Ok here we are in June ladies....June 1st 2008....Man where does the time go?

sherry im like you...I enjoy baking and it relaxes me when I feeling stressed. I kick everyone out of the kitchen, put my music on and just have at it. my specialty to make is chocolate chip cookies very basic but mine are fantastic. my mom follows the same receipe but hers dont taste the same. I tried to make a little business out if it but cant seem to get any steady takers. some people at work will order a batch or 2 here and there but nothing grand. so if any of you NJ ladies need some cookies give me a shout. they are HUGE and soft perfect for making ice cream sandwiches with :-) I also enjoy baking basic cakes and cupcakes...I wish I could work for charm city cakes. if you dont know who they are do a search and you will see the awesome cakes they make. as you can tell I LOVE SWEETS!!!! perhaps this is why I am not happy with my weight loss so far this month...ugh :-(

have a good night chicas hope all is well and Kat we are still waiting for those pics of your new belly

Donna, by the time you read this, you will be officially on your lapband journey.

Post as soon as you can...Hugs!

Good Morning Y'all!

Donna - Wishing you luck today, and welcome to bandland! Let us know how you are doing when you can.

Not much new here today, just getting dressed for work.

I'll catch you all later!

Good luck Donna and welcome to band land!!

Thinkin' of ya Donna! wishing you a speedy recovery....you'll be "up-and-at-'em" in no time!!!!

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts and well wishes. I am an official bandster! It was pretty uneventful, actually, which was a good thing for any surgery. The staff there was so supportive, almost like being here on the board with all of you.

Of course I'm sore.... but that is to be expected. In every other way I am terrific! I didn't get home until after 2 yesterday and I was fairly groggy. However this morning I've been up and around and took a couple of walking laps around my backyard before it heats up.

There was a woman two cubicles down from me who was screaming that the pain was so bad (after having the same procedure!) The nurse said she was told that she wouldn't have ANY pain so that's what is making her so upset. I guess she never had surgery before.

DH has taken off the day today to take care of me. I've been up for two hours and he's still sleeping! LOL

Pat, lunch sounds good after I can get on mushies. I go back to Dr. Clark on 7/8.

Thanks again everyone... all advice is welcome.

Donna

Good Morning Y'all!

We had storms pop up last night, no damage but got some badly needed rain. It has been so hot that we could use some every day for a week.

Any body got plans for the 4th yet? I might have a BBQ but that is about it for now.

Donna - Hope you are doing ok, thinking about you girl!

Well, that is all the news for me today!

Catch you all later!

donna

glad to see that you are already up and moving around. that will help alot with the gas pain. I didnt suffer from any gas pains until a week out when I was helping someone make cookies and I guess mixing the dough by hand brought the gas up into my shoulder which was NOT fun. but I used a heating bad as recommended by the lovely ladies here and it worked wonders.

Hey there Donna! Like Jessica said "..glad to see that you are already up and moving around." :blushing: Very, very glad to hear that!

Hi everybody! Pat, Betty, Sherry, Kat, Jessica, Eileen, Mandy, Cindy, Trish......

Tomorrow is what? FRIDAY!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!

Good Morning Y'all!

TGIF! If finally got here!

Donna - We must have been posting at the same time, glad you are doing so good. Each day gets better!

My neighbor ask me yesterday if we were going to be home on the 4th, and I said yes, so she said good, let's have a party at your house. lol

So, I guess we will be having guests after all on the 4th. We were planning on inviting them anyway one day over that weekend, but now I won't have to do all the cooking!

Well, got to run and get dressed. Hello to all you beautiful gals!

Catch you all later!

HIP HIP HOORAY its FRIDAY!!!!

Hey everyone, I continue to do well after surgery. The only real problem I have is eating all that crap I am not hungry and I haven't been able to find protein shakes/goods that are real enticing. I'm supposed to get in about 100 grams of protein a day. It's only been a couple of days, but I can only get in about 35 grams or so without gagging. Any suggestions? Mushy food is starting to sound appealing. lol

I'm open to suggestions fellow bandsters!

donna from what I know most doctors know what you are not going to be able to get all that protein in during the first few weeks because you are on liquids only. and you dont want to force yourself during this time that you are still healing. when you move on to full liquids it will be easier to get it in by adding in a shake here and there.

Well girls, my computer is smarter than I am by far, and I cannot size the picture that was taken the other day of a friend and I---she is also a bandster.....so if someone wants to do it, I can email it to them.....

As for belly pics, I have not taken any.....I have my PS supposed to send me my befores. I did have Rick try to take one the other day and he has it like I am clear across a football field.....not anything anyone can see----looks like a lady standing in panties waaaaay far away!!! My PS is supposed to take afters for me too--but that will be in August! I will work on figuring out my timer on my camera maybe this weekend, or call upon Becky to take pics for me. MY thighs look sooooooooo bad now, it is pretty scary!!! But in clothes they are ok!

Donna---protein is hard at first, and yet it is SO important especially then. I got to feeling so washed out and tired, and Penni, an old LBT'er that has moved on, told me to force the Protein, and I felt soooo much better. GNC sells liquid Protein bullets. They are like shooters, something like 5-6 ounces in them--if that much and they pack a powerful punch of protein! I used the Zero Carb Isopure drinks---they are bottled in several flavors....not wonderful tasting, but I forced myself!!! There is like 40 grams in each bottle, and they ARE clear liquids---both of them. The protein really helps in your healing....so try to get in as much as you can. I know it is hard, I remember! The drinks are not something I would choose to drink....but when I saw the difference in how I felt, I did it anyway! Glad the surgery is behind you----heal quickly!!!

I use the Junior Strength Tylenol---I only have to chew 4 tablet things instead of the 2 Go Tabs---and they taste a heckuva lot better in my opinion!!! I actually use the store brand.

We have a friend riding in for the weekend of the 4th from Denver. We have a big get together on the 3rd. The town just over from us does a big fireworks show on the 3rd, and then another is done in the county the 4th. But the 3rd is set off from one of the biggest hills in town. We have gone to the area below the hill for years. Us, our kids, their spouses, the grandkids, any friends they have in tow....and our friends Becky & Gary, with their kids, spouses, grandkids and their tagalongs.....sometimes some parents, sometimes some siblings or nieces or nephews....justa big crowd. We take a grill, and everyone brings something to throw on it as well as side dishes. It is a big eat fest!!! We eat for hours waiting for a 30-45 minute firework show!!! 2 years ago, during the eatfest, I had my first full blown PB!!! I laughed that as the fireworks splayed overhead, I spewed down below.....ick! I guess I thought I could eat that year like everyone before it.....soooooo not true!!!

Sherry, how is the reflux??? I know Dr.'s hate to be told what to prescribe....but maybe ask yours if he thinks that Aciphex might be any different. Mine told me it approaches it from a different angle. It does not try to neutralize the acids already formed, it is supposed to stop them from forming. It is doing a good job with me. I have had reflux a time or 2....when I eat too late or something....but it is not the acidic, burning nasty tasting reflux....it seems less toxic, and I figure it has to be safer on my esophagus. Now.....I might be full of it, with this next statement, so I am just going to tell you my thoughts on it---I did not mention this to my Dr. When he changed me from Nexium to the Aciphex....about 2 weeks into it, my weight began sloooooowly dropping again after being plateaued for what seemed like forever! When talking to Rick, I told him, it seemed like I felt FULL longer again. So I was thinking maybe the lack of extra acids, was making it take longer to break down the food I had eaten.....I don't know. But something broke the plateau I was on.

Well I am off to the store. I went to make some ranch dressing to have with our salad at dinner, and my milk is bad.....really bad......chunky is not how it is supposed to look!!! LOL

BBL~~

Kat

Donna, I soooooooooooo remember that feeling!!!! Having those numbers looming large over my head, about getting in all those grams of Protein...and not wanting to have anything, especially not that!!!! I made myself take small sips and try to get the protein in as best as I could. I didn't like the taste, but I knew that if I managed to get this protein in and heal-up, I could start shopping for all the other flavors, until maybe I'd find one that was at least bearable, lol!

I found that every day that passed, I was able to increase the grams per day, and felt good about it ('tho it still wasn't the best tasting!). there's plenty of time to find the Protein drinks that you can handle, over some of the others. I tried some of those liquid bullets from GNC, that Kat mentioned. She's right about the high amount of protein for such a small amount of liquid....you could certainly give that a shot, as they come in a variety of flavors.

I finally settled on two varieties of powdered protein drinks to keep my gram intake up (even now). One is "Isopure" powder, the flavor: cookies-'n-cream....not bad. the other is "Procomplex" powder, chocolate flavor. For the past several months now, I mix the Water with a few frozen strawberries in the blender, the I add the Protein Powder (I add it last because it 'froths-up' real quick). I pour this into 2 plastic bottles (water bottles will do). That gives me almost 90 a day, one for Breakfast, then one usually around 2:30. The rest I augment with the "real food" Proteins. I know you're still weeks from adding food yet, I just wanted to give you an idea, on a daily basis, of what works for me (to get that much protein in), and sometimes a day or even an entire weekend will go by without doing the protein....and ya know, it's not fatal! LOL! You manage to get back on schedule.

Oops! didn't mean to make this so lengthy. It really does get easier