DELETE THIS ACCOUNT!

You'll have to ask your surgeon, the costs vary greatly from office to office.

I agree with Floridays. Ask how much is supposedly in your band, then ask them to verify how much is actually in there by drawing it out. It's the only way you'll know for sure.

Hi Joe and welcome back! The best advice I can offer is to count calories. Not only does it hold you accountable to what you put in your mouth, but it also makes adjusting your diet when you do run into issues a lot easier. I would even make an appointment with a nutritionist, let them help you establish food and calorie guidelines that you can live with. Best wishes to you. You can do this!

I didn't until after a couple fills, but now, yes. I'm easily satisfied on a cup or less of food for many hours.

I've had the band for 11 1/2 months, I've lost 175 pounds so far, and it's definitely the best thing I've ever done for myself.

Holy cow you look AMAZING!! I can't believe you look so good only a couple days post op!!! I can only imagine how incredible you'll look once you're done healing!

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but eating a sandwich when you're only 10 days post op and on liquids is incredibly foolish. Your stomach has been stitched and wounded. It needs time to heal. By not sticking to the post op diet your doctor put you on, you are putting yourself at very real risk for serious complications. Stick to your post op diet from now on. It's not the risk of problems. Best wishes.

I don't blame you, I'd be pissed too. It's ridiculous to me that people can pay thousands and thousands of dollars for insurance coverage they hardly use, but once they actually need it, they get nothing but grief or even denied. It's complete crap. Keep fighting them and don't give up!

Welcome back! First, I'm sorry you had to go through the medical scare and glad you're doing so much better. The beauty of the band is you can always start over. You did it once before so you know what is necessary to be successful. I would go back to your surgeon and start the fill process again slowly. Remember, you don't have to have the band so tight you can't swallow pills for it to successfully subdue your hunger. Best wishes to you.

That's an interesting question... mental or physical. I'd have to say physical for two reasons: One, I felt terrible last year at this time. I needed a cane just to walk a few feet and a power scooter to grocery shop because I couldn't walk that far. Now, I walk 2 miles 4-5 days a week with ease. The physical improvements have truly given me a new lease on life. The second reason I say physically is because mentally, I still struggle. I have a very hard time seeing myself as I truly am. In my mind, I'm still a 400 pound woman, so when I see my own reflection it's literally startling at times. Plus I'm not done losing, so I am still very much in must-lose-this-weight mode. I'm hopefully one day, in time, my brain will catch up with my body

I was SO glad to see you posting here!! I've been thinking about you, praying you were doing well. I'm so thrilled that you are!!! Heal fast and hopefully you continue to feel good!

I actually asked my nutritionist about "starvation mode". What people dieting refer to as "starvation mode" isn't actually starvation at all. It's more like a self induced metabolic syndrome from eating too little, drastically slowing down your metabolism. True starvation is entirely different. But yes, when I eat too little, my metabolism slows dramatically. When I eat more, it runs much more efficiently. I even wrote a blog entry about my own results messing with my calories: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/blog/6349/entry-24376-calories-do-count/ Thank you for the kind words I do feel really good, better than I have in many years. I really believe the band saved my life, or my quality of life at the very least.

It was the first couple months, actually. I think I averaged about 20 pounds a month the first 6 months. I've lost 175 pounds in about 11 months, so it is rather a lot relatively quickly. As far as other factors, oh yes, there's tons. For instance, salt intake. It can blow you right up with water weight. Another factor is exercise, because while a pound of feathers is the same as a pound of lead, muscle is much denser and compact than fat. So, you can shrink in inches but not see the scale move because you're replacing fat with muscle. Hormones are another factor, and I don't just mean female (obviously not for you anyway lol). You will find your own little triggers and road blocks, too. For instance, I realize I simply cannot eat after 6pm and lose. I also found I can't lose on less than 1000 calories a day and actually need to stay around 1200. But that's just "my things", it doesn't apply to everyone. You'll find "your things" too. Best wishes

It is really drastic actually lol. I have been told my old pics look like "my fat cousin" or some other relative but not at all like me now. I had pics up here for quite a awhile but recently took them down. Maybe I'll post more soon.

Well, you are correct as far as math. The bottom line is, if you consume less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. With that said, the human body isn't so logical I've lost as much as 27 pounds in a month and as little as 7 pounds in a month. There is literally zero difference in my diet and exercise between months. I'm actually pretty strict with myself so it's not a matter of cheating either. Still, there's a huge difference, right? That's because while the math is correct, there's a lot of biology that math doesn't take into account. If your body was a machine, you'd be all set, but because you're human expect some surprises along the way, both good and bad. Most surgeon say to expect/aim for a 1-2 pound per week loss. I think that's very realistic and anything beyond that is just bonus. Best wishes to you

I eat sandwiches, but if they have really thick bread, I eat them with a fork so I can more easily control my bite size.

Very interesting research study released that I thought I'd share. (CBS) Is loading up on lots of Protein the best way to lose weight? Some dieters think increasing or cutting back on protein will trick the body's metabolism into causing weight loss. But a new study suggests if you're going to eat a lot, changing the amount of protein in your diet probably won't help you lose weight. In fact, too little protein might make you fatter. "You don't fool nature by adding more or less protein," study author Dr. George Bray, an obesity researcher Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, told Health.com. "You may fool the scale, but you don't fool the metabolic processes which store excess calories as fat." For the study, published in the Jan. 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers took 25 healthy, normal-weight men and women between the ages of 18 and 35, and put them on either a low protein diet where 5 percent of their caloric intake came from Proteins, a normal protein diet (15 percent from proteins), or a high protein diet (25 percent from proteins) for about 12 weeks. The researchers overfed the study participants by nearly an extra 1,000 calories for the last eight weeks of the study to see whether the amount of protein had an effect on excess calories when it came to weight gain. By study's end, all participants gained weight, regardless of diet. Those who ate a low protein diet gained about half as much weight as those eating the normal protein and high protein diets. But the researchers found those eating less protein saw reductions in their lean body mass, and stored a higher percentage of calories as fat. Those overeating a high protein diet gained more lean body mass and stored fewer calories as fat. "You may gain less weight by overeating on a low-protein diet, but it's because you lose lean body mass, not because you store less fat," study author Dr. George Bray, an obesity researcher Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, told USA Today. The bottom line? Overeating - regardless of the amount of protein in your diet - will cause you to gain weight. "Most people are overeating and for those people who are, they need to pay attention to what they are putting into their mouths," study co-author Dr. Leanne Redman, an assistant professor of endocrinology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., told HealthDay. "If you overeat a high-fat, low-protein diet, you may gain weight at a lower rate, but you are gaining more fat and losing more muscle." http://www.cbsnews.c...or-weight-loss/

Merry Christmas and a blessed year ahead to everyone!

It's rough in the beginning, that's for sure, especially before you have adequate Fluid in your band. You said you don't feel like you're eating a lot. Are you counting calories? If not, you really should. Just because you're eating less food doesn't mean you're eating less calories. People who don't count calories and struggle with weight loss are usually shocked when they do start counting. Plus, when you're counting calories, it makes a lot easier to see problem areas in your daily diet routine. Best wishes,

I made 6 dozen cookies today. I didn't have any, however, I definitely am on Christmas.

When is the last time you saw your surgeon? It sounds like your band placement needs to be checked.

Yes actually, it's happened to me a couple times. The worst part is, if I go way beyond hungry into truly over-hungry, my band tightens up on me making eating a slow difficult process.

Did that eliminate the coughing and reflux?

That's odd, because Beans are very good for you. Is it just during the healing phases of the post op diet, or no beans forever? Does it specify a certain type of beans to be off limits? I'd ask your nutritionist the reason for banning beans.