ShanaMarie

I just want to say way to go! It's awesome that you have the discipline to exercise that often. Though gaining that muscle may mean gaining some weight at first, the cool thing about gaining some muscle is that you'll burn more calories throughout the day now. Of course I'm not an expert, but I don't think you need to worry that you're working out too much, especially since you're doing weights only 3x week and the other days are just aerobic - most "experts" have been saying lately that you should get some kind of aerobic exercise for 30 min/day most days of the week. I agree with Mary that your restriction might not be right yet. I think I'm going through the same thing, but I just can't get a day off school to go for another fill before the end of the semester, unfortunately. When was your 2nd fill? What keeps you motivated to exercise? I'll exercise 3 or 4 times a week for a few weeks and then I skip once, then twice, then I just get out of the habit. Any tips on how to keep on trucking?

I knew it couldn't be just me who gained a ton of weight in law school! It's my first year and I've gained probably 30 pounds, ridiculous...I decided not to come back next year!

Hey Babs, you know what? Normally I love this board and I think its members are truly supportive and good-hearted. But this was a little harsh. My immediate reaction was wanting to yell something not very nice in your direction. It's not like I'm sitting around drinking nonstop all weekend; yes, being healthy is important to me, but the reason it's important to me is so that I can live my life the way I want. And I don't want to (or need to, in my opinion) completely give up alcohol in order to be healthy. I resent the fact that you are throwing alcohol consumption in my face as proof that the band doesn't mean enough to me. Where do you get off? Do you really think telling me how successful others are being and suggesting I "keep my eye on the prize" because I don't want this enough, or whatever other judgmental comment you're not so subtly making, is an effective way to help me reach my goals? Just because I have a drink or two on the weekends does not mean that I'm a couch potato sitting on my ass eating bon-bons. And let me help you out since your reading and math skills seem to be limited: I was banded January 5th, which means I've been banded less than 3 months. My doctor does not even allow a fill until 2 months post op. And yes, I am having problems with my restriction; namely, I don't have any. Think twice before you publicly call someone's motivations into question next time.

Ok, maybe I'll get a lot of crap for this, but... I'm 23 years old. I'm still in school. The weekends are always when I kick back with friends and that often involves drinking. Sure, sure, I bet you're all thinking, 'why can't you have a good time without alcohol?', but honestly, in the safety of my own home, there's nothing better than having a whisky or a martini and watching movies with my boyfriend. Alcohol is definitely a munchie-inducer, but it's something I can avoid if I concentrate just a little. So basically, my answer to the original question is that I waited until probably 3-4 weeks post-op before I tried drinking, and since then I haven't had a problem. As long as you're not getting drunk to the point of throwing up, I don't really see the problem with a couple cocktails. If you're worried about the 'empty calories', cut down on the high-sugar alcohols like schnapp's or pucker, and skip the juice mixers. Mix some whisky with some lemonade crystal light for a whisky sour, or drink it straight!

Congratulations on being banded Mary! I love the board too, the people here are so great. I hope everything is going well for you post-op =)

Lol, thanks for the support! I go in tomorrow for my second fill, so hopefully I'll notice some kind of difference after that!

I just had to share this, it's my boyfriend's take on the situation after I told him I just ate a whole veggie wrap and don't feel full yet: "i'm really pissed at your doctor, i'm tempted to find him over spring break and kick him in the balls and ask him if he feels full cause his balls are in his stomach"

You know, the more I think about what happend at that appointment on Tuesday, the more upset I get. It's not that I felt Boutt rushed through my appointment or anything, that's not it at all. It was the attitude he gave me that reallly bothered me. The "you'd better work something out, you need to be available in case we need to unfill you, blah blah blah." Ok, know what? YOU need to be available more than 2 hours per week. I can only work around so much, man. And after reading Sue's post on the psychological fill, I'm starting to really doubt that I'm the only one who didn't lose before their first fill. And if I am, then wow. Boutt's been really lucky with his patients. Actually, while I was in the waiting room on Tuesday all the people I talked to had lost weight before their first fill, but there's an important difference - their starting weight was much higher than mine. I think it's pretty common that the more weight you have to lose, the faster it comes off initially. I realized something last night: I'm PAYING him for his services. It's 2 days after the fill and I feel NO restriction. So unless a miracle happens and I suddenly get tighter in the next week, I'm giving Michelle a call and requesting that she give me that appointment over my spring break. I pay them to help me make the band work, not to screw me around and make me feel like shit. Obviously I don't want to get sick, but I want some kind of restriction, otherwise the band is useless. I don't think I should have to feel guilty about wanting that. I don't think I should have to feel out of line for asking for another fill so soon. If he wants to see me lose some weight then he has to work with me to get to someplace where I can't eat as much as I can right now. I love this board, I don't know what I'd do without having this forum to vent my frustrations!! And p.s., Quakergirl: Congratulations on your awesome weight loss!

It makes me so livid that doctors actually think they can treat patients like this! Ok, I'm fat, but I also happen to be pretty smart, and I've taken a few psychology classes myself. I cannot understand why doctors, not to mention the rest of the general public, make such ridiculous generalizations about overweight people.

You know what really gets me? Assuming Boutt and Behsania really have done 600+ lapbands, that means each of them have a pretty high number of patients. Yet Boutt's only office hours for fills are from 1pm to 3pm on Tuesdays. How the f&$% does he think that's convenient for anybody, let alone enough time to see everybody who needs to be seen?! Personally I know I have to jump through hoops to make it during that time period, and that's just with school. I shudder to think what happens to people with actual jobs where they can't just up and take a 1/2 day off to drive over to Port Huron. Ridiculous....

Thanks! Keeping a food journal for him is a really good idea =)

You know, it's wierd, I loved him up until today! He's normally a very nice guy and he and the other surgeon he works with have done aroung 600 lap bands to date...but I don't know what was up with him today. That's exactly what I felt like saying to him - "Do you think that kind of comment is going to motivate me towards my goals?!?!" Thanks for the support!