Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

Barbara465: Sorry to hear things are not going so well, I know this is very irratating sometimes when your doing all the right things and not much is happening. Coke is not anything I drink anymore because it takes away from the real liquids that I have a problem getting down already without adding extra things like pop. Drinking and eating is DEADLY for me, so don't do it. I really am at a stand still with my weight, in fact I've gained the other day 3 pds! It is gone now but what a discussing thing when I really should be losing considering the restriction I am going through, not able to eat much. Which is okay by me.

Hope things go better for you this week.....

barbara465,

if your leg is bothering you,perhaps you should have for yourself a goal to exercise every other day. pushing it when there is already an injury may set you back even more for longer. i know the protein drink thing is a drag, but it really helps me alot. i tried getting my protein in with solids only and found i was constantly coming up short. so with the protein drink that totals 46g i am easier to meet that 60g goal. also, do you like tuna and canned pink salmon? it makes a nice filling lunch if you add it to salad/lettuce. another thing i do for breakfast sometimes is take a string cheese stick (about 80 or 100 calories) and wrap 2 pieces of turkey lunch meat or ham lunch meat around it (meat is about 60 calories total) and it that. it is filling and you get about 8g of protein from the cheese and about 5 from the meat. also tuna has about 13g of protein per serving as does that salmon. and that is for about 2 ozs of meat.

Hi Crew,

I'm finally having my first fill today. I have been very discouraged about how slowly the weight is coming off, but I get hungry pretty quickly even after eating solid proteins. I actually went for a fill a month ago, but the doctor couldn't find my port. I had to be scheduled at the hospital for a flouro fill, which must have been very difficult, as it wasn't done until last Thursday. Quite frustrating! On top of that, the hospital called to check on my insurance, and I started to think about the additional cost added to my normally $200 fill by the hospital. All in all it's been a bad month. I'll let you know how it goes.

Discouragement can be our best and worst enemy. Whatever you do, don't allow it to gain a foothold. It has great value in getting you off status quo if you act quickly in a positive way. I'm posting right now because my emotions were pulling my chain. I don't mind playing cat and mouse as long as I'm the cat.

Just for the record, after a really great week I overdid it on my usual Sunday treat of nachos. From now on I am allowing myself no more than 7 chips at a sitting

I'm enjoying my new exercise routine. A run walk with the dogs. Now I take them one at a time once around the block and then by myself once. I count 30 steps jogging (slow) and 30 walking. My heart rate is staying up and I'm hoping the new stress on my joints won't be so bad if I walk part way.

Have a good week!

OK I logged my food intake yesterday into Sparkpeople. I ate 1500 calories yesterday, and most of it after dinner. I was shocked. I had a few of those snack size candy bars - yikes! I'll do better today.

Tuesday is my day to weigh. I am at the number I claimed several weeks ago. I will start from this and see what happens. I'm still able to eat too much and my will power is wanning. I'll give it until the end of the week before making a decision for a fill.

Barbara 12, Pinkylee, and I are meeting for lunch on Wednesday. If anyone wants to join us PM me for details. We are meeting in downtown Houston. I'm looking forward to it.

barbara465-is 1500 too much for you? what is your goal as far as calorie intake is concerned? do you eat snacks and meals(5 or 6 a day)

1500 calories is my upper limit according to Sparks. I want to stay around 1,000/day. I usually have a snack in the afternoon of sugar free pudding. I sometimes have a snack after dinner. I do pretty good during the work week. The weekends is hit or miss with me. We tend to not eat or eat too much.

One of the things I'm doing is just eating my Activia for Breakfast around 9:30. If I'm really hungry I may have some whole wheat crackers with a little Peanut Butter on them between breakfast and lunch. I eat lunch early at 11:30 and at that time I'm starving. I have an afternoon snack and then we eat dinner at 5:30. I may have a snack at 7:00 pm.

I think I need to do something different for breakfast and eat more Protein for lunch. I have Soup if I don't have leftovers from dinner. Dinner is usually pretty good and I try to eat hard protein for it. I have to watch my portions as I can eat more that 4-6 oz. I also get hungry, even though I'm drinking at least 3 bottles of Water while at work and another one at home.

I don't get hard stop signals so I try to be careful so one doesn't sneak up on me. I am now limiting the time to eat dinner to 30 minutes. I have gotten full and stopped eating, but I can eat lots before that happens. I really don't think I have restriction like most of you. I know what the pain is like if I get too big a fill so I know I'm capable of getting restriction.

I think another fill is in order. I may go ahead and schedule one for the end of November so I'll have an appointment.

do you feel hungry when you only have 1000 calories a day?

here is what a typical day for me looks like:

*wake up at :615am

*protein drink on the ride to work at 7:15am

*morning snack at 9:30am (usually a fruit mix of strawberries, pineapples and peaches, or ham and cheese stick wrap or something that totals 125-180 calories.)

*another am snack usually around 11am (rice cakes, low carb/low sugar yogurt, fruit, baby carrot sticks--something light)

*lunch around 12:30 or 1:00PM. i try to make this substantial. maybe leftovers from dinner or a salad with tuna or some Protein

* mid afternoon snack between 4-5:30pm. (something light. not too heavy since dinner is approaching

*dinner around 7 no later than 8pm (lately i have really been aiming for dinner no later than 7pm)

i try for 250-300 calories per meal (brkf., lunch, and dinner) then i have the 3 Snacks. sometimes it happens like that, sometimes it doesn't. i try not to be too anal about it. and i have been trying to get that exercise in too.

question-why do you have Soups? they go right through the band right, then you are hungry again. could you have something more solid that would stick around for a while?

Barbara465 and 12, So looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Barbara465, man I feel your pain. I wish I could give you some restriction. Sometimes I think my restriction is more irritation. You are so good about chewing. I'm not so careful and I drink real coffee in the morning and sometimes at night too.

Lately I'm wide open at night. Gotta get back to being prepared with the hard Proteins.

Have you tried toasted whole grain sandwiches. (they weigh 3 - 5 ounces) They take forever to eat and last me quite a while. In fact, I've thought maybe I should switch to eating a small sandwich for dinner. You defintely don't sound as if you're eating too much.

Bottom line is, I'm amazed I'm not dropping weight each week with as little as I'm consuming. I don't always weigh my food, but when I do I allow 7 - 8 ounces. I seem to be able to leave a morsel or two on my plate with that much. 4 - 6 ounces looks like not enough to me most days. Too depressing.

Vent vent vent. It clears the air.

I eat soup because its easy to take to work. I try to have leftovers from dinner, but it doesn't always work that way. I try to find those soups that have some Protein in them so I can get some bulk. On the days I make a meat wrap I get full faster. I think for me its getting hard protein in that's the trick. We also have chili con queso with fat free Beans for lunch as well. Again, it gets the protein in, but slides through the band. Maybe I should try cheese and crackers and meat and crackers instead.

The few times I've had an overfill have kept me from wanting restriction that makes me feel it. I just want a happy balance of restriction, will power, and the right food choices. I'm going to work on this as for me I think its the key.

getting it down is tough, no doubt. i used to try to get the Protein in by eating, but i just could never get in more than about 35g. so i went back to the shakes.

we aren't supposed to have coffee? why not? my husband and i are trying to conceive so i switched to decaf, but i still sneak in regular coffee about 4 times a week? is it bad for the band?

i haven't had a fill yet. i am scared to. i have not had any problems and i have this terrible fear that it will be the beginning of the end. don't get me wrong, i should probably get one because i have to work hard without it.

All I can say is that today I am STARVING!! It must be something in the air. I have anohter fill next week. I am starting to wonder if I lost some of my last fill as well. I can eat anything that I want. I haven't had any problems with the things that I don't chew well. I'm doing well with the calories. I stay between 900 and 1200. I don't count, count, count everyday. I don't want to spend the next 30 years of my life counting calories like I have the first 30 years.

Everyone hang in there. This too shall pass.

Melissa Lea

Hey Barb465 --

Have you thougt about putting some canned chicken or something like that in your soup? That would give you more bulk and protein. I also will add frozen (mixed) veggies to my soups when I cook them. That way I get more fiber etc.

Just food for thought!

Melissa Lea

I work in a small office. There's a woman in an office down the hall who is at least 150 pounds overeight. I don't know her well, but she appears to be a nosy, negative, bitchy type, who always acted like she was doing me a favor to acknowledge me. Today she saw me in the hall for the first time in a month or two and asked if I have been losing weight. This is the first time anyone has acknowleged my weight loss who didn't know about the surgery, and it's so great that it came from her. In fact, she was nicer to me today than she has ever been, and I ended up recommending the surgery to her. :biggrin1:

I had my first fill yesterday with flouro. First sip, before the fill, we could see that I had some restriction, but it just barely paused, then came right on through. After the fill (1cc), it was definitely coming through more slowly, so I'm satisfied. Dr. Paya was thrilled with my loss so far, questioned me about how hungry I get, how much I can eat at a meal, and said "We'll just give you a small fill, you want to be able to live a good life, right?" After hearing some of your too tight stories, I happily agreed! He said to come back in 4 weeks for another .5 cc if I am too hungry. Love him.

Cathy you have lost 52 pds.? That is incredable what is your secret? I was banded on 6/7/06 and have barely lost 30....I'm very impressed. I need to get a grip.