mags2u

My doctor didn't require a pre-op diet. I put myself on a liquid diet the week before, and clears two days (I think) before surgery. I lost 5lbs in a week. Take a breath........you will be fine. And congrats on making such a life changing decision! The pain was not actually bad. I only took pain meds x2 days. The gas pain was the worst. All I can recommend is walk, walk walk and walk some more. Even if it is just around your house. It moves the gas around. Get gas-x strips to disolve on your tongue. Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on how you are doing. Maggie

My insurance company required documented doctors visits. I also had co-morbidities. I pretty much did not lose a thing in those six months. (Mine did not have to be consecutive). My surgeon's office submitted all paperwork for me to my insurance company. Do you have a patient liason to refer to at your surgeon's office? If so I would check with them. Best of luck!

So excited for all of you! Congrats on making one of the best decisions. I was banded 1/10, have lost 43lbs. I'm getting over it, but the only "bad" thing I've dealt with so far is being mad/sad that I can't just pig out. There is definitely an emotional side to it. Feel free to message with any questions! Best of luck in your journey! Maggie

I can't take credit for this post: When I first started this Group, I had posted in the main pages about January Bandsters and so a lot of people still post there, but I saw this and had been having a bad two weeks of not being motivated, eating shitty and quite frankly falling back into old habits. So I thought I would post this. Let's do a weekly goal posting! 4/2/12 goals: 3. Log into and record each day on Fitness Pal 2. Walk at my new walking spot EVERYDAY afterwork 1. Increase my water intake. PS: Get on LapBandTalk every night to feel loved and supported !~

Great idea on the weekly goals! I'll post this topic in our Group page as well :-) 4/2/12 goals: 3. Log into and record each day on Fitness Pal 2. Walk at my new walking spot EVERYDAY afterwork 1. Increase my water intake. PS: Get on LapBandTalk every night to feel loved and supported !~

I think we all go through this. I went through about two weeks, where although I was SLOWLY loosing, I found myself eating a McDonald's cheeseburger. There, I said it. That feels better already! I think we just have to encourage each other and not be afraid to admit when we are in a funk because WE ALL GO THROUGH IT. I didn't realize the fitness pal changes your cal. intake for you? I was also not utilizing FitnessPal during my slump as well. I decided today was my day to get back on track. I wanted to be down 50lbs for my 3mos. bandiversary but don't see that happening, but I just have to remind myself, I"M the one that has to do the work. My band will not do it for me. Keep your head up! Look at what a great job you've done so far! No regrets, just move forward!

Helllooo all. Glad to see everyone is doing well. I go for my 3rd 6wk follow up April 8th. I'm definitely not hungry in the morning, but throughout the day I do get hungry about 3-4 hrs after I eat, so I'm hoping they put another 0.5cc in. This last round I really haven't lost anything signifigant. But I love that we are all pretty much right on track for weight loss. Nice to compare and see that we are all rockin! Helllooo all. Glad to see everyone is doing well. I go for my 3rd 6wk follow up April 8th. I'm definitely not hungry in the morning, but throughout the day I do get hungry about 3-4 hrs after I eat, so I'm hoping they put another 0.5cc in. This last round I really haven't lost anything signifigant. But I love that we are all pretty much right on track for weight loss. Nice to compare and see that we are all rockin! Helllooo all. Glad to see everyone is doing well. I go for my 3rd 6wk follow up April 8th. I'm definitely not hungry in the morning, but throughout the day I do get hungry about 3-4 hrs after I eat, so I'm hoping they put another 0.5cc in. This last round I really haven't lost anything signifigant. But I love that we are all pretty much right on track for weight loss. Nice to compare and see that we are all rockin!

Just checking in with everyone to see how you all are? It's been hard consistently getting on here. I need to make it a priority because it keeps me accountable. What ups & downs has everyone experienced? What NSV's are super exciting? How is the family/friends support? Feel free to add any other topics! Just curious to see how we are all progressing! Mags

I almost feel stupid blogging about this, but had a revolation this morning! So when you are a fat chick, you can't just go to Victoria Secret for the latest and cutest bra selection. Me personally, I have found Lindathebralady.com to be the most comfortable, but they're not cheap. So as I've lost 41lbs the girls have been less than perky. I've been dreading paying another $54 for another bra. I know that's a good problem to have needing to buy new, skinnier clothes and bras, but 54 bucks is 54 bucks! Here's where the "I feel stupid" moment plays in. So I'm getting dressing this morning and like a profound moment of my entire life I realize, "duh, you don't have to use the last fasteners on the bra you big dork!" Being fat pretty much my whole adult life, I've ALWAYS had to use the last fasteners. I'm proud to say I'm on the first one! Not only is that exciting, but cheaper too! It's funny seeing things in a skinnier light! Woohoo!

Woohoo. Thought I would never go down on the scale! Checking in at 275- total of 41lbs!

Struggling a bit since my last fill. My first fill was 2cc. My second fill was 1cc. Im not sure if it was too much? Im not hungry, but eating is uncomfortable at times. However, i have felt a little lax with myself as well. So im not sure if its the timing of my fill or the fill itself. I had my 1st throwing up episode , thank God we were at home. I think i need to listen to when im full. I definitely have a fatgirl sitting on my shoulder going, " come on, take another bite!"..............ill let you know what this week brings.

March 15: 280. :-( Stayed the same.

Hi Karen! First of all congrats on your weight loss! We have to remember we didn't gain the weight over night and its not going to come off that way either. I say that with the admission that I was weighing myself almost 5 times a day at first! My poor scale I ONLY weigh myself in the morning now in just bra/underwear. Also, I was stuck for a few days, teetering up and down a pound or two then it came off all of the sudden. You have to look at NSV's too. How are your clothes fitting? How are you feeling? In regards to protein shakes, my surgeon agrees with your PCP- most of the protein should be derived from solid foods. I maybe have 1-2 protein shakes per week and I find it is more at late afternoon right when I get home from work I'm starving! So I'll just do a protein shake instead. You should also notice a difference with each fill. I got my second fill 3/8 and notice a difference already. Just to warn you though, after each fill it seems like its a miracle, but then as I'm "needing" another fill (around 4 weeks) I've noticed I could eat a horse. My surgeon said that once we hit "the sweet spot" with fills, I shouldn't feel like that anymore. Mags

So, I'm almost two months out, down 34 pounds. Yeah! Woohoo. Well rewind, really it's only 32lbs because I was down to 282 the other day and I thought, sweeeeet that's almost down to the "seventies"! So what did I do? Well how else does a fat chick celebrate an accomplishment? Eat, right? I tell you what, this has been a challenging journey thus far and holy cannoli I'm only in two months! I don't know how I was physically able to eat a FOOTLONG Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. I have got to get over this hump in my brain to actually listen to my stomach when I'm full. It's as if I feel sorry for the food left on the plate (I know because bread and sweet onion chicken have feelings, right!). Tonight I found myself getting my husband DQ (at his request) and although I didn't choose my normal large, opting for the mini midnight truffle, I was STILL GETTING DQ! On a positive note, I've picked back up on my exercise and have even gotten my step kids into the Just Dance 3! I know there are going to be ups and downs, and ups and downs both numerically on the scale, as well as emotionally in my head. Just thought I would vent my feelings here tonight, because I just needed to. Kind of like going to confessional, it just feels good. Thanks for listening

I will continue with their program their and just see the other doctor, whom the girls said if I loved the resident who did my fill I would LOVE the other doctor because they are similar in bedside, personality, etc.

Super excited today because Prudence was getting her second fill. Glad I called yesterday to verify the dietary restrictions on my fill date otherwise, I would have eaten! Great nurse I am, huh? For breakfast I had a protein shake with 1/2 water, 1/2 orange juice. Then on the way to work I got in about 16oz. water At 0800 I thought I would get in another protein shake, as my appointment was not until 3:30pm and as of 0900 I had to be NPO. So I got pulled in the O.R. today to work which thankfully took up a big portion of my day not focusing on the fact that I couldn't drink anything until THREE THIRTY!!!! Ok, well I got through the day, ran some errands and then headed off to my doctor's office. I get to my appointment five minutes early and say to the person at the desk, "Hi, I'm Maggie and I have an appointment at 3:30pm with the Nurse Practitioner for a fill." She looks at me puzzled and says, "You DO?". Shuffeling through some papers she then says matter of factly, oooh, she had to leave. Which leads me to my video. Let me tell you, Chris Farley was FULLY reserected in that doctors office. WHAT you mean to tell me I've been NPO since 0900 and have a splitting headache and you couldn't have called to tell me that my appointment was cancelled? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YfvBbxE1vU If you can tell anything from my blog, I'm not too shy about holding my feelings back and telling you how it is. I was pretty darn proud of myself that I didn't come across the counter at the poor lady. Or maybe she could read my face because before I could respond she said, well you could see Dr. LaGrand. To that I chuckled, "I don't care if I see the man in the moon as long as I get a fill". He was a resident that worked along side my surgeon and I've met before. Looooooovvvveeeeddd him! What a great bedside manner and he answered so many more questions than my own surgeon did for me! AND he filled 1cc- woohoo! So as I'm leaving I thanked the office staff for getting me in (even though I'm not sure that shouldn't have been expected anyway) and asked if I could continue to see him for my follow up visits. "Well you could if he was staying. He's leaving when Dr. Scott leaves at the end of the month". Ummmm, Hello?!? What?!? That's right, my surgeon is leaving for another hospital. Don't you think that is something that I should have at least gotten a generic form letter signed by his secretary? Kind of disappointed. Just sayin'!

Checking in at 280! Woohoo. Down another pound!

Love that phrase, breaking up with food! We really are, aren't we.

Name, real or screen~ Mags2u Goal weight for March 30th~274 Weight on March 1st~285 Age~37 Dietary goal for March~ Chewing, chewing, chewing + increasing water intake Exercise goal for March~ 20 min. cardio x3 nights/week Personal goal for March~ Stopping when I'm full Date banded~1/10/12 Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~33lbs!!! What is your favorite outdoor excercise/activity~Walking

I had my first fill 2/9. I go 3/9 for my second fill. At first when I got my fill it was great, but lately I feel like I can eat a lot more than I should be. During the week I do great, but weekends, not so much. I'm still losing (down 33lbs) but want to get more control over stopping "when I'm feeling full". Why do I find the need to eat everything on my plate? Maybe I'll start journaling again.

Ok, you have all inspired me. I've been lacking on the excersise portion of my weightloss, so I know March 1st is just around the corner, so lets all do a fitness challenge together. Any ideas on what challenge we should have? Walking distance in a month?, total minutes per day?. Give your input and we'll do it together! Gooooooooooo January Bandsters!!!!! (yes I was a cheerleader in high school :-)

OMG. I'm sooooooo excited! I was super excited yesterday to be out of the 290's (haven't seen that in a long time), so I was down 27lbs since 1/10. Today I got on the scale and said, "are you f**ing kidding me?" My husband yelled whats wrong? I had to get on the scale again to make sure it was right. I'm down another 2lbs! I can definitely tell a difference since my fill on Thursday. I just hope this continues! Kind of pinching myself. Mags

I had posted in the January 2012 group a March Challenge for fitness, but I found one under the main forums tab and then under "General Lapband Discussion" then under March Challenge. Lets all see if we can't do that one together? Hope to see you all there! Mags

I had my surgery January 10th. Moving along quite well, down 23lbs (hoping to be down 25lb by my first fill on Wed!). I've only gone out to a restaurant to eat three times since my surgery. Which by all accounts is a new world recordd according to the "Eat Out to get Fat Association of America". My family & I used to eat out at LEAST 4-5 times a week. I mean, really? Looking back on pre-band behavior is quite alarming and keeps me in check. We've sure as hell saved a lot of money! In all three cases, as we were seated and the friendly waitress would say, "and what can I get you to drink?". As the orders go around the table, I simply say, oh no thanks, I'm not drinking anything......... silence with a stare of disbelief........."Are you SURE"?....Yes, I'm sure, thank you........shrug of shoulders, or looks of "what a crazy lady" are the norm in my world now. That was the one hurdle with getting banded that I thought I would have. I am basically a camel. I would drink at least two pitchers of iced tea with every meal. Now I have to time myself (and I mean I can tell you the SECOND I can drink something). I've already gotten tired of people thinking that this is the most absurd thing not to order a drink with lunch or dinner, so now I order an iced tea if we go out and drink a few sips as I'm ordering. Typically that is enough time of 15 min. before my food gets there. Then I asked for a to-go cup and take it with me to drink as my half hour alarm goes off! Seems to keep the weird looks at bay!