damalove

could it be a side effect post TT surgery? could just be that youre not getting enough energy in the morning. do you work out in the am? id see what you could do about getting a little more down in the am, couple sips of a protein drink even...

I second that!!! Too tight sucks... In the meanwhile, once you get back on solids, take it slow, chew really well. You may not feel restriction, I did not either after first fill. So if you dont, schedule your next one for about 4 weeks later, and in teh meanwhile, really focus on eating incredibly healthily. Its good practice for later.

Hi Ajb. As was mentioned, the big (port) incision will be stubbornly sore...for a while. If i wear high-waisted slacks, and slouch at my desk, it hurts, and Im 3 mo out. It will get better though. One thing to keep an eye out for is infection; its normal that your port be sore, tender, etc. But if it feels warm to the touch, hot in fact, and the surrounding area is excessively red, could signal infection. dont mean to scare you as this is very rare, just thought id mention. Sounds like youre doin just fine though.

oh one more thing, since you're headed to TJs, i liked their cuban black bean soup, warmed up in a mug with a sprinkling of parm and a dollop of sour cream or even plain yogurt, dash of hot sauce, delicious and pretty filling dinner. the soup is boxed not canned. i hear good things about the roasted red pepper one too but havent tried it.

hahaha. cooking gets a little depressing when you have to make it healthy, doesnt it? im a cook and baker too and you gotta believe it made me depressed too. the things i made just werent as creamy, rich, unctuous, delicious as before (with good reason of course!). it was a big bummer for me. made me feel like a sucky cook. eventually i got past it bc what are the alternatives? eating out? unhealthy and expensive. eating frozen/processed food? too much sodium, not yummy enough, boring. as for baking, the only baking i do these days is crustless quiche for breakfast and flax foccacia. I dont even think about making my pastries, cupcakes, cheesecakes anymore. fuhgeddaboutit. ill make them for ppl if they ask me to, but i wont partake. i tell people im watching my sugar (and my waistline). and after a while, you get competent at being a healthy cook too. pm if u ever want ideas or recipes or whatever oh, and yes, i did kill em with my white chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, mexican chocolate cheesecake, and pumpkin cheesecake, but that was another lifetime.. besides boys seemed to prefer when i made cupcakes, the girliest-looking of desserts. go figure!

B- flaxbread and herbed eggs L- wedge salad and a couple hotwings at the bar watching the spain-germany match D- mexican shrimp cocktail i made over the weekend...mmm spicy S- likely 1/2 C greek yogurt w torani sugar free coconut syrup.. 1,054 calories, 31g fat, 24g net carb, 71g protein

Hi Paul. Are you on full liquids yet? Should be, I think. Protein drinks helped a lot in the morning - get creative - I would go to Starbucks and order a double espresso over ice in a grande cup. Then I'd pour my chocolate protein drink in there (i like atkins dark chocolate royale) and there ya go - a more-filling-than-a-mocha mocha. Have em add a pump of syrup in there too, turn it into a cherry mocha, peppermint mocha, cinnamon mocha, etc... As far as soups, most stuff out there isnt going to be very filling and will have tons of sodium, so try making your own. Milk/cream boost protein levels, you can try pureeing silken tofu into a soup to bulk up protein too. Cruise the recipe board; a lot of those recipes are targeted for post-op, as thats when we start to wonder what the hell we can drink that feels like a meal. If you arent much of a cook, you may as well start now.. Cooking meals from whole, fresh ingredients is going to be a key to success with WL. Plus its just good for ya Also - i hated the drinkable yogurts I found in stores, too sweet, lame flavors, etc.. so I would buy my favorite yogurt (honey greek yogurt from trader joes) and thin it out with skim milk so it was about hte consistency of the packaged drinkables. good luck. you're halfway done!

Just asked Dr. So about this last week; he said patients have reported little success with Maderma; he recommended a cream called "Contractubox Cream" (I could be botching the spelling there...) He said you can get it at pharmacies in Mx. I asked for it at the WalMart pharmacy as well as at Commercial Mexicana and neither had it, I guess grocery store pharmacies are pretty limited. We ran out of out time, but I intended to ask at a real pharmacy.

good thing im eating smaller portions bc i ate out lunch and dinner and am still keeping my cal count low.. phew.. B - andouille sausage quiche L - shrimp lettuce wraps D - bistec encebollado, platanos, avocado S - handful raspberries, greek yogurt 947 cal, 44g net carbs, 48g fat, 60g protein

Hi Shelby, glad to see ur back on. Hope things have settled down for you a bit. B - almonds and fresh raspberries L - andouille sausage and peppers quiche, green salad w a splash of balsamic vinegar D - leftovers from dinner out the other night: rosemary chicken and braised greens, a little polenta. S - 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, splash of torani sugar free coconut syrup 950 Cal 50g fat 46g net carb 14g fiber 66g protein

Bread hurts but rice is fine, havent tried pasta yet. I dont eat nor miss any it though. Bread has been my enemy way before the band. We go waaaay back. Ive eaten beef (carne asada chopped really fine) since getting restriction and it was fine. The bread is the only thing that hurt like hell. I walked towork this morning and when I got in I was super parched, so I took a big sip of cold water from the cooler, youch. It felt like I had a chunk of bread stuck in there, pretty uncomfortable. I guess I gotta go back to sip-sip, esp cold stuff in the AM. I think since we just got restriction its an exploratory time, so cautiously try things, see what hurts after one bite, and if it does, ditch it. Put it on a mental list of stuff that didnt work now, but might work in the future. In the meanwhile, def avoid bread.

a little less than a week. gasx, baby!

Debbie, congrats, you look fantastic. I can see your muscle definition despite the loose shirt, you are a machine girl! CONGRATS!!! I had a question; have you ever much felt restriction w/o a fill? have you felt your restriction decrease as you are shrinking? just curious. youre my band-hero

Wasnt hungry this morning, so rather than skip a breakfast entirely, switched out some nuts for my usual quiche. B -- walnut-pistachio-almond-pecan mix, handful of raspberries L -- mexican style stewed chicken (the ONLY way ill eat white meat chicken!), 1 cup arugula salad mix D -- andouille sausage and peppers quiche S -- 1oz lo-carb chocolate 685 calories, 40g fat, 33g net carbs, 48g protein

Wow, Paul. Thats awesome. Ive read some things about how obesity affects advancement in the workplace, and that was a motivating factor for me too. I didnt want to be considered stupid because I was overweight. For me, this was the next step in a series of get-your-life-on-track decisions. One, quit drinking and partying. Two, quit swearin and talkin crassly. Three, keep a cleaner house. Four, live a healthier life. I quit drinking cold-turkey February 19, 2008 and have been sober ever since. That was the first thing I took control of, then other things, eventually, I had to face my weight. I wanted lasting changes, so here I am. And finally, I am 27 and have never been in love. I think you need to love yourself before someone else can love you, and this is just one of those things getting me on my path.

what time was ur appt? i was sitting in the waiting room from 830a til after ten. I feel ok today -- I think you're right, I think its just built up gas in my stomach. I noticed that the hurtin really kicked in when I had some yogurt. For breakfast I had eggs and cheese and that made me hurt too. Today I had tomato soup for lunch, stewed chicken for dinner, a handful of blueberries and some peanut butter and zero pain. I think Ive always been lactose intolerant but could burp and be fine, its the band that wont let me burp hence the extreme discomfort. At least Im hoping its this and not something more serious. Ill be watching it this week, playing with different types of food, see what hurts the tummy or not. Now I feel a little less worried and can get to the business of celebrating the fact that I have lost 50% of my excess weight, as of Monday! Woohoo!

Walking is great it will def. help with your recovery and the bubble-belly factor (gas bloat). I would wait a few weeks before you start anything else too physical. I was told you have to wait 90 days until you can do ab exercises, but Dr. So cleared me for ab stuff after only about 45 days. My gut feeling is you are still healing, you *just* had surgery. Don't push it too hard too fast. They recommend you increase your walks incrementally, dont just go out for an hour walk your first time out, start with ten min, then twenty, etc.

Yeah the first meal I had after my fill was guacamole and chips and had no discomfort there. THe first meal that bothered me had cheese in it. The next meal had cheese too... and then the yogurt. So Im not going to have any dairy today and see how I feel. I still feel a bit funky but not as bad as last night. I had about four gasx strips last night didnt help much, but the Tums did help some. Maybe dairy is just something I have to give up, as a side effect of being banded? Also.. I have the persistent feeling like there is a pill stuck in the back of my throat. Wierd, cuz its almost 11am and i havent eaten anything solid for at least 15 hours. Do you ever get that feeling?

Had my second fill @ OCC on Saturday. I now have 8ccs in a 11cc band. The good news: As of Monday, I've entered ONEderland, for the first time since high school. Woohoo! And I also hit the half-way mark for reaching my goal. The bad news: I am having some pretty serious discomfort. I am not getting stuck, sliming, PBing, etc but I am having this wierd stabby feeling in my side. I think its gas, but Ive never felt such discomfort from gas before. I had a yogurt last night and man, it felt like a balloon in my gut. Really uncomfortable. I was walking hunched over bc standing up straight and taking deep breaths really hurt. I ate some Tums and the discomfort decreased but didnt totally go away. Ive always assumed I was lactose intolerant, but it usually just results in a little extra gas, no biggie. I love dairy/cheese/yogurt too much to care. But now im wondering if since I had my fill I cant tolerate dairy anymore? Has anyone experienced this? Could it just be irritation from the fill? Should I do liquids??? In your opinion, might I need an unfill? Any and all support experiences suggestions whatever you've got is welcome.. I want to be excited about all the weight ive lost, onederland, having lost 50% of my excess weight, etc but I am too worried to feel happy. thanks.

Hi everyone. I just had my second fill as well, saturday morning, and im not experiencing pain, but a wierd cramp type feeling on my left side. Last night around 7pm i went to a taqueria and got a steak taco. the meat was chopped very fine and i got it down no problem. but once i felt full, i stopped eating, but later that evening i noticed the sharp cramp type feeling in my side. it was not a full feeling, but a sharp feeling when i take in deep breaths. i had tea before bed, and when i finally went to bed at midnight i still felt the sharp cramp feeling. its now 930a the next morning and i still feel it. what is that? has anyone else experienced that? is that "fullness" or is that something else entirely? i have a feeling its somethign else, because its morning now and i do feel hungry. im ready for breakfast but worried something is up? could it be irritation/inflamation from the fill? any suggestions/advice/whatever would be very welcomed. thanks

B - sausage and peppers quiche L - the last of the tri tip, 5 oz, and a Green Giant just for one Broccoli and Cheese Sauce S - cottage cheese D - bunless burger with pepper jack 1100 cal, 22g net carb, 90g protein

finally after a month of plateau and a blip last week, finally got the scale moving in the RIGHT direction. Down 1.2 lbs today. Fill # 2 here i come!