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3 Years On October 22Nd 2012 - Annual Checkup

It has been a while since I logged in here. But Almost 3 years later I am 6 pounds from goal weight of 140 and I have lost 100 pounds! I lost 68lbs in first year and 20 lbs each year thereafter. I have not worked out so would have been faster if I did that! But went to see Dr Rantis today and band position looks good! I have a 10cc band and it is filled to 5.25ccs and no more restriction needed! I am a size 6 and it feels great! Foods that have been eliminated from diet are Soda and Soft Bread. Everything else is eaten on strict portion control! This has been the best decision I have ever made! I have had no health or complication issues and blood work keeps coming back good. I am starting a home workout routing - Jullian Michaels Body Revolution to tone up. I have the occasional times that I eat too fast or dont chew enough and I get stuck but I have managed that pretty well by now. So for now, I am very happy and hope to reach my goal weight very soon and get back into shape!
aghealthy

aghealthy

5
 

10 Days Post-Op - Blended Diet

Well it has been 10 days since Post-Op. I stopped taking liquid pain meds and moved on to Blended Diet. Soreness has drastically reduced - wore jeans yesterday and that was a little uncomfortable but okay. No more Levonox shots, yeah! (blood thinners). I had gas pains in my left shoulder and that really was painful - it last 2 days and then I burped and pain all gone! What a relief.   I am glad to start the blended diet since I am going back to work tomorrow. However, I hope blended diet really helps with staying full longer. Eating something every two hours is very inconvenient and really does not help me with wanting to cheat because I am hungry all the time. Ugh... I know, Bandster Hell. I feel no restriction so that does not help either. But, sticking to the rules. I need to get the water thing down and get enough in a day. I used to drink 100 ounces a day no problem but I drank all day long even at meals. So I have to adjust that habbit.   I lost 10 pounds during liquid diet but have the feeling it will be maintained due to taking in more calories with Blended Diet. I have Post-Op Doc appointment on Tuesday so will have lots of questions then :smile:   So if anyone has tips on surviving the Blended Diet and always being hungry, please share
aghealthy

aghealthy

1
 

First Week - Liquid Diet

I just had my surgery on October 22nd. Surgery went well. It is now 4 days after surgery and it looks like incisions are healing okay, some bruising and soreness. I am only taking pain meds at night.   I am up and walking around and I have noticed my stomache is growling after 2 hours of eating. I hope that is normal. I am not staying full very long but I think that is to be expected. I am sticking to the diet and writing everything down so I can review with my doctor on my follow up appointment on 11/3/09.   Gas pain is getting better and taking vitamins. Soreness still in the area where port is - kinda like somebody has kicked you in the stomach multiple times but I expected that.   Hopefully when I can go to blended foods, I wont have to eat every 2 hours? I return to work on 11/2/09 and hope I dont feel so hungry all the time.
aghealthy

aghealthy

6
 

2nd Fill, Goodbye Bandster Hell?

I had my 2nd fill on 1/25/10 - after some reschedules from the Physians Assistant. I have a 10cc band and they added 1cc. My band is now 3.5cc. They did the fill on the xray machine and had me drink Barium. Very cool. The PA said before the fill - it was pretty wide open, then she put the 1cc in and it really did go to a very narrow stream. I must have been swollen first couple of days because I could feel water going through - slight pressure in chest, like something getting stuck. But after 2 days of full liquids and 2 days of Blended diet, it was better.   I do have to be careful with how fast I eat now. It takes me much longer and I eat a lot less. This fill was great! I think I am out of Bandster hell!   I am also glad they did the xray because it showed my band did not move at all - even though I had 2 days of vomitting due to the flu! Phew! That was a big relief to me.   I have noticed that Bread is getting harder and harder to eat - so I will keep phasing it out of my diet. It just hurts too much to eat. Not worth it.   I have lost 31 pounds since Oct 22nd - 10 pounds a month is not bad. I have not started exercising yet, but plan to this week. That will help with toning up and dropping pants sizes faster.   I am not regretting getting the band at all. I love eating smaller amounts. But, bad habits are hard to break, like eating fast. I get reminded every time I eat. And eating smaller bites... it really is an adjustment. But I listen to my stomach closely and have kept up on the vitamins. Overall, I think I doing okay.   I hope everyone else is doing great!
aghealthy

aghealthy

4
 

3rd Fill - Sweet Spot reached

Hi Everyone,   I had my 3rd fill on March 15th 2010 and the Physicians Assistance put in 1cc - I am now at 4.5cc. Woa! I almost went back to get some taken out but I have adjusted. I think I am at my sweet spot now. I can only eat a 1/2 cup of food at a time and it does take me 30 minutes to eat. If I don't eat slowly or try to eat more, I get nauseated and a watery mouth. In the mornings I can tell my band is tighter. So yogurt is best for me.   Since my fill, which was on 3/15/10 - I have lost another 14 pounds to date (4/10/10). So I am down a total of 45 pounds since October 22nd 2009!   I won't be going back for a fill for a while. I have restriction and I eat 3 meals a day with a small snack sometimes in the afternoon. I have stuck with choosing healthy choices like Greek Yogurt, Low Sodium Turkey, Low fat cheeses, Veggies and Fruits, Chicken and Pork, Nuts ect. I really want to make sure I am picking the nutritrient rich foods since I am not taking in that much food. I want to be healthy on this journey.   The one thing I have not done is get back to the gym. I am a little disappointed by my motivation to do that. I am fearful that I am losing Muscle and Bone mass and want to avoid that. But I just can't seem to get my butt in gear! I have a goal to start this month! My husband is very supportive of me and he has not been motivated to go to gym either, so I am hoping we can push each other to do this.   The other thing I want to do is start seeing a therapist. I am a big believer in that half the challenge is mental. If you dont fix the emotional part then you will eventually go back to bad habits. I really want to make sure I don't go back to my unhealthy habits with food and portion sizes.   So a couple key goals this month, workout and call therapist. I am going to attend the monthly support group in May at the hospital I received the surgery from. So that is my target, to be able to share that I have accomplished those items by then.   I hope everyone is doing great on their journey and Happy Spring!:thumbup:
aghealthy

aghealthy

1
 

11 Weeks - and the Flu

It has been 11 weeks and I have lost 22 pounds. I got my first fill on 12/3/09. They filled it to 2.5cc and my band is 10ccs. All good. I can tell it is there but also can tell I need more in my band. My second fill is 1/14/2010. I just have to take it slow when I first start to eat but other than that, a-okay.   Until the Flu.... I got nervous and I hope 2 days of dry heaving and throwing up does not cause slippage. I took some prevacid and stuck to liquids for 3 days afterwards to allow my stomach to get better. I assume there was some swelling and irritation. No pain now and can eat again no problem. But still was concerned. I will mention it at my next appointment and see what they say. Has anyone experienced this and been okay?   I am glad I have the band and no issues other than the obvious: break the habit of eating fast and chew food good. Pretzel rods are definitely a no. I love them too. Soft breads are hard to get down- so not worth the hassle. I am making better choices!   Sometimes I do not get the difference between what it means by "band does not tolerate" and getting stuck. Both feel the same, like heart burn for a brief moment. So I don't think I know the difference between stuck and if I get heart burn from something that is not tolerated. I guess I need to ask more questions, I have never had heart burn before so this feeling is new to me.   My journey continues! If anyone has insight on the flu and if a couple days could really cause slippage that would be great. And better explanation of stuck and just not tolerated.   Happy New Year everyone!:thumbup:
aghealthy

aghealthy

1
 

4th Week - Just finished Soft Foods

Well, everything is going as it should. I am following all the rules and my Doctor said I am healing great! I have my first fill appointment on December 1st. I am looking forward to that! I have no restriction and could eat more than the 1 cup allowed (but I don't). I just eat more snacks, so still about 5 times day eating something because I get hungry. I can't wait till it is 3 times a day and I feel restriction. I realize it may take a few fills maybe to get me where I need to.   I attended a Kane Center support group last week and it really helped to hear what others are going through since many were farther along on their journey. The Doctor that leads it was very good. It really proved that you do need to eat slowly and chew your food. Many complained about PB and getting nauseated after 2 bites of food. I have not experienced that yet. I can eat fast if I want. But I really try and take it slow to get in habit once I feel restriction.   My energy levels are great - man - I have noticed my sense of smell is very sensitive, do you think it is because I have not eaten crap food in 4 weeks? Geez, what a concept. I am never up this early on a Saturday, heck, during the week I get up at last minute to rush to get ready for work. So healthy eating must be helping that too.   We have been eating lots of fish and veggies and homemade soups. I am very lucky because my husband cooks for me :mad2:   My weight progress has been good - I am down 12 pounds since the surgery. Although I am anxious about losing too much weight because I do not want any reason to get in the way of the fill - I know -weight loss should be number one. But I want to leverage the tool to help me stay on task. I am not doing anything to sabotage the weight loss, but I really want to start feeling restriciton.   Okay, I think that covers it for now. Good luck to all in week 4! I start solid foods today
aghealthy

aghealthy

1
 

1 year and still losing - but not easy

It has been 1 year and 68lbs shed. I have 38 pounds to go. My 3rd fill was in March and that was very good. I had restriction and fullness. I lost approximately 35 pounds from March till October. That is pretty good since my job was very stressful during that time. I did not lose any weight though in September and October.   I just went back for a small fill. I had .25cc put in. I am now at 4.75cc in a 10cc band. I have not been to support groups or to this forumn since work got crazy so I getting back on track.   I eat to many sweets that is my problem. But I have practiced good portion control. A half cup to cup is all I eat and then maybe 2oz of protein. If I eat too fast or too much, then I throw some back up.   I don't really have any issues. No pain or erosion or slippage. The band was a good choice for me.   My next goal is to get back to working out 3 times a week. My doctor says I will really see great results if I incorporate that in now. Now that I have the diet down, I do think excersize is going to be a great benefit. My weight loss has also brought on some muscle loss, so really need to tone up!   Foods that I cannot eat - bread if not toasted, pretzels (bummer really like them) and dry meat. Other than that, all is good. I wish I could not sweets, but I guess that is why people get RNY. RNY was too drastic for me.   Portion control is my weapon against obesity. I used to work out and work out and make healthy choices (not all the time but I did make good attempts) and it was still too many calories! Once the portion sizes were reduced hence the calories, it all came together for me. I guess that is why skinny people eat 2oz of protein and half cup of a side and are full and stay skinny!   I view this phase as a new struggle. Make some additional changes to get to goal weight. Then it will be to maintain.   I feel good and not so afraid to throw up anymore, although I try and really avoid at all costs if I can. We will see what my blood work comes back with   I can now say I am a more seasoned bandster now, so let me know if I can be of help to anyone!   Stay positive and measure your food :w00t:
aghealthy

aghealthy

1
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