DELETE THIS ACCOUNT!

I buy the little servings. There's a lot of brands, including Healthy Choice, that make little 2 cup containers. This way if you do binge and eat it all the damage is minimal.

This is strictly my personal opinion, but if I were you I'd start actually tracking your calories. Most people who don't track them are shocked when they start and see how much they're actually consuming. Weight loss really boils down to simple math- when you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. Tracking calories is the easiest way to make sure that happens. Best wishes.

Congratulations!! You're doing wonderful!!

How long have you been gaining/losing the same 10 pounds? Do you count calories? If so, how many are you eating a day? Do you exercise? Are you restricting your portions to a cup or less per meal? Can you go at least 4 hours between meals without hunger? Sorry for all the questions, it's so we can better help.

I love salads, in fact I've become a bit of a "salad addict" in recent months. I eat them all the time with no problems.

I agree with the posters above, all very good suggestions. What I've also started doing it buying a season in advance. For instance, whatever winter stuff that's in the store in July is from last season. They want to get rid of it before this year's stuff comes in this fall. So, I've been buying clothes as I see them in deep discount this summer. I've been buying a size smaller than I currently am because I know I'll be smaller by then. I recently bought 5 really nice sweaters for about $50 total. Just one of them would have cost me close to that if it weren't on sale. ...and this winter, I'll be buying summer stuff on sale the same way.

The metabolism definitely slows as we get older, no doubt. But, unless there is another medical issue at play, we can still lose weight despite it. You definitely can lose weight without exercising, but you will lose slower and won't lose as much in inches because you're not replacing the fat with muscle. This is just my experience, but I deal with fatigue due to having MS. MS fatigue is much different and more severe than "normal tired". So much so they give us drugs to combat it. But, I have found even with the MS fatigue, exercise helps alot. Your body releases endorphins and adrenaline when you exercise and these will give you a boost of energy. When I am really exhausted and dragging, that is when I know I need to exercise most because it helps so much. Best wishes!

That's a definite no no. You risk accidental overdose.

I'm also a Lose It! fan. I've used since the day I got discharged from the hospital.

As always, talk to your doctor about your medical needs and history to be safe. The only diseases that are noted as contradictions for the Lap Band are connective tissue autoimmune diseases- not all autoimmune diseases. This is directly from their website: "You or someone in your family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases." Rheumatoid Arthritis should be fine with the band but again, double check with your doctor. Btw, I have Multiple Sclerosis which is also an autoimmune disease. The band has actually helped me tremendously.

I use these, too

The average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds per week- not per day. Don't expect to lose weight daily. It's simply not realistic. When you say you don't feel "food restrictions", I'm not sure what you mean? Having adequate fluid in the band doesn't mean you can't eat certain foods or the band stops you from eating. It will always be your job to make good food choices and to stop eating when you're no longer hungry. What the band is supposed to do is allow you to be satisfied on much less food for much longer periods of time. Here's a link that will help: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html Best wishes.

I'm glad you called your doctor The first couple days after surgery I had a hard time drinking, but by day 3 I was drinking normally. I didn't (and still don't) chug the Water down, but I was taking actual drinks rather than tiny sips. My doctor told me that my band would let me know if I was drinking too fast because it would get uncomfortable, so as long as I felt fine while drinking, then I was doing ok. While you wait for your doctor to call you back, are you allowed to have Gatorade? If you are dehydrated, the low calorie sports Gatorade would be a good way to get your electrolytes back where they belong. It would probably help you to feel better, too. Hang in there!

Hi James and welcome! Don't let all the shock and horror stories around the internet get to you. Reading about other people's personal experience can be very helpful, but don't base your decisions on anecdotal evidence you find on the internet. Research the actual facts and base your decision on that. For every Lap Band horror story out there, remember this: Only 5% of complications are caused by no fault of the patient. The rest caused the problems with their own behaviors. If you are compliant with your doctor's guidelines the odds are in your favor to be successful with the band. Best wishes!

No, that's not normal. Are you sure he said 2 weeks for mushies after a fill?? I'm no doctor but that is a very unusually long time. Most of us only have to a day or two at most. I would give your doctor a call and tell him the problems you're having with fluids.

I agree, you need to ask your doctor to be safe. I will say this based on my own experience. I recently went to a carnival and I rode on the rides. Many of the restraint bars were situated right around the area where my port is. One actually pressed on it. Because of this, there is no way I'd go on rides that soon after surgery. I'm really afraid it would hurt the port area.

I agree with you, at the end of the day you have to stay at the weight you are most comfortable with. You have to decide what your ideal weight is right now. That's not to say it won't change in the future, up or down, all you can do is go with what feels right today. It's funny because my doctor was "satisfied" with my weight loss 25 pounds ago. He thought losing 200 pounds was "more than he could've hoped for". I, however, was nowhere near satisfied. I won't be satisfied until my BMI is well out of the obese range- so I set my goal weight a good 60 pounds less than the one he set for me. Once I get down to that point, I highly suspect I'll lower it even more. We'll see.

No, it's not. Make an appointment with you doctor.

Honestly, it's a piece of cake. I've put to sleep for surgeries 4 times in the last 18 months. Two of them in were only a month apart and within the last 3 months. Being put to sleep is a piece of cake, seriously. If you tell them you're really nervous, they'll even give you a good sedative before you even get wheeled into the operating room. In fact, I whenever I've gotten the sedative I have no memory from that point until I wake up in the recovery room. It seems to go by in the blink of an eye. Plus, think of it like this: You undoubtedly have gone through all the pre-op testing, yes? A big part of that testing is to make sure it's safe to put you under general anesthesia for surgery. If your doctor wasn't confidant it was safe he wouldn't have scheduled the surgery. You will be fine. You'll wake up in recovery and be like "wow, I was worried for nothing!"

If you're struggling with liquids, you need to go back and see your surgeon.

But you're not a doctor, and guessing could be dangerous if you're wrong. The Green Zone is useless if you lose your band trying to preserve it. Band complications always get worse the longer they go untreated.

Talk to your doctor. It could be a band problem but it could be an unrelated issue, too. Whatever the case, it's not normal and needs to be looked at by your doctor.

I am no doctor and no expert, this is just based on what I know of the band and my personal experience. The average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds per week. If you lose 2 pounds a week (that's an average) you'd lose 100 pounds in a year. In the beginning weight tends to come off a bit quicker and this is especially true the higher your starting weight is. The lower on the scale you go the more the loss slows. I looked at your profile and at your starting weight, I do think losing more than 5 pounds a month is obtainable. To do this, you will have to really count every single calorie you consume and be sure to always stay in band sized portions. Exercise is strongly recommended as well. But, if you're a bit strict with yourself, I do believe it's possible (keeping in mind the loss will eventually slow). When I first started this journey at over 400 pounds, I could lose 20-25 pounds a month no problem. The first month I lost 44 pounds. Now that I've lost 225 pounds, I'm lucky to lose 6-8 pounds a month. Best wishes!

Sorry but that study is from 2008. Very outdated information.