TerriDoodle

I took off a week, but wish I had taken 10 days...or at least worked 1/2 days for 2-3 days. I just got really tired by the end of the day.

Well, this isn't very impressive, but here are my 1 month progress photos. Mostly I see it in my boobs :cry and my back. This is a loss of 12#. (Yes,my hair does actually grow! I get a haircut every 4 weeks...lol)

Thank you! That's an awesome explanation. Mind if I dupe it in my April 07 bandster thread? I think they'd find it very informative.

Ok, so this is the part I didn't get before....that the food is actually GONE from the pouch within an hour but the FEELING of fullness is still there. AH HA!! Ok, I can wrap my head around that. Thanks.

No, it's not like it was after surgery...not that intense. So far I haven't really noticed any difference from those few days pre-fill except that I'm not *quite* as hungry. We'll see how today goes. I start solid food on Monday (Wow!! What's THAT?) and I can't wait! That will be the true test. Thanks for the congrats...feels good to see a new number! JENN - Take it easy, girlfriend. Stress is a weight staller, too. Extra vitamin C will help battle the higher cortisol levels. How'd the interview go at dbf's employer? Did I miss that post?

Teach - you should be our thread mascot!! You have not broken one single solitary rule since you started on this journey, have you? Seriously, you are incredible. Rvingdi - I wondered when you were gonna show up!! I'm glad you've joined us!! How's Florida? How long do you think ya'll will stay there? It's gettin' pretty hot! I'd be heading for the hills, right about now if I had your mobility! (I LOVE Colorado!) Areellady - Welcome! Biking is so great but it always, no matter what I do, makes my right leg go numb after a short while. I love the recumbant bikes at the gym...like sitting in an easy chair while you exercise! Do you have a nice area to ride in? I've heard that Idaho is beautiful! Lucky you!

LOL!! ....Thank you for all those bananas!! My day is complete now. (For some freaking reason, I can't get to my journal AGAIN! Grrrr.)

Lunasa - You've done it again, dear girl. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you are a part of this group. This was a very powerful post. I hope you don't mind, but i'm going to start cutting and pasting your wisdom into my LBT journal. (Too hard to find in this monster thread!) You are so right about everything you said. I assume these concepts are derived from NLP? ...or just a distillation of all your readiing, research and life experience? I just love it. OKAY PEOPLE. LISTEN UP. I FINALLY SAW A NEW NUMBER ON THE SCALE THIS MORNING! AFTER 17 DAYS OF BOUNCING BETWEEN 201 AND 203....FINALLY.... 200!!! Can i see some dancing bananas????

Jay - I don't know what to tell you....I'm just glad I have Dr. Spivak. He seems to have a very liberal pre-op and post-op plan. thank goodness!!! I'd never make it to July 2!

All is well!

It is my understanding that any complications are your financial responsibility. I mean, if you're following all the rules, there shouln't be any complications. I doubt you'd find a doctor that will guarantee that nothing will happen....but I could be wrong!

HERE I AM!!! Sorry, girlz....I was out running errands all day...and then it took 20 minutes to catch up on posts!! Nobody got much work done today, did they? Ok...you've heard it before and I'll tell you again...the fill was such a non-event!! It's no big deal at all. I walked in and filled out some more forms ( of course!) and they weighed me (202.4) asked if I was exercising (YES!) having any trouble at all, took my BP, etc. Then showed me into the procedure room and had me lay on the table. My port is right under my sternum, at the top of my big ol' fat belly and you can feel it right under the skin. I didn't even have to get undressed or anything. She swabbed it quickly with some alcohol and said "This is going to feel like a big shot"....which it did!! Not like a flu shot, but a BIG shot. And she used quite a bit of pressure, too....so it was different that way as well. But that was the extent of the pain. Only lasted 3-4 seconds. The fill itself was imperceptible in any way. She stuck a bandaid on my tummy and asked me to move over to the fluroscope. I drank 1 oz of barium mixture (which tasted minty) and was able to watch it go down on the screen. That was cool. Then they gave me a bottle of water and asked that I sit and drink half before I leave. Which I did, and didn't have any issues whatsoever. I sat and talked to one of the assistants about what to eat, not eat, how to exercise, etc. They injected 1.5cc and I can have another fill as early as 3 weeks if I feel that I need it. After I left there I was starving!!! (I'm only allowed soft foods for 2 days then I can move to solids! YEA!!!) I stopped and had a personal-size spinach quiche (but no crust) and a 1/2 cup of tomato basil soup. Ate slowly and everything went down fine. That was at 11:30a....it's now 8 hours later and I've yet to eat anything else! Ok....any questions?? It's good to feel restriction again. Hope it lasts a while.

Stacie - WELCOME to LBT!! You will LOVE this board and you've come to the right place for support - that's for sure! Major congratulations to you on your loss so far. I'll be seeing you 'round!

SO happy for you Alexandra!!! Wonderful news for you!

(((LUNASA))) - I just love your posts so much!! You are truly a wonderful inspiration for us all. Thank you for your time and energy spent on this board. You speak truth and wisdom!! I like truth and wisdom!! Re: fennel If I use fennel tea, does it have to be hot?...or does it matter? I don't drink hot tea. It's 90-something degress (F) most of the time here, now until October! Drinking hot things is NOT what we do in Texas! Do you think I could mix it with my iced drinks just as well? And you suggest just keeping a vial of essential oil to sniff a few times a day or what? Will that have the same effect as ingesting it or is that just for calming the mind? I am fairly ignorant about the use of oils. I've only used Bach's Rescue Remedy for my dog in the past...LOL

Laura, just say, "No, I'm not losing right now, but I expected that. It's normal to stall out for a few weeks." That'll take the 'pressure' off for awhile.

Well, what happened???

Ok Girlz -- we are all freaking out and I think we're jumping the gun just a tad, don't you? Yesterday i went over to the Feb. 07 bandsters to see what they are up to...and how they're losing, etc. Whereas our averages are, what?...10-25# losses so far? Well, theirs are 30-40# averages. They surely went thru all the things we're going thru....that's why it even has a name: Bandster Hell!!....and they came out the other side and are losing. Well, now they're dealing with what to eat, what not to eat, PBing, sliming, eating by the rules, fills (too much and too little). This is just our phase now. Depression, grazing and weight stalls. If several of us are basically going thru the same thing, then surely this is "normal". WE'RE OK!! Just keep on keepin' on!!! OK?

Poor Jane!!!! Try this: 1) Click on "User CP" at the top of this page 2) Click on "Edit Signature" on the left 3) Scroll down to the "Edit Signature" window (not the "preview" window) 4) Move your cursor over the ticker until you see a cross-hair then click on it 5) Hit your "delete" button 6) scroll down again and then click on "Save Signature" Eh??

I have found in the past that a complaint to the Better Business Bureau in your county and the Attorney General's office in your state, with a CC to the local store's manager and corporate offices....will usually get someone's attention. Plus you get to vent your heart out and feel like you're actually DOING something about it. Once I actually helped put an online vendor out of business because they were ripping people off left and right. My complaint to the BBB was the most effective in making that happen.

Laura - www.thedailyplate.com has a section where you can record some measurements...and it charts them for you. This may not help you, but if you get desperate, it's there! Go to the tab that says "My Weight", then at the top of that page there are 3 little links...one one of them says "body measurements".

I've been reading a few of your posts.....what is "m/e" ??? Ya'll are all doing so great!! I'm in bandster hell right now and you give me HOPE!

you're only banded 15 days and eating meat? Are you sure that's on your post-op diet?

Adorable - it might be a little too early for eggs...too rubbery perhaps. They really filled me up big time when I had more restriction:tired And yes, the hiccups and burps are pretty normal at this point for you. I don't think you're eating too much, but maybe too fast? Or maybe not...but rest assured that you're perfectly normal. Things get a lot more normal in just a couple of weeks.

Pamela - I am so right there with you. I am grazing like I did on my "farewell to food tour" (thanks, Tracy ) and I feel fat, too. I also have been in a bad mood for about a week. My patient advocate told me that depression at about 3 weeks was very normal....I guess this is what she was talking about. Which brings me to something I was thinking about earlier... I think there is some kind of connection between weight loss, hormones, plateaus and grazing. Is anyone with me? When I lost a bunch of weight low-carbing mine (and everyone else's on the forum) periods got all messed up. A year later I hit menopause....at the ripe age of 45!!! Anyway... here I am at a predicted 3 week depression (hormone related?), I'm grazing as if I was PMS'ing, & my weight loss has stalled. Does anyone know any scientific reason that explains this? I know we've got a lot of expert dieters here!