Kime-lou

I just got to this point now, it took 6 fills, but so glad it seems to be working well.

My doctor never said anything about red meat. I was just told to be careful and chew meat well. I haven't tried steak since being banded (06/2012) except chopsteak which is an extra fine ground hamburger meat and I have no problems with that. If I do hambuger meat I justh have to chew it well. I have the most problem with pork, so I have given up on that.

I do actually like the Weight Watchers cheeses and the 2% Kraft shreads are good. Another great cheese is Laughing Cow and Baby Bel. My hubs loves the laughing cow smeared on his sandwhiches - it also good melted over chicken.

Go by your doctors orders. My doctor and nutrtitionist told me 1 cup a food at a time. Eat approx. 1000-1300's calories in a day (but this is because I do cardio for some it's lower if they do no exercise).

Of course I drank a lot more water than I listed- I drink around 70 oz a day right now.

I know they say Cereal is a slider, but that is what I eat. I have always loved cereal. When I drink a shake, which I did for a while I would get hungry about 2 hours later then I would eat yogurt. Yesterday morning I tried a small cup of greek yogurt with a tablespoon of granola and a tablespoon of blue berries- at at 7:30 wasn't hungry till noon. Today I ate special k with 2% milk on it around the same time and again no hungry till noon. My advice is play around with the options. I start my day with 20 oz of Water with Peach Mango Green tea in it (crystal light), then I drink a cup of coffee and 30 min later breakfast.

Babe- I have an anxiety disorder and take Paxel for it. Surgery was freaking me out, but I knew I had one of the best surgeons around (Duke Hospital). I finally to try and put the fear to the back of my mind. The morning of the surgery I was postively shaking. My BP was up because I was so nervous, I joked with all the doctors and nurses and took the edge off. You will be fine, just take a deep breath and try not to think about it to much.

You look awesome!! Such an inspiration. Thank you for posting this. I have lost 50 and have 68 more I would love to loose and I feel like I may never make it; but hearing your story gives me hope that one day I will reach goal!

I get a little hicup or a feeling like I want to hicup and I know it's time to stop. If I keep going I will start burping and a little coming up with it meaning that I am over full and then I better stop.

Talk to your doctor and or nutritionist. This does sound like a very low amount and could lead to starvation mode and lower your metabolism.

When you are trying to lose weight and you hit a plateau or even go up a little inspite of doing what you are suppose to it is so easy to get frustrated. My weight loss has been painfully slow- 50 lbs in a little over 6 months. I am one of those nuts who opts to weigh daily and chart it to see my patterns in connection with what I eat. I also opt to count calories and have a fitbit to tell me an average of what I burn in day. While I haven't always been the perfect lapband patient I do stick pretty close to doctors orders. The last few weeks I am been doing what I am suppose to - 3 meals 1 cup or less 1 snack eating 1300 or less calories a day and doing cardio for 30 min to an hour 4-5 days a week. Yet, while I am doing this my weight managed to tick up from 195 where it was Saturday back up to 200 by Monday and today back down 197. I know I haven't eaten the calories to cause this so it has to be something else. With past diets I would have taken the flight approuch- this isn't doing any good, forget it I'm eating what I want. However, with the band I choose the fight mode. I am going to keep fight the fight against the fat. One of us will win and I plan on it being me! It is so easy to flee the lapband lifestyle when we don't see results that we want or expect, but we must (I must) stay and fight. Fight through the ups and celebrate the downs in the scales. On the ups it can be from water retention, a cold, not going potty, or muscle gain. All of these reason will eventually level out and the scale number will go down, but only if I keep on keeping on. I hope that you choose the fight approch to! After all our health is worth fight for!

Awesome job on the weight loss. Glad you are here.

It is so hard when you know you are doing everything right and you are still not loseing. The last week I have been doing cardio everyother day and I have been keeping my calories about 12-1300 and still I have not lost an ounce, even went up for a couple of days. I think that weight will just flucuate we just have to keep to the band lifestyle and eventually it will start moving down again.

I've had that issue when I have to wait to eat due to working on something. I really have that issue if I lay down to take a quick nap and that nap turns into 3 hours on the couch and I wake up at 8 and haven't eaten. I normally attribute that to having been laying down for 3 hours. If I were you since you aren't getting stuck I would try and eat earlier and make sure you chew well and take small bites.

Everyone loses and gains in different areas first. If you keep on keeping on your belly and bottom will shrink and firm. Congrats on the loss thus far.

I thought I could do it alone, but I hit 247 at my highest and that was enough. My biggest problems were getting hungry between meals and eating to large of portion sizes at meals. The band helps me with both of these- it helps me stay satisfied longer (3.5-4 hours) on less food. My weight loss is slow but steady. It all depends on what you want to do. Going to a seminar isn't a commitment to have surgery. If you are interested go, listen, ask questions- if you decide it's for you great if not at least you have the facts.

Weather changes wreak havoc with all of me. The weather in NC has been up and down (from the 70's to the 40's) this last week. My sinus pressure is intense and the drainage seems to be messing with my band. Not feeling much like eating anything, just drinking alot.

If you had a good doctor the scars will fade in time. My lapband scars are going away nicely at 6 months post op. However, my gallbladder scars are very obvious (had my gallbladder removed in Aug. 2010). My lapband doctor even commented on my scars from that and explained how he closes and that his way wouldn't create scars like that.

You are not eating much these days and your body is healing. It takes a great deal of energy for your body to heal. If you feel exhausted take a nap, rest this will aid in the healing process and get you to feeling better quicker than if you super woman it and don't rest. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

Totally depends on where it is. In a leg where they are common there would be swelling, heat, redness and pain. In an organ (ie lungs called a pulmonary embolism) you would know quickly- this can be deadly. You are very short of breath, chest hurts, ect. If you feel like you could have a blood clot do not play around with it- go to the doctor if they are open if not get to the ER. Blood clots can be deadly and is a common cause of death post-op. Don't mean to scare, but they are serious.

It takes a month at least for all the swelling and pressure to disapate. You may want to try raising the head of your bed or sleeping with multiple pillows to keep the fluid from pooling in this area.

If you can't afford to pay out of pocket try and do things like banders do. Eat less at meals, move more, drink lots of water. It can't hurt.

I will admit a big part of why I did this surgery is so I could buy smaller clothes and look better. I was tired of looking in the mirror and seeing a whale. Then another part of me was concern of heading down a path of bad health. I was 31 y/o when I had surgery and my blood pressure was creeping up as were my A1c levels (surgar) and my cholesterol levels were inching up as well. My father being diabetic, my 44 y/o brother having a heart attack and stroke worried me. I didn't want to be in those shoes. So I decided to do something about it- lapband. I came into this honestly, thinking it would be easier. Easy it is not, worth it absolutely. I can't just eat whatever, I have to make a choice to eat healthy foods and to eat less at a sitting. My band helps me feel satisfied longer with less so that part does make the process easier. However, I still must control what goes in me. I use to hear eat healthy and you will feel better and I thought, gee I feel fine I must be okay. I had no idea how I could feel. I have been over weight or obese since childhood so I never really knew how I could feel inside. I have now cut out most all processed foods, except for the occasional WW Smart One at lunch. I eat a lot more veggies and fruit. I eat less carbs, I choose not to cut them out because I didn't feel that I could keep to that longer term and I want to eat in a way I can maintain; but I do eat fewer than I use to and good carbs. Instead of drinking soda all the time I drink water. I have started making and eating things I never thought I would - fritta's, couscous, flax seed, from stratch pot pies, turkey bacon and the list goes on. I have now started an exercise routine that I like and feel I can keep up with. I love the show The Doctors but I work when it's on. I DVR the show and when I get home I hop on my elliptical and watch the show while I sweat. The time flies by. Amazing I am now feel what people talked about- I feel good inside. My "inerd" feel healthy. It's almost like I can feel my body saying thank you. I breath easier, my gut feels better - it's hard to explain, but it's just a feeling of health. I sleep better at night and feel more rested when I get up. I am able to concentrate more at work and home. With the feeling better on the inside it is sipping out to the outside. Sure after losing 50 lbs I look better. But, now my skin and hair look healthy and good. My hair is shiny with out the addition of product. I smile bigger because I feel better. My eyes twinkle because I feel better. I move easier when I walk and it shows in my gate. All in all it's a great feeling to be getting healthier and I am begining to understand why people become "health nuts". While my weight isn't coming off fast it is coming off. Each month at the doctor's office my weight is down a little more, anywhere from 2 lbs to 7 lbs. So I feel I am doing pretty good and my body is happy. I hope that all of you can experence this feeling of health as you transform you body.