I just found out my surgery will be in July (granted my pre-op testing goes okay) SOOOOOOOOO

Here's a thread for everyone getting banded in July 07!

Does anyone have any good ideas for a neat name we could call ourselves?

Hi Gang - just doing my morning catch up since i wasn't on the computer last night. Just want to share a NSV 3 miles in 1 hr last night. That's pretty good for a 52 fat couch potato who 2 wks ago could barely do 30 minutes :confused:

Good job! Exercise is essential to weight loss, I have discovered. Keep it up!

Hello All

So this is Bandster Hell.. No fun at all. As the saying goes "I could eat a sow and nine pigs and give the boar hog a good chase".:help:

But that being said I have been pretty good. My doctor wants all fish and chicken, a small amount of vegetables totaling 600 to 800 calories per day. I have been trying to maintain 600 calories on weekdays and 800 on the weekend. My actual daily calories range from 550 to 900 but the average is about 690.

I HAVE NO RESTRICTION.

The chicken salad has been a life saver. My typical meal is 4 oz of chicken salad or tuna salad and 1/2 cup of carrots or green beans.

GREEN BEANS - While my parents never consistently made me clean my plate (they talked the talk sometimes) there were a few vegetables I did not like (mainly the green ones) and when we would have them my mother would put two (as in two green beans) on my plate. I had to eat them before I finished my meal. I think it worked because I love all green vegetables now.

Forcing a child (or anyone else for that matter) to eat liver should be considered abuse!

This past weekend the hunger demons showed up like atomic demons from Hell. Sunday was really hard as it was too hot (103) to do anything outside. My (D?)W popped pop corn (the old movie kind cooked in butter flavored coconut oil) and smelled up the entire house. I did not touch one piece! Then later that night she munched on a large bag of ruffles. I did not touch one chip! I notice these habits more now.

My first fill is not until Sept 19th as my doctor was booked up. It is going to be a long hot month!

Kathy - I also have a loose BM every so often. After solid food I thought that would be over. Maybe it is just a matter of time.

Caolin - Congrats on the "under 300" weight. That is an intermediate goal of mine also. I bet it feels great and will only get better.

Bandster Hell aside, I do already feel better and have cut my blood pressure meds in half. I hope to eliminate them at that 300 mark.

Congrats to everyone who has gotten their first fill. I look forward to reading of your successes.

Congratulations Caolin! You'll never see it again!! Hourrah!

Chris45 - You're right, I too notice the habits of my spouse more now than ever! I found it interesting last night that he ate a Nutrisystem pizza then an hour later had a HUGE bowl of ice cream and cake! LOL! I remember reading an article a year or so ago that was titled "My Spouse Makes/Keeps Me Fat"....so true!

So...FIVE WEEKS out and I weigh 2 lbs. heavier than I did before the surgery?! I'm a little irritated, but I get my first fill tomorrow and, usuing advise from another thread, I'm goig to go full-on liquids for two days which might just jump start the jump start (if you know what I mean).

I'm glad this fill is happening during travel. This way I've been packing all day (gotta make sure I have underwear/diapers for all the kids) and not thinking about a big, horrendous needle sticking in my belly. I'll have plenty to do to keep my mind off of it!

I'm worried, however, that the day after the fill I have to drive about 7 hours to my parent's house....I usually snack on this drive to keep me awake and not bored. Hmm....what shall I do? Maybe I'll tune my iPod to ABBA and teach the kids a thing or two?

At the end of our little trip we'll be at the State Fair. Hmm...how to deal with Fair Food? I've never been to this particular fair, but I know the Cream Puff Lady will be there along with other not-so-good-for you food stands...maybe I'll just take my shakes with me and be boring?

With that said....I probably won't be on for a week, although everyone else has quicker internet so maybe I will....don't miss me too much!

Marcy, have a safe trip, and don't enjoy the fair food. It's a bunch of cr@p anyway.

Chris, welcome to banster hell. But sounds like you're managing it well. I know I'm not. I don't feel much different today than I did pre-op, so am having a difficult time being motivated right now. It will be different when I go back to work on Monday, as I've been on vacation last week and this week.

Took my son in today for a 3 hour EEG. That was not fun. Usually his EEGs are just 30 min or so, and he sleeps for part of it. Today he had to be awake and I had to keep him engaged so they could measure his seizure activity. My son suffers from absence seizures (blanks out for a few seconds), but has upwards of a few hundred a day. He usually has them when he's being asked questions, not when he's watching TV or playing video games. So although he was playing his gameboy at times during the test, I had to stop him and try to get him to read with me or do puzzles. Man did he fight that. He doesn't like those things at the best of times, let alone when he's hooked up to 22 electrodes monitoring his brain activity. Oh well, we did get through it and the technician thinks it was a good test to measure the activity during his seizures.

Then we took him to the other hospital in town to have his hearing equipment checked. He likes that, so it was a breeze. I still find it amazing that he was born totally deaf, and now that he has a cochlear implant, he can hear as low a 20 db across all frequencies. Thats close to normal hearing. Pretty amazing what technology can do.

So, that was my day.

I'm worried, however, that the day after the fill I have to drive about 7 hours to my parent's house....I usually snack on this drive to keep me awake and not bored. Hmm....what shall I do? Maybe I'll tune my iPod to ABBA and teach the kids a thing or two?

Hubby and I have done a few long road trips. On the most recent one we listened to an audio book for a good part of the journey. It was great and kept us from getting bored.

Good luck with your fill. Let us know all the gory details. This time I'll pay closer attention to your advice. :embarassed:

Marcy- have a good trip. Don't enjoy the fair food, they are not worth it. I agree with frustrated, audio books are a great way to keep engaged on the road.

Chris- welcome to Bandster's Hell! It sounds like you are doing good, so just hang there for the next month. Come here and vent when you can't take it anymore. That's what I do and let me tell you it really works!

Kathy- EEGs are not fun for anyone. I had seizures as a young child and still remember the torture. But they are needed, so off we go. Good thing they got a good reading today.

Now, I am off to my monthly game group. We ladies play games and eat, eat, eat. It's going to be a challenge, I am hungry. Last night I dreamed I had found old candy under the kitchen sink and was devouring it with a passion. What do you think that means?

So...FIVE WEEKS out and I weigh 2 lbs. heavier than I did before the surgery?! I'm a little irritated, but I get my first fill tomorrow and, usuing advise from another thread, I'm goig to go full-on liquids for two days which might just jump start the jump start (if you know what I mean). MY DOC REQUIRES THIS AFTER A FILL

I'm glad this fill is happening during travel. ) and not thinking about a big, horrendous needle sticking in my belly. I'll have plenty to do to keep my mind off of it! MY DOC NUMBS YOU 1ST - HOPE YOURS DOES - SO IF THEY DON'T GET IT THE 1ST TIME IT WON'T BE BAD.

after the fill I have to drive about 7 hours to my parent's house....I usually snack on this drive to keep me awake and not bored. Hmm....what shall I do? Maybe I'll tune my iPod to ABBA and teach the kids a thing or two? GOOD IDEA - BUT NO SNACKING - MY DOC ALLOWS SNACKING BUT ONLY HEALTHY (STING CHEESE) TAKE A COUPLE OF THOSE - BUT AFTER YOUR FILL YOU MOST LIKELY WON'T BE HUNGER OR ABLE TO EAT MUCH

At the end of our little trip we'll be at the State Fair. Hmm...how to deal with Fair Food? I've never been to this particular fair, but I know the Cream Puff Lady will be there along with other not-so-good-for you food stands...maybe I'll just take my shakes with me and be boring? - STAY AWAY FROM FAIR FOOD - TO HIGH IN FAT -SURGAR ETC..

With that said....I probably won't be on for a week, although everyone else has quicker internet so maybe I will....don't miss me too much! BE SAFE AND HAVE FUN - YA I KNOW TAKING THE EATING OUT OF THE EQUASION MAKES IT HARD :0)

Took my son in today for a 3 hour EEG.

Then we took him to the other hospital in town to have his hearing equipment checked. He likes that, so it was a breeze. I still find it amazing that he was born totally deaf, and now that he has a cochlear implant, he can hear as low a 20 db across all frequencies. Thats close to normal hearing. Pretty amazing what technology can do.

So, that was my day.

Kathy - You are an amazing woman !!!! If I remember correctly you chose your kids :clap2: I can only imagine the love that is in you to have choosen children with special needs. My hat is off to you

Good job! Exercise is essential to weight loss, I have discovered. Keep it up!

Thanks CeCe

I am pretty proud of myself if i do say so myself:)... I know that pre-banding i did over eat but not tons - But i was a TOTAL COUCH POTATO... If anything required walking - i wasn't doing it.. Just too hard - I love challenging myself now... Maybe one day i will do an ironwoman competition - ya right - but nice thought...

Kathy - You are an amazing woman !!!! If I remember correctly you chose your kids :clap2: I can only imagine the love that is in you to have choosen children with special needs. My hat is off to you

Thanks Indiogirl. I did choose my daughter, or at least Children's Aid chose her for us, and we said YES. My son is my biological child, but I would have chosen him in a heart beat. So thank you. Some days can be very emotionally draining, but then we just try to find the humor.

Here's one for everyone... I laughed for a good long time. I'll start by reminding everyone that my son is also intellectually challenged, so although he is 9, he's more like an innocent 6 year old.

The other day he came into my room to complain that "Dad keeps telling me to go pee. I don't want to go pee. He always say pee, pee, pee" So I said to him (I have to modify terms) "If you don't go pee, your pee pee will get broken". He looked at me funny and said "NO, it won't break. It get HARD". I laughed so long and hard, my sides split.

Kathy, OMG, ROTFLOL at the pee pee story. My DH told me last night that yesterday morning he went to change Hunter's pull up, and when he pulled them down, Hunter screamed, "Daddy, somethings wrong with my wingdinger, it's hard" (don't ask, but this is what he calls it) My DH burst out laughing and said he had to go pee pee. And he's only 3, so I can relate. I also like the answer you gave your DH about the bike!

Caolin, congrats on 299.

Chris, don't you just hate to sit and watch them eat all the junk food in front of you. Sometimes, it is empowering to say no to it though!!

jackie, thanks for the recipes. There's some great ones for fish, which I always have a hard time with, because I'm the only one who will eat it, but it will help me while making single portions.

Well, I didn't get my aerobics in today. I had a dr. appointment after wok, then I came home and baked about 5 dozen cookies for a bake sale tomorrow at work. Afte that, I made dinner, and finally sat down for the first time around 6pm. I'm so tired, and I still need a shower, so that's where i'm headed and then to bed.

I'll have to do double tomorrow, but that's ok. Have a great night everyone!!

All this talk about being "force fed" at dinner time growing up....I just saw the most hillarious commercial!! Baskin Robin's: Mom sitting at table eating with son, Dad says to son, "Eat all your peas or we're not going to Baskin Robin's for a treat." Dad turns around and mom grabs the plate and devours the peas!

It just made me think of our recent conversations....too funny...really, I'm laughing my a$$ off...hopefully, it won't grow back!

Thanks for the advise/encouragement!

jackie, thanks for the recipes. There's some great ones for fish, which I always have a hard time with, because I'm the only one who will eat it, but it will help me while making single portions.

Lynette- I found a couple that I think I might try also. I usually just bake my fish but I think after doing that so often I will become bored with it. I went to the library today and checked out low fat, low cholesterol, low carb and healthy recipe books. Found some that really look good in there too. I will share with everyone as I try them.

All this talk about being "force fed" at dinner time growing up....I just saw the most hillarious commercial!! Baskin Robin's: Mom sitting at table eating with son, Dad says to son, "Eat all your peas or we're not going to Baskin Robin's for a treat." Dad turns around and mom grabs the plate and devours the peas!

It just made me think of our recent conversations....too funny...really, I'm laughing my a$$ off...hopefully, it won't grow back!

Thanks for the advise/encouragement!

Marcy-You are hilarious. I haven't seen that comercial yet. Bet the famiy will say something if/when we see it though. The other night my son was eating a Dairy Queen blizzard. I asked him 'is it good?' and he told me yes. Then a little bit later he said 'mom stop watching me eat your making me feel guilty' LOL I didn't even know I was watching.

I agree that I notice alot of BAD food choices that the family makes. Thing is they are the same choices that I made pre banding. Makes me sad to think that I have 'helped' my kids make these terrible choices. My son complains alot now because I am cooking well balanced nutritious meals for everyone now. Oh course I am on puree or mushie but I figure there is no time like the present to start cooking that way for them. With the books that I got from the library today I told my daughter and my son to go through them and pick out a few recipes that they think sound good and we will try them too. I think maybe asking them to get involved in choosing the meals will help. Cross your fingers!!!