Kimmy in MD

WOW!!! What a difference!! Congrats on your hard work!

YAYYY!!! Way to go Cathy!!! Congrats and ENJOY!

So I had a 2nd fill last week and I THOUGHT I had restriction before, but now that I have had another fill I think I finally know what real restriction is now. YAYYYY. My fill doctor has you go back to liquids clear then all liquids (including creamy soups) for about 8 days. It is soooo hard to do this AGAIN but it is definetly worth it as I have dropped 6 pounds since the fill last week. Another YAYYYY! I think this time around I am really going to have to follow the 1/4 - 1/2 cup food rule as there doesn't seem to be much room down in that pouch. Cross your fingers for me that I enter the 160s by November 1st. I LOVE MY BAND!!!

i eat a lot of ice! especially when dining out at restaurants.

I would consider eating salads with protein sources like hard boilded egg and cheese in it, try to go easy on the dressings as they add a lot of fat. Also stick with creamy soups or add in chili. Seafood and Fish are usually good choices as the fish should be fairly moist, lower in calories and fat. I would not eat mashed potatoes and would limit the pasta and avoid rice and bread. Best of luck!

I know this is very 80s but I like and still enjoy step aerobics. My fav video is the reebok step series and Kathy Kaehler. Love anything by Kathy Kaehler.

WOW!!! You look GREAT!!!! Congrats!

Jude, By "dips" i think we are talking about the same thing, but you face your back to the seat of the bench and you put your palms on the edge and your legs straight out in front of you or you can bend your knees if you need to, keeping your back close to the edge of the bench and raise and lower your body weight with your arms only. It is meant to work the backs of your arms (triceps). The deeper you go and the closer you keep your back to the edge of the bench the more of a workout you will get. Hope that helps.

Godspeed to you are your family. I am seperated myself right now and believe it or not, it does get easier with time. Best of luck.

I try to do 2 sets of 20 standing push-ups every other day while I am walking. I just use the back of a park bench or a railing. This should help with your pecs (boobs) as well. I also try to do 2 sets of 15 dips on a park bench for the backs of my arms. It is amazing how much lifting your own body weight will do for your muscles. Bye Bye Wings!

you know your not giving up tacos forever....just for a month! I find that tacos go down pretty darn easy and don't have too much trouble with Mexican food. Maybe it will help if you stop thinking of it as FOREVER and think of it as just for a short while. I am sure your husband, family, health and getting your sexy back is worth that month, right?

Karen, I got my pedometer at Sports Authority and it lets you set your stride length, tells you your calorie count etc...the reason I bought this particular pedometer is that it has a LEASH. I bought several and they would always fall off and end up lost so the LEASH was the feature I wanted most. I have had it for over 2 years, maybe more and no problems with it. It was about $22. When I bought my pedometer I googled pedometers to learn more about the various models before making my decision. Body Bugg is pricey, don't use it myself. Not only is it expensive upfront but then you have a monthly fee for the service as well, kind of like a "cable" pedometer. Hope this helps.

Maybe you could visit fitday.com and play with some sample menus there? Also, I bet weight watchers has a website and will have sample menus for you. 1200 calories is a pretty good diet so I bet you will find lots of them online.

Cara, Yep cream of crab soup. Soooo good. Because I live in Maryland we have lots of crab shacks and I usually just pick up a bowl at a local restaurant, so I don't really have a recipe for it. At one point it seemed kind of expensive so I did look for a recipe and there were lots of them on recipes.com, just google cream of crab soup and they will come up. I also found it in cans at "Nick's of Clinton" a small gourmet market and I just buy extra crab and half & half to add to the canned soup because it is condensed. Also, don't forget the "old bay" seasoning, this makes it really pop. Good luck with it and let me know how it tastes if you make it from scratch.

I think I spend more because I find myself eating more crab legs, shrimp etc...When I was able to enjoy creamy soups I lived on cream of crab which is about $7 a bowl. When I have a fill (only had 1 so far) I need to go back to the creamy soup stage and go back to the cream of crab soup.

YAYYYY YOU!!!!!! Great Job Cathy! Enjoy!!

If you are ever in doubt about your band you can get a barium swallow at any time. The doctor doing your blind fills should have access to someplace that will do the barium swallow. There is nothing wrong with blind fills if done by a competent practioner.

I have the same thing and it seems to be going down. Have posted about it several times and never got much help with it on here. I asked my fill doc what it was and she told me it was fluid that had built up from the surgery and when they opened up/stretched your skin to place the band. The port is really low. From what I undestand Dr. Ortiz is very consistent with where/how he places his ports.

Not sure where you are in PA but Dr. Susan Brinkley in Frederic MD should be able to help you. She is pretty close to the PA border, Gettysburg area. She is an internist and was banded in Mexico herself so she is really understanding and helpful.

I know I have seen posts about feeling your port under your skin, but can anyone else feel their band? Not feel it like it is clenching your stomach but last night my I rested my arm/hand on my mid-section and I felt the band. Let me tell you it freaked me right out because I am a complete chicken about stuff like that; I can't even put peirced earrings into other peoples ears because it grosses me out! But I really could feel it, plastic and all. WEIRD!!

AMEN for your post Arlene!!! I have said this same thing a number of times on here and it seems NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR IT! Dr. Ortiz told me the same thing and I intend to lose this weight with only 1-2 fills. I have lost almost 40 lbs with just the surgery and 1 fill and I still have restriction and do not plan to get another fill for quite some time. On another note, glad you are well and that your band is still intact!!

remember you can suck ice cubes while eating if you need to. I find that helps a lot.

I have been thinking about signing up for a tap class. Just want to do it for fitness purposes. Also, I have been thinking about buying a toddler spoon and fork and using it to help me control my bite size better.

I am so hoping you all can help me make a decision about getting a fill. I had my 1st fill on July 11th. I am scheduled to have my 2nd fill next week, but not sure that I really need a fill at this time. I still feel restriction, but I have not lost any weight in about 3 weeks, which is not a huge problem because I feel as if I am losing inches still. For me, it seems that I lose a lot of weight fast ( I lost about 18 lbs. in about 3 weeks after my fill) but then don't lose any weight for a while and my body size kind of catches up to the weight loss...do you know what I mean? Of course it would be HIGHLY motivating to lose another 15-20 lbs and let my body catch up again, but I always go back to what Dr. Ortiz said about the fills and that it should only take 1-2 fills to get it right. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

Are you using a food log to monitor your caloric intake and portions? Maybe you need to find some type of calorie dense food that will fill you up, like air popped pop corn or rice cakes, because there is no way you could have gained 9 pounds eating only 1000 calories a day. If after you take an honest look at what you have eaten and you can swear on a stack of whatever you find holy that you only eat 1000 calories a day, go see a doctor because maybe you have an illness or something that is putting weight on you.