AngieB

Beneprotein it's from the same peeps who do benefiber. You have to be careful with protein in coffee, to hot of coffee with scorch the protein....ewh! Anyway, google beneprotein, it's a nestley product I think. It comes in cans or packets. Each scoop is 7 gm of protein.

There are MANY different factors to living with the band.....fickle, fickle little biotch it can be. We all have tricks and tips up our sleeves to cope with a situation. You will be a player too once you hit a decent level or restriction. Here is an example. My band has loosened up and I have been feeling great. Today....high stress and tension in my body.....food...hmmm have to be careful....stress tightens my band. So, you deal with it. Sometimes my TOM will tighten my band.....sometimes not. So in the months where I get snug, I deal. Otherwise I will be filling, unfilling, filling, unfilling. So many facsets affect the band.....you will understand more when you get more experience under your belt. Life happens. The band is not a steady device.... One day you can have steak, the next - no so much....two days later.....you can have steak again....just fickle.

You know you are a bandster when.....you have stocked your cupboard with so many one cup containers, cuz that is how you roll... You know you are a bandster when....you are buying tofu at the store and loving it! You know you are a bandster when....you can out walk your skinny friends!

I had a grilled chicken dish. I kept it simple and ate light. You can have anything you want. We ate about 6ish.

Okay here is another you tuber I sub to. Greg is a good no bull kinda guy. In this vid he is talking about the scale....which is a good topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXwep_NSeB4 When I kicked butte before and lost 100 lbs with out the band. I weight myself EVERYDAY! It worked for me then as a guide to keep my mind focused on the number and what I needed to do to keep it decreasing. When I was first banded, I became a scale whore. I would go in the bathroom to pee and find myself stepping on the scale before I left. Over kill. So I asked for help and started weighting myself once as week, and others did it too. Which was a good accountability tool for me. Now, I don't weight myself on a specific day anymore. I suppose I step on the scale once a week or at least every two weeks for sure. Right now I am holding steady at 230 give or take a lb or two. I took a more laid back approach to my scale schedule, when I realized I was doing good on exercise, and 3/4 of my eating......with a consistant over eat spree each night. Right now I seem to be missing the willingness and desire to kick it into gear and get my evening food consumption under wraps. So, I decided to live and see how my life evolves. Not to push myself or put expectations on my life that I am not willing to do something about at this very moment. I figure like everything sooner or later, I will get my act in gear and things will fall into place.....self love of where I am with out the harsh judgement. Anyway, my relationship with the scale has changed dramaticly over the years..... How is your relationship with the scale and where you are in life...??? Please share....

I broughts some bullion granules - NOT the cubes with me. My travel was a good days travel and the airports are not clear liquid friendly. I also brought crystal light on the go packets that came in very handy. I didn't want to spend any cash on food and save my money on fun items to bring home. Which I did. I packed light so I had room for my gifts in my carry on. Which was damn heavy and difficult for me to lift above my head after surgery.... If I were you, I wouldn't bother with the protein shakes ect, there will be rest you can eat at. We had something light and simple the night before.

Hey there. I recommend you take a taxi to Revoltion Ave or the mall. Note where you are and arange for the driver to pick you back up there at a agreed upon time. I would recommend you jot down the address of your hotel or take a biz card so you know where you want to go back to. Always be on the safe side. We had no issues and our taxi driver spoke very little english. That is what I would do.

Hi Judy! Congrats on your success with the band! I always enjoy success stories. I don't believe the band expires. I do know there can be other complications, but the band is good to go. Is it possible your port is closer to the surface after loosing a good layer of tissue and fat? Do you think it is sticking out more and you could be bumping it or rubbing it on counters and such? Who is your fill Dr? Do they use floro for fills? Maybe you could schedule an apt to visit with them about your sensitivity. It's always good to check things out from time to time. Maybe it is time for a band check up?

Hey - I have no idea if you tried to call....I missed some calls of numbers I didn't recognize. If you did try and call, please give me another ring. If for any reason I don't pick up...leave me a message and I will return your call. Hope you had a good weekend! Angie

Waiting is the hardest part.....you are one of the fastest healers I have ever met/seen. You are fortunate in that way. Sounds like you are ready to rock and roll. What is the healing time for these surgeries?

Okay ya'all ya know I am a you tuber.....found this video, now I think I will be making it as soon as my tomatoes start to produce!!!!!

Ah it's the Girls turn!!! Yay, eyelifd lift....now that sounds like it will be outchie! Woo hoo! Congrats!

AMY!!! So good to see/hear from you. Sounds like you have been SUPER busy! Clean up is not fun....Good job on the WL!

When I looked into Dr. Ortiz and his staff, I began my searching the internet for information on him. I watched his You Tube videos, especially the one where he does the surgery on video. He made it look so easy breezy. I read his book and became a member on this forum. I asked question after question. I checked out his credentials with Alergan. I read and read on the internet the good, the bad the ugly. I wanted to know not only what the risk factors where, but how they affected the person and the body. They are out there, you can find the horror stories with personal faces. I did this so I could get the full scoop of my decision. Was the % of risk worth the possible results for me. I wanted to way the pros and cons fully and not just do it and feel like a victum later....ya know. This is an excellent place to read read read. You can get an idea of what bandster life is like. I loved the OCC and staff. The moderators on this board do a good job and you can ask them qustions too. They have tons of knowledge and are willing to help anyone. Another thing I did was secure after care BEFORE MY SURGERY! I read about how many banditos had difficulty findign after care. Us surgeons did not want to touch them. I called each bariatric surgeon in the surrounding area, well just to Lincoln. Found out how they did fills, and the cost. My desire and want was to find someone who did fills by floro. I am paying out of pocket so I wanted to ensure I was not going to damage my tool. Those were some of the important things I saught. I would be happy to talk to you over the phone if you would like. Let me know and I will message you my phone number as we can not post it on the forum.... : ) I really spent time on my decision and I would encourage you to do the same. Educate yourself. Good luck! Angie

Great post Debbie.....I am a guzzler too, but have learned to slow it down MOST OF THE TIME.....I am a work in progress too! So here is what I know about water. It is awesome you are already programed to drink water! 3 cheers for you. Something to keep in mind, think about how heavy water can be and the pressure of water on the band while it is hitting your stoma and passing through the band. That is why we shouldn't be downing a 24 oz bottle of water in a few guzzles after working out. I still take big drinks....but I have really toned it down.... I'd keep in mind the pressure and go from there. I am not a sipper. HTH Angie

I went to The Obesity Control Center in Tijuana, Mexico. This forum is hosted by the OCC for us and others are welcome here as well. I went to the OCC as a self pay because my insurance does not cover WLS.

When I was making my decision, I only considered the band and the sleeve. I felt the bypass was WAY to evasive for me. Plus my Aunt Doris passed away from GB surgery 4 months prior to my surgery. I will say, I have seen fantastic results with the sleeve and bypass. Let me be clear, faster results as a general observation. I have witnessed amazing transformations with the band as well, however the sleeve and bypass alter your digestive system and that changes absorption of nutrients. There are so many benefits and side effects to each surgery. Really it is a personal dicision for each of us to make. I would highly recommend you keep on researching and ask your self some questions. Are you a binger? or a snacker? Personally I think Gastric bypass will help you more if you are a binger. Snacker not so much. I have been banded a year now and I love my band. I choose it over the sleeve because I didn't want my insides stapled or cut away. With the lap band I will have a piece of equipment in my body for I hope the rest of my natural life here on earth. There are soo many things I could type and share, but really it is best if you make the choice and take the time necessary to really get what each surgery is about. Stick around or watch some you tube videos from people who have done each surgery. My looking into the band happened 8 years ago. I got super serious about it and within a month, BAM I was there having surgery. Check out some books, read read read. Listen listen listen and ask ask ask. This board currently consists of mostly banders. Or at least for right now that is who is typing messages. So you can get lots of band education here. Good Luck!

WOW and Way to Go! I am so happy for you! Lindsay you are doing the deal and the proof is in the pudding! You look fab!

Keeping in mind that once you hit a level of restriction, the band can be VERY FRICKLE! That being said, there have been days that I could not eat a frozen lean meal! Ha! What the band does to us! Every once in a while in a pinch I will do them. For the most part, I stick with non processed foods. Cooking for my family I seem to have left overs so I frequently take that for my lunches or stick to protein only, like a filet of talapia. Oh, I want to thank you SO MUCH for the warm beverage trick.....I am actually drinking a sugar free hot cocoa right now. My lunch didn't seem to do the trick for me. This is keeping me satisfied!

That is awesome! I am so glad you have been doing well. Way to go! Seeing the numbers change is good. Personally I have stopped weighing myself much at all. The scale has not been friendly....so I have taken a break and have began to live my life more and work on some good changes internally. So your success give me hope!