Here are my stats:

Starting weight: 250 pounds

Starting size: 24W

Current weight: 150 pounds

Current size: 4

Banded: August 9, 2007 by Dr. William Neal (AMAZING!) in Olympia,WA

Prior story: I was a compulsive eater. I horded food, I ate food from the garbage (I know...eeeeewwwww:blink:) and I would eat for any reason; sadness, happiness, boredom, anger, sleepiness...you nam it..I could figure a reason why to eat!

Age: 28

Residence: Hell...Uh...I mean Central Oregon (I miss Eugene!:thumbup:)

Profession: Chemistry Teacher

What I want to be when I grow up: Still thinking that one over...maybe a pharmacist...but sigh...more school!

Upcoming events: 1/2 marathon in Sunriver, June 29

Extended tummy tuck, July 3

I would love to help people out. I love to cook, revise recipes, and follow rules! Don't I just sound like a blast to hang out with! LBT is my addiction and my escape from crazy high schoolers!

Hoping to hear from someone!

Salsa,

I am so inspired by you, really you are awesome. I may need to ask for advise later and hope it can be you to answer. I really like that you are straight forward and that is sometimes what a few of us need. I wish you the best of luck with your TT..

P.S I am going to try your idea of having a menu planned out for the week.

I meant to tell you that I used to live in Las Vegas! I hated it there, but I taught high school at Canyon Springs High School where 80% of my students were gang kids, the average reading level of my freshman science class was 2nd grade, and I feared for my life everytime I walked into my classroom. Can't say it was the most pleasant year of my life...but it was the best learning experience!

For tomorrow and the next week...focus on healing...take your pain meds and DO NOT worry about losing weight. Also...walk,walk,walk. It will help with the gas pains that you might feel in your shoulder. When you feel that pain try to walk...it will move it around and get it out of your shoulder. A heating pad might also work. I didn't have much of the pain because my brother had me up and walking EVERY hour.

Good luck and check back in here often. The next few weeks can be tough, but hang in there. How long are you on liquids for?

Hi there,

Well, I made it! I was banded Monday and spend one night in the hospital ande then two nights at my Moms house so she could help with my kids. Last night was my first night in my own bed, and I had a very hard time getting comfortable. As far as pain goes, I think I'm on track, I take my meds to keep up with it, but try not to overdo it as I have two small kids. My biggest pain though is that I havethis awful bubble in my stomach that feel lile a burp that needs to come up, but won't. And when I do burp it is so painful I can hardly stand it. I am still on clear and Protein liquids, as I am scared to try anything else. I think I am really excited about scrambled eggs which I hear I can have next week. Right now I'm living on Protein shakes and chicken broth. Will this awful bubble in my stomach ever go away?

Yes the bubble will go away. Does walking help? Also, try gas-x strips for that. It sounds like that might be stomach gas which gas-x might help. It can't hurt.

Glad to hear that you are doing relatively well. Keep the fear about eating anything else as it will keep you on the straight and narrow. This is the time to heal. Are you only allowed Protein drinks and Clear Liquids or can you do full liquids? I have some good Soup recipes that I can send you but it will only work on full liquids.

I knew I was supposed to post recipes somewhere, but I couldn't remember where! So here they are.

How is everyone doing?????

I am back from my lap band doc with great news! They are giving me a photo shoot in exchange for me letting them use my pictures and story on their website and newsletter! I was so excited!

Hope to hear from you guys. If you don't feel comfortable posting things on this site please PM me. If you want, I can send you my email address from there.

Thanks for the recipes... they look delicious! Can't wait to try some of them out! Photo shoot!!!! Good for you! That is fantastic!!!! When they get on the website you'll have to share them with us!:tongue2:

Tess

Hi Salsa, I love the Pure Protein bars as well. I made the mistake one time of having the fruit one for Breakfast. I thought I was going to die. It was awful. I usually have the bars for my afternoon snack as well. Do you have any other quick snack ideas? I work at Fred Meyer, so I can usually find some great choices, but I am getting bored. Also I just had my second fill and boy do I now have restriction. So I am looking for snack ideas that are easy going down for a while. Thank you for all of your inspiration.

Katie K. (potatie)

Hi Salsa, I love the Pure Protein bars as well. I made the mistake one time of having the fruit one for breakfast. I thought I was going to die. It was awful. I usually have the bars for my afternoon snack as well. Do you have any other quick snack ideas? I work at Fred Meyer, so I can usually find some great choices, but I am getting bored. Also I just had my second fill and boy do I now have restriction. So I am looking for snack ideas that are easy going down for a while. Thank you for all of your inspiration.

Katie K. (potatie)

Snacks are the hardest thing for me! Snack foods tend to make me want to binge. I had Kashi Crackers once and, I ended up throwing over half of them in the garbage because I kept having the urge to go back and eat more and more and more. So what I do for my snacks now is just have "mini" meals. I know..laugh...like our meals are not mini enough! :incazzato: To be honest when I ws in the losing phase, I didn't really have a morning snack. I ate at 6:30, 10:30, 2:30 and 5:30: Breakfast, lunch, snack dinner. That was just how my schedule worked. Now it is a bit tougher because my schedule doesn't work that way and because I am on maintenance and have to get to 1800 calories a day. Now I feel like I am eating all the time.

But here are a few things that I have done.

1. LF String cheese

2. Low cal yogurt with Kashi GoLean Cereal

3. WASA crackers with LF cream cheese (These might be too difficult with a good fill)

4. Johnsonville or Jenny-o (freddy's here has them) turkey sausages (they are with the hot dogs)

5. Nuts (almonds or walnuts) If you can afford the calories.

6. Refried Beans and 1 crunchy taco shell (the taco shell has 50 cals)

7. Fruit (stawberries, melon, frozen berries) if you need more protein...add some of the Kashi GoLean Cereal. Stay away from Bananas...major sliming issues for me!

8. Veggies and hummus (though I don' like this!)

If anyone else can come up with some examples that would be great. LIke I said earlier...snacks are the hardest part for me. I ate a pure Protein Bar everyday! I like routine! Now that I am on maintenance I can switch it up a bit...though I usually have a sandwich made from sara lee ligth bread with 2 pieces of FF cheese and some tomatoes. Pretty much that every day. If you are too tight...stay away from that bread!

Hope this helped.

Karri

Thanks Salsa, I am too finding it hard to eat in the mornings. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat breakfast. I like your snack ideas. I am going to ship them over to my work email to remind myself of the healthy choices that I can make. Plus I would get a few extra steps walking to the cheese aisle. Thank you for all of your help.

Katie K.

Hey Salsa!

WOW, congrats on the photo shoot. I have to ask you, how did you get motivated to excercise in the beginning? Besides just going thru life changing surgery, I know I have to do this, but how? I hate excercising! Even walking. Well walking while shopping dosen't count, but do I just do it? I want to eventually run, that is my dream. I just need the push.

Thanks.

Hey Salsa!

WOW, congrats on the photo shoot. I have to ask you, how did you get motivated to excercise in the beginning? Besides just going thru life changing surgery, I know I have to do this, but how? I hate excercising! Even walking. Well walking while shopping dosen't count, but do I just do it? I want to eventually run, that is my dream. I just need the push.

Thanks.:biggrin:

Actually walking while shopping does count. If you go to the mall, walk the whole mall, then go to the store you want, then do it again. It is like a reward for doing something you don't like. Giving yourself a reward is a great way to stay motivated.

Actually for me, getting to exercise was one of the reasons I wanted to lose weight. You should set a goal for the month and if you meet it, then you get a reward. You should join us on the June Exercise Challenge board http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f95/june-exercise-challenge-65032/. It is throught the Crazy Ates (August 2007) board but we invite everyone. There you pick a challenge and you check in with your workout.

So you wanna run. START NOW. Maybe you will only be able to do 10 steps...if you don't start...you won't even make it that far. Seeing yourself make progress is the greatest motivator. If this week you can only run for 10 seconds out of a 30 minute walk, then next week see if you can make it to 15 seconds. It sounds silly but set milestones. If it were easy, we wouldn't look forward to doing it. You can only be proud of yourself when you do something that you didn't think you could do.

I hope this helps!

I knew I was supposed to post recipes somewhere, but I couldn't remember where! So here they are.

How is everyone doing?????

I am back from my lap band doc with great news! They are giving me a photo shoot in exchange for me letting them use my pictures and story on their website and newsletter! I was so excited!

Hope to hear from you guys. If you don't feel comfortable posting things on this site please PM me. If you want, I can send you my email address from there.

Love love love the recipes, wonder if I can buy ground chicken? The idea of grinding my own makes me wanna ralph (I hate touching raw meat). I am not a "cooker" but these recipes sound tasty and just may be a good way to get me started on better meals. I think I am going to start meal planning like you do, I think I need it. I hate cooking so I try to avoid it and that is when things go downhill so maybe if I force myself to follow my meal plan that will help.

Love love love the recipes, wonder if I can buy ground chicken? The idea of grinding my own makes me wanna ralph (I hate touching raw meat). I am not a "cooker" but these recipes sound tasty and just may be a good way to get me started on better meals. I think I am going to start meal planning like you do, I think I need it. I hate cooking so I try to avoid it and that is when things go downhill so maybe if I force myself to follow my meal plan that will help.

I would assume that ground turkey would work just as well and that I know you can buy. If you have a meat market nearby they would grind your chicken for you.

If you hate to cook...only do it 1 time per week. Pick one day a week to do all of your cooking and then for the rest of the week...all you have to do is microwave. That is what I do with ALL of my lunches.

As for the meal planning...it has been a lifesaver. I now have DH doing it to. We are going camping this weekend and DH was sitting on the couch last night "planning" what we would be eating!

Hey all...I am back from my camping trip. It was sooooo nice to be away. I finished for the school year on Friday!!!!! I have my pre-op in the morning and then I am going to the half-marathon course to walk part of it with a friend. I would like to walk half which would end up being a 12 mile round trip, but I don't know if my legs are up to it. I ran 12 straight miles today. Not a bad time either 2 hours 22 minutes. I would never have thought even 2 months ago that I would be able to run for almost 2 and 1/2 hours straight. This is a true testament to what hard work and dedication can do.

Hi! My name is Tracy & I'm getting banded on 8/1. I just want to say that SALSA is such an inspiration to me. I hope I can be successful as her!! Good luck to all!!

Hi Karri! Saw your post and I am looking for a mentor. I also work with crazy high schoolers (guidance counselor), live in South Florida, and am 34 years old and married, no kids. I was banded 3/25/08 and have been doing decently with the weight loss. These past two weeks have been difficult - I'm up in NY for summer vacation (my hometown) and needed an unfill right before I left due to issues. You guessed it - no restriction, weight gain, and I had to see a doctor up here in NY. I am just feeling at a loss right now and need to get back on track. I feel like this is so hard to "get right" and would love to feel like I'm not doing it on my own. If you're interested, I would love to buddy up with you!:ohmy:

ETA - My birthday is July 3, so I will send birthday wishes for a successful surgery!!!

Edited June 22, 200818 yr by Miki

hi

please tell me what you are eating in any giving day. i would love to loss the amount of weight you have loss. i think i'm eating the wrong food.