FLORIDAYS

The weekend before I went on my pre op liquid I went on a foodcation.... seriously... my husband (without much of a a weight problem) and I took off last Thanksgiving weekend armed with a list of food I wanted to have before D Day and ate our way up and down the Gulf coast enjoying, adult beverages, seafood, chicken wings, nachos, bagels, big breakfasts and gooey Desserts. It was a farewell of sorts to my relationship with everything good. Or so I thought! Seems that I can actually eat most everything I ate pre band. However now I don't. Or if I do... say want a piece of bread I eat 1 bite.... instead of 2 rolls before my dinner arrives! No... I didnt turn into a veggie lovin' guru yet as I still love my carbs but.... I cant say I have really missed any of those things because my success supresses the desire of what I thought tastes good. You have heard the saying Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.... well I am living proof that 85 lbs of weight loss feels better than ANYTHING I have ever eaten! That said.... you will not miss it as much as you think you will. So go ahead...have a farewell food tour and 6 months from your band date you will be saying the same thing! Really! As for my most missed food that my Dr forbids.... Diet Coke. Its been the hardest to give up. I actually drank the first one since 12/8/2010 last week. I poured it from the can... let it sit for 20 minutes to get the carbonation down and drank it ever so slowly....I didnt even finish the whole thing. But it was the best diet coke I have ever had and will suffice my craving for several months I am sure!

It happens .... but its not the end of the world. Drink lots of extra Water.... walk an extra mile.... you wont even notice it. Just dont beat yourself up. You are human.

I think that ALL the time now.... If I am in a restaurant I just am amazed how big the portions are! Before the band I never noiticed how much food people / I consume.... its life changing!

If it were me I would happy not to have become involved with people who obviously have no understanding of someone who has more than the average amount of weight to lose. The first month is about healing. Let that be your mantra and just make good choices...... you will be fine

Dr Agulia is my Dr. as well. I work 5 minutes from his office but live in Plant City. I was banded 5 months ago in December. Welcome to Florida!

I didnt have a fill until the 2nd month post op. I was on liquids for 2 weeks then mushies for 1 after surgery. I wasnt hungry at all. At the 1 month visit I had lost well so he didnt give me a fill. By the 2nd month I was ready!

I have.... numerous times. So much in fact that I know that 6 raw oysters, 6 saltines, cocktail sauce is under 200 calories. Enjoy!

I had my surgery on a Thursday. Slept all day on Friday. Felt GREAT on Saturday. Sunday was exausted and sore but never had any major pain...in fact I never took the pain meds the Dr gave me. I had horrible gas so I lived on Maalox that first week. Worked a little from home on Monday.... wouldnt have felt like driving anywhere. Hubby drove me to post op visit on Tuesday and I returned to work on Wednesday. I felt tired at the end of the day and had trouble standing straight but otherwise ok. For me I felt back to normal after that first week. Of course I am older than she so her recovery could be completly different. All the best to her!

I didnt start needing to clean out my closet until recently and I just hit the 85 lbs lost mark. For me I never realized how many elastic waist things I had... and elastic stretches... and even stretches back....well to a point. LOL I am at that point now. Just bought a regular ladies sized large shirt and donated bags of 2 and 3 x items! Its a wonderful feeling! You too will get there. One day everything will be just too big to get away with wearing!

There isnt much more to say after reading some of the fabulous replies but if I can add one more thing... Being 200 lbs overweight for me was like being in bondage. Compared to that... this is a walk in the park! Before the band I found the unknown to be very scary. Now 5 months post op.... its not scary at all. You just need to trust it and have faith in yourself that you are ready to change.

Getting to twoderville is HUGE for me because I never again will have to say I am over 300 lbs. And now 280s are a few lbs away. Its a wonderful feeling!

I agree to a point. While I have always known making the right choices will result in a weight loss.. a properly filled band serves a huge purpose. With the band I KNOW that physically I cannot eat 4 pieces of pizza. Before the band I knew I shouldnt or didnt need to eat 4 pieces of pizza but I may have WANTED to eat them because they were so yummy... tossing aside the ramifications. So I made the choice to eat them until I was stuffed. Fast forward to 5 months post op.... 85lbs down I couldnt even attempt it. I KNOW I would become sick so my mind tells me not to even try. I call the band my permenant reminder of a temporary feeling. That is actually the name of a Jimmy Buffett song about tattoos and other life choices... but if you think about it.... lap band patients can identify!

Don't be jealous..........Everyone is different! I think I do have about 50 more to lose than you ... so no doubt it would come off more quickly. Also I am 5"9 so it may be more spread out on me than you.... I am a pear shape. Granted 85 lbs ago I was still a pear...just a bigger one! But I have heavy legs as opposed to a thick belly if that makes sense.

I take 2 adult Gummy Vitamins every day. I have purchased the Target brand and currently have the Sam's Club brand. They are all fruit flavored and tasts just like Gummy Bears. I want to say they are around $10 for about 3 months worth.

I weigh in the morning. Every morning! I weigh myself before bed.... most of the time. I do the calculations of where I will be the next morning as I am falling asleep! I obviously am obsessed. And I also know the experts say to weigh once a week but here is my theroy... I spent the majority of my life not looking at a scale. Where did that get me?

I would say you need to call the Dr right away. You shouldnt be having trouble with liquid. I know all Dr's are different but mine has me drink water after the fill.... while the needle is still in me. If I can't keep the water down he takes some out ...right on the spot. May want to ask your Dr about that... would save time and hassle...not to mention discomfort!!!

Now that I am looking back on it.... the last 5 months have flown by. I am so glad to have had the 85 loss I have had but its really comforting to see others with the same struggles I have been experiencing lately with 2-3 week plateaus. I seem to have moved off the latest one but my loss is now averaging about 2 lbs per week. And while I know thats a "nice healthy pace" I cant help but wish it was 4-5lbs. I really need to start exercising which I havent been very diligent about. Honestly I had (and still have) so much weight to lose I havent felt like doing it until recently so now I am starting to walk. Its a SMALL step but hopefully it will be beneficial and I'll see 85 more lbs come off in the next 5-6 months. Thats a loftly goal but I can sure give it my best effort! Kudo to you my fellow Decemeber bandsters! This will work for us!

Oh yes.... look at my tracker...... I am 5'9" and have lost 85 lbs since being banded in December and I am not even half way there. I have 117 to go... and thats my number. Add 10lbs to get to my Dr's # of 150 which I havent been since I was 12! Its been 5 months. Pretty decent results. However it hasnt been without tremendous effort on my part. The band is ONLY a tool. You HAVE to pay attention to what you are eating. My Dr and I go round and round every month when he hears me use the word dieting. LOL But in my world counting calories is a diet. And since I am counting calories I am dieting. The big difference this time is when I am finished "dieting" I will have learned to eat small portions (the band filled correctly wont allow any thing else) and I will be able to maintain my weight rather than gain in back as I have done so many times before!

Living on the Gulf Coast of Florida lends itself to wonderful seafood allyear round. I am 5 months post op and I have seafood 2 or 3 times per week. Grouper, shrimp, raw oysters, Mahi and scallops are among my favs. Actually the Raw oysters were one of my first "solid" foods.... I think I had them a few weeks after beginning real food again. Of course here in FL we have a rule of thumb.... raw oysters should only be consummed in months which have an R in them. I believe that wouldnt be the same for colder Water harvest areas.

I havent.... but I am down 80 lbs since pre-op 5.5 mths ago on 11/23/2010. Considering that was done without exercise.... I am happy about it. However its very slow going now so I know exercise is in my immediate future if I want the next 80 to come off before I retire...thats 10 yrs from now!!!

I try to stay at around 1000 calories and dont watch my carbs much at all. I may have to do that in the future but so far I am losing 2 lbs a week so its coming off.... just slowly! I am hoping that helps with hanging skin in the future! 3+ yrs seems like a long time. I am wondering if you have enough restriction? Or if you are eating a balanced diet? Have you discussed this issue with your dr? Granted I am in the beginnings of this journey and in no way an expert but it seems to me staying under 1200 calories should promote more weight loss than what you have. Have you considered there might be other medical issues? I'd make an appoint ment with your Dr. ASAP. Best of luck!

I am at 3.9 cc and finally have decent restriction. Nothing sticks unless I eat too fast or dont chew it enough.

I am not here judge others. I think the comments posted in this thread may be insensative tobut I get the message. SInce being banded I have made a choice to eat healthy, avoid alcohol and all fast food and follow my dr's orders to the letter. I am down 70 lbs and am 13 weeks post op. But I will tell you I have a friend who was banded a few weeks before me and she eats and drinks pretty much what she did before her surgery just a much smaller abount. She is being semi careful and trying to make healthy choices most of the time. But she is a foodie... she loves the tast, textures and everything about food. She has lost 45 lbs....25 lbs less than I have. Still a very good loss... it just may take her more time than me. Thats not a bad thing .... just different and it drives me crazy when I am sitting at my desk eating tuna and cottage cheese and she has a piece of last nights pizza!!! But its not my place to weigh in with an opinion.... so I remember what Mother said... if you dont have something nice to say..... and keep my mouth shut.

My dr is off the no carbonation mid set as well. I really fought him on it... since diet coke and I once had a very special relationship!!!! He explained it to me like this.... when you drink carbonated beverages it brings air into the stomach so it expands. Then the air releases. Drink some more and air goes in and releases... doing that over and over again could cause the band to slip. If it slips... he has to fix it which will cost me money. Its isnt worth it to me to tempt fate. For the first few weeks there wasnt a day that went by that I didnt think about having a Diet coke. About the 6th week my hubby opened a can, poured it into glass and set it in the fridge to go flat. Once flat...about 4-5 hours I poured it over ice and sat down to enjoy..... OMG flat diet coke is just about the worst thing ever. LOL So now I pine for a DC about once a week.... but then I drink my Water and move on.

My doctor said no...but I am convinced that the gas they shoot you up with is the reason for an early weight gain. LOL He said its because your body goes into a protective mode for a few days after surgery thus saves anything you put in your body. I dont know what to believe but can tell you after 2 weeks of liquid and 1 week of mushies ...unless you are drinking fat ladened milk shakes you should lose weight! Stay off the scale.