Hopeful to be full

Let me first tell you a little about myself. I grew up as a very athletic and yes a very skinny kid without a care in the world. Then the teenage years hit and I started battling depression. As a result I was put on drug after drug, many of which cause weight gain or atleast an inevitable carb obsession which leads to obeseity. I essentially became my feelings: slow, sluggish. I used food to try to fix my problems. But it didn't work, so I ate more and more.Don't get me wrong even in my teens and twenties there were times when I was healthy and thin, but then I would yo-yo back everytime my medications would have to be changed or tweaked to treat my depression and anxiety. From the time I graduated college 2008 to 2011, I yo-yoed up 100 lbs from 155 lbs weight to almost 257 lbs at 5'4''. This was the position I found myself at when I started my process of approval for lapband surgery in July of 2011. I was over 250 lbs. A size 22 pants and xxl in tops. It was the seemingly little things that made life so miserable as an overweight person. Some of these little things included walking from my car into the schools for work. I got mad at myself everytime I forgot something upstairs because the walk up the steps took my breath away. I would get blinding back pain. And then there were the times when people asked me "when is the baby due?" that really ruined my self esteem. I guess it wasn't there fault. I did look like an egg on stilts with my apple shape and protruding tummy. I knew right away that a typical diet wouldn't work for me. As long as I was able to each such large amounts of food it wouldn't matter what food I was eating (even healthy food is not longer healthy if the quantity is too large). I needed something to help my control the bottomless pit that was my stomach. Something that would stop my stomach from being treated like the trash compactor that it had become. Most importantly I needed a solution that would allow me to still absorb the medications I needed to maintain my mood. The lapband was the tool I chose to help myself lose weight. Yes, it is a tool not a fix all or miracle cure. So far I have used my tool along with diet and exercise to lose about 60 lbs. I am now in what some people call "onderland" where that first number on the scale is a 1 instead of a 2,3,4 etc. It has to be one of the best feelings in the world. I now wear a size 14 pants and a large top. Even though I'm not what many people call skinny or what I even consider skinny, I know that the decision I made and the sucess I have earned and deserve is signifigant to my health and wellbeing. I now don't have to struggle so much with the physical and emotional weight that was taking over my life. I can walk, I can even run (a little) and I love cycling. It hasn't been easy. In fact, it has been really hard to give up the food that I was using to comfort myself; in fact I still battle emotions that cause me to overeat, but now I feel like it's a battle I can win.

i would have to disagree with these new "findings" mentioned above. food defintely defintely stays in my pouch way longer than a minute. if i drink right after i eat=puking big time. your stomach is a funnel essentially. if you eat solids, they are in the funnel and blocking the bottom of the so called funnel until the stuff is digested. if you block and bottom of a funnel and then pour liquid into it what happens? the liquids can't drain through and have no where to go and the funnel will overflow=puking

Yes it DOES get better----slowly. Usually it take from 1-6 months to get your band properly adjusted. It's a slow process. Most doctors take their time filling the band (cause it's the safest way to do it). So don't expect that as soon as you get a fill you'll be fine, cause most likely you will need SEVERAL fills to get good restriction and that takes a while. Just be as patient as you can be, watch what u eat, and remember it's a process! Good Luck

http://www.celebritydiagnosis.com/2011/07/pawn-star-loses-paunch-with-lap-band/ “I was watching this lawyer’s commercial and it was talking about the side effects of this drug, and I was on that medication because of my weight. I went and got a Lap-Band put in and the weight just started falling off. It was like someone took a backpack full of rocks off of you.”~ Corey

i don't have an answer to you question, i just wanted to respond to say i have the same problem after fills! i got a fill about two weeks ago and ever since then i've been having trouble with a lot of solid foods, like meat. IT IS JUST LIKE LEARNING TO EAT OVER AGAIN! A lot of times i get stuck or whatever and i start coughing and then i PB or vomit (i don't really know the differance). I know this is not a good thing, but i do it with every fill. My doctor always asks if i am having problems with puking and i don't know what to say, i don't want him to do an unfill yet, because without the fill i wasn't losing weight. i'm trying just to stick it out. JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALONE!

this may be an overly simply answer, but the answer is a good old fashioned hard candy peppermint for me. calms my stomach after i eat or if i'm nervous

it's a definite no. the carbonation is bad for the band. the air bubbles can stretch your pouch over a long period of time drinking carbonated drinks (coke, diet coke, soda, beer or whatever) i'd stay away from it

Yesterday was my 6th month anniversary of being banded (was banded November 30th). My starting weight was 257. My weight was 247 the day of surgery. I currently have 4.5 cc in a 14 cc band. My current weight is around 217! I AM 40 POUNDS THINNER THAN I WAS AROUND THANKSGIVING. In fact, I've lost about two turkeys myself or 8 pounds of sugar or however you wanna look at it. TO ME, THAT'S GREAT! Sure it's not the big numbers some people are pulling, but it's amazing for me. To show you how amazing I'm including an old journal entry.......... THE OLD ME TALKING: ".... During the weekend it was really difficult to count calories when it feels like every calorie is a big mistake. So the good thing was that I started counting again, the bad thing is that I ate over 2,500 calories today, and I know that's not conducisve to weight lost..... After my appointment I was sooooo drained, I didn't go to the gym. I just couldn't get in the right mindset. I have to be in the right mind set and do things in a certain way when it comes to working out. Then I felt bad because I shoulda, coulda, woulda went. This is the type of thing I was talkin about. I feel like if I was a better, different, person I would have pulled things together and went. "..... THE NEW ME TALKING: I used to be a size 22. NOW I AM A SIZE 16. I used to hate going to the gym. NOW (althought I dont love it, love it) I ENJOY THE GYM AND RARELY SKIP EXERCISING. I used to have trouble doing 15 mintues on the elliptical. NOW I CAN DO 60 MINUTES ON THE ELLIPTICAL, BUT WHAT I REALLY LOVE IS SPIN CLASSES!!! I used to be out of breath, and have back and knee pain from walking. NOW I CAN WALK FOR AN HOUR PLUS OUTSIDE! I used to be so fat that people thought i was pregnant. :ph34r: NOW PEOPLE TELL ME I LOOK NICE, CAUSE I DO! Although every day is not perfect with the band. Things are so much better than they were! I still struggle with my food addiction everyday. The band does not cure the addiction just like locking the liquor cabinet doesn't cure alcoholism. Food addiction is a real thing and mine isn't going anywhere. I still have to fight myself to make the right choices. AND I DO MAKE MISTAKES, OFTEN, TOO OFTEN. But I've learn to pick myself up and start again the next day! And I you can see I used to eat upwards of 3,000 calories a day. Now I eat about half that (it should be less) but i'm wortking on it! The band isn't for everyone, but it's working for me. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE OUT THERE! :wub:

one suggestion that might help is drinking some protein water. You can get this powder you add to water that gives you protein (a.k.a. fuel for your system). Kellogg's make this and so does the company designer whey. You can find it @ target or groccerys stores in the the aisle with the protein shakes, and dietary food and supplements. i agree with the above that if u continue to vomit and dry heave u need to call your doc. as for the bm, i had problems with that too it's from being dehydrating and the aneastesia drugs. take fiber or miralax if u continue to have problems. i hope you feel better soon!

I had to be on my pre-op diet over thanksgiving. that was hard. my advice is to go and do something really fun while your family is out eating. while my family was eating thanksgiving dinner i went and saw a movie i really wanted to see. i know i can't be around food and not eat. better safe than sorry. GOOD LUCK U CAN DO IT AND CONGRATS ON YOUR SURGERY

Don't buy the chips. that simple. if you buy them=you will eat 1=you will eat the whole bag. this is addiction, time to get serious and agressive about fighting back. you wouldn't do a little crack if you were a crackhead or take a sip of alchohol is you went to AA. If you're like me you're a recoving food addict and even if you never pick up another chip in you life, you will still be a food addict...that susceptibility will always be there., so you have to decide if a chip is worth the floodgate of problems it unleashes. i think not. These are things i have to practice telling myself so i don't eat the things that upset me. YOU CAN DO IT!

Hi again, I feel like I've started to struggle with a lot of the same problems I had before I got the band; I guess the problems never really got resolved or went away it just seemed like it. One of my worst habits is eating at night. I just can't seem to help myself. I wake up in the night and my first instinct is to eat eat eat. It's so ingrained in my mind. It's like my second nature. And the problem is I don't just eat one thing. I want to eat everything that comes to mind! It's not that it's junk food, it's good nutritional food, it's just that it IS CALORIES. Too many calories. I feel like I've tried everything to change the habit. Locking the kitchen door and hiding the key. Taking water and a small snack with me upstairs so I don't go down. Sleeping medications. Therapy. WHY CAN'T I GET A HOLD OF MYSELF AND STOP THIS. I ate again in the night (really this morning) again today. I have eaten 500 calories and it's not even 7 am. And I know there are people out there that only eat 1000 cal a day. I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DO IT! I feel so bad about myself I don't even want to move this morning. It feels like my whole day is a disaster and it's RUINED BY MY MISTAKE. Now I feel like I have to starve myself the rest of the day to make up for all I ate at 12:30 in the night. I don't know that I'm looking for a solution from other people, i just feel like I need to get this off my chest. But suggestions are welcome. Thanks for the talk.

Relax you just had surgery....like yesterday....you haven't plateaued-you haven't even started YOU ARE STILL HEALING. You will contiue to be hungry until you get properly adjusted a.k.a. fills. This process of adjustment can take anywhere from 1 month to six month depending on the person and how often your doctor does fills and how much he puts in. Some people even gain a little weight until they are properly adjusted and it's ok. As you start to go from eating nothing (liquids) to eating solid food you might gain a little or stay the same cause you're eating more. It's also important not to starve yourself (800 cal?) as this can also stall weightloss. Just keep doing what you're doing and maybe start with some exercise like walking as soon as you can. Mostly importantly don't panic!

BCBS is a company name but there are hundreds of divisions of the company in each state. you need to look online or call a rep to see what particular requirements are for your division. For example I live in PA and had BCBS but it was BCBS or Northeastern PA (Northeastern PA being the division). You can't just ask someone else with BCBS what the requirements are, each division is different, u need to know about yours.

As you begin to recover and heal, your appetite will come back (with a vengeance). So you will find yourself able to eat more. I think being hungry for and eating a cup of food is perfectly normal as long as you feel up for it (don't force yourself to eat more because of head hunger). As for the walking, it's great! Just don't lift anything over 20 lbs for a month until you are healed, but walking is fine!

um not to state this obvious, but if you aren't eating, you won't be pooping, it's that simple. Why are you only eating once a day??? I can't imagine after 1--2 1/2 cup (emphasis on you calling this the maximum) there would be anything to poop out.

after a fill most doctor's recommend going on full liquids or liquids for 48 hrs. After you are filled there is swelling so if you try to eat such regular foods that aren't soft you could really get stuck and have to throw up and irritate your band even more...then you're really in trouble. pizza is definitely a terrible idea. listen to what other says also, but you should be on liquids for a day or so

On thursday last, I went to the doctor to weigh in and get a fill. Last appointment weight was 232. NOW I'M DOWN 5 LBS! (227). Let me say it feels so good to be in the 220's. I haven't been this thin in two whole years! I'm down a total of about 30 lbs in 4 months since my pre-op diet. I no longer look like I'm 6 months pregnant or hiding a watermelon under my shirt. lol. I feel like I can get dressed without feeling like it's a chore to find something to hide my form; that is such a weight off my shoulders (literally). And, I feel like I can look strangers in the eye now instead of praying i'm invisisble to the world. In other news, my doctor decided to only give me .5 cc's as a fill because I am getting stuck on certain things. (This brings me to a total of 3.5 cc's in my 14 cc band. I'm getting stuck on certain things, yet I feel like I am still way in the yellow zone. I don't make a practice of eating too much, but sometimes it doesn't feel like the band is cutting the quantity of food as much as it could be. I know some people on the forums/blogs that get full after a couple of bits, and that's definitely not my personal experience. I think the band helps me to eat less a little, but most of it's me choosing to eat less; either way i'm not getting full until i have a cup of food. I hope my doctor will give me a fill next time too. 3.5 cc's does not seem like a lot of fluid and I think maybe a bigger fill would help with speeding up the weight loss; just a thought. To make all this possible I have been working out like crazy; i spend about 2 hrs at the gym everyday. Now that I'm lighter I can exercise even more than I was before and push myself harder. For me weight loss isn't possible without exercise because I haven't conquered all my bad eating habits yet; i need to burn upwards of 1,000 cal at the gym or I wouldn't make progress. Here's to sticking it out and doing my best everyday! Good luck to everyone else on their journey and "may the odds be ever in your favor" as they say in the Hunger Games.

I have been stressed lately because I can't seem to get the scale to move my way. I am scale obsessed and weigh myself multiple times a day hoping praying that it will move. When it goes up I panic and am depressed when it goes down i feel like it's a good day. The fickle piece of metal and gears totally controls my moods. HELP I was banded Nov 30th. My starting weight was 257 and I weigh about 230 right now. My weigh loss has really slowed down since the honeymoon phase. I have 3cc in my band. I get 1cc every month when i see my surgeon. I usually only lose about 2 lbs a month if I'm lucky. I have only lost 8 lbs in the last 3 months and it makes me sad. I work really hard at the gym 5 days a week. I'm usually chugging away on the elliptical for 30 minutes and then I weight train for at least 45 minutes. In addition to that I work with a personal trainer 3x a week for an hour. I'm just so exhausted. I just can't seem to break some of my old habit. I may not be eating much quanity wise but i eat too often. I am a snacker and it's a problem. I graze too much during the day because I am currently unemployed and don't have much to take up my time. Because of all the stress from not being able to work i can't sleep at night and get can't get energy during the day. I feel so lost. But i'm trying to do better. I track my food but it hasn't really helped me to cut back on the calories. Instead it makes me paranoid and guilty when i go over 1200 calories, which I always seem to do. Does anyone else have this problem????????I guess the positive side is that I AM EATING WAY LESS THAN I DID. Just maybe not enough less to speed up weight loss? So anyways I just wanted to rant a little bit cause I'm feeling discouraged. I guess I should focus on my NSV (non scale victories). At the gym I can do dumbell burpies and bench dips a lot easier now that I have lost 5 lbs. I am going to the gym pretty much everyday. I have gone from a 22 size pants to a loose 18. I can wear XL tops at most stores. I don't have blinding back pain when I walk. My stomach doesn't look like it's holding a baby anymore and people no longer ask when I'm expecting. Some people have noticed that I'm losing weight. My jeans aren't tight and I don't have to strain to get the button done. I'm not spilling out of my bra.... well that's all I can think of right now.

First of all congratulations on your surgery; i'm glad everything went okay. As far a protein drinks the best store-bought one i like is muscle milk light (emphasis on the *light* part, the regular has more calories) it has 100 calories and a lot of protein. You could also try powder or premade drinks from the company "designer whey"...you can find both of these items at Target. If you are on a liquid diet another good thing to rely on is protein water. You can get protein water powder in liltte to-go packets (sorta like crystal light) designer whey and kellogs both make the stuff. Usually you find it in the groccery store in with the diet and nutrition items (not in the drink aisle). It's all about find the products that taste good to your palate. Good luck and hang in there, the journey is just beginning.

I don't know if I have any "good advice", but I might be able to put things in perspective a little. First of all, I know you want this weight to just go away fast, but I think you are doing just fine (there's always room for improvement) and you shouldn't let this get you down. Perhaps your weightloss is slower than some, but losing slower will do a lot of good things for you: you skin won't be baggy, you will have time to develop muscle tone, you will be able to adjust to the new lifestyle instead of starving yourself/just being on another "diet", and mostly importantly those that lose slower are twice as likely to keep it off as those that lose quickly with drastic measures like starving themselves. I TELL YOU ALL THIS BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT I NEED TO TELL MYSELF WHEN I FEEL LIKE I'LL GO CRAZY. I was banded november 30th and have lost 25ish lbs and wish it would go faster, but i have to realize that slow and steady wins the race. If you really want to amp things up there's always the traditional advice of playing around with calorie counting (more or less depending) and uping the exercise, but you're smart enough to figure that out so i don't want to lecture you

awesome! i know what it's like to have those 0.... or 1 weeks. Almost three lbs in one week is so cool. glad this put a spring in your step!

I went back to the gym after two weeks and started with the elliptical for about 30 min. I waited about 6 weeks before I did any weight training. Most doctors say you should wait a month before lifting anything over 20 lbs as standard procedure after surgery. Check with your doc that's the best advice

Thanks for the advice I guess. I never said I didn't know what the problem was. However telling someone who can barely make 1200 to go to 900 is hardly realistic or constructive criticism. I know this journey has worked for you or you have worked for it, but I can barely get through my days without food. And no I'm not snacking on junk food and it's not fair to assume so. You've been fat so asking that should stand out as a stereotyping question. I for one didn't get fat from junk food. I got fat because I have depression and the only meds that work for me happen to also make you fat. I don't have to dream what it's like to be thin, I was thin, really thin...before I had these problems. I was just pretty offended by your post because things havent gone well for me and they're obvioiusly working for you and if i was a drill sergeant with monitoring my food intake i probably woulldn't be fat, or wait yes i would cause i have to take meds so i can function.

background.I started my journey november 30th 2011 weighing in at 250 lbs. three months later i weigh 234 lbs. I have had two fills (my next one is tomorrow and i'm nervous) bringing me to 2cc in my 14cc band. my doctor fills 1cc at a time. that's it (no negotiation on that one)! I AM EXERCISING AND I AM TRACKING MY FOOD (but i have trouble stopping when i've cross my cal limit) I am feeling a little ashamed, defeated and nervous about going in for my 3rd fill tomorrow. I have not lost a lb. since my last fill a month ago. I am ashamed that I haven't done a better job with my diet. I don't want my doctor to think that I don't care or that I'm just another failure patient that can't get their act together. Like a lot of other bandsters out there I struggle with portion control, carb control, and especially snacking. I am an emotional eater and deal with almost every emotion or mood with food. Yes, there are times when I do well and say no to my urges, but more often than not I give in. As a result, I'm not losing as fast as I would like. Obviously I have some deep food issues or I wouldn't have gotten fat or needed surgery to begin with, right? Today I took the time to go over the materials (diet recommendations) that were giving to me before my surgery to help get me back on track. I am definately not following the portions that were recommended to me all the time (I admit my shortcomings), but I'm just not full after 3oz. of food. So far my band has not helped me 100% of the time with portion control. I can still eat too much (although way less than I was eating before surgery). Sometimes I just fee like the band and I aren't working well together yet. And I felt really frustrated while reading the diet recommendations again. for example NO SNACKING. If I could eliminate snacking altogether myself I wouldn't need the band!!! I thought the band would help with hunger more and give me a full feeling, right? I dunno.THIS IS BAND HELL. I CAN'T SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL YET HELP! Perhaps I'm disillusioned when it comes to what the band can do for me. Or maybe I'm just in bandster hell and the band isn't working at full compacity yet. I dunno. I just had to get all these feeling off my chest. Sometimes I think I will definately fail, that I am a failure and then I give up and eat. or I think I will fail anyways so I sabotage myself with food. (maybe deep down I'm so used to fail I will myself to fail) How do I get rid of these negative thoughts????? Has anyone ever felt this way in their journey???? Thank you for taking the time to give me some insights into how you made your journey a sucess