hah131

i'm so glad to see this! i've been having bad pain for about a week and finally went to the orthopedic walk-in today. he's pretty sure it's a stress fracture, and i go for an mri tuesday morning to confirm since the x-rays didn't show up anything much. my problem now is that i'm an exercise (mostly cardio) fiend...i run everyday and power walk every day to the tun of 10-12 miles. the dr said no power walking, no running, no elliptical. i was hoping those of you who have had stress fractures and are runners could give me some exercise tips until i'm healed. i need them before i have a breakdown! lol. thanks!

i just wanted to add my two cents...i've done 25 pound mini-goals since surgery. i always think i'm going to get really excited when i hit one, but they've all been anti-climatic for me. onederland was as well. i have 16 more pounds until i reach my ultimate goal, and i'm hoping that will be the end point when i finally feel really excited. don't get me wrong, i am so pleased with my weight loss and love being able to do things that i couldn't do a year ago...but i completely get the anti-climatic thing. don't feel bad...just keep losing!

hah checking in...166.2 this week.

hah131 checking in at 167.8...bad weekend, but i'm not changing my ticker...fingers crossed it'll be gone by tomorrow!

it sounds like you're too tight. after my last fill i had HORRIBLE pain in my stomach whenever i ate anything solid. i was really scared that i had a slip or something b/c most people report things like heart burn, pb'ing, etc when they're too tight. i had none of that. my dr sent me for an xray, and everything was fine, so he had me come in and took out 1 cc of Fluid. low and behold that was it. apparently when i'm too tight, my symptoms are horrendous, almost debilitating pain in my stomach. now i know for the future, but it really sounds like you're way too tight.

i'm game for a challenge! i have 3 pounds to go to hit 'normal' bmi, and i just can't seem to get there...i need a major kick in the butt!

Name, real or screen~ hah131

Age~32

Weight on August 1st~ 172.6

Goal Weight for August 29th~ 165

Exercise Goal for August~ more strength training

Dietary Goal for August~ hit 1000 calories most days

Personal Goal for August~ fit in my size 12 pants nicely

Date Banded~ sept 28, 2010

Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 97 pounds

i eat 5 small meals per day - approximately every 3 hours. if i didn't, i'd never hit anywhere close to the amount of calories i need...in fact, even with eating 5 small meals, most days i average about 850-900 calories. my surgeon is quite happy with me eating that way. i've never been told to just have 3 meals a day. i think, as long as you get in the Protein and calories you need, you can be flexible with your eating schedule.

that sounds pretty 'normal.' people vary greatly. for the first 6 months after surgery, i ate about 650 a day. i've really tried to up it, and now most days i average about 850-900. there are a lot of people who stay in the 1000-1200 cal range too. you just have to figure out what works for your boday. the only advice i ever got from my nutritionist was no more than 1200. i can live with that...most days

the greek yogurts with added fruit have way too many carbs for my liking, so i get the plain, fat free and add chocolate or Peanut Butter Protein Powder to it. it changes the taste dramatically and makes it much easier to stomach. you may want to try that. one of my employees told me she adds vanilla extract to hers, and it really helps. i haven't tried that yet, though.

hi! i'll be banded 10 months next thursday...i've only gotten stuck a few times and only pb'd once...i've really tried to do my best with eating slowly, and most of the time i do pretty well with it. the reasons you stated are part of it; it's also a fact that your brain doesn't know you're full when your stomach does; that's part of the slow eating principle. it takes your brain somewhere between 10-20 minutes to know your stomach is full. i am a carb binger too (i think it's like alcoholism - something you can't call yourself in the past tense even if you don't do it much anymore). i can still carb binge at times. i went to the beach for a few days in june, and i did a lot of bad carb binging. it's still a real possibility for me, but i really work hard to monitor what i do and really restrict those occurrences.

when i was first banded (after i got through liquids, mushies, etc) i would often get tired of eating so slowly. now it's just second nature. i make sure i watch the clock when i'm eating, and no meal/snack/etc takes less than 10 minutes. you get used to it.

good luck!

I'll be 10 months out of surgery on the 28th of July, and I, too, never really experienced restriction like I hear from a lot of people. I don't know that I can eat the same amount I used to be able to, but I can definitely eat much more than I should...something I've exhibited multiple times. I force myself to eat VERY slowly, and I plan all of my meals for the day...and that's pretty much how I stay on course. I'm very envious of people who talk about this great restriction, eating small portions and being full for multiple hours. I never had that. I don't know that I ever will. I think that just happens for some people. The best I can do is to monitor what I do to the best of my ability. I know that I will fall; I've fallen numerous times, but it's getting back up that keeps me going. I hope you have success with restriction soon.

Also, it's completely ok to check into another surgeon. In fact, I'm planning on switching surgeons in the next few months. I've heard of people doing that before; find someone that works for you!

I know this is a little late, but I was just wondering how the pain situation panned out. For the last several months, whenever I ate way more than I should, I'd get pain in my stomach, similar to what you described. The last two weeks, the pain occurs whenever I eat solid foods. I stuck mostly to liquids last week hoping that it was just swelling that would go down if I gave it some time. It hasn't really worked though. I'm planning on calling my dr's office Monday morning, but I was wanted to get some insight from someone who sounds like they had the same situation.

thanks for posting this...i've been in a really bad place the last two weeks. we went on a mini-vacation for four days starting on the 18th of june. I gave myself permission to eat badly and came back and haven't gotten back on the wagon since. this morning, i weighed in 13 pounds heavier than i was on june 18th. i know that it's not all a real gain, but it's so depressing to see the scale go back up, especially when i worked so hard to get it down. i'm doing all liquids today and tomorrow (hoping that i make it without cheating) and really hope that that takes away my horrible carb cravings. i want my motivation back!

You may be able to eat regular foods, but that doesn't mean you should. I'd stick with your dr's prescribed diet!

i do think that's realistic. i'm 8 months out and have lost 90 pounds since my surgery date. i work my butt off pretty much everyday, so you could lose more than 1-2 pounds per week; but it really depends on your effort. i try not to have too high of expectations so i don't feel let down if i don't hit more than 1 pound per week.

i'm 8 months out, and i experienced the same thing. i never had bad cramps before...just a bit on day one. now, i have horrible cramps, and i HATE that i can't take ibruprophen!

i, too, was afraid to gulp because they preached sip, sip, sip pre-op. i am a huge Water guzzler, and after a bit i started guzzling again. i don't have any problem taking gulps instead of sipping. if i had to sip throughout the day, i don't think i'd ever hit my water intake.

I've done a slightly modified version of the 5 day pouch test (because I'm a vegetarian), and it really does work. The first 1 - 2 days are horrible, but it really isn't bad after that; and the benefits are great. If you're really struggling, I'd give it a try!

veggie burger with no bun, 2 oz lettuce, 1 tblspn salsa, and 4 brussel sprouts. yippee

i simply spray a pan with pam and 'stiry fry' the tofu with adobo, pepper, ginger and a little fresh basil. i enjoy it that way.

i mix mine up the night before and take them to work the next day. they often need stirred up a bit, but i haven't had any problems with them.

i blended it. i have the ninja blender type thing, and it whipped it all together nicely.

my surgeon's nutritionist said he won't stop us from taking a sip or two if we REALLY need it, but generally, we aren't supposed to have any liquid until our allotted time is up. i'll be 8 months out on the 28th, and it's just second nature now. the only time i have liquid when i eat is at a party or a restaurant, and that's only a little bit. at home, it's not an issue anymore.

i had surgery on tuesday and was back at work by friday. i was very tired by the end of the day, but it was doable. if her experience is like mine, she should be fine to sit in class for a few hours by tuesday.