Taz

My first real meal after the 21 day liquid phase was a mini pizza. Instead of a heavy crust though, I used a Weight Watchers wrap as the crust. Placed it on a pizza stone and cooked it with a chicken breast I had marinated in a taco spice seasoning and cubed. Had it with pizza sauce, oregano, onions, garlic, green peppers and tomatos with some mozza cheese. Was devine. Filled me right up. Taz

Thank you so much for sharing Cara. I started on solids recently, and it seems I don't have a lot of restriction. I can eat breads and pasta right now. I am sure this is going to change after my fill... so I am trying to limit it right now so I don't get "used" to it. Sounds like you got a good restriction. Appreciate that you listed what you CAN eat. Taz

Congrats!!! Even though the rain came heavy this afternoon, I blew past the 10,000 barrier tonight as well (with thanks to my wife who made sure I did). Anyone else? Taz

I know the feeling. When I had my first solids recently, I wanted to eat all my favorites. But I was good. I made a pizza using a Weight Watchers wrap as the crust, with chicken, mozza, onion and garlic. Man that was awesome. This morning I had a piece of toast with peanut butter. Thought it would be amazing. For some reason... wasn't what I thought. Didn't have any trouble getting it down... but just didn't satisfy my cravings. Wrestling with the thought of having a burger. Don't want to go down that road of eating hamburger buns. Or yummy chinese or sushi. I know the cravings are there. But you are doing so well. Don't cave in! You only got another week. You can do it! Taz

This must vary from person to person. I have all my wisdom teeth and started on solids this weekend. Everything has worked out pretty good for me. Hope you get it worked out Trav. Taz

I love the ticker. It's so good to quickly see where we are all at. Congrats on the loss. Taz

The rain has stopped for a bit this morning. Time to go for a hike. Let's see if I can blow past 10,000 steps today. Why don't you all join me? Let's see if most of us can break 10,000 today! Taz

Good secret. Shall I bring the digital video camera? May as well make some money if you are going to do that. That's all the Internet is about anyways... online dating and porn. Not. Taz

I don't believe they take credit cards directly. However, they do accept Paypal, and you can configure that to do credit cards. I racked up a lot of points that way on my credit card for the surgery... which is now going to pay for my Wii Fit. :-) Taz

I don't know. Once banded you will NOT be allowed carbonated beverages for 6 months. So I would start weining off of it now. Especially if you are addicted to it. Maybe start by going down to one glass a day, and move it slowly off of that. I was a Coke Zero addict. It was difficult to begin with... but got easier as I went along. Now I don't even think about it. YMMV. But this is going to be a life altering experience. Going cold turkey will be hard. Start now to make it easier. Taz

SWEET!!!! Damn. Now I am determined to break 10K today. I am sitting at 7,306. Taz

Not sure you can call that a "piggy" back. You definitely aren't that any more!!! Congrats. Great NSV. Taz

Well, you can ALWAYS start early. Never hurts!! Like Jann, my pre-op was a meal replacement drink at breakfast and lunch, and then a lean cuisine at dinner. The meal replacement shakes could be most of the common brands, but had to stay under 240cal per bottle. I drank the "Boost" drinks, as they didn't taste as bad as some of the others I tried, like Ensure. I was also allowed some greens at dinner, in moderation. No alcohol. No soda. Water. It's your friend. Taz

Not sure how healthy that is, but I have no experience to back that claim up with. Just sounds dangerous. Hope you are feeling better though. That can never be a comfortable feeling. Taz

It is my understanding that Dr. Ortiz helped form "Fill Centers USA". You can check them out at http://www.fillcentersusa.com/. There are plenty of after surgery care centers to choose one. Hopefully one is in your area! Taz

I wonder how many steps it recorded for that one :-) Taz

Here is a trick that is working for me. Hook the the pedometer INSIDE you pant pocket. That way if it falls off... you don't lose it. I did that on a pair of sweats last night, where I hooked it on the band backwards. While I was running in the rain it did pop off... but landed inside and down my leg, where I could feel it... stop and hook it back up. Don't get discouraged. Find a pedo that you like and get back at it!! Taz

Ok, so what constitutes as a "soft food" really? Pudding? Mashed Potatos? Chilli? Hot oatmeal? Although pudding and mashed potatos aren't going to be on a healthy diet much anyways, I can see things like oatmeal and SunnyBoy being something to eat once in a while for breakfast on a cold morning. And healthier prepared chilli... *yum* Interesting if anyone knows a good source to explain/document the differences. Taz

Think of it like the slime from Ghostbusters... but a clear/white instead of green :-) You only get that if you PB due to the nature of the pieces in your pouch. Which is why they say to chew, chew, chew. Don't want to PB? Then follow their advice. :-) Taz

Ben, I can't comment on any of the doctors you found, but let me put some perspective in how I chose my doctor, who happened to be Dr. Ortiz from OCC. His practice has done OVER 6000 surgeries Of the three doctors I was looking at, two of the three have worked and/or learned from Dr. Ortiz He trained under the inventor of the lapband He had the lowest complication rate of any doctor I investigated He had NO DEATHS attributed to the surgery. Funny enough, one of the other doctors I was looking at did. Twice. *shudder* The patient reviews of Dr. Ortiz were amazing. Most were up and walking 30 minutes after the surgery. This can be attributed to an awesome anastesia <sp?> process. That's pretty impressive. Oh, and I can confirm that. After being banded, I was walking around in no time at all. Don't think it was 30min... but less than an hour. He had an interesting approach discussing the surgery using his YouTube videos. it made him personable, approachable, yet authoritative. He has been interviewed by many credible sources, and even been on shows like Oprah Although his practice is in Mexico (I would imagine to get away from malpractice insurance), it was one of the highest rated in the industry. I found the place cleaner than most hospitals I have been in. And the care was amazing. As I researched this, I ended up finding two people I knew had the surgery from him. That distilled a bit more confidence. There are other things, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. For me, numbers don't lie. The guy has done over 6000 of these things with little complication, and no death. Why would you want to go to someone else? He knows his stuff. Of course, I am biased. I am a happy bandster of his. I can tell you this though... you can see the difference in the results even on this board in the last 2 months. People banded from other surgeons talk about longer recovery times, less weight loss (maybe attributed to the difference in post-op instructions for diet and exercise) and more difficulty coping with the life changes. I am not saying other doctors are bad, but there is something to be said for the tried and true success at OCC. Never mind that it will probably be cheaper for you. YMMV. I would recommend you check Dr. Ortiz out though. Taz

Way to go man!!! I am having very little hunger growls... which may be why I am not losing as much. I'm down 33lbs today. Seems I am averaging 5 to 6lbs a week. And now moving into the solids phase. Keep up the great work. Love having you around here. Taz

So did you find your pedometer? Taz

First off... don't you DARE be ashamed of taking care of yourself!!! 100 lb loss is an amazing accomplish, and you should be proud of the healthier, hotter you. If you ever feel that the person in your life would change their opinion of you in a negative way by your decision... quite frankly they are not the right person for you. Let's get real... life is to short to be fretting about people that won't be supportive of your life altering decisions. Of course, I don't know anywhere where it is written that you even need to tell them during the courting phase. A person you are going to spend the rest of your life with isn't going to negatively care about your band. They will probably be supportive. They are reaping the benefits... so to speak. I sense a small lack of confidence in WHO you have become. Who you ARE. Before worrying about your relationships with others.... you might want to work on your relationship with yourself. YOU come first when it comes to your health. Anyone that wants to sabatoge that has no right to be in your life. I hope you find that confidence... and the significant other you deserve. Taz

Nah. I am rather particular about how clothes fit on me, and I don't particularly like worn clothes. Being concious of my body, its hard to find clothes that fit in the right way, in the right spots. I pretty much shop at the Big and Tall store where I can try things on, not be pressured into buying, and don't worry what people think in the store. I just can't WAIT until I can fit in Ralph Lauren Classic Polo shirts again so I can go shop at the Bay. (higher end department store in Canada) Taz

This is interesting. Why are you hoping for a smaller band? It's not like we are talking about parking a Austin Mini vs a Hummer in there. You aren't going to notice a difference either way. The doc will pick the band that is safe for you. The rest is up to you. Taz