Kiera

Did you know that 90% of WLS in Australia are the LapBand or that studies have shown that at 72 months out the weight loss between RNY and the Band are the SAME? Check out this very informative article on the use of the band in Australia from The Medical Journal of Australia: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/183_06_190905/obr10369_fm.html

Nana, I got the same thing, Mr .Smith and Gandhi... :-)

LOL girl, you just tell those drug pushers you aren't taking what they are giving! You can do without those kinds of "junk" right? :-) You have to fight back when it comes to these temptations! It sounds like you may have a case of "all or nothing" thinking going on. Just because you screw up and eat one wrong thing does NOT mean that you need to just give in and toss your whole diet plan out the window! REGARDLESS of your restriction level the band cannot decide what you put in your mouth. They banded your stomach, NOT your head. So get your head back on straight, get your fill, and FOCUS on making good choices for yourself. Start NOW! Start tracking everything you eat, even the bad stuff on fitday.com and see how you are doing. Use that to start giving yourself some daily accountability. Track everything that goes in to your mouth, no matter what it is. You will do better right then and there. Buy a pedometer and start wearing it. Try to increase your steps. Even if you cannot get to the gym, you CAN walk more. Park further away, or just plain walk whenever you can. ONLY keep "good" foods in the house. I found that banning junk in my house made a huge difference. If hubby wants junk he eats it away from home 99% of the time. Ok, so 1% of the time he brings it home and shares - but only when he thinks I "deserve" a treat (gotta love this man of mine, lol). :-) Allow yourself an occasional treat - but PLAN for it so that you can do it inside your diet plan and you don't mess up you weight loss. Figure out what triggers your "bad" eating habits and find ways to get around them. Start with these things and see where it gets you. You *DO* know what to do, and your band can help you but you have to do the heavy lifting. Good luck.

I am not a doc, but I have done extensive research on the band. Most US doctors and all the various insurances I have seen follow the manufacturer's guidelines - which stipulate 100 pounds, a BMI 40, *or* serious co-morbiditities. However, all that said. Due to the dangers of the band (mortality rate IS 1 in 2000) it is unlikely that they will loosen up the guidelines any time soon (JMHO), goodness knows there is plenty of market space for the band with the current guidelines. It does appear that you can go to one of the Mexican docs as a self-pay and have it done... If you consider that route just make sure you research the doctor well and make sure it isn't some fly by night chop shop. Frankly, other than the dangers there really isn't any reason that "lightweights" shouldn't have the band. It just isn't an opinion that is likely to make it into the general population anytime soon... JMHO.

Definitely too tight. If you cannot eat 4 ounces of protein and half a cup of veggies in a sitting you are not going to be able to follow the standard bander diet. Eating only mushies is NOT gong to help you lose weight. Call your doc, get some saline taken out, you'll do better!

Welcome to your bander adolescence! It won't be long now before you transition into knowing that the band is wise and the fighting will slow down, maybe even disappear. Just keep plugging away until it does! :-)

I think Don't Go by Yaz is my absolute favorite walking song. I usually hit replay a couple times before I move on to the others. The Gorilaz song I just love. It is so happy and depressing all at the same time, LOL. Here is the chorus, you've probably heard it on the radio, I've no idea why it's called clint eastwood though, lol. I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad I got sunshine, in a bag I'm useless,but not for long The future is coming on I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad I got sunshine, in a bag I'm useless, but not for long The future is coming on It's coming on It's coming on It's coming on

apryl, I have actually been doing the treadmill at the gym. I have worked myself up to an hour a session at about 4 miles an hour with a 3% incline. I just sort of worked my way up to it about 15 minutes at a time with a break for 30 mins to use the nautilus machines and then another 15 mins on the treadmill. Over time I added time to each of the treadmill sessions until I finally just got to an hour all in one go. I am AMAZED at the difference it has made for me. I can really see the difference, so can hubby. *grin* I would get bored quickly too, except for my iPod Nano. I kid you not, the right music makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!!!! Below is what is in my workout playlist specifically for the treadmill time. I would highly recommend adding the music. I just blare it and try to keep up with the beat. The Nano and the Shuffle are the best tools for exercise that have been invented in years, IMHO. Don't Go by Yaz Put The Needle On It by Danni Minogue Can't get you out of my head by Kylie Minogue Pon de Replay by Rihanna Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) by Lou Bega & Pérez Prado I'm a Believer by Smashmouth Let's Bounce by Christy Carlson & Romano Carlson Take Me Away (Into The Night) by 4 Strings Switch by Will Smith Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera Oh Yeah by Yello One thing, odd as it is, that keeps me focused is the sign over the archway where the treadmill I use is. Somehow along the way this sign has quit being the standard exit sign for me. I use it to meditate on while I am speed walking. It has become a symbol of "run this way to escape obesity"... I just focus on the sign, zone out to my music and the hour is over almost before I realize it. It is bizarre but I highly recommend giving it a try. Don't think about the walking or the treadmill, think of the escape, concentrate on the door that is the exit from place you are now to the place you want to be... It might work for you too.

The biggest difference for me with the band is that when I fall off the wagon it only lets me fall so far. These days a fast food pig-out is a child's happy meal and one of those $0.39 ice cream cones, LOL! We are talking maybe 350 calories - compared to the old MONDO cheeseburger, MEGA french fries, Cola, and EXTRA LARGE ice creme sunday - which would be 2000-2500 calories easily in a sitting. So I am "saving" a good 2200 calories these days on a fast food binge. LOL. I spend a lot less on food now too, just an added bonus. :-) I will warn you though that you MUST work to get rid of things like ice cream and chocolate because those go down just fine and you can eat them all day without your band kicking you in the tush like it would with a hamburger. I had a pregnancy and complications which lead to three weeks on bed-rest, followed by the loss of the baby (not band related) and I gained ALL KINDS OF WEIGHT because I had trouble eating the hospital food (it was ALL bread for crying out loud) so I started having hubby bring me M&Ms and little dried sausages. Having nothing better to do I grazed all day because I was just too stressed out to care. After it was all over I was still shell shocked for about a month. All told in five months I gained about 35 pounds. *sigh* But even my embarrassing lapse is a good ad for the band because once I got my head screwed back on straight, took stock of the damage and made up my mind to do something about it my band was here for me. I have not yet lost all of that extra weight to get back to my bander low but I am on my way and I know I will get there and lower before I am done. It is all about what you bring to this partnership with your band. Anybody can do it. It isn't always smooth and it isn't always easy but it IS possible! You have to want it and you have to be prepared to work for it. The rest will take care of itself.

You are already past half way, you are doing GREAT!!!! You will lose as much as you are prepared to work for. Are you done losing? If not, then quit worrying, you'll get there! :-)

I am quite restricted around AF. I was astounded though when I was briefly pregnant earlier this year that my band suddenly felt "wide open" - as soon as I wasn't pregnant anymore I went right back to being restricted again. All without any external adjustments/fills. It was weird. The OTHER weird thing was that I *was* bloated while pregnant but the band was still wide open feeling, so my personal hypothesis is that this kind of restriction must be hormonally induced and reduced (as the case may be).

Pam, I'm right there with you. It is very freeing to just start over and let the past be the past. :-)

Hi, I am like you - an apple shape I guess you'd say. I have lost weight all over - a surprising amount from my back - but the front has definitely gone down. I recently posted some before and "during" pictures with a profile shot - I can really see the difference! http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=B1048455056

I've been in the hunt for fast pace treadmill music. Here is what's in my iPod for getting myself moving: Don't Go by Yaz Put The Needle On It by Danni Minogue Can't get you out of my head by Kylie Minogue Pon de Replay by Rihanna Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) by Lou Bega & Pérez Prado I'm a Believer by Smashmouth Let's Bounce by Christy Carlson & Romano Carlson Take Me Away (Into The Night) by 4 Strings Switch by Will Smith Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz Oh Yeah by Yello Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera

Hmmm, that's a tough one! Robert Urich from his Vega$ days (late 70s). I've always had a thing for Lorne Greene's voice... Oh, and then there is Johnny Weissmuller - aka Tarzan from the 1940s, mmmm. Gotta love a man who knows how to swing (on a vine that is, LOL). If he was gay or tick-tackish nobody tell me, 'cause I don't wanna know!!! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919321/photogallery

The before pictures are from 2000 - that is a ways before my surgery but I was very resistant to having my picture taken so I had to dig deep! The now pictures are from mid Sept 2005.

My mom was not able to BF and I had "failure to thrive" so their doc told my family to put me on formula with KARO SYRUP in it to help me out. Needless to say all of my baby pictures from about four months on look like I am Jabba the Hut. I have had weight problems my entire life... *sigh*

My port was quite noticable and uncomfortable for the first two or three weeks. After I lost about 30 pounds I did not notice it any more and now I really only notice it when I dig around there with my fingers and occasionally when I lift something heavy I sort of feel it but it does not hurt or anything. Just give it time and yours will probably settle too.

I want to warn you about drinking too much of really really cold drinks all at once. I was drinking frozen margaritas and I got brain freeze - but not in my head - it was right where my collar bones meet and I thought I was going to pass out. Oh MAN was that COLD! I could hardly breathe in it hurt so bad!!! It passed in 30-45 seconds but those were the longest 30-45 seconds of my life, LOL! So just pace yourself with really cold stuff and save yourself the funny looks that *I* got. hehehe.

Brandi, I am not pregnant yet - but am starting IVF at the end of the month so this is an issue near and dear to my heart. I discussed pregnancy with my surgeon before he banded me and he told me that he has had many many women who became pregnant with their band and had perfectly ordinary pregnancies. I asked about the fill and unfill business and he told me that it differs from patient to patient. He suggested that the best way to be sure that adequate nutrition was going in was to have regular sessions with a nutritionist. If the nutritionist felt that the band needed to be unfilled because not enough food was going in comfortably then that was that and the band was unfilled. He also cautioned me that while I might want to continue to lose - pregnancy was NOT the time for it and that he would fully expect me to gain at LEAST 20 pounds. He said normally he would set that figure at 30-35 but given my obesity he would expect that I would not need to gain as much. He also said that he would prefer 30 pounds regardless just to be sure that everything is as it should be. So, put thoughts of "dieting" out of your head and consider your "eating" instead. You ARE eating for two but that does not mean you can run amok in the Ben and Jerry isle of the supermarket. ;-D Get yourself to a nutrition specialist who deals with obesity and pregnancy and have a nice long session. Set out a healthy eating plan for yourself and if you need an unfill then get it, if not hang where you are. In either event you will do fine. Also, consider breast feeding - I hear that takes off a good 500 calories a day and can jumpstart your weightloss after pregnancy. I plan to go that route. Good luck and here is to an uneventful eight more months!

Birdee - don't panic. Technically you don't have to "diet" but given that you are not losing weight that does seem like the best way to get yourself going. Keep in mind that diet does not have to be that horrible D word anymore. In fact, check out the dictionary entry for diet. Nowhere in there does it say the words miserable, malnourished, or any of those yucky things that the word tends to bring to mind. Diet is a manner of living - the manner you adopted when you climbed up on that operating table last july. Take this word and OWN it - don't let it own you. ------- Main Entry: 1di·et Pronunciation: 'dI-&t Function: noun Etymology: Middle English diete, from Old French, from Latin diaeta, from Greek diaita, literally, manner of living, from diaitasthai to lead one's life 1 a : food and drink regularly provided or consumed b :habitual nourishment c : the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason 2 : something provided especially habitually <a diet of Broadway shows and nightclubs -- Frederick Wyatt> -------- The band is there to help you - you just have to meet it half way. Even if you dont start an "official diet" - try to watch what you are eating and stick to the healthier choices - that ALONE will help. If the idea of dieting brings on all kinds of "previous (pre-surgery) life trauma" then try this. Make yourself a diet menu - and *gasp* give yourself a cookie or some other 50 calorie *naughty* item EACH AND EVERY DAY! You don't have to be starved and miserable to be successful in a diet. You just need to keep your daily caloric intake under control. You can do that! Past performance is NEVER a good indicator of the future - let go of it and move on. Take charge - you can!

Birdee - The davincigourmet people have both sugared and sugarfree syrups, you just have to check out their site. They also have a splenda based chocolate sauce which I have been thinking about trying - but of course if I do that I will have to have some icecream to put it on top of. It still has calories, but not nearly so many as normal chocolate sauce. I am sort of saving that as a gift to myself when I get down 100# or so. by then I will feel entitled to some ice cream. As to how much do you use. That is really one of those "to taste things. I put about three tablespoons in a quart of Water and that works for me. I did not get the pump things so I measure everything in spoons. For oatmeal doctoring I put about a tablespoon per cup serving of oatmeal. I like hazel nut for that. They used to have a danish pastry flavor but they discontinued it. The gingerbread flavor is also nice in oatmeal. The syrups are not like pancake syrup - they are basically just flavoring - so they are more like the consistancy of vanilla extract than actual syrup. That threw me off when I first bought them - so i thought i would toss it in so you would not be surprised too. It is possible to get davinci gourmet syrups in the grocery store. I beleive they have a page on their website listing the stores that sell them. They don't usually has as good a selection as the online store though. Kiera Banded by Dr. Cadiere on 28 April 2003 299 / 240 / 140 (darned plateau!) http://forums.delphiforums.com/LapBandits

Birdee, It sounds like you need "tuff band love" so - *get a grip*! Ok, now that the little slap is out of the way. Know this, you CAN do this! You just need to get a grip on yourself and your environment. What kind of diet are you eating? Do you track your food? If not, go sign up for fitday.com and do so. Make sure you are getting ENOUGH food first of all. If you are not getting 1000-1500 calories you may be put yourself in starvation mode. If you are getting more than that then you need to plan your meal situation better. If you have not tried it yet I would really suggest putting yourself on a strict Atkins style high Protein low carb diet. Make SURE you are getting enough protein, you can suppliment with shakes or bars. You should be getting 60 grams of protein per day. Also make sure you are taking Vitamins. I take Kirkland children's chewables (2 per day). The chewables make it easy to swallow and this particular brand does not have any added sugar. As for the Water - I HEAR you, that is hard for me too. I have got a brita filter pitcher that I keep on my desk. I try to remind myself to drink a pitcher per day. I don't always succeed but at least if the pitcher is sitting there I have a better chance of drinking. If that doesn't work for you get a sports bottle with a straw - that at least cannot spill as easily as a regular glass. Water is the easiest thing to get right - if you have planned ahead. I also have a hectic life - but I try to walk at least 15 minutes each morning and evening - on the way to work. That is about the only real exercise I get - but it has helped. I have been banded since the end of april and am down 60 pounds. You would not think half an hour of fairly normal walking would make a difference but it does. Every little bit helps. Find somebody at work to walk with at lunch if you can - 15 to 30 mins a day will do WONDERS. honest! Also, if you can handle it you might try doing a liquid diet for a couple weeks to kick your body into losing mode - then go on atkins. I have seen several bandits who had joined weight watchers after banding so that they would have the accountability of the weigh ins and the convenience of the way they do the calorie counting. It certainly could not hurt to see if you can fit something like that into your schedule. Only you can control your weight. Don't let past failures screw with your present. Start fresh - THIS DAY - and forget all that negative stuff. Make yourself a grid chart and mark your weight on it each day or week (a week is more healthy but go with what feels right). Try to average a loss of ONE POUND PER WEEK - it may not sound like much but it will add up before you know it. If you can just manage your diet and even a LITTLE BIT OF WALKING each day you can do it. This weightloss thing is not a sprint, it is a journey. So you have hit a few speed bumps - life goes on - you can do this, just set your mind to it and DO it!!! Get yourself a pad of brightly colored post-it notes: :Bunny Stick one on your desk (or monitor) that reminds you to drink your water. :Bunny Put one on your bathroom mirror reminding you that today is a new day and you CAN do even better on this day than you have in the past. :Bunny Put one on your fridge that reminds you that nothing tastes as good as thin feels. :Bunny Put one on your scale - perferably over the number window *grin* - that reminds you to hang in there and that numbers are not everything - how you feel about yourself is KEY. :Bunny Put one on the inside of your front door and remind yourself that while you do not control the wind you DO control your sails. This is your journey, grab it by the wheel and steer already!

Alexis, I saw kickboxing at my local sport center and was thinking about it but I was terrified it would be to hard on me. We are about the same weight so your post cheers me up a bit. How good of shape (fitness-wise) do you feel you are in? You really did not find it too strenuous? Just how high do you actually have to kick? Were you very sore afterwards?

I have drunk beer since being banded. It is important not to drink it to quickly and NOT to drink it straight from a bottle or can. This is true of soda pop too. If you DO drink anything carbonated be SURE that you have not eaten right before or shortly after - I find that the carbonation tends to make the gassyness of food increase sort of exponentially and that can be VERY uncomfortable. Everybody's milage varies on this count. The band does NOT mean you can never touch the stuff again, you just have to decide for yourself if it works for you - and if not if the discomfort is worth it. Keep in mind that beer and sugared sodas are liquid CALORIES and allow you to "eat around" your band in the caloric intake department. Even if you CAN you may not WANT to. My husband and I went on a long weekend to Prague and I gained SIX pounds in four days drinking the local beer and just generally taking a holiday from the band. I think a lot of that was simple Water weight but it made me RETHINK the whole beer thing, LOL!!!! The weight all came back off by the following week but it was a real eyepopping discovery the morning after we got home and I stepped on the scale! It is true about savoring the flavors of things when eating slowly. I find that if I have a SERIOUS chocolate craving I am satisfied with a single small piece - which I generally break up and nibble squirrel style. I try not to do this often, but I find I am MUCH more successful when I allow myself ONE daily treat of under 50 calories. I don't do it every day anymore because there are many days now that I simply don't have any urge for sweets and I am more interested in Proteins. That has blown me away really, I did not expect it to be so easy to give up my old favorites. These days I tend to find many of the things I used to like a bit too sweet. My tastes have ACTUALLY changed. I guess you can see that I am LOVING this band of mine. Don't worry. This band is NOT the end of all thigns you like to eat forever. You can succeed and still have the ocassional treat, you just have to learn to modify your behavior. This is NOT an all or nothing solution to your weightloss problem. You get out of it the effort you put into it. You know?