thsisme

In restaraunts where bread is served, I ask for them to hold the bread. If I am with others who might enjoy the bread, I make sure that the bread is out of my reach. Entrees: I place them on the bread plate and set the rest aside to either be taken home or discarded.

So Everyone we are in our 7th month of the land of the banded. How is everyone doing?

no problems swallowing? Check with your doctor just to be safe. Let us know how you are getting along. I am sorry to say I have no idea what it could be.

Your emotions are normal. We work so hard to get that surgery date and once all the push and shove is done, the reality of it all starts to settle in. It is an exciting and frightening time. Take time to breathe and know that we are here to help in any way that we can. April will be here in no time!

Congrats Belle and to the others who have posted here! Whether you have had your surgery or about to be banded Congrats and continue on!

It might depend upon how you heal. I started with my port slightly below the incision line and as I healed the port is now above the incision line. Perhaps due to exercising the abds?

you physician can tell you when you can get back to exercising, each doc is different in their rules. Usually, you start out slow and then for the abs it will be approx. 4-8 weeks out post op. Ask about up front costs and out of pocket costs, i.e. program costs, physicain share of costs,etc... if you are to have surgery in a hospital find out what your share of costs are and if there will be any physicians who don't take your insurance so that you can plan for those costs and are not surprised when the bill comes in the mail. Some folks here are stating that they do not meet with their surgeons until the day of the surgery, meet with your surgeon so that you can get your questions answered and if you are not comfortable with him/her, take the time and find another one. Best of luck!

Make the time to see your doctor, start back at the beginning, think and figure out how your social life is going to be handled, you will need to rethink about what goes into your body when you are out with the buddies. Start an exercise plan. Best of luck. it won't be easy, but we all have to start somewhere!

Everyone well said. My heart and prayers out to all of us who have lost someone dear to us. Trish said it best, celebrate each step in life no matter how small, take in time to grieve, start to move however slowly and...dance. ...

Hope the others here before me have said mostly my thoughts. Changing your eating habits is not an easy thing to do. We tend to have a history of what I call diet sabotaging. Telling ourselves that we can always start tomorrow...as you know the saying goes...tomorrow never comes. Forgive yourself and get right back on the wagon. Take alook at your food patterns, keep ajournal and see where it leads you, call your doc and see if you can get in to get another fill ( it usually will take several fills before you hit what is known as the sweet spot). You fall off the wagon, get up, dust yourself off and get back on. Now is the time to start learning new eating and coping behaviors. As for the exercise, walk when you can, don't worry about getting to the gym, IF you sit at a desk when you can get up and walk down the hallway a time or two, walk around the block on your lunch break and if you can park at the far end of the parking structure / lot and walk in to work, take a few stairs if you have them in your building. A little at a time. Invest in a Wii or something similar, find a program and work it for short periods of time. I realize that some of these suggestions may not fit into your life right now, but what I am trying to do is to get you to think fo the little things first. Get through your thesis (and I have a feeling that you will do fantastic!) and once again learn to forgive yourself. Wishing you the best!

the gas build up and putting pressure on the band and pouch. Though I have read where there are a few folks who can tolerate a small amount of carbonated beverages. I gave up my diet pepsi after I was banded.

mnmommy, congrats on being so close to your goal! on you ticker, just go to the website input in your code and press the updat/edit bar and then you will have to re-enter your code again and just go down and change your current weight. The ticker will automatically update the one that you have here on this site.

Made my goal a week early!

congrats! I've since past bat wings and now have what I call condor wings...

for me when I chuck out the rule book itis usually because there is something going on...it can be stress at work, life or perhaps left over diet sabotage. I have a great history with that one. I am learning to get back onto the process without to much wasted time. I started out from beating myself up and telling myself that since I slipped might as well enjoy it for days and then on to ok messed up...stop and start out again after intial episode...where is that darned rule book? sigh... Exercise, how I hate it. I force myself to do it and I have been exercising for everyday, I don't dread it like I used to, but I still don't like it either....ah well the challenges of defining a new way of life!

happygirl and Phranp have hit the nail on the head! There are no definitive answers, but there are guidelines and suggestions that will assist one in finding what works best for them. It will take time to learn how not to allow food to rule your life. Food life will go on without you and it will be around you. You will learn your trigger foods and what situations trigger your desire to eat food. You will have to learn how to deal with them and you will have to accept and forgive yourself if or when you fall off the wagon. I know what my trigger foods are and I know what tips me over to wanting to reach for that particular piece of food/snack and I have learned to avoid reaching for the food fix. It haunts me and I have to fight the urge to give in. However, my rewards, though may be small are enough for me, when I get on the scale and I have not gained, when I am ready to go down to a smaller size in clothing, or any other NSV...I give myself a mental tap on the back with a reminder that I probably would not have gotten to that point had I given in as evidenced by my past eating behavior vs my current behavior. I too keep a food and exercise journal and sometimes when I am fixated on eating, i plan my whole meal day or the remaining portion of the meals and then I get moving. If I have time to sit and think of meals, then I have time to walk or do something else. The band is work, it helps keep me on track while I'm working the issues of learning a new life that is free from hip and knee pain, I can now sit in a booth instead of having to ask for a table with chairs, I can fly without having to have an extender and I don't have to cross my arms and manuever my body into awkward postions so that I don't flow over into the next seat on the plane and my newest adventure in lapbandom...I am getting ready to go shopping in a store that is not a plus size speciality shop! If you are ready and you are prepared to commit to this process, chances are that you will never regret your decision, as others here have already said the band is not for everyone and you should do your research to be educated on the risks and the benefits. I wish you luck on your journey!

carcar and Bonnie happy band day! Msdeevee, I agree this has and is still a great learning curve. I figure that somewhere in the end I will truly be able to say that I know my body and my band, but not any time soon! I wish you all the best and ms deevee I'm rooting for you to make that 6 month goal!

Iron, vit D, b-12. , thiamine for another 2 months.

Hang in there! As a military wife of another generation gone by...I understand how you feel...It is hard when you face times like these. give yourself a little forgiveness with the endurance to exercise. It took me forever to build up to where I am today and that is not saying much compared to some, but then my point is that you have to start somewhere. Before I could hardly walk around the block without becoming short of breath and to look at the elliptical was to go into a sweat. I think my start time was a whopping 3 minutes. keep at it alittle at a time. It is good to have you back and know that we are here for you! .

kalipso and doodlebugs mom have it right. Each speaking from their own experience. I f this is what you want, then know that being scared is ok, continue to educate yourself know who is your support and who will not be your support and move on with your life. Change always can be scary and in many ways it will be a good thing as you watch and participate in your improvement of your health and ultimately your life. Yes, there will be times that you will struggle, but you will learn if you choose to and you will be better for it. I too have been heavy all of my life and I am still learning new life style changes, sometimes i have to discipline myself such as keeping an exercise regime, but I am never feeling deprived of something. The feeling of being in less pain due to the joints having to haul around less weight and the ability to have the energy to walk and climb flights of stairs is a wonderful thing to experience. When someone compliments you or when you go out and can actually fit into a booth comfortably or put your shoes on without having to haul your leg and foot up to the side to you, but you actually bend down without having to hold your breath to put on your shoes...This is your life and it is ok for your family to be afraid for you. Those that make fun and call names will have to turn their attention to something else.... good luck and keep us informed of your journey. You are not alone

AnnieM said it all. try warm not cold liquids and see your physician. your stomach will be swollen and it will decrease with time, but you need to give it rest. try to take in some protein with your fluids.

We eat out alot and I have learned to just ignore the looks. It really doesn't bother me. $6.95 for an extra plate? I don't think that i would frequent that restaraunt either! I usually take over my DH's bread plate anyway.

about a week post op. Trial and error with protecting the port site, but we had fun experimenting.

Averaging approx 2lbs / week. Following the rules with some slight deviations. Continue to force myself to exercise only because if I don't and wait for tomorrow, tomorrow never comes. My DH tried to persuade me with the phermone bit, I don't care how good I feel after exercising, I hate it, but I know that I need to do it so I do and I have made sure that I have no excuses...except when I don't get home until after 8:00 PM and then it is all I can do to speak with my DH and then go to sleep. Looks like we are each finding our way through this process of learning.

Checking in at 231.0lbs down 3 lbs from last week! Going for the last two pounds to meet the challenge!