and 1 c. smaller diced roast chicken and a few whole wheat croutons. Set the timer on the stove for 20 minutes to make sure I took that long to eat and that seems to have done it! Hope the success lasts! I am celebrating with 1 (maybe 2) glasses of Chardonnay. :eek: (In case I get razed, my fitday.com profile puts my calorie consumption for the day, including the Chardonnay @ 1,455 :thumbup: What does a daily menu for yourself usually consist of? Do you eat differently on the weekends? BTW I found those black jeans I was looking for and they fit nicely! Of course, I was looking for something else (as usual) when I found them LMAO!! I AM crossing my fingers for you for sure! :tt2:

I emailed both the centre & my local nurse - local nurse said she would check her spam folder JIC....SWLC did get my email, saw a note in their book; say it doesn't look like we spoke. WT??? If it doesn't look like we spoke, could they not have gotten back to me?? Jeeze........:eek: So, my 3rd. fill is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon around 5:30PM. I feel I am so close to my sweet spot. I really envy you girls that you are at yours!!

Awww, Polly!! Glad we are each others' rocks!!!! A big thank you to you!! Mmmmmm!! Tuna & cottage cheese! What a brilliant idea!! I know what you mean about wolfing down anything because we've let ourselves get too hungry. :smile2: What I don't understand, for example, the other night we weren't really hungry for supper per se, so I brought out a box of rosemary & olive oil Triscuits, salmon cream cheese and a few cans of smoked oysters. I figured the whole wheat crackers and the protein from the cream cheese and oysters would fill me up quickly....wrong-o!! I wiped out the majority of the crackers and a can of the oysters pretty much by myself. WT??? I'm good all day but when evening comes? It's like I'm not banded at all! :wink2:

Well, a week and a 1/2 later they still haven't called me back. And have gained 3 1/2 lbs. too !!! :laugh: I've been so busy at work that the time has just flown so I haven't had the chance to follow up. I've emailed before, copying both SWLC & nurse here and they won't approve the fill till they speak with me first. Well, they can't speak to me if they don't call me back!!! :wink2: This morning, I'm shook things up a bit - had a 1/4 c. real oatmeal cooked in a 1/2 skim milk, a scoop of Protein powder and a 1/2 c. fruit cocktail (packed in water), instead of my usual Protein Powder shake w/berries. For lunch I am planning on a fried egg & cheese sandwich on flax bread (that usually tides me over) and for supper, a Lean Cuisine & broccoli (as I don't have to cook for the family) Will see how this works. I know I could use a titch more of a fill so I will email both SWLC & the nurse today. cjf, my fill nurse noticed that my inscision was still quite pink and asked if it bothered me - I told her it was a bit itchy at times but other than that, I noticed it was pink too. She said keep an eye on it and if it gets redder or warm, to let her know. TTYL!

So, as good as my whole wheat Pasta casserole is, I've decided that after 3 days of having it for lunch, it just isn't the greatest choice to sustain my hunger until suppertime. AND, I realized that with my fruit & yogurt the past couple of mornings, I've been forgetting to add my whey protein!!! That explains why it wasn't holding me over till lunch. So it's been kind of a disappointing week for me thus far......:w00t: Put a call in to SWLC to have a titch more of a fill. They aren't very quick to answer back, I must say! BB

Welcome back!! Wow, cj, at least you have that warning pain in your shoulder! I don't get any warning, but when I feel that need to sorta burp, then I know I've gone too far....:tt2: Congrats on your weight loss thus far!! We should all give ourselves a big pat on the back. I made myself a whole wheat rotini & ground beef casserole tonite - should last me the whole week!! How does one make a casserole for 1 person LOL!!! My husband's helping our cottage neighbours build their cottage so he's gone all week. I haven't had whole wheat Pasta since being banded so I'll see if I can tolerate it. TTYL! :smile:

Polly, I only have the 1 scoop. I did try the whey Protein with the plain, no fat yogurt and it was awesome! Much more filling than the shake. I think I may have discovered my new fav breakfast! I include the berries but done muck them up with the immersion blender - maybe that's why it's more filling. Oh and the 2 tsp. of Splenda or I find it too tangy. Remember that the Meditrim was nutritionally complete - hence the high calories @ 3 x's/day. Gak!! That sure is a distant memory, those shakes 3 times/day..... I managed to manage the Kaiser but I think it's all about those highly refined carbs, isn't it? I'm not sure if I need another fill or not - this morning at Breakfast (with company), you know how you get talking and not really pay attention to how fast you're eating? At a point, I guess I hit the wall, and realized that uh-oh!! Better excuse myself and go and pretend to wash my hands in the bathroom. That was with sausage rounds, scrambled eggs and whole grain toast. That happened to me too, Pasta one night (but only when we're dining with others!) My husband will say when it's only he & I, remember not to eat too fast but he can't really say that around a table full of people LOL!!! But he knows that when I excuse myself, that I'm having trouble. So because of that, I'm not sure if I've plateau-ed or if I need a titch more of a fill. We'll see!

Mine was Dr. Dr. Cobourn. Super nice guy.

Hi Polly, I ordered last Sunday, Oct 3 and got is this Tuesday the 12th., so even with Thanksgiving in there, a week is a pretty reasonable turnaround time. I have one of those KitchenAid immersion blenders - awesome tool and I mix up a scoop of the whey Protein, a c. of frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries?) and 2 tsp. of Splenda in 8 oz. of no-fat or 1% milk. It turns it into a great thick breakfast shake. I don't think you will be disappointed! I am 3 months. post-op today and in 8 days, I GAINED a lb. - no after work happy hour OR jalapeno chips since the weekend so I'm a bit bummed about that. Tried a ham & cheese on a Kaiser bun last night for supper and that was a disappointment too. Was worried about the bun getting stuck. For breakfast this morning I'm going to try the whey protein with no fat, plain yogurt & strawberries. Will let you know how that is. Have a great weekend!

Thanks for that info, so done.....I thought I was losing my mind being able to eat those chips! Had no idea they'd be considered slider foods. Back to work today and back to my usual very conservative portion of Beans w/tuna, small slice of flax bread w/butter and some of left-over green bean casserole from Thanksgiving. Didn't have room for (and because I forgot) yogurt. It's now past the dinner hr. and I don't really feel like anything. Had tea with sweetener and some mineral Water. Guess I'm just trying to avoid more Thanksgiving leftovers LOL!! Polly, I too, had a popcorn episode the other week. Thought I'd practice portion control and bought those 100 calorie packs of smart popcorn (the white cheddar ones?) Wiped out the whole box.....I'm not gonna lie. So I vow to stay away from the slider foods! Thanks again for your input, so done, and Polly, just got another order of whey Protein isolate from NutraBio.com. All the fun you can have for $30 and no customs! TTYL!

Hi Polly! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Had ours Saturday - had a bit of everything (but no pie, either) Except, I can not keep a bag of jalapeno chips in the house. I ate the whole bag, myself. What's up with that? I couldn't believe it! Thought I'd test myself but I failed miserably. But couldn't stop myself! Like I wasn't even banded. So, no more. I was very conservative with everything else, but was like I was possessed with the jalepenos! I love those kettle chips. But I won't buy them again. I promise. I low-carb-ed for many years and was quite successful, but like everyone else I guess, got tired of the same-ol'-same-ol' so I gradually snuck in the carbs and, well, that's why I'm here today. I'll 99% of the time eat whole wheat carbs and very little sweets or starches and am mineful of problem foods but the potato chips? No sure I'm at my sweet spot yet. (Obviously not!) Is it possible to be unsure? Do you ever over-do it? I'm waiting for that magic 'a-ha' moment I keep hearing about, but not if I can still eat so many chips. :puke: Nice pic BTW & congratulations on your progress! I'm wondering how cjf's doing too! Let me know what Protein shake you try. ~BB~