2nd Fill

Ok, it's been about a month since my last update. The first fill did not really have too much of an effect on me, other than to let me know that bread and strawberries are not really my friends anymore. I went in today to get my 2nd fill and I am happy to say that I have finally lost some more weight. I have now lost a total of 34 pounds since the fall. But I am even happier that my clothing sizes are shrinking also. At my heaviest (in law school), I wore a size 56 pant. Now I am wearing 42/44. So I am thrilled about that. Last weekend Beth Ann and I went to Ross (Dress for Less) and I bought some jeans that I could wear proudly, and they are not Arizona brand.

Anyway, last time they put 4cc into my band (it holds 10cc). Today they put in 1.5cc, for a total of 5.5cc. The doctor told me that once you have 5cc in the band, the restriction really kicks in and weight loss starts getting faster. Of course my exercising over the past month has helped and I am going to kick it into gear this month.

The most depressing thing about my visits to the doctor is waiting around with the other patients, and listening to their stories of how they are cheating the band. And how it's been 2 years since their surgery and they have either not lost weight, or have gained weight. I just don't understand why you would put yourself through all of this just to "cheat." Obviously they are not getting away with anything. I was the only male patient, and also the only white patient. It was a very special experience.

I am on liquids again today, then pureed food tomorrow (baby food), then soft foods Friday and regular food on Saturday. For breakfast this morning, I had my usual shake (3/4 to 1 cup of fat free skim milk, 1 (25g) scoop of "dutch chocolate" protein powder, 1 banana, 1 packet of splenda and 4 ice cubes). If I am really flying high I add a teaspoon of peanut butter, but that's only for special occaisions. The whole thing gives me about 32 grams of protein (out of the 60+ needed for the day) and only about 200 calories. For lunch I will usually have leftovers from dinner, or a hard-boiled egg, or cottage cheese. I try to get between 60-70 grams of protein in a day, but it will become harder to do once I can really only eat 1/4 cup at a time. We'll see what happens.