Hi guys:

I was banded on august 13. I've been on liquids for the most part but yesterday my friend made me some slamming Soup and it had baby carrots, celery, cilantro, tomatoes for color and some chicken broth and dark meat chicken.

I have to admit I had a piece of that chicken. and today I had a hand full of raisinettes. I am not finding myself hungry but being that the past two days I am picking at stuff (including guacomole, yesterday as well), I am a bit depressed today. My band is not filled. I have not made an appointment but I will on Monday when I go to NYU for my esoph exam.

I sort of feel scared and i sort of feel like I am going to fail at this since I have been picking. No excuses. I just tested the waters and I feel bad about it. I didn't go over board but a hand full of raisins here, some chicken there..... you know what I mean?

How are you guys doing? Anyone experiencing the same thing?

Good post, Karri!

I hear you completely. I was noticing last night how my entire perspective has shifted since surgery. My friend and I went to a casino buffet last night (totally sinful night of money burning and eating), and I ate a LOT less than I would have before. I still pushed the envelope (and had a few PB's to pay for it), but I would come back to the table with HUGE parts of those giant plates sitting empty, and I'd take a bite then leave the rest on the plate after realizing it just wouldn't go down well because it was dry or stringy, or because it just didn't taste good enough to finish. Before surgery, I would have loaded those giant 14" diameter plates with food, ate every bite, adn gone back several times! Now, I did have a couple different desserts, so I was far from on-track, but what an improvement over my pre-op behavior!

I was also a major grazer. There was always something to nibble on all day at work, in front of the tv or in the car. If I had a bag of chips around, I'd often eat most if not all of the bag! I also never had just one cookie or dessert - usually wound up being multiple servings. Meals were too big too - I'd fill a dinner plate and go back for seconds.

Now, I eat off small plates and rarely fill them, or use small bowls. I figured out that I still want to graze, so I try to keep those trigger foods out of the house entirely.

Thing is, those old habits are sneaking back in, and I'm pretty sure that's why my weight loss has slowed down a lot since the holidays. I'm also finding the head hunger kicking in again and I'm having a harder time differentiating between head hunger and true hunger. I guess the honeymoon period is over, eh? Now the real work begins!

I need to keep the cheezits and sunflower seeds out of the house, and stay away from the work treats. I need to keep the potatoes, bread and other refined carbs entirely out of my diet, and it has to start now!

Anyone else see the old habits sneaking back in? What are you doing to get reinspired?

OMG OMG OMG OMG! I AM OVERWEIGHT! So it would take a morbidly obese person to understand how excited I am to only be overweight. I just fixed my ticker and noticed that my BMI is below 30, so I went to check to see where that fell on the table and OMG! I AM OVERWEIGHT! :eek::biggrin:

Maybe I went a little overboard but I won't ever be at the tipping point between obese and overweight again, so I had to celebrate!

Yay you!!!!! I dream of being overweight someday! You got me thinking so I checked the chart myself just now, and I have JUST moved into "obese" - not morbidly obese (where I started), not severely obese (where I was till this week), but just, plain, vanilla obese! It will be a few months till I get to overweight, but it sounds like a nice interim goal :-)

Congratulations Karri!!

LOl congrats on being obese

Weigh to Go Salsa!! That is exciting news. I'd been thinking about that milestone recently too. I need to figure out when I'll be just plain old overweight. I can't wait to join you.

Had my VERY first PBing episode last night! And, let me tell you....I DO NOT want to ever do that again!!!! OMG....it was absolutely awful! Thank God I was in my own home! I did not even make it from the dining room table to the kitchen sink! And, I scared my daughter half to death! I made steak salad....the steak was very tender, I sliced it VERY thin and did my usual chop-chop with my scissors (that's how I cut up my salads to get them into manageable pieces). I had not overeaten....I was just on my 3rd or 4th bite. And, whoa....the pain, the pressure---it was AWFUL! My natural instinct was to take a sip of water. But, of course, that started the whole PBing.....! Oh my! Nasty! Nasty! For me, that PBing episode is definitely an apetite suppressant!!! I can't imagine how anyone has been able to withstand those episodes more than once!

So, now I can say....yes, I had a PB and lived to talk about it.....!

ouch! you poor thing! I'm SO glad I haven't had that happen yet. I've gotten some moments of being good and stuck, but I sit back till it passes. So far, it's been just a matter of a minute or two, but it sucks!

I did get some lovely liquid burps the other night so I suppose those would count, but it was my own fault for having tea after eating.

Glad to hear you survived it!

You guys are doing so great! I'm a creeper but here I come!

Wow, you just had your first PB? Mine started right after my 2nd fill on 12/18. The funny thing is I can eat brown rice one day or one week but the next day or week, after just 2 bites, I will PB. I still can't eat grits , eggs or oatmeal at all which was my favorite breakfast. I'm trying to get smarter and head it off. Things will start rolling around in my stomach and crazy me will eat yet another bite and bam......PB episode. But once I PB my entire appetite diminishes. I'm thinking I still don't need a fill since I still have restriction. My worst time is also evenings when I can eat more. I have to try to me so careful. I did come up with a few pennies and restocked some good snack low cal foods as the problem was I was eating what my DH or DS bought in. Now, I have to just keep them from eating my stuff up.............disgusting , they'll eat everything in the house if you don't tie it down....LOL.

rumar I am the same way. I can eat something fine and then the next day i will PB. I even drank tea too fast once and it came back. My husband just keeps reminding me to chew better which I think is the main problem with me. I don't eat any more bread, pasta or rice because those are asking for trouble. I think that I just stop being aware of my band and swallow a bite that is too big.... at least that seems to be the pattern.

pigsrflying, your loss is probably slower because you have less to lose than some of us (you're about 20 lbs lighter than I am). That can make a BIG difference! You'll get there!

By the way, do you have another nickname so we don't have to call you "pigs?" :-)

I'm still battling a bit of snack mania (extra portions at night, etc). I think I need my head adjusted or something. Argh! I'm going to clear out anything I can play with and make into an inappropriate snack, so I can't sabotage myself. One advantage to living alone is that you can decide exactly what food gets into the house!

Question. With it seeming to be a common problem with most can eat more in the evenings, has any one ever tried or also doing (admittedly) any of the "so called" safe appetite suppresants? Has anyone also tried or thought about trying the new drug ALLI (Sp)? Since my fat intake is definitely restricted I was curious about that allowing you to lose I think 25% more weight. I try to stay away from all medicines or drugs if I can help it but I was just curious.

Good post, Karri!

I hear you completely. I was noticing last night how my entire perspective has shifted since surgery. My friend and I went to a casino buffet last night (totally sinful night of money burning and eating), and I ate a LOT less than I would have before. I still pushed the envelope (and had a few PB's to pay for it), but I would come back to the table with HUGE parts of those giant plates sitting empty, and I'd take a bite then leave the rest on the plate after realizing it just wouldn't go down well because it was dry or stringy, or because it just didn't taste good enough to finish. Before surgery, I would have loaded those giant 14" diameter plates with food, ate every bite, adn gone back several times! Now, I did have a couple different desserts, so I was far from on-track, but what an improvement over my pre-op behavior!

I was also a major grazer. There was always something to nibble on all day at work, in front of the tv or in the car. If I had a bag of chips around, I'd often eat most if not all of the bag! I also never had just one cookie or dessert - usually wound up being multiple servings. Meals were too big too - I'd fill a dinner plate and go back for seconds.

Now, I eat off small plates and rarely fill them, or use small bowls. I figured out that I still want to graze, so I try to keep those trigger foods out of the house entirely.

Thing is, those old habits are sneaking back in, and I'm pretty sure that's why my weight loss has slowed down a lot since the holidays. I'm also finding the head hunger kicking in again and I'm having a harder time differentiating between head hunger and true hunger. I guess the honeymoon period is over, eh? Now the real work begins!

I need to keep the cheezits and sunflower seeds out of the house, and stay away from the work treats. I need to keep the potatoes, bread and other refined carbs entirely out of my diet, and it has to start now!

Anyone else see the old habits sneaking back in? What are you doing to get reinspired?

Yes! I am finding it hard to stick to proper diet. I am a carb addict.

Brickfish: In loving memory of Baby (submitted for "I Deserve $1,000 Because" Video Essay Contest)

You are all doing so well! I am feeling like I'm a little behind. I'm only down 55 pounds. I feel like I am about 10-15 pounds behind the game!!!!

want2beme, I dont' think you are behind the game at all, your starting weight was low. You are doing awesome!