La_madam

Dear Husband?? I think

Job Well Done ALex! You look amazing and you write such words of wisdom. I'm very happy for you . You are successful and thats all that matters! It doesnt matter how we get there or how long it takes us to get there or what we do along they way..as long as we get there ! You are proof of that. Congratulations to you on such a productive year of your mind body & spirit. You are beautiful!

Excellent News I'm so happy for you that the band is working for you so far. Isint the band the greatest thing?!! I love my band

All I can say in my case..that is not true. I eat more then 1 oz at a time I can assure you of that! I eat from 3/4 of a cup to a cup of food. I just got my 2nd fill so we will se how that goes. I think most here will tell you the samething that they can eat more then an ounce at a time.

I do drink right up until the time I'm going to eat but nothing during my meals and I wait a good hour afterwards...that makes a huge difference. Drinking to soon after or during a meal washes thefood thorugh the pouch and causes hunger quicker. Well it seems you know that you are eating soft foods which does go through quicker so try to focus on the hard Proteins and see if that helps and no drinking until an hour after your meal and you should be in good shape keeping yoursefl satisfied longer...I made the same mistakes in the beginning until I read some great advice here on the board so I'm passing it along to you.. Good Luck to you

The Paxil worked great for me too..I know what you mean when you say the Zoloft sealed your fate..same here!! I hovered at 65 pounds less then now for years. SInce surgery I have gotten 41 of it off.I tried everything, phen phen, WW, Curves, Atkins and countless other fad diets and diets nothing worked ... I'm so thankful to my band!

Penni..you look great! Way to go girl! 16/18 WOO-HOO!!!! Be careful not to get drool on it at your next appt w/ Dr. Billy

I had them the day of surgery and the day after..did not have to wear them any longer then that and the doctor did provide them for me.

Janie Congratulations on your 2 lb loss..great job! You're right it does not matter what do you choose to get on the scale...whatever day works best for the individual..Mondays work well for me.I do not have to be at work at 5am plus for me it keeps me a little more focused on the weekends to have to be accountable on Monday, this thread was only designed to help those of us who obsess about the scale and jump on it more then once a week. I thought it would help some of us..I know it has helped me. Whatever works for you! Again nice job with the 2lb loss

What are you eating? That could be the problem. If you are eating soft Proteins like eggs, cottage cheese they go through the band quicker. Hard proteins like chicken , ground beef, fish, tuna take longer to go through the band and keep you satisfied longer. Are you eating your carbs first? Carbs first make me hungry all day long. I keep my carb intake to a bare minimum and I stay away from the bad carbs like bread, Pasta, rice..I do eat low carb crackers with cheese I get my carbs mainly from my fruits and veggies. Are you drinking during your meals or too soon afterwards? That can also push the food through the band making you hungry sooner. If you have the tightness and it coming back up I doubt you need a fill. Are you losing every week? My doctors instructions were if I was not losing for 2-3 weeks in a row and I could eat more then half of what I was eating pre band I need a fill..however he gave me a little tweak of a fill yesterday since I was down there with a friend getting her fill even though I'm still losing every week but I have noticed my appetite increasing and even eating my hard proteins I noticed I was getting hungry again sooner, so he added .9cc's to my 1.1cc's I all ready had so now I'm at an even 2 cc's. Try focusing on what you are eating, that makes a huge difference..it could be where the problem lies. Good Luck

Congrats Melissa on your weight loss.. Keep up the good work! Marie - www.tanita.com is the web site for the scales and all of their different brands , it may even have a store locator in your area of stores who carry them.

Hey Im here checking in Went to TJ yesterday with my friend to see on her flipped port so while I was down there he gave me a little tweak of .9 cc's so now I'm at 2cc's. On liquids for 3 days so that is all I will be eating. Lisa, glad to hear you had a better day yesterday, maybe you needed the day off from work both physically and emotionally. Seems you are doing great on the exercise and your eating you said was not as bad as the night before so that is progress! Hmm.. my good deed for the day today was this morning @7:45 am I drove my girlfriend to her sons school to register him becasue she has no car right now that was after I took my other friend to the airport at 5:15 am to catch a flight back ot the east coast. Now it's time for me! No kids home today so I am going to take advantage of the quiet time and drink my liquids in peace and quiet

WOW!!! Shelly ...you look fabulous! You are so beautiful. Congratulations and such an awesome accomplishment. You are definately an inspiration to me and many others here too I'm sure. I loved your post, thanks for sharing it with us...

Chantal Glad to hear you are doing better. It's amazing what a little pill can do huh? I was on Paxil for a couple of years and it was a miracle drug for me at that time in my life. Hope your happiness continues to flourish...it can only get better from here. You seem to have a great outlook on things now...that is wonderful! Good for you

Way to go Penni! Awesome job! I love Wal Mart

Lisa you can call me anytime if you are having a bad day or I can meet you on AOL Did you have a bad afternoon/evening last night?

I was fortunate enough to have 7000.00 of the 8995.00 but I did use the financing that my doctor offers...it is through Capital one so I did finance 2000.00 of my surgery. My paymeny is 120.00 for 18 months. I was suprised to know that a Dr. in Mexico offered financing here in the states .. Good Luck to you Kelli

The band is almost like anabuse for fat people..you eat too much or the wrong thing ,dont chew it well enough, dont take small enough bite, dont eat slow enough...you will get sick and that first PB is not fun. If is all in how you approach it...some lose more becasue of their food choices and dedication to following all the rules..some lose wieght slowly by still eating how they ate pre band but just not as much...For me I have changed how I eat I do not eat chips, Cookies,candy or ice cream any more..I can not lie I have had a bite of ice cream and I few bites of a brownie but thats pretty much it. I cant say I never will eat those things again becasue I'm sure I will but for now I'm very focused. It is a tool but it does not make the food choices for you. There are certain rules to follow if you follow them you will be succesful, if you don't you will be successful but maybe not as successful as the person who is. I have never known anyone not to lose weight with this band. The band is the best decision I have ever made...I will never put this weight back on, I can honestly say that!

Michelle here checking in Yesterdays food Breakfast : 1 hamburger patty lunch: six deli rye triscuit crackers with sliced cheddar cheese Dinner: small salad and 1 spoonful of beef stroganoff water: 72oz of Water exercise: none ...I had a MAJOR female problem yesterday but all is well this morning I'm off to TJ this morning to help my friend go see Dr Ortiz about her flipped port, I may be spending the night down there if it is truly flipped if not she will ge a fill we will shop and I will be home Hope everyone has great day!

Bring a book Mexico has there own time shcedule. I was told to bring a book for the pre-op tests and I did not listen, there is alot of waiting around in Mexico if your appointment is at 9 that really means 11 in Mexico Bring you patience too..like I said Mexico is on their own time shcedule Since you are flying and it will be a long day home, I would reccomend some adult strength liquid tylenol know they carry it at Wal Mart and Sav-On in case you have a little soreness or uncomfortableness. I was also told to bring a few Snacks for my husband and that was great advice, the hospital where I had my surgery (the oasis) is a Vegan hospital, no meat. So those snacks came in handy for him. The hotel on the other hand had fantastic food so no worries there for him. Good Luck to you Dave, Let us all know how things went once you are feeling up to it.

Hi Melissa Welcome! Glad to read of you finaly decided to post. You weight loss is fantastic! I hope now that you got your feet wet by posting you will jump right in. This is the best support group I'm involved with. Lots of support and knowledge here from many experienced bandsters Good luck to you and I wish you continued success on your journey

For most insurances to even think about touching you, you do need to have a BMI of 40 and have co-morbitities is what I was told ..I had the BMI over 40 (42) but no comorbitities. I was a self pay in TJ Mexico becasue my insurance company said NO so instead of haggling with over it with them for months I went to Mexico..4 months later down 40 pounds ..I'd probably still be going back and forth with my insurance company 4 months later.

Intant you are correct in a sense...but for those of us in Southern California where the border is just an hour and a half away....Mexico at the price of 8995.00 all inclusive worked out great for me. I checked many surgeons in my area and there was no way I could afford 17,000-25,000 for my surgery(17 being the lowest I found and 25 being the highest I found in my area without driving an hour and a half the other way (north) not to mention the lack of experience these US surgeons had with band placement . I'm very happy with my surgeon, aftercare and my decision..just becasue it is 15,000 in the US doesnt always mean it is best either. Most US surgeons have not done many bands yet where as my surgeon has preformed over 1000 so there are difinately pros & cons to both sides. Through my research most Mexican doctors have preformed many more band surgeries then American doctors. I have peace of mind with my Mexican surgeon being an hour and a half away and having preformed over 1000 of them P.S. for the record I did not go through a patient coordinator either I just called Ortiz's office and spoke with his receptionist who scheduled my surgery and faxed me all the paperwork, she was the sweetest woman ever!

Very well put Alex I eat until my hunger pains go away and it is true sometimes I am satisfied for longer periods of time then others depending on what I ate. My band is the strangest thing sometimes..there is no way to figure this band out. One day I will have total restriction and the next day none! One day I can eat something and the next day try and eat the same thing and can't. So bazarr..but like Alex said I'm just going with the flow and losing so I'm happy .I can still eat real food and lose weight with no weighing or measuring my foods...what a great feeling!

Penni I'm glad to hear you daughter and son in law are safe. you are a great mother to offer help from so far away! I'd do the same thing too knowing how I am..I dont know if I could live with my mother in law either!