I and my wife were both banded March 30, 2004. I was 340 when banded and am now and am now 238. My wife was 260 and now is 203.

We have each had 3 fills now. Going soon for another fill.

I wanted to tell all of you what has worked well for me as it might work well for others. I bought a smoothie machine. For six months now I have used Hills Bros Cappuccino French vanilla carb wise bought at wall mart. It tastes more like chocolate then coffee.What I do is put ice in the smoothie machine, milk and then the cappuccino mix. Blend and drink. It is thick enough to keep me full and I drink it often between meals. Sometimes after eating my stomach doesn't feel real good depending on what I ate, I slowly drink this mix from the smoothie and it feels better. It must work OK because I have been loosing weight and continue to. My doctor has a band he he drinks the same thing and says it is like priming the stomach.

Another side effect from banding. Before banding I was diagnosed with triglycerides of 300 and HDL of 30. It is known as dyslipidemia. Also after eating a carb filled meal I could not keep my blood sugar with in normal limits. Very pre-diabetic. I am happy to announce that my dyslipidemia is gone and total cholesterol is 150 and I eat right and don't deprive myself very much. Pre-diabetic state is also cured. Sugars are now normal and no longer pre-diabetic. food seems to be less a factor in my life. I am about 30 pounds away from my goal weight. By the way, women loose slower then men. May be a fact of life due to metabolism. As long as you are loosing, slow as that may be, that's all that counts. It's not how fast you loose but that you continue to make progress and still feel good.

Wow! Congrats to you both! It has to be neat to do something like that with your wife like that. A whole life change, but together .

The drink sounds yummy, I'll have to look into that as well

Her and I had it done same day and had the same hospital room. Ladies first how ever.

The drink out lined above is also good with a bannana in it as well.

Gene - your post about the Cappuccino intrigued me so, that I went to Walmart last night to buy it. I didn't see anything called Carb Wise, what isle did you find it? I did see Hills Bros Cappuccino French Vanilla drink mix but it was loaded with carbs, is this the same one? It was a brownish/red container. I love coffee drinks too and this sounds like it could be my new favorite drink.

It is at super walmart. You seem to be by the coffee as the regular Cappacchino is there but the carb wise should be right next to it. The carb wise is made with splenda. We found it in our super walmart but do not know if all super's carry it.

Gene - Didn't see the CarbWise, next to the coffee only CANDY (smiles). Could I trouble you to see if there's a website on your containter? I tried to Google it but it didn't come up. Thanks.

Well, I see what you mean. I have searched all over the net and cannot find it on the net which means it is going to be hard to find. I did see other forums where people were discussing the carb wise and they had also bought their's from walmart superstore. Bummer, this stuff really tastes great and goes down easy for the band. The container looks just like the Hills bros. Cappuccino french Vanella can at super walmart. The difference is that it has a blue printed flag on the front which says carb-wise. 9 grams of carb in 2 Tbsp.

While it says Hills Bros. on the can it is made and distributed by Sara Lee coffee and tea harrison ny. Customer care at that location toll free is 1-888-246-2598. Hope they can find a location near you or a place on the net to buy it.

Gene - Your my hero ! Thanks for taking the time to forward the information. I'll call tomorrow morning. I'm in NJ, so hopefully they have some retailer locations here.