Even though I don't have a port, looks like my band is officially normal. Today I had my first PB ever. I never eat in the morning because my Protein shake works really well for me. But I didn't have dinner last night, and I had to work today. I thought I should eat some protein before work, so I ate a handful of peanuts. They got stuck in my throat and refused to go down. It was really uncomfortable. I officially PB'd 5 minutes later in the shower.

I've been living on peanuts for two weeks. It's the protein my body has been craving. Well, looks like I'm over the peanut phase of my life because after my PB they seriously lost their appeal.

Well, well, well. Our little girl has all growed up! Now you've got both feet in bandland; how do things look from this side of the fence?

I'm sure you know the ropes, even if it's never happened to you before. Go GENTLE on yourself today, even sticking to liquids if you can. Give your insides a chance to get over this event.

You might think about keeping some Protein bars around for just this kind of morning. More often than not one, or even less than one, will do me just fine until lunch. And they're easy to get down with fewer calories and more Fiber than the shake I'd been having.

Alex, does the whole PB experience involve the food getting stuck in your throat? Actually, I think it feels good on this side of the fence because nobody has to warn me to stick with liquids! Like I even feel like trying to eat again? No way. I had watery Cream of chicken Soup for lunch. I may never eat again!

As far as the Protein bars, I simply don't like eating in the morning. But my friends & neigbors sometimes watch me in amazement as I make my morning shake. Everything goes in there! Milk, banana, berries, Vitamins, a fiber tab, and my special mix of Protein powder mixed with Instant Breakfast. So I'm getting my protein, fiber, Calcium, vitamins, etc., all one one shake that goes down really easy. I don't like chewing food in the morning, and I can't even explain why.

There are varying degrees of PBing, and yeah, I've had cases where something too large or oddly shaped doesn't go down all the way. I'm thinking that's what happened with your peanut.

I hear you about not eating in the morning. My throat/tummy can only handle coffee until about 9:30 (three hours after I get up). At that point my stomach starts to rumble and I can whip out my Atkins bar and nibble till satisfied. They're really pretty good.

I used to make shakes, but it's just so hard trying to get all of us out of the house in the morning. A few days of coming home in the late afternoon to find the yucky blender in the sink and the lunch I forgot to take to work rotting on the counter convinced me that simpler is better.

Whatever works, right? But your shake sounds yummy. Altogether how many ounces of liquid is it? My shakes were about 24 ozs of milk plus the Protein powder, and I figured out it was close to 700 calories!!

Alex, Dang thats a lot of milk! I don't drink Protein shakes but I cannot live without my 24 oz. iced white chocolate mocha with carmel and 4 shots. All sugar free of course. I watched them make them and between the ice, the espresso and the syrups they only put in about a cup of milk and a little whip cream. It has about 150 calories. I used to be terrible about eating breakfast and would starve myself till lunch, swing thru the nearest fast food joint and get 2 double cheeseburgers. Not any more baby!!! I still grumble about making breakfast but either way I'll eat something in the mornings now.

Sweet Lisa, now I don't have to hear you whining about not having PB'ed yet. See, you weren't missing nothing... LOL. I can't imagine peanuts were gentle coming back up either. Ussually when I have done it, it hasn't felt rough or anything but I definitely try to avoid it. Once again it has been a couple of weeks without any incidents and I am starting to wonder if I have any restriction left. I don't think I'll test it though. I am ussually sorry if I get relaxed about my bite size or speed. Teresa

Yeah, I know it sounds like a lot of milk, and I didn't realize how much until I put it into Fitday. It started with my 32 oz bottle, and the fact that one serving of proteinpowder (two scoops) was supposed to go with 8 ozs of milk. When I made it according to directions, it was grossly thick. So I thinned it down with more milk, realized it wasn't thick enough, and in any event was only half-filling my bottle, etc., etc.

In the end I was using 24 ozs of 1% milk (or three times what the "recipe" said) and about 3 scoops of Protein powder. Plenty of protein and calcium and all that, but waaaaaay too many calories.

Live and learn.

I only use 8 ounces of milk, so I guess by the time the fruit & powders are blended I get about 12-14 ounces. That's about all my belly will allow.

Some peanuts came up, but the pieces were smaller than what you'd find in chunky Peanut Butter. My husband said I need to put a sign on my band saying "closed for business" till noon, which is when I start getting hungry enough to eat anything.

Alex, I wish they made disposable blenders. I refuse to leave it dirty, so I have to take it apart and clean it every morning. But remember, I don't have kids to take care of or get ready.

We just got back from this great German restauarant called the Haufbrauh Haus (sp?) for a surprise party for Babs' husband. After my morning incident, I had watery cream soup for lunch. I didn't order dinner, but I played with my husband's food and had asparagus, mashed potatoes, a few bites of sausage and 3 bites of birthday cake. I wish I didn't learn tricks to help food get down, but unfortunately I learned that I can sip liquids with food if I'm at a party, so I was able to partake in the meal. What a blast the night was though - that's for sure! They have a German band playing the oom-pah-pah stuff, yelling at everyone to raise their steins. Wild & crazy - my kinda night even though I couldn't eat the enormous pretzle they have.

I bought this from HSN.com (Home Shopping Network).

It's called Bravetti 400 Watt Quad Blade Maxi-Blend Combo Chopper-Blender. It's 38.30, plus 6.95 S&H. It's very simple, just a 6 cup glass jar, pair of stackable 2 blade units, safety cover/splash guard, and top with motor in it. It's just one large button control.

It's super easy to clean up - just rinse it out, then add few drops of liquid soap and Water, turn on for a few seconds, rinse, and let dry.

I have used this thing continuously. It's 12"H x 6" diameter. I can leave it sitting out, because it's compact. Morning shakes, crushing ice, chopping vegetable, blenderizing food when you need mushies, etc.

I've been very pleased with it. Simple, large enough capacity, versatile. You can see it on their website.

To save time, you can premix all of your shake ingredients the night before in your blender-- except the banana and ice. Just set the blender top with mixed ingredients in frig. overnight, then just add banana and ice. Drink and enjoy on the way to work, etc.

On the Bravetti blender/chopper, it all comes apart for easy cleaning. The blades are removable (take care, very sharp!).

GAWD Lisa...

I live in total fear of PBing!!! I don't wanna be in the in crowd... wanna be a Nerd Bander!!!! I did have an episode of severe pain when I think a pill got stuck and that was horrible enough... if everything had come back up... OY! I stuck to liquids the next day without ANY trouble...lol... it really scared the bajesus out of me!

I am such a wuss!

Nerd Dorkus Gross Darcy

I'm with you Darcy...I have YET to officially PB but have had many episodes of the awful golf ball feeling in my chest that last 5-10 minutes. I have been lucky that the food has passed everytime but is is SO painful..I have come to the conclusion that it is hard for me to eat and talk at the same time or to eat when I'm famished and my tummy isa growling becasue those are the times when either I do not chew well enough or I eat too fast. Well Lisa now you know your band is really in there and working, it's funny though how things you are used to eating since being banded can one day just casue so much pain don't you think?

P.S> I came back after the Tuna incident but you had logged off..It was around 4:30 so I figured you were leaving work to go home

I've been on the market for disposable blenders, like a month's worth that you just throw away after each use. Marie, I may look into that unit. My blender works great, but I don't have a food processor so maybe one day I'll get one.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen every morning taking care of my petting zoo, so I'm tossing stuff in the blender as I go along, and making my shake doesn't bother me at all. It's not that big of a deal to rinse out... it would take just as much effort to wash dishes used to cook Breakfast.

Gross Darcy, I just had to express fluids from my own wound. Where the heck are you during all this gross excitement? There's still a lump of hard scar tissue (or what I thought was scar tissue) under the incision. I'm sticking with my belief that it's that hardened stuff that's breaking down slowly but surly and turning into liquid. Like an infected lump of something. Make any sense?

Michelle, yes, I went home at 4:30 but figured I'd find out about the kitchen incident eventually!

Oh, and I've P'd my last B. No more PBing. I think they're preventable (for me, anyway.) Because I simply can't eat food in the morning - band is CLOSED FOR BUSINESS in the morning. NO ENTRY. It wasn't the peanuts' fault, so I won't blame them.

What brands of protien powder are best I've tried a couple - not the best!

I've tried lots of nasty Protein powders. Now I stick with something I found at the grocery store called MILK & EGG PROTEIN. It's very plain tasting so it doesn't overpower other flavors, plus I add a couple packets of chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast to the container, which fixes it up fine for me.

MLO Products

Fairfield, CA

www.mloproducts.com

I just visited the MLO site. They have three types of Protein powder: Vegetable Protein, Milk and Egg Protein, and Brown Rice Protein.

You can order it on line, but I noticed the price is the same as in my local grocery store. The Milk and Egg is the best tasting powder I've found so far.

As far as yesterday's PB, I didn't learn my lesson. Last night, I was barely able to eat, so I brought home the pretzle from the German restaurant. I woke up really hungry, so I decided to try once more to see if I chewed really well if maybe I could eat in the mornings. Breads aren't a problem for me as long as I chew. I haven't PB'd, and I probably won't but I definitely feel the lump in my throat. I really need to take my own (and everyone else's) advice and get more sleep. I usually have a Protein shake in the morning, but when I'm tired is my biggest problem for sticking to any type of routine. I'll try to skip lunch and get the shake in then so at least I can try to get back on track. But I'm having the shake an average of 5 times per week, which is thousands times better than the way I used to treat my body.

And even though I ate a small pretzle for breakfast, I used to have a couple tortillas with tons of cheese with eggs and chorizo, potatoes, bacon, etc.