I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where we could discuss the different challenges/issues we face as being single and banded.

I'll start with introducing myself. My name is Chris, I am 32 and live in a suburb of Boston. About a year ago I got out of a 5 year relationship and have just casually dated (online dating) since then. I have decided to take a break from dating for a bit, so I can focus on myself and adjust to living life as a bandster. (I was just banded on 10/2). One of my biggest concerns when I start dating again is if/when to tell that I am banded. It's not that I don't want to tell people, it's just that my idea of great dinner conversation does not include discussing my weight. Overall I would say that I have a great life. I have a good job, a very supportive family, and lots of friends. I am happy to be taking control over my weight and issues with food, and am excited at the prospect of my future as a not-so-fat woman.

I look forward to meeting more single bandsters and hope this thread takes off!

Chris :cocktail:

Thanks April, congrats on the early appointment and the weight loss. I am feeling fine except for this bout of insomnia and of course the annoying little dog attack when I was trying to walk the other night. :-)

JC

Dog attack??? What happened? It wasn't bad was it?

I was out walking on one of the rails to trails. I walked by this couple walking their dogs and the larger retriever looking dog jumped up and chomped down on my arm. I was walking so fast that no one really knew what happened at first. I didn't think the bite broke skin but after I was about fifty yards away I realized I was bleeding. So I turned around and the people had booked it out of there.

It was not as bad as it sounds. I finished my 5 miles.

JC

Chrispy and JC, you guys look amazing!!!

Manatee, you should go for it.

Thanks Derbygirl, I am still a little embarassed about the billboard sized photo I posted. I will get over it though.

How are you?

JC

Crispy, JC you guys look amazing. Crispy, I too wear a 14/16 on top and 18 on the bottom and you look way smaller than I do... way to go girl! April, thanks for the welcome and congrats on moving up your doc date and the weight loss. You can definitely do it... are you on a liquid diet? I was on Optifast before my WLS and lost 16 lbs in 12 days... what type of diet are you doing?

Yvonne

Wow! I am so totally envious of you guys!

Here's to hoping that in a year , or less, I will be there hangin out with you two!

Stay with it PigsR You'll get there.

I don't know if I ever mentioned anthing about my good friend Buddy. I don't get to see him much since the split. Well I got to see him today and took some pics. I wanted to share he is the sweetest dog I have ever known.

str8jacket29/Buddy - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

JC

JC, great pics of you and buddy.... he's so cute, I just love dogs. Love my little Yorkie, she's so funny, makes me laugh so much.

Yvonne

Crispy, JC you guys look amazing. Crispy, I too wear a 14/16 on top and 18 on the bottom and you look way smaller than I do... way to go girl! April, thanks for the welcome and congrats on moving up your doc date and the weight loss. You can definitely do it... are you on a liquid diet? I was on Optifast before my WLS and lost 16 lbs in 12 days... what type of diet are you doing?

Yvonne

Well my surgeon doesn't put us on a pre-op liquid diet...but he puts us on a regular 1200 cal a day diet, unless we struggle with that too much like I did they wanted to put me on Optifast too but through my hopspital it would still cost me $700 for a one month plan. There was no way I could come up with that. So I have been getting advice from others on what they did pre-op. I am starting one on Sunday, since I heard that the first three days or so you feel tired or weak, I figure it's better to do it on my days off of work. (Sun - Tues) My goal is to lose 10-16 lbs by September 3rd :help:

I hope all works out ok.

April, do you like slimfast? I use the chocolate Royale for lunch and I make a shake out of it with ice in a blender and it's yummy and fills me up...I also find that Special K bars keep me pretty full too and they are only 90 calories. I actually look forward to the slimfast for lunch, especially when I put it in a blender. Good luck and stay focused. Don't get discouraged.

Yvonne

April, do you like slimfast? I use the chocolate Royale for lunch and I make a shake out of it with ice in a blender and it's yummy and fills me up...I also find that Special K bars keep me pretty full too and they are only 90 calories. I actually look forward to the slimfast for lunch, especially when I put it in a blender. Good luck and stay focused. Don't get discouraged.

Yvonne

Actually I purchased a case of Kirkland Weightloss Chocolate shakes from costco a couple of weeks ago and have only used about 1/2 of them. They are suppossed to be just like a SlimFast calorie for calorie and mineral for mineral. I LOVE them... I tried drinking one for Breakfast every day, then doing one glass of V8 juice in the early afternoon, then one Creamy chicken Soup at Hand in the afternoon. In the evening I would have Chicken Breast and veggies but I didn't really lose but I think it was too high in sodium from the Soup. Do you have another example suggesstion for a whole days worth of meals?

Chrispy and JC, you both look fabulous. I don't have any pictures.

I don't have a digital camera or a scanner. I am computer illiterate.

My daughter is pregnant now though, so I have a feeling I will

be getting those things. By the way, she has lost 140 lbs

with the RNY. Before her surgery, she never had periods so losing

all that weight has made a big difference. I hope she is careful

not to gain too much weight during her pregnancy!

If it wasn't for her having GP, I would have never found out about

Lap band. It was at her support group that I came to the realization

that I could actually lose weight if I had the lap band.

WOW Denise822, Double congrats to your daughter!!! I myself want to lose this weight mostly for health but also to one day have more children, which is really difficult and a strain on anyone's body at my weight. My daughter turns 13 on December 30th, so I am really ready to have another child. But I have to get married again first...haha! Well congrats to you too! And I hope you enjoy every moment with your grand-baby when he/she is born.

Thank You April. She is pretty nervous. She is an RN and works in labor and delivery so she sees a lot of women coming with miscarriages. I told her most people have normal pregnancies. She will feel safer when she passes the 3 month stage. She is barely pregnant right now.

If you count calories and carbs, you will lose a lot of weight. I did the

Atkins diet before banding and lost 60 lbs pretty quickly. In that diet

they tell you not to watch the fat, but you will lose better with low

carbs and low fat. Do the protein drinks you're drinking have very many

carbs?