julieburns

Stormy I hope you get your phone to work. They do have phones at the hotel, now mind you the calls cost a pretty penny to the US but if that is your only option then just use them. It's for your son right? It's just like any hotel you have your room number and give that to your babysitter with the hotel number and if needed they leave you a message, your light on the phone blinks when you have a message, you call the message line and get your messages, simple as that. You will not be in Timbucktoo!!! As others have said while at the OCC you can use the phone in your room to call to the states for free, so use it! Stop stressing sweetie, this will go smoothly if you think it will. You can determine your own destiny sort of by your mind set and so start thinking positive. Repeat things like "Devin will be ok", "everything will go fine", "all will be well at home while I am gone" and other positive self talk sentences to start changing your brain. You have 3 weeks and if you do this EVERY day, every hour almost, by then you will have brainwashed yourself into thinking positive while you are away. Try it starting today.

I make steel cut oatmeal, a large pot that gives me 4-5 days worth of servings, I eat about 1/2 cup and then I have vanilla protein powder at 30gms per scoop (max muscle brand) and add 3/4 scoop to the oatmeal. It dissolves completely into the oatmeal making it rich and creamy tasting. I picked up this tip of adding the powder to oatmeal here on the forum. I didn't think it sounded good but when I tried it it actually is great!! You could use any kind of oatmeal I just prefer the steel cut, it has a crunchy texture that fills me up for 3-4 hours too!!

Since I can't change my ticker I wanted you all to know where I am with my loss. Yes it's true as of today I'm 25# down I thank you all for helping me get to this milestone. I only have a few hours today before work to get packed for our 9 day camping vacation to Lake Ponderay (sp) in Northern Idaho so I won't have much time to spend here before I actually leave tomorrow. I almost feel withdrawal starting to kick in. I usually spend at least an hour here in the AM and today I am so rushed. Just know if there is any way while on vaca I will check in, if not I will just relax, enjoy some long awaited time with my husband and his family and stay on track to the best of my abilities. We have not gone on a vacation for over 4 years except for 1 3 day weekend then to the coast. This will be fun. Bon Voyage!!! :sun_bespectacled: :sun_bespectacled: :sun_bespectacled: :sun_bespectacled: :sun_bespectacled: :sun_bespectacled:

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! You can't begin to know how much each of your kind and special words mean to me. I have tears in my eyes now as this was the first chance I had to read all the beautiful replies. Thank you, thank you, thank you all for lifting me up with your kind words. On a better note, yes I was able to let this one pass as water under the bridge. I went to work yesterday and none of the 3 were there so it was easy too. But all in all my attitude is "Consider the sources" and I know who I answer too, not them. I know what they said was out of some sort of twisted need to be gossiping about others which gives them a sense of sick fellowship. I do understand that the person who told me also was hurting because they talk about her and are down right mean to her all the time. I have befriended her and I think that is also prompting the talk. I kind of do that with the co workers who are on the "outside" of these peoples "in" group. It's like bringing in stray animals but my husband won't let me do that!!! So all is well again in the psyche of Julie....especially since all I have is 1 short 8 hour shift and then I am on VACATION for 9 days!!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: I plan to say a special prayer of thank for each and everyone of you who replied and for those who didn't I know you are out there and I love you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ok I am going to fess up, have at me all, I deserve it. Here's the story: Last night at work one of my coworkers told me she overheard some other co-workers talking about me as well as herself. My heart was broken. I felt angry first, then just hurt. I wanted to confront each of the 3 people involved, 2 were there last night. After talking with another co-worker I felt better and chose not to say anything last night. My plan then was to perhaps confront each person but in a way such that it wasn't me saying "I heard you were talking about me form so and so", rather, "Sometimes I feel I may not be doing everything I should/could be and I wonder what your perception is?" or something like that. I think this has stemmed from just after I had my surgery when I was at work the first few weeks I was having trouble with eating, only on liquids, malnourished and you all know how those first 3 weeks can be somewhat miserable in many ways. I have a physical job and at times is very unpredictable at best so I never know what I may end up doing. I've been working very hard to cut out my night time "snacking" and working even extra hard on my diet plan and exercise. Well you all can see the writing on the wall. I wanted to eat. Oh I fought this temptation off, reasoning with myself that I knew this was an emotional time and this was a pattern I needed to break and so on and so on. I kept up the self-talk but in my drive home gave myself permission to have a protein bar, "that's ok right". Well then I got home and I thought about my 100 calorie favorite snack cookies and had 1 package. I had exercised double time yesterday so just 1, sure why not. And yes this then turned into an all out binge. Mind you I only had my 100 calorie snacks and ice cream treats but yes I had way too many. I knew it as I ate each one and just didn't stop myself. It snowballed from that protein bar into several hundred calories of "treats". I just didn't care at the time but I did, if you know what I mean. I knew exactly what I was doing. That's my first all out binge since being banded 12 weeks ago. From that perspective I have come a long way. I am not even going to be too hard on myself for this, even though I do feel like crap! I realize what I did and I did not binge like I would have in the good old days. Then it would have been thousands of calories of sugar and carb rich foods. I did throw in some bites of chicken and it almost got stuck but I used a WW frozen bar to help it go down. This also made me realize I have no restriction and feel like a bottomless pit again. I see this as part of my journey, this process is relearning how to eat in a way different from how I have been in the last several years. I did that, even though it was a "binge". My hope is that when this sort of thing comes along again I will be another step in my re-learning process and will have even better results with handling the "stress". It's hard for old dogs( or even puppies) to learn new tricks when they've never had boundaries enforced. Today is a new day. I talked to my husband about this. He reminded me which is sad but true that working with a group of women can always have it's times of "gossipers" gossiping about each other. He's right. I also have to consider the sources and each of these people have talked about others in front of me so I should expect them to be talking about me when I am not there almost. I said a prayer for all of them and myself this morning. I have asked for the strength to just move forward from this "event" and learn from it. To not allow what someone said they heard others said to affect me, as they are not the one who maters. I answer only to 1 person and he and I have talked about this. Confession over. I feel better!!

I've had ticker issues too. I can't get it to update either. I just need to do a new one and havn't. Somehow it seems like one of those "computer things" that I always put off. Glad I am not alone though, I thought I was the only one!! Edit: Just spent like 15 minutes and it won't cut. paste, copy or whatever it is supposed to do. I'll have to ask my husband to re teach me how to do this. I thought I learned this when we set it up but obviously my synapses arn't processing new info like this kind of stuff unless I repeat it like 1000 times, then maybe I'll get it. Maybe after he shows me again I will update every pound just for the repetion so I can learn this basic computer task. AAAAAGGGHH!

Hey Vix: I bought the ones Michelle had posted a picture of, there is a thread somewhere. I just googled "Profect, or Protica nutritional research is the company that makes them. These are 2.9 oz with 25 grams of protein. I got the assortments with 1 of each flavor. Granted they arn't something I would crave or anything but they were pallatable. For only 3 oz. you could drink it easily by itself and yes it kep0t me full. These worked right after my first fill. Yes they would also be great right after surgery too. I wasn't as informed then but wish I had them for that "healing" time. I know I did not get enough nutrition and felt like crap most of the time. Give'em a chance it's worth a try. I have heard o ones made by GNC but for some reason I chose these. I since have found 30 gram premade chocolate "Premier"protein shakes. They are great. I also have used "Max Muscle" protein powders with 20-35 grams of protein per scoop. They taste great mixed with 8 oz. of milk and even water is good. Hope this helps.

Truthfully.........NOTHING, sad but true. I hope to change this as I lose weight though. My age though does not help, lack of hormones. Oh my husband tries and is so genuinely loving of me I feel bad I just have nothing near even close to this feeling. :lb6:

Here's what I think of off the top of my head: string cheese - snack beef jerkey - great high protein snack on the go fresh spinach- this I eat almost every day with my tuna for lunch, drizzle light vinaigrette or spray dressing on it tuna, I like the 3 oz pre-drained ready to go packs tuna "lunch to go" packs frozen baby shrimp salmon weight watchers latte "ice cream" bars only 100 calories and so fulfilling Haagen Daz vanilla yogurt and raspberry sorbet frozen bars, also only 100 calories Special K protein water and/ or packets to go Benefiber eggs to hard boil or scramble Kraft light raspberry vinaigrette dressing 100 calorie snacks, there are so many now to choose from. I get a variety pack wish bone salad spritzers, several flavors,all great High protein drink and/or powder. I mix vanilla powder in with my oatmeal in the morning so you get the protein with the carb, much better to control blood sugars. I occasionally use a protein shake for a quick meal on the run if needed. I'll add more as I think of it.

So glad you are doing better. Each day should get easier for you. Keep us posted.

Cathy is right (or rather her surgeon). I think the docs that have you sign something are just trying to cover their a##@$ with any liability issues a person could say they weren't told. These american docs unfortunately have been scared to death from malpractice suits that are rampant in the states.

Glad all went well for you Tee. You will be amazed at how this should change your eating habits almost immediately. Try not to have to PB to make you slow down and chew though. Enjoy those creamy soups and the weight loss that's to come for you.

You are not alone. Yes I have my struggles too. I do battle every single day with my head and food addiction. I am a tough learner. I have stopped Pbing though as my restriction is gone again. Now that really sucks. I could have written your exact words kibble so don't feel like you are the only one who is struggling. Yes the old "we didn't gain all this overnight" phrase comes to mind. I like Dawn's math though, now that sounds good. I am in it for the long haul as I am sure you are too so just consider this another page in a chapter you will entitle something like"misery loves company" or "why am I unable to change overnight?". This will not be the final chapter though as that one is called "I've reached my goal" or "Skinny is me!". Glad today is a new day for all of us and we are here to see it together! :lb4:

Hope all you folks are doing ok today. I'm thinking of ya!!

Hello Vix: I totally understand your fears. I am a "wimp" when it comes to pain and with fibromyalgia all pain is perceived in the brain as worse than for the normal person. I have/had taken oxycontin for years to combat pain and now it's like candy to me and I don't use it. Nothing really works for my pain either. For me I just blocked it out of my mind that it was going to hurt, hard but true, and expected to feel fine after surgery. Much to my amazement I was out of surgery in 1/2 hour and up walking the halls as soon as I was out. There is no way you'll be totally relieved until you wake up and are not in any severe pain. Truly discomfort at most is what I would call it, and then not much. On a 0 to 10 pain scale it was maybe a 2-3 for me at it's worst. Heck I have days that my health problems give me an 8 out of 10 on the pain scale! This is what I have read for months now on how the majority of folks feel. Yes there are exceptions but not many. They give you toradol, not tramadol as Kim mentioned and will address any pain issues and med allergies you have. Hope this helps. Have a great trip and don't let these last few days be full of anxiety, relax and look forward to the mini vacation you get to have.

What an uplifting man you are. You are so right with EVERYTHING you said. Thank you for your wonderful words of support and encouragement. You made my day!!

Get some good high gram protein drinks or powder for shakes. You can sip on those throughout the day or add the powder to things like oatmeal or cereal. Glad you have a good fill. Isn't it weird how we want this so bad and then when we get it it's a bit of a shock to us mentally, and of course physically!! Darn WII, at least you're getting a new one.

Glad to hear from you Michelle. I hope you are feeling "settled" in your new place. You are such a structured person with your meal plans etc. that I am sure the chaos of the move disturbed that for you. You'll get back on track. Moving is HUGE as far as a stressor so trust in yourself. I also need another fill, not able to get it until 9/26 so I know how you feel. It's so nice to see you back here, I missed you! >

Sounds like you are doing better today Herb. Glad you are over the hurdle. I'd like to say it's all downhill from here but it's not. Certainly you have been through the worst most acute type pain I want to assure you this, but it's sort of like a roller coaster ride for a few weeks. For me the addiction to food was so prevalent I was actually "withdrawing" from it. Still do sometimes. I wasn't so prepared for all the mental strength this would take. I have days that go by no problem but then BAM I get off track. You're doing great so just stay positive, don't worry, be happy and all will be right

:lb9: Jessica from Utah #2!!! So glad you came to say Hi. This forum is invaluable to me. I was skeptical of the whole "Mexico" thing but after careful research and a friend who went before me I was convinced this was the best place to go, no matter what. Dr. Ortiz was trained by the Inamed company that makes the lapband and he has taught hundreds, if not thousands to put it it. As someone else once said here "why go to the student when you can get the teacher"? Let us know when you schedule!!

Yes sad but true Cathy is right. When I was banded I knew the reality of this but when it actually happens it's a sad day. All of a sudden you can eat way more than you were used to eating. And yes you can stretch your pouch if you are not careful. Portion control is the key at this stage. Eating slow, and waiting even if you are still hungry to eat anymore. Book that fill if you havn't already. :lb11: Oh and about the constipation... I swear by benefiber, put it in anything you drink EVERY day and you'll be regular.

How are you doing honey? Is the house still silent? How's your eating? Hang in there and don't apologize for his being the creep. Glad you checked in here.

First of all congratulations of your upcoming surgery and you new change of life. I am glad you found this forum. To let you know most of us, although not everyone on here were banded by Dr. Ortiz in Mexico. He has a certain pre-op diet with like 3 choices of plans to do depending on how much time before surgery. It sounds like you may be having surgery with another surgeon though. If so follow their recommendations. We all were recommended to lose 5% of our body weight if our BMI was above like 32(?) or so. Most people would eat 2 shakes a day, slim fast, atkins, or any protein powders to mix your own. For dinner we were to eat a lean cuisine type frozen dinner or any other brand like smart ones, healthy choice and you get the drift. I was careful not to get ones with high carbs and low protein but the opposite. If we needed a snack we could have lettuce greens, cucumber, spinach, and a few other vegetables raw. Also we could have ministrone soup, 1/2 to 1 cup for a snack if we needed it. We needed to drink minimum 2 liters of water each day. It is confusing when they switch information on you about how much to lose. Just stick with the diet plan they recommend to the letter and you will be fine. The point is to lose fat around your liver which is where you lose fat first and so by doing this it makes visualization much easier for the surgeon during surgery. Sometimes the numbers don't reflect this type of fat loss either. Just stick to the plan. You could also have any type of sugar free snacks like jello, popsicles, and I did use special K protein water to tide me over. Also you can add some sort of fiber product to keep you full longer. I use benefiber which dissolves completely and is undectable in liquids and foods. Hope this helps. :lb4: You can do this

Thanks Donna for the great reviews. I have yet to read Dr. O's book but will someday. I want to get a used one though so if anybody has one to sell or lend let me know. I do need to get a good cookbook. I am a cook by scratch sort of person who was taught to cook using no recipes really. Over the years of course I have used them but tend to go with more of what I know than trying new dishes. I need some inspiration from recipies that I can eat and not worry abou them.