Phoenix

This is what Dr. Miranda suggested for me to do -- looking up endocrinologists. I don't have one.: Have you had a hysterectomy? (no) Or do you take any lexapro or paxil? these make you gain weight or steroids too. (no meds at all) IF all of the above is a no. Go to you endocrinologist. Do this : Breakfast one egg or 1 slice of turkey ham one toast one fruit (hour later: coffee or tea) Lunch: chicken or fish or 4oz steak or 1 cup of beans green veggies (spinach prefereably) one piece of fruit (apple or pear or peach or 10 strawberries) 4 whole wheat crackers or 1/2 cup steamed whole grain rice or 1 corn tortilla or 1/3 of a corn on the cob Dinner: 1 piece of fruit 3 oz lean meat green veggies Add 3/5 of avocado to your menu a day or exchange for: 21 almonds or 3 wallnuts or 21 olives or 3 teaspoon of olive oil Twice a week: exchange your nreakfast for a cup of oatmeal with berries (1/2 cup) on skim milk. Only have non calorie liquids. steam your food or grill it or put it in the oven. Take the chromium picolinate 200 or 400 mcg per day You may have insulin resistance, metformin helps (safe as an aspirin) Do your 45 minutes cardio exercise EVERY DAY I will start the exercise today, more specific diet items tomorrow. I have to buy more of them first.

Dr. Miranda just told me to add it back in.

Good for you!!

If he hasn't thrown up since, it may well be an isolated incident. You've got a grown up immune system and likely have resistance to anything your little guy will pick up while he builds his immune system. Otherwise, keep your hands washed, bone up on the vitamin C, zinc and rest when he'll let you.

When you're not sick, the last place you want to be is in a hospital. Seriously, that's where sick people go! I have my DDs' well kid checks in the summer for that reason, they're less likely to pick something up at the Dr's office if there are fewer sick people. I'll explain. You're having elective surgery. The last things you need while you're healing are things like pneumonia, staph and other infectious disease microbes hanging around. Your body needs to heal, not deal with an infection. People who are in the clinic are either having bariatric surgery done as minimally invasively as possible -- and are otherwise well, dental work or lasik. No infections, no illnesses to pick up. The clinic is new, built just for weight loss surgery. The operating area is state of the art. Your surgeon is a specialist in WLS, having placed roughly 5,000 bands (give or take a couple hundred) and is on the Inamed board AND is the guy who shows other surgeons how best to place the bands in other clinics and hospitals. Patients of the OCC are a mere 18 miles from the San Diego airport, just 4 miles over the border, not somewhere in the jungles of the Congo with a dirt floor "OR" and a midwife removing appendices when she's not doing dental work . If you go anywhere for lap banding -- and there are certainly other good places to go -- you'll have a hard time finding a better surgeon, but you should still aim for a clinic that does bariatric surgery ONLY... You're less likely to get sick afterwards.

Nosebleeds during your TOM make sense. I've long ago forgotten the name of the hormone that tells your uterus to "let er rip" and let the lining it's been building up for 3 weeks slough off, but since it's in your bloodstream, no reason it couldn't effect your sinuses or your nose. If you're worried, you should give your OBGYN a call and ask.

Zone bars ARE great! They're soy protein based though, so I have to keep them for "blue moon" use. I really liked the Peach ones when I could find them!

THANKS!

Thanks, buckets of MoJo much appreciated! Is there anything in particular that you did to get the scales moving?

Hope isn't a strategy, right? You have to work to succeed, usually, but something is just plain off kilter. I've keet a food diary religiously. I aim for 90 g of protein a day and 1100 calories. Some days it's in the 1300 calorie range, but not once in a month has it been over 1800. I drink 2 quarts of water a day. I've been lazy, but headed back to the gym for 1 hour of exercise (elliptical/treadmill/rowing mix) 3x a week starting August 1. That scale hasn't budged lower than 188. Not in 7 weeks. My clothes aren't looser, they're just the same. Back to strategy...I moved up my 2nd fill for the 20th and e-mailed Dr. Miranda for a specific day by day diet program. I don't know what else to do. I expected to be down 15 pounds by now. I'm 42, 5'5" and otherwise healthy. I don't know what to think! Ideas? And mojo, please, for the fill next Wednesday. Something has to work. I love seeing everyone else's successes but it's becoming painful not to join the party.

Ditto that. It's nice to plug in a commonly consumed food (like "boiled egg" or "lean cuisine ___________" or "Dannon light yogurt" and have all the information at your fingertips. So, if you plug in "Skippy Peanut Butter" and select the "creamy" one from the list, for example, it will give you the nutrition information for 1 oz or 1T. If you had 1/2 T, then just put "0.5" in the box. It does the rest for you.

Amazing the ripple effect you've had. Thank you.

I has something similar, but it was followed by a "frat boy at a kegger" type belch. Do you not burp afterwards?

Man! I have a 40th birthday party girl to fete Sunday Night, or I'd be there with bells on! Love the Royal Palms...love the "not a chain" feeling of it. Are you in the Valley of the Sun often?

High insoluble fiber content. Some stomas have trouble with them.

You're doing so WELL! Happy b-day to DH, too!

HUGE congratulations!!!! (and good luck with the move!)

Please call Dr. Miranda for a daily diet plan to follow. Part of what we paid for is nutritional advice. You didn't mention using a food diary (thedailyplate.com or fitday.com are both great) or what you're doing for exercise. Those are important, too.

Christmas in August! Congratulations!!!

Jenn, It troubles me that his knee jerk reaction was NOT that you've done what you're supposed to do. You've done the diets, you've done the exercise. It didn't work. After considerable homework, you've found a solution that should provide better results, carefully researched a surgeon and continued to do your absolute best for your child. Just like you'd do if she had a brain tumor, or a cleft palate, you did for her obesity. You're to be commended. THAT should have been the knee jerk reaction. Most medical treatments aren't natural. If you need a new hip, a pacemaker, radiation/chemo, contacts, braces, --shoot, even birth control-- none are natural. If natural always worked, we wouldn't need doctors (like him). Using Science with nature simply, is better than nature alone. You didn't receive the respect you were due by Dr. Oz. As a parent, you have mine. Linda

That's quite a trip for you! Will your wife be joining you? I can't recall her name, but she was really sweet. Best of travels! Linda

Sending you all kinds of mojo from Phoenix. I hope your item finds it's way back to you quickly.

Good for you!!!! I used to love water aerobics. Glad you found a good class and are making friends! Your strength and energy will start to surprise you in no time at all

I'm really sorry...I'm a fellow newbie and the 21 days of liquids were so very hard. I was looking for help on another board that was simply loaded with negative energy. I wish I'd found this one weeks earlier Going out was too hard. Being hungry was hard. The gas sucked. You didn't order soup...you ordered spaghetti. What's up there? Sure, it's soft, but while you're alone in your room, while it's quiet and calm, take some time to figure out why you're sabotaging yourself... Why, when you're angry with your husband, do you take it out on you? Ask yourself what that achieves and what, specifically, you want instead. You're in the medical field. You know that you have to let the sutures in your stomach form scar tissue in the right areas to reinforce the band for solids. Knowing that, you're going to have to look past your body and into your emotions. Something else needs attention.

David -- wow. It's GREAT that you've lost 13 pounds! It's so cool that you're seeing the pounds disappear! It's your body, it's your band. We're your cheering section -- each other's cheering section. You're in the cheering section, too. Knowing that we're all in this together, we're cheering for you to succeed. We won't help you sabotage yourself. That would be like rooting for the shark in Jaws while he eats the cool old captain dude.. (I was rooting for the unseen villians in The Blair Witch Project, so I'm capable of rooting for failure, but I digress) You're an adult. Like an adult going to confession, you came here to confess. You didn't ask for absolution, you just hoped that we'd tell you that everything would be okay. Maybe it will be, and I can honestly say that I genuinely hope so. No normal person -- especially one who has struggled with weight loss and is banded -- wants your band to slip or wants you to fail. What kind of a cheering section would be be if we said -- "eh, it's just a cheeseburger or a few croutons. You'll be all right. Heck have another."? Is your priest going to say, "dude, it's just a little shoplifting,"? Nope. I'm not a band Nazi. I'm not saying "No Soup (with croutons) for you!". I'm the cheering section saying, "You know better. You slipped. Stop beating yourself up, but get back with it. Stop testing the band and let your body heal." It's my job. Chill out with the "SO THERE" stuff. That chip on your shoulder is making your shirts look funny.