DELETE THIS ACCOUNT!

I know it's extremely hard, and I don't pretend to understand their mind, but it's possible none of them brought it up to you for fear of being wrong. Very often people are terrified to talk about weight because it brings up such strong emotions. It's kinda like pregnancy, you don't ask a woman if she's pregnant unless you already know for sure is because if you wrong she's going to rip your head off. Weight is the same way. If they had said "did you lose weight?" and you had responded "no, are you saying I'm fat?" the drama would've been flying. People tend to error on the side of caution. The fact they made a comment to your husband makes me think this is the case. I know I had lost about 60 pounds before people finally began commenting on it. It had to reach the point there was no guessing before people were comfortable commenting. Be patient, you're doing great and soon enough no one will be able to deny your success

Honestly? You can't. You already brought it up to her once and she was very clear she was against it for spiritual reasons. You have to respect her intuition and reasons- whether you like or agree with them or not. God isn't a cop out. If she's a strong Christian then God is the best reason she has. It's not anyone else's job or business to decide if reasons based on God are legit or not. That is between her and God- no one else. If you push this topic with her, there's a good chance you could lose your friendship with her. If I were you, I'd respect her decision and let it go for the sake of your friendship.

My photos are gone as of a couple days ago. As soon as the blogs are back up, I'll be deleting mine entirely.

I'm sorry but you are 100% wrong. It is because of Obamacare the insurance premiums are going up. Though it states you can keep your current insurance, many employers are changing their policies regardless because it's too expensive for them not to. This hasn't happened to everyone but it is happening to many. North Carolinians Shocked By The Size Of Insurance Premium Increases Caused By Obamacare Double Down: Obamacare Will Increase Avg. Individual-Market Insurance Premiums By 99% For Men, 62% For Women Obamacare Health Insurance Premium Increases Stun Californians And if you really want the truth, do what I did and read all 1000+ pages of the actual Obamacare bill.

It really depends on how stuck I get. I very rarely get really stuck. It's usually no more than me making some weird faces and entertaining my kids as I exclaim "dang stuck!" for a couple minutes. In these cases, I just go back to normal food the next meal. A couple times I've gotten REALLY stuck. Twice I even PB'd. Those times I go on liquids the rest of the day but back to normal food the next morning. Really, it's a learning process. You have to learn what's best for you.

The Lap-band is NOT about Restriction (by Dr. Simpson) When talking about the band, some patients talk about restriction. Let's first be clear about one thing: the purpose of the band is not restriction; the purpose of the band is to lose weight by suppressing the appetite. When band professionals talk about restriction we are talking about something totally different than "restricting what a person eats." In fact, many band surgeons avoid talking about restriction so as to not confuse patients. The band works by dimming the appetite, and this provides a conscious control and decision made by the patient, it does not work by "making" a person do something, or keep them from eating too much. The Lap-band works by suppressing your appetite As a result, you are less interested in food between meals, making it easier to resist temptation. The analogy is when you are near a vending machine when you are hungry-- what do you do? Probably find yourself with some junk food that is not a part of your plan. But, when you pass a vending machine when you are full, it may not even catch your eye. Having the appetite dimmed makes you less tempted by the many food choices modern living throws at you - -this is what the band does, by suppressing appetite you become less interested in food. What you should not feel, with the band, is the sensation of being "stuffed." When you eat Thanksgiving dinner, you can feel stuffed. Contrast that with the sensation two hours after you eat your big meal, at that point your appetite is suppressed. It is the subtle dimming of the appetite that the band should provide. Being stuffed after a large meal is a complicated sensation of the abdominal wall stretching and a lot of gas in the bowel, in addition to feeling a diminution of appetite. You will not, and should not, feel the abdominal wall stretch with the band. You should not feel the "near nausea" and you should not feel bloated. Key point: You should NEVER eat until you feel full. It is best to stop eating before you "feel full." If you do eat until you feel full you will most likely be overstuffed. This leads to the universal key to success -- patients who eat a small volume of food (which, if you measure, is consistent) will be successful with the band. If you want to succeed, you need to know how much you are eating, and then stop eating -- it is in your control, but the band will help you -- not by stopping you, but by allowing you to feel satisfied after the small volume. Early on, most Lap-band patients do have a sense of "restriction" ...particularly after the first fill. When we place the band on a patient the stomach above the band typically will hold one to two ounces (by volume, not by weight). The stomach has a lot of muscle fibers, and the wall of the stomach is fairly thick. When food is consumed, it arrives in the pouch, and meets some resistance, first against the newly adjusted band, and then against the stomach which does not stretch easily. People love this feeling! It is a sense of control over food -- a leash. But it is not permanent. It makes it difficult to eat more, because the top part of the stomach and the band will resist it. If you over eat you will feel uncomfortable. This is the honeymoon phase, you feel full with less, no appetite, and if you try to eat more it doesn't work. They eat a small amount of food, they feel satisfied, and they are losing weight. For patients who rely on this sensation, they will find it will take ever increasing volumes of food to obtain this sensation. The initial response is to have their band adjusted so that they can "feel full again." Against a tighter band, the upper stomach stretches a bit (and if they eat fast it stretches more)and they again have the sensation of "feeling full." This becomes a cycle, a tighter band, the stomach stretches more-- and then instead of going back to its original size, the stomach stretches more and more to where it takes more to fill it. The person who continues to eat until they have this sensation, will find that it takes more and more food to obtain this feeling. Two things happen -- first the stomach stretches to where it accommodates more food, and to stretch it means you have to eat more. The second is that to "feel full" it takes the brain time to register this sensation -- this is not the sensation registered by the hypothalamus, but registered in the conscious cortex. So your stomach can be full, but your brain won't register it for a while, and if you keep eating you can overeat. As a result, the pouch dilates. Similar to a balloon, when you first start to blow up the balloon it takes a bit of force. As you continue to fill the balloon, the wall of the balloon stretches (thins out), it is easier to blow it up -- the same is true with the upper pouch. Early on, before the pouch is stretched, it takes a little bit of food to cause it to stretch, but with chronic over-eating the pouch will accommodate more and more food. The stomach wall is thinner, it is easier to stretch, and to get that sensation it takes more food than at first. Often patients will complain that they "don't feel restriction," and wish to have the band made tighter. There are two potential results to this: one is the patient will passively stretch the stomach and esophagus and not be eating a small amount of food. These patients simply do not lose the weight that the surgeon expects. The other is that the band will be forced down the stomach, the band will slip, which generally requires operative intervention to reposition it. For those patients who are rigorous about the volume of food they eat, and do not let the stomach to tell them when to stop eating - they do very well. This is one of the keys of successful patients, only eat a certain portion of food - period. If the band is properly adjusted, the appetite will be dimmed for several hours. Once your brain realizes that a small amount of food keeps you satisfied, then your eyes will adjust to the amount you eat. Some describe a "soft stop." Where before a sense of fullness occurs, there is a signal from your body -- this can be a runny nose, a sigh, or a subtle ache in the left shoulder. Patients who find this "soft stop," do very well with the band. The other advantage of eating small portions is it becomes a lifestyle change --you will have the ability to gauge the amount of food you can comfortably eat, knowing it will keep you satisfied for several hours. You can always -- always, always, always, -- eat more food, because, contrary to what we believed for a long time-- food passes by the band within a minute and then into your stomach. But the key to successful patients is not how much they can eat, but how little they can eat to suppress hunger. The band goes around your stomach, not around your brain, or your lips This simple concept, of eating a specific volume of food -- eating it slowly, and then walking away, is the key to successful eating habits of patients. This means that the band works with effort from you -- not by it doing everything for you. You have to make the decision to eat a small volume of food, and let the band work with you. The sensation that we would want the band to produce is the "soft stop." The soft stop is when you eat a small portion of food and walk away. Sometimes this is difficult, like most things, practice makes perfect. To set yourself up for success -- we recommend you use smaller plates, along with smaller utensils. If you go out to eat, ask for the to-go bag immediately, and remove the excess food from your plate. You can physically always eat more food, but the advantage about practicing small portions and walking away, is ultimately your eyes will get use to what the stomach is telling it, and it will be much easier to eat smaller portions as time goes on. It isn't uncommon for patients to want an adjustment because they say they can eat more The first question we ask is, "Why are you eating more?" The typical answer is, "Because I can." The typical response, "Just because you can does not mean you should." Since the band's job is not to restrict the amount of food you eat, do not leave that to chance -- that is your job. Part of personal accountability is to account for, to measure, to know how much you are eating at a time. The band is empowering; if you eat an appropriate amount and make appropriate food choices, you will be satisfied for several hours. This results in either weight loss, or weight maintenance (if you are at your goal). The purpose of the band is to assist you to lose weight -- and this occurs only with active participation by you: you chose what to eat, you choose how much to eat, and you practice walking away after eating that amount. The band is a tool to allow you to eat less and have your appetite dimmed resulting in weight loss, or maintenance. It is a tool to help you adopt a healthy lifestyle -- you still have the choices to make, but the band allows you to be satisfied with those choices. "If I could eat less and walk away, what would I need this band for?" -- a common question we are asked. Without the band, if you eat a small amount of food and walk away your appetite would rise within a couple of hours -- you would find yourself hungry and wanting more food, possibly leading to unwanted snacking. You would also find, if you willed yourself to withstand the hunger, that your weight loss gradually decreases. The band fools your brain into thinking you ate more. Think of it another way -- the hypothalamus does not have eyes -- it doesn't know how much you ate, it doesn't know if there is a lot of food around and you are not eating it, or if there is a band on your original article by Dr. Simpson: http://drsimpson.net...estriction.html

Lellow worded it perfectly. It controls the quantity by giving you signals "hey, it's time to stop eating". It's a learning experience but if you learn to listen to your band it becomes second nature. But, can you still eat if you want to eat beyond that "soft stop" signal? Yes, most of the time you can. Think of the band as tapping you on the shoulder saying "you're done" not plugging up the hole so you don't have a choice. You always still have a choice.

Actually, no one is saying it won't give you a signal when to stop eating. It definitely does. That's why the article talks about "soft stops". The problem I see is people expecting the band to physically stop them from eating so it's impossible to over eat. That isn't the band's job. It'll give you very clear signals that you've had enough but if someone wants to over eat the band won't stop them- especially considering the most overeaten foods are slider types to begin with.

When I used to post pics, I uploaded them to Photobucket then posted the link here.

I was always taught as long you strain out any chunks and don't eat them, you can eat the broth leftover.

Wow! That's really interesting!!

I easily go 5-6 hours without hunger, however I'm fortunate to have a great surgeon who really listens to me and works with me. I actually don't have a lot in my band but the last two fills have been tiny- .3cc then .1cc. This was key for me to have great hunger control while still being able to comfortably eat just about anything. If I'd had an overly aggressive surgeon, or one that didn't listen to me, it would have been very easy to get too tight. I know the risks of being too tight and I'd much rather be looser than take the risk of a slip.

There can be, yes. It all depends on your anatomy and band size. It's rare but some people never need a fill.

4 weeks between fills is pretty standard. Just fyi.

I stumbled onto this article by accident and was more than a little shocked to see "Before & After" pictures directly from LBT were used in the article. I'm just curious if the people in the pics were asked their permission before they were used? http://www.businessinsider.com/before-and-after-weight-loss-lapband-surgery-2013-5

That's another excellent point and something for people to be aware of!!

No not freaking out at all. It's pretty normal during the post op diet. The best tips I have is to follow your doctor's instructions and find healthy eating style that works well with your metabolism. I try to keep things as simple and realistic as possible. For me that's tracking my calories, sticking to band sized portions, and exercising/walking.

The first 4-6 weeks post op should be to concentrate on healing, not losing. Once you're back on solid food and tracking calories it'll be much easier. Hang in there.

The first couple weeks, I didn't come anywhere close to my Protein goals. Post surgical wasting and atrophy aren't something to worry about right after Lap Band surgery. The body naturally wants to use fat before muscle because it's a much easier source of fuel. Plus, let's be honest, how many obese people do you know that actually monitored their protein intake before surgery (not including any preop diet)? Chances are good their bodies are already used to sustaining on far less than ideal nutrition. If once you've progressed back to solid foods you're getting your daily protein goal and exercising, you have nothing to worry about.

Wow, that's a lot weight to lose in just 4 months!! Outstanding!!! Congratulations on your tremendous success!

Unfortunately, as you lose weight it turns to more skin than fat, which is smaller but droopier. I had major issues under my tummy apron. I found Gold Bond powder after my shower really helped to keep it dry and relieve the chaffing. As embarrassing as it is, be sure to document these skin issues with your doctor. This way, once you've lost your weight, you can use the documentation to help get your insurance to pay for excess skin removal.

.5cc is not the smallest possible. .1cc is the smallest possible. You simply cannot just leave your band too tight or you're risking a slip. You have to take control of the situation, tell her (don't ask, tell her) that .5cc is not the smallest amount and you want a smaller amount removed. Don't let this even be a negotiation with her. If she refuses? Demand to see the surgeon himself. This is your health at stake- take control of it and don't accept anything less than the good care you deserve. Best wishes.