Bandista

Put those medical professionals to work! What if it's not band-related, for instance a food allergy. Before my husband was diagnosed with Celiac he had unbelievable acid reflux. As soon as he went off of wheat it cleared up completely. Bodies are so complicated and every one is different. Work closely with your medical team and don't give up until you have answers. Best wishes and keep us posted!

@@Sue Can Do if any one had told me I would turn into a person who likes to exercise I would have laughed uproariously. But it's happened! I took the faking it until making it approach. I watched a Ted Talk about success and how if you hold your hands up like you're crossing a finish line something happens to the brain (boy am I paraphrasing here, but you get the idea). I started doing that when I'd approach the treadmill or even just for a walk -- or while I'm walking -- the hands-up in the air, YIPPEE! -- pose. I think it may have worked. Anyway, something worked and I am just back from my daily walk and feeling good about it. Before I was always looking for a way not to exercise and now I look for ways to get more. If It can work for me it can work for any one.

Congratulations on your surgery! Like the others I did not have any limitations on liquid intake. I was pretty much able to drink anything -- especially liked warm tea and broth. Oh, and those Popsicles, lol. Check with your doctor and keep checking in with your body. It's all about the listening now. Learning how to listen to your body.

Go Stephanie go! Spring/summer is a great time to regroup and get to your next goal. Here's to our health!

Hi there, we are all over the country and the world -- welcome to the forum and congratulations on choosing to get healthy! I'm very glad I turned my life around.

Brunch of last night's coconut chicken with cilantro and even more lime squirted on for good measure.......yum. Usually I skip breakfast and get hungry mid-day. My husband is consistently hungry at 11:00 and has what Tolkein referred to as "Elevenses." By this time he's already had a big serving of full fat yogurt with a dollop of cherry preserves. After breakfast and elevenses he is looking for lunch. Then tea. Then dinner. Geesh, no wonder I was fat! Not him, though. Genetics, sigh.

It is working! You are doing beautifully -- it takes a little time but you are headed in the right direction. I still love food -- it's not my enemy now. I have always had a healthy diet but just ate way too much and despite being very restrictive (diet after diet) I could not get the weight off and just kept getting heavier. Now I have dainty portions at appropriate intervals -- I'm not obsessed with more, more, more or focused on what's next. This is my last chance, too, because like you I would not do a more drastic surgery.

Mine is on the left and about an inch above my belly button....no pain, fill process very easy.....

Congratulations -– and May Day is such a perfect day for this gift to yourself. I love my band and I love how I've gotten my life back. Here's to a wonderful summer ahead!

Hi there, I am a bander but the issue of NSAIDs is one all humans face (WLS or no) -- is it worth the risk? It kind of drives me nuts that my surgeon is absolutely fine with Ibuprofen. It makes me wonder if he is up-to-date with all the complications patients have because of NSAIDs. I have arthritis and really want to take Ibuprofen to help reduce inflammation. For me Tylenol doesn't touch the pain but lots of people benefit from that and it does not tear up your system. (By the way, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) works on pain while Ibuprofen, etc. works on inflammation.) I used to take both together on the advice of a physician, the 3-2 cocktail (3 Ibuprofen, 2 Extra-strength Tylenol). These days I'm not taking anything orally but I use Voltaren, which is an Ibuprofen gel. I have no idea whether it would work well for migraines, cramps, etc., but I do get relief from the topical application of this gel and am even making trips to Canada to acquire it over the counter as my co-pay is kind of pricey (plus the Canadian version is stronger). This feels a lot safer to me than a system-wide pill with the potential of eating away of tissue in my esophagus, stomach, colon, etc. Hope this helps! We are all different.....

Hi there, the links below in my signature are ones that helped me as I was trying to understand how the band works and how to work the band. I think people develop individual practices based on what their bodies are signalling -- and that is what it's all about, learning how to hear and then listen to your body. We are all different. I don't eat in the morning because I am not hungry yet. I wait until mid-day when my body says, Hey, food! And believe it or not I can now welcome that hunger after all those years of being terrified of it. Hunger is not the enemy. My body is not the enemy. Boy, does it feel great to be able to say that. I am not on a diet but I do make very careful choices. Protein is where it's at. I love yogurt but for me that would be a slider unless I add some mix-ins -- healthy ones, and I use the yogurt cup itself so I can't put in too much. I need the few seeds, nuts and flakes to chunk up the yogurt so I have to chew it -- to get those signals as mentioned above. We all have our favorite meals, the things we know we need to be able to eat to know that our bands are working well. Mine is salmon and broccoli. That is a good healthy meal for me. It's a small meal, which is the miracle of the band. I have to be a little careful of broccoli and chew everything like crazy, which is where the satiety signal comes from. You will get there -- and meanwhile it sounds like you're working hard to be on the job of knowing your band and getting healthy. Congratulations on choosing yourself and your healthy future. The band has changed my life and I am forever grateful. But on a day like today when I thought, "oh, an ice cream cone would be nice," I had to override that and remind myself that I don't do that anymore.

Great thread, Lipstick Lady -- I always love your posts. My original goal was to lose 100 because, well, round numbers I suppose. Plus I wanted to be in Carolina Girl's 100+ thread. She was one of my inspirational fugures -- when I started on Batiatric Pal there were successful people who I have intentionally followed closely. (Thank you all y'all.). I weighed 252 at time of surgery and 152 seems reasonable for a woman of 5'6". Some one else once said in a post, "yeah, a hundo would do it for me," and that always makes me laugh. Yes, a hundo will do it for me, too. I don't know if I will get there. Being "in the fifties" (my age also) might do it for me. Those size 10 linen pants in red and purple (two pairs) might do it for me. Back to thinking I will know it when I get there. I worried I might go the disordered route as I was such a restricter. In fact I saw that my chart in my surgeon's office was annotated, "restricter." But that would have happened a long time ago, I think. Now I really do eat what I want, just in small amounts at appropriate intervals. Most of the time. I'm having some difficulties lately and these posts really, really help me. I've never been a part of an online forum and I find I really benefit from this community. Thank you all.

Hi there, the links below in my signature really helped me in the early days; maybe they will help you, too. Meanwhile, here's to Friday! I needed six fills and the time in-between each to address behavior modification. We are all different. Tell your doctor everything -- you are a team. Don't beat yourself up; know that you just keep at it and you will be astounded. Get some walking in if you can, a little further each time. Again, you'll be amazed. And thirty down is great -- you're going to do beautifully provided you just keeping showing up for yourself. I benefitted from some therapy to help identify and break down triggers and just to go through the process with me. It sounds like you could use a place to talk with some one. Like you, I didn't tell people about my surgery. Maybe you need some one to do that with. And of course you have us here. Keep us posted!

Victory in the dressing room! Now that's a story with a happy ending. Love the outfit -- you are adorable. Thanks for sharing but now I want to go shopping.

Menopause, sleep issues, stress -- yup, right there with you! Oh, and pain. I am trying to manage all of that and keep it together. It's a full-time job! Staying with it, though, because I want to be as strong and healthy as possible -- including getting off this last chunk of weight. And keeping it off! I just read that piece about Project Management in the magazine section here and am going to work this as a project. #1 was identifying what is not working. Oh, and getting good sleep is in there, too.

Hey, you're doing great -- going to sail right by that forty pound mark. It is all happening. For me, that's when I really noticed the dramatic change. Pay attention to your pants size and don't worry about the numbers game. Maybe increase your walking and focus on fitness. And pat yourself on the back. You are losing weight. You are doing it! I gave myself a year then after the first year I gave myself another because I still want to lose another chunk. But I'm happy, happy to have the appetite dimmed and to not be on a diet.

So happy for you to have found your worthiness and sense of self -- what a great story of breaking out of a mold you did not fit into. Your self-honesty and strength are very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

I know this fence! I had an appointment for a fill yesterday evening and called after lunch to cancel it. I had taken a sliver of a flexeril for some pain issues the night before and so my lunch, a small piece of salmon and some salad with ricotta crumbles, did not go down well. Red flag! I want to work through this recent pain spike before I assess whether or not I need a fill. Whole inflammatory system is "up" for me right now. Plus it is allergy season here. Anything like that muddies the waters for me. The fills I've been getting are .5 cc -- it is a nuance game to be sure. Hey, I just had an idea! I'm going to use my co-pay savings to get a massage! So stressed lately and, yes, that effects my band, too.

While I'm not a raw foods gal I totally identify with being overweight from extremely healthy foods. That was me. I was a vegetarian for 17 years. One of the things I miss is those volume salads. We still eat a lot of nuts, etc., but I try to have four almonds and chew them into pulp then go back for more if needed. No more nut burgers or burgers of any kind, really, though I did make some fantastic fish cakes the other day. Glad you're doing so well. I have watched you because we have such similar stats in addition to other characteristics. You're doing beautifully! Oh, I should add that I continue to be surprised by what can be a slider for me. Yogurt I chunk up with a few walnuts, chia and gluten-free cereal, for example, so there's plenty of chewing. That seems to be the thing for me, the chewing activates the full signal. My beautiful fish cakes? Kind of a slider for me.....

Great post, thank you so much. Arm muscles, yippee! And being able to enjoy working out. I'm there with the enjoyment of exercise and honestly can't believe it's me. You make so many great points -- I have been overly-restrictive in my previous yo-yo dieting life and try to let myself have a little of whatever it is I want. Sometimes just the thought of that is enough. And sleep -- the basics of taking care of one's self, one's body. No one can do it for us. And no, not every one will be happy. There are people who liked me fat and struggling, conflicted and introverted. Bye bye. Being happy with myself is where it's at; I've really been learning that as I've been choosing myself first and showing up for ME and my life. Saving my own life, as we all are. Very glad I made this decision. What a difference this little piece of silicone has made to my life.

Hi there, do you need to meet with the surgeon for a fill assessment or talk to a nutritionist -- sounds like eat very well, however maybe you've slipped into slider world a bit or have some other issue. Maybe you need a fill? It's great you're exercising and feeling that benefit. I have exercised for a long time -- have to or can't move -- but I think I was consistently just under where I get the real benefit. I actually need a 70 minute walk at a good clip to be in that zone. I didn't think I was a person who would ever experience endorphins from exercise but now I do. I know when that's happening all the other cardio benefits are there, too. Fill out the stats on your profile so we know more -- love it that you are six years out. That is very inspirational.

You are in the right place for support! What about finding a new surgeon and getting a fill assessment? Maybe the retiring doc was too heavy-handed, too little or too much -- it seems like there is a real art to nuancing the fill level to get it just right for where we are at a particular time. I'm going in today, as a matter of fact. I've had six fills and two small unfills (in-between). Have been at a good restriction but something has shifted and I can tell I'm ready for a little more saline.

Hi there, so happy for you -- you are on your way!

Yippee! I love it when the pants sizes go down, down, down. Sometimes I find mysekf rechecking the label -- can it be true? Yes, indeed! Congratulations......

This is so inspiring -- wow! Way to go. Don't worry about the number -- it's not a destination but day to day life. You are living it and you look great! Here's to strong and beautiful.