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

WOO HOO on the bike permit, Kerri!

I ride a 2006 Softail Deluxe........motorcycling is a passion of mine!

BTW, I got my reward tattoo today.......it's still wrapped and icky, so I can't take pictures of it.....but I will SOON!

Cathy, I think the thing is that if you know you will succumb to temptation to certain things, avoid them! I'm like you - I have a hard time doing "just a bit", I have a very All or Nothing mentality. Tomorrow I'm going to do All Liquids.

But first, I want to see icky pictures of Harley's tattoos!!!

It's very traditional.....and completely different than what I went in to get, but I love it....love the boldness and love the fact that it's very obviously a compass to keep me "on course"!

Harley - Love the tattoo

Pizza- I haven't tried it yet, but have been tempted

Ate out tonight at Chili's, after the 2.7 mile walk.....had a little taste of buffalo wing flavor chicken and a bit of lettuce and sour cream. then went to get coffee and splurged..raspberry chocolate mocha...only 5 oz. mmmmmmmmm so good but I feel guilty having it.....:w00t: overall my Protein total is low, and my calories are within range... so guess I did ok today...

NICE, Harley! And disappointingly un-icky!

After my afternoon of suddenly diminished intake, I had a night of indulgence. My friend Yuko, a food writer from Tokyo, was in, and so I took her somewhere interesting. I had two appetizers - braised pork cheeks in espresso coffee bean sauce with celery remoulade, and sweetbreads with garlic butter. They weren't too bad - the serving sizes were small, but that was balanced out by the richness of the dishes.

The REAL indulgence came later, when we tried the Dessert Truck, a minivan that offers six high end Desserts at the corner of 8th Street and University Place every evening from 6PM to midnight. I had a single-sized portion (about a cup) of chocolate bread pudding, with a vanilla creme anglaise. And it was FANTASTIC.

No regrets.

I walked a lot today, but tomorrow, I'll do liquids at 1200 calories and see if I can beat my walking record - I have a weigh-in on Sunday, and don't want to have gained, if possible.

Hi I had my surgery March 6th with Dr. Fielding also. Had a 30lb weight loss from the pre-op till my first fill on 4/14. Have been eating small portions of very healthy food but can't seem to lose any more weight. I have to go back May 9th to NYU we'll see what happens.

You have had much success with your weight loss. What do you eat?

I probably eat what you do, Rosie, assuming you eat pork cheeks and sweetbreads.

No, I joke! But only a little. I'm a complete cheat, because I started at 473 pounds, and so have fairly high muscle mass, and a large weight to move around, so exercise, even just walking, is pretty efficient for me.

Generally, I've been keeping at about 1500 calories a day. I wasn't really having Breakfast, but chica yelled at me, so now I have something small, usually about 200 calories worth - a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with 1/2 cup of 1% milk, or a nonfat greek yogurt with a sprinkling of granola (which is great, actually, because there's a good hit of Calcium in the yogurt, plus the small container packs about 12g of protein).

I try to make lunch my main meal, because I know that I"ll be walking it off for the rest of the day. I aim for about 700 calories, but don't usually make it. I go up to the gourmet shop near my office and get a 1/4 lb of their chicken salad and a chewy mini roll. Occasionally I go to the cart in front of the office that sells mystery meat and pita, and get some of that; I don't tend to do that often, though, because I think I eat too much of the pita. For dinner, I have a 200 calorie serving of clam chowder, or something similar on the small side. I may scramble some eggs and microwave some carnitas and have them with a little salsa or low fat black bean spread. Quite frequently I'll have a shake with Vanilla SLimfast Optima, banana, Peanut Butter and Protein powder.

And then occasionally I have blowouts like I did yesterday evening. My band is unfilled, but I have decent restriction from it - as I learned yesterday when I had my first PB. I don't really feel hungry. Or, rather, I rarely feel hungry.

Indeed, I was looking at my paperwork from Dr. Fielding's office yesterday, and saw that they recommend just 1 or 2 meals a day for some people; I know Fielding himself has just coffee for breakfast. I'm wondering if I might start skipping chica's Breakfast Rule, and just eat at lunch when my appetite kicks back in. I just don't want to have to face the Wrath of Chica...

If it's any consolation, while it's easy for me now, it's going to take me a LONG time to get to goal, whereas you guys'll get there pretty soon. And I know weight loss will just get harder and harder for me. I'm trying to prepare for that by getting up to speed in terms of exercise; we shall see.

What I'm worried about is the gradual erosion of my motivation. At my current size, it's easy to be motivated to stick to the eating plan and nail my exercise goals. As I slim down, though, that motivation will ease up, as it becomes less and less urgent that I lose weight.

But we shall see...

Harley....I love the tatoo. They did a great job.

Yesterday I was not feeling well at all. Had this horrible pain in my lower abdomen and into my back. Dont' know what that was all about but today I feel better.

Christine

Indeed, I was looking at my paperwork from Dr. Fielding's office yesterday, and saw that they recommend just 1 or 2 meals a day for some people; I know Fielding himself has just coffee for breakfast. I'm wondering if I might start skipping chica's Breakfast Rule, and just eat at lunch when my appetite kicks back in. I just don't want to have to face the Wrath of Chica...

Wow, Fenton, I had no idea that I had such a strong influence on you! :sleep:

I was merely pointing out that my doctor (and lots and lots of research) advises that a bit of breakfast kickstarts your metabolism and energy levels for the day. If your doctor recommends something else, then by all means, follow his advice. I don't want to be the reason you get in trouble with your doctor. I can just hear it now... "But Chica said I had to eat breakfast!" :tongue2:

The question I have for you is... do you feel any different eating breakfast rather than skipping it? Those are great breakfast choices, by the way! :w00t:

Ok since I can't motivate myself to exercise regularly I've got a trainer. I had my first appointment Friday. I am one sore puppy. But good sore if there is one. I'm with Fenton on the erosion of motivation thing. In the past I just slack off and the next thing I know I haven't moved with a purpose/exercised in months. Time will tell.

Sometimes veteran banders talk about a "soft stop". It's a sense or physical feeling that tells them to stop eating. I think for some hiccups is a soft stop.

Harley the tattoo is great. I love the compass rose. Is it on your arm or leg? What were you rewarding for? When I hit 200 Im getting the shamrock over my port.

I off to go buy a new sports bra. So if you don't hear from me in a couple of days it's because I'm crumpled on the floor of the changing room tied in knots of spandex. Fenton you are soooo lucky you don't have to deal with bras:cursing:

Edited April 26, 200818 yr by ajoneen
(I wish I was buying a bar)

Yeah, Amanda - enjoy that sports bar!

I'd be careful about where you get your shamrock; with a lot of weight loss, you might want a tummy tuck, and if you get a tummy tuck that will change the location of your port relative to your shamrock.

Chica, I'm not sure about those studies. My impression was that people who don't eat breakfast eat more during the day, but I thought that might relate to satiety levels, which are completely different once the band's in play. I don't think I feel much difference without breakfast; indeed, on a couple of occasions I've forgotten to eat breakfast, only realizing it when lunch time comes along.

I have to say, "forgetting" a meal is new to me. Particularly breakfast, which is, gastronomically, my favourite meal of the day.

Well, today is 1 week since I've had my bugg. The verdict is.....I lost 8 pounds!!! I tried very hard to keep my numbers where they were supposed to be for calorie intake. I really made sure my deficit was at or above the 1900 goal. I LOVE THIS BUGG!!!. I've been banded for 5 weeks and I'm down 23lbs!!! I'm glad I got this early in the game.

This is the best $224 investment that I've made thus far.

How do you feel? Do you feel much of a difference. I can't wait for my fill. 5/1

Doesn't feel much different. I feel full a little sooner than before, but I still feel like I can eat more than this "less than a cup" they say will make me feel full. I had to slow down a little more with my water, so as not to gurgle like a slow drain. I read another message that said it may take as many as five fills to really tell a difference. I wanted to tell the nurse to just fill-er-up, as I don't seem to have a lot of patience for slowly losing weight. I hate that barium junk, but at least you only have to sip a little bit while they check your adjustment. Doesn't hurt at all, just a little stick when they put the needle into the port. I itched like crazy cause they put a bandaid on me. That was the worst part about the whole adjustment. Good luck to you.

Well, thought I better come jump on here since I'm on liquids today after my fill yesterday and I am starving. I was supposed to do 24 hours of liquids which, by my calculations, ended at 2:30 this afternoon, so then I could start 2 or 3 meals of creamy stuff, creamy Soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. Well, I made some cheddar cheese Soup and it was delicious... I was still hungry after eating that so then went and made from sugar free pudding, it was also very delicious. Just finished eating that and that's when I decided I better come in here and try to get my mind off of food for awhile by logging in here. I also grabbed a piece of gum and I'm chewing it like crazy right now, lol.

Whew, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I should be able to survive til tomorrow when I can resume eating "normal" again!!

Harley, love your tattoo, great reward, you go girl!!!

IlandGurl, I wish I could say my first fill went as smooth as yours, after the initial stick, I felt him moving the needle around making sure he was in the port, I guess, but then it was over, real quick, thank goodness. I didn't have to do the barium, after the stick it was over and done with and time to go home.

I find that if I eat Breakfast I am hungrier throughout the day. Especially if I have a high carb breakfast. If I have eggs I am good for a few hours. I guess it goes along with my all or none mentality (which I am working on changing). Yesterday and today I have done really well with my eating and excersize.

I am really stressed right now. My DH (I don't mean "dear" right now) took our 3 kids to California to visit his family ( I told him not to). You would think I would be having a blast enjoying my solitude but nooooo. They were supposed to be back on Friday. We fly standby, my DH works for an airline. We can only fly if there are empty seats. No seats all day yesterday and not looking good for today. This would be no sweat if we did not have a big party planned tomorrow for my DS and DD. So, if they don't make the red-eye tonight I will be calling 30 people tomorrow morning to cancel our party...and I have a beautiful cake sitting upstairs to feed about 50 people...that will need to be disposed of. If you are the praying type, could you give a shout out that they make it home before 1 tomorrow afternoon....and that I don't eat that cake if the party does not happen.

Going for a walk now. Too stressed to stay in the house alone.

Christine