Rebecca Cain Salpacka

When i bought my car in 07, i was embarrassed that i couldnt fasten the driver seat belt ( i didnt think to try it when i was checking out the car) so i had to buy an extender so i could wear the seat belt...uggh! well about 2 months ago, i tried to use the seatbelt without it, and i could fasten it, i was very excited but..it was very tight and i struggled to get the buckle to snap. This morning as i got in the car to drive my son to school...he asked me to try again..so i did...and it was easy breezy..and comfortable! NO MORE EXTENDER FOR ME!!!!!!!

Yell it from the rooftop my friend. That is AMAZING!

Im very excited and pleased with my progress. im down 40 since my banding (4/26) and 53 total since March 1. I just had my 3rd fill on 9/24 and i think it may be the one to get me into the green zone. from mid july til just pass mid august i was at a stand still on the scale and was very discouraged and was ready to give up and even tell doc to take the band out....what was i thinking? I am so gald that i didnt..i just tweeked my workouts a bit, watched my carbs closer than i was and the weight started coming off again, ive had a loss every week since 8/24. So for those of you who may be 2 or 3 months post-op (or at any stage of post op for that matter) and find your self at a stand still, dont get discouraged..just look at what you have been doing, and make eeven a small change for the better and it will work! Coming here to LBT for encouragement and support and many tips...was the best thing i could have done and has been a large part of why ive done what i have done so far.

25lbs is a great goal to have...just dont get discouraged if you dont reach it. Most docs, even after being banded, will say the most should be 2-3 lbs a week..3 lbs a week would put you there..but if u average 2...that is still a huge accomplishment to be proud of...heck...any weight loss is worth being proud of! I will be here rooting you on to reach your goal...but most of all, to help keep you motivated and to help pick you up if you fall...isnt that what having support is all about? GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!

Is there always pain if your band slips? I ask because im wondering if this is why im having issues and doc isnt just doing the unfill, but having me do a barium swallow first? Is she looking to check for slippage? I asked the nurse that called me back and she said she wasnt sure, but that this is just what the doc was having me do. Most of what i have eaten since my band fill last monday, i have logged in my food journal as what i prepared on my plate, but prob half of the "meals" i didnt even finish and the ones i finished didnt always stay down...I have had a few PB's everyday at some point or another. After attempting to eat a hard boiled egg this morning, and having PB;s of "slime" for over an hour after only eating half of it...I called doc to say i think band is too tight..they cant get me in today so i go tomorrow, but she wants me to go to radiology first to do a barium swallow and make sure nothing else is going on i guess. Normally with my fills i ddrink some white chalky stuff (tastes diff then what they gave me at the barium swallow after my surgery) and she looks on the screen to make sure everything goes down ok. So im not sure what she is looking for this time that she needs me to go to radiology as upposed to the GI lab where we normally do the fills. Has me a little concerned..but im gonna go wtih the flow, listen to what she says, and see what happens. I was even having trouble keeping some liquids down and my Water intake has been about half of what it should be. Since the 21st I have lost 6 lbs..im thrilled but its a little too much in just 10 days, and losing it because nothing is staying down is not the healthy way to do it lol.

well long story short..my band is not slipped..she said it didnt even seem to tight since i was able to drink the chalky crap and also some Water without it coming up...she didnt want to loosen the band, said it wasnt necessary and that im sure to start gaining if she does....but after not being able to explain why im not keeping food down for a week, she listened to me and took some out...asked me how much i said i had no clue, so she decided on .5cc. which still leaves me with 7.2cc in a 14cc band. I dont feel i will start gaining, for simple fact that before my fill on 9/24 i only had 6cc, and i still was losing...so i highly doubt i will start gaining now.

That is exactly why i was so discouraged, because i had been losing steadily up til that point, even if it was just 1 pound..it was steady...you and I are just about the same point and same loss so im glad we can help each other out. DONT GIVE UP~! It will get better,,,I PROMISE! If u would like, add me as a friend and we can bend each others ears when we need to!

i dont have prob with it..but ive only tried ribeye, i eat it usually twice a week. Nutrtionist just told me at my last visit tho to drop it down to once a week or not at all, cuz red meat isnt considered a lean protein, even if its a reallly lean cut...but she also told me i need another fill so maybe once i get my next fill i wont be able to eat it..not sure

Deb...July and Aug were my up and down months too..maybe its pretty common for it to happen right around the 3rd and 4th month post op? who knows..but all we can do is get to moving and making those good choices..we will break through this rough spot and kick butt!

once u get stuck, eat slower the next time, when u dont get stuck, u will realize the point of watching how fast you eat. I never thought it woudl make a difference and prior to my second fill, it didnt make much of a diff, but after the second one...ohhhh let me tell ya.

I too have slipped into bad habits again, chips, sweets...i keep them to a minimum most of the time, and thats only because I journal everything...but i know im the person that i eat one cupcake and i just have to have another or a handufl of chips put the bag away and go right back and get it out again...i dont need a fill cuz i get full easily, but as soon as that satisfied feeling is gone i snack before im really truly hungry. For me I just had to reevaluate my goals and when I realized that if i keep up the bad habits ill never reach them..so to help motivate myself i put my goal a little higher than what i had it set before... we can do this, its just stepping back, realizing what we been doing wrong ( which u have already done) and mentally putting ourselves back where we were right after surgery...we were dead set on making this happen, and we still can!

FIrst fill was monday june 4th (328lbs)...by june 11th i had lost 6 lbs (322)...didnt lose another pound between then and july 5. second fill was mon july 9...that morning i was down 7 lbs (315) July 16 I was 316.6 july 20 i was 314.8 today july 25....319 I know to only weigh once a week...but cuz the 316.6 wwas the first time since before my surgery i have had any gain, i just had to check and see if it went down..i was thrilled. not sure what possessed me to get on scale today. i know when im bloated or retaining Fluid and i definitely do not feel that way today so it makes no sense to me to be up almost 5 lbs in 5 days. im nowhere near my monthly cycle, my calories the first week after my july 9 fill..were barely 800 calories cuz its all i could eat..i knew that would prob show no loss cuz of starvation mode. however the last week or so, im eating a bit more and my calories are 950-1100. im working out with trainer twice a week instead of once a week plus two days at home on the treadmill....i wasnt working out that much during june. ive sent my nutrtionist my food journal and she says it looks great and cant understand it either lol. i cant get another fill cuz if i do ill never be able to eat the calories i need to eat. i know things happen and that i will have periods of time where i wont see a loss..but i really thought that it would only happen months after not having a fill or as i start eating portions that are too big...not right after a fill... just frustrating..but i wont give up

according to nutrtionist yes...i also put a call in today to surgeion and she also said 1000-1100 cals and im not hungry at all..i usually dont even want lunch but eat to get the cals in

turkey sausage, eggs, veggies, fruit, lean ground beef on occasion, lots of fish and chicken..pork maybe twice a month. i try to stay away from potatos and pastas....only have bread if i have a slice of toast with Breakfast. cheese, wheat crackers, pizza a few times, Soups, Protein bars...thats the main stuff

ive gone on short walks with my son, havent been able to walk to the corner of block and back since he was a baby..hes 9 lol. clothes are definitely dropping in size...so yes i know im succeeding in other ways and i do feel much better...still hard to see the scale go up and not wanna chuck it out the window tho lol.

ive been on solid foods since 2 weeks post op..tomorrow is my 3 month bandiversary lol...but ty for the encouraging words.

my second fill was july 9, and i too thought that prior to that fill i was eating slow and small bites...nope..ive learned in the past 5 days..just what slow means lol. The visual above is great..my bites have been slightly bigger than that..but yes..they are almost crumbs in comparison to past size bites.

First fill (4cc) was june 4th..second fill (2.5cc) was yesterday july 9. after first fill, my portions were still the same as prior to fill..the difference was that it actually satisfied me. For the first 6 weeks from surgery til my first fill...i would stop eating before i was satisfied so i was hungry and wanting to eat within an hour, i just chose not to...and lost 18 lbs. and yes i know that was not the way to do it. at my first fill my surgeon said NEVER STAY HUNGRY FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME...eat whatever you need to be satisfied, and if its more than the suggested portions, then you get a fill...thats how it should work. well, those same portions were finally satisfying me, after my first fill...it was great going almost 5 weeks not feeling hungry...however, the first week after fill i lost 6 lbs and then only lost 2 more over the next 4 weeks. yesterday after my second fill...i came home and had cream of potato Soup...ive been eating a can of reduced fat soup with crackers, i couldnt finish the can, and never touched the crackers. i later had 5 grapes, and a slice of cheese. I was good for the evening...and was not hungry. However, i was woken up about 1 a.m when hubby came home from work, and realized i was realllly hungry, had trouble going back to sleep..finally around 230 i ate another piece of cheese...and was able to fall asleep by 3. I just woke up at 630, made myself 1 whole egg and 1 eggwhite,...i cant finish it. I only had 4 bites. (i was eating two whole and one white, plus either broccoli or a piece of fruit) Is this what i can expect for a while (at least a few weeks) or do you sometimes have more restriction in just the first few days or week, and then it "loosens up"? If this is going to stay this way...yayyyy, fingers crossed!

26 lbs is awesome. keep up the great work

Thanks...admittedly yestereay was not a good protein day for me..but up til now, my protein has been great. chicken, beef, eggs, pork, lots of baked fish. I send my journal from MYFITNESSPAL over to my nutritionist every month sometimes every cpl weeks..i am going to start using a Protein powder to add to some foods, if i find that im not getting enough protein now that i have more restriction. I do Protein drinks once in a while..doc and nutrtionist both said NOOOO to them becuase they are empty calories..but they do actually keep me satisfied for 3-4 hours so i will do them sometimes for Breakfast if i know im gonna be on the go doing errands in the morning. I appreciate any input and tips you have so please..continue to share, its much needed.

Thank you! Sorry you had pneumonia, but glad you are on the mend. Good luck with your second fill.