Kimberly Collins

10 years here! Very happy with it. I would like to lose 20 more lbs. But am thrilled with my loss and the band.

You act as though there is no wrong way or right way to work your band, but there is a right way and lots of wrong ways. Your physician will tell you that. This isn't t-ball where everyone gets a sticker for effort. This is real life. There are plenty of things you can do to keep yourself from losing the weight, and there are a handful of very specific right things that you must do to lose the weight. People are sharing that wisdom here. If you don't like it, you either need to get a thicker skin and come to the realization that there is a right and wrong way to do the band, or go somewhere where everyone will pat you on the back and praise you no matter what you do. Regardless of what your parents may have taught you ,it's not a tragedy or a personal affront for you to be wrong or to grow and learn from others.

I rarely if ever see rudeness here. Just because people are doing things differently than you are doesn't make what they say and do a personal affront to you. People are just trying to share their wisdom and help others reach their full potential. I think you are taking things a bit too personally.

The band is a piece of cake compared to a c-section. I was walking around Target an hour after I got to the recovery room. I had to take pain pills and take it easy for a couple of days, but I was back to work and feeling pretty normal after 4 days or so.

I did want to add that I can't eat steak, ribs, or pot roast any more. I have trouble with pasta as well. That is probably for the better though.

Stretch marks don't generally go away. I don't have any hanging skin because I lost mine slowly overall. I haven't had any trouble with my spider veins since I lost my weight, but they are still there. Mine never got too bad. I do love that I look almost normal now. I love that I can wear size 14. I love that my feet are slim and I can wear a wider variety of shoes now. I love that I feel attractive and sexy.

Overall, it isn't hard, but the weight loss part can be hard. I lost 50 lbs really fast, but it took me a year of really low calorie eating and massive amounts of exercise to lose 26 lbs, only to gain 10 lbs. of it back when I started an incredibly hectic schedule. I still have about 50 to go and I am worn out on eating like a rabbit. My band is really tight too. I am 6 years out and am still struggling. I have done right about average and have lost 50% of my weight. It is really hard to change your eating habits. I still want to eat naughty stuff and eat even when I am stuffed. I don't, but I want to and it's hard to resist. I only PB when I start my cycle, so that isn't a big problem.

You have to move as much as possible. By day 3 I was up doing fairly normal stuff and off pain meds. I did have horrible gas still in my shoulder. I think it lasted for a week or so.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to cut back on oil in homemade vinaigrette? I only eat homemade dressing at home (no bottled.) I have tried just adding the same amount of vinegar with less oil and it is too strong. I have tried adding water and broth and it just tastes terrible. I have had great luck making creamy dressings with a base of low fat buttermilk and low fat Greek yogurt plus seasonings. I would like to find something that tastes as good as that combo for vinaigrette. In the mean time, I have started using a tiny drizzle of dressing, but the salad is still a bit dry.

6 years out I still struggle with this. I am struggling with this tonight. I do great during the day, then after dinner I want to gorge. I have started making myself wait, then if I still have the munchies I eat a piece of fruit or veggie sticks. With meals I, like others here, also measure my food out and stop eating when the food is gone--sometimes sooner.

I know it's hard, but you have got to stop beating yourself up about your appearance. I can assure you with so much focus on outward appearance they have to have issues themselves. Just remember, they are not perfect. And, if they are judging you for your weight, then they probably aren't very good people. With that said, insurance companies love to drag their feet and take their time. You will get there.

I have Lupus and severe allergies along with fibro. I have been banded for 7 years with no problems. It has actually helped my issues because of the weight loss.The only issue I have is that after I get a steroid injection, I can't eat much for a week or so. I know steroids are supposed to reduce inflammation, but they also cause massive water retention. I wonder if that could be the problem. Anyone else ever had this side effect? I try to avoid tablets b/c of the errosion factor, but I get tested yearly and am fine in that regard.

I will agree that two fills probably won't put you into being restricted. It took me 5 or so to get restricted. I still remember that fill. I actually felt the band snug up and that was the day it started. I do think that 1100 calories is reasonable. If you go too low, it can slow you metabolism in the long run and make it to where you will be able to eat even fewer calories. I was told I could do 800 for a very short term (2 weeks or so at a time) but then go back up to 1000 or more for a while, then go back down for 2 weeks if I wanted.

I lost nothing for a year. Nothing. Turns out, I have hypothyroidism. I had a really good loss right after I started my meds, about 25 lbs. in 3 months. Since then though, it has been agonizing. I lose maybe 1-2 lbs a month if I am lucky. Since 2005, I have lost about 75 lbs or so. I am still losing at a snail's pace. But, I am now wearing normal sizes and am no longer morbidly obese. I am almost out of the obese zone. I have also lost more than 1/2 of my weight and continue to lose--slowly. At this pace, I will be at my ideal weight in 2-3 more years, which is fine with me. I know it is horribly frustrating. But, for every pound you lose, you are smaller than where you were. It adds up over time. And, don't expect exercise to have any real effect on weight loss. Eight hours of moderate exercise a week doesn't even burn a pound. My weight loss doesn't differ even with vigorous exercise. Even Bob Harper admits that it only helps if you do it several hours a day. The reason you do it is to strengthen your heart a lungs, and maybe lose a few extra pounds a year. Just hang in there. Something is better than nothing. I've averaged 12 lbs a year, but I am so happy that I kept working and am where I am now. No more sleep apnea, no more high cholesterol, I have really great blood pressure, and my resting heart rate is down. My Lupus and Fibro pain are greatly reduced. I am having a flare now and have little pain. It's worth the wait.

I don't know, but mine showed up in the CT scan and the radiologist freaked out. He thought the port and tubing was part of the band that came off. This was in 2005, so it wasn't that common to see them. I saw it and showed him what everything was for when he came across it again.

It annoys me as well. I read a post on here last night that was an entire paragraph with no punctuation or capitalization. It was awful. I also hate when people say "I seen..."

Mine was repaired when my band was put on and it changed my life. I literally never have heartburn anymore, ever.

I make a faux tuna salad with chick peas instead of tuna. So good.

I eat a lot of Soups with Beans and a grain like barley, stirfrys with tofu, beans and rice based dishes, and salads. I will confess to eating quite a bit of Amy's frozen food. It's so good and quick to make. My go to Snacks are fruit, veggie sticks with lowfat Greek Yogurt ranch dip, and Mary's Gone Crackers with Wayfarer's We Can't Say It's cheese hickory "cheddar" spread.

That is a great start and will give you up to 1/2 lb. a week. The person who said to increase your intensity is correct. You will burn far more calories walking very fast for an hour than strolling for 1.5 hours. You need to monitor your heart rate so you can accurately figure how many calories you are burning. And, remember that the standard exercise we do isn't going to contribute significantly to weight loss. It's good for keeping the metabolism up and and making you feel good. I've been working out very vigorously for a year. i exercise frequently at a high intensity and have seen zero increase in WL from when I wasn't working out. My greatest benefits have been being more toned and feeling better. I'm not so flabby and weak.

You wouldn't lose any weight from your workout routine. I'm not sure why the media and doctors make people think that standard workouts a few days a week will amount to any weight loss. Workouts like you are doing would burn less than 2000 calories per week, which isn't even a lb. So, you might see 1/2 lbs a week from them, if you are lucky. One mistake I see people making is using standard charts to figure out calorie burn. You really need to use an age/weight/heart rate calculator. If I plug in my values with what I know my heart rate is walking at that speed, and your timing and frequency, I burn about 1300 calories per week with your workout. So, while it might contribute a small amount, you won't see perceptible losses with standard exercise. Now if you do very vigorous workouts 4 or more hours a day, then you may see big losses from exercise.

As important as exercise is, it's absolutely untrue that you cannot have results without it. as a matter of fact, unless you work out hours a day, you won't get much weight loss from it. I work out about 5 hours a week at high intensity and end up burning about 2250 a week, which isn't even a pound. You would have to do vigorous exercise for 7 hours a week in order to lose even a lb. Harvard Medical actually did a study that shows it doesn't contribute significantly to weight loss. I exercise so I will feel better and to make my heart and lungs stronger, as it does not help me lose weight at all. I went 3 weeks not working out b/c of an injury and lost the same amount I always do, .5 lbs per week. I always average that much, even in weeks where I have worked out 9-10 hours in the week.

It's an addiction trade off. I am having this issue. I have taken up drinking wine, where as I never drank pre-band. I am not an alcoholic, but have decided to not drink at all b/c it hampers my WL.

I am a vegetarian, so my diet is very different from most people here. I also have a milk allergy, so I generally do not consume milk products except yogurt, which for some reason does not make me cough, sneeze, itch, etc... Protein is the big challenge in a veg diet, especially since a lot of veg protein is also full of carbs. I do watch my carbs in that I don't eat bread, only have Pasta once a month, eat who grains like brown rice and quinoa. This actually works well for me because I feel foggy and listless when I restrict carbs too much. I will generally have a cup of coffee, then wait until I get hungry for Breakfast. I often have a tofu scramble or 1/2 Amy's veggie burrito for breakfast, and the other 1/2 for lunch. I will generally have a serving of fresh fruit with lunch. If I get hungry before dinner, I have raw veggies with a dip made of low fat Greek yogurt, buttermilk, and herbs. I keep the snack at around 100 calories. Occasionally, I will have a few walnuts and an apple for snack instead. If my allergies are doing okay, I might have a low fat mozzarella stick. Dinner is typically a stir fry with tofu or replacement meat, a salad with quinoa and nuts, a bowl of homemade Soup with some kind of Beans and a tiny bit of pasta, a veggie chili with beans, or a low fat burrito bowl. If I get the munchies, I may have some fruit or a few Mary's Gone Crackers sticks and twigs, which are whole grain and have protein. I will say that my big focus is consuming plenty of fruits and veggies b/c they are low cal, filling and gives me plenty of cancer fighting nutrients. My diet works for me. Wine is my big downfall. I am trying to stay away 100% b/c it makes me bloat and adds too many extra calories.

Bob Harper on BL said that the contestants have a cheat meal every week. He said that it is actually good for your metabolism because it kicks you out of diet/starvation mode. For me, it keeps me from going nuts and feeling deprived. I can't keep anything naughty in the house though. If I do, I will eat the whole bag/box/whatever. I am a compulsive over eater. If I watch what I keep at home and allow myself an occasional indulgence, I tend to do fine. My weight loss is super slow, but I am also still working on really listening to my band. Right now I am focusing on following the rules to a tee to see if I can't speed things up a bit.