FLORIDAYS

That is hysterical and a little creepy at the same time. But I say what ever works! I havent named my band an actual name but I borrowed the lyrics from a Jimmy Buffett song and call it my Permanent reminder of a temporary feeling. Best of luck to you and Roscoe!

Just becasue we may have a card... the restaurant does not have to honor the request. Most servers have no idea what you are talking about. I find it more comfortable to pull the manager aside and quietly explain my situation. I have done that in the past and was always offered a reduced rate. Of course there are often times when I just order an shrimp cocktail and a dinner salad....

Funny you say that... pre band I ate at least 1 meal a day while driving. Since being banded I have eaten a Fiber 1 bar once for lunch when I was in a hurry.... other than that the only eating that gets done in my car is driving to work in the morning drinking my sugar free instant breakfast.

I have to agree with you here....I followed and continue to follow my Dr.'s orders to the letter and 1 year later I have surpassed his and my expectations. I had the gas but only for a few days...other than that my surgery and recovery was uneventful. To say the past year was without struggles would be untrue however I always refer to my Dr's words on my very first visit as a reminder.... the band will do 70% of the work. To be successfull you need to put forth a 30% effort.

What a year..... Thursday will be my 1 yr banding anniversary. I am down 147 lbs as of this morning. I have officially lost an average sized woman.. LOL. I am still losing at a nice clip so hopefuly by early spring I will be at my goal..... 60-70 lbs to go.,... depending on which day you ask me. My last fill may have been a little tight as I am getting a whole lot more restriction...but maybe this is the green zone and I just didnt realize it. Either way, I am not starving, I am healthy and loving watching this weight fall off.

I started the same day you did....the day before Thanksgiving....with the same Dr last year! I was banded on 12/9/10. Its been a wonderful year.... I am down 144 lbs today and Dr A has me coming in every other month now.... Best of luck to you!

I lost 22 lbs

Every day.... like someone else said... not weighing myself daily led me to get 200lbs overweight....

Even with a BMI of 55 my insurance wouldnt cover my band. SO I decided to sell some stock and become a self pay. It was THAT important to be and I believed in the procedure. Since I was a self pay I seriously considered going to Mexico. MY husband and I did the research... It would have cost me about 8k including air fare for my and my husband to go. The hotel was paid for my the Mexican clinic. I called 7 Drs in central FL and not ONE would touch me for fills. The only place I could get a fill locally if I had a mexican band was to go to a USAfills type of place. The fills were $125 a pop. Here in the states I interviewed 3 Drs who did the procedure at 3 different hospitals. My Dr of choice had a "deal" with the hospital.... his fee, hospital stay, pre op testing as well as pre op Optifast, 3 months of free post op visits including fills for 6 months was 10k. 5k upfront then the hospital allowed the rest 5k to be paid with no interest over 2 years. I did the math...thought long and hard about the comfort of my Dr being 10 minutes away and opted to stay home and be banded locally. It had nothing to do with the quality of work in Mexico. It was purely a financial decision over the long run. That said... after being banded 2 months and made 2 payment of $200 ea to the hospital they called me and said if I could pay the balance within 30 days they would slash it 50%. I scraped it together and of course took them up on the deal....All of a sudden my band cost $7500!!!

I lost 22 lbs in 14 days on my pre-op drinking liquid shakes (5 8 oz Optifast), Water and eating sugar free fruit popsicles (25 - 40 calories). 800 calories each day. Its only for a short time. You can do it!

I use the swiss mix sugar free /diet 25 calories pack as well...but I mix it in 16oz of Water to make a more filling snack...Yummmm

I was banded 353 days ago on 12/9/2010...but who's counting....and have lost 142 lbs.

I lost 22 lbs on the 2 week pre op diet but the amount is very individualized.... if you followed it per your Dr instruction you should be fine. Its all about shrinking the liver according to my Dr. I also think getting you used to liquid is an added bonus since you have 3 weeks of it to look forward to depending on your Dr instruction of course.

I did it before banding.... got board and starting eating again. The difference now.... I CANNOT eat the quanity of food I ate pre band. period ...end of story. I am at good restriction and just physically cannot hold more than 6 oz at a time in my tummy.

I am 2 weeks shy of being banded a year. Typically I eat 1000 calories per day. I have lost 140 lbs. I have 77 to go. I just finished 3 weeks of hell. 3 weeks of not seeing the scale move..... I tried to drink more Water....nothing. I upped my calories.... nothng. Today I got on the scale as I do every morning and I was down 4 lbs. We can disect it all we want...but I really believe the body gets comfortable and hangs onto weight as some sort of a security blanket. Then every once in a while when it doesnt need it....it will give it up. LOL Just remember you will loose weight if you expand more calories than you take in. that we all know is true. Eventually.

Except for 5 minutes in the 90s I have been over weight my entire life. And even then I was 13 lbs over what the "chart" says normal is for me. I am 51 years old so I have seen highs and lows, I have lost hundreds and gained hundreds pounds over the course of my lifetime as my first diet (weight watchers with mom) was at age 12! Certanly there have been highs and lows and in looking back I can actually recall the that even when I dieted I never stayed thin...which is way the lapband was the best choice for me. I can lose the weight...but after 6 months of dieting I would get board with whatever plan I was on and resume eating the way I did before I started the diet. And the weight creeped back on. My highest weight was 377....exactly 362 days ago. Thats the day I started the pre surgery liquid.... This morning I am at 237....140 lbs is gone.....77 more to go to get to what I believe is a good weight for me as I stand 5'9. Of course that number hasnt been seen since 8th grade I think....but we'll see. in 1997 I was the weight I was today so it took 14 yrs for me to pack on an extra 140 lbs.... and keep in mind there were several good 40-60 lbs dieting efforts in that time.... but it all came back Thankfully those days are now gone forever thanks to my band.

I only measure the caloric foods I put on the lettuce suce as chicken or tuna.... And the Kraft fat free creamy cesear is yummy in case you havent tried it.

take it to your local jeweler... he can sell you a clip on sizer until you are ready for a perm size change. Or you can be like me....who is currently walking around with gold yarn wrapped around my wedding rings. You can't see it but I have to remember to take off my rings when my hands get wet.... but other than that it works until I am ready for a permenant solution.

You may find this amusing.... we were in Jamaica a few weeks ago... and I went into Margaritaville in Ocho Rios with the full intent of drinking a real authentic Margarita for the first time since last November! I ordered it... and it tasted amazing... calories and all... but it took me almost an hour to finish it... and I had a buzz off that one little drink which rivaled nothing I ever experienced.... It was quite funny according to my husband... So now I am back to ordering a glass of whie if I get the urge every so often and sipping on it until its warm... then adding ice. I am good for the night. LOL

Well then drink up! As you will find on this forum... everyone has their own thing that works for them. Congrats on finding yours! Best of luck to you!

You body is still healing. Its a fact that most people dont lose much in the healing stage. Its yur body being protective of the fat. However make sure you are following your Dr orders to the letter. I have eaten (or drank) no more than 1000 -1100 calories of the "proper food groups" for the past 11 months. I write down everything that goes in my mouth. Even during the plateaus I still did the same thing... and the weight will come off eventually.

Yes it has stopped in my case.... but I am 11 months post op, have had 5 fills and am finally in the green zone. Before that it was sheer will power that got me through.... well that and sugar free popsicles...

Just an FYI.. I love Margaritas but they have a huge amount of calories... like 200-400. The skinny girl margarita's taste horrible in my opinion... But the Jose Cuervo 90 calorie ones are pretty decent over crushed ice with some Water. That said... being a few weeks into your journey is the concern here for me. Not a cocktail. To be successful you need to stay focused on the goal and stick with a good eating plan. Alcohol isnt part of a good eating plan in this stage of your journey no matter how you try to justify it.... 6 months from now I am all about indulging one in a while...but for now it would be my advice to drink water from a pretty glass and feel better about yourself for displaying the willpower that you are going to need every single day to be successfull. I am not a Dr or RN... so I dont know what medical reasons there would be not to drink.... I am just giving you my first hand opinion about choices. And I should know. I spent ALL of the holiday season last year on liquids. I started my pre op liquid the day before T-giving and had my first mushy food on New Years Day. I attended 4 holiday parties, a company dinner and cooked for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I found will power I didnt know I had. I hope you can too.

Something my surgeon discussed with me is that he has seen many marriages go through tough times when the spouse goes through a drastic change such as losing an enormous amount of weight. He specifically asked me if my spouse was on board. I will be honest to tell you that I thought he was crazy...why would hubby with no weight issues (he is 6"1 / 200 lbs) leave me or vice versa after 20+ years because I was finally thin? 11 months later I still have a good marriage.... however I will tell you that while I know my husband is very proud of my accomplishments thus far... he has shown signs of sabotage just like my Dr suggested might happen. He has said... come on... its Friday night... have a drink or lets go out for ice cream and the ever popular... You arent fun anymore...all you do is think about your "diet". All of that is odd because I will happily go but then I just do not induldge... These comments have hurt me but I have taken them for what they are and taken the high road by displaying love and iunderstanding. I have in fact told him the comments are selfish and hurtful since he is the one who encouraged me to make a change in my life so I would be around for us to live in old age bliss.... but I know that this is hard on him (I dont really understand why it would be but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt) and that I appreciate his support. I have asked him if he is unhappy with the new me and he isnt.... so I can just formulate that he is jealous of the attention or maybe the focus on how much I have lost by others and I try to make up fo it by giving him more reassurance and attention. This journey is all about you. Yes it touches your family and relationships so sometimes you just need to remember to make him the focus of your attentions alwhile you are focusing on yourself. Its what we women do.