geology rocks

That is such a great story! I love it!

Whomever said that their nutritionist was useles..... Well, so is mine! I just had a near argument with the woman on the phone yesterday over calories. I have beean eating about 1500 calories per day for about 9 months now. I stopped losing on that amount about 5 months ago. I have only been banded for 9 months, so when this woman told me to never go below 1500 I was stunned! She told me that her "calculations" say my lower limit is 1250, but she doesn't want me below 1500. It makes no sense to me beause I am not losing. I tried to explain to her that if I could go for more than 2 hours without getting hungry that it would be really easy for me to eat 1200-1300 calories per day, but that I think I need a fill. I am not after "restriction". I am after that "satiety" bull **** they keep telling me about (excuse me for that). I know how it feels because I have had that feeling after a few fills. It just doesn't last for long. My doctor only does fills in .1cc amounts, so it is taking me forever to make it more than about 2 hours without my stomach growling at me. When this women told me that maybe it is just my body and that maybe I just won't lose any more weight....I got SUPER mad at her. Needless to say..... I'm going to go for fewer calories and keep getting fills every 4 weeks until I can make it for more than 2 hours between meals. What a dumb-#%*€.....

I like the bath idea! Gonna try that one for sure!

Typing with one finger on an iPad is sort of dufficult! Sorry for the typo errors!

Just to be devil's advocate here.... While the amount of fill is not going to be the same for any two people, some doctors are really conservative with the fills. I got a little "aggressive" (insistant might be a better word choice) and have been slowing moving forward. My doctor is still super conservative with the volume (increments of abou .2cc), but I am moving forward. I just have to be firm about why I think I need a fill. I just tell them the truth about what is going on.... I can't go three hours between meals without hunger/stomach growling. Don't be afraid to hold your ground if they say "no". Just remember to be polite anout it!! Chuckle..... :-)

I agree with whoever said that small goals are good. I try VERY hard NOT to think about how much I have to lose to get to my final goal weight. I think of everything in terms of 10 pound goals! I have had the band for about 9 months now and am a very slow loser compared to some folks on here. These little goals are so much easier and "faster". I put that in quotes because it isn't actually faster, but my self esteem seems to think that it is! Try it! It is a huge help.

I have been banded for 9 months and have only lost 27 pounds (including weight lost on the pre-op diet). Most of the weight came off in the first three months. I have been stuck at the same weight for 6 months! I have not regained an ounce, but I can't seem to lose any more weight. I went to the Surgical Weightloss Center in Ontario. I think that the nurses who prescribe the fills are too conservative. I have this theory (because I do journal everything that I eat, good and the bad) that I have lost a lot of fat from around my stomach and this has made my band lose (just like in the begining). I think that if they would just give me a larger fill that it would help more than giving me these teeny little 0.25 cc fills. I feel like I am hanging on to my current weight with pure will power!! It psses me off (pardon my language) that I have paid all of this money for this "tool" and then they won't fill the thing up enough to make any sort of a significant difference!!! Anyone else feel like their biggest problem is that their doctor is too conservative with the fills? I have 4.2cc in a 10cc band. I started with 3.4cc in there after surgery. It has taken me 4 fills to go up 0.8cc. That just seems stupid slow to me.

I was banded 8 months ago and have also only lost 30 pounds. I have been stuck on the same weight forabout 3 months now. I don't gain, but I also don't lose. I need a fill for sure, but decided to take a break and slow things down. My hair was falling out really, really bad. It has slowed down a lot now and I have been taking Vitamins to help things along. Long story short, my weight loss was still slow (even before the stall). I have a low BMI and I think this is why it seems slower than other folks rates of loss. On the subject of vomiting.... My doctor (and the books that I was given) say that vomiting can be a sign that you need an "unfill". I know that seems scary because you certainly don't want to gain anything back, but have you or your doctor considered taking a wee small bit of Fluid out? Also.... Don't beat yourself up about a slow loss. Think of all the years where there was NO loss!! That is what I have been doing. Slow or not, I still weigh less than I have weighed in about 10 years! It will come if we just fiddle around with the adjustments and try really hard to keep the portions small. I know that lat part is easier said than done. Probably we ALL feel that is the really hard part. Hang in there and keep in touch with your doctor's office......even if it is far away! My doctor is about 3000 km away, but the nurses are still helpful when you have questions. :-)

I have been losing my hair at a pretty rapid pace for about 3 months now. It only just recently slowed down. I hit a plateau in my weight loss and now the hair loss is slowing down rapidly. I can also see that lots of new hair is starting to grow back. I think I have probably lost 1/4 to 1/3 of my hair (via thinning). I have/had a lot of hair. My doctor told me that they don't really know why some people lose hair while others don't. I eat my protein and take my vitamins. My blood work looked good, too - but my hair was still falling out like crazy. Huge handsful at each shower!! The good news is that it does grow back. I had also heard that hair loss meant that you were difficient in some vital nutrient or protein or both. Apparently all folks who are deficient in these areas will lose hair, but not all who losehair will be deficient. If you are losing hair, the best thing to do is ask the doctor to check your blood!

I have been stuck at the same weight for about 8 weeks now. I had stopped journaling what I eat. When I resumed journaling, I realized that my calories were not too bad, but my food choices were getting a little (ok...a lot) heavy on the carbohydrates. I think this is what is causing me to stall. I am working on eliminating the carb "creep" (which probably was more like carb typhoon for me), but I am confident that this will help break this plateau. Have you tried looking very clsely at your diet? Maybe you are eating more or less of something like fiber, carbs, protein, etc. It doesn't seem to take much to cause a stall, but it also doesn't seem to take much to break one either! Remember... a lot of folks think there is a mental component in all of this, as well. BELIEVE that you will break the plateau and all of your efforts will be for the best! Best of luck!

I have not had the arm surgery, but I have had abdominoplasty with some work on my inner thighs. I purchased a pricey pair of compression pants and feel that it was totally worth it. I spent so much on the surgery..... I wasn't going to have substandard results over a $90 compression garment because the surgery was just way to expensive! Go with a good garment, wash it out and use it until it falls apart (or you no longer need it)... Whichever comes first. You will have much nicer results and less scaring, too!

I'm afraid of flabby skin, too. I was at 235 when I decided to have surgery. I didn't really have "flab", either. I would describe myself as "thick".... Probably because my weight is evenly distributed about my body. Long story short, so far the only thing that is looking "flabby" is my boobs! Sorry if that is too much info... I plan to treat myself to breast reduction surgery when I get to goal, so I keep telling myself that it is temporary! Best of luck to you!

I have been stuck at the same weight for about 2 months now. I don't have any trouble eating anything, but I have noticed the carbs creeping back in. It's the holidys, so I guess that means more temptation. All that aside... I am down 30 pounds (I'm a low BMI patient), but my hair was falling out so bad that people were starting to actually notice!! I have noticed that with my plateua has come some new hair growth and a serious slow down in the hair loss. I am just going to ride my plateau out for a while. I actually think t has more to do with my body protesting than it does with what I am eating. Long story short.... Just make sure to journal your food. It keeps you honest and helps you know when the problem is you, the band or your body! Hang in there. You will get there!

Todays menu: Breakfast: High Fiber Toast w/ reduced sugar strawberry jam and BUTTER (not too much, now)! Lunch: salad w/romaine lettuce (~2cups packed loose), feta cheese, no sugar added peaches (with some of the juice from the can), sweet pea sprouts and balsamic vinegar Asiago cheese bread (2 very thin slices toasted) Diner: 2 sweet italian sausages w/ marinara sauce Snacks: Greek yogurt cup Almonds Gotta plan it all out! It's easier to not cheet that way! :-)

I can eat beef tenderloin just fine! Yum!

Hey! I had my surgery on 03/25/2012. I have pretty much EXACTLT what you just described! I will get a pain in the center of my chest that radiates to my ack. It almost feels similar to the ache one gets when bending over a desk all day. Sort of a dull ache that feels like muscle strain, but I don't think that's really what it s. I have been mulling it over for some time now. I also have about 4.5cc in my band (not that it really matters).... More to the point, I noticed this "feeling" shortly after my last fill (which was about a month ago). I am suspicious that, as much as I hate to admit it, the feeling is a result of over eating! I know it is hard to imagine that less than one cup of food could possibly result in "overeating", but I really think that is what it is. In fact, I just ate a serving of baked chicken breast about the size of a deck of cards with a small salad and I am having the "feeling". The chicken was very moist, so it went down easy with the lettuce. I may have not allowed enough time between bites or may have taken a few "bigger" small bites, but I think the feeling is different from being "stuck". I've only been stuck once, but it was VERY memorable! I guess this is where the idea of "head hunger" starts to have meaning for me! My head wants to finish my modest little meal, but I think my band is telling me that the small bit of food is too much! Ugh!! Gotta get used to leaving a little food on the plate...... :-)

Once I stopped eating back my exercise calories, I began to lose at a more steady pace.

I have had the same sort of thing. I weighed 245 about 2.5 years ago. It took me about 2.5 years to get down to 235!! That is why I decided to have wls. At that rate, it would've taken 23 years for me to reach my goal! I have hovered around 200 - 210 most of my adult life, so I had really started to balloon out. It was scaring me! When I told people about my wls, I got a lot of comments about me not being heavy enough. People were shocked when I told them my weight. I honestly think that some folks thought I was lying. That really hurt. What hurt more, however, we're my knees, my back, Etc. all the aches and pains reminded me that "they" were full of #%+*£€ and that I was right. Wls was for me..... That's all that matters. I know I made the right choice for me. The funny thing...... Most of the people who have made comments have been as large or larger than me. I have often wondered if the criticism might have more to do with their own struggles than if I am or am not large enough for wls. If they are bigger than me, they may have not come to terms with how bad their health is. Ya know?

I wasn't losing much at first, either. As hard as it was, I upped my intake by about 150 calories per day and started the scales moving.....slowly. My first fill did nothing. The second fill made getting my 1350 calories a bit of a challenge and now the scales are really moving. I try to never eat fewer calories than 1350 and no more than 1500. I used my fitness pal to arrive at those numbers. They are a lot better than the arbitrary 1200 calories that I had selected before hand. I think there is a reason why there is a big-ol-long calculation used to estimate our calorie needs. I think the reason is that we are all different sizes and weights, have different ideas about how fast we would like to lose and also different levels of activity. Toss in the fact that we all have different metabolisms and you start to realize why different things work for different people. Try experimenting with fat/protein/carb ratios, B vitamins, eliminating late night snacks, eating 4 small meals, 3 small meals, snacks, no snacks... If you keep a record you will quickly learn what works and what doesn't work! Wish I had just one answer for you... Best of luck! You will get it figured out before long.

I had my daughter when I was 18. I weighed about 130 before she was born. After, I weighed about 200! I went from young and "attractive" to fat and homely overnight! I spent all of my 20's and now most of my 30's being fat. I feel like it made me feel old before my time and also like I missed out on a lot of fun. I was lucky that my family was supportive, so I could have gone out with friends; but I often chose to stay home because I looked so bad compared to my friends. It's no fun to dress your 230 pound body when you feel like there should only be 130 pounds of you there in the first place! I have a picture of myself from before I got pregnant that I use for motivation. I may not get to 130 and I certainly won't look like I am 18, but I will look better than I did at 230!

Why not ask your nutritionist? I am sure they could help you out. So far as the "all chewed up" comment for visualizing your portions is concerned..... They actually told me to imagine it puréed in a one cup container. Chewed up.....puréed.....same difference! :-) I hope I didn't confuse anyone with that comment. The point is that your stomach above the band only has about a one cup volume. This might help..... I have juicer at home. Three good sized romaine lettuce hearts will condense down into about 2 cups of "juice" and about 3 cups of pulp. In short, when I make a salad I get a 2 cup plastic ziplock container and fill it with lettuce (not packed in there too tight, but not super lose either). After adding dressing, feta, sunflower seeds, etc....the rather large looking salad is actually just about the perfect size for me. I try very hard to keep meals down to 1.5 cups or less, so the salad is just about perfect even though it takes up more space than "one cup". Remember!! You can't eat the empty spaces between the leaves of lettuce, so they don't count as part of the one cup volume!! Lose, fluffy foods are challenging to measure for this reason. I agree with the gal above..... You will have a good idea of how much is enough after a while. Listen to your band and you level of satiety. Best of luck! :-)

I'm no expert and everyone's doctor is different, but my doctor said to imagine your food puréed in a one cup container. A "cup" is a volume, so you cannot use weight as an approximation unless you are considering a Fluid like Water. This is because 8 fluid ounces is equivalent to one cup. Using ounces only works with drinks. That said, invision what you are eating all chewed up in a one cup container. Hope this helps. The weight / volume thing is hard if you don't work with weights and measures on a daily basis. Don't worry! You will get it figured out! :-)

I'm a geologist and work in a microanalysis lab. My job is physical and I spend a lot of time on my feet in the lab. I cut rocks with a diamond blade saw and make thin sections (microscope slides) from the rock. I look at the slide with a variety of microscopes to determine how the rock formed. I took just a little shy of 2 weeks off from work. I felt that I could have gone back sooner!