jena

I've noticed myself having this problem in the last few days. Normally I'm quite the water drinker, ice water that is. I love the special K water too because it's a good source of fiber. But lately, I'm forgetting to get my glass and fill it up! Grrrr. Maybe it's the summer solstice that's coming up tomorrow.

Dang girl!! sounds like you are doing everything right. No wonder you are so frustrated! You might want to throw in one or two Special K protein waters a day if you aren't already. One bottle will give you 5g or protein and 5g of fiber for 50 calories. And they taste good too!

I was banded one day after you and I have found that although I am dieting, my weight fluctuates like yours is. I've quit weighing myself until the 1st of the month. Two questions for you; how much aerobic exercise are you getting and how much fiber are you eating? I find my weight goes up when I don't get enough fiber. (25-30g per day) Just keep doing what you are doing and the weight will come off! Jena

Vicky my box of the meal bars have 10g of protein and 5g of fiber. That's the chocolate peanutbutter. The thing about them that I didn't notice when I bought them is that they are loaded with sugar! I've switched to protein like Canadian bacon on a whole grain English muffin. Muffin in the toaster, Canadian bacon in the microwave for about 10 seconds, slap it on the muffin and go! Of course it would be hard to carry it around in my purse all day! That way I get the same amount of fiber and protein as one of those bars, only a few more calories, a tiny amount of sugar and it's much more satisfying. Sometimes I eat an egg on the muffin with 1 piece of Canadian bacon. It's also good on a whole wheat/high fiber tortilla . Of course some people can't handle bread. jena

I've gone down a bra size too. I also had to buy a bunch of panties this past weekend! My other panties were literally falling off! Jena

There's always Golden corral....

Wow! You are a beauty, even when you had the weight! But look at you now! Fantastic! jena

Hats off to you!! I knew you would make it! I love the image of you in a dress on the elliptical! How funny is that? You should carry your purse too. That would be a hoot! You are on a high right now that will last a long, long time. Hugs, jena

Paula, I've been thinking about you all day. I'm sooooooo happy for you! Go out and have steak tonight, just because you can! 6 months on liquids -that is just weird that they told you that. I don't think anyone could do that. As for the port pain shrty, I'm about 6 weeks out from being banded and I would say for the first 5 weeks my port bothered me. More like a bruise feeling than heavy pain, but if I bent down to pick something up or twisted the right way, it would let me know it was there. Now I don't feel anything at all! Jena

That's almost nothing!! You've eaten almost no protein and no fiber! Don't take my word for it though, use something like fitday.com and record what you have eaten and see if you are getting enough of the right kind of nutrition. You could also email Dr. Miranda your menu and ask her advice. That's the best thing to do! > Jena

I would suggest going to your gyn doctor as well. I had non cancerous fibroid tumors in and around my uterus, one the size of a baby's head!! I was having the same kind of symptoms, especially "once a month." I was even missing work one or two days a month because of it. Not trying to scare you! Had a hysterectomy and all was well. Let us know what you find out! jena

Fantastic! You look amazing! Jena

I'm in Lawrenceville, very close to Suwanee.

Call Dr. Miranda if for nothing else, peace of mind. You know what to do, we don't have to tell you. Yes, 3 weeks is tough. Really tough. Can you have cream soups yet? Campbell's cheddar and Pepper Jack cheese soups are divine and are very filling. Much better than broth. Make sure to stock up on Popsicles and fudgesicles, Jello sugar free pudding and regular sugar free jello. You can do it! Jena

Paula, I hate to hear that. There is nothing more frustrating than teeth problems. Are your braces for cosmetic reasons? You might be a good candidate for Invisalign. My dentist offers this and I'm considering doing it. Basically they are invisible teeth forms that you put over your teeth. You can't even tell a person is wearing them. Since they match your teeth, you can bite and chew without those awful metal things. You have to be fitted with new ones every couple of weeks or weekly, I can't remember which. Here's the website http://www.invisalign.com/Pages/Home.aspx hopefully you can get these instead of those metal things. Feel better! Jena

I wonder if Cedartown will be going? I would like to go just to meet you rascals! I'll let you know closer to Sunday. We should have a pact though. "What happens at the band luncheon stays at the band luncheon" :secret:

I haven't had my first fill yet, banded on May 8, but yes, I've hit plateaus. I finally just put away the scale and decided to weigh only once a month. I was focusing too much on the number and not enough on what I was eating. What's really important is following Dr. Miranda's guidelines on eating. If you've got that together, the weight will come off. HTH, Jena

They had a kitchen fire Sunday night and they are back open today for lunch. It wasn't bad and no one was hurt. Butter has a low heating point. "Buttah is your-a friend" where did I get the emoticons? when you reply you will see <---in the smiley box over on the left, click "Show All" and you will see lots of cute emoticons! :lb11:

You will need to box up all those bottles of Tequila and Absinthe and check them with your luggage.

I have to take 6 pills every morning and I have the same problem, especially if I take them after I eat. What I do now is take them with either low fat chocolate milk or a yogurt smoothie. The milk or smoothie seem to coat the pills and coat my throat and help them slide down. HTH Jena

Paula!!! Your new picture is fantastic! Is that you or your daughter. Jena

Actually, I just looked at my card and it says"Maximym fill volume is 10cc." On the back there is a sticker with the serial number of my band and it says "LAGB VG" A little confusing! Jena

My card says it's a 10cm band as well. I read somewhere that the larger band is used if there is a lot of fat around the stomach. Don't know if it's true or if I read it wrong but that's whats stuck in my mind. Oh, as for where the band is, it's near the upper most incision. A little south of the center of your breasts. The port is probably what you are feeling. It's under or near the largest incision. Jena

Well, I told anyone who would listen! But that's just me. I'm Jena and I live in Atlanta and I also work in advertising in a hybrid sense. We work with advertising dept.s within large corps and directly with agencies. The company I work for is small, about 40 people in the office. I work on the engineering side and there is only one other woman, the rest are men. On the advertising side it's about half and half. The response surprised me. Most everyone had heard of the other type of weight loss surgery but didn't know about the lap band. So I ended up explaining over and over again how it is different and what it is and how it works. Hey, we're engineers. All the guys are interested in is how the darn things work. So I get questions like, can I fee it?, what does it feel like?, when will I get my first fill?, what can I eat?, what will it be like after my fill?, how they put in the saline, etc. etc. I have always worked with men. Every now and then an occasional woman, but overwhelming men. I think there must be a big difference than working with women. I probably wouldn't have said anything if it was women . Jena

Where is Will when you need a good spanking? Hello, my name is Jena. I'm a compulsive weigher. Two weeks ago I told my therapist I was going to put the scales in the closet and not weigh for a while. It lasted two days. This week we talked about it and I decided to put the scales in the trunk of the car and not weigh until July 1. ( So far, so good. In a way, its rather freeing. I'm more focused on what I am eating and tweaking my diet every day in order to improve what I'm eating. I don't have to worry about a a pound gained or why I'm not losing. It's tough though! Jena