Hey Everybody,

I thought I would go ahead and post about my progress now. I had hit a plateau at 275 lbs for the last 2-3 months. I was able to eat anything I wanted and I was hungry alot too. With the increased hunger I did pretty much go off of a sensible diet in terms of eating out at fast food restaurants and so on and so forth. I didn't completely lose sight of my goals, but, I wasn't truly as strict as I know I should have been. I was able to maintain not drinking high caloric/sugary drinks so I didn't gain. I went to get a fill last friday and the doctor told me I lost 10 pounds since my last fill in August.

I received my second fill on Friday, January 29th. I am now filled to 5.5 cc's in a 10 cc band. I have "REAL" restriction. I have a really tight fill, but I am gonna hang in there because the very strong hunger pains have gone down significantly and I cannot eat alot. I had no difficulty getting down water in the doctor's office, however, when I got home I think I got swollen because I had a little difficulty getting fluid down. I have noticed that I am tighter in the middle of the night and in the morning. I have since started drinking a lot of fluids, and I'm now making sure I don't get dehydrated because I think that leads to me being tighter. I do still feel hunger, but it's nothing water or a protein shake won't fix. I have actually lost 7-10 lbs since my fill which was less than a week ago, so I'm really happy that I am progressing again. I tend to lose weight very easily if I restrict myself, however, the same is also true about gaining. I can gain a pound a day if I'm not careful. I'm basically still on soft foods, fish, beans, yogurt, applesauce and some chicken. I have to take super small bites now or swallow very small bits at a time, otherwise I experience pain of food being forced through my band. I did have an episode where I had eaten too close to bed and laid down only to wake up in the middle of the night coughing up food. Now I know not too eat right before bed although that has been a long standing habit. Perhaps I'll just drink some warm milk maybe 30 minutes before bed. My doctor told me to follow up in 3 months so I am going to try to hang in there with the amount of restriction that I have. I may ask to have some of the fluid removed from my band on my next visit depending on how I adjust to this one. I have forgone traditional exercise for going out dancing, dance classes, and I bought a basketball so I can shoot hoops. I do need to add more activity during the week days which I plan to do. Anyway, my scale says 265 now, so I have lost about 50lbs since surgery and about 60lbs total from my highest weight 1 1/2 years ago. At this point I am happy with my lap band experience.:smile2:

Girl you know I am proud of you, you've come a long way. Goal is right around the corner.