Well ABC (August Band Crew) members we have made it to the end of our banding month. Each and every member has been very supportive during our procedures and the post-op period, but now is when we will REALLY need to lean on each other for support more than ever. Now the real work of working the band begins and I am sure we will all run into a hurdle or two or three (you get the point) along the continued journey. So, here we go!

Please post your short term weight loss goal for October 1st. I think little goals are where we should start for now so we don't get too overwhelmed.

:gluck: and to all.

I have not been eating between meals, but tonight I decided that I wanted something else to eat about two hours after dinner. Was I ever sorry - huge pressure and pain in my chest! Will not be doing that again...

my very first mushie meal was refried beans..I was dying for a burritto for weeks, so I was thrilled to eat them. I added a dollop of sour cream and guac and a tad of taco sauce...dear god was it good

Skribby..that was mine too. I bought cheese sauce and had a teaspoon of cheese sauce, refried beans, sour cream and guacamole with a splash of taco sauce. I also loved cottage cheese with spaghetti sauce and parmasain cheese. Another good one is tomato soup with basil and roicatta cheese

I'm making myself hungry!!!

Hey ABC, what's going on, How's everyone doing today?? How long were any of you on liquids before mushies? 2 weeks of (milk)liquids is rough, trust me.

Is there any one from the Cocoa/Rockledge area that goes to any area gyms-I need an exercise partner.

Faybie- I was very regular when I was on liquids and then I moved to regular foods and went 9 days without a BM...i took some milk of magnesia and the next day, I was good to go. I did call the dietician and she said to integrate some fruit...into smoothies or however you can...that should help too. If it lasts much longer, make sure you get into the doctor..you don't want to end up with a blockage or something.

mstrish - I ate a ton of fish on my mushie stage....that and Wedny's chili. THe chili tasted like it had little bits of heaven in it.

Well guys....the scale finally moved this morning...wahoo!!!! Lets just pray it keeps going! I started eating a little bit more during the day. I do think my body must have been in starvation mode. The last few days, I have uped my calories just a touch and voila...the scale finally budged. Thanks to everyone for your support, encouragement, and suggestions.

Good for you Kate!!! You know, I totally understand that we wont constantly lose weight, but everytime the scale stalls or worse goes up 1/2 pound, I get upset. I can't believe I'm so obsessed with the scale. Especially since before banding, the only time I went on a scale was at the doctor, and I'd close my eyes!!!:omg:

Faybie - regarding the "BM" - you should definitely have "moved" by now. If I didn't have a "release" at least every two days I'd take some Milk of Magnesia. It's gross but it works great! You will feel so much better. You'd be suprised how much poop the body makes even when there's not much going in and that all needs to come out! I'm a nurse so yeah, I know all about poop - and believe me any nurse worth the title doesn't even bat an eyelash at a poop question!

For all of us - my friend that was banded in April said she gained about 5 lbs when she started back on "real" foods. So until we get our first fills, we need to be very careful... man, I can hardly wait for that fill!!! I've pretty much been on a regular diet when I should still be on mushies. I just chew everything to mush before I swallow it. I ate 3 pieces of thin crust pizza and believe me I was full but I didn't feel bad or anything and it all went down fine. I was at a craft festival today working in the first aid booth and I ate a hot dog. I pulled most of the bun away and it did feel kind of heavy on my stomach like it was having trouble going down, but it did. Several hours later I had some kettle corn - not a problem at all. I'm sure I ate a lot of calories but compared to what I used to be able to put away I did very well - I just hope I haven't done any damage to my stomach by not eating mushies for this last week.

Talk to you all soon! Take care!

Andy Liz

the refried beans with sour cream guac and taco sauce was my first "meal" post liquids too!! Thats funny that we all craved the same thing!

oooh, by the way.... I've broken my sand still, I lost 2 lbs this week!!!

O.K. I have to tell you all that I have officialy given up. I am not kidding. I am not having any part of this daily struggle with food. I have never had any restriction, and it has totaly sucked. I should not be able to eat the type OR quantity of food that I am. I have been trying to make changes in bad eating habits, but I am giving up. I can't beat myself up everyday with the scale and the guilt. Yeah, I lost 7lbs. and thats great...but I am 2 1/2 weeks post-op. Those 7 where from the 1st week and not an oz. since. So from now on I'm removing the self imposed noose around my neck, and have come to the dissapointing conclusion that I will just have to wait untill after my first fill on 10/2 before I can tell if I just wasted $10,000!. I was fully aware going into this, that the first 6 wks. are for healing and not about losing, but I can't help feeling like I am failing again. I can only hope that after the fill I get some help. Thanks for letting me vent, you guys are the best!

Chrissie give it time it will work you just havent had your fill yet and you might have had a larger band put in so therefore its not restricting your stomach. Don't give up you only have good times ahead!! Keep trying even if you mess up start over, eventually you'll get it. Hey while you can enjoy some of that food cuz I'm stuck with barely nothing LOL So have some for me : )

Chrissie - Hang in there!!! We are all in the healing phase of our journey and healing is what we need to concentrate on. Yes, changing our diets/habits is going to be hard, VERY hard, and the healing time is a perfect time to start. I screw up at least once a day, but I just tell myself I'll do better tomorrow. DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP. Since you can eat pretty much everything right now, it's a great time to learn some of the do's and don'ts since you can't really hurt yourself too much now if you take a bit that is too big, eat the wrong stuff, etc.

It is going to be a LONG, SLOW journey, but we are all in it together. Please, please, please don't give up. Anytime you feel down about things, come to LBT and vent; we are all here to listen!!!!

Chrissie, I'm at a standstill right now, as well. My first fill is on 9/21/06, so I don't look at it as a failure. I am not weighing myself until then - why beat myself up?. What I am doing is continuing to observe the habits that are required with restriction - no eating between meals, and no drinking with meals. I consider continuing to do that a "success", even though I am not losing weight right now. Last night, our neighborhood had a block party, with all this wonderful food set out. I ate before I went, and I was so proud that the only thing that I ate was ONE warm chocolate-chip cookie (and boy, was it good)! Usually, I would have had a taste of everything, and eaten the cookies until they were gone...

Chrissie, don't give up! You're 7lbs less than you were 2 weeks ago. That's pretty impressive when you think about it! The weight's not going to fall off fast like it would with bypass. Just hang in there till your fill. Your body's been through a huge change and needs time to adjust.

Mstrish, I was on liquids for 3 weeks before moving to pureed food. I'll have a total of 3 weeks on purees, then move to soft. 3 weeks of that, the regular. It sucks!

What's everyone having for Breakfast these days? I'm tired of oatmeal and hate yogurt and cottage cheese. I'm at a loss for what to eat these days!