We've gotten through (for most of us) the first month of being banded!!!:clap2: Since the other thread was getting so long I decided to start a new one here so we can continue our journey together........

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

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Steph. I got banded on the 13th of Dec.

Dee... Holy crap wait on that steak. I took a tiny bite of ribeye and thought i was having a heart attack... CHEW CHEW CHEW. then chew some more plus 3 more times for good measure. Good luck on it lol... it hurt me like the dickens... Don't care to ever try another bite.... You've been warned. It may be different for you. Good luck again...

I feel quite a bit of restriction...somedays I can't eat more than three bites unless it is mashed potatoes or baked potato. My restriction might as well jump out of my chest a yell don't swallow that or Im gonna get ya. I have wisened up and just spit it out.

Anyone have good tasty recipes. I am not talking about celery or broccoli. I need a good Soup or casserole....Then again I don't know if a lowfat casserole would be good. ha ha ha

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Annie---Kirsten's right. It's not that bad and you'll do fine.

Kirsten--I have the same fear about eating too much and stretching my pouch which is why I measure out 4 oz of what I am eating. Then I can either eat all of it or some of it but just not going over 4 oz. It's hard when you go out to dinner though so I'm not doing much of that right now.

Oh, geez. I'm scheduled for my fill with the famous Jessie Ahroni herself tomorrow at 9am. I'm going to a great pub tonight with friends that has the BEST pizza and TO DIE FOR garlic bread with real garlic. I know without the fill I can eat this stuff... I so totally want it... I'm having a hard time telling myself no! Bad Annie!

Have a good time with your friends, Annie. Can you just eat the toppings off the pizza? That's easier said than done, I know. But maybe that will satisfy you enough so you don't have to tell yourself "Bad Annie."

Hi ladies! Got my fill today - for the full story go to Steady losers thread - I went into full detail there. It wasn't bad at all. The worst was the poke and it was the ouch that hurt and then it while he was working on getting the right amount it didn't bother me at all. I got 2cc's - it was all done under fluro. He showed me the xray with the barium in it. The pouch is very small and I don't think we can "stretch" it out very easily - instead the food/drink backs up into the esphogus - thus the golf ball in the chest feeling or PBing. It was interesting. I drank a cappicino on the way home and it made me feel a little nauseated. Then I tried to gag down 2 different Protein drinks and gave it up - for supper I had tomato soup and ate about 1/2 a cup. Right now I feel like I need to burp - so I guess I'm pretty full.

I only lost 1 pound! Dang I hate the difference in scales! I had that feeling - but the other lady that was there had gained 1 pound so that made me feel slightly better.

I had hot wings last night - kinda like the last supper syndrome - go for the pizza but be careful with the crust. I have ate the top but white breads and crusts scare me so I've stayed away. Sounds stupid that I could eat hot wings but not white bread - such is the banded life.

Kay - sweetheart - its so good to hear from you again!

:update: :happybday:

Hey did you know its Ibrehams birthday?

:happybday2:

Just finished my tax return tonight and got caught up on this site. Lot's of people getting fills! While I am getting more hungry, I want to wait as long as possible to get filled. It feels good to eat more normally right now. And I'm doing OK with the calories and protein. As for the taxes- I included the self-pay costs to the tune of 13,150. I'm glad I paid in December so I can get the dedution! I use H & R Block's on-line program and love it. This year they changed the format and it's so much easier. Anyhoo... It's good reading all your posts!

I made something good for dinner tonight, though I'd tell you about it. I cut up a chicken breast into bite size pieces. Put it in a bowl and mixed it with 1 tablespoon heinz 57 sauce and 1 tablespoon honey (like a marinade). Then I sauteed it in pam in a skillet until done, poured the remaining sauce over it while it was cooking. The chicken was good and tender. This was my first solid meal and so far it seems as though it went down fine.

I ate a whole chicken breast and 1/2 c veggies, so I am thinking I don't have much restriction from my first fill. I will give it another day to see.

:happybday: :mad:

Ibreham---I hope you enjoyed your birthday!

hi all

this new post is great idea because the old one was very big..

thank for steph for remembering my birthday & thanks also to offerRocker ..

its great to have all the support from other people who have something in common with you .. its really help for you to deal with the up & down phases in your journey to the healthy world .

congrats for every on for the fill .. i am now one week after the first fill .. but i feel that the restriction is reducing each day .. i still in liquid :cry but i kind of used to that stage .. it make me loose weight faster.

i hope all of you doing great job .. see u :clap2:

Kristen the chicken sounded yummy. I use honey mustard alot now because its got such good flavor and low cals. As far as restriction my dr said I can come back in 2 weeks if I need another fill so you might be ready.

Siyah - feels good to get the taxes done - hu? I've used turbo tax for the past 2 years so I'll probably stick with it. Its easy. Its cool to have a nice write off like that self-pay.

Ibreham - I hope you had a nice birthday. How much longer to you have to be on liquids? Thats tough but you seem to be doing great by it. Keep up the good work!

Do any of you or have any of you cross country ski-ed? I'm buying the skiis, poles and boots from a friend - if she has my size boots. She said she has about 20 sets, they are avid skiers and go at least once a day and sometimes 2x. I've never skied, well not since high school but I think it'll be a great way to get out of the house and fun exercise and if its not for me I'm only out $20. I live in the country - 20 miles from a gym - so I really need to get into something like this and I can walk out my back door and go to it. I'm going to keep doing my morning treadmill walk and then hope the skiing steps it up for me.

Happy Birthday Ibrahem!!

I know the feeling of lost restriction....I thought I had it for the first week after I got my fill, but now feel like I can pretty much eat everything and anything! I had a breadstick at lunch yesterday with no problems....that right there should tell me I need another fill!!!

STEPH...Yes, I xcountry skiied when I was Much younger....It is exhausting!! Its really like running in the snow, except you're kinda sliding if that makes any sense...but it's a GREAT workout and once you get into the grove of how to move! Let us know how it goes :mad:

SIYAH...I got my taxes done too and got a great refund this year!!! I deducted my surgery b/c I was a self pay but I thought you could claim the entire amount, but you can really only claim the amount above and beyond the 7% of your earned income....but hey, it was still something!

Ok, time to get to work....talk to you skinny ladies later!!

WC, thanks for the warning. I've been afraid to try for that very reason. the other day i tried one very little bite of pizza and it stuck so bad I was pbing for about 15 min. YUK! :speechles I'm not sure if I'll ever eat pizza again (just the toppings!)

I guess I'll go for the hamburger first without bread. at least it is already ground up ! i really don't want to give up red meat forever. I've been adjusting to chicken and fish but would like to splurge every once in a while on a "good" tender piece of meat.

So I went in today for my first fill - I was totally freaked out over my fill, which didn't help. Smallish needle, just lay back, lift your legs to make the port "pop" up (no flouro), five seconds later, I had 1.5cc in my 4cc band, with really NO pain (and I'm a wimp, so I was expecting a little and "waiting" for pain).

Since all my fills and visits for the first year are covered with my surgery fee, they don't do aggressive fills for the first one. They want to let us get used to the restriction. I can go back in a week if/when I need more...

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Kirsten- Well here's hoping the H & R Block program on-line knew to take the correct amount of the self-pay! I remember it saying something about 7%, but I also remember entering the whole amount. I think I figured it would do the calculation. Hope it did! I'm getting a bunch back this year (for a change) and I'd HATE to get an audit. I have no idea where past receipts are.

OK- so for dinner tonight I ate an entire can of turkey-chili (healthy choice). Funny how I think I can eat more than I can. Ten minutes later it feels like something's sitting on my chest. Ug. It's going down, but that's a lesson in not putting so much in my bowl or on a plate, 'cause if it's there, I'll eat it.