kab1278

Wow guys! Thanks! It looks like the personal blender might be the way to go! I appreciate your help!!

I'd prefer to not to spend more than $100 (less is best) because money is tight. WalMart seems to have nice ones for $30-$40. Thanks!!!

I have been following my diet and exercising but haven't lost any weight beyond the initial pre-surgery diet and right after surgery. However, I haven't lost any weight since. Surgery was 8/24. I know all experiences are individual, but many people seem to be losing some weight while waiting for their sweet spot fill. Should I be losing weight, even just a teenie bit, or does that not really start until my sweet spot fill? Thanks!!!

Couldn't agree more. People think the band is an easy fix, but I haven't worked so hard to educate myself, eat well, and exercise in my life. I just hit "the line" of 100 lbs to lose and the aching in my knees and back and a history of weight related anxiety helped get me approved. So I was just asking about how "the line" is different for different people...not the appropriateness of surgery. I have never understood why doctors don't use helps such as surgery and Rxs to help patients lose weight, when all the doctors do is tell you how unhealthy the weight is. What is going to hurt me worse...a surgery that is done by a professional who follows my healing closely/Rxs or extra weight?! Silly doctors and insurance. :tongue_smilie:The WEIGHT is going to hurt my health!!!

I always thought you had to have 100 pounds to lose, taken into consideration with BMI and comorbidities. I see some people who only have 60 pounds to lose, and to only have that much to lose but fit into the medical standards I know of, you would have to be a bit on the shorter side. I am certainly not knocking anyone. If you need the help, nothing has worked, and surgery is safe, I am ALL for it. I know the frustrations of weight loss all too well. And I wish everyone great, healthy weight loss. :laugh:

Dear Lord! Teach me your secrets!!! I am eating right, exercising, and doing all that I am supposed to but am no where close to you! :laugh: I have had one fill but know that once we get my fills in place, I'll be just fine. For the first week and a half after surgery, I lost a pound a day and LOVED it! You keep at it as once you add regular food your loss may slow a bit...but remember how well you've done now and it will all fall back into place. You look great!!!

Yes. I was talking about the sugar free Jello pudding. :laugh: I have seen recipes for Orange Creme shakes using orange Jello Gelatin too! Use your milk, vanilla Protein powder, a tablespoon or two of the Jello gelatin powder and some vanilla extract. Sounds good to me!!! Here is a link that another Bandster posted earlier with a lot of ideas. Some ingredients wouldn't really be for us, for we can just omit as needed. Bodybuilding.com - Protein shake Recipes - Huge Selection Of Great Tasting Mixes - Bodybuilding.com Writer

Thanks guys!!!

I am currently walking in regular cotton pants and usually wear a cotton jacket. When is drizzles or rains, I can't walk because I be so weighed down and feel miserable that it isn't worth it. So I am asking for suggestions on decent outdoor walking pants and jacket that do not cost a fortune. Anyone have any ideas? And what about indoor clothes for a gym? I hate wearing a t-shirt but what optios does a big girl have? I have been to all the big dept. sites and everything is not my size or $70 for pants. Yikes!!!

Here is a recipe I found and plan to try. As long as I thin the crust out a bit so it is a bit crispy, I think being able to eat it as a meal would be east going down. It has a good review rate at Taste of Home, so...fingers crossed! http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Veggie-Pizza-with-Herbed-Tomato-Crust

So happy to know you are feeling so well! My incisions or port never caused me pain. They were tender from bumps in the car or, if you can believe this, walking on gravle. (How odd!) But no surgical related things caused me pain. I ate well and 1 and a half months out have never thrown up. The only pain I had, and it was significant, was the gas caught under my left shoulder, and sternum. The Co2 they put in you to make your abdomen larger for a safer surgery causes this kind of pain. If you develop it, walk, walk, walk. That helped me the most and is what most people seem to say on here. Do everything we bansters are to do and lets hope it keeps you feeling great! Good luck!!!

One of my favorites is an egg white and cheese deli flat. 2 egg whites=34 cal. 7.2g Protein 1 slice Kraft 2% American cheese=45 cal. 4g protein 1/2 Pepperidge Farm Deli flat, 7 grains= 50 cal. 3 g protein -I use 1/2 of the deli flat because 2 was a bit more bread to eat than was comfortable. I do toast the deli flat well just to make eating all that easier. Tomatoes, spinach, turkey sausage or a Morning Star patty would ba a great addition. Right now this doesn't completely fill me up, but I have only had 1 fill and am still looking for a sweet spot. Oh...and I usually pair the sandwich with 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese and 1/4 cup lite peaches. :biggrin:

I have to drink soy-based shakes because the whey-Protein shakes cause a sickly-sweet taste in my mouth that lasts for days. While the GNC brand chocolate whey-Protein Shakes were good, I just couldn't deal with the aftertaste. So now I use soy based shakes. They are good but not quite as chocolatey. So I add 1 tbs SF chocolate Jello powder and the shake is more of a treat! I just wanted to say thanks for that great tip...whomever you are!!!

I LOVE Jif PB, but between 16 grams of fat for a 2 tbs. serving as well as 190 calories for the same serving size, it just isn't something I can have very often because...well...that is 200 calories! Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative that has the same basic taste and consistency as Jif? I always expect there to be some difference in products as far as taste and consistency when we LapBanders are looking for alternatives, but a girl can only go so far! :biggrin: I am completely open to peanut spreads as well as almond spreads and don't really care if they they have to be stirred with each use. Thanks a million!!!

I am SO there with you on just digging in! Or with peaches...Yummy! I am just so stuck in a rutt and eat so much cottage cheese everyday that I am looking for something a bit different. And since my printer isn't working, coping down a bunch of new recipes by hand seems tedious. What did we do before computers?! Haaa!!!:biggrin:

I too have suffered the same thing. Sometimes it is so bad that I am even embarassed infront of my husband and go running to my bathroom to take care of it. I have found gas pills to work well, as long as I keep up on them. And Gas Ex has dissolveable strips if swallowing pills are a bother. But I just use 2 of the generic kind from my drug store and that helps. As far as your boss goes, if you are able, I'd ask to talk to her and explain you are currently dealing with a medical problem after surgery (does she know about the Band?) and one side effect is gas. Assure her you are trying to take care of things and you greatly appreciate her patience and understand during this difficult and embarassing time. Hope that helps. :thumbup:

If it is a capsule, you can break it open and sprinkle it on a small spoon of applesauce accordig to most docctors- as long as you can swallow it down quickly, before the med dissolves since it is time released. But I always say call the doctor or pharmacist to make sure...just to be on the safe side. Always error on the side of caution. But a warm drink should help move it on down to your new tummy.

Thanks! That is my own pic of the moon. I love photography and hope that as I become healthier, I will feel more comfortable getting out there and pursuing something that brings me joy. :thumbup:

After 16 years of suffering first from depression and anxiety to now, bipolar and anxiety, finally having found Nardil has given me much of my life back (still have bad days and even weeks, but better than a bad month). Being a bit more level on Nardil, an MAOI, which a doctor will rarely prescribe, I was able to make the decision of the Lap Band for MYSELF. It has been a long time to have been able to do that. I do feel many doctors are pill pushers and are always throwing the next new drug at you before you even have a chance to know if your current drug had helped. It is frustration...but maybe I'll find this new way of eating enhances my med's effectiveness. :thumbup: Good luck my sisters and brothers who have to fight each day to live "normal" in an "abnormal" world. :thumbup:

I am interested in a cottage cheese dessert beyond granols, or berries.

I know everyone tolerates pain differently, but I am wondring, with so many people commenting on extreme pain, did your doctors not send you home with meds to take? I had Oxycodone or one of those -codone meds (can't keep them straight). And when I was in the hospital, I took pain meds every chance I could as I am not a believer in being in pain and then getting meds. I much prefer to keep them away. =) Also, who stayed overnight vs. those who left the same day? In my reading here, it see,s as though the people who left the same days seems to have more pain then those of use who spent the night and the bathroom and walking every 2 hours were our only responsibility. If I were in great pain, I'd ring my doctor's phone off the hook---you just had your stomach stitched around a band, for Pete's sake---let alone the multiple incisions you now have in a bouncy place on your body that reacts to every bounce, step, and rattle your body takes. I really hop things ease up for everyone and you find comfort. But above all else, you pay the doctor, he is your employee so don't lose your voice in talking to him.

I agree about the weights during walking being a no-no. Sorry to confuse you. I meant doing a bit of light lifting at home...nothing strenuous as I do not want to pay another doctor bill for hurting myself when I still have to pay the surgery off! LOL I certainly think I am going to add a mile and pick up the pace. After one and a half months of walking a nice, brisk pace, I am ready for more. I guess it is just deciding to do it and then doing it. I just read some posts about banster hell, and I guess that is where I am and I am trying to work out of it. But I realized it may be awhile, no matter what I do, so just keep going and it will all fall into place when the fills and my body decide they are in a good place together. Thanks for the help!!! Always appreciate your responses!!!

Sorry! Should have put previous post under "Exercise". Sorry guys!

I have been walking 2 miles a day (banded 8/24 and lost 20 but have gained back 5) and plan to pick up the intensity as now I just walk briskly. Do you find walking is enough or have you added weights and such to help improve loss? I am always hungry, have gained a teenie bit back, and have to wait 3 more weeks for a second fill to address a constantly rumbling stomach (app. 1000 calories a day). I drink tons of Water, follow my diet 98% of the time, and am ready to help this band do it's job!!! =)

The only problem I have had is some pain in my left arm (nothing awful-often an indication of eating too much) and constipation. The anesthetic and pain drugs often cause constipation and sometimes you have to take a stool softner to help out. Other than that, I have been really lucky and VERY happy. Now I am just waiting for my second fill because I need more restriction. I can eat too much and often have a rumbly tummy because I am hungry, even when meeting 65 grams of Protein. But we are the lucky ones!!!