Hi there, I am new to this forum. I have my first consultation with the surgeon next Friday March 30th:) . I am so excited but also nervous.

I have been reading through a few posts and it is so good to see that the majority of the feedback is positive.

I will be having my surgery done in Dublin and I was wondering if any of you have any advice as to questions I should be asking the surgeon next week.

Thanks so much. Brenners x

Hi there to you all. Well I am in trouble. On Friday last my port moved and I have been in terrible pain. I had been suffering with gas pain but that seemed to have eased off. I noticed on Friday evening that the middle of my abdomen was sore and swollen. Then by Sunday it was red. I went to see Jerome yesterday and he as confirmed what I already knew, that the port has moved and needs to be replaced. I am so disappointed.

He has put me on antibiotics for 10 days and he will replace the port on May 21st. He can do this under local anaesthetic.

I am still in pain especially by the evening as it is pressing against something and the pain is going right through into my back.

Allure, I knew you were in yesterday getting banded. I was there at aroung 4pm. I was going to ask could I go in and see you but I was anxious to get back home. So glad you have it over you now. You must be thrilled. Yes the walking definitly helps with the pain. I walked the feet off myself the first few days!

Lunasa, thanks so much for you advice about the Andrews Liver Salts. It really works! Im sorry I have not been posting much, Im only just back to work today and my computer at home is playing up.

Glad to read that you are all doing great, keep up the good work.

Brenners x

Brenners, that is crap to hear! Hopefully all will be well when he replaces it on the 21st of the month. I now know how much pain you must be in as it probably feels like the day you got it done with no improvement! No one said this journey was going to be easy!!!!

However may I point out well done on the pounds lost so far! A good inspiration to us all recent bandees. You must be doing a lot of things right despite your band turning!

It would have been great to see you yesterday - but heck, hindsight is a great thing! There was meant to be 6 people in total to be banded but in the end there was only 4 of us. We all seemed to have very different experiences though with some people suffering more pain than others. The support we gave each other was invaluable too. None of them had heard of this site yet so I am about to text them the address so they can use it for all their Q&A's.

I'm not sure if you know that there is a local group who meet up in Ireland. I PM'ed Holly 123 to be included in the group for the next meet up. Perhaps if you do not know about it send her on your mobile by PM.

Brenners....I just posted a reply to you in the shrinkin violets thread.

Re your last post there...Check it out...

Good to hear from you both, we're done now & it's gonna be a great journey..xx

Someone PM me the meeting details...although I'm in Clare, but depending where in Dub the mettings are I'll see what I can do about travellin up..xx

take care lassies!! xx

Meeting is in Dublin on Saturday 9th June. No other details yet. I will post here when I know.

Lunasa, I ordered the book you recommended, THIN FOR LIFE by Anne Fletcher, on amazon the other day and I am expecting it before the end of the week. So thanks for that recommendation.

I am much more mobile today after a very stiff and sore evening and night yesterday. Up and walking around but still very tired. Need to go back to work tommorow though. How was everyone else on day 4, were you able to go to work?

Hi Allure...

That's great you've ordered the book...I find it great. Remember to get out the pen and buy a notebook. Start a journal now & do the homework...there's not a lot of homework, it's not like school!! But it does pose some questions you really should challenge yourself to answer & to make lists that will help you discover your strong / weak points and motivation!!

It's quite exciting to discover some things about your self you may not be aware of.

Holly thanks for the info...keep us posted!

Allure, I had the shoulder pain for a weeek starting on day four post op- Then it was gone but returned after another week & I get it daily now. I know I'm still bloated & constipated so it must still be some wind or something...Apart from that no problems so I hope going back to work for you will be a breeze!!

I started on mushie foods on Sunday. Scrambled eggs went down grand. Porridge seemed to stay quite high up, so I guess that's too much for now. I had tinned salmon with a bit of mayo, also fine.

Yesterday was different, I had lunch & I obviously took in too much. I had about a small tin of salmon w mayo, a spoon of guacomole and a little bit of salse, and I eat too much too fast. I find that it's hard slowing down mushies as there's not a lot to chew. Anyway I was yappin too much to concentrate. So after I eat I felt VERY full, not stuck or in pain just stuffed...that was at 2.30pm and I stayed that full for the rest of the day!! No dinner!!

Today I'll see how I get on having VERY small amt for lunch ( I still do a Protein shake for breakfast) so that I can have dinner too. I've a lovely piece of fish stuffed with spinach & feta that I want to have!!

I hope you've found some nice Soups to keep you going thru the first stage....enjoy it...I found it very liberating not having to shop for or cook meals for myself. I was so easily satisfied. LOL!!!

My own shopping list for this week consisted of 2 cans of salmon 2 cans of tuna..2 baking potatoes, milk , some fish and salsa!! ( oh and of course my Green & black's 70% organic chocolate!!)

LOL talk about saving on the shopping!!

Also have a look out for mini milk ice pops...I found them handy to have when you get REALLY bored & just want to add SOMETHING to your diet, when you're on the Soup.

They're 1/2 WW point each or 55cals!!

I'm training myself to have these low fat "safe" treats now & then, a SQUARE of chocolate (as opposed to a bar) and a mini milk as opposed to a magnum... so I'm not doing my all or nothing behaviour diet habit again...that attitude always led me to BREAK out binging!!

Good luck to you...

BRENNERS, when you getting your port fixed again?

Lunasa, having you 2 weeks ahead of me is great!!! So I know already what to put on the shopping list for the mushies stage - eggs and tinned fish are doing the job for you!! I actually like both so I'm not complaining!

Actually I was watching "the f word" on channel 4 last night and Gordan Ramsey went and caught a giant crab and cooked it and it looked great. As a result I've been thinking about eating crab ever since - oh how my cravings have changed this week!!!!!

I did go and get soup as you recommended but they didn't have the chicken one you talked about in Super Value, I'll go back and check it again at the weekend. I am still on Actimel's today as it is only day 2 and I have no hunger at all but I am looking forward to some soup. I also bought Drink 10 in Tesco's and diluted a glass of that to get some Vitamins in - totally surprised myself as it actually tasted quite nice.

You are so right about the treats too, it is better to have the low cal options and treat yourself to 1 treat then keep away until your driven to a frenzy and want to have a binge. I'll check out the Milky Moos, not a chocolate fan so I'll pass on the Green & Black's but I'm sure that recommendation has helped the others looking in! My surgeon actually recommends that you have 2 treats if necessary in a week for exactly that reason that you don't go off on a binge because you think you are being deprived. I know in the future it will most likely be 2 large glass of the vino on a Saturday night for me! I'm a G&T drinker but the thoughts of having flat tonic does not appeal at all. How oirish am I - not able to give up the deamon drink!!!

well girls nice to see you all in bandland now :clap2:

brennars sorry about port just think though this only a bend in the road you still on journey...you will get there in the end :huggie:

well im not doing well with diet or excercise but im going to put big effort in as im now 39lb down (dispite me)and starting to see some curves and everyone complimenting me ......and i love it !!!!!!!!!

i would love to meet up with fellow banders i will private message it but need a fill as i can eat like a horse compared to you newly banded peeps but like a bird compared to my mates :scales:

Wow Nikki...39 lbs!!! That's great...when were you banded?

Hi allure...

The demon drink!! I know what that's likde, sure every social arena we face involves drink!!

I go MAD on the wine...It's my loopy juice.

I've onky drank twice since Mar 28th.. I drank Gin & Cran once (yeuk) and Guinness the other time...not too bad. I don't like the thoughts of drinkin any more than 4 now, as that's the point where I start to feel hungry or am in danger of a hangover.

Hangover always meant a day od BAD eating for me...I'd be mad for crisps!!

Well this must be a first - I managed to go out an celebrate my birthday with out a slap up meal and all the drinks that usually go along with this! I am in the mushies stage so I ended up ordering a "baby bowel" which consisted of mash and gravy, followed by a pot ot tea an hour and a half later!!!! Happy Birthday to me! It just goes to show though that you can have fun without having to resort back to my bad old ways of overindulging.

The band really has helped inintially in changing my emphasis on the importance of food. I am always the first when anyone has been out for a meal to ask "So what did you eat?", which from my skinny friends the response usually is - "I don't remember"!! Geez, I can remeber what I had for a meal I had out 6 years ago!!! I just thought that it was funny when I was out yesterday that I didn't really take notice as much as usual of what everyone was eating and I wasn't even tempted by the hot fudge cake the 3 girls around me were eating!!! Can't explain this one!!

Just wondering is this a long term condidtion I am going to suffer from???!!!

hi how are you my name is triona, i had a consultation yesterday at acs and i am on two minds to what to do.has this changed your life .please advise as it would be great to hear from someone who got it done .i would really appreciate it thanks

hi how are you my name is triona, i had a consultation yesterday at acs and i am on two minds to what to do.has this changed your life .please advise as it would be great to hear from someone who got it done .i would really appreciate it thanks

Hi Triona!!

How did you feel after your consultation? What are your doubts?

I will try & help you think it through.

I can say that I have no regrets at all and am very happy with the decision I have made to have the band done. I went with healthier weight centre in th UK & was banded 16/ april.

I'm doing very well, learning a lot.

I am still on mushie foods til next week, but am counting WW points as well to get into an eating routine & to record my intake.

So far it is great...My WW allowance would be 25points. Pre band I would strugle with this, trying to get the MOST for my points and still feeling deprived but I find now that getting 18 points in at all is actually a BIG eating day these days...it's fantastic.

I still have a bit of chocolate now & then but my sweet tooth is not the problem my savoury one was. I was a crisps FREAK!! and I was also a binger..The band is REALLY helping me be consistent in staying on track SO much more freely than EVER before. I haven't had a bad day really since April 6th...that's amazing.

I still have a few drinks too, I drink Guinness and find that a good choice for me.

What I am learning & want to learn most of all is how to live my life without all or nothing behaviour & learn how to balance my attitude by watching my intake as well as making room to eat out & socialise.

Before I would always turn into a hermit when dieting & make it utterly depressing & impossible for me to attend any social gathering without feeling like I couldn't cope & being miserable that I was counting points while everyone else just had their night out.

I would then go over my points limit & freak out & actually be angry that "ONE NIGHT" could cause the rest of my deprived week to be in vain.

I also had no patience, which is another thing I have to learn. I am finding myself much more relaxed in my approach right now.

My ticker below says I've lost 24lbs..I reached that target 2 weeks ago just before moving on from the liquid stage and I gained 3.5lbs back the next week.

In my previous experience this would normally be enough to drive me up the wall & throw the towel in but amazingly I was able to face it & accept it (as I had prepared myself to LEARN from my past struggles)

This week that regain is down 1lb (I wouldn't have been happy with this either) but again, I am dealing with it and will continue to focus on the other 2.5lbs until I am back down to my original first goal.

Then I will focus on my second goal of -22lbs. I plan to have this off by Mid September...I have never given myself so much time & room to loose weight...

I hope this show's you why the band has made such a hugh difference in my life. I think of it more as a tool to help me get away from all the negativity & frustration I have gathered over the years throught dieting, and to free me from the mental anguish of YOYO-ing & what it done to my self esteem.

The most positive thing for me is the change in my approach, confidence, conviction, belief that I can loose this weight again & it has REALLY helped to quench the fear of loosing weight only to regain it again.

the band helps force you to be consistent so that you CAN learn & develop new positive behaviour, that will become GREAT habits to have

May I suggest an EXCELLENT book, get it on amazon..it's called THIN FOR LIFE by Anne Fletcher..and it documents & profiles YOYO dieters who FINALLY overcame their YOYO issues & how they managed & maintain their weight.

Hello ladies, I hope everyone is doing well.

I have been doing very well with having fairly substantial restriction over the last 3 weeks since being banded, however this weekend has been such a challenge.

Friday evening I went out to a Birthday parthy that had a running buffet. Now I am usually one of the first up in the line at one of these but managed to hold off until everyone else had gone up, thinking that there wouldn't be much food left to choose from! How wrong I was, sure there was still enough left to feed an army. I managed to just put a deviled egg and a scoop of fresk salmon on the plate and I scoffed it all. The rest of the night I was tormented by the thoughts of one bite of the lovely Birthday cake. I managed not to fold and satisfied my cravings with a couple of salty peanuts instead - the nicest I've ever tasted!!! But still sat for the whole night sipping on a glass of Water and thinking of all the food calling me from the buffet!! Couldn't wait to go asleep that night and stop thinking of food!

Saturday night I went out for a meal with the fella to the Chinease and actually managed a heallhy enough meal opting to share the shredded meat in lettuce to start, followed by King Prawn in garlicand soy. Totally not what I would ever have gone for but surprised myself with how nice and tasty they were. The other big challenge was the dreaded drink! I have been the designated driver now for a full 3 week and gave in to the call of a lovely big glass of red wine, followed by another and yes another!! How nice they were after all that abstinence!

Sunday was yet again another challenging food day, when I was around for a family meal in my brother's house and had to try and avoid nearly everything nice on offer as it was far from healthy. I did manage to eat some meat for the first time which I chewed and chewed and chewed for fear that it wouldn't go down and the family would notice (I haven't told anyone about the banding except the fella)! Got away with it but couldn't really eat much more which was swiftly commented on since I was always the one to pile the food on the plate, eat it the quickest and fill it again with seconds!!!

So my big problem now is after being exposed to all these lovely food temptations over the weekend I think I am head hungry. I just can't stop thinking about food. I am writing this all down to distract myself because all I want to go do is go down and chow through the contents of my fridge like I use to when I was bored, tired, sad...you get the picture!!!

Just wondering if any of the rest of you are going through this? I got the book Lunasa recommended, Thin for Life and I keep turning to this when I am tempted to go overindulge but I'm still finding it increasingly difficult. Anybody out there got some words of wisdom?