Hey all.

So there's a bunch of us in this group, all split up into our different banding days. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have one master thread as we move through the month, in which all of us could post as we go, from the pioneers going on March 1st to the finalists on March 31st.

I'd love to talk about our anticipation and any worries as we approach our banding date, for people to talk about exactly what happened from the moment they walked into the hospital door until the second they walked out, about how recovery is going, about weight loss and plateaus, about non-scale victories and challenges.

I was thinking that if we all contribute to one thread, it'll form a more substantial channel for information and support. At the moment, I was thinking that we might be too spread out into individual date, and that a central thread would be a really good backbone for the group, in addition to the date-specific threads.

What do you think?

Fenton

Oh, I am SUCH a hardcore ice cream and chocolate junkie, to the extent that when I was writing more about food, I'd always get assigned the ice cream or chocolate stories! Luckily, I'm a chocolate snob, and am not too seduced by most chocolate bars in the US. Unluckily, I live in NYC, where I can get access to decent English chocolate bars as well as to all the different artisanal chocolate makers. Plus I'm a friend to many pastry chefs, and if I go out to eat, Desserts arrive unbidden.

And at one level it's great, but at another - aaarggghhh!

But I limit the damage to the occasional restaurant meal (now probably about once or twice a week, whereas before I was out every day), and the occasional chocolate bar, which I cut in half and make last two days, so I don't feel deprived, but it's not the end of the world diet-wise.

Also, I eat dinner early in the evening, so I'll still be active for a while afterwards, hopefully burnin' up the damnable calories!

You guys are really onto something re: people's perceptions of weight. There were a number of people who told me I didn't need to go to such extreme as WLS and that I only needed to lose a FEW lbs. When I told them I was 100lbs overweight they nearly fell over. They said maybe 30 -- no more than 40. Now everyone sees a big difference but they can also see that I'm still overweight so now I guess they believe me.

Fenton--you are a chocolate connoisseur!!!! I am chocolate junkie!!!! I'll eat anything and everything chocolate! I'd eat a chocolate ANT! I'd eat a paper bag if it had a picture of a cheap chocolate candy bar on it! Now that's a JUNKIE!!

Haha! Yes, perhaps you're right.

But still: chocolate and ice cream are the rocks on which many bandsters have foundered. Let US not make that mistake!

(By "US" here, I mean, you, me, all of us. Not, like, "The United States".)

after mt last post I went to the grocery store, And I actually put in 3 muskater bars and twix bars in my cart :biggrin:

Before check-out I did remove them and felt good I used my brain and not my stomach to make the choice. But yes, I did resupply my ice cream favorites, along with my fresh fruit. :frown: :thumbup:

So my mind set is still improving, and I know it will continue.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! LYNN!!! Good for you that you put it back!! Attagirl! Step AWAY from the chocolate bars!!!! You're right Fenton---"Us" tend to have a big problem with chocolate and ice cream (especially chocolate ice cream). I also suspect that the U.S. also has a big problem with it. When you were talking a while ago about eating that 1/2 of Mars bar 1 day and the other half the next day -- I was thinking ---OMG! If that were me -- it would have been half 1 second and the other half the next second. That is why I resolved not to bring any into my house. And, for some very odd reason that I don't really understand, I have actually stuck to that since Dec 28, 2007. If I bite into that stuff I'll be a goner for sure.

That's great! Both Lynn for her course correction, and Penny for refusing all temptation.

Actually, a few days ago I astonished myself by having half a Mars bar one day, then putting it in the cupboard to have the other half the next day. But I forgot I had it! And didn't end up eating the second half until two days later.

It's an odd one, but it really is a first for me.

So I got a new scale. A nice digital one with big numbers. Small problem. The weight it displays is a bit higher then my old scale. About 4lbs. I'm going to leave my ticker where it is and wait it out until I drop below its current level.

I see my Dr today. I don't know if I will get another fill. I'm losing fine and most days I reach the point of satiety. I would have canceled the appointment but I want to touch base with the Dr.. Plus I'm fearful that next week I will lose this restriction and start feeling hungry and then not be able to see the Dr for 6 weeks.

So Jonathan if you were going to splurge on chocolate what would you get? I can resist most chocolates but I enjoy a good bit of dark/bittersweet chocolate. Lately its been Scharffen Berger. Im lovin the Roasted Cacao Nibs.

Have I turned into a snob or something ? Everywhere I go I now notice all the over weight people and think " Oh my god that person needs lap band." I feel I should tell them about the lap band and how it's helping me .I wasn't like that before and I don't like it . I guess it's just because I now know how unhealthly and unhappy I was before I started to lose weight and now I want to help everyone else . I feel like one of "those people " that knock at you door and want to convert you to their religion and won't go away until you close the door in their face .

That interscale variability is a pain in the ass! I weigh myself at my office, and refuse to allow them to weigh me at the doctor's office - I just tell them my current scale weight and they accept it. Which is reasonable, since the scales at work are verified and certified every year or so.

chocolate splurges? The Mars bar is a standby favourite - I have one a week, probably. I love the chocolate bread pudding that the Dessert TRuck serves (it's a small truck that appears five or six nights a week on a couple of busy Greenwich Village corners, serving a small selection of high end Desserts to go). If I were buying chocolate assortments, I'd go with Larry Burdick chocolates, from Walpole NH (Burdick Chocolate - gourmet handmade confections; artisanal and world class quality) - great flavours, perfect packaging, too expensive and inconvenient to get your hands on other than as a gift (unless, of course, you live in the Boston area, where they have cafe-boutiques!). For individual chocolates, I like the Michel Cluizel dark chocolate salted caramels that they serve at the Dessert Bar at ABC Carpet in NYC, and the ginger truffles at la Maison du Chocolat.

Ha, Cathy. I've managed to really irritate my brother by evangelizing for the lap band.

For individual chocolates, I like the Michel Cluizel dark chocolate salted caramels that they serve at the Dessert Bar at ABC Carpet in NYC, and the ginger truffles at la Maison du Chocolat.

Oh, my! Fenton, now you're talking sexy! I want to taste these so badly!! So, short of living in NYC to get these, I guess we'll just have to bribe you to buy 'em and send 'em?

And MsCathy, I feel the same way about wanting to tell people there is hope if they'd just consider surgery. But I think we all have to come around to these things for ourselves. However, if someone asks me, I'm happy to tell them honestly how I'm doing this.

I'm currently at a standstill with my weight loss, but I know it's gotta be temporary... just gotta keep making good choices and moving more.

I do the same thing -- especially when I'm sitting at the Mall with my cup of coffee while a ton of people (literally!!!) are swarming around me with HUGE plates of food spilling in all directions --- for LUNCH. But – like all of you---I’m not feeling judgmental of them. I’m just thinking – “THAT is exactly what I did---that is how much I ate---and more”. I think I do it because I’m just finally able to really see and reflect on just how much unnecessary eating I did. At the time – I really did think that I ate pretty much what I needed to eat to be healthy. Now I’m noticing others and I can really deeply appreciate that I was WAY overboard. I began realizing this over the last three years whenever I went to Rwanda. I didn’t feel that I was eating very much but Rwandans were eating far - far less than me. And sometimes I would talk with someone who glanced at the leftover food that some Americans left behind and they would almost start to cry because they knew that a whole family could be fed on what the Americans were throwing away. I also became very conscious of how scarce water is. I have never been able to look at food or water the same way. I do think that was the beginning of my shifting awareness of how out of control I was. I was embarrassed. Now I do wish I could just hug every overweight person around me and help them see what they are doing---and what we Americans are all doing to ourselves.

I find myself watching all the kids and worrying about the lives and problems they will have as they grow up. You just see so many kids eating unhealthy and spending so much time inside with video games and TV. But I think so much more is how our society has changed - everything is about how much we can get and how much money a business can make.

You hear talk of the crisis with kids being overweight, but I am not sure what is being done to change that. Even in schools, things like gym and recess get cut and the lunch programs are scary.

Personally, I am at a standstill with weightloss these past few weeks. I have been thinking about trying out a small fill finally. But I haven't really been eating much differently, so I am not sure if that is really what I need. Although, it might be good to actually start giving the band a real try!

For some reason, I am craving chocolate for Breakfast.

I also want to tell all the fat people they need the lapband. So far I have only pushed my one friend into doing it because she is a diabetic and so unhealthy. I didn't have to push her too hard, she should be having her surgery in August sometime.

I'm back to not losing weight again that is so irritating to me. I even gained some back since the doctor took me off my high blood pressure pills that had a Water pill in it. My feet are swelled now. I might have to ask him to give me a water pill again.

I'm glad you guys feel that way too because my friend gets irritated with me about it . I'm not looking down on them I just wonder if they know there is help out there if they want it . But you're right it's something they have to work out for themselfs .