Oregondaisy

Thank you! I am very excited to be only 5 lbs from my goal. Now my goal is not to gain anything over the weekend. That's my downfall. If I am around people eating bad things, I have no willpower. I am getting better, but it's so hard. I wish the junk food would get stuck and make me sick. My daughter had gastric bypass and if she eats anything that has too much fat in it or any sugar, she gets very sick. I think that would be a big help. I sorta ate junky today. Breakfast Kashi Crunch cereal. It's high in fiber and whole grain. I have to eat 1/2 cup before I work out with my trainer or I get dizzy. I put ground flax seed in it. Lunch- cashews from the dollar store 1/2 an Atkins bar Dinner will be half of a South Beach frozen meal, chicken and broccoli.

I never even knew there was such a thing as a body image coach. I bet you will feel good once you get your PS!

There are some people who experience some restriction without any fill. I know a couple people here who have never had a fill and are losing well. For me, during the time that I was waiting for my first fill, I could not tell that I had a band. Now, even with a very good fill, I can eat anything I want as long as I chew very well.

My meeting with the plenty of fish guy was horrible. I took one look at him and knew it would be a long lunch. He looked nothing like his picture. I'm sorry, but one deal breaker for me is they must have teeth. :smile: By the time I got home, I already had an email from him saying how perfect we were for each other. I tactfully replied that I did not think we were a compatible match. As for E Harmony, my restrictions are must live (I believe I checked) 100 miles or less away. I need to move to a real town instead of living in the middle of nowhere. I also need to get a life and find more things to do. All that happiness comes from within sort of stuff come to mind.

I am very excited that I lost another lb. I am sure that watching my carbs again so carefully is what has made a difference!

I think most of us still have food addictions. I know I still turn to sweets if I am super stressed out. Then I feel guilty and beat myself up. The band doesn't change our head unfortunately. BooBoo, I worry all the time that for some reason they will have to take the band out and I will gain all the weight back too. It is hard to accept that we have this miracle gift that has transformed our bodies.

Candy I hope they approve your fills. It takes awhile to get perfect restriction and people need to be able to see their doctor without having to worry about the cost. I am very excited that I lost another pound. My last fill was in Dec. and I know I don't need another one. Once you get close to goal, the fill lasts because the fat around the stomach shrinks. I am glad I am still losing and I don't have to worry about another fill. I can eat small amounts of anything I want. I hope my last 5 lbs doesn't take too long to come off, but I am thrilled to be this weight. I haven't weighed this since I had kids about 27 years ago!

I am approaching goal too. I doubt seriously that anything will change once I get there. I am very sensitive to carbs and gain weight easily. I do eat a very high Fiber whole grain Cereal almost every morning, but I doubt that I would ever try to go back to pizza and frys. I can gain 5 lbs in a weekend easily, if I eat anything wrong. The difference for me is that before banding, I ate the same way, but I was gaining weight. I guess it's because my portions are so much smaller with the band. I would never give up exercise. I am too grumpy when I miss my gym time!

I love this thread! And no, Lauren, you didn't pi$$ anyone off.

I have been a slow loser. I never lost the 2 lbs a week every week like I was told I was. I was too tight for one month, and it is just not worth it. Sure I lost weight that month, but I was too afraid of complications down the road. Now I have the perfect fill, and I really don't care how long it takes me. I can eat anything I want to eat, in small portions, as long as I chew well. In my opinion, that's how the band is supposed to work.

How cool. No, I didn't notice that you were a Dr. T's patient. I just love him and all of his staff. I wish you lived closer so you could come to the support group meetings. I feel really lucky that I live so close to his office. There are so many people that come to him from such long distances. I hope they get your fill just right this time. I heard they have someone new in there doing fills, a physician's assistant. Everyone seems to really like him.

That's horrible. I don't know why some people charge so much for fills. It makes it really hard to get the right restriction. Doctors should know that.

Karen, there is no reason to go through this. I just had dinner with my banded friend and we talked about how hard it is to go in for an unfill when we are waiting and hoping for perfect restriction. I am glad you are able to get into your doctor. I feel so badly for people that have to drive so far and that plays into their decision of needing an unfill and not wanting to make the drive.

Susan, Bunny has it right. When you have a perfect fill, you can eat like a normal person but not very much. I can basically eat anything I want, just not very much. I eat a lot of chicken because I eat out a lot. Today I had a chicken salad and just ate the chicken off the top and there was no way I had room for the lettuce. That was at noon, and it's almost 5:00 and I not hungry. I will eat dinner just because it's time to do that. Since I got my fill just right, I don't get hunger stomach growling pains for many hours after eating. I have to tell you though that the road to getting here was very frustrating. It took me a year to feel like I am perfect. I was either hungry all the time, eating big meals, or throwing up all the time. I just knew that the throwing up part was not normal. I would go in for an unfill and he would take too much out. We finally came to the right spot by him checking me and bringing it to the point where it was just slightly less than where I was when I was throwing up The sweet spot does not last until you are close to goal weight. That's because when you lose fat around your stomach, the band gets looser and you need a tiny fill. (Not a big one like when you first get banded.) Have you read the Wendall Edward's post How the band works, fills and unfills? It's a sticky on the main page.

Congratulations! I joined e harmony and they haven't sent me one match. I know it's expensive, and people around here are just too cheap. I am meeting someone today that I have talked on the phone with, who found me on Plenty of Fish. I am not very excited about it though. Something in my gut is telling me this is one very dysfunctional person.

I threw a box of candy down the garbage disposal once. I knew if I threw it in the garbage, I would be eating it out of the garbage.

I am excited that I lost one stinkin pound. 6 lbs away from goal but it will probably take months. This month I lost 1 lb. That is unless by some miracle, I lose another one by the 1st.

I try to watch the fat. I don't go nuts counting fat grams but I will choose something that has lower fat even if it adds carbs, such as skim milk. I am glad there is no star bucks here. The nurse at our support group is always saying that the people who have trouble are those that choose to drink their calories. Today my plan is: Atkins bar for Breakfast chicken salad for lunch Protein drink for dinner

Just don't keep your fill so tight that you can't eat and you will be fine. I can eat anything I want in small portions. It was the best thing I could have ever done, and I wish I had done it years ago.

Bubble,what are you doing hanging out at OH ? lol That's pretty interesting though. I have enough problems with gas now. I can't imagine it being worse. I would never be able to leave the house!

I am very happy that I have my band. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Lyrica causes weight gain. A friend of mine is on it and she says it makes her very hungry. Elavil did that to me. It makes me crave sugar like crazy. ambien for me is the only thing that has no side effects. BBK, are you going to get an unfill? You could easily add a little bit of food back into your diet to stop losing. I wish I had that problem! I am struggling to lose 1 lb.

I told my doctor at support group that having a lap band has changed my life. Then , I went on to say that's it's not because of the weight loss, it's because I found LBT. I am addicted to it and have met some pretty wonderful people here. I could never live without LBT but I don't think I'll ever even have to try.

It IS a very fine line between having restriction and being overfilled. Pbing is basically throwing up-somebody asked that. It is not normal to pb or throw up regularly. I can't even remember the last time I did. But I did when I was too tight! Being too tight is miserable and there is no reason for it. It causes all sorts of problems. It's amazing how having just a tiny bit taken out will make all the difference in the world. The band is supposed to work a certain way. Throwing up, sliming, and only being able to get certain foods down, is not how it's supposed to work.

broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asperagus High carb veggies are corn, peas and carrots.