A Cast of Thousands

Last night DW went to her EMT/ambulance driver course from 4:00 - 9:00pm. With my staples in and feeling lightheaded for most of the day, I wasn't up to riding herd on our two boys, "3-2B" and "lucky number seven", and our girl, "the feisty fiver". No worries - we farmed out "Lucky" and "Feisty" to friends from 16:00 to 18:00, and one of "3"'s day care aides volunteered to come over the house and keep him entertained. At 18:00 all boats came home to port, and then a friend came over and helped me through dinner, baths, pajamas, books and bed. Not half as bad as I had feared; I apologized to DW for kind of hinting to her that she should stay home, what with "me being only four days from an operation". Wanting to be treated special is definitely another binge trigger for me - something to be aware of and to work on.

35 Pinches

Staples came out at the clinic: 35 little pinches, in and out of there in fifteen minutes. I kept the staples and the disposable scissors to show the kids, who were duly impressed. On the way out of the clinic, the head nurse, who has weight issues of her own, threw me a wink and said, sotto voce, "just remember, honey, they operated on your stomach, not your head". What great advice, exactly along my lines of thinking. There are lots of tough decisions to make in the future, new ways of thinking and acting to be developed. I'm just counting on the lap-band to level the playing field, and make it easier for me to make the right moves.

Planning on Puree

From tomorrow on, I'm on mushies: mostly dairy products, cooked vegetables and purees for a week. I lost 16 pounds on the liquid diet. Are the rest of you also moving on from liquids? What are you all eating out there?

Rededicating the Temple

In a few weeks, Jews will celebrate the holiday of Chanuka, in which the desecrated Temple in Jerusalem was cleansed and rededicated. Before I put that first forkful of pureed carrots in my mouth tomorrow morning, I want to rededicate my own temple, which has been renewed, and cleansed for a week now, after years and years of abuse. May I use it as it was intended: to provide me with strength, nourishment, health and pleasure; not as a black hole for fear, insecurity, anger and depression.

Great post! Welcome to our club. :clap2: Glad all went well during your banding. I had the internal dissolving stitches so no worries about staples. When is your first fill? I'm currently in "Bander's Hell" waiting for my first fill 12/05/07. This is when there really isn't any restriction and I'm well enough to start getting an appetite. This is where the willpower and drive you mentioned takes over until the band does its thing.

Take care.

Wonderful post! I know I'm in the November bandster's area, but I read this and I had to tell you how refreshing it was to read that!

Welcome to bandland! (*dissappearing back into lurkdom now*)

Glad you are doing well Bandpal. My incisions were superglued, so I didn't have to have anything removed. Staples sound like they would hurt!

I like your description of the redeication of the temple. I think you are on the right track. I keep trying to think of eating now as giving little healthy gifts to my body, rather than drowning it in thoughtless junk. I have noticed such a difference in how I feeeeel inside, now that ingestion of food is not my primary concern. I am actually taking time to taste and feel what's in my mouth and heading down the hatch. It's a very "in the moment" experience.

Dear Kandiceb, travelgirl and foofy, thank you all for your warm replies.

- Kandiceb, save a place for me in Banders Hell. I got an fill appointment for January 1, 2008. I'm going to talk to my surgeon's office and see if they can move it up. Anyway, time to practice what I preach...

-travelgirl, glad I refreshed you - don't be a lurker!

-Foofy, glad the rededication thing resonated with you. I said a short prayer before my first meal today, something I don't ordinarily do. It's amazing how little it took to fill me up. Later today, I dropped in at work for a staff meeting and had no desire to snack at whatever was on the table, and didn't always ask my self "d-mn, when are they going to stop talking so we can eat lunch!." It was a very different connsciousness for me, my focus and concentration were much improved, and I really enjoyed that.

Take care, everyone!

Bandpal,

My cousin had her lapband eight years ago in Tel Aviv. She's a size 4 now! She's also short.

I'm 3 weeks out. I have made lost of chicken soup with vegetables and I also put hummus on the chicken to wet it a little bit. I also eat scrambled eggs in the morning with cheese.

Well,to celebrate Chanukkah we are hosting a Chanukkah Caribbean Party for my 5 year old son. I'm from the Caribbean.

Why do you have staples? I didn't have that.

Anyway, Chanukkah Sameach, don't eat any levivot(doughnuts) ,they can get stuck!

Good luck!

Bandpal,

You'll be a little hungrier later,don't move the fill date.

Jelbel,

Mmmmmm hummus. It is saving my life these last few weeks. I lick a spoonful like a lollipop. It takes me about 10 minutes and I have that fabulous garlicky-oily taste and texture in my mouth for a long long time. Very satisfying. I am probably knocking everyone onver with my garlic breath, but they are too kind to say so.

I love your posts, Bandpal. Thank you for sharing your journey. You have some great insights.

Now...I've heard of hummus (movies, seen it on store shelves), but what EXACTLY is it? Like what is in a can of that stuff. Do you cook it, or what? I LOVE garlic, but I'm nervous about trying new things.

I love your posts, Bandpal. Thank you for sharing your journey. You have some great insights.

Now...I've heard of hummus (movies, seen it on store shelves), but what EXACTLY is it? Like what is in a can of that stuff. Do you cook it, or what? I LOVE garlic, but I'm nervous about trying new things.

Hummus is a kind of bean dip made with chick peas. It's a light yellow/ivory color and very smooth. "Plain" hummus usually has some lemon juice added but you can add other flavors as well. My former son-in-law is from Lebanon and he introduced us to it and it's yummy (and I'm a picky eater!) You can make it yourself (lots of recipes out there) or find it premade at any grocery store these days.

Foofy,

I wanted to take hummus to school (I teach ESL), but I'm not sure about the garlic breath. I do have a toothbrush and toothpaste in my desk drawer hmm!!

I am eating the home made kind without tahinni,because otherwise it would be too many calories.

Jelbel,

I say go for it. Ask someone if your breath is overpowering and use a breathmin if they say yes! I don't worry about the tahini, because I am eating such a small amount. I'd rather have a little bit of something scrumptious, than a lot of something that is mediocre. (Not saying that your homemade hummus isn't delicious....)

Steph CN,

Come on gal, buya small container (fresh from the health food store is best) and expand those horizons!!! Be brave. Your tongue will thank you.

Steph CN,

Come on gal, buya small container (fresh from the health food store is best) and expand those horizons!!! Be brave. Your tongue will thank you.

I'll consider it. LOL Probably on my next days off which'll be Monday/Tuesday. Now I have to find a health food store. Um. Would fresh hummus like that be in produce, then? Because our Vitamin Cottage has fresh organic produce. I could check there. Do you cook it or eat it raw? Do you eat it with something?

Here's my favorite recipe for hummus

Hummus bi Tahina

(Chickpea and Sesame Dip)

• 125 g (4 oz) chickpeas, soaked for a few hours
  
• juice of 2 lemons
  
• 3 Tbs. tahina
  
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• salt

GARNISH

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
  
• 1 tsp. paprika
  
• a few sprigs of parsley, finely chopped

- Drain the chickpeas and simmer in fresh Water for about an hour or until tender. Reserve the cooking water.

- Process the chickpeas in a blender (or food processor) with the lemon juice, tahina, garlic, salt and enough of the cooking liquid to obtain a soft creamy consistency.

Serve on a flat plate, garnished with a dribble of olive oil, a dusting of paprika (this is usually done in the shape of a cross) and a little parsley. Serve with warm pita bread for dipping. Serves 4-6.

Now I've got a question. What's tahini?

Tahini or Tehina is a paste-like concentrate made from ground sesame seeds. Once bought, it is mixed with water until it acquires the desired consistency. Popular brands are Sabra, Tuv Taam or Pikante. Any store offering middle eastern goods will stock it. It is available in some health food stores as well.