Gabandgirl

Love Love Love my band! I had my band surgery May 4th 2011 have lost 80LBS!!! I wanted a Thanksgiving fill but lost 9lbs this past month so I didn't get one which is probably best. I know we go through some problems but most are related to our rules and I don't mind because this is what I signed up for my weightloss has been effortless with the exception of the gym where I work out hard! We have to work with our band not figure out ways to eat around the band or get an unfill to gorge ourselves on vacation! This behavior defeats the purpose! The more I loose the more I feel empowered by my success!!

I think we probably squeezed ourselves into our clothes and if you were like me they were stretchey maybe?? Excercise has changed the size and way my clothes are fitting. I have lost 80lbs and got banded May 5th 2011

I am hardly ever physically hungry. I eat only at meal times and don't require a snack. I still love to taste food though and that hasn't changed so I have to remind myself not to eat mindlessly because I AM NOT HUNGRY! Have lost 64 since May and feel great!

This is a great tool! You still have to be "ready" to use it as a tool and not expect to wake up thin! Our minds do not change just the size of our stomachs. I have lost 64 since May and 70 from my highest weight and I had not been able to wrap my head around dieting and weight loss for many years before my surgery! Best of luck to you and don't forget the excercise I have really enjoyed that part and never thought I would!

When did you have your band surgery??

I was banded May 3rd, 2011 have lost 62lbs from my highest weight and 55 since May. I NEVER thought I could make the gym work for me but I started about 3 weeks after surgery and have built a nice routine and I SEE the results which is just amazing to me!! I do about 20 min on the ellipitical then go to the machines especially the core / abdominal ones and the butt blaster has really helped my very large hind end! When I am finished with the machines I go back for 20 more minutes of cardio. The weight has been coming off but my body is changing in ways that I know it would not have done with weight loss only. If I wanted to try something new I would go to the gym when it was less crowded and ask for help from staff. The most important thing is to set a gym schedule and if it is a day you go be sure to get there one way or another and not talk yourself out of it. I go two very early morning a week and 2 to 3 afternoons a week and take WED and SUN off. Good luck!!

After a few bites of food I feel bubbles (and they make noise) in my throat and sometimes get the hiccups while eating! Does this happen to anyone else?? <div style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;">www.my-calorie-counter.com The webs free <a href="http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/">Calorie Counter</a><br/><img src="http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/TickerEngine.php?RulerImage=ruler21.gif&SliderImage=slider6.gif&Unit=0&Track=true&BW=279&CW=219&TW=165"></div>

I work out 4-5 times a week for approx 1.5 hours. I do about 50 minutes cardio split in half doing the machines after the first half and then going back to cardio. I had my surgery in May and never dreamed I would be as faithful to the gym as I am! I love seeing the results of working out! Best of Luck! PS. My MP3 player maximizes my workouts!

If you are loosing pretty fast the band seems to loosen up some on its own. When I got my 2nd fill which put me at 4.5 it was soooooo tight in the beginning and I thought oops I'm too tight. I decided to go with it and lost 15lbs the month of July! By the time I went in for my 3rd fill she wouldn't fill me but now the band is not as tight and it looks like the month of August will probably be about six or seven lbs. If you can drink good I would probably give it a little time. Best of luck!

Even with insurance I had to come up with about 3500 and now I am getting another bill from surgeon (large hernia was found) for over 500 and if I don't pay immediatly it will effect my band fills?? WTF?? why they have to be so mean?? lol

Yes! Start slow and with no resistance. I had lapband May 3rd 2011 and started the gym on May 20th 2011. I am up to 45 min on the elipitical and the inches are melting off my legs and hips its just really remarkable I never would have thunk it! HANG IN THERE!!!!! KEEP TRYING IT WILL MELT THE WEIGHT AND INCHES OFF!!!!!!!

I work out a min of 4 days per week and sometimes manage 5 days per week. I am at the gym about 1.5 hours I do 45-50 minutes on the elipitical, I usually do half the cardio stop and do the machines especially the core ones and then resume the remainder of my cardio. I have been amazed how much I enjoy the gym, the only draw back has been getting it in no matter what my schedule is.

Lap Band May 3 2011 down 52 lbs! I am fat because I love food especially sweets. I was not so bad with portion control of regular meals, although compared to what I eat now I probably am in a little denial! I was terrible with sweets and especially eating sweets at night while watching TV. I would wear a path between the couch and the pantry to see what was new in there or what I could eat......if nothing else I would eat a couple bowls of sugary cereal. Everything was centered around food and I just plain enjoyed eating things that were "good". It just managed to creep on over the years and the older I got the less I could get my mind right to actually loose weight, it was a huge task to loose 80-100 lbs! I am so happy with the lap band surgery I haven't been this small in quite a few years and in just 22 more lbs I will hit the 100's!

I had surgery May 3rd 2011 and have lost 46 have had 2 fills currently have 4.5CC's and next fill appt scheduled for Aug 10th. There are times I can eat a little of everything on my plate but more often than not my busy lifestyle doesn't allow me to eat much probably because mornings I am rushing to the gym, at lunch I am just too rushed. I find if I am rushed it goes down like a rock and instead of pushing myself or getting the slime going I just stop. I could NOT eat the amount of food being described here nor would I want to try because isn't the idea to loose weight. I do plan for the occassional splurge like banana pudding Sunday but it is rare and because I ate some lunch and the pudding my stomach would not accept any food that evening. If I had eaten something that evening it would have felt like I was eating after being stuffed after Thanksgiving Day dinner! I am probably a little tight but if all rules are being followed I usually do ok. I have realized that this band works its our heads that don't always listen to what the band tells us! I thought the technician was crazy when she said if you feel something stuck QUIT EATING! I thought who would keep eating....ummm, me sometimes, but I am trying very hard to eat what I want just a very small amount. I am wishing everyone on here luck. Just for inspiration I saw a lady at the gym yesterday and she was sooooooo slim probably a size 5 and I said to her "I guess you have always been that slim" she said no that this time last year she was 267lbs and had lost about 115! She said her Doctor scared her to death and she was denied lapband so she got a head set started walking and working out with the marines (she works civil service at our base) I was very impressed! She was quite the inspiration!

Thanks Jen, I was hospitilized with Ischemic Colitis in 2006 sure hope it is not coming back, time will tell I guess. Thanks again

I had surgery on May 3rd and I am down 43lb since surgery, have had 2 fills currently 4.5 CC's seems to be going great. I am working out 4-5 times per week at gym and enjoying life! Last Thurs. about 4 started to feel queezey didn't have much in my little stomach thought maybe I was just constipated. I left work at 5:30 headed to drop deposit and go to the gym. I had to pull over at McDonalds did't quite make it was going both ends (sorry!) I could not vomit just heave and had to go to bathroom evey few minutes till 8:00 PM just water....oh my hemmroids were not liking it! OK thought maybe I had a virus but a 4 hour virus didn't seem so awful but....Yesterday before lunch stomach pretty empty same thing and lasted all afternoon. Do you think this is band related or gastro related?? I go in for my 3rd fill next Wed and plan on talking to the nurse. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Just stick with it! I have a friend that has not been as successful as I have been. I am trying to follow the rules and working out like crazy. In my case my MIL paid my co-pay and I sure didn't want to be judged. The bottom line is I felt like I had went to drastic measures and I am living by the 80/20 plan. I follow the rules and eat good choices no junk 80 % of the time. If I know I am going to eat at church sunday I will save up for that banana pudding. I have a friend that pushes the amount of food she eats on a regular basis and she has not been as successful. You can do anything you set your mind to go back to the basics maybe get a fill and start the race over! Best of luck to you!!!

I just had my second fill, I went from 3CC's to 4.5CC's which didn't seem like much to me. I had wondered about getting 2 although she said that 7 lbs in one month was "better than average" so I was actually given 1.5CCs. The Water went down while she was still in although I felt like there was a bubble or need to burp kind of thing. I was on liquids for 24 hrs and ate a few bites of supper last night. Since the fill on Wed these air bubbles keep making all sorts of noise and seem to be crawling up my throat constantly! Is this to be expected? Is it just gas? It is loud to me but no one else has commented on hearing these noises. Any information or help would be appreciated!

I was told that there is a fat pad around the stomach and fluid shifts in the body. If you loose weight the fat pad does to??? Guess it makes sense. I am much much tighter right after a fill!!! I freak out that maybe I am over filled then it gets better. I also have bubbles crawling up my throat after a fill!

I had surgery May 3 2011 going for my secon fill tomorrow and I was 277 when I went on pre op diet. I am down 37 lbs and would feel the same way you feel but just remember that it IS success to be down 27lbs and girl we are just getting started. I excercise and loose inches but the weight is not falling off. Just keep you head high and don't give up just keep going and taking the advice given by the technicians that do the fills for you. I go for my second fill tomorrow I have 3 CC's now and hopefully will get a couple more CC's tomorrow. I have been asked many times if I was "expecting", geeze who does that???? Best of luck to you!!

Have your surgeon check the band something is not right since you are watching what you eat and excercising. I was banded May 5th and have lost 35lbs I am going to the gym and watching what I eat too.

I had no restriction until my first fill but.....I was very careful what I ate and was faithful to the gym. I did not want to fail at the band or gain any of the weight back that I had lost. I got my first fill on June 14th and it has made a big difference. I am still very careful with choices, I have NOT gone back to eating in between meals and snacking while watching TV. This is not a sprint but a marathon. It is and always will be just a tool to help us diet. Try not weighing as much and acting as if you do have restriction that is what I had to do! Best of luck