Gerbera

I'm hoping someone can answer this question for me Why after a fill, do we need another and another? Does the actual stomache shrink as we lose weight? OR Do we stretch it as we eat more and more solid foods? Why not just one fill and thats that? I understand after the surgery, theres a lot of swelling and they would have to do a fill after all the swelling goes down. BUT why a fill and a fill and a fill? I don't understand how it works?? Can anyone shine any light on my question? CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating

G'day Folks I've been reading your posts and can relate to all of you. I was having major hunger even after 1 week after my first fill. However I have found that eating protein foods, fish, seafood, chicken, salads, vegies etc are filling me up longer and are far more fullfilling. I spoke with my dr's secretary the other day about the hunger, she said the first fill is just that! aparently after the 2nd fill, we should see a remarkable difference and thats when the weight loss really happens. I havn't slipped back to bad eating habbits YET, but there are days, I feel like I have no restriction at all and could eat a horse. It's sheer will power thats keeping me losing small amounts. I don't feel like I've offered you any solution, but just know, there are more of you and me out here The protein foods do help at least curb the hunger longer and are far more satisfying. My nutritionist told me also that protein will curb the carbohydrate cravings - It's worth a try. Thanks for the calorie counter page vlynnfogg Hang in there guys CHEERS to Healthy Happy Eating

Hey Debbie, Welcome Back. I'm so sorry to hear your not feeling so well. But with each day you will improve (That's something to look forward to) having your gallbladder removed and a hernia repair, these will take some extra time. Hang in there, it will get better. I suffered greatly with gas and pain and in particular in my right shoulder. I took double strength Milanta (not sure if you have that in USA) it sure helped greatly. But I dare say you have a fair amount of swelling going on inside. It was about 3 weeks before I was relieved of the gas pain and shoulder pain. How are you managing the Liquids? Some others suggested when I had my pain, to drink a warm cup of water?? it's worth a try CHEERS and sincere wishes for your recovery.

Well Done - Congrats Maurdan Pleased you found a solution to the Problem. You just have to love sharing on the forum, someone will always help :mad:

I wonder for you is it the amount you have to drink or the taste? As for the amount, try drinking a large cup first thing in the morning. As soon as you can again after each meal (waiting the required 1-1.5 hours of course) Sip water inbetween your meals as well as the large glasses. I keep a sipper cup with me all day. Before you know it you have got several large glasses down in the day. If it's the taste, try adding some no calorie flavouring, like lime juice, lemon juice (here is australia we have diet cordial) a sweet syrup flavouring. I believe usa has something similar cool aid? Check around your supermarkets and see what that have for diabetics in no sugar drink flavourings. Hopefully this helps :mad: CHEERS and good luck

Congrats on your first fill Denise, I hope it's a good restriction for you. I had mine 2 weeks ago, It felt like a good restriction at the time, but now I'm feeling like I could eat a horse and chase the jockey. I rang the Dr's rooms and brought my next fill a week closer (only appt I could get) so I've still got 3 more weeks before my next fill. Good luck with your weight loss Journey :mad: CHEERS

Welcome Back Home and Welcome to the land of Bandsters :mad: Hopefully as time goes on and DH sees how wonderful your going along with your band, and hopefully DH will ease his anxiety. Every surgery has it's risks, landbanding has many, but so does staying overweight. Remind him he could just as easily lose you if you DON'T lose weight. I was sleepy, fatiqued and tired for the first 2 weeks, I became grumpy in the 3rd week, I was missing my friend/addiction "Food" I suffered with gas for most of those 3-4 weeks and shoulder pain for about 5 weeks. Sounds like your really coming along great. Sincere wishes for a successful recovery and a fabulous weight loss journey CHEERS

G'day Folks :confused: Had to share an interesting thing that has happened in the last 2 weeks And I give credit to StephC - Thankyou Steph for your post a few weeks ago. You made comment to not drinking the protein drinks as they don't stay in the upper small pouch. Instead eat protein foods first. I thought about that, as I was still having quite a few liquids and protein drinks to get through my day. So with your advice in mind, I did a search on high protein foods and filled the cupboards and fridge. On a new adventure I went, eating lots of fish, prawns, chicken with salad & steamed vegies. I've had a lot lot more energy, not anywhere as hungry and dropped and additional 1/2 kilo = 1.1 pound this week over my usual regular weight loss. I reccommend it to anyone who is having hunger problems. It really works with the added bonus of losing more weight StephC: Clears my throat - SINGING......... Happy Birthday to YOU Happy Birthday to YOU Happy Birthday dear Steph Happy Birthday to YOUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Have a supacalafragalisticexpealidotious Birthday CHEERS and Congrats to all on your weight loss & band Journey

G'day Folks I'm a Community Support Worker/Financial Counsellor. I work for the Governments Child Protection Department in Australia. I work with Families and Individuals in Financial Crisis. CHEERS

I was a HUGE take out (Takeaway) food buyer before my surgery, do we count the money wasted on all that food? Is that ever considered? How much do we spend on eating out, pizza, KFC, hamburgers, sweets etc in a year, lets add that up. I'm actually saving money having spent this money on the surgery

AMEN! Who said the so called hard way was better anyway? We all tried the hard way for years I don't feel the slightest bit guilty for the money or the surgery. This is going to save my life and give me a better quality of life

BIG SMILES, I am so so pleased. I was reluctant and embarrased to share such a personal/intimate thing in an open forum, but hey NOW I'm pleased I did I also looked at the bottom wipers available online for the minority of us with disabilities, sore backs etc. But the price tag always put me off. Again I'm pleased I pushed through the embarrassment and shared my story with you. My motto is, if it can help one person, then I've done my job CONGRATS! CHEERS to happy Healthy Eating Future's :lolB:

kedasmom: All the best to you with your surgery and future weight loss. May the Angels be with you I've lost close to 30 pounds and my knee and my back love me People are starting to really notice my weight loss now BIG SMILE! I finally got around to wearing something they hadn't seen before and even I admit I looked nice CHEERS to Happy Healthy Future's

Hey again Deb Yes you can, you can, you can walk and lose 150 pounds, now I have to convert that to know what it is in kilos, so I have a real grasp of how much it is Ok I worked that out..... it equates to 68 kilos. I have/had 60 kilos to lose, so it's only 8 more than me :girl_hug: YOU can do it. You have a much better chance at losing it with the band. I failed at every crazy diet I tried. Well they all worked for a week or so LOL. I've already lost 12 kilos of my 60, thats a 6th of the way. I very rarely look at HOW MUCH I have to lose, I just take each day and each week as it comes :girl_hug: I'm averaging 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds a week at the moment. If everday I thought about that I had 60 kilos (now 48) BIG SMILE:) I couldn't do it, I would be exhausted and feel defeated before I started. I'm sure you will be releived when the 12th comes. I cried I think for about 2 hours at home before I went to the hospital on the day of surgery. And trust me those tears were a mixed bag of emotions Fear, releif, excitement YOU NAME IT!! I'm going away tomorrow for a few days, heading to the beach for a few days of relaxation and sunshine. I'll be back before you go in for your surgery, but just in case, you don't get into the forum. I wish you every success with your surgery/recovery and look forward to catching up and hearing about how it all went and how the weight loss goes on your return. I was on Liquids for almost 6 weeks, each Dr will advise their patient of something else. BUT just think ONLY 6 weeks max till you can have that mushy meatball and pasta :girl_hug: YOU GO GIRL!! Right now, I'm discovering a whole lot of new protein foods YUM! I am sooooo loving what I'm eating at the moment and with my fill just last week, I couldn't be more satisfied. CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating :girl_hug:

Sounds like a good fill chubbygirl I was actually quite sore with no appetite for nearly 2 days after my fill last week. Watch the weight drop off now

kay, if it's any consolation, I was doing the same and feeling the same just before my fill last week. I wondered how long my will power would hang in there if I hadn't gotten a fill. I guess this is one time when you gladly want to wish some days away. Just over a week to go kay hang in there

Hi again Debbie Your welcome to the words of encouragement, after all this is a support thread and we all need support to get through to our goal I was totally consumed by thoughts, fears & excitement etc right up until my surgery. In fact I stopped contact with most people, because I couldn't talk about anything else, I was obsessed lol. I've only just started the walking (due to my knee) but I'm managing it better than I thought. An Ab Twist is:.... Take a broom handle, place it across your shoulders and wrap your hand around each end. Hard, fast and sharp, twist your shoulders & waist only (leaving your hips and abdomen facing the front) twist till your right arm is directly in front of you & left arm extended as far behind you as possible & then swap them around. Hope I explained that to make sense? I suggest you dont start this until your at least 6 weeks post surgery. I'm doing it to benefit my tummy muscles and (hoefully) prevent a tummy tuck later. I saw pics and read of 1 girl that was successful How many more weeks to go on the liquid? Missing Italian Food? I have this saying, if I'm craving it enough and it's not that bad, will one break out kill me?? Now much of this depends on if you have the will power to stop at 1? (I know we have a weight problem because our will power is not strong) But if that was me, I'd have 1 meatball or at least some liquid meatball sauce to satisy my taste buds:) How long again before your surgery?? CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating

Your Egg Roll sounds very similar to what we call a fried Spring Roll here Favourite Breakfast Cereal: We have this delicious high Fibre with Bran Cereal called Weet Bix. Made from Whole Grain Wheat and Bran. All Ingredients are of Non-Animal Origin Wholegrain wheat (57%), wheat bran (24%), desiccated coconut (8%), raw sugar, wheat starch, honey (1.5%), salt, Vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folate), mineral (iron) May contain traces of milk and soy No artificial colours or flavours.YUM!

The more people lose faith in me & expect me to fail, the more I want to prove them wrong. YOU GO GIRL!

Because of my weight and severe arthritis in my back this is what I did. However with 12kilos off, I can wipe like a normal person now I used to buy cheap nasty SUPER STRONG toilet roll. Tear off a major long length, fold it 3 times, so you end up with a length that drops from about the top of your thigh to the floor. Then twist it like wringing a towel, only more gentle. Using 2 hands, 1 in front, the other behind, place it between your butt cheeks and work/wipe it. Presto the job is done. Always worked a treat for me. Hope you find it useful. If your lucky you will come across shopping centre's, Hotels, restaurants etc that have those new roll out all one length toilet roll dispensers, thats when I discovered how useful one length paper was

WoW Congratulations karen, good luck to you. Sounds like you have had your work cut out for you with other unrelated medical problems. Good for you for getting back on track. 56.5 pounds is magnificent weight loss. Stay with it, I admire your persistance I need to lose 50% of my body weight also. I hear you with it always seemend impossible to do. Without the band I don't think it would have ever happened, now with the band I have a winning chance Good Luck and congratulations CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating

G'day Debbie Sincere wishes for a successful surgery and a successful life after banding I was extremely nervous and excited about having my surgery 7 weeks ago. But the excitement won over I feel sure what your feeling is normal. I'd be very worried if you were not at all nervous, that would seem more odd to me No children or granchildren here also So like you, I'm looking forward to enjoying life with my husband and improved activities & quality of life, like walking along the beach without getting too puffed, going shopping with my girlfriends without the fear I can't keep up walking, tieing my shoe laces, getting in & out of the car with ease. All the simplistic things in life. The Forum has been an absolute life saver & I can't imagine how I would have coped after banding without the support, knowlege, information & recipes etc. As for excercises, its summer here, so I'm walking each morning for 30 minutes. But also doing Water Aerobics 3 mornings a week for 30 minutes (I have a fractured knee & Severe arthritis in my back) so I'm limited to what excercises I can do. I've just started doing Ab Twists (with a broom handle between my shoulder blades) 100 twists each night. At the moment we have Australia's Biggest Loser on TV, so it's inspired me to make a February Challenge to excercise more. Good Luck with your surgery and your weight loss future It's a courageous thing we have all done and I commend all of us for taking that step CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating

Hey I'm an airhead aussie what else can I say ROFLMAO Thanks for educating me on what an egg roll is though

G'day Kebsa I'm in Adelaide also, Welcome to the Forum I've found some great support here at the forum, in this and many other threads. Theres some great reading in the various sections. I'd have been lost without this forum for sure. I was banded 7 weeks today. I had my first fill last week. I'm doing really well with it. The weight is dropping off slowly and surely. How long ago were you banded? How are you going with it? CHEERS to you and Welcome Again

Kedasmom: Good Luck on your weight loss Journey. I've been banded about 7 weeks now & it was the best decision I ever made. I am excited for my future. When I woke up after surgery (convinced I would die under anesthetic) I said to myself, I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE. And I'm going to make each second count. I hope your weight Loss Future is successful. CHEERS to Happy Healthy Eating