BrownEyedGirl

Thank you! Actually today is my one month bandiversary! It's amazing how different my way of thinking is since the band. Before the band when I would plan a night out with my husband it was totally about the food. Even the movie was about the popcorn which of course I made sure they layered with butter. Fill halfway with popcorn, squirt on fake butter, fill the rest with popcorn and top with more fake butter. Now, I'm planning something just so we can spend time together. When he comes home we are going for a nice 2 mile walk were we live and then getting some dinner and a movie. I don't even care where just as long as I can get a shrimp cocktail. HE gets to pick! Before I had it in my head what I HAD to eat that night and I was gonna wrestle my way into that restaurant if I had to. And for the movie, I already made some low cal/fat popcorn and parceled it into 45 calorie bags so I'll take that. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FREAKING POPCORN ANYMORE!! I'm only bringing it so I'm prepared. I don't want to find that the smell drives me nuts and I eat their stuff. I'm serious, if I went to a movie before and they ran out of popcorn, not only would the movie be ruined, but my entire night!!! I'm finally understanding what it means when they say, "Eat to live, not live to eat". Yay! Another benefit is now I can watch a cooking show without it sending me to the refrigerator. I watch a show and it gives me ideas and I try to come up with a lower cal version of it.

LOLOLOL!!! Thanks for the laugh. That's a good one.

The positive about telling people is the accountability. There's additional pressure knowing people are watching you and it may help keep you on track. On the flip side, some people are jerks about it. I've told people that I spend alot of time with, just in case there is ever a medical emergency. I have one friend who I haven't told because she'd freak out and her and I would always drink champagne together. I had to let her know that I won't be doing that anymore. She's very understanding since she is totally fit but she wouldn't be if she knew it was because of the band. I don't work outside the home anymore but if I still did, I'd probably just tell someone close to me (in case of an emergency) and then feel it out after that. They probably know you're on WW and just figure you're stomach is gurgling because you're on a diet. Now if you end up PBing your lunch back onto you're plate in front of everyone, just take out your points tracker and ask, "Hmm, that was a 4 point lunch. Do you think I can take 1 or 2 points off for that?"

Happy Bandiversary!!! You look amazing and so cute with those flowers in your hair!

Great! You answered the questions I had for you. I'm feeling the same way regarding fullness but I think I'm trying to eat more than I should. I really need to just eat less. I think I was scared I'd starve to death or something. As if. Ok.. now I gotta go catch up with you!

Special K bar kumquats 1 oz deli turkey Salad with oil and vinegar dressing Too much salmon 1/8 cup Thai Slaw steamed broccoli 1/2 serving of wine Popcorn 6 glasses water 5 miles walked

Ohmigosh!! What a thing to go through. I hope you're up and around and feeling better soon. Poor thing. Hugggs!

It's hard to imagine you'd need a TT with those beautiful arms!

Thank you for the detailed post. Maybe pop chips go down because they get so mushy. I wonder if you ate something substantial like chicken and broccoli how that would do. Not the frozen mushy processed kind but homemade. And a piece of fruit. Anyway, I hope you're there or close to it.

193.2 Not the dramatic earth shattering weight loss I was hoping for, but a weight loss nontheless. I do need to shake things up a little. Last night I tried the free Cardio Blast thing on On Demand someone mentioned. I tuned in and after looking at how out of shape everyone was I figured it would be a breeze. Then when I saw it was 10 minutes I was laughing and almost decided to do something else. Well, I did it and now I'm so sore. 10 minutes!! I'm so out of shape. I guess it is true, "pride cometh before a fall". Oh, should we come up with a catchy name likey they have on Weigh In Wednesdays? Maybe Fat Free Friday Weigh In or Non-Fat Friday Weigh In? Or just Friday Weigh In. Any suggestions?

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I laughed so hard I almost blew out my port! Ouch.

Congrats on your success. I was wondering about this myself just today. How much is it costing you and where are you getting it done?

This was pre-band. I was working with a personal trainer 3x per week and on my own 2x per week when I did this. I don't recommend it. I agree with what Chad said. It was a way to sell a 500 calorie per day diet and anyone can lose on that but no one thinks they can stick to it on it's own. I went to my doctor and discussed it prior, he had read about it himself and was currenlty researching it but wasn't sold on it. I had already been giving myself 4 injections a week for years (medically supervised) and was pretty used to it. But that was about 50 lbs ago. My metabolism was not kick started.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Is this US or Canada?! I've never heard such a thing in the USofA!

2 fiber gummies 1/4 cup oatmeal 1/8 cup blueberries and cherries 2 oz sliced turkey Cherimoya

I know BandDiva had success with taking the weight off and keeping it off but for me it was a failure. I couldn't stick with the plan. I did the injections and was totally unable to do the 500 calories for an extended period of time. The weight I did lose (less than 10 lbs) came back and then some. I'm less hungry now with an unfilled band than I was injecting the HCG into my stomach every day. Also, even though I switched areas of where I did my injections I started to develop a bruise and a tender bump on the right side of my stomach and it took almost a year for it to go away completely. I had my doctor check it out and forgot what he called it. Anway, I stopped the injections because I was failing on the diet and the bruising was the final straw.

That's what I used... turkey sausage. i didn't use Italian though. I found one that had even less fat at the health food store. It was sooo good!!

Sausage and White Bean Casserole - Makes 6 Servings 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained & rinsed 2 tbsps grated parmesan cheese (optional) 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes 1 bunch broccoli rabe, cleaned & coarsely sliced or spinach or kale (I used about 4 cups swiss chard and spinach combo) 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage, casing removed salt, to taste (use seasoned salt if you like) 1 red onion, minced 3 garlic cloves, minced black pepper, to taste 1 tsp dried basil leaves, crumbled Step #1 In a stockpot or large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. <LI>Step #2 Crumble the sausage into the skillet, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, & cook, about 8 mins. <LI>Step #3 (NOTE: If you're using kielbasa, just saute briefly until it browns). <LI>Step #4 Add the onion, salt, & pepper, garlic, until fragrant, basil, stirring as needed, about 2 mins. <LI>Step #5 Stir in the broccoli rabe, tomatoes & beans; cook this until the broccoli rabe is wilted, about five mins. <LI>Step #6 (If you're using fresh spinach, it will wilt! I promise. <LI>Step #7 Just cover it with the bean & sausage mixture & let it cook for about 5 mins). <LI>Step #8 Top with cheese if desired & serve. Per Serving 201 Cal and 4 Weight Watcher Points

Really? How much with Dr. Nyte and how much in Mexico?

Ooh! Good one! May I quote you on that?

Tylenol Extra Strength Adult Rapid Blast Liquid Cherry Flavor!!! I was going to buy myself another bottle of kids liquid Tylenol when I found this at Wal-Mart. Strangely, I couldn't find it on the Tylenol website. 1TBS is 500 mg of Acetaminophin. Here's a description. I don't know who this Wegmen's is though. https://www.wegmans....:ProductDisplay In spite of their seeming excitement over it's cherry flavor the product still tasted like shoe polish. It works though!

Please please keep us posted. I just shot up a prayer for you.

It's amazing, prior to my pre-op diet I drank EVERY night. Either beer or champagne. I LOVED Pilsner Urquell and I LOVEd my Brut Methode Champenoise champagne. I drank wine too when I didn't have the other available. I was told to quit drinking 2 weeks prior to surgery, well my surgery got postponed, so I quit drinking well over a month before surgery. We spent New Years Eve at home and I didn't drink because my surgery was scheduled for 1/9 (then 1/22 then 1/29). Anway... short story long... I really don't have a desire to drink anymore. I don't want those empty calories right now and I know that when I would drink I stopped paying attention to what I ate. Kinda like how some get sexually loose after a few cocktails (beer goggles, anyone?) well, I got food loose. Instead of asking, "I slept with WHO???!" I'd ask, "I ate WHAT?!!" I also doubt that I'd be logging all my drinki-poos into my food log. I'm not getting on anyone for imbibing. I'm just saying that as a 2 beer or 2 glass a night person I'm not drinking anymore. I thought that once I had my surgery I'd switch to wine (not carbonated) but nope. My husband has a glass every night and I had a sip recently and I thought.. "eh, not worth the calories". I mean, I just had freaking SURGERY in order to lose weight, I don't want to sabotage it. Ima be an alcohol miser and just bring it out for special occassions. Having said that, what helped me pre-op was drinking sparkling water. Can't do that Post-Op of course. I've never liked soft drinks but I seem to like the fizzy of the beer and champagne and sparkling water in a pretty Tinkerbell champagne glass every night made me think I was drinking something pretty. I guess I'll start drinking my SmartWater out of my Tinkerbell flutes. Here's a snippet of something Lindsay posted and I think the entire post is very informative. Robert Atkins (Atkins Diet?) said this: ""Here's the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason I recommend refraining from alcohol consumption on the diet. Alcohol, whenever taken in, is the first fuel to burn. While that's going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it, since the alcohol does not store as glycogen, and you immediately go back into ketosis/lipolysis after the alcohol is used up...." Here's the entire post. http://www.occforum.com/index.php?showtopic=11567&st=0&p=79718&hl=proten%20drinks&fromsearch=1entry79718 I'm not saying I will NEVER drink again, I am looking forward to one of the Marriott Hotel's Margaritas, but until I reach my goal weight I want to make my calories count. I'll have some wine now and again, maybe a margarita, but it will be sparse. Then when I reach my goal weight, I want to STAY there so, I plan on being careful with it then too. That's my hope anyway.