Oregondaisy

How exciting! Believe me, when I get out of the 150's I will be shouting from the roof tops. Way to Go!!!!!!!!

Are you a self pay? that makes a huge difference. The insurance companies want people to be 75-100 lbs overweight. I think if you self pay, and you can convince the doctor that the only thing that lies ahead for you is gaining and gaining, you could get the band. You need to do a lot of research and reading on here before you make that decision. It's not as easy as some people think. Having the band is a learning experience. You have to be ready to make a lot of changes in your life.

It feels so good to wear different jeans! I can relate. I had these size 12 levi's that I have been waiting to wear. I thought they were too tight. I tried them on again and my daughter said she needed to take them in. The last time I had tried them on, I didn't think I could wear them because they looked like they were painted on me. My daughter did take them in, and they look pretty good. I got them at Ross, so I am going to try to find them in a 10 and see if I can get them on. I haven't worn a size 12 in 25 years! I love my band!

Another reason that can make it harder to lose is all the years of yo yo dieting. My doctor did a resting metabolic test on me to see why I wasn't losing. It showed that I have a very slow metabolism. He said that was from going on and off diets all my life. The only thing that speeds up your metabolism is building muscle. I have found that if I don't exercise, I don't lose. I have to do cardio plus strength training and then I lose. I lose slower than other people, but I am happy that I am no longer gaining and I am on the right track. I haven't weighed 155 in 25 years since I had kids. I never lost the weight I gained having kids. At least with the band, there is hope! I don't say "I'll never be able to lose weight" like I said before I got banded!

Sorry I haven't answered you sooner. I am in Arizona getting my dad into an assisted living place. I have to come to the library when I can fit it in between all the stuff my dad wants me to do to use a computer. Don't be discouraged. If you have the band, it will always be there to help you. I was really discouraged in the beginning too, but once I had the right fill, things got easier. I wasn't hungry anymore. Head hunger is my biggest problem. Especially this past two weeks. When I am stressed chocolate calls my name. My dad has it everywhere, even though I have to force him to eat. He will be 89 april 1st and has no appetite. Even sweets which he used to love don't even look good to him. I wish sweets didn't look so good to me. I am afraid when I get home tomorrow I am going to see a gain on my scale. The nice thing about the band though is that I am not hungry, and since there is no junk in my house, I will be forced to just eat the right things and I can lose what I gained here. With all the stress of having to come back here and put get my dad's house ready to put on the market, I have no clue when I will ever see the goal I have picked for myself. It's sure been nice though to buy clothes here in smaller sizes. JC Penny's had a clearance sale where a bunch of nice stuff was 2.97. I was so happy not to go to the plus size department.

Yea, I know how lucky I am to only be 5 min. from my dr. I have heard the unjury unflavored as well as all their flavors are all very good. I hope you have loosened up a little and aren't having as many problems.

I agree with that too. I hate it when someone doesn't respond to me, so I figure it's better to be nice. I had one guy who didn't appeal to me at all and he kept emailing over and over again. I finally had to say I started seeing someone cause he wouldn't get the hint. I hated to lie, but I tried being nice and saying it didn't look like we had much in common, etc, but in the end, I felt it was better than telling him from his picture, I could tell there would be no chemistry and I didn't feel I could be attracted to him.

I have been so lucky while I have been away from home this past 2 weeks. My dad likes to eat out every single night. I was really afraid I would be running to the rest rooms all the time. I have made good choices, chewed well, and haven't gotten stuck once since I have been here. It's a true miracle. Yea, once you find a food that gives you trouble, it's hard to want to even try it again. I wish cake gave me problems. Junk food goes down the easiet, unfortunately. It's meat that I have to cut into itty bitty pieces and chew until there is nothing left to chew. I HATE it when food gets stuck, so I have been extremely careful after my last episode with steak. It was stuck for hours and wouldn't come up or go down. I tried the papaya tablets and sipped pineapple juice, and threw those up too. Now cake, goes down like I have no band. It's not fair, really.

Have never heard of pineapple juice enzymes. I have heard of sipping pineapple juice, or chewing papaya tablets though. I am glad to be leaving Arizona tomorrow. Even though the weather is gorgeous here, I am happy to be going home to rainy Oregon. It's been so depressing trying to get my dad into assisted living and getting his house ready to sell. I want my own gym and my own scale. I did pretty well the first week I was here with not eating junk, but I have been pigging out on all kinds of sweets the past couple of days. Old habits die hard. When I am stressed, I reach for chocolate, and my dad has plenty of it. I do love the gym here, but my dad always has things he wants me to do which prevent me from going. I am not good about going in the evenings. If I don't go first thing in the morning, it's hard to convince myself to go. I love the weight lifting class that they have. It's a good cardio work out and strength training all at once. One of the nicest things about coming here was getting to meet LuvRocks. She is so sweet and drove way out of her way to meet with me. It was so nice to meet a fellow bandster. I have to come back here in May after my grand baby is born, so I hope I get to see her again then. It's going to be even more depressing then. I have to sell all my dad's stuff and put his house on the market. It will be so nice to see her again and get my mind off all this depressing stuff! I hate using the library computer too. It takes FOREVER for a lap BAnd Talk page to come up. sorry to be so whiny.:thumbup: I am going to try really hard today to eat right. I don't want to see a gain on the scale when I get home tomorrow.

That is really a good idea, Jacqui! I too could live happily on sugary carbs easily. It really stinks that they go down so much easier than chicken. Do you eat your veggies raw? I have a problem with veggies unless they are coooked to mush. I don't like that, and it bothers me that I am not getting as many veggies in as I think I should. I am not quite sure what to do about that. Sometimes I just think that eating is too much trouble. I will sometimes do Protein bars or Protein shakes just because it's easier. I like the fact that the label on the Protein Bars has all the Vitamins in them and I try to convince myself that it's just as good as eating veggies.

I know some other people who have the same problem. I know someone who can barely tolerate any fill at all. She has to take medicine every day for spasms in her esphagus. When she stops taking it, she throws up every day even with no fill at all in her band.

I know a lot of people who are very tight in the morning and can't eat until after 3pm. That would drive me insane. It sounds like you need to have a tiny bit taken out. Have you tried just making protein drinks with water and taking very tiny sips? I have also made Qaker's weight control oatmeal very watery, thinned it down with milk and added a little bit of protein powder in it to add more protein when I am tight in the morning. If this continues, you should go and have a slight amount taken out. Sometimes, the fill will losen because you are losing fat around your stomach. There is also that Kellogs protein water, but it only has 5 grams I do believe. If it were me, I would have a defill. They always say complications arise from being too tight for too long.

I have never experienced that. When I get a fill, I can tell the next day how it's going to be. I have heard of people that don't feel the restriction for a couple of weeks. That does seem very odd to me. I wouldn't have a clue why that happens.

My flight was 2 hours. I had heard that the altitude messes with the band. the last time I came here, I threw up in the airport, when I tried to eat in between flights. I recommend if you fly, to go easy on what your first meal is after getting off the plane. The first night I was here, I had to sleep sitting up. I had horrible heartburn and when I tried to sleep, I felt like I was going to throw up. I stayed on liquid protein the first 2 days I was here. I am fine now. I will let you know how it goes on the flight home. I am pretty sure I have learned my lesson now though.

If you don't have a problem with sweets, you should do fine. My biggest problem is sugar. I can lose very well and be invited somewhere over the weekend where there is a lot of sugary sweet foods and I have no will power. I wish that those foods were the ones that got stuck and don't go through the band. I love to exercise too, and that is what saves me. I am sure I couldn't have gotten this close to my goal if I didn't exercise nearly every day. You might not lose 2 lbs every week, but you should lose consistantly if you don't eat sweets, and exercise regularly. I will sometimes go on a plateau for as long as a month, and then all of a sudden drop 5 lbs. Just make sure you stay on top of your fills. It's the fills that make it so you aren't hungry, and stay full on small portions. But when you lose weight, you lose fat around the stomach, and the band gets looser. Then you need another fill. This will keep happening until you are close to goal. I hope you don't have to drive a long way to get a fill. That is a lot of people's problem. When you need a fill, and have to wait to get one, it's hard. I am lucky that I only live 5 min from my doctor.

I still have a problem with sugar. I wish it got stuck and made me sick. There is nothing like trying a food and having it get stuck and causing a miserable time until it goes down or comes up to make me never want to try to eat that food again. So no, I would still say that I will never have a normal relationship with certain foods. If I could eat Cookies all day long and be healthy, I could see myself doing that. I am good about keeping track on my protien and trying to eat a balanced diet since my portions are so much smaller. I can't even imagine that if I do get this last 10 lbs off, that I would want any amount of an unfill. That would just be opening the door for more junky foods (like pizza I mentioned before) that I would try to eat. I am absolutely sure I would gain weight with any unfill. I found out by taking a resting metabolic test a the doctor's office that I have a very slow metabolism. If it weren't for the fact that I spend so much time at the gym, I probably would not even have any chance at getting to my goal. Now, I can think about spending 2 hours at the gym, and undoing all that work by eating a bunch of cookies which unfortunately, go through the band easier than any good food.

thanks Wheetsin. Maybe I didn't see the post since you took some of it down? I am at the library using a computer since I am out of state taking care of my elderly father. I only get an hour and when you're addicted to LBT the way I am, that is not nearly enough. I don't have time right now to go back and read through the entire thread again. I have 7 min. left on this computer. :mad:

Hi All, I am feeling lucky because I was so worried about eating around my dad who doesn't know I am banded. He likes to eat dinner out every night. I have been really careful about what I order and chewing well, and I haven't had one stuck episode since I got here to Arizona. I haven't gained anything either. That makes me happy. I found a gym here that I really love. I was feeling really deprived that I couldn't exercise the first few days that I got here. for the people who are learning to like exercise, I can tell you that I miss it horribly when I can't get to the gym. It makes a huge difference in my moods. Welcome to all the new people! This is a great group of women we have here in our 50's thread! I look forward to being back in Oregon where I don't have to use the library computer. I am addicted to lapband talk and it's hard to only have an hour a day on the computer or none at all if I am too busy to make it here to the library.

I am having a lot of problems posting because I am out of state and have to use the computer at the library. It takes forever for a page to load. It's really frustrating to me not to be able to have my own scale here. It probably sounds stupid. According to my dad's scale, I have lost 5 lbs. But I could get all excited and get home and find that his scale was different from mine. I am also bummed out because I haven't been able to get to a gym I need to exercise. I get grumpy if I don't. I have trying to get him into an assisted living home and get his house ready to put on the market. It's overwhelming. Exercise gets out my frustrations. Plus my dad doesn't know I have the band so he is always asking about the way I eat. Anyway, this probably all has nothing to do with slow losers unite. I can tell you one thing though, flying really screwed up my band. I was so tight for the first 2 days here, I was miserable. I have heard that flying can tighten the band. oh well, hope all is well with everyone. I will say again, I hate using the computer at the library.

It has been my experience and others with a lower bmi that we lose slower not faster as people who have more to lose. Exercise is the key to it all. In the beginning we can lose without it, but when you are at a standstill, exercise will be the only thing I have found to get the scale moving again. Right now I don't know if I have lost or not. I am at my dad's out of state and his scale says I have lost. I won't believe it until I see my own scale.

Fills don't last because you lose fat around your stomach. It's a very fine line between having too much or not enough. I have been overfilled, and had a tiny bit taken out, and then can eat whatever I wanted. It took me a year to get to where I am at the right spot and have been since Dec. I think that's because I am almost to goal, so I am not losing the fat pad around my stomach. I can eat better at dinner than earlier in the day. I can eat chickn but I have to chew it very well and cut it all up before I start eating into eraser sized pieces. If you can only get liquids down, ask to have the tiniest amount taken out. If you want to try to live with his fill, do a few days of protein drinks only, to see if you are swollen inside and let things settle down. If you try to eat solid protein again, and have trouble, then you know you do need a slight unfill.

I don't get what you are asking. The thread was started in lap band lounge where we can talk about other things besides lap band. People are talking about eye surgery, and I asked quesitons of people who had it who are in my age group. I don't consider that advertising. Nobody is mentioning to go to a certain doctor, etc.

That's really a hard question to answer. I have gotten used to the idea that certain foods are just to hard to eat. So I don't think about those foods anymore. Sometimes I think that eating is just too much trouble. I don't think you would call that normal, but I do think about food way less than I used to. I don't think about my next meal, or running to a convenience store to buy junk food anymore. I think the realtionship with food does change but not in the way that you would think that it would.

Thanks! I really want to have this done. It's so expensive where I live. I plan to do it as soon as I can afford it. It's 4,000 where I live. I am visiting my dad in Arizona right now, and they are advertising it for $300 per eye. I wouldn't want to get it done on vacation though.

Don't feel bad. I thought he was female for the longest time. He posts on the singles thread and showed a picture of himself. I was so surprised. All that time I thought it was a female posting. I think that was before he had something written under his posting name. Way to go Manatee! I'm jealous.