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

I’m finding, as others have before me, that the right amount of restriction is key to sticking to my diet. Although my band is fickle, so far, it isn’t really bad---tighter in the AM---looser in the eve---and tighter during times of stress. My usual diet is:

Breakfast – coffee with either an Atkins dark chocolate Protein drink or an Atkins morning Protein Bar or a small omelet.

Sometimes an AM snack of nuts or cheese or Atkins drink

lunch – Atkins drink if I didn’t have one before or about a 1/4 cup of meat or fish or egg salad with pickles or olives

Frequently a snack of nuts or cheese or sausage or deviled egg

dinner – Meat or fish with nice sauce and low carb veggie w/butter or sauce (usually about 1/2 – 2/3 of a cup total.

Evening snack -- If I’m being good - a few sugar-free freezer pops or Atkins chocolate caramel crisp bar or guacamole and pork rinds. If I’m being naughty – 100 calorie bag of kettle popcorn. If I’m being bad to the bone – a hot fudge sundae with coffee ice-cream!

I keep a mental list of restaurants that have nice selections of basically protein appetizers and small salads so that if someone ask me to go out to dinner – I know several places where I can go and still have fun. Often I’m very happy with half a plate of appetizer but I can always add a little Caesar salad to it and take the rest home.

My band has allowed me to do what was always impossible before. I find that good restriction really helps me stick to my low carb diet. When I occasionally stray – I don’t stray much or for long before I’m back on the wagon. If I exercised I know I would have lost more lbs and probably not had the stalls I've had. I keep telling myself that as soon as I finish PT I will get the lead out and lose faster. But for someone who is under 5 ft tall – I think I have been well served with the combo of the band and low carb. I have gone from a size 20 jean to a 10.

Edited November 15, 200817 yr by Desdemona

Wow, Desdemona! That's FANTASTIC weight loss!

I have to say that about the best I've ever felt was when I did Atkins. But I don't know if I'd like to do it again.

Today I tried chicken fingers that had been baked until slightly cripsy on the crust. It was pretty uncomfortable, and I ended up throwing out more than half the serving.

Hi Fenton!! You may want to check out a very recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The reference is

Shai,I. et. al.(2008). Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, mediterranean, or low-fat diet. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(3), 249-241.

This study is from a very prestigeous reserach group out of Harvard School of Public Health. It's a particularly well done study and is making major waves in the nutrition/health care research world. Make sure you check out the implications for heart health! And it's just not about the positive effects on the major heart health indicators--it's also arteries, insulin levels, liver functions etc. (There is even new research out implicating a relationship w/increased risks of cancers via hormone increases with higher carb intake). I'm sure you have access to online Medline journals but if you need me to email you a copy of the article --let me know. There is just no question anymore about what makes us fat and what we should be eating to lose weight and get our hormones working properly. Stick with this (even a moderate form of it) and the weight will come pouring off. You'll also feel great. It's REALLY good to have you back Fenton!

Edited November 15, 200817 yr by Desdemona

Here's two examples of the Michelina brand frozen entree I try for my lunch:

Nutrition Facts

for Lean Gourmet ~ Beef Pepper Steak and Rice

Serving Size: 1 package

Amount Per ServingCalories270Total Fat4g Saturated Fat1g Trans Fat0gCholesterol10mgSodium700mgCarbohydrate47g Dietary Fiber2g Sugars3gProtein11gVitamin A 4%Vitamin C 20%Calcium 4%Iron 8%

------------------------------------------------------

Nutrition Facts

for Lean Gourmet ~ chicken Alredo Florentine

Serving Size: 1 package

Amount Per ServingCalories250Total Fat7g Saturated Fat3.5g Trans Fat0gCholesterol40mgSodium690mgCarbohydrate34g Dietary Fiber2g Sugars3gProtein12gVitamin A 10%Vitamin C 0%Calcium 8%Iron 10%

Some have higher fat than others but again, I'm only eating about 300 calories total to get 12g Protein and its satisfying to me and quick, which counts for alot for me.

Fenton, sorry if I came across wrong. It was early...hence all the typo's and I guess a bit of snippy-ness.

Christine

Oh, Christine! I wasn't offended at all, just not sure where you were going with that.

D - I"m well aware of the benefits of Atkins. It's just that I don't know whether or not I can take that approach at the level of taste. I do think that the post-banding diet is fairly skewed towards Protein anyway, and try to avoid carbs, and I suspect that the level of intake is such that we're often ketotic (although the ketosis isn't as marked as in Atkins).

I just don't want to be back there with the eggs/sausage/cheese thing again.

I'm definitely going to go to the stoah and check out some of the frozen dinners.

After my huge meal on Friday I didn't eat for almost 24 hours. Yesterday I had:

1 Isopure Protein Drink

3 oz of chicken with a little chipotle mayonnaise

1 Trader Joe's marinated fish taco

1/2 Isopure protein drink

I'm not sure that I got enough protein. Probably - 40 g for each Isopure drink. I'll try to get to journaling.

I was pleased, btw, to see that Ronda and others are eating fruit.

I heart fruit, and for some reason felt that I'd heard it could be difficult with the band. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention...

Wow Fenton, sounds like you are back on track. Having a motivating factor always helps.

I am meeting with a couple of women who I met on the Local BB, one who has been banded about 3 months, the other will be banded next week. It would be great to know some real life people going through this experience. One lives in my town, so maybe we could even get together for walks or excersize.

Ate some steak last night and did not think there was any problem, but I guess I must have been stuck, because I still don't feel right and have been on warm liquids all day.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

BTW, DH had his biopsy on Friday....it was just a lipoma and they are just going to watch it. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Christine

I am sorry things are so stressful for so many. I am thankful that my stress is only from being busy with so much kid stuff. But aside from the mounting piles of laundry, I enjoy it all.

I don't think I will write about my daily food intake or choices. It might not go over very well. I will just say that it is more than most and I still enjoy eating things that I want. But I have found a balance of being able to do that without over indulging as I had done in the past. And I am still the same 10-15 pounds from goal, so it is still going OK.

I am still fighting with low Iron and some other little things. I think I thought so many things would just get better right away with weight loss. But it is so much easier to find clothes!

:smile2: OMG!!!! I really need to get something off of my chest... so pardon my rant but here it goes!!!!

I have posted before about my skinny a** DH and the donut thing!!! Well, today he took the kids to school and came home with donuts. Not just for him, like I have repeatedly asked him to do time and time again. I do not care nor can I control what junk he puts in his pie hole, I will never have the metabolism like his... absolutely unbelievable eat sleep eat sleep he should weigh 500 pounds!!!! So, today he brings me 3 big donuts (rolls) from the bakery!!!! Does he not get it?? Does he not care??? Does he not think just the money alone spent on this surgery and gym membership should be wasted... never mind the lack of emotional support. I can't stand it some days, and this is one of those mornings!!!!

He actually put the damn things on a plate on the counter, and told me he picked out my favorites. (yes, they are all my favorites) Well, after ignoring them for the past hour, I got up enough nerve to put them back into the bag and weigh myself and have made my decision NOT TO EAT THE DAMN THINGS!!! I am going to the gym in a little while instead. I had Kashi with yogurt on it YUM! instead.

Thanks for listening!!!

(((((TESS)))))

My dh does things sort of like that, too.......and then says, "I forgot you can't eat that..." SERIOUSLY.....You FORGOT?

My dh CAN stand to loose about fifty pounds. He's got a doctor's appointment tomorrow, I hope she gives him hell and tells him that.....

It's so frustrating, I feel your pain!

I had to pick up the donuts for work on Saturday. FIVE DOZEN HOT DONUTS in my car.....smelled like a little bit of heaven. I didn't have one, though!

Harley - that's very impressive to be able to buy and take them to work and not eat one?!?! That is a feat I don't know if I could do.

Harley - that's very impressive to be able to buy and take them to work and not eat one?!?! That is a feat I don't know if I could do.

I had a vicious PB incident with bread......I just think about that and ANYTHING even remotely bread-like is very unattractive.....

Gosh, you guys are great! I admire your willpower so much.

I have to wonder whether when people do things like that that they're actually subconsciously undermining you. I had a girlfriend who worried that if I lost weight I would leave her for someone "better"; she didn't enable me, but her fear was real for her.

I mean, these guys HAVE to know that no one trying to lose weight should be eating those things. And to choose not one, not two but THREE of your favourite things? Well, that ain't right.

I think you should talk to him about what he did, and ask him why? He may not be examining his own motives.

Of course, he *could* simply be trying to make you happy, but then you have to explain to him that being healthy would make you far happier than being high on sugar.

And in other DH news: Yay for Christine's guy!